A few more thoughts on “How much is enough”… another place to look for an example of excess built into our society is our food portions - go to any family restaurant in the US and one entree could easily feed two people, forget the appetizers and desserts. It’s an interesting phenomenon that may not be entirely coincidental; Michael Pollen explores western eating habits in his book “the Omnivore’s Dilemma” which among many other interesting things considers why portions have become so huge.
an ocean freighter ready to be dismantled
But this mentality of more is better, or perceived bang for the buck in many cases, seeps into everything we do – even laundry. A natural whitening agent like sodium percarbonate (also known as oxygen bleach or “Oxy Clean”) is so effective that only a teaspoon per gallon of water is needed to do its job. What you buy off the shelf is full of fillers like talcum and perfumes, just so the “consumer” can use the larger scoop they’re used to. (Does anyone else get annoyed by being referred to as a “consumer”? just a pet peeve of mine.) We get sucked into this mode of thinking that if a little is good, then a lot must be better… liquid laundry detergents are all in concentrate form, but who among us actually uses the recommended 1/4 cup? As much as I’d like to point to the manufacturers with evidence of some nefarious conspiracy – I can’t. Ultimately it may be as simple as habits and human nature… which is why an intentional life consists of constant observation and evaluation of our habits. What is working for us and doing that consistently, and noticing what is not working for us, and taking the effort to make changes. Intentions count!
A few tips you can use today to start reducing your contribution to the landfill:
- Don’t take the garbage out for a week, for a lesson in what you really throw away (or a year, like David Chemeides) .
- Recycle: while recycling isn’t a panacea, it does have a tremendous impact on reducing volume going to landfills, and reducing pressure for virgin material. Do it now, and do it often!
- Precycle: 60lbs of plastic per year (per person!) is made to be thrown away
- bring your own bag when shopping
- avoid additional bags where possible (ie, produce bags at the grocery)
- prefer products in minimal or recyclable packaging
- buy in bulk, and reuse the containers where possible
- Avoid bottled water (or prefer those in glass containers)
- Stop junk mail; while you’re at it, opt-out of telemarketers and credit offers: 1-888-567-8688
- Reduce your use of disposable objects: plates and napkins to razors and pens to one-use items like cleaning wipes… what else can you replace with reuseable?
For more things you can do now to change the world, see the resource section of my website, www.rethinkyourworld.com
You are absolutely correct regarding portion size and “if a little is good more must be better.”
A question: I would like to start composting but don’t know how to start. I have a small backyard area. Originally, I assumed I could just toss coffee grinds, egg shells, fruit/vegetable skins, etc. in the ground. However, I am afraid that might attract critters. What do you suggest?
Mary, thanks for your comment. Congratulations on taking up composting! Food scraps are the number one most recyclable item in landfills – which is a ridiculous waste of nutrients and also contributes to methane gas buildup in landfills (cause of uncontrolled fires and greenhouse gas emissions).
So the first step to composting is to determine what you want to compost, and what you want to get from it. Consider the volume of material you expect to collect (yard debris tends to be bulkier, and therefore take up more space, than kitchen waste).
The basics include: minimum 3′ square area to create the pile, and some amount of turning the pile (with a pitch fork, shovel, or in a drum unit) to aerate.
One other option (for food waste only) is a NatureMill (www.naturemill.com) – this plugs in and works best in the garage (as it does emit odors if the scraps are unbalanced). The benefit is that you get useable compost within a few weeks on a regular basis, and it has an automatic 2-bin system. Knowing your garden, I think this might suit you well if you don’t want the hassel of an open-air bin in the yard. At most you might end up with a pile of finished compost waiting to be used (finished meaning not interesting to passing critters).
For more basic info and options, check this link http://vegweb.com/composting/systems.shtml – there are plenty more like it, so do a little browsing and see what you think. Let me know what you decide!