We have passed the torch to Gail in San Diego! Go Gail!
http://gaillimjoco.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Elke 1st Week
I didn't know what I was getting into when I took over Max's no-trash-for-two-weeks initiative last week. This has been extremely challenging and I wouldn't say that I have been as successful as Max. But, it has certainly been eye-opening and has raised my awareness of trash and how much I pollute. During the first week, I traveled out to Phoenix, LA, and San Francisco, and the whole idea of going into the shpiel and pulling out my plastic plate turned me off. So, I essentially was very hungry (and thirsty) for the first 7 days of this. Then I realized I have to eat - the project would be a failure if I didn't eat. So, I started to get comfortable with the story and confront people more aggressively. Here are my experiences.
Starbucks - Starbucks gives you $.10 off if you bring your own mug AND they give you compliments like "that's cool" or "thanks for saving the environment" That all made me feel good.
Auntie Anne's Pretzels - I said that she could just pass me my pretzel right into my hand and she said "I don't know how you are going to do that." She was laughing and went along with it.
Specialty's Cookies (SF) - Very nice about it, but just didn't really get it. I asked for a cookie with no paper and they scooped it up with the paper, then took it out of the paper, gave me the cookie and threw out the paper. Doh!
Nordstroms - I bought some earrings last week and told them about my project. They guy (who looked 14) agreed to recycle the plastic card the earrings came on but then put the pair of earrings in a card board box with tissue and then tucked that in a plastic bag. Doh!
Victoria's Secret - I had to say "no bag" FOUR times - putting stuff in a bag is so ingrained in their minds.
Giant Grocery Store - Wet lettuce everywhere....
Southwest Airlines - They say they recycle and I hope that is the case because those snack boxes create a ton of waste. OH, I almost forget, NO napkin with my drink. Who needs a napkin with their drink? For the condensation on the bottom of their cup?
California Pizza Kitchen - They were accomodating, but they stand out as a place that creates a lot of waste (any pizza place) because they give you the pizza in a giant box. Is that HUGE box neccessary?
Sit Down Restaurants - This is the way to do it! They use real plates and as long as you clear your plate and ask for no straw, you can get through the meal with no trash at all. If anyone takes the baton after me, I highly recommend sit down restaurants.
Public Restrooms - Most places do not have hand dryers anymore. Yes, I still wash my hands but I "air dry" which takes a long time and I wind up just wiping the water off on my jeans. So I often have wet jeans.
My house - I haven't been throwing out things so there is trash just sitting around, on the counter. Aidan is going crazy. I have pushed the boundaries of which plastic items can go in the recycling bin.
My purse - In my purse, I am carrying the excess trash, which consists of Southwest airlines peanut wrappers, hotel key cards, ear plugs, baggage check tag, and other snack wrappers.
All in all, this is a great project and I am glad that I am doing it. I tell the story as much as possible so that everyone knows about it. Yesterday at a July 4th party, I told the story to 6 people and then one guy went to the bathroom and said that he had the option of either using towels or air dryer. He chose air dryer :)
Starbucks - Starbucks gives you $.10 off if you bring your own mug AND they give you compliments like "that's cool" or "thanks for saving the environment" That all made me feel good.
Auntie Anne's Pretzels - I said that she could just pass me my pretzel right into my hand and she said "I don't know how you are going to do that." She was laughing and went along with it.
Specialty's Cookies (SF) - Very nice about it, but just didn't really get it. I asked for a cookie with no paper and they scooped it up with the paper, then took it out of the paper, gave me the cookie and threw out the paper. Doh!
Nordstroms - I bought some earrings last week and told them about my project. They guy (who looked 14) agreed to recycle the plastic card the earrings came on but then put the pair of earrings in a card board box with tissue and then tucked that in a plastic bag. Doh!
Victoria's Secret - I had to say "no bag" FOUR times - putting stuff in a bag is so ingrained in their minds.
Giant Grocery Store - Wet lettuce everywhere....
Southwest Airlines - They say they recycle and I hope that is the case because those snack boxes create a ton of waste. OH, I almost forget, NO napkin with my drink. Who needs a napkin with their drink? For the condensation on the bottom of their cup?
California Pizza Kitchen - They were accomodating, but they stand out as a place that creates a lot of waste (any pizza place) because they give you the pizza in a giant box. Is that HUGE box neccessary?
