My Reusable Life

Have you ever heard the argument, "You would have to go through X-amount of styrofoam cups to equal the environmental impact of ONE mug, so there's nothing wrong with using styrofoam cups." (Or variations on that theme?)

Here's why I think that argument is totally bogus:

When our lives are filled with cheap disposable products, we develop a throwaway mentality. We don't value things because they're so easily replaceable. We don't value the materials that went into them or the labor that built them. They pass through our lives so quickly, why would we give them any thought?

When I hold a styrofoam cup in my hand, I barely notice it's there. It looks just like every other styrofoam cup I've ever held, and in a few minutes, I'll toss it into the trash without a second thought. When I hold my stainless steel water bottle, I think of the thought process that went into choosing it and how much it cost, and I feel good for making a good choice. I remember taking walks or playing outside with my kids because the water bottle came along. I keep track of it; I don't want to lose it. It's on my mind.

I have a sentimental attachment to my children's cloth diapers, in the same way I grew attached to some of their baby clothes. When I see a disposable diaper, I think, "Ewww...stinky garbage." Even when they're not on a child, don't you think of them as kind of gross? (Or is that just me.)

Even our stained cloth napkins and mismatched food containers and the hankies made from my husband's old shirts carry memories in every use, though perhaps they don't have as much sentimental value as the TV I bought ten years ago when I rented my first house or the raggedy couches that were our first grown-up furniture purchase.

Is it silly to feel attached to inanimate objects? I don't think so because those objects are made from materials that come from the earth, and caring for the materials is one more way to strengthen my connection to the planet I love. Those objects are made by human hands, and caring for the objects shows respect for the people that created them. And those objects enter our homes and become part of us in ways large and small. When we fill our lives with objects we care about, it shows that we care about our lives.

I do not live a throwaway life. Do you?

If you're new to a reusable life, you might want to check out Reuseit.com for cloth bags, water bottles, lunchboxes, and more.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Reuseit.com. Check out my About page for more info on what that means and always remember to be a Conscious Shopper.

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Reuseit.com Review and Giveaway

We've talked a lot this year about reducing our trash by switching from disposables to reusable products. As I've mentioned, I was recently invited to become an ambassador for Reuseit.com to continue promoting a lifestyle of reuse. Before I signed on for this, I put a lot of thought into whether or not Reuseit.com is a brand I want my name attached to, and I spent several hours perusing their site. Here's what I found:

Reuseit.com Review

Reuseit.com began in 2003 as Reusablebags.com, offering high quality cloth shopping bags to help people move away from disposable plastic grocery bags. Their product line quickly expanded to reusables in general and now includes bottles, lunchbags, cloth towels, toothbrushes, Diva Cups, and much more. They are a leader in their industry and have established themselves as a go-to source for information on reducing consumption of disposable products.

In case you missed my past posts on Reuseit.com, here are a few of their products that I bought recently:

Goodbyn lunchboxes

Klean Kanteen insulated water bottle

stainless steel straws

What makes Reuseit.com a great company?

Packaging

• According to their website, Reuseit.com strives "as a company to continually reduce our eco impact. We consciously reduce the amount of packaging it takes to get your order to you with no damage whatsoever to items. Our boxes are made with 40-60% recycled content and we always choose the smallest one for each order. Whenever possible, we opt for envelopes over boxes we’ve replaced bubble wrap with recycled paper packaging. All packaging we use is recyclable and we never use those nasty packing peanuts"

Materials

• Reuseit.com seeks out high quality materials and sustainable fabrics, both for their own line of shopping bags and for the other products in their store. To answer concerns some of their customers have had, they've written FAQ pages on BPA, lead, and synthetic materials that I think are worth perusing. They also provide a Materials Glossary as a guide to some of the sustainable materials and fabrics used in products they carry.
  

Manufacturing

• Reuseit.com manufactures their own ACME bag line in accordance with Fair Labor/Fair Trade practices and they seek to carry products that were also manufactured fairly.
  

Quality

• Reuseit.com was awarded Green America's People's Choice Award in 2007 and 2009 and was a top 10 nominee in 2006. Green America is one of my favorite organizations and holds very high standards for companies in their network.
• Reuseit.com was also a BizRate Circle of Excellence Gold Honoree for customer satisfaction and is a member of 1% for the Planet.
  

Affordability

• Reuseit.com's products range in affordability, but they make it easy for you to shop in your price range by enabling you to search by price or sales.
  

Availability

• Reuseit.com is an online store. Check out their FAQ on Why E-commerce is Eco-Friendly.

Visit Reuseit.com for more information.

Giveaway

Reuseit.com is offering a $25 gift certificate to one reader of The Conscious Shopper. Here's how to enter:

• Tell me one (or more!) products in Reuseit.com's store that you'd love to own.
  
• You can earn up to two extra entries by sharing this post on Facebook or tweeting it on Twitter and then leaving a comment for each thing that you do. This is completely based on the honor system, and remember that each comment is a separate entry.

You have until next Monday, May 31st to enter. I'll randomly select a winner and announce the results next Tuesday. Good luck!

This contest has ended. The winner was Abbie - congratulations!

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Reuseit.com. Check out my About page for more info on what that means and always remember to be a Conscious Shopper.

