Ideas from abroad

My last week in France. Every year, I judge my personal "eco-awareness" by how I react to green ideas abroad. This year, my eyes flashed on a few. Here is what I believe would be worth importing:

- TGV (High Speed Train). When a train can take you to your destination in a 1/3 of the time than a car would, it entices you to use the public transportation. TGV's have always been fast, but they now have allotted tracks, which means that they can go full throttle on their routes. When we land in France (usually in Paris), we take this super fast train to get to our final destination (usually the South of France). The trip takes 2hr40m (by car it would normally take over seven hours). How come the US hasn't caught up to this energy saving technology yet?

- Easy, Organized and Free “One Stop Shop” for Recycling (Dechetterie). Every town here offers ONE drop off point for such items as metal or building scraps, etc... The resident drives up to a selection of recycling dumpsters and dispose of his items, which are later picked up by local recyclers. Where I live, I need to drive three towns over and pay to dispose of such items, and the facility is organized in such way that I stress just thinking about a drop-off. Lesson: Simplify.

- Simple Wood composter: Lincoln Log like. You buy a bundle of wood slats, cut to interlock and mount into a square, and within minutes anyone can set up compost in their backyard. Not only is it plastic-free and easy to build but also easy to transport from the store to its rotting location. I just love the design. It is too heavy to carry with me on the plane, but I am just dying to do so. Anyone out there willing to copy the design and put them on the market in our Home Depot's?

- Package-free brooms. You pick a handle, then a head, both priced separately (if you own a broom with a good handle but a disfunctional head, you can also just change the latter, instead of the whole thing). You can play around with your options, the composition (e.g., boar, silk or synthetic) is indicated on the organized display, and the price tag is a simple bar code sticker on the item. I wish more things were sold this way in the US. As I heard in a recent ad for meat: "You pay for the meat, not the fat"... You pay for the item, not its packaging. Why would a broom need to be wrapped in plastic anyways? Isn't it meant to get dirty?

- Bulk in a large grocery chain (Auchan). That means bulk is more widely available and prices are low (think bulk at Safeway or Walmart, and not just Whole Foods). The selection of staples is not that of Rainbow (the San Francisco bulk mecca), since staples such as salt or flour were missing where I shopped, but the cereal, grain and pasta selection was exciting (better than my local bulk). I confess to also have bought my son's birthday present there. He and I have an affinity for the Haribo brand of candy (I never buy candy but I can't resist this is one). And since we have struggled to find it in bulk in the US (together scouting movie theaters in and around our county), pouring them freely into our reusable bag was a joy. BTW: In France, you can also find bulk in health food stores, Botanic (a home and garden store) and the local farmer's market.

- Service at the Cheese counter. You pick your cheese and they cut it for you on the spot. Easy for a reusable-container user. Contrarily to the toxic cling-wrapping practices in our cheese aisles, I believe that counter service favors not only our health, but also human relations (such as personal feedback and great customer service).

- Selling a product in a practical reusable glass container. Mustard here comes in a choice of measuring cups, kids tumblers (better than sippy cups) and high ball, double, or wine glasses... The idea of selling a product (such as a staple) in a much needed item (such as a drinking glass which often breaks) is ingenious. If I lived here, I probably would not bother making mustard at home and would instead buy our glassware assortment (and replacement) that way. Speaking of mustard: In Paris, the Maille store (next to La Madeleine) will refill your jar.

- The percentage of people bringing their reusable bags to the grocery store is the same as people not bringing their bags in the US. Here, if you forget your grocery bag, you have to buy one. It might only be $.10/bag, but charging for them is the quickest solution to the earth-damaging disposable grocery bag. For those of you living in CA, please sign the petition supporting the ban of single-use plastic bags!

- Wrapper around the baguette. Private bakeries sell fresh bread in even the smallest towns. Bread does not come bagged in intoxicating plastic but simply tied with a single, reusable/recyclable/compostable paper sheet (just big enough for a hand to hold).

-Bulk everyday wine. You bring your own container (any size) to the wine vendor, and fill your selection with a pump (gas station like). It is not only eco-friendly (saving bottles and corks) but also financially friendly (cheaper than bottles and thus a good incentive to go green). This is what I have been pestering my local wine region about (Sonoma and Napa). I have found something similar at Guglielmo, but they are far (we need to make a weekend out of it when we go), they refill only one type of red (which becomes tiring), and they do the refilling only during specific events. If more wineries offered the pump service, these problems would be solved.

