diff --git a/journal/2011-01.mdwn b/journal/2011-01.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 0000000..21acdf8 --- /dev/null +++ b/journal/2011-01.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +Title: January, 2011 + +January 8: Getting Started +-------------------------- + +After seeing a documentary called "No Impact Man" in December last year, +we made a new year's resolution to reduce how much trash we make. We +don't have a specific goal for volume, we just want to produce as little +trash as we can. + +First we had to okay this with our 5-year-old daughter. This wasn't too +hard, since every 6 months or so we pick up trash together in the vacant +lot across the street. She's acutely aware of not only how much trash +there is blowing around town, but what sorts of things make up the bulk +of the trash (disposable plastics). She seemed to think it was a +reasonable thing to do, so off we go. + +After cataloging everything we threw away for a week, we determined that +our trash is largely food packaging. We are going to stop buying new +packaged food, instead running down our pantry until our new co-op +grocery store opens its doors in February. When the co-op opens, we'll +start buying as much as we can in bulk, and the things that we can't, +we'll try to buy in minimal packaging, with an eye toward compostable or +recyclable packaging. + +We rode our bikes today to the existing grocery store, to pick up some +pizza toppings. Our new "minimal packaging" goal actually saved us some +money on mushrooms: 1-1/2 pounds of loose mushrooms in a plastic grocery +bag we brought with us came out to the same price as the 4 ounces +styrofoam container we normally bought. We also made friends with a +lady in the deli department when we asked if she could make thick slices +of mozarella and wrap it in wax paper. She did go through a pair of +disposable plastic gloves, though. + +When we got home, Neale's wooden toothbrush had arrived. He's trying a +[wooden +toothbrush](http://lifewithoutplastic.com/boutique/plasticfree-wooden-toothbrush-adult-p-400.html) +with bristles made of sterilized boar hairs. Amy and Ginnie are going +with a year-long [plastic toothbrush +subscription](http://www.preserveproducts.com/toothbrush-subscription.html): +every three months, the company mails out new toothbrushes made from +recycled food-grade plastics, and you mail back the old ones to be +recycled. Every time plastic is recycled, it degrades, but recycling is +better than throwing away, and our goal this year is to reduce our +trash. diff --git a/journal/index.mdwn b/journal/index.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb5c2c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/journal/index.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +Title: Going Brown + +This is a journal--not a blog--initially about our effort to stop +generating so much trash. + +In 2011 it's trendy to talk about "going green" for the benefit of the +earth, but anyone who's bothered to step outside has surely noticed that +earth is actually brown. Hopefully, as we compost more and throw away +less, we'll be making more earth and less landfill. We're going brown, +then, so that is the name of this journal. + +This journal has no comments, although you are free to [email +us](mailto:neale-aim-journal@woozle.org) or talk to us in person about +anything you've read here. Entries are in chronological order, just +like a book or a diary. + +* [January 2011](2011-01.html) diff --git a/journal/journal.mk b/journal/journal.mk new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b021b12 --- /dev/null +++ b/journal/journal.mk @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +PLAIN += journal