Mother Earth Gift Ideas

Be sure to remember Mother Earth on your shopping list this year!  What do you get the planet that has everything?   Fortunately for all of us, Mother Earth doesn’t have expensive taste.  She just wants all of us to do a little more to show we care.
 
Mother Earth has been working really hard this year to keep up with all of the changes happening in her life.  Give her a break and let her sleep a little longer in the dark these days: always turn off lights in unoccupied rooms around your home and use less lighting for holiday decorations.

She also appreciates the crisp cool air of the holiday season so be sure to keep the thermostat down and instead possibly wear some of the sweaters you received as gifts in past years.

Nothing makes Mother Earth smile like a batch of freshly baked holiday compost soil. Consider giving Mother Earth the gift of starting a compost bin or pile in your yard or where you work or go to school.  Much of your holiday waste could be composted instead of trashed including your tree, food waste, organic decorations, and shredded paper.
 
Another great idea for Mother Earth is to treat her to a facial!  Mother Earth always loves to be pampered with new native gardens and trees naturally landscaped to enhance her beauty.
 
Mother Earth has also been very generous, digging into her savings account the last several years to let us manufacture new things out of natural resources.  So be sure to recycle the stuff we already have and let Mother Earth keep some savings to splurge on herself!

Remember, you can’t go wrong with anything green, organic, efficient, resourceful, or that does less to stress her out. 

If nothing else, Mother Earth always appreciates a hug!

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Rethinking Paper Use

Paper use is, at times, astounding.  The average American uses 700 pounds of paper per year, which is over 7 trees per person.  There are some very easy things you can do to reduce your paper use.

1. Stop getting junk mail. This probably won’t be much of a burden.  Simply visit Waukesha County’s website to learn how to get off of junk mail lists.  Think this won’t make a difference?  Every person in our country gets about 250 pieces of unsolicited mail every year, and in the course of a lifetime, you’ll spend about 8 months sorting through it!  This easy fix saves time and money.  As a quick reminder: if you do get junk mail it is recyclable.  Even paper envelopes with plastic windows belong in your blue bin, not the trash.
2. Cool as the other side of the paper. Set your printers at work and home to print duplex.  Work printers usually have this option, which is easily set.  At home, you may need to feed your paper through the printer twice.  This post by TechSoup will walk you through the duplexing do-si-do whether you have a duplexing printer or not.  Duplexing just not possible?  Use the other side of the paper for scratch paper.  I like using junk mail envelopes for grocery lists, for example.  I just keep all the coupons for that week in the envelope.
3. Make paper reduction automatic. Set up automatic bill pay through your bank or the companies that send you bills.  Everyone saves postage and paper, and everyone is happy.
4. Give wrapping the axe. Wrapping paper is a huge use of paper products.  Consider using more creative wrapping that is reusable, like wrapping a kitchen gift in towels or use reusable gift boxes.  Need some ideas?  I kept track of gifts & how I wrapped them for the holiday season in 2008 and 2007.
5. Use & Reuse. Whenever possible, use reusable plates, cups, and napkins, and rags for cleaning.  By avoiding single-use paper products you can save yourself a lot of money as well as a lot of paper.

Waukesha County’s sustainability program has a lot of great information about reducing paper use at work.

So why not give it a try?  This week, try to reduce your paper use.  What ideas worked for you?  What other ideas do you have?  I’d love to hear about them!

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Head of the Class

The school year is about to begin.  I always loved back to school shopping (if you have seen the commercial with the girl enthused about having a binder for every day of the week you have a pretty good image of me as a child).  However, now as a certified reducer, reuser, recycler, rotter, and rebuyer (the three r’s are so passe – we’re up to 5 r’s now) I came up with 5 tips to reduce purchases made at the beginning of the school year.

Crazy Crayons will take old crayons and recycle them into new ones like the one pictured above. This company is also located in Wisconsin! Click on the crayon to visit their website.

