Green term of the week: victory garden

During World War 2, Americans turned to Victory Gardens to help them get through the financial crunch until they were victorious in the war. Everyone grew vegetable gardens in their back yard, and it considerably eased the amount of money they needed to spend at the grocery store.

There's a new Victory Garden movement afloat. It started before this crummy economy really took hold of us all, but the tough financial times are certainly strengthening it. The Wall Street Journal reported that vegetable seed sales are up, some sellers reporting as much as 80%. This upcoming season is poised to be the biggest vegetable garden season in decades with gardens being planted in community plots, back yards, windowsills, and in containers on balconies and fire escapes. 

The original Victory Gardens got their names because the war was causing tough financial times, and people at home wanted to do something in the quest to be victorious. Well, we're at war now, too, and while the current war may be one of the reasons we're in tough financial times, there are other things that our gardens can help us be victorious over this time around.

• Food miles - No fuel is consumed in bringing a tomato in from your back yard to your kitchen. When a tomato grown in Florida, however, has to come to my kitchen, it travels hundreds of miles and uses fuel and other resources.
  
• Pesticides and chemicals in our food - Many modern victory gardeners are doing it the natural, organic way.
  
• Losing our understanding of where food comes from - Ask most kids where food comes from, and they'll understandably say "the grocery store." My generation and the ones after it aren't particularly savvy about how food gets created. We need to change that.
  
• Losing varieties - Over the past several decades, many varieties of vegetables have disappeared as large farms have focused on only growing the varieties that look pretty and travel well. Victory gardeners are finding and perpetuating the growth of all the varieties they can get their hands on, saving their seeds, and sharing those seeds.
• Couch potatoism - A recent Nielsen survey found that people are watching TV 151 hours a month! We need to get off the couches and back into the dirt.

What are waiting for? If you've ever thought of growing vegetables, I can't think of a better time than now. It's still early enough in the season for anyone in the country to start growing some vegetables this year. Go play in the dirt.

Image: mercedesfromtheeighties

Green term of the week: ecomigration

You know how here in the U.S., retired people migrate to Florida or Arizona because they are looking for a more suitable climate to enjoy their retirement in? I suppose you could call that a form of ecomigration, but the trend to move from one region to another for climate regions is growing in leaps and bounds, and it's not just older people don't want to shovel snow.

A recent Washington Post piece says that climate fears are driving ecomigration across the globe. Ecomigration is when someone migrates from one region to another because of climate reasons. Sometimes, they are forced to during natural disasters, but recently more and more people have been ecomigrating in anticipation of the natural disasters that could happen due to climate change.

The piece tells the stories of several people who have picked up and moved. A Montgomery County, AL family moved to New Zealand because they see that as the best place to be, environmentally, in the next 100 years and are thinking ahead to future generations of their family.

After Hurricane Katrina, one New Orleans lawyer took a position further north in Louisiana. Last summer when N.O. was asked to evacuate in the face of Gustav, she was pleased with her decision.

Not everyone, however, can make the decision before the difficult times hit. 

In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters -- and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa's Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people have been driven to move by droughts and famines.

In the Philippines, upwards of 4 million people have moved from lowlands to highlands as a result of deforestation.

Say what you will about New Jersey (I know many people say lots of  negative things about the state), one of the things I've always liked about living here is the absence of severe weather. Hurricanes, earth quakes, tornadoes, really bad snow storms and the like don't hit us often here. And I've thought about the fact that if we really are facing sweeping climate changes in the not so distant future, I'm not in such a bad place in the U.S. to be. 

What are your thoughts on this? Are you worried about the region you live in facing difficult climate changes? Have you thought about high tailing out of wherever you are to a place that is more likely to weather the changes better?

Thinking about this isn't particularly the way I want to start my day, but thinking about it I am. How about you?