Sit Down Restaurants - This is the way to do it! They use real plates and as long as you clear your plate and ask for no straw, you can get through the meal with no trash at all. If anyone takes the baton after me, I highly recommend sit down restaurants.
Public Restrooms - Most places do not have hand dryers anymore. Yes, I still wash my hands but I "air dry" which takes a long time and I wind up just wiping the water off on my jeans. So I often have wet jeans.
My house - I haven't been throwing out things so there is trash just sitting around, on the counter. Aidan is going crazy. I have pushed the boundaries of which plastic items can go in the recycling bin.
My purse - In my purse, I am carrying the excess trash, which consists of Southwest airlines peanut wrappers, hotel key cards, ear plugs, baggage check tag, and other snack wrappers.
All in all, this is a great project and I am glad that I am doing it. I tell the story as much as possible so that everyone knows about it. Yesterday at a July 4th party, I told the story to 6 people and then one guy went to the bathroom and said that he had the option of either using towels or air dryer. He chose air dryer :)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day 14 Done!!!
Finally done! I can go back to all the convenience of throwing things away. Actually, there were only a few points during the experiment that I found that I was truely inconvenienced in any major way. Cutting out all those goodies with the packaging, eating meals at the restaurant vs taking it to go, air drying my hands - all was really no big deal in the end. I had many people doubting the ability to go no-trash when I first mentioned it to them, but I feel that it shows that with minimal forthought and a concious lookout, we can reduce our reliance on disposables without too much heartache.Nevertheless, there was some unavoidable trash. In the picture I am showing off all my trash for the past 2 weeks. Not too shabby! (and most of that is a weird wood and steel contraption that held up a new suit in box that was delivered to me). Our trash as consumers is just the tip of the iceberg - I just read actually that what we throw away is only 5% of the actual waste in producing the item we just consumed! wow. staggering.
Well, time to celebrate with a beer and hotdog...
Notice the entirely wasteful beer cup that I am using! Did I not learn anything???? Maybe the hot dog is actually reducing waste as it is stuffed with leftover animal parts.
And I am very excited to pass the torch on to my sister Elke who despite planning her wedding in 2 months, is going to take up the no-trash challenge!
Go Elke!!!
I will turn over the blog to her now...
Max
Day 12-13
Here is my man Tony serving my lunch on my camping plate...
He doesnt look so happy about my camera, but he is now so much more enlightened about the trash that he uses as part of his job.
Getting into the final stretches...cant mess up now.
Max
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Day 8-11 The Restaurant Vs the Patron
Today I talk to the owner of the LA Cafe. He said something startling to me. He would love for all of his customers to be like me because that would cut down on half his costs. Half his costs!? wow, I had no idea it was that much. For a while, I was all about blaming the restaurant and the availability of cheap disposables, but his comment got me thinking. He would love to cut back but customers demand it. They need the bags, and plastic containers, handful of napkins, etc. And he has to buy it and give it to them just to survive. So who is more to blame? The restaurant or the patron?
I decided to probe a little deeper. Is trash really half your costs? "Well, actually NYC rent is 40%, then employment is 30%, insurance 10%, food x%, disposables actually around 6%". 6%? That doesn't seem like much. Back to square one. His focus is on rent and employment - if those fluctuate, there goes his business. Trash was obviously a small part of the equation, and not really on his mind. They could put twice as many napkins in my bag and it would hardly make a difference.
Maybe if the economics were really that it were half his costs, than he would look at alternative or reduced packaging techniques.
And have Americans become accustomed to using so many napkins because they were given to us in the first place? Just like Starbucks, we only became addicted to coffee when we found it on every corner. Now we are addicted to the java jacket, the lid, the stirring spoon, and don't forget the napkins.
Max
I decided to probe a little deeper. Is trash really half your costs? "Well, actually NYC rent is 40%, then employment is 30%, insurance 10%, food x%, disposables actually around 6%". 6%? That doesn't seem like much. Back to square one. His focus is on rent and employment - if those fluctuate, there goes his business. Trash was obviously a small part of the equation, and not really on his mind. They could put twice as many napkins in my bag and it would hardly make a difference.
Maybe if the economics were really that it were half his costs, than he would look at alternative or reduced packaging techniques.
