File under WTF?

There must be more to this story (the article does suggest s0), but a City bringing a lawsuit because a guy does not need trash service anymore? I can understand the requirement for trash pick-up, but only to prevent unsanitary conditions - which if they can establish should just lead to fines.

A man who claims to have reduced his waste to nearly nothing out of concern for the environment now faces a lawsuit from San Carlos for canceling his garbage-collection service.

Eddie House, 53, says he was shocked when he was served with a lawsuit Sunday at his Cedar Street home.

The lawsuit, filed by San Carlos Deputy City Attorney Linda Noeske in San Mateo Superior Court on Jan. 22, seeks a permanent injunction forcing House to maintain garbage service. City officials are also seeking to recoup from House the costs of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims House broke the city’s municipal code requiring all residential, commercial and industrial properties to contract with Allied Waste for pickup at least once a week — a standard requirement in most cities, San Carlos Deputy City Manager Brian Moura said.

I like food

I've been doing some research into how other people have done the whole veggie+locavore thing, and it turns out, they don't. I googled vegetarian locavore, veggie locavore, veggie localvore, etc. and got jack squat, other than one locavore blogger saying, "Being a Vegetarian-Locavore is really freaking hard. I really feel for Mike" and another saying "There is nothing easy about being a vegetarian locavore." Plus, most everyone doing the locavore thing and having a website about it seem to live in either California or the mid-Atlantic states. The farthest north I've found (or Elliott found, actually) are the "Upper Valley Localvores" in New Hampshire/Vermont who seem to be eating nothing but carbs and meat right now.

I have to say I'm a little surprised at how little overlap there is between the veggie people and the locavore people-- you'd think they're all cut from the same animal-loving hackysack-playing quinoa-eating cloth, right? Or is that just me?

We're quickly running out of non-USA non-organic food from before the contract set in and I'm really not looking forward to when I run out of rice noodles (I usually keep 3 kinds), or Japanese soup noodles, or curry powder, or any Asian sauce for that matter.

Salt

So.... we're running low on salt in the house. I don't normally use salt-- it's either soy sauce or vegetable bouillon, or I omit salt altogether. But occasionally that's not an option. Like, sweet potato fries. Anyways, this really causes a problem because, to my knowledge, there's no such thing as organic salt, since it's mined. And although there is "local" salt from the Maine Sea Salt Company, this stuff sells for $6/8oz bag, which is a whole lot more than Morton's. So I'm curious-- assuming they don't live on the coast, do locavores have to omit salt?

There are clubs for shoes now?

I was browsing the Maine Switch's website for something to do tonight and I found this below. Seriously?!?!

Hello Stiletto Shoe Club meeting
When: Friday, January 25, 2008 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Wine Bar at Wharf Street; 38 Wharf Street Portland, ME 04101
Who:
207-878-0175
www.shoeclub.us/

Cost: Free

Category: Special Events

Description: The Hello Stiletto Shoe Club is a free social networking club for shoe lovers to meet and wear their favorites. Shoe contest will be held!

Green-collar jobs?

I missed the last debate (uh, and most of them so far), but apparently "green-collar" jobs were mentioned as a way improve the economy and the environment. See here for what it all means.

Creating enough green-collar jobs to beat global warming and create real economic opportunity for those who most need it is a tall order. It will require a major transformation of the American economy, and we must be clear about the terms of this transition. Only then will we have a yardstick to measure real progress against exciting rhetoric.

Confessions, Round 1

Hmm, so time for some admissions of contract-breaking over the past week. First, I asked Elliott to drive me to work (<2 miles) on Friday morning after I ventured out, walked about 15 feet, and realized you can't see sidewalk ice when it's actively raining. Second, while at the Whole Foods we bought some halvah made in Canada. It's a middle eastern dessert made from Tahini and honey that my sister introduced me too. The pre-packaged kind sucked, which I serves us right for buying Canadian. Second, Elliott picked up Primal Strips veggie jerky which was (a) an impulse purchase, and (b) made in Taiwan!

