Tis the season to remember our families and dear friends. Tis also the season that has seen our IRAs plummet, our house worth half as much, and our jobs hang in the wind. Well, tis also time to realize that caring doesn’t have to carry a hefty price tag. And the gifts we give should be environmentally responsible. Nothing says landfill like a bunch of cheap pricey toys that break within days after Christmas.
Low-cost gifts that tell people how much we care:
· My best friend made me two denim shopping bags with stenciled flowers that I will use over and over, without advertising a merchant; and her home baked pecan pie tartlets are to die for.
· My adult nieces and nephews all received string shopping bags from a company that donates a portion of their proceeds to ecological preservations; and homemade cookies from me. (These professional folks don’t bake.)
· The little kids each got a golden book. I bought two compendiums from Amazon and divied up the books among all the tots. They each have something to open, and some quality time sessions with their parents, who will read to them. Cost per book: minimal. Impact on a delighted child: substantial.
· Last year, I bought inexpensive attractive glass cookie jars and hired my friend to stencil their names onto them, and of course, filled them with cookies.
Other ideas for greatly appreciated gifts:
· An attractive coupon book for chores for beleaguered young parents to include errands run, babysitting, doing laundry, walking the dogs, etc.
· For aging relatives who want to keep in touch: a box of return address labels, stamps, and stationery, or even postcards or box of assorted greeting cards
· Personalized anything: cookie jars, tote bags, stationery, apron, oven mitts
· A coupon for a special “just us” outing for a grandchild or child, redeemable (with advance notice) when he or she chooses
· A written promise (with a start date) to be a twice-a-week exercise partner for a friend having trouble keeping active
The idea is to be creative and come up with low-cost gifts that are truly personalized to the individual. With our declining pocketbooks to urge us on, and our desire to be better world and planet citizens, we can become more creative about showing our caring for loved ones. And if the economy improves, even shoots back up, perhaps our gift-giving should not. Instead of having to pay those credit card bills from holiday excesses, we can have money left in our accounts to spend more on the things that matter more in the long run:
· Travel to learn more about other peoples, increase our tolerance for other religions and cultures, and make our children more world-embracing citizens. Erasing the specter of the Ugly American? Priceless!
· Charitable giving to organizations that promote healthy environments and self-reliance through training, basic necessities, and example.
· Upgrading our homes and cars to be more energy efficient and lower maintenance
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The Season of Giving--On the Cheap
Monday, October 13, 2008
Changing Consumer Habits
It seems trying to do what’s right for the environment ruffles the feathers—and pocketbooks—of pollution producers. For example, the American Chemistry Council has reported spending $180,625 in August to fight a 20-cent fee on paper and plastic bags that was approved by the Seattle City Council in July.
Most of the money was likely used for signature gathering in an effort to put the issue on a future citywide ballot. The Coalition to Stop the Seattle bag Tax has turned in about 22,000 signatures. That averages out to about $8 per signature. For the $8 spent per signature, the ACC could have bought every person who signed the petition a high quality reusable bag!
The reason for doing this goes far beyond preventing plastic bag litter at home. A United Kingdom news investigation revealed that plastic packaging and bottles that consumers believe are going to local recycling plants are ending up buried in India. A British reporter traveled to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and discovered wells of British-branded rubbish, estimated to be around 30 feet deep...Concerned locals told the investigation that there were at least ten such waste wells and that the pits also contained American waste. It’s an inconvenient truth that many items entering the recycling stream don’t get recycled. We’re seeing increasing evidence of recyclables getting burned or buried in landfills -- or shipped overseas. Recycling has its place in reducing waste -- but it’s no silver bullet. The economics are really not there for recycling plastic bags, as you’ve seen in earlier blogs.
Many bags collected for recycling never get recycled. A growing trend is to ship them to Third world countries like India and China which are rapidly becoming the dumping grounds for the Western world's glut of recyclables. Rather than being recycled they are cheaply incinerated under more lax environmental laws. And think about the other things you dispose of: such as plastic cutlery and plates. What do you think happens to them?
The French have had it with plastic waste. Their environment minister confirmed a new program, the "taxe pique-nique", that starting next year will result in a tax of 90 cents per kilogram (2.2 lbs) will be placed on plastic and paper throwaway cups from next year, aimed at cutting the average 360kg (793 lbs) of rubbish generated per person per year in France.
