Photo by Susan O'Donnell
Assess what is still usable so you can save on buying new supplies in the fall. Save your old folders and decorate them with colored tape to make them last longer and look prettier. Notebooks that are not completely filled can be reused by ripping out the used pages and saving the rest for next year. Recycle papers that are used on both sides and reuse the ones used only on one side. If they are still flat, you can reuse them in your printer. Cut some into smaller sizes to keep by the phone for writing down messages or for your grocery list. Craft supplies are accepted as donations at Media Free Store, City Team in Chester, and Narenj Tree Foundation.
Photo by Susan O'Donnell Did you know you can use your own containers when shopping in the Swarthmore Co-op’s bulk aisle? Looking to reduce your consumption of single-use plastic? Instead of grabbing a plastic bag from the dispenser, consider using your own reusable jars or other containers when you shop in the Swarthmore Co-op’s bulk aisle. Let a cashier weigh your empty container first, then proceed to fill ‘er up with nuts, grains, spices, and other bulk products. You’ll pay only for the difference in weight represented by the food you’re buying. Consider holiday gifts that replace disposable plastic.
As we look for ways to reduce single-use, disposable plastic in our daily lives, more and more businesses are offering high-quality reusable products. Most familiar are reusable shopping bags, water bottles and travel mugs. More recently, we’ve also noticed attractive sets of cutlery in their own cases, to fit into your handbag or backpack. Many environmental non-profits sell attractive, branded versions of these products. When you buy these as gifts, your impact is multiplied, as you support both a worthy organization and the reduction of disposables. Instead of buying new Halloween decorations, upcycle, get crafty and make your own. Here are some ideas for Halloween decorations that you can make at home: Milk Jug Ghosts Draw a face on an empty milk jug with sharpie or paint, then place a light inside. Ghost Lights Find old glass light covers or lamp shade covers at a local thrift store. Using fabric, particularly felt, cut outs eyes and a mouth and glue them on to create a face. Light them up with a small light or candles. Potion Bottles Create a decoration from empty bottles with interesting shapes. Cover them with black paint so you can’t see through them. Add labels to each bottle with creative and gruesome names for potions or witches brew ingredients. source: RecologyCleanScapes.com: Happy Thanksgiving from aFewSteps!
This past Saturday, aFewSteps asked shoppers at the Swarthmore Farmers’ Market to share their tips for making the Thanksgiving feast more sustainable. Here are their ideas. We enjoyed a lot of great conversations, and many of you wrote down your ideas for us to share with the community. We summarize them here, and hope you’ll be as inspired as we are to enjoy a green Thanksgiving. 1. Buy local! From cheese to honey to the apples for your pie, the farmers’ market is the place to find delicious local foods for your holiday meal. “Buy a local turkey” and “Shop at the Co-op” appeared on our message board, and one of you suggested, “Buy local beer and recycle the bottles.” Local foods are fresh, transported over the shortest possible distances; and, when you buy local, you support a balanced economy in our region. 2. Ride your bike One Swarthmorean added an extra twist to buying local: “Shop only at places where you can ride your bike!” 3. Eat more veggies “How about letting turkeys live and using an alternative?” asked one neighbor. Another pointed out that even shifting toward a higher proportion of vegetables and less meat would make for a more sustainable feast, since meat production is more energy- and resource-intensive than growing vegetables. 3. Use real dishes and cloth napkins Many of you advised against disposable paper and plastic on the Thanksgiving table. Eliminating drinking straws is an easy way to reduce waste. And almost any meal – not just Thanksgiving dinner – tastes better eaten from “real” dishes, with “real” table linens. What about pesky grease stains on cloth napkins? Use patterned napkins, and no one will notice. 3. Choose natural or reusable decorations In late autumn, gardens and woods provide natural beauty for your tabletop. Or save family favorite decorations to use again next year. 4. Serve filtered tap water Most bottled water is actually just tap water from somewhere else. Because water is heavy, transporting it uses up lots of fossil fuels. Serving tap instead of bottled water is the sustainable choice. 5. Make stock Most vegetable scraps and the turkey carcass can be used to make soup stock. Had enough cooking for one weekend? You can freeze vegetable and turkey scraps to use later. 6. Compost Vegetable and fruit scraps that don’t make the grade for soup stock are ideal for composting. If you don’t have a compost bin, perhaps you have a neighbor who does. 7. BYOB – Bring your own bags What’s Thanksgiving without leftovers? Several of you suggested taking your own bags and reusable plastic containers to Thanksgiving dinner, to bring home the food without a lot of wasteful packaging. 8. Travel smart Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel time of the year. Some of you recommended reducing both stress and energy use by staying close to home or taking public transportation. 9. Give thanks One neighbor said she’ll be giving thanks this year for the new rooftop solar system that has dramatically reduced her family’s electric bill. We at aFewSteps would like to thank all of YOU for taking an interest in our project and for sharing your terrific ideas. Happy Thanksgiving! The National Retail Federation expects back-to-school and back-to-college spending in the United States to total $83.6 billion this year – an increase of more than 10% over the 2016 level. Families with children in elementary through high school expect to spend an average of $687.72, while those with college students estimate they’ll spend $969.88.
