Joanna's Green Thing

Last Post

2009-03-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

So I redid my carbon footprint, and for some reason my footprint increased! It went from 4.3 earths to 4.4. It's important to note that the things I set out to change weren't things measurable on the footprint calculator. My services went from 41% to 40%. Mobility stayed the same at 10%, food and goods both dropped from 19% to 17%. The shelter went from 11% to 16% and I think I know why. Before when I did this I didn't know what I was paying for my utilities, so I put "didn't know." I've recently begun paying the gas and electricity bills so I put in the actual amounts from the previous month, so that could be why my shelter increased. I readjusted the electricity bills to say "don't know," and my footprint was 4.3 earths, and my shelter was 12%.

I think that once I graduate and move out on my own, I think it will positively affect my footprint. My bills will be less, and I have more control over what lights are on, what things are kept plugged in and whatnot. I can also start using renewable energy, and I really want to.

My goal to buy local food didn't go so well. I shop at Fred Meyers, and they don't have a large selection of local foods. Apples, which are largely grown in Washington, aren't readily available at Fred Meyer. I think that I might try shopping at the Farmer's Market for my produce.

My other goal to use the reusable bags went really well. I'm so proud of myself. I thought that I would forget them when I went to the store, but I found a good way to remember. I usually don't just stop by the store on a whim, I have it planned, so I keep the bags right next to the door in the little slot between the back of the couch and the wall. So on my way out I grab a couple bags depending on how much I plan on purchasing. They sit in the front seat, so when I get to the store I can see them sitting by my purse and grab them both. I love using them, and I can't figure out why I didn't do it before. So much can fit in them and I don't have to make four trips to and from the car to bring everything in the house. The only drawback is that since they carry so much they can get very heavy. But I don't care, they are awesome!!

Next, my goal to stop the junk mail. I signed up for the no mail list back in January and I was told it would take 30-90 days to start to see a difference. It's been 7 weeks and I can see a difference! I used to get a couple pieces a day and now I get only a couple pieces a week. Even though I'm still getting some it's gone down, so hopefully in the next couple weeks it will be none!

I'm going to keep up with my goals, and try to add more. I've been unplugging my cell phone and iPod chargers when I'm not using them. I learned that I only need 20 - 40 minutes to charge my phone. I need to remember to unplug my hair dryer and straightener more often. When I have my own place I know it will happen everyday because I will have them in a drawer, and I wont want them out on the counter. Currently I have them in my room and I don't have a specific place for them, so they are always in my cubes and plugged in. That is a struggle for me to remember to unplug them daily.

All in all this class has changed some of my habits and I will continue to find new ways to be more sustainable.

Another Article

2009-03-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

I found another article (click here) about "Energy Vampires." It's a fact vs. fiction about what electronics use the most energy and why they still use energy when turned off. It's a pretty interesting article.

I have also been hearing commercials for Earth Hour I think is what it's called. On March 28th, they are encouraging people to turn off their lights for one hour in order to encourage sustainability. I'm going to be in London on the 28th and so I'll try and participate.

I swear every commercial I see or hear has some aspect of sustainability in it! It's outrageous. People are being bombarded with these commercials, but do we know they are being honest with their sustainable claims?

Interesting Article

2009-02-25T08:54:00.001-08:00

I read this article about how to recycle anything. It give non traditional ideas like for old crayons, or Crocs.
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/tips-techniques/recycle-anything-00000000006117/index.html

They have an A-Z guide for recycling household items. Really interesting.

I have been trying to use less paper towels when I wash my hands at work or school. I usually use at least 2 maybe 3 depending on the size, but lately I've been trying to use only one, which is really hard. Sometimes I have to let my hands air dry but it's ok.

I was also trying to think of ways I can make my workplaces greener. I have two jobs, and both do a good job of recycling, using recycled paper, and printing on both sides of the page. We are always turning off the lights if we aren't in the room. The only thing is at one office the computers are never shut off, they only shut off the monitors at night, which I think is very inefficient. I might have to talk to them about that. One of my jobs is I'm an executive assistant for a Lean Manufacturing Consultant, and he is currently looking to hire a Green Consultant. I don't know if he will hire someone while I'm still employed here or not but it will be interesting to see what this person will bring to the table.

I had to go grocery shopping last night after working at school, and I forgot my bags. It's my first pitfall.

Oops

2009-02-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

So I didn't realize that I didn't post last week, so I'll do two this week. I don't really have a lot to say for this week but I'll try.

The past two weekends I've gone somewhere so that meant a lot of driving, which sucked for both me and the environment! I drove about 800 miles between both weekends! Other than that I've been doing good on bringing my bags to the grocery store, or declining a bag if I didn't bring mine or I could just carry my purchases in my purse.

I've been hearing lots of commercials both on TV and on the radio that are talking about sustainable practices which I think is nice.

Here is a tip from the Green Tips iPhone application:
"Install rain barrels to collect rainwater from your roof and awnings. Use the rainwater for your garden. Plants love it and you'll conserve water."

