Monsanto Signs For Circular Economy!

Just when I thought I've seen it all, the world continues to suprise me! LOL!

As I was thinking, where are all the GOOD businesses that WANT to be eco-friendly and more sustainable and make less waste, EEB (who is celebrating 40th birthday - Happy Birthday!) published an open letter by Peter Bakker from World Business Council for Sustainable Development to EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella and a list of businesses FOR Circular Economy!

Of course I was thrilled!! Then, I went to check who's IN!

And almost fainted. Monsanto, Unilever, Syngenta - who are pro GMO (genetically modified organisms) are on the list of 'business solutions for a sustainable world'!

Then you have Chevron, DuPont, BASF, DuPont, Dow and several other chemical companies. The notorious Lafarge (notorious in our country, Slovenia! for burning waste in a cement kiln, and other things - though some locals like it for bringing jobs to the area), Veolia who is partly good (sponsoring excellent series on rethinking resources over at the Guardian!) and partly pro incinerators as well (though they seem open to other uses of their 'exotics' and other 'excess' which is a trendy word for waste that Looptworks is using smartly), and sued Egypt for raising minimum wage. Whaat?

With companies like these FOR Circular Economy package, will it be any good? Good question.
As written in the previous post, Zero Waste Europe thinks the package of legislation would need to be improved to ban incinerators as well.

Locally - well, nationally the debate 'zero waste' or 'incinerators' has been raised again. More opportunity for campaigning and raising awareness!
Of course eyes will need to be on the watch on this all - whether the new legislation gets accepted or not!

There are some GOOD companies on the list also, like IKEA or Samsung, Nissan (that I at least don't know anything bad about - yet:)... McKinsey, champions of circular economy...

But the really GOOD THING about this is that BIG businesses at a bigger level are thinking about this, BIG TIME. Even Coca Cola and Pepsi. Nestlé, infamous as it may be?

And when some consumers like my sister (who still loves Coca Cola) can't seem to be bothered with more messages about waste and eco-friendliness beyond the general recycling, it does seem up to the businesses and legislation to provide more eco-friendly solutions. The individual consumer can only do so much.

So, I say YAY for such a big number of businesses for Circular Economy! (Even though I'm still flabbergasted by some of the names!) And I hope that they will, well, go greener overall? ;) (Monsanto, Syngenta and Unilever, that means no GMOs too, do you hear me? ;)

What do y'all think? ;)

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. (?)

Biutiful Cauntri - more reasons to go ZERO WASTE!!

I finally managed to see Biutiful Cauntri on YouTube!! :) (in 8 parts, trailer here)

(1st part with intro here - 1st part may be a bit boring, but it gets really more 'action'-oriented later on.. & even if you don't understand much Italian, you can see a lot!)

I cried.

The sheep, the cats... 2.000 sheep & more died because of... human stupidity?!!

I am not sure if I properly understood everything (my Italian is beginner level!!:)
Was it the illegal dumpings that got burnt & produced the terrible amounts of dioxin etc, or also the bad incinerators & the polyester textile industry? Probably all together! (?)

When the film dragged on and on, I didn't want to watch anymore.. It was so horrible!!

But I had to.

You see, I had to see if the film also gives a glimmer of hope. Does it tell people to STOP MAKING SO MUCH GARBAGE?!!

Not directly.

But I really REALLY hope that everyone who sees it starts going more and more zero waste & MINIMIZING WASTE!!

Please, let us stop making so much waste in the 1st place!! Because we can. And it is only us who can. The companies and big sellers won't stop making so much garbage, unless we tell 'em to!! And politicians may be lazy and not wanna recycle too (some of them) - they are only human, as we are. And if we do nothing, who will?

Zero Waste report #2 - The Terrible Cold!! - Zero Waste Style!

Well, I wanted to give weekly reports like the lovely Chez Green family over at Myzerowaste have 'em, but last week couldn't think of anything to 'report'! hm!

Basically, I haven't been doing any new experiments! - although I think I MAY have found a potential useful use for one of the strangest 'leftovers' in the bathroom! lol!! /will post about it one of these days.../

My Dad can't be trusted upon to buy cheese 'the zero waste' way, so now Mum and I will try to do it whenever we can..

