Science 101: Plastics

As I was perusing my way through the National Geographics Resource Library, I found myself tumbling through so many amazing finds. I think of it much like the stereotypical story I tell my 5th graders about getting lost in the YouTube sea of crazy cat videos when we discuss digital citizenship and prepare them for their 1-to-1 iPads in Middle School. We've all done it. But NatGeo's are definitely more fascinating.

One I happened upon that really spoke to me is their Science 101: Plastics learning video. To watch, you'll need to click the link. 

In it you get a history of plastics, its merits and obvious overuse, but it also gives you some amazing graphics on how much plastic has shown up since its inception in the 1950s. (Spoiler alert: WOW!) Also, it takes about some new takes on plastic-eating microbes and bioplastics. It's 5 minutes and 45 seconds worth of watching to remind you to rethink your plastic usage.

Image screenshot from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/science-101-plastics

Biodegradable Mushroom Packaging

I find that mushrooms are one of those things most people have strong feelings about--they either love them or they hate them. I personally have had a lifelong NOT love affair with them. It's a texture thing, I don't like them at all, and as my mother (a mushroom fan) will attest--I never did!

But, I think I might have found my favorite use of them yet. They are being used more and more in biodegradable packaging. As a person who has an equal detest for packaging, this may be my personal equivalent of 2 "wrongs" that do indeed make a "right." It can replace those big evil styrofoam blocks we find in hundreds of products we buy. Styrofoam, which is the branded [but more known] name for polystyrene foam, is made of plastic which comes from the limited resource of petroleum. We all know how hard that resource is hitting us at the gas pumps these days!

Using mycelium (a fungus--which, of course, is plant based--and is the root structure of mushrooms) with hemp hurd (a byproduct of the hemp fiber industry), companies such as Ecovative Design can create molds for packaging. Several years ago IKEA made a commitment to biodegradable mushroom packaging. IKEA has a deep commitment to environmental sustainability, so it should be no surprise that this is one of their initiatives. But, IKEA is not alone in in using this type of biodegradable packaging. Dell and Crate and Barrel are also on the mushroom bandwagon. Here is a video from Ecovative Design that shows the making of these mycelium molds.

When the mushroom-packed product gets to your house, you can break apart the packaging and put it out in your yard, compost, or garden and it will decompose in a few short weeks. Additionally, it adds nutrients to your soil. Styrofoam, which takes 500+ years to biodegrade and is a carcinogen, certainly can't do that.

This type of packaging being around for more than a decade. Given that, we should be seeing more of it than we do. But the good news, according to Ecovative Design's blog, they are growing (not to mention, they earned $60 million in 2021), which means it is becoming more and more commonplace. I "root" for more mushrooms than ever before! (Pun intended!😊)

Videos from https://youtu.be/zw2O1PhrzA0 and https://youtu.be/zmDENxTPn8Q and picture from https://www.sourcegreenpackaging.com/mycelium-packaging-styrofoam-alternative/

Have Yourself an Eco Easter & Planet Friendly Passover

Spring has sprung as evident with the popping of flowers and the warming of the weather. We all are probably ready to bid winter "adieu!"

With Easter ahead next weekend and Passover starting the 15th, folks are probably starting to get preparations in order. Here are a few ways to get a sustainable start to your holiday festivities ahead:

Celebrations in General--including Passover Seders:

• Cook less to have less food waste. Do we really need all those sides? Do we really eat all those leftovers? Plus it saves money and calories! And, if you do have leftovers, focus on eliminating those first with your next meal plans!

• Eat fresh and go plant-based when you can. Less of an impact on meat is always a healthier approach to the planet. Organic for the win!

• Candles make it cozy. Go for the eco-friendly variety and save some electricity with more lights out and build an ambiance.

• Decorate with natural items: plants make a beautiful table setting.
  

• Cut back on the plastic where you can. Whether that's cups, cutlery, or plates, less plastic always makes things more eco-friendly. Reusable items and washing those dishes is the better plan here. If that doesn't work, go with something that composts or biodegrades.

• 
  Go for zero-waste. If you are Jewish and turning over your kitchen to rid your home of grain items or only have kosher items on hand, give away the food you are eliminating. Donate unopened items to food kitchens or shelters. Plan early to reduce shopping for items you'll soon be wanting to remove.

• Tupperware items are always better than baggies and wraps when it does come to leftovers. Not only will it keep the plastic from leaching into your food (which is healthier for your body), but it saves valuable petroleum for something other than purchased throw-away plastic!
  

Easter Specific:

• Save those plastic eggs from year to year. Yes, it's fun to go on that Easter egg hunt, but you'll save money and resources when you can pull out that saved stash of eggs from year to year. Or, repurpose them into a DIY Easter wreath or centerpiece decorations. You also might be interested in investigating these plant-based eggs where no plastic was used in their creation.