Wood v. Oil

I like the contrast in these two headlines:

"Environment Be Damned, Oil Prices Spark Wood Sales" (Bloomberg, Nov 21)

Burned by high oil prices, Mainers warm to wood (Portland Press Herald, lead story today).

The Press-Herald story starts with the line "The warm glow of a wood fire has rarely felt so good," and puts forth this novel theory:

"...wood does not contribute to global warming the way oil and coal do.

Burning wood does release carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. But the carbon in trees is part of the natural cycle and is, in theory, taken up by new trees. Burning fossil fuels, on the other hand, releases carbon that has been buried deep in the earth."

Um, I'd like to see some evidence to back that up. Especially when the Bloomberg article states that "the typical wood stove emits as much as 350 times more pollution than an oil furnace."

Nancy Pelosi does a little House-greening

Chris sends me this article from the NYT on the new cafeteria options at the four House office buildings. It's entitled "More House Salads, Whether the House Likes It Or Not," which I find to be a very combative title for an article about "revamping of the menus, to make them more local, organic and healthful." God forbid, right? Well, apparently healthier food = conspiracy:

But to some people here they represent an elitist misuse of public funds, and possibly a bit of anti-industry propaganda.

In newspaper articles and on blogs, the menu has been mocked for including sushi and brie, foods critics seem to regard as pretentious esoterica. Questions have been raised over whether the decision to stock a particular brand of organic yogurt was motivated by political donations. Writers have griped about allowing Ms. Pelosi to decide what they should eat. And some have expressed outrage at the notion that tax money is paying for all this frippery.

Whether or not sushi is too elitist for workers on the Hill, the cafeterias are not subsidized, said Perry Plumart, the deputy director of the House’s environmental effort, which is called Green the Capitol.

I wonder if that brand of yogurt is Stonyfield Farm--they might have a legitimate argument there!

Update: It is Stonyfield! (Source)

Progress Report: 1/24 done

So... yesterday was the 15th of January, or as I like to call it, "1/24th Mission Accomplished." The not-shopping part has been really easy, especially since the stuff I ordered pre-xmas is just now arriving. By far the hardest part is the groceries shopping- only shopping from a grocery list and the "must be from USA or organic" rule. I've been surprised at how few pre-packaged items state where the product is from (probably for the better since I should cut down pre-packaged food anyways). I've definitely been buying more organics just for the sake of not having to search a box for a "made in..." label. Unfortunately this rule has also cut down on shopping at the local corner grocery since none of the food origins are posted for produce (Whole Foods, on the other hand, is much better at this).

I swear stuff has been wearing out quicker in the past two weeks. Sheets that I've had since college sprung holes, suddenly the bottoms of my socks are worn through, and the heel on one of my favorite pairs of boots broke off. I blame the pro-capitalist gnomes- much akin to the underpants gnomes- wreaking havoc while we sleep.

Eaten to extinction

It's no longer news that worldwide stocks of fish (or "seafood") are crashing due to over-harvesting, but for some reasons the message just doesn't resonate. Yesterday the NYT published an article tracing the route taken by illegally-caught seafood from Africa to Europe. It's somewhat heartbreaking how easy it is to illegally catch and transport seafood as opposed to land animals. We can't set up and patrol fish "preserves" on the high seas, and fish aren't exactly charismatic megafauna that people will rally behind. It's like, most Westerners would never eat, say, endangered giant panda, or California condor eggs, but have little qualms about eating endangered (or soon-to-be endangered) fish. Why is that?

Speaking of endangered animals, there's a couple of interesting stories from MSNBC today and yesterday. The first is on the washing up of twenty endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Bangladesh, believed to be from the use of illegal fishing nets near the shore. Second, there's a story on the potential removal of dams along the Klamath River in Oregon which may or may not help endangered salmon (Chris- comments?). And 45 minutes ago MSNBC reported that the Bush Administration has signed an exemption from the Coastal Zone Management Act for the Navy to continue using sonar in its training off the coast of California despite evidence that it is causes marine mammals to, you know, die.

