October 4th - 10th 2009 No Trash Week Comments
This No Trash Week I was not as good about holding to being garbage-free as usual, but I learned some new tricks which I think I will be able to keep as part of my normal habits now - especially in the cooking vs. buying area. I was also happy to discover that people at stores and restaurants were generally much more familiar than last time with my procedure of bringing my own containers. This is a good sign that at least Seattle is getting more on board with leaving behind the disposable culture!by Elise on 2009-10-13 22:25:15
Today I learned that a banana can successfully replace an egg for making delicious peanut butter cookies, and all the other ingredients are available in bulk except butter. I have seen earth balance sold in bulk, but not near where I live. Found some more trash while cleaning the house today - old receipts and things that didn't make it out of pockets before going in the washing machine. I also had a handful of carpet bits to toss out from the ancient cat scratching post which comes apart more with every use. I'm much happier with my new one that I made by wrapping organic twine around pieces of scrap wood because if any shreds come off they can go in the compost!
by Elise on 2009-10-10 21:58:30
Trash so far today is the contacts I've been wearing for the last month and a half, the plastic/foil pouches a new pair comes in, and a small recycled cardboard carton that holds 3 pairs. Last night I had a successful dinner out, which did not involve any disposable napkins or utensils or sauce cups. Everything I ordered looked like it was bought in bulk, although I doubt much was organic or locally grown... Today I'm off to buy some bulk sugar and semolina flour so I can make cookies for an event tonight and crackers to replace my wheat thins craving!
by Elise on 2009-10-10 14:40:08
Today the biggest waste is a short stack of recyclable junk mail addressed to people who no longer live here or "resident". It was a stack of about 8 envelopes and sheets of paper for the entire week so far. We used to get piles of catalogs for other people and credit card offers and requests for money from non-profits. This has mostly stopped since I finally got around to calling each company individually to get my address removed from their mailing lists. Our "resident" junk mail has also been significantly diminished since we signed up for the DirectMail.com National Do Not Mail List at https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/?ref=G. Yesterday I ate purely bulk-purchased grains, neighborhood fruit, and CSA veggies, except for some brown sugar which I used to salvage my burnt pan of steel-cut oats. I'll definitely refill that bag with bulk sugar when it's empty!
by Elise on 2009-10-09 14:58:11
Today I absent-mindedly used a disposable q-tip after showering. I keep forgetting that I can clean my ears almost as well with a thin wash cloth draped over a chopstick or something. Lunch was a home-made chutney made of asian pears, italian plums and grapes picked in my neighborhood with wheat thins from a costco-sized bag I've been eating from for over a month. Store-bought crackers are something I haven't made a good enough effort yet to replace. Sometime soon I'll try to make some, probably following the recipes I just found at http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/olive-oil-crackers-recipe.html or http://www.towards-sustainability.com/2009/08/basic-cracker-recipe.html. This afternoon I made some improvements to the chicken coop using free wood found by the side of the road and some screws leftover from my raised garden project. It feels good to know that my scrap wood heap is actually coming in useful so often!
by Elise on 2009-10-07 19:52:25
Tuesday I discovered that it's easy to make home-made saline solution for cleaning wounds. Just boil 1 tsp salt with 1 qt water. I also threw in the pot a couple clean mason jars with their lids and a spoon, so I'd have clean storage containers for it and a clean way to apply it. My lucky chicken Oscar had an eye injury which was causing her face to swell up, but after a couple sessions of saline rinse the swelling is almost gone today, with no need to buy any commercial products!
by Elise on 2009-10-07 14:03:58
Monday was easier than Sunday, as I did not buy anything or share meals with people not participating in No Trash Week. I did drive however, but I was able to combine all of my errands in one loop trip, and they were all to return large items I had borrowed from friends so as to not have to buy new things for projects. I had borrowed a dehydrator so I could dry blueberries bought in bulk as part of a group purchase from a local organic farm as well as make fruit leather from blended dumpstered fruits. I had also borrowed a large plastic tub for sorting my camp's recycling at burning man and a wooden box which I used to keep puzzles in for a puzzle hunt. Dinner was CSA veggies with leftover pho which had been stored overnight in reused glass jars from a friend's peanut butter habit.
Today has been trickier so far. I've been worried about my sick chicken, so I gave in to finishing off the rest of a pint of ice cream, so I have an entire cardboard pint container to throw away already today :(
by Elise on 2009-10-06 16:03:49
My first day was full of mixed ups and downs. One high point was making my own popcorn on the stovetop to take with me to Cinerama in a tin, accompanied by a water bottle and carried there by bike. However I still was out at a movie which involved creating 3 scraps of paper to recycle (a ticket, a ticket receipt, and a miscellaneous piece with no use whatsoever) and supporting one of our country's most wasteful industries... On the way there I stopped by Recycled Cycles to get a couple bike tools to send with a friend to Tanzania. This purchase resulted in a receipt, but I was at least able to use it later to create a package for giving some basil seeds to a friend to take home. What I felt worst about yesterday was throwing out an old blade from a disposable razor. Although it was a Preserve brand razor (recyclable handle made from recycled plastic) and I'd been using the same one for a long time, it was still a luxury item with disposable parts made of metal and plastic which will not break down in the landfill. The evening was full of fun birthday party, in which several people made an effort to make trashless food to bring to the potluck. There were home-made biscuits with blueberry topping, fresh-baked bread made from scratch, dumpstered Essential bread, and a large order of pho which had been attempted to be ordered without disposable packaging. They brought a huge pot to the restaurant and had them put the broth in that instead of styrofoam containers. Due to a miscommunication mostly caused by cultural unfamiliarity with anti-packaging concerns, toppings got mistakenly packed in disposables, but hopefully this order will have provided the learning curve so they'll better know how to handle their next disposables free order. I provided chai for the feasting, and made it from chai mix and soy milk. Next time I'd like to make it from scratch so I can avoid using foil-lined cartons which are difficult to recycle.
So far today has been successful, with the only meal yet being a veggie egg breakfast made from organic CSA veggies grown locally in Seattle and eggs from my own chickens. One of the eggs was so fresh that when I went to see if there were any today I had to wait for one of the hens to finish laying so I could collect them!
by Elise on 2009-10-05 18:25:38
I'm looking forward to No Trash Week! This time I'd like to try to focus on tackling beverage container reduction and finding exciting trashless alternatives to food craving impulse purchases like fries and candy. Perhaps I'll practice home-made ice cream recipes and home-baked oven fries.
by Elise on 2009-10-02 01:34:44
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