I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

I grew up addicted to paper. Luscious cards, velvety papers, indulgent gift wraps. In my house, gift wrap was a sort of status symbol and Christmas cards were always sent out to all 100+ of the extended family. Needless to say, Christmas is a very eco-unfriendly time of the year.

I was sitting down wrapping presents the other night and I cringed at the thought of the number of boxes that will not be reused (all of the ones we have are reused since, oh, I don't know, 2003), the bags that will just be trashed, and the paper that will not be recycled. It almost made me cry.

So I spent the night cutting old Christmas cards into cute gift tags, using salvaged tissue paper from other shipments/gifts, and checking the post-consumer recycled content of my wrapping papers. When we unwrapped presents (Jeff *said* we could!), I salvaged what I could and recycled the remainder.

It got me thinking how we could continue on a green Christmas. I now have some presents wrapped in fabric bandanas, I'm using yarn scraps in those clear glass ornaments to dress them up, and we haven't sent cards out (okay, so that's also procrastination, but let it never be said that being a slacker isn't occasionally eco-friendly). I'd like to, someday, switch back to a real Christmas tree. They are more eco-friendly - they're grown specifically for that purpose, so they don't contribute to deforestation, they don't have a manufacturing process like the artificial ones do (and who knows what the impact of *that* is), they provide wildlife habitats until they are cut down, they provide oxygen and CO2 reduction while they are alive, and they can be chipped into mulch when they retire. A wonderful cycle. If I could just figure out how to get rid of our fake tree...

I know there are other ways of reducing the impact, some of which I already employ. Giving experiences instead of gifts (like tickets to a game instead of a team hoodie), sending emailed cards (okay, I think this is tacky, but maybe it'll grow on me), thrifting for presents (guilty as charged), not wrapping presents (can't bring myself to do that), reducing wrapping (I started by buying a to/from stamp so we don't waste a tag/sticker), and countless others. But for now, we'll start where we are, and hope to improve next year.

Yub-a-dub-dub; Thanks for the grub!

Today we're going to chat about food... And I'll provide some interesting tidbits of info I've discovered... First off... Why talk about food??
I've been kicking around the idea of going vegetarian for a while. I'm not talking full blown vegan, but ovo-lacto vegetarian. I love cheese far too much to give it up. I'm not a huge egg fan, but so much is made with eggs, I'll keep them in the diet.
I just can't take the slaughter of animals anymore... I also can't stand the damage to the environment. It's such a waste! It doesn't make sense to me. What about the dairy cows, you ask? Well... Again, this journey is about convenience. I guess to me, the killing is worse than the environmental impact. It's a catch-22. I can't avoid it, and I can't really explain it. So, lets leave it at that, okay??

So... Going the way of the fast-food vegetarian...
I found out the following in order by restaurant:

Arby's

• Turnovers are vegan
• Shakes are made with carrageenan, not gelatin
• They use 100% vegetable oil
• The cheese products are made with microbial rennet, not calves rennet

Baskin-Robbins

• The plain and sugar cones are vegan

Burger King

• Some places carry veggie burger, but they are usually cooked in the same oil that is used to cook meat.
• Hash browns are cooked in the same fryer they use for meat products.
• On their Web site Burger King states "Burger King Corporation makes no claim that the BK VeggieTM Burger or any other of its products meets the requirements of a vegan or vegetarian diet."

Chili's

• The French fries are cooked in the same oil that meat products are cooked in.

Domino's Pizza

• The pizza sauce is vegan.
• Only a select number of stores carry one crust which is vegan.
• Their cheese is made from non-microbial enzymes.

McDonalds

• Fried and hash browns contain beef flavoring (unlike Burger King)
• Vegetarian items include: Granola, shakes, Butter Biscuit (but not the biscuit dressing), McDonaldland ® Cookies (contain honey and sugar), buns, and McSalad Shaker salad.
• Some of their salad dressings contain anchovies.
• The special sauce contains eggs.

