Last Chance for Free Mulch

Hello everyone!  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth :)  Just busy being a Mom to 4 great kids, working, trying to keep the house together, getting ready for the holidays, lots of birthdays, volunteering, yard work...well you get the picture :)

Check out the latest blog at http://alacartegreen.blogspot.com/2011/11/last-chance-for-free-mulch.html

Baring It All

Can be the green way to go...read all about it at my other blog:

http://alacartegreen.blogspot.com/2011/08/baring-it-all.html

Happy Easter 2011

Don't forget to green your Easter by composting the Easter egg shells after you enjoy a yummy hard boiled egg :)  As the shells decompose, calcium is released back into the soil. It has also been reported that crushed eggshells help prevent  slug and snail damage because they don't like to cross them.  I will definitely have to give this a try in the garden this year, and see how well it works  :)

Egg cartons can be reused or recycled as well.  Use your cardboard type egg cartons for crafts, to store and organize jewelry or small items in your desk drawer, to store golf balls, to cushion ornaments, make fire starters (add laundry lint, some old broken crayons and/or used up candle bits), or make some seed starters just by adding some compost (or potting soil)!

For craft ideas, check out http://www.freekidscrafts.com/recycled_egg_carton_crafts_for_kids_|_recycled-t75.html .             

One step forward, two steps back

I'm REALLY disappointed that Frito-Lay caved in on their compostable SunChips bags!

So what if the bag is a bit noisier than what people are used to?  What??? The bag wakes up a roommate?  Ummm maybe they shouldn't be eating that late at night, it's not all that healthy to begin with!  So stop sneaking snacks in the middle of the night...problem solved! OR pour some chips into a bowl and then eat them!  Do roommates also complain about the FZZSTTTT of the soda or beer can being popped open?   Do we need silencers for cans?  Or the clickety clickety of the laptop keyboard or texting? 

Consumers are so fickle, that they won't buy a product they like due to packaging?  Well, it's too bad because Frito-Lay WAS at the forefront of changing consumer's thoughts and attitudes towards packaging.  And just think, they had responded to consumer demand for more eco-friendly sustainable packaging!  I for one, was a huge fan of the compostable bags.  I didn't care one bit that they were noisier because I knew that after we'd finished the yummy, crunchy chips, the bag would not litter a landfill, and to me that's more important than the crunch of the bag.  In fact, I got a kick out of adding it to our compost, crinkle and all!

Wasteful, landfill clogging packaging in general drives me CRAZY,  which was why I was so happy to be able to compost the Sun Chips bag.  It's time that companies become more responsible for more sustainable packaging, more eco-friendly processing, and become environmental stewards and good examples for consumers.

Personally, I believe laws are needed to push companies to create sustainable packaging.  Without a push, most companies take the cheaper, easier, petroleum-dependent-plastic way out.  If Frito-Lay hadn't caved in, would consumers get used to the bag?  I think their products could stand up to the complaints and they'd still profit because it's the product that consumers are buying to eat, and their products are good.

To their credit, Frito-Lay says they are developing the next generation of biodegradable bags.   And I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it when it finally arrives on the market!  Until then, I'll still be pushing for more responsible, eco-friendly, sustainable packaging and buying the original Sun Chips which will still have the compostable bag  :)


http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-10-05-sunchips05_ST_N.htm

L is for LUNCH

Stomachs gurgle, eyes turn to look up at the clock...then the bell rings!  Yeah, time for lunch and RECESS!!!

Over 76.6 million children look forward to lunch and recess.  It's when they get to chat with friends, refuel with lunch, and get some fresh air and exercise.  These children consume homemade lunches and cafeteria food, and when they are done, they produce an astounding amount of lunch related trash.  On average, school-aged children eating disposable lunches generate about 67 pounds of waste per year.  For an average sized elemenatary school that translates to about 18,000 pounds or 9 tons of lunch waste that ends up in the landfill.

So what ends up in the 9 tons of trash at an average school?  Just think about what you send you children in their lunch, or what they eat in the school lunch they buy, and then consider what they don't eat and what goes in the trash...

Paperbags, plastic ziplocks, packaging from chip bags, cookies, cheese sticks, and yogurts, juice boxes, milk cartons, banana peels, apple cores, peach pits, and lots and lots of uneaten food is thrown out.  If you saw the amount of food that goes into the trash your stomach would turn.  I've seen the food wasted at snack time and at lunch time...and I can hear my parent's voices in my head, "that food could feed many starving people, don't waste food!"  I'm also saddened by the amount of trash that could be recycled but is not.

