Awake Anew: The Journey into Wakefulness

Live with Less

2009-08-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

The past year or so for me has really been an attempt to leave my preconceived notions of comfort and necessity behind. As I progress, I notice that more and more of what goes on around us is cultural and consumer myth. Today, I want to talk about living with less stuff.

I have helped or seen a lot of people move lately, and of course I’ve moved myself. I really trimmed down my holdings (I had a lot of stuff from my grandparents and mother, too, so it was like three generations of stuff!), and I feel a lot better now. I have developed a few key principles in my quest to live with less.

1) If someone else could use it better, let it go.

I am leaving for France, and I won’t be able to take a lot of stuff with me. I have to keep everything I’m not taking in storage, so I evaluated possessions to either keep or donate. For the most part, I gave things away. For example, a set of kitchen utensils. I would assuredly use this set again someday, but is it really worth storing for a few years before this happens? I feel that it would be much better for these to have a new and worthy home.

Sure, my new (or gently used) utensils in the future will have to come from somewhere (energy), but that energy consumption needs to be weighed against the loss of utility in sitting in storage for a few years, or perhaps that the New Home of the utensils would have bought utensils new if they hadn’t found mine. I do not believe that you should hoard possessions once you decide that you don’t need them.

2) Really, it’s the Middle School Cafeteria Scenario.

The Middle School Cafeteria Scenario is the sensation of feeling all eyes on you, when in reality everyone is too self-absorbed to notice you. Basically, once you realize that this is merely a sensation and not fact, you are freed from the burden of trying to live up to others’ expectations.

I mentioned a while back that I only own two pairs of jeans. I realized that no one expected me to put on a fresh pair of jeans every day, and it allowed me to reduce my wardrobe. I take good care of my clothes and hang them up and fold them properly between wears, but yes – everything except for undies and some socks get at least two wears. Turns out, this has been great practice for France because I won’t have to spend a ton of time and money on laundering what would have been an enormous wardrobe.

3) Just Say No.

The best principle (and skill!) I’ve developed is to just say “no.” I shop off of a list for everything – clothes, food, household goods – and work to avoid impulse buys that would otherwise land me with junk. Here is a concrete example: I know that I want/need one pair of capris for France, and I want a khaki pair. I will walk into a store with the specifications “khaki capris” and ignore everything else. I also say no to handouts, programs from plays, etc. I used to hoard these, but I seriously don’t want to take anything that isn’t going to be useful for a long time.

These principles help me keep my number of possessions down, and the simplicity of my life up. I think that the biggest cultural myth that we face is that we need more things, newer things, or more expensive things. This is a myth employed to help companies take our money. Once you recognize cultural myths for what they are, you can begin to refute them and build your own principles.

Catching Up

2009-08-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

A very long hiatus, and I’m sorry. Starting with the NYC trip in March, my personal life started crying out for attention. I won’t go into those details, but I’ll kind of trace my current thoughts through the chronology. This may seem kind of scattered, but bear with me.

First of all, back in December, I applied to be a Language Assistant in France – basically, a native speaker of English who helps out a regular foreign language teacher. I didn’t know if I would get it or not, but I knew that if I didn’t get it, I wanted to build up Illinois residency so that I could go to grad school in Chicago. While I was in New York (and largely due to the personal stuff that started to loom), I decided that I would move to Illinois this summer regardless.

New York was amazing, and I did a pretty good job with limiting my waste. Klean Kanteens absolutely can go through airport security (I’ve done it many times); just make sure that you empty the contents! New York is not exactly an “eco-friendly” city (Boise, Portland, and Seattle are much better), but public transit and the emphasis on “local” (neighborhood) shopping is remarkable. Also, vegetarianism is much easier in a city, in my experience.

When I got back from New York, I moved. I had planned to spend the five months of my student teaching living back at home, but that was no longer a viable option. I moved to Albany, which is 12 miles from my school. This meant that I added commuting time, but I dealt with this as best I could. Sometimes, I carpooled. I was now able to walk to get groceries, etc, and “back home” was out in the countryside, so random errands either had to be combined with regular town travel, or else they were a huge inefficiency. The third way seems silly, but it’s totally practical – when I did have to drive, I’d tuck in behind a semi on the highway and the buffer would give me a whopping 50 MPG! So. There’s that.

While I was still in Oregon, I had to go through all of my family’s possessions that I’d inherited. By this point, I’d discovered that I was going to go to France (yay!) and decided that I wanted to go to grad school in Europe, too. That meant that I’d be gone for at least three years, and who knew what kind of future I’d be facing at that point. Whereas I started with a lot of furniture and an 8x8 room full of boxes, I donated and sold stuff until I was down to six boxes and my steamer trunk.

About this process: I cannot stress enough how important it is to donate your old things to charity, or to try to find someone who wants it. Some stuff may seem like trash to you, but there is a strange market out there. A lot of people want broken appliances to cannibalize, or torn clothing to re-envision. I wouldn’t suggest making a charity sort through it all, but if you can try to imagine a new future for your things, chances are, you’ll find one. For instance, if you some shirts of nice fabrics with spots or holes, why not bundle them together as a fabric bag instead of donating them as clothing? People sometimes only want small squares of fabric, and this would be perfect for them!

So, then in June, I moved to Illinois. I’m living with a friend for the summer, and then I’m going onward to France. I’d heard that there weren’t bulk bins in Illinois, and that had me worried, but I found a Co-Op pretty quickly, and there are a couple of bulk bins at the regular grocery store, too. We also have a good recycling program here and the town is pretty pedestrian-friendly.
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I have been on hiatus for a long time, and I have been thinking about the purpose of this blog. There are plenty of blogs that cover practical aspects of day-to-day living in a more eco-friendly way, and I really feel like the market is saturated and I don’t need to cover the same ground.

This blog has philosophical roots, and I think that I will work more to bring out that philosophy. I can certainly work in concrete examples, but I am really interested in cultural mindsets. I think that that is what I will focus on.

Thanks for reading, more soon.

Less Plastic: On Being Plastic

2009-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have written about plastics, and they are what started this marvelous journey into wakefulness. I realized tonight, as I started to read some other blogs whose bloggers are at different points in the journey from myself, that some things have become habit for me and I have stopped stressing about plastic so much.

I have my shopping and cooking all streamlined to be "less plastic," and so I don't even think about that anymore. I grab my canvas produce and grocery bags to go to the store, and I don't set foot beyond the bulk bins. I also rarely eat out and never get take out, so these are non-issues. I carry my Klean Kanteen and to-go mug with me all the time, and I take lunch to school in my tiffin tin and eat with a real fork and a cloth napkin. These things are all habits now, and it feels wonderful!

To give you some more examples: I haven't had to buy toothpaste since December, and this tube is going to last me a while. I have completely stopped thinking about the fact that I wear glasses now, even after ten years (!) of wearing contacts.

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I am going to NYC next week, and the true challenge will begin. I will be on-the-go all the time, and I don't know how much I'm going to be able to avoid plastic. I will take my water bottle and to-go mug, even if airport security gives me funny looks. I will take a fork and a cloth napkin, and I will try my best. I plan to go grocery shopping when I get there and buy PB & J, even though I know these will involve plastic...in this case, the financial savings is really important to me. However, I'm going to make granola tomorrow for my trip.

I'll let you know how the trip goes, but for the time being: what kinds of changes are becoming second nature to you?

