Glints of Green

Planes

2009-01-19T09:26:00.001-05:00

I took my first plane ride and saw that they give the complementary drinks out in plastic cups. Obviously glass isn't a good alternative in this situation...metal? Does anyone take their Klean Kanteen on board and request that it be filled up? Even though I have lots of optimism that the used cups make it to the recycle bins, it's still a mis-use of plastic.
Any thoughts?

Purchasing struggles

2008-12-28T15:05:00.003-05:00

Laundry Detergent and Kitty litter are two things that I struggle with.

Laundry detergent: I've leaned towards the animal friendly, earth friendly, biodegradable ingredients, plant based, no dyes, etc. version. It comes in a plastic container. I'm guessing that the better option would be the powered version of detergent that comes in the cardboard box. I've only looked at Costco for the powdered version of the "friendly" detergent and it is no where to be found. My hunch is that I'm going to have a hard time finding it. One alternative is something called Soap Nuts. These are interesting. There are 4 or 5 nuts that you put in a cotton bag and toss into your washing machine. I couldn't argue with the cleanliness of the clothes, but I couldn't attest to it either. There was no smell. We are trained to follow our noses on this. If something smells like "Summer Breeze", "Lilac and Vanilla" or "Mountain Fresh", then it's clean. That's how we know...we sniff it. With soap nuts, there is no residual odor at all. It's kind of weird. Super J. and I agreed that while we want to do what's very best for the environment, we're not quite to that point yet. Which brings us to the NEXT best thing and also the problem. Is it better to buy animal and plant and earth friendly detergent in a plastic container.....or get a cardboard box and buy something that was probably crammed into a bunny's eyes before hitting the market? Which is the lesser of the evils?

Kitty Litter: I'm guessing clay is better for the earth, and it comes in a bag. Yay! Unfortunately, I took a household poll, and Super J., Jack, Peeper and I all agreed that the clay litter is not our favorite. Our favorite comes in a plastic tub. Jack offered to start going outside. I reminded him he is not an outside cat. He said he wants his favorite litter then, he doesn't care what it comes in....and he's not trying the Pine version again either. Ok Jack.

Anyway, things that I struggle with while trying to reduce plastic seem to be things that I'm guessing the typical consumer would also struggle with maybe even for a moment.
What's the answer? Should we even have to decide? Is there still a need for animal testing, or does is still make sense to produce detergent that is NOT earth friendly?
Is there any reason that kitty liter can't all come in paper bags, no matter what kind it is?

The answers will come apparent as I continue my trek into a plastic free life, but right now they seem kind of big.

Amazon

2008-12-25T11:00:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late on the uptake with this, but I thought Christmas day would be a good springboard for this topic.
I just heard a couple of days ago about Amazon's "Frustration Free" packaging program. Basically, they work with the manufacturer and drop products straight into boxes instead of fiddling around with plastic molding, plastic windows, plastic clam shells. Just the product and a box. Now, if the product itself is plastic, that's on you.

Frustration Free Info

So, you can save on plastic by ordering your stuff through Amazon. What about the fuel usage? It's still better to reel in your buying altogether.
I mean, really, how much "stuff" does one person really need?

If your family is like mine, at some point today you were surrounded by mounds of wrapping paper, bits of transparent tape and lots of plastic packaging that contains lots of stuff. With the New Year coming around, now is a good time to start looking at ways to adjust, cut back or avoid all together the plastic that seems to hold our lives together. Don't bother making a resolution, you know you'll break it. Just try to be a little more aware.