1. Assess. What will still work from last year?  Some items may have survived the year before and can be used again.  When I was growing up my mom would always wash our backpacks at the end of the school year and repack them with items that were still in usable condition.  If you have items that are not going to make it another year, look into recycling options.  Crayons, glue bottles, and fabric can all be recycled.
2. The Paper Problem. Depending on your student, it may make sense to purchase a binder with tabs  for each class and fill with loose leaf paper rather than individual notebooks or a multi-subject notebook.  This way there is not those left over sheets in the binder at the end of the year.  If your child’s teacher does not already save paper that has been only used on one side, consider saving it at home for scratch paper or first draft paper.
3. Quality Over Quantity. Make sure when you do purchase items that they will last the entire year or beyond.  Consider purchasing a plain colored backpack and decorate it with patches that can be modified as your child’s tastes change rather than a lesser quality backpack that will not be ‘en vogue’ even if it manages to survive to next year.
   

   This is just one type of lunch container that your child could use. Check out Laptop Lunch's website for more information on reducing waste as well as a wide variety of yummy lunch recipes.

4. Munch Much? One of the easiest ways to reduce trash throughout the year is to get your child a lunch box and reusable containers.  This allows you to buy in bulk and avoid one use items like the single servings of applesauce and plastic baggies.  Using a lunch box, reusable containers, and a thermos will save 67 lbs of waste from entering the landfill this school year.  Also, your child’s school is paying for that garbage to be thrown away.  Think of how much money could be saved if most kids in the school reduced lunch waste to this degree!  If you compost at home, also have your child bring home food scraps to add to the pile or bin.  I recently posted a link to a post about vermi-composting which is not only a great way to reduce waste, but it is also educational!
   

   This bag from Terracycle is made from an old pretzel bag. Click on the picture to visit their website.

5. Rebuy. When you do need to purchase an item, make sure there is recycled content when possible.  Tissues, writing paper, rulers, pencil bags: all this and much more can be purchased with recycled content.  Post-consumer content is best because that means it was purchased from a Materials Recycling Facility and your purchase is helping rebuild these commodity markets.

What do you plan to do to reduce waste this year?

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Make a list & check it twice…

Knowing what products to buy is a sometimes confusing venture.  Once you have reduced and reused all you can and the final decision has been made to purchase a product, people are often still left in a quandary about which are the best products to buy.  Over the next few posts, I will be looking at different aspects of purchasing products.

Today, I am particularly interested in websites that can assist people in researching products they may be interested in purchasing.  There are really two types of websites that can assist with  this venture.  The first type of website looks to review an entire company in regards to their quality, environmental responsibility, or other factors.  The second type of website focuses on specific products that are reviewed.

Good Guide is a website that reviews specific products as well as companies for social justice, environmental impact, and health.  Most products that are reviewed are food products, other other personal care products are also reviewed.  There is also a blog on the site.  This site is a for profit company, although they are a certified B Corporation.

Skin Deep is a website that focuses on personal care products.  Products are reviewed based on the toxicity of ingredients.  There is a search option by category of product, company, or ingredient.

Other lists are very specific.  One example I located is from the NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council).   It looks specifically at toilet paper, napkins, and other paper products.   The NRDC also has a wide variety of fact sheets on a wide range of issues.  The Environmental Defense Fund has a list of which fish are best to eat.  The nice thing about this list is that it has a mobile phone app and a pocket version available for download so memorization is not necessary.  The Environmental Working Group (EWG), who have broad databases of products like Skin Deep, also provide a short list of the fruits and vegetables that have the most pesticides used on them.  The “Dirty Dozen” are the fruits and vegetables that should be purchased organically to avoid pesticides while the “Clean 15″ have less pesticides used in their production.  There is also a mobile phone app.

Also, if you are buying a product that you would like to have for a while, like a grill, sofa, vacuum, or television, be sure to check out the wide range of product review sites like Consumer Reports, Amazon, the Better Business Bureau, or other such site.  A product is only sustainable if it stands the test of time.

Hopefully this list gives you a wide range in options when it comes to picking a product that meets your needs.  Do you have a favorite site I missed?  I would love to hear about it!  How do you make purchasing decisions?

