HOW BABY'S "WASTE LESS"

Today my friend commented on my son, Liam’s, t-shirt: Bat mobile! Wanna Ride?

Strange, random, funny…She asked me where I got it and I told her it was a hand-me-down from my friend, Erin, who gave me all sorts of great things from her son, who’s now five. Looking at Liam, I then realized that everything he had on was second-hand—t-shirt, jeans, shoes, socks. And while his current cloth diapers are new, when Liam was first born we were using a set that had made their way through four other families before we got them! Sounds gross, I know, but nothing that a little hot water and soap can’t fix!

Well, I began thinking about how people always tell you how expensive it is to have a baby. And it’s true—he’s going to start costing us plenty soon enough when he’s older. But a baby…babies can be pretty cheap! And what’s more, think of all the thiiings you don’t need to buy new, therefore contributing to less oil for production and shipping, less packaging…less things going to the landfill! So, here’s my ‘waste less’ breakdown—I hope it inspires future parents!

Food: First thing you’ll need for your baby, right? If you breast-feed, it’s not only best for baby, but it’s free for you! And I chose to make my own baby food once Liam was moving onto solids. I would buy organic veggies and steam/puree them myself. My friend gave me her empty baby food jars and I froze the food. So, rather than spend about .50-$1.00/jar, I’d say I spent roughly half that (and re-used the same lids and glass jars over and over…)

Second-hand Crib: Free (spent $20 to rent the U-Haul van to go pick it up)

Second-hand Crib bedding: free (thanks, sis!)

New Organic Crib Mattress that Liam never sleeps on because he cries in his crib as if he’s being tortured, so we sleep together on the queen-sized guest bed…$200 (normally $400, but I got it wholesale through work! And it will definitely be passed on.)

Second-hand Rocking chair: $80 off Craigslist

Cushion/material for chair (it had none): $15 (got eco-friendly left-over material for free from an eco-designer friend, and bought the eco-friendly padding new)

Second-hand toy box: $20 (used free material—again, from my eco-designer friend!)

Clothing: I personally have spent very little…most has been given to me second-hand from friends whose kids are older, or was bought (new) as gifts from friends/family. What I have bought is a mix between new and used (there are amazing second-hand stores that focus only on baby/kids items)

Changing table: $55 ($40 off Craigslist for the table, $15 for new padding)

Toys and books: Again, I’ve spent very little myself…new toys/books have been given to Liam as gifts, but also a lot we’ve received as hand-me-downs. This is a serious place to save money—so often they don’t even play with the toy that just cost someone $25, so why buy new? In fact, find a friend or two with kids the same age and trade toys every few weeks!

Potty: $15 (second-hand shop)

Stepping stool: free from a friend (who got it free from a friend). I repainted it with left-over, eco-friendly paint I had sitting in my closet.

A PATCH of PLASTIC!

For those of you that haven’t heard about the great Pacific Garbage Patch (the Pacific Gyre, as it’s sometimes called), it is a gi-normous…huge, marine-animal-killing…pool of nasty…well, I’ll let the folks at Wikipedia tell you:

“The Patch is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.[4] Despite its size and density, the patch is not visible from satellite photography since it primarily consists of suspended particulates in the upper water column. Since plastics break down to ever smaller polymers, concentrations of submerged particles are not visible from space, nor do they appear as a continuous debris field. Instead, the patch is defined as an area in which the mass of plastic debris in the upper water column is significantly higher than average.”

Sexy, huh? But wait, there’s more! It’s size has been estimated by scientists to range from as big as the state of Texas to larger than the continental U.S.! They truly do not know exactly how big it is. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I try and get my point across that something is huge, I often use Texas as my reference. (For example: “Oh my gosh, why do I have a zit the size of TEXAS on my FOREHEAD?!”). So, if this garbage patch is bigger than the whole of our country…we’re in a serious state, my friends. So, when I read about the one found in the Atlantic Ocean recently, I immediately was filled with a sense of defeat (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100415/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_atlantic_ocean_junk).

I mean, seriously—what are we to do? We can’t just waltz out there in the middle of the ocean with our wet-vac and have at it. Oh, but wouldn’t it be great if we could?...So, we are left with two options in my opinion. One, continue on with our disposable ways, live in denial that it could do any serious harm and see what happens…or two, raise awareness and change our habits. While it definitely seems overwhelming to think of such a huge problem—it is global—there is power in the number one. Margaret Mead was spot on when she said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

And I will leave you with that—a short blog to be sure, but my, look at those citations!