Image: Calle v H

Green term of the week: pre and post consumer waste

Last week, I wrote a tiny little rant about my 100% recycled tissues being made from 80% post-consumer waste, and I wondered what the other 20% was recycled from. Despairing from the Suitably Despairing blog, wrote in the comment section that the other 20% probably came from pre-consumer waste. What's the difference?

Post-consumer waste is from products that have been used and then put back into the recycling stream. As far as paper products go, this could be newspapers, magazines, junk mail - any paper that has been used.

Pre-consumer waste is reintroduction of manufacturing scrap back into the manufacturing process. When paper gets trimmed during the manufacturing process, the ends that are cut off can be recycled and made into new paper products.

So my 100% recycled tissues came from 80% used recycled materials (but hopefully not used tissues) and most likely the other 20% was recycled manufacturing scraps. That makes sense.

The terms post-consumer and pre-consumer waste don't just refer to paper products. Any products that are made from recycled materials can contain both types of waste.

Green term of the week: bird friendly certification

I'm getting such late start this morning. The boys have a two hour snow day and we all just stayed in bed. I love mornings like this until I realize that I still have a job to do and now I have to scramble! Eh, it's worth it.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview Lynn and Corey from Celebrate Green for a piece I'm doing on MNN. They mentioned something to me I hadn't heard about before. They were talking about chocolate, and they said when you're buying chocolate you want to look for a triple certification on the label - organic (know what that is), fair trade (know what that is), and bird friendly (huh?).

If a chocolate is certified by a third party as bird friendly, it means that the cocoa pods were grown in their natural habitat - in the shade of the trees that they are supposed to grow in. If the trees are cleared to make the cocoa beans grow more quickly - more sun equals more rapid growth but less quality in the cocoa - it destroys the natural habitat for birds. Some birds have become extinct or are facing extinction because of the clear cutting of trees to grow cocoa (and coffee and other crops). 

There aren't a lot of chocolate makers who have this certification yet, but there are some working towards it. Two of the third parties who are involved bird friendly certification are:

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Organic Crop Improvement Association

I would also think that a product certified "shade grown" that is also organic would  be considered bird friendly even without the particular bird friendly certification. If you read this, and I'm wrong about that, please let me know.

Green term(s) of the week: mercury and high fructose corn syrup

Environmental Health released a study earlier this week that found that about half of the samples of high fructose corn syrup that they tested contained levels of mercury. Some of those levels were high enough to be concerned about, and those who conducted the study believe it could be a significant source of mercury found in humans that hasn't been considered before. 

Mercury is toxic. It can damage the brain, kidneys and harm developing fetuses. 

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been linked to obesity and diabetes, and now there is the evidence that mercury can be added to its health detriments. 

For more in depth information on the study and the effects of mercury, you can read my post on MNN, Study: Mercury in high fructose corn syrup. 

Do you know how many of the foods in your pantry and your refrigerator contain HFCS? I thought I had done a good job purging the majority of it from my kitchen. I knew my pancake syrup had HFCS in it. I've tried to move my family over to real maple syrup, but they have been very resistant. I think they aren't going to have a choice now. But I didn't realize how many of our other foods still had this man made sweetener in them. Take a look at the picture above. Those are the foods that I found with a quick two minute search. I'm sure I didn't find all of them.

The boys looked at the pile as I was taking the picture and new it wasn't good news. A conversation something like this ensued. 

"What's wrong with these foods, mom."

I explained a little bit about the study to them.

"Well, we're not going to get rid of them, right? We're not supposed to waste food." (Don't you love it when your kids throw your rules in your face?)

"No, we'll finish what we've got, but I probably won't buy any of these again."

Utter panic. If you look at the top of the picture, there is a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints. 

"Mom, I've got to say, and I don't care if this gets me in trouble. If you never buy Thin Mints again, you suck............on lollipops."

Okay, how do you respond to a nine-year-old with a devilish grin who just says that to you? I laughed, hugged him, kissed him on top of the head, and swatted him a little extra hard on the butt. I suppose that's how you respond.