And have Americans become accustomed to using so many napkins because they were given to us in the first place? Just like Starbucks, we only became addicted to coffee when we found it on every corner. Now we are addicted to the java jacket, the lid, the stirring spoon, and don't forget the napkins.
Max
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Day 6-7 Corporate America
I was flying back up to NYC over the weekend and was starving from being stuck on the runway for 3 hours and not being able to accept one of their crappy snacks because of all the packaging. By the time I got to Laguardia, the Wendy's in the American Airlines terminal was the only restaurant open, so I gave it a shot and went into my pre-order spiel. And they wouldn't serve me! The manager came out and said that if my plate was dirty, it might get on the hamburger, and I may sue him! I could not believe it. He was so cold - like they even have a guideline for using someone else's plate. Put the motherf**kin hamburger in the motherf**kin plate! Even my piercing thoughts didn't sway him.
By contrast, I love going to small New York mom-and-pop bodega's and deli's often run by Hispanic and foreign workers. The reaction to my project is always so spirited. My new pal Tony at the LA cafe at Madison Park has the whole staff trained to serve my breakfast with no trash or else I will "fine" them. Everyone behind the counter (10 or so) now knows who I am, and all have some fun reaction to my project. It is either laughter, questions, a look of complete weirdness, but it is always warmth and a smile.
This project has reinforced my opinion of the overly processed world of corporations, which are rife with guidelines corporate processes and governed by the economics of being sued. Getting back to the point of this project, even if all those guidelines and rules cut off the human element, they could be used for waste efficiency to be part of the "process".
Max
By contrast, I love going to small New York mom-and-pop bodega's and deli's often run by Hispanic and foreign workers. The reaction to my project is always so spirited. My new pal Tony at the LA cafe at Madison Park has the whole staff trained to serve my breakfast with no trash or else I will "fine" them. Everyone behind the counter (10 or so) now knows who I am, and all have some fun reaction to my project. It is either laughter, questions, a look of complete weirdness, but it is always warmth and a smile.
This project has reinforced my opinion of the overly processed world of corporations, which are rife with guidelines corporate processes and governed by the economics of being sued. Getting back to the point of this project, even if all those guidelines and rules cut off the human element, they could be used for waste efficiency to be part of the "process".
Max
Monday, June 18, 2007
Day 5 Company Cafeteria
The no-trash diet is making me notice the excessively disposable culture that we live in. The industry centered around food is the most glaring example. In our company cafeteria, the food servers default to putting food into a Styrofoam container despite having a pile of regular plates to choose from. You have to request for the regular plate!
Furthermore, most people eating in the cafeteria seem to be using the Styrofoam container although they are eating there and not even taking it to go. Maybe they prefer it because they can just throw it all into the trash without going to the other end of the cafeteria to drop off the plates on the conveyor belt.
On a more fun note, one beer can of mine has had a grand exit to its life. At the Clermont Lounge in Atlanta last night I broke down with friends and had a beer knowing that I would be carrying it home to my recycling bin. What a better way to compact for space efficiency than to have the legendary Atlanta phenomena Blondie do it for me. Blondie is a short old black stripper with bright blond hair whose signature move fit perfectly with my need for a crushed beer can. With a big smile (and 10 bucks) she placed it between her breasts and squeezed her elbows across the front of her chest with the might of her bosom reducing my can to an efficient, environmentally friendly size. Perfect, thanks Blondie!!
Max
Furthermore, most people eating in the cafeteria seem to be using the Styrofoam container although they are eating there and not even taking it to go. Maybe they prefer it because they can just throw it all into the trash without going to the other end of the cafeteria to drop off the plates on the conveyor belt.
On a more fun note, one beer can of mine has had a grand exit to its life. At the Clermont Lounge in Atlanta last night I broke down with friends and had a beer knowing that I would be carrying it home to my recycling bin. What a better way to compact for space efficiency than to have the legendary Atlanta phenomena Blondie do it for me. Blondie is a short old black stripper with bright blond hair whose signature move fit perfectly with my need for a crushed beer can. With a big smile (and 10 bucks) she placed it between her breasts and squeezed her elbows across the front of her chest with the might of her bosom reducing my can to an efficient, environmentally friendly size. Perfect, thanks Blondie!!
Max
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