Unexpected Bounty

I wasn't expecting to find such a plentiful bounty on my walk over the hill this morning.
I've done the same walk dozens of times without noticing a scrap of edible foliage, but today I totally scored!

• a handful of fresh mint
• two sweet little meyer lemons
• a few fresh sprigs of creeping rosemary
• some raw olives
• a bunch of young wild radish greens

I'm rooting the rosemary and mint to plant on the side of my house, but the greens and lemon sound like a perfect combo for a little snack! Yum!


Check out: neighborhoodfruit.com to find the goodies in your hood.

Never Say Never

Freeganism, Scrounging, Dumpster Diving. Call it what you will.
I always said I would never do it, but that all changed last week..... I did it. I can't believe I did it and at my own job.

That's right folks a dozen lovely little tomatoes that I just couldn't let go.
(Oh and a mango, a lime, a loaf of bread and three sweet potatoes!)

Ok here's the back story:

My new job has me working as an Urban Farming and Sustainability Program Coordinator (yes!) for a midsize non-profit that has, as one part, a cafe'. Since arriving I have been focusing on evaluating which foods can be easily grown for the cafe' in containers in the parking lot as well as modifying the cafe's waste stream to be more sustainable.

For the farm, that means saving food scraps from the kitchen for compost and coffee grounds from the front for our worm bins. The cafe staff has been slowly getting acclimated to the idea of sorting non-animal based (meat & dairy) food scraps from the other waste.

Since it is still a learning process, I spend a lot of time up to my elbows sorting through bag after bag of food waste that have been collected in closed plastic bins outside the back door.

Almost everyday I find a items that I can't quite decipher why they have been tossed. I pull them out, HIDE THEM and take them home to eat.

Honestly, I'm not completely comfortable with this either, but I do have a few standards that I'm sticking with to make sure that I'm more comfortable with taking and eating the food than worried about getting accidental food poisoning.

Items were found as follows:
Tomatoes

• in sandwich boxes separate from other waste

Mango

• on top of food bin

Lime

• in food waste bag, but has a thick skin

Bread

• individual plastic bag on top of other stuff

Sweet Potatoes

• in food waste bag, but will be peeled and cooked

I feel guilty that I am taking home such lovely food when so many others have nothing to eat, but with current laws as they are, this food is illegal.

I feel guilty for taking things from a non-profit that is always struggling to make ends meet, but this stuff has been tossed out.

I feel guilty about feeling too guilty to offer my bounty to others I work with. (I also, don't want to get fired for being a weirdo.)

However, my anonymous friends, I will share my bounty with you on the page. Look for the new FREE line in the daily waste tally starting today.

Here's to a Bicycle Commute

I finally did it! I found a new job and can now ride my bike to work! Hooray! Yeah! Boohyeah!

For the last 2 years I have been living and commuting in LA without owning a car. I clarify "owning" because I have on many occasions taken use of cars belonging to generous friends.(Thanks Bear, Becca and JP)

As of November, I have a new commute. A meager 20 minutes of butt on bike time, I'm leaving my car days long gone!

*ding* LIFE!

It is officially October...and I have fallen way off the waste wagon. What can I say that will truly explain the depths of my departure?

The stresses of not enough time, too many commitments and, as a result, less personal fulfillment have had me in a sleeper hold all summer. Once again, I find myself adrift, battling the waves of waste created by the fast-paced urban lifestyle.

King Convenience is a dictator that will run/ruin the world.

It's amazing how easily I have fallen back into the abyss of the paper coffee cup, forgotten the forests cut so that I may dry my hands and wipe my nose. Worse yet, I've let beautifully grown food waste away without even a savored nibble of appreciation for the hard labor of so many in its production.

So how to begin again? Slowly and with honest intent and attention. Stay tuned! I'm back in action!

Day 18: Oh Vanity

Just when I think I've finally gotten past the worst of it, I take a moment to peek under my bathroom sink to discover---dun dun dun!---enough personal hygiene products to cleanse, deodorize, supplement, wax and make up a small nation.

Shit! How am I supposed to get rid of this stuff?