I am not saying that France is all that, far from it. I have my frustrations here too, with unsustainable practices (the amount of SUV's increase every year), missing infrastructure (thrift stores as we know them are practically nonexistent) and bad products on the store shelves (such as disposable ice cube bags). But I think that we can learn from each other and share sustainable ideas.

Have you seen something abroad to reduce one's waste?

Magic Butter

I made a discovery this week. It might not be one for you, but I thought I'd share it just in case.

No matter how much I try to control the kids at my brother's house, mishaps sometimes occur. The boys used a swivel chair, covered with shirts (his house is not quite as organized as mine), to get a view of the Eiffel Tower from a skylight window... Unfortunately, while taking the glimpse, a shirt sleeve got caught in the swivel mechanism and streaked it with black grease.

Stricken by guilt, I decided to repair the problem before my brother came home from work. I googled for a solution and found out that butter, of all things ;) would remove the stain magically. Not having anything to lose, I gave it a try.

I rubbed some butter into the streaks, and let it sit a few minutes. I then used some dish soap that I found next to the kitchen sink, water, elbow juice and another part of the shirt to rub the stain off. The results were amazing. After a quick rinse, the shirt looked like new.

I later shared my discovery with Scott. Unsurprised, he replied that when living in Santa Barbara, he would remove beach tar from his feet with baby oil.

"Oil removes oil" he said with assurance.

I had no idea that the phrase would come in so handy a day later...

Saturday evening, the day before my departure for the South of France (where my mom lives), my brother had his sitter of six years come over to watch our four kids, so we could go out for a nice dinner between adults. After giving her instructions to care and feed the kids, we took off. We were enjoying our meal tremendously when my sister-in-law checked her phone and found out with horror that she had 18 new voicemails. Somehow we had not heard it ring, and while we thought our kids were tightly tucked into their beds, the nanny had set the brand new kitchen on fire!

We rushed home to find the kids safe at the neighbor's, but my brother's kitchen looked like a war zone. The sitter had mistakenly turned on the oven, in which my brother stored a fryer (full of cooking oil). When the fryer caught on fire, she grabbed their fish bowl and threw it on the stove, water, pebbles and all (including the poor goldfish). Needless to say, it made things worse. When the firemen arrived, they extinguished the fire, but in the process, also tracked soot, burned oil, and pebbles all over the house and the new hardwood floors.

While my brother drove the sitter back home, I set out to clean the mess, which extended to the upper floors. I first tried a mixture of water and castile soap equivalent, but in vain. The black stuff was too thick and there was too much of it. It is only after 30 minutes of desperate scrubbing, and a call to my brother to recommend the hiring of a restoration expert, that I remembered Scott's words: "Oil removes oil". So I tiptoed into the sticky kitchen, grabbed the first cooking oil and sponge that I could reach and voila! Eight hours later, floors and white kitchen cabinets looked as new as before and the damages not as dramatic.

Considering that the kids and sitter were safe, and that only four cabinet doors and a stove need replacing, we were all lucky. And thanks to the simplicity and handiness of the oil cleaning remedy, my brother and sister-in-law were able to keep their sanity and stay upbeat in dealing with the aftermath of the ordeal. (I forgot to count how many times they said: "This oil trick is amazing! The damages are not that bad after-all.")

Interestingly enough, this fire was not the only one that we survived this summer, but since this is a blog and not a book, you'll have to wait to hear about the other story when the time comes ;).

Do you have a simple and magic pantry revelation to make?

Less (not zero) Waste Air Travel

Today, I am suffering from the worse jet-lag ever. I wake up around 2 am, my mind starts going and I cannot go back to sleep until the birds start singing. The kids and I arrived at my brother's, in Paris, a few days ago.

Rest assured. I am aware of my carbon impact when flying overseas. And I pray everyday for new carbon neutral ways (offsets are not satisfying enough) to visit my native land and blood relatives. Our weekly Skype sessions help but are not exactly an alternative to the kids language immersion or my mother's hugs and kisses. I live a zero waste lifestyle, I have reduced my meat consumption and car usage to pretty much once a week, I strive to shop local/organic and save water/electricity as much possible, but there is not much I can do about that damn yearly flight! (Besides reducing the frequency and amount of flights...we figured that four of us going there was better than eleven of them coming here).

