The Devil in the Details

I think the story of my coffee mug is a great example of the process we are all going through trying to live a more green lifestyle. A little background: Over the past couple of years, I have read 2 books about garbage (please hear me out...I know I have already lost credibility with any sane person reading this!). First I read Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage by Heather Rogers, and then, apparently compelled to read more on the subject, I read Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte. The one important message I derived from both books was: Recycling is OK, but the real deal, the thing you absolutely have to start doing, is REDUCE the amount of stuff you consume. One small way I decided to do this was to use a reuseable mug when buying a drink outside of my home. This should be simple, right?

Wrong! First, I actually had to remember to bring my mug with me (helps to carry a bigger purse), and then, a while back when I had my mug with me, I went to a Starbucks and asked them to put my coffee into my mug. I got rewarded with a 10-cent discount, and then watched as the barrista made my coffee in a disposable cup, poured it into my mug, and threw out the cup. Great.

So the next time I went to a Starbucks, I handed my mug to the clerk and said: 'Can you make me a coffee in this mug without using another cup?' 'Sure,' was the reply I received, and when I explained the situation from last time, they told me that the person was not trained correctly, and that their policy is not to use cups just to throw away.

I know this seems microscopic in the grand scheme of things, but it represents decisions and conversations I have every day in so many areas. A big part of the work is just KEEPING AT IT.

Eating locally

Our lasagna gardening project is producing food in abundance! This past Sunday, Tom and Peggy trooped out to the garden to harvest tomatoes. We had to whack our way in, mainly because the 2 squash plants have decided to take over. You can see from the picture that some of the broccoli has gone to flower, but we have been able to harvest quite a bit of it first. The broccoli made a delicious cream of broccoli soup, and with the tomatoes we were able to make a fantastic spaghetti sauce. Yum.

Summer Reading

This summer I read'' Animal, Vegetable, Miracle'' by Barbara Kingsolver and I was quite impressed with the book. The author and her family moved from Arizona to an inherited farm in western Virginia and decided to 'live off the land' for a year. This means that they grew their own fruits and vegetables, and even raised their own chickens and turkeys for consumption. They also agreed that to supplement their diet, they could buy organic foods grown within a 100-mile radius of their home. The book is arranged sequentially, from April to the following March, and tells about the process of growing, raising and finally eating foods seasonally. Many of us have joined CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture groups), and reading this book has been a great affirmation of that decision. I have the book to loan out if anyone would like to read it.

Gesu Garden Site Visit

Martha and Tom headed down to Gesu Elementary School to check out the children's garden and to meet with Michelle, the science teacher who is overseeing this project. Tom was able to firm up a couple of dates to get some work done. We will be installing some gutters and a rain barrel on the garage that is located across the parking lot from the garden (about 100 yds.), helping to improve the soil conditions by adding compost, soil and mulch, and putting in some lasagna gardens.

Raising Gardens with Fallen Trees

This past Saturday, the Brennans and the Bradleys went to work building the frames for lasagna gardening. After trooping through the woods next to the Brennans' home to gather the fallen ash wood, they laid out the logs, cut them to the length they wanted (3 for each side - 12 in all), stacked them on top of each other, drilled down into all 3 layers, and then put bamboo stakes into the holes to hold them together.

Restaurant leftovers....what to do?

I mentioned at our Tuesday meeting that we have had some success with the Rubbermaid collapsible containers we bought for leftovers from restaurants. They are so flat...

...you can keep them in your purse. When it's time to take some of that food home...

...you just pop it open and put your leftovers in. I bought mine at Kroger, and you can also get them at K-Mart. One more step towards a no-styrofoam world.
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