Speaking out against concrete

As many of you know, I’m a No Impact Man fangirl. I’ve read Colin Beavan’s book and participated in the No Impact Experiment with my family (miles are smaller by car).

This week I watched No Impact Man on DVD and was struck by this:

Lack of community has a negative effect on our environment.

Or said another way, when we feel disconnected from one another it’s easy to feel that our individual efforts don’t matter. Why limit our use of plastic? Plastic is everywhere. Why compost? Fruit flies are annoying. Disposable coffee cups are the norm, so why use a reusable cup?

Because (I believe) our actions have a ripple effect, affecting others in ways we can’t see.   

Today I walked to the store with my daughter and along the way she spoke out against concrete. Yes, concrete. My nine year old, tree-hugging daughter dreams of a car-free world. When I hear her ideas I get excited and I wonder how many people will be affected by her passion for fewer cars.

Our individual efforts matter. Even when we don’t think they do.

What are you passionate about? Who will you inspire today?

Green police

My daughter watched the Super Bowl this year and I missed it (aw shucks). When she returned home I asked her which commercial was her favorite. Her response?

The Green Police Ad:

My daughter thought the Green Police ad was clever. What if disposable products were illegal? Is it absurd or a possibility? Does the ad help or hurt green initiatives?

Is the ad effective? 

After saying the ad was clever, my daughter added “I wanted the car for a second.”

Oh no! The ad was very effective. We don’t need a car, not to mention my daughter can’t drive. Still, she wanted the car for a second.

Ah, the power of advertising. This is why companies pay millions of dollars for 30 seconds.

What do you think? Does the ad help green initiatives, hurt them, or just help sell cars?

No Impact Man… The Book

There’s No Impact Man, the blog, the movie and now the book.

Colin, Michelle and Isabella (yeah, we’re on a first name basis) embark on a year-long lifestyle experiment where they attempt to live with the smallest environmental impact. Why do such a thing?

If you want to change the world, start with yourself. Or as the famous Gandhi quote says, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Colin realized that in order to change the world he needed to stop condemning others for their consumption of resources, and start changing his consumption.

And so No Impact Man was born. The transformation towards a no impact life happens in stages over the course of a year. Each stage brings it’s own set of problems, stories and discoveries.

The first step Colin and his family take is towards zero waste. They examine the contents of their trash and vow to not produce trash – this means not buying packaged products or using disposable products like paper napkins. Next they take on carbon producing transportation. They use bikes, a scooter or good old fashioned walking to get around NYC. Next up they switch to locally produced food. And then they pull the plug on electricity.

While reading this book, I thought about the changes Colin and his family made. Could I go without a car? Could I shop at the farmer’s market exclusively? Could I go electricity free once a week? Could I avoid buying things wrapped in plastic?

What I got from this book, other than inspiration and ideas on how to shrink my carbon footprint, was an overwhelming sense that I can make a difference.

As Helen Keller said, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.“

It’s better to do something, than nothing.

I found the book to be entertaining, inspirational, thought provoking, and deeply personal. Colin is the real deal.

Check out No Impact Man, the project to see how you can make a difference.

Raising our trash-consciousness

According to Colin Beavan of No Impact Man fame, 80% of what we produce is made to be used once, which means that 80% of the resources on our planet are going to a landfill. 80%.

Even if this statistic is inflated (the percentage may be closer to 67%), compare our culture today to say 100 years ago, and few would disagree that our society has become overly disposable. Our current high-impact lifestyle is not sustainable.

What can you do?

Take a look at your trash.

What are you throwing away? This week is National Zero Waste Week – a campaign aimed at reducing the amount of household trash produced. To participate, take a look at your trash to see what you can do to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost as much as possible.

I’ve worked to reduce my household trash the past few months. What remains? Plastic. My trash is largely a collection of plastic food bags and containers. What can I do to reduce my trash?  

I can…

• Stop buying food products wrapped in plastic, or at least not plastic that can’t be recycled
• Stop using plastic baggies in my kids’ lunches – switching to Lunch Bots and reusable snack bags

What can you do to reduce your household trash?

Need inspiration and ideas on how to reduce your household trash? Jump over to Mrs. Green excellent blog: My Zero Waste.