And how do you respond to the news that mercury is in HFCS? You stop purchasing those foods made with it (except perhaps the Thin Mints - the HFCS is very low on the list of ingredients, and I think all three of my men will pack up and leave me if I ban the cookies from the house).

 

Green Term of the Week: Hopeful

Every once in a while I do a green term that's not really a green term. It just lets me move into a discussion. That's the case with this week's green term.

I blew off work for an hour yesterday, sat down in front of our new big flat screen tv (Circuit City's bankruptcy is my husband's gain) that gets really good reception on HD channels even though we have no cable hook up, and watched everyone arrive at the inauguration, listened to the prayers, saw President Obama stumble through his oath, and then sat mesmerized as he gave his speech.

Barack Obama can speak. I know, we already knew that. But I mean, this man can speak. After the last two presidents, Bush, who fumbled words often, and Clinton, whose voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, listening to Obama speak is refreshing to this word girl.

It's no secret that I did not vote for Obama. I had a tough time choosing between the candidates. For the first time in a long time, I found that both candidates seemed worthy of the job. So when Obama won, I was not disappointed. 

I found throughout the afternoon yesterday as I returned to my laptop and my writing, yet still mulling over what I had heard and seen on the TV, that I felt hopeful. And I wanted to have a different word for what I was feeling because this word girl did not want to have to use the clichéd "hopeful" when referring to President Obama. Yet, there was no other word. I am hopeful.

There are several reasons, but here is the one that keeps going through my mind. He inspires people to want to do good. He asked Americans to honor MLK this past Monday with a National Day of Service, and they did. 

A kid in the junior high in my town came up with the idea to clean out the food pantry and organize it at a local church. There were about 25 kids there on Monday, including my two boys. These kids worked. In an hour and a half, all of the outdated food was weeded out, cans and boxes were organized into categories, floors were swept, and the pantry was ready for those who need it. 

This happened because Obama suggested it. 

After 9/11 there was a short period of good will in this country. People gave. People were grateful for the things they had. People were friendly. But something has happened in the 8 years since. I blame it on reality TV and social networking sites. Or maybe reality TV and social networking sites just reflect it. But people have gotten meaner. 

But right now, people have an outpouring of good will again. And it's centered around the hope that they see in this man's leadership. 

He's got high expectations to live up to. There are those who are more than hopeful. They are in a frenzied euphoria, believing that now that we have President Obama, all will be fixed. I think he tried to address that belief yesterday in his speech when he said

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

I wonder if those in this frenzied euphoria will have the patience to give him and his administration the time needed to properly address our problems or if they will begin to declare him a failure when their specific issues don't magically become "fixed."

There is much to be hopeful about on the green front. 

He said things like

We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

and

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity (this one made me actually shout out loud, "He's read Affluenza or at least someone on his speech writing staff has!)

that let us know the environment is part of his agenda. 

After his inauguration, President Obama also put on hold all of the "midnight regulations" that the Bush administration put into place - many of them considered harmful to the environment.

So today, I am a clichéd hopeful. How about you?

Green Term of the Week - Food Miles

I've mentioned food miles on a few post before, but I've never had a full discussion about them. The term food miles refers to how far a food has to travel from where it is grown or raised to get on your plate. 

I first learned about food miles when I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I was beginning to green many things in my family's life, but I hadn't gotten to the food part of it yet. Reading Ms. Kingsolver's book made me realize that the food my family eats can have a large environmental impact. It's hard to believe that it's been less than a year since I read the book because thinking about how and where my food is raised or grown has become the norm.

According to sustainabletable.org

In the U.S., the average grocery store’s produce travels nearly 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator. About 40% of our fruit is produced overseas and, even though broccoli is likely grown within 20 miles of the average American’s house, the broccoli we buy at the supermarket travels an average 1,800 miles to get there. Notably, 9% of our red meat comes from foreign countries, including locations as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

The issue with food miles is that a lot of fuel and energy are used when shipping food thousands of miles. The food is shipped by truck, plane, train or boat - all of which give off greenhouse gasses. 

