FOOD WASTE IN THE KITCHEN

Yes, try as we may we still have lots and lots of food waste that comes from the kitchen. It seems as if I am always pulling out another bowl, tupperware, or empty container to host the ever accumulating piles of leftover food. And, to make matters more complicated I have to separate cheese, oils, and meats into different container from the plentiful vegetable matter. Old apples, leftover salad, carrot tops, banana peels, watermelon rind, it all adds up. Even more problematic is the fact that the ants LOVE THE STUFF... so piles of composting stuff amounts to piles and trails of ants everywhere. Kitchen floor, table, counters- it's too much!!! So, today, since I had a bit of time while the kids are away I ORDERED some AIR TIGHT, odor preventing, (and, hopefully ant impermeable) KITCHEN COMPOST CONTAINERS. Yes, I splurged and got two as the need is great.

A World of GARBAGE

People ask me what got me started on my BE GARBAGE FREE challenge...

Well, it was easy, I just became aware of the immensity of the garbage we as a species on the planet are creating and that I was personally creating a huge mound of it!!! Just simply a moment of conscience. Yikes!!!

Here is the FACT that shocked me and got me motivated....

Did you know that there is a floating garbage patch of plastics in the ocean TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS and up to 90 feet deep, in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California???


check these links out:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex?MM_URL=http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/our-oceans/pollution/trash-vortex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

• 70% of the garbage in the ocean is on the sea floor. This means that the island is only a fraction of the garbage problem.
• 90% of ocean garbage is plastic.
• The plastic doesn’t break down chemically, it only breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, the pieces become small enough to move into the food chain.
• Most of the garbage that ends up in the ocean comes from land. It’s simple, really: trash travels over land, into the streams, and out to the ocean. Our garbage - yours and mine - is ending up in the ocean.

Making your own YOGURT!!!

We have been having a hard time finding food without packaging. Yikes... I am definitely hungrier these days. Now that I am thoroughly motivated I'm going to start making my own things FRESH. I know it seems like a lot of work but I think that once I get going with it the process will streamline, be more enjoyable and nourishing for my family.
Looked up 'making yogurt' today.
This sounds like a good recipe: http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/?p=90
Planning on trying it out sometime this week.

Drip irrigation hoses: WARNING!!! they leach lead and other chemicals!!!

Apparently, many popular drip irrigation hoses leach lead and other chemicals into the soil. Yech! We checked the labels on our recently bought hoses and it is SO!!! They even say it on the label... I've heard that people are trying to ban those 'chemical leaching' hoses from California. I went out and bought white 'safe for drinking' boat hoses along with two sprinkler systems and a timer. My oldest daughter and I had a lot of fun getting them set up to water the entire garden in the right places. The straw saturated with water that we put underneath the beds will help encourage the roots to go deep as well as keep things continually moist. Right now we are watering twice a day for 15 minutes. Fresh, soft, safe water for those precious plants... yummy.

God's Garden

What a heavenly result from this garbage free challenge:
a gorgeous, food giving garden right outside my kitchen!!!


We don't have much quantity yet but what is there we have enjoyed so much: basil, tomatoes, green beans, and strawberries. WOW I would never have suspected that we would get such results so soon. The garden being in the courtyard makes beautiful conversation for visitors and get lots and lots of daily, loving attention. Taking a bit of an afternoon nap in the sunny parts of the hay between garden beds has become a dip into the bliss. WOW WOW WOW

A GARDEN PARTY

We are getting serious this weekend about reducing packaging and environmental impact! We are starting our kitchen garden. I am transforming what was a grassy courtyard (right near the kitchen) and walkway into a place to grow our food! HOPEFULLY THIS REALLY WORKS!!!
We will need easy to get food WITHOUT PACKAGING...

Here's the email I sent out today:

Dear friends and family,

We are about to embark on the delightful mission of growing some of our own food.
This is an opportunity for PART-Y-cipation!!! It's a GARDEN PARTY!!!

We are going to have a party this Sunday to inaugurate our FRIENDS AND FAMILY garden!!! For those of you who won't be here on Sunday, there will be lots to do on MONDAY as well!!! And, many days after that as well. Celebration with cake will start 8PM, August 2nd. This also just happens to be the eve before our zero waste, GARBAGE FREE YEAR challenge which starts at 12:00 AM, August 3rd, 2009.