Green Applications for iPhones

2009-02-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

I'm super surprised at the fact that I'm remembering my reusable bags when I'm grocery shopping. I'm having a harder time remembering to unplug my hairdryer and straightener though. I'm leaving in the morning to go to my Grandmas, and I'm going to unplug like everything in my room.

So far I'm still getting junk mail, hopefully it will stop soon.

Last weekend I was searching on iTunes for some applications for my iPhone and there were several Green Apps. I downloaded "Go Green." It's pretty basic, every time you go into it you get a new green tip and it keeps track of all the tips you collect. So far some of the tips are: buy recycled, in the summer ditch the dryer for a clothesline, use a reusable coffee mug in the mornings, and buying in bulk and splitting it up among families.

About Half Way Through

2009-02-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

I had a few observations over the past week or so that I thought I would tell you all about.

After the guest speaker last week was talking about the Food Plus program, I noticed Friday morning that my neighbors had a Food Plus bin out for pick up. I just thought that was interesting.

I was browsing Old Navy's website the other day and I saw that they had like six or seven organic cotton t-shirts that had environmental sayings on them. They are pretty cute, I think I might get one. They aren't any more expensive than their other t-shirts, which is nice.

When I went grocery shopping earlier this week, the cashier commented on my remembering my reusable bags. I told her about the class and she that it was a good idea. She said that people are always telling her that they (Fred Meyers) needs to put up signs in the parking lot so they don't forget their bags. I think that would be a good idea.

Also while at Fred Meyer I picked up some sour cream, and I was sort of in a hurry so I just picked the generic Fred Meyer Brand because it was the cheapest. But when i got home I was looking at the label and it was made out of cardboard and was easily removable from the plastic container. On the inside of the label it explained that the container was made from less plastic and since the label could be easily removed it was easier to recycle. I thought that was really interesting.

For my sports marketing class we had to do a branding assignment, and I was searching Western's website and found that the basketball team had a Go Green game where everyone was to wear green and support a sustainable lifestyle. The game already happened by the time I found it, otherwise I would have loved to go and find out what they were doing to promote going green.

Also last week I got an e-mail from Western about Western Wednesdays where any student or faculty can go to a participating Starbucks with their own mug and get a free cup of coffee just by showing their Western Card. I thought that was a great idea. If I liked coffee I would totally do it.

I have been making some other improvements in my daily life other than my three goals. I've been unplugging my cell phone charger when I'm not using it, and also quit charging it over night since it only takes maybe an hour to get a full charge. I've also been unplugging my hair dryer and my straightener daily. I have also signed up for paperless billing from Qwest. I just got put on the account for PSE and Cascade so I haven't been able to sign in and set it up, but I'm going to. For Cascade in order to pay the bill online there is a fee. I don't know if the fee is worth it for me at this point in my life so I might still have to pay via mail for that bill. We'll see how it goes.

That's all for this week.

Surprising Findings

2009-01-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

I looked at my conditioner, Nexxus Humectriss Ultimate Moisturizing Conditioner, on the toxicity website, Cosmeticsdatabase.com. Let me tell you it’s not all that good. It is rated a 9 on a scale of 10! 99% of conditioners are better then Nexxus. That is outrageous. All the ingredients are listed below with the most toxic ones bolded.

Ingredients from packaging: WATER, STEARALKONIUM CHLORIDE, GLYCERIN, CETYL ALCOHOL, MINERAL OIL, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, TRITICUM VULGARE (WHEAT) FLOUR LIPIDS, TETRAHEXYDECYL ASCORBATE, ALPHA GLUCAN OLIGOSACCHARIDE, KERATIN AMINO ACIDS, PANTHENOL, TOCOPHEROL ACETATE, MAGNESIUM CITRATE, MANGANESE CITRATE, AVOCADO OIL, GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) STEROL, CERAMIDE 3, BUTYL METHOXYDIBENZOYLMETHANE, OCTYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, MYRISTIC ACID, PALMITIC ACID, STEARIC ACID, SODIUM CHLORIDE, POLYGLYCERYL 3 DISTEARATE, POLYSORBATE 60, POLYSORBATE 20, POTASSIUM SORBATE, GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, PETROLATUM, STEARYL ALCOHOL, DISODIUM EDTA, DMDM HYDANTOIN, IODOPROPYNYL BUTYLCARBAMATE, PEG 40, CASTOR OIL, CITRIC ACID, PHENOXYETHANOL, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, FRAGRANCE, RED 4, YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, RED 33

Most of the ingredients have a zero or one rating, but select few are higher. Ingredients have been linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions and warnings, and allergies and immunotoxicity. The one good thing I can see on here is that Nexxus doesn’t test on animals, which is a big plus, but not when you compare it to the toxins in my conditioner!! I’m kind of surprised that my hair isn’t falling out.