The Green Spin on Waste......

I feel like I’m living in multiple worlds…Monday I was at our weekly Waste Less Living sales meetings, blown away at things I was hearing and learning (in a good way!), making mental notes to “research this more” or “write that down and put it on the fridge!”, and I left feeling motivated and excited...I was at an event Tuesday where everyone attending was eco-minded, so words like ‘composting’ and ‘biodegradable tableware’ were met with nodding heads…for weeks I’ve been cold-calling various companies and when I ask if composting services are available, there is either a full three seconds of dead silence before they ask, “Compost? I don’t know what you’re saying…” or I’m stopped mid-sentence with, “What—you’re breaking up. Comp…What services…?” But most when I start to explain, they are very interested in the concept and want to learn more, and I feel good that I’m passing along helpful information…then there’s my friend, who I’ll call Buffy. She works for a woman who literally owns—wait for it….over 500 pairs of shoes! Some have never been worn, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me since you can only wear so many pairs of shoes in a year. And it’s not just shoes—the amount of make-up, art, clothing, furniture, vases she owns…oy! But seriously, what makes my jaw drop is the fact that she’ll tell Buffy to “Get rid of these. I don’t even know why I bought them” (referring to the wrestling-style boots she bought in multiple colors). Now, she does donate most to Goodwill or consign them in a shop, but the problem is this mentality of “I can just get rid of it.” Out of sight, out of mind. I don’t really know what to do with this information. It completely dumbfounds me that we, generally speaking, can just buy, buy, buy and not think about what impact that has on our environment. (I suppose it is good for the economy, though…right?). Lately I’ve been thinking about the disconnect we have with our habits and behavior. Our lives are so busy! I was walking with my son today just one block over from the very busy street we live on and it was so quiet! The fact of the matter is, it probably wasn’t really that quiet, but relatively speaking it was like we were in a different place—some nice, sunny, small town with quiet homes and no traffic. It seemed peaceful, and I could think and enjoy the outdoors. It totally made me realize I needed to do some yoga! Or meditate, which I’ve never been good at making time for. Ah, but I digress…this disconnect with our actions led me to think about the gap that exists in educating us about the consequences of our actions in terms of consumerism. Of course, why would we want to stop consumerism—it is what makes our world go round. At least that’s how it has been. What it could become…who knows? But when I talked to all those different people earlier this week, one thing was clear—marketing works! And what’s missing are all the pieces of the puzzle for consumers to make educated decisions about buying something. Or buying INTO something…for example, the methane created from landfills is being used to generate electricity. Sounds great! I do think it’s a good thing to make use of a negative by-product. That’s one way to ‘be green.’ But what about generating less methane to begin with? Wouldn’t that be even better? Apparently, the person I spoke with thought the use of methane was so good that landfills themselves are good. Hmmm…he honestly spoke so confidently, that I was tempted to believe him. Instead I asked him, “Rather than selling people on the methane use, wouldn’t it be better if we focused on reducing how much we throw into landfills?” Because even though we’re making lemonade with lemons, so to speak, don’t we want fewer lemons? My own habits of wastefulness remind me every day that I need to change more…I need to talk about it more…and I need to go to the weekly Waste Less Living sales meetings—my own little self-help group—to further narrow that educational gap that’s in my own life. Working here could not have come at a better time!

A Company That Cares?