We will be making the raised beds,setting up irrigation system, etc. on Sunday and hopefully, planting on Monday.

I could use a bit of help finding these things (researching on the web will help + helping me shop).
.............................................................................................................................

• high quality wood for edging of raised beds (no chemicals, should withstand weather, long pieces)- I would prefer not to 'cut down a tree' to do this!!!
• high quality soil (no chemicals, no brand names, organic, perfectly balanced, good for this area and close enough to pick up ourselves
• trellises for beans and tomatoes
• highest quality plants (organic, excellent taste, hardy, good size, perfect for this climate)
• timer + drip irrigation system
• soil supplements (rock minerals?)
• several good size composting containers
• and very, very important: a fence and gate for keeping out critters

MAYBE there is ONE place (in Malibu or Camarillo, perhaps) that all these things????
Along with the perfect gardening advice person???



The role of the gardeners
Each person is responsible for researching (knowing when and where to plant in the garden-sunny shady etc.), caring (watering, weeding around it, pest control), harvesting (picking, distributing, and prepping for consumption) and loving their particular crop!!!

Sarah: potatoes, carrots, lettuce
Elijah: garlic, corn, more potatoes
Sophie: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries (if we can), & fruit trees
Luke: cucumbers
Karen: broccoli, green beans, artichoke, green onions & herbs
Marc: basil
Ralph: ???


We also want to plant in other areas of the yard: grapes, pumpkins, squash and watermelon. Especially the pumpkins for Halloween. We can do additional container gardens as needed.


The garden will be what we all make of it collectively!!!!

LOVE,
mama karen

What to DO about CAT FOOD cans?

Our cat makes lots and lots of cans to recycle, icky, icky, smelly, yuck. I don't want to do this anymore!!! I gave my 11 year old daughter the task of finding out a decent LOW PACKAGING replacement. 'Google this, google that.', I yelled from the office. Finally we hit the gold mine with 'dehydrated cat food'.

Yummy, it comes dry- just add warm water, add some mashed leftover veggies or meat for taste and viola, dinner is served. Comes in a recyclable cardboard box and makes 15 pounds of cat food. The cat food formula, Prowl, contains hormone-free chicken, eggs, potatoes, yams, flaxseed, zucchini, spinach, honey, cranberries, rosemary, vitamins and minerals. Even though it looks a bit pricey we calculated that pound for pound it costs less than buying the cans. I'll let you know how we like it once we try it out. Until then, here's the link:
www.thehonestkitchen.com

We bought the 4lb. box of Prowl for our persian cat. And, for you dog lovers, don't worry, they have dog food, too!

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR GARBAGE

OK, here's what I've done so far to reduce my garbage dramatically!!

The first step is to accept the challenge and claim 100% responsibility for your own TRASH.

Telling your friends that you are doing this helps to keep you on the program. Blogging about it is even better!

1. STOP garbage can pickup.
2. Put together reusable 'eatting out' kits. Put those in the car with reusable bags/backpacks/insulated containers that you like. Basically, bring your own cup, plate, and utensils (B.Y.O.C.P.U) and then bring them home with you.
3. Start sorting your garbage. Collect and label/identify bins. Place in convenient spots near kitchen.
4. Compost food waste.
5. Stop accepting bags of any kind. Bring your own bag.
6. Avoid purchasing anything with packaging. Only purchase packaging you will reuse many times and/or recycle.
7. If you have to, have to buy something then leave packaging at the store or return to the seller.
8. Stop junk mail.
9. Buy from your local farmer's market.
10. Stop the plastic bottle addiction. Get a water purifier.
11. Grow your own food. Share with others.
12. REFILL containers for food, cleaning products, cosmetics, toiletries.
13. Realize that reducing and reusing is much better than recycling!

More later....

More problems...

