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Yesterday, I mentioned recycling the potting soil from my dead roof garden as well as harvesting the compost (finally) from my Urban Compost Tumbler to add to the dirt in the front yard where we planted tomatoes. Back in March, I whined about how the Urban Compost Tumbler was just not as great as I'd hoped it would be. I stopped filling it because it had become too heavy to …
Going plastic-free has not been a huge burden, for the most part. We've got awesome bulk foods stores here in the Bay Area and farmer's markets, and most shops are happy to package purchases or leftovers in my reusable containers. But a few changes I've made have been actual sacrifices, and ordering iced drinks without straws was one of them. Ice hurts my teeth. Cold …
A big thanks to Sustainlane for their support of the Take Back The Filter campaign. Last night, they created a listing for the campaign and this morning, featured it in their weekly online newsletter. If you don't know about it, Sustainlane is a great resource for finding environmentally-friendly products, services, and other resources. It's a completely user-driven site. …
Hello my trash-talkin' friends. As promised, here is the the third monthly Carnival of Trash, which was hosted last month at Mrs. Green's My Zero Waste blog and will be hosted next month at Wiggly Wigglers on Monday, October 13. If you'd like to contribute, please get your submissions in by the 6th.I haven't written a post specifically for this carnival because I figure this …
Last night, I had a wonderful meal with some new friends who are working to create an alternative online community. We ate at Red Sea, an Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant down the street from me. As we sat before a giant communal platter of food: meats, vegetables, lentils, fish, all spread across sour injera bread, I marveled at the bounty before us and the irony that this …
I give up. You'll see why below...Plastic items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:1 broken spray nozzle. Lesson learned: do not add ground cinnamon (or any other ground spice, probably) to a solution you plan to spray from a plastic bottle. The cinnamon clogs up the works. And I, trying to force the liquid out, squeezed too hard and broke the …
A very common question for Fake Plastic Fish is what to use to store food in the freezer. Until now, I didn't have an awesome answer. As you can see, I have been reusing Michael's old plastic cottage cheese containers. And reusing plastic bags. I wrote about all the plastic we were reusing a year ago. Certainly better to reuse what you have than toss out and buy new, …
Wow. I actually got my butt outside yesterday and did some heavy non-computer related labor. Finally planted the tomato seedlings that Jennconspiracy brought me weeks ago. Hope they will live. I've been so tied to my desk chair that I let most of my outdoor potted plants in the roof garden sizzle and dry up. I rationalized my laziness as water conservation, which it …
My friend and co-worker Marika picked up a bar of Pure & Natural soap for me while shopping at Target. Marika is very sweet. She makes the best cupcakes and brownies in the world, and she lives to love and protect animals of all kinds (even though she tortures her dog by making him wear orange sweatshirts.)So anyway, she thought of me because Pure & Natural soap comes …
The above quote sounds almost like the tagline for this blog, doesn't it? In fact, it is from a letter to the Monterey Bay Aquarium written by Erica Etelson, a friend of one of my Green Sangha friends. Erica visited the aquarium with her family a few months ago and was disappointed by all the plastic and other petroleum-based items for sale in the gift shop, as well as food …
Okay, it's not such a great photo of my new bike. But it's a fabulous pic of Arya praying to Ceiling Cat to please let this be the last time she's forced to look cute in Beth's new bike basket.Here's me on my new Giant Suede DX W 21-speed women's bike with upright handlebars and nice wide padded seat. That's what I'm talkin' about. A bike I will actually ride.Yes, I'm all …
The last week was all about cats and fudge sauce. Kitty was hurt and mama was stressed. And mama still had half a case of fudge sauce calling out to calm her nerves. All she needed was a big spoon. So, if you'll recall, I did attempt to get rid of some of the fudge sauce by bribing the Californians to write to your reps about the AB2058 plastic bag legislation. Three CA …
I received the following gem in my home mailbox last week:The American Chemistry Council is bringing out the big guns and trying to frighten Californians into opposing the state's proposed ban on Bisphenol-A (an additive in polycarbonate plastic and in the plastic lining of most food cans) in containers and canned foods meant for babies and toddlers. The industry's scare …
Oh, da hoomiliashun!Well, what can you do when little kitties just lick off the bitter lotion we put on their sutures to keep them from doing just that? Bitter! Yum Yum! Anyone need a plastic bottle of bitter lotion? My cat thinks it tastes like dessert.At least Arya's fur will grow back. Some cats look like this all over... on purpose. Arya would thank you all for your …
In May, I wrote here about Bibi Rogers, who created the company 4U2ReUSE to try and help reduce plastic bag waste. Bibi just got back from Barcelona, Spain, where she noticed waste reducti …
The Blogger posting screen is blank and white and taunting me. I've been procrastinating starting this post for the last two hours because I'm not sure what shape it should have or how to begin. So I'll just dive in and see where the words lead. Maybe by the time you read this, I'll have deleted these introductory sentences altogether. Or maybe not.This week, I started …
Today is the last day to register. I'll be there. Will you?On June 6, Clif commented, "After checking out the blogs of Crunchy, Chili, etc., I just realized what happened to all those girls who got A's in class and contributed all the poetry and stuff to the middle school yearbook while we boys were having fistfights and sneaking cigarettes...they grew up to start …
I've been asked to present the Take Back The Filter campaign (urging Clorox to take back and reuse/recycle used Brita water filter cartridges) as part of a panel at the California Resource Recovery Association's (CRRA) annual conference next week. I am excited to have the opportunity to share the campaign with this audience, and when initially asked, wasn't at all nervous …
Last weekend I finally saw the documentary What Would Jesus Buy? on DVD. It follows the crusade of "Reverend Billy" and the "Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir" during this past Christmas season as they traveled cross country spreading a message of anti-commercialism, support for local businesses, and hairspray. Well, the hairspray was more method than message, but I …
I asked Michael, the Latin scholar, what is the derivation of the word "sustain?" He said "to hold up from underneath." Pretty smart, that guy. The Online Etymology Dictionary says almost the same thing. Why did I ask? Because the topic of the very first APLS blog carvival is, "What does living sustainably mean to you?" So I thought I'd start by digging up the …
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