Here is it...the beginning of the official No Impact Experiment, A One-Week Carbon Cleanse. Today’s challenge:
Consumption (aka Don’t Buy Stuff!)
Did you know that:
“...ninety-nine percent of the stuff we harvest, mine, process, transport--99 percent of the stuff we run through this production system is trashed within six months.” Annie Leonard, The Story of Stuff
Frightening. When I think about the amount of items I purchase and what ultimately happens to those items I urgently “needed”...I personally contributed to that statistic. It’s not just the impact on the landfills as we junk our purchases--but think about the amount of petroleum needed to produce and transport those quickly trashed items.
Our hero, Colin Beavan, No Impact Man, shares a terrific list to get us started on our journey. Be sure to check out the project website (http://noimpactproject.org) to read the manual--you’ll find great ideas, like:
Type a list of the stuff you “need” to buy, and figure out what you can do without this week. Cross off those items. Borrow, buy used, or make your own items that you can’t live without this week.
Track your trash. Keep a reusable bag handy, fill it with your trash, recyclables, and food waste from today. Take a bag with you if you leave the house and put your trash in there. Take a look at what you accumulate throughout the day.
Do you need to shop? Can you think of anything more fun or productive to do with your shopping time?
If you plan to play along this week, please leave a comment so we can all support one another! You can also sign up at the official No Impact Experiment website, where you’ll find great ideas to get you through the week.
I’ll check in tonight to let you know how the Adolf family survives Day One. (Shoot...why did I just eat that Special K cereal bar? Now I have to add the wrapper to my bag of trash.)
Remember my promise to curtail my purchases yesterday in honor of Blog Action Day, thus reducing the amount of packaging I would contribute to landfills and recycling stations? Well, I didn’t buy much yesterday...but several online purchases arrived--all on my “reduce purchasing and packaging” pledge day! Holy crap. Take a look at the amount of packaging that entered the Adolf house yesterday: To add to this lovely pile of trash, we took lunch to Kristen at school--so let’s add two plastic salad containers from Zaxby’s into the pile of shame, as well as two styrofoam cups with plastic lids and straws, a paper bag, cardboard box, and plastic cup for Kristen’s kid’s meal, all nicely packaged in a plastic bag. UGH. I also purchased a contact case and solution for Ty...so add two more cardboard boxes and two more plastic products to our demise of the Earth. Plus, of course, I had to buy a book at the Joel Salatin presentation last night.
Welcome to Blog Action Day! (And you thought this was going to be another rambling about Diet Coke and eco-wine...HA!)
Today, thousands of bloggers throughout the world are working together to raise awareness of climate change--and to help generate ideas to improve our environmental stewardship. Let’s rip open a cask wine and drink to finding a solution for global warming!
In honor of Blog Action Day, we’re taking a little trip...a journey to one of my favorite destinations. A country that produces delectable chocolates, precision watches, and yes, wonderful husbands...
Switzerland.
Two years ago, our family traveled to Switzerland to visit Peter’s parents, who live in Kreutzlingen, near the German border. I was nervous--it was Mikey’s first international trip, and the thoughts of eight hours on a plane with him were, well, terrifying. Remember the family who was kicked off the plane for having an unruly toddler? I was certain we'd be next.
My fears were unfounded. Mikey was a terrific traveler. Kristen was already a traveling pro by then, and Ty--well, what teen isn’t excited to go to Europe, even if it means spending serious quality time (two weeks) with his parents and much-younger siblings?
While my fear-of-flying vanished, I developed a new fear on the trip:
global warming.
OK. We all worry about global warming--except for those poor, misguided few who refuse to believe scientific data and instead listen to the propaganda of the former administration. (Oops, sorry, this is a bi-partisan blog.) However, we worry about global warming in a theoretical, abstract way. We joke about the sweltering summers, we hang our heads about greenhouse gases, we write impassioned letters to save the polar bears. Global warming is a tough challenge to combat, especially when you don’t know, really, how one person can make a significant difference in our planet's health. Yes, we read the articles, listen to the experts, and watch the Planet Earth documentaries. But you know that cliche expression “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Well, imagine seeing the effects of global warming live, in person--right before your eyes.
I did.