I start sorting and I quickly realize that I have a lot of 1/2 used bottles of basically the same thing. Sunscreen, deodorant, lotion, face powder, shampoo etc. I sort these by category and start to look at what I can safely consolidate and realize that 1/2 of these products are expired and need to be tossed.

Ok. Not so bad considering that I have been buying only organic and natural ingredient products for quite some time. I take a chance and dump the expired herbal supplements into the compost, a bit of expired lotion in the trash and the containers in the recycle bin.

The rest of the stuff I am putting in a box that will be my personal, in house drugstore until it's all gone. I don't know what else to do.

One cool thing did come out of this! Upcycle project #3. Check it out.

Peanut can be reborn as my make up and brush organizer!
(eyeshadow and lipstick inside)

Day 17: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• walk to train to carpool with 1 person
• lift to bus to train to walk

Solid Waste
Reuse
Recycle
Compost

• 1 tea bag
  

Trash

• average amount of TP
  

Day 17: Dinner With a Side of Politics

Last night the BF and I met at Nature Mart to pick up some needed additional bulk goods. We got pasta, cereal flakes, raisins, almonds and oat bran. They were out of unsulfured molasses and olive oil so I'll go back next Tuesday or Wednesday to pick those up.

Afterwards, since we really haven't eaten out since this whole blog began (which is a seriously long time for us) we decided to go eat at Tropicalia Brazilian Grill. Despite having a very limited vegetarian selection, I would recommend this place to anyone I know.

As a side note, I was vegetarian for about 15 years and have slowly moved into being a flexitarian. That means I don't usually eat meat at home, but will totally eat limited amounts of meat at restaurants, friend's houses, etc...

I was ravenous and ate all of my braised pork with fresh veggies and tomatoes over fried polenta. My BF ordered the huge Salad Brasileira with steak and was only able to eat about 1/2 of it.

Oh no! What do we do? Do we leave it and waste all that good food? Do we take the plastic take out container? Wait! I have my upcycled milk jug lunch container with me! SWEET!

It worked perfectly, but I do have to admit that I felt a bit embarrassed about pulling it out of my bag, filling it up and stashing it away again. What is that about? My answer came in a bit of a political going off...

What does it say when we are so willing to throw away something as highly manufactured and designed as a plastic take out container? Think about it.

• the oil has to be drilled, refined and made into plastic
• someone has to design, and test the package
• the package has to be manufactured on a special machine
• it has to be packaged in bulk and shipped out to the restaurant

That's a lot of work for something most of us are just going to throw away. If all that work has no value, what work is valued?

If we buy a head of lettuce for $1, do we value the fact that each head is hand harvested? (Did you even know that? Lots of our food is hand picked.)

If we buy a pair of $5 shoes from any number of stores, do we value the fact that it probably took at least 10 different people to make those shoes?

Do we value the amount of gas that was used to ship our cheep goods here from all across the globe?

How are a $5 shoe and a $1 head of lettuce even possible then? Through exploitation of workers, through exploitation of the earth. You know it, I know it, but it's worth thinking about again, especially when your ego is taking a hit for being frugal.

Day 16: Waste Tally

Transportation

• walk to train to carpool with two people
• carpool with two people to train to home

Solid Waste

Reuse

Recycle

• junk mail (grrr!--anyone know how to stop recieving those store flyers?)

Compost

• 1 tea bag wrapper
• 1 tea bag

Trash

• average amount of TP

Day 16: No Impact Man

Last night we watched No Impact Man. It's a pretty good little film about one guy in New York City who, with his wife and child, try to live no impact for a year. They start out by cutting their trash to zero (they consider recycling the same as trash). They remove all chemical cleaners, and body products from their home, including the wife's makeup and birth control, and at about six months, they shut off their electricity and live by sun and candle light.

This is a pretty extreme way to go, and he admits it, but it's so great to see someone in another hugely wasteful urban environment that has tried a similar experiment. Despite a number of failures they encounter and a few cheats they employ, I think it was a worthwhile year.

Check out the trailer:

I guess sometimes you don't appreciate the simplicity of things until you really have to do without.

