One more thing

Yesterday I bought a new kitchen scale. Many of the bread recipes I've been making call for ingredients measured by weight, rather than volume, so a working kitchen scale in a necessity. Upon opening the box, I was confronted with Styrofoam. Drat. I banned that stuff from my life last week.

Ok so here's the thing: two weeks ago, I bought a pizza stone for my oven. I made a point of opening it in the store, after I'd purchased it, and giving the packaging (which included Styrofoam) to the clerk to recycle. Now here I am with this little bit of Styrofoam, which I am going to make a point to recycle at one of Toronto's special enviro-days. But what if the sales clerk didn't actually recycle my packaging and just threw it out? What if me taking it home to recycle myself would have been the better option? That way I know for sure it is getting to the recycling people. Should I trust people when they say they will recycle it for me? What if this minimum-wage earning person doesn't care about the environment and just wants to get this crazy lady out of her store?

Day 18, 19 and 20 - last post before I take off for a week

I can honestly say that I will miss writing these daily posts. Blogging is something that has given a sense of order to my normally all-over-the-place life, and really making one green change per day and then writing about it not only makes the process gradual, but cements the change in my head to make it for permanent.

Although, today, I had a slip up. I was at Starbucks getting coffee for my girlfriend, and, though I don't normally order one for myself, I had a "what the hell" moment and ordered one. It wasn't until the barista handed me the drink that I had the uh oh moment of realizing that I forgot my thermos and has just broken one of my green rules. Damn. And I had been doing so well.

What do you do when you mess up? Just get back on the horse, so to speak? Renew your pledge to do better in the future? Mentally berate yourself for being thoughtless? I feel pretty guilty.

I can't believe I'm 20 days (so to speak) into this challenge. It hasn't been hard, and I've enjoyed exploring the new stores and products that are becoming part of my life. Looking at the list I've written, though, I can see that there are tough times ahead. And Vanessa is right - keeping track of all of these green changes is stressful! I'm tempted to print off my list and keep it with me to reference throughout the day.

So! As I am leaving town today, an appropriate change is to pack light. Lighter than I usually do when traveling my motorcycle even. My parents can attest, and the men in my life as well, that when I pack, I tend to bring everything but the kitchen sink. Not clothes or toiletries, mind you, but books and things to do. Almost two years ago, my boyfriend and I went on a 24 day cruise. I packed so much STUFF for that trip that not only did I not get to do everything I'd planned, but we paid oodles of money there and back for my overweight luggage.

I guess I've always had this fear of boredom. Throughout my life, I've always been a very busy person, what with school, activities, crafts, projects, etc, that I've never actually been bored, and yet I have this irrational fear of it. So I over pack.

When I bought my motorcycle, I had to start paring down, because quite literally, there was no room to take everything that I usually would take on a trip. In case you are wondering, I ride a Road King Classic. You can see from the photo that the bike comes with two saddle bags. To that, I've added a trunk and a pillion bag (which I leave empty, so that I have room to go shopping on my trips). Even still, that doesn't leave much room for stuff, and I have, on one occasion, had to cart my stuff to the post office and ship it home because I'd exceeded the capacity of my bike.

But I digress. This trip, we are packing uber light. I'm removing all unnecessary packaging from toiletries, packing minimal clothing, and I'm aiming to fit all my stuff in one small duffel bag. Here goes nothing. :-)

Another change I'm making is no longer using paper towels or hand dryers in public restrooms. Chances are, I'll be hitting up a few of those in the coming days, and really, how bad are damp hands? They dry soon enough.

And before I hit the road tonight, I'll be shutting down my computer. After I return, I'll be shutting down my computer every night before I go to bed. Even though my computer is quiet, when it is off, the silence is truly remarkable. I like silence.

So here I go! Off to the Niagara region for some wine appreciation, and then down to the lovely state of PA to get some fabric and meet some penguins. Yay for penguins!

Day 15, 16, and 17, and a nifty link

While reading the online news yesterday, my boyfriend came across WWOOF the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms website. For the price of a small registration fee, and the cost of your travel, you can work on an organic farm anywhere in the world, for as long or as short as you wish. What a neat vacation idea! I often wished, growing up, that I lived on a farm, after having such fun each year visiting my aunt and uncle's small farm in the Catskill mountains of New York state. I used to harass my father and say "Dad, why couldn't you have been a farmer? Why did you have to be an engineer?" And then he's ask me if I liked my private school and piano lessons and tell me that if we were farmers we probably wouldn't be able to afford such things. More's the pity, I think. Farmers feed us all, and should be better supported than they are.

