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Buying flowers for your Mother on Mother’s Day is pretty much a default behavior for many North Americans. I grew up in a rural area and I used to go out into the forest and find some mayflowers. When I was an adult living away from home, I would sometimes buy a hanging plant or a shrub. Cut flowers such as roses are the preferred option for many consumers and their demand fuels a big multi-national industry.

I was surprised to find out that over 75 percent of the 4 billion cut flower stems purchased in the U.S. come from Colombia and Ecuador. The conventional cut flower industry is far from green. It’s a very chemical intensive form of agriculture. There is of course lots of plastic involved in the production and packaging.

“I remember when it was all dotted with family farms, and now the Sabana is blanketed in one vast plastic sheet.”- Carolina DelGado from Jobs with Justice

The industry is using up vast tracks of land that was once used for subsistence agriculture and researchers have found pesticide contamination at soil depths of 300 meters. So much toxins are put into the soil ecosystem that it simply can’t all be broken down.

The post harvest treatment often uses chemicals that are banned in the US.

There is of course a huge amount of fossil fuel burned in order to transport these flowers to the recipient. Along the way they get fumigated by order of the USDA and they also usually get more plastic packaging. The worst part of it all for me is that they serve such a small purpose. They are pretty, but they die after just a few days.

Buying American grown living plants is clearly a better alternative to cut flowers. The product pictured in this post is from GivingPlants.com. They offer fast delivery of living plants that will keep on reminding your mom how much you care for years to come.

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When I lived in Canada, I had the basic power tools required by the unwritten laws that men live by. There were already big box stores in my neck of the woods when I moved out on my own, so I was able to pick up some pretty affordable tools. They had plastic bodies and plastic handles. Some of them came with plastic carrying cases.

The affordability of the power tools marketed to the average homeowner is reflected in their quality. I can remember having my Makita drill break when I was foolishly trying to put screws through a piece of Larch without drilling any pilot holes. I kept the non-functioning drill for a few years because the company provides free labor on repairs once a year at its factory outlet. I never got around to taking it. I don’t know if I would have been able to find Makita in the giant industrial park anyway.

I love the idea of tool libraries for a number of reasons. I like anything that reduces the consumption of cheap consumer items that will not last and that will head to a landfill. I like the idea of homeowners having access to good tools.

If you have a handyman on your Christmas shopping list, think twice before you buy them a tool that is not built to last a lifetime. Also, check to see if there is a tool library or even a tool rental shop in your area. I just realized that gift certificates from an equipment rental business would make a great gift for DIY people.

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The Columbus Washboard Company has an awesome website. It makes me happy. There is only one aspect of their business that makes me sad. They are the ONLY washboard manufacturing company left in the USA.

Clothes washing is a chore that is automated for the vast majority of people living in America and other developed countries. For many people, going green in the laundry room means buying big appliances that use less water and electricity than their old ones. They might also choose soaps or detergents that pollute less and come in sustainable packaging. Washing all your clothing by hand sounds like absolute madness.

When we moved to a developing country, we were a bit surprised to find that our options for furnished accommodation did not include washing machines. We were very surprised to find that it is in fact humanly possible to do all your laundry by hand. When we decided that we staying long term, we bought a twin tub washer spinner. It is, unfortunately, a very big hunk of plastic (I never claimed to be perfect). I am able to effectively reuse gray water from the laundry for toilet flushing and watering the garden (non-food).

I had my eyes peeled for a washboard during the weeks that we were hand washing. There was still a washboard in use when I was growing up. It was mostly for socks. My mom insisted on us washing our own stinky sports socks. Washboards are popular with the Amish and with soldiers. If you are planning to make some changes in your laundry procedure for the sake of the environment, give the old scrub board some consideration. Automatic washing machines don’t do anything magical, they just move your clothes around in some soapy water, remove the soapy water, rinse and repeat. Washboards are obviously labor intensive, but you could consider the chore to be part of your fitness regime. There’s probably a piece of equipment at the gym that simulates the main action required to wash socks on a washboard. I don’t know if it targets your abs.

Washboards work well with bar soap. Some people are moving to laundry soap in bar form to avoid excess packaging.

A lot of other household tools and gadgets disappeared for good when the avocado colored appliances landed on our planet back in the 70s. The washboard managed to hang on partly because it was in demand for alternate uses like musical percussion and decoration. It is also really useful.

Photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker

Update: The question of drying clothes came up in the comment section and I mentioned wringers. I realized later that many people aren’t backwoodsy and ancient like me so they might wonder what I am talking about. Here is a photo, I am pretty sure they aren’t due for a comeback.

