Some Assembly Required

Green Friday and the Story of Stuff

Today I'm starting something I've been thinking about doing for some time now.  Every Friday I am going to try to post on an environmental topic.  My intention is to share things that I've learned or read, pass along ideas for a greener lifestyle or simply offer food for thought.  If this is not your thing, that's OK.  I'll still be posting creative stuff on the other days!

In their (alternative, progressive) school, my kids are taught the "4 R's" from the earliest age: 

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Rot

In that order.  Man I am grateful for that school -- my kids are self motivated reusers, recyclers and rotters (compost).  More about that community in another post because it is such a great example of the way that greener habits can be implemented in our everyday lives without really inconveniencing anyone. 

Personally, I think the first of the 4 R's is the hardest, but without a doubt the most critical if we are going to stop plundering our environment.  Our society's appetite for stuff is insatiable and, as my favorite bumper sticker says:

"Insatiable is NOT Sustainable"

What is the real price of our addiction to stuff?  What are the hidden costs of our free market economy?  The Story of Stuff is a very powerful video that tackles these questions.  The entire video is 20 minutes long but 20 minutes that is well worth your time.  This is a teaser:

To see the entire video, go here:

The carbon monster

Making it real.

Click To Play

Lets do lunch

My confession -- I'm a bit of a lunch freak.  I love to send my boys to school with a delicious, healthy and attractive lunch.  I know parents who encourage their children to make their own lunches.  I think that sounds like a great routine for some families.  But I don't think I could give up my main link to my boys during the school day.  I know that they don't consciously think, "Wow, thanks Mom!" every time they open up their lunches but I do believe that at some level, they appreciate the little bit of effort I put in to making them a great lunch.  Don't they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?  (Or something like that?)  And I'm thinking, when they get to be teenagers, I'm going to want to score those little bonus points wherever I can.

This lunch freak also loves the Laptop Lunch Boxes.  Modeled on the Japanese bento box, they come in fun colors, encourage a variety of food choices in the right proportions.  They are so easy for the kids to open up and when they do -- viola! -- a nicely presented lunch ready to enjoy.  Last and certainly not least, they are completely reusable and therefore, environmentally friendly.  Did you know that the average school child generates 67 pounds of discarded lunch packaging each year?  (from Waste Free Lunches) That adds up to an amazing amount of waste!  It only takes me about 3 minutes to wash out two lunch boxes.  They could go in the dishwasher, too. 

A typical lunch around here: mac-n-cheese, sliced peaches and blueberries, red pepper and cucumber slices and a couple of cookies.  Bon appetite!

Can we kick the habit?

Soapbox alert! 

All the bad news about global warming and the damaging effects of our modern lifestyles can feel very overwhelming. How can any of us be perfect environmental citizens?  How can any of us make a real difference?  But you know, I've come to think this is the wrong way of looking at it.  I think if we focus on being perfect we become paralyzed with inaction and as a result we do nothing.  So instead, I try to focus on the little changes I can make.  I believe that if we each make small steps in our daily lives, in time, those steps will add up and make a big difference.  They have to.

One of our family's lifestyle choices is no bottled water.  I keep a large Brita water dispenser  in the fridge which I refill every morning.  We have cold, great tasting water any time.  I fill reusable water bottles for the kids to send with their lunches.  I carry an insulated steel water bottle around with me which I refill as needed and rinse out in the evening.  Its so easy I don't even think about it. 

Want more facts about how damaging bottled water is to our environment?  Watch this ABC video.

And think about this -- if you refilled every purchased bottle of water just once, you could cut by half the resources expended to get that bottle of water to you as well as the amount plastic entering the waste stream.  Even that would be a good thing.