Reduce: Food and Eating

2009-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

It has occurred to me recently that I have been eating less, and I am really excited by this. I have tried to do this intentionally before in the name of eating only my fair share or being healthy, but the thing that has really whipped me into shape has been cooking for myself and buying in bulk.

I didn't cook for myself at school, and the cafeteria was "all you can eat." I took whatever I wanted. I tried not to waste food, but it still happened sometimes when I didn't like a dish.

Now that I cook for myself, I know that I have to eat what I cook because there just isn't another option for lunch or dinner, etc. I know that I can't eat as much as I want, because the food comes at a price and it comes from somewhere.

For example, take bread. Now that I make my own bread, every piece has the feeling of time and effort attached to it, and I am much less likely to OD on it.

My lunch today consisted of: one slice of bread, a half cup of cooked lentils, a couple tablespoons of tuna salad, one 1/4" slice of cheese, a carrot and an apple. That's like...epically healthy in my world.

Reduce: Making Things Last

2009-03-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways to reduce our footprint on this earth is to simply use fewer resources. This means taking less from the earth, and making the things we do take sustain us longer.

I try to do this in a lot of ways, but one of the changes of mindset that I've tried to adopt over the last year or so is figuring out ways to "make things last." Today, I can use my jeans as a concrete example to illustrate this concept.

I have two pairs of jeans, and I bought them both in Fall of '07. They are both the same, which has saved me a lot of time fanning the flames of my vanity; I don't waste time trying to figure out which jeans go best with which shirt: if I'm wearing jeans, I'm wearing jeans. I bought the simplest jeans I could find and didn't seek anything "trendy". This will make them last longer because they won't go out of style. I also bought them for comfort and fit, and I seek to maintain this pants size, which will also make them last longer. Lastly, I always line dry them in order to keep them from shrinking.

Last week, I wore one of the pairs of jeans when I was painting the set of the musical at school. I tried to be very careful, but I still managed to get paint on them. I got a splatter of white around an ankle, a dash of "Pepto pink" on one knee, and a huge stripe of black along one calf. I knew that I couldn't ditch this pair of jeans just because I had messed them up in my clumsiness, so I sought a way to remove paint from clothing.

A simple "remove paint from clothing" search on Google gave me the answer: alcohol and elbow grease. I poured some vodka on the paint splatters (hand sanitizer was another option available, but it didn't work for me) and scrubbed for five or ten minutes until the paint started to disappear or lighten. The pink and white came out, and the black faded until it is no longer noticeable. I rinsed the jeans and put them in the wash.

Today, I had to inspect the two pairs of jeans on the line very closely until I could say with confidence which pair had originally been stained. Hooray! Not only did I save resources, I saved about $40!

Live Simply.

2009-02-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I renewed a personal goal that I have: "Live Simply." I am now trying to define what this means to me, and I thought I'd share some of those thoughts here. "Live Simply" may look different in practice for someone else than it does for me, and I'm not trying to judge any particular behavior. Here is what has been working for me.

Personal Care & Appearance

The fact that this aspect of living simply comes easily to me is perhaps indicative of my inherent laziness, but let's hope not. I have worked throughout the last decade of my life to trim time and effort from the routines of my day, and to work towards caring less about conforming to society's hopes and dreams for me.

1) Shower: I only used shaving gel for the first couple of years of shaving my legs, and then I ditched it because it was expensive and a hassle. I initially used body wash to shave my legs, but now I've ditched that, too, and just use bar soap. I had a fancy razor at first, but then switched to disposables. I saw the error in that thinking, and now have a Preserve Razor. I used to use shampoo and conditioner every day, but then switched to 2-in-1. Then, I ditched conditioner and now I only use shampoo every three or four days. Surprisingly, my hair looks better (not worse), and I save a ton of time (and water!). I also used to have a loofah, but then switched to a washcloth. Lastly, I take shorter showers and turn off the water when I shave my legs or wash my hair.

2) Hair: I used to straighten my hair or blow dry it, but then I ditched those routines for a simple air-dry, take-it-as-it-is approach. I used to put various detanglers or smoothers in my hair, but now I just brush it carefully and let it go. I used to get my hair cut in a salon and layered, but now my aunt cuts it for me at home, and I leave it in a simple cut. I have a couple of simple, versatile clips that I have learned to use in a variety of ways.

3) Make-up: I tried to get into make-up, but it never happened. I occasionally wear some blush and eye shadow, but this is rare. Because of this, I only have one thing of blush and one compact of four eye shadows, and that's it. I always have chapstick with me - Burt's Bees in the metal tin.

4) Lotion, etc: I used to use lots of fancy lotions, but now I only have one thing of lotion which I use sparingly and seldomly. I do have a quasi-vat of some special lotion that Karen gave me from her swim years that I use on my hands when they crack and bleed in the wintertime.

5) Eyes: I used to wear contacts, but I recently switched back to glasses. This means that I no longer have to juggle my contact case, solution, spare pair, and glasses when I travel - I can take my glasses and go. This also cut time off of my morning routine.

Food

1) No meat: I've been a vegetarian for a long time now, and that has simplified my life a lot. I know that it may seem counterintuitive, but being a vegetarian has made everything from eating out to cooking at home a lot easier. When I go out to Olive Garden, for example, I only have three or four choices in the first place, so my decision process is drastically reduced.

2) Less plastic: Since I've started grocery shopping to avoid plastic, my trips have become far cheaper and quicker. As soon as I got used to my new options, I was able to quickly navigate the bulk produce and the bulk bins.

3) More-with-Less: Since I've adopted the More-with-Less philosophy, my meals revolve around cheap forms of complimentary protein. For example, I can form complimentary proteins like rice and beans or mac & cheese, and I pick a veggie to have alongside it. My meals have really, really simplified.

4) In Season: Now that I buy veggies in season, I don't have to wade through aisles and aisles of veggies in the store; I head right to the stand with the in-season veggies, and I buy what I need.

5) Avoid convenience foods: I now avoid so-called "convenience foods," which means that I no longer eat without thinking, and I avoid a lot of waste from packaging.

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These are the two biggest areas that I've been working on lately, but I am thinking about simplifying across many areas of my life.

It's interesting to me that "live simply" has meant reducing choices in my life. I think that for me, less choice = less stress. I don't feel boxed in by the lack of choice; instead, I find that it frees up my mind to think about other things.

How do you live simply?

Feminine Hygiene

2009-02-16T17:12:00.000-08:00

If the topic of feminine hygiene squicks you, run the other way now.

I've been waffling. Decreasing my environmental impact in this area has been a slow process, and it took a lot of courage. I'm a scaredy-cat, basically. But, I finally summoned up the courage to make some really positive changes, in my opinion.

Last May, when I became aware of the Garbage Patch, I switched from tampons with plastic applicators to tampons with cardboard ones. This was the first thing I was willing to do...I know that there are tampons without applicators at all, but that was a bit much at the time. I switched to Natracare pads and liners, for other needs.

About a month ago, I read about sewing your own menstrual pads, but I have never liked pads, and the laundering process seemed daunting. However, I did sew some pantiliners. I went to the thrift store and bought the softest baby clothing I could find, and used a couple of layers of that for each liner.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I did it: I bought a DivaCup.

Now, I know that this cup is made of plastic, but it was really the lesser of two evils for me (perpetual tampon waste, a little plastic). I also know that there is the alternative which has no waste, and that's sewing your own pads...but I really, really hate pads.