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Worm Bin versus Compost Tumbler

When we did the Start Composting challenge a few months ago, I decided to put my worm bin out of service for awhile and try a different composting method. I'd been eying a compost tumbler at Home Depot (Lowes?) for $100, but then decided to try Craigslist, where I found this bad boy:


It's twice as big as the one from Home Depot (Lowes?) and cost half as much, though perhaps it's not quite as quality. I'm pretty sure the people I bought it from made it themselves, and after we got it home, we had to do some minor repair work to the frame. All in all though, I've been satisfied with the purchase.

So now that I've tried both methods, which do I like better? To be honest, both have their downsides:

• The compost tumbler takes up a huge amount of space. It's as big as our trash can, but with the frame, sits much farther out from the wall.
• The compost tumbler stinks. I don't remember ever noticing a stench coming from the worm bin, but if I did, it definitely wasn't as strong as the tumbler. Luckily, the smell is mostly contained inside the tumbler and is only really strong when I open it up to add food scraps.
  
• Because it's so large and stinky, the tumbler sits way over on the side of the house by the trash cans - not nearly as convenient as the porch where the worm bin was.
• Food takes much longer to decompose in the tumbler.
• The worm bin leaked! And attracted fruit flies!
  

The Verdict: I hate composting!

I've heard so many people wax poetic about the joy of watching their waste turn into useful compost that I really expected to like it. But the truth is that I really really wish my city would start collecting food scraps, turn it into compost for me, and sell it back for a cheap amount. They already compost yard waste - why not food scraps?

In the meantime, our plan is to continue using the tumbler until it's full, and then go back to using the worm bin while the compost in the tumbler finishes. According to Pragmatic Environmentalism, we could solve our fruit fly problem with the worm bin by freezing the food scraps before putting them in the bin. And I've also read that we could solve our leaking problem by putting the bin up on bricks with an extra lid underneath to catch the dripping worm tea.

The compost in our worm bin is coming along nicely:

And here's a bonus picture of our garden:

How is your composting going?

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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Goodbyn Review

Reuseit.com was having a huge sale last month in honor of Earthy Day, so I finally broke down and bought some lunchboxes. We've been using some plastic containers with lids along with some reusable bags Subway was kind enough to provide for us (see side story at the bottom of this post), but with another son starting kindergarten next fall, my husband packing lunches also, and me using those same containers for leftovers, we realized that we didn't have enough lunch containers to go around. So I bought these:

Goodbyn Lunchbox

When my oldest started kindergarten last fall, I shopped around for a lunchbox for him, and eventually narrowed it down to the PlanetBox and the Goodbyn. Because it's made out of stainless steel, the PlanetBox edged out ahead. But the PlanetBox is also very pricey, so when I saw these Goodbyns on sale at Reuseit, I decided to go ahead and buy a couple.

What I like about them:

• Packaging: A simple, recyclable cardboard sleeve.
• Materials: The lunchboxes are made of #5 polypropylene plastic and the bottles are made of #2 high-density polyethylene. All are lead, BPA and phthalate-free.
• Manufacturing: Goodbyns are manufactured in the U.S.A.!
• Affordability: Although they regularly cost around $30, I was able to get mine for much less because of the sale and an extra discount I had.
• Extras:
• Except for the bottle, it's all one piece - no lids and containers to keep track of.
• The food compartments are designed cafeteria-tray style so the food doesn't touch or leak onto each other. I filled one up with water, shook it around awhile, and it held up fine, but Goodbyn recommends not putting really runny things in them.
  
• It's recyclable at the end of it's life.
• It's dishwasher safe.
• The kids can use stickers to individualize them.
  

A few complaints:

• Getting the lids on tightly takes some technique. Goodbyn says the lunchboxes are designed for K-4, but I'm not sure my kindergartner could handle it without help. I'm holding on to these until he starts first grade next year.
• These lunchboxes are huge. They're like half the size of my little guy, and though not heavy, they are bulky.
• Plastic is not the same quality as stainless steel. I'm hoping these lunchboxes will get my two oldest through fourth grade, when they'll be passed down to my youngest. But I don't see them lasting longer than that, if they even last that long.
• They are very cutesy. Will a fourth grader find them too uncool?

Unfortunately, I don't have a Goodbyn to giveaway today, but in a couple weeks, I will be running a giveaway from Reuseit.com so you may be able to buy your own then!

You may have noticed the new Reuseit.com Ambassadors logo over in my sidebar. I recently joined their ambassador program because I think they're a great company with some great values and I'm happy to help them spread the word about the reusables movement (and hopefully you all will get to reap some great rewards as well). If you're new to this blog and are interested in trimming your waste line, you might want to spend some time reviewing the posts tagged "waste" for ideas on storing produce without packaging, packing waste free lunches, switching to cloth bags, and more.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: I got a discount on this product for being a Reuseit.com ambassador, but I still bought them myself. Most of the information in this review comes from Goodbyn's website, but the opinions are my own.
• Side story: While vacationing, I stopped at Subway for lunch because it's a pretty good place to get a low-waste, healthy meal. Unfortunately, my kids were being completely insane, and the cashier was old, incredibly slow, and totally clueless. I wanted to shout at her, "If you would just hurry up, my kids could start eating and then they'll be good!!!" But instead she kept pausing in ringing us up to bribe my kids with straws and soda...and finally the reusable bags the kids meals come in (even though we hadn't ordered kids meals). Bless her heart, she was just trying to help. But so much for my attempt at a low-waste meal!
  

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Spring Recycling

The other day, a friend was telling me how she'd joined a group online called Messies Anonymous to help her get better organized and become, well, less messy. As she was describing the qualities of a Messy Person, I realized, "Oh, my gosh! That's me!"

