Superior Scribbler Award!! :)

YAY! Mrs Green of the awesome MyZerowaste.com and also awesome Little Green Blog has honoured me with a Superior Scribbler Award! (Check out some of the other winners, they are pretty fab too!)

I totally ADORE MyZerowaste blog's quirky and fun adventures of one family's road to zero waste and The Little Green Blog is full of wonderful surprises too! Check out Change the World Wednesday!
There’s tips on how to go healthier and more eco, and lovely tidbits from daily life!



Superior Scribbler Award Guidelines

1. Each Superior Scribbler, must in turn, pass the Award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy friends.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and name of the blog from whom he/she has received the Award.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display the Award on his/her blog and link to this post which explains the Award.
4. Each blogger who wins the Award must visit this post and add his or her name to the Mr. Linky List at the Scholastic-Scribe’s blog. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who wins this prestigious Award!
5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

And who gets the award? Honestly, I had sleepless nights over this!
So many awesome blogs out there!
Well, this time... drumroll... the awards go to:

Blah to TaDa! – Seriously awesome ideas for making boring everyday objects fab! (I find myself wondering, “Now how can I make this Blah to TaDa?”) Creative recycling at its best! - I adore Claire's ice-cream ideas! And the honey bears!

Work With What You've Got - Honestly, this blog keeps inspiring me!* Erin teaches us how to look fabulous on a budget and liberate your Inner Diva with - well, what you got! She also makes awesome jewelry, often with re-used materials!
*And it's not just in regard to clothes! I found myself re-filing all my files according to GTD method, telling myself to, well, 'Work with what you've got!'

Jen@Clean Bin – she and her man Grant and their roommate Rhiannon managed to do no shopping for a year (can you imagine?) except for food and such (and occasional white retro 2nd hand rockstar wedding suit – don’t ask!) and they made sooo little waste - can't wait to see the movie they're making about it! Awesome trailer!
The films and photos on their website made me and Mum realize how this eco thing/zero waste week could be possible!

Danda@Dandaworld blog, Italy – she’s started eco blogging about the time I have, and still has a better recycling station than I do – and a bilingual blog! Full of wonderful surprises – eco and otherwise! (And you can learn Italian at the same time!)

Mrs Almost Average@The Rubbish Diet - I was greatly inspired by both her and Mrs Green of MyZerowaste to start this trash-reduction in the family kitchen too and try to make my family green-er! (and go public with it!;) If you want tips on how to make less waste, and a healthy dose of chuckle, check out her blog and her Archives!

Sooz @The Last Biscuit Fairy-Pirate-Hippy-Dreamer-Eco-Girl... – how can you not LOVE that name? And because she’s planted garlic in a pot! (I wonder what will happen?) Honestly, how can you not love the name of her blog? :)
She's also implementing some awesome eco lifestyle changes - and staying stylish with it! Will probably also win the Most Promising Trash Reductionista award!! :) Watch out ladies!

Oops, that's six! (I hope the award police won't catch me! Couldn't decide!!)

There are so many other awesome blogs out there, so it’s really difficult to name just a few – there will be other awards for you guyz!! :)

Agatha Christie Would Cry! :)

Would you throw this beauty away?

Well, some people wanted to! Luckily, my relatives came to rescue!

It is now one of the awesome decorations of their attick, together with a set of beautful tiny glasses in style of Russian tzars!

Effective Eco Time Management?

If you have A LOT of projects, ideas and wishes and things to do... How to track it all and know what to do when? (And not just resort to reading the latest thrilling romance? hm!)

People at writing forums say, 'Just write', but what if you are haunted of things not done yet and vague visions of ideas to be done even before you start?

Enter GTD. Getting Things Done is a famous book on organizing and time management, and there are A LOT of spin-offs online, some for writers or designers or other freelancers specifically. (I've even DONE some of this stuff before, and it was effective, and then just stopped and wondered where my inspiration/motivation has gone!)

GTD is or can be paper-intensive. It is also very vague and unstructured, so how to do it in a more Nature-friendly way?

I am still wrestling with some of the GTD concepts and ideas, and will probably come up with a system of my own.. (I've set up the 'inbox' already and it seems strangely inspiring!) It can be mind-boggling indeed (Read this article! It's hilarious!!:).

A 'tickler' file (no idea if I need one but some people have found it helpful) can be big or small. Tracking or planning your day can be done on a daily or weekly basis (more or less paper intensive).