And I was really impressed yesterday when MSNBC has this as the lead story-- a article about the rangers of Virunga National Park in the Congo who are assigned the task of protecting mountain gorillas on the verge of extinction. The park rangers are no longer able to do their job because the Park has become overrun with armed groups and poachers who kidnap rangers to work as guides, kill them, or pillage their posts for supplies and food. This story struck me because these rangers are clearly risking their lives to protect the gorillas (and an unsteady paycheck). I think it raises an interesting question of whether a given number non-human lives can ever equal 1 human life, and does it matter if the non-humans are (a) endangered, and (b) closely related to humans? A few years back PETA has this billboard campaign comparing factory farming of animals to the Holocaust, and it raised a huge controversy.

My Stuff is Giving Me Nightmares

My dreams aren't usually cryptic and don't take a dream dictionary to figure out. If I lost something during the day, that night I'll dream about finding it (and wake up really disappointed). I also have a lot of dreams where I'm flying but that's just because I really like the sensation of flying, I think.

Anyways last night I had this dream I was moving out of some sort of dorm-type place. I'm not sure what the situation was because there were friends from law school and my ill-fated semester at grad school, and I think some other people my mind made up. My parents were there to pick me up but I hadn't finished packing before their arrival. And they kept hurrying me and tossing my stuff around trying to get it all boxed up so we could leave, and I just remember being on the verge of freaking out because no matter how much stuff we packed, there was always more stuff, and their tossing my stuff around was just stressing me out even more. It was an odd dream, especially since my parent's haven't picked me up from anywhere like that since maybe Nerd Camp '95.

So this morning I was thinking my volume of stuff is getting to the point of giving me nightmares. Then I remembered that I had watched the latest episode of The Real World: Sydney yesterday where they all pack up and move out. (Disclaimer: I got hooked on it while hanging out with my sister over Christmas.) If you haven't seen any of this season, you HAVE to go to mtv.com and click on the one entitled "The Grilled Cheese Incident" at the very least to watch Cohutta talk to his grilled cheese sandwich.



(I tried to find a picture of the insane amount of stuff the Real Worlders had to pack up but they haven't posted any stills from the episode, so this pic will have to do.)

Walking the walk, literally

As part of this plan, we are not driving to places less than two miles, with some exceptions. Living on the Portland peninsula, this is generally not a big deal (this one of the things I really like about living here). Though not everywhere on the peninsula is easy to get to, particularly when the weather is bad. I often have to go to UPS to drop off photo orders, and I needed to go today. As the photo below shows, today was not exactly sunny.

Generally Portland is pedestrian friendly (at least the peninsula), but the spot where UPS is located is in an area of fairly new development (last time I looked on Google Earth, most of it was just an empty lot). So there are not a lot of sidewalks in the area, or getting down to it.

But I can't justify driving to UPS to drop off an 9x12 envelop, despite the weather. Of course if I were really busy with work I might drive, considering it does take much longer to walk. If it were warmer and not raining, I would bike - and that can almost be faster than driving.

I miss D.C. (sniffles)

This is only marginally relevant to this blog but I really wanted to post this picture and story courtesy of the Washington Post. These are all fake meats courtesy of Terry's Healthy Food Store in Rockville, MD. WP did a taste test of them that is somewhat funny. Unfortunately it looks like they're sold frozen so I'm guessing mail-order isn't an option. (Side note: If you right-click and "save image" from the WP website, the name of the picture is "art-fake_meat"... truly that lobster is a work of art. The "duck," however, looks like a misshapen challah.)

1=sausage, 2=duck, 3=chicken breast slices, 4=bacon (apparently), 5=lobster, 6=steak, 7=shrimp.

More on the Candidates

The journal Science has a 10-page special report, 'Science and the Next U.S. President.'

How do the candidates view science? Sometimes it's hard to tell from the campaign trail, but they have offered opinions on topics from evolution to global warming.

The candidates are addressing issues, from climate change to how the next Administration should manage science, that will affect researchers next year--and for decades to come. Differences have emerged on embryonic stem cell research, on the urgency of combating climate change, and even on the teaching of evolution.

- via The Blue Marble

There's no such thing as 'away.'

