Talkin' Trash

It's trash pickup day and I think we had a bag out for pickup. Not a huge, back yard waste bag, but a "tall kitchen bag".  We do try to avoid producing  vast quantities of garbage, by using cloth shopping bags and recycling paper, plastic, glass and aluminum (all picked up weekly in our town). But  Sarah McGaughey, a Toronto artist is really putting her mind to the task. Since 2004, she and her partner have tried to achieve a totally trashless month. So far they've reached their goal twice and come close many, many times. (She's recorded it all in her two blogs, first in 2004-2006 and now in a new location, No More Garbage .) The short version: it ain't easy. They buy most of their food and cleaning supplies in bulk at markets that let them bring their own reusable containers, for example. But just because  something is hard doesn't mean it isn't worth considering doing, even part way.

According to Dave and Lillian Brummet, in their book Trash Talk (PublishAmerica, 2004), North Americans (just 8% of the world's population) produced half of the world's garbage. What would it take to reduce my home's garbage production by half, beyond what we have already done?

Thanks to Jacob for pointing me to Sarah's blog!

Green is the New Black

Today's Toronto Star has a nifty commentary today about an "environmentally friendly" clothing line introduced by CTV's eTalk and manufactured by Canadian manufacturer Brüzer. The olive-colored tees feature the catchy slogan "green is the new black" and, according to eTalk's website,

"are made from bamboo and organic cotton, material that is highly sustainable and grows quickly without use of pesticides or fertilizers. Naturally fresh with anti-bacterial properties, eShirts feature naturally charged negative ions, which have a positive effect on mind and body, and contain natural micro gaps that siphon away body moisture."

The catch? The fabric might be green, but the dyes...not so much. Now, having a PhD in textiles usually isn't particularly useful or marketable, but it does equip me to be able to say that being an environmentally-conscientious fashionista is not easy. Cotton is an agricultural product, and even organic cotton uses resources that could be used for food crops, which can be a problem. (See also the problems now stemming from diverting corn from the food chain to your fuel tank.) Synthetic fibers -- nylon, acrylic, polyester -- are petrochemicals, aka fossil fibers. Rayon is recycled, but its manufacture involves the use of carbon disulfide, implicated in hearing loss in textile workers. Wool, silk, linen, lycra, hemp, bamboo: no fiber is completely green, and that's not even getting into the additional complications of dyes, finishes and laundering/dry cleaning.

Assuming naturism is not an option, what does a Nice White Lady do? Americans hate to hear this, but the problem is not so much WHAT we consume but the bottomless pit of our desire. Forty tee shirts? Twelve pairs of organic cotton jeans? A different pair of shoes for each day of the month? Why, why, why? Consider this: when Hurricane Andrew, (after Katrina the second most destructive storm in our history) hit Florida in 1992, the Red Cross issued an anti-plea: no used clothing. Even in the midst of 26.5 billion dollars' worth of destruction, there was enough second-hand clothing in Florida to clothe the naked many times over. If the clothing factories all shut down tomorrow, it would be a while before most of us literally had nothing to wear.

Here's what's in my closet: 5 linear feet of clothes, including two pairs of jeans (the old ones and the new ones). Mostly "classic" garments. No fad items.  Some of my favorite items are thrift-store finds, like my $3 Benetton sweater. When I buy something new, I discard or donate something old.

Eat Local

Nice White Lady is all about "right living": examining what that means on a daily basis and a personal scale. It's not about tackling the big issues of our times -- poverty, racism, global warming -- in big, dramatic ways. Not that I am opposed to large-scale efforts to change habits or policies; it's just that I subscribe to Margaret Meade's statement "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has", and scale it down to personal, daily choices.

Take the environmental impact of our food habits, for example. It's great to be able to buy strawberries for your Valentine's Day fondue party, but what hidden environmental price do we pay, in terms of transportation? Will buying New Jersey tomatoes at the supermarket make it harder for your local farmer to say no when the developers come around with an offer to buy his land? We are used to the convenience and low cost of grocery store produce, but it isn't always "good for us" economically, environmentally or nutritionally.

Enter my new local heroes, Renee Brooks Catacalos and Kristi Bahrenburg Janzen of Real People Eat Local. They are neighbors of mine in the small, inside the Beltway suburb where I've lived for 22 years, but we've never met. In a recent interview, Renee described how for the last two years she and her family have purchased most of their produce from farmers' markets or other local outlets. It's a great website, with archives of their newsletters (I subscribed right away) and links to local food directories, food policy information and magazines.

My personal action items:

• locate local produce markets within 5 miles of my home (we live in a dense suburb, and 10 miles would probably include way too many!)
• visit one new produce market every two weeks
• plan my meals around in-season produce