Those darn grocery bags...

Photo credit: http://learningfundamentals.com.au/wp-content/uploads/plastic-bags.jpg

Are you as tired of plastic grocery bags as I am? Here in Alaska we still see WAY too many of them, often flying around in the wind and getting caught on whatever protrudes from tundra or taiga. A few communities, such as Bethel, Alaska, have managed to outlaw them (Bravo!) and I hear that Los Angeles is planning to this coming July, but here in the Anchorage area their use is still rampant.

I try to bring my own bags whenever I go shopping, but I admit that I don't always succeed. And even if I do remember (or have run back to the truck to retrieve them), I find that the sales clerks are not always very accommodating to us BYO baggers. I practically have to force my canvas bags on them, and if I was too slow but still insist on using my own (after they've started bagging), they've been known to sigh and wad up the plastic & toss them. I once asked a teenage bagger to please re-use the plastic for the next customer, and he said "why?"

In fact, I've discovered that those self-checkout stands that are cropping up everywhere are my friend after all, since I get to bag my own groceries, and take my own sweet time instead of being rushed by a clerk...

Here's a funny anecdote: Right before Christmas I found myself shopping at Office Max, ending up with way more than the 1 item I went in for -- and no canvas bag with me -- and so I decided to purchase an oversize (very useful) re-useable bag that say in big letters "REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE". And the clerk scanned the pricetag, and proceeds to pack it in a plastic bag!
Go figure...
ALASKA: We still got a long way to go, baby!

Recently at the Nature Center, we had a well-attended program about permaculture (Thanks Dani & Gus!), and we had a lively discussion about what steps we can take in our own lives to reduce waste and live in better harmony with our environment.
As part of the program, Dani showed us how to crochet those flimsy grocery-store plastic bags into sturdy baskets using "Plarn" (plastic yarn). And I got hooked (pun intended)!

I already made 3, and just started another (it's fun!!!!)
Here's the how:
Step 1 (non-crocheting husbands and boyfriends, step right up -- you can do this!)
Cut the grocery bags into strips. Either cut rings across and loop them together, or cut them in one continuous spiral, starting at the handle. Optional: rolls these up in a ball (loosely). you'll need a LOT of bags, one or two dozen depending on the size of your final project.

Step 2
Using a large crochet hook (size N or larger), start by making a circle or oval. I like to start with an oval of 4-10 stitches, making single stitches and increase at each end as needed to get a flat oval (at each end, I make duplicate stitches in 3-5 stitches for the first few rows). Once my base is large enough, I switch to double stitches.Then continue to crochet to desired size. I find that a large opening is more "user-friendly" at the grocery store.

Step 3
A pair of handles is made by crocheting a chain of 15-20 stitches, reinforced by single stitches or wrapping. Alternatively, sew on a rim and handles of strips cut from old jeans.

Voila, you're done. You can stretch this bag quite a bit still (use your feet) and it will keep the shape. Remember, these bags are quite strong, and it's fun to do. You'll find yourself raiding your friends' recycling for fun colors -- I'm now making orange stripes from the newspaper baggies, green stripes from the PetZoo, and red dots from Target...

Careful, this is so much fun it can get addicting!

Living greener by eating less meat

When I was young, I was a vegetarian for many years. Like many young people, I used to think in "black and white" terms: meat was bad, vegetables were good. I had read Frances Moore Lappe's book "Diet for a Small Planet" my first year in college (having just moved to the US after living in a developing country, I was aghast at the waste and conspicuous consumption) -- I became convinced that meat production was a waste of our planet's scarce agricultural resources. By the time I had children I started eating meat again -- in fact I craved it when I was pregnant!

I didn't give all that much thought to how food was raised as I was busy raising and feeding my growing family -- I was thinking less about the environment and more about cooking well-balanced meals and avoiding junk food! But it does turn out that meat production can be very wasteful indeed, and is perhaps becoming more so than when Lappe's book was first written! I'm now coming back around to thinking about those issue again. A big turning point for me was reading Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

