On August 19, my husband and I headed up to Raleigh with our new friend Alisa to volunteer with Reverb for the Jason Mraz concert. I was super excited about volunteering because not only am I a fan of Jason's music... but I also dig his environmentality. One of my favorite things that Mr. Mraz does is not allow bottled water on his tours-- not for himself and not for anyone on the tour. In fact, the venue is notified in advance to not provide bottled water (in dressing rooms/catering/on stage/etc) because they come prepared with their own reusable (glass) water bottles. AWESOME.
Reverb is a non-profit that was formed to help artists tour more environmentally friendly. They educate and engage musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future. Some of the things they do to make tour more sustainable are: B-20 in the tour buses, compostable products when reusables aren't possible, recycling, sourcing local foods while on the road, composting, ride share, Brita FilterForGood hydration stations to fill your own reusable water bottle and more...
As volunteers for Reverb, we spent a couple of hours chatting up concert goers and letting them know about the greening efforts of the tour. We also helped raise funds for a local tree non-profit-- Trees Across Raleigh-- through the "Tree is a Four Letter Word" campaign. And, yeah... we had a lot of fun too!
After our volunteer duties were over, we got our seats (thanks Reverb!!) and spent 2 hours listening and dancing to Jason Mraz. Here's a bit of the concert I found on YouTube... but like a great work of art... it just isn't the same when you're not there to see it in person..
Then just as soon as it began it was over... and one by one and group by group... people filed out of the venue with their things in hand. Well, not everything. Now, I don't want to take away from the fun we had or how good the concert was... but I have to switch gears here... When I saw this "after" photo of the concert we volunteered for and attended, I knew that it was something that needed to be shared because we can't ever hope to change anything by pretending it didn't happen...
Movie theater mentality is what I say when people leave their trash because they know/think/believe that someone will (or is paid to) clean up after them. Now maybe that is the case at a movie theater or concert venue... but when I look at that photo... I can't help but think of the beach especially after a holiday weekend. And let me keep it real... A good amount of people think that someone is paid to clean up the beach when they leave. (... and that's not usually the case) Here's what I think: In order to change people leaving their trash on the beach/park/roadside/etc... the mentality of thinking it's ok to leave our stuff for someone else to clean up... needs to change. We all need to take responsibility for our own actions/inactions.
Everything we do or don't do impacts the world we live in...
I've thought about this particular instance of "movie theater mentality" quite a bit, because since I volunteered with Reverb, I can't help but think that we as volunteers had a perfect opportunity to talk to concert goers about keeping it clean. And really, with all of the greening efforts being implemented on this tour (and other "green" tours-- like Jack Johnson-- where I've seen the exact same mess) this is one major-- yet simple-- thing that WE can be directly involved in. So maybe you're not going to see Jason in concert (you should)... that's ok, because being a good steward of the Earth can start anywhere.
No one likes a trashy beach, park, playground, movie theater, concert venue...
If all the world is a playground, then I shall treat all the world as my backyard.
After doing our 81st clean up at Access 16, we headed further down the beach to Access 39 so that my husband could stand up paddle board. When we walked up the access I saw this overflowing trashcan that normally would have made me so frustrated...
Even though trash was falling and blowing out all over the beach, I wasn't frustrated because I knew that I could fix this problem. I said to my husband,
"I'm not leaving it like this... I'm going to get a trashcan."
Hoping to find a near empty trashcan... I walked to the next access and then to the next... both trashcans were half full. I hesitated and thought to myself... "What am I doing?? ... I don't know if I can do this... wait, I have to do this. Responsibility is NOT convenient." I made the decision to choose the closer of the two and I drug it across the beach...
In the midst of dragging the trashcan, I called my friend Ginger to let her know that I had officially lost it. Dragging the awkward, sticky, ant infested trashcan across the beach wasn't easy... but this is the way I saw it: There was a problem that needed to be fixed. Do I wish that people would have taken their trash with them instead of leaving it on the beach?? Absolutely. But they didn't. I can't change that. I can't change what happened before me... I can only hope to change what happens after me.
