Simple yet powerful

I have been drawn into divestment from fossil fuels for a few years now. When we think of divestments, we think of big corporations moving their investments. Yes, that has a big impact. However, each of us can have a similar impact when we collectively divest from fossil fuels.

One of the first things to do is to change your credit card. If you have a credit card issued by a Megabank, you may be supporting predatory lending, coal mining, politics, and outrageous CEO salaries. You can check whether your credit card supports fraud, politics, big coal or poor customer service in Green America’s scorecard.

Green America has also compiled a list of credit cards through which you can support the cause that resonates with you. With one of these cards, a portion of every transaction goes to support causes like protecting the rainforest, saving wild cats or lifting vulnerable communities. Even if one of them don’t resonate with you, you will still be assured that your credit card transactions will not fund banks that support bad practices which led to 2008’s recession.

It is a pain to change credit card and to get used to a new system but growth always comes when we take the first painful step. This is the first to change the status quo.

Hair recycling

Many of you know that I have been driving towards zero waste for a few years. I have made small incremental changes to my lifestyle and I am now very close to being zero waste. To give you an idea, I have a 13 gallon trash bin and I haven't filled it in six months! I am proud of that. I am going to have a separate post about it when I take the trash out in a couple of weeks.

Recently I found out that hair can be recycled. Since hair is very good in absorbing oil, they use human and pet hair to make blankets which are used during oil spills to remove the contamination.

I found out about it from this video about a month ago. I was away from my town for work but I got inspired to come back and implement it at home. I had pretty long hair and that was the main component of my trash. As I was thinking about this, a minor accident happens...

I go to a restaurant and we sit at the last table. I was sitting with my back to a four feet high wall. When I was wearing my coat, my plait lands in a candle on the wall behind me and it catches on fire. The waitress quickly puts out the fire. The next day, I went to cut my hair. I decided to treat myself by going to an Aveda salon. I asked my hairdresser if she can give my cut hair in a bag for recycling. I thought she will look at me weird but she didn't. In-fact she has heard about this program and the salon had participated in a drive during the Gulf spill cleanup.

I asked her if she can talk to her manager about sending hair on a regular basis to the program and she said she will try. After a month of putting off this project, I finally acted on it. I bought a step trash can, some compostable liners. Added all the hair from the salon and removed as much of the hair from the trash bin. My trash bin is all dry waste - so nothing nasty in there. I compost my food waste.

I have created a box for hair and I am ready to send my first collection for this very important cause. Checkout details at here. Another step closer to zero-waste. BTB, I made the label by sticking a piece of paper to a magnet that I didn't need. Just found out that magnet sheets cannot be recycled. So, I am re-purposing it.

Thanks for reading!

Carbon neutral yummy chocolate

I am writing a blog after a long time. Tonight, I had a bit of this chocolate and I am so inspired to write this short entry. I saw this last week at Spiral diner and I somehow controlled my urge to buy it. When I went to Whole foods, it was at the bottom shelf on sale and I grabbed it without thinking twice. After having this, I am spoilt. I am not going to have any other chocolate.

It says on the cover that its organic, fair trade, small farmer grown and all the good stuff. When I opened it, I was surprised to find the inner foil with this print "This biodegradable packaging is produced with renewable materials made from sustainable harvested wood".

Chocolate is one of the few items that I buy, the packaging of which is not recyclable in residential recycling since most curbside pickup does not accept food foil even if cleaned. So, now that problem is solved with this bar. Now, I can really go near zero waste!

In my love for the package, I forgot to mention that the chocolate is phenomenal! Love it! I am going to keep patronizing this brand until it moves up the shelves in Whole Foods. 

Chinese Lantern festival

I was pretty excited about the Chinese Lantern festival last year. After a couple of visits I realized how bad they are for the air quality.

The lights are entirely powered using huge generators placed around the exhibit.

Generators are usually run with Diesel. Diesel combustion releases NOx, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate matter polluting the atmosphere.

I don't know how efficient those generators but I hate the idea of using generators for recreation. Generators are to be used only for emergency.

World Health Organization says air pollution causes cancer. So, why support events/businesses that are responsible for the pollution?

Three reasons why you should boycott Chinese Lantern festival
1. Save your money
2. Protect your family from harmful gases
3. Protect the planet so that its not too warm for your children to live in

Tribute to my car

I bought my first car about six years back after got my first job. I remember doing research on the cars in the secondhand market with the high miles/gallon. Nissan Sentra seemed like a good compromise with about 30miles/galleon at a lower price than Toyotas or Hondas.