Many people have incorporated as many local foods as they can in their diets to help keep their food miles down. I'm one of them. It's easy to do in the warmer months when the local crops are being harvested, but it's not so easy in the late fall, winter and early spring when the local pickin's get slim. And that's where I find myself right now.

My farmer's market closes the weekend before Thanksgiving. I intend to stock up on some things - some meat, the Jersey Fresh canned tomatoes, honey, and anything else I have the room to store. But there isn't a lot of room in my freezer so I won't be able to buy too much meat. Still, I'll do my best.

Buying as much local food as you can will help keep your food miles down. It will also help to support the small, local farms in your area and contribute to keeping them around  a while longer. 

Green Term of the Week - Freegan

There's a new, hip, term for someone who picks trash, and it's not dumpster diver. That term is so last minute.

This minute's term is freegan. According to wikipedia a freegan is someone whose "lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed their display date but haven't passed their edible date. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement." 

I suppose that is what freeganism started out as, but it has evolved to include more than just salvaging food to salvaging other useful items.

I first became aware of the freegan movement when someone who goes by @freegan started following me on Twitter. This person gives updates through Twitter on what she gets from dumpsters - mostly dumpsters behind grocery and other retail stores. Here's something she wrote yesterday

Every nite same store dumps 4 boxes fresh fruit & veg; last nite I got 102 firm bananas, 30 apples; 10 pumpkin pies I couldn't reach

She doesn't keep all this food for herself. In the past eight months she has donated over $29,000 worth of food to homeless shelters. Yes, it does sound kind of gross - taking food from dumpsters. But this isn't half eaten food. This is perfectly good food that is just past its expiration date or not even to its date yet but needs to be gotten rid of to make room for new shipments. It's at the top of the bin, and this woman, who has a blog called Secret Freegan, knows when to hit the dumpsters so the stuff is right on top.

The amount of food wasted in this country is startling. In the U.S., 30% of food produced gets wasted. That's an awful lot of food, water, and fuel  gone without ever having done any good. Secret Freegan helps to lower those statistics and the environmental impact of wasted food with her actions. I think it's pretty awesome.

She's not the only one. Freeganism is a movement. Freegan.info gives more information about the movement including its philosophy on waste reclamation,  waste minimization, eco-friendly transportation (including train hopping and hitchhiking), rent free housing, and going green. Check it out. It's a pretty interesting read. 

So what do you think about taking the perfectly good food from the top of dumpsters and using it? Good idea? Disgusting? Fine idea for other people, but not for you?

Image from Secret Freegan's website.

Green Term of the Week - Veggie Curious

Yesterday, I wrote a post about 5 Green Podcasts that are Entertaining as Well as Educational on Sustainablog and one of the comments pointed me to a podcast for the veggie curious. I had never heard that term before, so of course, I had to google it to see if it was an actual thing. And it is.

If you're veggie curious, you're a carnivore (or I suppose technically, an omnivore) who is interested in what being a vegetarian or a vegan is all about. 

I suppose I could be labeled veggie curious. I'm going meatless with my dinners two nights a week. I've also had several discussions lately about several passages in the book of Genesis that might point to the fact that we were all created to be vegetarians from the get-go. But that's another post.

So how about you. Have you found yourself being veggie curious lately? Made any good meatless meals for your carnivorous families that have been well received? I'd love to hear about them.

More reading for the veggie curious

Meatless Meals for the Non-Vegetarian: 17 Bean and Barley Soup Mix from Trader Joe's

5 Ways to Cut Back on a Carnivorous Family's Impact

Green Term of the Week - Eco-Therapy

Okay, I don't know whether to laugh at this one or take it seriously. There is now a type of therapy known as eco-therapy that will help those who feel anxiety over their carbon footprints and the fate of the world. It's a form of eco-psychiatry. Yes, there is an actual school of psychology known as eco-psychiatry.

