Bulk waste syndrome hypothesis

I love buying things in bulk, especially non-perishable items.  Ranging from shampoo to all-purpose cleaners, many companies offer over-sized options.  Not only do these items help you save money, they're better for the environment.  Bulk buying helps to reduce packaging, thus reducing the energy and materials required to make the packaging, and thus reducing the amount of waste once the product has been used.  If you decide to purchase biodegradable, non-animal tested products, you're doing even better.  But I would like to suggest my bulk waste syndrome hypothesis.

Take, for instance, two options: one 48 oz bottle of shampoo versus four 12 oz bottles.  The latter option results in greater packaging waste.  The prior option, however, may result in fewer lathers-and-rinses.  Even though the two options offer the same overall amount of shampoo (48 oz), I hypothesize that the bulk shampoo bottle unknowingly makes people to use more shampoo for each lather-and-rinse, which is caused by the 'bulk waste syndrome.'  When people use smaller containers, they are more likely to use smaller amounts of shampoo because they perceive that not very much is available.  In the bulk case, people perceive that much more shampoo is available, and they are more likely to use larger amounts because of a lessened fear of running out any time soon.

I've run this idea by a couple of people, and they were quite shocked I'd even suggest such a ludicrous idea.  But, I stand by my logic.  Think about how you behave when your liquid soap is about to run out.  You use smaller and smaller amounts to stretch it as far as it will go.

Assuming for a moment that this hypothesis is true, what can you do about it?  I constantly try to gage how much of something I use.  It's easy to squirt an overwhelming dollop of toothpaste on your brush.  But take a step back and think, is it really necessary?  Most of it will probably never touch your teeth.  How much hand soap is really necessary to clean your dirty paws?  One full squirt from my pump would bath a small army.  Just think about it, and get back to me.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:TRESemmé.jpg

Ceramic or paper or polystyrene?

UPDATE:  Through Neighbors for Neighbors, a group in Boston organized local coffee shops to support a bring-your-own-mug concept.  It's called The Mug Project and I think it's wonderful.  Thanks for the tip, Em!

Consuming less seems to be one of the primary mantras of the "green" movement. "Reduce, reuse, recycle." So, when it comes to your morning beverage of choice (be it coffee, tea, hot cocoa), surely a ceramic mug is more environmentally friendly than a paper or polystyrene (read: 'styrofoam') cup. Not necessarily, claims the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment. Way back in 1994, this study suggested that ceramic mugs must be used numerous times before the environmental impact equals that of a similar number of paper or foam cups. Large amounts of energy are required to manufacture and clean a reusable mug, thus it must be used many times to spread out that impact over a large number of uses. According to their findings, a ceramic mug must be used 40 times to equal paper, and hundreds of times to equal foam. So, does this mean that foam-cup-wielding lunatics are greener than thou?

Don't fret. Think: "reduce." Surely, if you are a ceramic mug hoarder and go through them like water, you're relatively wasteful. But, if you're like me and hold onto a select few mugs for years and use them repeatedly, things might not be so bad after all. If you can't stomach the idea of pressing your lips to the same mug year after year, at least put your unwanted mugs back into the ebb and flow of the universe. Donate them to a second-hand store. At some point, your orphaned mugs will be considered vintage and be worth a lot of money, to someone else.

And, in the spirit of not being able to determine anything with certainty, consider the hidden features of polystyrene.

• “Acute exposure to styrene in humans results in respiratory effects, such as mucous membrane irritation, eye irritation, and gastrointestinal effects” -Environmental Protection Agency

• Styrofoam is “possibly carcinogenic to humans” -World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer

• Styrofoam cup takes 500 years to decompose. -University of Washington

• “In the categories of energy consumption, greenhouse gas effect, and total environmental effect, [expanded polystyrene's] environmental impacts were second highest, behind aluminum” -California Integrated Waste Management Board

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Coffeee_img451.jpg

Paper has two sides

Upon inspecting a piece of paper recently, I wondered how did they get it so impossibly thin?  I'm talking about your standard office paper: 8.5" by 11", 20 pound, bright white.  Very flat.  Sharp edges.  Smooth surface.  Careful investigation revealed something that is often overlooked:  paper has two sides, and you can use them both!

