Image by "motionblur" on flickr "The sandwich spread from DrupalCamp Toronto 2008."

I had been wanting to post about the waste that is associated with going back to school each Fall.  Millions of kids go buy new clothes, new supplies, etc. contributing to tons of waste in the form of the goods being replaced and in the manufacturing those new goods (whether goods be a plastic binder or a poly-blend t-shirt).  While we would all be better off if we bought fewer things new and shopped at thrift stores, traded with friends and family, or simply held onto our things longer, one area where change is needed (and fairly easy) when it comes to heading back to school is changing the practices at lunch time.  After you get through with your sporks, your paper and plastic bags, and all of your single serving disposable containers you’ve made a pretty significant contribution to the landfill.. according to Carbonrally.com that works out to 65 pounds of garbage per child per school year!

Even if you are not heading back to school and you are just continuing your daily work schedule you’ve got to eat lunch, right? If you don’t have money to eat out every day you probably bring your own lunch. Even if you do eat out every day these tips from Carbonrally for packing your lunch in a more sustainable way will save you money and plenty of unnecessary waste.

• The first thing you need is a good, reusable lunch bag. You’re looking for a bag that is large enough to hold your typical daily lunch, plus it needs to be durable enough to last at least a couple of years. Your new bag doesn’t need to be hard-sided; you’ll be packing the squishable food in sturdy containers that go inside the bag.
• Next you need sturdy, washable containers to replace the plastic bags or aluminum foil you’ve been using for sandwiches and other foods. These containers will also be useful for when you buy foods in bulk and dish out single-servings instead of taking pre-packaged snacks. Remember that it’s better to reuse containers you already have than to buy new ones; that way you aren’t responsible for the energy and carbon dioxide associated with the manufacture of the new container. So, before you buy any new containers, look around your kitchen to see if you already have any containers you can use. You may already have traditional containers. You might also start saving other containers, such as ones used for baby food or deli meats or margarine or cream cheese tubs.
• If you find that you do need to buy new containers, you have choices. If you don’t want to buy traditional Rubbermaid or Tupperware containers, you can always opt for simpler, cheaper alternatives like GladWare containers or Rubbermaid TakeAlongs. When buying plastic containers, look for products that say on the label that they are BPA-free. (Bisphenol A or BPA is a plastics additive that has been in use since the 1930s. Recently, BPAs have been in the news as a possible serious health risk. If the scientists and government safety organizations can’t agree on it, it seems smart to just avoid it.)
• Once you have the washable containers, you need to get the food to put in them. Buy large bags of chips and then pack smaller portions in your washable containers. Buy large tubs of yogurt and spoon a single serving into one of your washable containers instead of taking individual, pre-packed yogurts. Loose granola in a container replaces a pre-packaged granola bar.
• After the food comes the drink. Don’t pack juice boxes. Those antiseptic drink box containers (containing either juice or milk) are almost impossible to recycle. Many communities don’t even try. And as a Rallyer, you already know that the single-use plastic bottles of water are a bad idea. So it’s time to find a refillable drink bottle that will fit in your lunch bag. Check your cupboards. Again, it’s always better to use something you already own rather than buy something new. If you do need to buy a new refillable drink bottle, either look for refillable plastic bottles certified to be BPA-free (the CamelBak Better Bottle or newer products from Nalgene) or look for a stainless steel or aluminum bottle. Rinse it with water each night and then wash it on the weekend.
• Don’t forget utensils! You want to replace the disposable plastic forks and spoons with reusable, washable utensils like the ones you use at home. Take ones from home if you can spare them. If not, buy enough cheap stainless steel utensils (yard sale!) to get you and your family through a few days worth of lunches.
• Finally, pack a cloth napkin with your lunch instead of a paper napkin. Bring it home and wash it with your laundry. Not only will you cut down on your lunch waste, but think of the festive elegance you’ll be adding to your lunch table.
• Small businesses often have kitchens with dish washers. If you and your colleagues all bring in extra mugs, plates, and metal utensils from home for the office lunchroom, none of you will have to bring any from home each day! And remember, if you have plates at the office, you don’t have to take paper plates and plastic utensils from the restaurant when you bring in that pizza and salad for lunch.
• Many colleges, school systems, and individual schools are having success with waste-free lunch programs. Visit Waste Free Lunches to get ideas about how you can launch a program in your school or community.

Ready to make a change? Click here to take the challenge on Carbonrally.com and while you’re at it, join the Arizona Team.

With eco-consciousness being taken more seriously in the public eye and “green” as the new buzz word it is no shock that the big companies are doing all they can to manipulate information and paint themselves in a greener light. As you’ve probably noticed this manipulation is called green washing and you’ve most likely seen it all around you. It is hard to know who to trust and the pressure is really on the consumer to be informed enough to know how to read labels and do the research on their own.