Any of you who read this blog regularly know that I'm pretty laid back. I don't believe in beating yourself up over your "eco-sins." Frankly, I don't believe in beating yourself up over any sins. I have a strong belief in grace and forgiveness and making a choice to do things differently the next time.

Yet I must confess (why is there so much religion jargon here?) that I have had a few mini panic attacks checking out at the grocery store. Not just pangs of guilt when I see the plastic containers my organic milk comes in or the little plastic baggies that my bulk organic oatmeal is wrapped in, but actual dizziness and heart palpitations. Where did that come from?

So this week's term is eco-therapy. It's out there if you need it. But sometimes ice cream is a good form of therapy, too. Just sayin'.

Green Term of the Week - Walking School Bus

Huh? Walking School Bus?

Yep. You read right. And I just read about it yesterday and I thought I'd pass this new term on to you. A walking school bus is a group of kids who walk to school together with adult supervision. It can be as easy as a car pool with no car or as encompassing as an entire neighborhood getting together to get their kids to school without the assistance of a motorized vehicle.

The concept is explained in a little more detail at walkingschoolbus.org.

Basically, an adult or a group of adults organizes families who want their kids to walk to school but would feel safer with adult supervision. A route is organized and the walking school bus follows the route, picking up children at designated spots.

Why is this green?

School buses create a lot of pollution. Kids who spend a considerable amount of time on a bus breathe in the fumes from the bus and it's harmful to their respiratory systems (especially kids with asthma).

Less school buses. Less pollution.

It also gets kids back outside. In addition to the exercise they will get, it will also give them an appreciation for nature. You can't care about nature unless you actually spend time in it.

Have any of you heard the walking school bus before or seen it in action? Anyone interested enough in trying to start one in your neighborhood?

Image from walkingschoolbus.org

Green Term of the Week - Energy Audit

For someone who lives in a house or even an apartment or condo, an energy audit is a process in which you yourself or a professional auditor takes a look at all of the energy used in the home to find out if energy is being used efficiently. If it is found that energy is not being used efficiently in some areas, there are steps that can be taken to improve the situation.

An energy audit will look at simple things that can be improved easily like the type of light bulbs that you use or replacing dirty furnace filters. It will also look at bigger things like adding insulation to attics or completely replacing an outdated heating/cooling system. 

The Daily Green offers instructions and a printable checklist for a DIY energy audit. If you don't want to spend money on a professional auditor, doing an energy audit yourself can find some of the places where you are losing energy efficiency.

For a more thorough audit you can hire a professional auditor. The US Department of Energy has some tips for bringing in a professional auditor on its website.

Green Term of the Week - Phantom Load

I read this in a book I just finished reading, Serve God Save the Planet (review coming soon).

The U.S. government reports that Americans spend more money to power audio equipment when it is off than when it is on. When stereos are off - which is most of the time - they are still using energy because they are in standby mode.

When power is drawn from a piece of electronic equipment when it is seemingly turned off, that piece of equipment is known to have a phantom load (also known as a vampire load). I spent many years under the impression that the energy drawn when electronics are not in use were so miniscule that they made no difference at all. Turns out, phantom loads are responsible for 6% of America's energy usage. That's a lot of greenhouse gases being created for literally no reason.

What are some of the specific power sucking devices in a typical home?

• any item that can be turned on or off with a remote control, or that has an instant-on feature, is continually using energy even when turned off (just learned that from Save God Serve the Planet)
• plugged in chargers for cell phones, mp3 players or other devices that need to be charged draw energy even when the device is removed
  
• any device with an LED clock (alarm clocks, DVD players, microwave ovens, coffee makers, etc.)
• computers, monitors, printers
• electronic exercise equipment that has a display
• televisions
• stereos

How many of these items do you have in your home? We have all of them, and confession time here, it hadn't occurred to me about the exercise equipment. I have an elliptical machine that I haven't used in months that is sitting right behind me now. It's been plugged in all this time. Excuse me while I go unplug it.