Panera

• The Broccoli Cheddar Soup contains a chicken base.

Pizza Hut

• The pizza crust, regular pizza sauce and marinara pasta sauce are vegetarian.
• The French, Italian, Fat Free Ranch and Creamy Cucumber dressings are vegetarian (don't contain eggs).

Uno (not "fast" food, but good)

• The regular and Uno pizza sauce, breadsticks Marinara Sauce Pasta and the House Salad are all vegan.
• The grilled vegetables are cooked on the same grill that meat is grilled on.
• The Muenster, cheddar, and mozzarella cheeses do not contain animal rennet.

Taco Bell

• Vegan dishes are Bean Burrito (without cheese), Bean Tostada (without cheese), nachos without cheese, Mexican Rice (without cheese), Seven Layer Burrito (no sour cream or no cheese) and the Guacamole.
• Vegan sauces are mild, red, hot, fire, Soft Tortillas, Pizza Sauce and Green Sauce.
• Corn tortillas (hard tacos), burritos tortillas and wheat tortilla (soft tacos) are vegan.
• The soft burrito tortillas are not vegan, they contain non-fat dry milk.
• Both the refried beans and pinto beans are vegan.
• Their supplier during the production of the cheese uses a non-animal genetically engineered coagulant (an enzyme) derived from a genetically engineered strain of dairy yeast, Kluyveromyces Lactis (and the cheese is kosher).

Wendy's

• Taco chips, applesauce and French fries are vegan.
• None of the cheeses contain rennet derived from animal products.
• The French fries are normally cooked in their own oil, but if demand is high for them they may be cooked in the same oil that chicken or fish is also cooked in.
• All the sauces normally put on the pita sandwiches are non-vegetarian.
• The baked potatoes and some of the salads (side salad & deluxe garden salad) are vegetarian.

Source: http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net

Hmmmm... Now what to do with that pork roast that's sitting in the fridge.
-S

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Yep. It's been a while since I posted anything up here... I've been busy, but not busy enough to not post. I guess I ran out of steam for a little while... Maybe it was getting caught up with the holidays... I dunno... Anyway... Here I am, once again! Lucky you...

I do have some god news! We received a notice from our apartment complex that they will begin a recycling program at the beginning of 2008! It's great news! I hope that no one abuses this, and we can keep it. I understand that they've had some issues in the past, and have had to discontinue the program before. This leads me to my next topic (and rant)... Trash.

Let me start a quick rant about something that's not exactly Eco-related, but still touches on the topic.

I walked out to our dumpster area last night to throw away our garbage... Our dumpster area is maybe a 10'X20' cement block "room". 4 walls, no ceiling (it's outside) with maybe 5 or 6 dumpsters... So, I open the door and try to walk in, but someone has dumped all of their plastic trash and shopping bags right inside the door. Now, sometimes the dumpsters get full and there's really no where to throw your trash other than on someone else's trash on the ground in our "dumpster room".
This wasn't the case last night... The dumpsters were not even half full. So, I have to step over someones trash to get to a dumpster so I can throw mine away, properly... Why are people so damned lazy??? I admit that I'm pretty lazy, but this was ridiculous... What would possess you to just throw your shit right inside the door, and not have any courtesy for anyone else??? I guess that's the world we live in, and the reason our landfill is full of recyclable materials.

I'm going to be really bummed if people start throwing their garbage in the recycle containers that are being provided; just so they don't have to walk the extra 20' to the dumpsters...

Anyway... I'm very happy that we get to recycle on-site, and not have to drive our recyclables around, anymore...

-S

Paper or plastic...

Actually, we'll just talk about paper today... Recycling paper to be specific; recycling paper at work, to be exact...
You see, I work in an office where we use a tremendous amount of paper, and at least a quarter of what we use is thrown away. Before I was there, they used much more paper, but I was able to convince them to go at least a little less paperless.
We've looked into recycling services, but it seems that the entire building has to join the service or they won't pickup. I think that's pretty lame. We're offering to pay these people to come pickup some paper (what their business does, anyway), but they won't...

