Star Wars

BPA in Receipts!

I saw on The Daily Green the other day that the major source of BPA in our environment is not from plastics, but from sales receipts! They had cited a Science News article discussing the work of John Warner, the developer of carbonless copy paper and thermo paper. Take some paper, slap some BPA on it, then cover it in invisible ink. Then, when heat is applied, the BPA and the ink together form color.

That was a couple decades ago. So now that BPA is in the news as being an estrogen-mimic (which is what makes it so horrible), he has analized the free BPA content of cash register receipts. You know the concern about BPA in baby bottles and other plastics. Well, most of the BPA has been polymerized, but there's still some free BPA left -- we're talking nanogram quantities. But because there's no polymerization on thermo paper, there's 60-100 milligrams of free BPA per receipt! And it just dusts right off. 100 milligrams is 100,000,000 times as many as 1 nanogram.

And what do you do with receipts? Pick them up, put them in your purse or pocket. Then maybe eat the food you just purchased. Or get in your car and drive away. It comes off your hands onto whatever you touch to be spread about more later. Or you digest it immediately, if you're eating. Then maybe you get it all over your hands again when you organize your receipts or throw it away. And it continues to spread. -- Or worse, you're eating in a restaurant where the servers are bringing your food to you after having just printed out the previous customers receipt. Oh, and it's all over your table.

What's the solution? Well, it's going to take a bit for someone to come up with a new way of printing reciepts so conveniently, and then all the cash registers will have to be replaced, or at least the printer part. But in the meantime, all we can do is request no receipt. I just feel really sorry for people who work at registers.

No High Fructose Corn Syrup Ketchup - A Condiment Review

Amy and I were discussing eliminating as much high-fructose corn syrup from our diets as possible.

I went out for some shopping the very next day and ketchup was on my list. Lo, and behold! Our local grocery chain, H.E.B., had 'No HFCS' ketchup for sale. I grabbed a bottle.

Aroma - Smells just like normal ketchup

Color - For some reason I was expecting it to be brown and nasty-looking. I have no idea why. It was a lovely bright red, just like regular ketchup.

Texture - At the risk of sounding like a broken record: It was just like regular ketchup.

Taste - Aha! A difference! It was a bit tangier/spicier than ketchup containing HCFS, which is to be expected since HFCS is generally used as a sweetener. I think I like it better this way.

So, all in all, a slight improvement. If you see some in a market near you, give it a try! Apparently, Heinz organic tomato ketchup contains no HCFS, so if you don't live near an H.E.B. (which are only in San Antonio I think) you can try that.

Update

Wow, it's been almost a month since I wrote anything here! I've been very busy at work, though, and I've had to work some in the evenings. Several little things to report:

The Geekdo/BGG team on CarbonRally isn't doing as well as I'd hoped. We've got six members, but I was hoping for more. Please join our team!

We got some dishwasher powder from Seventh Generation, and it's doing much better than Cascade, even. We've also changed the setting on our dishwasher, reducing the energy used both to wash and dry the dishes.

Gaiam is running a sale until mid-October where they're only charging 99 cents shipping on everything (unless extra shipping normally applies). They've also reduced the price of their Seventh Generation items permanently.

I don't remember if I've posted this before or not, but we've started saving on laundry by rewearing a shirt once if it's not dirty. We've noticeably cut the volume of laundry.

Someone has recently sold my address, and I'm getting at least ten new catalogs a week in the mail. I'm hitting Catalog Choice pretty hard, and they've stopped appearing -- and I'm not getting any repeats.

And finally, we're continuing the waste-free lunch. Once you get started, it's not that difficult to keep it going!

Waste-Free Lunch: Days 3 and 4

Yesterday, I went to work with Jeff, since I was starting class. We had turkey wraps, pretzels, and fruit, with water to drink. Today, I'm having left-over beef pot pie again.

Waste-Free Lunch: Day 2

This morning I was running late and was sorely tempted to pull a frozen microwaveable meal out of the freezer, as I normally do. But since I'd made the pledge, I resigned myself to making a sandwich. Then I remembered that there was left-over beef pot pie in the fridge! I grabbed a spoon and a cloth napkin, and put a bunch of bpp in a container and brought it to work. It reheated in the microwave very well.