Day 15: Waste Tally

Transportation

• Dropped off at work
• Carpool with one other person to train to walk

Solid Waste
Reuse
Recycle

• 1 tin can
• 1 small tin can
• 2 pages of newsprint
  

Compost
Trash

• a small ball of packing tape
  
• average amount of TP (10 squares)
  

Day 13 / 14 Waste Tally

Transportation

• Drove: home to work to Agoura Hills (41 miles)

Solid Waste

Reuse

• paper ice cream pint

Recycle

• outer plastic from fig newtons
• inner plastic from fig newtons

Compost

Trash

• 1 waxed butter wrapper
• average amount of TP

Day 13: Saturday is Project Day

I'm getting all kinds of domestic up in here. I woke up about 8a and was struck with a wild hair to make chocolate.

Let me just say to all of you that have this idea yourselves one day: I had to wash each dish at least twice, if not three times to get all the butter and coco mess off. BUT, I found a cool use for some of those plastic lids. Chocolate molds! Yeah, check it out.


Isn't recycling delicious?

Day 11 / 12: Waste Tally

Transportation

• Drive: home to work and back (54 miles)

• walk to train to carpool with 1 person
• carpool with one person to train to walk

Solid Waste
Reuse
Recycle

• 2 plastic portion cups from CRAVE
• 1 glass wine bottle

Compost

• 1 teabag

Trash

• plum sized ball of tape
• average amount of TP

Day 11: In with the Good...

So pumped about my new organised and clutter free kitchen! Totally got deep into the grains this morning. This is going to be great!

• oatmeal with nuts and dried currants for breakfast
• brown rice for lunch
• chickpeas soaking for hummus later

All without wasteful packaging! Thanks Nature Mart Bulk Bin! xoxo

Also, got my zero waste coffee on by hitting Figueroa Produce for a pound of locally roasted Jones Coffee (brought my own coffee bag) and a bottle of locally produced Broguiere's Farm Fresh Milk which comes in a cute, old fashioned, glass bottle.

Plus, my two Favorite ways of making coffee are zero waste:

• French Press (oh yes!)
• Stovetop Espresso Percolator (look out!)

These little guys make outstanding coffee with just a small amount of beans and will only set you back about $25 each. Frugal indeed!

Day 10: Waste Tally

Transportation

• Drove: Home to Hollywood to Los Feliz to Fig Produce to Home (25 miles)

Solid Waste

• I have a lot of food containers to recycle today. Didn't do a full tally but I definitely filled up my 12 gallon recycling bin.

Day 10: Out with the Bad...

Well, it keeps going...I'm deep into house overhaul / cleanup mode. I had the day off so, of course, I spent the entire day working on a project.

Today's project: The Kitchen

I looked back at my blog from the first day where I said I could reduce waste by buying bulk grains, cereal, beans, etc. So, I took a drive over to the Nature Mart Bulk Bin in Los Feliz to stock up.

I love this place! Almost all of their bulk items are organic including sugar, an assortment of flours, grains, beans, pasta, nuts, dried fruit, granola, carob bars, coffee, olive oil, honey and lots of loose herbs and spices all offered for very reasonable prices. Example: my favorite organic 7 grain rolled cereal is $1.89 a pound!

Got about six different items which means six new plastic bags. Ouch. (I gotta stop letting this stuff into my house!) At least, I can reuse them until they die and then switch to fabric bags.

Once I was home, I started putting it all away in glass jars. I have a pretty good jar collection now thanks to my old housemate Torry who left me with some really cool old jars when she moved. (Thanks Lady!) Still, about 1/2 of my collection is spaghetti sauce, pickle and apple sauce jars that I've saved. I like the variety of shapes and they work just as well as mason jars.

Once everything was tucked into the jars I lined them up in color order just for kicks. OHHHHH Pretty! So I decided that I need to have my grained goodies in an open cabinet so I can enjoy looking at them and remember to enjoy eating them as well! That required some reshuffling.

