and the first plastic thing i bought …

Add comment May 28th, 2008

… was on thursday: juice, as i predicted.

can’t believe i forgot to write it down. picked it up when i ran to the store to get fresh produce (w/o bags) for mango salsa.

where’s the beef? better eat it now

Add comment May 27th, 2008

sorry that “go green” has been quiet lately. blame the holiday weekend and a ton of news.

i’m happy to report that i’ve gotten a few e-mails as a result of the blog. one reader, shelly hawes-smith, challenged me to go “veggie” for a week. in a quick look, i found a few reasons why doing so is good for the planet. apparently, a whole lot of water resources and a third of fossil fuels are spent toward animal agriculture. plus, animals need land for grazing that could otherwise be protected or used for planting.

i have to say, that would be probably harder than avoiding plastic but maybe easier than buying local, another challenge. i was raised as a meat-and-potatoes girl. at least i like peanut butter. i’ll have to commit to that in june. yep, you heard it here. not sure i’ll be able to sway the family, but i’ll investigate meat substitutes beforehand. and fish, i guess.

so, i leave you with a clip from an old wendy’s ad….

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ug75diEyiA0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

i saw a rainbow this morning at sunrise

Add comment May 23rd, 2008

the sun comes up early these days, and on fridays, i’m on the road at 5:30 a.m.

the sky was beautiful, with pinks and purples. then i saw what i thought was a rainbow. my suspicion was confirmed when i saw the other end of it while i was driving south on forest hills road near the bowling alley.

i tried e-mailing two photos from my camera phone, but it didn’t work.

did you take any pictures? send them to onlinenews@rrstar.com with your name, where you took the photo and a daytime phone number so we can confirm your submission.

ok, i  know this isn’t about reducing, reusing or recycling, but it does appreciate nature. so do these other pictures from readers. figured you could use something light before the three-day weekend.

carry your own garbage, please

Add comment May 22nd, 2008

this morning, as i looked at my kleenex box and laughed about how billie on “my name is earl” told earl only to use one tissue at a time, i thought, “should i write down what i throw in the garbage for a week?” would i learn more than i did with my week trying not to buy plastic?

maybe i had the thought because someone told me a while ago about a woman who carried around her own garbage for two weeks. 

what have you missed in the last week?

Add comment May 21st, 2008

i’ve noticed at least three “green” stories that affect the rock river valley in the last week:

1. rockton’s push to protect the environment through its practices.

2. cherry valley fire protection district’s initiative to install energy-efficient light bulbs.

3. a new law requiring illinois elementary and secondary schools to use green cleaners.

 all of these efforts are government-backed, not just personal efforts or choices.

p.s. still haven’t bought any plastic this week…. but i’m running low on juice. and i’m tired of eating toast instead of cereal for breakfast.

have you ever wondered about these ads?

Add comment May 20th, 2008

i see them regularly in magazines like time.

i looked it up, and no surprise, the “we can solve it” (aka, we can solve the climate crisis) campaign was founded in 2006 by a nonprofit group founded by former vice president al gore.

the goal is to educate and mobilize citizens. more than 1 million have signed up.

no one has created a rock river valley group yet.

the experiment is over. now what?

Add comment May 20th, 2008

now that i’ve completed my week of avoiding plastic purchase, people have had two questions.

1. what’s the first plastic thing you’ve bought since?

2. are you going to keep up the blog?

the first answer: i haven’t bought anything yet, though i suspect it will be milk. also on my grocery list? lemon juice, ketchup and red wine vinegar. couldn’t buy those sunday.

the second answer: yes, it’s my goal to keep “go green” going with a broad theme of environmentally friendly notes and advice. i welcome community folks who want to contribute (e-mail me at jpollock@rrstar.com).

thanks for all of your suggestions so far.

the last day was the wurst (part 2)

3 comments May 19th, 2008

on sunday afternoon, i went to my neighborhood logli’s. i couldn’t take any pictures like i did at the meat market because the managers said i needed approval from a higher authority.

anyway, normally at the store, i spend about 1 hour and $150 to $200.

today, it was 40 minutes and $55. … because there was so much i couldn’t buy when i was trying to avoid plastic.

buying produce was easy for the most part. i just plopped my apples, potatoes, bananas and such in the cart. i couldn’t get any spinach or baby carrots, though.

buying bread was easier than i expected. honestly, i had a loaf in the freezer, so i didn’t need any but saw i could get a white loaf in a paper bag if i had wanted. i also asked for six brat buns in my own paper bag at the bakery, and the clerk obliged.

there were many things my daughter wanted that i could not get: fruit snacks, cereal, yogurt, crackers, juice, namely.

on the subject of milk: i went in thinking i’d get oberweis, since it comes in glass containers, but i did see that the lid was plastic and the price required an additional 85 cents for deposit. i ended up finding 2 percent white and vitamin d chocolate milk in cartons without plastic spigots from muller-pinehurst.

so below, except for 2 12-packs of sode, is the sum total of what i bought. pretty sad. my goal is to make it all week without having to buy what i bypassed (except milk, since we go through a bunch).

the last day was the wurst (part 1)

Add comment May 19th, 2008

i knew trying not to buy things in plastic would be hard, but in any given week, the only major thing i know i’ll buy is groceries.

since i figured most meat at the grocery store comes in styrofoam and plastic wrap, i headed to countryside meats and deli in rockford. i’ve been meaning to head there for a long time, but now i had a purpose.

i truly appreciate meat markets (hold your jokes). my godmother and her husband have owned a small-town meat market for years, and as a child, i was spoiled by their summer sausages, hot dogs, brats and other fine meals.

so i enjoyed seeing all of the choices of steaks, sausages, marinades and spices.

i chose 6 brats, 2 chicken breasts, 4 majorly thick porkchops and 1 pound of ground sirloin. total cost: $30. sounds like a lot, but at the grocery, the price of meat is just part of everything else. at lunch i made the chicken breasts with lemon and rosemary (see below at the very bottom). at supper, i grilled the brats for a kids’ night at my house. thanks to geno edwards for all of his help at the store (he recognized me from the magazine and my friday tv gig at wrex).

second-last day of the experiment

Add comment May 19th, 2008

on saturday, i didn’t buy anything. only went to the gym with the kids with my reusable water bottle.

but i did wonder why there are some products that wouldn’t seem to need plastic, like pasta boxes with the little windows (must make it better if you see REAL pasta) or tissue boxes.