Who Throws Away Books?

I’m currently training for the Cleveland Half Marathon and was out for my longest run to date – 11.5 miles – on Friday. I was definitely feeling exhausted and was about ½ mile from my house when I came across something disgusting: children’s books in the trash. You read right; someone on my street had thrown away children’s books in their trash cans. They must have been at the bottom of the can because the garbage man already had come and the books were strewn on their tree lawn (FYI – Because I’m not a Cleveland native and didn’t know the definition of the word tree lawn until recently, it’s the strip of grass in between the sidewalk and grass.) If this many books were on the tree lawn, I can’t imagine how many must have been thrown away.

My anger is what really got me through that last ½ mile. And my disgust at someone’s complete disregard for not only the environment but the millions of children who are in need of books locally and nationally.

Perhaps you’ve never thrown away books – but have you ever thrown away old clothing, garage supplies, school supplies or miscellaneous odds and ends? Spring cleaning is around the corner, and while you may be tempted to trash some items, don’t do it. There’s a way to donate almost anything.

Check out some of my finds:

http://www.freecycle.org/ – Give (and request) free stuff from your own neighbors. Each local Freecycle group works to “reuse and keep good stuff out of landfills.”
http://www.earth911.com/ – Find out how to dispose of various products (oil, paint, computers)
http://www.cuyahogaswd.org/ – Find out how to give away and dispose of items in Cuyahoga County (yard waste, books, paper). Don’t live in Cuyahoga County? Check your county’s solid waste district website.

It’s Easy Being “Clean”

I started using environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning products about six months ago after I heard about the danger of traditional cleaning products. Although I always thought that my house smelled so wonderful after it was cleaned using bleach and lots of chemicals, I came to find that these chemicals could actually be hurting me: http://www.thegreenguide.com/green-cleaning-products/

There’s a variety of brands I use now – including Ecover, Seventh Generation, Method and more. I was a bit skeptical of their power at first, but I’ve come to really enjoy green cleaning products. Give them a try: you’ll be helping your body, the environment, your pets and your loved ones. And green cleaning products cost about the same as traditional products.

My green cleaning product favorites:
- Ecos laundry detergent (at Costco)
- Ecover dishwasher tabs ($4.99 for 30)
- Method mint glass cleaner (as low as $2.50 at Target)

Websites to visit:
- http://www.methodhome.com/
- http://www.ecover.com/us/en/
- http://www.seventhgeneration.com/

The Better Toothbrush

So this blog is about making small changes. One of the easiest changes I've made is switching over to a different brand of toothbrushes, Preserve. Here's why a Preserve toothbrush is environmentally friendly:

• The toothbrush handle is made from post-consumer plastic, specifically yogurt cups. Since 2001 Recycline (the company that owns Preserve) has been teaming up with Stonyfield Farms to turn their used yogurt cups into Preserve toothbrush handles.


• Preserve generates no waste: When you buy a Preserve toothbrush, you receive free postage so that you can return your toothbrush to Preserve when it's time to buy a new one. The used toothbrushed are ground to make material for recycled plastic lumber. Even the packaging in which the toothbrush comes is recyclable.

Where can you buy Preserve toothbrushes? I've seen them at Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Nature's Bin (a small, locally-owned grocery store in Lakewood, OH).

Are they more expensive than regular toothbrushes? I've found these toothbrushes to be about $3, which is just a bit more than a typical toothbrush. But the benefit here is that Preserve toothbrushes have a complete lifecycle. The product never ends up in a landfill!

Where can I find out more? Visit http://www.recycline.com/index.html

A List of Things I Hate

- Plastic bags that come on dry cleaning. They can’t be repurposed.

- Leaving the lights on when not in a room.

- Watching people throw away recyclables without any regard for their second life.
- Styrofoam. Enough said.

- Dripping faucets and running toilets.

- Carry out containers. why is it that food for two people sometimes comes in three carryout bags? One carry out dinner sometimes generates enough waste to fill my kitchen trash bag.

What do you hate? Share with me in the comments section below.

The Garbage-less Lunch

I started a compost pile in my backyard last summer. It’s a fantastic way to avoid sending natural food waste to the landfill (where, contrary to popular belief, it is not helping other trash biodegrade). Yet even with a compost pile at home, I still threw away compostable lunch items while at work. That’s until I saw the light…

Last week, I realized that I can create a garbage-less lunch. Hear me out: I packed – in my reusable lunch bag – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a reusable plastic container; an apple, banana, tangerine and diet pop. After I ate the sandwich, I put all the peels, seeds and cores from my fruit back in the empty plastic container. The pop can went back into my lunch bag with the fruit waste. When I got home that night, I put the can in the recyclables and the food waste in the compost pile. Voila…the garbage-less lunch.

During these times where typical Americans generate nearly four pounds of trash each day, I’m happy to say that I’m doing my part to bring down that average. Maybe you can’t bring home your compostables, but consider ways to reduce your trash output each day: Pack your lunch in a reusable bag; reuse plastic silverware; reuse your morning towel; use those orange newspaper bags to pick up dog poop – you get the point.