Let’s talk about trash. It’s a popular conversation right now in my city. Toronto is on day 24 of a city workers strike which includes garbage pickup and it’s getting messy. I know, I know…on a blog dedicated to food, the last thing you want to see is pictures of garbage.
But I think it’s a great time to start talking about waste, and a lot of it has to do with our habits of consumption. We can right now look around and SEE how much trash we produce, it’s clogging the gutters, filling up parks and outdoor skating rinks that have been designated as drop-offs, and it’s piling up in back alley’s and garages. There has been a battle waging over whether to spray the heaps at the drop-off locations with pesticides. The pesticide will keep insects and animals away but will mix with the goo seeping from the bags, go into the sewage system and directly into Lake Ontario, not to mention soak into the ground and contaminate where we like to play.
We’re not by any means perfect, I know it’s difficult, but being concious about what you’re purchasing and consuming is a great first step. Just because we usually can’t see (or smell) it all over the city doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We’re all guilty of the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ way of thinking, but it has to go somewhere, right now it’s everywhere.
Maybe go get yourself a really good quality travel coffee mug.
I got mine at Starbucks last September. It’s thick stainless steel, no handle (handles are hard to fit in the purse/bag), The heavy duty plastic lid seals closed – no leaks, and it literally keeps my drink warm for hours (I’m a slow coffee drinker). It was $22, I could have got one that was cheaper, but I shopped around to find the one that matched my needs, and judging by it’s durability I’ll be carrying it around for years. I have pretty much used it every day since buying it. I estimate that’s about 290 days, which means it’s cost per use right now is $.076 and getting lower by the day, That also means I haven’t used about 290 paper cups/lids/sleeves.
I know that the coffee I drink had to come from far away, but I choose to drink Fair Trade the majority of time. I also know that 290 days of coffee is at minimum $580 (CDN), – Thank goodness I’m not a latte girl or that would be way higher! – the majority of that has been spent in F’Coffee, which is the independently run shop in my neighbourhood, I know the owner, I watched it open, It’s a great meeting place, and going there every day connects me with the community (and keeps me from going insane working on my own!).
Walking downtown the other day past overflowing garbage bins I watched people with their coffee, in the disposable paper cup and wondered where they were going to put the cup when they were finished. Even when the trash is finally cleaned up, think about what you can do every day to reduce the size of the heap you’re personally creating, think about what happens to whatever-it-is you’re buying when you’re done with it.
Joel came across a trailer for “No Impact Man” the other day:
“For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets…”
It’s pretty extreme, but looks like an entertaining documentary. The trailer is on the blog along with a lot of posts and tips on how everyone can reduce their impact a little on a day to day basis without going to extremes. Perfection is difficult, but you can find little ways to slowly change your habits…it might start with a commuter mug but the little things can add up.
Looks like I have the same travel mug needs as you (except mine can clip on the strap of my purse)! I am unhappy with my current travel mug and in the market for a new one, so glad to hear you like yours. When I was living in Vienna, my unfriendly work colleagues could not grasp the concept of the travel mug. According to them, if you are going to drink coffee, you sit in a cafe and drink your coffee. Coffee on the go was taboo, they claimed. In fact, they found the idea of a travel mug so offensive they insisted that I not embarrass them by using one. Perhaps most Austrians are not as strict about how one drinks her coffee, and I just worked with mean ones.
Thanx Charissa! Interesting. When I first went to London and Paris in 2000 I couldn’t find take-away coffee either. Now there’s Starbucks everywhere. It really shows the difference in culture, we rarely sit to enjoy things slowly, really savour them. Maybe if we did, we would we’d need less.
Boy, do you make sense.
Actually, that is something I did enjoy about living in Vienna–taking things slowly. There is a lot to be said about market shopping every 2-3 days–fresh produce, real cheese, fresh bread . . . And you get the whole history of your food (if you want to stick around and listen). There is also a lot to be said about developing a relationship with your market vendors. As it happened, more often than not the Viennese vendors decided what I wanted and then sold it to me (it was a year of being bossed around). Happy to report, they were always right. I had a much healthier relationship with market vendors when I was living in Cambridge last summer. It was hard parting with my coffee guy and my wine guy!
In Vienna I also got into the habit (thanks to my Swiss friend) to do dinner properly (appetizer, main, dessert, wine, candles, music) even when I was home alone. In the beginning I felt a little guilty being so decadent and a little ridiculous lighting candles for only me, but then I got the hang of it. So wonderful! For some reason it was hard to maintain once I got back to North America. I wonder why it is so hard to maintain such a great way of eating? Are we really that busy and glued to our tvs?
Dana great blog topic, great comments. Everything a person does has an impact regardless how miniscule.
3 weeks in the garbage strike I have one bag of recycling (mostly wine bottles LOL) 1/4 bad of other stuff and about 1/4 bag of frozen organic in my freezer it is amazing what one can do when you need to put the effort forth. I think I will be doing this long after the strike is over.