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? ;)

Sub-Mayor Is Slightly Interested! :)

So yesterday I managed to grab the sub-mayor by the button. So to speak.

Actually, he was fixing a garden gnome, or something like that.

I was tired & hungry, but thought, 'What the heck?' How often do you get a sub-mayor basically on his knees before you?;) So I inspected the gnome & then ASKED! :)

It seems there *IS* political will for a reuse station in our little town, and maybe for making people more aware how to recycle & minimize trash too!! :)

Will it be a simple reuse station like already existing in Slovenia? (Please take a look & comment - the yellow board on the wall announces a reuse station corner - simply some shelves by the wall.. easy to make & very doable.. I was told that mostly they have furniture & not electronic stuff.. It looks a bit, hmm.. uninspiring, though..)

With other options, finding financing (& a space for a mini-store!) might be a challenge.. Two more superstores have expressed interest to come to our little town, sigh!! (& those are a hefty competition for council land!)
'Tourists & visitors come to our beautiful town to see nature, not supermarkets!!' I pointed out, & sub-mayor agreed, & said how supermarkets & building companies also bring jobs & eg sponsored playground (mostly plastic! sigh!) & some money.. (& more trash, I thought..)

I'm welcome to see the sub-mayor again about this (he did have to repair the gnome!) & hopefully we'll talk more with other parties involved in this too..

Ideally it would be a 'real' small shop like these in the USA offering awesome stuff cheaply - just furniture, sins, doors, garden ornaments etc... crockery, art supplies, old candles.. It's 'creative reuse', not just a thrift store..!! :)

Or something like what they have in Nova Scotia, Canada: a longer film on waste management shows a VERY cute store with furniture & other stuff for house renovation (after 19:10) selling bathroom articles, some things like old doors are creatively re-styled into other furniture like kitchen cabinets etc..

One of my favorite ones was this shop in Burlington, Vermont, USA (film also available with more videos about communities worldwide going zero waste on AmericanHealthStudies.org - Prof. Paul Connet's website it seems)
Recycle North is a non-profit that takes even old PCs & fridges, repairs them if necessary, & sells again for a small price (tax-deducted!), low-income families get coupons to get stuff for free..

At the same time it's a job training center for people who'd find it difficult to get a job otherwise.. Now if we could just figure out a way to fund something like this?!! :)
/Both neighbour & I sought for an old computer mouse one can't get anywhere else.. :)/

Apparently The RecycleNorth main shop is being renovated, a ReStore selling artsy crafts is still working! (now that sounds lovely too! :)

Our sub-mayor actually thought a reuse station was quite a nifty idea, & now I have both the local charity, the local waste company & a country-wide electronic-waste collecting company slightly interested. :)

Yes, I made some phone calls this week!! :)

If only one could get some easily available EU or country-wide resources..? hmm?
/More phone-calls & e-mails to write next week!/

Apparently the computers on grass (under trees) were due to a change in system of collecting the old computers & TVs etc.
I agree that the old system wasn't good - old TVs were shoved into big containers & apparently a lot of them broke.. so the electronic-waste collecting company now switched to a different system, but apparently was overflown with demand & they didn't have enough of new-style collecting plateaus, so...?

They promised to bring the plateaus this week, we'll see if that's true..

I also talked to a wonderful friend of mine who's now almost-married off to another town & has a big chunk of potential eco-farm (belonging to her new hubby-to-be relatives!) to work on with her man! She gave me lots of useful ideas & recipes! & even some names of eco-aware people in our hometown to contact next! (& I did offer my services!:)

Interesting, how great minds think alike, the synchronicity of it all.. Mrs Green & her guest blogger Sophie blogged about 'non-monetary' work, land & crop exchange this week.. & JustGai was Grow Zoned!
I was thinking lately too, how land & food can be exchanged with no monetary investment!! We got some sausages & some wood from our relatives just cause Dad helped at their farm! & this friend got wonderful workable rested land to use & work on for free! (from her man's relatives!)
Mum & I planted beans & pumpkins at Uncle's farm (even the ones with non-peel seeds!) 'Free food' again! :)

Oh, & I quarrelled with our neighbour on whether tetrapaks can or cannot be recycled!
Overall, quite a productive day & week! :)

Sub-mayor seemed slightly interested on how we managed to reduce our waste after zero waste week too!! /& glanced uneasily at his big bag of waste!;)/

Do you have a reuse station in your town? What is it like? What do they have there? Just furniture or also other stuff like clothes or electronic gear? How has it been financed & set up? Just curious!! Do tell!!

