Seattle Bans Disposable Food Packaging

The City of Seattle is leading the way to a more sustainable future, making history by becoming the first municipality to implement a ban on one time use food packaging.  The ban affects the entire food service industry in Seattle—restaurants, coffee shops, supermarkets, delis, and even private cafeterias. Starting on July 1^st 2010, they must provide customers with packaging that is either compostable or recyclable. That means no more disposable paper napkins, coffee stirrers, clamshells, cups, or lids.  This is a monumental step on the path toward a zero waste future.

In addition, food service facilities must also provide their customers with the proper recycling and compost receptacles, and they are required to manage this waste properly. Seattle has partnered with Cedar Grove Composting to provide food service facilities with guidelines and an outlet for the gigantic outflow of compost. Cedar Grove processes the used organic material within a few months, and then they sell it back to consumers to use as a natural fertilizer. Already about half of the city’s 1700 restaurants have signed up with Cedar Grove to manage their compost collections.

There is still a temporary exemption on utensils, straws, and food wrapping—these items can be made from conventional plastic or foil, for the time being. By next July, they too will be included under the ban, which takes effect in phases. The significance of this is that it gives businesses time to adjust to the new rules, under which they can’t offer single use disposable products.

Businesses and restaurants in other cities might want to take notice, too. The Seattle Ban may be an indication of municipal action soon to come from other progressive cities, such as New York, San Francisco, or Washington D.C. As the country grows, more waste is produced, putting a greater strain on the landfills that large cities export tons of trash to each day. Waste reduction will become an ever more attractive option to solve this impending issue. On top of this, increasingly environmentally conscious consumers will look to businesses to be responsible. This is a trend that won’t ease up until it becomes more economical to dump garbage onto the Moon.

You can do your part to ease the burden placed on our landfills as well, especially if you live in a densely populated area. Green Irene offers a line of compostable tableware made from bagasse, a derivative of sugar cane. These plates, cups, and bowls are great for parties or any situation when it’s impractical to use the good china, such as picnics! We also have quality indoor and outdoor composters, so you can turn your organic material and compostable items into high-grade fertilizer right at your own home. These are just a couple of the things you can do to help create a more sustainable community, ask your local eco-consultant what else you can do to take action and be a leader today.

Can You Spare a Square?

Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes may have posed the original question, but it’s something we should all consider since we in the U.S. average 50 pounds of toilet tissue, paper napkins and paper towels per year! That’s seven trees worth! Worldwide, about 270,000 trees are used and discarded each day. Here are a few ways to reduce your paper footprint:

· Buy single-ply, unscented and lotion-free tissue products whenever possible.

· Avoid colored tissue. Buy dye-free (i.e. white) or unbleached paper products. These dyes and bleaches also can irritate your skin.

· Switch to cloth napkins. They are much more civilized, not to mention more effective. Use different colors or unique napkin rings for different members of the family and wash them when they’re soiled.

· Cut paper towel use with Green Irene’s Twist Sponge Cloth (3-pack for $4.50). They easily wipe kitchen and bath surfaces like a paper towel and absorb like a sponge. Better yet, they replace 17 full rolls of paper towels! You may also like our Twist Scrubber Sponge (2-pack for $5) and the Twist Dish Dumpling Scrubber ($4; featured in the February 2010 issue of Bon Appétit).

Ellen Hall
Green Irene Eco-Consultant
ellen.cincydayton@greenirene.com
http://www.GreenIrene.com/CincyDaytonEllen
513-932-7304

Greener Disposable Tableware

I try to limit my use of disposables as much as possible. Reusing something is, after all, the greenest option. But it’s not always practical. If I throw a kid’s birthday party with 20 guests, I need to clean up quickly and get on to the next activity. At the same time, I hate buying bags of plastic plates, knowing that they won’t biodegrade any time soon. In fact, they’ll probably still be around for thousands of years. On top of it all, they’re made from oil, a nonrenewable resource that requires intensive processing. Some plastic plates can technically be recycled, but most recycling facilities will ultimately reject and trash plastics that are greasy or oily. That makes for some pretty dim prospects for recycling plates that have come in contact with any food. All and all, while it’s really convenient, disposable tableware is basically an eco-nightmare all around.

So, I was intrigued when I found some “eco-friendly” alternatives to disposable plastics. But at the same time, I was skeptical. Could something that’s disposable ever really be eco-friendly? After digging deep into this question, I think the answer is a clear yes. In fact, I feel so good about these products that Green Irene is now offering a line of disposable tableware.

