Further to my last post about the letter that came in a plastic envelope (which I chucked in the trash) from Meridian Energy; it turns out that Waveney from My Rubbish Free Year received a similar letter, but being more pro-active than me, she actually wrote Meridian a letter about it, suggesting they rethink their posting method. Meridian's reply indicated that the plastic was corn starch and thus compostable. My understanding of corn starch plastic is that it will degrade in high-temperature compost heap conditions, not in landfill conditions (where I think most of these envelopes will end up):

It's not really iced coffee weather here (it's OMG-I-hope-the-roof-stays-on! weather) but I found an article on how to make cold-brewed iced coffee, so I gave it a test run overnight ( without the ice cubes, room temperature alone is cold enough!).  It was so good, I didn't need sugar.  It's not normally exactly electricity-free because you use ice cubes but it's another example of substituting time (free) for electricity (not free).

Another reason why it might have been such an improvement over coffee brewed with hot water is that I used filtered water.  I bought a used Brita water filter jug for $1.50 from the Salvation Army shop next to Bin Inn this week.  I have mixed feelings about this because the filters are disposable, not recyclable.  OTOH, our tap water tastes awful, so neither DD nor I drink water straight from the tap.  DD, who claims that our tap water "makes [her] brain twang!", mostly drinks Coke Zero and during past summers I drank Diet Coke.  After a migraine, when I'm dehydrated and craving a nice glass of water, DD buys bottled water for me, cos she's such a loving daughter, awwww.  If the Brita water filters aren't eco-friendly, neither are Coke and bottled water, so I was curious to see if the Brita filters would really make our tap water easier to drink. 

The filter definitely makes a difference - DD was also impressed.  If drinking filtered water displaces drinking Coke or whatever else we use to disguise the taste of tap water, the cost of the filters (2 litres a day costs around $1 per week, so $2 a week for 2 people) will be much less than the cost of Coke/coffee/tea/sugar. etc.  A filter is good for 150 litres of water, so I guess the environmental comparison should be between production and recycling costs for 10 1.5 litre #2 plastic bottles vs. production and landfill costs of one Brita water filter.

I found the filters on sale at 20% off at Farmers ($19.99 for two instead of $24.99).  I had a plastic Farmers gift card with a couple of dollars still left on it, so when I took the filters to the counter I said I wanted to use that up and put the rest on my credit card.  Unfortunately, when the filters were scanned, they came up as $24.99 (i.e. without the 20% discount), which wasn't mentioned until after the $2.26 from the gift card had been scanned.  I told them the correct price but the fact that the gift card had already been scanned complicated things.  The transaction couldn't be cancelled - in fact, the checkout girl didn't even know how to process it from that point.  She called her supervisor who explained we'd have to proceed at the incorrect price and then do a second transaction refunding $5 to my credit card.  While we were doing that and I was concentrating on entering my PIN twice, the supervisor put my filters in a plastic bag.  Slightly embarrassed that I hadn't been more alert, I asked to take the filters without the bag, which was fine.  She took the "sold" tape off the bag and put it directly on the filters box, and put the bag back. 

It was only when I was almost out of the store that I realised I no longer had the zero-balance plastic gift card AAARGH. I briefly thought about going back to get it, but quailed at the thought of being That Customer, lol.  I wish I knew what became of that card; I suppose they threw it in the trash.  Those cards are designed to be re-loaded, so maybe Farmers put it back on the display of gift cards on the counter, but that would make it a second-hand gift card, so I don't think it's likely.  If I had gone back and retrieved it, I could have re-loaded it at some future point as a gift for someone else.  I wouldn't have any qualms about gifting a re-loaded card... I regret that in this instance I let worries about what other people might think stop me from doing what I think is the right thing to do.

I looked for the question mark ;-) in her comment and found not one but eight, so I figured it merited its own post.  Eight good questions, I might add.


I don't see this as an either-or situation or understand what the definition of "minor evil" would be. The cumulative effect of plastic in our oceans is awful (see Donovan Hohn's Sea of Trash article in the NYT (NYT registration required)) but as far as I can tell, even one small piece of plastic floating around in the ocean has the potential to cause harm to at least one sea creature. Is that awful in its own right?  Moreover, I don't see the point of making the distinction.  Which is worse, something that's "awful in its own right" or something that's cumulatively awful?  Both kinds of awful are worthy of my attention.


