Second Runway

Before I forget - tomorrow night, all you Twin Cityites should go to Second Runway at Goodwill/Easter Seals (553 Fairview Ave N in St. Paul). Designers re-create items purchased at local Goodwill stores.

Eco Bacon

What's up with bacon, my Minnesota friends? Is it the weather?

Max Sparber from MNSpeak, Stephanie March from Foodie File, Conner McCall from Conner's Blog, and of course, Emily from Because Emily Says So are all into the bacon. Even Doniree had a bacon-wrapped pear salad from Town Talk Diner. (Not to mention MICHAEL J. NELSON of MST3K, who has signed over his life to eating a month of nothing but bacon.)

Not wanting to be left out as a vegetarian, I thought I'd shoot my own uh.. veggie bacon food porn!

Mmmm... ok, granted this looks like crap even to me. Its main ingredients are egg whites, soybean oil, textured soy protein, and modified corn starch. It's not even that good for you. Sigh.

Some day, my friends, I will participate in this baconophilia with you in my own veggie way (just not 'till they engineer a better substitute). For now, I'll stick to BLTs without the fake B. Sometimes, it is not easier being green!

Facebook Uses 3 kWh per Capita Per Day

Yesterday was Facebook's 6th anniversary. Steve Tuttle and I are quitting.

I had a brief return after calling it quits in December - but have finally decided to pull the plug for good. I think.
simple yet effective graphic from rmansfield

Disturbingly enough, Facebook has a carbon footprint big enough to compete with large cities. Engineer Doug Beaver estimates per capita daily energy use at 3 kWh, with most energy used to power servers handling photos.

That's like me running a hairdryer for 3 hours every day. Assuming I use Facebook every day of every year, that's about 1000 kWh per year.

So I quit, not just for energy efficiency - but for my own time efficiency too!

Eco Sighting: Lifetime Saint Paul

So my gym is in a recycled building - in a few floors of what used to be the downtown University Club.

One of the quirks of this setup is that we gymgoers sweat through our aerobic workouts in an old ballroom beneath chandeliers serious enough to make even the Phantom of the Opera nervous.

There are 16 chandeliers, each with 20 candelabra bulbs.

Everyone is familiar with candelabra bulbs:

image from wilsonlighting.com

Well today in the University Club lobby, I noticed that the everyday incandescent candelabra bulbs had been replaced by - gasp! - energy efficient CFL candelabra bulbs!

image from TreeHugger.com

Whoever is retrofitting the building hasn't made it into their tenant's aerobic ballroom yet, but I have high hopes.

On Throwing Things Away

Now that my week without trash is up, it's time for me to figure out how to get rid of some of the things I've been waiting to dispose.

image from appliancedisposal.org

1. Window air conditioner. We moved into an apartment with central air in August.

We tried posting the window unit on Craigslist and Twin Cities Free Market - all to no avail, even in August, when we were first trying to get rid of it. I realize it's an impossible sell when it's a high of 5 degrees outside...

The gentleman at Goodwill about died when he saw us try to unload it from the back of my car. I still remember his face as he said, "NO, NO!" They must have a policy against taking appliances.

We tried the Ramsey County Household Hazardous Waste disposal site, which said it won't accept it because it's an appliance.

Where are we supposed to get rid of the darn thing the right way? We're going to try to call our waste hauler, or our next step is to pay a place like J.R.'s an arm and a leg to take it away. Policy problem, anyone?

If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate your advice.

2. Can of PAM. Aerosol! ...meaning it goes to the household hazardous waste disposal site so as not to deplete the ozone.

3. Broken CFL. I am going to enjoy not having this little bit of mercury and glass rattling around in my cabinet anymore.

The Week Without Trash Wraps Up

So living completely without trash is a bust.

My downfall started Thursday at a trade show, when a free grilled cheese sandwich appeared at my booth at 2:30 p.m. after I hadn't eaten lunch... on a styrofoam plate.

Compromises had to be made Friday for free decaf at Caribou, too. And/or a box of Junior Mints (I swear I haven't had them for years. Something about not being able to have them did me in).

WALL-E is sad about my lack of willpower. Image from www.firstshowing.net

But! There are several useful lessons I learned from my week "without trash":

1. Buying bulk foods is really fun and easy (and cheap).

2. Cooking at home and then taking leftovers for lunch in a pyrex is delicious, cheap, and trashless.

3. Trash = money. The less trash I throw away, the less money I spend (I saved SO MUCH this week).
- I didn't eat out or pay for coffee.
- I bought more basic foods at the grocery store, which aren't taxed the same way as processed foods.
- I planned my eating a lot more carefully and wasted a lot less food.

4. Napkins, towels, and rags cut from old t-shirts are better than paper products.

5. If the produce will be peeled, it doesn't need a plastic bag.

6. A worm bin would greatly reduce the amount of trash I produce.

I'm relieved to be able to guiltlessly eat chocolate and cheese again, but I think I'll keep some of these habits going as long as I can. Buying in bulk really is fantastic - fewer preservatives, less packaging, and you control the amount you buy. Amazing!

If you have kids in schools, check out this article about encouraging your school to weigh its trash.

On Being Green at Work

My colleague and I discussed green teams on our way home from a training today - how it's really important for employees to own "greening" the workplace and come up with their own ideas about ways to save resources.

This green suit by Stacy Adams came from zootsuitstore.com

Today, I discovered three ways work today was not conducive to being green:

1. Having to go to a meeting at a coffee shop that does not serve things in "for here" cups. It's awkward not to buy something...
2. Having to drive places.
3. Having to pay to park places with exact change. Having to procure said exact change by buying things. Like Kit-Kat bars. Which I eat. And then dispose of the remains.

Of course, there are three ways work is conducive to being green:

1. Paying for a good portion of a bus pas as an employee benefit.
2. Having a refrigerator and microwave in the break room.
3. Providing reusable cups, silverware, and dishes in the break room.

There are others who have thought about this a lot more than I have:
* Jill Velez from Whole Foods discusses ways to green up the workplace (thanks to Regi for the link!)

* Robin from Green Options shares 5 ways to green your coffee.

* Stephanie Rosenbloom and Michael Barbaro for the NY Times chart Wal-Mart's rise to the top of the (green business heap?)

In other news, don't forget to shop at thrift stores. You may just find an $8000 work of art.