Tag Archives: it’s not easy being green

>Typical autumn weekend chores, reality show style

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>Director: Ah, a beautiful autumn day.

Assistant: Who’s that guy on the swing? What’s he doing in the shot?
Daisy: That’s Chuck. He lives here. I married him twenty-five years ago.
Assistant: Oh. Well, I’m going to check the weather forecast so we can plan the rest of the week.
Director: That’s a lot of leaves. Shouldn’t you have something powerful like a leaf blower?
Chuck: Who needs a leaf blower? Picks up rake and tarp, clears lawn in record time.
Director: Get the shot from a number of angles; watch out for shadows. It’s really sunny. Is November always like this in Wisconsin?

Chuck and Daisy: laughter

Director: Make a note: when we edit this, show the before and after. Hey, wait a minute. What did you do with the leaves? Burn them?

Chuck and Daisy, to each other: Shake heads.

Daisy: It’s like this. Most residents rake their leaves into the streets. City crews will pick them up, take dump trucks full of leaves to the brush dump, and pile them up to decompose there and become mulch. City folk can bring their own buckets in the spring to pick up free mulch.
But me? I spread a blanket – a thick blanket – of leaves on the garden. It’ll insulate the soil and decompose into its own fertile mulch right here in my own yard.

Chuck, aside to director: Yes, she’s a science teacher. She’s channeling her inner Ms. Frizzle right now. Want to see where the rest of the leaves went?
Director: What’s the picnic table doing upside down?

Chuck: It’s weighing down the leaves and the cardboard barrier until the snows come. That’s the new tomato garden. It’s easier to set it up now than to dig and rototill the growing grass in the spring.

Assistant, running up to director: Did you see how much open space there is in the backyard? We could stage a weather balloon launch here!
Chuck and Daisy, shaking heads again: Let’s sit on the swing. They might take a while to consider this one.

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>Upcycling

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>Reducing, recycling, reusing, repurposing, and – upcycling? What’s with this new trendy green term?
Reducing: buying less, buying products with less packaging, planning ahead for making less waste.
Recycling: returning something to a plant that will make it into the same product or something similar, such as aluminum cans.
Reusing: ‘Nuff said. Use it again. And again. And again.
Repurposing: finding a new use for a product. Chuck brings home Chinese food, Daisy turns the foil dish into a small baking pan. A store receipt becomes a bookmark. Old t-shirts get torn into strips to hold tomato plants to their supports. You get the picture.

So how is upcycling different? Upcycling takes repurposing to a new level. An object gets repurposed with an attitude, so to speak. One famous example is the old television turned into an aquarium. Not everyone can take upcycling that far, but think accessible. Think possibilities. Glasses from the thrift store can turn into candles for teacher gifts (mine was cinnamon, very pretty!). A pretty t-shirt gains a ruffled skirt and becomes a little girl dress (I bought one from a crafter and La Petite, then age 5, loved it). I’d place my rain barrels in this category, too; two fewer big plastic barrels in the landfill, used for a very eco-friendly purpose.

I don’t sew well enough to quilt, or some of Chuck’s and Amigo’s favorite t-shirts might become quilts or throw pillows instead of rags or tomato supports. I think the old-socks turned white-board erasers is more of a repurposing; it’s not a step up in the world for the sock, although it does make it more colorful. How about the polka dot chair project? I don’t think that qualifies as upcycling; the chairs are still chairs, just cuter than they were at first.

So, dear readers, add to the list.

  • What does it take for repurposing to become upcycling? Does the coffee can full of pencils count, or is it more of a simple repurpose?
  • What have you upcycled – or seen and admired as an example of upcycling?
  • No, I don’t consider Brett Favre in a Purple uniform to be an example of upcycling. That’s an example of – never mind.

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>Apples and Banana and Dump Cake – Oh, My!

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>I was making supper on a school night: planned-over brats from the weekend grill, a can of beans, and whatever fruit was handy.
Boring.
A big bowl of ripe almost-becoming-soft apples sat on the table. One lone ripe banana sat on the counter.

You guessed it. I baked. Here’s the result.

Apple Dump Cake Plus

Fill the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan with thin-sliced apples (about 4 cups) and banana.
Top with 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened and sliced.
Dump over this one bag of basic yellow cake mix. I keep a store-brand box of yellow cake and white cake in case this kind of situation arises.
Top with another 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened and sliced.
Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cool — a little — and then serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

P.S. I also added 1 cup of frozen blueberries from last July. They added color and a little fun. If I did this with apples again, I might add a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. Come to think of it, cranberries might be a nice combination, too.

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>The frugal and green teacher

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>A sign of a teacher both frugal and green: provisioning, using repurposed and reused materials.

From left to right: coffee cans for ‘found’ writing utensils, wire basket (second hand) filled with notebook pages donated by last year’s class as they cleaned up in June, box of re-usable paper with one blank side (extra worksheets, memos, newletters), and junk mail envelopes (under the chunk of our state rock, red granite) for field trip slips and lunch money.

