hiatus? what hiatus?

Woah. It seems like ages since I wrote last. Let me tell you, the two months before your wedding will suck up a lot of the extra time you thought you had. I wasn’t running around like a maniac, but the the last-minute lists and preparations for the family visit consumed an awful lot of my brain capacity. But I’m back with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and plenty of ideas to share. I plan to write a recap of the eco-conscious aspects of our wedding and mini-honeymoon, as soon as I’ve compiled some photos to accompany the words.

But in the meantime, my goal is to post more often and report on the little things I aim to accomplish in the “reuse” and “reduce” categories.

A few unrelated acts of note:

• I’ve made the switch to bulk shopping at Mississippi Market, and I totally love it. Granted, it isn’t as though I’ve never bought anything in bulk, but I’m referring to household items, such as dish soap, laundry detergent and household cleaner, in addition to food. I really don’t know why I didn’t start sooner. The one bulk item that I’m psyched to refill? Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap. Seriously.
• I’m still making my own peanut butter. I buy peanuts (in bulk!), toss them in the food processor with a little cane sugar and a teeny drizzle of canola oil, and voila. I love that the flavor is just a tad different every time I make it.
• I’m done buying jarred tomato sauce. The first batch of sauce I made last week has convinced me that homemade is the way to go. Plus, a big batch in the crockpot yields at least six full servings for the two of us, and it cost me less than buying two jars of the off-the-shelf stuff.
• We finally (finally!) started composting. I went to Home Depot and bought a Rubbermaid trash barrel, and drilled some small holes in the bottom, sides and top. Bingo. Homemade compost bin. Done, and done.
• We mulched our front and back yards to keep our native landscaping happy and healthy. We don’t water on a regular basis during the summer, mostly for energy- and water-usage reasons, so the mulch will help keep the precious moisture in the ground. Next spring’s project is a rain barrel.

Today’s good deed at work: I offered to take home the office’s household-cleaner spray bottles and refill them with Restore multipurpose cleaner in bulk at Mississippi Market. I grabbed a bottle of the stuff to clean my desk this morning and noticed it was almost empty. And the light bulb went off. There’s no sense in tossing the spray nozzle and recycling the bottle when I can refill them on one of my regular shopping trips.

a trashy office story

In a perfect office world, every employee would think twice about the item they’re about to throw in the trash. “Can I recycle it?” they’d ask. Unfortunately, I don’t live in a perfect office world.

Every day, I curiously peek into the kitchen trash bin and see several recyclable items. When the item isn’t buried under food scraps or undesirable substances, I rescue it and place it in the appropriate recycling bin. Cardboard food packaging, plastic bags, Ziploc bags — I’ve seen all varieties of recyclable items. There are times I even grab something that requires a rinse first — maybe there’s some salad dressing on it or crumbs in the bag.

I know, I sound like the garbage lady, picking through the trash. But honestly, I don’t like to see non-trash in the trash! There’s a recycling station in each kitchen: separate bins for glass, plastic and aluminum; junk mail and paper; plastic bags; and cardboard. We’re fortunate that our company has invested this much in a recycling effort. So why are we, the employees, not doing our part?

I debate whether or not to be the vigilante who reminds people, but this role has the potential to cause a rift in my established office relationships. I don’t want to lecture people. Plus, there are signs on the bins that list the items to place in them, so they’re clearly marked; and the bins are prominently placed next to the trash cans. What’s more, our “Go Green” office team has presented the initiative in staff meetings to tell everyone how to participate. So do I remain a silent recycler and rescue what I can? Do I speak up when I see the culprit in action?

it’s the little things

Quite a while back, my company implemented a few “go green” measures to reduce waste and enhance recycling efforts in the office. One of them was to replace all of the plastic and styrofoam cups in the kitchens with compostable cups made from corn. A pretty bold move for a small company, considering the cups are not cheap. But nevertheless, a good start to eliminating trash. You can see the cup literally disintegrate when you pour hot water on it.

However, we use an awful lot of these cups, and they have to be thrown in the trash — they can’t be recycled. I myself am just as guilty as the next person for using too many and tossing them. I’d find two or three empty cups stacked one inside the other sitting on my desk, and I’d wonder how I got so lazy as to bring yet another cup back to my desk when there was already one there, ready to be re-used.

Well. Enter the Minnesota Public Radio February membership drive. Woah, wait. What in tarnation does that have to do with wasting compostable cups?

You see, I’m a sustaining MPR member, and I was lamenting the fact that we sustaining members don’t get a thank-you gift every year, as new and renewing members do. Come to find out, there’s a top-secret website sustaining members can access for thank-you gifts of their own, but you’re required to email Member Services to obtain the link. I did just that, and found my gift: a 24-ounce, BPA-free Camelback water bottle (emblazoned with the MPR logo, of course).

Since receiving the water bottle, I’ve been challenging myself to drink 48 ounces of water at work every day — without the aid of compostable, must-trash cups! So far, I’ve met my goal, and I’m not peeing out my ears yet. Yet.

So, sayonara plastic cups! My Camelback water bottle is my new best friend. Thank you, MPR.

The totally awesome water bottle, in all its glory, on my desk (as seen from my cell phone)

of note

TerraPass posted this article on its blog today, and apparently I’m causing a carbon emission while posting on this one. Thankfully, it’s no more than other common, daily activities, but honestly, I had no idea. Very interesting.

Google searches emit carbon, but not very much

saved!

A-ha! I stopped a co-worker from throwing out a plastic produce bag, and she thanked me. I’m taking the bag home to recycle.

We’re starting a “Go Green” initiative at work to reduce, reuse and recycle. My assigment is to educate co-workers on reducing unnecessary printouts to save paper and printer ink; and I’ll be the official recycler of cardboard products if people don’t want to take them home (excluding corrugated boxes, like printer paper and shipping boxes, since we already recycle those). I see so much cardboard in the kitchen trash and take it out — I think most people aren’t aware of how much they can recycle.