Christmas gifts

2008-12-23T06:30:00.003-05:00

It turns out that my favorite presents I bought for people were the ones with no plastic. It worked out nicely like that. I got my mom a cow creamer from an antique mall, a couple of people got bowls made from tree root (Target has these, I love them), someone got some organic cotton tea towels, and a very, very lucky soul got a gift basket from LUSH. It seems that the "sellers" are moving towards a more organic, meaning non-plastic, but life related, genre. It's coming in small increments but I see it. There is bamboo everywhere, and recycling is very chic. I saw a product at Williams Sonoma that allows you to make your own carbonated water. You get to save money and the energy used in the production, shipping, filling and shipping of bottles.
Even though I'm seeing, perhaps through rose colored glasses that there is a movement towards things less plastic and more "real", there is still a lot of plastic out there. Some of today's most fun things are plastic. The Wii-plastic. The remote control indoor helicopters-plastic. The ipod and iphone-plastic. What to do about those things? Is it sensible to deny ourselves that indulgence on sheer principal? Is there a middle ground and these thing are considered more utilitarian and therefore easily justifiable?

I dunno. I do know that I really wanted that remote control indoor helicopter. It was made of plastic and packaged in plastic. If it not been for a tiny remote control car incident 4 Christmases ago, that Super J. reminded me of, I would be buzzing that thing around her head right now.

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-13T07:33:00.002-05:00

Super J and I went Christmas shopping last night. I was in a bit of a crunchy mood due to a headache and a long day at work. For the record, Christmas shopping with your spouse and a bad attitude do not mix. I got checked fairly early on. :)
We were shopping and getting ideas. Super J. would pick something up and say "How about this for ..." . Before she could finish I would interrupt with "Plaaaaaastic."
We ended up buying some wood bowls. Today we're going to an antique mall to look for some gifts. This is what we came up with as a solution to buying new, shiny plastic stuff. We will buy old stuff that used to be shiny, perhaps is still plastic but hopefully will be made out of some other material like cloth, glass, wood, metal, something that if the recipient hates, they can toss it in their backyard and it will return to the earth.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T09:45:00.002-05:00

My tofurkey was wrapped in plastic. I'm guessing that there is a recipe out there so I can make one myself next year.

My Mom in law served all but Thanksgiving dinner in paper plates and solo cups. What could I say? I didn't want to clean up after 8 people either. And the woman actively recycles and has a compost bin that she's dedicated to.

My Christmas tree that I bought from the big orange box was also wrapped in plastic netting and then tethered to my car with saran wrap. Hmmm. Next year we're bringing our own rope.

There's a lot of plastic. I'm feeling a little discouraged.

A day in the life of a consumer

2008-11-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that my world had been turned a little upside down and I didn’t really have time to think about being plastic conscious. This past weekend was the first weekend I had that was normal again. I realized that I had become very lax about being plastic free plastic free.

Here’s a recap of my weekend and all the plastic that happened:

Saturday morning: Coffee. I usually use my reusable container. But my kitchen sink was clogged up and I didn’t have a way of washing it, other than the bathroom sink and that kinda grossed me out. Anyway, one medium coffee, with a plastic lid.

Later Saturday morning: Trip to giant orange box that sells hardware and lumber. I purchased a circular saw, some hinges, a flashlight, a latch, and a sheet of plywood. The plywood was the only thing that didn’t have some kind of plastic packaging.

Saturday evening: Dinner. I ordered a martini. I suspected that they would also bring me water, so I requested it without a straw. Go me. The martini olives were impaled with a little plastic cocktail skewer.

Sunday morning: Shopping trip. I hate shopping for clothes. Consequentially, I usually find myself in dire need of clothes when the seasons roll around. That fact coupled with my overtime pay called for a shopping trip.
I won’t name off all the places I went, but I will say that every clothing item I bought had a plastic tag on it. I’ve gotten very good about asking the cashier to skip the bag but sometimes I just get ignored and sometimes I get tired.
I did visit Lush and got some solid perfume. I’m intrigued by the little tins with solid perfume in them. Fascinating. I think one of my favorite things about Lush, it that it seems, that the employees are just as passionate about their product as they would be if they owned the store themselves.

So..THAT purchase was not only plastic free, but it was also vegan. Awesome!

Anyway, my point is that without thinking much about anything, just shopping and having a “regular” weekend, like any middle class schmoe I purchased a lot of plastic.