At the moment, one of the people in the office takes it all home and puts it out on the curb with his personal recycling. Of course this just doesn't seem right to me. He shouldn't have to haul it home just so our office can recycle our paper... So what to do....

At home, we recycle pretty much everything we possibly can. There's just no reason not too. Of course since we don't have curbside recycling either, we have to haul it to our local Wild Oats and dump it in their community recycle bin. It works for us, but is still not the best solution.

I was reading Green Living last night (at least I think I read it there), and they wrote that although the three "R"s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) are known by most Americans, we only pay attention to the last "R". It's true. I know that when I think about waste conservation, I mainly think of recycling. Although, I do find myself naturally reducing and reusing. That, of course, is another topic altogether...
-S

Driving...

Ah, yes... It's time to touch on the automobiles... For me, this is a tricky subject.

I like the convenience of being able to jump into the car, and drive a mile to the local hardware store. I really enjoy driving in the rain. I find it peaceful. It's cozy to be sitting in the car with the heater on, and the rain coming down. It reminds me of camping (which I love!) and family trips to Seattle or to the coast. But... It's so bad! It's bad for the environment and it's bad for us! Why do you think we're a nation (not urination) of lazy lard asses (myself included)?!? There are some things we can do, of course, but are most of us willing to take the steps?

Our reliance on foreign oil is absolutely insane! We send our families away to other countries to die because they are protecting our freedom (to use oil). That's obscene...

We dig and drill, destroying the environment in the process, so we don't have to send our loved ones away. We trade one type of life for another, not to mention that we're just creating a massive nightmare for our future generations.

We're polluting and paying and abusing for a resource that, once it's gone; it's gone! I don't get it... I'll be the first to admit, that I'm a contributor to the problem. I want to change that, though...

We own a Dodge Dakota and a Honda CRV. Both run on regular gas. The truck's gas mileage isn't very good, where the Honda seems like it can go for ever on a single tank.

I've decided to sell my truck, and by a late model Mercedes diesel, in which I can run biodiesel. I still don't feel exactly comfortable selling my truck (which has almost 100,000 miles) for a car that's 15 years its senior. The truck has no mechanical problems (anymore), but it's getting to the point where I'm going to have to start investing money into it to keep it running at peak performance. So, I find it a little disconcerting that I'm willing to buy an even older car...

Of course a diesel engine lasts much longer than a regular gas engine, but it's not just the engine that I'm concerned with... There is steering, transmission and suspension systems to worry about. Not to mention the electrical...

Also, living in Colorado, it get cold. Too cold for biodiesel to flow... So, I'd only be able to run bio for 9 months (or so); then I'd have to switch over to a bio/dino blend... I do have an idea for this, though, but I'll elaborate more when I buy the diesel.

I also worry about driving in the snow... I haven't been without 4WD for years!

I don't worry so much about the Honda. It's a good little car, but we're going to eventually swap it out too. We'll probably get a used hybrid. I think it makes sense to have at least one car that will start when it get very cold, plus it's just plain easier to find gas in our neighborhood.

Another issue with the truck is that, since I have a baby seat in the front seat, I can't fit in any passengers. I could stuff someone into the seats behind the cab, but every time I've offered to drive someone, the car seat base gets pulled out and whomever I'm driving sits in the front, anyway... It's not a huge deal, but it would be convenient (remember that this blog is about convenience vs. eco) to not have to worry about that...

So, my plan (for now) is to sell my truck, and buy a diesel car. There's a local co-op where I can get biodiesel, and learn more about it. Maybe even start making my own sometime in the future... That's it for now...