First, you gotta do the truffle shuffle. Here's the play by play:

Top Open Cabinet:

• Spices, vinegars, oils OUT/ Bulk items IN

Low Open Cabinet:

• Girlie Liquor OUT / Favorite cookbook, recipe box, tea set IN

Junk Drawer:

• ELIMINATED / Spices IN

Top Narrow Cabinet:

• Unused cookbooks OUT / Vinegars and oils IN

Low Useless Cabinet:

• Unused glasses OUT / Girlie Liquor, canning jars (sort), incense and candle holders IN

Tupperware Drawer:

• Unmatched, damaged or poor quality containers OUT

Again, not too much trash, but lots of recycling to send away. I'm not totally comfortable with the belief that this will actually get recycled. I feel ok about the paper, because it will always decompose if it gets dumped, but the plastic is pretty stressful for me to send out en masse. Especially, since we have one of the mini recycling dumpsters the city offers and we only seem to get it 1/2 full every other week. This week and the next it will probably be full.

Taking a quick assessment of last week's recycling, 70% of it is food packaging.

All this stress has me wondering how I got all this stuff. Is all this trash just a normal part of American life? I'm guessing that most people just think less about tossing it away to begin with.

Day 9: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• drive to train to carpool with one person
  
• carpool with one person to train to walk home

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• plastic wrap off cookies
• one sided printouts to notebooks
  

Recycle

• 1 12 oz glass bottle
• 1 metal bottle cap
• lots of paper from the office
  

Compost

• 2 tea bags
• 2 paper tea bag wrappers
  

Trash

• assorted wire scraps, tape, dirt from office cleanup
  

Day 9: Whoo Hoo!

Been working on the office overhaul for the last 2 nights! So close!



Yes, I have a huge amount of stuff to recycle again today, the Salvation Army bag keeps getting bigger, but the trash remains minimal.

Maybe you're thinking..why are you blogging about cleaning your office when this is supposed to be about reducing waste?

Sure, I could hang onto everything, never throw anything out, until it stacks up so high that I am consumed in a Collyer Brothers-esque fire, and my waste tally would be clean. Between you and me, I have a better path to fame. (blogger)

I figure, the best thing to do is to clean house. Hopefully, once I have a nice, organized, clutter free space, it will help me be more aware of bringing new things in. That, as I am learning, is a very important lesson.

Day 8: Waste Tally

I'm cleaning out the office!

I finally sucked it up and bought three folding tables at Home Depot. Not in love with this company by any means, but it's close and I knew they had the tables I wanted. Plus the store I go to is great because the employees will almost always give me a discount just for being nice and chatting it up with them. Thank you.

I put the tables in a "T" shape so, I now have a separate craft zone and computer zone. Sweet! Now where to put my robot zone?

I was going to do built in desks, but then I realized that if I ever move (which is likely cause this is a rental) I would have to leave all that wood behind, or even worse...tear it out...not too sustainable.

So here's the day's tally minus some of the office stuff. As with the shed yesterday, most of the stuff I'm getting rid of is recyclable. Look for pics of the completed office tomorrow!

Transportation:

• Drove to work (23 miles)
• Drove home (27 miles)
• Drove to Home Depot and back (6 miles)

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 2 cereal boxes

Recycle

• 6' x 3' plastic bag
• 18" x 20" card stock label
• 2 inner plastic bags from cereal
• 1 small plastic deli wrapper

Compost

• 2 tea bags
• 2 paper tea bag wrappers

Trash

• 1 piece waxed deli paper

Day 6 / 7: Waste Tally

Transportation

• bus to dinner in Eagle Rock and back
• drove with 1 person to the Nibble Bit Tabby Brewery opening (Yum!)

(17 miles round trip)

• drove to work and back

(54 miles round trip)

• drove from home to Agoura Hills

(40 miles one way)

Solid Waste:

I forgot to keep a note pad with me to keep an accurate tally. Here's what I recall, excluding stuff cleaned out of the shed.