If the bristle had been made out of biodegradable material (and since I caught it), I would have added it to the compost. No, a biodegradable bristle wouldn't have counted as a piece of trash; I'm not taking an inventory of everything I compost. Once seen, I wouldn't have just let it go down the drain even if it had been a biodegradable bristle. But if a biodegradable bristle had gone down the drain unseen and made it out into Tasman Bay, at least it would degrade over time, like maritime trash did before we invented plastic.  Still, if I decide to retire the current brush (on the grounds that it's better to send it to landfill intact than to let it break into smaller pieces that could get into the waterways, should they get through the screening and grit removal filter at the treatment plant), I will keep durability in mind when shopping for a replacement.


I don't think of it as an experiment with a result and a conclusion.  There's no question in my mind, or hypothesis I'm testing.  In my Weltenschauung, waste and rubbish are Not Good Things, and the less we make them, the better.   It's more like a project without an end in my lifetime. I'm not planning on a year of minimising my waste and making a decision at the endpoint.  How could I decide not to bother any more?!  It's like that Oliver Wendell Holmes quote: "The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."  There's no going back!  I'm sure that after a year I will be able to look back on a body of knowledge I've acquired over the year, but finding out what I can and can't do is ongoing.

I just washed the dishes and when I was washing a glass storage jar with my plastic dish brush, a plastic bristle got caught between the glass and the wire clip and was pulled out of the brush.  It was scary to think how easily that tiny piece of plastic could have gone into the waste water system.  In summer I recycle the dish water out onto the garden, in winter.... not so much.

As reported by Sydney Morning Herald.

Retailers not happy about the change.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand....

Say bye-bye to the $1 lightbulb (incandescents banished from store shelves by the end of next year)

The first is a snaplock bag I had reused half a dozen times or so, which has split along the bottom seam. 

The other item is the plastic Easiyo  yoghurt base and culture bag which I used yesterday.  I hope that by saving half a cup of yoghurt to act as a starter for the next batch, I will be able to continue making my own yoghurt without buying these packages.  They're not exactly a money saver either. Each 140g packet makes 1kg yoghurt and this one cost me $2.99 on special.  Back in March I could buy 6-packs of 150g (i.e. 900g) yoghurt for $1.99 on special. I estimate if I provide my own starter culture and use milk powder, I can make a kilo of yoghurt for a third of the price of buying the Easiyo mix.

The worms I bought are due to arrive tomorrow! ~500 new sentient beings to care for!

Today mostly went as planned, except that DD piked on the book fair and shopped at Trade Aid for cool t-shirts instead.  The movie was okay, considering it was the first feature film for the director, Paul Murphy.  DD and I both thought that Geraldine Brophy, as the mother Jill, gave a terrific performance, but the pace of the non-garage sale scenes was too slow and the whole plot was entirely predictable, with some awkward dialogue. Overall, I'd only give it a pass mark.  It seemed like it was going for the same vibe as The Castle or Kenny, but it wasn't nearly as good as either of those two films.  But it was cool to see NZ culture on film.  At one point in the movie Jill has her heart broken - shattered, really - by her only daughter, and there's scenes of Jill wandering alone on the beach, looking sadly at the sun set.  Awwww.  Then I glanced at DD to see her reactions.... and she was laughing her head off! The young can be so callow and heartless. At the risk of spoiling the movie, Jill saves her DD and her fiance  from financial ruin by finally selling off her years of garage sale clutter in her own garage sale, transforming her cluttered (but not squalorous, alas) home into a minimalist dream home.  "That's my home!" I exclaimed as the camera showed us views through the windows of the Roses' uncluttered kitchen and living room.  "I know", sighed DD, sounding tired.

I did manage to get a replacement element surround from L & F Electrical; the guy said that my Atlas Caravelle stove would be around 35 years old by now.  He said I was lucky to get a replacement surround. Lucky for me he's a pack rat (but not a hoarder, since he was willing to let it go to someone who needed it). According to this page, the life span of an electrical range is 17 years; so if my Caravelle is around twice that, I guess I'm getting good use out of it.

Global Soaps vacuum pack their shampoo bars in plastic, but they have shelves of recently cut soaps drying in their shop, so they sold me a Rosemary & Lavender Shampoo Bar that was cut on 22/5 and not yet vacuum packed.  I'm supposed to leave it for another couple of weeks before using it - no problem as I haven't used up my Neutrogena shampoo yet (plastic bottle is refillable but not recyclable).  It smells lovely.

The Eneloop batteries are going to arrive in a plastic courier envelope, but the trader did make sure that all the internal packaging was cardboard and paper.  I'm sure I'll be able to reuse the courier envelope when I'm selling off unwanted books on Trade Me.