What do you think about the different options for reuse stations presented here?

My Mum Made Butter!! :) Yum!

Well, I have been hunting for zero waste butter everywhere...

Truly, I have...

And no naked butter in sight! /sigh/

So after a neighbour said her boyfriend makes butter(!) & I lamented at home how Dad eats all the cream before we'd be able to make some, & gave them as an illustrious example! - finally, some cream was saved this week.. (it also helped Mom & Dad were away from home most of the time! making wood at Aunt's..)

Mum just used a little pot & a hand mixer.. then she showed me how she pours away the 'water' (I drank most of it - yum!) & just rinses the butter & does things to it with a spoon.. (no fancy equipment used here, just going about it as simple as possible!)
/pic found on Wikipedia/

I talked of what people online say or use.. (so Mum used a sieve too, before, she didn't)
She was told the mystery of butter-making by a woman we used to get milk from.. before that, she didn't know how..

It's really simple & quick.. (Poppy may have fumbled with it more, but we had a smaller quantity too..) and also more cost-effective... (considering we get milk anyway.. and this is just a by-product!)

Mum also said if we want to make quark/cottage cheese, we can oder extra 2 liters of milk & just make it! :)
/The woman making quark didn't come to local monthly non-farmers-market this week! Sis said we can visit her though if needed, so quark sources covered! ;)/

(pic found here )
Mum &I talked of maybe using the soapwort instead of soapnuts as a more local alternative, for hair washing & washing the clothes.. (apparently the soapwort has 20% saponins in the root, soapnuts only 15%?)
Found some recipes for shampoo, haven't found any for washing clothes yet! Any recommendations?

/pics found here/
I also want to make a dish cloth & have looked at patterns online.. only found some brightly colored cotton in Mum's boxes.. not sure if it's okay for dish cloths.. would prefer organic/eco cotton..
Does anyone know if mercerized cotton is okay for dish cloths?

Am rather dreading zero waste week cause I feel totally underprepared, & still haven't planned the menus! /sigh/ And Dad will be sawing the wood much of the time, & I really hate too much noise!!
Sis said, 'Can we have it next year?' lol

Some Horror Gifts from Easter/b-day in advance include non-zero-waste chocolate, & sadly, I couldn't resist it! /sigh/ Hopefully it will get eaten before ZW week - or wait till the end? /Or..?!/ Can I cheat? ;)

Better news:
I called the local newspaper & they're interested in articles how to make less waste. (I said nothing about zero waste week cause I'm not sure we could pull it off! lol) They would be published end-of-May & then once a month, so I have time! :)

Got the 500 media contacts of Slovenian media too (YAY!!:)), & not sure what to do with them?!! (slightly overwhelmed, lol!!)

Not-so-good:
Tomorrow we can't go to the Farmers' Market as Mum has other things, Sis seems slightly ill, & Dad wants to be sawing wood! /sigh/ & I still haven't renewed my drivers' license! /sigh/

The computers I ranted about a few weeks before were discovered under the pine trees and on the grass (!!) at the local wastewater center! /sigh!!/
Definitely something must be done about this!

(Mom said to put them in newspaper too, but I'd prefer to talk to local officials first & try to deal with this quietly & diplomatically, if possible!! alas, I'm no diplomat! & when I think of the damn computers, some of them half broken on the grass, near a river (!) I get headache!! ugh!!)

Head of a local charity agrees a reuse station would be a good idea..
Now if only I could convince the officials etc? & get some money from EU?
(They give money for MUCH stupider projects!!)

National garbage policy is said to be updated in 2 months.. NGOs should definitely have a say, but will anyone bother to do anything?