Case in point:


This is my bedroom closet. It's supposed to be a walk-in closet, but we can't walk into it because because of all the crap on the floor. We haven't been able to walk into it for, oh, four or five months now. Maybe longer. I forget.

You see, I have this little problem where I know something can be recycled, so I don't throw it away. But then I never recycle it. It just sits around our house for months and months, causing clutter and getting in the way. I swear I didn't have this problem before I went green. Going green has turned me into a packrat!

Spring is often thought of as the season where you throw open the shutters, dig out the cleaning supplies, and deep clean. Well I've decided that this year's spring cleaning for me needs to be all about the recycling.

In that closet pictured above, I have a phone, two laptops, two cameras, a lamp, a wheat grinder, some metal containers, a printer, and a scanner. I need to sell the laptops, put the printer on Freecycle, and see if my husband can fix the scanner. The phone, lamp, wheat grinder, and metal containers can all be recycled at my local recycling drop-off location. I'm pretty sure I can recycle cameras...must research.

In another corner of my bedroom, I have this pile of boxes that's headed for the recycling bin.

I scrounged up all this from under our sinks. The caps are headed for Aveda and the toothbrushes for Whole Food's Gimme 5 bin. To recycle the toothpaste tubes, I need to remove the top plastic part, and then it can go in my regular recycling bin. One of the reasons we use Tom's of Maine toothpaste is because it comes in an aluminum tube rather than plastic.


Last but not least, I've got this monstrous pile of clothing that must be sorted. It's all stuff we've outgrown, stained, or ripped beyond repair. Clothing with fabric I like will be cut up and saved for future sewing projects. (I have high hopes that I'll get to that some day.) The rest will be taken to Goodwill.

All right, I'm off to do some recycling.

How's your spring cleaning going?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• This post was shared at Works for Me Wednesday
  

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Post-Easter Eggs Dyed Naturally

Every year after Easter, I promise myself that next year I'll try the natural method for dying eggs, and every Easter without fail, I break that promise to myself. For one thing, the natural method (using plants to make a dye instead of food coloring or a store bought kit) is more time-consuming, and Easter is already a busy time of year. But for another thing, being the conscious shopper that I am, I couldn't bring myself to waste perfectly good beets and spinach and blueberries on egg dye.

So this year like usual, we went with our old standby...a Paas egg-dying kit, which hasn't changed in 25 years. Seriously. It's exactly the same every year that I've bought one, and exactly the same as I remember from when I was little. Ah, nostalgia...If only it didn't contain those pesky artificial colors.

Then yesterday, I was making veggie broth out of my vegetable scraps - carrot and potato peels, celery leaves, onion pieces - and at the same time, I was preparing some beets to cook for dinner, and it occurred to me...Instead of wasting perfectly good beets on egg dye, maybe I could use the beet peels and stems. Instead of the food part, I could use the waste part.

Here's what we did:

Step 1: Fill a pot with a quart of water, 2 Tbsp. of vinegar, and beet scraps. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 or 30 minutes. Then remove and compost beet scraps.

Step 2: Prepare eggs. We were having scrambled eggs for dinner, so I used the method where you poke a small hole in each end of the eggshell and blow out the eggs into a separate bowl. Then clean the shells well. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to keep the dyed eggs refrigerated, and you can keep them as long as you want. The disadvantage is that they float in the water, unlike hardboiled eggs. This turned out to be a bigger problem than expected...On the other hand, the disadvantage of hardboiling the eggs is that your eggs take on a strange taste, depending on what you used to dye it (or so I've read).

Step 3: Submerge the eggs into the dye and let sit until desired color is achieved. At first, we tried 5 minutes, but the eggs turned such a light pink, you could barely tell they were dyed at all. I decided to let them sit in the dye overnight, but like I said, our eggs weren't sinking. We couldn't sit around all night holding the eggs in the dye, so I put a small plate on top of all the eggs to hold them down.

Step 4: Remove eggs and enjoy. When we woke up in the morning, our white eggs had turned into brown eggs. Not red like beets. A slightly pink, dirty looking brown!


Will we ever dye eggs naturally again?

It was kind of a failed project, in the sense that we ended up with ugly eggs instead of beautiful Easter eggs. On the other hand, it was a fun failed project - one that both kids and grown-ups enjoyed - and I got a little extra use out of my beet scraps and eggshells that were headed for the trash. So yes, I'd do it again, but next time..

• I would use hardboiled eggs.
• I would let the eggs sit in the water for less time.

Hmmm...I wonder what other food scraps I could use to entertain my children...

Have you ever tried the natural egg-dying method? How'd it go for you?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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April Extreme Challenge

Here's your extreme challenge for April:

Go No 'Poo

"No 'poo" is slang in the green world for "no shampoo." What it really means is that you wash your hair with baking soda and rinse with apple cider vinegar, and you wash your hair less often.

Why go no poo?

• To save money. Compare a $5 bottle of shampoo to a $1 box of baking soda.
• To save packaging. Shampoo and conditioner usually come in plastic bottles, and even if you recycle those, their next life is probably a park bench. Baking soda comes in a cardboard box and vinegar in a glass jar, and because you only use a small amount each time you wash your hair, you end up using a lot less packaging.
• To avoid potentially harmful chemicals. Although there are plenty of eco-friendly, less toxic shampoos and conditioners on the market, what could be less harmful than baking soda and vinegar?
• To live naturally. Hey parents, have you ever noticed how long you can go without washing your kids hair? Supposedly, that's how hair is supposed to be, and if you wash it less and put fewer chemicals on it, your hair can look that natural, luscious, and shiny too.