To make things worse, my trip over was a waste nightmare, and an eye opener at the same time. Every time I fly (about once a year), the transition into the wasteful world is a shock. Travelers stuffing airport recycling (if available at all) or trash cans with water bottles, magazines, fast food containers and wrappers; discarding a full bottle of water at a security checkpoint and buying a brand new one a few minutes later, instants before boarding a flight, where they get yet another one (that's 3 bottles in less than an hour)... Flight attendants opening single portion drinks and pouring them in a new plastic cup every time around, and then coming thru with a trash bag - with recyclables and trash co-mingled. ... it sure is a harsh trip out of my bubble.

On a recent radio interview, I sounded hopeful when asked about our disposable society. My answer was based on the positive changes I see and hear around me, when at home (and that includes you, faithful and supportive readers... you're part of my daily home life :), I can actually see change. I see more people walking around with reusable cups, some readers visiting my deli counter with their jars (I got a report from the cheese guy ;), friends buying milk in glass jars and throwing zero waste birthday parties... But I have to say, British Airways threw all that enthusiasm out the window.

I can hear you say: "Welcome to the real world, Bea". On these uncommon grounds, I feel like a fish lost in the Great Pacific Trash Vortex, where intoxicating waste gets shoved down my throat. Or perhaps is it, that leaving my home where waste is pretty much all figured out, leaves me feeling vulnerable, unprepared, and unarmed elsewhere. Or perhaps I should have taken more notes during last year's trip and done more research before flying to prepare myself.

I brought my reusable and insulated wide mouth bottle (cold and hot drinks), napkin and bamboo utensils on the flight, thinking that they would get me to my brother's waste free, but waste was inevitable.

Live and Learn.

As soon as the kids and I opened the plastic bags (blanket in one, headphones, socks, toothbrush and sleep mask in another) on our seats, and got settled, I found out that my headphones were broken. And since I had looked forward to being stuck on an 11 hour flight with two kids for the non-stop movie selection on individual screens (remember, we don't have TV), I requested headphone replacements... Ugh, what I did not realize is that the new pair of headphones would be again bundled with another pair of socks, a toothbrush and sleep mask...

Later, my insulated Klean Kanteen did not save me from the disposable alcohol either. Yes I was thirsty for something else than water and succumbed to the "free" beer (straight out of the can to save a disposable cup) and wine (straight out of the glass bottle) on the long haul flight. At least, I then thought, the two are easily recyclable and would be given a second life by British Airways.

Or would they? I googled (soon after landing), to put to rest any doubt I had on the question. What I found out is astonishing, in this day and age (or at least for someone living in a bubble) and yet not surprising (considering I had doubts).

In short:
- No airlines currently recycle all of the main types of recyclables: aluminum cans, glass, plastic and paper ... because of airport recycling policies and customs.
-According to Green America Today, United and US airways rank worse on a sustainability scale comparing 11 airlines (US Airways throwing away 1 million plastic cups every 6 hours). BA was not far behind, in 8th place.
-According to a report by the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), “The U.S. airline industry discards enough aluminum cans each year to build 58 Boeing 747 airplanes [...] and enough newspapers and magazines to fill a football field to a depth of more than 230 feet.”

I keep wondering, why are the blankets wrapped? is it because they wrap them after cleaning them. Do they clean them or throw them out? After reading the confessions of a flight attendant, it makes me wonder. If airlines see disposability in a terry washcloth or headphones, they could just as well see it in a synthetic blanket. I remember always using a blanket for as long as I have flown internationally, but I don't remember it always being wrapped. When did it stop being acceptable to receive a naked blanket? (Note to self: Add airline blanket to my "standards revisited" posting).

