So, I'm not really a fan of water. I don't like the taste of it. However, it is essential for our bodies, I know I know I know....So, if I HAVE to drink water, which I guess I do, I make sure our family tries to use cups or glasses that we already have in our cupboard and can rewash over and over instead of buying plastic bottles of water. I know everyone has seen the commercial about all the water bottles that our society uses going around the planet a bunch of times if they were lined up end to end. This is a problem! However, Foss Manufacturing is doing something about it!
They have produced a show called Trash Inc., The Secret Life of Garbage. It was on TV last night and I learned so much! This company takes water bottles, cuts them into flakes the size of a dime, and turns them into polyester threads! They are making polyester materials out of water bottles! They said last night on the show that they turn about 20,000 water bottles into 500 polyester t-shirts! It's not the only thing they manufacture either! Watch the video on their website to learn more!
Unfortunately, there are some numbers that made my stomach hurt. Of the 51 BILLION!!!! water bottles thrown out, only 22% are recycled. It gets worse...70% of those water bottles recycled are NOT from the United States. They are from Canada, Mexico, Argentina, etc. WHAT!!!?????
THIS IS AN EASY ONE TO FIX! Either we should not use plastic water bottles at all, or if we must, then we need to put them in the blue recycle bin instead of the gray trash bin. Oh, and buy a t-shirt made from water bottles! Do you think you stay cooler in one of those water shirts??
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
At the farm.
Hi everybody,it's Ben. A few days ago my mom, my sister, and I went to Farmer Jim's farm and got a grand tour of the ten acres in back were he grows his organic food that he sells to people. There is everything from lettuce to okra, if you looked closely there were about 7 small compost piles. Farmer Jim uses no pesticides to his crops. When he has to get rid of vermin he kills them then buries them back in their home. He does that because it returns the carbon to the earth. He doesn't use pesticides because it puts poison in the food chain. When we are done with our compos,t we give it to Farmer Jim to give back to him because he gives to us.
This is a photo of a gopher tunnel where Farmer Jim put a trap. You can see the kale missing from above the tunnel where the gopher grabbed it from below.
Hot and Cold
What temperature do your like your house at? I know some people who treat there house like a fridge in the summer, and a sauna in the winter. That's ok! You shouldn't have to be uncomfortable to help the planet. Just lower the temperature by two degrees when the heaters is on, and raise the temperature by two degrees when your using the AC. Odds are, you won't even notice the difference. We like to keep our house a about 78 degrees in the winter and 72 degrees during summertime. So, from now on we are going to keep our house at 76 degrees this winter, and 74 degrees when summer gets here. There are lots of other ways to get cool or warm besides using the heater/air conditioning, too. Cuddle up by the fire all winter, wear an extra warm sweater, or bake to help stay warm. When it's super hot inside and outside, have a water ballon fight, run through the sprinklers, and drink some ice cold water. If everyone raises and lowers their thermostats by just two little degrees, we can make a HUGE difference for our planet!
Friday, October 22, 2010
TRASH TALKING
Hey, it's Jenn. Anyone who knows me would never expect to hear what I'm about to say...I dug through the trash two days ago. Yes, it was disgusting. Yes, I saw a mouse and screamed. But yes, I would do it again if I had to.
Here's the scenario: the garbage can in the kitchen was full. I pulled out the bulging white sack of trash and hauled it out to the three cans outside. Oh, make that four cans. There it was, sitting on it's freshly built stand---the compost bin. It seemed to be saying "I'm so hungry, feed me!" I shook my head to clear out the hallucination and started to lift the lid of the gray bin (the garbage one) and felt--icky. And it wasn't because of the smell. It was because I just knew that some of the stuff that I was going to throw into the garbage bin should be going into one of the other three bins for recycle or regeneration.
So, I plugged my nose (not really because I'd touched the gross garbage can and didn't want to put maggot eggs in my nose in case they were on my hands now) and dove in. Well, I didn't dive in. I used my two pinchy fingers and pulled out the pieces of garbage one at a time.
But, the amazing news is that after going through the whole big sack of trash that was almost on its way to the dump, where it would sit and emit toxic gases for the next hundred years, all but about two cups of yuck went into the other cans. A whole sack of trash, and there were only two cups left? And that's after we'd so diligently used our indoor recycle bin! What???!!
