I joined the Compact in January. The Compact is a group of people who have pledged not to buy any new stuff for some period of time (often a year, though many continue beyond that). So far, not shopping has been pretty easy. I was never very interested in shopping anyhow.
A few days ago, I found out I'm going to be going on a business trip to the Midwestern city were I went to college. This brought on a whole bunch of worries. How many days of meetings would there be? Do I have enough different sets of sufficiently professional clothing? Is my laptop backpack sufficiently professional and adult looking? What about a purse, stockings etc? I work in Silicon Valley, so work attire is informal. Even my boss, a senior VP, often wears jeans to work. I carry my laptop, wallet etc. in a very handy backpack that I bought before I started Compacting. Will that be OK? I don't want to look like a college student in front of a potential client. I'd also like to avoid buying (or wearing) nylon stockings. Nylons are such a waste since they often develop runs after having been worn only a few times. I usually wear white gym socks, but certainly that won't work for these meetings. I remember buying some black trouser socks last year. I guess I'll need to clean my house and find them before the trip. Any thoughts about carrying my stuff to the meetings? Should I use the backpack or hit the thrift stores and try to find something more "professional"?
The other thing that bothers me about travel is the CO2 emissions associated with air travel. According to Native Energy my plane trip will cause 1.395 tons of CO2 emissions. All that for the modest contribution that I might (or might not) make to closing some business for my company. I can, and probably will by carbon offsets for the trip, but I don't consider flying to be sustainable even if you do buy offsets.
I suppose if I were not going on this trip someone else would be going instead...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Water containers: the bad, the good and those in between
I finally brought a re-useable water bottle into work on Friday. I usually use a real mug to get my water from the water cooler. However, the water isn't very cold so I often end up getting ice from the cafeteria. Unfortunately, they only have styrofoam cups. I feel really guilty using them and bottled water isn't the most environmental choice anyhow. Friday morning I noticed a re-usable plastic water bottle that I bought a while ago, but never used. I filled it with ice and water from the Brita pitcher and took it to work.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling that well so it didn't last all day. So at lunchtime, I found myself getting ice water at the cafeteria. They don't have any re-usable cups available. Fortunately, I noticed that they have switched from styrofoam to the "Ecotainer" from International Paper. It says on the cup that it’s compostable. I took it home to research it and since I can't compost it at work.
Here's what I learned at the Ecotainer.
The good part:
1) The eco part is that the liner that makes keeps the liquid inside the cup is made from corn rather than petroleum. Aside from reducing petroleum use, this allows the cup to be composted. The standard cups, with a petroleum-based liner, can't be composted.
2) The cups that the cafeteria used to carry are stryofoam. At least, they aren't using those anymore.
The bad part:
1) The paper in the cup is not re-cycled. This is very disappointing. It's hard to call any disposable cup environmentally conscious, especially one made from virgin paper.
2) Chances are that very few of these "compostable" cups will ever become compost. There's no composting container in the cafeteria, so most of them will go to the landfill. The conditions in standard landfills make it very unlikely that the cup will actually bio-degrade.
My paper cup is luckier that most. After I brought it home, I filled it with dirt and planted one of my broccoli seedlings in it. It will serve as a pot for vegetable seedlings until its worn out and ready to go back to the earth. I can only use so many veggies seedling pots; so I'll try to take a paper cup as rarely as possible, and stick with my re-usable plastic water bottle.
Let's just hope I can remember to fill it up and bring it to work.
What's in season?
Here's what I bought at the farmer's market this week.
leeks
broccoli
red cabbage
pink lady apples
navel oranges
Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling that well so it didn't last all day. So at lunchtime, I found myself getting ice water at the cafeteria. They don't have any re-usable cups available. Fortunately, I noticed that they have switched from styrofoam to the "Ecotainer" from International Paper. It says on the cup that it’s compostable. I took it home to research it and since I can't compost it at work.
Here's what I learned at the Ecotainer.
The good part:
1) The eco part is that the liner that makes keeps the liquid inside the cup is made from corn rather than petroleum. Aside from reducing petroleum use, this allows the cup to be composted. The standard cups, with a petroleum-based liner, can't be composted.
2) The cups that the cafeteria used to carry are stryofoam. At least, they aren't using those anymore.
The bad part:
1) The paper in the cup is not re-cycled. This is very disappointing. It's hard to call any disposable cup environmentally conscious, especially one made from virgin paper.
2) Chances are that very few of these "compostable" cups will ever become compost. There's no composting container in the cafeteria, so most of them will go to the landfill. The conditions in standard landfills make it very unlikely that the cup will actually bio-degrade.
My paper cup is luckier that most. After I brought it home, I filled it with dirt and planted one of my broccoli seedlings in it. It will serve as a pot for vegetable seedlings until its worn out and ready to go back to the earth. I can only use so many veggies seedling pots; so I'll try to take a paper cup as rarely as possible, and stick with my re-usable plastic water bottle.
Let's just hope I can remember to fill it up and bring it to work.
What's in season?
