(Not so) Waste Free Living - Update

Okay, so its been a while (understatement) since my last post.  I could make excuses but that would be a waste of time and energy - the fact is that I have just not been inspired to write.  Over the Christmas season we slacked on our waste free living, and never really got back into the groove.  I'm not saying that we are total hypocrites, we still avoid packaging as much as possible, but being pregnant, I have let myself indulge and buy foods that come in packaging that isn't recyclable - like prawns, cheese, and the occasional bag of chips. I used to buy all my meats and cheeses at the deli and butcher and avoided at all costs any packaging that could not be recycled.  I will be the first to admit that going to three stores to buy my groceries was more than onerous, especially when Eli was along for the ride (in and out of car seat).  And if you have ever experienced the first trimester of pregnancy, you will know that anything requiring extra effort is not likely to happen. Another big addition to our waste stream is the meat packaging that has resulted in our purchase of half a cow from a local farmer (which I feel is completely justified).  The paper, which I thought (hoped) might have been lined with wax, is actually lined with plastic - not compostable or recyclable.  So it goes into the trash. Cheese packaging is another thing I would like to bring up.  I had this discussion with Jen and Grant from the Clean Bin Project while they were touring the area and they also now buy packaged cheese (further justification - my inspiring heros are doing it!).  Like I already mentioned, I used to buy my cheese at the deli and have it put into my own container.  But the cheese at the deli is already wrapped in plastic so it wasn't like my purchase of cheese was completely waste free - I just let the deli take responsibility for it. Not to mention that every time you buy something at the deli they put a fresh plastic glove on to serve you,  and then wrap the end of the cheese in plastic film.  So it doesn't really result in less waste by buying cheese from the deli. I suppose I could just give up cheese altogether, which would be much easier if I lived in a country where cheese wasn't so prevalent, but I am just not there yet.  And so another addition to the garbage. I have also discovered that stretchy plastic film IS recyclable, which has opened up a whole new realm of foods How much garbage do we produce?  I'd say we are up to about a grocery bag full a month, which isn't so bad but is really bad compared to where we were before Christmas and pregnant.  Well, hopefully this blog post will inspire me to get back into the groove.  Here's to any of you out there still checking in on my blog - thank you.

Statistical art with a meaningful message - Chris Jordan

Wow, Chris Jordan really puts things into perspective with his series called Running the Numbers that shows just how destructive our societal norms have become.

Chris Jordan is also featured in the documentary film the Clean Bin Project  talking about this phenomenon that is happening on Midway Island. Chris says: "On one of the remotest places on earth in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, five tonnes of plastic is brought to the island every year in the stomachs of Albatross."

Plastics are finding their way from our rivers and streams into the Pacific Ocean, and then being concentrated on what is known as the The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There is a patch in every ocean in fact.

I live near a river and sometimes when I cross the bridge I see below me litter that sits on the river bank. If the litter isn't picked up it has a good chance of ending up in the Pacific Ocean.  

Want to act? Do you live in Kamloops?  Join me on October 9th at 10 am outside the Henry Grube Centre  for a shoreline cleanup under along the Thompson and North Thompson River.

Unplugged - a new recycling program launches in British Columbia

Starting on October 1st, British Columbians will be able to recycle even more, thanks to the launch of yet another Product Stewardship Program called unplugged.  This is the first of its kind in Canada - a recycling program for small appliances.

Product stewardship programs put the onus of recycling on the producers and manufacturers of products within their respective product category.  Legislation (the Environmental Management Act) requires producers to take responsibility for the life cycle management of their products, including collection and recycling.  There are several programs already in existence: tires, batteries, beverage containers, pharmaceuticals, paint, pesticides, flammables, used oil, and electronics.

Unplugged is really just an extension of the existing electronics recycling program, with new product categories being phased in over time (next phase will include pretty much everything electronic that is not already part of a recycling program - due to be launched on July 1, 2012).

So what does this mean to consumers? As with other stewardship programs, you will notice a recycling fee on your next purchase of a small appliance. This recycling fee goes towards funding the recycling program.  

There are many products accepted in the program - go to the unplugged website to find out about what is included in the recycling program. 

There are three locations in the Thompson-Nicola region that will accept small appliances. In Kamloops, at the Lorne Street Bottle Depot on Halston Avenue, or General Grants North Shore Bottle Depot on Fortune Drive.  In Merritt you can take your appliances to the George Hale Transfer Depot on Clapperton Road.

The Clean Bin Project Tour

I am so excited.  The Clean Bin Project, the story which inspired my family to a waste free lifestyle, is coming to town and with it the filmmakers. It's a dream come true, literally.

Jen and Grant (shown in the photo above) will be coming to town in less than a week and I can hardly wait to meet them.  I saw them present at a Recycling Council of British Columbia conference back in 2009.  They had just completed a year of living without garbage or buying anything.  It was the best part of an amazing conference and I came away completely inspired to some day try it for myself!

