Coupons, Catalogs, Oh My!

Hello dear friends.

After throwing the stacks of mailer coupons and catalogs that we get in the mail, we decided to do something about the sheer quantity of paper goods.

I collected all of the catalogs (and by the way, we only ordered from one of these catalogs and they sold our address to seven others, hence the mighty accumulation of waste!) and called their 1-800 numbers. The process was pretty painless. I only had to stay on the line a maximum of two minutes and that was not the norm. If you are interested, all you need to do is let them know that you'd like to be taken off of their mailing list, give them your address, and a code on the back of the catalog, and you are done!

Apparently we may get one or two more of each of them, since they are pre-printed, but we are hopeful that this time in November, we will be catalog free. I've done the same thing for our neighborhood mailer coupons and the only thing that seems to be left is the Pennysaver.

I highly recommend you consider doing this too, especially if you notice, like we did, that you are always throwing these things away instead of using them. Another nifty thing is most companies have catalogs online, so no paper needs to be wasted!

Just another, relatively easy strategy to reduce the unnecessary production of paper waste.

Until next time,

S&T

The Consumer-fast: An Elaboration (and an invitation to YOU)

Hello blogosphere.

Tristan and I have enacted our consumer-fast. So far, we've decided that what we will buy falls into two categories: nourishment (food) and hygiene/cleaning.

However, we want to be clear that we aren't trying to guilt anyone into not buying things. We only want people to start thinking about what they buy and what they need. Also, we want to figure out what we actually need. So, whereas we may be very strict in the first year, when the first year is up, we may actually buy some new things; however, we are going to research what we buy and research what we don't buy and figure out what are the best things to invest in. That's why Tristan in particular wants to call this experiment "Changing Our Spending Habits" or "Becoming Conscious of Our Spending Habits and How Those Habits Impact the Earth."

One recent negotiation that I've recently faced, for example, is the following: I wanted to buy lipstick, as I'm running out. But, lipstick is neither hygiene or a food item!!! But, chap-stick is a hygiene item and Burt's Bee is a pretty good company. They use 30% post-industrial waste to create their products and they don't test on animals. So, using this logic, I will buy Burt's Bee chap-stick with some color. This negotiation equals a new way to consume lipstick...

We hope to find many more of these smart shopping negotiations. In other words, we hope to buy fewer things of better quality that impact the earth in a minimal way. That will be our main goal; however, we believe that in order to achieve this goal, we need to be very strict for the first year.

And readers, even if you don't want to do this for a year, consider doing it for a week or even a few days.

All in all, even in the days that we have done this consumer-fast, we've been blessed by a strange sense of well-being.

If you are interested in trying this consumer-fast, let us know how it goes.

Peace,

s&t

My Consumer-Fast

Hello dear friends.

After watching No Impact Man, I found myself thinking about one of the strategies enacted by him and his family: refraining from buying anything new for a year. Yes, a complete year.

I've decided to take up this challenge. Food (for me, Tristan, and the girls), toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. are not on the fasting list. The main things that I will refrain from buying will be clothing, shoes, trinkets, gadgets, CDs, movies, etc. Basically, things that I already have.

I truly believe that a consumer-fast, for me at least, is necessary. I want to be able to go into a store and avoid the impulse of purchasing unnecessary items. After making this decision, I decided to test out the theory. I walked into Ross, the land of never ending things and cheap prices. The act of looking around, knowing that I would not be buying anything was actually liberating in a sense. I knew that I was going to leave the store without spending money. However, I also felt the sting of perceived obsolescence.

Perceived obsolescence is a system that has been exercised for all of its worth by our consumer culture. Annie Leonard (the woman who created the brilliant "Story of Stuff") refers to this when she asks viewers if we ever noticed how quickly styles change. One year, jeans have bell bottoms and the next year, they have skinny pant legs. T.V.s have rounded screens, and now they have flat screens. So, what effect do these shifts in style cause?

