Lifestyle Update: Goods & Services II

Continuing from last week’s blog, this week I’m writing about improving my spending habits and disposable habits, specifically, the money I spend on dry cleaning services. Since I already use biodegradable detergent and dryer sheets and dry about 50-75% of my clothes on a drying rack, I was able to move forward and focus on how I clean my “dry clean only” clothes.  Prior to this blog, I never really knew what happened when I took my clothes to the dryer cleaner, all I knew is that my clothes came back clean, ironed, and a little stiff and scratchy. 

After doing only a few minutes of on-line research, I found that the typical solution used for dry cleaning is toxic, and not something I want to pay to have the clothes rolled around in,  and I don’t want to support a practice that is clearly harmful to the environment.  So, switching from a typical dry cleaner that uses the solution perchloroethylene (perc) to clean my clothes was an easy decision.  Basically, perc in liquid form is composed of chlorocarbon, which is an effective solvent or organic materials, however, perc is a common pollutant found in our water,

“it has been classified by the EPA as a toxic air contaminant, a hazardous, likely carcinogenic substance and one of the top four contaminants found in drinking water. It can enter your body when you inhale its vapors or touch it. Perc can irritate your skin, eyes, nose or throat, and affects your brain much like alcohol does (e.g. dizziness, headache, nausea, loss of balance or coordination, etc.). California has recently banned the use of perc; other states have proposed similar legislation.”http://www.greenearthcleaning.com/flash_earth.aspx

A well accepted alternative to using perc is what’s called “wet cleaning,”which, ironically, is dry cleaning with a water-based solution. Clothes are immersed in a machine that carefully controls the solution to break down stains. There are some downsides to wet cleaning, like it uses a considerable amount of water and it can shrink clothing.  Another alternative is to use liquid carbon dioxide, which is considerably less harmful than perc.  I couldn’t find any downsides to liquid CO2. Unfortunately, both these alternatives require equipment that is very costly for the regular dry cleaning business.

I found a third alternative, petroleum-based silicon, to wash clothes. And, lucky for me, Presto Valet, which is on my way to work and uses silicone. So off I went Thursday morning before work, to drop off one turtleneck, two pairs of pants, and a dress. Inside Presto, other than the giant sign hanging above the transaction counter that reiterated the green cleaning claims on the website, it seemed like a typical cleaner.

Presto’s website claims that it uses methods that are safe for its employees, customers, as well as the environment. It also states that the business is a certified Green Earth Cleaning company, which essentially means that the dry cleaner uses a modified silicone cleaning agent that is a non-toxic, biodegradable solvent that poses no health risks, they pay an annual fee to the organization, and use their patented equipment and cleaning solvents.

I was disappointed to find out that Green Earth doesn’t require their certified dry cleaners to use recycled hangers, biodegradable plastic bags, or energy efficient machinery. Currently, there aren’t any federal, Virginia, or local government standards for green dry cleaning.  If there were more standards and more incentives for dry cleaners to go “green” it would result in higher standards for certification companies like Green Earth and would encourage others to incorporate green practices.   While searching on-line, I found some “green washing” or rather “not-so-green washing” happening at dry cleaners claiming to be environmentally friendly.  When in fact, they only use slightly less toxic solvents to remove stains, which can mislead a customer into spending considerably more money while thinking they’re doing the right thing.  Even though Presto doesn’t go above and beyond Green Earth’s standards, I still felt relieved knowing I chose non-toxic over toxic.

It was a Tuesday morning when I went back to Presto to pick up my garments. I was the only customer at the small shop on Quaker Lane.  A tall, neatly dressed lady working the register took my ticket and retrieved my clothes.  She shouted to her her friend in the back of the store about whose turn it was to pick up their morning coffee. She told me my bill was $42, shouted some more about how it was too cold to walk to the coffee shop, and then apologized for giving me the wrong price, it was actually $35.  At that point, I was relieved it was $35!  But as I got into my car reality set in and I realized I paid more than double my usual dry cleaning costs. It was a quite a shock, especially that early in the morning before MY first cup of coffee. If I were someone who uses dry cleaning on a regular basis, that kind of money would put a big dent in the bank account. I would be hesitant to choose the green cleaner over the conventional one. Luckily, I usually dry clean my clothes no more than once a month. If the frequency of my visits to the dry cleaners is my justification to spend big bucks at a green cleaner, then I will continue to splurge at Presto.  What’s more, my clothes turned out great and I didn’t feel guilty about contributing to pollution.