Here I am, two years later, blogging about my experience living without waste, and hopefully inspiring others to follow suit.

If you want to check out the film, it will be shown in several locations throughout the Thompson-Nicola region.

The Fresh Outlook Foundation is hosting the REEL Change SustainAbility Film Festival on September 23rd and 24th (check out their website for films and locations).  The Clean Bin Project will be part of the festival and will be screened on September 24th at 7 pm in the Alumni Theatre at Thompson Rivers University.

The TNRD is touring with the film as well so you can check them out at the Chase Community Hall on September 26th, Blackpool Heritage Hall in Clearwater on September 27th, Merritt Civic Centre E. Auditorium on September 28th and the Clinton Community Hall on September 29th. Showtime for these events is 7:15 pm.

Look for posters around town for more details, or you can post a comment and I will reply.

Tomato Festival

This weekend marked the First Annual Friends of the Garden (FOG) Tomato Festival.  I had been going to the meetings with my mother, so I knew well in advance that the festival was coming.  I planted eleven plants in six different varieties.

I got up early on Saturday morning to pick the biggest and ugliest tomato in my garden to enter in a contest (see photo next - mine is the one that the person is holding).  I planted several Beefsteak variety, and these are both big and ugly.  My biggest was just under 2 lbs, which was one of the biggest at the festival - but not the biggest.  The festival itself was wonderful.  Eli and I tasted about 20 varieties, before we had our fill (my favourite are the cherry - so sweet).

My mother was on the crew cutting up the tomatoes for sampling. Several of the variety were heirloom, so she gave me some to take home to save.  Luckily there was a table at the festival with information on saving seeds.  Ferment them in a jar for three days and then strain and dry on a plate, picking them off the plate every now and again while they are drying and when they stop sticking to the plate you know they are dry.  It seems simple enough so I am going to try.

I suppose that it was appropriate that I spent the weekend at home (for the most part), preserving the abundant supply of tomatoes to celebrate the festival. I got this amazing salsa recipe from an old colleague, Bella which I will share with you as it is so simple.

Put 1 tbsp salt, 1 cup vinegar,  1 tsp paprika, 1 medium onion diced, 2 peppers diced (I only used one green as I don't seem to have much luck growing peppers), 1 glove of giant garlic chopped, and 4.5 pounds of chopped tomatoes (3 large beefsteak tomatoes) into a pot and let it simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours (depending on how think you like it).  The recipe makes about 3 - 4 quart sized jars.   Process the jars in a canner for 20 - 30 minutes and voila.  Homemade and homegrown salsa to enjoy all year!

Despicable Disposables

Apologies here but I feel I need to rant a little about disposable products.  I mean really - all the energy and resources that go into making things that are used once and then thrown away! Marketers are cleaver you know - "lets make something that people have to keep buying more and more of so that we can make more profits".  Use it once, throw it away, go buy more.  It's a vicious circle.

Atop my product peeve list are those new pod coffee makers that brew an instant cup of espresso using (non-recyclable) cartridges.  It seems they are the new trend in instant coffee, I was told that the instant coffee tastes better than regular coffee maker coffee, but there are less wasteful options to a great cup of coffee.

A more environmentally friendly alternative to deliciously instant coffee is the Moka Pot, a stovetop espresso maker.  Made of stainless steel, with a rubber or plastic handle, it is very durable and I would be surprise dot ever see one hit a landfill, but if ever it did, it would be in the scrap metal pile. These coffee makers are sold at Fratelli Foods downtown, and proably the big department stores like London Drugs, The Bay and Sears.

Next up are disposable diapers. As a new parent myself not that long ago, I have seen first hand how much waste a little baby can produce by using disposable diapers.  When Eli was first born we used disposable diapers exclusively, as the cloth ones we bought were too big and would rub against her umbilical cord.  I can remember filling up a grocery bag of diapers about every two days, and couldn't wait until the cord healed so that we could put her into the cloth diapers.  By 18 months Eli was potty trained (with the occasional accident) and I think that the early potty training was a result of using cloth diapers.  

I will be the first to admit that cloth diapers require much more effort on the part of the parent (rinse, wash, dry, fold).  I recently found out about Snug Glee Bumz Diaper Service.  It is a little pricier than using disposable diapers but they will come and pick up your dirty diapers once a week and drop off a whole new freshly cleaned set.  You get the benefit of using cloth diapers without the hassle.

Another one of my major peeves are paper napkins and paper towels.  They are everywhere you go - public washrooms, restaurants, coffee shops, kitchen counters, kitchen cupboards, kitchen tables - and almost impossible to avoid.  I have brought several home myself in the past five months. I rip the paper into pieces and put in my backyard compost.  It wouldn't be as bad if everyone composted tissues and napkins. But not even the greenest people I know compost non-recyclable paper. And so what began as a tree in the rainforest of the Amazon will reach the end of its life in a landfill 10 kilometres from home.