Reuse

Recycle

• 2 plastic drink cups at Blue Star Cafe (I hope they recycle)
• 1 fiberboard package
• 4 12 oz bottles
• 4 metal bottle caps

Compost

• 1 paper tea bag wrapper
• 1 tea bag

Trash

• 1 paper towel
• 3 orange sized balls of tape
• average amount of TP (down to about 10 per day)
• 7 tampons

Day 6 / 7: Greed, Gluttony and Guilt

I'm getting tricky and not in a good way. Yesterday, I had my boyfriend feed the cats and get the mail just so I wouldn't have to add the packaging and junk mail to my waste tally. Sorry babe.

When I started this a week ago, I thought,"This won't be too hard. I don't create that much waste. Having at least one zero waste day a week should be easy." How wrong I was.

So what's the big hold up?

I'm greedy. I want to do everything myself so I glut supplies, filling up my office, laundry room and shed for when "I get to really focus on my (....gardening, puppetry, business plan, custom shelving, chickens, cheese making, stencils, etc...)" Now I feel guilty.

Honestly, look at my office! I have way too much stuff. Too many supplies that I can't properly organise. Most of this is actually garden stuff that ended up in my office because our shed got messy. Ok..then I guess I should start with the shed.

vs'

Each pile of junk in the shed is representative of a new hobby or pursuit: A stack of beverages for the small events I occasionally produce, a box of lighting and A/V gear, a tool chest, two partially built bikes, a dead electric scooter, motorcycle parts, camping gear, garden supplies and two shelves of scenery from a psychedelic puppet show I did two years ago....

WAIT! Two shelves of stuff I haven't touched for two years!?!?! Puppets, get thee to deep storage under the house! Give me my shelves back.

This is where I need to make a few disclaimers. 1) How lucky am I that I have a house and a shed to begin with? I know many of you live in apartments and do not have the luxury of these things. 2) I ended up being the storage facility for the puppet scenery exactly because I have this space where no one else in my puppet troupe does.

I sorted through every single box and bag; sorting tools, screws, rope, papers, all of it. Anything that was broken got recycled. Anything that I no longer needed is going to Salvation Army today.

Mantra: Just because it's useful, doesn't mean it's useful TO ME.

Actually, the only trash I had was the leather and foam off an old bike seat. The rest of the seat I cut apart with a hacksaw so I could separate the metal from the plastic for recycling. I hope they will accept it, if not it was fun to get out the ole hacksaw!

Look out office....your day is due.

Day 5: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• walk to train to carpool with 1 person
• carpool with one person to train to walk

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 1 pint ice cream container and lid
  

Recycle

• 1 small platic deli wrap
• 1 small plastic wrapper
• 1 12oz glass bottle
• 1 metal bottle cap
  

Compost

• 1 tea bag

Trash

• 1 12' square waxed piece of paper
• 5 tampons
• average amount of TP (about 16 squares)
  

Day 5: The Facts of Life BEWARE!

You've read about it in books! You've heard about it from friends! Maybe you even have one of your very own! That's right ladies! Its...It's...It's... YOUR PERIOD!

Believe me, I really don't want to have this conversation either. But facts are facts and having a period means throwing away way more stuff than you probably like. I haven't made the sustainability switch yet so, let's break it down and see what the options are.

1. Pads: The only choice for some, but OMG so much waste!

Options: Lunapads and GladRags seem to be the two most available options out there. Both offer organic cotton liners, which can be purchased in a variety of absorbencies and designs, and carrying bags for both clean and used liners. Just throw them in the wash and they're good to go again.

Lunapads Organic Cotton Sample Kit: $69-$97
(low end does not include laundry bag)

• 2 mini pads & 2 basic liners
• 2 maxi pads & 2 maxi liners
• 1 mesh laundry bag

Additional Items: $20

• moon pad bag (for used pads)

GladRags Organic Cotton Sample Kit: $59-$107
(Low end does not include last 2 items)

• 3 day pads
• 2 panty liners
• 1 night pad
• 1 classic carry bag
• 1 mesh laundry bag

Additional Items: none

Most people would shell out this much over the course of a year for regular pads, but it seems like a pretty expensive initial investment.


2. Tampons: Probably the most common choice. While more of us are choosing organic cotton, applicator free options, there is still a lot of waste created by these things.