Okay, I'm back.

How do you make sure that you aren't wasting energy with phantom loads? It's as easy as what I just did. Unplug the equipment when not in use. If you have a lot of the equipment centrally located, like your computer equipment or entertainment equipment, you can buy a power strip that will turn them all of with one button.

I also came across a little item called an energenie. You plug it into the wall and then you plug your equipment into it. The energenie senses when a device is in standby mode and automatically switches it off for you. I've never used one, so I can't really recommend it, but you can visit the website and check it out for yourself.

Sure, it's a bit of a hassle making sure all your equipment is truly off when not in use. But think of this. Some have estimated that the amount of phantom load energy that U.S. uses in one year would be enough to completely power the countries of Greece and Vietnam with enough left over for Peru. When you think of it that way, you've got a bit more incentive to truly turn off and unplug your devices, don't you?

Read more about saving energy:

Little Environmentally Friendly Laundry Changes: Part 1

Little Environmentally Friendly Laundry Changes: Part 2

Ten Ways to Conserve Gasoline

Understanding Beef Labels

Every once in a while I come across a post on someone else's blog that is exactly like one I've been meaning to write but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Then I point you all to it because why reinvent the wheel, right? I found one of those today. Over at Ecosalon, they have a post titled Organic, Grassfed, Humane, Free Range: Understanding Beef Labels.

The post explains what each of those labels plus a few others mean when you find them on a package of beef. It's well written and informative. Check it out.

Green Term of the Week - Population Control

I remember the first time I read that people who have children are being selfish and hurting the environment. I thought it was just one wacky person's opinion. But, as I've spent some time reading other environmentalist's opinions, I've come to find out that there is a significant population of us treehuggers out there who think that having children is irresponsible.

Population control is lauded by some as being one of the ways to save the planet. I've read all sorts of comments about it. People should be charged for having children. Couples should only be allowed to have one child. Wanting your own biological child is something that is cultural - with so many unwanted children in the world everyone should just adopt. I even heard one commentator on the radio bemoaning the fact that he gave money to aid the starving in Africans in the 1980's because the people lived and went on to have a lot of babies. He now believes it would have been better to allow them to starve. It would have been better for the planet.

Those who look at people in this manner must only be looking at them as consumers. Not just consumers of material goods, but consumers of the precious resources that are needed to live - water and food.

This mindset is scary. Yes, our earth has environmental problems and we should be working hard to solve them. But begrudging someone's desire to be a parent, that's ludicrous. Believing that people are little more than environmental pests, that's sad. I wonder how the people who really believe these things feel about their own existence. Are they sorry for their role in the degradation of the environment simply because they exist? Do they resent their parents for being so irresponsible? I really wonder about this.

I understand that there are millions of unplanned or unwanted pregnancies that happen all over the world each year. I have no problem with those who want to get birth control to those who want it as a way to save women from unwanted pregnancies and help the earth a little along the way, too.

My problem is with those who feel that people who desire to have children are selfish and environmentally irresponsible.

Don't ever let anyone sway your decision to have children based on this logic. Go ahead and have them. Then raise them to care for the earth and to care for people, too.

What is your opinion on the subject? 

Green Term of the Week - Downshifting

Downshifting is a term that is used in conjunction with voluntary simplicity. It's the practice of letting things go - work, money, stuff - in order to simplify your life and have more time to live the life you want.

Why is this green? Well, it's green because downshifters generally are committed to buying less and what they do buy they buy better and more naturally.

I was thinking about this concept of downshifting the other day while I was in the ocean with my six year old. I've been under the impression that I have been heading in the direction of voluntary simplicity/downshifting recently. And I suppose that I have been to a certain extent. But somehow, I'm not fitting in the time for the stuff I really want to do.