No, this is just not sustainable, can't you see? First of all, why do we need to use so much tissue anyways. The other day I ordered a wrap and asked the lady not to wrap it in paper, to just hand me the wrap naked.  No problem, she handed me the wrap without the packaging but proceeded to give me four napkins.  I just sighed and left the napkins on the table, hoping that they would get reused.

Cloth beats paper hands down in any test for quality.  And over the long run reusable products like cloth napkins, dish cloths, tea towels, rags (old cotton t-shirts are perfect) are cheaper.  I am partial to cloth made from bamboo fibre as it has excellent properties (very absorbent, natural anti-bacterial elements, sustainable, and has a silky smooth touch).

Cloth napkins don't require much effort at all.  Unless you have company, you can reuse the same napkin several times before washing.  My mother has napkin holders shaped like different animals; when we have family gatherings for extended periods, each person will get their own napkin to reuse for their stay.

I could go on as there seems to be a disposable version of every product on the market.  The point is that using reusable products (and packaging) just makes more sense.  Don't be fooled by those clever marketers telling you that your life will be easier when you buy their disposable product - you are locking yourself into a cycle of having to keep buying more and more of their product to replace the stuff you keep throwing away.

Good Intentions

Sometimes the best of intentions don't always work out as planned, which can result in waste.  Earlier this week I picked a bunch of beans with the intention of processing them.  I picked and washed the beans and sterilized my jars in preparation to make a small batch of one of my favourite types of pickles - pickled beans - mmmm so yummy. I found one of my mother's old recipes in Home Canning Cook Book, which seemed simple enough. But as you know, plans don't always work out as expected.

Eli woke up early from her nap and was quite insistent that we get outside to play - what little child wants to sit in the kitchen in the heat of the midday summer?  I decided that the beans could wait until that evening.

But the evening came and went, and come Saturday morning, the beans were still sitting in the bucket on the counter where I left them on Tuesday afternoon looking quite shrivelled and dry. I tasted one to see if there was any use in pursuing my intention of making pickles.  It was dry. What a waste! A whole ice cream pail full of home grown beans was about to hit the compost pile because I was too "busy".  And then I had a thought!

I can't remember the variety of bean I have growing in my garden, but I got them (for free) at Seedy Saturday - a seed exchange organized by a local gardening group, usually held in early March. The group promotes local and sustainable food production and encourages conservation of non-hybrid plants through seed saving.  (Seeds of Diversity is a great resource for learning about seed saving). 


Seed saving, what a great idea! I proceeded to husk and place the beans on a drying rack.  Eli helped and within a few minutes of husking we should have enough seeds to grow beans in several gardens in the spring. 


Funny how sometimes bad things work out good.  I like to think of it as good karma ;)

Alternatives to Toilet Paper

It is hard to believe that we have managed to go four months without buying toilet paper, and have just recently run out.  It was something that I discussed with Trevor at the onset of this project - what are we going to do when we run out of toilet paper?  Soft plastics aren't recyclable in Kamloops and toilet paper comes packaged in a plastic bag. Trevor agreed to using cloth wipes, as long as he didn't have to wash them.

The time has come to make the switch and to be honest I am a bit excited about the whole idea of ditching another disposable product.  For the past few years I have been buying toilet paper made from recycled content, which is better than cutting down trees to wipe my you-know-what with, but still requires a lot of resources in its production.  Read this link if you want to know more about how toilet paper is made.

I spent a lot of my early twenties travelling the world.  I somehow managed to settle in Bangkok for a few years teaching English, and while I was there, the only time I used toilet paper was when I was in a fancy restaurant or hotel that provided it.  Bathrooms had either a spray nozzle or bucket of water and some sort of scoop next to the toilet. I never got a lesson in how to wipe my bum, but I assume that the nozzle or scoop is held with the right hand and the left hand is used to wipe.

Many people in our Western society would be appalled at the the rinse method of using the toilet.  But that is a matter of perspective, illustrated by the following story.

Last year our family took a holiday in Thailand.  Elianna was just a baby and still in diapers (as an aside, we did bring cloth diapers with us and washed them daily by hand).  I remember the looks of disgust the Thai women would give me when I changed Eli's poppy diapers using a wet cloth wipe.  When I asked what I was doing wrong, the Thai woman replied "she is still dirty".

If the Thais thought that it was disgusting to wipe a baby's bum with a wet wipe, I wonder how appalled they would be to know that most Western people wipe their bums with a dry piece of paper?

I grew quite accustomed to the rinse method while living in Thailand.  Anyone who uses a bidet would likely agree that it is much cleaner to use a little water - it certainly helps on those occasions when it feels like you have gone through half a roll of toilet paper and are still not clean.

When Eli was born I bought a spray nozzle for our toilet to avoid the dunk method of rinsing poppy diapers, which has served us well.  (The nozzle attaches easily to any toilet and you don't have to be a plumber to hook it up, simply screw an attachment onto the water supply.)  A little spray and a wipe with the cloth and my bum is as clean as a Thai's, and my hands as clean as a Westerner's! Win-win-win.

