Week 29
For Christmas, my parents gave us a night’s stay at the lovely Cape Kiwanda Inn on the Oregon Coast, and we decided to take advantage of this gift over the past weekend. The gift certificate, which I mentioned earlier came wrapped in a bath towel, was a great “green” gift, because instead of getting a “thing” we received an “experience.” Nothing to throw away or get tired of here, and there’s nothing Adam or I like more than a day spent on the Oregon Coast.
The hotel we stayed in is located in Pacific City, about an hour away from our hometown. We spend as many weekends as possible on the coast, touring the various beach-y towns lining Highway 101. PC is one of our favorite towns, because it’s essentially a quiet fishing village with a very low-key tourist trade. The Inn is one of the major exceptions to this rule, and so we got to be pampered tourists for an all-too-brief amount of time.
Our hotel room was beautiful and filled with state-of-the art luxuries – a gas fireplace, a sliding door with a balcony overlooking the ocean, a two-person tub, champagne waiting in an ice bucket upon our arrival. And even here, at the height of a lavish night away from home, we couldn’t help but be environmental activists.
If there’s one thing the Green Garbage Project has done, it’s make me minutely aware of how my every little action can impact the planet. This is not to say we spent our mini-vacation mired in environmentalist guilt; far from it. Instead, we had to make a concious decision to – just for a night – check ourselves out of the environmentalist mindset and just live in the moment for a change. With just under 200 consecutive trash-free days, we gave ourselves a day off.
Did we throw anything away? No. Did we leave our dirty towels on the floor to be washed after a single use? No. Did we crack the sliding door to sleep to the sound of the ocean surf while the gas fireplace was on? Yes.
One of the things I have learned over the course of our 6 trash-free months is the simple fact that, very occasionally, we have reason to indulge ourselves. If we are working to save the planet, we’re also working to save our quality of life, and so the modern environmental movement must consider that, by and large, our society will not embrace environmental activism if this means deprivation of the things that make our lives worth living.
I’ve recently finished Vanessa Farquharson’s book “Sleeping Naked is Green,” about a year in which the author makes one green change each day. I’m currently reading “No Impact Man,” about Colin Beavan’s attempt to leave zero impact on the planet for one year while living in New York City. And in each of these books, I encounter the same sentiment: that most realistic environmentalists realize that, in order to stop the degradation of our planet, the human race (or the Western world, at least) must make immediate, large-scale lifestyle changes. At the same time, every green change matters, no matter how small, when we’ve looking for a cumulative effect.
And so there I was, torn between duct-taping shut the mouth of the little shoulder-perched environmentalist I wear around and trying to spend a sustainable night in a fairly unsustainable environment, when I received a little ray of hope and a sobering reminder why we’re doing this project in the first place.
Our hotel participates in Project Planet, an effort between hotel and consumer, which aims to have hotel patrons opt out of traditional but environmentally taxing services like having the sheets and towels washed and changed each day. A little note about this project hung from our bathroom towel bar and rested on our bed. We were happy to oblige, but even better, this is such a small change, I imagine it’s one others choose as well.
The Project Planet brochere in our hotel room.
On the other hand, we headed down to the beach after a high tide and some rough surf to look at all the flotsam that was newly piled on the beach. Everywhere we went, we saw garbage washed ashore with the driftwood and kelp. It was all plastic. Plastic spoons and plastic tampon applicators and plastic chew containers, styrofoam, condiment containers, and on and on. I’m desperately afraid that, 10 or 20 years from now, the amount of plastic on the beach will have increased, not decreased. Seagulls were picking their way through the refuse, and I kept thinking about how we now know that sea animals all across the world are ingesting little plastic bits they mistake for food. They’re washing ashore dead with bloated bellies full of human junk.
Beach debris sprinkled with bits of plastic - too many pieces to count.
So what’s my point? That I took a moment to relax with my husband and chose to put our carbon footprint on the back burner for a small moment in time. We spent our weekend walking on the beach and found that the beach, the environment, and yes, our planet, are things we’re willing to save, no matter what the sacrifice.
Week 28
And so, the garbage squatting continues. Sure enough, we put out our can containing litter and meat scraps on Wednesday night and as I walked past the can Thursday morning, I peeked inside and saw … one bag of trash resting at the bottom. This time, the trash was tied neatly into a bundle inside a white plastic bag, as opposed to thrown loose inside the bin. And honestly, this infuriates me, and I’ve spent all week wondering whether this is irrational or justified annoyance. Here’s our situation – we live between a single mom raising three kids on one side and an elderly, housebound woman on the other side. It is possible, then, that either neighbor could be secretly saving their trash and using our can – and it’s understandable to me that some people simply cannot afford to pay their bills, so maybe the trash bill is the logical one to go. And hey, we’re not using our garbage can, so why not let someone else use the space?
On the other hand, it’s the principle of the thing. We’re living a garbage-free year here, and now the garbage man could think we’re cheating! If it wasn’t for the Green Garbage Project, we’d have no problem with a neighbor throwing an extra bag in the garbage can once in a while. But this year? I want a clean record – I want nothing from our can heading toward the dump.
