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.
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Why focus on zero-waste when there are so many more pressing issues? GalleryWhy focus on zero-waste when there are so many more pressing issues?
Composting, Connecting with nature, Eating Consciously, Food, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips
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 [...]
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
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 [...]
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 [...]
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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! GalleryShould 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!
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 [...]