Responsibility is not convenient. Doing the right thing takes extra effort... but trust me... it's always worth it. :)
Trash. It's everywhere. The average American produces 4.5 lbs of trash a day.... adding up to over 1,600 lbs per year. Over the weekend, my family along with Bonnie Monteleone took a "field trip" to Norfolk, VA to... well... learn. On Friday morning we headed out bright and early to meet Kathy with TFC Recycling. Our first stop: Hampton/NASA Steam Plant.
The Hampton/NASA Steam Plant burns garbage to make steam for NASA's research such as testing space shuttle aerodynamics in over 60,000 hours of wind tunnel runs! Since 1980, the plant has processed more than 2,235,257 tons of trash!! Holy guacamole!! While I'm honestly torn about the whole burning trash thing... I think it's pretty impressive that in the past 10 years alone they've been able to save 29.9 million gallons of fuel and natural gas by burning something that would otherwise have been buried in a landfill. Hmm...
Admittedly, I was overwhelmed by the amount of trash that we saw. Ok... I was overwhelmed by the nasty stench as well. As we stared up at the towering (and super stinky) pile of garbage, I couldn't help but think of the trash that we produce. There's something about looking at the waste of thousands to really put everything we're doing-- Rethinking, Reducing, Refusing, Reusing/Composting and Recycling-- into perspective.
I am thankful that we-- as a family of 5-- produce far less trash than the national average. In fact, looking at the weights that I've shared in the My Plastic-Free Life Show Us Your (Plastic) Trash Challenge... we produced less than a pound of trash for the whole month of April. Sometimes it takes a nasty ass 60 foot tower of smelly garbage to make a girl realize she's doing good ;)
Our next stop was TFC recycling, where Kathy gave us a tour of their facility where they sort all of the recyclables. It was absolute craziness... how fast the machines work, the technology of the machines and watching the guys look for things that "don't belong" on the conveyor belts-- like plastic bags-- was so impressive.
I've always been one to wonder what the deal is with plastic bags for recycling companies. I mean... they're accepting all these other recyclables... why in the world can't they just take the plastic bags and separate them like they do the rest of the recyclables??? Here's the simple truth: As the recyclables are sorted through a series of conveyors... the plastic bags end up getting stuck in the rollers of the conveyors. When the rollers are all twisted up with plastic bags... they have to shut down their entire operation to clean out the bags. So... what does Kathy think about plastic bags?? She thinks they should be banned! Take that ACC! Plastic bags suck. By the way, have you heard?? ChicoBag is being sued by three of the largest plastic bag manufacturers. Check it out and give your support to ChicoBag.
So... I, of course, had another epiphany while looking at the at all of the recyclables speeding down the conveyor belts and the blocks of recyclables baled for market. The overwhelming amount of waste is something that we as a society need to really SERIOUSLY rethink. I'm not saying that we all need to "give up" everything that we've become accustomed to... I'm saying we need to scale back and go back to school on the whole "Needs & Wants" lesson.
Example:
Need: Food Want: Food packaged for convienence
In the midst of all of the trash and recyclables that we bore witness to on Friday... doubt also popped into me. My thought: Does what we're doing even matter?? All of this trash... all of this waste. Is what we're doing as a family a futile effort??......
It gave me pause. As I looked at the blocks of baled recyclables in disbelief. I stopped myself from questioning our efforts... and remembered that along with not buying things like bottled water... I have not bought something as simple as laundry detergent or fabric softener in over a year. I remind myself that my "one" is important. By not contributing, I am contributing something more. We as a family are making a difference through simple everyday actions. Ordinary regular people make the biggest differences in the world every single day. It's not about setting out to change the world... it's about the simplicity of setting out to change our habits. It's about making the decision to do something different... rethinking "Needs & Wants"... and most often that means understanding that the majority of what we think we "need" are just wants. Ok... so maybe I lied. It IS about changing the world... because when we change our habits... when we change ourselves.... we ARE changing the world.