• Same goes for Easter baskets. They don't have to come cellophane wrapped and new each year! Reusable baskets wooden or wicker baskets work just as well and can make for part of the annual tradition. 

• Likewise, Easter grass for those baskets does not have to be green plastic strips. That plastic grass won't recycle and will just fill a landfill. Plus, it gets all over the place. Instead use crinkled paper grass which biodegrades. Or, use seed-paper to create your own grass/basket filling!

• 
  Who says an Easter hunt has to be eggs. Scavenger hunts can come in all shapes and sizes. They can include small meaningful toys (don't just buy junk at the dollar store) or self-created coupons for fun surprises or events! Also, create a list of natural items like certain leaves, acorns, pinecones, and more to make it a memorable outdoor event to connect to nature.

• Individually wrapped candy creates a bounty of packaging waste--most of it plastic and not recyclable. Consider making tasty treats instead! Along the way, Fair Trade Chocolate is also more planet-friendly.

• Cheap disposable decorations are just that--cheap and disposable. Decorate with natural elements. Use cloth table cloths. Think outside the single use throwaway posters and cutouts.

• Use natural dyes when coloring your eggs. Steer clear of the plastic wrapped paint pellets that we see so often on the shelves and rely on some of the recipes linked above. Plus it is a good way to do some science experiments with your littles and have them literally thinking outside the egg dye box!

• When buying eggs, go for the compostable cardboard egg cartons versus styrofoam, which never biodegrades. 

Many thanks to these resources for the above ideas: 

• Lemarc Agromond's "5 Ways to Be More Sustainable This Easter"
• Sophie Hirsh's "5 Tips for Keeping Your Passover Seder Eco-Friendly" from GreenMatters.com
• The Chicago Botanic Garden's "Tips for an Eco-Friendly Passover"
• Emily VanSchmus' "Skip the Plastic Eggs: 6 Ways to Be More Sustainable This Easter" from Better Homes & Gardens
• Kane County Connects "Countdown to Earth Day: Invest in a Sustainable (and Less Wasteful) Easter" by Jesica Mine
• Earth Friendly Tips' "How to Have an Eco-Friendly Easter"
  

Images from https://ssfu.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/sustainable-easter/, https://www.greenchildmagazine.com/eco-friendly-easter-basket-fillers/, https://www.bhg.com/holidays/easter/decorating/easter-table-setting-ideas/; https://www.brit.co/seder-table-settings/, https://ecoadventures.org/special-events/

Green Your Day o'Green: Happy St. Patty's Day

As we have all learned during this last year, levity, fun, and humor have been the things that have severely missing. Given the weight of the last post, I thought celebrating the green o'St. Patricks Day may be the way to go. 

Go green this green holiday with these 20 ideas of  how to green up your St. Patty's Day in the greenest of eco-ways on this Irish day!

1. Don't go buying new green for your wearin' o'the green. Check out your closet and go with something you already have.

2. Want something new-to-you to wear? Visit a thrift shop and take advantage of the "reuse" industry.

3. Bow out of the glittery green hair sprays and face paints that are far from natural. Go re-usable with necklaces, hats, and accoutrements to jazz up your St. Patty's Day style.

4. Same for all of the plastic festive wear. #PlasticIsNotFantastic

5. Looking for some festive wear for your table? Use the real stuff or purchase the biodegradable variety of cups, plates, napkins, and silverware.

6. Make sure all recyclables get into your recycle bin.make sure beer cans, bottles, and other recyclables make it into the correct bin.

7. Drink eco-friendly Irish coffee.

8. Even better....take your own reusable mug.

9. Start the day instead with a green smoothie or some lovely green tea.

10. Make green the theme for your meals. Get a hefty dose of those leafy greens or other veggies in your meals du jour.

11. Going traditional feasting fare: go organic, local, grass-fed corned beef.

12. Or, move away from the meat-heavy traditional foods as meat-eating animals require a lot of environmental resources.

13. Get your green by getting outside and getting some Vitamin D, some Vitamin N(ature), and some exercise.

14. When indoors, turn off or unplug anything electronic you aren't using. Save that phantom electricity.

15. Same goes for the lights!

16. Go green with your cleaners (though, let's be honest, who's cleaning on St. Patrick's Day? Not this li'l leprechaun!)

17. Support green, eco-friendly businesses and restaurants. GreenAmerica.org is a great place to go to size that up.

18. Drink organic green beer....or at least support a local brewery.

19. If you are hitting the Irish pubs, skip the plastic straws in your beverages.

20. Likewise, if you are out and about, consider ride sharing to get home safe and sound.

All of the ideas are inspired from the following articles if you want to dive in and read more!

