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I was reading an article in my local newspaper this morning where they were bragging about the biodegradable trays and packaging that they were using this year to help reduce the trash at one of our local stadiums.  That’s all well and good but does it really do any good if those biodegradable containers go into a plastic trash bag?  Do they ever actually biodegrade?  The answer…eventually but only after a hole forms in the bag itself.

After doing some research I have found that no one really knows how long that trash bag will take to biodegrade.  The reason…plastic has really only been around for the past 50 years or so, so it makes sense that no one really knows how long it takes.  Now depending on the bag thickness, it might develop a hole almost immediately since there is a lot of  mixing and turning that goes on in a landfill.  But if it’s a really good bag it might take a while for the sun and the rain to degrade the bag well enough that the elements finally get to the contents.  Only at that point will the “biodegradable” stuff start to decompose.

Now I’m not saying that it’s not important to use biodegrable packaging, in fact I would perfer that you do but we have to think further the just the packaging.  We have to think about the facilities to sort the items and if the people that will be at the event have the right mindset and if they are informed as to how and where to put their trash.

When I was at the Earth Day celebration they had volunteers at each pre-sort location.  The volunteers were to help gently inform the participants which barrel their specific trash belonged in.  Without those volunteers most people would have just thrown their trash into whichever bin was closer to them.  That’s the kind of thing that you have to do when you are teaching consumers how to better treat their trash.

At my house we have a bin for veg and fruit waste, 2 bins for recycables and another for “other” waste.  The small 13 gallon trash can in our house gets used so little that we can go for almost 2 weeks without emptying it.  We have a 30 gallon trash can for trash pick up that really only gets full every 2 1/2 weeks, but the recycle bins needs to be emptied once a week.

Yesterday I threw out the first piece of non-recyclable plastic that we have used in months and unfortunately there is plenty more where that came from.  I spoke about it a few days ago but we decided to join a food program called Angel Food Ministries and where as the program is great and you get to eat good food for a very reasonable price, everything comes wrapped in plastic.

I’ll be honest with you and say that after I lost my job I took the first one that I could find and the difference in pay has left a HUGE hole in our budget so unfortunately I am going to have to make a plastic sacrifice to be able to feed my family.  It’s only 1 piece of plastic a day that we are throwing out so it’s much less then the average family, but it still makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how far we had come in the past 10 months just to take steps in the wrong direction.  But I keep looking up and I continue to interview and I know that the Lord will bless me with the position that best provides for my family.

So in closing, if at all possible pass on the plastic bag.  Whether it’s the plastic baggie for your leftovers or the trash bag in your trash recepticle.  We do it in our house, I know that you can too!

Tonight I was thinking of frugal ways to save the planet while buying dinner makings and as I perused the pasta section, spaghetti sauce came to mind.You can buy it at my grocery store in 4 different ways.

1. In a 2 serving plastic container

2. In a 4 serving glass jar

3. In a 4 serving aluminum can

4. In a 2 serving foil and plastic pouch

Now I bet you can guess which one I prefer, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.

First the 2 serving plastic container…I’ll be honest and tell you that I have bought this sauce before. It tastes much better then most of the jar and can sauces and you kinda get a 2 for 1 deal since you can use the plastic container again. But if you are on a plastic free quest, like me, this is not the answer. Not only is it made of plastic that helps to fuel our oil addiction, it’s a smaller serving that costs almost twice as much. Neither one of these things gives it high marks on my list.

Obviousily the glass jar is my pick for the most econimical and earth friendly but let’s talk about the other items first.

Aluminum is recycable, so if you are a diehard canned sauce fan this is not the worst you could do. It also comes in a larger size so you can get more servings out of the can, but iit doesn’t have a lid so you can’t store the leftovers very easily and the inside of the can is lined with plastic. Still not a great choice but not the worst one.

What is the worst choice you ask…the 2 serving foil package. Granted it’s pretty cool that you can warm your sauce in the microwave in it’s own pouch but gesh aren’t you about to pour it over hot pasta that will warm it up anyway? Personally I think it’s an ingenious design, but look at all the extra plasticy foil packaging that is left over. You can’t reuse it. You can’t recycle it. You can’t do anything with it but throw it away in the trash. This is a bad bad choice!

Like I said before, the winner is the 4 serving jar of sauce. The jar itself is recycable. It’s resealable so you can store the leftovers. It’s alot cheaper then the foil pouch and plastic container and as for taste it ranges from ok to really tasty. The other plus…you can buy several different flavors like garlic, mushroom, veggie lovers. So it means that you can get more bang for your buck and you are not stuck eating the same thing over and over again.

