A Movement in a Few Parts - The Final Countdown

For those of you following our move (and more importantly our quest to avoid the landfill by creatively disposing of belongings we don't want to cart 3,000 miles...again), we are days away from the arrival of the moving truck.

It should be noted that due to both environmental and budgetary concerns, we have also tried to consume as little space as possible on a carbon emitting moving truck. After some research, I found a company that rents smaller spaces on large trailers, and so we were able to rent the smallest size - 6 x 8 x 9 - further emphasizing the need for "net reduction".

So we've had our moving sale, we've made a few trips to Goodwill, and we've swapped our books, but what about the X-Box player that doesn't work, or the CDs that have long ago been burned into our Itunes library? We don't have room for them in our precious square of truck space, and we still don't want to hit that dumpster.

There are two resources that I have been using constantly to find lists to aid me in my quest. The first is Earth 911's recycling locator. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am a contributor to Earth 911). The locator allows you to find places to recycle anything from fluorescent bulbs(don't throw these in the garbage - they contain a tiny bit of mercury and can be recycled at all Ikea stores among other places) to old phone books just by entering in your zip code. It is one of the most comprehensive databases out there.

The second resource that I often use is a blog by Coop America titled "21 Things You Didn't Know You Could Recycle" with links to recycling agencies for everything from CD jewel cases to appliances.

Here are a few tough-to-recycle items we recycled using the suggestions from the list (and a little creative thinking too!):

Beanie Babies - No idea where these came from. I know they are not mine, and my husband is also pleading ignorance. No matter, we plan to sell them on Ebay. Craig's List is also a good (and free!) place to post items for sale.

Broken X-Box, Stereo, and Speakers - Used Earth 911's recycling locator to find a place to recycle these. Some electronics stores like Best Buy have recycling "events", which are days when all broken eletronica will be accepted for recycling.

Technotrash - In our case, this included CD jewel cases, various chargers, music and VHS tapes, and an old cell phone (cell phones are incredibly easy to recycle as well as useful for someone else - Collective Good refurbishes cell phones and sells it for use in a developing country: 770/856-9021. Call to Protect gives cell phones to victims of domestic violence. For a fee of $30, Greendisk will send you a box that you can fill with up to 70 pounds of technotrash - totally worth it.

Televisions - We were able to sell both of our sets, but with the switch to digital slated for later this year, there will be a lot of people interested in upgrading their sets. Televisions can contain up to eight pounds of lead, and some municipalities have already banned them from the landfill. Start with Earth 911's recycling locator again, and look for a subsequent blog with complete details on what to do with your old television!

Old Athletic Sneakers - When you are a size 12 (yes, dainty me), these add up quickly when you are talking about cubic feet in the landfill! Luckily, Nike will take back all old athletic sneakers and will recycle them into Nike grind, used to make playground and other sports surfaces.

CDs - We found a CD store that bought used CDs and sold them - I guess this confirms that my husband has good taste in music. Those that were rejected were listed and swapped at Swapacd.com. You can do the same with DVDs at Swapadvd.com.

Books - Paperback Swap! For more on their services, check out the previous blog.

Lightly Used Litter Boxes and Cat Toys - These went to our local no-kill animal shelter - we cleaned them of course! Animal shelters are in constant need of supplies.

Batteries - Single Use and Rechargeable - We ordered a recycling kit from Battery Solutions.

If you still find that you have items to dispose of after perusing my blog, Earth 911, and Coop America, then post your goodies at freecycle.org or bring them to a local Goodwill.

Off to load (..tightly!) those 432 cubic feet with all of our worldly possessions.

A Movement in Several Parts - A Reading Intermission

Happy 4th! With our move now less than two weeks away, I have decided to tackle the bookshelves.

While we are trying to lighten our cross-country load as much as possible, I refuse to part with the majority of my books. I admit it; as a writer and avid reader, I am also a book hoarder. Perhaps there are support groups for people like me?