According to Leonard (and I happen to agree), say we have a T.V. with a rounded screen. Once the flat screened T.V.s come into fashion, you are increasingly persuaded (because of advertising and peer pressure) to buy the flat screen T.V. Never mind if your T.V. works just fine. That's not the point. The point is, in order to be an effective consumer, you have to be on top of these stylistic changes. You cannot have an outdated "thing." This is perceived obsolescence. We perceive that our things are outdated, causing us to throw them away and replace them.

Now, returning to Ross: I found myself looking through the racks of clothing, at the shoes, at the sunglasses. I noticed how fashion has changed (plaid shirts, linen, buttons on sleeves, etc.) and I have to admit, I felt the urge to buy these things because my closet is not made up of this new fashion. And here is the conundrum that we, as consumers, face. Do we keep what we have, or, do we throw things away and replace them with the latest style? This tendency to be updated is so ingrained within us that I felt the pull towards purchasing.

I will continue keeping track of my consumer-fast on the blog. For now, it seems to be going well. Let us see what happens after the first month is over.

(Excellent news: Tristan has decided to join the consumer-fast, although, he likes to call it changing his consumption patterns!!)

Cheers,
s

A Cat Related Relevation

Hello dear friends.

We, as you may know, have two little girls and they result in a lot of waste. The only reason we still use plastic bags is for their litter. The way their litter is packaged, however, is also a problem. We buy large boxes every month and a half for their litter and then, once the litter is gone, we have to throw the boxes away.

Last night, I discovered a way to reduce the litter waste and I think it can work. We just got a plastic container full of litter and what we plan to do is to refill the container with loose litter from Petco. I think this can lead to a reduction of (some of) our kitty waste.

We'll let you know how it goes. Right now, let us consider ways to rethink our use. Sometimes, like with this litter scenario, the solution can be (temporarily) hidden, but discoverable nonetheless.

Please feel free to share your recommendations on what you do to reduce your furry children's trash.

With cheers,

s&t

An Email from Energy Action Coalition

Here, for you, an email we'd like to share:

"Congressional recess is over. School is starting back up.

Across the country young people are getting back to work, and we're not alone.

During August, young people found the moral courage to confront dozens of politicians, demanding they stand with people not polluters. Meanwhile, Big Oil was busy handing out their dirty energy money and polluting our politics. Politicians and the media began to take notice; the New York Timesdescribed it as a 'clash' between Big Oil and grassroots groups [1].

But things are just heating up. And as we dig our heels in for the fall election season, we'll need more leadership.

Over 200 campuses and communities have stepped up to lead Power Vote - can you help us get to 300 by next week?

Help build our ranks so that we can counter the dirty energy industry and get to work in a major way.

Let's face it. As we approach the 2010 elections people are disenchanted with failure of leadership, partisan gridlock, and an utter lack of progress on federal clean energy and climate legislation. People are looking for inspiration, looking for leadership.

This election season, the leadership we need is our own. We need to show politicians that we're getting to work, that we're building our movement and our power.

And we're seeing this leadership all across the country. The 200 campuses and communities who have signed up to lead Power Vote are building the political support for the local clean energy solutions we're working on in our communities.

Share the inspiration:

• Abbie from University of Mary Washington stood up to Governor McDonnell of Virginia to educate and press him on the dangers of offshore drilling. Young people in Missouri, Florida, Georgia and more have joined her in demanding that their politicians stand with people, not polluters. [2]

• Megan and her group at University South Florida in St. Petersburg have helped bring over 130 people into the movement in the last week. Our movement is growing bigger with Power Vote pledge drives like this happening at back to school events across the country.

• Students from Howard University in DC kicked off the semester with an environmental justice event to commemorate the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

• Scott from Detroit is planning some major community outreach and home weatherization efforts for the 'Global Day of Work Parties' on October 10th. With events in every corner of the globe, this day is shaping up to be a huge opportunity to get our 'Get to Work' message across.

Share the inspiration: Forward this email, share it on Facebook, and invite an emerging activist to become a Power Vote Leader.

In the coming weeks we're excited to work with all of you to make our mark on the upcoming elections. We need to show our power more than ever - not just by turning out to vote but by asking tough question of candidates, by bringing new solutions into the dialogue, and by believing in our own ability to lead and getting to work ourselves."