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I have made the case against making babies from a few different angles on this blog and elsewhere. It’s always a good way to stimulate discussion. I am personally responsible for one pregnancy. If and when you create a human, you will need to buy or borrow things that have been designed to contain and transport them safely.

Moses’ parents supposedly stuck him in a reed basket and sent him floating down the Nile, I don’t personally recommend that method of child carrying even though it was very plasticless.

Parents in many countries are now required by law to place young children in age appropriate car seats. 15 years ago, I borrowed two infant car seats from some community program. I returned them once my babies reached the minimum weight requirement for the next step up in car seats. As far as I know, all baby car seats are made from plastic. The best thing that you can do to reduce environmental impact is to borrow a seat from a family member or a community program. You should read up on proper installation and adjustment of these things. Having one doesn’t make your baby safe, you have to use it correctly.

Green Baby Guide says that car seats up to six years old are safe as long as all the parts are there and in good condition. It’s better to say thanks but no thanks to family and friends that offer you anything older or in any way worn out.

If you have to buy a new car seat, take good care of it and save all the packaging and user manuals for the next owner.

Our baby carriage was a crazily overpriced metal framed Italian job. I was assured that they had a high resale value. I have conveniently forgotten whether that was true. I was impressed by the quality. We lived on a road with a gravel shoulder, so those crappy little strollers with the little plastic wheels weren’t going to cut it.

If you want to do what is best for your baby and also better for the planet you have a lot of options to choose from.

Lots of people swear by baby slings. I have never used one, so I can’t really vouch for them. There have been safety concerns. Most injuries that have occurred are the result of improper use.

Photo Credit: AMCDawes

I did a lot of baby carrying without a sling. I once made the terrible mistake of attempting to walk down my unfinished wooden basement steps while wearing wool socks. I had a baby in my arms. I managed to fall in such a way as to gently plop the baby one step up from where my head landed with less gentleness and about four steps up from the where my ass landed without even a hint of gentleness. Carrying babies with your bare hands might be the greenest choice, but it is not the safest.

Combination car seat/strollers didn’t exist when I had babies. They are plastic, but they are one hunk of plastic that does the job of two. They also meet the requirements for taking on board an airplane. If anybody has had good or bad experience with one of these, please comment.

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I was going to create a post that was addressed to DEVO and asked that they stop wearing their silly plastic hats. Then I realized that they are irrelevant. At about the same instant, my horribly song-tagged head underwent a kind of metamorphosis whereby it was no longer tagged with the original song. It now contained the song as a Swiffer commercial.

Gadgety household cleaning tools sell well because people generally hate the job for which they are intended. Advertisers feed on needs and wants. We all need to use something to clean our floors (at least once in a while). We all want an easier way to clean our floors. My experience has been that gadgetry doesn’t cut it. I am suspicious that the convention of having a broom closet came into being so that we could hide all of these ineffectual impulse purchases from view. It goes without saying that there is a lot of plastic waste involved in this cleaning gadgetry. I really hate those plastic covered metal handles that seem like they are designed to rot to pieces within a year.

Big commercial machines like the ones that I have seen in use in airports and hospitals do a good fast job, but that would be overkill for our little home. These machines are not a very green choice either.

We have tile floors. This is the norm for much of Southern Europe and Northern Africa. The way we clean our floors is described on the English speaking internet as the French way. We push a wet rag around the floor with a broom. To be more accurate we buy what we call floor cloths. These are thick and absorbent and just the right size. One will hold up for about a months worth of cleaning on a smooth tile floor. If I had a new one, I would post a picture. The one we are using isn’t very photogenic.

Natural broom bristles on a broom like this one are made from fibers harvested from palm trees. That was news to me.

Everybody knows what corn brooms are made from… that’s right… Sorghum. If you are shopping for a corn broom, consider getting one that is produced on your own continent to reduce the carbon footprint. Mexico is a producer, but China is flooding the market with cheap brooms.

Sidenote: If you are ever planning a costume that involves headgear, reuse helmets or safety hats rather than making something from scratch.

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Dear Joe Six-Pack,

Please do not carelessly discard
those plastic six-pack rings
that hold your beer cans together.
The story about ducks getting
tangled up and dying is not
an urban (or rural) legend. I saw
a carcass with my own eyes.
I smelled it with my own
nose, too. It was gross.
The dead duck was right here.

I’m not asking you to change
your beer purchasing choices
or your lifestyle. All I am asking
is that you cut the plastic rings
when you have finished your
beer. Use a really cool knife
so the kindness feels less effeminate.

