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Friday, September 26, 2008

How to Cut Out Single Use "Disposable" Items


If you have trouble viewing you can check this out on youtube as well.

18 comments:

Camila said...

that was really cool :D

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,

Your video was an excellent help to newcomers to the Zero Waste challenge. The drawstring bag and coffee reusable, my favourite, were ace.

My interest is the 4-5 year binbag. So far 20 weeks - 10 oz approx.

Daniel Burd, a young Canadian decomposed plastic bag material 40+% over 3 months using 2 anaerobic bacteria. Have you followed his story?

John.

Dave said...

Hey John,
Glad you liked it. Do you have a blog about your quest?

I did a piece on the kid who came up with the plastic eating bacteria. Very cool stuff. My concern though is that people will then think that this makes using all this plastic ok.

Consume Less, Conserve More!!!!

Dave

CAT Productions said...

Great video!

esther said...

gosh! absolutly astonishing! Love the video, gonna snoop around your blog now, and put your link uppon mines (even if it's a french blog I have!)

( http://jemerecycle.over-blog.com )

Alexi Holford said...

I love your suggestions. One thing that might still make some people resistant to implementing your ideas is the thought that if they are in need of the plate or bowl and utensils when they are out and about, they may not have access to a place to wash things. I think it may be worth a segment on the washing part alone. You could show examples of where you have used and washed the said items. And also, you could talk about using eco-friendly soaps and not washing oils and such into storm drains. And maybe even talking about the possibility of bringing home dirty dishes if necessary. Just a thought. Keep on keepin' on!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,

Enjoyed the latest for single-use avoidance. You should start a business.

Main contacts are Mrs Average and Mrs Green. My old-fashioned effort is Homecompostingrecyclingforum.com.

There are a number of Zero Waste Weeks in England up-coming with Councils/Zero Waste enthusiasts alliances. This could be a major trend here.

Is there anything comparable in the US?

As for sustainability, I started a campaign to attack wasteful practices, 1 Jar 1 Lid. It simply means using 1 and only 1 lid, for each glass jar product (eg coffee) and leaving new purchased lids (unused) at customer services for return to producer.

Émerveillance said...

Hi Dave!

I've done a somewhat similar experiment 2 years ago, whereas I was keeping all recyclables in my basement in order to 1) visually take hold of everything I consume in 365 days and 2) gather industrial nutriments to feed an ecodesign project. I formed a consortium of 12 designers and we studied the possibilities and misgivings of designing with "trash" for 6 months. We then presented our findings at the Lyon "Colloque sur le packaging responsable" (in English: Forum on responsible packaging) and there was even a television episode and several newspaper articles on us (here in Montreal).

So here's to you, Dave, for going the extra mile and actually documenting everything!

Cheers,

*L*

Anonymous said...

Hi again Dave,

Further to Daniel's process, my idea is to make a Bokashi type system which will allow decomposition of my 5 year binbag waste. Zero landfill would then be achieved. With incineration in the UK a distinct possibility, Zero Waste is the best countermeasure.

Dave said...

Not a bad idea. I may incorporate that down the line!

Consume Less, Conserve More!!!!

Dave

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,

I read the article about you in TIME magazine and did a project for science on you and how if everyone conserved like this there would be much less trash.
I think that this is something most people could do by just buying a non-disposable coffee cup.

Matt
Age 13

Dave said...

Cool Matt,
Thanks for stopping in. What kind of project did you do, a report? Any good tips for us?

dave

AshleyOwl said...

I work in an office which generously buys us lunch every day. However, the waste from the takeout orders is overwhelming. We save all plastic bags, silverware and condiments and donate them to a soup kitchen, along with recycling everything we can. However, it is still creating a lot of garbage. We have contacted the company we order through and they have added a "no condiments check box to the orders," but it doesn't seem to help. Our company will definitely continue to participate in the orders, but we need some ideas about reducing the waste. Anyone?

Dave said...

Ashley,
Why not ask your company to let them know if they don't stop sending the things you don't want, that they will start to order elsewhere. Have them explain why and have them tell the restaurant that they want to work with them but need their cooperation.

I've had a lot of success with this kind of thing. Make sure it's not given as a threat but a condition that you can't work around. Generally they'll listen.

Dave

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave,
Have you considered family cloth. I currently cloth diaper, and I've been researching family cloth for a while. I just placed my order for the wipes and I can't wait to use them. What are your thoughts?

Dave said...

Haven't heard of them but I'll look. We were fuzzybuns people but have been out of diapers for two years.

dave

Joe S said...

Thanks so much! I am in the beginning phase of my own journey, and glad I found your blog. Great resources. Even better inspiration!

http://joeshoe.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

I really admire your commitment Dave! You've inspired me to be more dedicated and to try harder at wasting less. I'm more aware of the need to do my bit for the environment and have started to practice things like cooking from scratch (to save money and our environment as well eat a healthier diet), wasting less, making my own coffee instead of buying it, etc. I also started a new blog to share my progress:
www.makingthegoodlife.blogspot.com
Thanks for your caring and sharing with us!