Toward the end of our vacation, we spent a day playing tourists, driving through the major mountain passes in Switzerland. We picnicked at the Kleinescheidegg. Took photos in front of the Eiger. Drove to the Grimselpass. Took more photos at the Rhone glacier. Drove some more to the Sustenpass and took more pics at theSteingletscher. Peter’s parents thought we were crazy Americans for spending more than 14 hours driving around the country--and they were right. I hate to think about our carbon footprint after that day of driving...
The thing is--without our little road trip, I would still be talking about global warming in the abstract. I would quote Al Gore and environmental scientists, read articles and spout statistics.
Instead, I am now a Primary Source.
At each point along our road trip, we viewed glaciers. Gorgeous, breathtaking, Alpine glaciers...
...vanishing.
Take a look at the photo. See the ice? See the line where there’s no vegetation? That’s how much the glacier receded. The glacier should reach into the valley. Now you see it, now you don’t.The skeptics will say...check history. Glaciers thaw, then build up again. Sure, that’s been true...until now.
The current thaw continues to accelerate with no reversal in sight. According to BBC News, since the 1980s, Alpine glaciers lost approximately 25 percent of their surface. The Sierra Club predicts that by 2050, 75 percent of Switzerland’s glaciers may disappear. 2050! If our children return with their children in 2050, they may have a tough time finding the glaciers where we took our family vacation photos. Kristen would only be 49.
In fact, my favorite family photo, taken in front of the Eiger, shows a tourist mecca on the verge of collapse due to global warming. The Eiger East Face is crumbling. We’re not talking about just a few stones sliding down the mountain. In 2006, two million cubic meters of rock--enough to build two Empire State Buildings--split away from the main mountain. See that pile of rubble at the base of the mountain, behind my cute family?
What happened?The rock of the Eiger was held in place by the ice of the lower Grindelwald glacier. In the 19th century, the Grindelwald glacier reached far into the valley. Take a look at the photo again to see where the glacier ends now.As the ice melted, a mass of unstable limestone no longer had it’s permafrost layer binding it to the mountain. Melting glacial water entered cracks in the rock, causing larger fissures to open. Down went the rock.
As the glaciers continue to shrink, what, besides potentially devastating rock slides, will happen?
Glaciers are an important source of water, not only in Switzerland but worldwide. As glaciers recede, water levels in Europe’s rivers will drop substantially. In the months of June, July, and August, more than half of the water in the Rhine River is comprised of glacial melt water.
Reduced glacial water threatens crop irrigation. It obstructs freight traffic on Europe’s waterways. It causes instability in cooling nuclear power stations. It hinders tourism.
Global warming is a very real fear. It already impacts our children’s world.I think, like most of us, I worried abstractly about global warming. I worried about the polar bears. I worried about melting glaciers. I worried about how greenhouse gases would affect our gardening “zone.” I read articles, listened to reports, signed up for Greenpeace, and agreed that, damn it--we have to DO something! I worried about the idea of global warming and the impact it will have on our future. Our children’s futures.
But now my worries have turned to fear.Because I’ve seen it.It’s real.And it’s time to step-up our efforts to make a difference...one day at a time.
Today, I’m going to take a baby step--no purchases that generate waste, which generates energy consumption, which generates greenhouse gases, which speed global warming. Small step, yes, but if we all take a day to avoid unnecessary purchases...we’d see big results.
What are your ideas to combat climate change? How can we help slow global warming?
Want to save money? Lose weight? Have more time? Live healthy and be happy? All for the low, low price of...nothing? Sound too good to be true? Stay tuned, and find out how you, too, can win!
I’m a little nervous. You see, our year-long foray into full-scale environmentalism just ramped up--as in, next week is the Official “No Impact Experiment.”
We’re only in week three of our journey. Yikes.
What, you may ask, is the “No Impact Experiment?” And who, you might wonder, made it official?
First of all, let me back up. Our little family experiment began after I read an article about Colin Beavan, the original “No Impact Man.” A writer by trade, Beavan, his wife, and young daughter began a year-long experiment to make zero net impact on the environment. Here’s the kicker--they live in New York City. “That means no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subways, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television, no toilet paper...” states his book, No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process. You’ve probably heard about him--he’s a talk show darling, challenging Stephen Colbert to participate in No Impact Week. (“Hell, no!” said Colbert.)
As a writer, Beavan began blogging about the experiment and still continues to share his thoughts and actions via blog: www.noimpactman.typepad.com. He’s living every writer’s dream--his blog became a book, the project became a documentary, and now he has launched the No Impact Foundation. This guy doesn’t just “talk the talk.” He is the poster boy for environmental goodness.
