As one of our neighbors recently pointed out, we are working for the garbage company now. We received THREE new huge receptacles last week, each of which came with a page-long description of "do's" and "don'ts" It is much trickier now, as "food soiled trash" and meat has to go in the "official" compost bin, (which is separate from my garden compost bin, where I do not compost these items), while other paper and clean recyclables go in another bin, while regular "trash" goes in another. That means that before it leaves the kitchen, there are FOUR separate trash categories! So not to be negative on this new system, I dug through the general garbage on Monday and extracted a small number of food-soiled items (i.e. pizza box) to populate the official compost bin. Nasty. (Must find a way to do this at the site of origin. )
Other daily "green things" were less unpleasant and not difficult at all. Yesterday, I relocated all of the plastic spoons from frozen yogurts that I have een stockpiling in my car and washed them for re-use in school lunch bags. And today, I introduced a second waste paperbasket in my office for "recyclables".
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
More Changes...Hope No One Notices
I am vigilant about daily opportunities to identify my "green" thing, but also wary of potential pitfalls. It seems that most of the time, the green alternative tends to have a sight disadvantage attached.
For example, last week I unplugged a rarely-watched TV and its accoutrements only to discover that it would take 25 minutes to re-boot the cable box when I wanted to watch it! Friday, I walked the dogs (three) to the dog park instead of driving and found myself in the "downward dog" position all the way down and back, from the ensuing entanglements. (Note to self: must find the double-dog leash connector.) Saturday, I decided to leave my car parked in the 20-minute zone outside the Post Office to dash the 6 blocks up the street for a few more errands. Thirty minutes later I was still four blocks away when I noticed the Parking Meter Car ahead of me, edging along towards my car. The "dash" turned into an all-out sprint...
Yesterday's act of greeness carries the highest potential risk of all: I TURNED DOWN THE TEMPERATURE ON OUR WATER HEATERS A NOTCH! I am on tenterhooks waiting for the cries of outrage echoing from the household shower stalls. Or will the boys even notice?
For example, last week I unplugged a rarely-watched TV and its accoutrements only to discover that it would take 25 minutes to re-boot the cable box when I wanted to watch it! Friday, I walked the dogs (three) to the dog park instead of driving and found myself in the "downward dog" position all the way down and back, from the ensuing entanglements. (Note to self: must find the double-dog leash connector.) Saturday, I decided to leave my car parked in the 20-minute zone outside the Post Office to dash the 6 blocks up the street for a few more errands. Thirty minutes later I was still four blocks away when I noticed the Parking Meter Car ahead of me, edging along towards my car. The "dash" turned into an all-out sprint...
Yesterday's act of greeness carries the highest potential risk of all: I TURNED DOWN THE TEMPERATURE ON OUR WATER HEATERS A NOTCH! I am on tenterhooks waiting for the cries of outrage echoing from the household shower stalls. Or will the boys even notice?
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Canceling Catalogs
So on Thursday, instead of driving three dogs down to the dog park, we walked down! Better for everyone!
Yesterday, I actually acted on a great idea I have had before...in fact for years I am ashamed to admit.
It's catalog season, and over the years I have managed to get on the mailing list for an alarming number. Last week, I stockpiled them all and yesterday spent 10 minutes calling up about 12 companies to take my name off of their lists! Then I recycled the catalogs---hopefully for the last time!
Stay tuned for today's "Green Thing"!
Yesterday, I actually acted on a great idea I have had before...in fact for years I am ashamed to admit.
It's catalog season, and over the years I have managed to get on the mailing list for an alarming number. Last week, I stockpiled them all and yesterday spent 10 minutes calling up about 12 companies to take my name off of their lists! Then I recycled the catalogs---hopefully for the last time!
Stay tuned for today's "Green Thing"!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Re-using Things
I have difficulty with the idea of "germs". I mean they are everywhere, as anyone who has a grade-schooler knows, and they definitely can take it out of you in terms of colds and flu and tummy-troubles. So how many times can you use a paper napkin? If it has only had a mouth wiped on it once at dinner and it retains integrity as a napkin, can the same person use it for breakfast? When I lived in France, people I used to live with used the same cloth napkins for 4 or 5 days, and somehow (perhaps because the grease stains are less visible), it did not seem that bad. I just don't know, but I do not really like the idea...
I am sure there are other things, plastic water bottles for example. I still have two cases in storage room, but have not purchased any more yet (a challenge for another day). So today I refilled the three of them that I usually drink in a day and put them back in the fridge, noting that I used water and a dishtowel to clean off the tops. What other items can I re-use?