I feel so... tired, & alone, & ... ugh, not sure exactly what to do & how to go about it..?!! I am just 'poor old me', not so healthy at the time either!! - how can I change any official politics?!!
/img found here/
at least I weeded out the strawberries today! :)
now if only weeding out silly official policies & practices would be as easy!!

Hmm, maybe this is normal before a zero waste week?!! Do tell!! :)

Baby-nappy-dilemma: which nappies?! - NO nappies!!

Very tired, but I also feel fab: I found a whole lotta forums & sites & posts about babies & their Moms/Dads going diaper-free!! (even on Slovenian forums YAY!!:)
First found on the fabulous Zero Waste NZ - & I LOVE this Mom's site too!!


As my cousin's wife has the baby-nappy dilemma (disposables at a farm-??!! far away from any landfill or regular garbage service!!) it seems VERY INTERESTING!!
Also, if I ever have a baby, I'd definitly TRY this!! (probably in combination with a few cloth nappies..)

It seems very odd that a single gal with no kiddies (or zero waste daddies) in sight would explore the nappies/no nappies world, but then again I already studied a book on getting kiddies to sleep & a few books on bringing kids up 'just in case'!! ;)
/Better be prepared, & it's easier to advise any friends in that case, no? ;)/

As for zero-wasteness... still being a chicken & haven't dared to make a few certain calls.. my stomach actually rebelled, I think the thought of what I might find out distressed me immensely :)
At least I'm learning about these things & raising awareness a bit.. my own, & of people around me.. I still feel so many lightyears 'behind'.. there is soo much knowledge scattered all over the world, & then found in most unlikely places :)

I did send Granny to chase after naked butter.. We'll see if she finds any!! :)

No, you CAN'T eat the bonbon!! ;) - & an Evil Plan!! :)

Okay, so today Little-Miss-not-so-Green was over again.

Mum has her over every week so she can help her study. I think she's starting to outsmart Mum though, a bit. (Mum was deeply puzzled by one of her math homeworks, done completely correctly. 1st grade, I must add.)

Also, my neighbour's two sons were over, & we had a lovely afternoon. Puppets & games included. Oh, and guitar, a full orchestra! (with cookie-box-drums and a pencil-conductor!)

But first, Little-Miss-not-so-Green wanted to eat a BONBON!

Hm, bonbons are sort of forbidden in our house. Especially for LMnsG, who tends to be hyperkinetic already! So imagine what an extra dose of sugar would do! /plus, there's the terrible wrapping, which is not zero waste at all!/

To make things worse, the bonbon was in a Christmas sock on a Christmas card, sent to me by a very lovely friend whose daughter is not allowed to eat any sugar! :) /I am wondering if that was zero-waste disposal of any unwanted gifts? hm!)
- & LMnsG has been eying it from Christmas, I hear! (with Mum replying it's not hers to give - smart answer, hmm!! & easy way out!)

So how does one deal with a temper tantrum: 'Oh can I eat the bonbon?!!' followed closely by 'Oh why oh why not?!!'

First of all, one does not cave in. lol!!
'Bonbons are not eaten in our house. I don't eat bonbons.'
'Oh but I do.' (whine) 'Can I eat it?'
'No.'
'Why not?' (I was flabbergasted for a moment, what to say-?!)
Then I decided to tell the truth. As odd as it sounded.
'Because bonbons aren't healthy. They're toxic' (okay, I exaggerated a bit) 'and I want you to be healthy and happy and have healthy teeth!' (she did have teeth problems a while ago, so she might remember how 'fun' that was!)

/still some sulking ensued, but she was given bread and cheese by sis, and a bit of cooked fruit juice - the only 'sweets' still sort of allowed in da house, though I'd prefer to not have even that when she's here, but Oh Mom can't be persuaded-
& the girlie was then distracted by a carefully planned educational game/magazine & then by the neighbours' kiddies.. - I think she has a bit of a crush on the older Little-Mr-not-Green-At-All!/

So, now I have an evil plan. I will try to green my Terrible Neighbour's (green-wise, otherwise they're an awesome family!!) little sons!! :)

I wonder if it will work-??!!