Garbage Update

Three months of garbage

Our garbage sits on top of the dryer in the hall and has been slowing filling since May 1st.  We use a clear bag so that its contents can be viewed. Every now and again I will sift through the bag and sort out any recyclable or compostable material that gets inadvertently put in the garbage.

I have been very generous about what I put in the compost.  A common mistake with backyard composting is not putting enough "brown" material into the pile.  "Brown" material are things that have a high carbon content, things like shredded paper, dried leaves, and wood chips.  I have been putting stickers, bandaid wrappers, wax paper cut into pieces, Sun Chip bags cut into pieces (they claim to be 100% recyclable), a take-out coffee cup cut into pieces, and any paper that is not recyclable that we acquire (like paper towels from the public washrooms or napkins from a restaurant).

Some waste is hard to control.  People give us garbage all the time, even people who know what we are doing. Whether it is my mother who kindly brings us the contents of her fridge when she goes away on vacation (in plastic bags), or my sister who buys Eli a gift that comes with plastic tags.

The most frustrating thing about living waste free is that we miss out on some of the good deals that come when you make bulk purchases.  I bought some cat food yesterday and the No Name brand that I have been buying in a 1 kg box for about $3.50 also comes in a 6 kg paper bag from $6.98.  Last month I bought the bag, unknowing that the paper bag is actually a composite of paper and plastic, which means that the bag isn't recyclable. Because of this, I opted to buy the 1 kg box and will grudgingly pay the higher price to avoid making waste.

Living waste free definitely comes at a cost - paying a higher price for our food (sort of like eating organic food, which a lot of it is anyway, but even organic food comes wrapped in garbage sometimes).  On the flip side, because we are very conscious about our waste, we tend not to let much food spoil.  (The little food that does spoil gets flushed down the toilet).

Most of the benefits are intangible - the great feeling that comes from living true to myself and my values.  Spending my time and energy doing what I believe in is extremely satisfying.  I won't lie - waste free living requires human effort - preparing shopping bags, washing bags, washing cloths, asking questions, seeking waste-free options - but these are all things that I enjoy doing because it gives me pleasure to know that my effort is for something bigger than myself.

So I will grin and bear the funny looks I get from waitresses when I package all the table waste from our meal out, pay twice the price for cat food, and continue bringing all my waste, recyclables, and compost home with me because it feels good.

Waste Free ablutions - part three

It's a part of every woman's life, but not something that we talk about very much, other than with close friends.  When I first discovered the Diva Cup I was so excited - I had no idea that there was such thing as a reusable menstrual cup.  Not only does it reduce waste, but it works way better than any product I have used and translates to huge cost savings!

The cup functions much better than any product on the market.   I have had my cup for about three years and the only time it has ever leaked was when I first bought it and put it in wrong.  It holds much more than any tampon or pad so it only needs to be changed about once a day (although every woman is different). The cup is deceivingly comfortable - like a tampon, you don't even feel it once it is in.  

The cup is easy to use, once you read the instructions.  I found this video on youtube that demonstrates how to use a menstrual cup, and it also offers some tips on changing a cup in a public restroom (which until now I have managed to avoid doing).

I recently convinced my sister to buy one and now she is a Diva Cup advocate.  At first she was a bit concerned with the logistics of finding a private bathroom to change the cup when it filled, but after only 2 months of using it, she sees that there is really no challenge at all.   

I bought two Diva Cups as prize give-aways for my staff (little incentives to make sorting garbage a little more exciting - five of the six staff are female so I thought it would be appropriate).  My sister is one of the staff and every time someone would win a prize she would say "pick the cup - it's the best value".  The girls that took the cups were a bit shy at first, but are now telling me how glad they are that they chose the cups and telling me that they really work well.

The Diva Cup is a worth-while investment.  According to the Diva Cup website, the average woman spends about $150 per year on menstrual products.  The Diva Cup costs about $50 so it pays itself off in less than half a year.  If you are from the Kamloops area, the Diva Cup is sold at Nature's Fare or London Drugs. 

Reading this blog post you may think I am a Diva Cup spokesperson or a marketing agent for the company.  I wish, the truth is I am just a very satisfied consumer.   And if I can convince just one person to go out and buy a Diva Cup, then I have come one step closer to my vision of the future - where landfills are naught but composting facilities.

Disposal Choices

When I think about all the processes involved in making a new product, all the energy and resources needed to get a product from a raw material into the hands of a consumer, I am baffled to think that anyone could just throw away a perfectly good product.

As a marketing major at university, I learned about the product life cycle and the disposal choices once a product no longer provides satisfaction to a consumer.  It's what marketers refer to as end-of-life.  What does a consumer do with a product once it has reached the end of it's useful life (from the original consumer's perspective)?