There's a statement regarding holiday weekends that we tend to stick to: Go to the beach on a holiday weekend?? Haha. No thank you. As much as I love the beach, I certainly don't care to be there when it's super packed. And so, we avoid the crowds and stay clear of the beach on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. But, for the sake of this project (and the promise of ice cream), we made our way to Wrightsville Beach on Sunday evening. Once again the beach was packed and once again the beach was trashed.
Through all of the beach clean ups that we've done, I always stay optimistic about the future. How can one not stay optimistic in place so beautiful???.....
However, Sunday was different. As we were doing our clean up, we watched as several groups left their trash on the beach. Of course, my husband took the time to let the litterers know that they needed to pick up their trash... but get this... they denied it with a turned up nose and a "That's not mine." FACT:
When you blame others, you give up your power to change.
You know what I immediately thought of when I saw this bottle of Smart Water Dumb Water?? Jennifer Aniston. I choose to refer to Smart Water as Dumb Water because paying for over-priced water that is packaged and shipped across the country in plastic bottles is not so smart. You know what is smart?? Refilling a reusable water bottle. Save money and the environment!! Genius! Take a sec to tell her and Tom Brady to stop endorsing Smart Water.(By the way, the cap was about 4 feet from the bottle)
In the comments on Day 68, I shared some thoughts with Ellen, EcoCatLady and Susan. During the past few clean ups, a lot of people start to (try to) give their trash to my kids. Seriously. Do we look like we're maids?? We're not wearing or carrying anything that looks like we've been hired to clean up after people... we come with our surf camp bag and some kids buckets dressed just like anyone else. So, I had this thought... how do we let people know that they need to be responsible and that we're not their personal maids??? By having our kids wear shirts that say: (front) I'm not your maid, (back) Pick up your trash!
When we had just about finished our 20 minutes, I saw a guy picking up cigarette butts and walking them to the (overflowing) trash cans. As soon as I was able to make contact with him, I thanked him.... and as I did, he said, "It's pretty bad when they pass out bags (pictured above) and things for cigarette butts and it still looks like this..." With those words...hope is nearly restored.
"We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities." ~Bill Maher
Ok... so now... I'm feeling excited! As I'm trying to catch up on my blogposts (yes... I've been slacking!!)... I just realized that THIS post is my 200th blogpost! Since this is a milestone of sorts, it's no surprise that I found this heart made out of shells at Wrightsville Beach on Saturday :)
No doubt, I have always loved the beach. When I was a kid (growing up in St. Louis, MO), I used to dream about living by a beach. The smell of the salty water, the breeze, the sand between my toes and the soothing sound of the waves all combine to create a great sense of peace and calm... also known as pure happiness. Soooooo...How do I love the beach? Let me count the ways.... ;)
I love the beach for the hours of fun that can be had...
I love the beach because it's a place where I can go to make a difference...
I love the beach because in the waves we become one with the sea...
It is on the beach... where I see most vividly how everything is connected.
Over the weekend, we went camping in the Uwharrie National Forest (NC). This particular camping (and 4-wheeling) trip was organized by Carolina Rover Owners Club (CROC). I should go ahead and say that my husband really enjoys 4-wheeling, but I-- honestly--don't get it. I go to specifically to hang out.... BUT this time was different. This time, I was given a mission. For the second year (I didn't go last year), CROC held a competition for picking up litter.
Rule & Prize: Whoever picked up the most litter (by weight) on the trails would win $50.
Of course, I told my husband (and everyone we knew) that we had this competition in the bag and there was no way we wouldn't win ;)
SO...for once I was excited to go 4-wheeling... because we knew exactly what we would do with our winnings.... AND because without the ability to 4-wheel... there would be no way for me to hike my way around the forest with 3 kids in tow.
