Руководство безотходного человека. Понедельник-вторник

Monday Trash

Find out if wasting less improves your life

It’s Monday of your No Impact Week. Consider all trash bins off-limits.

When Colin began his experiment he stockpiled his family’s trash for a week to figure out what disposable items they could stop consuming and throwing away without sacrificing their happiness or comfort. After giving up all disposable products, their level of happiness and satisfaction actually increased. Intrigued?

FYI

In 2006, the U.S. produced more than 251 million tons of trash — 4.6 pounds

per person per day.

EPA Municipal Solid Waste Data for 2006

Steps

1. Empty your special trash bag from yesterday. Separate the items into two piles: stuff that you used for more than ten minutes, and stuff you used for less than ten minutes. How does this make you feel? (Now put everything back in the bag and put it aside for the week.)

2. Put together a no-trash travel kit for the week with a reusable drinking receptacle for hot and cold liquids, a handkerchief/old t-shirt, Tupperware®, utensils, and reusable produce bags.

3. Stop making trash. Reduce it. Reuse it. Recycle it. Just don’t throw it away. Keep a special bag at home or the office to collect trash you make by mistake or necessity throughout the week.

4. At the end of the day, take time to reflect on your discoveries and post on our blog. Answer these questions: What did you put in your special trash bag? Why was it hard or easy not to make trash? Where was it impossible not to make trash? Blog about it here. http://experiment.noimpactproject.org/

5. Be proud of your efforts and a great start to the week! Please take your brief end-of-day survey. We will send it to you tonight to the email account that you initially registered with.

Environmentally-conscious packaging?

Think ice cream cone. It contains the ice cream. It biodegrades. It provides

calories. In other words, it has value all by itself. It is not wasted resources. If

we must have packaging, why can’t all of it be designed in such a way?

In other words, let’s make sure the resources we use deliver value instead

of just being something we throw away.

—No Impact Man blog, March 12, 2009

Ideas for change

Food shoping

• At the grocery store (or farmers’ market), use the bulk bins and bring your own old produce bags, pre-weighed containers, or cloth bags.

• Carry everything out in reusable bags from home and don’t take

a receipt (or use it over again for lists/scrap paper).

• Steer clear of goods that come in a box, wrapper, throw-away bag, plastic container, tin can…you get the idea!

• Cool idea #1

• Repurpose your Ninten-do® as a lunchbox. Host a clothing swap party. Use the Sunday comics to wrap gifts. Google “repurposing” for more fun ideas.

Cleaning

• Rid your life of paper towels. Cut up and reuse old clothes for napkins, diapers, cleaning rags, dishtowels, and even for blowing your nose.

• Women: Instead of toxic and landfill-clogging tampons and pads, check out a DivaCup or The Keeper®.

• Trade in your throw-away or refillable plastic razors for a straight razor.

• To avoid packaging waste, try out one of the many alternatives for soap, de

odorant, and laundry detergent such as vinegar, baking soda, natural deodorant stones, shaving soap, and soapnuts.

Cool idea #2

Load up this iPhone app to find out where you can recycle ANYTHING in your area.

Eating

• Travel with reusable cutlery, a handkerchief, and a resealable bag or Mason jar (all handy for eating on the run).

• Say goodbye to delivery and hello to potlucks with friends.

• Cereal lovers – buying in bulk reduces your waste. If you can’t buy in bulk, then re-use the wax-lined bags in cereal boxes to wrap sandwiches, or as trash bags.

Cool idea #3

Find fun trash-free alternatives to wrapping paper.

Celebrating

• Consider gifts that don’t come wrapped in lots of packaging that will end up in the trash. Give experiences, such as massages (who doesn’t love a back rub?) and local “adventures” like museums, movies, and dance or rock-climbing

lessons.

• Re-gifting is good for your wallet and the planet.

Working

• Forget Post-Its®. Use scrap paper, junk mail, and dry-erase boards to take notes.

• If your office doesn’t recycle, bring your recyclables home with you or start an office recycling program.

• Stop printing or print double-sided.

• Lobby your office to replace disposable cups with reusable glass mugs.

• This list is just the tip of the iceberg. Click here for more resources, and if you have new ideas, click here to share them with us.