Woke up to a pool of water on my kitchen floor. Thank goodness, I don't have wood floors (couldn't bring myself to spend the money while deforesting another bit of this gorgeous planet- even though I found those Brazilian hardwoods to be oh, so pretty!). I'm sure the water was sitting there all night. Checked under the sink for a leak, checked the faucet, yikes... it's the new Brita gallon purifier... apparently, the water dispenser tap was leaking!!! Fortunately, I had purchased two water containers so I just swapped out the defective one and put it in the 'to be returned' area by the door. You bet, I'll be looooking for that permanent water filter soon...


OOPS, big OOPS, I just found out that Brita is owned by Clorox!! Yes, Clorox, the very company that has been encouraging and profiting from the use of unnecessarily harmful chemicals to clean our homes with, who is also a source of huge amount of dangerous dioxin waste and big time water polluter. NOW they are in the business of PURIFYING OUR PERSONAL WATER! Ha, how fitting and how idiotic. I've got to get off the rat wheel!!!

MOTHS in the BULK BINS

OK, I have to admit I didn't want to blog about this. ECO-bias and all. But... this DID HAPPEN! Stopped off at the health food store to get some more of the maple syrup flavored animal cookies that my daughter loves. Brought in my 'saved' plastic bags from my last BULK BIN trip. Tried to get the cookies out of the bulk bin dispenser by pushing on the handle and the cookies were stuck. Bang, bang... still no cookies, bang, bang, bang... called the clerk and she pulled down the bin and opened up the lid to scoop them out directly FLUTTER FLUTTER FLUTTER moths flew out!!! YIKES>>> Now, I remembered all the BAD things about bulk bins- old food, dusty, smelly, old food... insect ridden food. Yes, it's true, that's one of the reasons we evolved to sealable, long shelf life, pre-packaged food!!! They brought me out a big box from the back to scoop from and apologized profusely. I chit chatted with the stock guy in the back on how he could get rid of those moths (maybe cedar blocks, oil or tea tree oil?). But, then again that might affect the quality of the food if not done right... Blaaaaaaa-ick! MOTHS in the food, icky, icky. When I first decided to go bulk I asked the clerk if people really used the bulk bins and what was popular (knowing that those would be the freshest items). So, I had selected a few of the things from her 'popular' list. But, that wasn't enough! WARNING: check out the REAL STATUS of your bulk bins before you buy.

The getting rid of grain moths the advice is pretty simple: CLEAN UP THOROUGHLY!!! Vacuum corners, check underneath even cans, throw away any infested foods, put the rest in ziplocks or rubber sealed containers... store what you have in refrigerator. If you don't want to throw food away, you can kill them by heating or freezing food. As far as repelling try bay leaves in food (apparently won't leave an odor) and on shelves.

Now, let's get back to promoting BULK BINS. Stores can get fantastic, rubber sealed bins that really work that will prevent such investations.

Here's a great post on buying in bulk!! But, then again the blogger lives in Berkeley, California- HOME OF HardCore RECYCLERS and REDUCE WASTE advocates and the social environment supports such admirable behavior. I know, because my sister is one of them!!! GOOD FOR THEM!!


http://gardenofeatingblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/greening-your-kitchen-buy-in-bulk.html

Farmer's Market SUCCESS!!!

We finally got to the farmer's market yesterday and successfully got our yummy food almost completely WASTE FREE!!! Peaches, apples, watermelon, oranges all went in my standard reusable grocery bags. The berries were dumped into a compostable container with a lid from Whole Foods. Bread went into my plastic insulated bag with zipper. Today, I am on the looking on the internet for a 'dedicated to bread only' reusable bag that I can bring next time. Haven't found a good one yet.
We did have to do a bit of negotiating with some of the vendors to let us take the food without any packaging, but most were happy about it. The berry lady was the most pleased. The bread lady said she would reuse the bag and I made sure to give her back the bag tie. My daughter insisted on a homemade apple pie in a plastic container saying that she would reuse it over and over again for sandwiches. It is actually a decent container for that use but won't have as long of a life as I will insist on later! We are still transitioning... We had such a GREAT TIME at the market. We tried japanese flowering broccoli, organic Portuguese cheese, yellow watermelon, and fresh pomegranate juice. Outside, personal, inexpensive delicious produce, what a deal!!! SUCCESS!!!

The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff is an absolute MUST SEE for all you trash mavens!!!

