Green Living

Paying tribute to a threatened resource

Today is World Water Day. I’m observing it by not taking a shower. I watered my just-planted radishes and carrots with a tub of used dishwater.

But the best way to honor World Water Day is to recognize water for what it is — a life-giving resource that is under threat. Yes, 70 percent of the planet is covered with water, but only a small percentage is drinkable. And that supply is drying up as world population grows and climate phenomena such as severe drought swath the world.

I’ve ranted in previous blogs about water waste through showering, flushing, and treating your faucet like a fountain. It’s easy to forget how precious water is — I read that the average American uses up to 300 gallons a day. Yet 1.2 billion people around the globe don’t have access to potable water.

It’s ironic that we treat water so disrespectfully, yet we’re willing to pay a premium for it when it comes in a plastic bottle.

Reuse newspaper in the garden

An unseasonable warm spell in March coaxed me into the backyard. The new patch I dug up and filled with compost last fall awaits its first seeds — lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots. As I dug down to measure the depth of the bed, I hit the thick layer of newspaper I put down before winter. I could still make out an article about the Palin-Biden debate.

When it comes to the daily paper, I subscribe to the three Rs — with the emphasis on reduce and reuse before recycle. Reducing by canceling paper delivery some years ago. Reusing in oh, so many ways (I confess to pilfering my supply of daily newsprint from nearby recycling bins.)

Newspapers are a gardener’s greatest green weed suppressor. A thick stack of wet newspapers laid down in a new bed deters weed growth so your plants have a chance to stake their place in the soil. The paper is biodegradable and, according to most garden resources, the soy-based inks — both black and color — contain no toxic chemicals that could harm the soil or plants.

Garden pros do advise you to verify that your daily paper uses soy-based ink rather than a petroleum-based solution. And avoid the glossy color circulars and inserts, which are printed on a different paper stock and may use less Earth-friendly inks.

The “perfect” lawn is anything but green

“How dumb is that?” is a game we played during dinner last week at Bill’s house. We took turns pointing out some of the craziest, most unsustainable practices we’ve observed.  Like packaging prunes in individual wrappers. Buying water in bottles at prices that make gasoline look like a bargain. Designing our communities for cars rather than people.

But one topic set us off on a riff of escalating outrage: the American lawn. Neal speculated that shaking off the ideal of the immaculate grass lawn could take a huge bite out of energy use, water abuse, toxic refuse, and landfill bloat.

It made me think: We plant something that has no nutritional or medicinal value (unlike clover or dandelions) and calls for constant vigilance. We put down petroleum-based poisons to kill everything around it. We spread more chemical-based fertilizers to stimulate fast growth and divert vast amounts of water to keep it green — so we can cut it short with a gas mower: in high season, as much as twice a week. Then when a free compostable material (leaves) covers the ground in fall, we power up the leaf-blower, gather them up in plastic nondegradable bags and send them off to a landfill.

Really, how dumb is that?

Cutting back on office paper use saves money

If I were the boss of a company, the first change I’d make (after allowing employees to do their jobs from home wherever possible)? Reduce paper use and abuse. I read that in the United States, we throw away 4 million tons of office paper each year. And that if we cut our usage by 10%, we could avoid 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. Don’t ask me to back up those stats — I can’t find confirmation of either. But I do know there are tons of steps we can take to reduce paper use — and save money as a result.

In my business, the default would be electronic communication wherever possible. And strict rules to guard against paper waste:

• Purchase 100% recycled content paper only.
• Recycle all office paper. No sheets of paper in the trash — ever.
• Print and copy reports and documents double-sided.
• Save waste paper printed on one side and use for draft copies.
• Reduce margins to .75 inches or less.
• Keep to single-line spacing.

And that’s just for starters: I haven’t addressed business mail, periodical subscriptions, and all the other paper products consumed as a course of business. Check out www.changethemargins.com, for more stats on paper use and ideas for cutting back.

Choosing the most energy-efficient television

I’m glad the government has pushed back the date for the digital TV switchover. June 12 buys me a little more time to get straight on the most energy-efficient choices for upgrading my 20-year-old TV. But I’m pretty discouraged. First off, I assumed that the slender, sleek new TVs would be more environmentally friendly than those bulky old boxes of the past. After all, dishwashers, washing machines, and toilets have all improved dramatically in the past 15 years.

Not the case with TVs. Both LCD and plasma models can burn a lot more electricity than the fat, squat CRT models because of the way they operate. But there are a couple more reasons why: We’re going bigger, with screen areas of 40, 60, 70 inches and more. And they suck up energy even while turned off. Any TV-or other electronic device that includes a clock and is manufactured to power up quickly when turned on-continues to consume electricity to keep its inner workings at the ready.

So the greenest choice? Looks like its keeping the old set and getting a conversion box. If I do end up replacing my TV, though, I’m committed to getting one with a 32-inch screen or less. And unplugging it when not in use. And not sending the old one to landfill.

Energy Star identifies TV models that are at least 30-percent more efficient in standby and active mode. I’ll definitely check out the Web site for that list. (www.energystar.gov)

The Return of the Handkerchief

I may have mentioned my stubborn resistance to using paper towel. I’ve talked about the virtues of cloth napkins. Fact is, I rebel against wet wipes, single-use cleaning pads, throwaway coffee cups and other unnecessary uses of paper. This includes sacrificing trees to produce tissues for my nose.

