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This is really quite sad on so many levels, not the least of which is how much of this stuff could go to good use somewhere. Make sure to watch at least as far as when they spray paint the grass! Insanity.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Foreclosures and Landfills
What exactly do you eat?
I was doing a phone interview on Friday and the reporter asked me just that question. It made me think because i realize there is a lot of stuff that i do without thinking about it and as a result, don't really throw things out there (pun totally intended). So having said that, and acknowledging that i have about 8 things I need to post about, here's what we had for dinner Friday night.
I made dinner and we had salmon teriyaki, broccoli and green beans, and rice with lentils. It was actually quite good. But here's where the waste issue comes in.
Salmon - Prior to this year I would have bought the salmon at the supermarket and it would have come wrapped in that fish wrapping that is paper/plastic and needs to be tossed. I get it from a local fish monger (love that word) and I bring a glass tupperware type container with me, sot he only waste is the printed price sticker. On top of that, the fish is cheaper, fresher, and I take it home, marinate it, and put it in the fridge. later, when i baked it, I covered it with a cookie tray instead of tin foil, and viola. All in all, it saved me time because i never had to transfer the fish, it was bought, marinated, cooked, and served all in the same container.
As for the marinate, that's store bought out of a bottle, but we have the largest one possible. Eventually that'll end up downstairs.
Veggies - The brocolli and beans came from the farmers market (fresh, local, cheaper) and we used our reusable cloth bags to bring them home, so all good there. If we had bought them from the store, they may have come wrapped depending on what store we went to, but definitely would have been more expensive.
Lentils and rice - These are staples that we have purchased in bulk and have on the counter in containers. When we buy them, we bring our own plastic bags and then fold them up for re-use next time so no waste there. On top of that, buying in bulk is cheaper and if i had gone with a one time mix pack, it would have most likely included boxes and bags.
Otherwise, we had bread (bought from the bakery in cloth bags) and some wine and water to drink (the kids had milk) so eventually you'll see a wine bottle head downstairs as well.
Anyhoo, don't know if anyone cares to hear all of that, but it's a good example of how less waste meals can actually be easier and save you money.
Dave
What's In The Basement - October
Garbage:
- 1 plastic "warp" from wine bottle
- 1 frozen ornge juice container
- 1 plastic wrap from top of glass juice bottle
- 1 wrapping from toilet handle
- 1 broken toilet handle
- 1 ice cream wrapper
- 1 piece scotch tape
- 1 bag movie popcorn
- 1 emergen c packet
- 2 ice cream wrappers
- 1 sticker from fish monger
- 1 metal spout from bread crumb box
- 1 sticker cover from bread crumb box
- 1 butter wrapper
- 1 ice cream bar wrapper
- 2 ripped plastic bags
- 1 candy wrapper bar
- 2 lollipop wrappers
- 1 sticker from fishmonger
- 2 veggie boullion cubes
- 1 used cupcake tin
- 1 plastic tag from greens
- 1 small chips bag
- 1 pull off tab from new printer cartridge
- 1 mettallic wrapper from new printer cartridge
- 2 broken zip ties
- 1 mettalic wrapper from wine bottle top
- 1 plasticoated takeout container
- 1 plastic veggie dog wrap w/stickers
- 1 advil packet
- 1 cutter from aluminum foil container
- 1 filled vacuum cleaner bag
- 1 torn sandwich bag
- 1 small chips bag
- 1 photo
- 2 foam inserts
- 1 bag from instant pudding
- 1 sticker from fishmonger
- 6 candy wrappers
- 2 small chips bags
- 1 plastic ups bag w/stickers
- 18 broken staples
- 1 plastic tofu dog wrapper w/stickers
- 2 plastic drinking straws
- 4 broken staples
- 1 candy bar wrapper
- 1 emergen c wrapper
- 1 sticker from fishmonger
Recycle:
- 1 plastic ricotta cheese tub PP5
- 1 plastic wrap from videocassette
- 1 local advertisement paper
- 1 chips bag
- 1 local newspaper
- 2 frozen orangejuice metal ends
- 1 cardbaord pizza box
- 1 plastic wrap from pizza
- 2 cliff bar wrappers
- 1 plastic bag frozen corn
- 6 plastic sampler cups w/tops
- 2 glass juice bottles w/tops
- 1 beer bottle w/top
- 1 instant pudding box
- 1 plastic pretzel bag
- 14 ozs misc paper
- 1 local newspaper
- 1 local coupon flyer
- plastic bag from coupon flyer
- 1 glass pasta jar w/top
- 1 cardboard tortellini box
- 1 plastic tortellini bag
- 1 butter spread plastic container PP5
- 1 tetra pak orange juice container
- 1 cardbaord blintz box
- 1 plastic tray from blintz box
- 1 plastic half egg carton
- 1 whitefish container
- 1 cardboard mints box
- 1 plastic tray from mints box
- 1 aluminum foil conatiner
- 1 plastic liquid dishwashing bottle
- 1 grape juice bottle
- 1 glass wine bottle
- 1 wine cork
- 1 white vinegar bottle w/top
- 1 ring from milk bottle
- 1 cardboard pizza box
- 2 small plastic sample cups
- 1 plastic straw
- 1 wine bottle
- 1 cork from wine bottle
- 1 cardbaord box from new printer cartridge
- 1 plastic pretzel bag
- 1 plastic cup PP5
- 1 plastic crackers bag
- 1 plastic water bottle
- 12 ozs paper
- 3 thin plastic bags
- 1 bread bag
- 1 hard cider bottle w/top
- 1 piece cardboard
- 1 corn muffin mix box
- 1 corn muffin mix bag
- 1 wine bottle
- 1 wine bottle cork
- 1 plastic soup starter mix container PP5
- 1 beer bottle w/top
- 1 yogurt tub PP5
- 10 ozs paper
- 1 beer bottle w/top
- 1 plastic yogurt tub PP5
- 1 pie crust wrapper