/I think one of the first steps could be to show them this awesome video of Little Miss Green and her Mom - and maybe try to do something similar with OUR rubbish?! - Oh Mum will be so glad! lol!/

We'll see how this goes!!

New Laptop!! :) - Not mine, yet! - & suspicious amounts of housework!! hm!

My sister's bought a new laptop, so the house has been frantic.


Word of advice: NEVER buy a laptop on a Friday!!

Also, never buy a laptop on a whim! (if you can help it!:)
/& without having techie people notified in advance!/
She's had trouble uploading drivers and getting the sound to be heard, and all techie people we know were kinda busy.. My sis is kinda techie too, so she did the DIY - some of it went well, but no sound.

No surprise, many others had the same or similar experience, as found on online forums.
Hopefully the things can be resolved in a day or two.

Dad is milking the cows at Uncle's again (he's had another tiny operation & must rest for at least a week), I may even go up a few times myself again, but the memory of the terrible cold (the first time we were there) kinda haunt me still.. I do miss the cute cows & cats a bit.. :)

Sis (& the whole house) has been kinda in a laptop driver-seeking frenzy (I guess I would be too..) It's difficult to focus on other things if you have visitors (uncle &Dad) over half the day and a sister who admires your googling skills :)
/'How do you find those forums?' she says!/

Luckily, this will enable us to have each own computer to work on, so hopefully the hours can be better (& the PC turned off earlier..:) hopefully helping reduce energy & time waste.. (I know a PC AND laptop can use more energy than just one of those, but often sis & I just found ourselves procrastinating by the PC 'cause it was free'.. :) instead of properly working..so time management will hopefully be easier now.. once the drivers are installed proper..)

I am also oddly relieved that I don't have to buy a laptop now! It was driving me mad, trying to research and find the 'most zero waste' & 'low-toxic' & generally best & most affordable laptop!
/Though EthicalConsumer is kinda helpful (may be a bit dated though?) & Guide to Greener Electronics by Greenpeace offered a lot of info too! Those Guides have changed so much every few months it was difficult to tell who's actually REALLY better at any given point of time! (& it was driving me mad, kinda, lol!!/

/The terrible news of bad 'recycling' practices with regard to computers had me worried too.. For example, see this movie - quite shocking!!/
It would be MUCH easier if we KNEW exactly WHERE all our recycled stuff goes, no?
/The companies say it's all completely trackable, so why not put up little films and charts/maps and independent organisations monitoring them?/

I would be much happier to buy a laptop (or anything else) if I were sure what would happen to it afterwards!

I also had a thorough talk to myself (& did some heavy journalling) AND as a result, did immoral amounts of housework this weekend! (Okay, partly cause it was International Women's Day & I wanted to help Mom too!)

I wanted to give Mom some flowers, but Sis is allergic to pollen (or the chemicals that come with it? we live near a chemical factory, remember?) and also, Mom said it's a shame when the flowers wilt so quickly and all.. & they're much prettier outside in Nature!

Helping with the dishes (& lunch) - or other housework - is a REAL zero waste gift!! (and Mom appreciated it greatly, I think, lol! She's even written a tiny play about little kids helping their Mom as the ultimate 8th March gift when we were small - we enacted it on 'celebrations' for our street when we were kids!)

/I really hate doing the dishes, can you tell?!! :) I hate to admit, but it's true!! I'm always worried about the dishwasher liquid. We have an 'eco' one now, but it has artificial food preservatives in it, which I've been allergic to as a kiddie already!! - And that's the 'eco' one, god knows what's in the other ones!!

Also, I got really upset by any (excessive) tetrapaks garbage in the bin I might accidentally see! had a word with Sis, hopefully she'll do better now!/

- WASHING THE DISHES IS ZERO WASTE! Why? It's better than throwing them away, no?

- COOKING (FROM SCRATCH) IS ZERO WASTE! Why? Better than throwing tons of pizza boxes away, no? ('polluted' paper or cardboard is unrecyclable here. Maybe-compostable, if in small amounts & if the paper/cardboard is 'okay' - no iffy chemicals used, but still, 'zero' is better, no?)

It's making it so much easier for me to do housework, just reframing it this way..