Kiss Me, I’m Eco-Friendly! 5 Tips for a Truly Green St. Patrick’s Day

Putting the Green in St. Patrick’s Day

REALLY Go Green with Eco-Friendly St. Patrick’s Day Activities 

How to Green Your St. Patrick's Day

15 ShamROCKIN' Ways to Go Green this St. Patrick's Day (and every day)!

Art created at canvas.com 

Repurposing Your Christmas Tree

Depending on when you take your tree down, this post may be in the category of "day late & dollar short." Or maybe it's perfectly-timed given you decided this was the year to hang on to holiday cheer and keep your tree up a little longer, because, well...you know...2020. Or, it could happen that the point is mute due to having an artificial tree which just goes back in the box until next year. Or perhaps this post will serve as inspiration for next year's Christmas season. 

Whichever it may be, at some point your holiday decorations come down, as does your Christmas tree. If you had a real one, you have to do something once it's stripped bare of ornaments and lights. In the past when we have had a live tree (versus the artificial one we have now that will ultimately go back into the garage), we have pulled our tree curbside for recycling & the making of mulch. Repurposing the tree in that way is a good use of resources, and be sure to watch your local municipality for its curbside-tree-dates if you decide to go that route. 

However, the thought of returning the tree to nature as a gift of the season as a respite and home for wildlife struck me as a warm one this year. Kudos goes to The Nature Conservancy of Canada for posting the idea of leaving your old Christmas tree in your backyard. In doing this, you've taken a circular loop  approach. In fact, more things should come with this kind of closed loop (or circular economy) concept. Here, instead of the "throw away and replace culture we've become used to, we'd adopt a return and renew one, where products and components are designed to be disassembled and regenerated." 

In nature, with a Christmas tree, the closed loop is simple: bring it outside. By leaving it in your backyard, especially during the winter, you've now created a habitat for birds and other backyard wildlife. You've also widened your own backyard biodiversity. All the more so if you decorate it with peanut butter and bird seed covered pine cone ornaments. 

As the tree looses the needles and starts to decompose, not only will it continue to provide shelter to animals, it also will start to break down, which ultimately will add nutrients to the soil. According to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, many fir trees break fairly quickly given the makeup of the wood. You can speed up that process by drilling holes in the tree trunk. 

If your backyard doesn't accommodate that, PickYourOwnChristmasTree.org has some other suggestions for ways to repurpose your tree. Check in with your local community to see if you can find places that would take your tree to use in these ways:

• Fish feeders in private fish ponds
• Soil erosion barriers to assist with shore stabilization 
• Hiking trail path material

Like I said, ours will be going back in the box for the next 11 months, living it's own level of closed loop here at our house. But if you have the ability to give it back to nature, the birds and your local wildlife will thank you!

Video from https://youtu.be/zCRKvDyyHmI, Decorated Christmas tree from my photos this year, downed Christmas tree image from https://www.vicnews.com/news/give-your-christmas-tree-a-second-life-by-recycling-it-in-your-back-yard/; infographic from https://medium.com/usfws/recycling-christmas-trees-for-wildlife-6dc533092d05

Snarky Tea For Me

About 3 weeks into the new school year, when pandemic-style hybrid back-to-school teaching this fall felt like running triage, a girlfriend of mine sent over the exact perfect gift for both my mood and that moment. 

It was the Sassy Sampler from Snarky Tea. (Language warning ahead!)

I'd recently run across their Facebook advertisement prior to this...perhaps the algorithm had discovered that "snarky" is indeed one of my favorite words. 

Aside from the well-timed and much-needed comic relief, it also spoke to my 3+ years of caffeine-infused tea-addiction as I had moved on from a lifetime of Diet Coke drinking. It was indeed a perfect back-to-school teacher gift, and precisely suited for 2020!

As I made my way through the sampler, putting an extra smirk behind my daily-masked-self, my day had a little extra "oomph" to it during tough times. Amazing how far a smirk and a smile can take you, especially with each sip of tea from my stainless steel straw.

The sad part of a sampler pack is that eventually you land on that last one, a dozen days later. So of course, it led me to their website with the desire to order more. Who knows, it might also make it to my Christmas gift-giving list down the line. 

As I was perusing their site, I came on some extra love when I learned that their lovely little tea sachets are also environmentally friendly. They are 100% biodegradable, made from SOILON, a corn starch and plastic free material that actually allows for excellent water flow through the tea leaves, which totally benefits your tastebuds. It has been startling to learn along my tea journey that this is not the case for many teabags (including high end brands) because a majority of tea companies "use polypropylene, a sealing plastic, to keep their tea bags from falling apart. This plastic is not recyclable or biodegradable."