Leave comments on this question…What sauce do you buy and why? Could it be considered eco-friendly?

In one weekend Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3G’s.  The first iPhone, introduced only 1 year ago sold approximately 5 million.  Sources say they could sell upwards of 10 million of the newest 3G phones, since they opened up their overseas market.

So my question to you is…where are all the broken, discarded or replaced cell phones going?  Apple doesn’t offer a take back program or at least I can’t find mention of one.  Are the people that spent $500 a year ago to buy the original, just tossing that one in the trash or are they being responsible and taking the old one to a recycler?

All electronics have trace amounts of toxic chemicals like lead or phthalates, a chemical known to have hormone disrupting qualities, even the energy efficient CFL lightbulb contains trace amounts of mercury. The problem is not the chemicals…the issue is that most consumers don’t know that they are there and what to do with the electronics once they have lived their usefull life.

Now let me say this, I think that the buying of cell phones is out of hand.  In my opinion there is no reason to spend $500 on a cell phone and less then a year later need to buy another one.  Now I know there are more bells and whistles on the newer phone, but why can’t the old phone just be upgraded?  This is not the consumer’s fault, it’s the developer’s fault.  We as consumers are pulled in by the new shiny things.  The fact that you can pin point your location on your phone is a pretty nifty or serf the web with lightening fast speed while you are sitting on the train waiting for your stop.  I am not suggesting that electronics are not useful and needed, I am suggesting that we need to make sure consumers are better informed of what’s inside those electronics and what happens to them when you just throw them away.

I talk about being better informed consumers a lot in this blog, but if we are not informed producers will walk all over us and we will buy just for the sake of buying.

If we were to just throw away all of our electronics, we would slowly poison the surrounding ground and water.  We would eventually have so much heavy metals in the soil that we would be unable to plant and grow crops.  Our children would not be able to play outside because of the risk of lead poisoning.  Our children are already getting fat, if they were unable to go outside and get some exercise think of what would happen.

It’s not going to happen overnight, plastics take years to decompose but the pressure of the landfill will eventually put breaks in the plastic or glass and once the rain gets in the metals will leach out.  We need to stop the throwing away of electronics not for our children but their children and generations to come.

Write to your electronics producer, encourage them to start a take back program or better yet an upgrade program that takes those old electronics and makes them new again!

While you are waiting for that to happen, don’t forget to recycle.  Most municipalities have a electronic recycling program, if not go to E-Cycling Central search for your state and get the name of a local recycler. Just don’t throw things away, you never know what they might do to the earth.

I haven’t talked about trash in a while, so I thought I would update you on the amount of stuff we throw out each week.  In a previous post I talked about how we had reduced our trash so much that it didn’t matter that we missed taking the trash to the curb for pickup.  What I thought amazing about that was it had only been 2 weeks since I started the plastic free challenge.  So what about now , it’s been 12 weeks, how little do I throw away now?

Well it’s amazing, at least to me, but we have missed 2 weeks of trash pick up and still have plenty of room in the recycle bin and the large trash can.  In fact we are throwing so little away that the kitchen trash can (13 gallons) only needs to be emptied every 10 to 14 days.

How do we do it you ask?  I’ll tell you one thing…it’s not hard to do, all you have to do is pay attention to what you buy.

Here are some ways to reduce your trash:

1. Start looking for items in the grocery store that come in little or no packaging.  Squeeze boxes and listen for the crunching sound that internal bags make.

2. Buy more fresh produce and stay away from frozen and canned veggies or fruits.  Don’t buy veggies that come wrapped in plastic.  Why do you need to buy carrots in a plastic bag?  Your gonna peel them before you use them, so what’s the point of the plastic?

3. Don’t buy things that come individually wrapped.  This one is a tough one for our family.  We have really been working on this, but we still buy the healthy breakfast bars that come wrapped in foil.  Maybe one day I will take the time to make my own granola bars.

4. Bring your own containers to the grocery store.  Unfortunitly none of the stores that I shop at let me use my own containers but other bloggers use them in their hometowns so it’s definitely something to try.  Also if you shop where you can buy from the bulk bins, use your own bags or better yet go to your local Chinese restaurant and see if you can buy some of their paper take out containers.  Everyone in the store will ask you where you got them and then you can start up a conversation about reducing your footprint.

5.  Bring your own bags to the store or don’t use one at all.  Do you really need a bag for that box of spaghetti? Can’t you just hold your receipt in your hand as you walk out the door?  Don’t let anyone tell you that a bag is mandatory.