-Step #1 is to stop flushing these things. The water system is NOT a trash can. Adding solid waste in the form of Tampons, Applicators, Condoms, Qtips, Cotton Balls, etc...makes the water that much harder to clean for future use. So put that shit in the trash can already!  

Moving on. -

Options: Sea Pearls Menstrual Sponges, seem to be a big hit. These sponges are 100% natural and sustainably harvested. Each sponge is good for about 4 hours of use and lasts about 1 year before needing replacement. Recommended disinfecting is with water and tea tree oil. Cool.

Sea Pearls: $15- $34

• 2 Packs Sea Pearls Sponges $24
• Upgrade to Ultra Durable Premium Sea Sponges $3
• Sponge Tote $7

These look pretty natural....No dioxins...No Rayon...Lessens the risk of TSS...Hmm? Who's sponge worthy, now?

-Tried the Sea Pearls in a pinch while home a few weeks ago. While I was happy to have an alternative to the bleached cotton with a plastic something or other micro mesh crap.. I wasn't totally impressed.

Pros

-Super Comfortable and Portable

-100% natural sea sponge

-good for light days

Cons

-difficult to tell when sponges need changed

-sponges are challenging to fully clean

-tend to shift in position and create leaks
-sponges fall apart 3 or 4 after a few uses

All in all, I will most likely use this item for the very end of my cycle. -

3. Menstrual Cups: This is a newer option designed to allow women to go up to 8-12 hours without changing. The Instead Softcup is the first product I remember hitting the market back about 2000. I tried it, but never got the hang of it and you still have to toss at least 2 plastic cups per day during your cycle.

Options: The Diva Cup and The Moon Cup look about the same to me. The only really different product I found is The Keeper which is made of organic latex. All come in a variety of sizes to account for changes resulting from giving birth.
Diva Cup $25

• medical grade silicone cup
• carry bag

Moon Cup $25

• medical grade silicone cup
• carry bag

The Keeper $30

• organic latex cup
• carry bag

I read a few reviews that said The Keeper is a bit firmer than the silicone and might not be suited to all body types.

-I ended up purchasing the Diva Cup. I absolutely love it. Its super easy to use (after an initial learning curve - be prepared) and very comfortable. The manufacturer is required to recommend that it be replaced every 6 months, but I did some additional research that makes me comfortable with the fact that I still have the same one a year later. The basic recommendation I have been following is to boil the cup each month after use and again before use the next month to ensure silicone is sterile.

As an added bonus, I no longer have issues with BV or yeast infection as was common before with tampon use! Yeah.. Proving, once again,  that those things are a bad idea.-


So, looks like we have quite a lot more options than even a few years ago. Having grown up in the era of failed silicone breast implants (probably not the same thing), I'm inclined to try the sea sponges first. I would still count any of the cups a close second.

The only question I have now is: What's with the names of these things? Diva and Moon? Why does anything related to my period have to have a huge attitude or be an earth loving hippy? I don't get it.

Day 4: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• walk to train to carpool with 2 others
• carpool with 2 others to train to walk home

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 1 plastic 1/2 gallon milk jug

Check out my nifty little upcycle project! (right)

Recycle

• a few scraps of plastic milk jug
• 1 12oz glass bottle
• 1 metal bottle cap

Compost

• 2 teabags
• 1 paper tea bag wrapper
• 2 18" square pieces of deli paper?

Composting deli paper is an experiement. Not actually sure it will work. The deli paper I have is thin, has no obvious wax coating and easily takes on water, so I have high hopes. Stay tuned for test results!

Trash

• 1 waxed tea bag wrapper
• 2 paper towels (oops!)
  

Hmm? How to get rid of those? One solution I found today is the People Towel. Their slogan: CHANGE IS AT HAND says it all. Unfortunately, they don't list a shop that carries them locally, so I'll probably just grab a small towel from home and pack it around for now.

Day 4: Contemporary Cooking vs American Inginuity

Contemporary Cooking: One Item = One Use

Check out this $15 device from the folks at Williams-Sonoma designed to take the guess work out of cutting mushrooms. (WTF?) Oh and it's Dutch! Well that makes all the difference!