This is LIFE TRANSFORMING...
www.thestoryofstuff.com

FOUND SOME TOMATO PLANTS

Bought some tomato plants at Whole Foods on MONDAY! With record summer heat there are lots of fresh, yummy tomatoes turning red today outside my office door, available with NO PACKAGING attached!

My friend Ralph has promised that he will help me with a raised bed garden. He lives in an apartment and needs some dirt to garden in. I live on two third's of an acre and need some help gardening! I'm excited. Tomorrow is FARMER'S MARKET DAY!!! Do you believe it? I have wanted to go to the farmer's market for years now but never made it a priority UNTIL I canceled my trash pickup. Now, avoiding waste is serious business.

What to do with sticky labels and tags?

Even when you buy fruit without packaging you usually get a sticky label with it. What's with that? AND... even when you do your best to avoid packaging and purchase something without it you ALWAYS get a tag or two or another sticky label. Now, that we THINK before we toss anything into the TRASH we have been wondering what to do with these ODD bits of things! "Have you thought about making a collage out of them?", a friend suggested. So that's exactly what we've done. I took an old picture and frame I had stored in the garage, flipped it over so I have a nice white background board, tacked it into the wall near the kitchen, and for convenience- balanced a glue stick on top of two tacks in the upper left corner and viola, our collage collection is already growing while our garbage problems are shrinking. The kids love adding to it. Our new LABELS and TAGS collage. I can't wait to see what it looks like in a YEAR :)

GARBAGE FREE DAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Wow, Garbage Free day, is coming so quickly.. August 3rd is the actual start date of me being responsible for 100% of my rubbish for one whole year. It is also my birthday and I will have to figure out a WASTE FREE way to celebrate the DAY! The garbage company will take the cans away on the 6th and that will be our last pickup for ONE YEAR. Yikes! It's really working to get me motivated in a BIG WAY. Only 12 more days of preparation left.

WASTE FREE LUNCH

As the saying goes there may be 'no FREE lunch' but today you can easily create a waste free one! I tremor with guilt to think about how much trash I created by using disposables bags and zip top baggies while making lunches for my kids in the last 10 years... Yikes, but as of this Monday we are going waste free. It's just not good enough to just pick up a plastic bag at the grocery store- REUSE IT ONCE and then throw it away. Instead, this morning my daughter and I are going online shopping for long life REUSABLE sandwich, snack and lunch bags. Problem #1: my daughter is picky. "No, I don't want that, I don't want it like that, I won't use that". I was losing patience and said, "OK, if we haven't found a solution by Monday you won't get a lunch." That seemed to inspire her!

Our google search turned serious and fun. We found stylish Lunchskins, snackTAXIs (Oprah's favorite), easy to clean Wrap-N-Mats, see through Fresh Snack Packs, soft and reusable ReUsies as well as some great hemp drawstring shopping bags... We even searched what we had in the house already and found a nice 100% organic muslin drawstring bag in a kitchen drawer that we could use on Monday. Throw in a small cloth napkin in her sack and we are almost done!! Last week I wrapped her sandwiches in folded parchment paper secured with a rubber band but planned on converting to ZERO WASTE NON-DISPOSABLE LUNCH BAGS, ASAP.

Now, we are off to Whole Foods now to see what they have in stock in this category. Otherwise, we'll order a few different types online, try'em out, and let you know.

Check out it out:
www.reusablebags.com
www.snacktaxi.com
www.wrap-n-mat.com

more VELCRO BAGS...

Found some more pictures of these crafty, reusable bags that you can make yourself from scraps of fabric. This one has loose leaf tea in it.

Absolutely INSPIRING!!!
check lots of different kinds out at www.etsy.com

You can also make them from store bought oil cloth (very durable and very washable), nylon, cut-up aprons, or bibs. Just wipe, rinse or wash and hang up to dry!

A recycled REUSABLE SNACK BAG!!!!

