Ready, Set, Green: My Eight-Week Journey To A Greener, Guilt-Free Me
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 06.10.08
footprint photo by ezioman @ flickr
Chapters 1-3: Bigfoot Meets Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
I am reading Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill's new book Ready, Set, Green and am following along chapter by chapter, seeing if there are is some easy greening I can do in my 4-person household in order to banish my green guilt. Part of Chapter 2, "Prep Work" entailed calculating my ecological footprint at www.ecofoot.org. According to my test, to support my so-called lifestyle 4.6 Earths would be needed. Although I might have been .4 of a planet under the U.S. average, my results were exasperating, and I hope untrue. I felt like the calculator itself was crude and not in-depth enough to really give the most accurate measure of my family's footprint.
No Such Thing As Jet-Based Eco-Travel
On the other hand, deep down I'm thinking that it is accurate enough to spot my two Achilles heels - jet travel and a meat-heavy diet. My rabid recycling and composting, lack of a car, big-time bike riding and backyard gardening do nothing to help wipe away the effects of my periodic need to travel by aircraft. When are they going to bring back the Zeppelins? Not soon enough for my eco-footprint, and I can't see a way to economically cross the ocean twice a year by jet, so read on to see what I am trying this week.
Remembering To Reuse
In Ready, Set, Green, TreeHugger's own Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill provide chapter-end toolbox tips. There's "Save The Planet In 30 Minutes Or Less," and "So You Want To Do More" at the end of each chapter. Even my first attempt at the simple list for Chapter 3 (pg. 34) gives me a bit of consternation. I bought my reusable coffee mug and water bottle (both in stainless) check, check. But a new problem has emerged - remembering to stuff them into my backpack each morning!
I already think I'm a good recycler, but in order to encourage the rest of my family, I post little notes in the bathroom and office about putting any recyclable paper into the (reused) boxes I oh-so-thoughtfully provide. Another check. The biggest win this week is reducing our garbage pick up from one a week to once every 14 days. Yeah! On the down side, canceling a magazine or newspaper subscription is hard - I don't have any. But I do vow to forgo buying the Sunday paper, though reading it online is SO unsatisfying. Check.
Plastic packaging is my nemesis
By doing the careful observation of my shopping that the book suggests (pg. 34), I realize that each grocery trip generates about a dozen pieces of non-recyclable plastic bag-type trash. I can't seem to solve that or the issue of bagging some fruits and veggies. If I put them bare-naked into my cart, they wander all over the conveyor belt during check-out and distress the checkers. Still waiting for inspiration. Readers?
I make a stab at nearly every item on the "So You Want To Do More" list (pg. 34-35), including bringing a big bunch of old clothes and odds-and-ends to our local recycling center. And my re-use inspiration of the week: Instead of buying a new tablecloth, we recycled an old white sheet as tablecloth, dressing it up (and hiding stains) with a beautiful old linen runner. By the end of the weekend, I'm feeling virtuous, though far from guilt-free. Tune in next week for my efforts with: Chapter 4: "Eating Your Way Green: Food and Drink."
More on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
How To Green Your Recycling
Has Recycling Jumped The Shark?
Why don't you take the little plastic bags for fruit and veggies with you each time you go? That way you can reuse them - as long as you don't tie the top in one of those unopenable knots that force you to tear them open...
----author replies ----
Hi, Sara:
Your suggestion is a good one - maybe i could always have a bag or two inside my shopping bag, which I try to always have with me. Currently I reluctantly reuse the plastic as wrappings for leftovers, having given up an addition to plastic wrap and switched to mostly glass leftover containers. I would love a solution that doesn't include any plastic, however. Eventually.
Why not make (or purchase) lightweight fabric bags made of organic cotton or hemp? They shouldn't add too much weight to the scale. Plus, you can make different sizes for smaller/larger quantities.
This is my summer project, re-usable produce bags and everyday napkins.