That's a quote from that SF man who's been saving all his garbage for a year. I really like it. I’ve been putting off writing about this article on MSN because (a) it’s 6 webpages long, and (b) I can’t figure out why it’s been relegated to the "Lifestyle: Men" section. Anyways the article discusses how a garbage mass twice the size of Texas is floating in a vortex in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Basically the gyre is where air and water currents flow in a circle, collecting everything into the relatively still center of the vortex. (Interesting fact: this occurs in the “horse latitudes,” so-called because winds are so weak that back in the day ships would toss their horses overboard to lighten the load.)

(yellow dots = garbage)

This article discusses how discarded plastic is working its way into our bodies and causing obesity, infertility/reproductive problems, diabetes, cancer, memory loss, and liver and thyroid problems. Basically, every speck of plastic ever made still exists because instead of biodegrading, plastic photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, which then works its way into and up the food chain. That’s on top of the plastics exposure we get through the containers we eat/drink out of, through the carpet (and “new car”) fumes we inhale, or through the water we drink.

Yeah, it’s pretty scary. On page 5 there’s a discussion of something I’ve never heard of before- the problem of the lax handling of nurdles, the pellet-form of plastic before it’s melted and molded into something more useful. One study estimates that escaped nurdles account for 10% of ocean plastic debris.

Another fun anecdote about ocean debris— occasionally garbage will spin out of the gyre and make its way to shore. Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer has been studying the movement of ocean currents using data from cargo spills, relying heavily on the great Nike spill of 1990 (when about 80,000 pairs fell off the Hansa Carrier and started washing ashore 6 months later) and another spill in 1992 of tens of thousands of bathtub toys-- blue turtles, yellow ducks, red beavers and green frogs. Anyways, skim the article-- it's long but worth it.

Follow-up: Here's something you don't read everyday-- China at the forefront of an environmental solution. Apparently come June, stores in China will no longer be allowed to give away plastic bags for free and must start charging for them. (Link)

Who Owns Me? (Mostly) Food Edition

Hint: 4 of the answers are (a). Yay!

1) Organic Valley Inc.:
(a) Organic Valley Inc.
(b) Kraft Foods
(c) an organic food cooperative
(d) Hain Celestial Group

2) Burt's Bees:
(a) Burt's Bees
(b) Clorox
(c) L'Oreal
(d) Colgate-Palmolive

3) Horizon Organic:
(a) Horizon Organic
(b) General Mills
(c) Proctor & Gamble
(d) Dean Foods

4) Silk Soymilk:
(a) Silk Soymilk
(b) Unilever
(c) Dean Foods
(d) Cargill

5) Seventh Generation:
(a) Seventh Generation
(b) Kimberley Clark
(c) Colgate-Palmolive
(d) Unilever


6) Kashi foods:
(a) Kashi Foods
(b) General Mills
(c) PepsiCo
(d) Kellogg

7) Vitasoy:
(a) Vitasoy
(b) Archer Daniel Midland
(c) Kowloon Soy Company
(d) Kraft Foods

8) 8th Continent Soymilk:
(a) 8th Continent
(b) General Mills
(c) DuPont
(d) Unilever

9) Amy's Kitchen:
(a) Amy's Kitchen
(b) Hain Celestial
(c) PepsiCo
(d) General Mills

10) Cascadian Farm:
(a) Cascadian Farm
(b) General Mills
(c) Dole
(d) Kraft

11) Muir Glen (tomato products):
(a) Muir Glen
(b) Campbell Foods
(c) General Mills
(d) Unilever

12) Nature Valley (granola):
(a) Nature Valley
(b) General Mills
(c) Hain Celestial
(d) Unilever

This Seems Awfully Political for Yogurt

I'm sitting at my desk enjoying my Stonyfield Farm O'Soy yogurt when I see this.























It reads: "In politics, the cream doesn't always rise to the top.

Some of America's most capable leaders can't get elected, [sic] because they aren't wealthy or don't have access to big money. Public funding of elections would change this. Learn how to help send our best leaders to Washington at Stonyfield.com"

And there's a logo for Americans For Campaign Reform at the bottom. I'm all for campaign finance reform but seriously are we merging politics and food now? Are my teddy grahams going to start preaching to me about the danger of activist judges?

