It's been dumping for a week while I have been relegated sick invalid, but is clearing up just in time with my sinuses. Which means, *drum roll,* another ski weekend at Squaw!
But don't ask 6'2"'s butt. Because it was numb the majority of the ride.
However, in the great city/county of San Francisco, we not only get curbside recycling, but municipal composting as well. I point out municipal because municpal and industrial composting can handle fun things like animal bones! They also do all paper, food scraps, and yard trimmings. Composting is relatively easy to remember although sometimes I'm stuck with a newspaper wondering how much life they can really get out of it if I recycle (so I usually dump it in the compost).
Which brings us to recycling. Because municipalities control recycling, they also control what they want (or can) recycle. This means when I've just finished the last drop of Rice Dream (a non-lactose alternative to milk), and open the carton to see metal foil lining the inside, composting is out. But can I recycle the carton? Well according to the carton, I should go to http://www.tetrapak.com/environment and find out! So I do, only to discover that if I can't (and neither can 80% of all US residents). Which is quite frustrating. But apparently, if I lived south 5 miles in San Mateo County, I could. But then I couldn't compost food scraps. *sigh*
Of the 3R's (reduce, reuse, and recycling), recycling is my least favorite because it is attached to consumption and is confusing (the 2C's, if you will). But I'm finally realizing how important the whole cycle of recycling is. It's so critical to look for recyclable (in your municipality) packaging or for things with the least packaging of all when buying. The hippie store or Costco is pretty good about this, as they are unconcerned with advertising. But you can take this concept anywhere. For instance, when I succumb to my primal desires and eat Popeye's fried chicken, I bring my own mesh bag so I don't take their container, and even deny them the pleasure of wrapping my bag in a plastic bag. Packaging eliminated!
When recycling, make sure your city takes it! In SF, you don't have to rinse (although it's nice, according to Joanne Wong, a waste manager for the city of San Francisco). She also thinks recycling is easy, but I guess that's her professional opinion. And that's it! I was pretty sure there was a 3rd step we learned (perhaps taking it out to the curb?), but stick a fork in me because I am done folks!
"When's the last time you spent money on something other than food? "
I sat there thinking for a while, kind of appalled I couldn't remember, since I'm rather fond of my memory. But, chalk it up to the law degree for research skills, I pulled up my credit card statements online. Even though a credit card generates more paper receipts, I'm an exclusive user of it, unless the place is cash only (such as a lovely farmer's market). This is because it leaves a, for a lack of a better word, "paper" trail which means I'm on top of my finances. I also firmly believe in paying off the entire balance on time- don't look at me as a contributor to this economic downturn.
Anyways, I checked this month's running statement, and unsurprisingly didn't find anything. December? Still a bunch of groceries and restaurants. Finally, over 2 months back, on November 3rd, I confirmed replaced my broken earphones with a new set. That is the last time I bought something new (that I couldn't eat). I told this to another friend, who promptly replied, "You are nuts."
A fair point.
This last weekend I made good use of my season pass and got 4 days in at Squaw. I also took up 10 of my friends. It's pretty hard to organize for 10. People insist on leaving early, coming late, and driving their own cars. However, I'm happy to report that a little reminder to carpool about a week before the event, helps give people enough time to plan for pick ups. As such, we only drove 3 cars, even though 4 people came up Thursday, 2 left Friday (while 6 more came), and 8 people left on Sunday. All small sedans mind you- thank god for ski racks and back seats that fold down. Yah, most people are surprised when I tell them what I can fit in my parent's Toyota Echo (this time it was food for 10, 2 skies, 2 snowboards, luggage, and 4 people). The important key is a can do attitude!
Also, we completely minimized driving by taking the Squaw shuttle from our cabin in Incline Village for a massive carpool! It's quite a feat to get 8 people on a shuttle by 7:50am, especially when 3/4 of them have come in after 10:30pm the night before.
Another feat? Feeding 10 people. Here I raise my glass to eggs and building sandwiches on the mountain. We somehow managed to go through 3 dozen eggs, all of them pasture raised and organic. Egg salad is an easy but effective lunch. And when you build sandwiches on the mountain instead of the night before, they don't get soggy and you eliminated the need for personal ziplock bags. We just carried some bread and fillings in two bags. The last day we ran out of bread, despite me buying 3 loafs and Pumpkin making another, so we ate pasta on leftover plastic bags. It was the epitome of ghetto and I thank my friends for putting up with me.
Finally, and this came as a big surprise to me, the only meat we had was 4 slices of bacon, 2 lbs of ham and 5 sausages. Non-sustainable, so I really shouldn't have been buying it in the first place (but at least we ate in). I thought for sure people would hang me by the neck for the paltry amount, but instead we cut them into small slices and it worked out perfectly. The sausages peppered the pasta both nights, the ham morphed into breakfast and lunch. Egg and ham sandwich is deliciousness I discovered all the way back in junior high, and I was happy to see it revived for breakfast. That me would also have served sausages whole, leaving half the people behind or buying 2x as much, but new me held my breath and sure enough, we survived!
But let's be honest, I couldn't have done this without my great friends. Everybody was happy to carpool, take the early early shuttle, and were thrilled with the food/my over-planning. So thank you guys again such a great (and green) trip! I love skiing =D.
This was a truly adorable sight, 3 brothers, one mom and one dad (not pictured) all riding quietly on the Caltrain. I especially love the duo in front.
"1. Turn on the water
2. Immediately wet the body
3. Turn off the water
4. Soap up and scrub
5. Turn the water back on and rinse off the soap
6. Turn off the water
The total time for the water being on is typically under two minutes."
And no, I haven't frozen to death. But because I use shampoo, conditioner and soap, I repeat 3 and 4 once, conditioning then soaping in the same round. My bottle of conditioner wants conditioner in my hair for an obscene 2 minutes, so might as well use that time to soap up.
Why is this important?
Well the average shower head flow is 2.2 gallons/minute. Average water pressure is 50 psi, and if I pretend I know what that means, then a 10 min shower uses around 14-16 gallons of water (see here). Holy crap, that's a lot of water! Well, if you take a navy shower, you save 11.8-12.8 gallons of water. SAVE! Amazing. Then, if you want super extra bonus points, you cut upon old milk gallon jugs and collect the cold water as it warms up.
Like so! Future dish washing water.[09:38] Elisa Lee: i think about being green a lot because of you
You don't realize all the people you affect, just by being green, but you do. So even if I haven't been blogging of my green exploits during the holiday season, believe me, they are happening. And I will soon be back to inspire the unseen masses!
But for now, take solace in your own green ways, and that it passes on and affects others. Thus, little change, becomes big.
Since joining the meat CSA, multiple people have asked me to link them to their site (and I'll do it one more time here you go!). After telling others of my navy showers my friend recently told me he saved his shower water to run the laundry. Of course, I have my green friends who I rant against Walmart with (big Organics can kiss my big- ok not that big, butt), but these are people I never expected to influence. SUV drivers, true consumers, wiser and older folks all fall to the wisdom of leading by example.
Lead on!
*Update: I swear this is true, another friend on AIM [14:41]: "i'm definitely not as green as you, but i try, and you remind me to be more conscious as well" What a great day!
