Moving to Zero-waste

Waste Land Podcast on plastic recycling and why it is nearly impossible. Interesting listen…

From Planet Money's podcast page:  https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912150085/waste-land Last year, Planet Money ran a show about why it doesn't make sense economically and, heartbreakingly, even environmentally to recycle plastic. But if recycling most plastic is not working now — and if it didn't work 30 years ago when the numbers and arrows first popped up — did it ever work? And why did it take us so long to learn the truth? In this episode, NPR reporter Laura Sullivan, with the support of PBS's Frontline, sets out to find out who is responsible.

By |2020-09-14T09:21:20-04:00September 14th, 2020|Categories: Moving to Zero-waste|
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Why focus on zero-waste when there are so many more pressing issues?

At one of our potluck events (I sure do miss those), someone said to me, "Why so much focus on zero-waste?  There are more pressing issues."  I have thought of that a lot.  Of all the issues I can think of, they all are impacted by working to move to a zero-waste community. "Our goal is to eliminate the idea of waste from our mindset and to normalize a kinder existence without waste." John and I are moving to that mindset and it has impacted every part of our lives.  John and I have lived most of our life not thinking deeply about our waste.  Recycle, recycle, recycle and we were good citizens.  Items are disposable for a reason right? Well, right we have discovered.  What we discovered and what we continue to learn is that the thought of waste is privileged.  I visit the DrawDown Project website frequently, especially the solutions page.  Here is a paragraph from the page. Here, we present the individual solutions reviewed and [...]

By |2020-09-14T09:03:24-04:00September 14th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Eating Consciously, Food, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|
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Board of Commissioners Solid Waste Workshop

On September 2nd, Kenn Webb, Transylvania County's Solid Waste Director, gave a presentation to the county commissioners on the state of the landfill.  It was really informative.  Kenn has an amazing background and the depth of the presentation was amazing. The presentation was recorded and you can see it on the county's website here:  https://www.transylvaniacounty.org/meetings/commissioners-meeting-09022020-solid-waste-workshop

By |2020-09-12T11:38:09-04:00September 12th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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New York Times article about sending our plastic to Africa and a carbon footprint quiz

Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic. Faced with plunging profits and a climate crisis that threatens fossil fuels, the industry is demanding a trade deal that weakens Kenya’s rules on plastics and on imports of American trash. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read this article in today's New York Times.  It speaks of fracking and plastic and the impact the industry is having.  It reads a lot like my interview with Naeema of the NC Environmental Justice Network.  This is another story of industry working to implement systemic change. There is a mini-quiz you can take that helps you estimate your carbon footprint on a few items.  You can find it here:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/30/climate/climate-footprint-quiz.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage I keep asking myself this question:  Why is my waste permitted to impact your life? I am interested in your thoughts.  Thanks for being here. Love is the answer.  

By |2020-08-31T08:34:01-04:00August 31st, 2020|Categories: Eating Consciously, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste|
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We need more community food scrap drop-off sites. Interested? We will help

Growing food usually requires soil.  Nutrients in the soil get used up when we grow food and luckily for us, an easy way to rebuild the soil is through making compost.  We have taken on a new community project with a few other groups that involves giving plant starts to those who are in need of food.  We usually have enough pots, plant starts, and volunteers but we usually need more soil. We currently have 2 publicized community compost drop off places in our community and we could use a few more.  If you are interested in helping us build more soil please let us know. Do you currently compost at home but have no use for the soil?  Let us know!  We could sure use it. Would you collect your food scraps for use if someone would pick them up and take them to a drop-off location?  Let us know that too. Send an email to [email protected] and let's talk dirt :)

By |2020-08-30T14:58:51-04:00August 30th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Eating Consciously, Food, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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Should we send our garbage to another community or keep it here? The county commissioners will probably decide this in October. Ask candidates this Thursday at the forum!

