The Story of Stuff

I've been meaning to post this for a while. I came across an interesting video that discusses our obsession with "stuff" and the implications that this obsession has on our planet and ourselves. While I don't agree with 100% of this video (the husband doesn't like her jab at the military), she does present some interesting information, and a valid perspective. Just how much "stuff" do we really need?

Save the Trees!

At the risk of sounding like a crazy tree-hugger (oh who am I kidding- if you've read my previous posts, you already know I'm a bit crazy)- there is a simple and painless way to be a little more green and save some trees. Eliminating junk mail! According to Cleanair.org, Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year. I think it's called 'junk' mail for a reason. And, thanks to the convenience of the internet, you barely have to lift a finger to make a difference. If you are like me, the daily trip to the mailbox can leave you puzzled. "How on earth did I end up receiving a Pottery Barn/ Victoria Secret/ Sporty's Pilot Shop (yup, I got this one today!)/ fill-in-the blank catalog? Did I even sign up for this?" "Why am I receiving three credit card applications everyday?" "Why do I continue to receive paper statements when I do all my billing online?" Think about the amount of junk mail you receive everyday. You probably go straight from the mailbox to the garbage can (or, I hope, the recycling bin!) and toss 75 percent of what you receive daily. Or, it piles up on your counter top and creates the annoying chore of sorting it after a week. Now multiply that junk mail by every household in the country. That's a whole lot of unnecessary waste. Yes, recycling junk mail is better than tossing it in the trash, but why not cut out the waste at the source? Fortunately, there is an easy way to do this: To cancel unwanted catalogs, click here. To cancel credit and insurance offers, click here. Another option I have read about, but not yet tried is this. Some extreme tree-huggers utilize online newspapers and magazines. Some have requested they no longer receive the Yellow Pages (this one makes sense- I recently received TWO of the same phone book within a week or so- what a waste of paper!) Another easy change is to utilize online bill paying instead of receiving paper statements. There are varying levels of tree-hugger in all of us. You may enjoy reading your morning newspaper, and I am not asking you to give that up. But we can all probably live without that catalog (or 9) that go straight to the trash without even being looked through. Or the annoying credit card application you seem to receive 3 times a week. Take a few minutes and save a few trees.

The simplest switch yet...

We live in a world of disposable everything. Napkins, diapers, even mop heads are now disposable. To stop for a second and think about where all that disposable junk is going is rather terrifying. Stop. Think. Piles and piles of garbage that grow bigger everyday. Won't we eventually run out of room for garbage? Have you seen the movie Wall-E? The movie is set in the future. Humans have trashed and vacated the planet, only to leave their mountains of garbage and sweet, little robots to attempt to clean it up. I had to turn it off after the first 15 minutes because I found it so depressing. Seriously, isn't this supposed to be a feel-good children's movie? I think it's time for us humans to think about all of the trash we produce. When something goes into the garbage can, it doesn't just disappear when the garbage man picks it up. Stop. Think. Is that Swiffer really more efficient at cleaning your house than a regular old broom? Did that paper towel clean that mess better than a cloth towel would? And thus, the topic of this blog- the simplest switch I've made yet- cloth napkins. I bought 3 dozen cloth napkins through an online wholesale site. I think I spent around $25. They are kept in a basket on our table for easy access during meals. To refute you naysayers who are probably already trying to come up with a downside to this- no, I have not had to do any extra loads of laundry to keep up with cloth napkin use. Because they are so small, they easily fit into my loads of towels without creating another load. And, no, we have never run out of cloth napkins before I wash more. And yes, I think this significantly has reduced the amount of trash we produce each week. With the amount of spills and messes our toddler has, and as sloppy of eaters as the husband and I are, we've cut back on a lot of trash. I can eat pizza and only use ONE napkin for the whole meal(those that know me should realize how amazing this is- one meal of pizza generally equals 7-8 paper napkins for this slob). My only complaint I have with the napkins I purchased is the color. I intended to purchase napkins with a soft, subtle green to match my dishes and towels. The color was called 'tea green' and looked nice on the website. Unfortunately, the napkins I received were bright, neon green, and before I even considered returning them, the box and receipt were lost in the meyhem of a toddler-run household. Oh, well. I guess the green napkins can be my reminder to try to be more green everyday.