But seriously, it can be tough to find a double-sided printer, so you'll often end up with page after page of single-sidedness.  Though I'm a big fan of doing things electronically, there are times with printing is necessary.  In those cases, and in the cases when it's not possible to print on both sides, instead of throwing away (or recycling) the paper once you're done reading it, save it for scrap paper.  I've been doing this for about 10 years now.  In fact, in my stock pile of half-used paper, I have some documents from many years ago.  Whenever I need to do some quick scratching, I pull out one of these babies and use the unloved side.  Once the paper is completely filled, I toss it in the bin for recycling.

Another thought here is to force your printer to double-side.  Well, maybe force isn't the right word.  How about trick?  This takes some experimenting.  It works by printing all of the odd (or even) pages.  This can be found in the printer settings.  Once printed, put the pages back in the paper tray.  You got to figure out the correct orientation.  Then print all of the even pages (or odd if you did even first).  And viola!  Double-sided.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Lightmatter_paperwork.jpg

Rethinking sustainable design

People have often criticized me (rather, attacked me) in regards to sustainability and free enterprise. Take, for example, oil. If we all stopped driving and embraced solar energy and foot-power, what would happen to the employees of oil companies? They'd be out of jobs and a major pillar of our economy would collapse. Valid point. One rebuttal is the idea of adaption. Companies that have proven to be successful are able to adapt the changing times. They are willing to embrace new concepts and implement them.

Adaption and evolution of companies is the central idea in the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. William McDonough and Michael Braungart suggest that we can maintain our current lifestyle with no ill consequences, given a little ingenuity. The book revolves around encouraging companies to consider the entire life of a product, from conception to consumer use to disposal to rebirth. They provide many tangible examples of companies that have embraced sustainable techniques, helped improve the environment, and saved money. One example is the waste water of a textile company. Initially, they were heavily polluting the surrounding environment with toxic chemicals from their dying process. After some careful thought and upgrades, their waste water is now as clean as or cleaner than the water that flows into the plant.

I found the book to be particularly refreshing. McDonough and Braungart reject the idea of choosing the least harmful alternative, rather they seek to find truly good solutions. They insist that recycling as we know it now is actually a bad thing. Even the "paper" of which the book is printed is unique. I urge you to read it to find out what I'm talking about. And don't forgot some of my favorite ways to get books!

Image: http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm

Don't REcycle... FREEcycle

Though landfills are eye-sores and stink, some people are still sending perfectly good things to their final resting place prematurely. The town in which I grew up has a "free barn" at the dump. It's a place to leave items you no longer want that are still in working order. You are also welcome to take something if you like. Landfills are spared, and people often find things that they would not otherwise pay money for. This is a great idea, but it is probably unlikely that you could find a swap program like this near you... until now. FreeCycle combines this same idea with the power of the internet. By signing up for an email list in your area, you can connect with hundreds or thousands of other people willing to give and interested in receiving. Here's a little more about the program:

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,205 groups with 4,211,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free.

So far, I have given a few things. One person flaked out on me and never showed up, but everyone else was quite reliable. I asked for a microwave, and almost immediately, a guy offered one that was nearly new, for free! I urge you to take the standard precautions before going to someone's house to get something (e.g. take a friend with you, meet in a public space). Otherwise, check it out and have fun!

Image: http://www.freecycle.org/

Start something of your own

It's one thing to make informed, responsible decisions, but helping others to do the same can be something so much more. When I recycle, I typically end up with about 5 grocery bags of items per month. But there are still many people who toss their recyclables into the trash. Not only do some of these items stick around for thousands of years, it often requires more energy to create a new item from raw materials than from recycled materials. Though my direct impact is small, by urging people to recycle, I can have a greater impact. This was a primary motivating factor for me to help implement a recycling program at my school. A team of us are working to design a sustainable recycling program for one of the major dorms.

