Plastic Bags (and polystyrene) can stuff it, part two

I’ve written about these two topics before but it’s been awhile and it’s worth repeating. And I’m a recycler, including topics.

            Plastic bags and polystyrene, the stuff of plates, fast food cups and packing peanuts, makes me cringe.   

            At a recent dinner, I ranted a little about how much we consume and how I get tired sometimes about stressing over each of my actions. I wonder if it even matters that I spend time and energy putting my words and hopes out here for a healthier, conscious world.

            Someone wisely said, ‘it may not always be easy, but it should be simple.’ We should be proactive about reducing consumption, like those insidious plastic bags at stores that are pushed at every turn. Bring your own bags. Make it a habit. It’s simple.

‘But dangit,’ I said, ‘stores also need to train their employees to use less plastic.’ Last week, in a store that kind of rhymes with ‘Margret’, I saw a cashier place one (foam) carton of eggs in a plastic bag and hand it to the customer ahead of me. Why did those eggs need their own bag?

            In a store that rhymes with ‘plier,’ I was buying two half gallons of ice cream for a birthday last year and I handed the cashier my cloth bag, who then put each carton in its own plastic bag and into my cloth bag before I could speak up. More unnecessary plastic in my hands.

            Last week, not wanting to cook, I ordered takeout for the family from a favorite independent restaurant downtown. The food was phenomenal, but opening up the EIGHT foam containers wasn’t. I felt so guilty.

            My life would be easier if stuff was streamlined and compact, not bundled loosely in bags and foam that are terrible for the earth and that I have to deal with. Because you know that I’m going to store all this…stuff…in my basement and garage until I can take it to the only place in Indy where it will actually be recycled. Most recycling services, including the one servicing Noblesville, can’t take polystyrene.

            Most recently my friend Stacy said I’d be proud of her. Her recycling bin was stuffed and when she peered into her garbage bin and saw it had one small bag of garbage, she thought of me. Aww!

            Recycle on!

Be smarter with water usage-cut water footprint (Sept. 6)

       For quite awhile now I’ve said I’m going to cut back on my coffee consumption, but I never really do.  I like (ok, love) coffee a whole lot and it’s tough to cut back.  Sure, cups of coffee seem pretty innocuous, don’t they? But, as with most things, there’s much more than meets the eye.

            I try to get organic, fair trade coffee in the hopes that it’s really, truly a more responsible choice, but even if I do and even if it is, that’s not the end of the story.  The story actually begins with realizing that there’s a heckuva lot more water involved in that cup of coffee than what was used to brew it. 

That single cup of coffee actually has 37 gallons of water behind it. It’s called ‘virtual water’ and it’s how much water was needed to make the product, whatever it is, that you possess.

With this summer’s near drought and the constant re-realization that we need to conserve water, it’s a topic that deserves attention.   Discover Magazine puts it this way in their article titled “Everything You Know About Water Conservation Is Wrong:”  Forget short showers. Worry about the 6,340 gallons of “virtual water” in your leather bag.”

Consider how much water it takes to produce not just your food, but your paper, your clothes, and myriad other things.  We waste way too much water in this country when it’s more important than ever to be smart with it and it’s a huge issue, but here are some food related ways to conserve virtual water:

Try to avoid bottled water and use refillable canteens when possible.

Eat less meat.  Meat requires 5-10 times more water than vegetables, so by cutting back on meat, you’re conserving hundreds of gallons of water.

Don’t waste leftovers.  Throwing food away wastes all that water that went into making that food, and besides, the less cooking the better, right?

Drink more water and less coffee, tea, soda and all those other beverages, all of which have a much higher water footprint than water from the tap.

Company turns your old appliances into jobs

DAO Recycling has two missions: to protect the Earth through recycling items that would otherwise go to the landfill, and to create green jobs for people that have major barriers to employment.

Cal Hultquist and Dana Eveland founded DAO in 2009 with $4000 and a truck. The founders, both certified through the EPA, each have areas of expertise that make DAO work. Hultquist was involved with the Recycling Task Force in Atlanta, GA and is a former government investigator, and Eveland is a certified mechanic with experience in logistics transportation. Together the environmentalists are committed to educating the public on how to recycle appliances and put people back into the workforce.


