Q is for questions

We’ve probably all heard that there is no bad question, except for the one not asked…and there are many  famous quotes about questions.  Here are a few of my favorites...

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.  ~Thomas Berger

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.   ~Albert Einstein

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?   
~Henry David Thoreau

Better to ask a question than to remain ignorant.  ~Proverb

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever
~ Chinese Proverbs

So what are some questions we can ask about our human footprint?  And what green baby steps can we take to alleviate our human footprint? Here are a few questions related to our human footprint.  

1.  How much energy is conserved by switching to CFLs?               
2.  How much water does the average person use?
3.  How much food does the average person eat?
4.  How many diapers did you wear as a baby?
5.  Won’t going green cost more?                      
6.  How much water does the average shower use? 
7.  How much food is wasted in the US each year?
8.  Why should I buy locally grown and produced foods?
9.  If milk is good for me, how can it be bad for the planet?      
10. About how much packaging does an average American toss each year?                                              

If you are curious like me, tune in tomorrow to learn the answers to these green conundrums!  Some of the answers may shock you. And remember what Einstein said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.  The important thing is not to stop questioning."

Potato, Po-ta-toe, Tomato, To-ma-to

You say potato, I say po-ta-toe, tomato, to-ma-to....let's call the whole thing off...or not!


So I've blogged several times about one of my pet peeves, packaging, and the amount of packaging that ends up in the trash....http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/talkin-trash.html and http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/packaging-pet-peeve.html

and I've shared how some packaging can be recycled and also benefit a charity such as Nature Conservancy, via Terracycle, http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/time-has-come.html .  When I contacted our local recycling company, and was told that frozen food bags could not be recycled, and many other types of packaging, I didn't want to take "NO" for an answer...so I took it one step further and contacted Ore Ida, which is owned by the Heinz Company (clever since you need ketchup with your french fries!!!) to ask if their packaging was recyclable or not.  They did get back to me, and here is an excerpt from their response to me, 

     "The packaging of the Ore-Ida Potatoes is not recyclable. It is made of composite plastic to allow it to be strong and flexible in the freezer environment.

  

    We support the use of recyclable materials.  Unfortunately, there are currently few acceptable materials available that meet the stringent requirements of food packaging and still fewer systems in place to utilize the end recycled material."

I was happy to hear back from them, yet their materials are not recyclable?  Why can't a composite material be recycled, that makes no sense to me.  What is in it that can't be recycled?  I mean our recycling is plastics 1-7...I hope I can get additional information.  I'll keep you posted.