Happy Belated Earth Day!

[Captain Deb]

Hi All!  I would have posted this on Earth Day last week, but I had a headache and then my grandscallywags came for the week-end.  I am sharing a few thoughts here on what we can all do for the planet. Every little bit helps.  Whether you believe in global warming or not, the fact of the matter is that 1/3 of our petroleum comes from countries where women are not allowed to drive, go to school, leave the house unescorted by a family member and are bought and sold like cattle. Not to mention executed and maimed. This is a human rights issue, really.

Here is what I am doing to reduce my carbon footprint and reduce my own personal dependence on this foreign oil.

1. Recycle everything I can possibly recycle

2. Although my tap water comes from a lovely mountain spring, I have bought my kids a Brita filter so they can filter their tap water and not drink bottled water, hence saving the gas to ship it and the plastic (made from petroleum) to store it.  Even if you recycle the bottles it costs gas to ship the stuff.

3. Use powdered laundry soap.  The liquid stuff is mostly water (more shipping) and comes in non biodegradable containers which I cannot recycle in my area. Don't buy anything in a spray bottle--Windex and the Green Works cleaners (Walmart) both come in bulk that you can refill those spray bottles with.  Better yet are the new cleaners that come as powders that you mix with tap water.

4. Replace your lightbulbs with the long life bulbs.  This is pretty pricey to do all at once, but every time one burns out, I am forking out the 4 bucks for one that will last for 5 years and use 1/10th of the electricity.

5.  Compost all your vegetable and fruit peelings.  I got a bunch of hog wire and made 2 3-foot diameter circles and put them in a corner of my yard.  I raked all my leaves last fall and put them in one.  I put my vegetable peelings (no meat products) into a compost bin with a lid on my counter top and empty it every few days into the other one. Once I get a good layer of scraps, I cover it with the composted leaves, then more scraps, making layers.  Honest to gosh, it doesn't smell and the critters can't get in it. Once fall starts I fill up the leaf bin and start another scrap bin and let the old one sit over the winter and voila, in the spring it will turn into some really good dirt I can use in my garden.

6.  Grow some food.  Anyone can grow some food. Our grandparents had "Victory Gardens" during WWII. We are at war, too.  You can put pots of herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, or peppers on your porch. I was in Florida last winter and saw a house that had put raised veggie beds in their front yard.  They were beautiful!

7.  Don't use any more plastic bags from the grocery store.  Even if you recycle them, they are made from petroleum and cost gas to ship.  Invest $5.00 in 5 of those 99 cent reusable bags you can buy from any grocery store.  Or shove a wad of old bags in your purse and use those.

8.  Buy your veggies at a Saturday Farmer's Market.  These are everywhere, you just have to find one.  The veggies are better, fresher, for the most part organic and are grown by local farmers, again saving on shipping.  Our Farmers Market is usually cheaper than the grocery store.

I know these tips have nothing to do with AN's or anything, but I just thought I'd share them in honor of Earth Day. 

* Steps off the soap box*

Regards,

Capt Deb

[Jackie]

Thanks Captain Deb,

Great helpful hints for how to live a cleaner, greener life for sure!!! I love our Farmers' market, it opens again on Mother's Day week-end! Can't beat those fresh veggies and lettuce, not all drowning in water, like at the stores!!! We also have seafood, and flowers! Just everything imagineable, and love the freshness!!! I recycle everything I can also!!! Thanks again,
Jackie in Oregon

[Kaybo]

This has been on my mind a LOT lately...I hate to say, not really because of Earth Day (even though I usually do stuff for it with my kids and when I taught, we would do activities all day!) but since we are getting ready to move.  I like to think that I do some, I have energy efficient appliances, I catch the drippy faucet & use the water to water plants (Dave has fixed twice - maybe we need a plumber??  ) and recycle even though we do not have a service here - I take it all up the bins at WalMart but I KNOW I can do more.  I would love to say that we are looking at houses closer in so that Dave can cut down on the amount of fuel that he uses commuting, but that just isn't an option for 2 reasons...#1) the schools closer in are NOT good and #2) we can't afford any of the houses in "safe" neighborhoods closer in anyway.  If we choose one neighborhood, he could possible carpool with a friend from college's hubby (if they have same hours - Dave plans to work 7-4 so he can spend more time with us since we are not used to losing him to commute time!).  SOOOOO...does anyone have any suggestions for when looking at houses for certain things that would be good.  I asked the realtor about buying "new" or "used" - she said that most people are going with new when they can because the ENERGY REQUIREMENTS are MUCH stricter now - double-paned windows, radiant barriers, etc.
Any suggestions?

