Paper Products Update

www.marcalsmallsteps.com

     While shopping in the paper goods aisle at the Hannaford Supermarket today, I had a pleasant surprise.  Recycled Marcal napkins have reclaimed their place on the shelf again.  My cashier said it was likely due to our comments, because they share customers' requests.  She also explained that they have special request forms--items requested are often stocked if enough people show an interest.   Since they currently carry recycled paper towels and toilet paper, it's time to start requesting facial tissues.

     (I also discovered that Patterson’s A & P presently carries recycled products in all four forms: napkins, toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels.)

Catalog Choice

       Do you feel frustrated when you take mail out of the box, only to toss it immediately into the trash or recycling bin?  I use to spend hours writing letters to dozens of individual companies imploring them to stop sending catalogs full of items I had no interest in purchasing.  A few years ago I learned about a terrific company that does all the pleading for me, consequently, unwanted catalogs seldom occupy my mailbox.

www.paperonline.org

     When an undesired catalog does arrive, I sign in to http://www.catalogchoice.org; click on the company name; fill in my address information from the catalog; and click a button to request removal from the mailing list.  It only takes a minute, and I rarely see a catalog from that company again.  If I come across a company that does not take part in Catalog Choice’s program, I am linked directly to the company's site and given instructions on the removal process. 

     They even keep track of the positive impact my decisions have made on the environment.  Over the past few years I've been able to eliminate the delivery of catalogs from over fifty companies, saving: three trees, 919 pounds of greenhouse gas, 2212 pounds of solid waste, and 326 gallons of water.   So now when I reach into my relatively empty mailbox, I contemplate those numbers; envision the undisturbed wildlife; and contentedly read my small pile of mail.

www.paperonline.org

Consumer Help

“If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees.” NRDC

     I came across this quote on the NRDC’s (National Resources Defense Council) website today while researching which toilet paper choice was both sustainable and affordable.  Purchasing the right kitchen and bath paper products can make an impact, however, labels often offer little  information on their production.  Avoiding the overuse of all paper products is the best solution—sponges, rags, and cloth napkins rather than paper towels, but when I do purchase paper products, this site helps me make responsible selections.

     This chart comes from the NRDC site which includes detailed charts on the impact of paper product production:  http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

Toilet Paper           Percent Recycled     Percent Post-Consumer     Bleaching Process

365 (Whole Foods)               100                                 >80                                 PCF

Ambiance                             100                                 80                                   PCF

April Soft                              100                                 80                                   PCF

Best Value                            100                                 <40                                 PCF

CVS Earth Essentials             100                                 60                                   PCF

Earth First                             100                                 <80                                 PCF

Earth Friendly                        100                                 80                                   PCF

Fiesta                                    100                                 80                                   PCF

Green Forest                          100                                 90                                   PCF

Marcal                                    100                                 40                                   PCF

Natural Value                           100                                 80                                   PCF

Natures Choice                        100                                 <40                                 PCF

Pert                                        100                                 <40                                 PCF

Seventh Generation                  100                                 80                                   PCF

Small Steps                             100                                 30                                   PCF

Sofpac                                    100                                 40                                   PCF

Trader Joe's                            100                                 80                                   PCF

Charmin                                     0                                    0                                   ECF

Cottonelle                                  0                                    0                                   ECF

     When the cashier at Pawling’s Hannaford and Patterson’s A & P asks, "Did you find everything you were looking for?" I let them know that I am disappointed with their paper product selection. I imagine more households requesting sustainable options will improve our choices and increase our ability to save those trees.

Lucious Lavender

     The aroma of biscotti baking in the oven transports me from this snow covered January day to my July herb garden: bees buzz, the sun shines, and the air fills with the sweet scent of lavender. This Mediterranean herb has been used medicinally for hundreds of years—for digestion, relaxation, and as an immunity booster, but my favorite way to enjoy the aroma and subtle flavor is in almond lavender biscotti (see recipes page) for the pure pleasure of it.  Even though my kitchen herb garden is nestled under a few feet of snow, thanks to an hour of summer labor, a jar of dried lavender buds waits to flavor our winter baked goods.

     Drying lavender is extremely easy.  Cut the stems when the buds are just about to open and hang them upside-down in small bundles, in a warm, dark place.  When dry, pull the buds off the stems and store them in an airtight jar.

     When harvesting lavender for baking, ensure that it’s culinary lavender.  There are a number of varieties that grow easily in Pawling and have an excellent flavor.  We are lucky to have a local supplier of lavender who is extremely knowledgeable and resides in Pawling, Ellen of North Wind’s Farm.  She sells culinary lavender plants at many local farm markets and culinary lavender buds through her website: http://www.northwindsfarmlavender.com.

     Kathy Keville of Discovery Health writes that, “Of several fragrances tested by aromatherapy researchers, lavender was most effective at relaxing brain waves and reducing stress.”  Perhaps that explains my feeling of contentment as I bite into the fragrant, crispy biscotti.

Grown-up Fun Fruit

Last night as my sister tasted dried cantaloupe for the first time she commented: “It’s surprisingly sweet and melts in your mouth, like a grown-up Fun Fruit.”

