Tired of so many catalogues? - Catalog Choice is what I have used for 10 years

This is my dashboard for Catalog Choice 😀💗🙏

I have blogged about this before AND I am still surprised at how many people are not aware of this website so here is my take on it.

Each year I challenge myself to become more green and energy conscious.  In 2007, I decided that the number of catalogues I was getting through the mail was outrageous and was a waste of resources.  I usually shop online and I don't need all of this colored paper.  Even today, when someone offers me print materials for something I say "No thanks, I will go look at it online."

In 2007,  I became aware of Catalog Choice and I started using it.  Immediately, or within a couple of months the number of catalogs decreased.  I keep a stack of catalogs next to my desk and periodically I go in and add them to my opt-out list.  I also check periodically to make sure the request to opt-out is honored.  A couple of companies are not on the Catalog Choice list, so if I have some free time, I actually call the company and ask to be taken off the mailing list and if I am in particular snarky mood I ask "How did you get my name?".

Just this morning I got a mailing from Whole Foods, and I don't want to keep receiving this, AND they are not on Catalog Choice so right after I push send on this blog post I am going to call them.

In the 10 years that I have been using Catalog Choice to opt-out I have only run into a half a dozen companies who are not on the list who I haver had to then call.

My two pet peeves for waste of resources are bottles of water and wasted print received through the mail.  I hope that my efforts on both of these fronts are having a positive result for our precious earth so that it is around for my grand children and in better shape than we received it.

Does everyone know about Freecycle?

I am in the process of getting rid of stuff that I don't need in the house any more and I don't want throw it away and have it end upin the land fill. I have felt that way for quite a while and one website that I just love is Freecycle.

I am actually shocked when people have not heard about this great Website. It takes a little bit of effort, but you pass things on to others who need them and the items leave your house.

I even helped a friend last year when she was moving. I took several car loads of stuff away from her house to mine, and got rid of most of it on Freecycle. First, I invited all of the neighborhood kids over to pick through it and then I put it on Freecycle. I believe that this is a local issue which is why we have tag sales and why I invited the neighborhood kids over first. Freecycle is local, since many towns/cities have their own group.

For the uninitiated, the way it works is you join a group and post items as OFFER, with a picture attached if you think that will help someone take it. People reply that they want it, you get to choose who gets it and you mark the item as TAKEN. Often, people reply within 5 minutes to my items so I monitor my email right after I post, so I can reply quickly and then take it "off the market".

I started using Freecycle for green and sustainability reasons. Now it is a game. Over the next month, I am going to post one item a day on average and feel better because my house is less cluttered. So far I have gotten rid of fireplace tools and screen, pet door and a box of CDs and tapes.

If you have not tried it, DO! If you already use Freecycle, what has been your experience?


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Grand Canyon and water bottles

As most of you know one of my pet peeves is the number of plastic bottles full of water we use. For the most part, the water out of the tap is perfectly safe to drink.




I was ecstatic to see this sign as soon as we entered the Grand Canyon. It is accompanied by a faucet to fill water bottles. We had brought our Nalgene water bottles with us and quickly emptied them since it was so hot. These water stations are all over where we were walking so we easily filled them again.

It was so nice to not see empty plastic bottles all over the place. If the Grand Canyon can provide a water station like this one, can't other less remote places have them? Why did we ever get rid of water bubblers and water fountains? Might it be because Coca-cola and other big companies sell water in plastic bottles?

Will you join me on this campaign to use less plastic bottles?


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Made in China - I am being silly and I know it

Ok, don't ask me what prompted this latest challenge. It could be our green sanctuary efforts at church. It could be that later this month, I am attending General Assembly in Charlotte NC, along with thousands of other Unitarian Universalists. It could be that I like a challenge, and maybe felt that I have not challenged myself enough lately. It could be that I was headed to Vermont, which has some great efforts at locally made and locally run businesses.

It started last Thursday when I went into Home Goods and tried to find something NOT "Made in China". It was nearly impossible. I went next door to TJ Maxx and had the same experience.

Just now I needed some home goods. Need is a strong word  since I realized during the shopping excursion, I can live without them. I was looking for coasters for under the couch legs so I can move it easier to hoover under it, a round rubber disc to cover the drain in the sink so I can use the sink as my mop bucket, Aleve for my inflamed tendon in my thumb and trash bags. The only one I could buy at "Bed, Bath and Beyond" NOT Made in China, was Aleve. It was made in Germany by Bayer. Even the trash bags are Made in China. Almost all the kitchen and bath items are made by OXO.

I went next door to Trader Joes and they don't carry trash bags. The clerk said they carry them next door to which I replied "They are made in china though".

At Coniston this weekend, I tried to buy a can opener because our one Made in China, broke. The one I got for $1.19 did not work so I returned it. I finally got one at an antique store, Made in the USA.

It must have been gradual but I wonder when we stopped making things domestically as a country?

My beloved pointed out that I might not be able to stick with this challenge (ever the optimist, NOT), and his attitude is that we even out the economy by buying from China. I mostly object to using fossil fuels to ship all of these products from China, or to ship food across the country for that matter.  I also am terrified about the economic situation between us and China.  Fear based on media blips, and lack of knowledge mostly.
The challenge is doomed for failure, but I am going to try. The couch may not have the coasters, and I might find a rubber disc at a yard sale that was made in the USA. Market Basket has trash bags made in the USA so they got my business tonight on my shopping excursion. 

Try this challenge yourself, and let me know the results!

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Dumpster Diving - never thought I would

I hope I do not offend anyone with this topic, but I never thought I would resort to dumpster diving. Last week for our Earth Day celebration, we re-branded our recycling so that is it clearer what to recycle where. Our office has made HUGE improvements this past week on our recycling. This combined with the landlord introducing a single stream recycling in our blue recycle office bins.

I found myself all week, reaching into the trash barrel and removing yogurt contains and soda cans for someone who cannot read the signs for where to put plastics and aluminum cans, and instead put recycle things in the trash. I stopped short of saying someone who does not care, because I am practicing "Assume Positive Intent".

We now have ceramic mugs right above the coffee machine, and we moved the paper cups so that they are hard to find. Greg wanted to buy 3 oz. paper cups. I thought that was a bit extreme. We run the mugs through a dishwasher, so there is always a clean one ready to use.

Our minister preached on Green stuff on Sunday and she made the point that this topic of Green and recycling can produce people who are holier-than-thou. I am one of those who is on the cusp of being holier-than-thou, so instead I will stick to dumpster diving and doing their recycling for them. They won't even know I am doing it.

Go Sun Chips!

WOW, last night as we stopped at Maplefields in Milton for our "milk, soda stop" before we traveled across the causeway to the Islands, I wandered over to the snack aisle to see what spoke to me. I LOVE Sun Chips and now I LOVE them even more. The first thing I noticed was that the bag was noisy. OK, they changed their packaging, that is great and now everyone in the store knows that I am snacking on chips. Next, as I tried to get it off the shelf, I literally had to pry it out of the shelf and that brought more noise. I LOVE them so much, I eventually pried them loose.

Murg's first comment was something like, "Wow, that is a noisy bag!"

When we got out of the store (after I bought the most delicious cookie, which will probably be a regular routine now, when we stop for "milk and soda" at Maplefields) I looked at the writing on the bag. 100% compostable and a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am including two for this post.

So not only do I love LOVE sun chips because they are the best tasting, I love them for being 100% compostable, and I love them because they announce to the world that I am buying great, "green" chips.

Shout Out to Sun Chips!