American Ingenuity: One Item = Many Reuses

I was just forwarded this great post from 2DayBlog.com. (thanks JP) If you can't tell, that's a CD spindle holder! Feeling better about the existence of the mushroom slicer already.

Day 3: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• lift to train to bus to work
• carpool with 1 person to train to walk home

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 1 paper coffee cup
  

Recycle

• 1 plastic lid
  
• 1 plastic dome off small battery pack
  
• 1 paper back off small battery pack
  
• 1 12oz glass bottle
  
• 1 metal bottle cap
  

Compost

Trash

• 1 paper towel
• average amount of TP

Day 3: Commuter Cup Conundrum!

I didn't have my reusable cup this morning and REALLY wanted a coffee for the road.....so.....after learning that neither the Gelson's nor Oak's Gourmet Market on Franklin have commuter cups for sale.....

I totally caved! I bought a coffee: paper cup, plastic lid....all of it. Crap!

M. E. FRUGAL: Well, I guess I can reuse the cup as a seed pot, but the lid is just a single use item for the recycling bin.

M. E. REALIST: Now wait a minute...this is exactly how the laundry room got the be a clusterf #&k. WILLPOWER! Just don't buy it.

M. E. DEFLATED: The coffee didn't really taste good anyways. It was flavored with too much guilt. *sigh*

Day 2: Waste Tally

Off to a moderately good start. I got up a few minutes early to be sure I had time to make lunch. Finished off a loaf of store bought bread and used the outer bread bag to pack up my lunch.

BTW: When did bread start coming in TWO bags?

Composted an entire pound of raw cat food I forgot about in the microwave :(

I didn't get the glass bottle situation taken care of for trash day this morning, so we'll take care of that next Monday.

Tonight is the Old LA Farmer's Market right off my train stop so I picked up some tomatoes, fresh bread and a few other things. Most of it is only "natural" or "pesticide free" and not certified organic, which is disappointing, but at least it's local and supports small farmers.

Transportation:

• walk to train to carpool with 1 person to work
• carpool with 2 people to train to walk home
  
• Train to Hollywood/Vine to meet friends for dinner at Thai Palms.

Unfortunately, Thai Elvis (pictured right) was not performing.

• carpool (got a lift) to friend's house in Hollywood

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 1 plastic grocery bag

Recycle

• inner plastic bag from bread

Compost

• 1 tea bag
• 1 lb raw cat food

Trash

• small ball of plastic tape
• average amount of TP (about 18 squares)

Day 2: There IS Free Lunch

In honor of creating less waste I find it my moral obligation to upcycle this left over sandwich from a lunch buffet at my office to my face. Yes!

Day 1: Waste Tally

Transportation:

• Got dropped off on the way back east. NIGHTMARE! 23 miles in 1.25 hours!

Am I crazy to think that every major freeway in LA should have a train, or at least a designated bus or carpool lane down the middle?...come on LA!

• Carpool with 3 others to Pasadena (Lake Street Gold Line Station) and then train back to Highland Park. About an 1 hour door to door, same as if I drove directly home by myself.

Solid Waste:

Reuse

• 1 16oz waxed paper cup

Ruined by a blood sugar crash on the way home. Lesson: Carry a snack

Recycle

• 1 mochi package

Look at all that packaging!

Compost

• 1 tea bag
• 1 paper tea wrapper

Trash

• 2 paper towels
• 1 small chip bag
• average amount of TP

Which brings up a question, what is an "average amount" of TP? Guess I'll be counting squares in the coming days.

This could get revealing.

Day 1: Food and Eating

Culprit numero uno: the Standard American Diet aka S.A.D.

PACKAGING AND STORAGE
1) Glass and Plastic Bottles: We (me and my BF) don't drink a lot of bottled beverages in my house other than beer and an occasional Mexican coke (made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup), or a bottled water in a pinch. When I first moved to LA, I was putting all these directly into the recycling bin to be picked up by the city...more times than not, these items would be hauled back out by an enterprising person with a shopping cart.

