Not to be a downer, but one of the most beautiful places on the planet is burning. Any kid who’s seen Star Wars could recognize this as the forest moon of Endor; many adults will know a redwood forest when they see one. But whatever you call it, this wooded retreat is magic. In fact,…
Composting vs Budget Cuts
These past months have been a whirlwind, and while the city has been battered by Covid-19, and many lives have been lost or forever altered, the number of new cases is dropping. Good news delivered late, but we’ll take it. One of the less talked about effects of Covid-19 (unless you run in composting circles)…
What I was going to say…
Nothing is about all I can muster at the moment. The Australian wildfires are simultaneously the one thing on my mind and the one thing I’m refusing to think about. I was working on a list of resources for composting in New York but I am experiencing a bit of a collapse at the moment….
Trading cotton balls for reusable rounds
Let’s talk cotton balls. They’re soft, they’re squishy, they’re incredibly disposable. Disposability is part of their appeal, but with serious questions about how sustainable it is to produce cotton, and ethics around farm labor, I’m trying to transition away from my more consumptive habits and opt to not buy cotton if I only intend to…
Toothpaste (that isn’t paste)
Designers take note! I’ve found a toothpaste that can actually look attractive while sitting on a bathroom shelf. It’s called Bite and I found it when researching alternatives to toothpaste sold in plastic tubes. I grew up using Colgate, so for me, nothing tastes cleaner than a mouthful of fluoride and I’ve been buying toothpaste…
Low waste living mistakes I wish I could take back
Listen. We all make mistakes. And here’s one I made this week. I bought a $15 jar of hummus. Here’s how it happened. I like hummus. I like hummus but I don’t want to make hummus, which poses a problem as I’m on this low waste lifestyle experiment. Ready-made hummus comes in a plastic tub…
Today’s tea: compostable packaging
Today’s Tea: Your compostable packaging is only compostable if you actually… compost it. Sure, we can applaud companies who use compostable plastic cups and compostable paper bowls but the praise is meaningless if we put those compostable items in the trash. When we put compostables in the trash, they go to the landfill where they…
Studying climate change with friends
This week I’ll begin a distance learning course on the topic of climate change, and I’ll be joined by a few friends. We’ll be studying the materials on our own and as a group, then hopefully we’ll be sharing what we learn with others through discussion nights, workshops, or other methods. The course is offered…
Goodbye, bags. Thanks for the litter.
It’s a big deal: New York state has banned plastic bags. The ban will take effect next March. So, prepare to say goodbye to bags in the trees, bags in the gutter grates, bags in the park, bags on the beach, bags tangled around a pigeon’s leg. We’ve had a good run plastic bags (have…
More bread, less plastic
A while ago I blogged about a less-than-successful attempt at waste-free grocery shopping, and revealed that sometimes I buy gluten-free bread. I didn’t buy gluten-free sandwich bread after that, so guilty did I feel about the plastic bags. But I like bread. So I figured it was time to look into whether or not any…
Climate Conscious 