Trashy

from the DLM Blog:

Thinning Out the Trash: How to Reduce Packaging Waste

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 06:18 PM PST

That container of yogurt I ate for breakfast, the cardboard box that held the books I just ordered, and the bags I used to buy my produce today all ended up in the garbage. It’s all waste, and we know it’s not good; such careless consumption clogs landfills, raises packaging costs, and uses up valuable resources and energy. But how do we cut the junk?

According to the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department, we throw away only approximately one-third of the garbage we generate immediately after we make purchases. There’s more waste we don’t even see, because that one-third accounts for only the primary packaging, when there are really three kinds:

1. Primary packaging is what we handle as consumers.
2. Secondary packaging is the term used for the larger cases or boxes that group quantities of primary packaged goods for distribution.
3. Transit packaging refers to the wooden boards, plastic wrapping, and containers that load, transport, and unload these goods.

So for, say, one container of yogurt, there’s a lot of hidden junk.

Consumption with a Conscience
The first step in reducing packaging waste is not to bring it home with you. Thanks to sites like Treehugger, Care2, and Green Options (to name just a few), companies and consumers with the common aim of ditching the debris are finding each other and doing good things.

The United Kingdom especially is setting the trend here. Unpackaged, a store in London, encourages customers to bring their own containers or purchase reusable containers for a discount. And, the Co-operative Group, a democratic business model in the UK that offers comprehensive services to its four million members, reduced more than forty thousand tons of waste in 2007.

Here in the United States, our corporations are doing their part, too. Amazon launched its Certified Frustration-Free Packaging program in November 2008 to save shoppers the hassle of dealing with blister packs, bubble wrap, and unnecessary boxes. The reduced carbon footprint is really more a happy side effect of this initiative, but I’ll take it. Reviews on Treehugger and The Consumerist pan Amazon’s claims that it offers better packaging, however, so this idea might sound more appealing than it's reality.

Where companies drop the ball, some governments are taking action. The Netherlands, for example, instituted a Waste Fund in 2007, which it financed with a carbon tax on packaging. The fund helps to pay for the separate collection of household packaging waste, while the tax encourages businesses to reduce their waste and consumers to recycle more. Throughout Europe, the Green Dot program, part of the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, requires companies to report the amount of packaging waste they generate and either recover it from the European market or pay a license fee to join a nonprofit program, like the Green Dot scheme, that contributes to recovery and recycling. More than two dozen European countries currently participate in this program.

Buy Wisely, from the Bottom Up
Until we get something like the Green Dot scheme going in the United States, it’s mostly up to us as consumers to shop carefully and abstain from buying unnecessary packaging. While it’s true that we do need some packaging for our health and safety, to prolong shelf life, and to deter theft, most manufacturers over-package their products and charge you for it. Look for alternatives, and if you can’t find companies near you that meet your needs, here are some other not-so-trashy tricks:

• BYOB
  According to ReusableBags.com, we use one million plastic shopping bags per minute. Don’t be a statistic; bring a tote bag. And that goes for produce, too. You don’t need to use those handy-dandy plastic bags just to weigh your apples, because you’re going to throw them away the minute you get home.


• More Is Less
  Avoid single-serving items that are overly packaged; buy in bulk instead. Better yet, head for the bulk bins of your local health-food store for grains and nut mixes. Larger quantities are generally discounted, too.


• Speak Up
  Build good relations with local vendors and request that they avoid using excess packaging. Write letters to large companies asking the same. Consumer demands drive the market, so demand less waste.
  

In general, just think about the life span of what you’re buying before you actually buy it. Do I really need six six-ounce yogurt containers that will eventually end up in the trash (or even the recycling bin) when I can buy one thirty-two-ounce container of the same yogurt instead? It’s like going on a diet: you’ll begin noticing all the areas in which you’ve been grossly overindulging yourself.

Thinning Out the Trash
The next time you go to the supermarket or order something online, pay careful attention to how much of what you purchase ends up in the garbage; you’ll see that it’s quite a lot. Then see what you can do to change that. It’s also quite a lot.

Written on 11/26/2010 by DivineCaroline. DivineCaroline a place where people come together to learn from experts in the fields of health, spending, and parenting. Come discover, read, learn, laugh, and connect at DivineCaroline.com.

Photo Credit: Per Ola Wiberg

The Great Outdoors

Growing up, my parents exposed me to a lot of experiences.