The ocean was very calm last Saturday. Too calm to boogie board very well, so my son and I put our boards up on the beach and just went in the water splashing around and talking. For the first time, I realized just how grown up my baby is. He had deep things to say. He had actual comments and questions to what I was saying. He kept looking up towards the lifeguard and saying mom - we're drifting away - we need to walk closer to the lifeguard. None of this would have happened a year ago in the ocean. When did this happen? When did he gain this maturity and how did I miss it?

Sure, changes like this in children are gradual, but I feel like I should have been seeing it before this. I've been changing my life, being more green, buying less stuff, growing some of my own food. But why haven't I added more purposeful time those I love.

Wow - can I say this post has gone where I didn't expect it to go. I had no intention of talking about this. I just intended to give you a new green term.

I suppose I need to downshift more or perhaps re-shift. Take the time that I now have because I'm living more simply and dedicate more of that time to my boys, my husband and my friends.

If you're practicing voluntary simplicity or downshifting, are you using your new time in the way you want?

Green Term of the Week: Trashless Lunch (Going Back to School in Green Style: Part 3)

First of all, I realized that I completely forgot to do a green term last week. So those of you who wait on the edge of your seat on Wednesdays waiting for a new term - very sorry!

Now, on to this week's green term - Trashless Lunch. I've talked about this before. I think our first mini eco-challenge mentioned it. But with back to school about a month away, it deserves its own post.

When you take a lunch to school or work or anywhere else, if you put everything in reusable containers, bring durable utensils to eat with, and add a cloth napkin to your reusable lunch bag, you have created a trashless lunch. When you leave the table (or desk) you're eating at, there is nothing to go in the trash. It all goes back in the lunch bag to be taken home, washed, and reused again.

A trashless lunch means that no packaged foods are added to the lunch, too. Juice boxes or drink pouches or bottled water. Can't have them. Individually wrapped granola bars. Nope. Make your own and put them in reusable containers.

If students could start doing this in schools, it would be huge. My son's awesome third grade teacher last year, Mrs. King,  talked to her kids about this. I think all teachers should do so.

As you're getting ready for back to school this year, take a look at what you have available to send with your kids to make sure they have a trashless lunch. Here's what I know I need to make sure that both my boys won't make any unnecessary trash.

• Two lunch boxes 
  
• Two small reusable drink containers
  
• Two sandwich containers
  
• Two reusable thermoses (they like to take soup)
  
• old utensils that I don't care if they end up getting lost 
  
• cheap cloth napkins
  
• a few containers with lids for snacks

There are lots of products available from eco-friendly websites to help you create a trashless lunch, but really, you've probably already got most of what you need in your kitchen cabinets somewhere.

Why are trashless lunches important?

• Most importantly, they reduce the amount of trash that ends up landfills.
  
• They teach kids that living in a "throwaway society" isn't the only way to go.
  
• They can be an example to the other kids and the teachers.
  
• They will probably end up being more healthy for your kids because they will be eating a lot less pre-packaged processed foods.
  

Cool Dr. Seuss lunchbox picture courtesy of Wikemedia Commons

Related Back to School Posts:

10 Easy Ways to be More Sustainable with Your Back to School Shopping (Going Back to School in  Green Style Part 2)

Going Back to School in Green Style Part 1: Assessing What You Already Have

Green Term of the Week - Upcycling

Back in May, one of our green terms of the week was downcycling. At the end of the post, I stated that next week we would look at what upcycling is, but I simply forgot. So here it is two months later. Sorry for the delay.

Upcycling is when instead of disposing of something that is no longer of use, it gets transformed into something of greater use and value. For example, weaving plastic shopping bags into a durable, reusable shopping bag or turning old denim jeans into insulation would both be considered upcycling.

It's really a form of recycling, but some environmentalists are distinguishing between recyling, upcycling, and downcycling. True recycling is turning something into the same thing. Glass bottles can by recycled into new glass bottles. Plastic bottles, however, are not turned back into plastic bottles. They loose integrity during the recycling process and therefore the products that come from them are considered downcycled. The plastic is not as good.

Upcycling, downcycling and recycling all keep things out of landfills, so they are all important endeavors.

