Earth Day 10 Committment Recap!

This Earth 10 Day Experiment Committment was really worth it. It is a great way to feel a recommitment to the earth and to recycling. Saving all the garbage truly helped me to remember that what I'm throwing away doesn't just go away, it stays, and most of it will stay for quite a long time, years maybe hundreds of years. Its sad, just how much we've had after 10 days, of mostly plastic that I can't throw out. Just thinking that my bag of garbage gets doubled 7 million times from all the people in the world using it, makes me just sad, especially since its not recyclable, and will probably end up in an ocean somewhere. The poor fish, they are just living and swimming and use very little to survive and I honestly feel sort of obnoxious and pushy now with the garbage I'm throwing away, like I'm saying - "oh no little fishes, we need this area for our garbage, our leftovers. Its going in your area because we can't live with our garbage, that would be gross. So you're left with it." It makes me so sad. I buried a big paper bag of compost when we went to the lakehouse. Soon we should have our new composter, so that will help with composting and I won't have to use a paper bag anymore.

What I learned - composters are awesome. With recycling and composting, we've had the same garbage now for almost 3 weeks, well this Friday it will be 3 weeks filled with stuff that cannot be reused, recycled or composted.
I love my Starbucks cup and reuse it and bring it everywhere I go. It is wonderful to not have to worry about recycling the lids!

Biodegradeable plastic is the best and I appreciate that the general grocery store sells biodegradeable plastic bags now!

What I'm left with -

lots of plastic, and thats pretty much it. here is a photo-

And here is what I'm keeping for sandwich bags, and to pack toiletries in for trips-

So there's not that much that we're throwing away, although I'd rather it be nothing!

Changes from this Experience -
1- we now compost!
2- Before I make purchases I look to see if the plastic is recycleable, and if its not, I either don't buy that one or make sure I can reuse it somehow.
3- I now bake my own bread and I use my old bread bags!

Baking the bread was surprisingly so easy! Just needed butter, milk, I used organic wheat flour, active dry yeast & alittle sugar! It was pretty neat to watch it rise!

I put some dried herbs on top to make it look pretty!

The handmade bread in an old bread bag ready to be put in the freezer!

Thank you so much for visiting for my Final Earth Day Recap! (I was up late baking last night, please excuse the bags under my eyes lol)

-Nikki

Earth Day 9 - almost to the end of my experiment and green & frugal tip friday!

Last night I made wild salmon from a frozen package that I got at Whole Foods. While it was delicious, the packaging that I had to get through to finally get to the salmon was ridiculous. First I tried to tear alittle tear at the top of the colored plastic bag, that didn't work, so I had to use scissors and really tear into it. Then there were plastic shrink wrapped around the individual pieces of salmon. I have all the plastic with me in my garbage bag lol. Thank God I only have to do this until tomorrow. One thing I did learn was that it is better to buy fresh. If I'm going to spend money on the wild salmon I might as well buy the fresh and just freeze it, and not have to worry about all the plastic. I swear, the plastic on the outside looked and felt like it will never degrade, like the toughest material on earth. I really want to do something with it, I just don't know what. I wish I could take the plastic that I've collected over this past week (cause thats all I have left, is plastic) and sew it together to make something... maybe a purse or something. I'll see how creative I can get tonight.
Its kind of ironic, the wild salmon that I bought that was all wrapped in plastic, plastic that is meant to keep it clean, and there was just a huge oil spill (used to be make the plastic) in the southern border of the US that is polluting all the fish in the ocean. It just doesn't make sense. I was thinking about what I could do help, but I guess the only thing is to stop buying these crazy plastics that the oil riggers work to make.

Check out the Oil Spill Story on Fox News.

Yesterday I was walking through a store and I was so happy, I saw cardboard boxes of biodegradeable plastic garbage bags! And this wasn't in a whole foods or a health food store, it was in a regular grocery store! In my head, I went - the world, it is a changin'. (it kinda sounded like a song:)) And I'm happy to say that I'm changing too:)

I missed Frugal tip Fridays I decided to just add one today that is Green & Frugal!

I used to throw away my plastic shower liners and just buy a new one. Call me a dumb college student, cause I was:) I learned how to never have to buy another shower liner and to clean the one I had at the same time, which means not having to throw away more plastic, cause how funny would that look if I walked around all day with a shower liner?? and brought a shower liner to work?? lol. (see past posts, since Earth Day I'm carrying around all the garbage that cannot be recycled, composted or reused until tomorrow)

All you have to do is put your shower liner in the washing machine with a towel (to avoid ripping), and then hang to dry. Just wash with cold water!
Tomorrow I'm going to do a recap of everything that I learned, that I have, and homemade bread, with pictures! Thanks for stopping by, for playing along while I do my wacky experiment and Happy Friday Follow!
-Nikki

Happy Earth Day! A commitment

I hope you have a wonderful Earth day today! its a great excuse to recycle or plant some new flowers or crops. After thinking and thinking about what little old me could do to contribute, I decided to spend today and the next week up until May 1st only throwing away these products:

1- plastic, cans and glass that can be recycled into recycle bin

2- paper that can be recycled into recycle bin

3- compost, leftover food put into a bin that I will bring to the lakehouse May 1st (otherwise you can bring your compost to a local community garden)

This all means that I really have to watch what I buy as some things like plastic bags cannot be recycled (unless I keep them for reuse). The biggest worry of mine is that I'm going to have a ton of garbage to deal with after these next few days. I will blog honestly and truthfully over the next days about what I'm buying and what I'm throwing out.

This morning I had cereal in a bowl before leaving the house and ate all of it. Put spoon and mug in dishwasher. On my way in, I stopped at Starbucks and picked up a tea. Luckily the cup is paper and recyclable, and the plastic lid is also recyclable. I brought my lunch in to the office in a tupperwear container, so no worries there. I will however have to bring home my Starbucks lid as we do not have a plastic recycle bin in the office (we do have paper though). Doing okay so far!

** UPDATE - While making my tea at work just now I noticed the honey packets weren't recycleable...I will go today and purchase a glass honey bear at lunch so that it can be recycled. I guess those honey packets are staying with me until May 1st...also...the plastic lids at Starbucks, after doing more research, I'm sorry to say are not recycleable in NYC because they are a #6. NYC only recycles #1 and #2. Luckily though NJ does recycle 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6! So I'll be bringing any plastics with the #'s 3, 4, 5, & 6 to the lakehouse or when I go visit my mom in Jersey and recycling them there. thanks NJ!! :)

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thanks!
-Nikki