Anyway--Beavan’s journey prompted our family’s year-long experiment: “No Impact Man-Lite,” as I lovingly refer to it. I read his book during the first week of our project and found many ideas our family will adopt...and some that just aren’t going to happen. We’re not going to give up toilet paper, we logistically can’t eliminate driving, but there are plenty of ways to turn our negative habits into positive ones.
That’s where the No Impact Experiment comes in.According to the website, http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/:
“The No Impact Experiment is a one-week carbon cleanse. It is a chance for you to see what a difference no-impact living can have on your quality of life. It’s not about giving up creature comforts but an opportunity for you to test whether the modern ‘conveniences’ you take for granted are actually making you happier or just eating away at your time and money.”
Wow. Not sure if we’re ready for this, I thought, when I read about the launch of the experiment.
But as I read deeper into the website, I remembered words of wisdom from two of my friends. While I was beating myself up over the purchase of a drink in a styrofoam cup yesterday, my friend Jessie reminded me that I don’t have to eradicate my carbon footprint overnight--it’s a journey. And my insightful friend Dana, who was part of the wine sampling Friday night, mentioned how much difference we could all make if we just reduced our consumption by 10%. Ten percent? That’s not hard. You barely feel 10%.
The official project site provides fantastic tools and strategies to help transition into No Impact Week. When you log on to the site, you’ll find a downloadable manual full of ideas to help ease you into environmental commitment. The project itself is broken into stages, with each day focusing on a new area:
Sunday: Consumption
Monday: Trash
Tuesday: Transportation (I know this will be the most challenging for us.)
Wednesday: Food
Thursday: Energy
Friday: Water
Saturday: Giving back
Sunday: Eco-Sabbath
The official launch is this Sunday, October 18. We’re going to try it, and I’ll be writing about our progress...and the things that challenge us.
Who’s in? Want to play? The prizes are fabulous...
Beauty... our family of environmentally-friendly Sigg reusable drink bottles.
Wow...it's been a busy few days. Here’s what I’ve been up to since my last post on Friday:
Sampling cask wine with my wonderful book club girlfriends.
Buying fresh veggies and gorgeous sunflowers at the Hub City Farmer’s Market.
Designing a potager. (pot-ah-zhay; French) A kitchen garden, typically a formal, decorative kitchen garden. We’ve fenced in a section of the backyard so that it’s dog-proof, and I’m trying my hand at a practical but beautiful fall/winter kitchen garden. More on that later this week...
Starting eight varieties of heirloom lettuces.
Sowing seeds for fraises des bois, also known as Alpine Strawberries, a culinary treat.
Shopping in the rain for fall veggie transplants, since my seed growing is behind schedule.
Freezing my butt off after said shopping trip, since I haven’t changed clothes and am soaked.
Checking my Facebook account obsessively, since I’m among the thousands whose accounts have been undergoing “site maintenance” for more than a week. Still no FB as of today.
Polluting the environment with a large styrofoam drink cup.
OK, let’s get the bad news out of the way first so I can clear my conscience.
While I did stick to my resolution to give up Diet Coke cans, I’ve failed miserably in my efforts to forgo my favorite burst of caffeine. Today, being a Monday, felt like a good day to start fresh with my resolution...no more DC. Well, that lasted until 9:30 a.m., when I was between errands and my head felt ready to explode.
So, here it is:Yes, not only did I break down and drive through McDonald’s for a large Diet Coke, I completely screwed up--McD’s large drinks are in--gasp!--styrofoam cups.Now, I need to find a station that recycles #6 styrofoam. Yeesh.
Beast...my inappropriate purchase, a Diet Coke housed in styrofoam.
Oh, but it tastes sooooo good. It’s a sickness, I know.
Obviously, I’m not going to win any “environmental woman of the year” award. It’s amazing how many non-ecological things sneak into your life, and in the oddest places.
As I mentioned, we went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Of course, like the good environmental steward I am, I took my reusable bags. It always bothered me, though, that I put my beautiful, sustainably grown vegetables in plastic produce bags that the vendors provide.
While I was talking with one of my farmer friends, I told him about our family project, and I turned down the plastic bag he offered for our Japanese turnips. He pointedly looked at my sunflowers, which I had just purchased from a wonderful flower farmer, with whom I always spend an extraordinary amount of time chatting. Ummmm...my two bunches of sunflowers were wrapped in--gasp!--plastic flower sleeves. Damn. I’m such a hypocrite.