A raft of other "green" taxes may also be imposed, including on batteries, televisions, washing machines and fridges, with tax breaks offered for more environmentally friendly alternatives. Of course, it has its detractors. But the main opposition Socialist party rounded on the measure as a bourgeois attack on those French already struggling to meet basic living costs. The government, he said, should instead concentrate on reducing energy consumption in other areas, like public transport.
The French are keen on picnics, often surprisingly gourmet. Some said the tax would not make them change their ways. Others are more supportive, saying if we don’t start cutting back on disposable stuff, we'll never get out of this mess. The tax will affect plastic goblets, knives and forks, and non-biodegradable paper plates and napkins.
The supporters say the tax would help bring down costs on recyclable products. Rather than seen as a tax, it should be viewed as a levy on goods which are heavy generators of rubbish. A near-identical tax was introduced in Belgium last year, where the tax also extends to saran-type wraps and aluminum foil.
Your assignment, if you decide to accept it:
1. Look at all the disposables for which you could substitute reusables. For picnics, could you take regular plastic plates and silverware, wrap them up and take them home to throw in the dishwasher?
2. Research biodegradable disposables (second-best choice) for when reusables really aren’t practical (really impractical)
Take a wider view of our world and how we’re trashing it. Remember, the trash may not end up here at home but will pollute other countries and diminish their quality of life. We need to act like grown-ups and make some tough but responsible decisions.
Most of the money was likely used for signature gathering in an effort to put the issue on a future citywide ballot. The Coalition to Stop the Seattle bag Tax has turned in about 22,000 signatures. That averages out to about $8 per signature. For the $8 spent per signature, the ACC could have bought every person who signed the petition a high quality reusable bag!
The reason for doing this goes far beyond preventing plastic bag litter at home. A United Kingdom news investigation revealed that plastic packaging and bottles that consumers believe are going to local recycling plants are ending up buried in India. A British reporter traveled to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and discovered wells of British-branded rubbish, estimated to be around 30 feet deep...Concerned locals told the investigation that there were at least ten such waste wells and that the pits also contained American waste. It’s an inconvenient truth that many items entering the recycling stream don’t get recycled. We’re seeing increasing evidence of recyclables getting burned or buried in landfills -- or shipped overseas. Recycling has its place in reducing waste -- but it’s no silver bullet. The economics are really not there for recycling plastic bags, as you’ve seen in earlier blogs.
Many bags collected for recycling never get recycled. A growing trend is to ship them to Third world countries like India and China which are rapidly becoming the dumping grounds for the Western world's glut of recyclables. Rather than being recycled they are cheaply incinerated under more lax environmental laws. And think about the other things you dispose of: such as plastic cutlery and plates. What do you think happens to them?
The French have had it with plastic waste. Their environment minister confirmed a new program, the "taxe pique-nique", that starting next year will result in a tax of 90 cents per kilogram (2.2 lbs) will be placed on plastic and paper throwaway cups from next year, aimed at cutting the average 360kg (793 lbs) of rubbish generated per person per year in France.
A raft of other "green" taxes may also be imposed, including on batteries, televisions, washing machines and fridges, with tax breaks offered for more environmentally friendly alternatives. Of course, it has its detractors. But the main opposition Socialist party rounded on the measure as a bourgeois attack on those French already struggling to meet basic living costs. The government, he said, should instead concentrate on reducing energy consumption in other areas, like public transport.
The French are keen on picnics, often surprisingly gourmet. Some said the tax would not make them change their ways. Others are more supportive, saying if we don’t start cutting back on disposable stuff, we'll never get out of this mess. The tax will affect plastic goblets, knives and forks, and non-biodegradable paper plates and napkins.
The supporters say the tax would help bring down costs on recyclable products. Rather than seen as a tax, it should be viewed as a levy on goods which are heavy generators of rubbish. A near-identical tax was introduced in Belgium last year, where the tax also extends to saran-type wraps and aluminum foil.
Your assignment, if you decide to accept it:
1. Look at all the disposables for which you could substitute reusables. For picnics, could you take regular plastic plates and silverware, wrap them up and take them home to throw in the dishwasher?
2. Research biodegradable disposables (second-best choice) for when reusables really aren’t practical (really impractical)
Take a wider view of our world and how we’re trashing it. Remember, the trash may not end up here at home but will pollute other countries and diminish their quality of life. We need to act like grown-ups and make some tough but responsible decisions.
Friday, September 26, 2008
I've Got Company! Are You With Me?