I did a little searching on the good old world wide web of information, and while I did not find a support group, I did find the next best thing - a place to swap the books I am willing to part with - And yes, there are a few, like From Myst to Riven (which has something to do with two video games, and which seems to be a treasure for someone since it has already been requested). By the way, that book totally belonged to my husband, which, while earning me points for taste, earns me no points for reducing my book pile.

From Nerd to Super Geek

Still, once I make the tough choices (do I really need three copies of Pride and Prejudice?) the process of swapping these books couldn't be easier. Here's how it works:

• Join Paperback Swap and post the books that you would like to swap. Books on CD and hardcovers can be swapped too -I guess Paperback, Hardcover and Book on CD Swap is a bit of a mouthful.
• You will be notified by email when other members have requested your books.
• Print mailing labels from the link provided and send your books off using the media mail rate (it's the cheapest). You pay for postage on your end and another member pays postage when they mail a book to you.
• As soon as your book is received by the requester, you receive one credit towards a book of your choice on the website.
• Check out the millions of books listed (2,308,700) at the time of this writing, and request that they be sent to you. In our case, of course, we will wait to request any books until we reach Seattle!
• If you don't see a book you want, add it to your "wish list," and you will be notified as soon as another member posts the book to swap.
• For the price of postage (generally between $1.50-$3.00), you have millions of new books to choose from - of course, you can see why the book hoarder likes this service!

Our Green Relocation - Overture

Who can resist the allure of the parrot poster? It had him at hello.

Countdown! For those of your following this series, we are now officially less than 3 weeks away from our move from NY to Seattle. We have made it our mission to make this move as environmentally friendly as possible. Our first goal has been to reduce as many of our belongings as possible, and while the move is a good impetus for passing on unneeded possessions, the idea of responsible net reduction is one that almost anyone can embrace.

In addition to the usual avenues for reuse - Goodwill, local charities, etc., we have also made it a point to recycle even those hard to deal with items. With the clock ticking towards our departure date, it has become progressively more tempting to dispense with our outmoded possessions at the landfill, but we have been resisting the urge...

Before you deem your unwanted possessions "junk" see if they are treasures for anyone else. Here are a few tips for a successful sale:

• Plan a date when you know people will be around (in our case, this meant the last day of school meetings since we live on a campus)
• Advertise! Send out an email to your friends, those in your community, and/or consider placing an advertisement in a local paper.
• Put up signs. Even if the yard sale has been well-advertised, a little nudge from a sign on the day of the sale, may be just what people need to check it out. And, of course, signs will catch the attention of those passing by.
• Display everything in an attractive and neat manner. You are less likely to buy items in a store when everything is in a heap - the same goes for a yard sale.
• Be prepared to haggle...but not too much. Of course, there are always those looking for a deal - hold your ground with prices only if something has significant value. Otherwise, the point of a sale like this is to rid yourself of excess possessions, so let them go!

Our moving sale was hugely successful - obviously it doesn't hurt to have a feline sales(person?)!

Slacking again? Back to work!

We sold about 2/3 of our "inventory" and all of our big ticket furniture items.

Net reduction strikes again, and with three weeks to go before the move, we continue to avoid relegating anything to the landfill.

To see if our quest to avoid the dumpster is successful, stay tuned for the next installment...

In the meantime, isn't it a beautiful weekend for a yard sale?

Our Green Relocation - A Movement in a Few Parts

Yes, we are moving. And like many in our demographic (youngish, no kids, a few moves already under our belts), and despite our vows to do otherwise, we have managed to accumulate too much stuff....again!

Our last move from Los Angeles to New York was certainly not - we drove 2 cars cross country, used a moving company that should have been featured on a Dateline NBC scam expose, and we brought WAY TOO MUCH STUFF.

So this will be our second move across the country, and since we are definitely older, and therefore would also like to consider ourselves wiser, we have vowed to embark on the most environmentally-friendly relocation possible. The bottom line is that our goal is to lighten our load considerably, but also to throw away as little as possible.

In this series of blog installments, I will candidly detail our experience, offering tips along the way for those of you also facing a move (or just looking to get rid of some stuff without the help of the local landfill). Feel free to follow along and find creative ways to reduce and reuse your belongings as well!

