Composting

Tips on Having an Environmentally Friendly Halloween

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Day 297 – The colors orange and black are associated with Halloween. However, we should probably be thinking green. Seven Generations Ahead created a great Green Your Halloween Guide to help you make your festivities environmentally friendly.

Here are few of the suggestions:

  1. Try to buy your pumpkin local. Supporting your local farmer is always a good choice.
  2. Have a plan for your pumpkin after Halloween is over. If the pumpkin is not carved think about eating it (soup, pie, etc). If you carved your pumpkin plan on composting it. Look for a local Pumpkin Smash event in or around your neighborhood. On October 31st, I will be listing all the Pumpkin Smashing events in the city and suburbs.
  3. Avoid buying a new costume. Check out your closets and see what you already have. Consider a costume swap with family and friends.
  4. Trying to find sustainable packaging for your candy purchases is very difficult. Consider buying in bulk to limit the packaging and go a step further and invest in a TerraCycle zero waste box for candy wrappers and snack bags. For any leftover candy, avoid throwing it away and donate to an organization collecting surplus candy.
  5. If your hosting a party, purchase decorations and party supplies that can be used year after year. Preserve plates, cups and bowls are an excellent option.

Whether it’s your everyday routines and habits or special occasions, putting the planet first should be everyone’s priority.

Tomorrow, eco-friendly Halloween crafts.

Packaging Made from Mushrooms

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Day 288 – It’s National Mushroom Day! So, it was the perfect day to discuss how mushrooms are now being used to make packaging for products. Back in 2020, IKEA announced that they would be replacing styrofoam with mushroom-based packaging.

“IKEA recognizes the damage to the planet that polystyrene causes, mostly because it takes hundreds (if not thousands) of years to decompose in landfill. By contrast, plant-based packaging can break down in a matter of weeks. Developed by product design company Ecovative Design, the mycelium-based material is called Mushroom Packaging, or MycoComposite.” – IKEA

So, for those of you that are not big fans of the fungus, mushrooms are the future to sustainable packaging.

Here are some interesting facts about mushrooms:

  1. There is a 2400-year-old giant “honey mushroom” in Oregon, covering 2200 acres, slowly killing off the trees in the forest. It is the largest living organism on the planet. 
  2. Portabello mushrooms, button mushrooms, and white mushrooms are all the same mushrooms at different levels of maturity.
  3. Mushrooms are more closely related to humans than to plants.
  4. The most expensive single food ingredient sold was a 3.3lb white truffle, a subterranean mushroom that sold for $330,000.
  5. There is a mushroom that dissolves itself. It is edible, but it must be cooked or eaten within hours of picking.

Tomorrow, celebrating World Food Day.

Electric Composters: Are they worth it?

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Day 283 – You might be thinking, yet another post about composting? However, I can not express enough how important composting is for the environment. The food that ends up in the landfill is a major contributor to methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas. Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA. So, making sure we divert food waste from the landfill is key to reducing greenhouse gases.

So, when I started seeing advertisements about electric composters, I was curious if they really worked. Earth911 was kind enough to share some information about various electric composters and to share the pros and cons.

Even though there were a few pros on purchasing an electric composter, the bottom line is that we do not need yet another electric appliance. Just another expensive piece of machinery that generates carbon emissions when built and has no where to go, except the landfill, when it stops working. Yet another contributor to the e-waste problem.

Earth911 does suggest that if an electric composter is the one option you’re willing to try then make sure you’re buying it from a responsible company.

“If you’re interested in purchasing an electric composter, look for brands that take a full product lifecycle approach to make their product as sustainable as possible. That would mean the company has taken steps to reduce the manufacturing emissions and raw materials consumption on the front end, and it has a sustainable solution for responsibly disposing of or recycling the product at the end of its life.” – Earth911

Tomorrow, detergent pods and the plastic problem.

Compostable Snack Bags

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Day 282 – The days of tossing your chip bags into the trash may be coming to an end. The folks at Off the Eaten Path have created a bag for their snacks that can break down at industrial compost sites. The bags are made from a material called PLA (polylactic acid). PLA is derived from renewable resources like corn starch or sugar cane.

If you do not have commercial composting available to you, you can ship your bags to TerraCycle and they will compost them for you. For every bag returned to TerraCycle, Off the Eaten Path will donate $1 to Ocean Conservancy (up to $192,000), helping to protect our ocean and our planet.

When you think about the number of snack bags that are disposed of on a daily basis, it is very clear that having a compostable bag would be a serious game changer. Hopefully, the other snack companies will follow suit and help in the fight to save the planet.