Introduction from Jen

Hello All! I am so happy to have been invited to contribute to this blog, I think it is an incredibly worthwhile and inspirational project!

A few words about me: while I am not officially signed on to buy nothing but necessities this year, my family's current philosophical and financial states have caused us to do some radical reevaluating of our priorities over the past year. We've found that yeah, we actually can do a lot with a little. Less may just be the new more. I am also keenly aware that what we in this culture may view as a fairly radical shift in our consumption is still over-the-top for many.

By trade, I am an attorney specializing in animal and environmental law. In practice, I am on a little kid sabbatical and currently my days are spent mainly with my young son (though I do some legal work from time to time). As Michelle kindly pointed out, I am also smack in the middle of a multi-year project wherein I cook/bake my way through and review a set of three vegan cookbooks. I also enjoy the usual retro-hipster stuff, sewing, knitting, keeping it real, etc. I enjoy living in large cities but our family has recently relocated to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, so I am also getting reaquainted with small town life. Additionally, we are also in the midst of a significant budgetary makeover and so frugal is my new middle name. So my posts will really run the gamut, but I hope you'll find them precious gems of delightful inspiration and insight.

Cheers!

How Green is Your Canditate?

Since the state caucuses have gotten into full swing, I decided to post the link to Grist.org on the right. Click on it to find out where the candidates stand on key environmental issues! Not...that...I'm...partial...to...any...candidate...

If you're too lazy to navigate through Grist's Election '08 coverage, here are the candidates' positions in a handy chart form.

"Voluntourism"

I saw this article today on MSNBC on the concept of "voluntourism." Voluntourism.org describes it as "A seamlessly integrated combination of voluntary service to a destination and the best, traditional elements of travel—arts, culture, geography, and history—in that destination." And apparently there's quite a few companies that specialize in organizing these trips. Next time you're planning a vacation, take a look at their site!

What's Sucking Up All My Electricity?

Here's the best energy calculator EVER, courtesy of Nova Scotia Power. They also have great tips on saving on your heating bill plus quick/easy/free tips on increasing your energy efficiency.

The energy calculator is a little exhausting (Power Saws has its own section- maybe it's a Canadian thing) but it gives you a great picture of how your bill is divided among your appliances and also is great for comparisons.

For instance you can see that an old cathode ray tube monitor uses 228% more energy than an LCD monitor, but an LCD TV uses about 133% more energy than a CRT TV. Plasma TVs are the worst- they use 221% more power than CRTs. So it's also a great way to make your future appliance/electronics purchasing decisions more environmentally conscious!

Mmmm... Polybutene

Molly forwarded me a newsletter from Teens for Safe Cosmetics last week and it made me take a look at the this super shiny Victoria's Secret lip gloss I've been using (I got it free with a purchase a while back). First ingredient? Polybutene. Normally I read the ingredients list of anything that lists them-- bodywash, shampoo, toothpaste, and of course, food. So I was a little surprised to find an ingredient I've never seen before. I did a little Googling and found this from Answers.com:

(organic chemistry) A polymer of isobutene, (CH3)2CCH2; made in varying chain lengths to give a wide range of properties from oily to solid; used as a lube-oil additive, in adhesives, and in rubber products.

...and apparently VS lip gloss. I'm not saying it's dangerous or poisonous in any way, and I'll probably keep using my lip gloss. As I understand it, polybutene refers to a large class of chemicals covering a wide range of uses (Google search indicates it is in adhesives and home plumbing also). But I did come across this page from the Pesticide Action Network's Pesticides Database listing one use of one type of polybutene as a rodenticide.

T minus zero: THE AGREEMENT

This Agreement (“the Agreement”) sets forth the obligations of any party (“party” or “parties”) choosing to sign below.