I had my first cycle with the DivaCup, and it was excellent. If you are considering this change also, I recommend reading some stuff at this LJ community. Basically, ignore the directions in the package and figure out what works for you. My other suggestion is to find a friend that will make the change, too. That way, you're not in it alone.

Money, Honey, and Rutabagas?

2009-01-30T22:00:00.001-08:00

So, last week I purchased a "companion" to More-With-Less, Simply in Season. This cookbook promotes environmentalism in the kitchen. The idea is that we can save a lot of energy by eating foods that are locally grown, and grown in environmentally-friendly ways. This means "voting with our dollars" and buying foods that come out of the ground /naturally/ at any given time of the year. The cookbook is divided into five parts - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and All-Seasons - and gives recipes that focus on produce that is available at that time of year.

I found the recipe I'd try first, and got the veggies during my Win-Co trip this week. I wanted to make "roasted winter veggies," and I bought two small beets, a rutabaga (which my grandmother used to make often, but which I haven't had since), a sweet potato, carrots, and an acorn squash. I also added in a potato, but we had those at home already.

I was shocked to discover that these veggies were 20-30% of what other, "out of season" veggies cost! Now, I haven't been cooking for myself long, but I bet that there are people who have who STILL missed this memo. So, let me say this again: SO CHEAP!

I roasted these lovely winter veggies, and they were SO GOOD. Seriously, they have driven me to use all caps to express my love. I have never eaten beets before, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think that cooking in-season will force me to widen my horizons, as counter-intuitive as that may seem.

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I also purchased honey at Win-Co for future breadmaking. I found it amusing because the bulk containers were wooden and said, "Do not lift lid, or bees will escape." Wow.

The honey was quite expensive, but cheap compared to the cutsie teddy bear containers. I think that the extra expense is worth it because it doesn't have processed sugar. I had to put it in a plastic container that they provided, but I will take mine back when I need to refill.

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I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, and they were the best I've ever made (I think). I mixed whole wheat and regular flours, and I actually only used 70% of the sugar that the recipe called for. I am going to continue to reduce the amount of sugar until I find out what the like..."bare minimum" that I can stand is. : P

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Also, I have other news. I knew, coming home, that recycling would be harder because we live out in the country and they don't collect recycling this far out. I also didn't know whether Jan would be receptive to me collecting things in our house to recycle.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. I cleaned out the utility room simply because it needed cleaning, but in the process found room to put some boxes for collecting recycling. I called our center to find out what they collect, and once a week I have been taking the stuff down to the "transfer station," from which the City will collect recycling. The transfer station is actually only a couple of miles from my house, and I can take stuff down there on the weekends.

We can "downcycle" all sorts of plastic tubs (butter, sour cream), jars (coffee) and bottles. We can recycle cardboard (corrugated and not), and mixed paper. The transfer station also takes magazines, phonebooks, and glossy paper, but I'm not sure how much of this actually gets recycled. I know that the best way to go is to not buy things in plastic in the first place, but I really appreciate that we can downcycle what we can.

It's kind of nice to have my aunt constantly asking me what can be recycled, because it has been a learning experience for both of us.

Baking & Breaking Bread

2009-01-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

Today, I made my first loaf of home-baked bread.

Last week, I tried to bake bread with a breadmaker at my aunt's insistence. I failed twice, and I failed because the machine had been sitting on a shelf for five and a half years and apparently can no longer be relied upon to do anything but make a cake-y mess and a lot of noise. The breadmaker's cookbook had also warned me that baking bread was tough, and that yeast was super fragile, and that I would never manage on my own because I am a Naive Human Being.

Well.

Today, I used More-With-Less' recipe for Honey Whole Wheat Bread. I kind of integrated information from the old standby in our house, Joy of Cooking. Here is how it happened, and why:

Reading and Mentally Preparing

I read More-With-Less and wanted several things out of baking my own bread: I wanted to feel that I could do it and know that I could be independent from store-bought bread, I wanted to avoid the packaging and production waste associated with store-bought bread, I wanted to make sure that only "good" ingredients were going into my bread, and I wanted to give my family the gift of home-baked bread again. It has been five and a half years since my uncle died, and he was the last one to use the breadmaker.

I decided on the Honey Whole Wheat recipe because it looked easy, and didn't require any processed sugar. I love wheat bread, and this seemed like a great place to start.

Shopping

Karen and I went shopping at Win-Co, and we found all of the ingredients in bulk. I can also draw a wheat kernel now on demand, because Karen had an illustrated explanation for me of what wheat germ was. At Win-Co, I can even get honey in bulk.

I did not get soy flour, but adding some into my recipe would have added nutrients to my bread. I chose not to do so because Karen freaked me out with all of her baking science talk, and I just wanted something straightfoward. Having actually succeeded once now, I may experiment with flours. Win-Co has like...a billion kinds of flour.

Recipes and Reality

This morning, I spent a good long time thinking about yeast. Joy of Cooking told me that yeast is a prima donna and that she does not like a cold dressing room. Okay, thanks, Joy of Cooking. I divvied out all of my dry ingredients, and warmed up my liquids. Then, somewhat holding my breath, I dove in.

1) I dissolved the yeast with some sugar and warm water. I created a "sponge" a la JoC. I let the sponge "rise" in front of the wood stove, because the rest of the house is about sixty degrees. Then, I kneaded in the rest of the ingredients.

2) I turned the kitchen sink into a lovely "bread sauna" because, like I said, the house is at about sixty. Then, I started running out of time.

3) I pulled the bread early from its first rise (at about 45 min, instead of letting it fully double), because I had to make sure that it rose again before I had to leave. I pressed it out by hand, and then rolled it (by hand, again). I tried my best to seal the edges. I put it into the pan and made sure that the short ends touched the short ends of the pan, because JoC assured me that this would help the bread rise. Then, I refilled my "bread sauna" and let the bread rise again.

4) I had to leave, and so did Scott, so I couldn't put the bread in the oven. With my heart in my chest, I wrapped it in an old produce bag that my aunt had washed and saved, and stuck it in the fridge.

5) When I came home six hours later, I pulled the bread out to warm up for fifteen minutes or so. Then, I baked as normal.

The Results

The resulting loaf was dense, but lovely. I think that I will definitely make this a habit, as I ended up liking my loaf much better than store-bought. All of my ingredients were very inexpensive except for honey, but I'm pretty sure the whole thing is still under the $1 we pay for a generic wheat loaf at the store.

I only made a single loaf today because I was afraid that I would mess up again, but I will definitely bake two next time in order to make better use of the oven space.

I will also give my bread more time to rise next time. :)

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I think that everyone should try to bake bread. It wasn't hard; I just followed the directions very carefully. I think that this is one small way that I can take ownership of what I eat, and I want to continually seek those opportunities.

Bulk Foods: Nature's Burger

2009-01-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

At Win-Co last night, I found a few surprising items available in bulk. The Win-Co in Corvallis is larger than the one in Moscow, so it feels like I will always be finding something new. Last night, I shopped for various staples to make bread, whole wheat pasta, and curry powder. I knew I'd find these things in bulk. However, I also found a garden burger mix.

