Coffee Shop Rant

Okay, this week's suggestion might just be the easiest one yet - it won't cost you any money, it won't require a lifestyle change, AND it takes no time. Ready?

If you are eating or drinking at a restaurant or coffee shop, don't accept to-go cups, containers, or plastic utensils. The vast majority of these products are made from the types of plastic that is impossible, or at the very least, difficult to recycle.

I have been spending a lot of time working in coffee shops the past several months, and I can't help but notice how much unnecessary waste is generated at these fair-trade, eco-minded havens. Even in Seattle, a city that prides itself on environmental awareness, the majority of people in the coffee shops I frequent are drinking out of to-go containers in the shop. A quick poll of the coffee shop I am in right now offers a good illustration of this point: There are 22 patrons, and of these mostly cheerful, caffeine-swilling folk, only 3 of them are drinking out of reusable mugs.

These cups and lids represent not only the resources needed to produce and ship them, but these one-time caffeine conveyors also add to the mounds of garbage that must be trucked out of the city. Seattle, like most metropolitan regions, pays to ship its garbage to its final resting place hundreds of miles away, and many cities have to send their unwanted stuff even further afield.

So the next time you have the choice, please make the one that will produce no waste.

If you want to take your efforts a step further, bring your reusable mugs and water bottles with you and refill and wash as necessary. For extra credit bring your own to-go containers and reusable utensils. For some excellent products, check out To-Go Ware, which was founded by Stephanie Bernstein while she was still in her twenties. And, of course, always try to purchase coffee that has been grown in an ethically and environmentally responsible manner. For more info on fair trade certified products, visit the website for Transfair USA.

Winter Markets

Come for the cabbage, stay for the crepes

I have been singing the praises of farmers markets for a while now on this blog. I also know that many of you reading this blog may find yourself in an area covered with snow, and therefore might be having a hard time imagining what you could possibly find to eat right now from local farmers. The answer (no matter where you live) is probably plenty.

The ocean offers up its bounty year round...Its mysterious and terrifying bounty

Seattle, which has a temperate climate, has a year-round growing season and a few year-round markets, but even in colder areas like New York, there are still farmers markets selling goods that keep for long periods of time (think apples and potatoes) as well as goods that can be produced year-round like cheese and baked goods. Eating locally minimizes the carbon footprint of your food, and local delicacies are often made with healthier ingredients and therefore usually taste better!

A visit to a winter market is also a great impetus for trying new food - I am currently in love with rutabagas, which can be eaten raw in salads, roasted, or baked. Rutabaga Gratin anyone? Check out Local Harvest to see what's available in your area right now, and check out these pictures from my recent trip to the Sunday Market in the Ballard neighborhood.

Tomatoes are a stretch, but there's plenty of kale, cabbage, potatoes, and other root veggies around

Salmon and apples: Two things you can always find at Seattle markets

Here's to Your Health...Kitty

At the natural vet, where cats are given human chairs.

Perhaps I should preface this post with the disclaimer that, yes, I am a crazy cat lady. Nevertheless, what follows is still legitimate counsel. Many of you may have already begun to explore the joys of alternative and preventative health care for yourself, but did you also know that you can get the same kind of care for your pets?

The same rules generally apply - the natural practitioner is a trained veterinarian, who has decided to also treat pets using homeopathic and natural options.

My husband and I have been feeding our cats quality food and using natural remedies from Earth Animal in Connecticut for years now; most of their products are available online, so check out their website. When we moved to Seattle, we also decided to try out a natural vet, and we were happy to find the aptly named Seattle Natural Vet.

The vet, Kate Fernald, spent an hour with us during our first visit going over treatment options for our venerable kitty Toonces. Each subsequent visit is a half hour, and she patiently answers all of our questions about nutrition and alternative and traditional treatments for him. Our visits there are the least rushed, most comfortable vet visits I have ever had.

Can Do!

Last fall, students at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY built the world's tallest can pyramid as a community service project. Their goal was to raise awareness about recycling and waste, and to raise money for the Help Kenya Project, which was founded by another Masters faculty member, Jude Ndambuki. Here is the full account of the event, written by guest blogger, Masters School faculty member, and architect of the world's tallest can pyramid, Matt Ives:

When they were just freshmen, the class of 2010 had the audacity to dream. Ava Bynum, then class president, now school secretary, hit on the idea of building the world's tallest pyramid of cans. The rest of the class thought it was a great idea. Little did they know what an enormous task they had set themselves.

It took eighteen months to collect the cans they needed. It took three months to glue the interior blocks. It took the entire class, now juniors, pulling together to work like ants to transport the cans to the gym, then stack them carefully in a steeply pitched pile.

More than 14,000 cans.

More than 18 feet high.

A lot of glue.

And finally…

At 5:30 p.m., Saturday, November 8, 2008.

The world's largest can pyramid.

Then came the fun part – knocking it down.

The class of 2010 put on a Can Fest on Sunday, November 9. The sun came out after days of rain. Parents, newspaper reporters, local dignitaries milled about in anticipation. Boys from the nearby Children's Village who had been collecting cans for the effort, set up a booth displaying their knowledge of the environment and the importance of recycling. Other clubs and local organizations set up booths to share their green efforts. Members of the Environmental Science class dressed as clean planet superheroes, shivering in their long underwear in the brisk autumn afternoon.

At 3:30 the assembled crowd entered the hall and was struck dumb by the awesome majesty of the dazzling pyramid towering threateningly center court in the gymnasium. It reached within arm's length of the ceiling.

Who, they wondered, could possibly knock down this behemoth?