Those are only a few ways to reduce your trash and make sure you don’t forget about composting your table scraps.

Well here it is…week 11 plastic. 

Mayo jar - bought before 1/1/08

Powered Garlic container - bought before 1/1/08

                    3 Medicine containers

                       Turkey Wrapper

Since the medicine containers don’t really count toward the plastic count, the only plastic that I added this week is the Turkey Wrapper.  Woohoo!  Only one piece of plastic this past week.

How much plastic did you use this week?  Is it getting easier to go withouth the extra added packaging?

Now that we are 10 weeks into my experiment I thought that I would do a quick update on my progress.

Below is an excerpt from my very first post, read more here…

Most everyone is interested in reducing their carbon footprint and reducing their impact in the world, here are the 10 items that I would like to address in my home this year.

1. Recycling
2. Composting
3. Eliminate toxic cleaning products
4. Cut energy costs
5. Become plastic free or at least plastic less
6. Limit the use of my car
7. Buy Green Power
8. Buy more local products
9. Set up an urban garden
10. Stop eating out

So lets see where I am at…

#1. I recycle everything that I can, in fact most weeks the recycle bin is fuller then my trash can. 

 #2. I have started a composting bin.  However I have been waiting to buy worms, I was worried that they would die in the cold.  Next week I will send off for the worms and then get the worm bin moving.  I do have to say that the compost bin that I have in my laundry room has been doing a good job all by itself.  I have been using it since the begining of the year and I have yet to need to empty it.

#3. Elimiating toxic cleaning products…I have been working on this slowly.  As you know I have been using a Cleaning Service to do my major house work, this month I didn’t use them but I think from now on I will use them once a month, so if I am not doing much cleaning I am not using up the chemicals that I have on hand.  I might go ahead and Freecycle the toxic products and keep the safe ones, that way I can have a clean start.  The only problem that I have been having with this item is that all cleaning products come in plastic.  I have used baking soda and vinegar, but they just don’t get rid of most of the stains or soapy residue in the bath tub.  I do try to buy only recycable bottles of cleaner or ones that can be refilled, that is better then some of the #5 bottles that are under my sink.

#4.  I have cut my energy costs by almost $50 a month, just by changing 10 habits.  That was easier then going plastic free.

#5.  I have dramatically changed my plastic habits.  I can even go to the store and not buy any plastic packaging.  The best part is besides the milk issue, we haven’t had any issues with missing out on some of the plastic wrapped foods. 

#6.  Limiting the use of my car has been a tough one.  In fact we will be talking about this topic next month.  I rode several times in February but my knee hurt so bad after those few times I am almost afraid to get back on my bike.  I am on some good drugs now and the swelling has finally gone down, so I will start working back up to the full 6 miles next week.

#7. Now that I have reduced my energy costs, I can start buying green power.  Here you have to buy power by the kilowatt hour and you can’t easily change it month to month, so this will be another topic for discussion next month.

#8.  As far as buying local products, I haven’t been able to do that at all.  For some reason the Farmers Market is only open in the Spring and Summer, so once that opens I will be able to buy all my fresh produce from local vendors and maybe I will get lucky and other products will be offered there too.

#9.  I have talked with my landlord and putting a garden in the backyard is off, but maybe I will be able to grow some veggies in some pots on the back patio.

#10.  Stop eating out…HAH!  This item seems to be impossible.  It’s not that we have overscheduled lives, but somedays we just don’t have the time to cook dinner.  Since both of us work it is very difficult on days that we have activities to find the 30 minutes that it takes me to cook a well balanced meal.  I know that 30 minutes isn’t very much time, but somedays it seems like an eternity.

Well that’s were things stand so far, somethings are getting easier while others are not.  We still have a lot to talk about, so stay tuned…

Whew 10 full weeks of living plastic free/less and boy things have gotten easier.   In the begining it was tough to go grocery shopping, there are just not that many plastic free options here in the South.  But now that we have gotten used to living without a few things that we thought were necessities, we are easily living without all the extra packaging.

This weeks plastic consumption is not what is in the picture above, though I bet if I was creative that’s what last weeks talley would have looked like.  In fact there are only 5 items in this weeks talley (I’ll post the picture later) and out of that 5 only 1 was bought after the first of the year. 

The five items were:

Glass cleaner - bought before 1/1/08

Coffee filter bag - bought before 1/1/08

Orange juice gallon - will be reimbursed for

Mountian Dew bottle - bought by my husband

Pill bottle - Antibiotics for sinus infection

Pretty good, don’t you think…I know I’m impressed, I wasn’t even trying this week.  If I wouldn’t have been sick, I wouldn’t have bought any plastic at all. 