I haven't eaten my apple yet. I think there might be a worm in it. :P

Waste-Free Lunch: Day 1

Following a pledge on CarbonRally, Jeff and I are starting Waste-Free Lunches this week. I bought some fabric and made some napkins this weekend. Also, we bought some extra flatware. We're taking everything Rubbermaid containers, and drinking water from cups. Okay, the water from a cup is normal for me, but I don't think it's an everyday thing for Jeff.

Today's lunch:
Turkey sandwich with provolone, brown mustard, and lettuce
Carrot sticks
Triscuts
Apple

Okay, I had the apple around 9 this morning.

Seeing the Light: Update Update

So the CFL lights are "instant on", as advertised on the box. But they do take a bit to warm up, and after said warming up, they're actually brighter than the 60 Watt incandescents!

Seeing the Light: Update

We finally changed out the bulbs in the office for CFL. The light is just a little more yellow, and it's not as bright as the 60 Watt bulbs we were using. I'm wondering if we'd gotten a name brand of bulbs if the light would be better.

Seeing the Light

We've done several little things over the last week:

1) Bought energy saving light bulbs. They were on sale with a coupon for $4 off of a 2-pack, which made them 50 cents each. Now we just need to start switching them in for the incandescent bulbs.

2) Unpluging our cell phone chargers when not in use. Apparently these things draw power even when the phone isn't plugged in. I'm not sure how they do that, because I didn't think it was a closed circuit, but anyway... We're also unplugging the Dust Buster when not charging. I only use it about once a week, so not only is it drawing power to recharge a battery that's not empty, but it's also running through charge cycles on the battery, which will shorten its life.

3) I signed up for Catalog Choice. On your behalf, they contact companies that send you catalogs and request that they stop. My address has been sold (grrr), and so I was able to stop four catalogs that I don't want, and reduce the number of times per year I receive some that I do want.

Another New Website!

I've just stumbled upon CarbonRally, where you can make a pledge, then it tracks everyone else who's made those pledges, and you can see the impact it's having across the country! You can join a team (I'm with The Daily Green team, because that's how I found the site), but perhaps I'll start my own -- Team BGG or something. Check it out! It's pretty cool!

TheDailyGreen's News Feed

New Website!

From The Daily Green, I just found a new website that lets you calculate your Earth Impact and carbon footprint. Then, it lets you check those other little things you do and reduces your score accordingly. Apparently, you can track your progress over time, and it offers suggestions as to how to reduce your impact. It starts with the easiest things to do, then advances. Check it out!

Here's my initial score. I was able to reduce it to 183 after marking the "pledges" that I already do.

And I found this information from EarthLab's site:
"By replacing the five most frequently used lights in your home with ENERGY STAR qualified lighting, you can save more than $60 each year in energy costs. If every US household replaced their five highest-use fixtures, or the bulbs in them, with ENERGY STAR qualified models, the change would prevent the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 8 million cars." -- so that's my next task!

Electricity, Electricity

In the afternoons on the weekends, I've been trying to open the curtains up in the living room and library. When we first started renting the house, we loved the amount of light coming in from the downstairs windows. It made the place feel so open. We quickly found out that all that sun was a killer in the afternoons, and you couldn't see the TV at all. Well, the TV is gone, because we didn't watch that one much anyway, and we didn't want Ian running into it. And as long as I close the curtains sometime between between 3 and 4 pm, it doesn't get so hot. Ian loves to rest his forearms on the windowsills and look out at the birds.

We used to always leave the computer on, albeit in sleep mode. What's the point of turning off your computer when your monitor, external DVD burner, and external hard drive all stay on? Recently, we got a new serge protector that shuts off peripherals when you shut off your main device. You plug your computer into a certain socket, and when you shut it off, it cuts power to the other outlets on the strip. There are three outlets that don't ever have the power cut so you can plug in your modem and router. Now we're turning off the computer at night, and saving money! We've also got the cable to the modem protected as well; it wasn't before.

New Recruit!

Our loyal follower, Tiffany, has begun to bring some of her recyclables over to our house. Yay! She lives in an apartment; trying to recycle in an apartment is a nightmare. Boo!

Stay Green, Baby!

A new baby in the house has a big impact on, well, everything.

Where to begin? First off, I exclusively breastfed. Not only is breastfeeding better for the child (get sick less often even after weening, have fewer allergies, are better socially adjusted children and have more self-confidence, and are not getting corn syrup solids), not only is it cheaper (it's free! ...as opposed to about $2000 the first year), but it's also better for the environment because you're producing the food, not a company, and there's nothing to throw away. I really do not understand why anyone would chose not to breastfeed. I understand it if when you go back to work and you just can't pump (BTW, my pump cost $220 and I sold it for $100).