Here’s the problem: I was trying to keep an eye on Mikey and Kristen, who were a little obsessed with touching all of the gorgeous flowers, and when I looked up--my friend had already wrapped the sunflowers in plastic. I just didn’t have the heart to ask him to unwrap them.
I’m such an eco-wimp.
It’s not the first time I’ve been an eco-wimp. A funny thing happened this spring, when I was selling heirloom veggie plants at the Farmer’s Market. The plants that I sold through my business, Garden Delights, were all sustainably grown from seed, pampered by me, and packaged to minimize the impact on the environment. I sold all of the plants in peat pots. Peat pots are terrific because the plant’s roots aren’t disturbed when you transplant it into the garden--you plant the entire pot, the plant is happy because it’s not shocked during the transplanting process, and the pot breaks down in the soil. No worries about my business contributing plastic flower pots to the landfill. I also found an environmentally-friendly method for customers to carry home their purchases, since most people, thankfully, bought several plants: cardboard drink trays, an easy-to-recycle/compost solution to plastic nursery trays.
The irony is: a very sweet customer visited me every Saturday with a gift--a bundle of plastic grocery bags. Most vendors at the Farmer’s Market purchase these t-shirt bags, as they’re known, for their customers who don’t bring reusable bags. Since I was selling plants in peat pots with recyclable trays...I had no use for the bags. But I never told her. I always thanked her for thinking of me, and took the bags home... where they piled up, waiting for me to take them to the recycling station at Publix.
See? Eco-wimp.
I’m trying to be strong and smart about our purchases without being abrasive. I’m curious, though...what might happen if I took my Sigg bottle into McD’s and purchased a drink--without the cup? How would they charge me for the drink? Would I throw off their cup inventory system, since I would be using my own drink container but my order would show a “large” drink purchase? Can you imagine the havoc I would wreck with the McD’s staff?Hmmm. Might be interesting. Stay tuned to see if eco-wimp turns into Environmental Goddess, Champion of the Earth... Finally, I did promise to share a bit about our cask wine sampling. I bought the Wine Cube, Pinot Grigio, California, purchased at--yes, you remembered--Target. Personally, I thought the wine was pretty good--a little sweet for my taste, but definitely drinkable. According to our book club members--and I asked for honest opinions--they also thought it was good. Of course, I’m not sure how honest these ladies’ reviews were, because they are an awfully nice group. They may have been humoring me, just like I wasn’t very honest with my plastic bag-bearing customer...
So, Peter and I are on the search for another cask to sample. Casks are tricky to find in our area--Publix, Sam’s Club, Target--all have very few choices. We’re going to check out a liquor store later in the hopes of more selections. I’ll let you know what we find.
Ah, my head feels better. Thanks for letting me clear my conscience. I’ll try to behave tomorrow...
Until then, here’s a question for you:What is your favorite eco product?
I just saved $.05. At Target. For taking my reusable bags.
OK, so I also spent about $120 on things like the box of wine I’m taking for our boxed-wine-sampling tonight at book club, a yoga mat for Peter, and some other stuff...
What the heck DID I buy at Target? Do you ever find yourself filling your cart at Target, getting home, and having no idea how you spent $120? Surely I’m not alone in this blatant consumerism...
WAIT! I got cash back. Whew. An $80 Target-spree makes more sense.
Anyway...
Until this morning, I was completely unaware of Target’s policy regarding reusable bags. For every reusable bag you bring and fill, you get $.05 off your bill. Where have I been?
Oh right. I usually don’t take my reusable bags to Target. Oops.
Well, I’m converted.
I’m good about remembering my reusable bags for groceries, but I tend to forget them for other shopping sprees, like Target. Of course, using the same bag for fresh produce from the Farmer’s Market and, say, fire ant poison from Lowe’s is not the wisest idea. In fact, I just read a study in The Wall Street Journal concerning the nasties that can lurk in our reusable bags. I know that I’m not vigilant about washing my reusable bags, but I can assure you--they’re having a bath. Today. I’m also dividing the bags into two piles: food only and “other.”