Judy of the Woods has more fab ideas on flickr and her website!
She makes her own project booklets/binders (out of plastic milk containers and other scrap materials!)

I've done some tweaking of my binders and such (who needs 4 holes if 2 is more handy? And am running out of envelopes used as project folders) but she takes it to the next level!
I'm wondering how doable some of that stuff is, and what I could do too... :)

What DIY projects have you done to keep ORGANIZED and have effective time management?
How do you keep organized and how do you plan and keep track of things?

The Bathroom!! - & Some Evil Thoughts!! ;)

Today I bravely ventured where no man has gone before: Our Bathroom.

ugh!

Honestly, I was mostly using my own bathroom, because of so many iffy chemicals & suspicious-looking little bottles present in the main bathroom!

I mean, we're just an average family. Perhaps slightly health-conscious in some regards (at least the kitchen).

But until a while ago, we were just very average with regard to bathroom chemicals.

I did start a REVOLUTION in my own bathroom (where I had the liberty to do so!) - but The Main Bathroom is a different affair!

I'm perplexed by all the different contents and containers.. Very few are clearly labelled on all parts, & while some have the recycling sign or at least 'the green dot' - many are not labelled enough!

The forage was useful: now at least Mum doesn't think any more that The Green Dot is a recycling sign!!

Often, The Green Dot is very lonely though!!

Maybe she just has one friend, the PAO symbol which indicates best to use 'period after opening' (with written number of months or years).


She would be much happier with more of her friends, like this:


It would be GREAT if especially the resin identification code were always present!!

If they can put it on Tic Tac boxes, surely they could put it everywhere!!


Just 'The Green Dot' means very little! Only that a tiny fee has been paid by the manufacturer for another organisation to collect it. It doesn't guarantee that it will get recycled!
How could it get recycled if they don't know what it is?

But, I fear that currently there is little real interest in recycling more!
The company that collects packaging in Slovenia for recycling has put this on its website: they are asking for a 'temporary' change in legislation to allow 'waste to energy' as a priority ahead of recycling!! Grr!!
Just because of current temporary low prices of recyclables...
/I do wonder what other packaging recovery organisations are saying..?/

& why are little kiddies in schools still given containers for tetrapak recycling? Greenwashing, I guess!!

Does recycling still make sense then?
Well, I think if they are asking for this change that must mean that currently they are still obligated to sort for recycling! So yes, it does make sense.
It's also a message that we, people, want to recycle and don't want to just trash things!

But MINIMIZING is more and more important..

I'm still half-exasperated and I didn't even make it through 1/4 of our bathroom!!

/I remember I was equally - or more! - exasperated in my own bathroom, a while ago.. & it's pretty low-waste now.. So hopefully the main bathroom will be doable too!!/

Mum is willing to try washing her hair with the soapnuts, we'll see how it goes..

I finally told Dad about the zero waste week for Earthday, and he's not happy. Not at all. (And this is an understatement!)
Well, nobody was when I told them! Mum's gotten used to it by now, hopefully Sis & Dad will too-?!

I am not really sure if a 'full' zero waste week will be doable for Earth Day, but at least I'll try... Difficult to do it all by oneself though.. If packaging recovery organisations are not helping!! :(

I barely managed to convince Sis of importance of recycling, & now this - of course next thing I know some clearly-labelled packaging was in the trash again.. aagh! /&I couldn't keep quiet about it, sorry!!/

I wanted to ring the packaging recovery company up & ask about what is and isn't recyclable, but with these news, I'm not sure if they would tell me the truth??!!

Still, I can at least try..

On a happier note, garbage was in the news: an article saying 'Waste is gonna be EXPENSIVE'! So Mom came rushing up: "You could write an article & tell 'em to all go zero waste! And how to do it."

Yeah right. Like I can tell my own family - if even my Dad & Sis won't really participate fully..?!! hmm..!!
They say, 'We're much better than most other families anyway'. And they are right. We are. (Still, Sis saying that is a bit funny, she's sort of the 'main polluter', at least in the kitchen.:) And she's not willing to give up her bagged toast or other stuff. Though she was slightly shocked when I told her how much of the stuff was actually okay and reusable/recyclable, in the ideal climate.)

We're still left with quite a bit of cellophane (non-recyclable) & some other things. I also probably can't make Sis go to cloth pads or diva cup in a month, so let's keep fingers crossed it won't happen at that time!!
(Or can I just not count bathroom/toilet?!)