2 Plastic coffee lids
6 plastic bags containing hardware
3 plastic ties and a plastic guard that came with the circular saw, which also has plastic on it but is metal for the most part
1 plastic casing that held the flashlight
1 plastic olive skewer
11 plastic clothing tags (just a teeny bit of plastic but it’s still plastic)
1 plastic sock hanger (the hanger that they use to hang socks on display)
1 plastic casing that held 8 c cell batteries
Super J wanted some cinnamon rolls from the mall. I participated:
1 plastic straw and lid
1 plastic fork
several shopping bags that I could have been more aggressive about not taking

Whew. All that within 30 hours or so.

This is a process. There’s no doubt about it. I’m finding similarities to becoming a vegetarian. It was a gradual thing, until one news broadcast sent me over the edge of no meat (with legs that live above water). I’ve notice that seafood in my diet has decreased a lot in the last year or so. I think I’ll find that to be the case with plastic.

Consumption

2008-11-15T07:49:00.002-05:00

Things have happened since my last post. Mainly, I've started working 60-70 hours a week. It's short term though, so I'm trying to ignore the fact that meditation and yoga time have disappeared and replaced with food, sleep and work.
Because of my schedule, I've found myself relaxing on the no plastic rule. Not out of lack of caring but it's more like, I barely have time to sleep, much less stand guard so that my socialized, "Oh my, this is cute AND convenient" self doesn't buy plastic.

Anyway, that's just a preface to the real topic of this blog. Consumption.
I don't mean just eating. I'm also talking about consumerism. My partner "Super - J", were talking about recycling. She is not as big into recycling as I am, but she is uber supportive. Because of her support and caring, we often find ourselves engaged in deep, productive conversations after almost 10 years....
Anyway- I was talking about my recent discovery that not all recycling goes to some shiny little plant down the road where they sort out the 5% of true trash, recycle the rest and their uniforms never get dirty. Thanks to Fake Plastic Fish, I've found that sometimes, recycling ends up in China. I won't go into the logistics of it all, mainly because I haven't had time to research it, but even if just one of our counties in, one of our states is shipping our stuff off to anywhere, that's bad news. Why? Because it means that we are afraid, incapable, or just don't care enough to clean up after ourselves. The waste of our consumption shouldn't cause poor living conditions in another country.
So as wonderful as recycling is, it's not the end of it. The other side of it, the side that I find more difficult is to control purchases. And yes, I know that this isn't a problem for everyone, and if you have 6 kids to buy milk for and only 4 dollars to do it, where the milk came from, how the animal was treated and what it's packaged in may not be of concern. I am not in that situation and have the luxury of making more sensitive purchases if I want to.
Super-J and I agreed to do an experiment. We were not going to buy anything, other than essentials for a month. Essentials to us, means food and clothing. Super - J was the first to crack. She came home with a new set of organic cotton sheets and a new iron.
I'm sure I bought something soon afterwards...though maybe not, my crazy schedule may have kicked in by then. My point is- "stuff" that we buy, is laced with plastic. The cotton sheets were encased in plastic and the iron had Styrofoam surrounding it.
The sellers don't make it easy to buy things if you are trying to go green. How about packaging sheets in a third pillowcase? Perhaps and irregular one..that's gotta be cheaper than the plastic.
How about packing the iron in it's box with post consumer paper? I'm sure there's an argument that it won't look as pretty.
I'm thinking our earth won't look as pretty if we don't though.

Where to start?

2008-10-17T01:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I've heard that the best place to start is right where you are.

Here are the things that I do now that are helpful, at least somewhat.

I'm posting this list as my "back to center" place so that I can revisit it if the world starts feeling a little heavy to me.

I recycle at home.

I recycle at other people's homes

I have made a loose habit of recycling on trips, taking things home with me, if I need to

I started a recycling program at work which has been swallowed up by the buildings giant recycling program

I planted a lot of trees a couple of years ago (I'm hoping to get back on that)

I'm a vegetarian ( I do eat fish, but not very often, but I haven't given up dairy and eggs)

When I get take out in a plastic container...I think about it.