More and more when I go shopping, there are other people in line also with their own bags. I hope they are also recycling at home. We have become loaded down with garbage. We want less of it. With a little effort, we can decrease landfill impact tremendously. Behavioral scientists tell us it takes three months to make something a habit. Recycling and using reusables are great habits to get into! Here are some great habits to develop:
· Remember to keep cloth bags in every car and to grab one when you walk to a store. It’s pretty hard to carry seven items home loose in your hands, so you tend to go for the plastic with its convenient handles. Grab a cloth bag with longer handles so you can sling it over your shoulder while you walk. Better, yet, wear a backpack and stay balanced.
· Remember that every chipboard carton a product comes in can be flattened and recycled.
· Tear address labels off the umpteen catalogs and travel books we all get and recycle those, as well.
· Take the time to wash out messy jars and bottles. Some can be thrown in the dishwasher. Others just need to sit with hot soapy water in them for a few hours, shaken up and rinsed out. Don’t forget the soap. It acts as a surfactant to reduce surface tension and keep food from sticking so tightly to the container. (Yes, I mean peanut butter, too!)
· Invest in a shredder. That’s the best way to keep sensitive materials, like old bank statements from falling into the hands of identity thieves. Then use the shredded paper to pack breakables for shipping.
· Recycle printer cartridges. Office Depot gives you your choice of a discount off a purchase or a ream of recycled paper for each one you bring in.
· Recycle old batteries, even the AAAs. Hazardous metals can leach out in landfills.
· Go on-line and research recycling centers in your area and your options. Then post their requirements in the kitchen or someplace easily accessible. If you live in an apartment or condo building, share the information with other units. We can pay for curbside recycling, but we have free recycling drop-off locations within a few blocks, so we take it ourselves.
· When you have neighborhood clean-up days and pick up trash, separate it into garbage and recyclables. No reason for cans and bottles to go into a landfill.
You probably have tons of ideas of your own. If you do, please comment on these blogs and I will use your ideas and help you share them. We’re all in this together. Let’s do what we can.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Fighting Special Interests- and the Beat Goes On
Using Ireland’s successful plastic bag tax as a model, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing a 20-cent “green fee” on all disposable bags. The proposed fee is the first of its kind in the nation made by a mayor striving for a legacy of environmental stewardship. If the City Council approves, the fee would go into effect January 1. In an effort to ease the transition, the city will mail one reusable shopping bag to each household.
Plastic bag bans, however, are meeting concentrated and well-financed resistance from petroleum producers and plastic bag manufacturers. Some municipalities considering plastic bag bans have been hit with legal demands for environmental impact statements to justify a ban. Most do not have that kind of money, so they back down from proposing a ban or even a plastic bag surcharge. In their efforts to prevent bans, the plastic bag industry has launched a huge campaign for plastic bag recycling. As you have seen from earlier blogs, the economies are just not there.
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Again, we’re faced with special interests corrupting the environment. The bag industry is right that paper bags are not the answer. But their claims that plastic bag bans will create a huge demand for paper bags and cause widespread catastrophic deforestation are unfounded. The solution is and has always been; reusable bags. When someone asks you whether you want plastic or paper, say: “Neither. I brought my own.”
Plastic bag bans, however, are meeting concentrated and well-financed resistance from petroleum producers and plastic bag manufacturers. Some municipalities considering plastic bag bans have been hit with legal demands for environmental impact statements to justify a ban. Most do not have that kind of money, so they back down from proposing a ban or even a plastic bag surcharge. In their efforts to prevent bans, the plastic bag industry has launched a huge campaign for plastic bag recycling. As you have seen from earlier blogs, the economies are just not there.
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Again, we’re faced with special interests corrupting the environment. The bag industry is right that paper bags are not the answer. But their claims that plastic bag bans will create a huge demand for paper bags and cause widespread catastrophic deforestation are unfounded. The solution is and has always been; reusable bags. When someone asks you whether you want plastic or paper, say: “Neither. I brought my own.”
Monday, July 7, 2008
More Considerations on Plastic Bags
Recycling
In this green, recycling aura many of us live in, we can convince ourselves that it’s okay to use those convenient plastic bags and not have to worry about bringing our own bags, because we recycle! There are some grim statistics on that approach:
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Sources of Plastic Bag Litter
A study in 1975 showed that oceangoing vessels dumped 8 million pounds of plastic into our seas annually. Since then, ocean dumping is more closely regulated, although much of it still probably occurs. But those plastic bags and other non-degradable plastic litter also gets into the waterways through streams and storm sewers. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle and as far south as the Falkland Islands.
