Eco-Event/Wedding Planning

This month we’ve learned about many innovative uses for disposable products as well as alternatives to single-use items.  To close off our focus on disposables today (and to say happy leap year) we thought we’d target all of you planning a wedding or big event in the near future and share a few handy web resource with TONS of creative ideas…

• Eco Wedding
• Green Diary
• Eco Simply
• Once Wed
• Green Bride Guide

One idea we thought was particularly worth mentioning is “StikPics” – small cards with customized, removable decals that have your email or web address on them. People place them on their digital cameras and cell phones as a reminder for them to take pictures at the party, then email or upload their favorites to you. No harsh chemicals are used for developing film and there won’t be a bunch of “disposable” cameras ending up in the landfill! (taken from eco wedding)

See you back in March when our theme is water!

 

Easy Alternatives to Everyday Disposables

Seeing as today (Ash Wednesday) is the first day of lent and people all over the world are fasting from their own vices, we thought it would be appropriate to bring up another ‘bad habit’ to change…  Here is a list of common single-use items that are thrown away by the bag full and yet have fairly easy to find, long-lasting alternatives (taken from the good human):
Instead of…

• Single use ballpoint pens, buy refillable pens.
• Disposable razors and/or razor cartridges, try a straight razor…or just stop shaving your face.
• A paper coffee cup, get yourself a reusable coffee mug or thermos.
• Regular batteries, buy rechargeable ones and a charger.
• Buying bottled water, get your own reusable bottle and never pay for plastic bottles again.
• Disposable diapers, look into using unbleached cloth ones.
• Using plastic wrap at home, get yourself some resealable glass containers.
• Plastic straws, get your own glass one at GlassDharma.
• Single-use sponges, buy some washable sponges – they are washing machine friendly.
• Virgin plastic garbage bags, find ones made from recycled plastic.
• Plastic utensils on a picnic, bring your metal ones from home.
• Paper towels, buy some dish rags and keep them handy in a drawer.
• Tissues, try out a handkerchief!
• Paper or plastic, bring your own bag when you go shopping.
• Using the produce bags, just put the produce in your cart. You’re gonna wash it before you eat it anyway!
• Using plastic bags for bulk purchases, bring your own reusable container. The store will weigh it for you to get the tare weight (the weight of the empty container) before you use it.
• Using paper coffee filters that get thrown away, get yourself a gold filter that you can wash each day.

Could you make a switch (or 2 or 7?) and shrink the number of garbage bags you put out every month?  If you haven’t already adopted a fast or challenge for this lent season, consider a fast from single-use products…

Plastic’s Days are Numbered

Looking back to our posts focused on disposables of the past we’ve covered event planning, plastic bottles, foam poison and introduced you to Janna who didn’t buy anything made in China for a year…

Today we are writing about the #s 1-7 which label every recyclable plastic and represents the chemical resin it is made from – these plastics are not intended to be single-use disposables but the numbers are often misunderstood and tossed in the garbage instead of sent to a recycling depot…

Sometimes it seems like modern America is one colossal plastic palace. The versatile material is in our cars, toys, packaging, clothing, home goods, food utensils, medical devices and so much more. It is also littering our streets, clogging our waterways and choking marine life. Many plastics can be readily recycled, but how do consumers make sense of all the different types and rules? (The Daily Green)

#1 Plastics PET or PETE (soft drinks, water bottles, mouthwash, etc)
Recycling:Picked up through most curbside recycling programs.

#2 Plastics  HDPE (milk jugs, household cleaners, shampoo bottles, etc)
Recycling:Picked up through most curbside recycling programs, although some allow only those containers with necks.

#3 Plastics  V (Vinyl) or PVC (detergent bottles, cooking oils, clear food packaging, etc)
Recycling: Rarely recycled; accepted by some plastic lumber makers.

#4 Plastics  LDPE (squeezable bottles, bread, frozen food, shopping bags, carpet, etc)
Recycling: LDPE is not often recycled through curbside programs, but some communities will accept it. Plastic shopping bags can be returned to many stores for recycling.