Phase One - Net Reduction

I borrow this phrase from a dear friend, and over the next few weeks, we plan to become rock star net reducers, ridding ourselves of anything we don't consider crucial and/or sentimental. I am planning on a few arguments with my husband over the definition of sentimental - he still has a collection of stuffed animals from when he was a wee tyke as well as every cassette mix he's made or received since middle school.

Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats?
Together on one mix? Sweet!

We have started the net reduction process by going through our belongings in storage. You know, the ones you forgot you even had and mostly wonder why you kept in the first place?!

Our quest for less began where else - the basement! In our case, not in our basement, since we live in an apartment, but in my husband's grandfather's basement. We got started by making some piles:

1. Keep - see criteria above

2. Sell - still in good shape, but not worth the expense or carbon footprint created by a 3,000 mile transport.

3. Give Away - There are plenty of charities like Goodwill ready and willing to take anything you can't easily sell. There are also several internet groups like Freecycle that allow you to post your belongings for the taking.

4. Recycle - And I'm not just talking about the usual stuff either - paper, plastic, glass etc. I'm talking about cd covers, computer parts, a stereo, and even some of my exercise DVD's.

"Not the comic books!!"

5. Toss - Yes, sadly some products like household hazardous waste and old medications (which somehow always end up stored together) will have to be thrown out. I will cover how to safely do that, too.

Next week, we start the process officially by having a moving sale and swanky stuff swap of all of our "precious belongings" marked to sell or give away. I will detail both of these "events" in subsequent blogs, so stay tuned for more of our green moving adventures!

Nalgene, Baby Bottles, and Bisphenol-A: The Tough Case of Hard Plastics

Much has been made in recent months about the potential for reusable polycarbonate plastic bottles to leach bisphenol-A(BPA) into your water, baby formula, or any other libation you tote around in there. For those weekend warriors and everyday environmentalists who have been using the same hard plastic water bottles for the past 6 years, this polysyllabic news is alarming and disheartening. After all, we thought we were doing a good thing by foregoing the chic "one-timer" plastic water bottles in favor of reusable ones.And we were.

Unfortunately, the verdict is still out on the actual health effects of bisphenol-A, and depending on who you believe, the effects range from harmless (not surprisingly the plastics industry is in this camp), to serious health risk. Discover Magazine's recent article on BPA suggests that it may affect not only the children of mothers exposed to the compound during pregnancy, but their children as well. The article also explains why BPA does not act as a typical toxin, and has therefore been difficult to classify as dangerous. Nalgene has posted a page on their website detailing their stance that BPA is safe, but given Wal-Mart's decision to stop selling products containing BPA, arguments to the contrary have clearly gained traction. For more information on the debate, check out The Green Guide's article, "The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans."

My husband looking into the issue of BPA, personally. Perhaps it is already too late for him.

So now what? Well, most scientists agree that the biggest risk is to newborns and pregnant moms. Make sure your baby bottles are #4 or #5 plastic (check out the ones made by Adiri or Sassy), or try the glass ones made by Born Free.

Not a baby, but also not a fan of having his hormones tampered with - cried like a baby after drinking from his Nalgene while watching Moulin Rouge.

Consider replacing your plastic water bottles with those made by SIGG or Kleen Kanteen. I recently made the switch, and although my husband has been a little bit slow catching on to how it all works, we are both much happier with the way the water tastes from these aluminum and stainless steel containers.

His enthusiasm for hormone-free water matched only by his poor aim.

Of course, there is also the matter of what to do with your #7 bottles. The landfill is a bad option because these bottles will not biodegrade and may continue to leach chemicals there. They are also difficult to recycle, however I was able to find a recycling center that accepted #7 by using Earth 911's recycling locator, and you can probably do the same.