Those are the main reasons I've thought of. If you've gone no poo, why did you do it?

There are several methods for going no poo. Here's one:

1. Obtain a couple old squirt bottles such as old shampoo bottles, salad dressing bottles, or sports bottles.
2. Fill one bottle with a ratio of 1 Tbsp. baking soda to 1 c. water. Fill the other bottle with a ratio of 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar to 1 c. water. If desired, you can add a few drops of essential oil to the apple cider vinegar solution to cover the smell.
3. Squeeze some of the baking soda solution on to your scalp and massage for a few seconds. You're aiming to clean your scalp, not your hair. Leave on while you wash your body and then rinse out.
4. Squeeze some of the vinegar solution on to your hair. Leave on for a few seconds and then rinse.

I've read that there's an "adjustment period" while your hair returns to it's natural state and starts producing less grease. Then you'll be able to wash your hair less and less - some people go as long as a week!

Want to see no poo in action? Here are a few bloggy friends that have gone no poo:

• Fake Plastic Fish
• Amber Strocel
• Melinda at One Green Generation
  

Here's what my family will be doing:

Last month's challenge was easy peasy. This one, I'm not excited about. At all.

I'm starting this challenge late this month because of spring break, but I'm committing to try no poo for at least a month. I'm really nervous about it because of the supposed adjustment period. I'm also skeptical.

My sister the cosmetologist only washes her hair every other day, or even every third day, and she has gorgeous hair. She told me that if you stop washing your hair so often, your body will adjust and produce less grease, and that hair is healthier when it's not washed so much. So I gave it a go...For a whole year, I gave it a go! I kept thinking, "Soon my head will catch on that it doesn't need to make so much grease." But it never did! Finally after a year, I was tired of looking awful every other day, and I went back to daily washings. And that is why I don't believe no poo will work for me. But we'll see!

Will you accept the April Extreme Challenge to go no poo for a month? Let me know in the comments what your family will be doing.

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• image by hansvandenberg30

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Glass Dharma Straws Review and Giveaway

Are you working on reducing your plastic waste? Here's one easy solution.

Glass Dharma Review

Glass Dharma sent me three straws to review: a Beautiful Bend 9" straw, a fatter Simple Elegance straw, and a Decorative Dots sipper. I like the Beautiful Bend straw best for it's versatility, but the fatter Simple Elegance straw is perfect for drinking shakes, and the Decorative Dots straw is just plain beautiful. This is such a cheesy, girly thing to say, but my favorite thing about these straws is how they make even a simple daily act like drinking a glass of ice water seem elegant.

I also like that having a reusable straw means I don't have to use disposable plastic straws when I'm out and about. Plus, a glass straw is certainly an attention-getter, making it a very simple way to spread the green message without being pushy. As I recounted on my post at the Green Phone Booth the other day, I used my Glass Dharma straw at a restaurant this weekend and the servers were abuzz about it. It's a very small act, but it's just one more way for me to show that I'm committed to avoiding a disposable lifestyle.

Glass Dharma carries numerous sizes and styles of straws plus carrying cases and cleaning brushes.

Packaging

• My straws arrived in a small box with three cardboard boxes inside. Inside each box was a straw (and I think the shorter one contained a piece of cotton.) To all of those companies that insist on overpackaging their products to protect it during shipping, I say - Look at Glass Dharma! The straws were shipped via USPS, which is my preferred mail carrier because it comes to my house everyday anyway.
  

Materials

• Glass Dharma straws are made of borosilicate glass "because it is the strongest commercially available glass on the market." Unlike plastic, these straws will not leach harmful materials into your food, and they save thousands of disposable straws from the landfill. Plus, they are dishwasher and microwave safe.
  

Manufacturing

• All Glass Dharma products are made in the United States.
  

Quality

• One of my fears with these straws was that they would easily break - I'm a clumsy person...But one day after I'd run the straw through the dishwasher (proof alone of its durability), I left the straw on the counter where my two-year-old discovered it and dropped it on the hardwood floor. No breakage, chips, or scratches! I wouldn't recommend dropping your straw often or on purpose, but if you do happen to break your straw, Glass Dharma provides a "Lifetime Guarantee Against Breakage" - they'll repair or replace any broken straw.
  

Affordability

• Glass Dharma straws range in price from $6 to $8. For a better value, order one of their packages containing several straws and a cleaning brush.
  

Availability

• Glass Dharma straws are available at several online retailers, or you can buy them on Glass Dharma's website.
  

Need

• When I decided to start reviewing products at The Conscious Shopper, I promised that one of the criteria I would consider is "need." Unlike the other products I've reviewed so far, I don't consider having your own straw a need, but it's definitely a nice to have. This is an item that you should add to your "things I wouldn't mind having list" and splurge on when you need a gift for someone special or just want to add a little touch of beauty to your life.

For more information and to purchase your own Glass Dharma straws, visit their website.

Glass Dharma Giveaway

Glass Dharma is generously offering a $25 gift certificate to their shop to one lucky reader of The Conscious Shopper. To enter:

• Leave a comment on this post stating one step you've taken to reduce your plastic waste (or one step you plan on taking.)
  

• You can earn up to two extra entries by sharing this post on Facebook or tweeting it on Twitter and then leaving a comment for each thing that you do. This is completely based on the honor system, and remember that each comment is a separate entry.

