A Question of Power

I don't know if I made this clear or not in my original posting of the "rules" I was following for 2008, but I 'm still consuming power. My house is still on the grid and I use electricity daily. I would like to one day be able to live some where that used more alternative energy, but as a short term renter, that's pretty difficult. However, this had led me to a new issue...batteries. I hadn't thought about this one, until the batteries in my wireless mouse and electric toothbrush both died a few days apart. Technically batteries would fall in the energy category and be ok to buy in moderation. The more I started to think about it though, the more I realize how many batteries we as Americans use. Luckily it's become easier in recent years to properly dispose of batteries, however, they're still pretty toxic and create a lot of waste. I've been looking into green batteries (yes they have such a thing). They're rechargeable batteries that are supposed to be less toxic than regular disposable batteries. I still need to do a little more research on this. It's amazing though how much waste in America we produce from electronics which we so quickly dispose of and replace. In the mean time I will result to using my corded mouse and brushing my teeth the old fashion way.

The search for a "new" pressure cooker

So after returning to Bozeman after the holidays I made the tragic discovery that one of my roommates had blew out the safety valve of my stove top pressure cooker. For those of you not familiar with the wondrous invention of the pressure cooker...let me enlighten you. Basically it's a very large heavy pot with a lid that is sealed on. You add food (often veggies) and a little bit of water and heat it on the stove allowing pressure to build up inside. When the pressure reaches a certain point it starts jiggling a little gauge on top and the result is delicious. Apparently it's something only myself and grandmothers cook with, but I love it and used it all the time (ask any past roommate of mine). Anyways, because it can be mildly dangerous it has a little plastic piece that is made to blow out if the pressure gets too high so the entire thing doesn't blow and that was what broke, making it unusable. So I've been researching online and it looks like my beloved cooker is unfixable so thus I've hit the trift stores of Montana in search for a new one. I feel like it's one of those random items thrift stores should carry, but alas I've been unsuccessful. I've also put a want add on freecycle an online classified page for free stuff people are looking for or giving away, but that too has be unsuccessful. I think my next option will probably be ebay where I have seen some for sale that were used or "vintage" as the ebay people like to advertise. As convenient as online shopping is, I'm trying to buy things locally if at all possible to limit on shipping and the carbon emissions that creates. So I will give it a little bit longer before I begin any bidding. Until then I guess I will have to resort to new ways of cooking. So far my 16 days of consumption-less living has been rather easy, now that there's actually something I want things are beginning to get a bit more interesting.

Selling Out?

An article in the NY times caught my eye the other day. It was about the product line Burt's Bees being bought out by Clorox. For those of you not familiar with Burt's it's a line of beauty and care products made from natural ingredients especially bee's wax (one of my favorite brands of chapstick). The company was sold for $913 million in November. After doing a little research, I found out similar product lines, the Body Shop and Tom's of Maine (84% 0f) had also been bought by L'Oreal and Colgate Palmolive respectively. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about this news. Are theses companies selling out and abandoning original environmentally friendly policies or is some good going to come from this? Well there were a few positives I could see from this. First of all, these larger companies could help promote these products to a more main stream audience and therefore get more people switching to more environmentally friendly products. However, in recent years these products are becoming much more affordable and available at grocery stores and places like Target as good alternatives to less eco-friendly or healthy products. These large companies could, however, bring down the price and create better marketing/advertising. A second positive is that this merger could make these large companies "greener". If these product lines are going to keep their environmental integrity, some things within companies like Clorox, L'Oreal, and Colgate Palmolive will have to change. Interestingly, Tom's of Maine was the only company who mentioned the change on their website (at least that I could find). They say this new partnership will help them meet the growing demand and provide their products in more places. They also said they will "continue to make [their] products without artificial preservatives, sweeteners, or dyes and without animal testing or animal ingredients ...and will continue our Common Good Partnerships, and to give 10% of what we earn to community efforts, and to support 5% of employee time for volunteering". So all in all it's hard to tell if this is a good thing or not. For me I will probably stick with more local brands that the Bozeman Co-op carries, but I think for the rest of Americans who are new to the eco-lines this could be a good way reach a new audience.

No turning back now...

Well I am 5 days into 2008 and have so far succeeded at living consumption free. Only 51 more weeks to go :) I've been planning on doing this since some time in October. It was easy to plan on it then since it was still 2 months away. But, as January began to approach I started to get a little bit more nervous wondering if I would really be able to follow through with it. In the last few days of 2007 I racked my brain to think of any last minute things I wanted to buy while I still could. I started to get a little panicky even. Other than some new shoes to get me through the winter I really couldn't think of anything I needed or even wanted at that point. So 2008 rolled in and my new consumption free life style began. So far I don't miss shopping one bit, but then again it hasn't even been a week yet. In addition to not consuming I'm also trying to find other additional ways to minimize resources I use. I've been walking a ton now that I'm back in Bozeman. For some reason I tend to think that in Bozeman I can walk every where in like 5 minutes, which is often true, but not always. For example, today I figured I'd walk to the gym I recently joined. It seemed close in my mind, almost half an hour later I realized I had grossly underestimated that walk. I spent more time walking to and from the gym than I did actually working out, but oh well it was good to get outside, well until it started snowing on me. Maybe 2008 will make me not only more environmentally friendly but also healthier! Well that's all for now, have a great and sustainable 08! Oh also check out this article from NY times on consumption, shows why cutting back our consumption is so important.