I was hoping some of the plastic bottle producers would take on the recycling conundrum themselves. A call to media relations at Nalgene was not returned; however, I spoke with a very nice woman in customer service who indicated that Nalgene was not issuing any sort of credit or exchange for their #7 water bottles. Unfortunate, since this is probably a bit of a public relations nightmare, and Nalgene does make water bottles out of the much less controversial #2 plastics. However, if you have your receipt, you can try to return your bottle to the store where you purchased it.

The bottom line in all of this is that it is important to know your plastic numbers. The code imprinted at the bottom of each plastic product will tell you whether or not it has the potential to leach harmful chemicals as well as where and how it can be recycled. Check out the previous Weekly Way blog, "Plastics By the Numbers," for a simple breakdown of the codes. When it comes to the issue of harmful plastics, an ounce of prevention while the debate resolves itself might well be worth the pounds of product you'll need to replace down the line.

Plastics By the Numbers

So our heart is definitely in the right place. We want to produce the least amount of waste possible, and we want to recycle anything we can. Agreed? Good.

However, being a responsible consumer goes hand in hand with being an educated one. As I began to investigate the whole #7 plastics debate, I realized two facts:

1. It was going to be very difficult to find a place to recycle my polycarbonate Nalgene water bottles because most curbside recycling programs don't take #7. This information led me to a second, more significant conclusion....

2. I didn't know enough about plastic products, their potential health hazards, or how to recycle them all properly.

So (and forgive me if I suggest that you are like me) I decided that my well-intentioned but semi-misguided self had a bit of reading to do. Here is what I discovered:

Each plastic product is assigned a recycling code, and this number is imprinted on the bottom of the product. These numbers represent the type of plastic used and where and how the product can be recycled - rules vary depending on where you live.

Check with your local recycling center or use Earth 911's recycling locator to see which codes are accepted for recycling in your area. If you find that you are purchasing products that can not be easily recycled or may be potentially hazardous, make the effort to purchase alternative products.

Here is a quick, easy guide to what each of those numbers actually means. Those in bold are potentially hazardous and should be avoided:

#1 & #2 - Most water, soda, juice, milk, and shampoo and soap bottles are made with PET or HDPE plastics. They are widely recyclable and safe as long as they are not reused.

#3 - Vinyl or PVC - Potentially hazardous - they can leach plasticizers and lead. They are also not recyclable.

#4 & #5 - Safe and recyclable - many food storage containers and plastic wraps are made from these two types of plastic.

#6 - Polystyrene - more commonly known by the brand name, Styrofoam. While polystyrene is technically recyclable, it is difficult to recycle and due to its light weight many curbside recycling programs do not accept it. Polystyrene is also potentially hazardous, as it can leach styrene, a known carcinogen.

#7 - PC/PA #7 is the catch-all for the types of plastic that do not fall into the previous 6 categories. Products in this category range from polycarbonate (PC), which is non-biodegradable and potentially hazardous, to the safe and compostable polylactide(PA), which is made from plant materials like corn, and used to produce products like plates, bags, and bottles.

Eco Art for the Eco-Chic

I'm not crafty, and it when it comes to turning my old stuff into something I might actually want to keep or even give to someone else, I am completely at a loss. What I do know though, is that the landfills are full, and we are running out of resources. Therefore, every item that we consider trash should first be looked at as the raw material needed to create something else.

Stepped Vinyl Record Bowl from Eco-Artware - think how much cooler your popcorn will be when served in this bowl.

Lucky for us non-crafties, there are plenty of creative people out there that see a juice carton and think, "Recycled Clutch!" or see egg cartons, and think, "Foot Stool!" Well, maybe not that many...but fortunately there are enough crafty geniuses, who can turn a billboard into a fashionable travel bag, or a glass bottle into earrings, that there are now many websites selling their eco-fabulous wares.

Eco-Artware is a "one-stop gift shop for all things beautiful, well-made, and environmentally friendly. Over at Ecoist, where all products are made from "recycled, organic, or earth-friendly materials," many more eco-friendly bags, jewelry, and assorted trinkets can be found. Lastly, I am a huge fan of jewelry designer Katherine Plate, who makes handcrafted jewelry at her company Smart Glass Jewelry, out of, you guessed it, recycled glass.