My students take to this like ducks to water. They even “play school” with some of the old worksheets! That box helps me empty my old files with much less guilt because there is much less waste. Those with messy desks often jump for the wire basket rather than dig into what resembles an archeology site.
Tune in next week for The Frugal and Green Teacher, NaBloPoMo edition.

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>Planned Overs

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>Freezer diving. Shop-the-Shelves. Pantry raid. Call it what you will: it means cook or bake something with what you already own. My family cooks Planned-Overs.

Like Leftovers, planned-overs are the extra: the chicken breasts thawed on the grill as the fire dies, the double batch of chili in the crockpot with half intended for the freezer, the extra spaghetti without sauce that will become carbonara later in the week.

Planned-overs are frugal, green, and efficient. Starting a few potatoes on the grill (I live in tailgate party country, okay? We honestly cook this way) lets me turn them into bakers or twice-baked in the next day or two. When sweet corn is all over the farmers’ market, I cook at least one extra ear each meal. Sliced off the cob, it makes a great addition to any casserole or soup of veggie mix. I’ve even added corn (along with the perpetual grated zucchini) to chunky tomato sauce. Steaming extra veggies one night to become soup the next saves time and doesn’t take any more energy.

Planned-overs. At my house, it’s what’s for dinner. Enjoy.

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>One change a Month

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>I saw the idea on Over Coffee: the Green Edition. She suggested twelve recommendations, one per month, for a person who wanted to become more eco-conscious but could only handle one change a month.

Imitation being the most sincere form of flattery, I stole the idea. Here’s my list: one action per month, meant to be additive so that after a year’s time green behavior feels natural.

January: Read and learn. Join Paperbackswap.com for trading books. You don’t have to stop buying books, but instead of hoarding them, pass them on to another reader through the swap network.

February: Switch to cloth napkins. This was so easy I wondered what took me so long to try it. I buy them on sale, so the investment is minimal. They go in with the rest of the wash, so there’s no additional expense for laundry.

March: Dig a garden plot. If you live in the north country like I do, this might be too early. If your ground is still frozen, plant and nurture a few seeds. Herbs grow quickly; try basil and oregano.

April: Start backyard composting. Really. It’s simple. Buy an inexpensive compost bin or build one yourself. There’s no need for the fancy ones – unless you want something really cute like my new bin!

May: Plant a garden. Vegetables for eating, flowers for pleasure, but keep them local. No imports, please. Vegetables can be so satisfying. There’s not much on Earth that can compare to a fresh tomato right off the vine.

June: Shop at a Farm Market or join a CSA. When you pass by the street musicians, drop some spare change in their cases. They offer so much enjoyment when they share their talents.

July: Use your own shopping bag. Keep a small one in your purse or the car’s glove box. It’s an easy change if you keep the bags handy. As the habit grows, you’ll collect fewer and fewer plastic bags. It’s worth the (small) effort.

August: Before hitting the school supply sales, check your home. Buy only what you need. This is both economical and eco-conscious.

September: Use a reusable lunch box, including containers and flatware. Build this habit early, and the brown bag will never feel the same.

October: Rake your leaves into a pile over the garden or compost them.

November: Cook local or regional specialties for Thanksgiving. That’s easy for me to say: cranberries grow in my state!

December: Give up wrapping paper. It’s not recyclable, it’s rarely reusable, it contains too many chemicals to be burned in a fireplace. Re-use gift bags or get creative with your wrapping.

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>Farm Markets, fundraising, and putting the garden to bed

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>What’s that white stuff? Snow flurries? Already?

The Farmers’ Market, two weeks away from closing, was like a ghost town. Only the most dedicated vendors and the die-hard customers (like me) were there. All were decked out in warm outerwear, gloves, hats, the keep-warm collection. It was windy, too. Brrrr. I bought honey crisp apples for lunches, a little sweet corn, peppers in green and (mostly) red. The peppers we’ve bought from this stand lately are delicious. I’ll cook some and freeze a few.

I’m a sucker for a good cause. A polite young Boy Scout asked if I was interested in buying popcorn. Chuck and I are not supposed to eat much popcorn, so we’ll probably bring the box to La Petite next time we visit. I’ll call it her fall midterms Care Package. Of course I bought it! Did you need to ask? After I finished buying lettuce and carrots (with greens) for the bunny, I passed a local nonprofit cafe and their coffee of the day dragged me by the taste buds through the door and to the counter. White chocolate strawberry, if you must know. That kept me warm while standing in a much-too-long line at the post office.

Actual conversation while tearing down and uprooting dead and dying garden plants:
Me: “I’m getting the last few beans.”
Chuck: “Give them to my parents. They love beans, and they just pulled in the driveway.”
Me: “I don’t have many.”
Chuck: “They don’t need many.”
Me: “I have, like, five beans.”
Silence.
We sent them home with fundraiser cookie dough instead.