I've purchased a Klean Kanteen which I love

I've purchased a set of bamboo utensils to replace plastic ones when the need arises

My household skipped buying paper towels the last trip to the warehouse market

I planted a garden

I bought some biodegradable poop bags for my pup

I take my own bags, or if I find myself with out a bag, I carry my purchases. (The bags I'm using now are .99 cents at the grocery store. Why are they so cheap? Well...they are made of some sort of plastic. I'm moving towards cotton bags....yes, ORGANIC cotton)

I buy used books and used clothing.

I drive a tiny car

Occasionally I email companies and make suggestions about how they can be greener.

I talk to others about eco stuff

Lunchtime

2008-10-16T20:42:00.009-04:00

I like to bring my lunch from home. I like to do that because its a lot cheaper, I control what goes into it, I usually like it better than anything I would buy, and I think I just like carrying food around.

I'm also a lacto-ovo-pisco vegetarian. I do eat sandwiches sometimes, but believe it or not, a veggie sandwich is not as easy as it looks. There's washing and cutting and slicing and storing. Because of that, most of my lunches involve being warmed up in a microwave.

Part of the lunch snag is what I am eating out of. Of course I own zillions of plastic containers, some with lids, some with not. You do too, don't lie. They live in a cabinet all jumbled on top of each other and when you open the door, they lurch forward and try to escape. I pick the prettiest and the one best sized for the job and toss the rest of them back into their dungeon. These plastic containers, ultra convenient, durable items...are...well....plastic. So I'd like to find a way around the challenge of transporting my lunch.
To go ware has metal containers that you put your food in and go, but they seem to be limited in size and shape. While they are very neat, I'm not sure they are the best solution for me, because they can't be microwaved.

The other part of the lunch challenge is the utensils. I have TONS of plastic utensils at my disposal at work. Disposal being the leading word here. I've tried bringing my own for a while, I couldn't' remember and then sat stewing in guilt during my lunch. No fun.

That problem solved. Sort of. To go ware (I promise I don't work for this company, I just love their product) also has bamboo utensils that come with their own carrying case that are designed specifically to help people navigate around that problem. So while I'm at work, that is what I use. The "sort of" comes in when I go out to eat at the last minute. I forget my to- go ware. I'm not the purse carrying type but I recently bought one. My to go ware fits nicely in it. I just have to get over the inclination to take out the cash that I need and leave the bag and it's contents behind.

So, this post boils down to me needing to find a substitute for tupperware and remembering to carry my purse.

12,064 days

2008-10-16T03:09:00.003-04:00

12,064. That is how many days I have been alive. I could throw a bunch of numbers and figures out to show the imbalance of years I've been alive versus how much trash I've produced, but that's not really what this is about. This blog is about me making my footstep a little lighter. I gave up pork, chicken, and beef about 5 years ago. I did it because I thought it was inhumane. I couldn't justify it in my head or in my heart. Over the couple of years, I've made a slow progress towards being green and I've found myself thinking about it more and more.

In addition to recycling, trying to make more conscious decisions about purchases, actions, and life in general, I am going to focus on reducing plastic. Plastic is a problem. It's filling our planet; more specifically, our woods, our rivers, lakes, birds, fish, oceans, dolphins, etc. It's finding homes where it doesn't belong.

As I'm here, in my home office, typing on a computer, I realize this is not an easy thing. I think it's important to say here, that I'm not trying to rid myself of all plastic. I think this is just as much about consumerism as it is "going green". This isn't about the car that has plastic molding, or about the computer monitor, or about the siding on the house, or about the plastic limb replacements. That's not the stuff that you see floating, clogging, and killing. It's the straws, the drink lids, the lipstick tubes, the cosmetics bottles, the water bottles, the to-go boxes, the little stuff. It's the stuff that we, that I, buy every day, day after day, because I need it, because that's how things are, because any other way would be more work. So my swim in this blogosphere will be about my steps towards leaving less of a mark on the earth.

"as we fall through" 8