61,488 miles and counting

A few weeks ago, my friend Katie Davis challenged me to tally the number of miles my food travels for one days worth of meals. I considered writing on one of my "good days", like a day when I actually made it to a farmer's market. Instead I chose yesterday, an average busy Monday, where I could get some real insight into just how much fuel it takes to fill my belly.

Of course I couldn't count everything I ate, but what I did count was astonishing: it took 61,488 miles of some serious truck-driving for me to feel full in one day. That includes a broad range of food, with the farthest thing travelling from New York. Do I need to get my yogurt from New York? No. Did I realize my yogurt was from New York? No. Was there a lesson learned here? I think so.

It is interesting looking at food labels (in this case from Trader Joes) because it is hard to tell exactly where the food comes from. On a couple of the labels, I noticed a lot of different distribution centers, but not necessarily the origin of the food. Just like my discovery about the "Plastic Domino Effect" in my last post, I realized that many of these labels list where a food has been made or packaged, but you may never know where each ingredient comes from. Ingredients coming from all over the world may be combined in California and get a California label. In cases like these, fuel consumption is incredibly high and you may never know just how much energy it really takes to get you full. The Utne Reader just had a great article about the "eco-myth" that is Trader Joes and despite their careful marketing as a green-friendly place, it's important to research individual food labels to find out a food's origin.

As I've discovered in previous posts, busyness and laziness often mean decreased green in my life. This is certainly true with this challenge as well. Tallying miles once again confirmed the importance of making time to go to the farmer's market. Food sold at most farmer's markets around the bay comes from within 100 miles of its origin. Even if I made a huge feast, I imagine I could get all the ingredients for less than a quarter the number of miles it took to feed me yesterday. Plus, shopping at a farmer's market eliminates the guesswork of where different ingredients originate: just ask the farmer.

So, I'm going to commit to go to the farmer's market down the street on Saturday. It is the obvious and simple solution to many of the issues I've been writing about in this blog. It's not as easy as the grocery store, but that's the whole point of this blog!

I'm curious to hear how each of you purchase food and if you look at each label to find out a food's origin. Do you put something back if it comes from a certain number of miles away? Leave a comment on my blog and please share any advice on the topic!

Plastic Domino Effect

I use a lot of plastic. I use a lot more plastic than I thought. These were among the deeper lessons learned while answering my friend Seth's green challenge to report on my plastic use (for food) over the span of a week.

Here are the results of 10 days worth of food consumption:

-6 plastic coffee cup lids

-2 large yogurt containers (What? I eat a lot of yogurt!)

-2 large hummus containers (" ?" " " " " " hummus!)

-An unthinkable amount of plastic fruit/veggie baggies at the grocery store (Note: Even though Whole Foods sells fabric bags for fruit/veggies they ask you not to shop in your own bags. I know I could remedy this by shopping more at farmer's markets. I will, I will, I know.)

-4 plastic squares (not quite bags) for meat from the butcher

Granted, most of the things I used on this list were later recycled (coffee lids) or reused (if anyone wants to build a house made entirely of yogurt containers, give me a call). However, plastic bags are a different story. At various points in my life I have washed plastic bags out to reuse them. But the skimpy ones from the grocery store basically fall apart under water. Which, in my house, means they go into landfill. Which means excess waste.

This got me thinking about all the plastic I used by default, often without realizing it or intending to, over these last 10 days. For instance, plastic coffee lids are usually stored in a plastic bag in the back of a coffee shop. Plastic bags destined for landfill ironically go into a plastic garbage bag. The plastic domino effect seemed endless. And that's just for food...

Another surprise was realizing that (gulp): I like using plastic. I'm kind of addicted to it actually. The thought of my plastic coffee lid sitting in a plastic bag on the floor of a grimy coffee shop kitchen gives me some peace of mind about health and safety. It makes me think of cleanliness in a way that I probably wouldn't if those lids were sitting in a paper bag. Of course, I don't like that I like using plastic in the bigger sense. Each decision to use plastic in these instances meant being out of touch with my larger waste reduction goals. Where is the disconnect?

Looking at my list I realize that a desire for convenience and cleanliness determined many of my choices about plastic use. Lack of time, lack of energy meant more plastic. Those are some pretty core issues for the average busy worker bee like me and probably you too. Changing my plastic use in the future will mean really looking at these core issues and finding more creative ways to meet them. For instance, I could avoid much of the plastic on my list if I simply brought a travel coffee mug to a coffee shop. That is not a signficant inconvenience, and actually gives me more control with cleanliness! It is not a new idea to me; my excuse is that I always forget my travel mug. Perhaps when I forget a travel mug I will simply not get coffee?

Also, I could shop with reusable fabric bags at a farmer's market and avoid so much plastic bag use at Whole Foods. This is mostly a convenience and timing issue, but the net benefit is that I would be using much less plastic, getting fresher produce, and participating in a community function that I love.

I can't control all the plastic use in my life but I can control what's in front of me. After these 10 days of observing my plastic usage I want to better align my overall waste reduction goals with my everyday practices. I'll check back in in a couple of weeks and let you know the extent to which I disciplined myself about travel mug usage and farmer's market supportage. Also, I would love to hear your ideas about plastic use reduction! Leave a comment on my blog so everyone can read it.

Thank you Seth for a great challenge:)

Hitting RESET!

Hi everyone,

Yes, it's been a very long time since I've written anything about my green efforts for the ATC campaign. February and March were incredibly busy at work (and personally) and as a result I hit pause on my campaign the last couple of months. I'm hoping to hit restart with this quick entry and get back up to speed before the end of the campaign.