I have several stories with this car.
Remember driving much about speed limit around airbase in Tucson
Remember calling my car a frog after I jump over a hump on the road
Remember telling sorry to it when I put the brake suddenly
Remember the first accident I had. I rode over a rock while taking in the beauty of Echo canyon, Az
Remember how disgusted I was to see vomit on the passenger door one morning
Remember getting my first and only speeding ticket
Remember getting my first and only parking ticket
Remember the time when I broke off the passenger mirror when I was hurrying up to go to a party
Remember the reckless party night when I drove home drunk
Remember getting pulled over by a cop when I didn't have a drink
Remember the days when used to go to car wash
Remember the days when I used to go to dealer
Remember the time when I used to have car freshner
Remember the day I got my first furniture from Ikea
Remember the first dent in my front bumper
Remember the first dent in my back bumper. Finally I learnt to park
Remember my parents' first US visit when I showed them many places in Az
Remember the time when a guy threw his drink at me and the half down window blocked it

The list is endless. The car served me well and I will miss it a lot! I will miss that bumper space for my activist stickers...

I hardly drove it for the last three years and whenever I drove it, I felt guilty about my carbon emissions. I have sold it now. So, one less thing to worry about. I might eventually get an electric car. For now, I am enjoying the guilt-free life.

Chile: Cigarette Butts Recycled into Clothes

I saw this video and I wanted to save and share with my blog followers. Enjoy this short inspiring video

First petition

I am happy to announce that I have authored my first ever petition. It took me a while to grow up to this level. Many of you know that I have been moving towards a zero-waste lifestyle. I had a contention and many people pointed out what is the use of me taking a radical stand, that its not practical and it has no impact. While I was brushing away these critical remarks, I couldn't deny the fact that leading a sustainable lifestyle is not enough. But, it helped me see how to make an impact.

Few years ago, I read about styrofoam and started avoiding it completely. When I eat in a restaurant and I am not able to finish eating, I will ask if their to-go box is styrofoam and decide weather to take the food home or not. Many a times, I feel like having Indian fast-food, I would take my own containers for snacks and chai. I have tried talking to several business owners about not using styrofoam. They usually say, "This is the cheapest option and I am a poor businessman". That's when I realized it has to be a policy level change.

During Climate Ride, I mentioned this to my buddy, Marla Marcum. She mentioned that one city in New England was able to get an ordinance to ban use of styrofoam food containers. She gave me the idea that such ordinance needs to be passed city-city, state-state before it becomes a federal law.

I have taken the first step in approach by creating this petition. Please take a moment to sign it. I am open to constructive criticism on the structure of the petition summary.
Thanks for your support!

What's Terracycle?

Terracycle has become my new favorite word. What is it? Its a company based in New Jersey which upcycles/ recycles hard-to-recycle substances.

Upcycling is a process of converting items into useful products without changing the structure of the item. Its essentially reusing. They try to upscale waste and if they can't, then they will recycle them. How are they able to recycle materials that traditional recycling programs cannot. Find out about their novel process here.

They have several different collection programs for items that we normally throw in trash bin. Have you wondered what to do with your toothbrush when you want to discard it? How about chips bags? How about energy bar wrappers? your child's food pouches?

And its free! You just have to signup online. You can download shipping labels for each of the brigades, collect and ship. The best part is, they will donate money to your chosen non-profit organization. Say, you join snack bag brigade; for each snack bag you send, they will donate $0.02 to your charity.

I stopped eating chips three years back since they come in bad packaging. Thanks to Terracycle, I can enjoy a bag of chips once in a while. I work for a company with 10000 employees. There are about 2000-5000 employees in my building. I tried talking them into collecting the chips bags. Company's facility department is looking into implementing it. Meanwhile, I have started collecting chips bags impatient to wait for action. I use coffee cartons as collection boxes. I have setup 9 such boxes in three wings of the building I work in. I keep expanding everyday.

I have been collecting for a month now. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Yesterday, I picked up 20 bags from these boxes. My co-workers are very co-operative. They press the bags down and bunch them together. Thank you Terracycle and thankyou fellow TIers for supporting this effort!