Presto

A simpler and more effective approach to lessen my environmental impact is not to switch from the conventional to the green dry cleaner, but to reduce or even eliminate my trips to the dry cleaners. I can choose to buy clothes that don’t require dry cleaning. Instead of spending $8.75 per item at Presto, I can spend $2.00 to wash and dry a load of laundry in my apartment complex. I can choose the kinds of clothes I buy. Instead of buying the delicate fabrics that require professional care, I can choose to wear durable textiles that can be cleaned at home for very little cost. I’ve also found that clothes that require dry cleaning are usually the ones that are more expensive. I would be spending less on garments that require less maintenance. Granted, it’s not realistic to eliminate the dry cleaners from my life altogether, but if I can reduce the frequency in which I use them, then I’m that much ahead of the game.

In two weeks, I’ll write about chemicals in the everyday products we use and their health impacts.

Lifestyle Update: Goods & Services I

Shopping at Diva

One chilly Sunday afternoon, following two hours of Hoover Ball and a quick bite at an Irish pub, my boyfriend and I went to the Diva thrift store in Old Town.  We were greeted with a friendly “hello” and a proposition to sell us warm jackets.  Diva was converted from an old town house and it seemed the woman behind the counter could be living upstairs.  The smell of stagnant perfume that usually accompanies worn garments filled the air.  The clothes were neatly organized on racks against the walls and costume jewelry was displayed in the center of the room. We took a look around and proceeded down the hallway and found two more rooms filled with clothes.  I soon realized it was slim pickins for my taste.  There were great deals, like Liz Claiborne dress pants for only $20 and Ralph Lauren sweaters for only $30—my mother would love to shop here!  We left the Diva empty handed but I felt good about giving it a shot. 

Not quite what I was looking for... 

Shopping at thrift stores is one habit I’m trying to acquire in order to reduce my ecological footprint.  Goods and services was my second worst category, which means my spending and waste disposal habits need improvement.  The ecological footprint calculator basically told me:  

• My buying habits are poor—buy used. 
• My eating habits require too many resources—eat less meat and more fresh vegetables AND cook at home more often. 
• My dry cleaner is polluting the earth with chemicals—use a “green” dry cleaner 
• I’m throwing away too much waste—use a food composter. 

So what did I change?  It came down to the amount of time I could dedicate to making these changes.  Between working long hours at my day job and spending my weekends doing homework, I didn't have a lot of time to research how I could improve on these four poor habits.  So, over the last three weeks, I shopped at thrift stores for my clothing, I tested out a green dry cleaner, and I researched food composting options.  I’m moving in the summer to a townhouse, so I decided to hold off on a small composter that could sit on my balcony.  I’ll instead wait until I have a yard to buy a bigger one.  I’ll also have more time to tend to it this summer because I won’t have classes.

I visited three local thrift stores, Diva Designer Consignment & Other Delights, Current Boutique, and Prevention of Blindness Thrift Shop.  Of the three stores, Current Boutique had the most clothing that I liked, but overall Current was more expensive.  The Prevention of Blindness shop had more house ware items than clothes and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for clothes.  So what did I buy?  A $25 gray cashmere sweater from Current Boutique. I have to admit, my experience was a little disappointing.  I searched through these stores and only found one item of clothing.  I’ll continue to shop at Current Boutique but not the others. 


Next week, I'll blog about alternatives to dry cleaning and my experience with one local "green" dry cleaner.

What's all the hype about?

Date: Christmas 2007

Location: Northwestern Pennsylvania

Michelle: “I almost bought everyone in the family carbon offsets for Christmas!”

Uncle Jim:  “Aahh, Michelle, are you ‘going green?’” “It’s all hype, it’s just another way to make money. Don’t buy into it.” 

Michelle:  “Umm…the sea levels are rising! We’re all going to be under water soon!”

Uncle Jim: “It’s just the natural cycle of the Earth.”

Cousin Justin: “Duh, Michelle, don’t you know the Earth has cycles, why do you think the dinosaurs went extinct?”

Michelle: “Well, I didn’t buy the offsets. It would have been expensive buying for eight families…”



From left to right, Kyle Petty, Me, Uncle Jim, Justin.
In 1991, Uncle Jim took us to get
Kyle Petty's autograph!
p.s. I no longer support NASCAR.



