Recycling

I'm not quite sure how I missed this tidbit of news, as it came out back in April.  

Concord, Massachusetts, home to Walden Pond and the original concord grapevine, has banned the sale of bottled water starting in 2011.  The measured will only allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in Concord.

The effort was lead by Jean Hill, an 80-something-year old activist.  She lobbied neighbors and officials on the serious environmental consequences of plastic bottles filling landfills and creating more pollution. 

The International Bottled Water Association released this statement about the ban.   I didn't even KNOW there was an International Bottled Water Association!  Their entire website made my blood boil.   Additionally, Joe Doss, president of the IBWA said:  "We obviously don’t think highly of the vote in Concord. Any efforts to discourage consumers from drinking water, whether tap water or bottled water, is not in the best interests of consumers. Bottled water is a very healthy, safe, convenient product that consumers use to stay hydrated." [source]  Oh, okay, Mr. Doss.  ... read more

Nothing ruins a day faster than stepping onto a wad of gum on the street, and Anna Bullis has decided to do something about it. 

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We all know that standard bottles and cans are recyclable. Some items, on the other hand, are less obvious. Some items that you may think are recyclable are actually not. Some things need to be brought to a recycling center. Some things might be partially recyclable. 

Here is your guide to those items. These can vary from city to city and it can also depend on whether or not your city has single-stream recycling, so if you are unsure or have any questions, contact your city’s recycling department.
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I try to be as green as possible in my daily life. I compost. I recycle (even though we have to pay for curb-side service in my city). I buy a majority of my food at various farmers markets, and talked my family into joining a CSA this summer. I store my photos online (okay, that may be more laziness than a conscious choice). I buy all natural cleaning products and refuse to use chemicals on my lawn or in my gardens.

On point with this post, though, I have a resuable lunch bag that I bring to work (almost) daily. The thing about lunch bags, though--at least the size I like to carry--is that it doesn't hold much. There's plenty of room for the (reusable) plastic container holding my main course and my fork, but that's about it. If I want to pack some trail mix or some grapes, I usually find myself begrudgingly shoving them into a resealable bag because there's no room for another container. And, although I really want to use those bags more than once, I just end up throwing them away because I don't like mixing the flavor of yesterday's snack with today's.... read more

The Blue Economy, 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs is a phenomenal book I have been reading lately by Gunter Pauli, founder of Ecover, and The Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives organization. The philosophy behind the book is the recognition and emulation of the interconnectedness of the five kingdoms of nature. Pauli presents an alternative economic system where human processes are modeled after natural systems, and work with nature, rather than against her. ... read more