Our first purchase... TP

Ok, so when we make exceptions to our no-buying-anything-new rule, we want to research the options. Well we're in the market for some good toilet paper, and no, we’re not re-using it. So what are the options when buying TP, and why should you care? Two major issues to consider:

Uh Oh, time to buy more...

1. Recycled content. It's a no-brainer to buy 100% recycled content toilet paper, and it's not even more expensive. Another thing to look at is post-consumer content. Paper mills produce a lot of waste in the production process, which they re-process and call "recycled content." That would be pre-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste is when they use recycled content from paper that has already been produced, used, and recycled. 80% post-consumer content is pretty good.

2. Chlorine used to make it white? This is one I didn't understand at first, but basically chlorine is incredibly caustic and toxic. It's harmful when used in the bleaching process, and you probably don't want to rub it on your skin. There are better ways to whiten toilet paper than use the most toxic household chemical. Our toilet paper in Tanzania was pink. Not sure why.

Check out this website for more information: http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

So we normally just buy TP from Trader Joe’s, which is chlorine free and 80% post-consumer recycled. Other easy ones are Seventh Generation or Whole Foods brand. Most groceries have this type of TP, but if they don’t then tell them that you want them to carry it!

And on the subject of using paper in general, here is a quote from Bill McDonough that puts the life cycle of paper in perspective:

Imagine designing “something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the seasons and self-replicates. Well, why don’t we knock that down and write on it?”

Well, if we're going to use paper, might as well recycle it.

Sabine has some competition...

Sabine has a little competition in the cute department these days. She got a new friend named Kuja, and they are just about the same size! Kuja is the newest member of the Steudel family and is 10 weeks old. Welcome to the family Kuja!

The Green Side Detriot

Michigan has been in the news a lot lately, particularly Detriot. Michigan has the highest unemployment in the country at 15%, the cars have left, and Detriot is falling apart. This is what the news likes to report but there is another side of Detriot. Anywhere in the world when things go bad people don't roll over and accept their fate. Instead some pretty amazing things happen. Today we took an urban farm tour of Detroit. We have many problems with food in this country, lack of connection to the land, lack of access to fresh nutritious food, obesity, I could go on instead just read today's New York Times magazine. Detroit is tackling the issue head on and might be on its way to becoming an examples of what cities can look like in the future. Detriot has an estimated 17,000 acres of vacant land and some people are turning them into farms. Where else in the United States can you buy a house for $500 and take any land you want and start farming it (yes this is what some are doing and no one is complaining, I guess there is free land you just don't get to put your name on it but you can use it). Here are some pictures from our tour today. It is a pretty interesting look at a very different type of city.
We have put captions on the photos so you can get a feel for some of the farms in the city.

Detroit Farms

Waste

Some of you might be wondering what might be motivating us to do this no shopping thing. Well there are lots of things but here is one example. It is hard to picture the amount of stuff we use in a day, week, month, or year. One artist Chris Jordan has used art to help us visualized our impact. Here are two that I particularly liked but there are lots more on his website and they are well worth checking out.

Cans Seurat, 2007
60x92"

Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.
Partial Zoom
Detail at actual size:

Plastic Bottles, 2007
60x120"

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Partial Zoom
Detail at actual size:

Good Old Fashion Fun

Last night we went to a show by a band we blogged about last year, The Carolina Chocolate Drops. They bill themselves as an African-American String Band but man they can play a lot more than that. They play a mean fiddle and banjo but if you want to really see them get going you have to see them play the spoons, jug, and kazoo. This YouTube video has them playing a great song that includes the kazoo and the jug. They played one of my favorites last night, their remake of Hit em up Style which we posted last year. They play a great show with lost of entertainment. And if you get Rhiannon up and dancing it is well worth it. If they come to your area they are well worth seeing. Here is there tour schedule.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

I am making a quick plug for the PBS show that is airing all this week by Ken Burns called The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Our National Parks are truly amazing places that everyone should go to and treasure. Some of my favorite memories took place in these parks. A few highlights are a 6 week backpacking service trip in Yosemite in high school with the Student Conservation Association. Being with my family in Yellowstone in the winter and being the only ones watching old faithful go off or cross country skiing feet from a buffalo with no one else in sight (summer visitors will know how amazing this is). Spending three weeks car camping through National Parks of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico in middle school where many of our family jokes came from. Being the only ones for miles on a beach in Alaska with my family while watching a humpback whale swim back and forth in front of us all night. And I could go on and on (don't worry I wont!).

So tune in from 8-10 (est) all this week to see some of the most amazing places in the world. Then go visit and support their protection! Ok I am done :)

Re-Use resource #1: Freecycle

To be successful in the re-use economy you have to know your resources. Because yes we will need to purchase things over the next year and if we had to make everything ourselves it would be a long year. So our first resource is Freecycle. It is a Yahoo group that you can join for your area. Once you join you will start receiving e-mails titled OFFER and WANTED. People post things they are trying to give away: half a can of paint, moving boxes, couches, even kitens. Or you can post things you want. The key is everything is FREE! We have used this a few times over the past year with lots of success.

The first time we posted was when we got back from x-mas last year and I had left my cell phone charger back East. I could have gone out and bought one for $25 but it seemed silly becuase mine was sitting at Starlight waiting for me to come and get it in the summer. So I posted on Freecycle that I was looking for a motorola razor cell phone charger. Within a day I had a couple of responses from people who had gotten new phones and how had nothing to do with their old chargers. I got two chargers without paying for them and two chargers were saved from going to the landfill. Now that is a deal.

We have also posted offering items. After our wedding we had many wonderful gifts. However these gifts came overly packaged, tripple boxed, gift wrapped, bubble wrapped, you name it. We ended up with 10 garbage bags of bubble wrap and many many many boxes. We posted it on Freecycle and within a day some lucky mover showed up and picked it all up.

Here in Ann Arbor you can post for porch pick up and you leave the item on your porch and the person can come and get it when they want and you never have to meet them (or more importantly wait around for them).

To find cool stuff in your neighborhood and save stuff from the landfill check out Freecycle in your neighborhood http://www.freecycle.org/

Ok, I'm off to go shower, where I'll be listening to the shower radio we got on freecycle!