I even had an evil thought to just hide all bins and they can keep their garbage in their room if they wish!! /Is it too evil?? Or not?? ;)/

And when I started writing an article, it got really looong. So I wasn't sure which to focus on: the 'How?' or the 'Why?' - cause for me 'Why?' is even more important. It makes you wanna discover & DO the 'How'!!
But would they even publish the whole truth?! Hm!!

In fact, I'm a little bit burnt out. I may take it easy for a day or two and start saving the world on Monday. (?)

Gardening Experiments ;))

I am completely exhausted.

& what have I done? Nothing much.

Mum and I have been planting seedlings - tomato & pepper/paprika.

I'm rather a newbie at this, since I only started helping her in this last year.

'Oh I learnt it when I was married already!' she's eager to point out (probably hinting I can easily learn this on my own too - and possibly get married and give her grandkids asap too!).
Thing is, she had co-workers and neighbours to help & conspire with, and did a lot of random trial-and-error too, so I think all those precious years of experience are worth something too! (Plus, no sight of eligible bachelors falling from the roof at the time of speaking!)

So we made a pact. I am the apprentice, and she's my mentor. Sort of.

Oh. We even put it 'on the agenda'! To be done Monday after lunch immediately. uhm.
With all the laptop-drivers frenzy (& little kiddies around), it only managed to be done today. (YAY!! Sis finally got her new laptop to work!! The original shop (yesterday) and a small shop here - that finally fixed it all! - were involved.)

You probably know a thing or two about my Mum by now. If I'm disorganized, she's Mrs Disorganization herself! (I had to learn from someone, didn't I?)

It took probably at least an hour (altogether) to set things up, sort the still usable ex-yogurt pots (according to labels) etc.
Of course Mum has also 'always bought' the peat for the seedlings. I lamented this fact a while ago when we started the first trays already. Still, it had to be used up.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with what we did. Used ex-yogurt pots (mostly #5 & #6 plastics, I think - some were illegible) that had been previously used & already had names of the sorts written on them, & little special pots for this that were also previously in use. And ice-cream & quark plastic pots for the seeds.

She had wanted to buy one of these, but luckily I prevented it! (I thought surely it would be just one more thing to throw away!!)


Garbage: 3 yogurt pots that had been chewed though (?!) /poor mouse! - or whatever chewed it! you have to be pretty desperate to go chew yogurt pots, no?!/
To-be garbage: the bag from the peat! (am not completely happy about the styrofoam or whatsit in the peat either!) and seed bags.. :(
Not completely happy with the use of alcohol-'permanent' marker either! - sellotape+paper+ballpoint pen as an alternative seems even worse (!?) - (What did they use in old times..?)

Would love to use our compost, Mum said it would have to be sifted well (& an appropriate sieve made!) and maybe little animals could be a problem?
We have these little seedlings in the living room or kitchen, on a tray, on the window sill, & there are (mysteriously) too many ants already! (Did they come from the bought soil/peat or through the window? no idea!)

We intended to use toilet roll inners too, for a bunch of them at least, as experimental sideline, but then there were enough yogurt pots so we didn't!

So ideally next year we'd be better organized & use the time better (instead of me waiting for Mum to find things, or decide on how many to plant/sow)

A pack of seeds costs about 0.80 Euro, and pepper/paprika seedlings/plantlings are 0.50 Euro one, so this saved quite a bit of money! (at least 3x6 tomato plants will be needed, and some peppers, and later on other stuff..)

Mum used to buy the plantlings, but since we've got the greenhouse, she grows them herself. She's very free-spirit about it too: 'If they grow, they grow.' She likes to have extra to give to her Sis, if theirs do badly. And if ours did badly we got some from my Aunt too..

I'd love us to grow our own seeds, since the ones bought come in tiny little sachets that are most likely not recyclable and not compostable. (It would be good to check though.) Some are also not really organic, though Mum DID buy some organic ones the other week! :) YAY! (after I told her which shop has 'em!)
I'm curious about this idea: to eat & plant (cherry tomatoes) in the same day?! Is it really possible?!! Full details here (in one of the comments!)
(Actually Mum has saved her own seeds at times in the past, but 'sometimes they came out okay, sometimes they didn't.' Okay. Guess we'll just have to take this risk.)

And, lol, apparently we're not the only ones with weird seedling/plantling practices: meet Gary - random pic found on Flickr! :)

And some more interesting DIY ideas for yogurt pots!
(I like the last one - seems we COULD use those chewed up yogurt cups for some things after all!!)

