make a smaller ecological footprint

I read an article last night that Brooks running shoes are one of the first shoes to become environmentally friendly, decreasing their landfill breakdown from 50yrs to less than 20. Its a huge step. They are also using less plastics and more recycled materials. Im proud to be a wearer of Brooks. And dont be fooled, they still cost less than Nikes and Asics. Until the others hop on board, try a pair of Brooks. They are great running shoes, especially for pronators. And apparently the world.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-488—12892-0,00.html

www.myfootprint.org

If everyone lived like me, we would need 2.3 earths to sustain us. Thats scary because I thought I was doing well. Just shows we could always do better. These are not my results, just what your report card looks like. Keep in mind, just being from the US puts you in the bastard child category…as always.

Get with it people. Me too!

We are members of our local co-op. When we go the grocery we buy Eggland’s best cage free eggs (groceries do not carry free range) because I cannot bare the thought of buying any other eggs that support the horrible treatment of egg laying hens. They are expensive, but, I stand my ground. Those other eggs are $.99 for a reason.
Today, at the co-op, I noticed they have not just cage free, but free range, no antibiotic, organically vegetable fed hen eggs. AND they were cheaper than Eggland’s Best. AND, and here is the awesome AND, they are local. Less than 50 miles from Buffalo. I told P that when we shop next week, we need to make sure we add eggs to the co-op list.
So happy.

a buddhist temple made completely out of plastic bottles. From the roof to the steps to the inlay. When asked why they answered, “why not, it takes 700 years for a single bottle to being to breakdown. What better way to insure our temple lasts that long’.
Brilliant.

people who compost cut their waste by 30%. I cannot believe all of the things we take to our compost every other day. When I look at all the scraps that we put in there and think that we were once throwing them out…Im gonna go with 30% seems like a conservative estimate. We arent taking our trash out nearly as much. Plus, because you cant compost dairy or animal products, we have cut back on those a lot as well.
What a fantastic idea. It takes a little while to get a hang of, and sometimes I am still googling to see what the heck Im supposed to do, but this has been one of the things I have done this year that has really been worth it and made me happy I now do it.

I went through the basement like a whirlwind and started separating what we need, what we dont need and can donate, boxes to be broken down and recycled, etc.
The give away pile is over 10 boxes. Amazing what we think we will need later so we put it in the basement. Funny what we buy. I swear a fake flower shop exploded in my basement. I dont know why I ever bought them. I used to make wreaths for people, maybe that was it? Either way, gone. We can move around down there now. Plus, books are being donated to a used book shop on our street and all others are being donated to good will. I was going to give them to our church, but most of the things my mother gave me are in those boxes and it would be a lot of explaining to do. So, kudos for teaching people a vocation.

today, I put lettuce scraps in my compost. It was the first set of scraps to christen it. I feel hopeful and happy. What a great feeling.

I was THRILLED when I saw Ziploc makes a new baggie called Evolve. It is made with 25% less plastic, made with wind energy and the box is made from and can be recycled again. Baggies are something that have always bothered me. I have tried not to use them, but honestly I loathe aluminum foil. So this makes me feel a little better. I like the feel of them already. I used on this morning for my pumpernickel bread to toast for breakfast at work.

Good for you Ziploc…which means good for all of us.

We went shopping for a living room rug because our landlord takes as good a care for his hardwood floors as George Bush did for the Alaskan Wilderness….which is bad for those who aren’t keeping track.
So we go all over for about 4 or 5 months now and end up at a place called FWS. Its like a warehouse full of stuff and after about 40 minutes, we see a cool grey/green (DARK) rug and start walking to see if we can see the size we need (9 X 12). We see a 7×12 and are ok with that because we like the rug and can stand to cut back some of the size. Price = $349. I ask the guy if the price is final or if there is some sort of “pandemonium” price going on with this sale. He says he will give it to us for $239. Sold.
Here’s the kicker. He hands us this flyer that says that the carpet was made for Gucci outlet stores across the country because they are going eco friendly. They asked for 100 but more are always made in case of mess ups; so they made 125. We were like “thats nice”. Who cares?! I read on and find out that Gucci is one of the more environmentally friendly businesses and the rug is environmentally friendly, biodegradable, made with no chemicals or artifical dyes and 100% wool. HOLY CRAP. We just got 2 great deals. After we went home and laid it down and sat on the couch to look at it, it looked even better than we ever dreamed it could. Thanks Gucci.

I asked my finance person to stop ordering styrofoam and order paper cups. At the first of the year, she did. We knew it was a little more expensive, but, for environment, we decided it was worth it. I also asked everyone that worked here to bring in mugs to help cut the costs. Do you know one of the fellows asked me if I was going to wash them everyday? I told him his mother was. Then I asked him if he lost his mind.
Yesterday, she comes to me and says that the head of the department said no more paper cups. They are too expensive. I said I understood. Then I went into the head of the department’s office and said “if people would bring in mugs like I asked and take some responsibilty for themselves by washing their own mugs, do you know how much money we would save? But I guess that wouldnt matter because whatever we would save would just mean we can add desserts to your staff meeting lunches that cost $15,000 a year.” My boss came over to talk to me and I said I didnt want to hear it. Fat, lazy, self righteous, self entitled idiots. $15,000 a year in LUNCHES? And 25 extra dollars for paper cups isnt going to happen. No wonder they’re all fat. Big, fat idiots.