How’s that for an eye-catching blog title? 

Now, I often receive emails from women who have heard about our Green Garbage Project, and many inquire about garbage-free birth control.  You’ll notice that I’ve never discussed this topic at length.   I have my own personal reasons for not discussing my reproductive health on the Internet for all to read, so let me simply say this: to those who wonder why I choose a chemical birth control rather than a more natural method, all I will say is that my method is what works best for me, with my lifestyle, at this particular stage in my life.  There is no denying that birth control pills cause some environmental problems (and some monthly garbage) but there is also no denying the enviromental impact of a child.  Since we are not trying to get pregnant, I choose the method of birth control that works best for me.

To those who find it inappropriate to look at pictures of my birth control pill garbage, like the woman who suggested that if I didn’t find those pictures offensive, neither would I be offended by her suggestion to squeeze a quarter between my legs and shut my mouth as well as my knees, well, you may not want to continue reading this post.

A few weeks back, I received the following email from two lovely ladies:

Amy,

I read the article featured on you and your husband back in July in the Willamette Weekly. I live in Portland and greatly admire you and Adam’s quest to reduce your trash, recycle, and creatively reuse.

Something in your story particularly caught my eye and got me brainstorming. You had mentioned that you produced more bathroom trash than Adam, particularly for the 12 months of birth control pill packaging. I would like to invite you to look at the project that myself and a friend of mine have created, which has now expanded.http://joshlatham.us/x/joy-underwear

We call it the Underwear Project and we have created art out of 100% birth control pill packaging that has been featured in my friend’s studio and gallery here in Portland.  http://www.the100thmonkeystudio.com

We began the project creating 7 pairs of underwear as a representation of 7 days of the week, as a daily reminder of our own sexuality and personal responsibility and commenting on the waste that goes into the packaging of this product. The project expanded to include several participants, as we asked people to either donate their birth control packaging to the studio or create their own underwear out of the packaging. Now we have 20 pairs of underwear and are continuously looking to expand.

We would like to invite you to participate in the project, either by creating your own pairs of underwear or donating your packaging to our project. We are looking to enter a women’s art show in November with how ever many underwear we will have by the end of October. Here is the link to this Portland art show.http://www.sirennation.com

We would love to collaborate with you so let us know what you think!

First, I cut out paper patterns using an existing pair of underwear.

Then, I fused all the plastic packaging into a piece of "fabric." Using the patterns as guides, the underwear pieces were cut out of the plastic.

The two pieces had to be sewn together and embellished.

The finished product!

Bonus point if you can name the allusion in that title (I’m such an English nerd…). 

So, I’m not going to say that our move from Oregon to Washington was horrific, but boy, it was a bit of an ordeal.  Our original rental house fell through, so we ended up moving all our earthly possessions into my very tolerant parents’ house for three weeks until we found a new rental that allowed pets.  We only just hooked up the Internet and TV service last week, while I’ve been at my new job for more than a month now (!).  And while I’ve been shirking my duty as a regular blogger, I have been ”mentally” blogging, keeping a list of all the neat new things I can write about once my life is straightened out.  Regular readers of this blog can look forward to the following topics in the next month: underwear art made from birth control packaging, the link between environmentalism and socioeconomic status, and a new trick or treating alternative to candy.  That’s right, all that and more right here for your reading pleasure.  Tune in weekly – I’ll continue updating on Monday nights. 

Now for the big move story and the ensuing trash tally.  If you recall, one year ago, we moved across town and managed a successful trash-free move using, among other things, paper tape and recycled boxes.  We donated loads to charity and made the possessions we had last a bit longer. 

Our most recent move didn’t go quite as smoothly, but it’s hard for me to pinpoint why.  We took all the same steps – using recycled boxes from liquor and grocery stores, packaging with recycled newspaper and the lifesaving paper tape, donating to charity.  For whatever reasons, we did create some trash in our move.  Some trash was created back in Oregon as we were cleaning out our house.  Other trash was created here in Washington as we were unpacking and making some repairs to our new rental home.  Here’s the rundown:

• Food scraps here in Washington.  I HATE this fact, but it’s true.  With no compost bin set up yet, our food waste is winding up in the garbage.  Getting the compost set up is high on the priority list.
• Worn out items too old or junky to donate.  An old shower curtain liner and a rubber-backed bath mat bit the dust.  We’ve since bought a new PEVA shower liner (Walmart now only sells PEVA, not PVC liners, by the way – kudos) and bath mat, but I’m curious about other options.  Anyone out there use something beside a rubber-backed bath mat that might be more environmentally friendly?
• Home repairs, old and new.  When we arrived at our new house, some of our window screens had holes.  With indoor cats, this was unacceptable, so we’ve replaced the screens, meaning the old screens became junk.
• Items broken by the move.  One special kitty knocked a glass bottle onto a tile kitchen floor, the scraps from which ended up in the trash (no glass recycling arranged yet … soon).

Finally, we did a small amount of purging.  I’ve been keeping this quote in my back pocket for some time because it rings so true:

Have nothing in your house you don’t know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.  ~ William Morris

As an environmentalist and an American consumer who is trying to consume less, isn’t that lovely advice?  With this in mind, we went through our possessions and got rid of anything that didn’t meet the “beautiful or useful” criteria.  Now if only we can avoid purchasing or otherwise receiving new useless junk….  (I’ve been thinking a lot, too, about the link between garbage-free living and consumerism, which seem to be one and the same in many ways … another future post, I suppose).

Anyway, cheers.  Those of you who are still out there, thanks for sticking with me.  We’re up and running again.  Until Monday … adieu.