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Bibbidi-bobbidi-bye-bye: Recycling Old Formalwear

Penelope, now that you have won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, what are you going to do with that dress? (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

I am a sucker for an awards show.  In college my roomate and I would host an annual Oscar Gala in which we would dust off old prom dresses and eat food that was selected to coincide with the five nomonees for best picture.  (The year Crash was nominated I recall cutting a lot of celery to make “cars”)  

And, whether it be THE Academy Awards, or an event with more viscious paparazzi (read: my mother for homecoming or prom), after the lights have dimmed and the hair has drooped, a decision must be made of what to do with THE dress.  There are a lot of great uses for those yards and yards of fabric besides keeping them in the back of your closet.  A few ideas include:

• Reduce: Don’t buy the gown in the first place.  Consider updating a thirft store find.
• Reduce: If you are very talented, make your own dress from found fabrics or newspaper.  I recall seing a girl from West Allis that also did this.
• Reduce: Rent a dress from a local bridesmaid or wedding shop. (From Ideal Bite)
• Reuse: When you are done with the dress, consider donating it to a worthy cause.  Check out The Bridesmaid Party or The Glass Slipper Project to get your duds to a worthy cause.  Locally, there is also a Becca’s Closet chapter and The Boys and Girls Club takes donations for their Sista Pride Initiative (although I can’t find a press release with information on this years drop off sites yet.)  
• Reuse: Consider making a patch work quilt ou to f all those shiny materials as a way to remember special formal events.  I have a good friend that could rival Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses and she made a beautiful blanket.  This trick also works well for the larger-than-life t-shirt collections people collect.
• Reuse: Not too crafty?  Take it to a seamstress and create an heirloom piece like a christening gown from a wedding dress.
• Reuse: Seamstress part deux: If you love the top of a dress, consider hacking off the skirt to be left with a formal top.  
• Reuse: Make throw pillows 
• Reuse: If you have a lot of material, you can easily make a Christmas tree skirt.  I did this with the train of my wedding dress and am quite happy with the result
• Recycle: Fabric can be recycled if it is damaged beyond reuse.  

Do you have any other suggestions?  Please share!

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All I want for Christmas

 

12 Green Days of Chirstmas was the theme of one of Barney's decorated windows last year. Picture from wallyg via Flickr.

 

 

Allrighty kids.  Thanksgiving is done and I managed to have less than 1 bag of garbage, filled mostly with Kleenex from the string of bubonic plague going around my family.  On to the next hurdle of the holidays with creating less trash: purchasing presents.

While the folks at adbusters advocated the 17th annual Buy Nothing Day last Friday, shopping on Black Friday was up around 7% from last year.  I wasn’t a part of it though, as were many other people that I have talked to.  It seems most of the people I know are cutting back on their holidays for either environmental or economic reasons.  Despite the stores lauding the best deals ever, prices are rising because of a variety of issues.  This year the ubiquitous 12 Days of Christmas costs $86,609 (up over 10% from last year).  While some like the folks at Adbusters advocate having a gift-free holiday, even suppling certificates you can distribute to people to explain that you don’t want anything for the holdidays, this is a little too drastic for many in my circle.  

As I wrote last year, finding the perfect gift is a family tradition that probably pre-dates the actual holiday.  As the greenest of my family members, I try to promote an easy route to go green without having to move to a hippie commune and use a composting toilet.  While looking back at my efforts last year I decided they were a nice place to start.  Good for a beginner.  I made sure that gifts were usable and reduced waste through wrapping items in creative ways.  However, this year I really want to green up my gift-giving up an extra notch.

One great group I have been looking at for inspiration is the local girls at Every Shade of Green.  This year they are looking to have a holiday season with great memories and traditions while only spending $100.  Some of the coolest things they got from local craft fairs.  While I am not going to hit the $100 mark this year, I love the idea of supporting sustainable, green companies or local companies with my presents.