- 1 cardbaord vegan nuggets box
- 1 plastic vegan nuggets bag
- 1 plastic enzymatic cleaner HDPE2
- 1 glass juice bottle w/top
- 2 aluminum tuna cans
- 1 aluminum veggie can
- 1 plastic yogurt tub PP5
- 1 aluminum soup can
- 1 plastic pasta bag
- 2 clif bar wrappers
- 1 plastic lightbulb package
- 1 priority mailer
- 1 cardboard cereal box
- 1 plastic cereal box
- 1 pizza box
- 1 box bread crumbs
- 1 plastic chips bag
- 1 box ziti shells
E Waste/Hazardous Waste
- 1 broken lightbulb
- several lengths of fuel hose from car
Disposed of Due to Health Reasons
- 1 wax butter wrapper
Day 277 - Saturday 10/4/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 ice cream wrapper - garbage
- 1 ice cream stick - worms
- 1 pizza box - recycle
- 1 plastic ziplock bag - repurporse
Day 276 - Friday 10/3/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 ice cream wrapper - garbage
- 1 ice cream stick - worms
- 1 plastic chips bag - recycle
- 1 sticker from fish monger - garbage
- 1 box bread crumbs - recycle
- 1 metal "pourer" from bread crumb box - garbage
- 1 sticker cover from bread crumb box - garbage
Friday, October 3, 2008
October Website of the Month - Fallen Fruit
"When you reap the harvest of you land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger." - Leviticus 19:9-10
Thus sayeth the website Fallen Fruit, and I'm assuming the Lord as well. Now before anyone gets all hot and bothered, no I'm not bringing religion onto this blog (I steer away from all things religious and political as much as I can) but when the website of the month uses an ancient writing like that, that to me makes a lot of sense, well then I need to pay it homage.
Basically, the site is a series of maps, presently revolving around Los Angeles, that let's people know where public fruit trees are and when the fruit is ripe for the picking. It's really cool! A quick look at one of the maps will show you where to find plums, olives, grapefruit and dates, just to name a few.
The concept, as explained in the manifesto is that there is wasted food everywhere so why shouldn't public fruit trees be planted, and why shouldn't the people be allowed to map and use those fruit trees to their own benefit. Planting trees will help revive barren landscapes, feed the hungry, and create communities as people work together to use and cultivate these "fruits".
It's a really cool idea and the hope is that this spreads throughout the world and becomes a resource and a benchmark for how we can live together and help others while benefiting ourselves at the same time.
Fallen Fruit, check it out.
A comment on comments
I felt that I should post a little thought on comments as i just got through rejecting more than a few. I set up comments to be moderated (they need to be OK'd by me before they are posted to the blog) back in Feb as I was getting spammed with ad garbage that i didn't want.
Generally speaking I put almost everything that comes in up as soon as i can (OK, maybe i could do better on the timing) and rarely reject anything. Having said that, an article that was written about my talk last week was headlined on a particular site yesterday and I have received a flood of angry emails and posts. Pretty wild and i truly don't understand why anyone would be so angered by what i am doing, but that's another story.
My main guidelines for posting a comment are that they are not angry or worse, caustic (language and tone) and that they aren't blatantly trying to sell something (although that's a fine line there so I'm sure i've erred on the side of posting rather than not). If you look at some of the newer comments that have been posted, quite a few disagree with what i am doing. Sadly, many were rejected due to their language, tone, and/or political overtones which i steer clear from in this arena (although in other parts of my life am madly involved lest you think i don't think politics are important).
So having said all of that, if you were one of those that had a comment that was rejected, I'd ask you to repost them in a kinder tone, but still making your point. Your thoughts are welcome and I believe that the more thinkers at a party, the better the party it is.
Thanks
Dave
Day 275 - Thursday 10/2/08
Today's Haul:
- 2 studio passes - worms
- 1 piece scotch tape - garbage
- 2 movie tickets - worms
- 1 bag movie popcorn - garbage
- 2 packets sugar - worms
- 1 emergen c packet - garbage
Day 274 - Wednesday 10/1/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 plastic "wrap" from wine bottle - garbage
- 1 plastic ricotta cheese tub PP5 - recycle
- 1 used q-tip - worms
- 1 box ziti shells - recycle
- 2 mailers - repurposed
Day 273 - Tuesday 9/30/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 brown sugar plastic bag - recycle
- 1 plastic tofu tub - recycle
- 1 plastic pie wrap - recycle
- 1 box couscous - recycle
- 1 plastic couscous bag - recycle
Monday, September 29, 2008
Day 272 - Monday 9/29/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 glass jar spagghetti sauce - recycle
- 1 local paper - recycle/worms
- 1 plastic cookie holder - recycle
- 1 plastic cookie wrap - recycle
- 1 backing from stamps - garbage
- 1 glass grape juice bottle - recycle
- 1 foil top from honey jar - garbage
Day 271 - Sunday 9/28/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 plastic bag from popcorn at zoo - repurpose
- 1 can tomatos - recycle
- 1 rice takeout box - garbage
- 1 9 volt battery - e waste
Day 270 - Saturday 9/27/08
Today's Haul:
- 1 piece tin foil - recycle
- 1 plastic grape juice bottle - recycle
- 1 plastic pretzel bag - recycle
- 2 sticker backings - garbage
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