Well, it’s official—I now work in the environmental field. Yah, Waste Less Living! However, I must say, I find it that much more important to ‘walk the walk,’ and I’m telling you, it ain’t easy sometimes—especially when it comes to grocery shopping. I can’t shop anymore without feeling torn—I find something I would like to purchase, but it uses so much unnecessary packaging that I end up either buying it and feeling guilty, or not buying it and leaving with an empty shopping cart! Either way, I feel frustrated that more companies aren’t more aware of (and concerned about) their choices. Which is definitely a huge plus to working at Waste Less Living. Christine founded the company based on a sustainable business model, meaning profit comes second to bringing in a sustainable income for its’ staff and serving the environment. While it is so tempting to buy something that will save me time, I have to really think about who I’m giving my money to. Corporations have the chance to make a statement with how they run their business, and consumers have the chance to make a bigger statement with how they spend their money. We must vote with our dollar. We must remember that convenience isn’t everything.  I know time is precious, but certainly we can squeeze in twenty minutes once a week to cut up veggies and fruit and put them into reusable containers to grab on the go...? Every time I want to buy something, but feel bad that I’m contributing to that mind-set of ‘now, now, now,’ I try and remind myself that convenience comes at a cost. Individually packaged cereal and milk…individually wrapped dried fruit…these are very tempting, healthy looking options for my on-the-go lifestyle that could very well save me from hitting the fast food drive-thru. But at what cost? Even recycling that packaging isn’t ideal. Recycling is just delayed landfilling for the most part. So, what’s a busy girl to do? Well…I came up with a plan, and I think that if I take it slow, I won’t get overwhelmed (because we know where that gets me—remember that big slobbery, stagnant pool of frustration?!?!). What I’ve been doing is phasing items out of my cupboards. Now, I’m lucky—I live in a city that offers me a buffet of choices when it comes to markets. So, I try and buy at a place where I can purchase items in bulk. Rice, oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit, beans, lentils, and trail mix fill glass jars in my cupboards now, and it’s great! Not only does buying in bulk use less packaging, but it’s cheaper. Bonus round! And—nerd alert!—I even bought some light-weight cotton fabric to sew some reusable bags so I don’t have to use the ones at the store anymore! I know…I figure it’s only a matter of time before I’m illegally raising chickens in my condo for eggs…but hey, at least I’ll know they’re cage-free and enjoying life! But that, my friends, is a topic for a different day…

The Heart of LA Can Be Green!

I moved to Los Angeles seven and a half years ago with my husband, who had accepted a position at UCLA. It was perfect timing as I had decided I really wanted to pursue acting professionally, and what better place to be than Los Angeles? As it’s generally known, there is a mild case of ‘plastic surgery-itis’ in these parts…advertisements gently reminding you of how much “better” you could be. So, it’s only natural to assume one might start looking at themselves sideways in the mirror more and more often. Well, being an outdoorsy, ‘natural’ girl from Michigan, I told my husband from the beginning, “If I EVER start saying that I need Botox or breast implants, you better put me on the first plane out of here to a commune in Vermont!” I guess in my head, Vermont seemed like the place to be if you’re a tent-sleeping, no-make-up-wearing, composting enthusiast. Funny thing is, while I did joke, I AM a tent-sleeping, no-make-up-wearing, composting enthusiast! Especially now. over the past few years, my obsession with the environment, recycling, and trash has grown and become something I think about quite a bit. Some might say too much! (My father in law once told me, not long ago, to ‘lighten up’). Well, if you’re anything like me, obsessive thoughts without a viable outlet will only serve to bring you down. Depression only leads to more negativity, that negativity leads to inaction and feeling overwhelmed, yada yada yada…and the downward spiral begins. And then there you are, sitting in a big slobbery, stagnant pool of frustration and self-doubt. Well, I was sitting in that slobbery pool about three years ago when I left a producer’s office after turning down what was seemingly my first ‘real acting job,’ complete with a paycheck that ended with the word ‘thousand.’ Bear in mind, most of my jobs paid in the form of copy, credit and maybe some food! So, why was I feeling so unhappy with this professional achievement? Needless to say, I had some soul-searching to do. To make a long, winding story short, I quit pursuing acting professionally cold turkey and dove into the world of green. And by ‘dove’ I mean it took me another three years to figure things out…I didn’t know in what capacity I would work, I just knew I needed something I was passionate about. Since this eco-career-world is relatively new and there is no set path, I started with something I loved—architecture and building—and became LEED accredited and a Certified Green Building Professional. Then I became a mom. And whether it was serendipity or destiny, I met Christine Lenches-Hinkel from Waste Less Living and now…here I am—more like the girl in Vermont I wanted to be, but instead choosing to live in Los Angeles, where I can make a difference in a place where, while on some levels is very progressive, still offers me ample opportunity to teach and grow. So, instead of letting the L.A. beauty scene influence me, I look forward to influencing the beauty of L.A. Botox and all.