To review the rules:

1. Everything must be useful.  No wasteful gadgets, gift wrap, or one more item of clothing.  My dad has plenty of coffee mugs and my mom is full up when it comes to smelly lotions.  I don’t need to wrap stuff in paper just to have it tossed.  My goal is 99% useful. (I figure the gift tag is a fair exception)
2. Everything has to fit the person.  No more useless gift emporium for me.  Last year I vowed to get gift cards or make a charitable contribution to an organization in the persons name.  This year I am going to do my best to avoid gift cards because they really are not as personable as I wanted.  
3. The new rule: Use the gift to encourage a green lifestyle or support a local business.
4. The other sort-of-new rule: For immidiate family I am using reusable boxes for wrapping items.  I semi-started this last year and it worked out really well so I am going to run with it.

O.K. So here’s what I came up with:

The hubby:  A gym membership and a mp3 player.  I have a couple of weaker ideas.  Unfortunately this is one of them.  Despite the fact that gym memberships are not eco-friendly when you can be excersizing outdoors sans electricity, we just got our first bought of snow last night and that puts a kabosh on all outdoor excersizing for a few months.  However, I made sure to go to a gym where I can get a membership that I can ‘pause’ when the weather gets nice and he can again run around town.  Also, I am going as eco-friendly as possible with the MP3 player, making sure that there are fewer toxins than your average electronic device and that there is a plan to recycle it when he can no longer use it.  

The sister:  Organic pancake mix.  This probably sounds quite odd and is once again, not the most environmentally friendly sollution.  You see, my sister moved to Belgium this past year to get her degree (same sister that had previously lived in Africa for those following from last year).  In Europe they have different flour and the last time she lived in Belgium the thing she missed most was pancakes because the flour doesn’t work quite right.  This site provided insights to green my shipping.  I am also coordinating with other family members so we ship in one box to cut down on packaging.  I am stuffing a really cute scarf in the box as well.  Lightweight, usable, local craftsperson.  Wunderbar.  

The ‘rents: I got them a compost bin for their birthdays and they love it, even thought they were somewhat skeptical at first.  It worked so well, I decided to go with a rain barrel.  They are so green and don’t even know it — hehe!

The ‘rents-in-law: A retractable line for drying clothes.  They used to dry everyting by line but then had issues with neighborhood children using line as a toy when it wasn’t in use that ended up causing damage to the house.  This is the perfect way to solve a problem and encourage a truly green behavior!

The grandma: Framing.  She has quite a few pictures that she has wanted framed for a while and then needs help putting them up on the wall, so I went all Mcgyver and got the pictures and will frame them and then take a day to hang out with my grandma to help hang them up.  Pretty cheap, something she really has wanted, and an excuse to hang out.  Perfect.

The grandpa:  Currently undicided.  Last year went with a gift to PBS and that went over really well.  He also has re-taken up gormet cooking so I might go with a local/ organic gift basket or (gulp) a gift certificate for this endevor. 

The co-worker:  For the office pool my husband noted for gift suggestions that a charitable contribution in his name woudl be wonderful and as far as I know he is planning on doing that for whomever he draws.

Looking for more ideas?  Visit Waukesha County’s site and do share your ideas!

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Tale of Two Pens

It was the best of pens, it was the worst of pens. Our office had a “come hither and peruse our new products while a man in a Santa suit gives you cake to convince you it is Christmas in July” event. There was a wide array of “green” products and when people heard we were from the recycling department they really hammed it up. Products that clearly had no eco-benefit all of a sudden where green as the day is long. Greenwashing at its finest.

Now it wasn’t all bad. Some products were very cool including recycled labels for the printer, a computer recycling program, and 100% post-consumer recycled file folders. The thing I thought the coolest however, were the pens made with recycled content. Although I am sure that there are many similar pens on the market, our distributor offers both the Pilot BEGREEN (pictured on left) and the Recycology Pentel Handy-line S (pictured on right). Both were made of recycled content (up to 90% and around 50% respectively) so I thought I had instantly made my choice, but then I realized that the Handy-line highlighters and markers were refillable! Oh what is an eco-girl to do? Thanks to the fact that I talk about reducing, reusing, and recycling in my sleep (and doing them in that order) I quickly made my decision, didn’t take the huge bag of freebies I wouldn’t use, grabbed some cake to shove in my face (with a fork “made from plants” no less!), and was on my merry way. Halfway through my cake I realized that it is a really great thing that there are mainstream options that also are taking a look at being green and sustainable. I’m a teacher and school supplies have always made me giddy – these new recycled content pens make me even happier!