DAO will pick up and recycle major appliances, riding mowers and heavy metal items for no charge. Most appliance pickups are scheduled within 72 hours and free drop-offs can be made 24 hours a day at the Recycling Center located on the near east side of Indianapolis, 3518 E. Michigan Street. Visit www.daoindy.com or call 317.375.7788 to learn more about the extensive list of recyclables DAO accepts, including polystyrene (Styrofoam) as well as items such as metal clothes hangers, carpet, bikes, musical instruments, packing materials, and mattresses. Most items are free to drop off, but some such as mattresses incur a small $5-$10 fee due to the processing required.

DAO offers Industrial, Commercial, Farm and Medical recycling in addition to residential recycling. The free and secure IT equipment recycling is beneficial to businesses as well as the environment. As of January 1 of 2011, entities may no longer dispose of electronic devices such as computers, monitors, printers, TV’s, etc. in with municipal waste that is intended for disposal in a landfill or incinerator.
The Discount Appliance store, located on the west side at 6250 W. 38th Street, is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week and offers a wide range of refurbished appliances and services, including delivery, setup and repair.

Bring your own bags, or pay the price

How would your plastic bag usage change if you had to pay for them? I recently read about IN House Bill 1521, a bill that if passed would mean consumers would be charged 10 cents per plastic bag they use at stores. I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to politics and don’t want to get my hopes up, but I can’t help but be giddy at the thought of a fee to use plastics and how it would hopefully make people think twice before loading up on the things.

What I’d really like to see is a ban on plastic bags altogether like San Francisco has done, but hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. This is after all the Midwest, not exactly known for its progressive prowess. But speaking of San Francisco, has anyone been to the city since the plastic bag ban was instituted? I would love to hear from you. People are surviving okay without them, right?

The reasons to avoid plastic bags as much as possible are obvious and it can only be good news for all of us and for the environment.If passed, the plastic bag fees will become effective January 1, 2012. I’m hopeful that this topic will get exposure and becovered widely in the media and that more and more people will become conscious of wasteful plastic bags.

I love that our awesome library stopped offering plastic bags to patrons over a year ago (way to go, HEPL!). People seem to have adapted just fine. You go into Aldi's, you pay for your bags or bring your own. You go into Costco? No free bags there, either. You learn to bring your own, or pay for plastic, and it’s really not that hard. Once again, just like most things, it becomes a habit.

dreaming of a 'foam free' world

I had this vivid dream recently in which I visited my alma mater and decided to eat in my old dining hall in this beautiful, classic, historic dorm. I was dismayed to find the wooden dining tables covered with bleached white paper tablecloths. The white china plates, real glasses and silverware that I remembered languished on shelves in favor of polystyrene (foam) plates and cups and plastic utensils. There was no clink of silverware on plates. No thud of glasses being set on tables. Just the quiet, annoying scraping of plastic on foam. Yuck.
I asked who was in charge and (this part is fuzzy) got his name. “Why spend all this money and create all this waste when you’ve got the real deal right here?” I’d tell him, gesturing toward the shelves of dishes. But somehow I woke up and never got to talk to him. Darn.

In the real world, I avoid No. 6 plastic polystyrene, aka Styrofoam™, at all costs. My kids will tell you that when they get the rare Chick-fil-A treat, drinks aren’t included in the deal because, “Mom hates Styrofoam™!”

Avoidance isn’t easy. On the rare occasion when we go to restaurants and order kids drinks, they come in a foam cup unless I remember to ask for real cups. And then there’s the food takeout. You ask for a box, and a foam clamshell appears. Thwarted again.

So, what’s wrong with polystyrene? Everything. It’s petroleum derived, hazardous to make, difficult to recycle, and will eventually end up in the landfill and never break down.

Someone I know spearheaded efforts to rid their college campus of polystyrene. Their campus is now 100 percent “foam free.” He was happy to detail to me their efforts to make it happen, and I’m adding it to my list of “causes” I’d love to have a part in changing. I would love to see our local coffee shops and restaurants commit to finding alternatives to polystyrene. It can be done!

In the meantime, what’s the solution, besides avoiding it? (A). Save it and make a unique (and buoyant!) sculpture. (B). Drop it off at Arthouse Noblesville, 195 S. 10th St. where it will be recycled in art classes. Or (C). visit www.earth911.com and type “polystyrene” in the search box and your zip for Indy locations that will recycle it. Unfortunately, Noblesville doesn’t recycle No. 6 at this time.

