• Eliminate take-out lunches and coffee cups
• Reduce grocery packaging at the source
• Compost without the aid of the Green Bin program

What else can be done in an effort to create no waste, you might ask? Plenty.

Like most people, I have a closets full of stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day in years. Stuff that will ultimately require a cash outlay for a storage locker if I continue down this path of consumption. Those of you who know me well know that I’m a complete neat freak and ultimately this clutter will lead to a small nervous breakdown on my part. So in the spirit of starting fresh, a major purge is in order.

The most obvious option for dealing with my overflowing condo is to donate to homeless shelters. A worthy cause for your old clothes, no doubt. But is there a better option? What if we could give our stuff not only a second life, but a third or fourth? Much of what I’ve taken to Goodwill in the past has been nearly new. Certainly some of my budget-conscious (and stylish!) girlfriends could benefit from clothes I purchased but never wore, and things that just never fit me properly to begin with. So why not give these clothes to a good intermediary home before they make their way to the charity drop box?

The same concept applies to household goods – sporting equipment, kitchenwares, decorative items and even furniture. There simply must be someone out there who wants to try a new sport without making the required sizable investment up front. Regardless of whether these items are sold or given away, each will make one additional detour before arriving at their final destination: the landfill. What’s more, they’ll bring a little joy into someone’s life, and a little cash into my much depleted post-holiday bank account.

Which brings me to this week’s challenge…

WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENT

• Host a clothing swap with friends and colleagues
• Post unwanted household items on Craigslist
• Join FreeCycle and give away what isn’t valuable enough to sell
• Take a trip to Goodwill with whatever remains

Ladies, expect a Facebook invite shortly for the clothing swap. Whoever wears it best, keeps it. Oh and of course, there will be wine.

The challenge for Week 3 was to reduce my contribution to our ever-growing landfills through composting. If you’ll recall, the City of Toronto does not support the Green Bin program for multi-unit dwellings, which made this task particularly difficult, although not insurmountable. For a nanosecond, I considered starting my own compost pile at home. They’re really quite easy to make – order some earthworms online, purchase a Rubbermaid container and fill with b&w newsprint. These efficient little creatures break down food scraps so quickly that there isn’t even the odour of decomp to contend with. BUT, the thought of all those worms wriggling about in my home makes my skin crawl (it’s too cold to keep them on my balcony), not to mention the fact that I don’t have a garden to benefit from the lovely nutrient-rich soil that results from the process. So I chose a slightly different course of action to address this week’s challenges:

• Pester the City of Toronto to confirm a roll-out date for condos
• Encourage my condo board to look into private collection alternatives
• Begin collecting my own food scraps and taking them to the office for compost

So, how did it go?

THE GOOD

• My condo board is investigating private compost collection!
• I hauled my food scraps into the office for compost on more than one occasion
• I actually saw a real difference in the amount of trash I was producing

(excerpt from my communication with the condo board via Facebook)

THE BAD

• Implementing a compost program may increase our condo fees
• The City has yet to respond to my inquiry about the Green Bin rollout
• Riding the TTC while reeking of green onion gets you some strange looks

BY THE NUMBERS

• 30% of all household waste qualifies as Green Bin compostable
• Homeowners currently only compost 16.2% of all household waste
• 16.2% represents 94,201 metric tonnes of waste diverted from landfill!

Clearly, there is still room for improvement – on the part of the City and its individual residents. But we’re headed in the right direction. Thank you to all those who religiously use their Green Bin. You really are making a difference!

Food decomposition triggers the release of methane gas, a chemical that causes the sun`s heat to become trapped in our atmoshphere. This leads to global warming, which in turn leads to draught and famine. Not a pretty picture of our future. Now I know that food decomp is not the only source of methane gas – many suggest that the flatulance of cows is a major contributing factor – but who am I to interfere with the gastrointestinal activities of a cow? I digress.

It seems to me that the simplest solution to reducing methane gas in the atmosphere is to rethink the way we handle our food waste. And while I applaud the City for implementing the Green Bin program, it`s been 3 years since it was introduced to homeowners. What`s the hold up?