As I've been learning more about where our food comes from, I find I don't care to eat industrially-produced meat, and the alternative (organic, local, wild) is much more difficult and expensive to come by. I have friends here in Alaska who will only eat meat they hunted or caught themselves -- but alas, hubby is not "into" hunting, and our freezer is already out of salmon fillets. ASIDE: in many parts of Alaska, churches and other non-profit organization have volunteers who will process road-killed moose, and the meat is donated to food banks (plus the volunteers get a cut -maybe I need to sign up in order to get some "church moose"?) -- since it is illegal for the driver of the vehicle to simply take home the moose they ran over! EOD, End of Digression.
I'm realizing more and more that not all meat (or eggs and dairy for that matter) is bad -- rather, it can vary greatly. For example, cows are naturally grass-eaters, but in an effort to grow beef faster and faster, they are now fed a diet of mostly corn (which is difficult for them to digest) and thus cattle are given lots of hormones and antibiotics. These are showing up in our drinking water! DNA analysis shows that between corn-fed hamburgers and HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) that's used heavily in processed foods and sodas, Americans are starting to have a food signature that's mostly corn (an interesting movie to see is King Corn)!
The implications of how food is raised have huge impacts not only on the nutritional food value of our food, but on the health of our planet as well. So I'm finding myself eating less and less meat. I'm not a vegetarian, and I do think it's natural for humans to eat meat -- evolutionarily we're omnivores after all -- but yet, I feel less and less like eating industrially-produced meat.

This past year our family has been eating more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, due in part to getting a weekly CSA box full of fresh organic produce! And I must say that I feel healthier and even have lost some of that 40+something weight gain (without even trying -- I certainly am not the "dieting" type (more on that topic on my post Diet is a 4-letter word).

But really, how much meat do we really need to eat? Humans certainly can and do thrive on a mostly vegetarian diet. I admit that while I enjoy a good cut of meat, I find myself less willing to buy what's for sale at the grocery store. Right now I'm reading an interesting book by Nicolette Hahn Niman called Rightous Porkchop (Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms). The more I learn about the food industry, the more I want to get away from industrially-produced meat. I stand there in the grocery store and wonder: did this meat come from a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) where animals are kept in horrible conditions, standing knee-deep in their own excriments while being fattened on corn products and kept from getting sick only by heavy administration of antibiotics? Were these eggs laid by chickens crammed into barns by the thousands, unable to walk even a few steps? Did the bacon come from pigs produced in a giant warehouse operation that produces more wastewater pollution than a small city?

I do recommend the movie Food, Inc (Santa brought me that for Christmas), which does a good job of reporting on food issues without being overly sensational. It makes a really good point about how we vote on food issues every time we're at the checkout stand of the the grocery store -- as our food purchases get scanned, we VOTE with our dollars: for example, as organic products are making more and more gains in the US/World market, industry is starting to pay attention! Within the last few years, our family has switched first to organic milk, then many of our vegetables, chicken and now also beef. And of course we do love eating our Alaskan Wild salmon!

I'm still working on figuring out eggs -- there are a few with the label "organic" and many more with the less meaningful label "natural". Some brands advertise they're antibiotic and additive-free, vegetarian-fed (= no animal by-products), and even cage-free. But does "cage-free" mean they really get to roam the farmyard, or did they get an itty-bitty "yard" attached to a giant facility that very few of the chickens can even get to? Vegetarian feed is better than ground up recycled dead chicks, but then again, eating bugs is actually an important and normal part of a chicken's diet...
Ideally I'd like to raise our own chickens, but I'm worried about the wildlife factor here: would raising backyard poultry act as an attractant to the many bears (black and brown) that occasionally roam our neighborhood? I wish I could find a good local source of eggs that don't cost an arm and a (chicken)-leg! These last few years I've been buying Wilcoxfarms Omega-3 eggs available at Costco (chickens that are fed grass-based diets do lay eggs that are higher in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids) -- but it's still part of a huge factory-style operation (I think?!) -- but then again, one step at a time: at least they're not as bad as some of the other industrial producers out there...

So here I am, puzzled. I go grocery-shopping (and vote!) every week, and I want to do what's best for my family and for my planet. My boys/men certainly do like their spicy food and meat, while my daughters and I would be happy eating mostly vegetarian. So the compromise I'm making is that I try to cook more and more with organic/local produce, and while I do cook with meat several times a week, I use smaller quantities than I used to. For example, I might use sausage more as a spice than a main ingredient, or make stir-fry or curry with more vegetables than meat. I've learned a couple of things over the last few years:

• change seems easier when it's gradual.
• if I cook too "healthy" and lean, then they eat more snacks/junkfood inbetween meals.
• I am the queen of the kitchen:)
• they will eat what I cook --an awesome power, I know -- and I'll try not to let that get to my head!

Photo credits:
Meat from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons
Eggs from http://www.zetafarms.com

Dirty Laundry

Now that I got your attention!...

This post is literally about laundry, and its environmental impacts, rather than the airing of anybody's dirty laundry (I'm just not the gossiping type...)

This is the first part of my GREEN series in which I intend/attempt to write about how I can help to do my part in helping the environment -- you know, less wasting of energy, sustainable living, etc.