Overall, I think we saved the world (or at least our house) from quite a lot of plastic clingwrap, throwawayable plastic bags, unnecessary food miles, and other horrors! - so basically I AM satisfied with it all! 2 hours of slight frenzy for all those yummy tomatoes and peppers all summer long!! That's basically nothing!
/& if I were a bit less frantic and perfectionistic - 'Mum, did I tuck 'em in allright?' I might even find this thing relaxing!/

Wish we'd done this when I was a kid already! (Little-Miss-not-so-Green might enjoy it too, but it would be better to do a line without her first.. I think she's not to be trusted completely yet.. maybe next year..?)

If you know zero waste (& non-toxic) alternatives for permanent markers (or more about using own compost for planting seedlings/sowing), please tell!!

The Gandhi Way

It's been a few very emotional days (& weeks) where we learnt the horrible facts that there's another incinerator being planned not only here in Slovenia, but also in the lovely Glouceshire, where the MyZerowaste family & others are bravely aiming for zero waste!

Upon a bit of researching and getting dizzy looking at 'alternative' (fancier 'burn' technologies) one can easily wonder, with all those being so heavily promoted and 'pushed' worldwide, does it make sense to still push & do Zero Waste?

Then I started thinking: would I stop making zero waste (or at least trying to) if it were CERTAIN if everyone were making huge amounts of waste & everywhere in the world there would be horrible huge incinerators (or such?)

Hell, no.

I LOVE my cloth pads, and I love my (pretty much) zero waste (& zero toxics!) bathroom!!

No incinerator or fancy technology on Earth can make me convinced otherwise!

Also, no incinerator or fancy technology can make me convinced it's 'completely safe'. I have been allergic to iffy artificial additives in food when I was a wee kid - and officially, those are 'completely safe'! Hm!
So I learnt to separate 'highly toxic' from 'safe' (& learnt self-control at eating) at a young age already - to avoid a terribly itchy rash!!

Later on, my Dad cured his rheumatism by opting for healthier food (& lifestyle) - the very same artificial iffy chemicals were said to cause both arthritis/rheumatism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other iffy diseases!

Why on earth would anyone want to poison themselves deliberately, even if there's only a tiny chance to do so?

(And what is worse, researching incinerators and such too much seems to give me a terrible cold and a runny nose! Am I allergic to incinerators and 'clean' technology too? Hm!)

So today I looked at this site: Village of Fruitvale - a village with a lovely name. And it gives me great hope!!

They have adopted a Zero Waste policy and in 2005 they were already 50% there!

Everyone has to pay for as much waste they make (my neighbours could do with this!) and they have an official policy and everything, and are working on manufacturer responsibility too... (links from their page)

So if anyone says, 'Zero Waste is impossible', please direct them to Fruitdale Village website.. If a village in Canada can do this, why not other villages and a bit bigger 'villages' worldwide?

If we remember that some incinerators still leave 35% waste (as ashes) - 50% diversion from landfill is already a great accomplishment, no?
(of course many may brag about leaving less ash or similar, but fact is most make some kind of potentially toxic by-product!)

So overall getting to 50% or more by just, uhm, minimizing and recycling (& collecting stuff separately) - not bad, eh?

EDIT: Mrs A just told me about a lovely village in Wales called St Arvans so I'm adding a link to her post about them too!!
They have achieved a diversion figure of 77% which is really awesome, I think!!
They have employed interesting strategies like door-to-door knocking, etc! Really an inspiration!

I would be interested to know how the current trend in recycling prices might influence this all (or not) so a bit more research on them would be excellent!!
Do tell if you know any other communities that have gone the Zero Waste route with such success!!

Shocking news!!

Okay, so you guys may be wondering where I have been... Been looking at and researching other things..
BTW comments are fixed now (I think) so - happy commenting!! :)

I've been recently made aware of a great new channel for (hopefully) independent/alternative information on environment etc. here in Slovenia.
It's called Studio 12 and is supported by CEE Trust - Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe which aims to help create independent media in this region (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia).

Not only does it report of the latest developments re: Sai Baba and other spiritual themes, a whole section is devoted to environment and such!
And YES, they have TV shows about GARBAGE too!! (Now you see why I'm addicted!!:)

They invited into their studio the CEO of Slopak, the company that gathers recyclables in Slovenia. (Interestingly, the company is set-up and funded by chief-package-waste producers such as Coca Cola, beer breweries, Tetrapak, milk companies etc. - so stuff can get passed on to be recycled even if they have to pay for it - there are FUNDS set aside for this! they do not depend on the market solely, although it was easier when stuff was worth more.)