Nature's Burger comes as a powder, and you mix it with equal water. I was dubious about how the flavor of the burger would turn out, so here's what I did:

1/2 c mix (enough for two patties)
1/2 c water
2 spoonfuls of dry vegetable soup mix (also available in bulk)

The result was quite delicious. I made patties, but I will probably use the mix to add texture to casseroles and things. The mix was very inexpensive (I paid about $2 for enough mix to make 6-10 patties, which places the expense WAY under buying packaged, pre-made garden burgers), and it seems like it will be very versatile. I will also experiment will adding garlic or lemon pepper to the stuff.

The other thing that I found, but did not get, was a mix for hummus. I will get this next time, as hummus is wonderful for all sorts of things. I love hummus, and I like to add tomatoes or garlic to mine.

I almost had a completely plastic-free shopping trip, except...

Apparently Shop N Kart here in Lebanon has stopped selling lemon juice in bottles, and ONLY sells the little plastic lemon containers. My aunt was very upset that she could no longer buy a glass bottle, or any kind of bottle for that matter. At Win-Co, I couldn't find glass bottles either, but a large plastic bottle uses less plastic than many lemon containers, and can be downcycled at the end of its life.

MaryJanesFarm

2009-01-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

Back in November, I was published as a guest columnist in my university's newspaper. About a week ago, a representative from MaryJanesFarm, a magazine out of Moscow, contacted me about reprinting my article. I gladly said yes, of course!

I would love to write for a magazine like this, so maybe after the first-run I will submit another article and see if they'll print it.

Marine Life and Micro-Pollutants

2009-01-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

I went to the coast on Friday with Karen, Brett, and Jesse. We went to Newport and visited South Beach, as we have done dozens of times. This time, I was on a mission; I knew what I was looking for.

I deluded myself into thinking that it would be difficult to find plastic pellets - broken down from larger plastic pieces and worn smooth by the ocean - on my beautiful Oregon beach. I was wrong. The picture shows what I found within a matter of five minutes. I bent to look at the sand - truly look at it - and the truth was clear as day.

These plastic pellets are beautiful: shiny and smooth, like sea shells or sea glass. However, do not be fooled by their beauty. These are micro-pollutants, and they are dangerous. These are what fish and marine life are ingesting, these are also making their way up the food chain.

The truth can be as difficult or as easy to see in this world as these plastic pellets are to find on a beautiful beach. If you are looking at the whole picture, it seems untainted and perfect. But if you get down to the details, the truth is easy to see: this is the result of our poor stewardship of the earth.

What next?

Bulk Foods

2009-01-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I worried about as I returned home to Oregon was the lack of Win-Co. Win-Co has provided me with bulk food bins within a ten-minute walk; here, the nearest Win-Co is about half an hour's drive. Now tell me: how "green" is it to drive half an hour to reduce the packaging I get with food? It was a dilemma that plagued me.

I saw three options:

1) Combine the Win-Co run with other Corvallis goodies, such as weekly ballroom dances. Perhaps I could carpool with others.

2) Utilize Vital Health's (a local co-op type place, with limited bulk goods) stale and often empty bins.

3) Do without bulk goods.

Then, today, I found out something amazing: the Fred Meyer in Albany has bulk foods!

Albany is still a fifteen-minute drive, but I will be going there once a week for my French class anyway. I can easily combine these trips. I am very excited to have this possibility available. Granted, Freddy's does not have as many bins as Win-Co, but I think it'll work out fine. They have a variety of grains and beans that form the foundations for healthy cooking. They don't so much have chocolate chips. Sigh.

Also, in light of this new "needing to cook" situation, I realized that I would need to buy more than a couple of things in bulk. I have been recycling three or four paper bags to get bulk goods, but the other day I bought some muslin (really cheap and utilitarian) and busted out a bunch of produce bags. I can use them for veggies or anything from the bins.

Karen and I are going to Corvallis tomorrow for other stuff (Michael's and Twilight, woot!), so I will get some of the stuff from Win-Co that Freddy's didn't have.

Water Allocation

2009-01-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the Gaggle and I met at LCC and had wonderful conversation and coffee. The most important thing that we talked about was water shortages, water rights, and an inexplicable apathy that seems to be pervasive in the affluent. What I mean is that many people who have an abundance of water don’t think twice about it.

Claire researched global water shortages for a class, and she set the scene: the Colorado River supplies water to parts of seven U.S. states, and then moves into Mexico. However, by the time it gets to Mexico, the water is polluted and must be very, very processed to be made drinkable. Also, the river is nearly dry at the delta.

The specifics of this situation are not necessarily important. What is important is to ponder some overarching questions: who owns water? What is a water right? And lastly, when does it become our problem?

Is it acceptable that seven U.S. states signed a compact deciding the fate of this water, and Mexico did not?

Who gets to determined how the water is used? Do homeowners have the right to use water as they wish? Is it acceptable for Mexico to have to pay higher fees for processing, if the U.S. inhabitants polluted the water?

Is it acceptable and appropriate for people in L.A. to have huge swimming pools and take thirty-minute showers when people at the other end of the river have no drinking water?

Thoreau writes, “if [the machine of government] is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.”

If we passed a thirsty man on the street, surely we would stop and give him water. Why, then, do we feel free to abuse our water privileges while people in the world are drinking polluted water? This is not a matter of a “right,” but a matter of human decency. As far as I’m concerned, we should be foremost concerned with the basic needs of every human that we can. Only at that point can we begin to think about swimming pools.

The big question that I am grappling with is “why don’t more people care?” I mean, why have we set a cultural standard for green lawns, no matter what the time of year or part of the country? Why are we running the shower water when we’re soaping up? Why do we flush the toilet after every use at the expense of eight gallons (average) of potable water?

And why aren’t more people clamoring for change?

Wakefulness

2009-01-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Environmentalism is an exercise in being alive and awake.

Last summer, I read Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael and began to realize that we are all caught in a current called Culture. I didn’t choose my culture, anymore than I chose my hair color or eye color. Still, unlike those things, I can change my culture in a very real way by practicing constant wakefulness as I begin to step out of the current.

Quinn has a metaphor for this current. He calls it “Mother Culture,” and she is constantly rocking us to sleep and humming lullabies. Her primary motive is to get us to stop crying and to stop thinking for ourselves. She has a vested interest in moving us away from wakefulness. Our culture is one of capitalism and consumerism, and so our Mother perpetuates these goals.

As far as Environmentalism goes, I see this awareness as a way to examine some interesting facets of our cultural current. Our cultural current is particularly strong when we live with “disposable” norms. Out to eat? Grab a plastic fork. Cell phone a little touchy? Get a new one. Our Mother wants us to believe that these things are disposable, and croon us to sleep as our fourth grade science class teaches us that plastic never biodegrades…

We need to wake up. We need to see “disposable” as a lie, and force our way out of the current. We need to examine our habits, and change them. Just because naiveté is convenient doesn’t make it right.

My environmentalism did not start today, but I grasp this opportunity for a fresh start to share my thoughts with the world. When Thoreau left the woods of Walden Pond, he knew that he needed to share his ideas with others, lest they be worthless. I am leaving my own woods (university), and I need to make my ideas known in a new way.

I am an environmentalist, a socialist, and a spiritualist: I love the environment, people, and the rhythms of the universe. This is a thought journey, but also the ins and outs of daily life now that I’m keen to the Matrix. This is my journey into wakefulness.