A consumer has several choices (and please feel free to comment on any that I have missed) after they have bought a product. For example, a t-shirt I bought 10 years ago has seen better days and I am contemplating what I should do with it.  I could:

1. Keep it.  The t-shirt is comfortable and still fits and I still wear it.
1. Store it.  The t-shirt is seasonal and I still wear it. 
2. Re-purpose. The t-shirt could be used as a smock for Eli's when she paints, it could be cut up and used for rags, I could make it into a tank top or purse.
2. Give it away. 
1. Give to a friend or family.  The t-shirt is too small/ too big but still looks good so I could give it to my sister/ niece/ friend.
2. Donate (charity, for-profit, school) it. The shirt is still good but I'd rather get rid of it.  I'm sure someone would like it but I don't have any friends or family that would wear it.
3. Sell it.  The t-shirt is trendy and I bet someone would buy it for $5.
1. Online.  Post it on kijiji/ craigslist/ facebook/ tnrdreuses
2. On consignment.  Shabby Shack/ Mint Condition Boutique
3. Classified Ads.  I could post a classified ad in the local paper or the regional Buy and Sell
4. At a garage sale. We have lots of stuff we don't use anymore.  I think we could make a few hundred dollars by having a garage sale, I could try to sell it then.
4. Dispose of it. 
1. Recycle it. Okay, there aren't too many options to recycle textiles in BC (that I am aware of anyways).  But if you donate your old clothing to the Salvation Army Thrift Store, then chances are if the clothing is not in good enough condition to sell, it will find it's way to a textiles recycler.
2. Landfill it.  The t-shirt is not suitable to be worn anymore - there are holes everywhere and it's made of synthetic fibres that aren't suitable for rags. Sadly it is time to put the shirt in it's final resting place at Mission Flats landfill.

I have used a t-shirt as an example here but the choices apply to any product.  With so many choices available to a consumer, I wonder why so much stuff that is in good condition still finds its way to the landfill?  Are people just not aware of the choices?  Is throwing stuff in the garbage the easiest choice? Do people think that if they don't want the product that nobody else would either? 

I understand that many of the disposal choices require some effort on the part of the consumer and that when there is effort involved, people choose the path of least resistance (the garbage can). So here is my advise to everyone:

Put a basket somewhere in the house labeled "Thrift Store".  Anytime you are ready to get rid of a product in your home that is still in working condition, put it in the basket.  When the basket is full you can either call a thrift store to come and pick it up, or you can put it in the car and drop it off on your way to work/ to the gym/ to the doctor/ etc.  There are lots of thrift stores in town and I have never been turned away when trying to donate used items. Many second hand stores like Big Brother and Sisters and Penny Pinchers offer a pick-up service.

Festival waste

Eli and me are frogs in a play at Solstice

I have been going to this summer solstice festival hosted in the Shuswap area for the past three years - a four-day long event in celebration of the first day of summer.  It has been a tradition in the area for quite some time - my guess would be thirty some-odd years.

It is an amazingly orchestrated self-managed event, led by a few, but supported by many.  I was amazed the first year by how much was going on - mask making (for the candle light procession), talent show (my first year in attendance Earthbound played), cross-dress soccer game, masked candle light procession, story telling, yoga, pot-luck feast with a spit-roast lamb, treasure hunt, 30 foot long banana split, spaghetti / chili dinner, Mambo Coffee (Cafe- quality coffee shop - just have to bring a cup), Booney hotdog (if you get lucky ladies, Matt will serve you wearing nothing but an apron), and a drumming circle that subsides sometime on Sunday night.

Each person brings something to the festival and there is no money exchanged except the $20 gate fee, which is donated to helping give sight to Nepalese people.  There is so much food and drink being shared that one could show up empty handed and be fed and drunk the entire weekend (although it would be frowned upon).  My contribution to the festival for the past two years has been waste management.

Because most people that attend the event are pretty earth-friendly, one would think that it would be easy to implement a recycling program - provide recycling bins with signage and empty the bins when they become full.  I was shocked to see that the recycling program at solstice in the past was limited to cans, bottles, and a little compost.

After a so-so attempt to recycle at last year's festival, I came a little more prepared and ready to tackle the task of waste management for Solstice 2011.  Recycling in the area is easy - paper, plastic, glass and metals can all be recycled together.   Bottles and cans were already successfully being recycled at the festival, and most people were comfortable enough with the compost buckets scattered around the kitchen / dinning area.

My goal coming into the festival was to be as close to zero-waste as possible.  Knowing that people aren't as diligent about packaging waste as our family is, some garbage was going to be inevitable.

As I have been spending the last few weeks up to my elbows in garbage, I was not afraid to put on some gloves and dig into the garbage cans and pick out anything that was recyclable or compostable.  Most people were very good at reading the signs and separating recyclables and compost.  But whether it was a lack of understanding as to what could be recycled or composted, or just plain laziness (especially the recyclables that needed to be washed), I would inevitably remove a considerable amount of material from the garbage upon each inspection.

