No Impact Week - Day 3: Transport

Mostly a review of no waste day, with a quick note about transportation:

I should also clarify that we didn't buy everything at the market, as I forgot to mention in the video since I was too busy babbling, but rather went to the Punnitse ja säästä (Finnish Bulk Barn) first, then the market place then the grocery store. The only packaged item we bought was a small can of tomato paste (it was 25 cents, the really small ones). We found that the market only have quite small sized vegetables (albeit organic) but they were also quite expensive. This was alright for a few ingredients, but I decided it was worthwhile to get some stuff at the grocery store as well for a bit of a compromise. Also, when dealing with tiny root vegetables, even if organic, the smaller they are, the more annoying they are to peel!

We also used some ingredients in our cooking that we've had for ages, such as spices, and others which 'turnover' regularly but still have some packaging, like butter, ketchup, mustard, olive oil.

Today we also bought dishwashing tablets since we'd run out. I tried googling home-made solutions on my phone (however last-minute). I think this didn't work for two big reasons:
- the sources I access most easily are in English, and thus contain ingredients easily found in Canada or the States, such as Borax. I tried searching in Finnish (after we'd already gotten home with the box of detergent) and it seemed there was some confusion among Finns who had read similar solutions and were trying to find equivalents in Finland. All in all, my search led me nowhere.
- until Juha pointed out that we ran out of dishwashing tablets/powder, I was entirely oblivious. This also meant that I had very little time to prepare a search on viable options. The unexpected is not the friend of the best-intentioned consumer as change in patterns seem most challenging when time is lacking, and we often find this too difficult to overcome and instead retreat to old habits. (or at least that's my spin after reading 32748923748394 articles related to my thesis =/)

No Impact Week - Day 2: waste (morning video)

On a sleepy Monday morning, I thought the way to get the day started was to try something a little different: a video blog to keep track of the progress so far.

Lazy Sundays: more sustainable take-out

Some days I'm bouncing around, up early to go to the market or willing to bike across town to get the food I want without any impact, whereas other days are lazy days. Yesterday was one of those day. We went to a wedding all day Saturday and came home around 4am. Though I wasn't full of energy, I do have a rather regular internal clock, so when I woke up at 9am and couldn't fall back asleep, I kind of figured it would be a slow day.

When deciding what to whip up for dinner (in the mid-afternoon), I opted for my favourite Chinese restaurant: Shanghai. Although this place has little to do with environmental benefits, I made efforts to reduce the waste resulting from my visit.

Today's tip: When getting take-out (or eating-in and taking home leftovers), bring your own containers and bags.

You may have a few objections, so allow me to explain:
- The walk to the restaurant is a welcome stroll on the lazy day. Fresh air never did anyone any harm, nor did a leisurely stroll (unless your doctor has put you on bed rest and forbidden all types of movement) so take advantage of this.
- Some days you don't want to sit at the restaurant so you can bring your own containers and take the food home with you. This can be especially handy if you're dining-in as well, because the portions at some places (like this one) will last you 3 days anyway.

I'm still working on perfecting this... sometimes my containers are too small and I end up with a box of styrofoam (out of two), which breaks my heart so that motivates me to bring the right sizes in the future or specify exactly what I want. Yesterday, I brought a plastic bag I had at home only to end up with my plastic bag and another one (apparently they thought mine was too small) holding the other container. Next time, I'll make sure to come prepared and not to be shy about specifying why I'm going out of my way to bring my containers over there.

In any case, what about you guys? Where does your motivation lie? Is it in using natural products, eating organic, reducing emissions or packaging waste? How have you (or are you/will you) made changes to your regular habits (big or small) to incorporate your values?

Shopping habits: one way to avoid packaging.

If you've gone to the grocery store in an attempt to find foods with minimal, sustainable or recyclable packaging, you are not alone. Although everything needs to be packaged to some extent, or at least shipped somehow, waste can be cut down on by bringing your own reuasable 'packaging' to the store.

Eliminate plastic and other forms of packaging waste by shopping at stores where you can choose your product, choose whatever quantity you like and pay by its weight.