Here's what I bought at the farmer's market this week.
leeks
broccoli
red cabbage
pink lady apples
navel oranges
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Inertia
I really haven't made much progress on green living since I started writing here. As you might guess from my lack of posts, I've been very busy. Today's a Sunday and I'm lying on the couch with a cough and a sore throat.
In the last month of working hard and not focusing much on green living, I've noticed something interesting (and perhaps obvious). The chance that one will do what one thinks is the right thing is largely based on the extent to which it has become routine. Yes, we are creatures of habit unless we really try to make a change. The things that we do routinely are fairly easy, even if they would seem difficult to others. Changes that other people think of as fairly easy can be difficult if they haven't yet become standard practice in one's life.
A few examples are in order. One change that we've made in our life that many others would find difficult is giving up our car. We sold our car about 4 years ago. The last time I drove was about a year ago, when I rented a car during a visit to my college friends in a less transit-friendly city. In some ways not having a car isn't easy. It takes me significantly longer to get to work (on the train), but its much more relaxing to sit back and read a book than having to constantly watch the road and trying to avoid killing someone. Still there are times when its raining or I'm sick and really want to go the store to get ice cream (sometimes my beloved husband will get on his bike and buy me some :) ) and the convenience would be nice. The relevant point here is the even though car-freedom has its occaisional disadvantages, it's become standard practice for us. Therefore, it's quite easy even though most of my co-workers find it almost unthinkable.
On the other hand, my hopes of switching to local, organic, and unpackaged food have fallen victim to my busyiness at work and my lazyness. I eat pretty healthfully (lots of salads) but often they come from the cafeteria at our office complex. It's higher quality than most cafeterias, but it still means very little control over where the food comes from. They certainly don't label it with the point of origin. I usually eat my food in the cafeteria, thus no take-out containers; but sometimes I'm so busy that I take it back to my desk. To some people, eating local or organic or un-packaged food might be easier than not driving a car; but not for me. It's not a standard part of my life yet. I hope someday it will be.
In the last month of working hard and not focusing much on green living, I've noticed something interesting (and perhaps obvious). The chance that one will do what one thinks is the right thing is largely based on the extent to which it has become routine. Yes, we are creatures of habit unless we really try to make a change. The things that we do routinely are fairly easy, even if they would seem difficult to others. Changes that other people think of as fairly easy can be difficult if they haven't yet become standard practice in one's life.
A few examples are in order. One change that we've made in our life that many others would find difficult is giving up our car. We sold our car about 4 years ago. The last time I drove was about a year ago, when I rented a car during a visit to my college friends in a less transit-friendly city. In some ways not having a car isn't easy. It takes me significantly longer to get to work (on the train), but its much more relaxing to sit back and read a book than having to constantly watch the road and trying to avoid killing someone. Still there are times when its raining or I'm sick and really want to go the store to get ice cream (sometimes my beloved husband will get on his bike and buy me some :) ) and the convenience would be nice. The relevant point here is the even though car-freedom has its occaisional disadvantages, it's become standard practice for us. Therefore, it's quite easy even though most of my co-workers find it almost unthinkable.
On the other hand, my hopes of switching to local, organic, and unpackaged food have fallen victim to my busyiness at work and my lazyness. I eat pretty healthfully (lots of salads) but often they come from the cafeteria at our office complex. It's higher quality than most cafeterias, but it still means very little control over where the food comes from. They certainly don't label it with the point of origin. I usually eat my food in the cafeteria, thus no take-out containers; but sometimes I'm so busy that I take it back to my desk. To some people, eating local or organic or un-packaged food might be easier than not driving a car; but not for me. It's not a standard part of my life yet. I hope someday it will be.
Monday, February 19, 2007
First Steps in Local Food
I'd like to start eating more local and organic food. I'm not ready to go 100% local since I don't know where to find everything I would need (especially grains). Also, if you need to know where all of your food comes from, it's very hard to eat out except at a few places. With my busy life, I eat at the cafeteria in our "office park" quite a lot and who knows where that food comes from. I don't know that I have time to buy and prepare all of my food. Still, a few steps in that direction would be a good idea.
Yesterday, we went to the Heart of the City farmer's market. Its located in the UN plaza in San Francisco, right across from City Hall. From what I'd read about it the prices are great but there isn't much organic food. Both of these proved to be true. The oddest thing about the market was that almost none of the farmers had signs to indicate the name of their farm or where they are located.
I found one certified organic farm. It was only from the organic certification attached to the stand that I learned that the farm was Ortiz Brothers and that they were from Santa Rosa (about 55 miles from the market). I happily bought some broccoli, bok choy and cilantro from the Ortiz farm for $5. He was friendly as well and didn't mind when I used a little beginner Spanish.
I bought a red cabbage from a stand not labeled organic since I love red cabbage and it was the only stand that had any of it. It was only $1. I asked the woman where the farm was. She got irritated, and said "everybody" asks that and that she considers anything within 250 miles local. She mentioned San Juan Bautista. When I got home I discovered that this is ~92 miles from the market near Hollister, so it was probably fairly local.