At the end of the festival Eli and I walked around the campsites with a bag and bucket to collect recyclables and compost.  I felt a bit intrusive going through people's garbage right in front of them, especially when they would tell me that they didn't have any recyclables or compost.  But each bag I sifted through would have something that could be diverted from the garbage, like tissue paper or dirty cardboard, that I could add to my compost bucket.

At the end of the four-day long festival attended by about 100 people there was 2 bags of garbage, 4 bags of recyclable material, 15 buckets of compost, and about 20 bags of bottles and cans.  Not quite zero waste but for the most part I was happy with the results.

Bones, bones, bones

Thanks to a comment from a woman on an earlier blog post, we have been able to avoid meat waste for the past 2 months by storing the bones in our freezer, and burying the bones in the garden.  Bonemeal is an organic fertilizer that contains phosphorus - an important chemical for plant growth.  Bonemeal is a slow-release fertilizer... I suppose the chunks of bones I put under the shrub will feed the shrub it's whole life?

The process was easy: 

1. Dig a hole in the garden where you want the plant.  
2. Put the bones in the hole. 
3. Crush and mixed the bones with the shovel. 
4. Fill the hole with water and let it drain
5. Put the plant in the ground.

And voila: win-win plants are fed organically and we have no meat waste!

I have spent the past three weeks with a group of university students at landfills throughout the region, dissecting loads of garbage.  Most of what we see is "garbage", but some loads, referred to in the waste industry as "residential self-haul loads", are full of treasures.

A residential self-haul load is waste that is brought to the disposal site by a resident, and is usually a result of some sort of clean-up around the home (spring cleaning, moving).  I am not all that surprised by what we find in these loads, but it does sadden me a little to see a product in perfectly (or near perfectly) good condition destined for the grave.

Our team has rescued many of these products, some of which have gone home with the team members, some of which I have claimed, some are stored in my husband's VW, and many more have made their way to the Salvation Army.  Technically we should not be doing this, there is a no-scavenging policy at landfills, but we are up to our elbows in garbage all day (literally) so I feel it is justified, and if nothing else, a reward to these brave students for their hard work.

I have tried to photo document all the stuff we take from the landfill, so take a look and tell me if you think this stuff is garbage?

Landfill project

Some of the research team at the Barriere landfill

My apologies blog followers for the scarcity of blogs posts lately, I have been working long days undertaking a landfill study throughout the region.  I have been traveling throughout the region with a team of six amazing university students, dissecting loads of garbage coming into the region's landfills.

Dissecting means that we are taking a bag of garbage and sorting it's contents into lots different categories (133 to be exact), with the fourteen broad categories being paper products, paper packaging, plastic products, plastic packaging, organic, textiles, rubber, metal, glass, wood, construction materials, hazardous waste, electronic waste, and residuals.

Thats all the time I have for blogging today, we are off to Lower Nicola landfill (near Merritt) today - bright and early 6:00 am.

Struck gold at the farmer's market

Saturday morning trip to the farmer's market is always exciting.  Bumping into strangers and familiar faces strolling along, stocking up on local supplies.   This week I had a plan, I wanted to source some local meat (quarter of a cow?) and have the meat packaged in recyclable or self-supplied materials.

I spoke to one farmer who said they could fulfill my order, but not for at least another few months as the cows were still in pasture.  I put my name on the order list and proceeded down the market, when I saw a heaping pile of gold!!!

Okay, it was a pile of cow manure in the back of a pick-up truck being sold in burlap sacs for $3/bag or 4/ $10 by a 4H club from the Barriere area.  This was such luck - I had been wondering for the past few weeks where I might find manure sold by the truckload.  The club kindly delivered eight bags of manure free of charge, emptying each bag into the garden. They were quite happy to have sold a bunch of manure, and I was doubly happy to have it delivered to my home, without any packaging.

Eli was asleep in my arms not halfway through the market, having brought home a nasty bug from daycare (which later got ahold of my intestines, resulting in half-hourly trips to the bathroom for 3 days). I didn't get a chance to "steak-out" any more meat suppliers so I will be back to the farmer's market next week.  Until then, I will be busy planting our garden for a summer (and hopefully fall and winter too) of home-grown goodness.

Waste free ablutions - part two

You brush your teeth, CH CH CH CH .....

Dental products, May 2011

Dental hygiene is not waste friendly.  First there is the tooth brush, which is not to my knowledge recyclable (in our area anyways).  Yes, you can reuse tooth brushes as cleaning brushes (at least I do anyways), but if you replace your toothbrush as often as they recommend (every 3-4 months), then a average size family would go through about 12-16 toothbrushes a year. All be it in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a huge deal, but when looking for ways to minimize household waste, there are better options than the standard toothbrush, nicely summarized in this article at green living tips.

After studying toothbrush options, my first choice was the recyclable toothbrush by Preserve.  The toothbrush is made from recycled content, with a mail back option, so that the toothbrush gets recycled into other things like plastic chairs and tables.  The website also offers a toothbrush subscription, a nice reminder that it is time to replace your toothbrush. One small problem, where can I buy one of these toothbrushes?