Noitalever: Toothpaste

2008-12-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hello, friends. I wanted to let you know that I've been thinking about toothpaste an unreasonable amount during this last year, but I've made some interesting discoveries.

In May, I read this post by Green Bean and realized that I, too, could use toothpaste to the last drop. I could also use less. This idea focused on the principle of "reducing," and really snuggled with my thrifty nature. It so happened that this epiphany coincided with needing to buy toothpaste again. I bought the normal stuff with all of the plastic trimmings because I just didn't have the energy to do otherwise at the time.

So, I brought my new tube of toothpaste home and sat, staring at it. "Beth thinks she can make you last a whole year," I explained to it. "But really? I think we're dealing with six or seven months of material. I'm going to make you last until December."

And so, we set out on our Life Quest, with a side of "reduce toothpaste." I cut my amount down to a third, because it occurred to me that at least a third dropped off of my toothbrush usually, so I was never using the full amount anyway. And you know what? Using 66% less has not inhibited my brushing experience. In fact, besides not swallowing any or dropping any, I cannot tell the difference!

Last week, as I was cutting apart my toothpaste tube in order to truly make it "good to the last drop," I felt an overwhelming sense of victory. I did a little thrifty dance. And then, I thought about what else I could do.

In that same post, Beth talks about how baking soda irritated her mouth and how dentists want us to have more flouride, etc. But I started thinking...

I thought about my grandmother, who used to play "Little House on the Prairie" with me when I'd spend the night at her house. The only part of that whole experience that I can really remember is getting to brush my teeth with baking soda, because it was so novel. I also thought about my aunt, who always adds bread to stuffing mixes to stretch them, or macaroni noodles to boxed macaroni. This principle of "stretching" is something we can see also in the trend to add water to shampoo or lotion. How could I stretch toothpaste?

I want to lower my impact, but not give up toothpaste (I do love it so), so here's what I came up with: I will brush my teeth with toothpaste (I purchased Tom's of Maine) during the day, but use baking soda at night. That way, I'm using much less toothpaste, but also not enough baking soda (hopefully) to irritate my gums.

I have started doing this, and so far it's working well.

Noitalever: Planning

2008-12-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

I think that trying to live life "less plastic" builds character, just as maintaining any kind of diet or exercise regime does. I think that these things all promote self-discipline, responsibility, and vigilance. Today, I want to write about just one manifestation of this: planning.

Sometime in fall of 2006, I saw a poster that changed my life. It was trying to sell me a University of Idaho Sustainability Mug (To-Go mugs, branded with our Sustainability Center's logo), and it said "Last year, UI students and faculty threw away (astronomical number) of paper cups," and had lots of statistics. As a drinker of a daily latte, I stopped and said, "Woah." As soon as possible, I bought a to-go mug (not a UI one, because they actually leak...) and started carrying it every day.

Now, as many of you know because you have probably tried to use a to-go mug at least once in your life with varying degrees of success, to-go mugs come with their own set of problems. I foresaw the cleanliness issue, and never let my mug sit with a few drops of coffee in it. I also foresaw it making a mess in my bag, so I learned to wash it out before I tossed it in. I still maintain this habit: I wash out the mug as soon as I'm done with the coffee (or during the first available class break, etc). This does most of the cleaning for me, actually, but I also wash the mug out with dish soap and often let it sit overnight with soapy water inside. Phew!

I never forget my mug. Maybe I used to, but it has become such a habit to keep it clean and available that I am always good to go. It is now, two years later, much loved (read: battered), but I have decided that I will use it until it dies. Another issue that I had to think about was that it has a plastic exterior, but how environmentally-friendly would it be to toss it now? Instead, I decided to make it last as long as possible and then repurpose or recycle the parts somehow.

So, the life skill that I have refined is "planning."

Here is another example: next semester, I will not have a place to buy in bulk within a ten minute walk of me. Instead, I will need to plan so that I can make one trip to the bulk foods store every two weeks. This will mean planning a vague range of meals in advance, etc. Also, not buying convenience foods will mean learning to cook...

...and I am sure that I can overcome even this greatest of obstacles, and I will be healthier and happier for it.

What have you learned from your own brand of environmentalism?

Noitalever: Less-Plastic Christmas 3

2008-12-05T17:08:00.001-08:00

Alors, I said that I was going to make my own Christmas wrapping in the form of drawstring bags. I took it one step further, in order to trim the costs and energy involved. I decided that I could be more economical and environmentally-friendly if I re-purposed something. I went to Goodwill and found The Perfect Thing - an old Christmas tablecloth, made from beautiful fabric. It was way cheaper than buying beautiful Christmas fabric at the store right now, and...well, beautiful. I bought two, but the by-far-prettier one is a dark green with darker green embroidery.

Then, I busted out the sewing machine when I was in Oregon and finished nine bags of varying sizes in about an hour and a half. I didn't touch the second fabric because I was done with bags for the night...unfortunately, I forgot to do any sewing until the last night that I was there. Sad day. Maybe I'll have an opportunity later, but I suspect that I won't actually need more than nine bags. I could also use the other fabric for Furoshiki. Oh, the options!

When I was at the Co-op buying gifts, a woman asked me if I was the one who wrote the article! WOW! She recognized me from the picture, I guess, or maybe my basket tipped her off (but I can't elaborate, because some of you are getting gifts from that basket...), but it was super cool. I was infinitely glad that I had no plastic in my basket. :)

Noitalever: Fast Food? Really?

2008-11-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hello, all! I have very pleasant news, though it's a bit taunting to those of you who do not live in the Pacific Northwest.

Burgerville has long been my favorite fast food restaurant. It's puzzling, perhaps, because I'm a vegetarian and yet I harbor this love affair with a fast food restaurant with "burger" in its name. However, Burgerville has two (TWO!) amazing vegetarian burgers. One is a simple garden burger with all of the goodies, and the other is a black bean burger with chipotle sauce.

Burgerville is expensive, averaging $4-6 per sandwich and $3-4 per milkshake. What it has always had going for it, though, is that all of the food is local. The onions are Walla Wallas, the cheese is Tillamook, and the milkshakes are always made from in-season nuts or berries (chocolate hazelnut, anyone?). Basically, great ingredients.

On Tuesday, Jesse and I went into Burgerville and I kind of had a very sad moment as we walked up. I realized that this would be the first time that I could not have a milkshake because this is the first time I've been there since becoming hardcore-no-plastic. I sighed, and accepted this as we walked in.

As we ordered, the straws caught my eye. The wrappers said "100% Compostable." I scoffed, thinking it was the el-fake-o "biodegradable" plastic that isn't really biodegradable at all. The cashier, however, assured me that they were made from corn. He told me that Burgerville was "going green."

And then, I challenged him. Rapid-fire, I examined the restaurant. Cups? (Corn) Lids? (Corn) To-go containers? (Biodegradable - he showed me one) Wrappers? (Paper)

(At this point, I got teary and ordered a milkshake. I actually cried a little...)

All Burgerville restaurants are powered by wind, he told me. (I looked it up - they buy wind credits that equal 100% of their energy use!)

Okay, I said, gearing up for the ultimate challenge. Here is where many people fall short: they wrap up their compostable goodies in plastic trash bags and send those to the landfill, where even food will never break down if it isn't exposed to wind and rain.

"And your trash bags?"
"Corn."

GASP!!!

Okay, okay...I only had one more question...