Tomorrow, electric composters and their efficiency.

Compost Program Starting in Chicago Neighborhood

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Day 273 – I have written about composting on numerous occasions (Day 2, Day 118 and Day 149). The posts talk about an easier way to turn your food scraps into rich soil, without needing to do much work. The process is commercial composting and all you have to do is put your food scraps into a bucket and someone comes by and picks it up. No turning of compost piles and no worms necessary. It’s all very easy and so very important. Keeping the food out of the landfill helps reduce carbon emissions. My family of 6 can fill a 5 gallon bucket each week. I can only imagine what the local restaurants are throwing out. Imagine the impact if we could keep all that food from entering the landfill.

Well, a new pilot program in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood is trying to make this a reality. WasteNot Compost has partnered with the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce to launch Clark Street Composts. The program started on September 13th and includes over 20 restaurants, bars and other businesses, wanting to keep their compostable waste out of the landfill. The hope is that this program will be the gold standard for sustainable business practices and will encourage other businesses to start composting.

“Chicago’s 2.7 million residents rank final in the nation in phrases of recycling habits, with meals waste estimated to make up over 50% of landfill contents, and 17% of greenhouse gasses produced in the U.S. are a product of meals waste rotting in landfills.” – USA News Lab

It’s time Chicago starts becoming a leader in the environmental movement. We have been dragging our feet long enough.

Tomorrow, World Vegetarian Day.

Dogs are cute, but their poop stinks!

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Day 238 – It’s estimated that there are around 900 million dogs in the world. That means there are a lot of bowls to fill, walks to be taken and poop to clean up. As this blog as mentioned on numerous occasions, I have been on a mission to make my home more environmentally friendly. Just taking the recyclables out to the recycle bin was just not cutting it. So, as I made my way around the house making changes that would benefit the planet, I came across the dog poop issue. I thought I solved the problem by purchasing 100% biodegradable and certified compostable poop bags. Unfortunately, as I was doing research on my biodegradable trash bags (Day 12), I found out a very important fact. Unless that biodegradable/compostable bag is finding its way to a commercial composter and not the landfill, it will not breakdown very easily. Oxygen and warm temperatures are needed in the composting process. Since these two important factors are missing in the landfill, these bags end up staying intact for a very long time.

I looked up commercial composting facilities that deal in dog waste and found nothing in my city or state. There are very few in the country. I looked into at-home dog waste composting systems and they did not appear to be ideal, especially living in a rather dense city dwelling. I’m sure the neighbors would not have appreciated that very much. I even looked up information about flushing dog waste down the toilet. From what I read it was not advised. Also, leaving where it lies is never a good option. People like myself that are magnets for stepping in poop, really do not appreciate those that do not pick up after their dogs. Not to mention there are health concerns connected to not properly disposing of dog waste.

My final solution was to try to minimize the number of bags I put in the trash. Since my dogs prefer to go number two in the backyard, this option was the easiest for us. So, I purchased a small metal garbage can. Once, the waste is picked up the bag goes in the can. I continue to use the same bag until it is filled. I used to use around two to three bags a day, wanting to make sure I kept the backyard clean of dog waste. Now we use one bag every two to three days*. If you do the math, we are down to under 150 bags a year instead of using over 1,000 bags.

As for those biodegradable/compostable poop bags, I will continue to use them. Since, Doogy Be Good bags are made from cornstarch and other bio-based components, when they do eventually breakdown, they will not be releasing any toxic chemicals.

On this National Dog Day find ways that you and your dog can help be more environmentally friendly.

*During the summer months, bag use increases compared to the cooler months. I don’t think I need to explain why.

Tomorrow, the importance of extended producer responsibility.

Cleaning Has Never Felt So Good

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Day 225 – Clorox wipes have always been a staple on many back to school lists. However, the popularity of this cleaning wipe exploded when the pandemic arrived. Stores could not keep them on their shelves and the company could not produce enough to meet the demand.

As we emerge from the pandemic, the need for Clorox wipes has decreased, slightly. However, the need to clean and disinfect surfaces is still a top priority for many. So, I was very exciting to find out that Clorox has a compostable wipe.

“Clorox® Compostable Cleaning Wipes pick up dirt — and compost back into dirt. They come in both Simply Lemon and Free & Clear, an unscented version for those who prefer a fragrance-free clean. Best of all, they’re safe to use around kids, pets and food. They’re made with a compostable plant-based cloth, which makes them safe to compost at home, or through your local municipal facility.” – Clorox

Since, they are compostable, they will only break down in conditions ideal for composting (air and heat). These wipes will not break down if placed in your garbage. Just one more reason to start composting!