 How do you react to people who don’t support your  lifestyle?  Was I wrong to not argue back?  The conversation was all quite jovial, but in the end we disagreed, and each holiday some type of green argument arises.  I continue to check up on Justin to find out if the engineering program he is enrolled in at Penn State is incorporating sustainability into his courses, and in return he taunts me about going green.

 In a recent essay, “What the Earth Knows” written by Robert Laughlin, the co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics, Laughlin claims that small things people are doing to reduce their carbon use and energy consumption are hardly making an impact on the earth and the planet will continue on long after humans are gone.  He takes the stance that Earth doesn’t care about our hybrid cars or turning off our computer monitors or wearing more layers of clothes instead of turning up the heat. He states,

“These actions simply spread the pain over a few centuries, the bat of an eyelash as far as the earth is concerned, and leave the end result exactly the same:  all the fossil fuel that used to be in the ground is now in the air, and none is left to burn.” 

 He is saying that all of the government regulations, laws, mandates, etc. that countries around the world are implementing are futile.  So is my Uncle Jim right, then?  Is it truly all hype and a way to make money off of people’s love for the earth? In other words, is it all just an elaborate and well-orchestrated scheme to fleece hundreds of hard-earned dollars annually from my bank account?



Laughlin supports his argument by debunking the IPCC climate studies and squashing the green movement.  Here are some of his reasons:

·  The studies are subjective.

·  The studies have had trouble showing global warming occurring in the present-day.

·  A problem greater than decreasing greenhouse gases is “human population pressure.”

·  Scientists are providing a lot of data but people are having trouble understanding the data. A problem he states is common for climatology in general. 

·  Finally, he provides two and a half pages on geological time, “Climate change…is a matter of geologic time, something the earth routinely does on its own without asking anyone’s permission or explaining itself.”



Projected global surface warming published by the IPCC.

I get his argument and I believe it.  More articles like his are necessary to get the truth out to the public.  The IPCC studies are both respected and questioned by many. For the most part, I believe global warming is occurring, but can also see the earth in the big scheme of things. The carbon footprint calculator I used a few weeks ago now seems to me to be irrelevant.  But the ecological footprint, a tool that is not a know-all, end-all, yet does goes beyond just carbon; looks at the overall affects of human’s actions from water to goods and services.  And that’s were my beliefs are really held…beyond carbon—living on a healthy planet.

Even though the earth has natural cycles where climate changes, species go extinct, etc, it doesn’t mean that people should create an unhealthy environment for the inhabitants. IS IT all just an elaborate and well-orchestrated scheme to fleece hundreds of hard-earned dollars annually from my bank account?  Maybe not directly, but industries have benefited from the climate change propaganda. I myself have blurred the lines between sustainability and climate change.  Having respect for life is the drive behind my beliefs and moral stance on being more sustainable.  I don’t want to preach about my beliefs, but I feel as though it should be mentioned in my blog since they are the basis of my decisions to try to be more sustainable. I respect other people’s beliefs, including my Uncle Jim’s (snicker) and I think it’s learning about our differences that actually pushes us to search for what works for each of us.

Three simple things I believe:

1. I grew up on the land some (I’m one-eighth Seneca) of my ancestors inhabited.  They gave thanks to people (society), earth mother, waters, fish, plants, food plants, medicine herbs, animals, birds, four winds, thunder, sun, grandmother moon, stars, enlightened teachers, and creator. Living in harmony with each other and giving thanks were important to their culture.  A famous quote my mom used to share with me growing up, “…chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation yet to come.” I want my nieces and nephews to be able to have kids who are healthy and can drink the water, eat the food, and breathe the air without fear of ingesting harmful chemicals.
  
2. For the first 11 years of my life, I attended a Christian church, and I was taught that everything on earth is a blessing and to treat it with respect, e.g., don’t put nails in trees—something my parents had to tell me repeatedly while building forts in the woods near my house.  I see how ancestors' culture and beliefs conflict with my Christian upbringing, but I'm a Christian who has found some common ground with the Senecas—respect and consideration for others. 

   

   Sled riding with friends and a blow-up whale
   can be enjoyed at any age. 
   Just don't eat the acid rain snow!