I started drying cantaloupe a few years ago.  At first, I was worried that cantaloupe would merely disappear when dehydrated, yet it turned out to be one of my preferred dried fruits.  Through my efforts to support local farms and eat local produce all year, I have experimented drying many fruits and vegetables, whatever is in abundance at any local farm. 

Last summer while at Cascade Farm’s Saturday morning market (www.cascadefarmschool.org) I noticed a basket overflowing with extremely reasonably priced cantaloupe.  The farmer, Margaret, explained that they had so many ripe melon, they were worried they would spoil before they sold them all.  I had the opportunity to help a farmer sell her produce and preserve a favorite fruit to consume in winter—avoiding having to buy cantaloupe that has traveled half way around the world.  That’s a true bargain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in 1960 only 6 percent of cantaloupes eaten were imported, but today the number has grown to 34 percent.  It would nice (and so much more sustainable) to reverse this trend.

Ecological Personal Best

highschoolsports.mlive.com

Track competitors continually strive to perform their “personal best”.  It is a great analogy for the process of gradually minimize a footprint toward the idea of “tiptoeing on the Earth”.  We each strive for our personal best, rather than comparing ourselves to others around us.  We make decisions day-by-day, minute-by-minute, responding to different priorities, needs, and interests.  Rather than a competition, it is more like a cooperative game; we are in this together, working toward a common goal.

If you are interested in setting your personal “Earth impact goal” try this website: http://www.myfootprint.org/

Decisions, Decisions

Living sustainably is about living consciously, making decisions about each product I buy, or don’t buy.

I am a reader, which means that I have to decide where my reading material will come from: new or used books from our local book store, The Book Cove; used books from Amazon; borrowed books from the library; or books downloaded onto an e-reader.  Which option is the most sustainable?  

Buying a new or used book from The Book Cove makes sense to me when I plan to refer to it often: my gardening, cooking, landscaping, poetry, nature reference books are all books I will return to again and again.  Used copies from Amazon.com are also in the same category; I will re-use them over and over, yet these will have to be packaged and shipped, rather than picked up while I’m  in town. 

I generally request most fiction and non-fiction “one time reads” from the Mid-Hudson Library system.  These books are delivered to the library from towns far and wide; I read them; and then they are returned.  The miles they travel to arrive at my library can be significant, yet because I am reading a book that will likely be reread many times, there is less environmental impact due to production. 

The e-reader is something I have not yet tried, however, I can see there are environmental benefits—similar to the move from CD’s to MP3 players a few years ago.  Cleantech Group LLC (www.cleantech.com) predicted, in 2009, that, “On average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use.  Any additional years of use result in net carbon savings, equivalent to an average of 168 kg ofCO2 per year (the emissions produced in the manufacture and distribution of 22.5 books).” Although this information is somewhat helpful for those who primarily purchase their books, it does not directly relate to my style of book buying / reading.  So I continue to wonder which these methods of acquiring books truly has the least environmental impact.  Maybe there’s a good book out there to help me decide. 

Local Summer Tomatoes in January

My husband and I wanted to extend our ability to eat local garden and farm produce beyond the seasonal five month period, valuing the environmental benefits of eating locally. After researching preservation techniques, we decided to  increase the size of our gardens, buy more local produce, and begin dehydrating. The cost of the dehydrator was relatively low—compared to purchasing a freezer; the storage space needed for the jars was less than canning; and the process was simple.
Our dehydrator enabled us to savor the flavor of garden fresh summer tomatoes on our pizza last night (even though a foot of snow covered my vegetable garden).  We have discovered, to our great pleasure, that the process of dehydrating, removing the water, does not diminish the taste of summer vegetables when re-hydrated.

Recycled Yogurt Cups Hold & Protect Seedlings

Since Pawling’s Transfer Station does not recycle yogurt containers, I drill five holes in the bottoms (drilling through five cups at a time) and use them to grow seedlings.

As I plant seedlings in the garden, I cut the bottom half off the cup and use the top as plastic collars to protect seedlings from slugs and cutworms.

Undrillled cups also protect my seedlings from hungry slugs.  I cut the top two-thirds off and dig the new smaller cup into the garden, near my newly planted seedlings.  I fill the cups with beer and toss a “cup-of-slugs” out the next day.

Stuff

Today a friend, a new mother of a beautiful baby girl, said she worries about how she’ll handle it when her daughter grows up and desires: “Tons of stuff?” I suggested she might want to watch the video, The Story of Stuff, with her.  The video challenges us all to create a more sustainable and just world based on our attitude toward “stuff”.

Four Season Clothes Drying

Although the chill in the air discourages some, the early morning pleasure of enjoying nature while saving the dryer’s electricity makes winter clothesline drying a worthwhile task.  A few minutes of dryer time or some basement hanging may be required for heavy items (jeans and towels), but on a clear, dry, breezy day, clothes dry almost as well as they do on in summer.

Sun shines through the snow covered cedar; birds peck at the suet; my German short-haired leaps through the deep snow banks; and the cold encourages my fingers to pin clothes quickly to the line that tethers the nearest tree to the corner of my house.