Do share – what is your favorite recycled content product?

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If you build it…

For the past week, I have been working out of a box. Not because I am going through a Kerouac-ian journey (complete with Tang) to get in touch with my inner self – although the detour does sound nice – but rather because we are getting new carpet at the office.

The old stuff was well used and quite threadbare. Also, the new stuff, pictured on the left side of the photo, is sure to keep everyone awake if they should happen to look at the floor for too long.

Remodeling is a popular pastime, whether you are sprucing things up for yourself or trying to get an edge in the cut-thought real estate market. While bathroom remodeling is still the most popular, according to Gregg Hicks, director of marketing for Reliableremodeler.com, over 10% of polled individuals planned to redo some flooring or paint their walls as the most popular remodeling request for contractors. My guess is that a much higher percent of the population plans on these two projects, but may be the more do-it-yourself types or are counting it as a larger remodeling project. (If you are planning to blast through the side of your house with enough TNT to send Wylie E. Coyote into the next state to add a lavish master bedroom and bath mentioning that you are planning to repaint seems like a moot point)

 

A few tips to make your project eco-friendly.

Plan Ahead.

What will you do with all of the stuff you are tearing out of your home? If you are DIY contact local recyclers to see what can be recycled of your construction and demolition debris. If you are working with a contractor, make sure they handle your waste in a responsible way. Some recycling companies will recycle your old carpet. Could you donate items that no longer fit your decorating scheme? Check out Waukesha County’s C&D recycling page to see what other materials you can reuse or recycle.

Use Sustainable & Green products

Green paint, as in eco-friendly – not chartreuse – use less harmful chemicals and are easier to dispose of. For some good background information, visit the state of California’s website, which has some great information on what makes an eco-friendly product.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

This would not be a cliché if it were not true. Well, at the very least it is good advice. Make use of online calculators. This one tells you not only how many gallons to buy, but figures it out based on what type of painting you are doing. (For normal painting with a roller make sure to select that information on the second page because the calculator defaults the most paint you would need for very absorbent and rough surfaces.) Average cover rate is 400 to 450 sq feet per gallon. Use green sealed paints if possible and latex as a second best choice.

Options for leftovers.

Try to use up leftovers. After all, mom did always tell you to use what you take. Some reuse ideas include:

• Touch-ups
• Paint a piece of furniture that goes in an adjacent room
• Donate it to a friend, church, high school, recreation department, community theater group, or other organization

Latex paint, once dried, can be thrown away with your normal trash while oil based paints must be treated as household hazardous waste. These are very expensive disposal options.

 

By pre-planning and thinking about how to be eco-friendly through disposal, product selection, and leftover products your reconstruction project will be as easy as pie.

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Disposable Cars and Other Atrocities

So I was innocently enough watching the news last week when a review of hybrid vehicles came on. Technically, it was one of those morning news shows that are more about entertainment and factoids (like talking to the latest Hollywood starlet about their new tell-all book that really doesn’t tell anything) than real hard-hitting journalism (like having deep, philosophical, ideological debates with opposing sides about nuclear proliferation or sustainability issues or if a flag pin does or does not make you patriotic) But to be honest, I don’t think I could handle the latter before a pot and a half of coffee.

I digress. The point about the news/non-news story was that when deciding to purchase a new vehicle, you should compare hybrid vehicles to high mileage compacts because you would have to own the hybrid for a ridiculously long time to economically break even. How long is this tipping point you may ask? Less than 5 years. It is a sad day in over-consumption when people don’t even treat the purchase of a car as a long term purchase. Only 1% of every natural resource we grow, mine, or drill for is still in use 6 months after we purchase it. This disposal-is-cool society that reminds us to use & toss such items as water bottles made from petroleum, dust rags and single use toilet bowl cleaners made from petroleum and cotton, and individually shrink-wrapped potatoes is running down our planet. Even automobiles are starting to edge closer to the disposable category. If everyone in the world consumed and disposed the way American’s do, we would need 3 to 5 earths to supply our needs.