One anti-static dryer ball is lost. One. They work in a pair, and this pair has last me 6 months already and is still going strong. Now one is lost. One. I felt a twinge of guilt adding fabric softener to the washer. Only a twinge pulled at my eco-heartstrings, however, because after all, I’ve done largely without fabric softener for six months.

The garden is nearly ready to hibernate, the last harvest is in the sink to be cleaned, laundry is in, Chuck is painting scenery for his model trains, and Amigo is watching college football. Life is good. I think I’ll make some cappuccino or hot cocoa and have a cookie from my own stash of fundraiser cookie dough. Shhhhh.

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>In which Chuck’s take-out dinner is greener than mine

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>It was not a dark and stormy night, but it did rain. I was tired and arrived home late (field trips will do that) and I didn’t have the energy or inclination to cook. Amigo likes days like this; we call for pizza. It doesn’t happen often.

Chuck, on the other hand, had to work late as well. He stopped on his way home to pick up Chinese food — Dragon Phoenix, if you’re wondering, which is one of my favorite dishes as well.

Here’s the trash breakdown for the pizza:
Pizza box: recycled clean portions, soaked and composted soiled part
Bag from breadsticks: soaked and composted
Tiny container from dipping sauce – garbage. Sorry. I just couldn’t think of a way to repurpose this weak little item. The sauce, however, joined a tomato sauce I made from garden tomatoes.
Leftovers in refrigerator for Saturday’s Leftover Lunch

Throwaway totals for Chinese dinner:
Cardboard containers (waxy style, containing food residue): compost
Soup container: reused. These are perfect for freezing soup stocks.
Leftovers in refrigerator, as above, for Saturday.
Paper bag for carryout: recycled. It was a little too big to be handy for reuse.
Plastic bag that covers paper bag for carryout: reused
Fortunes recycled
The only parts of this meal that ended up in the garbage: the tiny wrappers from the fortune cookies and the soy sauce packages. Next time Chuck should say “no thanks” to those; we have a bottle of soy sauce at home.

At a glance, the two look fairly equal in waste impact. However, the Chinese food wins in an important way. The pizza order gets delivered on request, costing gas and spewing carbon into the air every time a customer calls. The other restaurant is on the way home; Chuck doesn’t have to go out of his way at all to pick it up. As for carbon footprint, he wins.

As for taste? It depends on your cravings. Both were delicious.

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>Sustainable cooking: can a suburban/city type do it successfully?

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Brighter Planet announced a contest; a collection of tips and ideas and stories from regular folks (and bloggers, too). They call it Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking.

I started with a picnic entry. For a picnic on the road, I couldn’t beat this post: our evening snack on the hotel deck overlooking Pike Place Market. It’s not your typical picnic, not a pack-a-cooler in the car’s trunk kind of plan, but a picnic it was. Emphasizing local food and drink was part of our plan, and we did so while in a city far from home. Great fun, great food, and another great memory from the trip. A great tip for sustainable cooking? Maybe. Go ahead and check it out! When I can figure out how to upload pictures to the site, I’ll see if I can make my contest entry look even better.

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>Compost: How far can I go?

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Compost: how far can I go? How much waxy paper, how many pizza boxes, will actually decompose in the bin with the kitchen waste? Only time (lots of it) will tell.

Last spring I set a few composting goals in a 3-2-1 Summary style. I’d noticed that the litter from the bunny boxes didn’t decompose completely. I still compost the contents of the bunny boxes, but this time I’m planning on leaving the bin for a full year. The time and the heat of a second summer season, I hope, will help the pine and red cedar bits decompose all the way.

Popsicle sticks didn’t decompose very well, either. To hasten the process, I broke the sticky sticks into smaller pieces. If the additional time and the breaking down of fibers doesn’t make a difference, I’ll know they’re just not suffiently biodegradable for a backyard bin.

My main goal was to add in papers of many kinds – papers and cardboards that are food-tainted or otherwise unsuitable for recycling. Take pizza boxes, for example. The lids are usually contaminated with bits of pizza sauce and spices. Advice from the Interwebs said this: tear these lids in strips, soak them to further break down the fibers, and then bury them in the compost. The cardboard circles from the frozen Tombstone can go this route, too. Further experiments: the wrappers from butter/margarine sticks (hoping such small amounts of dairy won’t cause a problem), waxy wrappers from orange dreamsicles, an occasional paper towel.

That paragraph makes it sound like we eat a lot of junk food. We do consume a fair share, (blush) I admit it. Pizza or drive-through foods are the exception, though, not the rule. I’d rather use my crockpot than bring in a Big Mac, and the family knows it.

There won’t be many paper towels, either; we’ve eliminated paper napkins and paper towels almost entirely.

But ultimately, this experiment will depend on time. I have the new composter, and I’ll use that one exclusively next season while the big black one sits and does its thing: lets the compost happen.

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