What Kind of Day Has It Been? July 21, 2007

Part of our intention with this blog is to create some accountability for Shelly and myself by outing our goals and intentions – and then reporting back on them to all ya’ll. We’ve been up and running for about a month, and here’s where I’m at: I’ve reduced my plastic bag, paper bag, and paper towel usage by about 75%! Not bad.

My goal is to reduce this even further by Sept. 1 and to feel like I really have a handle on making my life work without those products. This will get interesting because I’ll be away from home for most of August in a rustic cabin in the woods, toting my own garbage to the dump. I have a feeling that sustainable choices will actually be easier out there.

So what’s next? In September I plan to focus on reorganizing my home appliances to reduce phantom energy drainage. If you’ve got goals or victories to share, please post comments about ‘em! We’d love to hear from and support you.

80s flashback July 21, 2007

Hi friends! Here’s a little story from my mom: Back in the late 70s and early 80s the “religious left” (that is, believing Christians who embrace a democratic and progressive agenda) had a much louder voice than it does today. Members of my parents congregation would go off to various conferences and seminars to discuss the pressing issues of the day. One of her good friends, Joan, went to a seminar on ecojustice (this would have been ’81 or ’82 probably), and she came home and immediately gave up paper towels. But she kept her paper towel holder up with an empty paper towel roll in it, and in magic marker she wrote across it in big letters: Ecojustice! Great, huh?

Most of her friends ended up giving up paper towels or paper napkins or both (including my mom). I still remember the cloth napkins that another friend, Gail, embroidered for my family and others in our circle, so that everyone would have attractive and personal alternatives to paper napkins.

I think it’s these kinds of daily reminders and mutual support projects on a local level (combined with, hopefully, some good political leadership) that will eventually turn this boat around. It just seems like it’s a long, long, long time comin’…..

Swiffa! July 8, 2007

Hey everyone. I just got a question from my friend W about Swiffers. She has a sweet little dog who came into her life about 6 months ago, and she recently discovered that Swiffers are PERFECT for cleaning up the dog hair. But she had sworn she would never be a Swiffer person because they use those disposable cloths that go to the garbage/environment. Whereas just sweeping doesn’t use any extra paper/plastic. So she’s having some guilt about that – even though she only uses like one Swiffer cloth per week. Any thoughts out there on Swiffer alternatives? Could you stick a cloth diaper on the end of a Swiffer and get the same effect?

In other news here: I am still only at about a 50% success rate on my cloth bag project. But I am working on it. Also, you’ve all inspired me to get off paper towels and napkins. I bought some cloth diapers and TJs towels and set up a little system with a rack, drying hooks and plastic bucket for the dirty ones. Actually quite exciting!

A Sticky Question July 2, 2007

Back to paper towels…The abstinence is going well, aside from the husband tearing off a sheet to use as a napkin last for no particular reason. I call it a memory lapse due to the fact that the half roll is still in the kitchen. Anyway, one of my last areas of paper towel use was to wrap peanut butter sandwiches to take in the car. I’ve now replaced this practice by putting said sandwiches in a plastic ziplock to re-use. Here’s my question: How do you wash those slippery suckers? With a sponge? Do you just rinse them without soap? And then, how do you dry them? I can’t believe it, but my first impulse was to use a paper towel! I guess by now I’ve outed myself as someone who hasn’t really done this before. I categorize this as a mess-phobia problem in that I never understood how to wash them. Look, I’m not proud, but there it is. Here’s another question while I’m on the subject of plastic—about ten years ago I was baby-sitting and saw the family using these things that looked like showercaps in various sizes that they put over bowls instead of wasting plastic wrap—does anybody know where to find those?

Machines for Washing, Part II June 26, 2007

Our paper towel discussion has really taken off! Just a quick recap here of paper towel substitute suggestions so far: old t-shirts, old sheets, 12-packs of cheap washcloths, 10-packs of Gerber cloth diapers, Trader Joe’s high absorbancy kitchen towels, Costco terry cloth towels, and of course, paper bags for bacon. Good stuff!

Here’s my follow up question for those of you off the paper and on the cloth: Do you find yourself doing more/larger loads of laundry than before? I’m curious about the enviro-tradeoff there. It seems like many green choices involve some kind of catch-22 like that: delete paper, increase water consumption. But maybe it’s very minute? Maybe it’s not enough to impact overall laundry machine use? Also I worry about bleach. I still use it, but I know it is environmentally harmful to plants, critters, kids, etc. I am considering, on my sis’s recommendation, a switch to white vinegar….

P.S. I must now shamelessly plug Carbon Leaf, my most favorite band ever. I don’t own the washing machine image above – it is from CL’s latest album, “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat.”

Paper Towel Abstinence, Part 2 June 20, 2007

It turns out I have a ‘Sam’s Club’ like stockpile of paper towels and paper napkins that I need to use before I even begin not using them. I feel like a PETA sympathizer caught wearing a fur coat because, afterall, it was my grandmother’s and it shouldn’t go to waste. Now I’m stuck with the question: should I use all the paper products really quickly and so begin my official abstinence that much sooner or should I just cut down on my usuage until I clean out my stash? It’s like the eve of quitting smoking—there’s 3/4 of a pack of cigarettes; it would be a shame to throw them all down the toilet. I think I’m going to opt just to be more conscientious about paper usage. But, after brushing my teeth this morning, I wiped my mouth with a paper towel. I didn’t want to get my nice cloth towel all schmutzy! Addiction is a terrible thing. At some point I will have to go cold turkey.

Paper Towel Abstinence, Part 1 June 19, 2007

I heard somewhere that Asians think about chopsticks the way Americans think about paper towels. Meaning, Asians are as grossed out at the idea of washing and re-using chopsticks as Americans are about using anything other than paper towels for drying purposes. Being a recovering germ-phobic, I can relate to this accusation. For many years, my hands didn’t really feel clean unless I had paper dried. But, I’ve changed all that. I now use cloth towels to dry my hands, and I’ve replaced the paper napkin holder with cloth. However, I still use paper towels for the following odd jobs: drying lettuce, cleaning anything that involves windex, as napkins for messy food, and pizza/bacon absorption. Since I perform many of these tasks everyday, my actual paper towel consumption is still pretty high. So, here’s my goal this month: complete paper towel withdrawal!