It's estimated that 380 billion plastic bags (about 1,200 plastic bags per person/per year), and about 2.7 billion juice boxes are thrown away each year. (Earthworks Group, 2009)  When I read the statistics about plastic bags I quickly calculated that my family would use on average 7,200 plastic bags made from non-renewable petroleum products per year.  YIKES!  So over the course of the last year, I've switched the family over to using reusable sandwich and snack bags.  Via a school fundraiser, I bought wrap-n-mat www.wrap-n-mat.com which I like because it provides a clean surface for the sandwiches to set on instead of the germy lunchtable.  Then I discovered snacktaxi.com http://www.snacktaxi.com/, and resnackit.com http://resnackit.com/.   I bought a few of each brand and was hooked on them!  They are easy to clean, and can be reused over and over, and are made of food-safe materials.  We also use small glad plastic containers instead of plastic bags for muffins, and other things that stand up better in a rigid container (and to appease the pickiest of all..the teenagers in the family who are not easily swayed by my eco-conscious reasoning...they just find it hard to be "cool" using my awesome eco-snack and sandwich bags).  I must comment that the kids, hubby, and I have had many positive comments about our fun, colorful reusable bags, and we are often asked for info about the bags, which we readily share.  Recently my sister sent us some new bags called Lunchskins 3greenmoms.com  and those have been a nice addition to our collection as well.

To transport our lunches, we've never used paper lunch bags (except on field trips when we can't stow the reusable items).  Instead we have a variety of lunch "boxes".  We have pretty, stylish Vera Bradley lunchbags  for my fashionistas http://www.verabradley.com/product/Lets-Do-Lunch/154875/defaultColor/Blue%20Rhapsody/p/154875.uts, LLBean lunch boxes http://www.llbean.com/llb/search?storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&init=1&freeText=lunch&Go=, and Built BYO lunch bags available at Target, Kohls, etc. 


So it really couldn't be easier to bring a waste-free lunch...with sturdy lunch bags from LL Bean, or pretty choices from Vera Bradley, taking your lunch can even be a fashion statement!  There are many waste-free, accessories such as reusable stainless steel or aluminum water bottles that can be used to keep hydrated throughout the day http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/k-is-for-kleankanteen-or-similar.html, reusable, non-plastic snack and sandwich bags, and cloth napkins.  Instead of plastic utensils, encourage your family to take regular silverware and return it.  With all the various reusable items, there are so many options for decreasing our waste, and the costs associated with it.

As for food waste, much of it could be composted, and recycled into "brown gold" by the humblest of decomposers, the Earth worm.  Greening of school lunches could easily be integrated into the school curriculum.  Setting goals to reduce waste, bring waste-free lunches, sorting out recyclables, composting, graphing waste reduction and disposal savings could all be integrated into science, math, and even writing curriculum.  I wholeheartedly believe that providing children with opportunities to learn about positive environmental habits will lead to lifelong attitudes about sustainability and environmental stewardship. 



sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/toolkit.htm
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/pdfs/toolkit/tools-m.pdf
http://www.wastefreelunches.org/
http://www.snacktaxi.com/ 
http://www.wrap-n-mat.com/Overview-of-Linings-i-16.html
The new 50 Simple Things Kids Can do to save the Earth, Earthworks Group, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, Kansas City, 2009

Everyone loves suprises

Everyone loves surprises, right? 

Well, my compost has provided me with some fun surprises over the years.  How did the compost give back this time?  Recently I composted directly under a tree that was in need of some organic TLC, and then added some grass clippings on top of it.  Later I added bark mulch on top to pretty it up.  The other day, as I walked by the tree I notice some dark green seedlings and chuckled to myself.  A few days later, there was a strange mound under the tree, and when I took a closer look, I saw that more seedlings were pushing up on the mulch creating the mound.  I dug down and found the cast off seed pods.  I'm pretty sure they are butternut squash seeds.  If I am correct about the seeds,  it looks like the yummiest butternut squash soup scraps have resulted in a bunch of healthy seedlings, and hopefully more yummy squash.  

It's not the first time that the compost has given back either!  In the past, I composted into a corner of the garden, and we ended up with a cantaloupe plant that yielded some small but tasty melons.  Since the garden was reconfigured I can't compost into the corner, but this year I already found some tomato seedlings from some cherry tomatoes that fell to the ground last year.  It's always fun to get surprises, and I'm excited to find out if the surprise seedlings will really be squash.  Stay tuned! 

Green mulch?

So spring is here, and you hear the lawn mowers buzzing and keeping the lawns looking presentable.  Now I wish I could say that we use a push reel mower, but with 1.5 acres it would be quite a workout.  We do however, collect our grass clippings and use them as mulch under trees, in areas that need weed control, and in our compost.  It's the perfect use for grass clippings instead of trashing them (people really do pay to throw away good mulch?!) 

Biodegradable cleaning wipes - Day 16

So I ran out of my favorite cleaning wipes (I know, I know a disposable product), and found that Green Works makes "natural biodegradable" cleaning wipes with natural ingredients such as coconut-based cleaners and essential oils, so I figured I'd give them a try. They work well, and it makes me feel better knowing that even though I'm using something disposable, at least I can compost them, and then recycle the container they come in. Surprisingly, they were comparable in price to other wipes, so it was a total no-brainer to give them a try, and I'm glad I did.

At the grocery store - Day 11

Today at the grocery store I was very excited to find that Sun Chips now has a 100% compostable bag that the chips come in! Wow am I a geek!! I never dreamed I'd be excited about green packaging ;) Now if only the rest of the manufacturers would get a move on and use similar packaging! Funny how such a small thing can make me smile :)