I'm starting out with the ordinary subject of LAUNDRY:
Everybody does laundry -- clothes get dirty, and then we wash them. In an effort to do my part in keeping this planet from Global Warming at an alarming rate, I try not to use an extra-ordinary amount of energy in keeping my family in tidy whities! My part may be tiny, but it's still significant -- if nothing else by the influence I have on the next generation: my own 3 kids!

Surely everybody has heard of the 3 R's: "Reduce, Reuse, recycle". More recently a new word has been added to this trilogy: rethink. That one's my favorite -- just stopping to think about the impact of the myriad daily decisions we make each day, and how they affect the environment!
Back to laundry, some Americans are starting to RETHINK their relationships with their laundry detergents, washers, and clothesdryers.

First of all, we can easily REDUCE (REUSE) the amount of laundry generated by wearing our clothes longer before laundering them. This may be a tough sell, especially to teens and pre-teens who go through clothes like there's no tomorrow, but really, they do care about the environment, so try that tactic (are you paying attention, Youngest?)

RETHINK our tools
Detergents: switching to environmentally more friendly detergents by avoiding phosphates and chlorine. For a review of detergents, their cost and environmental impact, go to consumersearch.
Also, simply using less. When it comes to everything from shampoos to laundry detergents, we don't need to use so much of it! Many products are more concentrated today, so we need less, and thus generate less empty plastic bottles...

Washing machine: about 5 years ago, we replaced our inefficient older Whirlpool with a water-saving washer made in New Zealand: and one of the first things I noticed is how much more efficient the spin cycle was -- and when laundry is less soggy, it takes less energy to dry them!
Also, avoid running small loads -- it's definitely inefficient.

Dryer: Best of all is to avoid using it in the first place. Hanging laundry up to dry the "old-fashioned" way is surely the most environmentally friendly.
Back when I was a young new bride and husband #1 and I bought our first house, we went appliance-shopping, and I had to convince him we only needed a washer, no dryer. Maybe, I said, when we have messy kids, and live in a cold place like Alaska...
Now I do have kids, live in AK and do own a dryer. It's old and runs on electricity instead of the more efficient natural gas (but it does have a dryness sensor, which does make a lot of sense!). But I don't use my dryer all that much.

Most Americans feel like they can't go without a dryer, time-wise and space-wise.
I would argue it does not take all that much space and time, and I'll go over what I find helps me to minimize the use of the dryer. Even in the winter (especially when it's super cold and we heat our houses, and the indoor air is very dry) you don't need to stick all your clothes into the dryer -- just to vent that heat to the outside!

Unlike my German relatives who choose not to own dryers at all, out of principle, I do actually like having a tumbler, because I DO NOT LIKE TO IRON. My mom spends hours ironing, and that would drive me batty!
So I use my dryer to get the wrinkles out, but don't actually use it to dry the whole load.
Here's what I do (and I NEVER iron, except as a hobby, such as when I'm sewing a quilt!).

I take laundry out of washer and start sorting:
1.) Socks, bras and other small items go on the space station right above the washer -- mine looks something like the item from Hayneedle.com pictured on the right.
2.) Anything made of synthetics is easy to hang up and dry wrinkle-free -- I just give it a good shake and hang it up -- it will dry quickly, and I don't have to deal with that static you get when they're come out of the dryer and cling to everything.
3.) Big things (like sheets) get hung outside over the railing in the warm season, or hung over chairs and couches if no visitors are expected.
4.) Drying rack is great for towels and other uncomplicated laundry such as T-shirts, etc.
I like to set it up right in the laundry room next to the baseboard heat, or this time of year, in front of the woodstove. In the summer, it often sits on the deck, where it is quick and easy to move indoors if it looks like rain!
5.) Hangers are my friends! I have a closet rod above the dryer, and all the shirts go from there directly into the closet -- no folding of shirts, no sirree.
6.) Pants go on those skirt-hangers that have a clip on each end. I hang mine on the shower curtain rod -- where there's enough room for those long dangly legs. By the next time we need the shower, they'll be dry and ready to hang in the closet.
6.) Anything that's made mostly of cotton has a tendency to dry with lots of wrinkles in it, so here is where I use the electric tumbler for "antrocknen" or slightly-drying: I toss them into the dryer for a few minutes (3-5 at most, & no need for those dryer sheets), then take them out damp and hang them up on hangers. VOILA -no need to iron.

This works pretty well for me. If I'm really, really, REALLY busy, then I might end up using the dryer and pulling fewer items out of the tumbler for air-drying on hangers, but I always pull out at least a few of the heavier items -- think of how much energy is used just to dry towels and jeans -- just by pulling those out I've saved that energy.

PS: it helps, of course, to distribute laundering throughout the week -- that way I can fold away the dry load when I start the next...

Photo credit here