 

The car you purchase, even if there is not an immediate economic benefit, has long term economic and environmental effects that are positive. Even if you are not driving the car you purchase after 5 years, some one else will. Pay the environmental and economic savings forward and purchase a car that pollutes less and uses less gas. Also, consider buying pre-owned. This saves oodles of resources from making a new car (withstanding, of course, that the car is still fuel-efficient). When we buy things, durability should be a concern. Environmentalists constantly preach the praises of purchasing a reusable mug for coffee and water, because it reduces waste. However, it is equally important to consider purchasing durable cars, electronics, and clothing.

For tips to increase gas mileage on any car, watch this YouTube video.

And visit this governmental website.

EPA Greenversations is the Environmental Protection Agency’s Blog that has a discussion about what would it take for many American’s to change their driving habits.

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R is for Rebuy

Ah, the last of the R’s. Rebuy. a.k.a. “closing the loop”. And quite possibly my favorite one, because it includes shopping. The idea behind the Rebuy R is to purchase environmentally friendly products as well as products made from recycled content. Simple. Now, with grocery costs going sky high, I get that people want to pinch pennies wherever they can. Easily enough, because of the growing popularity of recycled content goods, it is getting easier and cheaper to get these products. And the more we purchase these goods, the more popular and cheaper they will become.
I get not seeing the importance of this one, so I’ll try to make it clear as a whistle. First, you are supporting a very important industry. The companies that make products out of recycled materials need to have a market to sell their stuff. Also, these products are made with a lot of great manufacturing jobs here in the U.S. Not everything is, but definitely a good amount. Secondly, by purchasing recycled content goods you are saving natural resources. For example, it can take 90 years to grow a box of facial tissues. Also, less than 20% of our paper comes from tree farms. This means that if you are using virgin trees for your paper needs, most likely a diverse forest was cut down so you could wipe your nose, face, and butt. yoinks! For these items that you can not recycle, the only environmentally sound response is to purchase things that have already gone through the process as much as they could have.
Even if you only occasionally rebuy, the impacts can be enormous. According to Seventh Generation, a company that makes disposable paper goods out of completely recycled content, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with a 100% recycled roll, we could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, & 155 million gallons of water. So there you go, a very little action. If you can’t continually purchase recycled paper goods, do so every other time and go home happy.
While paper products made from recycled paper products are a fantastic start, consider these other materials that are made from your recycled goods.
Aluminum — sold to the Anheuser Busch company to make new aluminum cans for a plethora of products
Glass — can be made into new glass bottles, glassphalt (the new sparkley roads), kitchen and bath tile
Steel — anything. Almost all steel products today have some recycled content.
Plastic bottles & jugs #1 — carpet from the Mohawk company. Other big buyers (although not of our local material) include Patagonia fleece clothing. This is a really cool process where the plastic is melted into a polyester-like thread which can be spun into almost any fabric product.
Plastic bottles & jugs #2 — more bottles and jugs for motor oil. Another big buyer (although, again not from us) is Trex plastic decking. Don’t even get me started on how great it would be to have had this stuff when I was a kid so my entire summer wasn’t spent scrapping, painting, burning in the sun. My mother said it built character. I disagree.

One more note about labels. If an item says it has recycled content that is good. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean they purchased the stuff from a MRF. For example, when they cut paper into sheets there are always scraps. These scraps can be recycled on site very easily and are technically considered recycled content, even though they have never been outside of that paper mill. While you are still getting the environmental benefits of recycling paper, the economic full circle is not in place. If an item says it has post-consumer recycled content, even better. This means the materials have been previously used by a real live consumer who made the effort to get them in the recycling bin so they could be turned into something new. Not only do you get the environmental benefits from this product, but you are contributing to the recycling economy by ‘closing the loop’.

Ta-da! Saving the world one shopping trip at a time.

So there it is. The final R. I hope this little series has encouraged you to pay a little more attention to the 5 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot, and Rebuy. If you use any other products made from recycled content material, we would love to here about them – just post them after this entry.

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Picture Credit: Seventh Generation sells 100% recycled paper towels, 80% post-consumer.