The City of Toronto website has this to say about their pilot program:

The City of Toronto conducted an organics collection pilot in 30 multi-unit buildings across the city to determine the best way to bring an organics collection program to the 5,000 apartment, condominium and co-op customers. The participating buildings were successful in diverting organic materials from garbage and based on what was learned from the pilots, the City is now bringing the program to buildings across the City. This new program will be rolled out city-wide over the next 18-months.

My first thought is “18 months from when”? There are no dates published on the City`s website and therefore no commitment to the public. My second thought is “hurry up already!”. I understand that it takes time to put the necessary infrastructure in place, but what`s a girl to do in the meantime?

Which brings me to this week`s challenge…

WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT

• Pester the City of Toronto to confirm a roll-out date for condos
• Encourage my condo board to look into private collection alternatives
• Begin collecting my own food scraps and taking them to the office for compost (sorry Office Management!)

So what about this week’s challenge to reduce packaging at the source?

THE GOOD

• Showing support for local farmers at the market
• Eliminating all fruit and veggie packaging
• Potential to eliminate all bread and meat packaging
• Feeling good about my food choices
• One vendor at the market gave me free pears
• Another gave me a free sample of organic pasta

THE BAD

• Late nights at work meant 2 takeout meals (even with 5 packed lunches!)
• Never made it to Whole Foods for the bulk bin experience
• Multiple grocery destinations requires better planning

BY THE NUMBERS

• 5 plastic bags add 1kg to your carbon footprint
• 2 produce bags + 3 grocery bags = 1kg of CO2 emissions eliminated/week
• Between coffee cups and plastic bags, I’ll eliminate 250kg of CO2 in one year
• 250kg is 2/3 of the yearly emissions of the average car!

If every Canadian citizen said no to plastic bags and coffee cups, the impact would be equivalent to removing 21 million cars from the road.

I won’t tell you how to live your life – I understand the comforts of owning a car, it really does make things easier – but I think it’s plain to see that you don’t have to sacrifice the things you love. Instead, consider the things that add no value whatsoever. You won’t miss them, I promise.

* Stepping off the soapbox *

Cheers to you and your everyday eco efforts.

• Livestock feed is full of antibiotics to counter unhygenic living conditions
• Sick animals are slaughtered without regard for transferring illness to humans
• Ground beef is rinsed with ammonia to reduce E.Coli contamination
• FDA does not have the power to shutdown facilities involved in multiple recalls
• 80% of our food contains at least 1 genetically modified (GMO) ingredient
• Companies that once produced chemical warfare own crops via GMO patents
• US labeling does not require disclosure around cloned animal meat or GMO

That’s some pretty nasty stuff, and a far cry from my own preconceived notions of how food is raised or cultivated before it arrives on my plate. As Canadians, most of us take comfort in the fact that these practices are most common in the US. But thanks to globalization, much of our food is grown or produced outside our borders. Have you looked at your food labels recently? Many of the items in my fridge hail from faraway climes where food practices are even more questionable.

Though this week’s efforts were focused on minimizing waste by reducing food packaging, these terrifying facts further strengthen my resolve because most packaged meat products stem from 13 major meat packaging plants in the US. At The Healthy Butcher, not only can I ask them to package my selections in a reusable container, I can find out the name and location of the farm on which my beef or chicken was raised.

And so from this point forward, I must know the name of the farmer who produced my meat. Or better still, the name of the cow or pig. Because you CAN do something to stop these atrocious food practices that ultimately affect our health and wellbeing.

PLEASE VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS!

I ventured over to St Lawrence Market for the first time in 5 years. It was packed with weekend shoppers and I immediately felt overwhelmed. Where were the labelled aisles of neatly stacked produce and packaged goods that I’ve become accustomed to? And so I panicked, grabbing fruit from the first available stall without comparing quality or price. I fumbled about with my cloth grocery bags and back pack. I even dropped my wallet at one point and kept walking (thank you, kind stranger, for telling me!). But it wasn’t long before I regained my bearings.

I swiftly transferred blueberries from their little cardboard carton to my own plastic container and confirmed that they would reuse its original packaging. I plopped an entire bunch of grapes – sans bag – directly onto the scale at the check-out, and stuffed all my naked produce purchases into my cloth shopping bag. I was feeling great. But as I would soon find out, fruits and veggies are the easy part.