Snark AND great taste AND comic relief AND environmentally friendly tea?!? Yes, this is nirvana! Not to mention, the company has a great "girl power" vibe behind the entire company. Can't argue with female empowerment! 

I happen to like their "Profani-tea" series shown above in their Sassy Sampler, but they also have wellness and cold brew teas, as well as a pumpkin spice tea just in time for fall and a pepperminty one for the December holidays ahead, all available at their shop. 

As their tagline succinctly puts it: "Health. Humor. Happiness." That's all you need! That and maybe a cup of tea!

Photo from my camera of my very own Sassy Sampler from Snarky Tea: https://www.snarkytea.com/collections/snarky-tea-samplers/products/snarky-tea-sampler-12-pyramid-bags

Plastic Is Not Fantastic--Emily De Sousa's TEDxTalk

"9.1 billion tons of plastic created to date." How heavy is one plastic bag? Hardly anything! Emily De Sousa details what that weight means in visual terms in her TEDxKanata talk from last year.

Other statistical figures she presents:

♳  Half of the 8 million tons of that winds up in our oceans and waterways. 

♳  As for straws... she mentioned that 57,000,000 straws are used daily in Canada. 

♳  She also mentions major numbers regarding how much oceanic plastic we eat annually through seafood.

Emily, as the founder and owner of the sustainable travel blog "Airplanes and Avocados." In addition to sustainable travel, marine conservation issues is one of her topics of choice and she is an avid SCUBA diver. She promotes activism through digital storytelling and education in order to reach many via the masses through social media. She's certainly a #BlueMind advocate...without ever mentioning those words!

Through her TEDx Talk, she voices her love of our planet, lots of those statistics mentioned above (and many more), and the fact that we all need to be doing something for sustainability. There are so many simple things we can all do.

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UqkgRGPqsk  
image from https://www.deviantart.com/emlikesfantasy/art/Plastic-is-not-fantastic-768431022 and https://twitter.com/i/moments/966647389464473607  

Compost Cab

For those of you who have been around awhile, you know I'm a fan of composting. Sadly though, I had to bid adieu to composting. Seems our compost was becoming a fine French Restaurant for all the neighborhood critters...which was not our backyard plan at all! All still perils of the closing the the greenest school in America, now almost 5 years ago!

If I lived closer to Washington, DC, I'd be sure to be in touch with Compost Cab. They could bring about the trifecta: tackle my food scraps while satisfying my environmental desire to compost... all the while without catering to the critter cafe. Yes! I could once again (to modify their tagline) be a Waste Zero Hero!

Created in 2010 by Jeremy Brosowsky and a production of Agricity, Compost Cab's mission is to help "urban agriculture thrive." Not only does it center around local, homegrown food, but it helps work to reduce waste by using that food waste to create soil!

Watch this video to learn a little more about Brosowsky & Compost Cab:


Compost Cab provides its clients with a bin for food scraps. A key component: "If it grows, it goes" (in the bin). They weekly come by to collect your compost, leaving another bin bag for your following week. Your big takeaways (as they take away your compost) is that you are reducing what's carted away to the landfill, you're helping to create soil at Engaged Community Offshoots in College Park, MD, providing great soil for local farms or community gardens.

Compost Cab also has an Education component. They will bring their "Compost Academy" and curriculum to your school to teach kids how to compost, perform "waste audits" of the school, or bring their services to your school.

Compost Cab has two goals: make it easier for people to compost, and easier for urban agriculture to thrive. They achieve these two goals by providing home and commercial composting services, and by partnering with urban farms and community gardens to build soil in the city.

To learn more about composting, check out their websites Resources, click here.

Additionally, learn more here at this Washington Post article from a couple of years ago or The Department of Energy & Environment's 2016 District Sustainability Award Winner Case Study: Compost Cab


Images: screenshot of Agricity from http://agricity.net; photo and logo from https://compostcab.com/mission/ and https://compostcab.com/#community; Video from https://youtu.be/pwSKRrrmTGw

Waste Not, Want Not

I love Sir David Attenborough. A wise voice in our world today.
His message--one we all need to hear: let's not waste.


Here are some great resources to help you lead a less wasteful life....the perfect follow up to my post last week and with Earth Day ahead, April 22nd.

Huffington Post's "How To Stop Being Wasteful This Year Once And For All"
There are 10 great items on the list to help you make the most of sustainable practices around your house!

Kathryn Kellogg's website: Going Zero Waste
Lots of good ideas here... including her April 2019 book release: 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste

National Waste & Recycling Association's "Fascinating Facts About Waste & Recycling"
Here you'll see a super 2-page infographic!