Nature's Fare is the only store in Kamloops that sells Eco-friendly toothbrushes. As my first choice was not available for sale, I opted to buy a brand that has a handle made from recycled American dollar bills by Radius.  The heads are replaceable so our whole family can share one handle and each have a separate head.

Another source of dental hygiene waste: dental floss.  I was hoping to find biodegradable dental floss at Nature's Fare.  No such luck.  I ended up buying an antibacterial cranberry flavoured vegan floss also by Radius which came in recyclable packaging on a 50 meter spool (as opposed to the 11 meter non-recyclable plastic packaging spool by Johnson & Johnson that we usually buy).

And lastly there is the issue of tooth paste.  I wonder how much tooth paste is wasted in every package thrown away?  Have you ever cut open a tube of toothpaste to try and get every last bit of tooth paste out?

I have been looking for alternatives for store bought toothpaste and found this recipe on the clean bin blog which is pretty easy to make using baking soda, glycerine, salt and peppermint extract.   I am not going to try and sugar coat it to convince you to try, it tastes terrible.  And if you want to try for yourself, I will gladly make you up a batch as I have plenty of ingredient for more.

Another alternative is to stop using toothpaste altogether.  Mint&Cilli blogged about the negative effects of toothpaste and her experience giving up toothpaste.  She read a book, "Good teeth, birth to death" by Dr. Judd which explained what toothpaste does to your teeth - coats them in glycerin, preventing the enamel to regrow (and heal the tooth).

When I asked my dental hygienist, she told me that the act of brushing (and flossing) is enough to clean the teeth and that the only thing missed from not using toothpaste is the fluoride (perhaps a fluoride rinse every few months would do the trick?).  I haven't used toothpaste for three days and I have't really missed it.

I look forward to the day when recyclablitliy is incorporated into the design of all packaging.  Why can't toothpaste (or anything for that matter) come in a reusable and appealing jar?  Why do they even sell tiny rolls of floss? Why can't we recycle toothbrushes?

Bread crumbs

I never really understood why so many recipes called for bread crumbs until a moment ago, while wiping breakfast off the counter.  I imagine that 75 years ago when my "go-to" cook book, the Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer, was published, back when my grandmother was learning how to cook, they would save bread crumbs, rather than just wipe them into the sink.

Visit to Mission Flats Landfill

I consider myself a pretty lucky person.   I somehow managed to land my dream job right out of school, in which I perform contract work (exclusively at the moment) for the regional district.

I have worked in the industry for about three years.  My most recent project is a waste composition study, which is essentially a big audit of what is going into the region's landfills.  Now maybe I am a little more excited about waste than the average person, but how cool is that???!!!

Today I had a guided tour of Mission Flats landfill.  It was really amazing.  Our first stop was the recycling area.  My favourite is the scrap metal pile - there is always some amazing find, today was a set of four vintage chairs.

An old hippie acquaintance of mine, Tony, is always going on about how they closed the Drop and Shop at the landfill, and how he thinks is is absolutely ridiculous that the "City" won't let anyone take stuff away from the landfill.  He thinks that a 'no scavenging' policy is totally counter to their waste reduction goals, and to be honest, he has a point.  It's such a shame that the world has come to the point where everything has to be so tightly regulated, because if it's not, someone is going to do something stupid, and sue whoever let it happen.

I could never work at a landfill, it would make me sick watching perfectly good or fixable or reusable stuff get tossed into the bin, later to be buried.

After visiting the residential area, we headed up towards the active face, an area of the landfill that only commercial waste haulers get to see.  Along the way we passed the asphalt and concrete recycling areas, massive piles that get crushed and used in various operations like road bedding.   Greg explained to me that he wanted to start collecting toilets and other ceramic objects to crush.  He said that somewhere in California they use the crushed toilets as pathways in parks - as most toilets are white, the paths are highly visible at night - how ingenious!

The active face of the landfill was surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be.  There was a small area where a huge tractor like thing with big spiky metal wheels looking like something that would really kick ass at a monster truck rally was driving over the day's garbage.  Greg told me that he used to drive one of those tractors.  Back and forth all day long, compacting the waste. The City trucks compact garbage as they collect it, but Greg says that that machine will compact even that garbage by a factor of six.

After discussing the study with the landfill operator manager for a while, we headed back the way we came and back to the city.  On the way I asked Greg if the City was considering wood waste recycling. He told me that they used to recycle wood waste, but that someone up the ladder put a stop to it because it was claimed to cause too much damage to the chipper.  Greg didn't agree with it, he said that those chippers could handle anything and that we only wished they would give him the go ahead to start wood waste recycling again.

The more time I spent with Greg, the more I started to like him.  He was my kind of person, waste diversion specialist, with ideas a lot bigger impact than my little zero-waste challenge.  But I understand how the City operates - they take their time and do it right.  So it will take time, but I know we will get there Kamloops.