   
   
3.  I spent my childhood playing in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania.  Nature was what I had access to and what I loved.  Each spring my dad would take me and my two brothers hiking in the forest. We would drink water straight from the streams.  We'd cross country ski down empty trails in the winter, enveloped in the soft quiet snow.  In the summers my friends and I would lay in the fields for hours looking at the stars and talking about life. It's hard to imagine what the Alleghany will look like twenty years from now.  The natural gas industry has already started to pollute the land and water. I love the outdoors and would hate to see beauty of The Allegheny destroyed by industry. Furthermore, I don't want pollution to affect my general health.While this is what I believe, I am a typical American, but am striving to be better.  I take really long showers and can occasionally be found on the golf course (a huge water consumer and pesticide user).  I think Laughlin has a tremendous argument, and that people have BOUGHT into “going green” but it’s more than just that; it’s about having respect and compassion for life on earth. 

For more specific information on chemicals and pollutants, please see the page “Chemicals and Pollutants” at the bottom of the blog (updates to come November 8, 2010).

Have Bike, Will Travel

“Hochkk! Hochkk!”  That was the sound coming from the middle-aged man sitting behind me as I rode the bus into work Tuesday morning.  Earlier that morning, while sitting down to two scrambled eggs and an orange juice I had decided to abandon my car and catch the DASH bus headed to Old Town.  I had determined that the most logical way to reduce my carbon and ecological footprints was to use alternative forms of transportation to get around town. And so I found myself sharing oxygen with a total stranger who seemed to have come down with an early case of the autumn flu.  With each “hochkk” I held back a flinch to try to appear unaffected. Across from me, a man in a suit played on his iphone so I too decide to distract myself and pull out my not-so-smart Verizon phone and log on to Facebook. “Hochkk! Hochkk!” Two more miles ‘til King Street Metro.

 
The bus riding experiment reinforced my initial thought that it’s a more time-consuming method of commuting and takes planning and commitment.  The time it took to travel from my front door to my work cubicle was approximately 35 minutes compared to the 15 to 20 minutes in the car.   Waiting for the bus was no big deal, riding the bus proved to be an interesting ordeal in itself, and once I got off the bus at King Street Metro there was another 12 -15 minutes left to my commute.  Walking seven blocks to my office in 60-degree temperature was a fresh start to the day even though I had to re-apply my aluminum-free deodorant as soon as I arrived there.  In the evening, I caught the bus home and could feel a bit of soreness in my legs--a feeling I’ve missed since classes started in August. 

 

That's me biking in a grass skirt.

On Wednesday, I drove my car to work give myself a day to relax before Thursday’s bike commute.  I had all the proper gear, padded shorts, shirt with reflective stripes, water bottle, helmet, spare tube, multi-tool, and my beloved 2004 Specialized Hardrock mountain bike with clipless pedals.   I’ve spent many hours biking up and down hills in various trails around Northern Virginia, but rarely take my baby blue out on the streets.  It was a wonderful feeling getting back on the bike Thursday morning. My adrenalin and endorphins immediately started flowing, and with a smile plastered on my face, I headed down Seminary Road.   I left earlier than usual that morning, to avoid traffic and to ensure a timely arrival to work.  As cars passed me on my left I paid close attention to the cars turning onto Seminary from side roads.  I made it to King Street without a hitch, coasted down the hill past the metro station, and pedaled my way through traffic for seven blocks until I reached the office.  That was the fun part of the commute, the next few minutes were spent preparing for the day ahead. Without a shower facility at my convenience, I washed up in the ladies room with a washrag and soap from home.  I threw on my clothes ignoring the wrinkles and started the workday. 

Besides the feeling of dried sweat all over my body for the remainder of the day, the ride in was a success!  I had more energy than usual and I looked forward to the ride home.  Leaving the office at 5:00 p.m. in a car has its challenges—on a bike there are additional obstacles.  I took secondary, less congested streets from the office to the top King Street.  And then re-traced my trip onto Seminary to home.  Overall the commute to work and back wasn’t that bad, I had to pay close attention to what the cars were doing around me and look out for myself because I knew they weren’t looking out for me.  A bike lane would have been helpful to give cars enough room to get around me.  I always feel badly when I slow cars down or make them feel like they have to swerve in the other lane to get past me.  Alexandria does have some bike lanes on secondary roads, but none on the quickest route to my office.