Recycling is just one topic. What else can be done? There are many ways that you can help support meaningful change in your community. Please share ideas with others in the comments section.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Gluehbirne_2_db.jpg

What would we do without the Post-it®?

Ubiquitous and convenient are just two adjectives that describe 3M's Post-it®. No office is complete without a stack of yellow (or blue or teal or pink or...) self-sticking note pads. From June 2006 to May 2007, 3M raked in $106 million from these tiny pads. Though paper requires vast amounts of trees to be cut, energy to be consumed, 3M is fairly dedicated to environmental responsibility, according to their FAQ page. It's even possible to buy new Post-it® notes made from recycled paper. But this leaves me feeling uneasy.

In an effort to reduce my paper consumption, I've started to keep many notes on my computer and cell phone. Apple's Mac OSX comes standards with a program called Stickies, which emulates the paper version. I find it's easier to alter text on the electronic version. A poll shows that nearly 45% of users utilizes this program. Windows might have something similar.

But what about portability? Post-it® notes notes are great because you can take them with you. Most people also take a cell phone with them. This is the current solution to my grocery list. In my case, I sync my phone with my computer my list is transfered to my cell phone. If you're less tech-savy, poke around in your cell phone and you'll most-likely find a note program.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Post-It.jpg

Don't dispose of it just because it's disposable

We live in a disposable society. From food containers to cameras, modern technology has made life much more convenient. But I've noticed that we sometimes throw things away, even if they haven't been used. Two examples:

1. I had six people over for take-out Chinese food. When we were finished eating, we had approximately 100 packets for soy sauce, duck sauce and spicy mustard! The restaurant had put these in out bags... we didn't take any extra. Typically, people throw them away.
2. At a lunch buffet today, we had various mayo-based salads and sandwiches. The host offered utensils packs. You know the kind... fork, spoon, knife, salt, pepper and a napkin all hermetically sealed. I only needed a fork, though. Should I throw the rest away?

To be upfront, neither case is great. Individually packaged sauces and throw-away forks are wasteful, but, I had fairly little choice in the matter. So instead of throwing the currently unneeded items, I saved them. With the Chinese food, I was able to convince my friends to give me their sauces to save them from the landfill. In the case of the catered lunch, I saw many people throw away everything. I didn't want to sound like a raving lunatic and yell at them, but that is my motivation for this post.

Before you throw away something that is perfectly new and clean, consider saving it and using it later. You might be able to save a little money with this trick. Post your comments with other ideas of disposable things you might save for later!

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Duck_sauce_packets.jpg

Recycling in the smallest of abodes

Recycling is good. The National Recycling Coalition asserts that there are at least 10 good reasons to recycle.

1. Good For Our Economy
2. Creates Jobs
3. Reduces Waste
4. Good For The Environment
5. Saves Energy
6. Preserves Landfill Space
7. Prevents Global Warming
8. Reduces Water Pollution
9. Protects Wildlife
10. Creates New Demand

Once hailed as an economic drain in New York City, the city recently signed a 20-year recycling contract with one of the nation's largest recycling companies. This is all well and good, but recycling starts at home.

1. Learn. Find out what can be recycled in your neck of the woods. Earth 911 offers a convenient search tool to find local recycling programs. The programs found here are typically drop-off locations. Check your city's, county's or state's waste management website. They might offer recycling pickup.
2. Organize. Create a system to manage your recyclables. I have one of the smallest kitchens imaginable, but I created space to keep things organized (see the picture above).
   
3. Do. Stick to it. I make many fewer trips to the trash shoot, and I only need to dispose of my recyclables about once per month. It's a small price to pay for such an important idea.

How many Earths do you need?

