I have been remiss in posting blogs this past week due to a special present I got for Christmas…the flu. Yes, even the strongest champions of good use (and reuse) of materials succumb to illness every once in a while. Such was my fate this past week. It did provide me with many hours of reading, and I spent much of my time finally reading A Silent Spring written by Rachel Carson.

Written in 1962, it was one of the first books to raise the general public’s awareness of how pesticides and insecticides used so heavily in the 1950s were devastating our environment. The epic straying of DDT, dieldrin, aldrin, heptachlor and other toxic chemicals that took place during that decade was amazing and troubling. The sprayings were meant to combat troublesome pests, to try to stop the spread of plant diseases such as the Dutch elm disease or to combat roadside brush. Ironically, the sprayings typically did very little to combat the targeted pest, but affected almost all types of other insect and animal life instead. Hundreds of thousands of birds, fish and other wildlife were lost immediately following the massive sprayings of chemicals throughout the United States.

The troublesome part of this, to me, is that we, humans, tend to think we are immune to the effects of poisons. Just walk down the insecticide and weed control aisles at Home Depot or a local feed & seed store. Do you see any skulls and crossbones? I grew up in apple country, and remember one of my friends who sprayed for apples saying he was supposed to wear a full body suit and air mask before going out to spray. If the chemicals were that toxic to the person applying the spray, how could the toxins not get into the soil and the very fruit itself? Humans are at the top of not only one but many food chains. How are we to avoid accumulation of these chemicals in our bodies? What will be the long term affects?

One quote from the book grabbed me and summed up my growing fears, so I wanted to share it with you. In addition to chemical sprays, we are also now surrounded by the toxins found in plastics and other new synthetic products on the market. What can we do to protect ourselves and all life from ourselves? Is it already too late?

“We all live under the haunting fear that something may corrupt the environment to the point where man joins the dinosaurs as an obsolete form of life,” says Dr. David Price of the United States Public Health Service. “And what makes these thoughts all the more disturbing is the knowledge that our fate could perhaps be sealed twenty or more years before the development of symptoms.” From the chapter, The Human Price.

Season's Greetings from Good Green Graces! 

I wish you a very, merry, sustainable holiday season.

Here are a few tips to help reduce your waste this season...

Unwrap your presents with care, and you can reuse the wrapping paper and/or tissue again.

Metallic wrapping paper cannot be recycled and will contaminate the recycling process, so please don't put this in your paper recycling bin. Reuse is always best!

Save your ribbons and bows for a future gift. Use real ribbon. It will last a lifetime and makes a lovely presentation.

Save your Christmas cards, and use the images to make your own cards next year.

If you receive a package with shipping peanuts, you can take them to Mail Boxes, Etc. for reuse.

If you receive a gift that doesn't quite fit you, rather than throwing it away, save it to regift or take it to your local GoodWill or Salvation Army. More than likely, someone can put it to good use.

Cheers!
Janice

If you haven't already, check out the Story of Stuff. It is a 20 minute video about the cycle of consumption, and how our current levels of consumption cannot be sustained by our planet much longer. It also includes lots of resources for those who want to do things differently going forward.

If you are doing any last minute shopping this weekend, I beg you to consider the entire life cycle of the products you purchase, and opt for those that will last longer than the average six months.

www.storyofstuff.com

During the fall of this year, I looked into the possibility of a full-time job instead of running a business. To be honest, the prospect of not getting a regular pay check and benefits made me a bit nervous. So, any time a recycling or waste diversion related position opened up in San Francisco or nearby, I would apply for it in the hopes of doing what I love for a regular paycheck. I figured I could get the same reward with a lot less risk.

During one interview, I was asked if I considered myself an environmentalist, and it totally threw me off guard. Did they want to hire an environmentalist? I was applying for a job with a waste/recycling hauler at the time, so the answer could have gone either way. So, I stopped to think about it. I mean, I care about the environment and the future of our planet. I recycle and compost almost everything I come into contact with. I don’t own a car (mainly because I don’t want to park it in San Francisco!) and use very little energy in my personal life, but were these things enough to qualify? Is being an environmentalist based on your intentions, your behavior, and/or your beliefs? Do you have to march and sign petitions? What does it mean to be an environmentalist?

After stalling as long as I could, I answered yes. I figured I would rather stand with the environment than without it, but when I reflected on the question later, it seemed strange that I had not considered myself in this light before. I am still not sure if I consider myself as an environmentalist, even though I am very concerned about the future and health of our planet and the species that reside here.

You see, I reuse, recycle and compost mostly because it makes sense to me. When I was a kid, my family often struggled to make ends meet, so we did not throw away anything that could be saved and reused. Why would I act any different as an adult? Why would I want to throw away materials and resources that can be used again? Yes, these activities greatly reduce my impact on the environment, but for me, it is just a matter of common sense.

The dictionary (a hand-me-down from my Dad’s college days) is too old to contain a definition. I invite you to share your thoughts in this area. What do you think makes someone an environmentalist?

Companies throughout the US are implementing use of renewable energy and recycled products in their businesses. Some of the changes seem minimal, but have a huge impact on our health and the environment. The extra bonus: These changes typically create substantial savings for the companies, or pay for themselves within a very short time. Check them out via the link below.

50 examples of how companies are going green