Video from https://www.facebook.com/sbsnews/videos/397621647649854/ 

No-Waste Thanksgiving

I don't know about your Thanksgiving traditions, but as for many Americans, I'm nearly certain they center around the food, the feast, the festivities. And usually, lots of lots of all of that. If your house is like mine--typically too much of it!

Typically, across the United States, 40% of all food goes to waste. This stems from super-sized portions at restaurants, expiration dates, over-shopping, and on holidays like Thanksgiving, planning too much for the crew coming to you.


With all of that in mind, here are some tips to go about having a no-waste Thanksgiving (and other feasts and feeding frenzies throughout the year:

FoodTank Resources:

• This statistic from FoodTank was startling:  "Each year, consumers purchase over 700 million pounds of turkey, according to the National Turkey Federation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects that 35 percent of the meat purchased does not get eaten–ending up in landfills, along with sweet potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, and other holiday fare."
• In addition to facts like that above, there are a slew of practical ideas you can do, down to donating your leftovers to local food banks
• FoodTank provides 14 apps to help you link your excess food to your smartphone.

RecycleNation provides 8 ideas on how hone in on your planning to help cut down on too many leftovers. They include:

• checking your guest list, 
• turkey shopping for your numbers, 
• consider going meat free, 
• watching for dishes that need special ingredients (where the rest then gets wasted), 
• making stock with the bones or using FindAComposter to repurpose that food waste,
• sending leftovers home with your guests,
• getting creative with the leftovers you are left with!
• using the dishwasher versus handwashing--it's more water efficient!

Hungry Harvest's variation to the theme is also to freeze whatever leftovers you know you aren't going to get to. Additionally, bumping up those veggies always helps! MindBodyGreen and Wild Minimalist, agree, adding in letting natural items inspire your decor (versus anything store-bought or plastic).

Popular Science also included a lot of the ideas above (including finding a composting center) and this per person serving:

• 1 lb turkey per person
• Proteins 4-8 oz (1/2 cup to 1 cup)
• Starches 4-8 oz
• Vegetables 4-6 oz

However my favorite share of theirs was their link to the Guest-imator tool, a calculator designed to help you plan your Thanksgiving menu. You plug in # eaters (by small, average, and big eaters), amount of leftovers, and the type of menu you want: "Classic Thanksgiving," "Veggie Paradise." and "Smorgasbord" w/a little bit of everything. I'm definitely going to check that one out!

Whatever you plan for this Thanksgiving ahead, may your meal be plentiful, just not overflowing! Think largely while you eat lightly--maybe still a feast for you, but lightening the load on our planet!

Clipart from http://www.lovethispic.com/image/44755/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-thanksgiving; http://clipart-library.com/snoopy-thanksgiving-cliparts.html; Guest-imator image from https://savethefood.com/guestimator; video from https://youtu.be/z1X-HWPbeD4

Bar Shampoo: A Plastic-Free Variety

 Most of us probably spend more time singing in the shower rather than thinking about our carbon footprint or plastic footprint. "We're too busy washing that man right out of our hair" or just taking care of the business of being clean.

But our bathrooms have plenty of plastic that we use on a daily basis.
It's the 2nd most plastic-wasteful room in our house.

What if we could change all of that?

Shampoo bars might be the key. Much like a bar of soap, a shampoo bar is a molded bar of ... you guessed it: shampoo. But the environmental (and economic) impact can be huge.

Companies that have jumped on the Shampoo Bar bandwagon include Lush, One Earth Body Care, Aquarian Bath, Stirling Soap Co., Chagrin Valley, Apple Valley and probably a gazillion more on Amazon.com. Plus, there's a slew of recipes online for the DIY variety. I've not used bar shampoo yet, but this video alone got me certainly thinking about trying some out!



Plastic Footprint image from http://www.taza.co/plastic-footprint-and-carbon-footprint/ and http://www.aquarianbath.com/shampoo-bars-solid-shampoo-hair-soap/shampoo-bars-solid.html?p=2&limit=15&start=1&savestate=1, video from https://www.facebook.com/attn/videos/214240399077833/

Bye Bye Plastic Bags With Melati & Isabel Wijsen

Following up on my last post on National Geographic's Planet Or Plastic, this TED Talk from 2015 by Melati and Isabel Wijsen seems more timely than ever before.

Kudos to these two sisters, their 5 year mission, and their young leadership and innovation to create Bye Bye Plastic Bags. With their dedication, determination, and drive, they got the governor of Bali to promise to be plastic-free by 2018.