Enough with my rant. I'm forging ahead and banking more challenges so that I can have a vacation over the next few days. Tomorrow I'll be posting three changes I've made, and then, gentle readers, you won't hear from me again until August 5.

Today's changes were relatively easy. I bought some new dishtowels, made from bamboo, at Canadian Tire. I skipped right over the Debbie Travis brand, made in China, and went straight to the bamboo towels. I've been needing more towels anyway, since I use them to cover my bread as it rises.

I've stopped using paper gift wrap, and started making my own gift wrapping. Hey, I'm a creative sort. This was no stretch for me. Larely I've been giving away a lot of homemade bread, and it just seems nicer to give it in a reusable cotton drawstring bag that I made myself while the bread was baking. Sometimes I get the bag back, and sometimes not. I like to think that the people I'm giving the bread to are continuing to use the bag for other things.

Since my kitties are already pretty green, I took them one step further by purchasing organic, preservative free cat treats, and organic catnip. Needless to say, they embraced this change fully and with much purring.

Lastly, I wanted to sign up with Green Dimes to reduce the amount of junk paper mail that comes to the condo. Since the publication of Vanessa's book, the company has changed names to Tonic MailStopper and no longer has services for Canadians. If I am wrong, somebody please tell me, beacuse I'd love to cut down on my junk mail.

Day 12, 13, and 14 - Three for the price of one!

As I am going away for roughly a week and will not have Internet access to update my blog, I'm tripling up on green changes so I can bank some for when I am on the road. In case you are curious, I'm going to the Niagara region with my girlfriend to tour some wineries, buy some wine and generally have a good time. After that, my boyfriend and I are riding the Harleys (yes, he has one too) to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh PA to visit Hancock Fabrics, and the penguins at the Pittsburgh zoo. So tomorrow I'll do three more changes, and Wednesday another three, so that when I get back Tuesday night I'm not behind.

Something you must understand about me is that I bake and cook. A lot. Not only is it a way to feed myself, but I genuinely love being creative in the kitchen and feeding others. Lately I've been on a bread making kick, making sometimes 4 loaves and day, giving some away and freezing the rest. Now, when I give bread away, I give it away in a cotton drawstring bag which I make. When I freeze it, however, it gets wrapped in foil. Last night, I ran out of foil. So I thought to myself "Am I going to give up foil for my green challenge? How will I freeze my bread? Oh no!". Fortunately, after trolling some other eco blogs, I found Green Luvin's post on recycled aluminum foil.

Here is what she says, "I discovered that aluminum, unlike plastics, can be recycled over and over again without loosing quality. In addition, mining bauxite, the basic building block of aluminum, is very taxing on the environment. Additionally, producing new aluminum consumes a lot of energy per pound. Recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy to produce.

According to the EPA, there is 3.3 million tons of aluminum in the municipal waste stream, a.k.a. the landfill. That is equal to almost 100 million soda cans or 20 million rolls of recycled aluminum foil.* That is a lot of BBQing."

Saved! I'll recycle my foil from now on, and buy this stuff (which I might add, I bought at Whole Foods for 7.99. That's a lot of money for foil, when the generic brand was on the shelf next to it for 2.29). I'll just be frugal with my foil.

A few days ago, my dad (who is not an environmentalist, but does like to forward whatever email he finds interesting, regardless of topic) sent me a PowerPoint presentation on the harms of bottled water and the plastic bottles they come in. The data was accurate and timely, and it said all the same things I've been hearing from you guys in your comments. So I did it - I gave up my Dasani bottle, which I've been refilling with tap water for months, and sprung for a fancy-poo aluminum water bottle made by Sigg. It's fuchsia, holds a litre of water, and features an Indian-inspired design. Perfect. $28 at Big Carrot.

With all the cooking and baking I've been doing, I've been using the dishwasher a lot, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with the Seventh Generation liquid dish soap. Score one for Vermont. But you can just imagine all the energy that a dishwasher uses. I can see the day when I will give it up entirely, perhaps when this bottle of detergent runs out, but for now, I'm switching to the air dry function as opposed to the heated dry function. That will help.

The AC

I'll be minding my own business, and out of the blue, my boyfriend will say "do you feel hot?" This is his way of saying "I feel hot, and I'm turning on the AC", and on it goes. Blasting cold, but it makes him happy. It only stays on long enough for him to feel better (usually 20 minutes) and then I discretely turn it off again. He says that I can be a sweaty hippie as much as I want, but that doesn't mean that he has to. *sigh* He did eat at Le Commensal with me today, and even managed to choke down an organic ginger ale. I'm proud of him. He's even switched from chips and dip to my homemade bread and hummus.