WHEREAS parties desire to lessen their environmental footprints and live more sustainably,

WHEREAS parties recognize that current consumption patterns are not in the interest of sustainability and diminish the ability of the planet to provide for other people, other creatures, and future generations of both,

WHEREAS parties wish to conserve both financial and natural resources,

WHEREAS parties recognize that labor conditions and environmental standards in developing nations are not always respectful of human rights and human health,

Parties hereby agree to the following:

1. Material Goods:

(a) Parties agree to refrain from the purchase of material goods.
(b) Categorical exclusions:

i. business expenses, as defined in 26 U.S.C. 162(a).
ii. pet supplies, limited to pet food and cat litter, and UV bulbs for the turtle,
iii. goods purchased for safety reasons,
iv. gasoline and fuel,
v. gifts for people who are not a party to this agreement,
vi. goods related to alleviating a medical condition,
vii. toiletries related to hygiene(i.e. not cosmetic),
viii. items related to not increasing the population of our delicate planet,
ix. items purchased to sanitize and/or clean- detergents, sponges, brushes, etc.

2. Food and Entertainment:

(a) Michelle will limit her purchase of food prepared at a restaurant to one breakfast (starting before 11:00am) OR lunch (starting between 11:00am and 3:00pm), and one dinner (starting after 3:00pm) per week.
(b) Parties will not eat at any restaurant which has locations outside of the state in which they are physically located.
(c) Parties will refrain from seeing movies at a movie theater, but video rentals are allowed.
(d) Parties may participate in (b) or (c) above if invited by a non-party and changing non-party’s plans would inconvenience others.

3. Groceries:

(a) Parties are limited to 1 (one) grocery trip per week by fossil-fuel transportation. Grocery trips by foot or bike are not limited.
(b) Parties may only purchase items grown and made in the United States of America.
(c) Parties may only purchase items from a grocery list written down prior to the grocery trip.

4. Replacing broken/worn goods: Parties may only replace the following items:

(a) computers,
(b) hand blender,
(c) lighting fixtures,
(d) toaster oven,
(e) cell phones,
(f) watches,
(g) cars.

5. Transportation: Parties agree not to use a car for trips less than 2 miles (as determined by Google Maps), excluding:

(a) trips to transport cargo that cannot be carried by hand,
(b) trips during inclement weather ONLY when items are being transported and cannot get wet,
(c) medical emergencies,
(d) moving the car on street cleaning nights.

6. Travel/Vacations:

(a) Parties agree to take in consideration environmental impacts when making choices about travel.
(b) Parties agree to incorporate a public service aspect to all vacation travel (i.e. travel not for the purpose of seeing relatives or specific occasions like weddings).

7. Water and fuel usage: Parties will take steps to minimize water and fuel usage, including but not limited to:

(a) Parties will limit showers to 10 minutes.
(b) Parties will set the thermostat at a maximum of 58 during the winter. Parties agree not to get air conditioning as long as they are living in Maine.
(c) Parties will set the hot water heater at a maximum of 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Garbage and Waste: Parties agree to

(a) buy food and toiletries with minimal packaging,
(b) compost food waste,
(c) and recycle any items accepted by the city of Portland.

9. Force Majeure: If parties’ goods are destroyed by natural disaster, fire (not caused by a party committing arson), or any act from a third party, parties may replace destroyed items only. Parties will hopefully not destroy other party’s goods out of spite.

10. This Agreement may be amended by the consent of all parties only.

11. Term of Agreement: These terms are in effect January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008.


Signed,

Michelle T (electronically signed) 1/1/08
Elliott T (electronically signed) 1/1/08


Amendment 1 (1/1/08): Section 3(b) is amended to read: "(b) Parties may only purchase items grown and made in the United States of America, or failing that, Parties may only purchase items grown and made outside of the US if items are organically grown."

Last Shopping Trip, Part 3

Ok, for our final, last shopping trip we went to Freeport. I was looking for a ski jacket, and Michelle was given a gift card to L.L. Bean. After not finding anything that fit at Patagonia, we went to North Face and got a $300 jacket for $60! Though they won't honor the warranty. It was made in Vietnam.

At Bean Michelle got a couple of sweaters. While Bean has built their company on the image of Maine, they don't hide that much of their clothing is now made in China (see photo). Though some of their things are still made here.



Then, late last night, Michelle bought a sweater rack online.

So now we begin our no shopping year. Details to follow.