Almost Zero

crazyearthnut — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:21:57 +0000

We had a family BBQ, and I am happy to report that we came very close to zero waste. How?? Instead of paper plates and cups we used REAL dishes!! I actually pulled out the china that I got as a wedding gift; we used it once in the past 27 years. When my 25 year old son saw it on the counter top and asked “Where did this come from?” I was convinced that even though this is not a fancy schmancy event, (which is when the special china comes out right?) this was perfect, so what if one piece breaks? Make mosiacs!!! Better to use it now, then some day dig it out of the box, barely used and give it away.

How did we do it? For the plates, we added the china to our everyday dishes. Since we had steak, I broke out the steak knives. For cold drinks, anything that came in a bottle like beer, gets recycled, we had some home brewed beer, so that is an even better way to recycle the bottles. For all the other drinks, iced tea, soda etc ,I pulled out the mason, pickle, salsa, and peanut butter jars, which we use as our daily glasses. Straws….bamboo of course. For hot drinks, the coffee cups from the kitchen cabinet, added to the china coffee cups. Since I only have a 12 cup coffee maker, I used some old thermos’ I had (either family hand me downs or tag sale finds) to serve the coffee out of.

For our cutlery I had purchased forks and spoons made out of potato starch, which you can throw in the compost, but you can also run them through the dishwasher, so you can re use them plenty of times, and then when you can’t any more….to the worms! Napkins-cloth, I use old t shirts and cut them with pinking shears.

When it was time for dessert I had to stop and think for a second, the cookies we made, easy to serve, but the fruit salad, hmmmm…then I opened up my cabinet and AH HA!!…yogurt cups!!! I was wondering what I was going to do with them The food waste gets composted, the chicken bones I froze and will make stock out of. So the only thing we had to throw out was the packaging from the meats, which included styrofroam, which really gets my goat. I am mad at myself for even buying it, but what are you going to do?

As far as clean up, when we have a gathering, we usually end up in the kitchen, so clean up really isn’t so bad. Everyone helps, and cleaning is hardly noticed with all the socializing.

Almost Zero waste!! Ahh someday maybe….

ZERO!!

No Plastic Straws Please

crazyearthnut — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:51:31 +0000

Two of my worst addictions are chewing gum and drinking out of plastic straws. So I gave up the gum fairly easily….but for some reason I can’t give up using straws…..It just seems like I drink more water when I have a straw. I tried using the hollow spaghetti (Bucatini)..it worked, but gets mushy pretty quickly…then I decided to look for the “matte” straws…pretty pricey..so I stumbled across the bamboo straws…..they can get expensive, but I was lucky enough to find them at a decent price!! yeee haaa!! No more plastic straws for me……

So while putzing around on facebook I find the group….

“No Plastic Straws (Plastic Straws are For Suckers)” and this story that I think is wonderful!……

What would happen if everyone who ordered a drink politely added “And no plastic straw, please!” ?

What would happen is this…

That straw, that was unwrapped from a paper wrapper
and unboxed from a box,
unloaded from a truck that drove from the docks
where a ship had carried it from faraway lands
or a railcar had chugged through the once pristine sands
of the Gulf Coast-
Home of the US Petrochemical Industry
and the petrochemical-contaminated fisheries
and the cancers that carry misery
on the waters of the once great Gulf Coast-

that straw, that was made from gas
(that treasured substance from our ancient past)
and through clever methods developed by clever men,
strung together in molecules, becoming a resin
that’s plasticized, colorized, fillerized and stabilized-
off-gassing and weeping wastewater throughout-

that straw, that was going to end up in your drink for just a moment-so that you could grab it, give your drink a swirl, then pull it out and toss it aside where it would lay
until the waitstaff came to clear it away
and dump it in the trash -
to go where?
buried in the ground for millions of years
or burned for energy
a pointless, poisonous career -

that straw would no longer be needed.

And with millions of people demanding ” No Plastic Straws, Please!”-
the factories would stop making them and the fisheries
would recover.

Slowly perhaps, but with your help they will- and the rails will carry merrymakers seeking a day’s thrill down on the Gulf Coast.

And those ships from faraway lands
that brought us plastic poisons in brightly colored bands- well, let’s just ask them to stay away, please-and not to return until they have something truly special-like some nice oolong teas.

And the trucks that rumbled from the docks at the port- well, we’ll change over to wagons and make it a sport: ox-racing!

And the forests will return- soon you shall see-
when we stop wrapping straws in all of our trees.

And the air will blow cleaner, and the waters will run pure

And all this will happen from this one simple cure.

And is that not reason to celebrate?
Let’s drink to that -and No Plastic Straw, Please!

check them out!http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=65358216643

Saved From the Landfill » No Plastic

Almost Zero

ZERO!!

No Plastic Straws Please