Milk and juice cartons

     If you have been following my blogs, you know why I hate Tetrapaks so much. I hope to explain my reasons again in this blog. Food packaging industry has changed so much over the last 10 years. Their motive has been to preserve the freshness of the foods longer and enable longer shelf life. It might sound like a worthy effort but its not since its done with total disregard to the environment.
     Recycle industry has made several strides over the last few years. But for every one of their achievement, they are faced with a new challenge from the packaging industry. Years back plastic bags were considered non-recyclable. Now, many grocery stores take them back. Small plastic caps were not  recyclable before but now they are. Only type 1 and 2 plastics used to get recycled before. Now, my city accepts any plastic type with a logo on it. All of this varies with the recycle collection program that is available in the area where you live.
     In the last couple of years, I have been learning what is truly recyclable and what is not. Then, I choose items that come in recyclable packs. This might sound like a lot of work but I have benefitted a much from it. I look and feel great! As a rule, junk food comes in bad packaging. Cutting them out completely has transformed me over time. In fact, you can start noticing tangible results in as little as one month. In two months, people close to you will see it. After three months, everybody will be noticing it.
    Back to Tetrapak. Why is it bad? It looks like an good old milk carton but its not. Its a sandwich of  paper, metal, plastic layers. The metal in the pack increases the shelf life somehow. The food packaging industry is so proud of this invention that they put all forms of food in these (chips packets, coffee sachets, TETRAPAKs, etc). While individually these materials are completely recyclable, when they are made into such packages, its impossible to separate out the individual resources.
   The company wants you to think that you are drinking out of a cardboard box, thats why the outside is paper. The innermost layer making contact with the food is plastic and we don't know what grade plastic it is. You are better of drinking from type 1 plastic can and recycle it responsibly. Have you ever wondered why Tetrapak hides its logo under the folds of the carton?
   I have been trying to adopt a vegan diet. Vegans usually substitute milk with Soy milk, coconut milk or almond milk. All these speciality milks come in Tetrapaks. Thats why they come with long shelf lives and they can stay out of the fridge in the grocery store. We live off of nutrients that the earth provides; if we are not KIND to our earth, the nutrients will not nourish us. We will realize this sooner or later.
   There are good options out there. Just find them and demand them. Please start caring about this issue. I can point you to one great product that I found at Green Grocers in Dallas. Its organic soy milk in plastic milk jar! Hurray for women! Men might want to enjoy soy in moderation. Here's a photo of the product.

Thanks for reading. I got a little engrossed in this topic. Hope you enjoyed it!

Why say NO Tetrapak?

For a while I used to think Tetrapaks are good. They look like good old cartons but they are not. They are a combination of paper, metal and plastic (hence non-recylable) Plastic being the innermost layer touching the food. Yikes! Found this information only a few months back and was devastated to find that most of the milk cartons that I was meticulously cleaning and recycling were going to landfill.

I avoid Tetrapaks like plague. But last weekend, I got sick while traveling. So, I had to get the coconut water to feel better. My flight got delayed and I needed to charge my phone. I sat down by the charging station and separated the various layers and salvaged some recyclable material.

You might say, I can't be like that! Ok, be your way. Just try to avoid buying anything that comes in Tetrapak. Thanks for reading!

Gecko Hardware

Its a new hardware store in Dallas. Its not a regular hardware store. They have several different eco products in their store. I found this door mat which is made of up-cycled old shoe soles. It is made of 100% recycled resources.

The store has other green products: 35% recycled washable mat, household items, kitchen items, sporting & camping goods, garden center and of course tools.  The staff is friendly and helpful. I like their collection of unique items. Please go check it out, you won't be disappointed.

I love the look and use of this mat at my door

Since, I am leading a carbon neutral lifestyle, I visited the store on my bike and took the train back home. 

Responsible minimalism

I wanted to become a minimalist for a long time. About a year back, I moved from a one bedroom apartment to a studio to get rid of stuff. I got rid of some stuff and stopped there. Every weekend, my goal would be to reduce the amount of stuff I have. It was always a moving target. Today finally, I got rid of some of the stuff I have been long holding on.

I hold on to things not because I am attached to them. I just don't know what is the responsible way to get rid of them. Today, I took my old cosmetics to Home Chemical Waste Disposal Center in Dallas. My experience was so pleasant. I just had to show my license and utility bill. So, if you are wondering how to get rid of a bottle of mineral oil, a gallon of beach or any hard to recycle item, check with a HC3 (Home Chemical Waste Disposal) near you. Here's a picture of all the cosmetics I disposed.