Enter the hero. To the center ring strode Jude Ndambuki, chemistry teacher and founder of the Help Kenya Project, to challenge the beast. Wearing an oven mitt and a science lab safety glove, a lacrosse helmet and ordinary street clothes, Mr. Ndambuki was placed into a green recycling bin screwed to a wooden wagon.

The crowd was at a fever pitch.

Pushed by two students, Mr. Ndambuki was propelled with immense force into the pyramid. Huge chunks were torn from its side, but it did not yield until it was pelted with a multitude of dodge balls by the crowd. With a final groan, the great beast gave up, yielded to gravity, and collapsed in a great clamor to the floor, where it was quickly sorted into plastic bags and removed to the parking lot, leaving the gymnasium empty, bare and ready for basketball season.

Aluminum behemoth: 1 – Mr. Ndambuki: 0 – Kenyan Schools: 3000

For this community service project, the 109 students in the class of 2010 collected over 20,000 cans. By redeeming these cans and through money raised during CanFest (over $3,000), the class supports the efforts of the Help Kenya Project. This organization was founded by Masters chemistry teacher Jude Ndambuki. It collects and repairs used computers (as well as books and clothing), ships them to schools in Kenya and asks Kenyan children to plant 100 trees for every computer their school receives. For more information or to donate, please visit www.hkenyaproject.org

What's In Your Wallet?

No matter what you answered...money, lint, phone numbers of your next three prospective dates, chances are you also have a lot of plastic. Number 3 PVC plastic that is (a petroleum byproduct that will not decompose), because most credit cards, gift cards, hotel key cards, etc. are made of it.

When you are done with such cards, your first instinct may be to cut them up and throw them in the landfill, and you are not alone. According to Earthworks, a PVC recycler, "Over 75 million pounds of PVC material from plastic cards enters our waste stream each year."

So instead of cutting up your cards and throwing them in the trash, mail them to Earthworks System, a company that turns old cards into sheets of PVC that can be used to make new cards. It will cost you nothing more than postage, and it's another ingenious way to turn your potential waste into a new resource.

Take the Day On This Monday

What better way to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the upcoming inauguration, and the long weekend (if you get one of those) than spending some time volunteering in your community this upcoming weekend?

Rather than a day off, MLK Day (also know as the King Day of Service) is a day "on", and thousands of community service events are taking place across the country.

In order to encourage people to participate, President-elect Obama has set up USA Service, a website where you can find an event near you, sign up to host a service activity, and register to receive updates about future volunteer opportunities.

MLK Day serves as a poignant reminder that helping each other is a cause we can all stand behind. Find an event near you and get involved with making your community a better place today and every day.

Is Satan Stealing From You Too?

I have been a bit obsessed lately with waste - that of the carbon and methane varieties, which are belching out of our cars, factories, landfills, and even farm animals, but also the kind that I feel I can directly control - the waste I am creating here at home. Perhaps this heightened interest of mine stemmed from the fact that I just re-read Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte, an entire book about how much trash individuals generate (about 4.5 pounds a day, according to the EPA) and where it all goes. Often it's to places we should be really concerned about - air, water, land. Garbage doesn't just disappear; it goes somewhere else on Earth, and it often wreaks much more havoc long after we have bid it a hasty adieu.

So what exactly is one person to do about their personal waste?

At this point, we are well versed about reducing our water, electricity, and fossil fuel use, and one can only hope following these suggestions, but there is still something rotten at home - that big heaping mound in our kitchens.

In the spirit of the very young year, might I suggest a personal pledge to reduce your garbage? I know this post is too late to serve as a suggestion for your New Year's resolution (mine is to remain calm, which I have so far achieved about a 63% success rate on), but perhaps this commitment could serve as your New Year's resolution addendum.

If you need a bit more convincing to add this addendum to your intentions for 2009, remember that each time you throw something away, you have just tossed money and resources too. Chances are, most of what you are discarding either directly or indirectly cost you cash in the form of goods you have not used or excess packaging that added to the overall purchase price. Be sure to also take into account the cost of transporting those goods to the store, to your house, and to the landfill. Rest assured dear consumer, the cost of all of this is passed on to you.

In the weeks to follow, I will post more specific ideas about how to reduce your waste, and by all means, go read my blog over at Earth911 that offers more specific suggestions for reuse, a great way to reduce your overall waste.

No New Year's plastic here, just good friends, excellent food, and of course, a sweet 'stache.

For now, whether you are looking to save the planet, save some cash, or a little of both, here is one way to make a significant dent in your trash heap:

Use less plastic! I know this is a repeat of a suggestion I have made in the past, but I still see so many otherwise eco-savvy people with plastic water bottles in their hands. Consider this go-round a personal (albeit calm) plea. Here are some good reasons why it is crucial for us to break the habit:

• Water in a single use bottle is much more expensive than filtered water from your tap.
• Reusable SIGG containers come in all sorts of cool designs. Single use bottled water from a faraway land is so 2008.
  
• Plastic is not a great candidate for recycling in the way that paper or glass are because plastic downcycles each time. Of course, I am not discouraging recycling, but don't be fooled - you are just prolonging the inevitable, and plastic does not biodegrade.
  
• The plastic production process releases toxins into the environment. Once discarded, plastics can leach phthalates into the water, toxins into the air if burned, and the many pieces of plastic that end up in oceans, lakes, and rivers can kill a variety of wildlife from turtles to jellyfish. Perhaps this is why Royte called her chapter on plastics "Satan's Resin".
• Plastic is made out of petroleum, which is obviously also in short supply.

Once you have tackled the bottled water issue, be sure to put your anti-plastic energy into carrying reusable bags, refusing Styrofoam and plastic to-go containers (bring your own), and buying items with the least amount of packaging.