Saturday with a line of 4 Rovers following us on the fire trails... we took our time... stopping when we saw litter along the trails. I felt a tiny bit bad holding up the line... wishing we were at the end of the line... but then constantly reaffirming to myself that being in the lead was a positive thing because not only were we first to pick up the trash....others could see what we were doing and hopefully it would catch on(maybe not that day... but I know it'll catch on) ;)
This is everything we were able to stop for... hop out... and pick up:
Plastic bag with cigarette wrappers, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, chocolate candy bag, chip bags, intake hose, metal spoon, plastics, and a WHOLE bottle of antifreeze!
When I took the picture and saw everything that we picked up... I was happy and kind of bummed. "Happy" because we took the time to do the right thing.... "bummed" because the forest trails have only been open for 2 weeks this year... AND the trashing has already begun. I just can't understand how people (especially outdoor enthusiasts) can throw their trash to the ground. Shoot... I remember the PSA's from my childhood....and just visiting YouTube... there's a PSA about littering/polluting for every generation. Here are a few of my favs... the first one from the year my Mom was born!!!
Seriously... there is absolutely no excuse. People should know better... especially by now!! It just makes no sense to me. I often think... "how would these litterbugs feel about me walking into their home and throwing my trash on their floor??" Hmmm...
I'll go ahead and say what my daughter has been singing for the past few weeks,"What do you do with a litter critter? What do you do with a litter critter? Hey 'Ho! You teach them better. Hey Ho! You teach them better."
Besides us, only one other person picked up litter... and they wondered where and how we found all that trash! SO... of course.... even not being able to pick up every piece of trash that we saw... we won the $50.
We've decided to donate our winnings to "The Plastic Ocean". Why?? Because I stand behind their work... their efforts... 100%. I met Bonnie (check out her and my friend Jennifer's blog: The Plastic Ocean) a couple of years ago... she's amazing in that she read something about plastics in our oceans (I read it too... and it has been my motivation for picking up litter) and was completely affected by it enough to get involved with the Algalita Foundation and start making a difference. Along with visiting the Great Pacific Garbage Patch...she-- along with my friend, Jennifer-- went to Bermuda last summer to study the impact of plastics in the Sargasso Sea-- did you know that baby sea turtles spend their first years there... safe in the protection of the Sargasm? did you know that it's loaded with trash... mainly plastics? AND did you know that the Sargasso Sea is 1 of 5 major ocean gyres that are collecting our trash... our litter??? Think just because you don't live near the coast...that you don't or can't have an impact?? Remember.... everything is connected... we are ALL connected...
A week ago, I took my kids to the park. We hadn't been to this particular park since last summer and I was pleasantly surprised at how different it was. First of all, the port-a-potties had been replaced with actual restroom facilities. YAY! And, there were several large recycle bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. One problem... as we walked up... I saw the trash can was overflowing with plastic bottles.
The sight immediately made me think about my daughter's field trip a few days earlier when I was throwing away a piece of trash...one of my daughter's teachers said, "Don't look in the trash." She knows me... she knows that I would have serious issues with what I saw-- plastic bottles in the trash. I said, "I don't know why it bothers me so much. Why I just can't let it go." (I'm constantly apologizing for things like this. But my daughter's teachers... awesome that they are...told me that I have inspired them... way to make a girl feel good and way to make a girl Rethink apologizing for wanting to make a difference ;).)
Anyway... back to the overflowing trash can at the park. As we were walking up, there were people leaving... so I walked past the trash can. I waited for the people to be on their way...and while I waited I picked up some litter. Here's one of many pieces I picked up around the playground.
Then, once they headed to the parking lot... I made my move. I grabbed the recycle bin-- that was only a couple of steps away from the trash can-- and pulled it closer and took off the lid. Then a friend arrived with her kids and my oldest son in tow. I went to apologize for digging through the trash... but then said, "This is what I do." :) My friend stood and talked to me as I pulled every bottle and can out of the trash... even found bags of bottles!! Yes... there were moments when it was all a little gross... especially the can with cigarette ashes all over it. YUCK!