Now, that I have signed OFF on ziplock bags I am actively pursuing an alternative. Why don't we have pretty, washable, reusable bags with velcro or zippers that we can buy? I guess I chalk it up to the global domination of ignorance (of which I include myself!). Check out this amazing solution I found!!! Instructions on HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN REUSABLE SNACK BAG at www.wewilsons.blogspot.com. Be sure to download her pdf file with pictures so you can send to your friends. This is just pure genius. I'm putting my daughters to work this weekend on making their own :)

Reusing ZIPLOCKS for lunches (?)

Reducing my packaging means MAKING REFILLABLE CONTAINERS for use at home. I love this as a project because it's fun to find and select a good container for something in particular and even more fun to label or decorate it and make it our OWN. Today, I started simple by labeling a large size ziplock for my daughter's lunch. She doesn't want to carry around a bulky lunch box type thing and we won't be reusing and then throwing out those supermarket disposable plastic bags any more. It's not pretty (yet?) but I'm hoping it will work and not get thrown in the trash. Of course, the beauty of stopping the trash pickup is that it will make throwing it away perfectly impossible.
Having one box of ziplocks LEFT I am seeing if this will work for her lunch needs. The idea is to decorate or label the item personally so that you won't want to throw it away. Hope this works!! I am committed to not buying ZIPLOCKS again.

I PROMISE: NOT A SINGLE BOX OF ZIPLOCKS WILL I BUY AGAIN!!!! ah... now, that feels better. What a wasteful, wasteful, irresponsible, environmentally damaging lifestyle I had been living.

Recycling OLD TOYS

Toys are absolutely NOT compostable, permanently plastic, and grown out of rapidly.

WE HAVE A LOT OF THEM!!! We were cleaning out my old, gas guzzling van and found 7 bags full of them. What to do? I called a couple of local consignment shops, found one that accepts pretty much anything for store credit and donates the rest. Having those once loved toys refurbished and reused felt good. It felt so much more responsible than just taking the convenient way out and tossing them in the trash. Think about how many millions and millions of toys are produced, packaged, bought, used and discarded every year! There's got to be another way!!!!

Bamboo plates!!!

I am excited about these pretty, eco-friendly bamboo plates. I picked up a package of 8 of these thin, reusable, compostable plates at Cost Plus yesterday for $9.99 (or $1.25 a plate). They are light (great for carrying around), smell good (I like it) and can be lightly washed and reused. I guess we will find out how long they hold up! Perfect for carrying in the car as part of my REUSE kit to bring into restaurants that use disposable packaging. WISH LIST: I hope they make a reusable bamboo carry-out tray that has a lid to take home restaurant leftovers. It would be a great substitute for those Styrofoam containers that I now avoid like the plague!!

Stopping the Plastic Bottle Addiction

Yes, we are addicted to disposable plastic water bottles in this family. We carry them around the house. We include them on every trip, small or large and in every lunch. I've always rationalized the 'convenience' of the bottle as being the necessity and continued on this unhealthy and damaging habit. It didn't seem to bother me to have counters full of half-empty bottles everywhere... in and out of the trash. Yikes... what was I thinking? I guess I wasn't because the importance of reducing my garbage was just pushed away by my conscious mind. NO MATTER. Finally, the legacy of this huge waste and impact of plastic bottle consumption has dawned on my heart and mind! Yeah, for that!
Yesterday's To Do list involved getting some reusable bottles. I picked up 3 blue Intac hydration bottles by Thermos for $9.99 at Target (BPA Free). The Intac is very well designed-so, check it out.
http://www.target.com/Thermos-Intak-Free-Hydration-Bottle
I'd rather use a glass container but it's just too heavy and too breakable to practically carry around. Plus, I seem to have developed a bit a of sensitivity to metal so even the stainless steel containers bother me. I won't drink WARM water in a plastic bottle but cool/cold works out well, especially, for the kids at school. On my eco wish list is that I would like to see Thermos make even the tags compostable!!! No trash pickup means dealing with the tags too!!!

Next on the list was a water purifier. Since my life revolves around kid schedules and constant chauffeuring, I stopped at my convenient COSTCO to see what they had. They had a $179 reverse osmosis at the sink model but that involved purchasing 'disposable' filters regularly and some perhaps, tricky installation (I couldn't find a description on the box). COSTCO also had some good looking Brita containers so I took a hard look at them. I already had some Brita filters at home that needed using up, so I chose to get two on the counter Brita water purifiers (at only $19.99 each) mostly because they are great water dispensing containers! My neighborhood chiropractor had offered that day that I could come by his house and fill up with his water machine's special alkanine water any time I want so I needed a container! I'll have to get a REAL WATER PURIFIER in the next couple of months after I used up those Brita's.