This is a call to action! As you know, John and I create about 1 bag of trash a year.  This is our third year accomplishing that and it has changed our life.  It has changed the way we eat, the amount of stuff we buy, and made us rethink any purchase we do make.  A lot of this was possible because we learned how to divert our food scraps from the landfill.  It reduced about 40% of our trash and others have shared they have experienced the same impact on their waste stream. I recently received a campaign email from two county commission candidates and asked about the landfill decision.  This is what I was sent in response: There will be a county commissioners workshop at 4pm on September 2 to receive a comprehensive report on the question of opening a new cell at the Landfill. No action will be taken that day but commissioners will have to make a decision fairly soon, probably in October. I [...]

By |2020-08-24T11:36:33-04:00August 24th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Connecting with nature, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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Transylvania Shares, our community sharing club is going strong! They could use your membership!

Last year, a group of Moving to Conservers members worked with a business coach for 6 months to develop Transylvania Shares, a sharing club.  The business opened in January and is going strong.  Here are some updates from their recent newsletter. If you would like to learn more about Shares, how you can help by becoming a member, visit their website here:  Transylvaniashares.com Transylvania Shares says goodbye to Lucia Gerdes who has recently resigned from the Board of Directors in order to pursue other endeavors. We wish her well. We welcome Gabriel Covington to the Board. Gabriel is originally from Charlotte and is presently attending Brevard College. Also Members, here are a two new items that have been donated/loaned. A bicycle repair stand and a Kneerover. Both are in excellent condition. Go to the website and check it out!

By |2020-08-24T12:37:19-04:00August 24th, 2020|Categories: Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|
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Davidson River School garden work day was inspiring

On Thursday, July 30th, a group of dedicated volunteers showed up to work after a downpour.  It didn't rain a drop after we got started.  Barbara Grimm, the principle of Davidson River School had a lot of projects ready for us to tackle. A new compost facility Thanks to a pallet donation from Sylvan Sport, we were able to create a compost facility at the school so students can turn their food scraps into dirt.  Gabriel Covington, a student from Brevard College, helped us put the facility together.  It is so great to spend time with Gabriel.  He is always anxious to be part of a community project and he brings the energy of his youth.  Thanks Gabriel for your help! Kathleen Hannigan, a local artist, helped us add a community art piece the facility, just as we did at Rise and Shine.  Kathleen set up a table and got busy sawing wood planks for use in the compost tree we [...]

By |2020-08-10T10:46:27-04:00August 10th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Eating Consciously, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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Potting plants for the Hunger Coalition giveaway on August 23rd

This past spring, we worked with other community partners to prepare and give away plant starts at the Hunger Coalition's food distribution.  The project was a great success and patrons at the distribution have continued to ask for plants.  One person shared photos of her plants and they were stunning!  Thanks, Shane for passing these on.  Shane is on the Hunger Coalition's board and a member of our project, Eating Consciously. Because a large part of Moving to Conservers' work focuses on eliminating the thought that anything is disposable, we have updated our tag that goes with the plants asking for the return of pots and unused soil from the previous distribution.  Thanks to John Lawson for creating and updating the tag for us! Reuse helps in so many ways. One of our greatest needs for continuing the plant give-away is high-quality soil Composting creates soil and soil is one of the things we need the most in order to support this [...]

By |2020-08-17T16:24:58-04:00August 10th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Eating Consciously, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Shane Bellinger, Use Food Scraps|
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Pig Bucket

Susan Lefler shared this dear story of the pig bucket and using food scraps.  Thanks Susan for sharing. Since “plague” is now a constant theme in our lives, it’s seems logical to begin my pig feeding history with my childhood in North Carolina before polio vaccine was available. People were vaccinated against small pox and so polio had become the scourge and fear for families. I have not double-checked to see if polio outbreaks were seasonal, but I remember the drama occurring in the summer. My parents were both employed by the UNC Chapel Hill, my mother as a reference librarian, my dad as head of the university’s Audio Visual Bureau. When they had to make a work-related trip anywhere that might attract crowds (I especially remember Cherokee being one), I spent the time with my mother’s parents who farmed in Rockingham County near Reidsville, NC. In addition to necessary trips, since my parents worked full time, I often spent weeks in the summer on the farm. Although [...]

By |2020-07-27T09:24:58-04:00July 27th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Connecting with nature, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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