I made my way to the meat counter and confidently ordered several chicken and beef kabobs, only to learn that they wouldn’t fit in my containers. I looked on sadly as they were wrapped in wax paper and handed to me. Heading next to the fish monger, my efforts were again met with defeat so I passed and vowed to visit The Healthy Butcher on Queen St on Sunday for my weekly salmon fix.

Next up was a trip to the Futures Bakery stall where I selected a freshly baked loaf of Herb & Basil bread and some whole grain pitas. Both were unfortunately wrapped in plastic, but I felt encouraged knowing that I could eliminate at least half of that plastic with the arrival of my muslin bags.

As I examined my purchases I noticed that I was still missing a few key items – namely milk and snack foods. I hung my head in shame as I passed through the sliding doors of the Metro across the street, leaving with a carton of milk and a box of Lifestyles cookies. Luckily, my cupboards are still fully stocked with some other essentials – including rice, pasta and cereal.

How did this week compare to last? Let’s have a look at the numbers:

• 0 plastic bags for fruit and veggies
• 0 plastic containers for fruits and veggies
• 2 plastic bags for bread products
• 2 pieces of waxed paper for meat products
• 1 unrecyclable carton of milk
• 1 cardboard box of cookies with plastic tray

So, I managed to eliminate:

• 4 plastic containers
• 2 plastic bags
• 8 individual plastic yogourt containers

Not bad, but definitely room for improvement.

So I took a quick snapshot of today’s grocery haul:

What does all this amount to?

• 7 small plastic produce/bread bags
• 2 paper boxes with wax lining
• 4 plastic containers of varying size
• 8 individual yogourt containers

I realize that much of this is recyclable. But was it actually necessary in the first place? I love that people are diligent about recycling, but this process is energy intensive. If we could simply refocus our attention on the “Reduce” and  ”Reuse” portions of the 3Rs, we’d be in a much better place.

This week’s challenge will do just that. I will attempt to eliminate all unnecessary packaging at the source – the grocery store. I suspect that some tasks will be easier than others. After all, how do you transport berries without turning them into puree en route? In these cases, I’ll seek out purveyors that allow you to return containers for reuse.

WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT:

• Replace all plastic grocery bags with the reusable cloth variety
• Find washable muslin bags to replace the plastic produce bags
• Field trip to the North Farmer’s Market at St Lawrence
• Visit to the bulk bins at Whole Foods

Wish me luck! I’ll be posting as the week progresses.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

THE GOOD

• Knowing exactly what it is you’re eating!
• Lunch is not limited to what’s within walking distance
• No more post-lunch food comas
• Feeling good about not wasting precious resources

THE BAD

• No 5 cent discount for using a reusable mug (since when?!)
• Plenty of pre-planning required (recipe searches, grocery shopping, food prep)
• More dishes to do on account of the plastic containers and real utensils
• Not being able to indulge a craving on a whim

BY THE NUMBERS…

• 1 paper cup = 0.11kg of CO2 emissions including production & transport
• 3.85kg reduction in CO2 emissions in just one week
• 200kg in CO2 reduction over the course of just one year (that’s HUGE)
• $26 saved (assuming $7 per lunch, $1 per breakfast goodie)

1. I need to learn how to cook, quickly
2. Post-lunch food comas can be a thing of the past
3. Tim Hortons uses the same spoon to stir a used travel mug as it does your coffee (sorry)

Bringing lunch definitely requires some advance planning. But on the upside, my produce now does more than just sit in the fridge and rot. Tomorrow I’ll be bringing my own container to the Mediterranean place (I need a break), but overall I’d say it’s worth the effort!

• Taking a cab to work 3 times per week
• Binning 4-6 disposable coffee cups per day
• Eating takeout (complete with all its excess packaging) at least once per day

Pretty disgraceful. But not insurmountable.

Most of these behaviours revolve around my workplace, so that’s where I’ll begin.

WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT:

• Exclusive use of a travel mug
• Daily brown bagged lunches

Yes, it’s a small effort but it’s a step in the right direction.