So what is this magic material? In a word, sugar – the source of many wonderful things. Green Irene’s plates, bowls, and cups are made from bagasse, a byproduct created during sugarcane processing. Before it was used for tableware, bagasse was burned as waste. Turning this waste product into something useful is much greener than cutting down forests to make paper plates. These products can be torn up and put in your indoor or outdoor composter. They can also be sent to a municipal compost facility, or recycled along with your paper products. Green Irene’s bagasse items can handle hot and cold foods, and they’re even safe for microwave use.

For more information about Green Irene’s disposable tableware, check out Ask Green Irene entry #1204. If you are not a member (which you are when you get a  Green Home Makeover or Green Office Makeover), your local eco-consultant can help you select and order Green Irene’s recommended eco-friendly plates, bowls, cups and utensils.

Rosamaria Caballero
The Original Green Irene Eco-Consultant
rosamaria.caballero@greenirene.com

Back to School Product Spotlight

We’re happy to announce the addition of new products for the upcoming school year! These new items are in-stock and ready to ship.

	Waste-Free Lunch Kit Our waste-free lunch kit replaces your disposable food wrappings and baggies with an eco-friendly set of re-usable, non-leaching containers and bags. These products will save you money and teach your kids how to be green at the same time!
	Reusable Sandwich Wrap/Placemat Combo This reusable sandwich wrap is perfect for children’s lunches – it not only replaces almost 15 rolls of plastic wrap, but the recyclable lining used in its construction is safe, non-leaching and BPA-free!
	Reusable Snack Pouch This reusable snack pouch holds any type of snack, replaces thousands of plastic baggies, and is safe, non-leaching and BPA-Free. Stick it in a lunch bag or just in a pocket!

Rosamaria Caballero
The Original Green Irene Eco-Consultant

Composting Made Easy

You may know there are many reasons to compost: creating rich soil that needs less chemical-laced fertilizer, saving money on gardening supplies, reducing the amount of garbage that gets mummified in landfills, saving fuel from trips to the dump, the list keeps going. Composting could have a big impact on the amount of trash we generate. A third of all landfill waste across the United States comes from garden clippings and kitchen waste. Instead of being trashed, those items could be put to use to create healthy soil. Starting a compost can be an intimidating prospect, but just a few tips can get you started in no time. 

• First you need a bin to house your compost. Green Irene offers both indoor and outdoor composters. A well-managed compost should have no smell, so housing your compost indoors won’t be an issue. 

• Some people use worms in their compost, also known as vermicompost. Worms create very rich soil, and these composts don’t have to be turned since the worms do the work for you. But you can be very successful without worms as well, so if you’re not a fan of worms don’t worry. We’ll leave vermicomposting out of the discussion here.
   
• The biggest key to composting is knowing what and how much to put in. You’ll be adding two different types of material: “greens” and “browns.” Greens are nitrogen-rich scraps like fresh grass clippings, vegetables and fruits. Browns are carbon-rich materials like twigs, dried leaves, newspapers, and hay. In general, you want have slightly more brown material than green material, although composting is more of an art than a science. 
   
• Many things in your home can be composted. In addition to the thing listed above, you can compost:
  • Tea bags (remove the staples)
  • Coffee grinds (if you use a paper filter, you can compost that too)
  • Saw dust
  • Wood chips
  • Fur/hair
  • Corn husks
  • All yard waste
     
• While you can compost many things, some things should not go into your compost. The following items will eventually breakdown, but they will take a long time and their smell may attract bugs. They’re best avoided: 
  • Grease and oil
  • Dairy products
  • Meat and bones
  • Citrus peels from lemons, oranges, etc. 
     
• Your compost should be fairly moist, about as damp as a rung out sponge. If your compost is too dry, try sprinkling it with some water. Avoid making it too wet, however. Overly-wet composts can start to smell. 
   
• Things biodegrade much faster when they’re hot. If you have an outdoor compost, try locating it some place that gets a lot of sun. For cooler climates, try moving your compost indoors (or into the garage) during the winter months.

Save Money & Go Green During Your Home Remodel

During our first major home remodeling project, our elderly neighbor Joe would come over to see how things were going. Joe came of age during the Great Depression so occasionally he would stoop down, pick up a nail, and hand it to my husband, silently imploring, “waste not, want not” and reminding us of a time when resources were conserved and every nail was considered valuable.

Today we see giant dumpsters parked outside houses with ongoing remodeling projects, full of waste destined for the landfill. Construction contractors tell us it takes too much time to deconstruct a house piece by piece, salvaging some materials for reuse. Time is money, and the labor required to salvage materials is too expensive to be worth it. But is it really too expensive?