When you breastfeed, you probably want nursing pads. They're about 50 cents a pair. I some days, I went through 5 pair. That's a fair bit of change over a year (probably over $200) and a lot of waste. I spent $30 on 10 pair of cotton pads at milkdiapers.com, and they work great! I don't need to do any extra laundry, because I can just throw them in the wash when I'm doing a load.

I tried using biodegradable diapers (they looked like Taco Bell napkins!), but after we weren't waking Ian up every two hours to eat, we weren't changing him enough at night, and they leaked all over the place. And then he started getting diaper rash. So it was back to Huggies. I could use cotton diapers, but I think the same thing would happen, and they don't let you use anything but disposable at daycare. Environmentally, I think they're about the same, when you factor in the whole life-span of the product. Do I feel guilty? A little.

I made almost all of Ian's baby food, and probably spent less than half the amount I would have if I would have bought it from Gerber or BeechNut. And that includes the $45 we spent on the Good Grips food mill. It was fun to make; every four weeks or so, I'd take four or five hours and make a bunch of food and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I'd pop them out, and put them in a bag or reusable container. The food was fresher, healthier (so many Gerber foods are made from concentrate -- yeah, I don't understand either), much, much tastier, and there weren't any glass jars or plastic containers to recycle. I did buy most meat in a jar, and some exotic fruits for him to try, but almost all of it I made myself.

Finally, a couple of simple changes I made. I stopped using paper towels to wipe Ian up after meals. Instead I use an old baby washcloth. Also, we've started buying used toddler clothes and shoes. both of these saves money and resources.

Reuse Sighting

There was a car in the parking lot at work that had a sunscreen in the window made from a dog-food bag. It was one of those big fifty pound bags made from plastic-coated canvas. They had cut it open so it lay flat (and washed it I assume) and had it spread open covering their from windshield.

Green Cleaning

Cleaning product are often full of nasty chemicals, made from petroleum, and are toxic. The first thing we changed was our dish soap, followed shortly after by changing our toilet cleaner and shower cleaner. We use Seventh Generation products for all of these, and they clean just as well as the older name brands that we used to use, but are not made from petroleum. We really like the dish soap -- it smells so good! Later, we started using their laundry detergent because we couldn't find Era for sale anywhere in San Antonio, and no one could get it for us. I prefer the Free & Clear to the scented, but they both work just as well.

We had been using Bounce dryer sheets for some time. Again, we used their fragrance free variety, but it was often hard to find. About two months ago, we got Nellie's Dryer Balls from Gaiam. Dryer sheets have carcinogens in them. What I hate about them is how many you have to just throw away. These dryer balls do the trick, as long as you put them in separately, and while your loading your dryer, not just thrown in on top. I find less lint and that the drying time is reduced by a couple of minutes.

Just a few weeks ago, we replaced the Swiffer. Swiffer was great -- it was the difference of me cleaning my floors vs. not. But I was sad about the amount of "dry cloths" I was throwing away. Again, from Gaiam I bought something very similar, but with cloth attachments that you can wash. It seems to pick up dirt and dust even better than the Swiffer, and the handle is both longer and adjustable. I think this is really the way to go. I was thinking of selling the Swiffer broom at my next garage sale, but I think I might hang onto it until I can find a better way to mop. Again, it's Swiffer, or it's me not mopping.

I want to hang the sheets and towels outside to dry. It's been over 100°F here for three weeks, with hardly any rain. I know they'd fade, but let's face it -- they're old anyway. I'm just worried about bird poop.

Making it Work at Work

Unfortunately, the university at which I work does not support recycling on satellite campuses. Never-mind the fact that there are four, large buildings on my campus, and that they're building an even bigger one right next to us. They just don't want to put recycling bins behind one of the buildings (that's what the administrator of my building told me). So I bring home cardboard boxes that I had food in. I also bring home small cardboard boxes from work, such as those binder clips come in. And it all goes in my recycling bins at home.

I also try to print everything double sided to save paper. This also save space in my filing cabinets and save the institute money on paper. When I can't print double sided, I use the back of the paper to make notes or to do calculations before I throw it out. (You can see it in the picture under the light on the right.) I've got a lot more waste paper than I have notes to make, so I bring it home sometimes to use as scratch paper. Jeff does the same.