It may sound silly, but it helps!! :)

PS HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, everyone!! :)
Hope you had a FUN day!!

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.

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!!

I LOVE NAKED Amazon!! :)

Well, I have a terrible truth to confess: even though I try to get books in the local library, or the retro store/s - I just ordered and received a HUGE order from Amazon!

(Of course, I only dared to do so, after Mrs Green and other green sites approved my choice.)

I also read extensively on Amazon itself, including Amazon.de which I ultimately ordered from (cause I could get an extra book for the same price due to their much better postage pricing for new-EU states & 'the rest of the world'!)
(I hate it that amazon.uk puts us into the same category as, uhm, Uzbekistan or Zimbabwe, although the distances are quite different!!)
And it is terrible discrimination we're not able to buy things used on the Marketplace!! (surely the whole EU and US market would collapse if the new members of EU could shop for used things too?)

Well, I was still expecting the delivery with lots of despair & trepidation!
Would it be horrible and full of shrink-wrap plastics? Would every book be individually sealed in a completely useless plastic bag? (like many books here in Slovenia are!)

I ordered on February 9th, the first batch was dispatched on the 12th - & gotten on February 14th! YAY! AMAZON LOVES ME!!

I slightly despaired cause the site told me the 2nd batch (which I actually needed/wanted more) would come from 3rd-21st march! (I forgot not all books were 'in stock' at .de, as they were at .uk - 2 were 'ready to ship in 12 to 14 days')
I was wondering if I had done the right thing... /Maybe the Universe was punishing me for buying so many new books? - yes, there was some guilt involved! I actually wanted to buy the books last August already, but then didn't dare to../ (or maybe buying from co.uk would be better?) - But this Saturday, on Feb 21st, all the books arrived, so I was very happy!!

Unfortunately have forgotten the excellent idea of Mrs Green to sell the books on once she's finished with them... Mine are somewhat dog-eared already, some of them! (which only means they are EXTREMELY useful, and they will be of much use! Couldn't get them here in Slovenia, so I had to get them from abroad!)

I did remember to use the paperclips for the not-so-useful bits and books (so they can ideally be resold or donated to a library easier)!

Description: They were in a plain cardboard box (like promised), with only some cellotape :(, books were totally NAKED :) YAY!!, there was a dispatch-paper with a plastic-window-thingie part (is that recyclable too?), and in the big box some unrequested heavily-printed glossy flyers/coupons - I thought 'How pretty!' - but as I'm unlikely to order monthly German DVD service or business cards, or go on a cruise, these are pretty useless to me! and rather excessive - one would think they track customer addresses and at least send you what you might use?)

Other Nitpicks: I know TRANSPORT (from so far away) is not environmentally friendly.. The books were not available as e-books, and also, you need energy for reading e-books, and can't lounge with them on a sofa so comfortably.. so, hm? I do wish Amazon included some data on emmissions-footprint etc, so I could calculate the footprint of each book (or the lot) from individual stores - I might even go with another store if it proved to be eco-friendlier!
I've already asked them to reveal data & make less emissions, maybe you can too?

I do wonder about any previous wrapping-of-pallets-into-plastic too... (I hope that plastic gets to be reused or recycled at least!)
Also, the books do not say if they are TCF - Totally Chlorine-Free, & thus dioxin-free, so I'm guessing they're not! (I wish all books were!)
Some seem to have some recycled content & some not, though none mention this specifically - it would be GREAT to know!

They are really great books though, and I'm sure I will be using most of them for quite a while! (Unfortunately for some of them, I seemed to have learnt most stuff online already!:) /am still wondering if it's environmentally friendly to return them, or resell, or not?/

am also a bit bedazzled by it all, not sure which one to start proper first!! :)
/I've skimmed the lot of them briefly, I feel my head is HUUGE!!;)/ But I LOVE books!! Especially NAKED books!!

This whole thing did make me wonder though: if Amazon can ship me NAKED books from Germany - and they look great! WHY do Slovenian firms insist on individual-packinging every one of them into plastic?! It beats me!!

Maybe need to demand NAKED books in Slovenia too?!

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!! :))