A three pack of Clorox Compostable Wipes is currently less expensive than a three pack of regular throwaway Clorox wipes. Can the decision to use compostable wipes get any easier?

Tomorrow, green parking.

The Report on Chicago’s Waste

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Day 222 – This past July, Chicago released a 64 page Waste Strategy report on existing waste conditions in the city. As I read through the document I made some notes that I found worth sharing.

  1. In 2020, the City of Chicago generated 4.13 million tons of materials. That includes waste from residents, institutional, commercial and industrial.
  2. Annually, approximately 40,000 to 44,000 tons of yard waste are generated from low density residential structures in Chicago, but very little has been collected through 311 pickup requests.
  3. High contamination rates strain recycling equipment and lessen the value of recycled commodities.
  4. From 2015 to 2020, there was an average of over 75,000 tons of materials collected each month; an average of 9 percent of which was diverted from landfills.
  5. Private companies and high-density residential buildings are not required to report their rates for garbage collection service.
  6. While some service areas show relatively consistent performance over time, there is a general trend of declining performance across all areas (relating to recycling).
  7. CPS manages waste and recycling services for 642 schools.
  8. Increased material diversion through reuse and recycling has potential to create more jobs than would be created through disposal.
  9. The Illinois Commodity/Waste Generation and Characterization Study Update published in 2015 calculated the market value of recyclable materials, including subcategories of paper, plastic, glass, and metal, that were ending up in landfills. The study found that the value of these materials was more than $360 million.
  10. The study found that slightly over a quarter of material placed in Blue Cart bins is unrecyclable contamination, including recyclable materials in plastic bags.
  11. Making cans from recycled aluminum requires 95 percent less energy and generates 90 percent less green house gas emissions than virgin stock.
  12. In 2004, there were eight active landfills in the region, and as of 2020, there are only four. These four landfills had an average life expectancy of 12.4 years as of January 2020. There are no active landfills in Chicago or Cook County.
  13. In addition to landfills in Illinois, Chicago’s waste is disposed across state lines in Indiana. In 2019, over 2.6 million tons of waste generated in Cook County (including the city of Chicago) were sent to six landfill locations in Indiana.
  14. On average, each Chicago resident generates a little over 3 pounds of waste per day at home, or a little under 3,000 pounds of waste per year for each Chicago household.
  15. COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS MATTER. 

Here’s a list of things the city offers that you might not know about.

  1. Since 2014, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), in partnership with Seven Generations Ahead and Lakeshore Recycling Systems, has been expanding a commercial composting pilot program to reduce organic waste, improve purchasing, and provide waste diversion education to CPS students, faculty, and staff. The program has expanded to 14 CPS schools and (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic conditions) resulted in over 2,500 pounds of materials diverted from landfills every day.
  2. Yard waste collection is available to Chicago residents through the 311-request program.
  3. Composting is available through commercial composting companies, Illinois Food Scrap Coalition and Zero Waste Chicago.
  4. In 2020, the Chicago Department of Public Health and Department of Streets and Sanitation introduced a pilot program offering rotating e-waste drop off service at district sanitation offices.
  5. The Chicago Department of Public Health (in partnership with the Chicago Police Department) provides for pharmaceutical disposal at police stations across the city. In addition, there are secure drop off sites located at hospital centers, select pharmacies, and at water reclamation plants managed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD).
  6. Foam packaging and food service containers are not accepted in Blue Cart bins or City drop off locations. Dart Container Corporation offers free drop off collection at 7575 S. Kostner Avenue for all polystyrene foam except for packing peanuts, which can often be reused for shipping.
  7. Shredded paper is not accepted in Blue Cart bins because it clings to and contaminates other items and does not respond to recycling equipment like whole paper. The City, Aldermen, and other organizations sponsor events for personal document shredding and collection (or collection of pre-shredded paper) for residents.
  8. Flexible plastic film, including plastic bags and common packing materials, can become tangled and damage recycling equipment, and is not accepted in Blue Cart bins. Recyclables placed in Blue Carts should also not be bagged. This material can be recycled if collected separately, and several Chicago grocery stores and businesses host collection sites for plastic film. A list of participating businesses by zip code can be found at PlasticFilmRecycling.org
  9. Chicago Public Libraries have hosted innovative Repair Cafes and other programs to better manage Chicago’s materials.