Image from Etsy

Related Posts
Green Term of the Week - Downcycling
How to Recycle Denim

Green Term of the Week - Shade Grown Coffee

Since taking a break (I haven't officially convinced myself I'm actually giving it up) from diet soda recently, I've really been appreciating my morning coffee. For a while now, we've been buying fair trade coffee, but I've been hearing a lot about shade grown coffee, too. So I've been checking it out.

Shade grown coffee is coffee that has been grown under the shade of the vegetation of its natural habitat. The conventional coffee growing method is to clear the vegetation and grow the coffee in the sun. It grows more quickly, produces more coffee and is more profitable that way; however, the quality of sun grown coffee is usually inferior. The longer growing time of shade grown coffee allows for a deeper, richer flavor.

Its inferior quality is the least of the problems with sun grown coffee. The biggest problem is the deforestation that occurs when acres and acres of vegetation is cleared for the coffee fields. Once the fields are stripped of the shade trees, a lot of chemicals and pesticides are needed to help the coffee grow. This contributes to soil erosion. More and more acres are stripped to provide new sun grown plantations when the soil becomes depleted of nutrients and needs to be replenished.

The sun grown coffee method is also causing the biodiversty of the region to change. Many birds are displaced (birds who would have eaten the pests that the pesticides are needed for) and many species of birds have become extinct in these areas.

Shade grown coffee is typically grown organically. It's good for the land and it's good for the workers who pick the coffee beans. They aren't exposed to the chemicals and pesticides of a sun grown field. It's also good for the coffee drinker.

Shade grown coffee is going to be more expensive than sun grown coffees. The fair trade coffee we've been buying for over a year now is more expensive, too. But I consider the expense worth it. I can't justify saving a couple of dollars at the expense of the earth, the birds and the workers who pick the beans for my morning coffee.

We've offset the expense by going out less for coffee. We used to frequently run out first thing in the morning, but now rarely go out just to get coffee. 

So now the question for me is - should I buy shade grown instead of fair trade? Is there coffee that is certified both? I'll be scouring the coffee isle next time I go to the grocery store and I'll let you know what I come up with.

How do you choose your coffee? Do you take into consideration the environmental impact of how it is grown?

Related Posts
Greening Your Coffee Habit
What is Fair Trade Certified

Green Term of the Week - Green Roof

I went to a lunch and learn at Greenable (the Philadelphia green building supply store) on Monday. I've been attending their monthly educational lectures because I'm doing research for both my writing and the addition that we are planning for our house next year. We want to make our home as energy efficient and sustainable as we can afford. One of the things my husband and I have been talking about is a green roof.

A green roof is a roof on a building that has been covered with vegetation. There's a lot more to it than just sticking some dirt on top of your roof and throwing down some seeds. A proper green roof has several layers starting with the roofing materials and then waterproofing materials, drainage materials and others are layered on top of the roof before the vegetation is planted. 

There are many environmental benefits to a green roof. Here are some of them that I learned at the lecture.

• It increases storm water retention which produces a cooling effect to the air around as the water slowly evaporates.
  
• It improves air quality around the building.
  
• It reduces low level ozone.
  
• It can reduce energy costs in a building up to 30% because the roof is not absorbing heat and holding onto it. The heat is released when the sun goes down.
  
• Urban wildlife habitats are created with some green roofs.
  
• The roofing materials under the vegetation last much longer than exposed roofing materials. They last longer and that keeps roofing materials out of landfills.
  

It seems, however, that in the U.S. these types of roofs are predominately being put on large buildings, not residences. If we want to do a green roof on our addition, it will probably be very costly because we'd have to have it specially designed. It's not that it can't be done. It's just that no one's doing it right now. Perhaps we'll have to find another way to make our addition sustainable, but we haven't completely ruled it out yet.

Have you ever seen a green roof? Where was it? 

Related Links:

Philadelphia's Green Building Product Store - Greenable