Not surprisingly, the CEO said THEY PREFER RECYCLABLES TO BE WASHED!! (which the garbage men have been wishy-washy about and never really made a clear advice) Of course it makes sense - if washed, the recyclables can be sorted much more easily, and they can wait longer for transport too (without getting smelly, mouldy or such) which makes the whole thing more economical and produces less emmissions from transport. Also, MUCH LESS chemicals are needed for washing the recyclables early after use as opposed to later having to use really strong and bad chemicals.(!)

But this isn't the shocking news yet!!
THIS is the shocking news: When asked about TRENDS worldwide, the CEO calmly talked about an interesting TREND how to 'make' waste/packaging, so they will have the best fuel effect (& will burn in a most consistent manner etc). GRR!!

This makes me wanna behave in an un-ladylike manner!!

I guess this explains all the rantings by the amazing Mrs A and the equally amazing Mrs Green!!

Here we are, thinking of how to reduce waste in ingenious ways, and they are actually DESIGNING best flammable and burnable waste - instead of focusing on LESS WASTE in the 1st place!!

I want to have a word or two with those DESIGNERS!!!!!!!

I am NOT a DESIGN Major but I have this book: Eco-Friendly Design
A friend of mine IS and she's never heard of it! (until I told her)
/Been meaning to do a review on it & will post it up when I do! - I think it is most helpful for visual-art/graphics designers, but packaging designers may find a hint or two too!!/

Maybe Mrs A and Mrs Green could invite some design college professors for a nice cuppa tea or a piece of zero waste cake?
Or maybe Poppy's protests need to be held outside a design college/University...? hmm!!

If you find a product or service (or incinerator) advertise itself to be 'green' or 'eco' and it's not - report it here: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/complaints_form/
(Found on the lovely edenbee.com)
I wish we had something like this for Slovenia-? Hey, maybe we have! Gotta check!! :)
(And while you're at it, maybe Complain to ASA about polluters adverts too?!!)

Chaos into order? Zero Waste Report #1!

Okay, so I'm still battling with Blogger (& so are some of my Livejournal friends, who haven't been able to post comments! Thanks for visiting anyway!!) - but I thought I'd just go ahead & start this thing proper.

I am learning from the lovely Danda at Dandaworld to be a bit more systematic and bring some order into this chaos!
Our household is, well, a tiny bit chaotic.

We do recycle, but hm... Not 100% of time (sometimes things like tuna tins have gotten thrown in with the rest of garbage, cause no one my Sis could be bothered to wash them up proper)

RECYCLING STATION
Our 'recycling station' - hm! We do have two (three) bins in our pretty almost-new kitchen, one for 'mixed garbage' and one for paper (that usually gets burnt in the furnace, as it's typical here). /I'm not completely happy with this, as I'm not sure how chlorine-free the paper is, especially as Sis & Dad insist on damn catalogues (while Mom & I'd love to cancel them!) and those have been known to be a source of heavy metals also! - A friend of mine who works in a Slovenian printing shop has informed me that eco-awareness there is 'disastrous'! - Maybe topic for another rant post!/
Also, the mixed-garbage bin is too big! As it has been pointed out (and observed!) the bigger the bin, the more waste may be made!
We had a smaller bin in the old kitchen, and I think less waste was made cause simply there wasn't so much place for it!

There are small bins in the toilet and bathroom too, which we thought was the 'height of hygiene' when we bought them a couple of years ago (after observing this in Uni dorms), but now I wish we hadn't bought them, as they only seem to give people incentive to make more waste - more easily!
I wish it were harder to throw away things!

Mom & Sis still insist on iffy hair products & deodorants etc with lots of throwaway packaging.. So currently I'm not focusing on those little bins, as they're not fully within my control.. /I do try to nag inform and inspire when appropriate, or just ignore.. until I have other things better under control.. or find better and alternative products they could use easily../
I started in my bathroom, where I'M in control, and am now moving on to kitchen! :)

We have a separate tiny plastic bin (with a non-tight lid) on the kitchen counter for compost/peels/ leftovers.