Here are somethings you can do to minimize your air travel waste:

• Packing light: The three of us used one medium suitcase for the summer (easy for a minimalist, I took everything in my closet except for 11 winter items), and a small suitcase for presents and items that I'll bring back (last year, I filled it with antique metal bottle carriers to carry my refillable wine, a sweater that I knit with my mom's help, the alum stones that I use as deodorant, a loofah that I bought unpackaged, a discarded sheet that I made into bulk bags, and loads of family recipes).
• Visiting the library for your reading: Mine is "Gone tomorrow, the hidden life of garbage". It's been on my "To Read" list for months. I calculated that with Scott visiting us halfway during our stay, he could take my book back to the library before the loan expires. You can also use a Read & Return Program.
• Stopping at the local thrift shop on the way to the airport for pre-owned magazines: I found all June 2010 editions. Thanks to those who remembered to Reuse before Recycle, and donated them.
• Getting to the security checkpoint with an empty reusable bottle, and once on the other side, asking for a refill at a bar (with a smile).
• Packing bamboo utensils, and a cloth napkin in your carry-on and refusing the airlines disposable version.

While I wait to hear back from British Airways (and it might take as long as Whole Foods ;) about the whereabouts of my in-flight used and unused meal containers, uneaten food, used blanket, used pillow, used headphones, unused toothbrush/sleep mask kit and unused socks, I plan to be more thoughtful on the way back:

• Refusing plastic covered items: Giving them back to the flight attendant before I sit down .
• Bringing personal headphones: Most flights audio systems now have regular headphone jacks.
• Bringing a wrap to use as a blanket.
• Packing a reusable stainless straw would also be useful when sipping directly out of a can/bottle to avoid the plastic cup on the plane.
• Taking recyclables with me to recycle at my destination and filling out this online survey.

Of course, if I also packed a meal, many of my worries would disappear.

Six Month Tally

Until six months ago, Scott still took the trash out Sunday evenings.

He would slip into his shoes late at night, and rain or shine, would run the 36 steps down to our curb to set the can out for pick up. Even if all it contained was a couple of band-aids. I could never figure out whether he was doing it out of habit, to retain a sense of "normalcy", or to simply make a point of using the service that we cannot (yet) cancel (our local hauler has trash pick up bundled with recycling and city composting).

But one rainy Sunday evening this last January, as Scott was once again heading down the dark path to the curb, he stumbled upon a mature buck. A godsend. Scott turned around, came back into the house and decided that this whole "taking out trash" business was too dangerous ;). That's also when we decided that it would be fun to see how long it would take us to fill the 20 gallon can. Our "can" has been the paper towel section of a vintage holder since.

Here is our 6 month tally.

It might seem much for those who thought that we were perfect, just as it might not seem much for those who did not think a handful of waste possible. I personally think that our level of waste is frustrating, but it is a challenge that calls for further action:

Food related items:

- 8 beer caps from a twelve pack that a friend brought: In times of financial instability, how can a man refuse the gift of beer? ;)

- 13 white wine plastic wrappers: We still have not found a decent refillable white wine and it is really hard to discern plastic from foil until you open the bottle. It should be indicated on the label.

- 2 cheese wax/crusts.

- 1 heat-damaged gasket of a jar bought at the thrift store: I had no idea the gasket was baked on until I opened the jar at home, had to force it open and had to scrape it with a knife.

- 2 top ends of Starbucks Single packets: From my visiting mother-in-law who must have taken the rest of the 2 packets with her to dispose elsewhere.

- 4 snack wrappers and 3 bubble gums given to my kids without my knowledge: Those probably are the most irritating to me. The Fiber One bar contained 23 ingredients, including high maltose corn syrup. Ugh. The Teddy Grahams contained 19 ingredients, including partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and high fructose corn syrup. Double Ugh. As for bubble gums, they are simply plastic. Triple Ugh. I do not yet blame my eight and ten year-old children for succumbing to temptation and accepting the empty calories. For now, I blame the ignorant adults who buy and feed harmful and wasteful junk not only to their children but also to others.

Plan of Action

- Educate friends and family further about our lifestyle and eating habits.

- Educate the kids further about healthy foods.

- Send emails to winemakers to adopt foil and cork, or glass tops (screw tops are BPA lined)

- Take our friends to Beerworks to refill their bottles ;)

Clothing related items:

- 18 plastic price tag holders: I can't remember the origin for eight of these.

- 2 disintegrated foam shoulder pads from a used coat.

- 2 feet of synthetic thread from an unravelling curtain.

- 6 labels removed for their itchiness: Don't you love the feel of tagless clothing?

Plan of Action:

- Propose a plastic free price tag to the thrift stores that have them.

- Apply glue to the edges of my unraveling curtain.

