Use recycled facial tissue (Change 138)

The idea of hankies went by the wayside a long time ago.  I caught a really bad cold a few months ago, and ended up using copious amounts of Kleenex.  I never got back in the habit of using hankies.  So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Scotties is now producing a 100% recycled fibre facial tissue.  It is EcoLogo certified (http://www.ecologo.org/en/), and actually manufactured in Canada.  Like most things environmentally-friendly, it is a higher cost that the regular brands.  But is makes me feel good, and makes my nose feel good too.

Eco-Friendly Disney Style - Part 1

Well, the trip is long over, but the memories are still good ones.  We spent a week at Disney World in Florida, with my parents, my brother and his fiancee.  It was certainly a lesson in togetherness, understanding, and patience.  It was also a lesson in how well-entrenched my family really is in the whole "eco-thing".

The realization starts almost as soon as we start planning our trip.  There was paper.  Lots and lots of paper.  Brochures, calendars, emails, tickets.  It is unbelievable in this age of technology, how much paper a trip actually uses in its planning stages.

Sure, we communicated back and forth by email.  Yes, we had electronic tickets.  But, DD1 and DD2 both needed their passports renewed before our trip.  Check off TWO three page print outs that were mailed, plus photocopies of relevant documents (in case they got lost in the mail), and you have quite a bit of paper.  Not to mention an envelope, courier bag and paper receipt.

Then there were the trip planners my mom created for the kids.  Their very own calendars to write down what they wanted to do.  Of course, they couldn't share the computer.  So, I printed three copies of everything for them to look at.

Print off our ticket reservations, address of our rental house, and copies of a map to get to it, and you have more paper.   Not very eco-friendly.  Lots of dead trees, and not much to show for it.  Even the kids were commenting on the amount of printer paper we were going through.  Sure we had a Garmin and our Blackberry devices.  But being uncertain about how all this technology would translate south of the border, I erred on the side of caution and obtain hard copies.

At least, I thought, I'll be able to recycle all of  the paper in Florida.   How wrong I was......

Buy more recycled school supplies (Change 125)

Last year, around this time, I moaned about the fact that to purchase recycled/recyclable school supplies would cost a fortune.  I opted for only recycled paper that year.

This year, I am vowing to do better.  In addition to recycled paper, I plan on purchasing recycled duo-tangs, pencils and binder dividers.  I will be re-using lots of supplies from last year - calculator, ruler, pencil case, scissors, pencil sharpener, backpacks.

I am going to ease the strain of purchasing these more expensive products by starting my shopping earlier, and watching for sales.  I figure, since I have to buy three sets of things now, I need to really start checking the impact my purchases make.

I will have to buy new lunch bags for the kids, but I'm hoping to find recycled or environmentally-friendly options.  Any suggestions for sources for these?

Remove plastic liner from window envelopes (Change 112)

OK - I admit it.  I'm grasping for straws on this one. 

It seems rather small and petty - remove the plastic liner from the inside of window envelopes, before putting the envelopes in the recycle bin.  This change, however, prevents A LOT of paper from going into the landfill.  (Yes, I know, I am still getting paper mail.....)

Like many people, I'm sure, I assumed that all paper put in the recycle bin was, well, recycled.  Apparently, that is not true.  I spoke with someone at our local garbage collection place, and ANY paper with plastic on it is relegated to the garbage and NOT recycled.  Huh.  So much for being "environmentally-friendly".

It's weird, because I always remove the plastic windows from pasta boxes, etc., but it never occurred to me to do the same with window envelopes. It even states on the city website that NO plastic is allowed in the paper recycling.   I guess I just assumed that whatever process was used to break down the paper automatically got rid of the plastic. 

I'll take a few minutes to open my envelopes, remove the liner and recycle.  Another small change that will help counter the growing landfill outside my door.