So what do you think? Ignore the garbage squatters or take measures to prevent other people’s trash from winding up in our can? The irony of this dilemma is just laughable.
While we added nothing new to our shoebox this week (!), meaning I don’t have a picture to share, I did have a minor trash-related meltdown in the produce aisle on Saturday. Adam and I had just finished working out at the pool after a day of housework and yard chores, and we were swinging by the grocery store for some last-minute dinner stuff. We were having pizza, and I wanted to pick up salad fixings.
So there we were, in the produce section, trying to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible, and I kept staring longingly at the premixed salad bags, which of course come in # 7 plastic and are not technically recyclable. I say “technically” because now that we’ve found AgriPlas, I have a plastic loophole, meaning if I ever slip up or have a weak moment and buy something encased in plastic, I have a legitimate way to recycle this. But still, recklessly buying plastic and pawning it off on AgriPlas isn’t really in the spirit of the project, so we’ve decided to use this option only as a last resort, not as a way to indulge cravings or dinner-preparing laziness. Instead, I bought the individual salad ingredients even though I was tired and REALLY didn’t want to peel and cut carrots, slice radishes, wash and tear lettuce, etc. It was when I was standing in the stinking checkout line that I realized that I was buying more packaging, albiet recyclable packaging, than if I’d bought the # 7 bagged plastic salad. The head of iceberg lettuce came wrapped in recyclable cling plastic, and so did the carrots. The radishes were rubber-banded and I had put them in a plastic bag since I didn’t have a cloth mesh version with me. Argh!
So here’s the rub – what is the best environmental choice, assuming I don’t forgo salad altogether? Should I have bought the premade salad in the nonrecyclable bag, or was I better off buying produce items wrapped in recyclable plastic? Why does produce have to be wrapped in plastic at all? The frustrating thing about this type of questions is that there’s really no right answer. No wonder the modern environmental consumer is so confused.
Speaking of recyclable plastic, I have updated the links page to include the following site, which I find comprehensive and helpful: www.plasticbagrecycling.org Click on “consumers” and you’ll find a neat page with pictures that explains what types of plastic packaging can generally be recycled with grocery sacks at your local store. There’s also a store locator to help you find a plastic drop-off location. Happy recycling!
Week 27
The bad news first, I suppose. We accumulated several items of trash this week, one under terrible circumstances I don’t want to repeat anytime soon. This week’s trash: two blister packs from contact lenses, 1 piece of foam-type stuff from a box of chocolates we received for Christmas, and two broken bungee cords. Here’s the picture:
Our garbage for the week - two broken bungee cords, a piece of foam, and two contact lense packs.
While the foam and contact lense cases are fairly standard trash, the bungee cords represent a nasty turn of events. Our dog was let out of our yard this week by someone who decided to cut the bungee cords holding our gate shut. Yes, the gate is padlocked, but due to construction circumstances, the horseshoe closure is too far away from the pole it wraps around to be secure enough for our comfort, so we take the extra precaution on bungee-cording the gate shut. About two weeks ago, we came home to find our gate open and chalked this up to my dog deciding to go on the lam (which he’s never done before) but now I don’t think so. After the gate was opened the first time, we secured it, but last Wednesday, Adam came home to find the cords cut through, the gate wide open, and our dog missing. A 12-hour search ensued, culminating in, thankfully, our dog making his way back home. To have our home broken into like this is unsettling, to say the least. We’re just happy to have our furry friend back.
We’re taking a second look at the trash that ended up in our can last week, wondering whether we’re dealing with a malicious neighbor or a child who likes to play pranks. We’ve even wondered whether someone could be trying to deliberately undermine our project. Regardless, we’ve had enough and are installing a monitored home security system to avert future incidents like this.
The good news: Thankfully, in the midst of a stressful week came one of the most exciting events we’ve experienced so far during our project – we made contact with Agri-Plas. Located only a half hour away from our house, this cutting edge company takes used plastics and converts them into crude oil through an innovative recycling process. I missed the tour of Agri-Plas offered during my Master Recycler class, so I had to go alone, but boy am I glad I did. When I contacted them, I was put in touch with Allen, an extremely personable man who agreed to sort through the contents of our garbage shoebox to see what leftover plastics I have that he could recycle. Here’s the before picture of our shoebox full of garbage:
The garbage in our shoebox before Agri-Plas.
I sorted the various plastics out of our shoebox, which accounted for about half of our total garbage. It included things like medicine bottle safety seals, plastic wrapping from a movie, yellow birth control pill packs, small plastic tags from clothing, and so on.
And here’s the shoebox now – Agri-Plas took ALL of our plastic garbage to recycle into oil!
6 months' worth of garbage. The box is new because the original shoebox was left with Agri-Plas.