K   

[Lizard]

Captain Deb, thanks so much for sharing your environmentally kind opportunities and many I do myself.  People laugh at me because I recycle EVERYTHING, even the toilet paper rolls : )  I figure anything I can do to help decrease my carbon foot print I give it a try.  The only thing I can't give up is bleach.  I use mostly earth friendly product, but my OCD won't let me give up the clean of bleach.

One little note to your laundry detergent note.  I've been using 7th Generation detergent, but Method brand just came out with a super concentrated formula, which amounts to just a few pumps of soap per load and they are great for use in high efficiency washers.  Give it a try, great stuff and a tiny bottle...

Happy belated earth day right back at ya!

Liz

[Captain Deb]

Are the Method bottles clear plastic? Most clear is recyclable in most areas where opaque 2's, 3's, 4's, etc are not.

I am now using bleach and a good stiff brush to clean my potties.  It just takes a capful and I use less containers than those toilet-bowl under the rim bottles.  My brush gets under the rim just fine.

I am also reminded of this little ditty that was posted on the walls of almost every john in the islands, where all anyone ever has is rainwater that is collected in their cisterns--if it doesn't rain in the dry season you have to buy it.

"In the land of sun and fun,
we never flush for number one!"

Capt Deb

[EJTampa]

"In the land of sun and fun,
we never flush for number one!"

Capt Deb

How about:
 
"If it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down."
 

[saralynn143]

"In the land of sun and fun,
we never flush for number one!"

Ha, that reminds me of another quote:
"If it's yellow, let it mellow.
If it's brown, flush it down."

Although I do not run the water when I brush my teeth, I am not yet to the point where I can skip flushing.

I have a funny Earth Day story. I had to run an errand at Staples Thursday so that I could run off the programs for our school musical. As I exited the store, a man rushed up to me and handed me a roll of toilet tissue and a coupon. He even asked if I needed another roll. Another guy was snapping photos, and one ran in Friday's paper, deer-in-the-headlights look and all. It wasn't until then that I realized that the toilet tissue was recycled and it was an Earth Day activity. Seems like everyone I know saw it and had something to say. I just respond that I can't go anywhere these days without the paparazzi following . . . it's a pity when a girl can't even pick up a roll of toilet paper without it turning into a photo op.

Sara

P.S. Our city just instituted mandatory curbside recycling and I was surprised at the outrage. I personally like it a lot. We are able to recycle so much more than we could when we had to drop off our recyclables and it's much easier. I bet our trash output is down by more than 50%.

[saralynn143]

EJTampa, you just beat me to that one.

sara

[Kaybo]

I would LOVE curbside!!  You can pay for it here... You know what we DON'T have that I can't believe - even if you pay - CARDBOARD or any box or that type of packaging - I throw a TON of that stuff away & feel SOOOOOO guilty!

K   

[saralynn143]

We used to be able to drop off clear plastics, corrugated cardboard and newspaper at collection points. We were fortunate because one was in the city park that our neighborhood backs into, but the collection bins were almost always full.

With curbside we can recycle any type of paper (if it can be torn, it can be recycled), any recyclable plastic, clean aluminum cans, cardboard of any weight (except pizza boxes and egg cartons for obvious reasons), just about anything other than styrofoam or glass. The city is looking into glass recycling, but with single-stream collection broken glass is a hazard to the employees who sort the recyclables.

The new system just went into place last November, but already solid waste is way down even with the holdouts who refuse to use their recycling bins.

I'm a fan.

Sara

[Jackie]

Gee,

We even have curbside recycling for glass! The truck just comes and gets it along with yard debris, garbage and paper products! Oregon was the first to have bottle deposits also! Oregon is really green

Jackie

[saralynn143]

Curbside recycling for yard waste would be great. We have to haul it to a composting site. On the other hand, city residents can also pick up free compost.

Sara

[Captain Deb]

I would LOVE curbside!!  You can pay for it here... You know what we DON'T have that I can't believe - even if you pay - CARDBOARD or any box or that type of packaging - I throw a TON of that stuff away & feel SOOOOOO guilty!