Also, I had a terrible cold (brought on by the damn incinerators, I think!! just reading about them makes me - ooh!!) Or the too many Amazon-books that I tried to cram all into my head. And Beppe Grillo totally scared me!! (I had nightmares of nanoparticelli coming in through the window from the next-door factory!!)
Or it was the donuts, and a few not-so-healthy days before that. (Carnival was here!) Or, my Sis brought it home. As we both got it at the same time.

My Sis took the Coldrex anti-cold med. I was tempted, very tempted.
But I looked at the box and thought, 'Is this zero waste?' uhm, not.
I couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought of having to throw away the pill cases. Also, when I read 'caffeine' - the stuff usually made me jiffy, even when not messed up!!

So, instead I took my trusty old Louise Hay into my hands, and looked for her words of wisdom. Of course she was spot on, as pretty much always.

"Your thinking has become narrow. Wish to run away. Leave me alone." LOL!! SO TRUE!!
So instead, the right mantra is to be: "I'm always completely safe. Love surrounds me and protects me. All is well." Hm!

When I actually focused on the lovely communities going the zero waste way (instead of trying to figure out the evil ways of the incinerators or if they are really so maybe-green as some say they are) it helped heaps too!!

Basically that's probably what Louise Hay has been saying all along: focus on the solution and not on the problem! Hm!

So, the good news: my gorgeous cousin has now signed up for an eco course at the Uni (after receiving a loong pep talk from me last weekend, lol!) - I wish those courses were just part of every curriculum, unfortunately they are completely optional mostly - but the good thing it's her assistant professor's favorite course!!

Some friends and acquaintances were vaguely interested too.. (or at least didn't run away screaming, as I had feared! though one has avoided me for more than 2 weeks on account of feeling guilty for the many non-eco diapers they throw away! she has a lovely baby boy!!)

There is a thin line between inspiration and completely terrifying someone (at times) and I'm not always sure of it!! lol (seems like Beppe Grillo may still have some problems with this too!:)
So, I am still looking for ways how to tell people about this without completely scaring them or making them go on the defensive or thinking I completely lost it! lol

My Mum is now interested to try washing her hair with the soap nuts too, as I told her how some people on the online forums are delighted with them & even have more hair volume this way!

I also suggested that cloth diapers might be recommended to a local 'mothers' home' (for mummies that need to get away for a while & stay in a place before going on their own.. they might be excited about cloth diapers there too & start using them on their own later on too? It would also be more cost-effective for the home..) We'll see what comes of this, but it's another 'seed' planted.. :)

Some Moms here in Slovenia seem quite happy with them, although there are many different varieties, and it also depends on the baby, as all are different..
Personally, I think if we could survive & prosper in cloth diapers (Mom said she washed every 2 or 3 days then too) babies today could too.. (especially as more modern varieties are around) My cousin's baby (that's another cousin!) couldn't stop wetting her pants (at 3 years old) until the doctor advised taking away the disposable diapers!!

Of course, another thing was tested this week: my resolution to stay with cloth cleenex!!
In fact, I must tell you I wasn't sure if I'd last myself.. but was immensely cheered up by the lovely cloth handkerchiefs with lovely little flowers and such! (They rock!) Only used up maybe 5 altogether, and still keeping 1 or 2 around 'just in case'...
They're a nice childhood memory as we always used them, as far as I remember.. before the paper hanky frenzy.. (I do admit a few tissues of - recycled! - toilet paper too, lol!)

Other than that, nothing much to report. I wish I were 'perfect', living the zero waste lifestyle already.. but it's a (sometimes slow) learning process.. I do wish more people here in Slovenia were 'on board'.. (still didn't dare talk to my neighbours! ough - & Of course I didn't want to give them any germs either!! Although I don't believe in this 'germs' stuff much, it much more depends on one's immune system.. but if the immune system is already low, well.. just heard one neighbour is still ill, mostly due to soda pop, his wife says - I said 'better not have any in the house then,' but his wife 'loves 'em soo much' too!! OoO - and then quickly changed the subject! hm! It's difficult to change habits, yeah, sometimes.. Still, I think health comes first.)

The number of allergies and illnesses here scares me too.. Not everyone is so lucky to get better with Louise Hay & cloth hankies alone.. (& some herbal tea & juicing of beetroot+carrot+apple - yum!)
And instead of campaigning heavily for healthy air - people just go buy drugs or ionizers (I was heavily tempted last week! still am!) & succomb to advertisements telling them to stay in and use drugs, ugh!!
I do think HEALTHY AIR is more important!! :)

Hopefully other people will start realizing it too.. Some already have.