This week is already off to a good start, only 1 piece of plastic so far and I won’t be counting it since I can reuse it for my bread.  How are you doing on your plastic pledge?  Are you still going strong?  Should almost be a habit by now.  I know that I still slip, but I do know that as we go along things will continue to get easier.

I’m excited, we are having another family from Church over for lunch on Sunday.  This is the first time we will be entertaining someone, other then family, in our home since we moved in.  As you know we have a small house (only 1 bathroom) so it will be exciting to have it filled with more children and adults for a couple of hours.

Here in lies the problem…how do I cook lunch for 9 people (5 kids) without breaking the bank or my plastic pledge? 

I thought about making soup, that would be plastic free and inexpensive, but I think it’s just going to be to warm.  My dear husband suggested hot dogs, love him but what about the plastic?  My local granola store has turkey sausages, but I just don’t know what the younger kids would think about them.  A friend at work suggested lasagna, but again the cheese would come in plastic.  Now the plastic would be recycable and I could use the cups again to store things, so that would be better then the non-recycable plastic the hot dogs come in. 

What do you think?  Do you have any kid friendly recipes that can be made ahead of time or only take a few minutes to throw together?  We will be gathering after church so I don’t want to have to wait very long on the food, we will all be very hungry by that time. 

The kids will be sitting at the table and the adults will be in the family room on the couch, so I don’t want something that is going to be to messy/hard to eat…so soup might be out of the question. 

I wish my deli would allow me to use my own containers to put cheese/meat in.  If that was the case we could just do deli sandwiches, that would be totally easy. 

Oh how I LOTHE you plastic!

I’m trying to set an example for my guests.  I want them to know that I do more then talk about living plastic free.  I want them to know that I walk the walk too.  I don’t want them to think I am all high and mighty, but I do want them to leave with the impression that living plastic free/less is a possiblilty.

So I will ask again…anyone have any good easy family friendly food ideas to serve 9 people for lunch?

So you are wondering where my picture of my weeks worth of plastic is…right?  Well don’t get to excited, this doesn’t mean I didn’t have any plastic this week, it just means someone put it out in the recycle/trash bin before I got to photograph it. 

However I do remember what plastic I used this week and believe it or not it’s only 4 items. 

Two plastic bread bags

Two milk/oj containers

I’m impressed…are you?  Because I have to buy milk for the kids, I guess I will never get rid of all the plastic in my life, but at least I will have reduced it significantly. 

The bread bags I have used several time, but the bread it the bags went bad so I had to throw the whole thing out.  Maybe it’s just me, but it seems if I put fresh bread into a bag that has had moldy bread in it, the bread seems to go bad more quickly.

Next week I will keep the plastic in another location, so no one can throw it away prematurely. 

Wednesday is our youngest’s birthday, she is turning 6 so a big deal will be made.  So how do we work no plastic and being green into her birthday? 

I ordered the cake this morning from a local bakery, since the cakes that come from my local grocery store are in cased in plastic.  I feel like I am being robbed since the cake is $10 more then the grocery store cake, but I really don’t mind paying it to avoid a huge amount of non-recyclable plastic.  And since the cake is from a local bakery the carbon emissions will be lower compared to the big box store cake that has to be shipped from St. Louis before it is decorated. 

Her presents will be a bike, helmet and Webkins cards.  The bike comes in a box, so I don’t know what kind of plastic will be lurking inside, but I figure that what is in there is the dreaded styrafoam, so that’s worse then regular plastic.  The helmet is of course made of plastic, I don’t think there is a way to get around that.  The Webkins cards are wrapped in foil, though I do believe there is a thin layer of plastic on the foil itself.  So the plastic count could be high but she’s the only one left that doesn’t have a bike so it’s almost necessary.  Right now we have to drive to the park when we take her, and since it’s less then a half mile it seems like a waste of gas.  Now we will all be able to ride there and get more exersize at the same time. 

I won’t be buying any new wrapping paper, so that will save some trees, but once I run out I will be buying cloth bags to wrap things in.  That will be interesting come Christmas!

We will be eating a completely plastic free meal, using our cloth napkins and stainless steel utensils.  And now that we finally have a Freecycled bread machine, I can bake some plastic free bread to go along with dinner. 

So there will be some impact but not as much as it could be.  What about your birthday celebrations, how woould they be ranked on the greeness scale?