Then, things get taken downstairs (where the monsters are)!
Monsters, aka, all Dad's things!! (toxic poisons and all!!)
Sometimes the tins ruminate for a while on his big desk of tools, then get taken to the 'small garage', where there are boxes for this! The compost bin is there also, and a big box with plastic bottles (Sis still drinks Coca Cola! ugh!).
Truly we consume much less 'plastic food' and drinks than our neighbours, but still - I'd love to have juice etc produced at home/locally and available in glass bottles etc! We've done this at times and peach nectar was yummy!

Basically, it would be great if 'the small garage' could be organized better!!
As it is, it's also freezing cold there, so I barely tiptoe to the compost bin and put stuff in (it's later taken to the compost heap by Dad).

There are doors between the main garage and the small garage (where the car is), so the smell is not a problem. (There's no lid on the big compost bins, and well, sometimes it can smell a bit - it's still yummy food for the veggies and Dad keeps saying we need more compost - so it's very precious!)
I'm not sure if a lid would interrupt with the natural decomposing process or not, it's just always been done this way.. (On the farm where my Dad grew up they had a no-lid bucket in the kitchen 'for the piggies' too..)

So, basically this is the description of our 'recycling station'!
It kinda works for us, though some things could be improved!

LOCAL RECYCLING FACILITIES
There are big containers for recyclables (paper, plastics, tins, glass) about 200m away from our house, for all the neighbours to put stuff there.. This system works quite well, I've seen kiddies (& other neighbours) bring in stuff on wheelbarrows or even small wooden carts.. /Unfortunately not all neighbours are on board with this, but I've seen many and this gives me hope!!/

There has been some speculation whether the recyclables are really taken away separately by the waste trucks (basically people have given this as a reason not to do it!) - I always answer that in another city, when it was done, it was a pilot programme to assess how many people would be willing to recycle and it's even more important to recycle in this case!

In the summer, at times there were too many plastic bottles, and they waited outside the plastic container.. sometimes stuff got scattered around.. I guess it's important for everyone to MINIMIZE the plastic bottles in the 1st place (most stuff in them is really unhealthy for you anyway!)
This is a small town 'where village meets the town' and 'mini-markets' (with plastic food, & a plastic bag frenzy!) are 'the latest rage'! grr!!
Instead of preserving the beautiful nature, they are planning another one!! ugh
In one of them, I haven't been able to find a single thing without artificial food preservatives or excess baggage!
(They have eco bananas, but wrapped in plastic!!)

THE MAIN PROBLEM: Plastics from buying food!!
Many of those are non-recyclable, and even if some of them have #numbers and are theoretically 'recyclable' - hmm.. who knows? In a video on recycling in Slovenia the expert (head of recycling company) said things get sorted and some things that are impossible or 'uneconomical' to recycle proper still get 'processed for energy' - and we all know what that means!!
I've also read articles on recycling 'film plastics' (like bags or food packaging) being 'uneconomical'! - So the terrible plastics worry me tremendously & would love to find ways to shop without them completely!!
/It's been done for centuries, why not now??/

SHOPPING OPPORTUNITIES
It's not really easy to find zero waste food and other stuff in these mini-markets, still, it's partly doable.. some veggies are packed, and some aren't, depends on the veggie - and the shop also!!
There's no everyday 'farmer's market' or 'health food store' (the first ones are half-an-hour drive away) - fortunately we do have a 'fair' once a month or so..
& Luckily Sis did get the phone number of a lady selling homemade butter and cottage cheese/quark, so YAY!! The 1st Zero Waste Wahoo!! :)

We get some milk and eggs, rabbits and beef from farmers directly, so these are pretty much 'zero waste', when fresh... The stuff from the garden is also pretty much Zero Waste.. Trouble is the frozen stuff, which is partly still in the terrible plastic bags! (the rest are ex-quark/ice-cream or Tupperware/Curver containers!)
Unfortunately the 'Yoghurt Wahoo' is not such a Wahoo anymore, as Sis & Mom want low-fat yoghurt (& maybe we've all been scared a bit by a possible dioxin scare - there's a PVC window producer locally..)
So the yogurt production has dwindled... (I keep wanting to try & make yogurt out of 2-day old milk, but people keep drinking/using it away!!)

Not surprisingly, our garbage is much less than our neighbours'! Mostly 1 plastic bag a week, while the neighbours (often) make 2 full huge bins!

So, the idea is to keep minimizing garbage, finding ways to buy ZERO WASTE (YAY there's been talk of organic food baskets or such in Slovenia too!! still, there are no good eco farmers with extra food to sell locally, that we would know of.. maybe more research would be needed..) - especially meat and such...