A kind of funny--or, actually, sad--thing happened last week when I was checking out at Publix. I, of course, was chatting with my favorite cashier and fumbling around for my debit card while the young bagger guy was trying to fit my groceries into my reusable bags. After I swiped my card, I noticed that he had pre-bagged many items into plastic bags--and then put them into the reusable bags! Now, I do put meat into a plastic bag first--sorry, just don’t want to risk e-coli for my family. But bananas? Popsicles? An individual plastic bag for each San Pelligrino bottle? (This was before Peter gave it up.) I explained that our family is trying to cut down on plastic bag consumption, and could he please take my purchases out of the plastic bags?
With a dramatic sigh, he un-bagged and re-bagged. Of course, the line of customers behind me was growing...and I felt some withering looks aimed at the back of my head.
The problem is not just the shopping bags we use--and we use a lot of bags. In fact:
The average American uses between 350-500 bags each year--that’s 100 billion bags.
It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce all of those shopping bags.
Only one percent are recycled.
More than one million birds and 100,000 sea turtles die each year due to ingesting plastic bags--a plastic bag floating in the ocean sure looks a lot like a jellyfish to a hungry turtle.
Some countries, like Switzerland, expect customers to bring their own bags. I remember my surprise when we had to buy a plastic bag for a purchase at a grocery store. Other countries, like Ireland, impose taxes on plastic bags. Ireland decreased plastic shopping bag consumption by 90% since 2002, reducing overall plastic bag usage by 1.08 billion.
Even communities in the US are fighting the shopping bag war. The Los Angeles City Council recently voted to ban plastic shopping bags from stores, beginning July 1, 2010. Shoppers will need to bring their own bags or pay 25 cents for a paper or biodegradable bag.
Still, I think it’s interesting that we’re so focused on plastic shopping bags. Yes, we need to reduce our dependence on and disposal of plastic shopping bags.
But what about those plastic produce bags?
I can’t avoid them--even at the Farmer’s Market. This week alone, I accumulated 11 produce bags. Ack! Why isn’t anyone launching an assault on plastic produce bags?
Alternative produce bags are available--online. I tried to find reusable produce bags in our area--to no avail. Even when I called Whole Foods, the person I spoke with had no idea what a reusable produce bag was.
So, I’ve ordered a set of organic cotton drawstring bags from a website called ecobags.com. I know what you’re thinking--the bags will add weight to your produce, and you’ll end up paying more for your food. The cool thing about these bags is--there is a tag attached to the bag that states the weight of the bag so the cashier can tare the scale. Now, how well will this system work when I try to buy some snow peas at Publix? Will the bagger put my organic produce bags into plastic shopping bags? Will they offer me the penny item of bottled water???
Stay tuned...
And--if you know of other stores that offer incentives for shoppers to bring their own bags, please share! I believe Whole Foods offers $.05, but I’m not aware of others.
I’m off to plan my potager--our weekend project. What is a potager? Well, my friends, you’ll have to tune in to find out!
It’s only been a week since we began our little project, and already I’m learning how much I don’t know.
At Furman’s Parents’ Weekend Saturday, I fell in love.
With a cup.
Apparently, this eco-product snuck onto the market when I wasn’t looking. OK, honestly, how often did I check the green-ness of fountain drink cups? Ummm...never.Except to rant when I got a drink in a styrofoam cup.
Look at this little beauty. She’s perfect. She’s a lovely alternative to the PET cups of yesterday which, while recyclable, were energy hogs.
She’s made from corn. Grown in the United States.
And she’s compostable.
According to the manufacturer’s website, this little lovely is: “...made from PLA plastic derived from corn. PLA [polylactic acid] plastic is a compostable material that when placed in a commercial environment will naturally decompose back to organic elements. Unlike regular cold cups that are made using petroleum, PLA plastic products are made using US grown corn!”
Too good to be true?
In the interest of research, I purchased a fountain drink and brought home my newest eco-find. The company’s website states that the cup is compostable in a “commercial” environment, which is highly monitored and regulated. When I researched the PLA cups further, several sites mention that the cup will compost entirely in 45 days in a commercial composting facility.
But what if I don’t have a commercial composting facility? What if I bury it in our backyard compost pile?
So stay tuned. Today, October 8, 2009...my little lovely cup is getting a new home among the grass clippings and coffee grounds. I’ll let you know how long it takes before she becomes food for my heirloom plants.
(And, yes...that is a bit of Diet Coke in the bottom of the cup.)