For two other important videos showing the "global wave of positive change" from Melati & Isabel, check out these two video links as well:

• Bali Plastic Bag Free by 2018? (Nov. 2017)
• It's About Time We Start Listening, Acting & Changing (Jan. 2017)

Video from https://www.ted.com/talks/melati_and_isabel_wijsen_our_campaign_to_ban_plastic_bags_in_bali#t-642234, Wijsen sisters picture from https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/culture/article/2016/04/12/balis-teenage-sisters-sparked-global-youth-movement-ban-plastic-bags, Logo from https://twitter.com/bbpb_bali

Nat Geo's Planet Or Plastic Campaign

Just last week, National Geographics launched their latest magazine and newest multi-year campaign with a striking cover. Planet or Plastic?

When you put it that way, clearly we have to choose.

Which I think is their point! And, if we must choose, my hope would be for the former versus the

latter.

When roughly 9 million TONS of plastic end up in the ocean annually that's significant. Don't forget, plastics, especially single use plastics, are pretty light in weight!

Just like their paper version of the magazine, their online portal is ripe with information... including a pledge you can take to cut down on your plastic consumption and usage!

Articles:

• We Make Plastic. We Depend on It. Now We're Drowning In It. by Laura Parker

• Plastics Explained, From A-Z by Elizabeth Atalay, Laura Parker, & Heidi Schulz
• This has a lot of important environmental vocabulary, and lots of resources available through clickable links or embedded videos.

• 10 Shocking Facts About Plastic (complete with startling photographs)

• Plastics: Source to Sea
• Nat Geo's global challenge, & solutions are listed here such as exploratory expeditions and grant programs, innovative ideas, and education initiatives and activities.

• For Animals, Plastic Is Turning the Ocean Into a Minefield by Natasha Daly

• We Know Plastic is Harming Marine Life. What About Us? by Elizabeth Royte

• The Haunting Art of Plastic Pollution by Natasha Daly
• "Photos 'give science a visual voice,'" artist Mandy Barker explains.

• You Can Help Turn the Tide on Plastic. Here's How by Laura Parker

• Why We're Giving Up The Plastic Wrapper Around Our  Magazine by Susan Goldberg
• 
  
• This Machine Transforms Waste Into Walls by Christina Nunez

• These Ice Pops Are Filled With Plastic & Other Waste by Daisy Chung

• How People Make Only One Jar of Trash a Year by Stephen Leahy

• Fast Facts About Plastic Pollution by Laura Parker
• The graphics and statistics here are striking.

Interactives:

• What Happens When We Throw Plastic Out

Their videos:

• Plastics 101
• A Brief History of How Plastic Has Changed Our World
• How to Cleanse Your Beauty Regime of Microplastic
• Students' Ice Pops Bring Plastic Pollution to (Unappetizing) Life
• Manta Ray Swims in Trash

All images from National Geographics Planet or Plastic https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/?beta=true

Is Algae the Answer to the Petroleum Problem?

After reading my eco-reads of 2018 (Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World by Bill Nye and Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus), thinking about innovative ways to solve our environmental and climate problems has been heavy on my mind.

That's why this video about Dave Hazlebeck, algae, & Global Algae Innovations speaks loudly to me.  Can fuel be made from algae? Could algae-biofuel be a potential future solution to our global and geopolitical problems? Could inspiration be around the corner for creating change? Fingers are crossed. These are the changes our world needs!



Here's an infographic that goes into more details.

Video from https://youtu.be/yCNkmi7VE0I; infographic from https://energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergizeme-infographic-challenge-algae-cleaner-and-greener-tomorrow; image from http://www.appropedia.org/Algae_fuel

The Cup Monster Cometh

What is that eerie and looming creature over there? 
Is the Demogorgon or Shadow Monster from "Stranger Things?"
A meta-human from "The Flash?" The The Loch Ness Monster, perhaps? 

Some might call it even worse.  It's the Cup Monster!!

(Insert scary music here!)

In October, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson (as he was kicking off the 2017 GeekWire Summit in Seattle) was greeted with "Grounds"... the "Cup Monster" pictured above.  Created by the Bellingham, Washington group stand.earth, Grounds was meant to be a major statement in his looming and eerie-ness.

Made of 500 used Starbucks coffee cups and sporting bloodshot eyes, Grounds was meant to pressure Starbucks to move to "100 percent recycled or tree-free cups."  This campaign (also known as the "Better Cup" campaign) stems from the 2008 Starbucks promise that by 2015 it would go to 100% recyclables or even reusable mugs. But here in 2017, we're not there yet. In fact,  The Better Cup Campaign claims that 1.5 million trees (in the form of 8000+ cups) are still being sacrificed and trashed for cups. The added problem is the plastic coating on the inside of the cup, which helps keep that coffee nice and piping hot, but makes it less likely to be recyclable in some areas.

If this is a campaign you support, you can show that by going to the Better Cup website and sign the petition to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson.

