Happy Halloween!!

Minus all the plastic wrappers :/

7 Days To Create A Habit? I think that is the saying- Kailey

Its been 27 days. At my house only our recycling bin was put out for collection. Anything and everything that can be recycled, does. Not only have we been recycling like crazy, but we have took on reusing to a new level. As an example; my dad is the master of homemade raspberry jam and he reuses empty/cleaned containers (e.g. yogurt) to store it in instead of buying new ones. He has always done this. Another example; I recently discovered a hair curling method online, using a sock! It does take some practice, but it works. There is no heat involved either (less damaging on the hair), with no need to plug in a curling iron. Once a unwearable sock with holes in the toe, now a valued hair accessory. How To: Sock Hair Curling

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARSON!!!

Day 20 Progress Report

Andrew H
Material items bought :0-but wants to buy things.
Garbage bin level : nearly empty-silly string

Carson G
Material items bought : 1-composter
Garbage bin level : empty

Josh R
Material items bought : 0
Garbage bin level : couple things

Kailey J
Material items bought : 0
Garbage bin level : nearly empty-broken dish

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!

Bear Business

Earlier this week I decided it was time to get a composter, my family was getting pretty fed up with the ice-cream pails filled with compostables. The first night went fine. The second night, not so much. I had just got home from a late night in town, and when I was sneaking in my house through the backyard, I noticed bear droppings. Not feeling much of a bear tracker at that moment, I just went inside. The next morning  took a look at what kind of trouble the bear made, it basically ate my compost and left it  the form of droppings all over my yard. It wasn't too bad to clean up, but the bear messed my composter up a it; the picture above is half-way through putting it back together. Another lesson learned, be a little 'bear aware', I guess those elementary school presentations had a point.

-Carson

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

The Foundation, best vegan cafe ever.

It's exciting.

I meant to do that, obviously. - Kailey

 Only twelve days in and I am one broken dish ahead of Andrew, Carson and Josh. Murphy's Law? Or Perhaps this is something more specific to the challenge...Jen's Law? At least it is a small dish.

And to counterbalance this small unfortunate event, I must also add in; A) I have be washing/reusing plastic bags (that would have have hit the trash in the past), B) I have striving to achieve waste free baking, and lastly, C) I have gotten ordering waste free down pat.

yesterday

well yesterday for the first time in a couple of years I went to the local farmer's market. It was pretty awesome, but the most surprising thing was to see the amount of people using plastic one use bags. Just after the farmer's market my sister, her boyfriend and I went to safeway and i was pretty happy because i save about 5 plastic bags from being used! :)

-Josh

Only 355 days to go. - Kailey J

   And I have even eliminated the need to purchase books. Okay, it is sad that I hadn't been using the public library already. I lost my card ages ago and resorted to my school's book selection. And since graduating I had begun to buy books to read. But not anymore.

**Also that jacket I am wearing, it is from 2008. I had to go and dig it out of my closest.  All due to the fact that my regular jacket was stolen during a recent trip I was on. If this one goes, I will end up borrowing from my mom :/

FIrst Week

Today marks the conclusion of my first week being ZERO waste, it was surprisingly a lot easier than I was expecting. The hardest part was discovering what can and cannot be recycled, and if it can be recycled in our municipal curb side pick up. It turns out most things can be recycled like chip bags and bubble wrap etc. You just have to bring them to special recycling depots. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the year and finding out more about recycling and our environment.

-Andrew

Sharing the Experience - Kailey w/ Raechel R

Kailey's plate on the left, Raechy's on the right.

This is Raechel, I have known her since eighth grade. We are pretty good friends. Andrew, Carson and Josh met Raechel more recently. This summer I won a bet against her that I could go vegetarian for a month. This morning we walked the island with our pal Anita (who had to leave right away). After went out for a nearly waste free lunch. And now we are watching The Clean Bin Project: A Film Documentary. Raechel unfortunately couldn't make it to the screening with us and is getting to watch the movie for the first time only now.

Raechel's opinion on the project: Well I think this project is pretty cool, personally I don't think I could do it for a full year, but I'm going to try it out and see what happens (I know I can do it for 3 months at least......after I buy my guitar, because I've been waiting for ever....to buy my guitar). Yeah! So Stoked! Can't wait to go 'worm hunting' with Kailey the next time it rains, so she'll have more than 20 in her compost, and I can begin to start mine.
Raechel's one more thing: Get recycling bins at my work, since there isn't any anywhere, pretty sure. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd try to make creative stuff out of stuff like stuff that's hard to recycle because it can't really be recycled....That sentence made no sense, but you get the idea. So basically, recyclable art projects are going to be everywhere in my house! The End.

Day 5 - Really Getting Into It - Kailey.

Alright, I think I might have almost reached the point of being content with the recycling system in my household. And my worms are still kicking (wiggling at least).

Also set up in our kitchen is a scale and chart, for the community challenge I signed us up for. But I must admit I am pretty impressed on how much waste we have already cut down on, there was no point in putting out the garbage this morning because the bin was still less than half full.

The Torturous Mall - Kailey

Yes, I visited the mall today. No, I did not buy anything material or unacceptable. Mostly my mother needed help re-setting up her cell phone plan. Either way Andrew and I ended up browsing through some stores and we were pained to see all the goods we challenged ourselves not to purchase. Perhaps I am exaggerating a little.  However I think very few mall trips will be made over the next year (minus 4 days). Just to stay on the safe side.

Carson's first couple of days

The project first got exciting for me when Kailey and I went grocery shopping, I was genuinely looking forward to having a healthy lunch, because face it; my lunches were pretty unhealthy. The picture above is the bag I've been carrying around with all my food and my "compost" (for now). It's sort of annoying to keep with me, but it must be done I suppose.

   Yesterday when I was at work I had a bit of a slip-up, I had just finished eating my lunch, and I accidentally threw my orange peel into the dumpster! I immediately realized my mistake, and took responsibility. I climbed up onto the dumpster and jumped in. Good news: It had just been emptied so it was pretty much empty; Bad news: it was empty... And difficult to climb out. Needless to say I made it out with my orange peels. That is a mistake I do not intend to make again anytime soon.