You have until next Thursday, April 1st, to enter. I'll randomly select a winner and announce the results next Friday.

The winner of the $25 gift certificate to Glass Dharma is Kim and Ken Carlile, who wrote:

I've made my husband start bringing his sandwich baggie from lunch home with him to reuse.

Congratulations, and I'll be in touch with you soon about how to redeem your gift certificate!

And remember for those of you who didn't win, you can purchase your own Glass Dharma straws by visiting their website.

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: Glass Dharma sent me three straws to be able to write this review but did not compensate me in any other way. Most of the information in this review comes from their website, but the opinions are entirely my own

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Take Out With Out Forgetfulness and Shyness

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth again today with some ideas for making to-go kits:

Inspired by the TakeOutWithOut campaign, I've been working on eating out without producing waste. Thus far, there have been two factors holding me back from being a waste-free eating Marathon Runner:

Factor #1: My post-kids memory.

Isn't it a scientifically proven fact that once a woman has kids, she loses half of her brain cells? I can remember to take my grocery bags to the store because I go every week, and it has become a habit. I can't remember to take my own napkin and utensils to a restaurant because I go so infrequently and most of the time spontaneously.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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Waste Free Lunch Ideas

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today with some ideas for packing lunches:

A couple months ago, I asked all of you for help in a few categories that I wanted my family to work on this year, and one of those categories was packing waste-free lunches. We had the "waste free" part down, repurposing various food containers we already had around the house; our problem was the lunch part...What to pack?

I'm happy to say that thanks to all of your suggestions, we've been branching away from our usual (cheese sandwiches with a carrot or celery and a piece of fruit). And both for my sanity and in case anyone else is looking for lunch ideas, I thought I'd gather everyone's suggestions into a nice organized list.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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Challengicious Monday: Pack a Waste-Free Lunch

Mondays are challengicious at The Conscious Shopper. Here's your final trash-related challenge:

Pack a Waste-Free Lunch

In probably the most unappetizing picture I've ever taken, I present to you: My Son's Lunch. The cheetah bag came from Subway. The plastic containers hold a quesadilla, carrot sticks with ranch dip (in a repurposed tiny jelly jar from a holiday gift basket), and applesauce. The green container once held playdough but now has goldfish crackers.

To complete this challenge, you can...

BABY STEPS

• Pack waste-free snacks. Gradually inch your way toward waste free meals by starting with your snacks. Forget individually packaged snacks and disposable baggies; gather all of your reusable food containers and pack them yourself. My favorite method involves some old playdough containers: I'll buy a big box of goldfish crackers, pour the crackers into the containers at the beginning of the week, and put them in a basket for easy access for my kids.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Pack a waste-free lunch. Once you've got your snacks down, you're ready to move on to a bigger meal. Any collection of mismatched food containers will work (from your cupboards, restaurant take-out, or thrift stores), or you can commit to a nice reusable lunchbox like the PlanetBox I reviewed two weeks ago. For more options, check out ReusableBags.com and Life Without Plastic.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Eat out without waste. Are you already a pro at packing waste-free meals? Graduate to the next level by eating out without producing waste. Bring your own straws, utensils, cloth napkins, water bottles, and even to-go containers. Check out the TakeOutWithOut campaign for more ideas, and stay-tuned later this week for the chance to win a gift certificate to Glass Dharma reusable glass straws.
  

I'm at Jogging Stride right now and working up the courage to be a Marathon Runner. The problem is that we don't eat out very often, so I have to remember to bring my take out containers.

Over at The Green Phone Booth this week, I'll be posting some ideas for waste-free lunches and to-go kits, so stay tuned!

This is also the last of our trash challenges, so I'll be keeping track of my trash again and posting more pictures on the "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook. Who wants to dig in their trash with me?

Will you take the challenge?

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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How to Recycle Everything

I say "recycle everything" a little bit tongue in cheek because obviously, it's not possible to recycle everything. The goal is simply to switch your mindset from "throw away" to "reduce, repair, and reuse" and when all else fails...recycle.

Step One: Check with your local waste collection to find out how to participate in your local recycling program.

Step Two: Start a composting bin if your city doesn't have compost collection. Composting is short term for recycling food waste.

Step Three: Find out what other waste collection services your area has. For example, my city has a yard waste drop-off site (and yard waste collection at certain times of the year) and multi-material drop-off sites that take scrap metal, e-waste, tires, and appliances.

Step Four: Look for ways to recycle everything else. Here are some that I've learned about:

#5 plastics

• With their Gimme 5 program, Preserve has partnered with Organic Valley and Stoneyfield Farms to collect #5 plastics, which are not collected by most city recycling programs. Gimme 5 bins are set up at select Whole Foods stores, or you can mail your #5 plastics to Preserve. Also collected through this program: Preserve toothbrushes, other Preserve products, and Brita pitcher filters.

Air bag shipping material

• If made by Ameri-pak, you can mail the air bags back to them to be recycled. They also accept bubble wrap and polyethylene foam.
  

Athletic shoes

• Nike has a Reuse-A-Shoe program where they collect old athletic shoes and turn the soles into surface material for playgrounds and basketball courts. You can find a drop off location by visiting their site, or mail your shoes directly to a Nike Recycling Center. They can be any athletic shoes, not just Nikes.

Baby products

• If your old baby products are unusable or have expired (yes, car seats have expiration dates!), ship them to Baby Gear, which will disassemble them and make sure all parts are recycled properly.
  