Starbucks cup & "We Call on Starbucks to:" images are screenshots from http://www.bettercup.earth/; Cup Monster pic from https://www.geekwire.com/2017/environmental-group-deploys-cup-monster-pressure-starbucks-use-sustainable-cups/

Bee's Wrap: Sustainable Food Storage

The buzzzz is all around...there's a new kind of food storage in town. It's from Bee's Wrap, a company created by Sarah Kaeck in 2012. And indeed, these new eco food wraps are made from organic cotton infused with beeswax, jojoba oil, and tree resin. It could be a game changer for plastic wrap as it can be washed, reused, and composted--3 things plastic wrap cannot be!

If that's not "the bee's knees," I'm not sure what is! These two videos give you an even closer look to the magic of Bee's Wrap.

 

For a more indepth story about how Bee's Wrap started, check out Sarah's video from her "About Us" page... then check out her website and consider doing some shopping!

Bee's Wrap® - Our Story from Sarah on Vimeo.

Video #1 from https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedVideo/videos/2186480714826132/; Video #2 from https://vimeo.com/218236674; logo from https://www.beeswrap.com/; other image from http://www.designsponge.com/2013/04/bees-wrap.html

Turning Tires & Trash into Outdoor Furniture in Senegal

My dad worked his entire career, 39 years, as a chemical engineer at the Firestone Tire & Rubber Plant in Decatur, Illinois--even before it was incorporated with Bridgestone. Knowing my dad was involved in the tire making process was a big pride and part of my childhood.
We even had a little "Ta duh da duh da duh" cheer we used to do in the car when driving by the plant.

But, anyone who owns 

(or leases) a car knows

that tires do not last 

forever. They wear out & 

need to be replaced. 

While that was what buttered the bread in my house growing up (given it was my dad's livelihood), that does create a bit of an environmental challenge when it comes to what to do with them at end-of-life. The bulk alone can be a problem, as can the fact that they are made from a multitude of materials. And certainly they aren't biodegradable. Their fumes are hazardous when incinerated, and they leach toxic materials due to their chemical construction which then can contaminate local waters. They also can create additional methane gas issues. Given that, a majority of the states in America ban whole tires from landfills.

Luckily, though, tires can sometimes be put to good use in their afterlife. They can be shredded for playground ground cover or rubber mulch (called "crumb rubber"), made into rubberized asphalt or roadfill... or even floor mats, dock bumpers, or carpet padding. This is the good news, but even with that, there's only about a 35% recycled rate. Probably less in other countries than the US!

All of this creates a challenge, and where there's a challenge, there's a call for innovation.  Insert Senegal here! This video shows how these Senegalese students repurposed 900 tires and 60 tons of garbage to make 400 recycled tables and benches! With over 50 projects like this in Senegal alone, the French Company 3000 Ecomen has put more than 16,000 tires and 17,000 tons of waste to good use. What a wonderful way to educate others on the importance of waste management and recycling. May we all follow suit and be inspired to be as creative as 3000 Ecomen.

   


Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDgfnWp9axI; Tire statistics from http://www.waste360.com/Recycling_And_Processing/scrap-tires-201003 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_tires; Firestone image from http://media.graytvinc.com/images/bridgestone+firestone1.jpg; benches picture from http://www.africanews.com/2017/05/31/senegalese-recycling-initiative-turns-waste-into-colorful-benches//; waste tire pic from http://www.wastetiresrecycle.com/RubberPowdersApplications/

Garbology Revisited

Garbage isn't sexy, but you certainly can learn a lot from it.

One go-to place for students to learn is My Garbology. The website opens with a clickable kid-sized quiz filled with an assortment of animated fun facts. Along the way, you need to sort out where the banana, the plastic bottle, and more should be deposited: compost, reuse, recycle, or landfill. Many of those facts and figures you click upon are startling in their statistics. Definitely good food for thought, and you will encounter a challenge or two along the way. There are also links to parents, students, and teachers, as well as many other resources on their site.

Another place to take notice of our over-consumption & garbage is the arts. Namely, the photography of Gregg Segal.  In his bio, Gregg details how he was taking pictures of his neighbor's garbage with his new camera at the age of 11. Early on, he had a vision of how garbage had an artistic quality about it. At the very least, he knew photography could capture a story worth telling, revealing volumes about our cultural values and beliefs. His work has been featured in many well-known publications

Some of his garbage/over-consumption series include:

7 Days of Garbage
Essential questions such as "where does the garbage go?" and "What happens when that space is maxed out?" were driving forces that led to this series of Gregg's. Especially when you consider that Joe "Average" American can self-generate approximately 29 pounds of garbage a week. Photographing this personalizes it and definitely brings the problem home. This series also brings home the idea that companies need to figure out a way to help with the excessiveness and build in their own circular construct of recycling to help the product go "cradle to grave"--from creation to safe and proper disposal.