What do think will be next on the list of diversion options for the City? What would you like to see being recycled in your community?

Compost Happens

Last week I asked the question, "What has the most impact on waste reduction in a household?" (or something like that).  All three people that answered, said that bringing bags and containers shopping has the most impact on waste reduction.

It is true that brining bags and containers shopping considerably reduces household waste, but, according to the US EPA, organic materials (yard waste, food waste, wood waste and paper) makes up over two-third of the US waste stream.

I wouldn't recommend trying to compost wood products in a backyard composter, but most every other organic material will decompose into an organic nutrient rich soil amendment that can be used as a fertilizer in the garden.  If you already compost, high five! You probably divert about one third of your household waste, not to mention the benefits to your garden.

If you are someone who thinks composting is a good idea but just haven't made the commitment, now is a great time to start.  There are many resources on composting, every municipality has some sort of booklet or information package, and if you live in the TNRD, chances are you can get your hands on a worm or backyard composter at cost (about $25).

I have read a lot about composting and there are many different styles. If you don't mind the sight, composting can be done in the open air (which makes it easier to turn) by simply creating a compost pile.  I do this with my weeds and garden waste, which I am reluctant to put into my food waste bin, mainly because it would fill too quickly and I don't think my pile gets hot enough to kill any weed seeds.

I have also attempted vermicomposting (worm composting), which is great for people that live in apartments or flats that don't have space for a backyard compost.  A special type of worm is used for composting, usually Red Wigglers.  There is no need to turn a worm compost because the worms do all the work.  Mel Anderson at All Things Organic sells worms and compost bins, but you don't need to get a fancy as the multi-tiered compost bins made for worm composting, a simple rubbermade tote will do the trick.  To get started you need to put some bedding down for the worms, like dampened shredded paper or coconut coir.  Then add the worms and start to feed.

 I say attempted worm composting because (sadly) I have killed my worms on more than one attempt. Good ole Mel though, keeps encouraging me, because worm composting is superior to backyard composting, simply because the material breaks down so much faster in a worm compost and what you are left with is this amazingly rich nutrient rich, super fine, worm castings that any gardener would say looks like gold.

I digress yet again.  How did I kill my worms?  I starved them to death.  The first time I lived in an apartment with two guys that were not into having the worm compost under the kitchen sink or in the closet.  So I put the compost way out of the way in a back staircase that nobody used.  Unfortunately, the compost was in a really inconvenient place for me too. In the winter I had to tredge through the snow and wedge the door open with a stick so I didn't get locked in the staircase.  I started to feed the worms less regularly but in greater amounts, which didn't really work for the worms.  One day I went out to feed the worms and had a dig around to see how there were faring and there wasn't a single worm wiggling in the pile. I felt terrible, like I killed my pet (which I had).  Too embarrassed to tell Mel that I had killed my worms, I gave up worm composting.

On my second attempt (after confessing to Mel about what happened), I got more worms and was determined to make it work.  After all, I had just finished organizing a bunch of worm composting workshops across the regional district and had preached about great worm composting was.  Surely I could make it work.  But by this time I had invested (or inherited, I can't remember) a backyard compost bin, which I found to be a little less finicky than the worms (I wasn't going to kill anything in the backyard compost bin).

By this time I had moved in with my now husband Trevor and we were renting an old house downtown.  Trevor is a hippie so it wasn't hard to convince him that we should have the worm compost in the kitchen.  This worked really well. I fed the worms regularly and they were happy as could be in our little kitchen.  I would show them off to all our visitors and would even give a few gardener friends some castings to take home (if they were lucky).  You aren't supposed to overfeed worms so whatever I thought would be too much for the worms was tossed in the backyard compost.

This system worked wonderfully, until Eli was born and we moved and I started to notice the smell of the compost in the house.  It wasn't really a bad smell, more earthy, but for whatever reason, it permeated our new home much more that the one downtown.  So into the garage went the compost, which was the beginning of the end for the worms (I still feel like a murderer).  Because we still had the backyard compost, it was so much more convenient to throw everything into the one bin, rather than taking some compost into the garage for the worms and then tossing the rest in the backyard compost.

The moral of the story is, if you are going to compost, make sure that you put the compost bin (or pile or whatever sort of system you choose) in a convenient location that you will use.  Otherwise it will just sit there collecting dust (like my worm compost in the garage).  On a happy note though, I am donating the worm compost to Elianna's daycare.  Kids love to play with worms, and its all about learning some important life cycles.

Recently a friend posted a link to a different type of compost system called the Green Cone that I am going to look into because with this system you can compost all kitchen waste including meat and bones, something that shouldn't be put into a backyard compost bin (mainly because of the odour attracts animals).

Do you compost? What type of system do you have?  Do you have problems or concerns about composting?  Have you ever tried this digested Green Cone system?  What about worm composting? Please comment about your compost experiences.  What are some of the challenges you face?