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EverydayEco: Not All Recycling Created Equal

2/4/2015

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OK, what I'm about to say is going to be pretty unpopular with the "dark greens" as I like to call them.  The uber-eco, off-the-grid, Greenpeace-level peeps that want you to do everything possible to save the planet right now and make you feel like you are not doing enough. (Rinse, repeat)

But listen up, we are enviro(ish)....and ish-ness is the most critical ingredient of this entire works.  It means relieving yourself from the guilt of not being perfect and doing everything, all the time.  And that brings me to recycling...

You see, there's this secret about recycling.  Our waste stream is not created equal*.  We know this because of a handy process called lifecycle assessment.  It tells us the energy it takes to make a product, the energy all the way from getting raw materials out of the ground, to manufacture, to customer, to use, and to the end of life. 
*actually the inequality of municipal waste collection and recycling in this country is abysmal....so it really is an unequal experience depending on where you live, but that's another post for another time.

What it tells us, is that materials are not created equally (duh), but I mean really...think about that.  It tells us the ecological impacts of materials when/if they get into the environment at end of life, as well as energy it takes to recycle those materials.  Which inherently means that there's some materials that have worse impacts when tossed into nature than others (obv)....and there's some materials that are too energy-intensive or degrade when trying to be recycled (true).  On the flip side, it tells us there are some materials that are of utmost importance to recycle.  You ready for a list of some of these?  enviro(ish) peeps unite!

So picture this scenario: you have an item to dispose of in your hand, and there's no recycling can in sight.  Maybe you are traveling, on a plane, or in a different city.  Do you throw away or hold onto it until you can recycle?  Ask yourself these three questions....
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EveryDay Eco: Ban the Bottle From Your Life

11/18/2014

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So this post is a bit of a cheat, because I already did a post about Hydrating Reusably at the Office (read there for facts/data/why it matters).  But last week we had an event at work honoring America Recycles Day and I got to meet environmental champion Ed Begley Jr....who was ONLY taking photos with employees that committed to refill.  My coworkers did me so proud!

And it motivated me to take my personal commitment one step further.  I changed a habit!  When I traveled this past weekend, I brought an empty reusable bottle through airport security and filled up on the other side.  I think for the first time!?  I really felt good AND there was a bit of pleasure in sticking it to the man by not paying the absurdly high post-security price of food and drink.

Want to hear a horrifying fact?  Those plastic water bottles behind Ed and I in the display represent the amount the U.S. throws away in less than one second.  The U.S. threw away 273 times that amount during the 2 hours of our recycling event.  Hundreds of people stopped by to look at it with disgust/horror faces, and it only made it clearer.  Time to ban the bottle from your life, it's the enviro(ish) thing to do.  Let's get to it!
psst....have you done it yet??  If not, why not?
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Bagging it eco Style

9/19/2014

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In honor of Coastal Cleanup Day tomorrow, this post is going to be about how to be Enviro(ish) when shopping/grocerying.  But since this is a perennial “which is more eco, paper or plastic?” question going back decades, I get asked it often.  And not just in a conversation where it makes sense, I’m talking about random strangers and on a first date, OFTEN. 

Example: I'm at an oyster bar on a first date I met from online. The guy obviously knew I worked in sustainability from my profile, so one of his get-to-know-me questions was “when you go to a grocery store, paper or plastic?”  Points for doing his research and like a Boy Scout always being prepared….but it falls into that awkward “green police” bucket (plus, is knowing my bag choice at a grocery store really getting to know me?)  The guy rocketed through 20 similar questions, so everybody around us could tell it was one of "those” first dates.  Even the oyster bar shucker behind the counter was laughing out loud (which is “bagging up” according to the kids these days/Urban Dictionary….see what I did there? FTW!)  But I digress….

TELL ME THE ANSWER ALREADY

The simple answer is bring your own bags and reuse them (to take you from the land of simple, read further below).

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Hydrate REuse-ably @Office

9/12/2014

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Caffeine may kick off my workday, but water keeps me going and hydrated.  I've never drank from a single-use plastic water bottle at my desk...and the more you really think about plastic water bottles, the more it sounds silly and ridiculous. 

For example, I spotted one of my coworkers drinking from a single-use 1 gallon plastic water jug.  Pretty much a different one every other day.  Since I'm known to be 'eco', I don't even think I had to ask him about it....he saw me notice and, let's face it, if you do sustainability all day every day people think you are the 'green police'.  Usually I fight the perception and live by the Funny or Die "Green Team" creed of Will Farrell and John Reilly (if you have not seen this before, you're welcome).  But this time, the eco case was so clear!  Pun intended. 

Anyways, he started defending the plastic waste and the taste....it took a few random conversations over a few months, but he made the transition.  And if he can, you can too!  Here's the basics of what I said to get you going:

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    (adj) balancing caring about the future of our planet with enjoying and living everyday life to the fullest

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