I’m taking this hazardous product out of my shower tonight! Well after checking, I don’t have any other products to replace them with but I will go this weekend and get a better replacement. I will do some research on the best product to do so before I purchase though. In a way I’m sort of glad this conditioner has so many bad things in it, because I really didn’t like how it made my hair feel when it was wet. And I have a thing about using the entire product before replacing it, and I just put the Nexxus conditioner in my shower. Now I have a good excuse.

I also thought it was interesting that on the pages of each product, there was a link to purchase the product. I can understand that for the organic products and the zero toxicity products, but even the extremely toxic products have a purchase link. They are trying to promote products that are safe and natural, but they are also promoting the bad stuff too.

After looking at my conditioner, I also looked at my mascara and my facial moisturizer and was extremely surprised about both of them. My Maybelline mascara was a 6, and my Dove moisturizer was a 7. Being a facial moisturizer I would hope that it would be a lot lower since it is going directly on your face. And when I think of Dove I think of pure and clean, and that is why I purchased it to begin with.

No Junk Mail...Coming Soon

2009-01-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

So one of my goals was to stop getting junk mail, because I get too much, and I finally found a good, reliable website to sign up for. I used www.dmachoice.org and was able to sign up and stop getting catalogs, magazine offers and other offers. And it was free. They also had a link to a different website www.optoutprescreen.com where you can opt out of credit card offers, which I tend to get a lot of. They have an option for only a 5 year opt out online or a permanent opt-out (which I did) where you have to actually mail something in to opt out. I should see less mail in 30 - 90 days...I will keep you updated.

So a funny thing happened after this class yesterday while waiting for my next class, Sports Marketing. The class is in PH 244 and while waiting for the previous class to adjourn, a couple of us from Sustainable Marketing were waiting by the large recycling bins and another Sports Marketing class member, Simon (I think is his name) was about to throw a non recyclable item into the recycling bins so Bryn and I decided to lay down the law and tell him what was what. We also noticed that in the recycling bins were pizza boxes (most likely from the previous night's SMA meeting), which cannot be recycled so Bryn, Brittney and I took the 7 or 8 boxes to the garbage.

I was also thinking about some different things this week. What is the sustainable difference between organic and local food/produce? I understand the actual difference between them, but what good would I be doing if I purchased organic over local if the organic version has to be shipped from far away? Does the organic aspect offset the delivery part, carbon footprint-wise? Just some questions I have had this week.

A Jumping Off Point

2009-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

1/19/09

This past week I feel I've done a pretty good job at being more green. I don't know if it's subconscious or intentional, but I've been taking shorter showers this past week. I've been doing everything the same but I've been doing it quicker. I hope I can keep it up.
Earlier this week I looked online to find a website to take my name off of mailing lists and I found one and got almost all the way through the registration process and then something happened and the page was lost. I didn't write down the website other wise I would have finished it by now, but I'll look again later this week.

I also went grocery shopping today and I remembered to bring my bags! Big step for me. I put them right by the front door so hopefully placing them there will trigger something so I can remember them. I also purchased mostly organic products. I couldn't find the organic apples at Fred Meyer, otherwise I would have purchased those.

This week my goals are to find that website again and quit getting junk mail, and continue to take shorter showers! Until next time, keep it green.

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1/12/09

I went grocery shopping yesterday and I purchased 4 reusable shopping bags. It felt good using them. I think it's going to help reduce my footprint a lot. I also purchased some organic produce, not all because they were out of the organic version.

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1/8/09

According to www.footprintnetwork.org, if everyone on the Earth were to live the way I do we would need 4.3 Planet Earths to provide enough resources. Currently I take up 19.3 global acres of the Earth’s productive acres. My ecological footprint breaks down as follows: Goods, 19%; Services, 41%; Food, 19%; Shelter, 11%; Mobility, 10%. Services take up most of my footprint. I’m not quite sure what services include, but I’m guess it is shopping and all that encompasses.

I want to try and reduce my footprint by trying to incorporate the following tactics into my daily life. The first thing I want to try and do is buy more local or organic products at the grocery store. Since I make almost all of my meals at home, I think this should be easy to accomplish unless my funds or lack there of, get in the way. If the price does become an issue, I will try to purchase at least half of what I would have purchased if money had not come into play. I think this should reduce my largest segment of my footprint.

My second change will be to use less plastic bags. Whether it be at the grocery store or at Target, I will try to either bring my own bags or decline to use one. Every time I’m at the grocery store I see the reusable bags and think I should buy them, but I never do. I go grocery shopping every week to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies and other small things, so it’s something that could help a lot. The one thing that might deter me is remembering to grab them before I head out the door.

Lastly, I’m going to sign up to get less or hopefully no junk mail because I get quite a bit every day. I recycle every piece I get, but ultimately it would help out more if I just didn’t get it all together. I get probably upwards of 5 pieces a day! Along with this I am going to sign up for paperless billing for bills that I get. I get 3 bills a month, so I think this could cut down on a lot of wasted paper.