Sustainable Must-haves for 2k11

     In lieu of the new year I deemed it appropriate to compile a list of, what I believe to be, 2011's must-have "green" items. You can find a lot of these gadgets for sale, but you can actually make some of them yourself and go DIY style to really kick off the new year sustainably. There have been a lot of cool "green" items introduced to the market over the past few years, but some of them aren't as innovative as you'd think. This is my narrowed down list of five truly useful and sustainable things that are accessible to anyone who wants to live more conscientiously.

In no particular order...

#1 The Reusable Coffee Cup
This is a must-have for folks that love their joe in the morning.  You can actually take these cups into a lot of coffee shops and they will prepare your drink in it at a discounted price.  I use my coffee cup a lot and it makes me feel better when I think about all the waste coffee places produce every morning. It's perfect for walking to class and it looks just like the disposable cup your coffee is normally served in.

#2 The Reusable Sandwich Bag
I once thought about how many plastic sandwich baggies my mom went through when packing my lunch when I was a kid.  Then I thought about how many moms used sandwich baggies on a daily basis across the country... kind of scary.  Now, you don't have to use this type of "bag" per se, any Tupperware container will do, I just think it's pretty nifty. You can also DIY this one, here are the instructions and materials:

1/2 yard oilcloth
4 large paper clips
1 hook and eye
2 buttons
1 thin hair elastic
Pinking shears
Ruler
Scissors
Sewing machine
Needle and thread

1. Cut two 101/2" x 101/2" squares out of oilcloth.

2. Place one square on top of the other, with wrong sides facing eachother (so pattern is facing outside). Slide a paper clip on each side of the square to hold pieces together as you sew.

3. Using a 1/4" seam, topstitch the two pieces together. Adjust the paper clips as you go to keep the oilcloth from sliding.

4. Trim around the edges of sewn square with pinking shears.

5. Lay the square so that one of the corners is pointing at you, like a diamond. Fold left and right corners toward the center so the tip of the points overlap by about 1". Repeat with top and bottom corners to create an envelope. Run a fingernail over the edges to form a crease.

6. Open the top flaps so that only the left and right corners are folded in. Hand-sew a hook about 1/8" inside the tip of the right corner flap. Hand-sew the eye on the left flap, leaving enough space inside for a sandwich (you can gauge this by using two pieces of bread).

7. Sew buttons on top and bottom corner flaps, about 1 1/2" from each tip (again allowing room for a sandwich).

8.Place hair band over top button and pinch around button with your fingers to create two loops. With needle and thread, tack the elastic so the top loop stays firmly around the top button and the bottom loop slips easily onto the other button.

#3 Sprouting Kit
This is a long standing sustainable practice that is really easy and works year round. You can sprout all kinds of seeds (my favorite is alfalfa) and use them in sandwiches, salads, etc. You can purchase a sprouting kit but it's fairly simple to DIY. All I use when I sprout is a mason jar with mesh over top for when you rinse the seeds. Click here for one of many links that will explain how to make a sprouting kit in more detail.  

#4 The SKOY Cloth
I think that everyone needs something similar to this product. Even if you don't want to purchase this type of thing, you can just use rags or wash cloths instead of paper towels. Paper towels create a lot of unnecessary waste that we don't stop and think about when we need to clean up a spill quickly, so I think it's a great idea to get in the habit of grabbing a reusable, washable, dishtowel instead of a disposable one.  

#5 Water Powered Alarm Clock
This gadget is pretty self explanatory, but totally cool.  It's completely powered by water, which means no coal powered electricity attached!

     If you have any additions to my list please feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate hearing from anyone who reads my blog as it allows other readers a different perspective than my own and sometimes teaches me a thing or two. Also, if you have any other ideas about posts or topics you'd like to learn more about in the realm of sustainability drop me a comment and I'll try my darndest to answer your questions or concerns in its own new post. 




     Stay Sustainable,


     Becca in Athens


.

The Plastic Epidemic

    Plastic is a very controversial material.  It is a material that has changed the way we live for better and for worse.  Everywhere we go there is plastic; packaging, furniture, utensils, toys, car bumpers, the list goes on and on.  Although this compound seems unavoidable it must be used carefully and sparingly by consumers, meaning you and I.  You may wonder why we need to be conscious of our plastic use, so I'll help you understand that it is not a natural material and will never decompose like newspapers or food scraps, and even though it can be recycled there is no guarantee it won't end up sitting in a landfill for the next 500 years.  Plastic isn't an organic substance so there is no CO2 production which means no decomposition, whereas a banana peel, for example, produces CO2 allowing it to easily decompose in a compost pile. This means that common things like plastic water bottles that aren't recycled become excess unneeded waste that will sit for a very long time.  Although many people recycle their plastic, which is great, there is still a process attached to plastic production and it's not always a clean one. The problem with plastic is that we use it and don't think about what really goes into the mass creation of an inorganic material (i.e. pollution from production, pollution from distributing, etc.). 
    So why does this matter? It matters because we use plastic when we don't need to, and cutting out the unnecessary could do a lot of good.  I am mostly focused on bottled water when it comes to plastic's dark side because there is no reason for only drinking bottled water on a daily basis. When you think about it in numbers, it is recommended that the average person drinks 8 glasses of water a day, and if you are a bottled water drinker that means 8 plastic bottles a day, 56 bottles a week, 240 bottles a month, and 2,920 bottles a year.  If these bottles aren't recycled, I think it's safe to say that is a lot of waste.  Even if those bottles are recycled it still adds to the mass production of unnecessary plastic packaging.  If we buy bottled water we're telling those companies to produce more which means pollute more.
    What can people do to cut down on plastic waste though?  It seems so convenient to just grab a pre-bottled water and walk out the door.  Well, convenience plays a large roll in why bottled water is such a phenomenon, but drinking out of a reusable bottle is just as convenient, all you have to do is take 2 minutes to fill it up and you are on your way.  Buying and using a reusable bottle like a Nalgene or a Sigg is one of the easiest things you can do to promote sustainability and cut down on plastic consumption. You can even DIY and reuse a jar or other glass container as a water bottle if you don't want to purchase one.  It's simple, it's cheap, and you can rest knowing that your plastic bottles won't still be cozied up in a landfill somewhere when your great great great great great grand kids are graduating high school. Using a reusable bottle is without a doubt a sustainable daily practice, and once you've gotten into the habit of it, those plastic bottled waters look pretty silly.  Is it weird to say that my Sigg bottle has become one of my best friends?

          Stay sustainable,

          Becca in Athens