Remember the story about the guy (Ari Derfel) who saved his trash for a year? I love the tagline on Ari Derfel’s blog:

Going Meatless on Monday

It’s Meatless Monday! Meatless Monday is a non-profit campaign aimed at reducing meat consumption in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.

But what about protein? 

No worries. You can get plenty of protein without eating meat. Check out Heather Levin’s excellent post: Frugal Ways to Get More Protein. 

What should I make? 

If you’re used to eating meaty meals, it can be difficult to make the shift to meatless. You may need some inspiration! Angela Barton has posted some great meatless ideas:

• Meatless Monday recipes
• More Meatless Monday recipes

If cutting back on your meat consumption seems impossible, try cutting back on your red meat consumption. Red meat has the biggest impact on your personal health and our environment.

Go Meatless on Monday (or any day) and post your results here. What did you make? Was it good? Please share.

The Meatrix (factoryfarm.org)

Food waste: Not my best

It’s Friday. Time for me to reflect on my food waste this week.

This week is definitely not one of my better weeks. It’s unusual for me to waste dairy or even fake dairy.

Soy milk- Oops: Forgot about this 1/4 carton.
Yogurt- Too much: Abandoned in the fridge past its expiration date.
Oranges- Not so good: I got these a while back on sale and they weren’t very good. Should have fed them to my juicer.
Carrots- Too much: My kids like baby carrots, but not the big ones.
Cantaloupe– Low demand: CSA box item. I’m the only cantaloupe eater in the house and I’m not a huge fan. If I cut up a cantaloupe and store it ready to eat, then I’m less likely to waste it.

Why so much concern about food waste? Food biodegrades right? Yes, but there’s an environmental impact to wasting food.

When food rots it releases methane, which is 20 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide (CO2). Our landfills account for 34% of methane emissions in the US. The other equally large methane source is enteric fermentation (mammal gas).

There are many eye-opening statistics on the cost of wasting food. This one is from LoveFoodHateWaste.com:

If we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 5 cars off the road.

Wow.

My food waste created a fair amount of methane gas this week, but there’s the possiblity of doing better next week.

How do you reduce your food waste? Share your wisdom/experience in a Comment.

No Impact Man, the movie

Is it possible to have a good life without wasting so much? Writer Colin Beavan explores this idea in a new documentary called No Impact Man. 

I was surprised and excited to see a No Impact Man trailer at the theater this weekend (I gave my daughter a high-five after the trailer). Is living a no impact life going main stream? 

No meat, no fish, no electricity, no cosmetics, no heat, no tv, no transportation (they live in NYC), no elevators, no disposable containers, no toilet paper… for a year. Does this sound too extreme? I was on board until the no toilet paper bit, and then I got a little squeamish.

Beyond the environmental benefits, Colin described his project as:

• The year I lost 20 pounds without going to the gym once.
• The year we didn’t watch tv and we became much better parents as a result. 
• Or the year we ate locally and seasonally, and it ended up reversing my wife’s pre-diabetic condition.

I love stories with unexpected results like this - I set out to consume less and became a better parent. 

No Impact Man probably won’t inspire people to give up toilet paper, but it may inspire people to eat local produce, walk more, live closer to their jobs, avoid disposable products, start a garden, buy used things, eat less meat…

And who knows what unexpected results could happen from a few consumption cutbacks?

No Impact Man trailer

Bravo, Colin! I can’t wait to see No Impact Man in September. Until then, I’ll keep reading Colin’s awesome blog by the same name: No Impact Man. And await the No Impact Man book.

Meatless Monday, Dairyless Tuesday

I’m not much of a meat eater. I’m more of a nibbling rabbit. When I stumbled upon the Meatless Monday campaign, I joined right away. Meatless Monday is a non-profit campaign aimed at reducing meat consumption in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.

Health of our planet? Yes, what we eat has an impact on our planet. But I’ve often wondered how much?

Recently I found a study (pdf file) from Carnegie-Mellon University that answered some of my questions. The study compared greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production and distribution in the United States. 

Red meat has the greatest impact on our environment, followed by my dear friend dairy.

Red meat and dairy production have far more climate impact than delivery. The study found that eliminating red meat and dairy products for one day each week could have the same climate impact as buying local food all year.

Now that I know the impact of dairy on the planet, I’ve decided to reduce my dairy consumption.