K   

Take it to the grocery store maybe? I know I see huge stacks of corrugated carboard bound up in bundles that they recycle.  Do you have a Whole Foods nearby?  Our Earth Fare is the only place that will recycle yogurt containers and I even make my kids bring theirs up from Charlotte with them for me to recycle.

We have no trash pick up here and have to take everything ourselves to the dump.

Another tip--try not to use produce bags at the grocery. Even though they are nowadays biodegradable, they still cost gas to ship. Put a handbasket in your grocery cart and use it for your bulk produce and bag it yourself so the lettuce doesn't get squished.  Or bring your own produce bags from a previous visit.  Those yellow net bags that lemons come in work really well, too.

Capt Deb

[Lizard]

Are the Method bottles clear plastic? Most clear is recyclable in most areas where opaque 2's, 3's, 4's, etc are not.

I am now using bleach and a good stiff brush to clean my potties.  It just takes a capful and I use less containers than those toilet-bowl under the rim bottles.  My brush gets under the rim just fine.


Capt Deb

Deb,
Here is the link to the Method detergent and no the bottle is clear and has a label stretched over it so it looks like its colored plastic.  Love my bleach on the potties as well .

http://www.methodhome.com/views/Ingredients/index.aspx?&color=blue&page=21607

[Soundy]

I had my Girls Scouts out picking up trash last Friday and so have a teuck load to top of the bed of my truck waiting to be dropped off ...tomorrow is the county clean Up America event and we get to trade our trash for lunch , T-shirts , ugly green reusable commuter cups made from recycled drink bottles , sponges made from recycled fiber , hand towel size sham wow type towels , educational information etc and it all comes in one of the bags like the ones grocery stores sell and are made from fabric made from drink bottles , business cards that are made of recycled paper and have seeds imbedded in them for wild flowers …pop them in dirt and grow flowers   (I got a preview of what the goodies will be  )..usually it is  a secret aside from lunch and shirts ...

it is funny what you can get kids to do for free stuff and seeing what can be done with the things that are put in recycle bins hopefully spurs them on to recycle more and toss less …  use the cup instead of paper or throw away plastic , use the towel instead of paper towels etc ... calling for downpours so I doubt my girls will show up but I will return their packages to them and hand out at our next meeting

Sometimes the forestry department also has seedlings to give out  …

you know what was crazy here we used have a real nice facility for recyclable items ...huge long building that front end loader could scoop from back side that was not accessible to public ... holes in front to drop stuff through ...looked like a giant bird house for  goat sized birds ...holes for dull  paper and one for glossy paper , 4 different plastic holes , cardboard , aluminum , steel , copper and mixed metals , clear , green and brown glass and 2 more holes that right now I can't remember what they were for

tons and tons were tossed in weekly and emptied once a month  ... but around 90% was still going to the dump because the city had not made arrangements or found a place that would take all the things that were dropped ...when this was found out by residents , the place was shut down and aside from metal that has another place to go in town , everything went to the dump … it was tore down and we had nothing aside from metal place for several years …

then a new smaller place was built and they have it run from an outside firm …fewer items are accepted but what is collected is recycled …there is a sign that lets people know that the metal recycling place is available if they would like to turn any metal into cash … other than that the company gets all proceeds to get place running and turn a profit …some people don’t like this but it is better than the county place that lost city money and still shipped most everything to dump

The metal recycler we have is now TVR (Tennessee Valley Recycling ) in town that takes metal and batteries ...it used to be private owned under the name Denbo … we like to watch flattened cars go up a conveyer there and get dropped in a grinder and fall out chute ground to gravel sized pieces into train cars to be  shipped north to be turned into new metal for new cars ...they take aluminum and anyone that has aluminum cans , window frames etc take it there and get paid for it instead of dropping it in county site… they took over 7 or 8 years ago …city collection experiment only lasted about 2 years 

We save metal and a couple times a year take it in and it goes to my GS Troop … broken farm scrap metal is an always thing and I claim that too … have a few neighbors that call and say they have some part that broke and give it too me … last trip we earned a little over $300 …more than profit off cookies

We have to haul all our garbage off so sort as we go and Bo take garbage to town weekly to go in the dumpster at work ( with approval ) …the dumpster is smallest available and cost the same each month whether there is 1 bag or 20 bags in it so they allow people that work there to use if they don’t have pick up at home … and about once a month recyclables go in  … any vegetable scraps go to the chickens … when grass is cut mostly let it lay unless Bo waits too long between cuttings … when we rake any it is tossed over to my donkey and some to chickens or to compost pile