Use extra long cooling racks (Change 102)

Another eco-friendly Christmas present, this time from DH.  I bake a LOT, because I like to, and because life is easier to deal with DD1's food allergy when I make my own cookies, muffins, etc.  I've always cooled my muffins in the muffin tins and breads on a tiny round cooling rack.  But cookies have ALWAYS been cooled on paper towels - to absorb any butter goodness, and because there was more room on the counter.  I justified using this method since starting my green challenge, because the paper towels were made with unbleached, recycled paper, and I always composted them when I was finished with them.  There is still an environmental cost associated with them, in the form of the manufacturing process itself, but I assured myself that I was at least using the most eco-friendly product possible.

No need to justify any longer.  DH bought me an extendable cooling rack for Christmas.  Made up of three layers that stack neatly when not needed, the cooling rack allows me to cool up to 3 dozen cookies at a time.  Usually by the time I'm ready to cool the 4th dozen, I can store the cooled cookies in a container, and start over again with the next 3 dozen.

No more paper towels, and no more need to compost them.  Since this process was my main consumption of paper towels, it will be interesting to see how many paper towels I use in the future.

Cancel unread magazines (Day 50)

I come from a family of readers.  I've been reading since I was 4 years old.  Books are my passion, and I am seldom found without one on the go.  The problem is that my To Be Read pile is getting bigger and bigger.  That doesn't include the magazine subscriptions that we read.

Quite honestly, I don't have much time for reading these days.  My kids and household keep me quite busy, and by the end of the day, I'm tired.  I read for about 15-20 minutes, and then lights out.  With the loan restrictions on the library books, I seldom get to the magazines until they are months past.

While research facts about paper and paper consumption, I found this interesting fact sheet. (http://www.id2.ca/downloads/eco-design-paper-facts.pdf)   A lot of paper is made and a lot of fossil fuel, water and trees are used making the issues that sit unread on my night stand.  I feel guilty about the waste, especially because two of the magazines I don't really enjoy anyway.

I've decided not to renew the magazines that I don't read cover to cover right away.  They are very popular magazines, and subscriptions are often found in my doctor's, dentist's and spa's waiting rooms.  They are also found in the public library, available to be borrowed any time.   I can easily catch up on the most current (and back!) issues while waiting my turn in the office or while waiting for Storytime to end. 

And hopefully, I'll save a tree or two in the process.

Back to School Daze (Day 5)

Yes, I know, it's not back to school time yet.  But the school supplies are out, so I thought I would get a jump on my shopping this year.  I left it too late (mid-August) last year, and had a hard time finding certain items.  So I thought I buy early this year, and just store in a safe place until September.

I also thought I would "green" the school routine.  Boy, I was wrong.  Do you know how hard it is to find recycled, recyclable or otherwise "eco-friendly" school products that don't cost a fortune?  Almost impossible.

DD needed a new backpack for the coming school year.  We managed to get two years out of the last one, so I can't complain.  Fixing the broken zipper and torn pockets would cost more than a new backpack, so we relegated last year's to the dress-up bin, and went shopping.

No eco-friendly packs to be found at the two stores I visited (i.e. none made with recycled materials).  I'm sure I could have found other options if I went to a specialty store, but realistically, I'm not going to travel 1/2 hour or more and waste gas like that to look for something that will be last one or two years.

As for school supplies, I found some that fit the bill of environmentally-friendly.  But the cost - 2 to 3 times the price of "regular" supplies!  Not going to happen, my friends. 

I love DD, but she loses things at school.  She was supposed to take 9 glue sticks last year - I think I ended up sending 15.  Pencil crayons?  One pack was supposed to last the year - I sent at least two, plus a few stragglers from our pencil crayon bin at home.   Erasers?  Ditto. 

Here are some sample prices of "green" vs "regular" items: A package of 2 "latex and PVC free" white erasers - $3.79.  A package of regular white latex free erasers - $1.79.  Recycled wood pencils - $3.50 for a pack of 5 or $2.25 for a package of 10. 

Guess which I bought?

There is just no way I can justify spending that kind of money for stuff I KNOW will get lost, broken or "borrowed" never to be returned, within the year.

I wasn't going to get any green supplies, but she reminded me about the eco-challenge I have undertaken, so we comprised - I bought recycled lined paper for her for school.  "Regular paper" cost $1.99 for 200 sheets vs $2.28 for 150 sheets of recycled paper. 

Not really a bargain, but at least I've done something.