Here’s some ideas of how the city wants to reduce our waste.

  1. Reframe Chicago’s materials as resources, instead of waste.
  2. Identify opportunities to include goal setting, metrics, and data sharing to demonstrate progress and increase transparency.
  3. Equip consumers with the education and tolls needed to drive innovation in evolving waste systems.
  4. Increase transparency in the process and build trust among Chicago’s residents more efficiently.
  5. Shift the cultural norms towards circularity and away from traditional disposal models.
  6. Maintaining clear and consistent messaging around recycling contamination.
  7. Developing a directory of participating retail take-back options for e-waste and household hazardous waste in Chicago.
  8. Establishing a revenue-sharing partnership with a textile recycling company for collection of clothes, shoes, and other textiles otherwise ending up in landfills.

Chicago has a long way to go when it comes to sustainability. However, I do believe we have the potential to become better and even become a leader on the ways a large city addresses waste, reuse, recycling, and building a circular economy. It won’t be easy and it will take residents, commercial business, industrial corporations and institutions to help improve our current conditions.

Tomorrow, sustainable school bag options.

Fun at the Beach

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Day 208 – When you think about items you would need for the beach, I’m sure a towel is high on the list. Beach toys are also a must have. Children of all ages and even children at heart, love playing in the sand. Having good tools to dig those gigantic holes and build epic sandcastles is a must. Today’s post gives a few examples of towels and beach toys made from sustainable materials.

Beach Towels

Rupert and Bird – Each towel consists of fabric made primarily from recycled plastic bottles, equal to twenty-two bottles saved from the ocean or landfill. Each purchase contributes to 1% for the Planet. 

Nomadix – All products are made using certified post-consumer recycled plastic. Thirty plastic bottles equals one Nomadix towel. They also contribute to 1% For The Planet.

Evolve – Ultra-soft, exclusive Ecolite™ fabric is sustainably made from recycled plastic, with an average of 20 plastic bottles recycled to produce each sand free towel. 10% of all profits are donated to environmental charities. 

Beach Toys 

Love Lotte Eco Beach Toy Set – Made from bamboo fiber, this set is sturdy, but also biodegradable. So, in case anything goes missing, it will breakdown in the sand within 12 months and not become plastic waste. It’s a bit pricey for a beach toy, but knowing you are purchasing a sustainable product is well worth the $36.

Green Toys – I wrote about Green Toys on Day 152. Green Toys are made from 100% recycled plastic. They contain no BPA, phthalates, PVC, or external coatings. The toys are also dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. They have a wide range of bath/beach toys.

Rogue Wave Beach Toys – Pail and shovel is made from a certified compostable plant-based plastic. That means no petroleum, and no micro-plastics! Material is made in the US, BPA-free and oil-free. At the end of their very long life of play, they will compost back to soil in active landfills and commercial compost facilities.

Make your next trip to the beach a good one, for you and the planet.

Tomorrow, 100% recyclable is not exactly 100%.

Preserve: Reusable Plasticware

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Day 207 – It may sound counterproductive to write about plasticware, especially during Plastic Free July. However, Preserve is not your typical plasticware. Preserve has been making products good for people and the planet since 1996.

Here are just a few of the ways Preserve is making a difference:

  1. Preserve’s plastic products are made from 100% recycled plastic.
  2. Preserve’s plastic products are dishwasher safe and made to last.
  3. Preserve’s products are made in the U.S.
  4. Preserve has a line of 100% compostable items that are plant based and gluten free.
  5. Preserve has a take back program called Gimme 5, which collects #5 plastic that they transform into new Preserve products.
  6. Preserve even takes back their own products that reach the end of their life. They then recycle and create new products from those items.
  7. Preserve is a Certified B Corporation.
  8. Preserve makes a line of products made from ocean plastic. Through sales of our POPi products, they support organizations that prevent plastic from reaching the ocean. 25% of proceeds from POPi products are donated to non-profits that work on issues including:
  • Developing better recycling systems around the world.
  • Researching the effects of plastic in the ocean and on marine life.
  • Creating catchment technologies (ways to trap plastic in waterways before it reaches the ocean).
  • Providing better end of life solutions for recovered and recycled packages that were heading for the ocean.

I recently purchased the On the Go Party Set (currently sold out) and couldn’t be happier with the product. The plates, cups and plasticware will be used for countless parties to come.

Tomorrow, fun at the beach is becoming more environmentally friendly.