Any suggestions on how to avoid the styro trays and plastic wrap on meat products? I'm introducing more vegetarian meals but I don't think I'll be able to convert the husband to an all veggy diet any time soon.
---- author replies -----
I avoid the styro trays by buying $200 of grass-fed meat at a time. It comes in vacuum-pack plastic, however, which I hate. But thanks for the tip!
One way you can still shop for fruits and vegetables at the grocery store is to recycle the bags whenever you are finished. Instead of tying off the top, like so many do, be sure to keep a couple of the household twist-ties (like those found with Glad trash bags) in your shopping bag.
Now, you're finished with the bag and need to recycle it. You can always keep a few of those bags in your car, just in case you ever need to clean it out (assuming you're the kind of person whose car gets trash in it from time-to-time). You can also use those bags for mail packaging, for when you send a Christmas gift to your cousin a thousand miles away.
I do have the same dilemma as you, as I reuse those little bags around the house too. I am also wondering how to solve the kitchen bin bag dilemma. I currently use shopping bags in my kitchen bin, but due to my uptake of reusable bags those are beginning to be in short supply. I don't want to go and buy a roll of bags, as that seems to defeat the purpose, but I don't know what the alternatives are.
----author replies ------
I'm totally with you on this one. I want to do away with the 'bin' altogether, which is why the plastic packaging is such an issue. But my partner says I have to have a really viable all-trash solution before I take away the bin! And then what do I do when HE goes to the store, and brings home the plastic bags?
I've been using BioBags (www.bioboagusa.com) for my cat's litter, compost, and the "regular" trashcan. My current dilemma: they're no longer available where I live; can I justify ordering them online and having them shipped?
I just got some reusable cotton produce bags from ecobags (http://www.ecobags.com/Our_Products/Produce_Bags?whence=) They worked great, I even blogged about it and posted a picture if you want to check it out - http://newshadeofgreen.blogspot.com/2008/06/zero.html.
Good luck!
For the forgot-my-coffee mug dilemma, I keep a shoe box in my car, full of clean coffee mugs and soda cups (alas, I'm a soda junkie--not very green, but at least I'm not buying those single-use plastic bottles anymore). I've found lots of places cut their prices drastically if you bring your own cup!
The veggie dilemma--I bring my own grocery bags (one is always in my purse so I can't forget it!) , put the veggies in them as a I shop, then use the self-checkout. Nobody complains when I set them on the checkout cuz I'm doing it myself!
And this is not for everyone, but we get all our meat from my dad who's an avid hunter. Venison and pheasant are common staples at our home. The paper they use to package it in is still plastic-coated on the inside, though. Sigh.
Hi, you should check out moukisac at http://www.moukisac.com/en_system.html
it's a reuseable shopping bag that comes with mesh bags for fruits and vegetables, and bulk foods (thes mesh baggies are also sold separately). no plastic. and ethically made in canada.
I'm from Estonia.
In the Soviet times there weren't many plastic bags around. Trashbins were plastic, one used to place an old paper on the bottom of it to keep the trach from sticking to the bottom of the bin and trash was taken out with the bin ( the bin had a handle for carrying). So, trash was thrown and the bin taken back, it was always a bit dirty so one ad to rinse it a bit. But no plastics were used.
I also switched to the ecobags.com organic produce bags and they rock (although I have the net ones and the small ones, not the same ones that the other poster has.) You can also get them on http://www.reusablebags.com , which has a ton of great products.
One way I keep myself from forgetting things is to put them on top of my shoes. Trust me, you never forget to bring something if it's sitting on top of your shoes!
I also switched to the ecobags.com organic produce bags and they rock (although I have the net ones and the small ones, not the same ones that the other poster has.) You can also get them on http://www.reusablebags.com , which has a ton of great products.
One way I keep myself from forgetting things is to put them on top of my shoes. Trust me, you never forget to bring something if it's sitting on top of your shoes!