With gratitude for your leadership,

Whit Jones

Co-Field Director
Energy Action Coalition

PS. Share this on Facebook and Twitter: I just joined the Power Vote campaign for clean energy. You should too http://bit.ly/b3G1V3

[1] New York Times: Oil Groups, Climate Bill Supporters Clash In Summer Campaigns: http://nyti.ms/a4nXvh
[2] Virginia Youth confront Governor on Offshore Views: http://bit.ly/cWeOaO

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Energy Action Coalition is a youth-led coalition of 50 organizations working together to fight for a clean, just and renewable energy future. Get live updates from the youth climate movement on Facebook and Twitter. For a list of Energy Action Coalition partners, please visit our Energy Action Partners page. unsubscribe

Here Comes More Waste: The Literal and Commercial Kind

Hello dear readers.

In our previous posts, we've told you how we've been desperately trying to cut back our use of papergoods in our home. We only use paper towels in emergencies (say, our cat throwing up a hairball) and we use toilet paper for, well, you know.

Other than that, we use towels and old t-shirts that we've recycled to clean the house, Tristan uses cloth napkins to dry his hands in public bathrooms (I'm still trying to get on board with this one), and we use cloth napkins at the dinner table. It works really well.

However, we were quite frustrated to hear that Kleenex is creating disposable Hand Towels! Really? What ever happened to regular, washable, resuseable hand towels? To promote the sale of these disposable Hand Towels, Kleenex states, "People in the U.S. dry their hands on cloth bathroom towels approximately 200 billion times a year. The CDC guidelines for hand washing recommends hand drying with a single-use towel. Families have not had a practical alternative to traditional cloth hand towels in their home bathrooms… until now.

Kleenex^® Hand Towels are an innovative solution that delivers one clean, fresh, dry towel every time you wash your hands. Each and every box is specifically designed with you in mind." (Kleenex homepage).

There are several interesting things about the rhetoric that Kleenex has chosen to use here. The language about sanitation is not accidental. Assuming that we dry our hands 200 billion times a year, does that mean we are willing to switch to 200 billion disposable Hand Towels? What would that do to our already dwindling world forests? The description also insinuates a fear that our consumer culture (what Kleenex's new handy Hand Towels is a part of) asserts that it can solve, one hand towel at a time; Kleenex promotes excessive waste in the guise of health.

Now. We've all gotten along really well with cloth towels, right? Haven't we? We already have an overwhelming amount of waste because of our "disposable" lifestyle. Do we really need more disposable goods? Just something to think about.

p.s.: we'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts about this product! Time deconstruct consumer culture people!

Cheers,

s&t

Growth Among New York Concrete: No Impact Man

Dear readers, we share with you a recommendation, and (because how can you not?), a critique of the documentary, No Impact Man.

We just finished watching it last night and we have to say that we do recommend it. The premise of one family reducing their carbon footprint is radical as it is hopeful in its gesture. They go through phases, from eating locally and only walking or riding bikes, to eliminating their paper goods, and finally, abstaining from electricity.

Colin Beavan blogged about his families experiences for the year on his blog. Some people argued that Beavan's new found interest in carbon reduction was highly self-serving, as it was linked to the promotion of his new book. It is important to note that his book and the documentary that subsequently followed were NOT impact neutral.

Much of the critism came from a place of "how dare you tell me to live without?!" and seemed to reinforce our birthright to consumption, the fear that without things, our lives would be meaningless. Other criticism seemed to be much deeper, touching upon notions of privilage and oppertunism.

Basically, Beavan had many contradictions in what he was doing. However, aren't we all riddled with contradictions as we live in a system that promotes a very distructive lifestyle? None of us can really live outside of the system, but we can make changes within the system. We can also push the system to change. In the end, we think that Beavan did some of these things; Beavan offered us moments of self-reflexivity.

Given the amount of impact our culture has on the environment, there are surprisingly few movies that begin to scratch the surface of how much we destroy for our lifestyle. There should be hundreds or thousands of movies in this genre, but there aren't.

We welcome No Impact Man, and we have begun to ask ourselves, what reductions from the movie can we adopt? More on that come in the next post.

Cheers,

s&t