            A while back, I dug up a bagful of my grandmother’s old hankies hidden in the recesses of my linen closet: flowery, lacy, embroidered initials. They were so pretty that I wanted to display them. At first, I set them out like hand towels in my guest bath, but most people didn’t get the idea. Then I thought, why not use them for what they were meant to do? These dainty squares of cloth were reusable workhorses. Like cloth diapers, they handled the dirty work, provided gentle protection, and came clean to serve again and again.

            Now, I never go anywhere without a couple hankies tucked in a coat pocket or backpack. I haven’t started coordinating them with my clothes yet-the way Grandma did. But I know she’d be proud of my frugality.

Bringing back the neighborly tradition of borrowing

Here’s my fantasy: I live in a community with a neighborhood car. A neighborhood wood chipper. A neighborhood drill. A storage shed full of stuff that everyone needs-sometimes. Instead of each household owning one of everything, we reduce our collective consumption to a level that matches reasonable usage. After all, who needs a lawn mower 24/7?

            So imagine my delight when I ran across a Web site called neighBORROW.com. In a nutshell, it’s the online version of the storage shed I’ve imagined. Except that each item is owned by one of the neighbors, who makes it available for use to others.

By joining a “neighBORROW-hood,” you join a community of like-minded folks who see the value in lightening their impact on the environment by lessening their load of redundant possessions. You list the items you have available to borrow, and you have access to the lists of others in the ‘hood. Through the Web site, you arrange to borrow an item as you need it.

            While optimal benefits are achieved when members live within walking distance of each other, a neighBORROW-hood might consist of people who work at the same place, belong to the same religious congregation, or are otherwise connected.

            My neighbors are wonderful people, but most would find such a sharing arrangement heretical. (They’re none too happy with me already for not using weed control on my lawn and hanging my laundry outside.) But maybe I can fulfill my fantasy through a virtual neighborhood.

Which method of cleaning your dishes is better for the environment? This was the debate the other evening when I joined some friends for dinner. We didn’t resolve the argument, but I’ve checked around since and it appears that using an electric dishwasher may have an edge over old-fashioned hands-in-the-suds washing.

An Energy Star-rated dishwasher manufactured after 1993 likely uses less water than hand-washing-because it doesn’t waste water in that waiting-to-get-warm process you go through at the sink, and because it cleans a lot more effectively, which means you don’t have to pre-rinse to get all food remains off. To maximize efficiency, however, you want to wash full loads and use the most energy-efficient settings (choose air-dry and steer clear of heat-dry, rinse-hold, or pre-rinse options).

            All well and good, but I remain a hand-washer and here’s why: I live by myself. And unless I have friends or family over, it could take me a week to come up with a single dishwasher load. So I wash mindfully. Once a day, I fill up a soapy sink tub about halfway-just enough hot water to submerge or dunk most dishware. I wash and place my soapy-clean dishes in the other sink. When I’m done, I take my spray hose and rinse them. In the summer, I save the tub water to pour on my garden. (Why not? The soap is vegetable-based-the same as those organic bug-deterrent sprays.)

The big carbon paw print of cats

My neighbor and I share custody of Randy, a fat gray and white cat. The arrangement works well, but both of us have issues with litter: what to do with it? I steer clear of clay-based litter, which is not biodegradable. (My vision of Hell is eternity in a landfill of used cat litter.) Its extraction requires energy-intense and destructive strip mining. Clay dust can irritate respiratory conditions, and litters that absorb (”clump”) pose a risk if your pet inadvertently digests it.

So I use pine litter: It biodegrades quickly and it’s a byproduct of wood manufacturing, so its environmental footprint isn’t as big. Plus it’s advertised as flushable.

Ah, but here’s the rub: Cat feces may carry toxoplasmosis parasites. Not only is composting unthinkable, but it’s a really bad idea to dump it outside (especially near water sources or areas that humans or other pets may wander) or flush it. Wastewater treatment processes may not kill the parasites. With more news about pharmaceuticals contaminating our water systems, this risk of litter contaminants is a concern, too. (Ironically, one of the solutions recently posed for getting rid of medicines effectively is to pour them into used cat litter.)

I have yet to discover a viable option for litter disposal other than wrapping it up and putting it in the trash.

Buying economy-size is better for the environment

I saw an ad for individually wrapped prunes. I’m not kidding. A bagful of prunes, each in its own tiny bag. Now I love dried fruit and tend to eat one or two pieces per snack. But it never occurred to me that it would be oh-so-much-more convenient if each piece came in its own little wrapper. Next thing you know, they’ll be shrink-wrapping bananas and selling them singly. (Please don’t tell me they already are!)

            Single-serve products and multiple layers of packaging. It takes a lot of energy and resources to make all that material. As you scan the contents of your grocery cart, start ringing up the CO2 emissions! And to add insult to injury, the more packaging, the more trash you have to deal with. Think about plastic, one of the most common packaging materials. It’s made of nonrenewable fossil fuel-and plastics #3 through #7 are rarely accepted for recycling.

            I live by myself, but that doesn’t stop me from buying family-sized quantities of products. And when available, I buy in bulk. But I vow to be more cognizant of layers of packaging and choosing the least-wrapped. Tea, for example: loose tea in a reusable tin rather than a box of individually wrapped bags. And cheese: the big chunk of Colby rather than the plastic-wrapped slices with paper between each slice.