I am sure there are other things, plastic water bottles for example. I still have two cases in storage room, but have not purchased any more yet (a challenge for another day). So today I refilled the three of them that I usually drink in a day and put them back in the fridge, noting that I used water and a dishtowel to clean off the tops. What other items can I re-use?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Errands On Bike; Physical Difficulty: Easy, Psychological Difficulty: Ouch!
Again I find that trying to squeeze as much as I can into the shortest time possible is the besetting fault which hampers a number of my efforts at personal improvement.
Today, my son "X"*, who has procrastinated his monthly free-reading until the last possible moment, announced that he needed to go to the library immediately to select a book. While my first thought was: "Failure to Plan Ahead On Your Part Does Not Constitute a Emergency on Mine" (a sign that years ago graced the cubicle of a former co-worker of mine), after some reflection I recognized the inherent "Green Opportunity".
Donning our helmets to make the 0.5 mile (or less) trek to the local library, I could not help but reckon up the substantial 30 minute difference between going in the car, and going by bike--a realization which I quickly tried to suppress. After the successful acquisition of a Newberry Award-winning book with less than 200 pages, for which X had already seen the movie (all important factors, given the impending deadline), it occurred to me that we could easily just zip over to the CVS to pick up a prescription that had come in. Two Birds with One Stone! YES!!! NOW we are talking! FUN! I imagined running errands around town by bike on a regular basis...scooting between bank and Post Office and drug store, without having to spend the time to park or negotiate traffic! Just need a bigger rack. And maybe some saddle-bags...
And in the end, I was able to pass on some valuable bike-riding lore to X. This too required some suppression of Type A tendencies, the reason for which I still sport two capped front teeth, which I broke twice on bikes--the first time attempting to beat my own no-hands record on my Stingray and the second, multi-tasking while riding.
We carefully walked our bikes across the crosswalks, and I made a point to halt at stop signs and to model looking over my shoulder to monitor rush hour traffic. We decided how and where to best secure our bikes from theft.
So perhaps I did not quite overcome my "besetting fault", and rather just worked with it and derived multiple benefits from my single "Green Thing" that have the potential to be leveraged into further good things to come.
*Note to Reader: "X" is actually the nickname that he goes by, and this is not an attempt at literary anonymity, in which case I would likely have used the more traditional "N".
Today, my son "X"*, who has procrastinated his monthly free-reading until the last possible moment, announced that he needed to go to the library immediately to select a book. While my first thought was: "Failure to Plan Ahead On Your Part Does Not Constitute a Emergency on Mine" (a sign that years ago graced the cubicle of a former co-worker of mine), after some reflection I recognized the inherent "Green Opportunity".
Donning our helmets to make the 0.5 mile (or less) trek to the local library, I could not help but reckon up the substantial 30 minute difference between going in the car, and going by bike--a realization which I quickly tried to suppress. After the successful acquisition of a Newberry Award-winning book with less than 200 pages, for which X had already seen the movie (all important factors, given the impending deadline), it occurred to me that we could easily just zip over to the CVS to pick up a prescription that had come in. Two Birds with One Stone! YES!!! NOW we are talking! FUN! I imagined running errands around town by bike on a regular basis...scooting between bank and Post Office and drug store, without having to spend the time to park or negotiate traffic! Just need a bigger rack. And maybe some saddle-bags...
And in the end, I was able to pass on some valuable bike-riding lore to X. This too required some suppression of Type A tendencies, the reason for which I still sport two capped front teeth, which I broke twice on bikes--the first time attempting to beat my own no-hands record on my Stingray and the second, multi-tasking while riding.
We carefully walked our bikes across the crosswalks, and I made a point to halt at stop signs and to model looking over my shoulder to monitor rush hour traffic. We decided how and where to best secure our bikes from theft.
So perhaps I did not quite overcome my "besetting fault", and rather just worked with it and derived multiple benefits from my single "Green Thing" that have the potential to be leveraged into further good things to come.
*Note to Reader: "X" is actually the nickname that he goes by, and this is not an attempt at literary anonymity, in which case I would likely have used the more traditional "N".
Monday, October 18, 2010
"Type A" Behavior And Fuel Economy
After some deliberation about "Green" actions that did not require leaving the house yesterday, I decided to plug two of the the TVs, cable boxes, and VCRs into a power strip, which I turned off. Done. Piece of Cake! Today, however, required more soul-searching and challenging certain of my more closely-held values about time-management...