Mind you, when I made my pledge to turn off the AC, I turned it off in the house AND the car, so whenever I'm driving around, I've got the windows rolled down. Driving just feels more visceral that way.

Day 11 - Use a thermos when buying coffee, instead of a paper cup

Before I begin today's post, I'd just like to say a few words of happiness. First of all, my new laundry detergent, manufactured by The Soap Works right here in Toronto is the BEST detergent I have ever used. Produced locally, it takes 1/4 c of detergent to wash a large load of laundry, it is good for the environment, and there is no need for fabric softeners or dryer sheets, which means that when my box of Downy sheets are gone, they are gone! The best part of all: this detergent gets the smell of gas/exhaust/wind out of my jeans, which is extraordinary. Normally, my jeans smell like motorcycle year round, because nothing takes out that smell. But this soap does! I'm THRILLED. Just because I ride a bike doesn't mean I want to smell like one.

Secondly, I LOVE Freecycle. I've gotten rid of my vacuum cleaner and my paper planner with all it's trappings, and met some lovely friendly people in the process. I feel SO good, making others happy and giving away things that I don't need to others who really do. Seriously, this is what it is all about folks - giving away your things, helping out your neighbours, expecting nothing in return and being filled with this sense of community and goodwill. If we all just take care of each other a little better, think of the love we can inject into the world.

So today's change is to bring my thermos every time I go to Starbucks instead of taking a paper cup. I bought a great Starbucks stainless steel thermos last fall that can stand up to being stuffed in a motorcycle side bag and not leak. Sure, it was roughly $30, but it's great. Not only does the planet benefit from this action, but Starbucks takes ten cents off your drink price if you bring your own mug or thermos. I mentioned how great this was to them, and they told me that a while back, they had a promo day where, if you brought your own mug or thermos, your drink was free, and ever since that day, more people had been bringing their own mug or thermos out of habit. The barista said the city of Toronto was trying to implement a policy at all coffee places where your drink would be 10 cents less if you provide your own drinking vessel. Awesome!

This greening process is helping my wallet as well. Vanessa mentioned her book that her bank account was loving her green year, and not only because she was no longer paying for a car and all the things that go along with car ownership. I may start calculating the difference that my green choices are making in my budget and taking the difference and setting it aside for a vacation or some other venture. Today I saved 10 cents by bring a thermos, and every time I bring a thermos, that's another 10 cents. I saved roughly 15 dollars by purchasing an earth friendly moisturizer. I saved a few dollars by going with an eco laundry detergent, and I'll be saving a few more dollars now that I no longer have to purchase dryer sheets. The trick is to actually take that cash and set it aside and not spend it on something else (like oh so yummy local cheese that I really don't need, but it's soooo good. :-)

Day 10 - Give up my paper planner

When I was a child, one event I looked forward to every year was school supply shopping. There was nothing like trolling the aisles of Staples in that blessed air-conditioning (my house growing up was not air conditioned) with my mother and brothers and the large shopping cart, while my mother pondered over the detailed list provided by the school as to what we would need to start the new year.

To this day, office supplies make me happy. The smell of a new box of crayons, the fresh crisp pages of new notebooks and the sharp corners of folders that had yet to see the inside of a backpack. The most important purchase however, was the planner. This little book was to be my home base, my compass for the next year. It had to be big, but not too big, have enough space to write assignments, and a calendar to keep track of upcoming events. Bonus points if I could customize or decorate the cover. This was a decision not to be taken lightly, and I would spend a long time considering the pros and cons of each design offered.

When I was in university, I spent the summer living with my boyfriend, whose mother was a CPA. One day, a Franklin Covey magazine came in their mail. One look and I was hooked. HERE was the Cadillac of planners. Everything I could ever need, neatly and stylishly contained in a leather binder, and each year I could order pretty new pages to replace those of the year before. Those pages could have pictures of flowers, or inspirational quotes or even comic strips! These planners and their pages were not cheap, but by God, they were gorgeous.

I've been a devout Franklin Covey user for roughly 9 years now, but lately, my stylish planner has been replaced by a friend I didn't have to pay anything for: the Google calendar. Not only does Google not take up any of my desk space, it is available online, I can access it from anywhere in the world and I don't have to lug it around. And it's green! No paper being used, no leather being stitched into pretty binders and no ink on pages. Brilliant! Freecycle, here comes my Franklin Covey.