How many Earths would be required if everyone lived like you? That's exactly what Consumer Consequences aims to help you understand. Brought to you by American Public Media and based on research from Redefining Progress, this interactive, online tool is eye-opening, to say the least. The program analyzes your habits and compares that to what the Earth can sustain. Given that the population is currently about 6.6 billion people, each person is alloted 4.5 global acres of biologically productive area. If the way you live requires more than 4.5 global acres and if everyone lived like you, we would need more than one planet to sustain us. You can find out more about the facts on which the game is based.

Try it out. It takes only about 10 minutes to answer a series of questions about your home and the way you consume. Despite my best efforts to reduce my global impact, if everyone lived the way I live, we would need 2.1 Earths to support all 6.6 billion of us. Though I am doing a bit better than the average American, this quick activity helps quantify the disparate nature of the global distribution of wealth and resources.

Need some help getting your score down? Click the links to the right for specific topics, or peruse the posts for general ideas.

Image: http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/

Now that you are drinking filtered water...

In light of the drought and in an effort to keep my blogs focused on water, it seems important to consider the container in which you should place your filtered tap water. How about one of those indestructible Nalgene bottles that have become oh-so-popular in recent years? Though officially denied, the material from with many of these must-have bottles are made contain phthalates. It acts as enendocrine blocker which can pose to various health risks. Check out some of the research if you're sufficiently bored.

How can one tell if they're drinking from one of these poisonous bottles? Flip it over and check out the bottom. If you see a #7 and PC, it is time for a different bottle. 'PC' stands for polycarbonate. Though popular, it leaches bisphenol A into the water. Again, potential health risks.

How can one avoid these issues? Look for plastic bottles with recycle codes #2, #4 or #5. These plastics (High density polyethylene, Low density polyethylene, and Polypropylene) are not known to leach harmful chemicals. Nalgene is now offering some HDPE options, but you need to look closely for these letters. Even better, grab yourself a metal water bottle from GreenFeet. Metal won't leach any harmful chemicals into your water. I ordered mine today and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:U%2B2674_DejaVu_Sans.svg

Tap versus bottled water

Some facts about bottled and tap water:

• Approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil—enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year—are used to make plastic water bottles
• Total amount of water used to produce and deliver one bottle of imported water is 6.74kq and the amount of GHGs released amount to 250g
• Some bottled water has more bacteria and less fluoride than tap water
• Americans spent (2001) approximately $6.5 billion on bottled water
• Last year (2006), Americans bought more than 4 billion gallons of water in individual-portion bottles. Most of the containers end up in the trash.

While the debate rages, it seems wise to stick to filtered tap water. At a nominal cost per gallon, you can save vast amounts of money and reduce waste. I find my Pur filter is convenient and makes the water taste great. Britta is also quite popular. Plus, I don't have to lug giant pallets of battled water from the car to my house.

Computers do more than just compute

eWaste is a mounting problem. Never heard of it? eWaste is defined as discarded electronic products. We make about 20-25 million tonnes of it every year which not only creates landfills, it leaches dangerous chemicals (such as mercury) into to water supplies. While ewaste can be recycled, I suggest reducing ewaste by reducing consumption.

Today's computers can do a lot more than you can imagine. Using my laptop (Apple PowerBook), I can do the following things:

• Listen to music, free internet radio, and pod casts
  
• Watch DVDs and [legally] downloaded movies
• Organize my information (calendar and contacts)
• Create photo albums

And when I sync my cell phone (Sony Ericsson w810i), I can do the following mobily:

• View my contacts and calendar
• Read electronic books
• Send notes and reminders to myself
• Listen to CDs, MP3s and FM radio
  

Using a little imagination, you can understand how much money and resources I'm saving by utilizing these devices to their fullest. A TV/DVD player can cost $500 or more. Paper-based calendars are bulky and wasteful. A boombox costs hundreds of dollars.

In the spirit of offering suggestions, use Google to see what your devices can do. Use your imagination first. Think about what you want your device to do (e.g. read books on your cell phone). Search for this and your specific device. Assuredly, someone out there has done what you want to do and has posted how-to information.

Image: http://www.greenpeace.org/

Bags: Paper or plastic... or neither?