It’s easy enough to substitute in soy or hemp milk. Soy yogurt? Earth Balance natural buttery spread? I’ve been reading the Living Without Meat blog (sans ads on my Kindle) and collecting vegan recipes. I don’t think I’ll be vegan anytime soon (don’t worry Mom). I’ve always been more of a flexitarian; I occasionally eat meat. Still, I’m compelled to reduce my dairy consumption. Vegantarian?

For me, frugality is about treading lightly on our earth; consuming less meat and dairy.

Have you reduced your meat or dairy consumption? Use a Comment to add your wisdom.

Kim O’Donnel’s Mighty Appetite blog has meatless recipes that sound tasty.

Wash your dishes sans phosphates

Enough with the phosphates! I’m switching dishwasher detergents. Why the shift? I think the final nudge came when I heard that Spokane (Washington) residents were traveling to Idaho to buy phosphate-laden dishwasher detergents. I thought, that’s silly. Why would someone drive to another state to buy dishwasher detergent?

Sparkling clean dishes - that’s why. Some Spokane residents found that the eco-detergents left chunks of food and grease on their dishes. Really? We have wireless Internet access at our fingertips, but we can’t engineer a great eco-friendly dishwasher detergent?

For Spokane residents, the culprit is their hard water. Phosphates in dishwasher detergents soften the effects of hard water, while removing spots and film from your dishes. The solution? Install a water softener, rinse your dishes a bit more, or go back in time and wash your dishes by hand. Sorry, driving to Idaho is not a solution. At least not for long.

In 2010, Washington and several other states will ban dishwasher detergents with more than 0.5% phosphorus. It’s likely that more states will follow until there’s a nationwide ban – similar to what we have today for laundry detergents.

So why are phosphate detergents being banned? Phosphates from our detergents end up in our lakes and streams, where they promote algae growth, which consumes oxygen and ultimately kills fish and plants.

OK, I’m ready to switch! I bought Palmolive’s Eco+ dishwasher gel and put it to the test. Expecting to see dirty greasy dishes, I was pleasantly surprised to find my dishes were still clean. There was dried food bits on some silverware, but that could happen even with the phosphates; my dishwasher is 10 years old and I’m a pre-wash minimalist.

Palmolive’s Eco+ dishwasher gel wasn’t expensive; it was $3.70 for the 75 ounce jug. It isn’t perfect though – I’d rather not buy products in plastic jugs and after closer examination I discovered that Eco+ contains chlorine bleach. Next time I plan to try Ecover dishwashing powder in a box. I’ve heard great things about Ecover.

What phosphate-free detergents are out there? Trader Joes, Seventh Generation, Ecover, Method, Diamond Brite, or you can try making your own. There are a few recipes out there on the ‘Net.

A phosphate ban is on the horizon. So why not make the change today? Go phosphate-free!

Have you already made the switch? What products have you tried and what works for you? Please post a Comment.

Dropps: Convenient and earth friendly laundry detergent

My new super cool clothes dryer arrived and with it came a sample for a new product called Dropps. Dropps are tiny lightweight pacs of concentrated laundry detergent. Drips, spills, and lugging heavy containers are distant memories. 

Convenient yes, but what makes Dropps unique IMHO is that they’re also earth friendly – they conserve water, energy, and plastic. What a winning combination! Convenient and earth friendly.

Inside the plastic pouch (OK, the product is not perfect) are little toss-and-go pacs that are about the size of a rather large gummy bear. Just pop a pac in your washer and it magically dissolves.

• Phosphate-free, chlorine-free and NPE-free
• Scented and unscented, dye-free versions
• The lightweight pacs require much less energy to ship and transport
• Although, the pacs come in a plastic bag, the bag uses much less plastic than a jug (300x less plastic).

Do they clean well? Yep! They sure do. I found Dropps to work just as well as the product I was lugging home before.

The Cost?

Amazon is selling a 84 load pouch for $30. So the cost per load is about 36 cents (assuming you have Amazon Prime). Check here to see is Dropps are available locally. If Dropps seem a little spendy to you, you can save some money by washing your clothes in cold water, wearing them more than once, and using a nifty clothes dryer.

Other earth friendly detergents

Other eco-friendly laundry detergents on the market include: Ecos, Ecover, Seventh Generation and Sun and Earth. Consider using a phosphate-free dishwasher detergent as well.