My teenage son recently observed that I tend to gun the engine in the car and accelerate (up to the speed limit of course) much more rapidly than necessary, then have to apply the brakes as I approach a stop sign or traffic congestion. (He did not quite put it so succinctly. Actually, it more like this:
"So how many times a week do you have to fill your car up anyway?" The rest I will leave to the reader's imagination, but it would not be going too far to imagine a few "duh-uh's" in the course of the discussion.)
Today, I tried to be conscious of my tendency to try and beat every traffic light and to attempt to maximize the net MPH I can accomplish in my given itinerary. Instead of accelerating to change lanes in the freeway, I hung at close to the speed limit until a spot opened up (it probably took at least 12 seconds more...) Was it painful? Well, yes actually it was. Did it kill me? No.
So I probably could even do better by leaving earlier and driving slower, but after a lifetime of Type A behavior, that may have to wait for another day...
My teenage son recently observed that I tend to gun the engine in the car and accelerate (up to the speed limit of course) much more rapidly than necessary, then have to apply the brakes as I approach a stop sign or traffic congestion. (He did not quite put it so succinctly. Actually, it more like this:
"So how many times a week do you have to fill your car up anyway?" The rest I will leave to the reader's imagination, but it would not be going too far to imagine a few "duh-uh's" in the course of the discussion.)
Today, I tried to be conscious of my tendency to try and beat every traffic light and to attempt to maximize the net MPH I can accomplish in my given itinerary. Instead of accelerating to change lanes in the freeway, I hung at close to the speed limit until a spot opened up (it probably took at least 12 seconds more...) Was it painful? Well, yes actually it was. Did it kill me? No.
So I probably could even do better by leaving earlier and driving slower, but after a lifetime of Type A behavior, that may have to wait for another day...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
My Green Year
After months of steeping and percolating, it's time to turn that intention into action. The Giant Step that really just takes one second to accomplish. So here it is...the moment is here...Will she? Will she? ...She will.
"Today and every day I will do one thing to make my life greener."
That's it. It is not so earth-shattering, but it is something I have been test-driving for nine months or so. I started out just reality-checking. Not every day, but "whenever", and have found enough small things to be done that I think can make a difference. My thoughts right now are that it does not have to be a huge disruptive, life-changing action, but just a small act that would not be something I would do normally, or that I was already doing. As small as choosing not to buy that case of plastic water bottles, or buying a new set of recyclable grocery bags for the other cars. Or something bigger...
Of course I have to ask myself, will there be an end-point? A day when I just can't think of anything more I can do? What if my resolve falters? OK. So, I will log it just for one year. That is only 365 things to do...not impossible. I was actually going to launch this back on Earth Day, but "Life" intervened, and there is nothing wrong with October 17th. In the spirit of that old sixties slogan, "Today is the first day of the rest of the year." And I know I can rely on like-minded friends and others to help me along the way...
What about "cheating"? What if I am tempted to "count" something that I have actually already done in the "test-drive phase?" To reduce this temptation, I will disclose a few things that have already happened.
As some people know, I have been keeping backyard chickens, supplementing their chicken kibble with our food scraps, then composting their waste in a stacking bin system. I let the chickens out to free-range in the garden, where they have eaten all the snails and slugs and many other "pests" as well...So far, so good. I do have to make the rounds at least twice a day with the poop-scooper and rake to collect their offerings and deposit them in the bin. We also have three Labradoodles who similarly free-range in the garden and have eaten my gardening clogs, a gnome, a patio chair cushion and many other useful items as well. One sad truth: Poop Attracts Flies. Dog-poop+Chicken poop= More Flies.
In the mid-summer, the fly-visitors were increasing in number and one day, when I noticed about twenty at once buzzing around the compost, I hastened to the local garden supply for a relatively benign, non-chemical solution. Bingo! The hanging plastic fly-attractant-filled traps are amazing. To our horror, our first one was filled within a week. The boys estimated at least 800-1,000 fly victims. Three more traps followed and were filled just as quickly. It soon became clear that while we had most likely effectively eradicated our original flies, the filth-scented traps were attracting the entire neighborhood's fly population. With that many flies, it can take hours for them all to creep into the filth-chamber, and in the meantime, they hang around and do what flies do.
Jumping forward a few weeks in time...my compost pile is beautiful! I am getting ready to photograph it for the International Compost Photo Competition (which I will be initiating shortly in Finland), and, as I am lovingly sifting through the dark, coffee ground-colored richness, I unearth a fork-full of pale, skin-colored, writhing, maggots.