Visiting the BULK BINS at the health food store

In an effort to reduce my food packaging as much as possible I made a visit to a local health food store. There was hardly anything in the store that I could buy WITHOUT packaging!!! YIKES!!! What I did discover was the Bulk Bins. Bulk bins had always been a kind of an old fashioned thought in my head and I have never really used them. Now, having the reality of NO TRASH CAN PICKUP- I saw them as one of my few sources of food without packaging! Feeling actually confused just looking at them, I asked the lady what was popular from the bulk bins. She said, quinoa (an original healthy grain), organic popcorn (no GMO's!), short grain organic rice and a couple of other things I don't remember. I selected split peas, lentils, popcorn, chocolate chips, cookies for a mild starter. I'm at home right now trying an Indian dahl recipe and the kids loved the chips and cookies. The food is really a very high quality for an inexpensive price. I started selecting containers that I will use for REFILLING. FUN

NO MORE GARBAGE PICKUP

OK... today got serious, I cancelled my trash service. Yes, NO MORE GARBAGE PICKUP starting August 6th- three days after my birthday. They will pickup the containers and take them away. Scary. I asked them if they would just pick up the recycling at a reduced cost but they said it was the same $56.20 I didn't think that was a very good deal, paying almost $60 for them to pickup my recycling. I also, thought that wasn't much incentive for people to reduce their garbage. The lady on the phone said that they could provide a smaller can but she would have to ask a manager for approval because she didn't know if there was a reduced price or not! I toyed with the idea of going to the next city council meeting and asking them to create more incentive for residents to reduce trash. I also, asked the lady on the phone if there was a local recycling center where I could drop things off at. NOPE, the nearest drop off center is 24 minutes away! Now, I'm really stuck! Not only with my trash but with my recycling as well. YIKES.

EATING OUT without DISPOSABLE packaging

TO AVOID Getting PACKAGING while eating out I realized everything has to go on my own plate, with a refillable cup and light workable utensils. So, the girls and I went shopping for refillables!!!

It was a hot day so we stopped at Jamba Juice where I picked up a refillable container that is very nicely designed for an assortment of cold drink uses. It has large has holes with a grid to fit straws in, two sides and ways to drink from it and quality snaps to keep stuff from spilling.

My next stop was to Whole Foods where I talked to a guy who used to work at GreenPeace. He was so inspired by what I was doing and so inspiring himself. He had done a project a couple of years ago where he carried all the garbage that he made for a week on his back. Now, how amazing was that to bump into him! Knowing that I would soon be desperate for a refillable plate for eating out I bought some bamboo plates that were light and can be washed and reused. You can get also them online at various places. I like Greenfeet.com
http://www.greenfeet.com/itemmatrix.asp?kw=All-Occasion-Veneerware-Bamboo-Plates-&groupcode=6010-00988&eq=&matrixtype=1
I also picked up some tater utensils (made out of potatoes and compostable) at the deli section of Whole Foods for FREE.

Next, We stopped at Target and I got a cute, blue and white striped insulated plastic lined bag duffle bag with a zipper from Thermos ($10.99).
http://www.target.com/Thermos-can-Lunch-Duffle-Dot
I am using the bag for carrying the reusable items around town. It zips well, looks good, and is just the right size for a couple of plates, utensils, reusable drink containers along with some carry around food like fruit, bread, cheese, etc.



Here's what we've gotten so far:
- zippered, washable, insulated duffle bag
-bamboo plates
-compostable utensils made from potatoes
-a Jamba Juice refillable container ($3.95) that I LOVEEE!!!

If you make your own personal Garbage Free TO GO Kit...

I'd love to know what you have found that works for you :)


........................................................................................................................................................................

Our first fast food restaurant USE TEST!!!