When I was done... by done, I mean... got every bottle/can that I could see...I put the bins back and THOROUGHLY washed my hands. ;)
As usual, I'm always trying to figure out ways to eliminate the amount of trash we send to the landfill. I find that-- with 3 kids-- a lot of our waste is in the form of individual "snack" wrappers.
Recently, I've been on a kick about granola bars. I love them... my kids love them... they're a fast and an easily portable snack. BUT... what makes them so easily portable... is the fact that they are individually wrapped. :( SO.. in an effort to curb the wrappers... I started buying (and making) granola instead of granola bars. Loose granola is great... but has one problem-- it's not car friendly. Unless I want my floor boards and all the crevices in my car to have a layer of granola.... I leave the granola at home. ;) SO, much to the dismay of my 3 kids... I haven't been buying granola bars... unless, of course, we're going on a road trip. And, sure, I've also tried my hand at making some... which I haven't had the best of luck. Most are too healthy tasting... too boring... too not what my kids (or I) want to eat... UNTIL... I came across a Chewy Chocolate Granola Bar recipe from Happy Vegan Yogini!! ***
After holding on to the recipe for awhile now... today, I finally made them!! Let me be probably one of many to say... that these granola bars are amazing!! They're chocolatey... they're chewy... they are everything I've always wanted in a homemade granola bar. I should also mention that my husband and kids have devoured half of the batch in less than 24 hours!! Forget the store bought bars that are loaded with unpronounceable ingredients... lose the packaging and MAKE something that you know every ingredient... is actually good for you (don't ask me to define good) BUT tastes SO bad for you.
I'm envisioning so many different versions of this granola bar. Thoughts that immediately come to mind are coconut and banana chips. MMMM...
***I followed the directions to a "T". Except, I didn't use the wax paper. I just used the back side of a metal spatula and pressed until even. Cooled to room temperature, then cut into individual bars which I have stored in a big glass jar. Since I'm all about reducing waste... I don't think it's necessary to individually wrap each bar.
Whenever I look at my trash, I'm overwhelmed with the fact that all I throw away are plastic type wrappers and bags that cannot be reused or recycled. In an effort to throw away as little as possible, I'm always trying to think of ways that I can eliminate waste and reduce the amount of trash we send to the landfill.
Like all kids, my kids are crazy about popsicles. Doesn't matter if it's winter or summer... they practically devour a box of popsicles before I can get the groceries put away. Awhile back, my mom gave me some popsicle molds (double pop and push pop), which I've used sporadically over the past 7 years. I've mostly used the push-pops molds and made creations such as blueberry cream, vanilla orange yogurt, and chocomole.
A few months ago, I thought about not buying popsicles anymore. I got to thinking about how I don't buy a lot of things because they're individually wrapped and full of nastiness (e.g Fruit snacks)... so I thought... why am I buying popsicles??
I figure that there is no better time to try something new than during the slow season ;) So... last month, as the kids finished their last box of popsicles, I told them that we weren't buying popsicles anymore. If they wanted popsicles... we would make popsicles. Now, they still ask for them at the store... at this point it's still habit. I just have to remind them and let them know that we can make popsicles when we get home. Also, we've saved nearly all of our popsicle sticks and run them through the dishwasher to be used in our double pop molds. So they'll still get to read funny jokes on their popsicle sticks such as:
"What did the girl melon say to the boy melon when he asked her to run away with him?"
"We're too young, we canteloup." (Can't elope)
And, of course, the kids are on board. Popsicles are popsicles, right? And now, flavors are only limited by their imaginations... I have a feeling I'm gonna need some more popsicle molds come this summer. ;)
For my entire adult life, I have recycled. I'm really not sure the reasons that I began recycling... possibly for a little extra cash?? Whatever the reason I started... it stuck. AND ever since I lived on the UNCW campus-- with the most convenient of recycling dumpsters-- I have been what I like to call addicted to recycling. I call it an addiction because once I started.... I couldn't stop.
