February Challenge -- Waste Not Want Not

Modern Sculptural Art? -- salvaged spiral notebook wire, awaiting it's next useful application


"When we throw something away, what does 'away' mean? There's no such thing as 'away.' "

This little nugget of wisdom was brought to you by a 35 year old Berkely, CA resident, Ari Derfel, who decided to save the flotsam and jetsam of his life for one full year. These were my sentiments exactly when it came time to pack up and move house last year. I couldn’t just throw stuff away. My real estate agent, the sweetheart that he is, showed understanding but was unaccustomed to anyone turning away the welcoming arms of the 1-800-Got-Junk army -- who advertise themselves as the equivalent of a full-service trash dumpster.

Instead I invested the time and energy to donate to charities and to drop off re-usable materials for recycling.

How did we accumulate so much junk? A friend confided that she was surprised that my husband and I could have accumulated so much, since we aren’t really the “type” to acquire a lot of things. While this is true, we have, over the years, inherited possessions and hand-me-downs from family members, and we are also reluctant to dispose of anything that MAY prove useful one day. Lastly we are wickedly sentimental. If you bought me something atrocious that I really hated, I would probably still have that item several years later. In a box. In the basement. It’s labeled “sentimental hogwash” if you really must know.

What amazes me is that so many of these items that I considered absolute junk sold very well at the garage sale I had last fall. Never having participated in one before I concluded that: 1. garage sale junkies will probably buy just about anything, so long as it is cheap, and 2. Every item you own holds a little piece of your energy. That means getting rid of that item frees up a bit of your energy. Garage sales are great if you have the time and need to pad your wallet a little, but if not then giving your stuff to charity is just as beneficial.

Not only does each of our possessions absorb some slight slice of our time and energy, but as this article about Derfel states, “Each thing we throw away has been produced somewhere, shipped to a store, entered the home, and then is sent somewhere else - using up water, oil and land.”

If you’re a visual learner, have a looksie here. I must say that these images really make a big statement to me, one that numerical facts alone cannot convey.

OK, so you understand that the American way is just not sustainable, right? But the next time you go shopping, I’ll bet you will see something you just really fall in love with, something that you feel makes a statement about your personality or something that you actually feel you need. Whether you need it or you just want it might be a gray area. I know that holds true with me. I happened across an interesting suggestion for creating a “want book,” a place where you can record all those things you think you want or need and come back to them later with a clearer head.

But remember as you lean toward placing that object in your shopping cart that every object is in many ways an energy sink. We aren’t just draining worldly resources, there seems to be some evidence that we are also putting a damper on our own personal well-being:

“Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The[y] also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases."

“The word 'believe' is the key here. People believe that buying more and more things will make them happy, when in fact research has shown time and time again that this simply isn't the case. What we do know for sure is that buying more and more unnecessary things is damaging our planet and contributing to global warming." (source)

Here are few suggestions of ways to cut back on the amount of waste we generate. I recommend choosing one of these options to work on for a month. If you like your results, you can always challenge yourself to do more.

• Remove your name from mailing lists
• Compost, compost, compost
• Preferentially purchase items in recyclable containers
• Look at your bad habits and try to minimize them
• Shop with a list
• Before you buy an item, decide on where it will be kept
• If you don’t absolutely love an item, re-home it
• For every item you bring in, get rid of two others (donate, garage sale, Craigslist)
• Catalogue things in a want book before buying them
  

January Challenge -- Seeds of Change

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m hoping to offer, every month, a suggestion of a small change we can all make to help conserve resources and green our corner of the planet. Often we will find that these same changes in our lives will help us conserve our own financial resources as well, which is an added bonus.

This month’s challenge was an obvious choice for me, as it was my own challenge to myself – ordering seeds to start this year’s garden. My husband also wants to join in the gardening in 2008. Like any new gardener, his aspirations are high. I have done my best to talk him down to starting small, with easy crops, so that he can get a few successes under his belt before he tackles more challenging crops. I also encouraged him to choose plants that will be successful in our short and often relatively cool growing season. Perhaps the most important lesson a gardener can learn is to grow those plants that suit one’s local conditions best. Otherwise gardening may become more of a disappointment than a delight.