Allen spent a lot of time talking with me and my mom (who had come down to Oregon to help look for our dog) about the process of converting plastics into oil. Agri-Plas is one of the only facilities like it in the country, but it makes so much sense – I hope to see Agri-Plas expand their facility and can only imagine what this sort of enterprise could do on a large scale to keep plastics out of the landfill. There’s no real negative about this process – plastic is kept out of the landfill and oil is produced, which saves that much oil from being drilled out of the earth. It’s win-win, and I’m delighted that a small amount of my plastic can go to help this process. Check out their site - interesting stuff. I’ll be touring Agri-Plas with the next round of Master Recyclers in February and can write more about the recycling process at that time.
As promised, here’s a run-down of the remaining trash in the shoebox. I’ll note that I still hope to do a few upcycling projects with some of this stuff, so the final tally at the end may change slightly. Over the past six months, our total garbage has been:
- Two broken bungee cords
- 1 piece of foam from a candy box
- Two pieces of nonrecyclable, plastic-foil composite Christmas wrapping paper
- 1 dog toy run over by a lawn mower
- Two empty Theraflu pouches
- 3 used lightbulbs (moved into a new house and bulbs subsequently burned out)
- 4 used Gilette razor blades
- 7 foil tops from contact lense blister packs — the plastic parts were recyclable at Agri-Plas
- 3 Alkaseltzer foil wrappers
- An oil change sticker
- 1 broken tack
- Assorted stickers
- 1 insect sting relief foil pouch
- 2 pieces of tape
- Flea medicine garbage
- Birth control pill packs and wrappers
- 1 tangled mess of bubble wrap and tape about the size of my fist (and I honestly don’t remember where this even comes from)
All of this fits easily into the bottom of a shoebox. We’re on track to meet our goal – only 6 months to go!
Week 26
Bubblewrap, garbage squatters, and New Year’s Resolutions – it’s been a busy week for the Green Garbage Project.
New Year’s Resolutions and the Green Garbage Project Halfway Point: Adam and I are both back to work this week after an enjoyable holiday. Tonight, the Christmas decorations came down and we’re busy setting our goals for 2010. We are excited that, right at the turn of the decade, we are just about the hit the halfway point of our project – quite an accomplishment! Next week, I plan to do a run-down of the garbage we have accumulated so far, because our official halfway point is January 6, which occurs this Wednesday. I’ll show you pictures of the small amount of garbage we have and write up an itemized list. I don’t want to do this yet because I have something in the works that may eliminate a good amount of the plastic garbage we have collected, and I’ll know whether this pans out by the end of the week.
Adam and I have spent a lot of time discussing our project as it exists right now, and we’re pretty darn proud of ourselves for the meager amount of trash we’ve accumulated thus far. But, as a Type A personality, New Year’s just wouldn’t be the same for me without some resolutions, so in that spirit, for the remainder of our project, we have resolved to:
- Test out one new garbage-free product each month
- Make one green change to our lives each month (in addition to our garbage-free-ness) – things like using my graywater to water plants
- Include more pictures in this blog
- Work to eliminate all non-essential, if recyclable, plastic from our lives
Garbage Squatters: In other, more absurd news, I have a story I just have to share. First, just to establish the appropriate mood, let’s review – Adam and I live garbage free. This means nothing goes into our garbage can except for meat scraps and used kitty litter. Since our landlord pays for our garbage, we do haul the bin to the curb each week with the aforementioned items filling about an inch of the can. Last Thursday (garbage day), I cleaned out the litter box before the garbage truck arrived, so I hiked out to the curb and dumped the litter in our garbage can. You can thus imagine my surprise when I opened the can and found … garbage. Almost a whole can full. I stared at the garbage for a minute in confusion, shut the lid, and decided that I must have opened the wrong can. So I looked around for our can and realized ours was the only small bin for three houses up or down the block (the other houses use bigger, family-sized garbage cans). What was going on? Reopening the can, I spent more time examining the garbage (I almost took a picture, but decided that might be taking it a bit far). The garbage consisted of stuff we never bought, even before the Green Garbage Project – paper snowman plates and holiday napkins, empty toy packaging, meat packaging. The only conclusion we could come to is that one family on our block, clearly unaware of our garbage-free existence, decided to use our can in what I can only consider garbage squatting. Oh, the irony.
Bubblewrap: I ordered a Christmas present for Adam that just arrived in the mail last week, and inside the package we found bubblewrap, something we’ve not been faced with yet. Just thought I would share that a quick Internet search tells us that bubblewrap is indeed recyclable with other plastic film/stretchy plastic as long as the bubbles are popped. As fun as it would have been to spend our time popping those bubbles, we have decided to keep the stuff and reuse it for future packaging needs. Reuse before recycle. Oh, and fun fact for the day: Bubblewrap was originally invented as a type of wallpaper.
Two days until we’ve reached the halfway point! See you on the flipside.
Our 2010 calendar, produced by AmericanForests.org. This is a great product we discovered - the entire calendar is paper and a couple of staples. Absolutely zero plastic packaging. For each calendar sold, the company plants a tree, and it's printed on post-consumer waste paper.
Two weeks' worth of garbage. The gold thing and the red thing are foil/plastic wrapping paper we were given, the plastic film is from a movie we received as a Christmas present, and the red plastic strand is from a bottle of sparkling cider that we thought was wrapped only in foil.