We all know plastic bags are better than paper bags. They are light-weight, can be compacted, are water-proof, and are durable. What's more, the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Analysis found that plastic bags beat paper in terms of energy and pollution. But there are plenty of other issues with plastic bags. They stick around for a long time, and they're made from oil. Check out this quote:

to make 100 billion plastic checkout bags per year, which is how many we use in the U.S. each year, it takes 12 million barrels of oil. No oil is used to produce recycled paper checkout bags

Overwhelmed with the choice of which to use? I say, don't use either... use a reusable bag! You might not have a choice soon, anyway. Cities and stores are beginning to ban the spawn of oil... I mean, plastic bags.

Fear not! Most stores than ban plastic bags sell reusable ones. Trader Joe's has quite a selection of handy sacks that can be used an untold number of times. My favorite is a trusty backpack. Sure, I've gotten weird stares from security guards, but cashiers reactions are priceless. Some seem shocked that I wouldn't take a free plastic bag. I do my best to educate them, but you can only teaching the willing, usually. You could even pick up a trendy and over-priced "I am not a plastic bag" bag.

Oh, and one last thing. Don't throw away those bags tucked into every cabinet in your kitchen. Check out some fun and exciting things you can do with plastic bags!

Image: http://treehugger.com/

To CFL or not to CFL?

According to the ACEEE, lighting consumes 5-10% of the total energy for the average American home. While this is a nominal amount, governments and environmental groups around the world are urging people to switch to compact florescent lights (CFLs). After some searching, they seem to be surrounded by uncertainty. CFLs last longer and use much less energy during operation, but they contain toxic components and require substantially more energy to create. As of today, they're also very costly to recycle. The cost benefit to the consumer seems clear, but the overall impact of this product is murky. Here are a few common-sense suggestions for reducing your home's lighting energy consumption:

1. Open the curtains, blinds, shades or whatever else you might call them. Vampires excluded.
   
2. Get yourself into the habit of always turning off the lights as you leave a room. Not only will this break you of the wasteful habit of leaving the lights unnecessarily, it will strengthen your fingers... for faster typing speeds, of course.
3. Wait until your incandescent bulbs burn out before replacing them with CFLs.
   
4. Install a Parans system which uses solar collectors and fiber optic cables to route sunlight to interior rooms.

Despite my non-confidence about CFLs, I decided to install one CFL in my apartment. I spent extra money to get a 3-way bulb which approximates to 30, 75 and 100 watts. It illuminates quickly, runs much cooler than a standard incandescent bulb (which, by the way, converts 90% of the electricity into heat, not light), and casts an acceptable color of light. I'll wait until my other bulbs burn out, and see what options are available then. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the still-working incandescent lamp...

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Compact-Flourescent-Bulb.jpg

Fix It: Save money, reduce landfill, show-off

To put it simply, landfills suck. According to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, each American contributes four pounds of trash to landfills each day. One might think that the waste decomposes, but it only does so at an extremely decelerated rated. A lack of oxygen allows decades old newspapers to be preserved in readable condition. Landfills are eye-sores and they stink.

So before you throw something away, consider fixing it. While many of today's electronics are too complicated for the average person to repair, there are plenty of things that can be fixed. Not only will you reduce landfill, you can save some loot and impress your friends with your mad skills. Here are a couple of things that I (and others) saved from the good ol' trash heap:

• An audio cable with a bent connector. $4 at Radio Shack and some basic soldering skills saved me $20 for a new cable.
• An Ikea bookshelf with stripped out holes. $1 at Home Depot gave those screw heads something to grab onto and saved a $100 Ikea masterpiece.
• A roof light in a car that wouldn't stay put. My friend tested duct tape, velcro and glue to repair the light in her car.

Not so good at fixing things? With the power of the Internet, you can be! Check sites like DIY Network or other DIY (do it yourself) sites. Just do the Google.