Bottle caps

• Most recycling centers do not accept the caps, and if a cap is left on the bottle, they throw the whole bottle out. But now Aveda has started collecting bottle caps! They accept any rigid cap made from polypropylene plastic (if you can bend it with your bare hands, it's not the right kind), and they recycle the caps into Aveda packaging. Just take the caps into an Aveda store.

Brita pitcher filters

• These are accepted in Preserve's Gimme 5 program. See #5 plastics above.
  

CDs, DVDs, diskettes, video tapes, cords, cables, hard drives, etc.

• For a small fee, Greendisk will send you a box to collect your computer related waste.
  

Cell phones, PDAs, and pagers

• CollectiveGood collects cell phones, PDAs, and pagers. Devices that are still in working condition are put back into reuse; devices that are broken are taken apart, the usable parts are collected, and everything else is recycled in an environmentally responsible manner. They also recently launched a program to collect used electronics. You can trade in your old computers, printers, and gaming consoles for money, or donate the value to the charity of your choice.
  

Clothing

• Even threadbare clothing can be donated to Goodwill, which turns them into rags or recycles the fibers into other materials.

Computers and small electronics

• You can find a list of computer and small electronics recyclers at e-Stewards.org.
  

Drink pouches

• TerraCycle collects drink pouches, cookie wrappers, energy bar wrappers, and yogurt cups and turns them into bags, backpacks, and planters. The catch is that you have to find someone or someplace that is collecting them.

Eyeglasses

• The Lions Club and the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation have partnered to collect used eyeglasses, which they clean, repair, and distribute to needy people. You can find a Lions recycling center here.

Glue bottles and sticks

• Set up an Elmer's Glue Crew Recycling Program at your local school.
  

Hangers

• Donate them to a dry cleaner or thrift store.

Home improvement goods

• Donate your old furniture, home accessories, building materials, and appliances to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
  

Ink cartridges

• Most office supply stores will recycle your old ink cartridges, and many give you a discount on your next purchase if you bring back the old one.

Jeans

• Watch out for universities and retailers collecting used jeans for the Cotton, from Blue to Green campaign, which turns jeans into insulation.
  

Packing peanuts

• Shipping stores such as The UPS Store will usually take back packing peanuts and reuse them.

Plastic bags

• Return them to the grocery store - preferably the grocery store where you got them because different stores use different types of plastic to make their bags.

Polystyrene packaging materials

• The Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers has established several recycling drop-off locations, or you can mail them the packaging.
  

School supplies

• ILoveSchools.com matches teachers with donors of equipment, supplies, and materials. Examples include computer equipment/software, TVs, VCRs, musical instruments, school supplies, sports equipment, and toys.

Wine and champagne corks (not plastic stoppers)

• Mail them to Yemm & Hart, which will turn them into tiles.

Anything else I should add to the list?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• This post was shared at All Things Eco.
  

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Challengicious Monday: Recycle Everything

Mondays are challengicious at The Conscious Shopper. Here's your next trash-related challenge:

Recycle Everything

To complete this challenge, you can...

BABY STEPS

• Participate in your local recycling program. Check with your local waste collection to find out how to participate, and remember to find out what can and cannot be recycled in your area.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Buy recycled products. Complete the loop by looking for products with recycled content whenever possible.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Recycle everything. Before you throw anything in the trash, ask yourself, "Could this be recycled? How?" Besides your city's recycling collection, many cities have additional recycling stations that collect yard waste, scrap metal, electronics, and appliances. Plus, numerous companies and organizations throughout the country have set up additional recycling programs. Tomorrow, I'll provide you a list of some of the programs I know about.

As is the case with many of these challenges, I'm somewhere between Jogging Stride and Marathon Runner. I have good intentions to recycle beyond my city's collection, but too often, those good intentions end up being a pile of clutter that never goes away. (The floor of my closet is currently covered in electronics that I need to recycle. It's a walk in closet, but you can't actually walk into it right now. Luckily, I married the right man, who puts up with my crap with very little complaint.)

For more information on recycling, check out:

• Plastics You Might Not Have Known Could Be Recycled
• Quick Post on Recycling
• Quick Tip: Rinsing Cans for Recycling

Will you take the challenge?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Photo by cogdogblog
  

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An Interview with Fake Plastic Fish

Since we've been talking about reducing our trash for the past couple months, I wanted to introduce you to one of my eco-heroes, Beth from Fake Plastic Fish, who has been writing about reducing her plastic use since 2007.

Plastic is ubiquitous in our modern lives. Is it actually possible to live a life without plastic? Probably not - but we can definitely reduce how much plastic enters our lives and how much gets thrown away. After two and a half years of reducing, collecting, and examining her plastic use, Beth produced only 3.7 pounds of plastic waste in all of 2009 (roughly 4% of the U.S. per capita average).

Some of Beth's attempts to live life with less plastic may seem extreme. For example, she buys meat from the butcher to make her own cat food. I say, "Impressive!" Some may say, "Too extreme for me!" But even Beth doesn't expect everyone to go as far as she does. By attempting to weed out as much plastic as possible from her own life, Beth simply hopes to bring attention to the issue and show people what could be possible. Maybe you'll never make your own cat food, but after reading about Beth, you'll decide to do something that's possible for you - like using a reusable glass, mug, or bottle instead of buying bottled water.

Beth kindly agreed to answer some questions and provide some tips to help us use less plastic (and reduce our trash production). Enjoy!



