Celebrity Green

I subscribe to very few magazines, but one of my favorites came this week. VegNews is packed with great recipes, vegetarian news, fun interviews, and more. I was pleasantly surprised to find a fabulous article on Daryl Hannah and her efforts to promote green living and other social issues. She has a website with "mini-documentaries" that I have fallen in love with. Each little movie is so rich with information. She covers a wide variety of topics...from bio diesel to hemp to bike culture. Go check it out for yourself! Another celebrity that I have come to love is Woody Harrelson. Woody isn't afraid to speak the truth, and I think anyone who is actively trying to educate others about living "greener" and more simply deserves respect. I first learned of his activism when I found the documentary "Go Further" on Netflix. The film shows Woody's bicycle trek down the West Coast. He makes stops along the way to educate students and anyone else who will listen about bio diesel, the sustainable uses of hemp, deforestation, raw foodism, and more. There are tons of "extras" on the DVD, including a little clip of Julia Butterfly Hill, whom I also admire. You can check out more of his work at his website, Voice Yourself. If you decide to watch the movie...you will also love the companion book, To Go Further: A Guide to Simple Organic Living. It's a favorite on my bookshelf.

Trashy Trash Trash

I've been thinking about trash.

Moving to a small apartment with a small garbage can has made me very aware of what I throw away. Having to walk the garbage bag down 3 flights of stairs, then down another to the basement, out the back door...and a short walk to the ally makes me not want to make much trash! We usually fill up one small garbage bag a week...but even that seems like so much! I'm still trying to figure out where I could take my food scraps to reduce that even further. One of my goals during The Compact is to buy groceries/food with little to no packaging. This drastically reduces the amount of trash one produces. I'm amazed by how much trash we can throw away just by ordering take-out one night! Wow.

A movie that is closely related to this topic is "The Gleaners and I" (thanks Ali!). I just finished watching this quirky little French film about modern day gleaners and urban scavengers. It was incredibly interesting to me...I've always been curious about the lives of experienced dumpster divers and people who live completely off of the trash that others create. The movie goes far beyond that and delves into the world of found object art and into the lives of those making a difference in their neighborhoods. I can't say enough about this movie...I think everyone should see it.

The Compact has me on the lookout for items that I can re-use or use in a different way. In my research about these things, I came across some fun Flickr groups dealing with this topic: ReUSE Project Tips for Recycling and Reusing Junkin' Trashion Nation

There are also some great sites dealing specifically with re-fashioning items of clothing: Wardrobe Refashion Wardrobe Refashion (Flickr) Little Brown Dress ::: Recycling Project

And more sites discussing found object (trash) art: Metroactive Art from Trash

Books to check out: Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things

Today, when you throw something away...ask yourself if it could be recycled, re-used, or given to someone who needs it (Freecycle!). In a disposable culture...it may feel weird at first, but it does the earth GOOD!

Photo credit: D'Arcy Norman

Paper or Plastic?

Neither! Because... 1. Both use up valuable natural resources for a single-use, disposable product 2. Both have negative impacts on wildlife and pollute our environment 3. Both create significant toxic by-products during their lifecycles 4. Neither is effectively recycled

If you've ever tried to decide which one was better for the environment, look no further. Read this great info from Reusable Bags and switch to cloth today. Someday in the near future, you might just save a lot of money by doing so. Ireland, and many other countries are already implementing taxes on plastic bags...and the U.S. isn't far behind.

I know that a lot of people will argue that they use the plastic bags at home for various purposes (I do this as well right now). Even though it's better than throwing them straight in the trash, it's still better to just avoid them altogether. Honestly, what did people do before we had those annoying bags? I'm going to begin phasing mine out and not get any more.

I have blogged about my cloth bags in the past...and this is your friendly reminder to start using cloth today!