Folding Cart

My next journey was to take the Metro bus to Trader Joe's to pick up groceries.  It was Friday around 6:00 p.m. and the last thing I felt like doing was dragging out my newly purchased grocery-getter and hopping on the bus.  This was the only day of the week I could get groceries so I really had no choice, happy hour would have to wait until I got home.  The ride to the store was uneventful and took about 20 minutes.  I walked from the stop to the store and began filling up my cart.  It was crowded that day but surprisingly I didn’t get any odd looks at my cart. The bus had a ramp for my cart and me to ride on.  I pushed my cart to the handicapped area hoping to keep my seat for the whole ride.  The starts and stops of the bus did jerk the cart around a bit.  All and all it was a good trip, that took about double the time it would have taken in my car 60 minutes versus 30 minutes.  I would do it again, the walking was minimal and the bus wasn’t crowded going those directions at that time of the day.

These alternative forms of transportation proved to be not all that bad.  Proper planning and willingness to deal with strangers in my personal space is a must.  I can imagine the bike ride won’t always be the smooth, my deodorant won’t cut it some days, and the buses will occasionally breakdown, but if I can get into the habit of using these alternatives and accept these inconveniences, I will have a significant impact on my carbon and ecological footprints.

Here are links I found helpful last week:

• Alexandria Trail Map
• Fairfax County Trail Map 
• Alexandria Bike Shops (for regular maintenance and those unexpected malfunctions)
• Big Wheel Bikes
• Spokes Etc.
• Bicycle Pro Shop
• Bike and Roll
• King Street Trolley
• Walk Score (how walkable is your neighborhood?)
• EnvironCab (will only pick up in Arlington)

Next week's lifestyle change:  Goods & Services

I Need to Get Out of My Car

Back in 2005, I accepted a position at an architecture firm in Alexandria and commuted 20 miles each way from Fairfax in my Honda Civic.   I would try different routes to avoid congestions, to no avail, and immediately became aware of the drive-alone commuters beside me as I was making my way across town.  I was disgusted by the wasteful mean in which we were all trying to get to work.  Surely there had to be a better way!  I looked into carpooling, but was discouraged by the possibility of being trapped in a car with a creepy guy. I considered metroing, but it wasn’t conveniently situated near my home. Finally, I thought about moving closer to work.  This seemed the most obvious solution because it would cut down on my mileage and time in the car.

Two years into my job, I was able to afford living in close proximity to work. I’ve decreased my mileage by about 10,000 miles per year.  But as I realized through calculating my carbon and ecological footprints a few weeks ago, my transportation habits are my biggest contributions to climate change.  So, I took a closer look at where I drive in a typical year and the alternatives to driving.

• Visit family 3,952 miles per year
• Alternative:  Train ride = 21 hours/trip vs. 6 hours in car

King Street is the closest Metro stop to my apartment

• Commute to School 2,160 miles per year 
• Alternative: 1 hour 15 minutes on bus + I would need a ride from bus stop to home

• Commute to Work 2,600 miles per year
• Alternative: 20 minutes on bus + 10 minute walk
• Alternative: 30 minute bike without shower

Dash Bus--I can take this from home to work

• Travel to Entertainment (in DC metro area) 336 miles per year
• Alternative:  A bus would add 20 – 30 minutes each way
• Alternative:  Hybrid taxi – might cost more money (cab fare vs.  gas and parking fees)

• Shopping trips 960 miles per year
• Alternative:  No reasonable public transport to Leesburg, VA.

• Trips to Beach 512 miles per year
• Alternative:  No pubic transportation
• Alternative:  Carpool

King Street Trolley

• Work Meetings 312 miles per year
• Alternative:  Bus ride takes an hour vs. driving would take 40 minutes. 

• Grocery Shopping 520 miles per year
• Alternative:  Bus ride 20 minutes + walking + pushing a cart

In some instances it’s not reasonable to mass transit, such as driving to visit family and going to the beach.  There is a convenience factor that I will discuss further in my next blog.

In addition to taking a look at my car driving habits, I’ve considered the following:

Riding a motorcycle

-Motorcycles get better mileage because they are smaller and lighter.

This could be a lot of fun!

-Less emissions (this depends on the model and year) 

http://www.helium.com/items/821448-guide-to-motorcycle-fuel-consumption-gas-mileage

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69346E20101004

Checking the air pressure and adding air to my tires

Regular car maintenance

-Oil changes

-Replace air filter

-Check air in tires

-Conservative driving 

My next step is to try alternatives to typical driving habits.  Next week, I’ll write about my experiences using mass transit and biking to work.