(top left) Recyled Glass Earrings from Smart Glass Jewelry
(bottom left) Ecoist's one of a kind repurposed laptop bag from a Harry Potter billboard

What's more, even if you are all thumbs and wouldn't even dream of attempting to sew a button, or the craft scene doesn't really appeal to you, there are plenty of recycling resources on Eco-Artware's site as well. So if you ever wondered what to do with your old bicycle, CD's, and even yogurt cups (Send to ibike.org, greendisk/ecodisk, and terracycle respectively), you can find the answers on this site.

These websites are great places to visit for a Mother's Day gift, a birthday present, or a treat for yourself. Plus, instead of contributing to the consumption of products made from virgin resources, you will be supporting the new movement towards sustainable, renewable goods. And for the record, you'll look pretty cool too.

Compost - It is Berry Easy....

Especially if you live in San Francisco. I recently spent a week Northern California visiting friends, exploring the the possibility of a relocation to the west coast, and enjoying all that a city with a major commitment to the environment has to offer. San Francisco, the first city to ban plastic bags, is also leading the way in recycling organic materials.

Now back to that rotten pun. It is one of the many ads I saw on buses and signs throughout the city promoting SF's compost pick-up program. Along with recycling and trash, residents also leave out their organic waste (food scraps, food soiled paper, and plants) for the city to collect and compost back into nutrient-rich soil, which comes full circle, as it is used to grow organic food and wine.

Soon to be your next glass of Cab

You may remember the blog I wrote a few weeks ago about an innovative indoor composter and the harmful methane emissions produced when organic materials fester in landfills, so you can imagine how excited I was to learn about San Francisco's compost program. You can read more about their composting and environmental programs at the city's environmental website, and you can read about how the the recycling and composting works here. See an example of their many informative videos below.

Some people explain why your rotten stuff is good food for the soil.

If you don't live in a city that offers extensive recycling and composting options, get in touch with your local elected officials and encourage them to take action. Use San Francisco's example to encourage them to enact similar policies. Lastly, don't forget to spread the message by impressing your friends with your new and catchy composting puns. It's easier than you stink.

Lose Waste Fast!

Food takes the full circle with no pollution or waste

Now at first blush, this may not sound like the most appealing project on which to embark. However, if you are like me, much of your daily trash is vegetables, egg shells, or coffee grounds, all of which goes into a landfill. According to the EPA, food waste is the #1 least recycled material, and the Earth is running out of landfill space.

Now I realize that I may sound like an infomercial, but I have been searching for a good indoor composter for a long time. I live in New York, and the usual compost pile that we had during my days in Vermont would definitely not be welcome (with regard to either square footage or smell) in my apartment.

So hooray for the NatureMill, a composter that can be used indoors or out, and you can add up to 120 pounds a month of organic waste - vegetables, coffee grounds, dairy, meat or fish. The upper tray provides the necessary environment for composting - cultures which consume the waste products, heat, moisture, and air flow. Every two weeks or so, a light goes on in the lower tray to let you know that your new compost is ready!


Stage 1 in the dirt making process

If you still need convincing, consider the tons of organic waste presently residing in landfills and producing greenhouse gas emissions as it decomposes. This harmful methane emission, which is much more potent than carbon dioxide, is a byproduct of organic matter decomposition in oxygen starved landfills. By composting you are also closing the loop, as no fossil fuels are needed to transport your dirt into your garden or potted plants.

So help keep the Earth clean, and make your own dirt!

Are We A Disposable Society?

Knowledge is power, right? After all, it gave us all of this useful technology like plastic wrap, Tupperware, drinking bottles, and bags of just about every size. However, when I started to do a little research about all of this plastic -and what happens to it once I am done using it- I found that it was time to take a hard look at our society's plastic consumption. Here are a few facts about plastic:

• According to the Container Recycling Institute, less than 30% of plastic bottles were recycled in 2006.
• Plastic does not biodegrade.
• Instead, it photodegrades from exposure to sunlight (not much of that in landfills) and becomes smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, which remain in the ecosystem.
• Disturbing amounts of plastic are now being found in the ocean. There is a section of the Pacific known as "Eastern Garbage Patch" because it contains so much plastic.
• The manufacturing and transportation process of one bottle of water uses ¼ gallon of fossil fuel and emits 1.2 pounds of greenhouse gases.
  