-S

You're a nation

Say it three time fast... Go on... It's okay... You're a nation... Yuranation... Urination! And that, my friends, is what we'll be discussing today... Good old pee and poop!

Lets start with our pets... We have 3 cats, 2 dogs, a bird, a fish and a snail (yep, in a one bedroom apartment). We use Swheat Scoop for our kitty litter. It's made from wheat, and does a great job. It's flushable, clumps well and doesn't smell bad. In case the one of the dogs wants a little "snack" (gross, I know...), it won't hurt them. It's also environmentally friendly. Have you ever read about where the clay litter comes from, and how it processed? Bad stuff...
The dogs are pretty simple. We walk them and they do their doggy thing outside (at least they're supposed to!). Our apartment complex supplies poopy bags, which are biodegradable; this way, we're not encasing our dog's crap in a piece of plastic which will never breakdown.

Now... On to us... If you don't want to get too personal, then I would recommend stop reading this right now...

Our policy is the: If it's yellow, let it mellow... Why flush perfectly drinkable water down the drain? So, we just let it sit for a while... I try to get everything flushed at night (so it doesn't sit all night long). So, now that you a little more about us (than you wanted to). Tell me your pee stories...
-S

The beginning... (*WARNING* VERY LONG!!)

I was attempting to come up with something witty to start this blog, but after searching the net for inspiration, I'm at a loss... So, instead of humor or some meaningful words, I'll just start by saying why...

"Why" I'm writing “this” that is... I feel a huge force pulling me towards a better future. Towards something that doesn't leave my daughter living in my (and your) trash. Some place where she can breathe, and play, and live...

Future... I keep hearing this word being used in the context of saving the earth... "Save the earth for future generations..." I've used the word already... Future...

We can't concentrate so much on the future... We have to turn our concern to "Now". Instead of cleaning and making changes for what we've done, we need to clean and make changes for what we do; everyday. We have to teach and preach and just... do... We can't make the world a cleaner place for our future generations; we need to make it clean for us... now... And pass down to our generations "why" they need to maintain it, and make it better if possible...

So, that's the "why"... It's simple, really... "Why" wouldn't you?

What a beginning, eh? I'm kind of depressed now... I didn't mean to be so negative... That's not what this blog is all about... So, let me start over (but keeping the previous in mind).

I'm starting this blog as a record, and possibly an inspiration for others, of our personal "green" movement. Now, I know... You're thinking we've lost our heads by eating too much tofu and bonking our noggins on the trees that we're hugging... We haven't, and we don't (often). I personally like my tofu fried, and I'm careful when I hug trees (don't want to put an eye out with a branch).

I guess what got me personally started in thinking about blogging this (and there are many other people blogging about being green) is the thin line between being eco-friendly, technology and comfort. I guess it's more of a triangle than a line, but that's besides the point... It's such a HUGE balance, and most of the time weighs on one side more than the others; if that makes any sense... How do we (my family) stay relatively comfortable and not screw up the earth?

I have to admit, that my wife, Angelina (which we'll call her from now on, since that's her name), is much more green than I. I wouldn't say that I'm late jumping on the VW Wagon, but I like my comfort (see how the balance was already tipped?). I think it's the birth of our daughter, this country's dependency on foreign nations (oil), and the ignorance of the people that live around us. I believe that this ignorance is part laziness and part fear. I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of being ignorant... I'm changing though; I'm learning, and I'm no longer afraid.

So, with all of that out of the way, here's what we're up against…

We (the definition of "we" and "we're" is: my family) live in a small apartment in the city. We love the place, but making an apartment eco-friendly proves to be a challenge. We've done the best we can. But, now we're at a point where we have to take extra measures and go above and beyond.

Finally! That's what this blog is all about... What we do (and have done) to make our lives as earth friendly as possible. Took me long enough to get here, eh? Not much more to say since I've now written my conclusion. I hope to keep the remaining posts much shorter (I said, "hope", not "promise".)


-S