Lifestyle Update: Eating local and organic foods for five days straight

Which is better for the environment and for me local or organic?  Through research, I’ve found that my question is just too simple to be answered.  The complexities involved with food production and its effects on the economy, society, and environment require my question to be rephrased—“What should I consider when purchasing my food?”  To make responsible decisions when purchasing food, one must consider:

-Where is my food coming from (amount of fossil fuels used to get it to me)

-How is my food being produced?

            -Large industry?  Local farmer?

            -Do they use sustainable production practices?

            -Do they use chemicals?

These are very broad questions and get more and more detailed based on the type of food, e.g., corn, beef, etc.  The grocery store, local farmer, or restaurant selling these foods should be asked these questions.  The answers I’d want to hear would be:

“We’re local, we don’t use chemicals, we treat our animals humanely, we respect and treat our employees well, and we enjoy what we do.“

For detailed information about sustainable food choices:

http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php

 http://www.slowfood.com/

Through a week of research and testing my own sustainable food choices, I’ve learned quite a bit.  Simply buying organic and/or local wasn’t enough—to be truly “sustainable” I must making well-informed decisions by asking questions to various sellers (farmers and grocery stores). Over the last five days, I’ve been experimenting with purchasing organic and local foods to make lifestyle changes to reduce my carbon and ecological footprints and ease my guilt. This week was a learning experience to say the least.  While I learned about the questions I should ask, I was only able to talk to the gentleman working meat counter at Whole Foods, and no local farmers due to time constraints.  My week went something like this… 

After getting out of work on Friday, I was exhausted, recovering from a cold, and as usual, HUNGRY.  I was in no mood to go food shopping for my experimental lifestyle change, so my boyfriend and I decided to eat sushi at Red Curry in Alexandria.  It was my last non-sustainable meal for the next four days, or so I thought… (I’ll talk about this later in the blog). We ate dinner then headed to Whole Foods.  I set the following rules for myself:
1.  Buy food items typically found on my weekly shopping list
2.  The food items should be organic and locally grown

a.   If no such food items are available, the purchase of organic OR locally grown food is permitted

b.   Locally is defined as within 250 miles

c.   Organic is defined as USDA certified organic

d.   If information on the packaging or signage ask an employee

Simple enough, right? 

I was able to find all of the food items I was looking for, but I only purchased two items that was both USDA certified organic and locally grown—packaged uncured ham slices and yellow squash.  I bought beef that was locally raised, grass-fed and no hormones or antibiotics were used.  Other than those two items, everything else was pretty straightforward:

Local & Organic	Local	Organic
Yellow squash	Lettuce (hydro)	Wine (Malbec)
Ham	Gala apples	Frozen blueberries
	Chicken breast	Frozen strawberries
	Beef	Baby spinach
	Eggs	Bananas
		Zucchini
		Red pepper

When I arrived home, I totaled the cost of these items and compared them to conventional food items from my usual grocery store, Harris Teeter.  I spent almost exactly 20 dollars more at Whole Foods!  For the amount of items I purchased, this was quite a difference.  If I look at these prices over the span of a year, I would probably change my buying habits, but as a one-time experiment I’m actually  a little relieved.  Relieved that I’m actually trying to eat healthily, both for the environment and my long-term health.

On Saturday morning, I started the day off right with two eggs, an apple, half a red pepper and a cup of coffee.  The coffee was organic and fair trade certified. When lunch rolled around, I was at work and munched on organic nuts, berries, and a peach I had previously purchased.  After eight hours of work, I made steak salad with the beef, greens, and yellow squash.  I used a raspberry vinaigrette for dressing which was neither organic nor local.  It was in my refrigerator and I couldn’t let it go to waste!  For the remainder of the night I snacked on a banana.

What a day, what a day.  I woke up Sunday morning planning to go to the Farmer’s Market, but didn’t quite make it…I had to take my boyfriend to an emergency chiropractic appointment.  Lucky for my boyfriend, one of my best friends, Dr. Rose, is a chiropractor.  And actually lucky for me, she also adjusted me while we were there.  My morning was thrown off and I just had to accept the fact that I wasn’t going to the Farmer’s Market.  My brunch consisted of leftover steak salad, an apple, and blueberries.  I didn’t get very creative due to time constraints (homework), so for dinner I had grilled chicken and a salad.