These stores usually offer you plastic or paper bags to bring your stuff home in but they actually have a good thing going. You can bring your own bags (I've been reusing some small plastic/paper bags I already have) for now until I get some cloth ones. Some people have or make their own bags for these purposes... some examples of which you can find if you search "food storage" on sites like www.etsy.com... which I did for you right here. Although I'm a bit clueless with the sewing machine, you could also try to make your own bags!

If you're really in a bind, try bringing your own containers and asking them to weigh them (or weigh them at home if you can) before you fill them. To be honest, I've had some weird looks regarding this (perfectly acceptable) request after which the cashier insisted I should use a bag (and then transfer my purchases into the container). Needless to say, I'd rather shop at the place which gives me a discount for bringing my own bags (like Runsaudensarvi on Kauppakatu 4 in Tampere) but now I know to bring bags instead of containers to that specific store.

So keep an eye out for these stores. I know about Bulk Barn in Canada and Punnitsee ja Säästä (weigh and save) in Finland but those are just the chain... there are some great independently owned ones out there too (and those are usually owned by people who are more interested in their customers values!

Realization: Dishwashing practice makes perfect...

It just so happened that the plastic awareness challenge coincided with me running out of dish washing machine tablets/powder for the first time. Since I've been using up the products I already had before being aware of the harm they were doing, my plan is to switch to eco-friendly products (meaning what I deem to be eco-friendly, not just because it says so on the box) gradually, as I run out.

Yesterday I headed over to the local "green" store, called Ruohonjuuri, in search of something to clean the full dishwasher that was waiting for me at home. I expected, however naively, to find the perfect product there... that wasn't the case. But I did instantly want to blog about the experience because I think it reflects many choices we have to make in our everyday lives when it comes to making greener choices.

This is what I found...
(By the way, I don't know everything about toxins in these types of products but my rule was: if they don't hurt the wildlife, that's usually a good sign AND I kept an eye out for packaging because that's a big concern for me. Also, I didn't have ALL the info you see below but I got it off the company websites for you :) !)


Product #1 - Ecover

Quantity: 25 tablets
Price: 9.20€
Country of origin: Belgium
Website: www.ecover.com
Pros:
+ Cardboard box, made of 95% recycled materials
+ plant based ingredients, not based on petrochemical ingredients
+ no chemical residue left on your dishes
+ GMO enzyme free
+ no artificial fragrance
+ no phosphates nor chlorine bleach
+ optimum level of biodegradability - far exceeds legislative requirements
+ safe for all river and marine life
+ no animal testing
+ safe for septic tanks
Cons:
- Each tablet is individually wrapped in plastic (it's recyclable but you can't recycle plastic in Finland... actually I should look into this...)
- Price

Product #2 - Attitude

Quantity: 26 and 40 tablets
Price: around 12,30€ and 16,38€ (Though only $8 and $11 in Canada!)
Country of origin: Canada (to be more specific, Quebec)
Website: www.labonneattitude.com
Pros:
+ individual sachets dissolve
+ Certified EcoLogo, an Environment Canada program
+ CO2 neutral: no contribution to climate change
+ Vegetable-based / Natural / Biodegradable
+ Free of phosphate and chlorine
+ Free of color dyes and artificial fragrances
+ Pure essential oils
+ Non-carcinogenic (selected ingredients not listed on the IARC Categories 1, 2A or 2B)
+ Vegan product
Cons:
- The 26 pack comes in a thick plastic bag (to protect from moisture)
- The 40 pack came in a hard plastic box
- Price

Product #3 - Alma Win

Quantity: 25 tablets
Price: around 11€ (I don't remember!)
Country of origin: Germany
Website: http://almawin-usa.com/cms/
Pros:
+ Comes in a cardboard box
+ FREE from phosphate, chlorine and GMO
+ Excellent water softening properties
+ Sodium citrate prevents lime deposits on dishes
+ Biodegradable, natural occurring poly aspartic acid aids even dispersion
+ Environmentally-compatible mild oxygen based bleaching agents improve degradation
+ Fragranced with certified organic essential lemon oil
+ Naturally and effectively remove persistent food particles, starch and protein with proteases, not enzymes
+ Suitable for vegans
+ Not tested on animals
Cons:
- Individually plastic wrapped tablets
- More expensive than Ecover (which is packaged the same)

My decision:
I may have to shop around, so I picked Ecover (the cheaper and less-plastic-y of the bunch). In case it doesn't clean my dishes and work my way up (price-wise), I figured it was smarter to start with the cheaper option.