Thursday is our rubbish/recycling collection day.  I put out a bag of rubbish (7 weeks worth) that will hopefully be the last for a long while, and I'm officially aiming for a year of near zero waste from today onwards. The couple in Christchurch who are going rubbish free for a year were on Campbell Live tonight.  Their challenge has been going for four months.  After the first few weeks they were finding it pretty easy.  Only now they've found out that the Christchurch recycling people gave them wrong information about what plastics could and couldn't be recycled.... and all those cheese and bacon packets and bread bags they've been recycling are now Packagea Non Grata.  Going rubbish free is a continuous set of problem-solving challenges, which I think is why I find it appealing. Forthcoming challenges I still have to face are:

• Toothpaste substitute, and dental floss
  
• Toilet paper, which I realise is a cultural thing, nonetheless I'm pretty attached to that culture, (I'm rationalising that the TP doesn't go to landfill, and in Richmond, the #4 plastic it is packaged in can be recycled, so maybe this is no biggie)
  
• Tea, as the only tea I will buy is Dilmah, which, while their packaging is much less than it used to be, still includes a foil bag.
• Coffee... maybe I'll have to upgrade from instant
• Disposable razors
• Synthetic underwear and clothing
  
• Plastic clothespegs when they break
• and I'm sure there will be many more!

I received a beautiful floral arrangement this afternoon from bout2! Pink and purple shades (gerberas, if I'm not mistaken, and tulips), with a golden dwarf sunflower for contrast, plus luscious greenery.  It harmonises beautifully with the log cabin quilt I have lying over my favourite chair. 

I wanted to take a photo to share here and on the SS forum, but my camera wouldn't take a photo... hopefully it is just a case of flat batteries, but if that is what's going on, it means these Energizer rechargeable batteries aren't holding a charge for very long at all.  I got them when I got my first optical mouse, sometime in 2002, so they're about 6 years old.

The flowers came wrapped in paper and netting, with a card, instructions, and a sachet of flower food attached.  The paper can be recycled, the netting I hope to remake into a reusable produce bag, and the instruction card can be composted.  There were 4 staples which I think are steel and can be recycled, so I'll start a small container for scrap metal collection in the garage.  So waste for today amounts to the empty plastic teaspoon-sized flower preservative sachet, and the ribbon from the outside of the bouquet.

Speaking of produce, Aberdeen School's principal emailed me back and said they'd be happy to take the fruit stickers off my hands, errr, apples.  I emailed him late last night (Friday) so I wasn't expecting a reply before Monday at the earliest, but there it was in my Inbox this morning.  I guess all that stuff you hear about principals working long hours is true.  I printed out the Yummy sticker collection sheet from their web site and stuck it to the fridge (with the viola magnet Rosebud made and gave to me).  We have 22 stickers for Aberdeen already.  Even DD is buying Yummy apples now.  And the ones that I bought today mysteriously arrived home with TWO stickers per apple.  Like Sergeant Schultz, “I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!”

I popped into Bin Inn this morning and saw they now have 2 types of dry cat food in stock.  The bin for the cheaper type was emptied out already, so I got a sample of the other type in one of the used zip lock bags I've taken to carrying around with me, to let Milly try it.  I put out bowls of the new cat food and her usual one side-by-side and so far she is showing a definite preference for the new Bin Inn one.  In fact, I could say she's making a pig of herself over it. Whether that's just because it's different or whether it's because it's better, I couldn't say.

It's made of leather and wood, from EcoStore.

http://www.ecostore.co.nz/product.cfm?ID=4829

I may have found a way to reuse the blasted plastic stickers that were attached to my apples.  They were Yummy apples and the Yummy Fruit Company has a promotion where schools can swap these stickers for sports gear.  The scheme is only for schools in the North Island, so I took the name of a school off the testimonial page on the Yummy website and sent the principal an email, offering to mail him my stickers. 

Assuming he will accept them, no waste was created today.

For a quick dinner tonight: Spaghetti with Fried Eggs

Waste for today: empty plastic spaghetti from 500g spaghetti.

I went to see if I could get a better fly swat, or at least, what I could do now about the existing one.  Payless Plastics stocked the same fly swat I want to replace, plus a packet of 3 from China which the saleswoman assured me would be the same "cheap crap plastic".  As soon as she heard I was looking for a fly swat, she asked, "is yours all cracked and breaking up too?"  It sounds like a common experience. 

I spent about an hour this morning slicing cat's ears out of the front lawn with a seldom used serrated kitchen knife (which will henceforth be known as the Official Lawn Knife).  While I was crawling around slicing through tap roots, I found a small piece of rusty wire, which I guess fell off the house-painter's trailer, and luckily it can now be introduced to the trash instead of being introduced to my new lawn mower's blades.