Based upon my discussions with my own eager new gardener, I thought it would be helpful to outline a list of vegetable crops that most beginners, will have a good chance at growing well. For a brief outline on how to get a garden established, you may want to read the following article from the University of British Columbia. Even those of you living without a yard can join in the fun, as all of the suggestions below will also grow contentedly in containers. For a primer on container vegetable garden, you may want to read the following PDF from Iowa State University extension.

Need further incentive for this challenge? Salad greens and lettuce are extremely easy to grow and require only relatively shallow containers for those who don’t have garden space. As with all vegetables, green leafy vegetables are most nutritious when eaten shortly after harvesting. Yet how many of us are accustomed to purchasing our salad greens in those dreaded plastic containers that have flown in from California and then sat on the grocery shelves? Some of those same greens are fairly tolerant of extreme weather and can be grown early in the spring as well as well into late fall or early winter without added protection in some northern climates. With protection you may find yourself with fresh greens well into winter, even in harsher climes. Since salad crops grown in California are absorbing rocket fuel – which is disruptive to the human thyroid – you might also find your self-sown salads leave you feeling healthier and with a bit more energy. Bag the rocket fuel and grow your own rocket (more commonly known as arugula), which is a wonderful addition to any salad and has all the health benefits of the broccoli clan – technically it is a cruciferous vegetable and not a lettuce crop.

What many new gardeners are surprised to learn is that not all traditional vegetable crops grow well during the summer months. In fact, it seems that most of the easiest to grow crops thrive during the cooler months of spring and fall. The advantage of this is clear – your time and labor will be spread out fairly uniformly over the entire growing season. You will find yourself capable of growing a few crops in the spring, several different ones in the summer, and then be able to either repeat some spring crops in the fall or grow something completely different that will tide you over until winter encroaches. And speaking of winter, one gentleman has a fairly simple plan for extending his harvest well into the leaner months.

You will notice some of my links suggest using more conventional growing techniques. I recommend substituting organic methods.

Herbs are also easy to grow, especially mint, oregano, garlic, and Italian parsley. Some herbs will attract beneficial insects and all of them will save you a bundle at the grocery store.

Now for the cast of characters (this list is by no means exhaustive):

BEANS
When: warm season
Where: full sun; well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter*
How: in garden, or in a container at least 16” deep
Why: high in antioxidants, as well as a good source of iron, zinc, and protein for vegetarians and vegans

BROCCOLI
When: cool season crop (spring/fall)
Where: full sun; well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter*
How: in garden, or at least a 2 gallon (10” wide) container
Why: nutritional superstar, high in vitamins A, C, D, and also a good source of calcium

CARROTS
When: cool season crop (spring/fall)
Where: full sun; deep, loose, well-drained soil with plenty of nutrients
How: in garden, or at least a 2 gallon (10” wide) container
Why: antioxidants and carotenes

LETTUCE/GREENS
When: cool season crop (spring/fall)
Where: nearly any soil, but well-drained with plenty of organic matter* is best
How: in garden, or at least a 6” deep container
Why: good source of vitamins A, C, K; folate, manganese, chromium, and fiber

POTATOES
When: warm season
Where: full sun; light, loose, well-drained soil with organic matter* added during previous growing season
How: in garden, or in containers at least 16” deep
Why: high in potassium, high in vitamin B6 which is necessary for building the nervous system and may alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women

PUMPKINS
When: warm season
Where: soil with abundant nutrients and organic matter*
How: in garden, or in containers at least 16” deep
Why: good source of vitamin C, beta carotene and potassium

RADISHES
When: cool season (spring/fall)
Where: loose soil with plenty of organic matter*
How: in garden, or in at least a 2 gallon (10” wide) container
Why: moderately high in vitamin C and K, also has anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties and is beneficial to cold and flu symptoms


* Organic matter is best added to the garden in the form of finished compost