  

Detritus

The vision behind this series is to highlight "a world drowning in excess." Detritus is seen as an iconic embodiment of our role as wasteful over-consumers. That "more, more, more" mentality. From Segal's description on this series: "Wandering the Earth, no place left for him in landfills, this dustbin refugee exudes pathos and regret, a vibrant reminder of our willful abuse of the planet."

Daily Bread

This series came out of his investigation of garbage. He started paying attention to both the food we were eating, and that which we were throwing away. Especially kids. Using food journals, he replicated the diets of kids, with some startling results. Makes you ponder as a parent what eating habits we are helping our kids build (and the associated health costs that processed foods lead to.)

To investigate some of his other thought-provoking series, check out his website!



Garbology definition from a google websearch https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=garbology+defined; "My Garbology" image from http://educade.org/lesson_plans/brainstorm-sustainable-activities-with-my-garbology; Greg Segal's images from his website: http://www.greggsegal.com/projects.php

The Common Denominator: Disposable Plastic

As we're still getting used to writing "2017" on our checks and correspondences, we probably still have strong memories of our holiday & New Year's parties.  Good times, good times!

In thinking about that, think about how many of the following you also saw (or used) at these during holiday festivities, along with your good buddies, pals, and family members:

• Plastic water bottles
• Grocery store baggies
• Plastic forks & spoons
• Zipper food storage bags 
• Shrink wrap or plastic wrap
• Plastic or styrofoam plates
• Take out containers
• Plastic cups and straws
• Chip or pretzel bags

And let's not even mention the packaging of food, toys, and probably half the gifts under your tree or beside your menorah.

The common denominator in the list above is plastic. Most of it, merely single-use waste and destined for (hopefully) a recycling center, though probably a landfill (if not "escaping" out in nature, much to the chagrin of the wildlife that "welcomes" it).

As I've stated before, environmentally, plastic is NOT fantastic!  This video details it...sometimes in ways that are far from pretty.

With the new year upon us, maybe it's time to take notice and really reflect upon what we are doing...and what we can do to help!

2017 glasses image from my house, plastic cutlary image from http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-you-can-stop-single-use-plastic-waste/comment-page-4/, Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTUWK7CM-Y

Not Your Typical Halloween Costume: TrashMe

Despite the fact that we are here on the cusp of Halloween, and despite the fact that this outfit looks like a costume, this outfit and this post aren't really about what to wear while trick-or-treating.  \(Though, I will say, you would certainly get a lot of looks if you were to wear this!)

Rob Greenfield decided to go on an epic adventure in New York City, which definitely won't help him get lost in the crowd.  For 30 days (Starting Sept. 19th, 2016), Rob decided to take on every piece of trash he was offered, he encountered, he created, or was tied to something he consumed.  Given that the average American creates 4.5 pounds of trash per day, this could get heavy! 135 pounds in fact, mathematically!  That amount of weight would make everyone think twice about consumption and diet!

Just watch:


Now granted, Rob isn't your typical New Yorker, nor is he your typical run-of-the-mill guy, as a matter of fact. He's a self proclaimed "adventurer, environmental activist, humanitarian, and dude making a difference."  He created "The Food Waste Fiasco" campaign to bring awareness to food & hunger. While on that brigade, he was known to dive in a dumpster or two to showcase the usable food that's going to waste. He's biked across America twice to raise awareness towards living sustainability. He's significantly limited himself to just over 100 possessions to show frugal living is a happier lifestyle than having all the "stuff."  He's done a number of TED talks and written the book "Dude Making a Difference." Doing dramatic things like wearing a month's worth of trash is exactly the kind of thing that Rob likes to do to highlight our regular actions that we all take for granted.

In 2018, Rob's suit-o'trash will be on display at the busiest US airport: the Atlanta International Airport.

To learn more about Rob Greenfield's adventures, check out his webpage.  While you are doing so, ask yourself: "What big and small differences can I make now."  While you are there, contemplating the changes you can make, ask yourself "WWRD: What would Rob do?"  You don't need to go quite to those extremes, but imagine how our mindset would change if we saw Rob (or some neighborhood kids) walking door to door this Halloween in this attire.  It might make us change our minds indeed!

Reminds me of a Halloween costume I once had. But only for a day!



Video from http://robgreenfield.tv/trashme/, image from http://www.wastedive.com/news/rob-greenfield-and-the-amazing-technicolor-trash-coat/428384/, Capri Sun dress image from http://www.greenteamgazette.com/2011/10/bein-green-this-halloween.html