#5 Plastics  PP-polypropylene (yogurt containers, syrup/ketchup bottles, straws, caps, etc)
Recycling: Number 5 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.

#6 Plastics  PS-polystyrene (disposable plates/cups, meat trays, egg cartons, take-away containers, etc)
Recycling: Number 6 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.

#7 Plastics  Miscellaneous (3-5 gallon water bottles, sunglasses, DVDs, ipod cases, nylon, etc)
Recycling: Number 7 plastics have traditionally not been recycled, though some curbside programs now take them.

For more info visit the Daily Green or Green Guide for helpful tips on managing your plastic use…

Now that you know a little more about your plastics, stay away from #s  3, 4, 6, & 7  which are more difficult to recycle or stay away from plastic entirely and stick with glass!

The tragic marriage of last minute planning and single-use disposables.

Why is it that styrofoam cups, plastic cutlery and bottled water can be found in abundance at conferences, meetings and special events? We choose to believe that the planners are not intentionally buying single-use disposables out of a desire to grow the landfills but rather out of a lack of preparation and thought.
It’s true that picking up a box of bottled water, a bag full of disposable cutlery and stacks of styrofoams cups is possible an hour before your event. However it is also true that those things, for the most part, do not biodegrade and in the end will pollute your water, soil and air.

So what are the alternatives?  The good news is that there are many – all it takes is proper planning!

Finding green products is easier than ever and getting easier all the time… many earth-friendly products are as economical, or more so, as their conventional counterparts because they often utilize recycled or reclaimed materials, require less processing and output less waste than would otherwise have to be managed. (Crissy Trask, “It’s Easy Being Green”)

Check out the following links for information on dinnerware made from plants, reusable materials and tips for eco-friendly event planning:

• New Biodegradable (plates, cups, cutlery, etc)
• Branch Home (compostable waste-bags & recycled-paper napkins)
• Grass Roots Store (sugar cane plates)
• Earthen Trading (palm leaf dinnerware)
• Earth To Go (taterware)
• Food Biz Supply (deli catering)
• Green Conferencing
• Plan an event greener and more eco-friendly
• Party Planning

Be encouraged and hold your event planners accountable. Next time you attend a meeting/conference/potluck where the organizers have used single-use disposables, tell them there is a better way!

Have other event-planning tips to share?  Please leave us a comment with your creative strategies to make your events earth-friendly!

The 2nd life of plastic bottles

Welcome to February – our theme this month is on disposables and we’ll be focusing on some impressive options. Today we wanted to highlight a few alternative uses for plastic bottles – a very popular item in our garbage cans…

Garbage disposal is a problem everywhere in our Insta-Life society. There are things we simply can’t throw away (the radioactive stuff), things we shouldn’t throw away (the toxic stuff), and lots of stuff we probably should never have made or purchased in the first place. No worries for us because we can just toss our trash away, out of sight and out of mind, while we go about the business of accruing more stuff we don’t really need…right? Wrong. Sadly, we cannot mindlessly toss the trash out of reality, because trash doesn’t magically disappear after it’s been picked up by the collectors.

Our gigantic garbage pits are full to overflowing, mostly with leftover building materials, disposable diapers, and appliances. In the developed countries of the world, each human uses an average 200 pounds of plastic annually. While a tiny amount of the garbage is recycled into durable goods, about half the plastic we produce ends up in the landfills, and the rest of it becomes lost in the environment and ultimately washes out to the sea, to become trapped in a swelling, swirling limbo of heavily polluted ocean gyres, negatively affecting ocean health and, ultimately, every person and being on the entire earth. (Lisa McBride and Paul Richard Harris, Axis of Logic)

So what else can you do with your plastic??  Check out these incredibly creative creations:

Click here or here for more ideas of things you can do with old plastic bottles…
With all these ideas we can surely Reduce, Reuse, Re-purpose and Recycle our plastic and keep it out of the landfills, oceans and parks!!