• Nearly seven times the amount of water that goes into a bottled product will be required to produce its plastic container.
  

Okay, I'm convinced. Plastic may be necessary, but certainly the less I consume each day, the better off we'll all be. In order to curb my plastic consumption, I decided to start with something easy - my bottled water and plastic bag use. Both of these products are consumed in the United States in the millions (bottled water) and billions (plastic bags) every year.

Fortunately, the solution to the bag quandary is easy:

Bring your own!

Reusablebags.com and envirosax.com both make bags that are fashionable and compact. Reusablebags even makes produce bags, which really come in handy when you are tempted to take a bag to hold that wet head of lettuce or four round (and rolling!) tomatoes.

Now on to plastic water bottles. In order to help illustrate my point about how our individual actions can make a difference (cliche but true), I will digress with a short (but true) story:

I was recently playing basketball with a bunch of my basketball buddies, and one of them brought out several bottles of designer bottled water - you know the type - square bottle, expensive, comes from a land far far away. I pointed out to him that the water he was drinking had to go a long way in order to wet his whistle in Bedford, NY. In an earnest effort to cut down on the travel time of his bottle of water, he showed up to the next game with a bottle of water from his home state. I pointed out that while he had dealt with the travel issue of the last bottle, he was still drinking water from a receptacle that took precious resources to produce - electricity, petroleum, water - and that he could have easily brought water from home (for free!). It turns out that the third time was the charm. At the third water/basketball summit meeting, my friend showed up with a big reusable bottle of water. His big complaint about his water from home was the taste, and I recommended that he purchase a filter. I also pointed out that many brands of bottled water are tap water. For more on the bottled water fiasco, check out this month's National Resources Defense Council online article, "The Future of Drinking Water."

So please, by all means, hydrate. For water on the go, buy a reusable water bottle or two and use that instead. If you live in a place with safe drinking water, and I bet most of you do, fill it with tap water (filtered as necessary) and enjoy.

So why this sudden obsession with plastic? Well, the bottom line is that we are running out of room and resources on this planet. The products we consume and then turn into garbage do not really just go away, but rather they continue to reside with us in this limited space we all share. Many of them will still reside here long after we are gone. In order to reduce our waste, we have to take a critical and honest look at our consumption.

Once you see how easy it is to curb your plastic bottle and bag consumption, you will probably want to figure out ways to put even less in the landfill. Check out this list from Coop America of the "21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle."

Go ahead, consume less, reuse and recycle more, and dispose of as little as possible.

Spring Cleaning

Wouldn’t it be nice to open your mailbox and find only the mail that you want? Have you ever fantasized about throwing a yard sale but you either A. Don’t have a lawn or B. Don’t feel like haggling all weekend over the cost of your old desk or hula girl coffee mug? Well, thanks to two organizations, a free ad and a small fee will allow you to get rid of both the unwanted junk that arrives at your home on a daily basis and the unwanted junk that you’ve been accumulating for decades.

According to 41pounds.org, “The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year.” The organization offers a service that costs $41 and last for 5 years which will:

• Save time by eliminating 80-95% of your daily junk mail
• Save trees – 100+million trees destroyed annually for junk mail
• Save water used producing and recycling junk mail
• Reduce global warming – energy used for producing junk mail
• Support your favorite charity – they donate when you sign up

Now that your junk mail is taken care of, let’s turn our attention to that old printer. Freecycle.org is “a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns."

Each Freecycle group is moderated by a volunteer. You can follow the links on Freecycle’s website to find the group closest to you. If you can’t find a group near you, you can start your own group by following the instructions on their site. It’s a great way for anyone from college students to bi-coastal wanderers to both find and discard those precious home goods.