Will be detailing the battle for this in the next blogs... (as an ex-vegetarian, I am properly terrified of handling raw meat, but if I don't do it, who will??)
My family keep bringing 'plastic meat' (wrapped in tons of plastic or worse) from the super-markets!! grr!!
Is it really impossible to get semi-organic zero waste chicken or pork? Or, uhm, sausages or similar?

Stay tuned!! :)

HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY everyone!! :))

Found at the lovely 'Bring Your Own' blog: http://byotalk.blogspot.com - cool stuff!! - Just scroll down!! :)
(more recent entries slightly gross though partly - can you just say plastics, fish and turtles don't mix well? :( don't visit on an empty stomach! - Still, a great blog for opening people's eyes! I always wondered which turtles and fishies Mrs Green was talking about!!)

Anyway, wishing us all Zero Waste success!! & wishing all animals & pets lotsa LOVE!!!

...And maybe a happy marriage performed by Reverend Tyker?

http://www.petweds.com/

Why I am doing this

Well, in this blog, you will hear about some wacky stuff.

If you wonder why I'm doing it, go watch The Story of Stuff. Seriously. (free to download)

The way us humans have been throwing around resources, is scary and a bit frightening.
Another scary thing is how those valuable resources are treated then: dumped away or burnt. Causing emmissions of dioxins and heavy metals, and other cancer-causing chemicals we may not even know about... Some (like heavy metals) may cause mental health problems (which are on the rise worldwide anyway, as has been cancer!!) Dioxins and other chemicals may also cause birth defects in babies...

Even 'new technologies' like pyrolysis that claim to produce no emissions of dioxins or heavy metals are usually heavily undertested &/or the producers marketing them underplay dangers or just plain - lie.
"Waste from Energy" being 'green' is a well-marketed lie! (It is incinerator technology producing bad air with toxic chemicals+toxic remains in the ash or any fluids etc. - and truly some energy, but usually less than could be saved with recycling or using alternative products in the first place! - & much less than they would like you to believe!)

12 incinerators are planned in our beautiful Slovenia. They are called "Waste from Energy" or people claim the technology is so clean, one could drink the liquid that remains from pyrolysis! (article in Slovenian)
Yeah, right...!! Apparently sometimes the fluid or other by-products from pyrolysis are even more toxic than air emmissions from 'ordinary' incinerators!
And what happens if the plant breaks down? In Furth, Germany the whole area had to be evacuated in one of such cases because of too high emmissions!
Of course they will say these new incinerators are 'improved and better technology' - but that is what they always say! That is exactly what they said in US and Germany and elsewhere too!

You thought this could never happen to you? (I thought so too..) Well, research a bit exactly where the waste from your city goes... Or where it's intended to go... Trust me, your life will never be the same once you do...

Another reason I'm doing this is for my Granny. She's an awesome lady who has been a cleaning lady most of her life and started writing poetry in her old age, when retired already! She is one of the awesomnest people I know!!
She also had cancer, and has been battling with heart disease, and other problems.
Together with her, a lot of my relatives live in the city where the first 'official' municipal waste incinerator in Slovenia has been built.
They are liberal, wacky, creative, a lot of fun - and I LOVE them dearly!!
Yes, they do like some unhealthy food now and then, but the city they live in has been subjected to A LOT of chemical pollution as it is, they don't need this new source of pollution!!
Bad air has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and a lot of other health problems!

Some will say, 'Oh but recycling causes bad air and toxic chemicals too.'
Whereas landfill and incinerators both cause bad air and toxic chemicals AND waste of resources, (in most cases) recycling is still better because at least the valuable resources are used for new things.

Where recycling is dirtier or impossible, or people say it's 'just unprofitable': JUST SAY NO!!!!
Very likely, alternative products or services exist, that will be much healthier and more environmentally friendly!!

IDEALLY, all products and services, shops and factories were designed in a way that leaves little room for refuse... But lots of room for creativity, reuse and sustainability.

A horrible fact is, I LOVE MY STUFF!! I want it to be well-built, to last for a long time, I prefer quality over quantity when it comes to techie stuff etc.. I'd be happy with upgrades and knowing end-of-cycle the stuff will be made into more good stuff, not just thrown away...