By Monday, I just about had it with the salad, so I didn’t pack a lunch and hoped that somehow I would come across a free lunch at work that was made of sustainable food…I had my regular breakfast of two eggs, red pepper, and coffee.  At lunch I ended up eating chicken and dumplings that a friend had made.  None of the ingredients met my criteria, but I was too hungry to care.  I was swamped with homework the previous day and overloaded with work on Monday, I just didn’t have time to be picky.

On Tuesday, I had my usual for breakfast and headed off to D.C. for a conference.  I drank my organic, fair trade coffee and snacked on organic nuts and berries until lunchtime.  Once again, I failed to meet my criteria for lunch…I only had a 30-minute break and ate at the George Washington University’s dining hall.  Tuesday night I ate chicken breasts and salad again. 

The last five days were challenging, not just because I had a restricted diet, but also because I was so short on time, working 40+ hours and taking 6 credit hours really cut into my food planning and preparation. This is something I need to add into the equation when considering what it will take to make lifestyle changes.  Yes, I’m relieving guilty feelings, but I’m creating a different kind of stress in my life—rushing to complete other things like studying, spending time with friends, laundry, and cleaning. Since I do rely heavily on buying already prepared meals, I need to do patronize restaurants in the area <check out this cool finder tool> , that offer sustainable food selections.  The ones I most often frequent are Chipotle, Le Pain, and Busboys and Poets but their menus are limited.

 I will continue to strive to make responsible eating decisions—I want to maximize the amount of sustainable food I consume while not spending too much money.  I also need to keep in mind the added time of preparing every meal and when that is not possible going to a restaurant that meet’s my criteria.  As I continue to adjust my schedule and learn to fit in more cooking, I will update the page listed at the bottom of the blog “Eating sustainable foods.”

Next week, I’ll be blogging about my experiment to reduce energy consumption, and I’ll have updated footprint and ecological footprint calculations to include my new food purchasing habits!

Social, Economical, and Environmental Impacts of Buying Local and Organic

The first time I was introduced to the idea of eating local and organic to decrease negative impacts on the environment, was while doing research on global warming. I was taking a technical writing class to keep my mind active during a short stint as a receptionist…The final class project was to pretend to be a researcher for a Virginia senator and write a two-page report about global warming.  While I’ve been concerned about conservation since I was a child—buying “save the rainforests” pencils from the Cleveland Zoo in third grade, always turning off lights when I left a room, cutting plastic six-pack rings to save the turtles, and shutting off the water while I brushed my teeth—it was the global warming report that made I realize all the things I wasn’t doing. I began to understand that simple lifestyle patterns or actions, such as paying attention to the food I am buying, have a great impact on the planet.

What I gathered from reading different articles about global warming, buying local foods can reduce my impact on the environment.  Buying from local farmers will support my community’s economy, and cause less pollution and demand less energy for transportation.  Buying USDA certified organic food means antibiotics, steroids, and pesticides are not used in the production of the food, thus I will not ingest unnecessary chemicals.  Also, pesticides will not get into the soil, water, and air.  

So how much exactly do my food-buying decisions impact the planet?  Based on the footprint calculators I did two weeks ago, my food-buying decisions need to be improved.  Food was my second and third to worst category in both the ecological and carbon footprint calculators.  After reading articles on line and developing my blog for this week, I’ve come to realize how little I know about the impacts of changing from “conventional” food to organic and local, the specific details about what is considered organic and local, and what new findings and current news in the food business.  It has been a hot topic for some years now and it’s about time I get up to speed.  There is a journal article all over the Internet that is based on a study done in the UK on organic food vs. conventional food.  The journal article basically says it was found that organic foods do not have higher nutritional value than conventional food.  But this is not what I’m after.  I want to know the environmental and economical impacts the growing, storing, transporting, and selling of food.  This is going to take time to sift through information and find out what studies have been done to support the importance of buying local and organic food.  I want to know specifically, the pros and cons of local vs. non-local, of organic vs. conventional, and of local vs. organic. 

Next week's blog will contain a summary of my findings, both research in journal articles and news articles, and real-life research as an Alexandria resident, i.e., I will attempt to purchase only local and/or organic foods for five days straight (Friday – Tuesday).  I will talk about my experience, the pros and cons, and how I will move forward to make better food-buying decisions and in the end, reduce my guilt.