According to the National Marine Debris Monitoring program, plastic bags account for more than 10% of the debris washed up on U.S. coastlines.
Plastic bags photodegrade over time into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers, according to CNN.com.
The effects on wildlife are catastrophic. Birds become terminally entangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life, including whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles die due to ingesting plastic bags they mistake for food.
What We Can Do
We can use cloth reusable bags. I cloth bag, taken to every retail establishment visited, can replace:
· 6 bags/week
· 24 bags/month
· 288 bags/year
· 22,176 bags in an average lifetime
If only 1 out of 5 people in our country did this, we would save:
1,330,560,000,000 bags over our lifetime!
What Other Countries and Other Cities are doing
· Countries who have banned or are banning plastic bags: Bangladesh, China, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africe, Taiwan, Singapore
· Ireland led Europe by taxing plastic bags in 2002 and has reduced consumption by 90%
· In March 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. Oakland and Boston are considering a ban.
Another Huge Benefit of Banning Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic made from oil. Decreasing plastic bags reduces foreign oil dependence. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban on free plastic bags.
Cut the Plastic!
In this green, recycling aura many of us live in, we can convince ourselves that it’s okay to use those convenient plastic bags and not have to worry about bringing our own bags, because we recycle! There are some grim statistics on that approach:
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Sources of Plastic Bag Litter
A study in 1975 showed that oceangoing vessels dumped 8 million pounds of plastic into our seas annually. Since then, ocean dumping is more closely regulated, although much of it still probably occurs. But those plastic bags and other non-degradable plastic litter also gets into the waterways through streams and storm sewers. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle and as far south as the Falkland Islands.
According to the National Marine Debris Monitoring program, plastic bags account for more than 10% of the debris washed up on U.S. coastlines.
Plastic bags photodegrade over time into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers, according to CNN.com.
The effects on wildlife are catastrophic. Birds become terminally entangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life, including whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles die due to ingesting plastic bags they mistake for food.
What We Can Do
We can use cloth reusable bags. I cloth bag, taken to every retail establishment visited, can replace:
· 6 bags/week
· 24 bags/month
· 288 bags/year
· 22,176 bags in an average lifetime
If only 1 out of 5 people in our country did this, we would save:
1,330,560,000,000 bags over our lifetime!
What Other Countries and Other Cities are doing
· Countries who have banned or are banning plastic bags: Bangladesh, China, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africe, Taiwan, Singapore
· Ireland led Europe by taxing plastic bags in 2002 and has reduced consumption by 90%
· In March 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. Oakland and Boston are considering a ban.
Another Huge Benefit of Banning Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic made from oil. Decreasing plastic bags reduces foreign oil dependence. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban on free plastic bags.
Cut the Plastic!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Ocean Trash
Some people have no qualms about discarding a piece of dental floss, a plastic bag, or whatever non-biodegradable trash they want to get rid of. While it is an eyesore along our highways and byways, when it gets into storm sewers and carried out to sea, it assumes a life of its own. An article in the New York Times highlights how serious this problem is. Below is a section from that article and the link to the article itself.
In 2002, Nature magazine reported that during the 1990s, debris in the waters near Britain doubled; in the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica the increase was a hundredfold. And depending on where they sample, oceanographers have found that between 60 and 95 percent of today’s marine debris is made of plastic.
Plastic gets into the ocean when people throw it from ships or leave it in the path of an incoming tide, but also when rivers carry it there, or when sewage systems and storm drains overflow. Despite the Ocean Dumping Reform Act, the U.S. still releases more than 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage and storm runoff every year, according to a 2004 E.P.A. report. Comb the Manhattan waterfront and you will find, along with the usual windrows of cups, bottles and plastic bags, what the E.P.A. calls “floatables,” those “visible buoyant or semibuoyant solids” that people flush into the waste stream like cotton swabs, condoms, tampon applicators and dental floss.
The Encyclopedia of Coastal Processes, about as somniferously clinical a scientific source on the subject as one can find, predicts that plastic pollution “will incrementally increase through the 21st century,” because “the problems created are chronic and potentially global, rather than acute and local or regional as many would contemplate.” The problems are chronic because, unlike the marine debris of centuries past, commercial plastics do not biodegrade in seawater. Instead, they persist, accumulating over time, much as certain emissions accumulate in the atmosphere. The problems are global because the sources of plastic pollution are far-flung but also because, like emissions riding the winds, pollutants at sea can travel.
