One woman's search to find greening in the world today …

Monthly Archives: February 2011

What’s in Your Bathroom?

Face it, we all knew that, sooner or later, I would be writing about toilet paper in MyGreenAdventure. What’s the big deal, you may be asking? Well, by switching to recycled toilet paper,  you can save almost $50 a year, and together we could all save 19 million trees – and that’s one heck of a lot of trees!!

First, even though recycled toilet paper may sound weird, it is NOT made from toilet paper that has been recycled (ICK!!) but from paper that has been recycled. While it may not be as soft as toilet paper made from virgin pulp, the benefits far outweigh this. “Soft” toilet paper is made from trees that are cut down, which also affects the forests, the soil, the wildlife and the entire surrounding environment and ecosystem. Often the trees are old-growth, and entire forests are clear-cut, which contributes to global warming. So, it-s a no-brainer…using recycled toilet paper decreases the need for cutting down trees for your TP.

Seventh Generation is an environmentally friendly brand that is considered the Rolls Royce of green products. Their bathroom tissue is made from 100% recycled paper, with a minimum of 85% post-consumer content. It is whitened without chemicals that contain chlorine. They present some pretty impressive numbers that may help convince you to go recycled:

“At least 400,000 trees would be saved if EVERY home in the U.S. replaced just one roll of toilet paper made from virgin pulp with one roll of toilet paper made from recycled paper – and if those same households replaced just one 4-pack of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we could save:

  • 1,450,000 trees
  • 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space ( 5,500 full garbage trucks worth)
  • 523 million gallons of water ( a year’s supply for 4,100 families of 4, and avoid 89,000 pounds of pollution

Not all recycled brands are created equal, so make sure the one you buy says 100% recycled. What are you waiting for? It’s good for the trees, the tushies and the planet!

Commitment to Sustainability?

Every day, we are all given opportunities to commit to sustainability, to the act of being greener, more eco-friendly. Some things are easy for us to commit to, and in time they become habits, or non-negotiables. One example might be automatically tossing recycling into the appropriate containers. Another is using a travel mug instead of paper cups at your local coffeehouse, using cloth napkins, etc. We all bump into many such opportunities each and every day. These things are often fairly easy to accomplish, and can become a habit without too much sacrifice on our part.

Sometimes, things require more thought, consideration and planning. For example, say we are buying a new car? To what degree to we consider the green factor? I know what I HOPE we do, but we are at choice in our decision.

About now, I find myself asking, “What IS my commitment to sustainability?” Am I committed only when the stakes are low, or can I maintain that commitment when there is more skin in the game? One important factor in this choice is my values. How am I honoring my values in the choices I make everyday? And more importantly, how can I raise the stakes?

How can we ALL raise the stakes?

Think Before you Ink

Even though many of us are attempting to be more paperless in our lives and businesses, sometimes it is necessary to have a hard copy of documents, brochures, etc. So, print if you must, hopefully on paper like I mentioned in my earlier post Rock.Paper.Scissors.

But what about the ink we use? Some companies are working on making more eco-friendly alternatives. One thing we can do right now is to buy recycled cartridges, or refill our own. This saves many, many cartridges from going to the landfill, and less petroleum products to be used in their production in the first place.

Sometimes, it’s a simple action or two that makes the difference. Recently, I came across an interesting fact: by simply switching the font in our documents to Century Gothic, Times New Roman or another one with thin lines in the letters (as opposed to Arial and the like) the average home office can save over $25 per year in ink costs annually.

Another sustainable solution  is to print using  Ecofont software. Whatever font we use, during the printing process, Ecofont magically shoots holes into the letters we have typed, and there is no loss of legibility. This process typically saves 25% of the ink and toner normally used.

For an unusual solution that is not widely marketed yet, let’s look at the 2009 winner in the Greener Gadgets competition – the RITI printer. Designed by by Jeon Hwan Ju, the RITI uses coffee or tea dregs, plus a little elbow grease, and turns them into an eco-friendly alternative to conventional ink. Another eco-bonus, no external power source. To use the RITI you place the coffee or tea dregs into the ink cartridge with some water, insert a piece of paper (100% recycled we hope) and move the cartridge backwards and forwards in the slot while drawing on the paper. Even better, when you are finished, the grounds can go into the compost heap!

Sometimes we just need an old-fashioned ball point pen. there are several eco-friendly alternatives. One I especially like is the Papermate biodegradable pen.

If you have a major printing job that needs to be done professionally, look for a local printer that uses green printing practices, soy or vegetable inks, recycled paper, etc. I am told there are several online printing sources as well that you might want to check out.

One of the biggest environmentally responsible things we can do is to ask ourseves what REALLY needs to be printed. What can we send online, including flyers, marketing pieces, invitations? Do we need to print that document, only to file it away somewhere? Step away from the printer…

What’s in Your Mail?

Today, in addition to my regular mail (which at this point is pretty minimal) I received a credit card offer, 2 junk mail flyers, a J.Jill catalog that I had not registered for, and 2 magazines I have attempted to unsubscribe from. Enough! Something has to be done, as I just chucked most of it into the recycle bin. Then I remembered there is a way to stop the influx of unwanted mail.

A few days ago, I read a great post from fellow blogger Bridget Baker about junk mail and how to stop it. (click here) I am excited to  use this tool, to save on the amount of stuff that arrives unwanted to my mailbox every day. One reason, besides the obvious eco-friendly ones, is that a while ago, one of my neighbors (we share a mailbox) mistakenly threw away an important piece of mail. Oops! She was ultimately able to retrieve it, but it had gotten lost amidst a few newspaper flyers. Hopefully, I can get everyone on board with the green idea of less junk mail being delivered.

And the magazines? In a moment of weakness (or insanity, depending you your point of greenness) I registered for a 2-month trial of  both Travel and Leisure and Cooking Light, which the company, for some unknown reason, switched to Food and Wine. After the 2-month trial was up, I tried unsuccessfully to unsubscribe. I was never charged for the subscriptions, but for some other unknown reason they began sending TWO copies of each magazine monthly. Now, one year later, it has dropped back to one per magazine per subscription per month. I am kind of afraid to tell them to stop sending for fear I will get even more again. It reminds me a little of the I Love Lucy episode at the chocolate factory – it’s a classic, if you are too young to remember ;-)

Long story a bit shorter – have your bills delivered online, and pay them that way also. Think of ways to cut down on your own mail. For example, while I appreciate my dentist sending me a teeth cleaning reminder on a cute postcard - next time shoot me an email instead! What are your ideas for decluttering YOUR mailbox?