Concerned for the safety of these folks, I started to sort out the items with a cash redemption value and put them on the curb separately on trash day. Ok. Good, right? Except, I've gotten lazy and haven't set them out in about a month.

WHAT TO DO: For starters, I need to get these puppies to the curb and to the folks I've been hoarding them for. I have been wanting to quit drinking soda anyways and I can make sure to always have my reusable water bottle.

But what about the beer bottles? We like to host little cookouts for 4-6 people almost every weekend, which tends to make things add up pretty fast. This one requires more thought. Mircrobrew? Growlers? Homebrew?

2) Paper Coffee Cups and Plastic Cold Cups: Don't forget all those plastic straws and lids! Yes, I know I said I have a reusable coffee cup, but we only have one commuter cup, which I only pack around on weekdays and is too small for cold beverages. Generally in my house...hot coffee is small, iced coffee is large.

WHAT TO DO: Get another commuter cup and take both along on weekend outings for hot and cold beverages. Lately, we have been saving our extra morning coffee in a glass jar in the fridge to use later as iced coffee. I think keeping this jar full is probably a simple solution considering that we are usually coming from or heading to home when we buy coffee.

3) Paper Board and Cardboard Food Packaging: Generally this includes six pack carriers, an empty tea box or two, cereal boxes, a pasta or cookie box, an egg carton and one waxed paper milk carton per week.

WHAT TO DO: I could buy more bulk bin cereals, pasta and tea. I can get milk from a local dairy that sells their milk in reusable glass jars. Unavoidable paperboard packaging might be good addition to the compost pile as "brown matter". I definitely want to confirm that the printing is not done with petroleum ink first.

4) Styrofoam Take-Out Boxes and Portion Cups: OMG! This is the worst. I'm not sure where you live, but in LA Styrofoam is the go to material for take out food containers and lately, we seem to only be ordering from the places that individually package each and every item in it's own Styrofoam package. While the municipal recycling has started to accept "clean Styrofoam packaging" for recycling. I'm not convinced that the box my chili relleno and pad thai from last week came in will ever be clean enough to fit that description.

WHAT TO DO: Eat at home. Pack lunches. Not only do I save money when I cook on a regular basis, but I save an incredible amount of packaging. Generally it takes 45mins to an hour to get food delivered in my neighborhood. In that amount of time, I could easily go the the grocery store, get a few items and make a simple and healthy meal. Double whammy...less waste, more healthy.

5) Aluminium and Tin Plated Steel Cans: Not many of these right now. Probably would have more of these and less of the above if I had been cooking lately. Generally these are from canned tomatoes or beans.

WHAT TO DO: I have planted extra tomatoes this year in the hopes of reviving a family tradition from my youth and canning my own tomatoes for winter use. In the mean time, I can use fresh tomatoes and dry beans can be a bulk bin purchase.


FOOD WASTE
1) Compost and Worm Bin: I compost everything (even meat and diary). Greens and herbs for worms, coffee and citrus for fruit trees and the rest for the pile, but I must admit I still waste more food than I like. I feel especially bad when I see food that I have cultivated for weeks go to waste. As I said above, I haven't been cooking much. I have one full time job, a revolving slate of freelance projects as well as a number of community projects I support and volunteer for. I tend to be pretty busy.

WHAT TO DO: Slow down. I think if I have more time at home to cook and enjoy my food I will be more willing to make the complicated (and by that I mean, not a sandwich or cereal) meals that I really enjoy.


So here's the list for this week:

EASY(ish) STUFF
-Buy a second commuter cup
-Carry a commuter cup and water bottle at all times
-Cook more / pack lunch
-Take the cash redemption bottles to the curb
-Keep the iced coffee jar full
-Stop drinking soda
-Go the the bulk bin for grains, beans, cereals, etc
-Keep fresh tomatoes on hand
-Get milk from local dairy with reusable glass jars

HARD(er) STUFF
-Slow down
-Be aware of choices
-Think about ways to use fewer beer bottles. Microbrew? Growlers?
-Find out contents of packaging inks and compost if possible

Hmm? Seems manageable. Here I go!