"Do you have a composter?"
"Not yet," he said, "As we're the farthest south. We get everything last. But half of the Burgerville locations have composters, and we should be getting one soon."

---

I am going to write a letter to Burgerville, thanking them for giving me a reason to love them. I went ahead and got a gift card for my cousin (plastic, but really...that would have been too good to be true, right?) in order to support the company and give Vaughn tasty foods.

Burgerville only has locations in Oregon and Washington, so it is unfortunate that plastic-free fast food is not the norm for all of us. However, as Burgerville continues in this business model, we can lift them up as an example to the other "Burger" chiefs of the world.

Noitalever: Guest Column

2008-11-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

I was featured as a guest columnist this week for the university newspaper, The Argonaut. You can see the online version of my article here.

I wrote this article in order to give the students here some easy options to transition to the "less plastic" lifestyle. I wanted to present concrete ideas, along with some of the deeper philosophy about consumption. I'm eager to hear from you as well.

It's funny - they changed two of my usages of "Aquafina," but left two. Silly newspaper people - did they think Aquafina would be so threatened that it'd sue us?

Noitalever: Less-Plastic Christmas 2

2008-11-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

I just had an epiphany, and I wanted to share it with you guys.

In my last post, I talked about the waste that wrapping Christmas gifts entails. Jeanie recommended using gift bags that can be reused, and that still wasn't sitting well with me - those bags are paper, lined with plastic and just not truly sustainable. For the past few days, I've been trying to figure out how I was going to present everything in such a way that my friends and family weren't like, "Um, you forgot to wrap this."

Then, I saw this set of bags on Reusable Bags, and I got excited for about two seconds. First of all, the idea is great - use cotton bags to replace paper or plastic ones. However, I wasn't so keen on the idea of some company determining what patterns of fabric I'd get, and what sizes. Also, I know from experience that it doesn't cost that much to make cotton bags.

Do you see where this is going?

And then it hit me: Hello! I can sew! I don't know why I was considering another bit of consumerism when I have everything at my disposal to make bags myself. And, if I make them myself, I can pick the sizes and patterns that fit my needs. And (and!), it's more meaningful if I put my own sweat and blood (well, hopefully there won't be blood...) into it.

So. That's that. Hooray.

Noitalever: The first step is to reduce, reduce, reduce!

2008-11-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about consumption in general. We have a culture driven by consumption, because consumption is the thing that makes people lots and lots of money.

Two examples of "traditions" that equal consumption:

"Back to School" shopping - We are trained from an early age to want new school supplies at the beginning of every school year. Have we used our pencils and notebooks to exhaustion? Probably not. And, whereas children may outgrow clothing in a single year, college students will not. We need to examine our needs, and not just participate in this tradition mindlessly.

Wrapping Christmas gifts - Why do we wrap Christmas gifts? To deepen the suspense, some would say. Or because it makes them pretty. Okay, but what about all of that waste?

My solutions:

I have a goal not to buy a single new pencil or pen until I have exhausted my current supply. I suspect that this will take YEARS because of all of the school supplies I've accumulated over my lifetime. Yes, mechanical pencils and pens are made of plastic, but I already own them. Throwing them away would be really wasteful. I also have stopped buying new notebooks every semester. I am using up all of the notebooks I have, and when I am done with those, I will come up with an environmentally-friendly alternative like a recycled notebook.

I don't ever want to have to buy another pen. Therefore, I've switched to writing in pencil for everything except journaling and important documents (checks come to mind).

As for Christmas gifts, I am not going to wrap any this year. And let me explain what a sacrifice this will be for me: I love wrapping gifts and it's one of my favorite holiday traditions. However, this is not a sustainable tradition in its current state. Maybe my challenge will be finding ways to wrap gifts and love the earth at the same time.

Other ideas about reduction:

Have you ever thought about how much toothpaste you use, versus how much you actually need? I've been running an experiment where I only use a dab of toothpaste instead of putting a hugely long strip on the bristles (half of which always fell off anyway). This has enabled me to make a tube of toothpaste last...gasp...three times as long!

"Reduce" is not the easiest step in the cycle, but it is the most beneficial to the earth. The recycling process still takes energy, so the best thing that we can do is reduce what we consume to begin with. A good example is reducing the amount of newspapers that you buy - read the paper online or share a subscription with three or four people at work. A newspaper can be recycled, yes, but if you never buy it in the first place, you haven't used the manufacturing OR the recycling energy.

Noitalever: Less-Plastic Christmas

2008-11-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

Today, I started to consider less plastic gift-giving. I have a slew of family and friend birthdays coming up, not to mention Christmas. I need some ideas, but first let me give you my own:

Give memories - buy someone concert tickets, or a "rain check" for taking them out to dinner. Memories are always better than material goods, and they don't require any packaging. :)

Make your own - bake cookies, crochet a scarf, etc

Invest in the person - this is perhaps a better example with kids, but instead of buying toys, you can fund piano lessons for the year or provide money for a school trip.

But if you are giving "stuff," how should you go about it? Is it fair of me to say to my family and friends, "I'll like your gift better if it is plastic-free"? And what about our cultural perception that used gifts just aren't as good (books, for example)?

This post is really just a brainstorming post (I need your ideas!), but we'll be speaking about this more in weeks to come.

Noitalever: Contacts

2008-10-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have worn contacts, quite happily, since the sixth grade. I have always found them easy and comfortable. However, with a goal to eradicate plastic from my life, I had to evaluate my contact lens system.

I wear two-week soft lens. I thought that I was doing pretty good because I've been using the same case forever (I wash it constantly) and I buy the big bottles of solution. Yesterday, I wondered if contact lens solution was really necessary, so I Googled it.

GASP!

In short, I found out that contacts and contact solutions are way more dangerous than I'd ever thought, AND there's no way to cut down my use of plastic here and still be safe.

Contact lenses are also made of plastic, packaged in plastic, sterilized with solution that comes in plastic, stored in plastic containers, and not made to last forever. They are expensive, and now I am fully aware how huge the risks are. Wow.

So, I've made a decision. I'm going back to glasses.

I spend about $265/yr on contacts and contact paraphernalia, whereas I could simply spend around $100/yr on glasses (as long as my vision is changing...after that, I can keep glasses for much, much longer). With glasses, it's a way cheaper option (and better for the environment!) to replace only the lenses. Also, this doesn't take into account that most insurance plans cover glasses and do not cover contacts.

I have one and a half months of contacts left, which will conveniently last me until I have an opportunity to go to the eye doctor's back home. At that point, I will say farewell to contacts until a safer, more environmentally-friendly system comes along.

Noitalever: Free Samples?

2008-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today, I went to the Cheese Walk at the Moscow Co-Op. Whereas the cheese samples were very good, the procedural stuff disappointed me. There were about ten sampling stations set up throughout the store, and nine of them had serious shortcomings for a Co-Op sponsored event.

1) Each station had a “trash can” created from a paper grocery sack and lined with a plastic bag! Okay, Co-Op. Seriously. I think we’ll be fine throwing our trash into a simple paper sack, especially since we were throwing away things like toothpicks.

2) Were they composting? I couldn’t be sure. The lady at the first station assured me that the trash would be sorted later, but it seems like it would have been a lot easier just to separate it from the start. Additionally, she might have been saying that to appease me, and that thought makes me cranky.

3) Sometimes, there were wine and beer samples in plastic sample cups! Other stations had paper sample cups of roughly the same size – why couldn’t they just use those? The swig of wine or beer would be gone before it could degrade the cup anyways.