Cool idea #4

Windows users: download GreenPrint to save

paper, ink, and money.

WEDNESDAY BEGINS YOUR WEEK OF ECO-FRIENDLY EATING. PRIME YOUR FRIDGE TODAY.

Tuesday: transportation

Your challenge

Burn calories, not fossil fuel

Day 3. You’re one-quarter of the way through.

Think fewer emissions and more fun, free time, and money. Let’s hop to it and start brainstorming how you can change your mode of transportation to have the least impact possible. And remember — you're still attempting to buy nothing new and make no trash.

Two months into his No Impact year, Colin and his family began phasing out all forms of mechanized travel — no planes, subways, taxis, cars, not even elevators. They biked, walked, and scooted, and not only did better by the Earth, but discovered that “active transportation” is less stressful (no traffic jams!), cheaper, burns tons of calories, and is plain old FUN. Using active transportation lowers your stress — plus, you get to spend more time with your family. Now, who wants to honk at that?

FYI

American car owners spend an average of 1,000 hours annually behind the wheel. What would you do with all that extra time?

Steps

1. Take stock of your habits: make a list of everywhere you’re going today and how you usually get there. What alternative modes of transportation could you use instead? Map out your new routes. Log onto your local transit authority’s website for an online trip planner. Pick up a bus schedule and your gym shoes, and plan ahead.

2. Throughout the day, keep a list of everything you eat, where you eat and where you purchase your food. This will help you get ready for Wednes-day's challenge.

3. GO! Bike. Walk. Scoot. Glide. Hop on the bus. Carpool.

4. Take a moment to reflect on your day. Was it a nice change of pace or a difficult one? What benefits did you discover along your route? What could you improve in your experience? Share your experiences with us here. http://experiment.noimpactproject.org/

5. Please take your brief end-of-day survey. We will send it to you tonight to the email account that you initially registered with.

6.

I pedaled into the BusinessWeek mothership this morning on my three-wheeled rickshaw... This is lifestyle redesign par excellence: taking what was once a wasted dead zone — a study in sedentary — and turning it into a meditative mini workout. Free transportation plus free calorie burn plus faster commute equals a net net net positive gain.

—BusinessWeek “The Case for Optimism” blog, June 3, 2009

Ideas for change

With your own steam

An estimated 30% of workday traffic is from parents driving their kids to school. Lace up your sneaks and enjoy the time with your child on

a walk to school. Click here to learn about starting a Safe Routes to School program.

Roll. Grab your helmet, those nifty reflectors, and get rolling — bike, rollerblade, skateboard,

scoot. Your lungs, your legs, and your lover will thank you.

Fifty percent of trips are less than two miles away. Bike to the library and check out a copy of How to Live Well Without Owning a Car. http://www.simpleliving.net/main/item.asp?itemid=954

By mass transit

Enjoy time by yourself by reading a good book, knitting, or even a little snooze as you let the conductor, bus driver, or captain do the driving for you!

Be in the know — check this out to get updated information about how public transportation saves you

money and protects the environment, as well as what the government is doing to pump up mass-transit infrastructure. http://www.apta.com/

Sharing is caring

Don’t know anyone you can ride with? Google “ride-sharing” and the name of your town to find a local organization serving as matchmaker.

Join a car-sharing program. If you don’t need a car for everyday commuting, car sharing is for you. You’ll reduce the number of cold starts (when a car emits the most emissions), cut down on the number of cars in your town, and

make your community safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. And you could save as much as $4,000 annually by not paying for car maintenance, cleaning, and parking. Sweet!

If you must drive

• Double-up on errands, take the shortcuts — you won’t miss all those red lights.

• Make sure to use your gasoline to the highest power: increase your mileage by pumping up your tires, moderating your acceleration, and turning off the A/C.

• Stop idling. Turn your engine off when the car is not moving. In New York

you’ll get a ticket if you

don’t!

• Learn more about joining the hypermilers (drivers who maximize their gas mileage by adjusting their driving behavior).

Cool idea #1

Bike commuting with kids is a win-win. Check out how Fritz trans

formed his one bike to transport his two kids. http://commutebybike.com/2007/09/15/commuting-with-kids/

Cool idea #2