Sorry, we went green.

I traveled to Austin, Texas last week to visit family.  I love Austin.  My three favorite things run rampant in this city:  Good food, live music, and forward thinking businesses.  Often, all three can be found at one place.  You can eat delicious, fresh, local food while listening to live music at a sustainable eatery.

My sister, nephews, niece and I had brunch at one of those sustainable restaurants, Kerby Lane.   Kerby Lane is a relaxed restaurant with amazing menu of home cooked, locally grown food, and a part of the menu that changes to take advantage of what's in season.  We got lucky – the day we visited was the first day of the summer seasonal menu. 

My sister and I couldn’t decide between the lemon poppy seed pancakes and the squash Benedict, so we shared.  The squash Benedict was two delicious squash patties piled with tomatoes, poached eggs, and the best hollandaise sauce I’ve tasted.  The pancakes were what you’d expect from a lemon poppy seed pancake, sweet with just the right amount of tart, but there was a bonus – the lemon glaze drizzled over them, mmmm! The kids ordered French toast and blueberry pancakes, both delicious! 

But something funny happened while we were waiting for our food at Kerby Lane.   We asked if the kids could have crayons and a coloring page – the restaurant had always provided them, so we didn’t bring anything to keep the tots occupied.  The waitress responded to our request with, “Sorry, we went green and got rid of them.”  WHAT?!?

So I looked around the room, and this is what I saw:

• Silverware wrapped in cloth napkins.  Good Start.
• Laminated menus, including the kids menus.  Okay…they’re not going to be used one time and thrown away.
• Plastic kids’ cups with lids – the type you’re supposed to take home.  If you have kids you know that they get left behind, or you take them home and the graphics fade, the lids break, and pretty soon, you have to throw them away.
• Butter served in paper ramekins.  One time use, disposable.
• Creamers for folks drinking coffee.  Individually packaged.  
• Bored kids about to get into trouble.

Sorry, we went green.

I think that when a business “goes green” it should finding ways to reduce its carbon footprint by using alternative methods to provide the same or similar services.

Kerby Lane, it makes sense that you don't want to waste paper and crayons, but your claim feels a bit phony.  If you're trying to cut back on expenses, just tell us.  If you are really trying to go green,check out a mini etch-a-sketch.  Crayola makes some cool dry erase crayons.  Maybe you could bring back the paper coloring pages and recycle them when the kids leave, or better yet, recycle them AND ask parents to donate $1 for each recycling page, and donate the proceeds to one of the many local charities you support.

While you’re at it, it might be a good idea (and save a little money in the long run) to replace the paper ramekins with porcelain ramekins.  And as far as coffee creamers go – they make porcelain cream pitchers too.  Afraid of wasting cream?  Instruct servers to put just a bit into the pitcher and refill as needed.

You shouldn’t have to say, “Sorry, we went green.”  The company and employees should be proud of it.  Next time I visit.  I’d love to hear, “Oh yeah, here’s an etch-a-sketch!  We’re trying to reuse kids toys instead of pitching crayons and coloring pages.”  You’ll earn a lot more respect from me.

Paper or plastic? It's up to you.

When I applied for my job, the interviewer asked, “When you go to the grocery store, what do you choose – paper or plastic?”

I said, “Cloth.”  But I did go on to explain that yes, I know that in the recycling industry, a plastic bag is considered a better option than a paper bag.  Why?  Earth911 has listed some specific details here, but here’s the quick and dirty:

• Plastic bags usually contain recycled content while virgin tree fibers are used to make paper bags. Recycled content is not widely used in paper bags because each time paper is recycled, paper fibers get shorter.  Shorter fibers equal weaker fibers, and paper bags need to be strong.

• Plastic bags are manufactured with much less energy than paper bags.

• Recycling Plastic bags also uses less energy than recycling paper bags. 

Earth911 reports that only 10-15% of paper bags used are recycled.  Growing up, my mom always asked for paper bags.  Sure, she probably recycled only 15% of them, but that other 85% covered text books, were shredded and composted into her compost pile, served as landscaping fabric in her garden and eventually decomposed.  Some of those bags, especially the pretty ones with nice handles that came from gift stores downtown carried my lunch to school, or went home  with a family member after a holiday party, full of leftovers.  Some were used as gift bags, only to be used again as gift bags.  You can’t (or maybe I should say shouldn’t) put a gift in a plastic grocery bag.

So which is better?  I don’t know.  Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Plastic is a petroleum based material.  Aren’t we trying to become less dependent on petroleum?
   
2. I need trash can liners, and plastic grocery bags do the trick.  When I go to someone’s house and their bathroom trash can isn’t lined, I wonder who has to scrub that sucker.  And if I observe that that person’s name is most likely No One, I am really grossed out.
   
3. My cat is very appropriately named Bomber.  I need something to put her poop into.  I could use the kitchen trash can, but if the trash can isn’t full, and I wait to take it out until it is full, it stinks!
   
4. In my opinion, raw meat should always come home in a plastic bag.  ALWAYS.
   
5. Paper is made from a renewable resource, and a lot of R and D is going into finding sources of fiber that are rapidly renewable and strong, like bamboo.
   
6. I don’t like weeding, and I don’t want to spend money on landscape fabric, especially in my veggie garden that is cleared out each fall.
   
