Campaigning for Our Planet

So, it's been a month.  It's not like nothing happened since last time I posted but I happen to be one of those peeps that doesn't do something unless it has an instant reward.  That sounds like the stereotyped "millennial".  I like to think I just need inspiration to work.  Not ideal for the world we currently have. This post I'll talk about things that have happened in the last 2 months.  Little things accumulate. I am proud to say that my campaign involving taking out my neighbor's recycling is going well.  (Check out my last blog post about it here)   I have three households that I know for sure are taking advantage of it.  Since I live right in front of the dumpster, I get to see all the people that still throw recycling in the trash, ugh.  Unfortunately my signs did not fare well in the rain.  I thought packing tape and plastic sheet protectors would work.  I have thought of making a simplified version in just black ink, 'cause it seems to be

 On Earth Day, I took my trash out.  It had been awhile since this had to be done because we've been so conscious about everything we toss in the trash.  Our community dumpster was oooooooverflowing.  There were trash bags stacked on the side of the dumpster.  I looked at the dumpster and there were two very large cardboard boxes sitting in it.  I had recently gone to an Eco-cycle event, teaching us how to talk to people door-to-door.  During that event, someone spoke out about how they had offered to their neighbors to use their compost bin.  In that moment, looking at those cardboard boxes, I had an idea.  This was a regular occurrence, recyclable items in our dumpster.  I can understand why.  Our HOA doesn't provide recycling.  We take ours to the recycling center on the military base next door.  However, not everyone living in my community is military or veterans (who have access).  My idea was simple.  I would put a sign up telling my neighbors to drop off their

I'm back from my vacation to Washington state!  I have loads to share as well.  I'm not going to lie it was hard to transition back to not only being vegan but also being environmentally responsible. Before I left,  I attended one of Eco-Cycle's many events.  This one in particular was about PAYT, Pay-as-you-throw.  Basically, instead of paying for recycling and compost, you would pay for your trash.  The cool thing is, you pay for how much trash.  I'll elaborate later now about what that means.  So at the moment, Denver residents only recycle/compost 22% of their waste.  It's supposed to be possible to get that number to 75% (50% compost, 25% recycling)  Many other cities already have PAYT implemented.  Here are the cities that are leading as examples with their recycling/compost waste rate: 1. Fresno, CA  71% 2. Seattle, WA  64% 3. Austin, TX  42% 4. Salt Lake City, UT  38% Denver wishes to become 34% by 2020. These are the rates that Loveland, CO is

Imagine you want some Chinese food and don't want the formality of siting-in.  Typically a restaurant is going to hand you a plethora of single-use items.  Utensils, straw, bag, cup, box. Whether plastic or polystyrene (Styrofoam), all of these things can be replaced with reusable items. UTENSILS I remind myself that because of their small, many recycling facilities don't even accept plastic utensils.  Utensils are one of those things you could easily forget at home, especially when you are on-the-go.  The next step is leaving a set in your car.   I suggest something better than that.  Put it on your key-chain!   (Check this Swiss Army Utensil out)    Try staying away from the plastic kind, as they can break.  Avoiding buying plastic in general is the best practice as that saves it from having to be recycled (aka eventually becomes toxic to our environment). STRAW The reusable straw movement has taken the world by storm.  I personally don't use straws to begin

   I was at my local pet store, picking up crickets for my chameleon, and as I was waiting, I found some "biodegradable" doggie bags.  I of course leaped at buying them, but something told me to read the back.  On the back of the packaging it said, "decomposes faster than normal plastic bags."  Huh? So these bags were still plastic?  Faster? How much faster? 1,000 years? 10,000 years?  I became suspicious and put them back of the shelf.  I needed to do my research.    I have bought trash bags, disposable dishes, etc. that claim they are compostable.  BUT what does compostable mean? Compostable means that a product is capable of disintegrating into natural elements in a compost environment, leaving no toxicity in the soil.  This typically must occur in about 90 days.   Some companies try to get around laws by using language such as "biodegradable", "bio-based", "biological", and "earth-friendly" in their marketing.  This

   Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow.  Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.    Most people don't realize how much food they throw away every day - from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce.  About 94 percent of the food we throw away ends up in landfills or combustion facilities.  In 2015, we disposed 37.6 million tons of food waste.  Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up about 30 percent of what we throw away, and should be composted instead.    I t is a great idea to look up what your city has to offer for composting services.   My city, Colorado Springs, there is an inner city compost project done by Colorado Springs Food Rescue called Soil Cycle.  Soil Cycle provides you with a food scrap bin, picks it up regularly, then composts it for you.  They then use the nutrient filled soil in urban farms or you can have it back.  Those