Beginning Phase IV of our current house remodeling effort, I decided to run some numbers on our small scale recycling and reuse effort. In a half a day, all the demolition was done and the 2x4s laid in two unruly piles in the remodel space. I set to work with my gloves, safety glasses, hammer and crowbar and restored to usable condition about 28 pieces of stud length lumber and a few shorter pieces. It took about 2 hours, working fairly leisurely, and you can listen to music or talk during the work. Deeply imbedded nails may be removed using a cat’s paw tool or else marked with a red crayon so the framing carpenter will see them and avoid cutting into them and dulling their saw blade or causing a dangerous kick back. For hard-to-remove and headless nails, like the one picture to the right, put the shaft of the nail tight in the claw and bend it sideways, moving the claw up the shaft as the nail comes out.

So what did I save for my 2 hours of labor? The cost of the studs and the cost of disposal are the two biggest things. I also saved a trip to the store, a trip to the dump, and hauling materials out of the house and back in. I did the right thing for the environment, keeping reusable materials out of the landfill and keeping a 28-stud tree standing in the forest.

At my local home improvement store, standard and better 2×4 studs (96 inches that still need to be cut down to stud length) are roughly $2 each with tax. Tipping fees at the dump are $100 a ton. So my 28 studs would cost about $56 dollars to buy new. The 28 studs and nails weighed about 250 lbs. so besides the trip to the transfer station I save about $12.50 in tipping fees.

In total, I saved over $68, paying me $34 per hour for my work cleaning up the studs. You could even afford to pay your teen or tween $10 an hour to do the work and still come out ahead. So next time you or your contractor think salvaging building materials isn’t worth it, think again.

Number of studs reclaimed: 28
Number of hours spent reclaiming studs: 2
Replacement cost of studs: $56
Tipping fees saved: $12.50
Total savings: $68.50
Hourly wage for reclamation work: $34+
Other savings: trip to store; trip to dump; trees left standing; landfill space; mill work
 

Judi Radloff, Kirkland, WA
Green Irene Eco-Consultant
www.GreenIrene.com/EastsideJudi
judi.eastside@greenirene.com 

Green Craft Ideas for Kids, Young and Old

Who says you can’t “go green” and also have a little fun? Below are some craft projects that may inspire you to think about trash in a whole new way. These are particularly good for rainy days when everyone is stuck inside.

Throw Pillows: According to the World Watch Institute, Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags each year, and less than 1% of all plastic bags are ever recycled. PlasticBagRecylcing.org lists recycling locations in your state, but many may be far away. Given that, I’m always looking for ways to reuse the plastic bags I do have. One idea is to use them as filling for stuffed animals, pillows, and other plush items. Associated Content has an idea for turning your worn out t-shirt into a throw pillow. The result is a product that’s doubly recycled.

T-Shirt Bag: Okay, so you’ve used up all the plastic bags in your house by stuffing them into pillows. What are you going to take to the store next time you go shopping? T-shirt bags are here to solve this dilemma. You can use your favorite t-shirt, or get a white one and draw on it using inexpensive fabric markers.

Sock Monkeys: What does happen to socks that go missing in the laundry? I can’t tell you that, but I can give you an idea of how to give the remaining sock a new life. Sock monkeys, those icons of the 1970s, are more popular than ever. If you find yourself with two mismatched socks, consider uniting them as one sock monkey. Sock monkeys can be hand sewn and require few supplies. They make great gifts, especially for baby showers (use felt eyes instead of buttons for young children). Check out this sample pattern, and let your imagination run wild.

Homemade Lava Lamps: Speaking of the 70s, don’t you wish that lava lamps hadn’t gone out of style? But while they were cool to look at, lava lamps were also very hot and inefficient energy hogs. Try this plug-free version of the traditional lava lamp. It’s a great way to reuse any plastic or glass bottles you may have lying around the house, and is also a good way to teach kids about density.

For more tips about how to green you lifestyle, talk to your  local eco-consultant.

- Green Irene

Volunteer To Green Your Community

Two summers ago, Jack Johnson was performing in my city and asked the concert promoters and concert venue what they were doing to lessen the environmental footprint of the event.  To answer Jack’s question, the venue changed how they were pouring drinks and entered into an agreement with a local recycling facility to handle all recyclables from the venue.  They also created The Green Team. 

A couple of the suppliers at the venue agreed to sponsor The Green Team. The venue bought a bunch of safety vests (yes, the really visible and hideous yellow ones!) and grabbers.  They also bought a bunch of recycling cans and signs.  Then they went out looking for people to volunteer.