Afterthoughts:
Ironically, I went to a bigger grocery store after and found the same Ecover box for only €6.50. I know stores like Prisma definitely benefit from economies of scale and most of their products are not sustainable but 2.70€/box is a pretty hefty price increase. I went back to Ruohonjuuri today and apologized to the super nice sales person. They still have products you can't find elsewhere though and I plan to support them that way.
Again more irony, I realized I could've tried making the dishwashing powder myself, but I'll have to give that a try later (and post about some dishwashing- vs. dishwasher-related debates). Baby steps.

Do you have any products you'd like to recommend? Have you tried making your own dishwashing powder? Feel free to post about your experiences!

Making tough choices? Figure out your priorities.

I met my friend Donna today because I'm helping her organize a community garbage pick-up event this coming Sunday and we had some running around to do. One of the spots we ran through was Tampere's central square, which is host to a variety of festivals and different vendors throughout the summer. This is one big reason that the center has tons of garbage flying around it but there are also nice things available there. This week, the theme is French Cuisine and products!

The bakery has a line running through the square (it's run out of a truck) and other vendors are selling candy, fresh nuts or even soaps! I noticed a huge stand of French natural soaps from Marseilles and couldn't resist. I promised myself that I'd stop buying liquid soaps, in an effort to reduce waste. In addition, I've been buying only soaps without any waste at all (no packaging, no bags, etc.) They usually tend to run about 5-8euros/bar but I get such joy out of using them that I don't mind paying a few euros extra, and they last long too.

Today in the square, the soaps cost 5 euros each or 5 for 20 euros. I got so excited but there were a few things to consider:
+ no waste
+ natural soaps
+ great price
- driven in a truck from France
- production impact unknown
= how do you calculate that?

In the end, I came home with 5 bars of them and had a photo shoot! It's sometimes hard to make decisions like that but those decisions are part of every day life. I'm trying to make lots of choices at the same time, and all my intentions are good: I don't want to have a negative impact on my surroundings. But this takes some getting used to and should be done step-by-step (especially since this is in the sub-title of this blog.)

So the moral of this story, and the lesson for this post is: Figure out your priorities.

If energy and water are more important for you, focus on those. If emissions are on your mind, reduce those first. If waste is your most pressing concern, start with that. I could keep going but you get the point. So long as you're aware and you start somewhere, you're heading in the right direction.

And now for the photo shoot... (these should last me about a year!)

Awareness.

This next post is just as important as the previous one on canvas bags, but it's more of a mental exercise. I wouldn't call it a quick tip either though, but once you start thinking about it and noticing it, a lot of things get pretty obvious (and I find it's really hard to stop thinking about it... which is really good news!).

Today's tip: Be aware.

It has been said that every purchase is a political decision. I know I've thought this was extreme before, and I'm sure there are others who still think it's extreme. But once I started looking around at the packaging (plastic, paper, metal, glass, etc.) that are used in every-day products, it's hard not to notice anymore.

Don't just try this at the grocery store (where this exercise is at its scariest) but look at clothes, shoes, electronics, accessories, beauty products and pretty much anything else. Be aware of how things are packed in the store, and also what they are made of. Start thinking beyond the product's usage span and into its entire life cycle: from beginning to end.
Can you reuse the packaging somehow?
Will this go straight to the landfill?
Can the parts be recycled after you're done using it?
Will the company take back any of it for recycling and future production?

I'll build on this more in future posts but for now, that's your challenge: notice and register! The subsequent changes will come.