Take Back The Filter Campaign

This is a really great campaign that Beth over at Fake Plastic Fish spearheaded. Clorox, who now owns Brita North America, does not accept filters back for recycling and re-use while their European counterparts have been doing this since 1992.  It makes no sense and in an environment where people should be heading towards filtered water and away from bottled, we need to keep the pressure on companies to be responsible for the waste involved in the filters.  For more info about the campaign check here and makes sure to sign the petition as well!

Live Sustainably

Dave

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Tired of mowing....plant Wheat!

Here's a pretty cool little story that my friend Marc sent me. It was on NPR's Day to Day a month or so back and really speaks to what i think makes this country great.  A bakery in Northampton Ma, tired of volatile wheat prices and the problems that lawns create (think water shortage and fossil fuel use, not to mention pollution) asked some of the local townsfolk to tear up a ten by ten patch of lawn and plant wheat.

Their hope is that over time they will figure out which crop grows best, and than can convince local farmers to start growing wheat, something which hasn't happened in the area since WWII.

The thing I like about this is that it is a story about local folks who are banding together and saying "Enough, we can change things by ourselves and don't have to wait for big business or the government to lead the way...we'll lead and they can follow."  As the story suggests, it's reminiscent of Victory gardens that were popular during WWII, small home gardens that were planted to help feed folks during war times when fresh veggies were scarce. Believe it or not, and it's tough to in this jaded day and age, this was their way of helping the war effort and a large portion of the allied populations got involved.

Perhaps we should be revisiting these old ideas and making them new again?

Live Sustainably

Dave

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Bottled Water

My buddy Duane sent this to me. Thought it was kind of cool. Enjoy.

Live Sustainably

Dave

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Pacific Gyre Sample

The sample you are looking at was taken off the surface of the ocean 1500 miles from land by my friends Marcus and Anna. Studying the Gyre for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, they surmised that it is 25 million square miles and comprised of approx. 3.5 million tons of plastic debris. While this may not seem like much, consider this, it's a little over a cup of water and it's got all of that in it. And since the fish eat the particles and bigger fish eat those fish, you may just be looking at dinner.

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Dave

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The Alguita Returns Home

"For a solid two hours, we fished as fast as we could, pulling up floats, toothbrushes, plastic and glass bottles, a golf ball, a billiard ball, an unused glue stick for a hot glue gun, and several rope boluses filled with crabs and tiny striped fish - But most appalling was the plastic confetti. An endless stream of delicate, white snowflakes, like plastic powder coating the ocean’s surface. This, remarked Charlie, is indicative of the gyre, “where the trash comes home to roost and degrade…..” - From The Alguita's Blog

My friends Anna and Marcus are returning tomorrow from their trip across the Pacific to study the Pacific Gyre. I fear that I have been less than active in passing on their words from the voyage, mostly due to being sick at first and then overwhelmed by all of the things I didn't get to while I was sick. Theirs is an unbelievable journey and story and one that should be heard by everyone. As soon as they have settled in, I will surely be speaking with them to hear first hand accounts of what they found and pass along what I learn.

In the meantime, here are a few links to some stories that have been written about them, and links to the remainder of the posts from their voyage.

Common Dreams
San Francisco Chronicle
LA Times
London Independent

And from the blog

Calm After The Synthetic Storm
Following A River Of Trash In The Sea
It's A Plankton Eat Plankton World
Algalita’s message traveling around the world. Day 18 – Travel day
Day 19 - Sifting The Sahara
Entering the Eastern Garbage Patch "Where Our Trash Comes Home"
Dinner Dissection and A "Safe Seafood" Recipe
Return To the Garbage Patch Sampled In 1999
Creatures of the Night Emerge
Words From The Crew
Valentines Day
Keeping Our Wits In The Doldrums
No Title Today
Questions Lead To Questions
72 hour Countdown
Come join us in welcoming ORV Alguita back to Long Beach!
Let's Talk About The Weather

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Dave

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Washin' the car

This morning was a rainy day in LA and as a result, I decided to wash the car. Now at first, washing the car in the rain may seem a bit strange, but in reality it makes perfect sense. You don't need to wet down the car, and you don't need to worry about the soap drying, so you can take your time and really clean it. The whole operation used a small bucket of water for rinsing the rag, and about a 2 minute rinse with the hose, which was on low (it was just misting at that point). Of course, you're going to end up with some water spots, but not too bad.

For suds I like to use Simple Green as it is non-toxic, biodegradable, and works really well (it smells cool too). We buy it in bulk, dilute it in a spray bottle, and use it forever. It's great stuff.

I don't wash my car too often but because I show it to school kids I don't like it to get too dirty either. When it's summertime, I try to wash it early in the AM or later in the evening, and I pull the car up on the lawn so the water ends up being used rather than heading down the street as run off.

And on top of saving water and feeding the lawns, both of these activities get a few weird looks from the neighbors, so the way I figure it, it's all good!

Dave

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Greendimes - Give the gift of less

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win"

-Mahatma Ghandi

If you're anything like me you hate junk mail. Not only is it a huge pain in the butt, but it wastes a ton of resources, not the least of which are trees and water. Well fear not fellow recycler, Greendimes is here. For the small price of just $15 they will not only stop 90% of your junk mail for a year, but they will plant 10 trees to boot. How cool is that? We gave this a shot a year ago and other than stuff from charities we give to, we get no catalogs or junk mail anymore. It rocks!

Sure there are a bunch of other ways to stop your junk mail, but they require a fair amount of time and work, trust me, I've tried them. The way I figure it, I'd pay $15 just to plant the trees so getting out of junk mail is just the bonus. And right now, you can give it as a holiday gift, or for $42 a Greendimes package which will get your friend the junk mail opt out, tree planting, a tote bag, a t-shirt, and two compact flourescent bulbs. Try to beat that with a stick...ya can't!

So this holiday season, why not give less, and save more.

Thanks for reading.

Live Sustainably,

Dave

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