- Email or write to clothing manufacturers to adopt label-free clothing.

Bathroom related items:

- 8 band-aids: Like I said before, my younger son had a love for band-aids, but we're out, so we won't find those in our trash anymore.

- 2 individual plastic/aluminum wrappers from over-the-counter medication, bought a couple of years ago: A remainder of our once, unconscious purchasing.

- 1 toothbrush replacement head from Terradent: We have 2 left.

- 4 disposable eye drop tubes: Scott took our older son to the ophthalmologist and forgot to refuse...

- 1 packet of petroleum jelly: Again, given to Scott by a doctor, he forgot to refuse.

- 5 plastic cap wrappers: One from hydrogen peroxide, one from eye drops, one from contact lens solution, the three others I don't know.

Plan of Action:

- Email or write to manufacturers to replace plastic cap wrappers with paper or cardboard wrappers or simply bypass them and adopt a sealing cap.

- Remind Scott to refuse at a doctor's visit.

- Purchase compostable toothbrushes.

Miscellaneous Items:

- 1 expired credit card.

- 1 Best Buy gift card.

- 1 expired french version of the Green Card.

- 4 ski lift tickets.

- 7 irrigation system pieces.

- 1 broken rubber band.

- 1 broken pen: the last plastic and disposable one in the house!

- bits of plastic tape from a parcel.

- 1 sticker stamps sheet.

- 1 plastic wrapper of a snowboard pad.

- 1/2 plastic spoon found on the property while landscaping.

- The wrapper of a tiny Lego set, bought by Grandma for my younger son. Somehow the small sets are not fully recyclable, like the bigger ones.

- The plastic wrapper of twine, bought 6 years ago: It's amazing how much purchasing decisions can haunt you for years.

Plan of Action:

- Contact the credit card company about using recyclable cards.

- Contact the ski resort about using a rechargeable and recyclable card instead for their lift tickets.

- Contact Lego about the non-recyclable wrapper in their small sets.

- Find package-free twine.

What's not included:

- The 6 art/schoolwork pieces, laminated by the teachers: We left them at school, and explained to the teachers that parents should have the right to choose whether or not they want to make a completely recyclable/compostable piece of paper, eternal by encompassing it in plastic.

- The candy wrappers from the Valentine's Day classroom celebration: We took them to the school principal to show her how much trash was generated per head in our kids classrooms.

- The few items that I have sent back to manufacturers with a letter of explanation, such as a broken pump to Dermalogica, toothbrushes to Radius, and a contact lens case to Complete.

- The pesky plastic wine corks, the occasional fruit or veggie stickers and the broken drinking glasses, three of which I collect for future art pieces.

What's in your bin?

Zero Waste Dog -or Rat ;)

Zero Waste is a family affair... like I said before: in our home, everyone is on board, and that includes our dog.

Meet Zizou. He joined the family about 3 years ago. We wanted a dog that would be small enough to not only fit in our small house, but also accompany us everywhere we go, whether it is by plane, car, bike or foot - we also chose his coat color to match the floor so that his shedding hair would not show :). He now can even sit with us at restaurants with outdoor seating!

We figured a chihuahua would give us just as much love as a big dog. Zizou has been the answer to all our pet needs, and despite a taste for street trash, as a rat would have ("Rat Boy" is his nickname), he has more than exceeded our expectations of the breed. Our biggest mistake was only to give up our search in rescue centers and getting him from a breeder, when 30 chihuahuas showed up at the local SPCA a month later. And although we love our dog, it makes me sick to my stomach that we passed the opportunity: We should have been patient and waited for the right rescue to pop up. Note: We did rescue both of our previous dogs.

Zizou does not need much, and in a society where, despite the recession, sales of pet products and services rose 5% in 2009 to reach $53 billion (sales are projected to reach $72 billion by 2014), we like to keep things simple, minimal and zero waste for him too:

• He does not have a regular dog bed. He sleeps by the fire gas-insert in the winter, in the bubble chair or on the warm wood deck in the summer, and on the kids beds at night.
• He has two toys: A tennis ball we found (good for running/exercising) and a rope chew (good for cleaning teeth). Dogs have faves, pick a couple, donate the rest to a shelter (the latter also accepts old towels and sheets by the way). My mother-in-law makes one out of old socks tied together for her dog.
• Once a month, we wash him with castile soap (buy in bulk if possible) and clip his nails (compost).
• We usually buy kibbles in bulk at Rainbow or New Leaf (a 50 lbs. bag from the pet store would take our dog years to eat and we do not have room to store such quantity) and since these two stores are hard to get to, I have requested it from our local pet stores, but it is not yet available. For these two reasons I had to buy a small bag last week (with a feeling of being a total zero waste advocate failure), I emptied it into our dog food container and washed the bag. I am filling it with thrift shop donations.
• We add garlic powder to his food for flea control, the garlic breath dissipates after a few minutes ;)
• We occasionally feed him our food scraps, because he is a trim and can afford to do so. He is bummed that our meat consumption is down to once a week, but he approves of the white meat (say "chicken" and witness instant excitement).
• We buy treats in bulk (Petco or the local pet store) but you can make your own dog biscuits too.
• On walks, we pick up his poop in paper from the recycling can (that's if we can find it, because his poops are tiny and he likes to go deep into ivy... a prude one this one). For a big dog, I would use a few sheets, for Zizou, a receipt will do;). Note: One does not need to justify their newspaper subscription for the need of the free plastic poop scooper. If you still receive the paper, you probably also still buy packaged products. Frozen veggie bags, cereal liner, meat wrapper, etc... can do the job just fine too.
• When we can find the excrement in the yard, we scoop it with a metal trowel and flush it down the toilet. For the longest time, I read mixed opinions on the subject, but my local water treatment plant assured me that it was OK to do so.
• I have yet to try it, but in one of my foraging classes, I was told that a tea of mugwort could be sprayed on pets for poison oak prevention before stepping in the wild...

I told my younger son, I was writing an article about zero waste dog and asked him what made Zizou zero waste. He replied: "Easy, he does not bring anything home" ;)

While it is true that he does not bring any junk into the house, he does however bring in loads of affection. Affection that we reciprocate. After all, what a dog needs most is love... and there is nothing more zero waste than love :) is there?

Paper Making

Well, it's that time of the year again... the end of the school year is near, so it's time to make stationary for my kids' teachers, from the stack of papers that they've sent home from school.

Last year, the gift was a hit and the news went around the school. It ended up coming handy, when in the fall, I had to warn the new teacher about our special home paper requirements (reduce)...she already knew. Giving homemade paper, I hope also makes them think about paper consumption in our school.

In the middle of the stressful week, there is nothing better to relieve stress. Some like to jog, I like to make paper ;)

For those wanting to give it a try (and for those of you not familiar with the process), here is what to do. You can listen to my podcast interview on "More Hip than Hippie" while doing it ;)

- Tack window screening or mesh tight onto a frame (picture below, down) . You can also slide a used nylon sock over a smaller frame and knot is tight (picture below, up). The size of frames will pretty much be the size of your paper and they need to fit flat into your tub, so plan accordingly. I use two 3.5x5 frames (one with nylon and one without for neater edges) for small cards and postcards. I use an 8.5x11 for letters or envelopes.

 

 

 

 

 

- Line the table with felt squares:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- In a tub (yes, mine is plastic... it serves for paper recycling, extra curbside pick-up, and paper-making), tear the papers in small pieces and fill with water (I like to let it sit overnight to give paper time to soften...),

-Using a hand-mixer or blender, blend the soaking paper into a pulp (this time, I ended up with a dark purple, which means a light purple finished product ) :

At this point you have the option of adding seeds (for "plantable" paper), lint from your dryer, dried flowers etc...

- For small cards with neat edges (which I will be demonstrating here), stack the 2 matching frames (nylon frame at the bottom), dip flat into the pulp, let drain a bit, and lift upper frame off gently:

- Remove the upper frame:

-Flip it onto a felt square:

 

-Absorb as much water as possible with a sponge (a remainder of our previous home car washing days...):

 

- and delicately remove the frame. The paper pulp should stick to the felt.

-Repeat:

- Line dry over your plants (the felt will drip on them and no water will be wasted ;)

- When dry, peel off and iron as needed:

- et VOILA!

Now, all I need to do is to make matching envelopes (with the larger mesh frame, and an envelope stencil to cut the dry sheets) and then "gift-tag" and tie the whole thing with compostable string. I think the teachers will be quite pleased.