Admittedly, I am a recycling junkie. I have recycling bins in my kitchen, bathrooms and garage. Nothing gets by me... I have no problem reaching in trash cans (at home or out) to pull out recyclables. Most people look at me like I'm nuts. I'm quite OK with it. I will not throw a recyclable item in the garbage... receipts, plastic bottles/cups, etc... I carry them with me until I find a recycling bin-- which is usually at my house. Yes, I feel like a trash hound... but I just can't make myself throw something away that ISN'T trash.
Now, for the past several years... I've taken a look at my "waste habits". Sure I recycled, but as I looked at my recycle bin... I thought, "I bet I could reuse some of this stuff BEFORE I recycle it." So the quest started to Reduce by Reusing before I Recycled. If it sounds complicated... it's not. The first thing that I did was start saving glass jars-- applesauce, pickles, artichokes, pimentos, jams/jellies, peanut butter,... yes, the list goes on. Oh how my pantry runneth over because I can't bear to chuck a glass jar into the bin. BUT...I've found them to be quite useful-- from storing leftovers, seashells, cookies, candies... and not to mention when I make sauces, jams, salad dressings or some sort of edible gift. I even have a maple syrup bottle that I saved and now refill with "bulk" maple syrup from the local Co-op.
Before I put something in the bin... I think about whether or not it has another use. One thing that I saved from the recycling bin was at my son's school. The PTA had an ice cream party reward for one of the grades and had purchased buckets of ice cream. At the end of the party, they were rinsing out the buckets to recycle them. I, of course, double checked and asked if they were going to keep them or recycle them. The answer was "recycle." My response was: "Can I have them?" I had big plans for those buckets-- mainly strawberries, blueberries, blackberries... picked fresh from Lewis Farms. And when we picked too many to eat... we froze them and stored them in a bucket. 2 years later... those buckets are still put to good use-- including working as a compost bucket.
Here's a short list of some things that I save and reuse (or repurpose):
Aluminum foil-- I wash and reuse until it can be used no more.
Yogurt containers (the big ones)-- I use them to freeze homemade stocks/sauces, freezing and storing homemade vegie burgers, for my summer fresh berries (frozen to enjoy all winter long), ice cream... and when I'm not using them as storage containers in the freezer, I use them for unbreakable snack storage.
Twist ties & rubber bands (from produce)-- I have a drawer that is full. They're useful and I think it's silly to toss something that is useful.
T-shirts-- once they're no longer wearable, I use them to clean (mostly windows).
Bread bags-- when the kids have field trips and have to bring a disposable lunch :( I don't have to buy a single use disposable bag.
Lunch Meat Bags/ Zip-locks-- I used to laugh at my grandma for rinsing out and reusing her ziplocks... now I do the same. When I get them... I wash/scrub with soap and rinse them out and save them for later.
Things I keep for the kids art bin:
Bread bag "tabs", milk carton lids, beads, strings, popsicle sticks, old magazines/catalogues, twist ties... basically if the kids or I think it could be used for art-- which most things can-- we keep it. Oh yeah, we keep them all in a "Basmati Rice" container ;)
So... what impact has this had on our waste? Over a year ago, we eliminated trash service at our house.(The article is a little embarrassing for me... and not quite as accurate as I'd like it to be...but I figure it's out there... why not share ;))
Thinking that's impossible? It's not. I never once thought...
"today is the day that I'm going to eliminate my trash."
Honestly, it was one of those things that just happened. We made a lot of little changes and over time... all the little bits added up. We had a 95-gallon roll cart that was not even half full after a month. After months of the same near empty trash can... we decided that we would cancel our trash service.
Today, we create less trash than we did just a year ago.