Let me just admit it here: I got stuck on the CFL green challenge. Todd doesn't like the light from CFLs (he is by default doing this challenge with me) and I didn't know what the alternatives were. I asked around and learned that there are some ways to get around the ugly light (like hiding it with a giant lamp shade) and it's also possible to get the new and improved CFLs which have an opaque covering on them so the light is dimmer. We are going to try these new CFLs...just as soon as I get to the store. Clearly there is a block with this particular challenge, so I've decided to move on to a different green challenge for now and come back to this one in the next week or so.

Onto challenge 2: Todd challenged me to create an eco-friendly art project that promotes going green. Admittedly I thought this was kinda out there for me to 1.) Draw something and 2.) Make it have any meaning. Also, compared to the CFL challenge it didn't seem like a major shift in greening my life. But actually it was a great reminder that greening one's life can be as simple as chosing one product over another. For instance, Todd bought me some soy crayons for this project and they were literally right next to non-soy crayons on the shelf. I grabbed a piece of used paper from the recycling bin instead of new paper. These were not big steps. Being greener, especially in the Bay Area, is most often a series of not so big steps that add up to making a difference.

Another lesson learned from this simple act of drawing a picture is that greening one's life can be kind of a childlike thing. I remember drawing pictures of the earth and learning about "reduce, reuse, recylce" when I was a kid and it was tied into many of our basic lessons in school. It's kind of the same way we learned fire drills or saying please and thank you; these things were fundamental in learning how to be human. From this early training, I think I have the instincts to make greener choices, I just need to put some more time into researching products and practices that make for a better earth.

My drawing says "One More Person for Peace, Justice, and Greener Living!" And of course, that's me high fiving the earth. Hopefully you like it and maybe find some time to make an earth picture of your own. If you want to borrow some soy crayons, you know where to find me.

Procrastination: A self study (2/9/10)

Two weeks ago, I launched my ATC campaign and blog with great hopes of changing my daily habits to be more green. Despite the afterglow of step 1 completion, it has been nothing but procrastination since. This can only mean one thing: I'm not sure what to do next. As someone who benefits from lots of reflection, I figured I would take a look at what I already do in my life that counts as green. I also thought it might help if I detail the things I know I should be doing but am not. And I listed the things I am not willing to do for the environment, no matter how green those things are. Hence, I give you: A self study...

Top 5 things I'm already doing to be a better, greener person:

1. Recycling
2. Taking public transit to/from work everyday
3. Shopping at Whole Foods/sometimes farmer's markets/Buying local/organic/sustainably raised food most often
4. Reduction of packaging and superfluous packaging
5. Thinking happy thoughts about a greener earth...and also reading a lot on the subject.

Top 5 things I know I should be doing to be a better, greener person, but am currently not:

1. Home energy reduction and use of alternatives
2. Reduction of waste (like, bringing my own water bottle/coffee mug when possible)
3. Reduction of water use
4. Practice greater "Flexatarianism" by eating vegetarian and vegan more often
5. Finally, finally, committing to a community action group on the subject...

Top 5 things I will never do for the sake of the environment:

1. Use moon pads. Nope.
2. Take a dust bath. That's for elephants.
3. Slaughter my own pig. Let me be clear that I will continue to be friends with those of you on this list that have slaughtered your own pigs.
4. Bike at night.
5. Eat a lot of green jello and blog about it (sorry A. Conover, that doesn't count)


Now that I know where I could use some green improvement, I'm going to focus this next week on the first point on my list of 'stuff I know I should be doing but am not.' Conveniently enough, my friend Mary Gregory already gave me the first "green challenge" of my campaign--to install CFLs wherever possible. Alright Mary Gregory, I'm up to the challenge! Next week, I will write to you about the magic and mystery of installing CFLs...

ATC Launch of my campaign!

My goal is to change my daily habits in order to live a greener lifestyle, and capture the experiences in my blog, "It's Not Easy Being Green" from January through April 2010.

For those of you that donate $25 or more to my campaign, I invite you to propose a "green challege" for me! It can be anything from daring me to eat only from a farmers market one week to riding my bike more. I will reflect on the experience you request in my blog the week that you donate (or, if many of you are interested in challenging me, the following weeks).

This all started the day I turned in my little grey security blanket, aka the Ford I've been driving the past 3 years. I handed over my keys to a tired looking man, signed the final lease payments, and hauled myself up a large hill to take a bus to Bart back across the Bay. After the hour and a half commute to the East Bay I couldn't help but wonder if I had made the right choice. This same trip would have taken half the time in my car! Well, that's the point: It's not easy being green. Changing the environment means changing myself and my daily habits. Ouch.

Until now, I have reached for the low hanging fruit of environmentalism. I recycle, I shop at Whole Foods, I take public transit to work...but, it's time to climb the proverbial tree. I want to stretch my comfort zone more in the way I did giving back my car. Most importantly, I want to think about the environment first with each decision I make.

My vision is strong, my plans are vague, and I see this as an ongoing process with input from you, my support group. So I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback and hopefully getting a few "green challenge" ideas from you! I welcome anyone who would like to join me in this little adventure.

I'm struck by the disproportionate ways in which impoverished people are subjected to the worst of our environmental crisis. From food to pollution to health, people with the least have to deal with the most. The homeless youth and young adults with whom ATC works are among the folks most impacted by a society that aims for power and pleasure now, and the cost of those things later. As a product of that society, I want to work harder to change my ways.

I believe ATC fills a necessary gap in the social service system by meeting the immediate needs of homeless young people without judging them. ATC is the definition of a successful local, grassroots program and I really admire their integrity and persistence in working with their clients. They are truly among the best in the field.