Bag Talk

I had a Zola party at my house the other day, and the best part about these gatherings is the discussions that we have regarding ideas on how to make our lives more eco-friendly. One of the talking points came up as we were discussing using cloth/reuseable bags for our purchases. Some people want to keep getting paper bags from the grocery store because they then reuse them for their dog's poo or their cat's litter. Having cats myself, I completely understand.

There are a couple of things here... with some help from a friend, I found out that paper bags thrown into landfills are the #1 source of methane pollution. Yuck!! On the other hand, my Dad informed me that there is at least one landfill (in Corvallis, Oregon) that is using that methane to produce usable energy (so cool). However, since not all landfills are utilizing this yet, it is best to minimize the quantity of paper bags thrown into landfills.

Zola does sell biodegradable doggie doo bags made from corn. The good news is that they biodegrade fast and don't sit in the landfill for ages. The bad news is that this country relies on corn for too many things (food, ethanol, corn products, and the worst, HFCS (high frutcose corn syrup)).

So there is no easy solution but to do the best you can. My solution? Whenever I get small paper bags, like from buying bread, bringing home potatoes or other fruits and vegetables, etc., I save them to reuse for cleaning my cat's litter box. So yes, I am using paper which goes into the landfill, but these particular paper bags are MUCH smaller than using a big paper grocery bag. So I continue to use my awesome cloth bags for groceries and other purchases, and reuse the paper bags that end up coming home with me, anyway.


Psst... Zola parties are fun! We have lots of discussions of this type. Let me know if you want to have one... :)

This here is my FAVORITE bag. I keep 2 of these in my purse at all times and whip them out whenever I need a bag (shopping, library, instant diaper bag, place to put unwanted coats, hats, etc.) Since these have been in my purse, I don't think I have brought any plastic or paper bags home...

I Love Reusable Products!

Here's a green challenge for the months of September and October. This is from Crunchy Domestic Goddess and I think this is a great idea!

We are a throw-away society, which is really harming our earth and generating huge landfills as well as floating garbage in the ocean.

But it doesn't need to be like that. There are great alternative products out there which can help us make the switch from disposable products to reusable products. My friend Ellie made a great blog post about this so hop on over there to check out alternatives to disposables.

Here are some ideas to get you started… pick one or two things you can do and go for it!

You can make the switch from:

• Paper napkins to cloth napkins
• Paper towels to cloth towels
• Tissues to handkerchiefs
• Paper, plastic or Styrofoam plates to your kitchen plates
• Inexpensive plastic “Take & Toss” sippy cups to Sigg or Camelbak bottles or the Kleen Kanteen
• Disposable water bottles to (again) reusable bottles like Sigg or Camelbak
• Paper coffee cups to reusable coffee mugs like Sigg
  
• Plastic sandwich bags or paper lunch bags to reusable containers/bags
• Paper lunch bags to cloth or neoprene reusable bags.
  
• Swiffers (or similar products) to a broom and dustpan or mop (or use reusable cloths like cloth diapers/terry inserts in your Swiffer)
• Disposable dust rags to cloth rags
• Disposable diapers to cloth diapers
• Disposable wipes to cloth wipes (inexpensive plain washcloths work really well)
• Disposable feminine products (tampons, pads) to reusables like DivaCup, MoonCup, Glad Rags, Luna Pads, Pretty Pads, or New Moon Pads, among others
• Grocery store bags to reusable bags

Or, for the really adventurous:

• Toilet paper to cloth wipes/washcloths (for #1 or #2 too if you are really, really adventurous)

Zola Goods, for which I am an Independent Coordinator, has quite a few of these alternatives, especially the reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, cloth paper towels, Wrap N Mats for sandwiches, reusable bags for shopping, etc.

Go check it out and start making a difference today. Leave me a comment and let me know what you have chosen for your ditch the disposables challenge!

Hot Days of August

So lots of things happening around here lately. Friday night I hosted my first Zola party which was awesome. I truly had fun being around a great group of women talking about eco-friendly products and ways to help both the earth and our wallets.

Saturday was the 100th anniversary of the Multnomah Village parade, and we went to watch. Was lots of fun. Afterwards Jake wanted to look at the chickens.

Other than that, we've just been trying to survive the 3 days of 100 degree heat. The kiddie pool was set up each day and saw lots of use. The fans were on constantly in the house. We wore as little clothing as possible. Theo the cat even felt sweaty, a first! So weird to feel a sweaty cat.