A quick perusal of the internet reveals that these are not highly desirable "soldier fly maggots"--a favorite chicken treat--and that some permethrin in the compost would take care of them. I do have permethrin in the garage in case of chicken mites, but it is a neurotoxin dangerous to cats, fish, and amphibians (I saw a newt seven years ago in the yard and you never know). This information, and the knowledge of how quickly maggots develop, forced me into immediate alternative action. As I carefully balanced 12 cooking pots of boiling water down the two flights of stairs (multiple trips) to boil the beasties in their lair, I asked myself more questions: Is this misguided green overkill? Could I put my efforts to better use? What about the gas and water used to boil the water? And then (as my "Master Composter" training tells me), I have basicially ruined the fine biochemical balance of the hot compost, as it will take weeks of turning or a truckload of dry green and brown matter in just the correct proportions to get it going again.
So that leaves me with some open-ended existential questions to contend with as I go along, and my "Green Thing of the Day" to still come up with...
I respectfully ask the reader for comments, advice, and support.
Thanks!
Kristin
"Today and every day I will do one thing to make my life greener."
That's it. It is not so earth-shattering, but it is something I have been test-driving for nine months or so. I started out just reality-checking. Not every day, but "whenever", and have found enough small things to be done that I think can make a difference. My thoughts right now are that it does not have to be a huge disruptive, life-changing action, but just a small act that would not be something I would do normally, or that I was already doing. As small as choosing not to buy that case of plastic water bottles, or buying a new set of recyclable grocery bags for the other cars. Or something bigger...
Of course I have to ask myself, will there be an end-point? A day when I just can't think of anything more I can do? What if my resolve falters? OK. So, I will log it just for one year. That is only 365 things to do...not impossible. I was actually going to launch this back on Earth Day, but "Life" intervened, and there is nothing wrong with October 17th. In the spirit of that old sixties slogan, "Today is the first day of the rest of the year." And I know I can rely on like-minded friends and others to help me along the way...
What about "cheating"? What if I am tempted to "count" something that I have actually already done in the "test-drive phase?" To reduce this temptation, I will disclose a few things that have already happened.
As some people know, I have been keeping backyard chickens, supplementing their chicken kibble with our food scraps, then composting their waste in a stacking bin system. I let the chickens out to free-range in the garden, where they have eaten all the snails and slugs and many other "pests" as well...So far, so good. I do have to make the rounds at least twice a day with the poop-scooper and rake to collect their offerings and deposit them in the bin. We also have three Labradoodles who similarly free-range in the garden and have eaten my gardening clogs, a gnome, a patio chair cushion and many other useful items as well. One sad truth: Poop Attracts Flies. Dog-poop+Chicken poop= More Flies.
In the mid-summer, the fly-visitors were increasing in number and one day, when I noticed about twenty at once buzzing around the compost, I hastened to the local garden supply for a relatively benign, non-chemical solution. Bingo! The hanging plastic fly-attractant-filled traps are amazing. To our horror, our first one was filled within a week. The boys estimated at least 800-1,000 fly victims. Three more traps followed and were filled just as quickly. It soon became clear that while we had most likely effectively eradicated our original flies, the filth-scented traps were attracting the entire neighborhood's fly population. With that many flies, it can take hours for them all to creep into the filth-chamber, and in the meantime, they hang around and do what flies do.
Jumping forward a few weeks in time...my compost pile is beautiful! I am getting ready to photograph it for the International Compost Photo Competition (which I will be initiating shortly in Finland), and, as I am lovingly sifting through the dark, coffee ground-colored richness, I unearth a fork-full of pale, skin-colored, writhing, maggots.
A quick perusal of the internet reveals that these are not highly desirable "soldier fly maggots"--a favorite chicken treat--and that some permethrin in the compost would take care of them. I do have permethrin in the garage in case of chicken mites, but it is a neurotoxin dangerous to cats, fish, and amphibians (I saw a newt seven years ago in the yard and you never know). This information, and the knowledge of how quickly maggots develop, forced me into immediate alternative action. As I carefully balanced 12 cooking pots of boiling water down the two flights of stairs (multiple trips) to boil the beasties in their lair, I asked myself more questions: Is this misguided green overkill? Could I put my efforts to better use? What about the gas and water used to boil the water? And then (as my "Master Composter" training tells me), I have basicially ruined the fine biochemical balance of the hot compost, as it will take weeks of turning or a truckload of dry green and brown matter in just the correct proportions to get it going again.
So that leaves me with some open-ended existential questions to contend with as I go along, and my "Green Thing of the Day" to still come up with...
I respectfully ask the reader for comments, advice, and support.
Thanks!
Kristin
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