To avoid unnecessary costs and wasteful purchases, start by taking inventory of school supplies you already have at home. When you do go shopping, consider the following green alternatives:
Put rubber bands from newspapers into a baggy and leave out for your mail carrier or bring to the post office for reuse.
Do you have a big ball of rubber bands saved from all your newspapers? The postal service can make use of them! Just put them out by your mail box or mail slot with a note for your carrier, or bring them to the post office. Rubber is harvested from trees growing in tropical areas. Harvesting and production have a number of environmental and human health impacts. According to WordPress.com: "Natural rubber processing sector consumes large volumes of water and energy and uses large amount of chemicals as well as other utilities. It also discharges massive amounts of wastes and effluents. The most common environmental issues are wastewater containing chemicals and smell, hazardous waste, noise, and thermal emission."(1) Reusing rubber bands helps cut down on the need for new resources. According to Alliance Rubber Company, "A recent study by Malcolm Pirnie Inc., a leading environmental engineering firm, shows that reusing 10 pounds of rubber instead of virgin rubber prevents approximately 10 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. In addition, the consumption of oil (which is used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber) falls by one gallon."(2) (1) VISHNU V., C.S. PRIYADARSHINI, and H. HILBERT. October 3, 2011. Environmental Issues Caused by Rubber Industry. https://businessimpactenvironment.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/environmental-issues-caused-by-rubber-industry/ (2)https://www.rubberband.com/news-events/45/reusable-rubber-bands-pack-a-powerful-environmental-punch-saving-money-and-resources Bring your own mug to your favorite coffee shop to reduce waste and save money. Some coffee shops offer a small discount for using a reusable tumbler. Using a reusable coffee mug instead of disposable five times a week will reduce your CO2 emissions by 1.25 lbs per week. You can also check to see what parts of your drink holder might be recyclable. The plastic top, if relatively clean (no sticky food), and the corrugated cardboard sleeve can be recycled in our area. Source: www.carbonrally.com Have you accumulated lots of packing peanuts and bubble wrap from all those packages delivered during the holidays?
Packing peanuts, made of expanded polystyrene, are not recyclable, take a long time to degrade, and are toxic to human health and wildlife. Keep them out of landfills by saving them to use again or by using biodegradable packing peanuts or paper to ship your items. If you have too many to store and reuse yourself, give them to The UPS Store or Mail Source where they will put them to good use. If it lasts forever, let’s use it forever. The UPS store only accepts white packing peanuts, and all material must be clean. Give your holiday gifts in reusable gift boxes and bags, and save wrappings to use again next year12/15/2016
Produce less waste over the holidays by using and reusing gift boxes and bags.
Have you received lots of those plain white clothing boxes? Hand your kids some markers, stickers, or ink pads and stamps and have them decorate the boxes to be used again and again for holidays, birthdays, or for whichever occasions you give gifts. Do you have a sewing machine? Make your own sturdy, reusable bags out of fabric. Using fabric scraps or old clothes (t-shirts work great for this), make bags of various sizes. Cut fabric into rectangles of desired bag size, sew together three sides, and hem the edges of the fourth side. Use another strip of fabric to tie the top in a neat bow. You can even sew that strip of fabric into one side near the top of the bag to use as a permanent tie. Make gift tags on small pieces of paper or cardstock, punch a hole in it, and tie it to the gift bag with a scrap of yarn. Once you have a supply of these bags on hand, wrapping gifts becomes faster, taking only the time to tie the bow, and you save lots of money on gift wrap and tape. Do you receive lots of paper wrapped gifts? Open gifts carefully and save the paper to use again. |
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