I used to take bottled water to work, because the tap water in San Antonio is the nastiest I've ever encountered. There's sediment if you let your cup sit for awhile! I was bringing those bottles home to recycle, but about a two years ago, I started just getting water out of the cooler. It's on the other side of the building, but the walk is good for me. I'm also not contributing to the processes required to bottle water, get it too me, and recycle that bottle.

Save the Paper!

Something we did to reduce our paper usage awhile ago was to stop buying paper plates. I hated throwing them out all the time. Sure, you're not using water and soap to wash them, but if you use glass plates, you're not responsible for all the electricity and chemical usage in the manufacturing process as well as the trees used. And if you use a dishwasher, you'll probably have it full of glasses and flatware that need to be washed, so you just fill the rest up with plates.

And importantly, you're saving money. It's $45 for a pack of 1200 paper plates on Amazon. One of these packs is about what a family of four uses in one month if they each use a plate every morning for breakfast and for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. That's $540 per year. Many things that you can do to reduce and reuse actually save you money.

We often trade games through the mail. Sometimes we've bought a game, thinking that we're going to like it, but we really don't play it that much, or it's not what we thought it was going to be. So we find someone else who wants it and trade. We save the packing materials from these shipments, along with materials from online purchases, to box up our trades to send. I'm sure some of these packing materials have been used in many, many trades. We just keep everything organized in the closest in the office. Also, if we sell something on eBay, we can use the packing material to ship the item. Again, this is saving us money by reducing what we need to buy. Also, when we're done with a cereal box, I cut it up to use as backing to send pictures to family.

Just recently, we've started purchasing napkins made from recycled paper from Seventh Generation. They're a little thinner than what we were getting, but hold up just as well.

The Bag's the Hook

There were some things I did to reduce before, but what really got me hooked was reusable bags. I didn't like the idea of buying a little bag that cost $3, looked ugly, and I knew I would forget it. One day when we were at Half Price Books, we saw their b(eco)me green reusable bags for sale for a mere 98 cents! These things are large and sturdy. And you can put it over your shoulder, which helps when bringing them in from the car. And fewer bags means less fumbling getting the groceries in. We got five to put in Jeff's SUV and one to put in my car. And they're great. The grocery store we frequent gives 5 cent discounts for each bag you don't use, which is a nice bonus.

I was finding I was in places like Walgreens a lot, and didn't have my bag with me, either because I forgot it (which was usually the case), or it was too cumbersome to carry around with me. So I got three little ChicoBags ($7) that are the size of a plastic grocery bag, but fold up into a little bitty pouch. The little bag is attached to the inside of the bag, so you'll never lose it. And it's only about three inches in height, so it fits well in my purse. And they're machine washable and hold up to 25 pounds! And they can also attach to your key chain or belt.

It was very easy to buy some bags, and use them at the grocery store. The next easy step was to buy a few to carry around with me all the time.

The Beginning

I've always been annoyed at waste. I remember being a kid and thinking what a waste it was to package things the way they did at the grocery store. When Jeff and I got married, we recycled glass bottles, and we tried to recycle white paper, but it was hard to do much more than that while living in a tiny apartment. When we finally moved into a house (May 2006), we were able to do curb-side recycling, and we've been recycling as much as we possibly can. We recycle more than half of our solid waste.

Last night I started thinking about how much we've tried to "go green" since being in the house in San Antonio, and I realized how much we've done only in the last four to six months or so. Thus, I decided to start this blog as a sort of journal of where we've come from, and how we're trying to ever improve.

I hope this green kick that I'm on not only lasts for me, but also catches on with the population in this country. It's really not as hard as it seems. I realized recently that "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" doesn't just mean "Recycle." And I read somewhere that you're supposed to follow those instructions in the order given: recycling is the last part -- reduce and reuse first. It seems like so much is disposable nowadays that the first two Rs just go hand in hand.

After my first taste of reducing and reusing, I caught the bug, but I didn't know how to proceed. I got online in hopes of finding some pointers on easy ways to live green, but all I found were either things I was already doing, which I really didn't consider green living (i.e. don't waste food by buying too much because you went to the grocery store hungry) or ultra-hippie, and let's face it, I'm not going to stop using toilet paper. And I'm not going to use an old t-shirt as a diaper (yes, I did read that on treehugger.com, which I am now done with for all but humor).

All I did was to stop and think about what I was using and throwing away every day and how that would add up over the course of a year. Once I could identify the waste, it has been easy to correct it little by little so far. God wants us to take care of the Earth -- let's do it!