4) Cheese is almost always wrapped in cellophane or packaged in a plastic tub. I feel like it’s better to get the latter, because then you can either reuse the tub or recycle it.

5) They were inviting people to use plastic spoons to sample the soft cheese when they had bread available as well.

Are you wondering what the tenth station was? Well, it wasn’t really cheese at all! It was a coffee station, and they made the coffee in a porcelain coffee maker and poured it into compostable cups (which is really good, because I’d left mine in the car – shame on me!). The guy even told me to drink my coffee within the hour or the cup would start breaking down…lol! The shining crown on this coffee drinking experience, however, was the stir sticks. They were strands of pasta! This worked great, and I wish coffee shops all over would start offering this option. Starbucks would never do it, of course, but I bet that there are a lot of neighborhood coffee shops that would be up for this change.

Noitalever: Eating on Campus

2008-10-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, all!

I would like to extend a special welcome to anyone who arrived here via fakeplasticfish. Because of this new traffic, all of the less-plastic entries are going to be public instead of the usual friends-only content.

So, in my first post about plastic, I mentioned that I was not attempting to make any changes involving food at the time being. My logic was that I didn't cook for myself, so there was obviously nothing that I could do.

Why didn't anyone correct my completely erroneous logic?!?

It's okay, I have since corrected myself. I came back to school and began to notice all of the plastic involved in the food that I eat. I live on campus and have a meal plan, and part of this meal plan is a certain amount of money that has to be spent in special food places. I discovered this semester (now that I was looking for it) that a lot of the "Grab and Go" salads and sandwiches and cookies come packaged in plastic! Oh no!

In fact, it's worse than that. As I look around to find things to spend my must-spend money on, I cannot find any convenience items that are plastic-free! What is a girl to do?

I have taken three major steps in dealing with this issue.

1) I have given up plastic cutlery! - The main cafeteria here has plates and cutlery that can be washed and reused, but the cafeteria in the main academic building has all plastic cutlery. The plates and bowls are compostable (and they have a composter!), but the cutlery isn't. I have started to bring my own silverware. If I happen to forget, I use a pair of wooden chopsticks (also compostable).

2) I have given up all "Grab-and-Go" and convenience foods. - I can spend my money on sit-down-and-eat things, so I simply plan more time to do so. This is actually better for me, too. Totally unforeseen benefit, but I feel better from not eating on the run. This was a hard change, though, because I love sushi and Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles, both of which come in plastic of some sort.

3) I buy in bulk and bring my own bags. We have Win-Co here, which is the most amazing store ever. It is a chain grocery store, but it has bulk bins for practically all dry goods, including spices. I bring paper bags to put stuff in, and then I can store it in tupperware and recycled plastic containers (left over from before I quit buying plastic) when I get home. Win-Co also gives you a bag discount, so I save at least a quarter whenever I go. Small incentive, but every little bit helps.

Next, let's talk about Going Trayless.

Many college cafeterias have started "going trayless" - stopped putting out trays for students to use. Studies show that it takes a half gallon of heated water to wash each tray, and also the detergent and manpower. Additionally, a third more food is wasted when trays are used. This is because students naturally take less if they have to carry the plates themselves.

You may be skeptical about this half-gallon concept. Well, I used to work in the cafeteria and here's the logic behind that. We had an industrial dishwasher that we could run racks of dishes through via conveyor belt. Trays and their unwieldy-ness could only go through eight to a rack, and dinners usually run 700-800 students. That's one hundred rounds of dishwashing for trays alone! Wow!

My university has implemented Trayless Tuesdays, but I have given up trays altogether. I've noticed that a lot of students are doing the same - after a few weeks of going trayless on Tuesday, they've discovered that they just don't need a tray. Many students, however, view it as a huge inconvenience. I think they'll get over it. In five years, I hope that trayless is the norm and that students don't even think twice about not taking a tray.

Do you eat lunch in a cafeteria somewhere? Encourage your cafeteria to go trayless, at least one day a week. As we know, most change happens slowly. At the very least, try going trayless yourself.

Have a great weekend!

Noitalever: Back to School

2008-08-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! I have successfully completed my first week of school, and man, am I tired. I've been reading and taking notes and sprinting between classes (I have five in a row), but I've also been thinking a lot about plastic.

I went to the Co-Op in search of liquid dishwasher soap. I don't have a dishwasher, and the powder stuff just doesn't cut it for washing by hand. I took one of the glass jars that they give away for free and got it weighed (empty). They wrote down the weight, and I went to fill it up with the bulk version of the liquid dishwasher soap. It even has a nice citrus scent. The brand is not important here, since the "bulk version" for you might be a different brand altogether.

I also purchased a Recycline razor - the kind where you can recycle the bottom part if you want, but now that they've come out with replacement heads you can just keep it until it gets grungy and then recycle it. I got it in purple, woot! This razor was comparable in price to normal, plastic, tossable razors, so I considered it a wonderful deal to save the environment and pinch pennies at the same time.

Later, I got a Kleen Kanteen. I had been waiting to see if I would get one for my birthday, but when I didn't, I bought my own. I am so impressed with this beast! The mouth of the bottle is wide enough to receive ice from a soda fountain, and that's hella cool. Mine is also the Co-Op's special logo-ized one, so it's free publicity for them and that makes me happy.

I went to Win-Co to get some snacks for this week, and I brought some brown paper bags (sandwich size) with me. I filled them up with pretzels and raisins from the bulk bins, and that was cool. I transferred the raisins when I got home to an old tin I have, and that'll keep them good. The pretzels can stay where they are, of course, providing I don't take a year to eat them.

---

I have to go to work, but later I will do another update with my plans for the future, re: Less-Plastic.

Noitalever: "Less Plastic?" "That's what she said!"

2008-07-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

Jamie brought up a valid point yesterday when she noted that the quality of environmental jazz isn't going to change much until the corporations get behind it.

This is true, but that does not mean that you shouldn't try to adjust your lifestyle and work your small-scale magic. Here's why:

1. Every little bit counts. You need to remember that you are making a tangible difference. If you need a reminder, check this out. Another method is to start a "shrine". For the next month, save all of the plastic bags you consume (i.e, take home from the grocery store) in a drawer by themselves. Then, take them out at the end of the month and count them. Do the math and figure out how many bags you'd consume in your lifetime continuing at that rate. Eliminating that waste isn't such a small change.

2. Your friends will catch on. If your friends see you make change look this easy, they will try to change these little things, too. At this point, it's not one person's plastic bags (slash coffee cups slash water bottles), but five or ten.

3. People will notice. Once it starts creeping into everyone's field of vision, they will reevaluate. This is the point at which corporations will begin to care, because it will become profitable to market to these consumers. However, if everyone waits for the corporations to shift their paradigms, no one will ever make a move.

4. It's not hard. You should be doing the small things anyway, because they aren't difficult and most of them make economic sense. For example, if you can refill a water bottle from a water fountain instead of buying a new bottle every day at work, you'd save at least $5/wk. Or, if you reduce your waste in general (for example, avoiding excessively packaged products), you can lower your utilities bill (at least in Oregon, they charge by the gallon).