7. I don’t have kids, but when I do, I know that their school will require them to cover their hard text books.  Paper Bags to the rescue!  They’re cheap, easy, and great for doodling.

I say it’s your choice.  But whatever you do use, remember the three R’s: 

• Reduce the number of bags you use by using reusable bags
  
• Reuse the paper and plastic bags you bring home
  
• Recycle your leftover bags. 

In York County, Pennsylvania, if you have curbside recycling, your paper bags can go in your curbside bin.  DO NOT put plastic bags in your recycling bin, they cause all sorts of problems.  Return plastic bags to a store.  Not sure which stores accept the returns?  Go to http://www.abagslife.com/  Giant and Weis aren’t listed – they’ve got bag drop-offs in all of their locations.

Tip:  Plastic bag recycling drop-offs accept all sorts of bags:  regular plastic shopping bags, sandwich and freezer bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, and more.

Summer Savings

My mama raised a conservationist, but I'm not sure that that was her direct intention. I think she just wanted my siblings and I to save her time and money and realized she could add the phrase "Be good for nature," to her orders to make us feel like we were doing something good and productive.  The tips below will help you to reduce your energy and water bills, and the bonus is that if you have kids, they can do most of the grunt work!

Dump your dirty dish water.

Place a small tub inside your sink for dish washing.  When the soapy water has lost its spunk or cooled too much to be effective, carry the tub to your garden or potted plants and water them.  If it’s too heavy (or your dishwasher is too little to carry the tub) keep a big cup ready to scoop out the water and transfer it directly to plants or into a watering can. 

Bonus:  Soapy water deters and even kills spider mites on your plants.  If you’re using a soap with a heavy duty degreaser, make sure it’s diluted enough that when you dip your hand in the water, your skin isn’t slippery.

Tip:  Don’t water plants in the middle of the day.  When water is poured onto leaves and flowers, it increases the risk of sunburn.

Let it pour.

Create a rain barrel and collect runoff to water your plants, grass, etc.  You can make your own rain barrel very inexpensively.  There are sets of instructions all over the web.  I like these directions from Natural Rainwater.  

Tip:  You don’t have to purchase a trash can or a barrel to create your rain barrel.  Check with local food processors.  In the town where I grew up, there is an apple juice processor that gives away food grade 55 gallon barrels.

Tip:  Make sure you add an overflow hose to your rain barrel so excess water doesn’t overflow and seep into your house or make a muddy mess around the rain barrel.

Silent but...leaky.

Does your water bill seem a little high?  Do you hear a quiet gurgle in your home every once in awhile?  Check your toilet for leaks.  Squeeze 3 drops of food coloring into your toilet tank and walk away for 15 minutes.  If the water in your toilet bowl has a tint of the color you dropped into the tank, your flapper isn’t creating a strong seal between the tank and the toilet bowl.  

Turn off the water at the shut-off valve behind the toilet and remove the flapper.  If the flapper is in good shape except for mineral deposits, scrub them off and put the flapper back in the toilet for a retest.  If it fails, replace it.  If the rubber flapper is cracked or brittle, replace it.  New flappers range from $2.50 - $5.

If you’re a visual learner like me, check out This Old House’s guide to toilet leaks. 

Rub-a-dub-dub, don't fill up the tub.

Water pressure is key to a good shower, but more water doesn’t mean better water pressure.  Water saving shower heads use less water and provide pressure that’s just as good as or better than conventional shower heads.

Also, it’s a little misnomer that baths use less water than showers.  It’s not true.  A 15 minute shower uses less water than a bath in the average size tub.

Control your temper.

If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, get one!  When programmable thermostats made their first appearance at home improvement stores, they were complicated and expensive!  Now, you can pick up a decent thermostat for $25-75 and install it yourself. 

Before you buy a programmable thermostat, know what kind of heating and cooling system you have and find out which thermostats are compatible.  I bought a Honeywell 5-2 thermostat for my home and was able to see all the specs on Honeywell’s website before I purchased it.

Tip:  If you’re removing a mercury thermostat from your home, be sure to recycle it!  In Pennsylvania and many other states, it is illegal to throw mercury thermostats into the trash.  Go to the Thermostat Recycling Corporation's website  and type in your zip code to find a free recycling drop-off near you.

A laundry list of savings.

Using cold water to wash your laundry can save you on energy costs.  If you decide to wash your clothes in cold water, be sure to purchase cold water detergent.

I wash most of my clothing in cold water, but I think there are a few things you should wash in hot water.  To ensure the death of dust mites, I was my sheets in hot water.  I also was bath towels, dish towels, and reusable shopping bags in hot water, just in case there’s any resistant bacteria on those things that are often exposed to raw foods, and uh, the nether regions of… you probably get the point.

I love the smell of laundry that has line dried.  I can’t help it, I was raised in the country.  Unfortunately, I live in a community that has banned clothes lines.  Ikea to the rescue!  The company makes a huge drying rack that folds flat to be concealed beside my dryer when not in use.  You can also purchase some nifty retractable indoor clothes lines for about $8.

Bonus:  Washing in cold water and line drying, instead of subjecting your clothing to harsh heat for extended periods can prolong the life of your clothing.