Besides, going ZERO WASTE is FUN!! It's an ADVENTURE!!! :))
You never know what you'll come against next!! ;)

A huge waste container near Granny's place in the city taught me one thing: garbage (if mixed together) will smell.
But, a garbage heap can also be a source of all sorts of treasures. When we were little, we loved reading the excellent comic books someone had left by the container, or play with awesomely-looking bits of fabric Granny had found near the container one day too.. On another occasion, us kids found lovely thrown-away bags we used for years to play 'postman' or do mini-theatre (or fashion shows) with!

This is a blog about MINIMIZING WASTE in the 1st place.

Our ancestors have lived without tons of plastic bags for eons.
On farms, and in Nature, 'waste' is not truly waste, but a valuable source for new life..

One day, I would LOVE to live on a farm too, so it's best if I start practising now!! :)

People in deserts live with MINIMIZED possessions, and in the Western civilisation our possessions sometimes drag us down or unable us to live in our own houses, or go where we want to go! When does STUFF become CLUTTER and when is it better to just let go? And be free?

Not far from where I live, a beautiful PARK with lots of amazing flowers was built where there used to be a 'village dump'! The site was cleaned up by volunteers years ago and turned around completely..

Could this be done on a larger scale? Could the world be turned around completely? - No idea, but the journey itself is FUN!! And I've already met some AMAZING people on the way!! /& if you never try, you never know.../

Besides, if nothing else, by not making waste it's not affecting my grandma's & my relatives' & friends' health - or anyone else's!!

Imagine a world that is - ZERO WASTE!
People all over the world, connected in their daily efforts to make less waste!!! In a sustainable, healthy way...
USA - Canada - Europe: UK - Italy - Slovenia - ....?? well, people in Asia and Africa probably do this out of necessity already, and it's pretty much done in Germany, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, NewZealand and Holland have apparently officially gone zero waste - still, would be interested if anyone is doing it per blog!
(will be keeping a list of countries!! - still looking to list people from other EU countries, Australia and the islands, Latin America, Asia or Africa (or Antarctica) doing this!! :)) Tell me if you know anyone!!)

Let's make parks with flowers and trees, gardens and zero waste shops, parties, picknicks & trips with yummy healthy food, and have fun & a healthy life & make friends ZERO WASTE STYLE!!!!!!!!!!!

(PS Can you think of any other reasons to go Zero Waste? I will try to keep track! In fact, there are more reasons why to do this, than against! I can only think of two reasons why not to do this: cause it's 'difficult' and for being 'plain lazy'! uhm, and they are not really good reasons for doing anything!! :))

ZERO WASTE Toothbrush!! :))

Oh gosh, I'm so excited!! :))

I just read an article (in Slovenian) about using natural toothbrush - that you can just grab from a tree!

Apparently the rest of the world has been using them for millenia.. They are known as chewing sticks, Miswak or siwak, muthala in Namibia or datan, datun, datun or so in India.

Used in old China, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome, and by Amercian Natives, they can even be bought online! Nowadays they are more present in Muslim areas, as they've taken on a religious meaning.




But why buy? Go outside and uhm, pick a branch from a tree/shrub!

Apparently the original miswak is made from "twigs of the Salvadora persica tree, also known as the arak tree or the peelu tree" which according to Wikipedia has antibacterial and perhaps also other healing properties, possibly also curing you of rheumatism or asthma as you chew - or helping you to quit smoking (!).
Not surprisingly, even the toothpaste industry got in on it:





Quite shockingly, "A 2003 scientific study comparing the use of miswaak with ordinary toothbrushing concluded that the results clearly were in favor of the users who had been using the miswaak provided they had been given proper instruction in how to brush using the miswak."

"Other tree types that are used are the olive, walnut, and other trees with bitter roots."

The Slovenian author said he just started to experiment with various trees, and recommends olive tree, sumach, ash tree or peach - they are easy and pleasant to use (he didn't research their antibacterial etc properties though, so this is still open to research).

He said some were a no-go (oak, hazel, linden tree, pine tree/spruce, cedar, cherry etc.) - because their wood was very hard to chew or tasteless, or not making pretty fibers (they either got frayed, fell off or were too thick)

His favourite trees are olive, ash tree, peach, sumach or 'smoke tree' (I hope that's the right link!), acacia, Syringa vulgaris or common lilac (which is interestingly also in the olive family), and some others.

There are tutorials online and on Youtube, on how to use it!! :)

Maybe a bit more research is needed, to see if any of those could be toxic in greater amounts, and exactly HOW to use it! - but I'm excited to try!! :)