If I'm only looking at my own personal trash, not my family's as a whole, I'm doing pretty good. I've got two recyclable items and a tiny amount of cotton from hemming a pair of curtains. I can't think what to do with the cotton apart from stick it in my kids's craft box and hope they make something of it someday.
As for the family's trash, well that's another story. Mostly it's food wrapping, such as the elastic band and cellophane the broccoli comes in, and tissues. I really do my best not to purchase overly packaged food, but it's hard to avoid sometimes. At the grocery store any fruit/veggie that's not wrapped will have a plastic sticker on it, and at the health food store they wrap everything in plastic claiming it dries out if they don't. Grrr! I resolve to complain about this at my local stores on a regular basis. Summer is easier because we get most of our plastic-free veggies from a local farmer.
Cloth hankies are on my to-do list for this week. I've also resolved to empty the vacuum into the compost instead of the trash. It's mostly dog fur. That's good for compost isn't it?!
LKS
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'm cursing the box of 72 fruit bars I bought last week. My thought was "....mmmm, an apple in every bar....my kids really do love them and they're so convenient". Well now there's piles of foil wrappers in the garbage, several of which I consumed. I also whish they had never invented pre-washed, organic lettuce in a plastic box. I'm standing in the produce section and my thougt is "wash each piece of lettuce and spin dry or throw in a bowl and have dinner ready 5 minutes earlier". There's some garbage that's difficult to avoid but these are items where I have to make more of an effort. The garbage that I'm creating now is from items that were all previously purchased. The real test of reducing my garbage comes when I'm back at the grocery store. I will also make an effort to eat less meat. There are many benefits to this of course but the one I'm thinking of now is to avoid those rediculous styrofoam trays that meat is sold on. One of the worst offenders in my mind.
Today at my gym I asked if they would put their sugar in those diner style glass jars instead of individual packets of sugar. The response that I got was "that would be too unhygienic...all those people touching the same sugar container". You have got to be kidding me!!
Kirsten
Today at my gym I asked if they would put their sugar in those diner style glass jars instead of individual packets of sugar. The response that I got was "that would be too unhygienic...all those people touching the same sugar container". You have got to be kidding me!!
Kirsten
Sunday, January 10, 2010
No Impact Project: Day One
Reducing consumption is today's challenge. The idea is to eliminate all unnecessary purchases and borrow, buy used, or make it yourself when something apart from food absolutely must be purchased.
No consumption for a week is fairly easy for me. I've been weaning myself slowly from the shopping habit over the years. When I do shop, I'm a big fan of buying second-hand.
The only two items apart from food that I would have purchased this week are disposable diapers and garbage bags. I usually use cloth diapers on my eight-month-old girl during the day and disposables at night or when we go out. By chance, I have seven disposables left, which I will save for nighttime use, and I'll just use cloth the rest of the time. Not a big deal at all.
As for the garbage bags, we use them to line our outdoor can, which is pretty silly really. We're already using smaller bags in the kitchen. They can go straight into the garbage can without another layer of plastic, I'm sure.
So far so good, but it's early days yet!
The Feu Vert/Go Green Hudson gang is blogging on the No Impact Project website, but we'll post some of them here too.
LKS
No consumption for a week is fairly easy for me. I've been weaning myself slowly from the shopping habit over the years. When I do shop, I'm a big fan of buying second-hand.
The only two items apart from food that I would have purchased this week are disposable diapers and garbage bags. I usually use cloth diapers on my eight-month-old girl during the day and disposables at night or when we go out. By chance, I have seven disposables left, which I will save for nighttime use, and I'll just use cloth the rest of the time. Not a big deal at all.
As for the garbage bags, we use them to line our outdoor can, which is pretty silly really. We're already using smaller bags in the kitchen. They can go straight into the garbage can without another layer of plastic, I'm sure.
So far so good, but it's early days yet!
The Feu Vert/Go Green Hudson gang is blogging on the No Impact Project website, but we'll post some of them here too.
LKS
Day 1
Today I have to look at my consumption. This is something I think about often but I appreciate the opportunity to look at this more closely.
I like to shop. I usually congratulate myself when I go to the mall because I seem to be the only one who stuffs all of my purchases into an oversized purse instead of taking a bag. What I don't usually want to ask myself is "How much of a difference will this item make in my life aside from the short thrill of the purchase?" I need to take time to consider this every time I buy something that is not truly needed.
Today I was in Montreal with my sister who is shopping for her upcoming wedding. I was in an expensive store where the prices were marked down up to 60%. Seeing very expensive merchandise marked down that much makes you suddenly aware that it really never had much value in the first place. I felt a little shift take place.
From my entire day spent downtown, I brought home two empty creamers and a stir stick that I had to retrieve out of the garbage when my sister gently reminded me that I had to keep all my garbage.
Kirsten
I like to shop. I usually congratulate myself when I go to the mall because I seem to be the only one who stuffs all of my purchases into an oversized purse instead of taking a bag. What I don't usually want to ask myself is "How much of a difference will this item make in my life aside from the short thrill of the purchase?" I need to take time to consider this every time I buy something that is not truly needed.
Today I was in Montreal with my sister who is shopping for her upcoming wedding. I was in an expensive store where the prices were marked down up to 60%. Seeing very expensive merchandise marked down that much makes you suddenly aware that it really never had much value in the first place. I felt a little shift take place.
From my entire day spent downtown, I brought home two empty creamers and a stir stick that I had to retrieve out of the garbage when my sister gently reminded me that I had to keep all my garbage.
Kirsten
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
No Impact Project
Up for a challenge in 2010? How about the No Impact challenge? Starting Sunday, January 10, the Feu Vert/Go Green Hudson gals are doing a one-week carbon cleanse and we’re hoping you’ll join us.
The challenge is based on the experiment by New Yorker Colin Beavan, a.k.a. No Impact Man, who decided to try living one year with less impact on the environment. Beavan, his wife, child, and dog lived for a year without producing trash or carbon emissions, without using electricity and only buying locally-produced food.
On January 27, we’ll be screening the film about their experiment at the Hudson Community Centre for free, but meanwhile we thought we’d try the mini-experiment ourselves and see what comes of it. Beavan’s website claims that the cleanse isn’t about suffering and deprivation (you can be sure that we won’t be turning off the heat in our Hudson homes mid-January), but about finding out whether all our so-called modern conveniences are really making us happier.
We’ll be signing up for the challenge on Beavan’s No Impact Project website and writing about our experiences here. If you’re doing the challenge too, please feel free to post your own comments about it.
The challenge is based on the experiment by New Yorker Colin Beavan, a.k.a. No Impact Man, who decided to try living one year with less impact on the environment. Beavan, his wife, child, and dog lived for a year without producing trash or carbon emissions, without using electricity and only buying locally-produced food.
On January 27, we’ll be screening the film about their experiment at the Hudson Community Centre for free, but meanwhile we thought we’d try the mini-experiment ourselves and see what comes of it. Beavan’s website claims that the cleanse isn’t about suffering and deprivation (you can be sure that we won’t be turning off the heat in our Hudson homes mid-January), but about finding out whether all our so-called modern conveniences are really making us happier.
We’ll be signing up for the challenge on Beavan’s No Impact Project website and writing about our experiences here. If you’re doing the challenge too, please feel free to post your own comments about it.
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