For the whole article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22Plastics-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
In 2002, Nature magazine reported that during the 1990s, debris in the waters near Britain doubled; in the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica the increase was a hundredfold. And depending on where they sample, oceanographers have found that between 60 and 95 percent of today’s marine debris is made of plastic.
Plastic gets into the ocean when people throw it from ships or leave it in the path of an incoming tide, but also when rivers carry it there, or when sewage systems and storm drains overflow. Despite the Ocean Dumping Reform Act, the U.S. still releases more than 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage and storm runoff every year, according to a 2004 E.P.A. report. Comb the Manhattan waterfront and you will find, along with the usual windrows of cups, bottles and plastic bags, what the E.P.A. calls “floatables,” those “visible buoyant or semibuoyant solids” that people flush into the waste stream like cotton swabs, condoms, tampon applicators and dental floss.
The Encyclopedia of Coastal Processes, about as somniferously clinical a scientific source on the subject as one can find, predicts that plastic pollution “will incrementally increase through the 21st century,” because “the problems created are chronic and potentially global, rather than acute and local or regional as many would contemplate.” The problems are chronic because, unlike the marine debris of centuries past, commercial plastics do not biodegrade in seawater. Instead, they persist, accumulating over time, much as certain emissions accumulate in the atmosphere. The problems are global because the sources of plastic pollution are far-flung but also because, like emissions riding the winds, pollutants at sea can travel.
For the whole article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22Plastics-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Thursday, June 12, 2008
When a Walk is More Than a Walk
Okay, we’re all busy, but we can still do something worthwhile—make that two things worthwhile. My multi-tasking of choice has always been to combine a good aerobic walk with something else, whether meaningful conversations with my son or spouse or a good friend, practicing a speech, brainstorming a new article, or, in some cases, picking up trash.
We spend five months a year in the pristine high plains of the Colorado Rockies. Semi-pristine would be more accurate, because where there are people, there is trash. Even here where people live for the majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, there are idiots who think their little bits of trash won’t hurt anything, or probably don’t think at all.
I have a friend who is like-minded and happens to raise llamas. So our multi-tasking consists of going on long walks with pack llamas outfitted with saddlebags. They get training in packing and we have someone to carry the trash we pick up because there is always too much to carry. Two days in a row, we returned with four saddlebags stuffed with ten bags of trash, which we then sorted into recyclables and trash-trash. Climbing in and out of gullies, along with all the reaching, gave us a great workout, and our “neighborhood” looks a lot better.
In the interest of making this translatable into something you might like to do, we’ll subtract the llamas. When you go out for a walk, which you should do often, take used bags with you and pick up the trash. Everywhere has it. Nobody likes to look at it. Since I’m the plastic bag lady, I snag plastic bag litter and then use it to hold other trash I find. Trash is trash. But don’t count on finding bags. Take some with you. Then remember to recycle as much as possible so we can minimize the impact on landfills. We’re out walking anyway. Let’s include the planet in our outings.
We spend five months a year in the pristine high plains of the Colorado Rockies. Semi-pristine would be more accurate, because where there are people, there is trash. Even here where people live for the majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, there are idiots who think their little bits of trash won’t hurt anything, or probably don’t think at all.
I have a friend who is like-minded and happens to raise llamas. So our multi-tasking consists of going on long walks with pack llamas outfitted with saddlebags. They get training in packing and we have someone to carry the trash we pick up because there is always too much to carry. Two days in a row, we returned with four saddlebags stuffed with ten bags of trash, which we then sorted into recyclables and trash-trash. Climbing in and out of gullies, along with all the reaching, gave us a great workout, and our “neighborhood” looks a lot better.
In the interest of making this translatable into something you might like to do, we’ll subtract the llamas. When you go out for a walk, which you should do often, take used bags with you and pick up the trash. Everywhere has it. Nobody likes to look at it. Since I’m the plastic bag lady, I snag plastic bag litter and then use it to hold other trash I find. Trash is trash. But don’t count on finding bags. Take some with you. Then remember to recycle as much as possible so we can minimize the impact on landfills. We’re out walking anyway. Let’s include the planet in our outings.
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