Here are five changes that are economical and environmentally-friendly:

1. Stop buying bottled water - the stuff from the water fountain/sink is free.
2. Switch to bar soap - this is often way cheaper than liquid because of lowered production costs.
3. Wear your jeans/skirts/whatever more than twice - I have found that under most conditions, jeans can be worn for at least three days. Towels, if treated properly (not lumped on the floor after use), can be reused several times also. This lessens the amount of laundry you have to do and thus lowers your water bill!
4. Bring your own coffee cup - most places will now give you at least a twenty-five cent discount for bringing your own coffee cup, and you'll save all of that waste (some of which is often plastic and can't break down).
5. Bring your own grocery bags - a lot of places (IKEA, Whole Foods, etc) are starting to charge for each bag you take.

In closing:

I'm not asking you to stop wearing polyester and using deodorant - I'm asking you to stop these little habits that are byproducts of a "disposable" lifestyle. I'm also not asking you to step on eggshells in our world. I think that these are five examples of small changes that can be implemented today in order to bring about big change for tomorrow.

Noitalever: Long Day

2008-05-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar that I purchased in Moscow may smell wonderful, but it is crappy. It worketh not at all. The reason for this, says Karen, is that it lacks shampoo's active ingredient. It left my hair just...grime-y. It gets an "A" for effort, though. I wrote Burt's Bees and they have promised to send me a product of equal value (I selected the Radiance Exfoliating Bath Bar because it intrigues me and is packaged in cardboard) as compensation.

I found out in this same correspondence that Burt's Bees is replacing the plastic seals on their lip balm (the non-tube kind) with paper ones. Burt's Bees is out of Durham, NC (where I'm going this summer), so if I can I want to go get products like these at some sort of reduced rate. I might do some sort of contest and give some away here.

Anyway, I seriously digressed from my point: I was on a mission. I needed to find replacement shampoo. I went to Natural Living in Lebanon, and was pleased with their overall store. It had a lot more stuff than I'd ever thought...I'd only been in there once before. They can order stuff, so if you're stranded in Lebanon due to high gas prices, perhaps a good option would be to work with Natural Living. One of their struggles right now is publicity, so we seriously need to let them know that we appreciate their efforts and we know that they're there (did you see that? All three homophones! That was hard to type!).

I did not find another brand of bar shampoo there, or shampoo in bulk. I was reluctant to try another bar anyway, so I tried to think around that. If I bought in bulk, I'd need a container to put it in. When I went to Goodwill on Tuesday, I found some canning jars that I plan to use until I can afford something different and more purpose-oriented. I also found two more canvas bags for groceries. One has a cow on it and says "potatoes." I kid you not.

I went to the Corvallis Co-Op today with Karen. I struck gold! Seriously. They carry three brands of shampoo in bulk. I chose the cheapest one after Karen confirmed that it had that special ingredient that would actually make my hair clean. I put it in my coffee cup from PDX because it's all I had...and they let me, so yay for them. I cannot remember the brand, and that's MY BAD, but you must forgive me...I was lacking in sleep. If this shampoo is successful, I will figure out what brand it is and pimp it like no tomorrow.

I was very pleased with the Corvallis Co-Op's attention to detail. For example, they had new plastic containers, but also an assortment of glass containers in every shape and size (almost). Additionally, they had used containers that had been sterilized for putting bulk food in for transit. I was won over when I found that I could buy Ketchup and Mustard in bulk. I don't use either, but the idea that I could really impressed me.

I was not very pleased with the prices. For example, the Eco-Dent Floss was twice as much in Corvallis as I'd paid in Moscow. However, I will take into account that everything is cheaper in Moscow. Still, I felt that the prices were still fairly reasonable based on how clean the store was, how helpful the people were, and how wide a selection that they stocked.

Much later today, Karen and I went grocery shopping at Safeway. I brought my own bag, but Karen had a hard time putting vegetables straight into the cart/bag. She confirmed an idea that had been floating around in my head - there is need for smaller canvas bags (in addition to the grocery bags) to replace the plastic veggie bags. I went to Wal-Mart on my way home and picked out lengths of four different 100% cotton, utilitarian fabrics. I made Karen (and J'Aime, just for kicks) an assortment of drawstring bags for fruits and veggies, or really whatever she wants to put in them. I plan to make some grocery bags too, but I have to do those by hand - they'll take longer.

Oh...BTW, I got cocktail glasses for the shindig at Goodwill. They are actual glass, but I figure J'Aime can keep them or whatever for future fun. And they're mismatched because I found some cool, one-of-a-kind ones there and I didn't want the other five or six to match except for those.

So? Less Plastic? Yes...slow and steady.

Noitalever: How We Will Make It Happen

2008-05-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, I have been thinking for the last day and a half about how to integrate Less Plastic living into my current habits. I think that the best approach for me is this conscious, slow integration instead of the "cold turkey" approach taken by many.

First off, I realize that there are many things that won't change in my lifestyle anytime soon. I will not give up my contacts, a choice which requires me to also keep buying contact solution (plastic bottle). I also refuse to obsess over clothing choices - rayon, nylon, etc are all plastic-based. I wear mostly 100% cotton clothing anyway, but I won't go out of my way to change this at this point in the game.

However, some changes will come easily and naturally.

My first "target area" is personal hygiene because this is the area in which I buy the most bottled-in-plastic/plastic-packaged goods and also an area which has a use&toss mentality (compared to my coffee pot, which will live for a long time).

This week, I ran out of dental floss, shampoo, and facewash. Today, I went to the Co-op and purchased:

Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar (cardboard box) - $6
Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Complexion Soap (again, cardboard box) -$5 (less than my current facewash...)
Eco-Dent Floss $3

The floss is the most interesting, in my opinion. It's package (cardboard) converted to the little floss holder, and it has 100 yds of floss! (much more than regular containers of floss) It was also very inexpensive.

My other "target area" is the ol' "Bring Your Own Bag" game. Today, I purchased two canvas bags (at $5 apiece - not bad at all!) for this adventure.

The next things that I will replace, as they get used up, are:

- toothbrush (probably will go with Eco-Dent's version for which you just change the head - something that uses minimal plastic anyway)
- chapstick (I already use Burt's Bees, so I'll just find the kind that comes in the metal container)
- razors (will go with Recycline's Preserve model, which has a recyclable base so that you just throw away the blades. They also have replacement blades now, so really you only need to buy one anyway)

Non-hygiene things...

-laundry detergent (switch to dry version - duh!)
-trash bags (no more plastic bags!)
-hairbands (must find alternatives like all-metal bobby pins and clips)
-pencils (switch to the good old-fashioned kind)
-highlighters (use colored pencils)

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If you're wondering, I'm not really worried about food stuff at this point in my life because I don't cook for myself. Eventually, I will do things like Bring My Own Containers and Buy In Bulk.

Noitalever: Plastics Make It Possible?

2008-05-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

So, after reading this article and beginning to browse through this blog, I have decided to follow in Amy's footsteps (kind of).

I am in no position (student, not owning my own house, etc etc) to completely eliminate plastics from my life, but I can look around and think of at least fifty ways in which I could greatly reduce my plastic consumption. So, I plan to spend the next few months vigorously looking for ways to do this, while not beating myself up over things that I simply can't change right now (new car purchased in '07? I think I'll keep it, thanks).

I also want to post my own little reminder: paper can be recycled! As you finish up school for the year and think to yourself, "Man, I never want to see these notes/tests/whatever again!", please find a place to recycle your mixed paper.