We also got red potatoes, garlic, onion and chile peppers from the largest stand in the market, closest to City Hall. Again no mention of organic or where the farm is. They were very busy so I didn't ask. When we got home we had a nice, home-cooked, fairly local meal.
In general, I was fairly disappointed with the market given the small amount of organic food and the difficulty in figuring out where it's from. I probably won't go out of my way to there; but if I'm walking by the Civic Center on a Sunday or Wednesday, I'll be looking for the Ortiz Brothers.
Yesterday, we went to the Heart of the City farmer's market. Its located in the UN plaza in San Francisco, right across from City Hall. From what I'd read about it the prices are great but there isn't much organic food. Both of these proved to be true. The oddest thing about the market was that almost none of the farmers had signs to indicate the name of their farm or where they are located.
I found one certified organic farm. It was only from the organic certification attached to the stand that I learned that the farm was Ortiz Brothers and that they were from Santa Rosa (about 55 miles from the market). I happily bought some broccoli, bok choy and cilantro from the Ortiz farm for $5. He was friendly as well and didn't mind when I used a little beginner Spanish.
I bought a red cabbage from a stand not labeled organic since I love red cabbage and it was the only stand that had any of it. It was only $1. I asked the woman where the farm was. She got irritated, and said "everybody" asks that and that she considers anything within 250 miles local. She mentioned San Juan Bautista. When I got home I discovered that this is ~92 miles from the market near Hollister, so it was probably fairly local.
We also got red potatoes, garlic, onion and chile peppers from the largest stand in the market, closest to City Hall. Again no mention of organic or where the farm is. They were very busy so I didn't ask. When we got home we had a nice, home-cooked, fairly local meal.
In general, I was fairly disappointed with the market given the small amount of organic food and the difficulty in figuring out where it's from. I probably won't go out of my way to there; but if I'm walking by the Civic Center on a Sunday or Wednesday, I'll be looking for the Ortiz Brothers.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Weeding and wildflowers
Today was a Saturday and an absolutely beautiful, warm, sunny day. I spent as much of it as possible in my front garden, pulling weeds. For the past few years, I've been gradually pulling out the grass in front of our house and replacing it with native plants (both shrubs and wildflowers). The wonderful thing is that once a species get established, the plants grow and spread on their own. The perennial shrubs grow each year and the annuals multiply and spread. Since the plants are adapted to this climate they don't need to be watered, except for the first year if you plant in the dry season. Finding the plants is more effort than for your standard garden center plants; but once they are going, they aren't much work at all. They do benefit from weeding out the remaining lawn grass as well as removing the other weeds. This fits in well with my busy schedule because I can put in some hours of weeding when I have time; but if I go a few weeks without working in the garden, they do just fine.
The ones that have spread the most are California poppies and beach strawberry. California poppies are the state flower and in my garden they grow large and re-seed prolifically. Every time I'm weeding I find a few small poppy plants that I hadn't seen before and I clear the grass from around them. In a few months the flowers should be stunning. Beach strawberry spreads by runners and it likes my garden. It's very effective at replacing the grass. So far no strawberries to eat, but it makes a attractive, low-maintenance ground cover that stays green and doesn't need to be watered.
The first few flowers are appearing in the garden. The first flower heads are appearing on my two Ceanothus (wild lilac) plants. The red maids (Calandrinia ciliata) are also just starting. I have many of the these rapidly-spreading annuals. In a few weeks, it will look really nice. Perhaps, I post some pictures. That will be a good incentive to clear out the weeds around these plants so that they take better pictures.
It was a wonderful day, and it was sad when I had to come inside to do some work.
The ones that have spread the most are California poppies and beach strawberry. California poppies are the state flower and in my garden they grow large and re-seed prolifically. Every time I'm weeding I find a few small poppy plants that I hadn't seen before and I clear the grass from around them. In a few months the flowers should be stunning. Beach strawberry spreads by runners and it likes my garden. It's very effective at replacing the grass. So far no strawberries to eat, but it makes a attractive, low-maintenance ground cover that stays green and doesn't need to be watered.
The first few flowers are appearing in the garden. The first flower heads are appearing on my two Ceanothus (wild lilac) plants. The red maids (Calandrinia ciliata) are also just starting. I have many of the these rapidly-spreading annuals. In a few weeks, it will look really nice. Perhaps, I post some pictures. That will be a good incentive to clear out the weeds around these plants so that they take better pictures.
It was a wonderful day, and it was sad when I had to come inside to do some work.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Introduction
Here's some things you should know about me if you are reading my blog.
I'm a thirty-something married woman living the San Francisco Bay Area. I work an intense Silicon Valley job that keeps me very busy. I'm also trying to live a "green" life that minimizes my contribution to global warming, destruction of ecosystems and so on.
This blog describes my efforts to do both and still get enough sleep.
I'm a thirty-something married woman living the San Francisco Bay Area. I work an intense Silicon Valley job that keeps me very busy. I'm also trying to live a "green" life that minimizes my contribution to global warming, destruction of ecosystems and so on.
This blog describes my efforts to do both and still get enough sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)