Great Earth Day article!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236722

Questions/Topics

Most of what has appeared so far has been self-driven subject matter. Dave recently asked where it would be appropriate to post questions. So comment to this thread if you have questions or topics you would like to see discussed. I realize this might be Pandora's box, but in the interest of sparking discussion, I'm open to the possibilities.

Dining out

So I was talking to some great friends last night and the topic of dining out "green" came up. Since we were in a restaurant, and curious, we decided to find out whether or not the "to-go" containers of said restaurant were earth-friendly. (In previous posts I've mentioned how we are trying to avoid using plastic bags at the grocery, so this seemed like a continuation of that idea.) We were pleasantly surprised. Not only did they use brown paper bags, instead of plastic, for their to-go food, but they also used containers made out of recyclable materials! If the restaurants you go to don't have a similar program, find a comment card or a manager and politely let them know that it is something you look for when picking a restaurant. It never hurts to plant a seed in their minds that their clientèle are choosing more and more based on earth-friendly policies.

Seventh Generation article

Check it out: http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/blog/natural-markets-still-lead-way

Grocery Bags

One of the recent changes we made, that was long overdue, was to buy those reusable shopping bags for our trips to the grocery. I know, I know...not an overly revolutionary idea on our part. But simple changes in habit lead to larger changes in behavior. I've taken encouragement from thinking about how many of those plastic bags we used per trip. On a given grocery venture, of which we typically make 2 or 3 per week for our family of 3, I would estimate we would use at least 6 plastic bags. So perhaps 18 bags per week, which amounts to an astounding 936 plastic bags over the course of a year that we throw away!!! Apart from any statistics about how long these bags take to bio-degrade, how much waste goes into producing these bags, or how much carbon is needed to produce them, it is a remarkable testament to our family's ability to waste something without thinking about it. So, in conclusion, pay the $1.99 per bag to make a difference in your own consumption. It's easy, affordable and responsible. As an added bonus, I've found them extremely functional. They have flattened bottoms so they stand up when you put them down, long straps so you can throw them over your shoulder (which is helpful when you also have to tote a diaper bag and a child), and insulated so they keep your cold food cold. I only bought two of them so I may have to make an extra trip to the store per week, but that's small price to pay for progress. An inch at a time.

Flow trailer

This movie is listed in my Endorsement section and is available on dvd right now. It's an educational and slightly terrifying watch.

The Story of Stuff

I highly recommend spending some time watching this video on consumption. It raises some fantastic points, especially on production waste. Enjoy.