One that had a huge impact on my was Boy Scouts. The scout troop I joined did a lot of outdoor camping and I truly enjoyed that aspect.

My own kids didn't do much camping until later in life. It doesn't matter how young or old you are to start.

From the AOM Blog:

Getting in Touch with the Wilderness

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 11:35 AM PDT

Image from martigras

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Adam Cook. Mr. Cook is a passionate alpinist, mountaineer and all-around outdoorsman.

Content to be wrapped up in our blanket of technology and seemingly powerless against the pull of our cozy man chair, it’s easy to forget there are tons and tons of opportunities to get outside and into the wilderness. People are always wishing for a trip to some major foreign city to see the scenery and take in something different but often fail to realize just how awesome and unique their own countryside can be. By taking up an interest outdoors, you can turn nearly every weekend into a short vacation and save a lot of money in the process.

Being outdoors puts you in direct contact with this magnificent planet of ours. City wilderness often consists of artificially placed miniature trees, a few squirrels, and a pigeon. Any other wildlife you see will likely scurry away the moment it notices you. In the deep wild though, most animals have barely had any human contact and will not hesitate to walk straight up to you. It’s really an experience to see two big-horn sheep fight within 15 feet of you and not care that you’re sticking around.

As both a blessing and a curse, being outdoors will put you in touch with your own mortality. Being in a controlled environment for the majority of one’s life will lead to feelings of immortality or at least an inflated feeling of strength and worth. Having your tent ransacked by a grizzly at 3am or getting caught in a mountain squall can put you right back in your place and teach you a lot in the process. In fact, the reason most alpinists climb is just to revel in that feeling of exposure to danger. It lets you know you’re human.

With a little know how and a few supplies, you can start becoming an outdoorsman yourself. Here are 5 points to keep in mind as you make plans to get in touch with the wilderness.

1. Choose a hobby that puts you outdoors

This sounds obvious, but a lot of guys’ hobbies are what keep them locked up inside. An outdoor hobby can be very cheap, but it can also turn into a serious investment (see: alpine climbing). If you’re on a budget, choose outdoor activities like backpacking and general mountaineering that don’t require an abundance of expensive equipment. These pursuits give you a chance for adventure and travel without costing an arm and an leg. With a pack, clothes, tent, and a dehydrator, you can hike the entire Grand Canyon for the cost of gas and the time it takes to dehydrate a few foods from your own house. This equates to around 120 dollars for an entire week (if you live in Ohio like me). If you have a quick bivy shelter, you can take an airliner to the beaches of Thailand on a moment’s notice with nothing more than a few extra bucks and a backpack.

2. Find at least one person to share your experiences with

While solo hunting, fishing, packing, and biking may be fun, it’s often the other person that will keep you at it. It’s easy to say you don’t feel like waking up at 4am to set up your deer stand, but if you have a friend tagging along, that’s usually all the motivation you need. It also gives you something to talk about and really furthers a relationship, be it with a best friend or significant other.

3. Realize your mortality

I realize I mentioned this earlier, but it needs to be said again before you take off into the wilderness. There are plenty of things out there to teach this lesson to you, but it’s best you realize it yourself right now and prepare beforehand. Knowledge is your friend here. Know that a 50 dollar Wal-Mart tent can’t withstand the 80 mph winds of a mountain squall, and know that a grizzly can break through a car door to get to a Snickers. In fact, there are two rules to being outdoors. 1) Put yourself in a position to be lucky, and 2) Don’t put yourself in a position to rely on luck. Here’s a scenario: getting up before dawn to start a hike on a cloudy day puts you in a position for the weather to clear and the day to be nice. If you only have 2 days and you decide that first day to stay in the tent and wait, you’ve put yourself in a position to rely on luck for the second days’ weather.

4. Get supplies and know where to get them for cheap

Every outdoorsman needs a few basic supplies. This includes rain gear and/or bivy gear (this can be as simple as a large trash bag), a small first aid kit, a compact mountaineering stove with a few dehydrated meals, a compass, a headlamp, and a water purification device. It’s easy to fit all this into a backpack, and even on a challenging day hike it puts you in the position to be lucky if something should turn for the worse.