Note: When you're done (pulp too thin to make paper), you can compost the leftovers.

I am afraid to ask... what did you think of the podcast?

Up and Downs of the Week

...Or the rambling diary of a zero waste advocate ;)

This week I spent a bit of time revamping my blog: Notice the new categories, the tips, and the new logo... these drawings were Scott, Max and Leo's suggestions by the way.

But I also had some time to tackle a few junk mail bugs, among other things. So, here I am again tackling the same old ghosts.

DOWN: Last Wednesday, I received yet another adult education catalog. And since writing "refused" on the catalog, was no longer making it disappear from my mailbox (I even exchanged a few notes with my mailman), I went to the post office manager. And I was told to "give it up, because this is the way it is, you can't change it." (Ugh) or can I?

UP: I got hold of the person responsible for sending out the bulk mailing.

DOWN: All she could say was: "I do my share... I have been a vegetarian for 20 years, the cows are the ones destroying the trees" Ugh.

UP: What the??? Although her super lame response was a big downer at first, I can't stop laughing at it now... Seriously, who goes around, saying that their vegetarianism can redeem them from sending out 34 page catalogs to 6000 households every six-months.

DOWN: I also received the local community college catalog that day. Ugh.

UP: I don't know if the woman that I contacted there is a vegetarian, but she was incredibly sweet, head on her shoulders and from my planet... She gave me the great news that they will be sending out a post card to opt out of the catalog soon. YIPPEE! She even agreed to be a source of inspiration to the vegetarian.

DOWN: I saw yet another salon open in my town (it feels like we have about 25 per square mile)...

UP: Beerworks which will soon allow refilling bottles with their brewed beer, root beer and apple cider just opened a couple blocks away on Thursday. YIPPEE! This is the best thing that's happened to the town in a while!

DOWN: On Friday, during my weekly grocery shopping trip, I was told by the deli counter that they would not allow me to fill my jars anymore due to the "Health and Safety" rules... My jaw dropped, and I cried on the way home. Ugh!

UP: I got in touch with the manager later, who said it was not true. A scare for nothing... It makes you realize how much you rely on things when they are taken away from you.

DOWN: Guess what I found waiting for me upon my return from the grocery store? An AT&T phone directory (1 big, 1 small, double bagged). And I had even cancelled this one a ways back. Ugh!

UP: I called customer service (the number can now easily be found inside the directory for opting out) and they nicely apologized at least a 100 times. The distribution center also later called to apologize another 100 times, and they let me know that they would be picking it back up. WOW. Impressed with these guys.

UP: On Saturday, I found out about Aveda Cradle to Cradle certification.

DOWN: I went to Aveda to investigate and found out that Cradle to Cradle certification is not exactly what the book described. A packaging that is recyclable can earn the certification.

UP: the book still describes a great ideal of what our manufacturing world should be, and inspires change.

UP: We had some of our close friends come over for an improvised dinner Sunday night.

DOWN: They brought "biodegradable" water balloons and started the fight before I could stop it. Ugh.

UP: The kids had a blast and the plants got watered.

DOWN: The next morning I had colored plastic all over the yard - it had not yet biodegraded ;) how long does it take anyways?

UP: We got the kids to pick all 250 of them... we'll give them back to our friends to test their true biodegradability themselves ;)

DOWN: On Monday, I found yet another "compostable" spoon (which was found to not really compost) from my local ice cream shop on the ground.

UP: After sending a notice to the owners, I found out that they are willing to work on making their "green business" even greener and will look into waste reducing alternatives. THANK YOU for considering change!

DOWN: Yesterday, I was invited to tour the new Whole Foods, soon to open in town. I had waited for this day to come for a week (to see the size of the bulk section) and had invited 6 friends to join in…only to be told, after biking there in the cold, that the tour had been canceled... Bummer, it would have been nice to get notified by email about the cancellation ahead of time. Ugh.

UP: I got to pick a pineapple and a glass bottle of olive oil from the goodies bag that they were giving out to the disappointed visitors (yes, I succumbed to a free packaged/bottled product for once).

DOWN: We all know pineapples are not grown locally.

UP: The kids noticed the exotic fruit instantly upon their return from school, and are excited about it (oh, the small pleasures of life).

Today, I am considering Twitter for my daily zero waste rambling :)