I found sunflower stems that could go in the compost bin, fruits and veggies that went into the compost bin, plastic food containers with food in them that should have been rinsed out and put in the recycle, and on and on.
And now, after two days of living, here is a photo of how much garbage we have accumulated:
What normally would have been three trips to the gray garbage bin with full bags of trash, is now a half full plastic grocery bag. The other two cans in the photo are the recycle and the compost.
It's been difficult figuring out what goes where, and we've had family discussions at the dinner table so that we are all figuring out how to make the right decisions. We had a great conversation about whether leftover food on our plates should go down the disposal into our water system and cleaned through that process so it doesn't sit in the landfill at all, or into the landfill where the recology people could change the methane into electricity. What do you think?
Here's the scenario: the garbage can in the kitchen was full. I pulled out the bulging white sack of trash and hauled it out to the three cans outside. Oh, make that four cans. There it was, sitting on it's freshly built stand---the compost bin. It seemed to be saying "I'm so hungry, feed me!" I shook my head to clear out the hallucination and started to lift the lid of the gray bin (the garbage one) and felt--icky. And it wasn't because of the smell. It was because I just knew that some of the stuff that I was going to throw into the garbage bin should be going into one of the other three bins for recycle or regeneration.
So, I plugged my nose (not really because I'd touched the gross garbage can and didn't want to put maggot eggs in my nose in case they were on my hands now) and dove in. Well, I didn't dive in. I used my two pinchy fingers and pulled out the pieces of garbage one at a time.
But, the amazing news is that after going through the whole big sack of trash that was almost on its way to the dump, where it would sit and emit toxic gases for the next hundred years, all but about two cups of yuck went into the other cans. A whole sack of trash, and there were only two cups left? And that's after we'd so diligently used our indoor recycle bin! What???!!
I found sunflower stems that could go in the compost bin, fruits and veggies that went into the compost bin, plastic food containers with food in them that should have been rinsed out and put in the recycle, and on and on.
And now, after two days of living, here is a photo of how much garbage we have accumulated:
What normally would have been three trips to the gray garbage bin with full bags of trash, is now a half full plastic grocery bag. The other two cans in the photo are the recycle and the compost.
It's been difficult figuring out what goes where, and we've had family discussions at the dinner table so that we are all figuring out how to make the right decisions. We had a great conversation about whether leftover food on our plates should go down the disposal into our water system and cleaned through that process so it doesn't sit in the landfill at all, or into the landfill where the recology people could change the methane into electricity. What do you think?
Farm Fresh
Hi Everyone! It's Hannah
Eating local. It's a concept that sadly, with the passing of time, has gone out of style. My family is rediscovering exactly what is means to eat fresh, organic, and delicious foods that are grown only a few miles away. Not only is it healthier for you, but buying local boosts the community's economy. Participating in a farm share such as CSA provides you with most of your fruits, veggies, bread, and eggs for the week. Also, buying organics at the grocery store is more expensive than investing in a farm share because the food often has to be shipped from outside one-hundred and fifity miles of our home. So, explore farms that are close to home, and spend just a little extra cash on healthier food that will benefit you in the long run. :-)
Eating local. It's a concept that sadly, with the passing of time, has gone out of style. My family is rediscovering exactly what is means to eat fresh, organic, and delicious foods that are grown only a few miles away. Not only is it healthier for you, but buying local boosts the community's economy. Participating in a farm share such as CSA provides you with most of your fruits, veggies, bread, and eggs for the week. Also, buying organics at the grocery store is more expensive than investing in a farm share because the food often has to be shipped from outside one-hundred and fifity miles of our home. So, explore farms that are close to home, and spend just a little extra cash on healthier food that will benefit you in the long run. :-)
TO WASH OR BE WASHED?
Hi everybody, it's Ben. What would you rather do? Most people would just eat their dinner, get their dishes, put them in the dishwasher, and turn it on. But, dishwashers use really harsh chemicals and a lot of electricity that harms the earth. So, would you rather harm the planet you live on, or do the dishes manually with nontoxic dish soap and turn the water off when you don't need it?
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