There are several sites I recommend when looking for outdoor gear at a bargain price. The Sierra Trading Post sells gear and clothing for 30%-70% off and often has very good deals on name brand stuff. But my favorite site is Steep and Cheap. They offer just one greatly discounted item at a time and sell it until it’s gone. Obviously with that kind of set up, you have to act fast to snatch up the stuff you want. But they offer a variety of alerts you can sign up for that will keep you abreast of what item is currently being sold.

5. Respect the wilderness

This should go without saying, but too many people thoughtlessly dump trash outside. Just the other day when bouldering in the local park, I found a white trash bag that had to be 10 minutes from the beaten path. I don’t know how it got there, but I grabbed it and packed it out myself. Respecting the wilderness means allowing it to have the same spirit-reviving effect on others as it has on you. When you leave behind your trash or in any other way mar the wilderness, you create an eyesore that will pull others out of the meditative experience they’re having and back into the ordinary, material world they were trying to escape. You’re gazing at a scene of mighty redwoods and feeling a stirring in your soul, and then-bam!-there’s a McDonald’s bag and the trance is broken. If you say you ‘need’ to leave something behind, it’s understandable, but only once in my life did leaving trash and food behind actually aid me in survival, and I still feel bad about it to this day.

So go out and gear up. Fall is in full swing and there’s no better time to get outside!

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

Going Green? Click here to go there.

Earth Day

April usually has April Fools Day, one of my daughter's birthday's, Easter, Tax Day (TODAY!!!!!), Earth Day, and Rain (April Showers). 2008 has all of the above except Easter was last month.

One of the big pushes on the presidential campaign trail has been the Environment. But what do we really care about?

The following info I would normally post on my Collective Wisdom blog, but I put it here instead along with a picture borrowed from Fort Wayne Observed of one of our three rivers.

(The Picture is actually from Scott Spaulding. Click here for more of his collection.)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

How Green Is My Marketing

Nielsen Online recently released findings which finds that protecting the environment has become increasingly important to consumers, with online buzz around sustainability growing 50 percent in 2007. While early in the year discussion was dominated by the topic of global warming, bloggers progressively addressed a wider variety of green-related issues, with a particular emphasis on personal action such as recycling, avoiding excess packaging, and carpooling.

Jessica Hogue, research director, Nielsen Online, said "...consumers are becoming increasingly vocal online about the issue of sustainability... Blogger attention to... issues like pollution, toxins and sustainable agriculture reveal an important intersection between personal health and environmental wellness."

Top 10 Sustainability Topics for 2007
Topic	Buzz Trend: Increasing or Declining
Global Warming/Climate Change	-
Renewable Energy/Alternative Fuels	+
Resource Conservation	+
Recycle/Reuse	+
Carbon Emissions	-
Pollution	+
Organics	-
Toxins	+
Packaging/Plastic	+
Transportation (hybrids, carpooling)	+
Source: Nielsen Online, BuzzMetrics
Note: Topics are ranked by number of messages among sustainability bloggers from 1/1/07 to 12/31/07, with the Buzz trend reflecting change from 1/1/07 to 12/31/07.

Discovery Channel's TreeHugger led the top sustainability blogs for 2007

Top 5 Sustainability Blogs for 2007
Blog	Sustainability Messages
TreeHugger	4,612
Worldchanging	738
Biopact	722
The Oil Drum	706
The Alternative Consumer	698
Source: Nielsen Online, BuzzMetrics

Not only are consumers looking for practical steps they can take to reduce personal environmental impact, but they are also holding corporations accountable for action and results, says the report. Bloggers are quick to condemn "greenwashing" - when they suspect companies misrepresent their environmental impact with aggressive PR campaigns - as spurious attempts to be "green." Consumers expect consistency in action and authentic and transparent messaging.

Top 5 Greenwashing Topics
Greenwashing Topic	Percent of Discussion
Contradictory Actions	25%
Incongruous with Company/Industry	21%
False/Misleading Comments	19%
Seek Regulated Oversight	18%
General Suspicion	17%
Source: Nielsen Online, BuzzMetrics

The Nielsen Online analysis showed that similar environmental initiatives can provoke different consumer responses depending on a company's reputation and history. In the retail sector, says the study, while Wal-Mart and Target both introduced reusable shopping bags, some consumers voiced skepticism towards Wal-Mart because of its association with environmental, labor, and health care issues.

Hogue said "When it comes to the environment, consumers are insisting on both transparency and consistency from the corporations they patronize... Consumer support depends on action as well as perceived sincerity and commitment."

For more information, please visit Nielsen Online here.