A website that is tremendously helpful in decreasing the footwork consumers have to do is GreenerChoices.org. Their eco-label center is a helpful area dedicated to deciphering those labels and buzz words in an easy search format. They have managed to sum up in one space the things some of us have spent years figuring out as we go and some of the new tricks up the corporate sleeves. They conduct their own testing of claimed “natural” products and see if they live up to their claims as well as dispel misconceptions. You will also find handy calculators to figure out the best way to save energy with your appliances, your car, and you can even calculate your overall carbon footprint.

NPR’s Here and Now did an interview with their senior scientist and here is what they had to say:

Green Products
As the environmental movement goes mainstream, companies have rushed to meet the growing consumer demand for “green” cleaning products. But some of the products might not be as “green” as they claim to be. Dr. Urvashi Rangan, the senior scientist for Consumer Union and the project director for Consumer Reports’ greenerchoices.org, evaluates some of the choices.

• Listen to the full story (first 5 min)
• Visit greenerchoices.org

Financial times are tight right now.  Fuel costs continue to climb as well as the cost of food and most everyone we know are tightening their belts.  Often times people think of being environmentally conscious as costing money.  There are a lot of gimmicks out there now that might cost you more but you are smarter than that. Here are three simple things that you can do to save money and it just so happens they are good for the environment, too. Not too bad, eh?

Switch Out Your Bottles

If you are big on the convenience of plastic water bottles you could save big by switching to a reusable bottle. Also, if you are a soda addict you could save even more if you switched to water, or make your own tea or coffee and put it in a reusable container. If you buy one 20oz bottle of soda per day at ~$1.30 you could save yourself $474.50 per year (not to mention 365 bottles and ~91,250 calories!!!) If you average purchasing two 20oz water bottles per day at $1.10 each that will save you $800 per year! It will also save a landfill from having an extra 730 plastic bottles, or save the energy and water it takes to transport and recycle all of that plastic! A reusable bottle that is easy to wash and is made from BPA-free plastic or stainless steel is your best bet, you can pick one up for $20 or less. [Read more about plastic on my personal blog] [BPA Free Plastic Bottle]

Kick the Habit

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to stop smoking when financial times are getting more difficult we could all use any extra money. The savings of quitting smoking is quite significant, if you figure an average pack of cigarettes is $4 and one is smoking a pack each day quitting for a year would save you $1,460!! That does not include all of the money you would save on health care costs and if a bunch of people kicked the habit it would lift a huge burden on the state. [State Tobacco-Related Costs and Revenues]

Financial and even personal health cost isn’t everything to some folks so why not consider the environmental benefits of not smoking. A smoker only takes in 4% of the smoke produced by a cigarette, the other 96% is going into the atmosphere and into the lungs of surrounding people and critters. Cigarette butts are the most littered thing in the country. Contrary to some smoker’s belief they are not biodegradable. Those filters are made up of a type of plastic that takes years and years to break down. In the mean time they gather in waterways, can pose a hazard to critters who might mistake them for food. On top of all that it is a huge waste of paper, each cigarette would be made with roughly 1.25×1.5 inch papers.. 20 cigarettes to a pack.. 1 pack a day over a year is 13,687.5 square inches of paper or 1,140 square feet 95.05 square feet of paper (WOW major math mistake there, I apologize). [Prevent Cigarette Litter]

Eat More Vegetables

It takes seven pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat, it is no wonder that with skyrocketing grain prices the price of meat is going up more and more.  Meat prices are even higher due to the cost of transportation thanks to ever increasing fuel costs. It only takes a small change to make a big difference - by replacing one meaty meal a week with a meatless one you would save over $300 per year. Want to save even more? Try planting some veggies in a container patio garden, cherry tomatoes, garlic, herbs and kale work really well in pots and would make a great sauté.

If saving money isn’t your main motivator, cutting out meat, even just once a week, can help the environment. “If price spikes don’t change eating habits, perhaps the combination of deforestation, pollution, climate change, starvation, heart disease and animal cruelty will gradually encourage the simple daily act of eating more plants and fewer animals.” (Bittman) [NY Times: Rethinking the Meat Guzzler] [PBS: As Food Prices Soar, UN Calls for International Help]

This is definitely a unique and creative way to sell some salads. The advertising folks over at McDonald’s came up with this billboard near Chicago that actually grows it’s message in lettuce and judging from this picture were quite successful. Fresh lettuce growing from a billboard probably can’t last long, but it’s still a cool idea and looks really appealing. I’m almost tempted to go there and buy a salad myself, ok not really, but if you find your self stuck there a salad is probably the way to go.

“McDonald’s came to us with a specific assignment,” said Avery Gross, a writer and creative director who worked on the salads billboard. “It’s an ad that celebrates freshness.”

Leo Burnett’s creative team worked closely with a horticulturalist to create a billboard that could start with 1½-inch spouts and grow into lush leaves. The garden appears to be safe from being plucked apart by birds because there is no place for them to perch and peck.

More from this at chicagobusiness.com

I’m sure the birds could get to it if they wanted, they could easily perch on the lettuce itself. I wonder if it is organic?

Check out this video of the billboard’s message growing in.

More about the environmental costs of bottle water from Tucson’s KUAT 6. Follow the link to see the video.

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