Q: Can you give me some background info about why you're trying to limit the amount of plastic in your life?

A: The impetus happened two and a half years ago when I first saw a photo of a dead albatross chick on Midway Island, thousands of miles from civilization, whose carcass was completely full of plastic pieces. Plastic that I used in my daily life. From that moment on, I knew I had to change. I had no choice. Then, after learning more and more about plastic -- that most of plastic recycling is actually downcycling, that all plastics contain chemical additives that can leach and that manufacturers are not required to reveal those chemicals to us, that plastic is made from a non-renewable resource, etc. -- it became even more important to limit my exposure to plastics. Mostly I focus on single use plastics. But I also avoid buying new durable plastic items, opting for second hand whenever possible or finding a way to do without.


Q: I get a lot of funny (and sometimes antagonistic) reactions from people about my green lifestyle, and I'm nowhere near as far along as you. How do your friends and family react to your plastic-free lifestyle?

A: I don't know if I'm further along in all things green. I'm definitely further along in plastic reduction. But there are so many issues to consider. I could do much better in energy and water conservation. One thing that helps is that I live in a walkable, bikeable area with great public transit. We also have awesome sources of bulk foods where you can bring your own containers and bags. We all have different challenges and must do the best we can starting where we are.

My family and friends are actually very supportive. Some of my friends have made great green changes in their live. One of my friends bought a reusable water bottle and carries it everywhere. And she switched to reusable cloth maxi pads. Now, she's starting writing letters to companies about their waste! On the other hand, my co-workers think I'm weird and have no desire to change. Whatever. Sometimes I get frustrated, but mostly I just work on changing myself and being an example and letting people make their own decisions.


Q: Along the same lines, several people commented on my blog recently that sometimes sales clerks are not very nice when they try to use cloth bags. You go far beyond cloth bags to bringing your own straws, napkins, and to-go containers. What kinds of reactions do you get to that, and what advice would you give to people who are nervous about rocking the boat?

A: I get nervous about rocking the boat too! But I try to just feel the nervousness and do it anyway. And I remind myself that getting a weird look is not going to kill me. Recently, I wrote a post on that very subject.

Some store clerks are supportive. The staff at Berkeley Whole Foods, for example, don't bat an eye when we come in with our containers and bags. They will weigh the containers at the customer service desk so the cashier can deduct the weight as we check out. We even bring a big pot to the butcher counter to buy ground turkey for our homemade cat food.

Other shops don't allow customers to bring their own, citing questionable health regulations. I just void places like those. Luckily here in the Bay Area, there are plenty of places to choose from. If one shop won't do it, there's another one that will. My favorite Chinese restaurant has no problem putting take out food in our stainless steel tiffins. The trouble is, we always have to remind them not to put the tiffin in a plastic bag!


Q: At the Conscious Shopper, I divide a lot of my going green tips into Baby Steps (easy), Jogging Stride steps (medium), and Marathon Runner steps (hardest). Can you give us your favorite Baby Step, Jogging Stride, and Marathon Runner tips for reducing plastic?

A: First of all, what's easy for me might be hard for someone else and vice versa, so this list is based on my personal experience. Everyone's mileage may vary.

Baby Steps: Bring your own reusable grocery bags and reusable water bottle or travel mug wherever you go. I carry several ChicoBags in my purse and backpack at all times so I am never without a reusable bag in a pinch. The hardest part is remembering to empty them and put them back each time I get home. I try to do it immediately.

Jogging Strides:

• Carry your own utensils, glass or stainless steel straw, stainless steel container like LunchBots or To-Go Ware. There is a new campaign called Take Out Without started by my friend Lisa Borden to encourage people to bring their own reusables for take out and leftovers and to encourage restaurants to get involved promoting the program.

• Request no plastic packaging when placing orders online.

• Wash your hair with a shampoo bar (like Burt's Bees rosemary mint shampoo bar or J.R. Liggett)

• Switch from liquid soap to bar soap

• Buy from bulk bins as much as possible bringing your own bags and containers

Marathon Runner:

• Wash your hair with baking soda/vinegar
  

• Stop eating convenience foods: energy bars, frozen foods, snack foods. They all come wrapped in plastic unless you can buy them from a bulk bin.

• Buy all durable plastic items -- like electronics, appliances, etc. -- second hand instead of buying new plastic. It can be challenging to find these things.

• Try as hard as possible to get stuff repaired when it breaks rather than discarding and buying new.

• Send back unwanted plastic packaging to companies with a letter explaining why

• Start a campaign like Take Back the Filter to get a company to take responsibility for its non-recyclable waste

• Start a blog to encourage others to take these steps too!

I have a whole long list of suggestions on my website, Fake Plastic Fish.


Q: What books, movies, and websites would you recommend to someone who wants to learn more about reducing their plastic waste?

A: Web Sites:

• Fake Plastic Fish of course!
• TakeOutWithout (campaign for bringing our own reusables to restaurants)
• Plastic Pollution Coalition (organization dedicated to stemming the tide of plastic pollution)
• Life Without Plastic (source of a lot of great plastic-free products)
• The list of plastic-free bloggers on my website. Too many to list here.

Movies:

• Blue Vinyl
• Addicted to Plastic
• Tapped
• Synthetic Sea

I hope you all enjoyed learning more about Fake Plastic Fish. Isn't she inspiring?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• This post was shared at All Things Eco.
  