Cloth diapers: worth the hassle

I’m about out of my diapering days now, but I wanted to share a little about why I love cloth diapers and how that came to be.
When I had my daughter in my early twenties, being the earth mother that I was (and am), I told my mother that I wanted to use cloth diapers. She pointed out that I was living in a trailer seven miles from the nearest Laundromat (this is true, I swear) and, as such, using cloth would be too much work.

So, I yielded and used disposables for the next seven months until we moved, then I switched to cloth for the majority of the time and haven’t looked back.

Why cloth diaper? Here are three reasons:

1. Environment: disposables equate to a hefty amount of garbage, usually more than half of the volume of trash a family produces. They require billions of gallons of oil annually to make, and no one alive today has seen disposables break down in landfills (it’s estimated to be 300-500 years).

2. Money: compared to the constant cost of purchasing disposables, cloth diapers are usually a one time investment since they can be used for years and multiple children, and then even be re-sold later.

3. Health: it’s better for babies. The majority of disposable diapers contain dioxin, which is a carcinogen. Many also contain fragrance (as do baby wipes) and super absorbent polymers that become gel-like when wet. What are the effects of these being next to a baby’s skin 24/7 for at least two years?

Curious about cloth? Local diaper company Toasty Baby (www.toastybaby.com or 863.0402) has an array of cute cloth diapering options and a diaper service. They’re offering 10% off your entire order through March 31, 2011. Just enter ToastyBaby10 at checkout. One use per customer.

Don't be an American idler; turn off your engine in line

“Idling gets you nowhere.” That’s the slogan of one of the many anti-idling campaigns cropping up across the country in an effort to curb voluntary idling in carpool lanes, an important message school back in session.
Why the anti-idling campaign? One vehicle by itself idling for a few minutes may not seem like a big deal, but multiply one times hundreds of cars, and throw in a bunch of school buses and a large student population, and that’s a lot of fumes to inhale.
With the rise of asthma and allergies coupled with the fact that children’s lungs are still developing and are more susceptible to the polluting effects of their environment, that’s a great reason to raise awareness and be more diligent about reducing emissions. Not to mention the fact that they are smaller and therefore closer to the exhaust, inhaling more of it than adults. That’s the health aspect.
Then there’s the environmental impact. The cumulative effects of carbon dioxide being spewed into the atmosphere needlessly is preventable, as is the consequent wasting of fuel by sitting and idling unnecessarily. It’s estimated that Americans waste 2-3 million gallons of gas every day by voluntary idling. That’s also a lot of wasted money!
I’ve spent my share of time in carpool lanes, and until the line is actually moving, I always, always cut the engine. Rule of thumb: if you’ll be idling for more than 10 seconds, turn it off. Obviously this doesn’t apply to being in traffic, but it does also apply to idling in carwash lines, concert lines, talking on the phone inside your vehicle in your driveway, and idling in any drive up lanes including banks and fast food drive thrus.
Are any area schools are adopting this important campaign?

some catharsis

I usually only post my 'Current in Noblesville' columns here on this blog, but sometimes I'm compelled to reach further into what I've written, what others have written, or responses I've gotten.

So here we go.  I've been torn up about this oil disaster.  Thoughts of the destruction for generations to come are never far from my mind.  I can't believe this is real. 

Last night, on (an otherwise lovely) summer solstice evening, my Women Who Run With the Wolves bookclub met.  I showed them the passage in the book where Dr. E talks about the oil barge that sank in Lake Michigan in the 50's and the havoc it wrought then.  I read that 6-6-10, 2 days after writing my column on the oil spill and 48 days into the massive hemorrhage in the Earth.

Several days ago I received 2 emails stating in part that I was misinformed and delusional.  Of course humans can't destroy the earth, after all, if 'we' have detonated atomic bombs, nuked Japan, and vaporized the Bikini Atoll and are still here to tell about it, why would we think we can?  And here's news for us all:  oil is natural, and guess what?  The ocean is a giant washing machine, so it can take it!  Oh, and I need to take down my shrine to Al Gore (yeahhhh) and get me some more edumacation. 

Yes, indeed.  So this manmade enviromental disaster is no big deal.  Just go fill up your gas guzzler, go to the mall and buy some more plastics and enjoy life as usual, OK?  Never mind the eleven men who died.

Pay no attention to the wildlife that has died, will die, the marshes and sea life that may never recover, or the people whose livelihoods are wiped out. 

No. No, no, no.  Rage.  Outrage and uproar is warranted right now.  For God's sake, my children and children's children and on and on will have to live in this mucked up world.  What kind of legacy are we leaving them?  That the earth is here to use and abuse and leave it to someone else to clean up the mess?