Photo credits: Top – Marc Moss,
Bottom – Jason Hogle (Blog, Photos)

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They say that no good deed goes unpunished. I don’t have any scientific data, but I am of the opinion that using fewer chemicals for household chores results in more clogged drains. I could very well be wrong. I have made so many changes in my life over the past few years including moving house several times. It was only fairly recently that we started using vinegar and baking soda followed by some hot water to open up sluggish drains. If you haven’t tried this before, I highly recommend it. It works and you can easily obtain the key ingredients in plastic free packaging. The Good Human wrote a succinct guide to this eco-friendly method two years ago.

Effective advertising has led many of us to associate clogged drains with Draino. It comes in a plastic jug. In the past, advertisers advised people to put this stuff down their drains regularly as a preventative measure (now why would they do that?)

Photo Credit: StacyA

Recognizing a slow drain early and treating it immediately is important if you are going to rely on vinegar, baking soda and hot water. They do not dissolve everything in their path the way Draino will. They do a good job of shaking up the typical matrix of fatty substances, bacteria and vegetable matter that lurks in the kitchen drain and they are often enough to send the soapy hairball on its way in the bathroom drain. Sites like This Old House have advice on how to physically unclog all sorts of drains.

Establishing who is responsible for the physical removal of hair from tub drains is an important milestone in any relationship and the having no hair on your head does not mean that it is not your job.

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Papier-mâché is one of a handful of useful materials that have been almost completely usurped by plastic. I was surprised to find out that the panels for observatory domes used to be made from papier-mâché. This material is very strong and rigid when made correctly. My elementary school projects tended to be mushy and lopsided. It would be irresponsible of me to advise a novice to make a building or a sea faring craft. If you want to do something constructive with Papier-mâché, start by making masks for Halloween or Mardi Gras. Plastic Halloween masks are a pretty disposable commodity and there seems to be a serious over supply. I see Spiderman masks for sale in the dark alleys of the Kasbah and most people don’t celebrate Halloween or Carnival here.

When I was in Florence last month, I took my kids into the shop of a master of the art of mask making. Agostino Dessi knows what he is doing. His daughter is continuing in his footsteps and they offer short courses for anyone who is interested.

Photo credit: mjbinut

If we as a society are going to use less plastic we are going to have to look back at some of the materials that we used before plastic came along. Papier-mâché has some obvious limitations but it also has some very interesting potential. You can easily formulate a biodegradable version.

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It is going to take a lot of changes from a lot of people to create long term sustainability for life on this planet. If you feel like you can only do one thing right now, consider bringing your own bag to the store. Here is a convincing list of statistics taken from the Bring Your Own Bag campaign:

• 100 million plastic bags a week go to landfill.
• Plastic bags can take between 15 and 1000 years to break down in the environment.
• Each year, an estimated 500 billion – 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That translates to over one million per minute.
• North America goes through 110 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways polluting our soil, rivers, lakes and oceans.
• Production of plastic bags requires vast amounts of oil.
• Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

I just learned about Bring Your Own Bag today. I really like the fact that their message is aimed at average consumers. When I am promoting my website on social media, I sometimes get a bit disheartened by the fact that I preach to the choir a lot. The environmentally responsible people are all following each other and friending each other and they already take a cloth bag to the grocery store. They already bring their travel mug to the cafe.

If you have somehow landed on my blog and you have never thought about reducing you plastic consumption, get yourself a nice reusable shopping bag from wherever is most convenient. I got one for free at a mall one weekend from some non-profit group. I bought some really cheap woven bags from a hawker who stands in front of the vegetable market here. Bring Your Own Bag has a page showing all their participating retailers. If I still lived with my mom, Pete’s Frootique would be my local retailer. Their bags look really good as in good enough to take on casual shopping trips rather than just the weekly grocery run. Drivers will like the flat bottoms.

The change to reusable grocery bags is easy and it is conspicuous. Once you get used to it you will take it for granted and you will start looking for another positive change.

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An orange is a pretty good example of a healthy snack that travels well without any packaging. Everything is relative, you don’t want to toss one of these juicy fruits straight into your kids canvas backpack and send him into the fray. Two of my kids are adept at peeling oranges, clementines and mandarins. I buy them 2-3kg at a time and they usually don’t have a chance to go bad. I think all locavores should move to a place where citrus is local. I don’t even want to tell you how little I pay for in season fruit. I picked a lemon from the front yard this morning

My commitment to reducing my plastic consumption means that I won’t be purchasing any of the orange juice squeezing gadgets that are available everywhere. I miss the beautiful glass juice squeezer that I used to have before I moved

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