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PlanetBox Review and Giveaway

There are still a couple more weeks until the waste-free lunch challenge, but here's your chance to get a head start with a fabulous new lunchbox.

PLANETBOX REVIEW

When First Son started kindergarten this year, I thought about getting him his very own lunchbox as a "congratulations on being a big kid" gift, and of all the eco-friendly lunchboxes I discovered in my search for the perfect lunchbox, the PlanetBox was the one I drooled over the most. We ended up getting him a school sweatshirt instead of a lunchbox, so when the PlanetBox arrived in my mail for this review, it was the first time I'd seen it in person. And it only made me want it more!


Here are the things I love about this lunchbox:

• It's made of stainless steel - not plastic.
• It's all one piece - not a bunch of containers and lids that your child has to keep track of.
• The food compartments are designed cafeteria-tray style, which is what we use at home. First Son has issues with food touching.
  
• It's long-lasting and recyclable at the end of it's life.
• It's dishwasher safe.
  

The PlanetBox also comes with cute magnets so your child can customize his lunchbox or freshen it up when he grows tired of the old ones. For more variety with your child's lunches, you can purchase the Big and Little Dippers - small containers to hold sauces, dips, and yogurt. And you can choose between a red, green, or purple lead-free carrying case with an inside pouch to hold a cold pack and an outside pouch to hold a beverage.

Packaging

• The PlanetBox arrived at my door via USPS in a cardboard box with paper packaging. USPS is my preferred carrier because they come to my door anyway (and my postman comes on foot!), unlike other carriers that have to make a special trip.
  

Materials

• The PlanetBox lunchbox is made of high quality stainless steel, which is safe for food and completely recyclable. The magnets are made out of a synthetic rubber (not PVC). The carry bags are made of recycled plastic and contain no "lead, vinyl/PVC, Phthalates, Bisphenol-A(BPA) or other harmful or toxic substances."

Manufacturing

• Planet Box has this to say about their manufacturing:

Our stainless steel lunch boxes are made in Taiwan, and our magnets and bags are made in China. When we started our company, we did an extensive search domestically in the USA for suppliers who could manufacture our product. We were unable to locate manufacturing partners within the USA who could meet our needs. The one domestic manufacturer that we found who was willing to partner with us would have charged us a rate that meant we would have to sell the PlanetBox for $300 a piece! We share many of our customer’s concerns about working conditions abroad, and we work to make sure that the suppliers we choose to partner with provide ethical treatment to their employees and the environment.

(Simple Shoes says the same type of thing about why they manufacture their shoes overseas. I think it's really unfortunate, but I also don't want to pay $300 for a child's lunchbox! It's a tough, tough situation.)

Quality

• Stainless steel is a long-lasting, durable material, and the lunchbox seems well-constructed. Each stainless steel lunchbox carries a five-year warranty covering defects in material or workmanship, and the carry bags have a one-year warranty.
  

Affordability

• Unfortunately, the PlanetBox is not only the best eco-friendly lunchbox I've seen, it's also the most expensive ($35 for the lunchbox, $50 for the lunchbox and dippers, $60 for the whole package). However, the PlanetBox should last your child many, many years, and when you compare the cost of this lunchbox to the cost of purchasing disposable baggies and lunchbags, or the cost of purchasing a new vinyl lunchbag every year, you'll still come out far ahead.
  

Availability

• Currently, the PlanetBox is only available for purchase on their website.
  

Visit PlanetBox for more information and to purchase your own stainless steel lunchbox!

GIVEAWAY

PlanetBox is generously offering one of their lunchboxes for one reader of The Conscious Shopper. (Note that this giveaway is only for a lunchbox - dippers and carrying case are not included.) Because PlanetBox is a very small company, they told me I could have my choice between a lunchbox to keep or a lunchbox to give away. You lucky readers, you...Here's how you can win a PlanetBox for your favorite child:

• Leave a comment on this post stating your favorite waste-free lunch idea.
  

• You can earn up to two extra entries by sharing this post on Facebook or tweeting it on Twitter and then leaving a comment for each thing that you do. This is completely based on the honor system, and remember that each comment is a separate entry.

You have until next Wednesday, March 17th to enter. I'll randomly select a winner and announce the results next Thursday. Good luck!

The winner of the PlanetBox giveaway is ME!, who wrote:

I am an elementary teacher and just today I have been creating ways for each grade level at our school to work on saving Earth! I want my class work on school lunches...how to bring reuseable containers and to work on not wasting food. Wouldn't it be great to have one of these lunch boxes as a giveaway!!!!! And I too came here from Big Green Purse!

I think it's pretty cool that the prize for this giveaway will be used in another giveaway. Hopefully it will help spread the word even more about this great lunchbox.

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn't win, you can purchase your own stainless steel lunchbox by visiting PlanetBox.

UPDATE: In response to a couple comments, I wrote:

Maren has a very good question. It's a bit heavier than a typical lunchbox, but it's definitely not heavy. Their website says, "It weighs 19 oz – less than most Harry Potter books!" :) I think it could be heavy for a preschooler but it would be fine for a kid in elementary school or older.

My other big concern for a kid's lunchbox was whether or not my child could open it without adult help. I like the Goodbyn (www.goodbyn.com), but I read some reviews saying it's difficult for a young kid to open. The PlanetBox is very easy to open with a little latch.

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: PlanetBox did not compensate me in any way for this review. Most of the information in this review comes from their website, but the opinions are entirely my own.

• Images courtesy of PlanetBox

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