What have you fixed? Post your successes to inspire others in the comments section.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Landfill_compactor.jpg

Telephone books are *so* last century

For anyone with an internet connection or phone, there is no reason to use a telephone book. These books quickly become out-dated, are limited in geographical region, and don't make it easy to find what you need. According to the City of Modesto, recycling 500 phone books can save:

• 7,000 gallons of water;
• 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space;
• 17 to 31 trees; and
  
• 4,100 kilowatts of electricity, enough power to serve an average home for 6 months!

There are plenty of internet-based, paper-free sources to quickly and easily find up-to-date contact information for people and businesses. Some even include reviews, maps, directions and links to websites. It's even possible to download applications for your cell phone to find this same information. And don't forget about directory assistance.

1. Yellowpages.com
2. Whitepages.com
3. Anywho.com
4. And many more!

I love these websites since they make it effortless to find vasts amounts of information quickly. Sick of getting a new phone book every 6 months? Call the phone book distributer to stop delivery. Since I live in a shared building, I can't do this. But for those of you who directly receive phone books, try it out and let me know how it works.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:1896_telephone.jpg

Turn your old media into cash... or something different

Who doesn't have a bookcase filled with books, CDs, DVDs or video games? Once we've read it, listened to it, watched it, or played it, we often never look at these items again. But most of us continue to buy new items. The environmental impact can be staggering. The Green Press Initiative claims that:

Over the past 3 years, the U.S. book publishing industry has consumed an average of approximately 20 million trees per year to print books sold in the U.S.

Regarding CDs and DVDs, the EPA details the life cycle of these items and the energy intensive process to create, distribute, and recycle them. Aluminum, polycarbonate, and gold are just a few of the resources required to make them.

We also know that buying these items isn't cheap. Some books can easily cost over $20 and some DVD seasons sets can cost as much as $50 or more! So what can you do about it?

1. Turn unwanted media into cash. Amazon sells just about everything, and so can you. Using Amazon's extensive data of media information, selling is as easy as listing items using the barcode, waiting for people to buy, and shipping. Check out Amazon.com's "Sell Your Stuff" page.
2. Turn unwanted media into different media. Swaptree allows you to easily list unwanted media, specify items that you want, and it finds matches with people across the country to make a swap. Just like Amazon, it's easy to list items using barcodes or ISBNs. You just pay shipping (usually around $2 per item).
   
3. Rent instead of owning. Most everyone has heard of Netflix or BlockbusterOnline. How about BookSwim to rent books? Or what about BooksFree?
   

I've had great success with these sites. I sold a ton of media on Amazon. There are no fees to list items, and buyers automatically pay for shipping. It's generally easier than eBay since it allows you to take advantage of information in their databases. Just by entering a barcode, Amazon almost always finds the basic information about the item and a picture. Swaptree is also fantastic. All items are rated according to their condition, so you know what you're getting. I intially listed only a few items, yet I instantly recieved matches. The site allows you to approve/disapprove each match. I recently swapped a DVD someone gave me for a DVD set that sells for $40. And I love Netflix. All of the envelopes concern me, but they are beginning to offer streaming movies over the internet. No waste at all! There are many more sites out there, just do a Google search. Always be aware of the type of site... buying/selling, swapping, or renting.

This idea may seem like one small drop in the bucket, but each little action can add up to something profound.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bookcase.jpg

State my assumptions:

1. The environment is worthy of reparation and protection.
   
2. People, when given useful information, will take action.
   
3. Sustainable living can easily be made part of one's life.
   

Wikipedia defines sustainable living as:

a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained unmodified for many generations without exhausting any natural resources ... [often involving] transport, housing, energy, and diet.

This blog will chronicle my exploration of this important concept. I will share stories, news and ideas. It is my intention to show that with some basic knowledge, it is possible to move toward a sustainable future. I hope that you can gain inspiration from this adventure and find ideas that can be easily incorporated into your daily life. I encourage you to leave comments about each of my posts. Please check back every Wednesday and Saturday for updates, or subscribe to the news feed to get updates automatically.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Earth_Western_Hemisphere.jpg