Now, for a real world test.. the kids and I walked into Panda Express with our bamboo plates and kit. Actually, the truth is that the kids said they wouldn't come in because it was too weird and embarrassing. I told them they HAD to. They sat down in the corner, scowled and waited for me while trying their best to disappear. When I asked the lady at the counter if she would use my own plate she wasn't too excited about it and called her manager over. The manager started to explain to me that she really couldn't do it but when she looked into my eyes she realized that I meant business and that she shouldn't turn a decent customer away so she picked up my plate and started filling it. I ordered two plates of orange chicken, rice and chowmein and brought it back to the table for the kids like it was Christmas! Bringing our own plates was working!!! Next, we tried out our new compostable tater forks. Delightful.

Such success!!! We were instantly forced to REUSE just because I just didn't want to have to deal with the garbage!! It was soooooo much nicer eating on a bamboo plate than eating on styrofoam!!!! At the end of the meal, I didn't want to throw out the leftover rice so I actually dumped it into my bag for composting later. The kids were disgusted but it worked out fine to me, especially since the bag has a zipper. Once I got home I rinsed the plates, and composted the rice. It felt so good not to throw all that stuff away. The larger size bamboo plates are easier for filling up and getting complete meals and, I will compost them when they wear out.

Viola- GARBAGE FREE.

reducing junk mail

OK, Here is how to remove yourself from the mailing list of one of the biggest advertising companies in the US.

go to www.valassis.com
select 'contact us' on the left hand side you will see 'click below to be added or removed from our list' then fill out the form and MAIL (that's snail mail alright!) it to them- and/
or
the EASIEST WAY is to call 1-800-437-0479 select to be added or removed from list then press 3 to speak to a representative. They make a note of your address and say that you will stop receiving the junk mail within 5-6 days and that it's good for 5 years. Calling the 800 number works pretty good. Make sure they get the right address.

Yeah, LESS WASTE!!!!

Think of all the trees we would save if just a million of us stopped this junk mail waste.. What an incredible waste of time, money, and resources. Imagine the mounds and mounds of paper, printing, labor, mail delivery that are used to create such ad flyers when the majority of the ads are NEVER LOOKED AT and simply just tossed into the garbage creating MORE WASTE. And, these kinds of companies are traded on the stock exchange. It's just plain stupid. This is really a seriously antiquated way to advertise. It should be a social embarrassment to make money off of such blatant waste.

Getting READY to handle ALL OF MY GARBAGE

OK, I've accepted the challenge of being GARBAGE FREE for one year. Basically from August 3rd, 2009 to August 3rd, 2010 I will take responsibility for ALL of my GARBAGE. It's July 10th today so I've got only about 3 weeks to prepare.

I'm going to FOCUS in on REDUCING MY GARBAGE as much as possible. It reminds me of preparing for a camping trip. I have to be as self sufficient as possible with my own reusable packaging, plates, utensils, bottles, and bags for food and purchases. The day will soon be here and I will have to deal with all the stuff. Very motivating!!!

Today I went to the post office to BLOCK MY 'CURRENT RESIDENT' mail and they said they couldn't do it!!! The nice lady at the post office gave me a number for ADVO (a national advertising company) but it was disconnected. She also mentioned that even if you get them to block it for your address- 3-6 months later they will 'update' the data, take the block off and you will be sent the advertising flyers again!!!! There oughta be a LAW against this!!! You can't mark it 'return to sender' they make it difficult to block in the first place and impossible to block permanently. The company is Valassis and here is the link to start the blocking process. http://www.valassis.com/1024/Contact/contact_home.aspx
I filled out my form today and sent them a letter. Hopefully it will work. GOOD LUCK to any of you who join me.

GARBAGE AWARD OF THE DAY!

Goes to a huge business source of national garbage and waste Valassis (or ADVO, Red Plum). I would guess that if it was made convenient for most people that over 70% would opt out to not receive the current resident ad mailers that waste our resources, time, and clog up our landfills everyday!!!
I'd love to get the stats on the resources of water, trees, gas, etc. are used nationally for ads that a high percentage of them are simply thrown away everyday!!!! WHAT A WASTE!


Join me in this challenge by taking care of your own garbage!!!



You and I can change the world in a few weeks or less by simply but radically changing our lifestyles.