Many people are grasping the idea of reducing clutter. I think that it has the most value when done responsibly. Today, I feel very light since I also got rid of clothes, bags and shoes at a drop box.

What's your water?

With the summer approaching so fast, I want to talk about the water we drink. I often wonder why people drink bottled water? Why people think that bottled water is safer? I watched the documentary, "Tapped" which discredits each of the reason that comes to my mind. Tap water is more regulated than bottled water. Bottled water is self-regulated by the companies. In most cases the bottled water is just tap water.
Plastic bottles leak toxins into the water and  we are paying to drink that!
By buying bottled water, we are choosing with our dollars to support/cause:
1. Pertrochemical industries - People who live near those industries suffer from chronic illness and we indirectly support that.
2. Water companies - They make huge profits often exploiting communities that live around those pristine water bodies.
3. Pollution - Only 20% of the water bottles consumed in US gets recycled. Its sad that the bottled water competes with tap water and the city has to take up the job of recycling. Only a few states have been able to impose a deposit per bottle to ensure recycling. When you buy a bottle, you see 5c or 10c with states codes. It means the consumer pays 10cents more in those states and will get that back when they take it to the recycle center. Ofcourse, water companies have lobbied heavily in state legislatures to not bring this law into effect in most states.
  Some of the bottles reach the water ways and pollutes marine life. Bottles and other plastic reaching sea, decomposes and forms small shiny colorful pebbles which are attractive to fishes. It again reaches our system when we eat those fishes.

  Some say, I recycle the bottles, its it good enough? I say NO, its always better to reduce consumption.
I tried to summarize most facts from the movie but I suggest you watch it to make your choice. There are plenty of options to filter water at home if you don't trust tap water. So, what's your water?

Reduce methane at home

Did you know that organics in landfill is a major source of methane generation? Don't take my word for it. Check the facts at cool2012 campaign.

Organics like food, paper products and yard trimmings when dumped in landfill get decomposed anaerobically due to lack of oxygen. This improper decomposition produces lot of methane, one of the green house gases responsible for Global warming.

Each year we fret so much in the summer and wonder if it is Global warming. Of course it is. Stop fretting and start helping. There is lot of guidance at Compost guide and HowtoCompost . My friends in India can find a composter here.

I live in an apartment and have a indoor composter. It works well with most of my organics waste but there are some limitations. If you have a yard, you can choose among worm composter, tumble composter, composter bins or a compost pile. I have heard that tumble composter is very easy to use.

I am excited that two of my friends have started thinking about composting. One is going to start a worm composter and other one will start with a kitchen composter. I hope they will comment here on their progress.

So, what's your compost?

Recycle plastic bags in grocery stores

Plastic bags can be recycled! Yes, it is true. In fact, it is very easy to recycle plastics as long as they are kept separate.
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. Some of them get carried away by wind and end in our oceans. They cause harm to our marine wildlife. In US only about 5% of plastic bags get recycled.
To help more bags to get recycled, we need to separate them in our households. Most grocery stores have a 'plastic bag only' recycle program. I have seen them in Sunflower and Sprouts. Even Walmart has it.
I asked store managers which kind of plastic bags they accept. I used to think that only numbered bags with reusable logo on it can be recycled. But that's not the case. They accept any plastic bag or film as long as they are not contaminated with food. Please take a moment to browse the list of recyclable bags here.
Reducing plastic bag consumption is key to helping the environment but it is unavoidable some times. Do your best by taking your bags to your favorite grocery store. Thanks!

Energy Choices in Texas

I moved to Texas last year. At first I was skeptical about the green living choices I would have here but I was in for a surprise. When I moved into an apartment, the leasing office gave me a website to choose my electricity provider. The website is http://www.powertochoose.org. I have never had to choose my electric provider before and hence didn't think much about it until I visited the page. One of parameters for comparison of the companies listed in this website is their % of renewable energy content. When I browsed this site, I found a few with 5% and thought I will choose one of them. Scrolled some more and found companies that use 100% renewable energy. My choice was easy. I went with a 100% renewable energy company and I live guilt-free when I forget to turn off that closet light switch.

Texas has invested in lot of wind mills which provides major % of the renewable energy content. There are multiple companies offering 100% renewable energy. So, the rates are competitive. One other cool thing about this website is you can choose to switch provider at anytime as long as you don't have a contract with your electricity provider. At the time of move in, all rental properties should direct you to this website to choose your electricity provider.

If you live in Texas, think about making the switch today and live guilt-free!