As CP Estes writes:
"Tell me oil gobbets arent going to wash up on pristine shores worldwide.
Tell me fish and what they eat, arent going to ingest this cr– and wind up polluting the food tables for years to come, and humans will just have to hope their bodies make adaptations to the swill of petrol in their foodchains.
Tell me the roots of the grasses of the marshes are not going to be contaminated to the seventh generation of the seventh generation.
Tell me the fragile and seasonal economies in a time of already suckerpunched incomes are not going to be affected. Much.
Tell me wildlife kill of completely innocent creatures who lift our days and nights just to see them, wont be huge, that those creatures won’t die and be disposed of like oil-sotted cordwood.
I dare you to tell me ’studying’ the problem for a few more weeks and months, while Mother Earth hemorrhages is going to solve things.
Tell me more human life will not be put at risk, the working men and women’s lives put at risk in order to bail out some Saville Row dunces who are so used to priviledge, that they all begin to look just like Ken Lay’s wife whining –after her hubby and Skillings bilked thousands of senior citizens out of what they thought were their retirement savings–, and the woman had the timerity to be snivelling about maybe she and Mr. Lay wouldnt be able to keep their Aspen mansion.
Tell me that new tech that could help solve some of these hideous issues wont get bogged down by red tape from the BP overseers, that new can break through.
Tell me that all the ‘presidents’ men’ and humpty dumpty can be sewn together again.
And I’ll believe you, believe in you again.
When hell freezes over.

I’m a woman of peace with few lapses, but BP and all their cronies and cronettes have gone too far. It’s one thing to drill with all safety backups fully seated. It’s another to move recklessly through the hearts and lives of human beings and creatures and earth, mounting a moneymaking machine for oneself, hell with safety and protocols, screw definitive and effective remedies.
And in all, the principles in this disaster for the world, not once displaying even a speck of conscience.
Who else do we know in history who moved in these ways and without conscience destroying land and people and creatures? What was their end? And what damage did they inflict before they were taken down. And weren’t they taken down when neither land nor creatures nor people could any longer tolerate rhetoric over reality…
That time has now come. Reality over rhetoric. And in spades.
That outcry you hear, is not just Mother Earth, it’s the souls of the world: us. And lest some think that cry is one of weakness, it’s not… it’s our roar of unmitigated rage.
And if some think people are becoming too incensed over this, I’d say they are under-incensed about this, and that something’s awry with one’s basic survival instincts to not see the trajectories of this situation in the present and future.
Do whatever you can to help that is within your reach. I’ll be doing same. "

from here.  As i have thought many times about this disaster, 'if THIS isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what the hell IS.'  Please, people...we are all connected.  We aren't separate from each other and from this earth.  What hurts one hurts us all.  How do you possibly go on 'life as usual', when it's not?  We've done it now, and I'm so sorry that many can't see it.  I will do what I can and stand with those who do see.

To ocean waters we have poisoned, I'm so sorry

I sit on a sun-warmed rock and compose this column in my head as I watch the waves crash onto the rugged shore. I’m at the sea—my chance for this Midwestern girl to drink up her fill of the mighty crashing sea before returning to her (certainly wonderful but) landlocked existence.


The only sounds are the waves crashing on the rocks/lapping on the shore (depending on my location) and the occasional seagull call. I pick my way across the beach and pick up another piece of sea glass. This craggy Maine coast is one of my favorite places to be.

The sea is a place for me to retreat from the daily demands of the world for a bit, to re-evaluate priorities, to re-read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift of the Sea, and to just be still.

Instead of feeling calm and centered this time, I breathed in the sea air and felt immense sadness over the death and destruction caused by the oil spill. That something like this could—and did—happen feels incomprehensible. 500-800,000 gallons of oil may be leaking into the Gulf each day. Each day.

I feel angry and powerless. And guilty, too. Guilty because as much as I try to be eco-conscious, the irony that the whole reason I can travel hundreds of miles from Noblesville to visit my beloved ocean at all is because of oil is not lost on me.

This fault lies squarely on humankind and our need—greed—for oil. And unlike natural disasters where it’s easy to mobilize and help in some way, this is paralyzing. What can we do but watch helplessly as the slick poisons our waters, our land, our animals, and ourselves?

It’s time to head home. I look out at a million stars glinting in the waters. I say I’m sorry and say goodbye.