Week 14
I miss mouthwash. And chips. Sometimes I look at how many weeks we are into Green Garbage Project and think, “Wow! Has it been that long already?” Other weeks, like now, I’m more of the mindset, “38 weeks to go seems like a long time.” This is not to say my resolve is wavering; far from it. Aside from the fact that I’m one of those people who refuses to give up, especially if other people think I’m going to, living garbage-free is teaching me about enjoying the simple things in life I tend to take for granted. When our garbage-free year is over and we allow a select few garbage-creating items to creep back into our lives, I guarantee I’ll never again thoughtlessly chuck a chip bag into the garbage without thinking of the bag’s environmental life cycle.
But I really do miss mouthwash, in particular. I know it’s not necessary for dental hygiene, and I also know I could make my own, but I’ve been dragging my feet on this because a) I don’t want to go buy vodka to make mouthwash and b) I don’t really like the idea of ingesting essential oils as most homemade mouthwash recipes suggest. Rinsing with salt and warm water is all well and good, but I miss that minty fresh, dry mouth feeling that comes with mouthwash. If anyone has any tried and true mouthwash recipes, please share and I’ll give them a go.
As far as chips go, I had a student in one of my classes tell me today that Sunchips now come in biodegradable bags. I’ll have to look into this, but then again, it brings me back to one of my original concerns – if things in landfills don’t biodegrade readily, then buying biodegradable products that will only stagnate in a landfill for decades without end is hardly better than buying products packaged in garbage. If that’s the case, it’s better to simply do without. Sometimes I walk longingly down the chip aisle in the grocery store in hopes that some new paper-bagged chip will have sprung up overnight. And since this hasn’t been the case yet, I find that I’m frustrated with the chip industry as chips are literally the only food product on the market that I can’t find packaged in recyclable materials. I wonder why this is. With all the technology available today, I don’t believe it’s impossible – the motivation just needs to be there for the company to research alternative packaging options. This is where consumer advocacy comes in – if we want products available in green packaging, we have to call the companies and let them know. I make these phone calls each week and the consumer feedback is always well received. I guess the fallback option is to make my own chips….
In other news, Adam and I made several garbage-free purchases this week that were more expensive than garbage-creating alternatives. This is generally not the case, so it was surprising that two such purchases had to be made in a week. We bought Adam a new pair of shoes with cardboard shape holders inside the shoe box instead of plastic ones. We at first found a pair of shoes for $35 that he liked, but ended up paying $50 for shoes that he liked and that didn’t create garbage. We also did some Halloween decoration shopping this week and needed wooden garden stakes to screw into the backs of our homemade tombstones. These stakes were sold individually or zip-tied in a bundle of 50. We paid $6 for 15 stakes when we could have paid $7.50 for 50 stakes. Again, it’s about prioritizing and sending a message to companies that over-package their products.
Finally, I wanted to address some comments I’ve been receiving about giving out small toys instead of candy on Halloween. I meant to include this in last week’s entry but forgot.
In my master recycler class a couple weeks ago, one of our instructors asked us to notice all the plastic knick-knacks that are so pervasive in our society. Like the pervasiveness of garbage itself, it’s alarming to notice just how many small, poorly made plastic toys we need (I’m including adults in this, too, not just children). Children come home from birthday parties loaded down with these toys but they are ever-present in adults’ lives, too – all over colleges as credit card companies try to entice twenty-somethings to sign up for a new card with the incentive of a plastic Frisbee. I came home from a motivational conference once with a new tennis ball, foam animal stickers, and scented soap bubbles. My bank gives out these things when you sign up for a new account. The list goes on.
The point is, these items are essentially junk and are generally landfill-bound. I’m as guilty as the next person in that often, I secretly enjoy getting these little “presents” from corporate America – it makes conferences and benefit fairs worthwhile. But as I notice how surrounded by plastic junk we are, the more I’m leaning against the idea of giving out small toys to children. The Halloween candy dilemma seems like one of those places where I can say what I said earlier – sometimes it comes down to appreciating what you have and, without doing so excessively, splurging. If, after this year is up I want to buy chips occasionally, I do so with the knowledge that extreme moderation is the key. Perhaps Halloween candy for the kiddos is a better solution than toys that get thrown away. Or, maybe I’m just justifying my desire to give out Halloween candy. Whatever we decide, we’ll be making sure our giveaways can be recycled, should the child’s family so desire, and the toys/candy won’t be allowed to generate trash on our end, either.
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One of the innovation techniques that might be of real use in your project may be the trimming technique – look at things closely and see what can be removed to make things simpler – if the chips industry is not budging, you could well get rid of them totally or make your own at home! It is finally about creating a natural self sustaining cycle – not just about reducing garbage(which is a great step in the right direction). We have just started a home composting project to reduce our garbage and create some compost for our terrace garden – check out the website http://dailydump.org/ for more on the urban home composting products!
But I am beginning to believe that urban lifestyle is directly at loggerheads with a green lifestyle. It is about taming nature than aligning your lifestyle naturally.
Amy,
Have you thought about making an infusion of mint leaves from your herb garden and using that as a final swish for a minty mouthwash? You could make up a weekly batch and refrigerate it.
Maybe you can buy some fresh mint, muddle, and mix with something to make a yummy homemade wash?
Something like mint + soda water + some sort of natural sweetener? Kind of like a mojito w/o the sugar and booze
http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/teeth/mouth-wash.html
Hey Amy! I definitely would have preferred candy over some cheap toy on halloween — the whole glutinous goal of trick-or-treating is amassing candy.
I think one big reason people don’t recycle is not knowing whether an item is recyclable — I didn’t know M&M wrappers were until reading this post! Maybe you could attach a sticker that says “Reycle me!” to the candies? (I have no idea how much waste sticker-making creates, but I’m sure there’s some option to keep it minimal.)
In Corvallis, we can recycle Mylar with our other film (soft plastics) at the Co-op recycling center. Many chip brands come in Mylar.
Good for you for sticking with the candy for Halloween – those who say kids love getting pencils in their bags are fooling themselves!