I’ve been a member of the Green Team for the past couple of years.  We get into the concerts free and we get a voucher for food at the concession stands. We go out with our grabbers and vests before the concert, during the breaks between bands and for a few minutes after the concert.  The idea is to educate attendees through our presence. We split up and make our way around the venue, being visible and friendly.  We also use our grabbers to rescue recyclables from the regular garbage bins.  Once the music starts, we take our seats and have fun watching the concert. 

I’ve gotten really good at the art of using the grabber.  I can scoop up a half-filled plastic cup, empty it and put it in the recycle bin in a second or two – all without touching anything. 

Now this may sound like a demeaning waste of time.  It’s not.  Every member of the team gets a number of high-fives or hugs during every concert.  We also have people asking us how they can be members of the Green Team.  One guy asked me if he could use the grabber just once – I had to take it back when all of his friends wanted to use it too.  Last summer, someone had to be escorted from the venue because he was a fake Green Team-er – complete with the vest and grabber. 

I’ve also noticed that we are finding fewer and fewer recyclables in the wrong bin. Other venues in the area are catching on – it’s a great public relations move. Once you consider the sponsorships, I’m pretty sure that the costs of our vests, grabbers, tickets and meals are more than covered.  It has made a number of the visiting artists very happy to be performing here.

Last night, I got to listen to Incubus (they were completely amazing), hang out with friends and took several hundred cups, bottles and cans out of landfills. 

This is an idea that can be taken to your community.  Ask local venues what they’re doing and share the story of the Green Team at Usana Amphitheater in Salt Lake City, Utah.   Maybe you can start your own Green Team, in partnership with the venue. 

Leslie Proctor, Salt Lake City, Utah
Green Consultant
http://www.greenirene.com/slcleslie
leslie.slc@greenirene.com 

5 Tips to Reducing Waste From Construction

Building a new home carries a big ecological footprint, from the materials used to the transporting of them to the various toxic substances used during construction. As you can imagine, a lot of waste is produced during construction as unnecessary materials are discarded, packaging is thrown away, and items to be used once are never used again.

To cut on waste from construction, you can have your contractor follow strict guidelines aimed at reducing the footprint associated with construction. Here are five tips that can help you cut on waste during construction. Keep in mind that most of these steps have to be planned out during the design phase of the house.

1) Minimize house size. In general, if you minimize house size, you’ll be cutting on waste during construction and later on when you live there. Less space means less heating and cooling needed. Make sure you don’t build bigger than what you need, or you’ll end up paying for spaces that you can’t eliminate nor use.

2) Minimize packaging. You can purchase building materials with as little packaging as possible. Try to buy from manufacturers that can take back product waste like cardboard, plastic, and paper. For example, don’t buy nails and screws in plastic containers if they can be purchased in bulk.

3) Buy materials with recycled content. Today, many building materials can contain recycled content. When you purchase materials with recycled content, you promote more recycling and make recycled products more available.

4) Reuse. Any materials left over from construction should be reused somehow. Usually, you can use extra material to build something creative or do something you couldn’t do with your initial budget.

5) Recycle. Finally, if you still have some materials after finishing construction and reusing any leftover materials, you should opt for recycling. You should have developed a recycling plan from the beginning to identify what can be recycled. As the overseer of the project, you can take the lead in creating the project’s waste plan and ensuring its execution.

5 Tips To Green Your Move

If you are looking forward to moving to a different location this summer season, you should know that moving carries with it a significant footprint. To ensure that your move is also green, there are a few things you can do to cut waste and carbon emissions. Not only can you reduce your footprint by making your moving operation green, but you can also save money. Here are five tips for you to cut your footprint when you move.

1) Don’t purchase new boxes. Instead, find boxes locally through paint stores, electronic stores, pet shops, and other local sources. You can also use a new service called Rent-A-Green Box, which will provide you with recycled boxes that are reused repeatedly to cut on waste.

2) Reduce packaging. To reduce packaging, think about how you can use things you already have for cushioning and cover. For example, you can use old styrofoam containers, crumpled up junk mail instead of tissue paper, clothes and towels, and old sheets and blankets to cover furniture.

3) Reduce the need for driving. To do this, you should rent the biggest van you need to avoid having to go back and forth too many times. This will help cut on carbon emissions.

4) Tape things wisely. If a box doesn’t need to be closed fully, then don’t tape it and simply close the flaps together. If it’s a box that will be opened regularly but needs to be closed, then put one single strip across at the top so that you reduce wasted tape.

5) Reduce mail. Put your new address on a Do Not Mail list before moving. Otherwise, you will receive lots of advertisements from local businesses in your new area, most of which you won’t want to hear from. It’s best to get out once you get to your new location and explore the businesses yourself through a nice walk in town.

To learn more about what to do to green your move, sign up to Ask Green Irene, a comprehensive green search engine with a lot more information.

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