More online resources: Sustainlane, Alltop, Experience Project, oh my!

A big thanks to Sustainlane for their support of the Take Back The Filter campaign. Last night, they created a listing for the campaign and this morning, featured it in their weekly online newsletter.

If you don't know about it, Sustainlane is a great resource for finding environmentally-friendly products, services, and other resources. It's a completely user-driven site. Entries are created by users and then rated and reviewed by other users. So if you'd like to leave a comment in support of the Take Back The Filter campaign, please check out Sustainlane's new Take Back The Filter page, and while you're at it, browse and leave comments on other listings on the site. Reviews and comments can be positive or negative. Believe me, I've left my share of negative comments, as well as positive. See for yourself!

Sustainlane is also the producer of the Gorilla in the Greenhouse environmental site for kids. Several people emailed me months ago when the site first launched, and I procrastinated looking at it because 1) it was for kids and 2) I was just too dadgummed busy. (Well, whether or not I've actually been as busy as I think is one of the questions I've been pondering in preparation for my vision quest. More on that tomorrow. Regardless, I have felt extremely busy and bogged down (blogged down?), as you know.)

So it wasn't until today, reading Sustainlane's newsletter, that I realized the Green Gorilla and his friends were actually created by the folks at Sustainlane. Not only that, but the first episode is called, "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Guess what it's about. And even more exciting to me was seeing my blogger friend, Anna Cummins, in the supplementary video called "About the Real Gyre." Now, the plastic in the gyre doesn't actually look like an island, the way it's portrayed in the cartoon. But then, green gorillas don't talk to kids and evil scientists don't have talking worms growing out the the tops of their skulls either, as far as I know. Watch and enjoy at your own risk!

Alltop describes itself as the "'digital magazine rack' of the Internet," and Alltop Green is a site that aggregates headlines from the most recent posts of nearly 150 green blogs (including Fake Plastic Fish) and news sites. It's a neat place to go to discover new green sites (for those who don't already have enough to read!) or just keep track of new postings from the sites that you do read on a regular basis. Alltop doesn't publish stories, but it leads you to them. Is there a site you feel should be there but isn't? Send an email to info@alltop.com and ask for it to be added.

And finally, The Experience Project is one site that could become completely addictive if you're not careful. Rather than being based on who you are publicly, it's a conglomeration of folks with shared experiences. Experiences range from big general categories like "I am trying to be more green" or "I love animals" to very specific experiences such as "I am not Mormon but my family is" or "I have a sibling with Down Syndrome" or my personal favorite (because I created it) "I pushed my brother down the stairs."

What makes The Experience Project different from other social networking sites is that users are supposed to be anonymous. Real names and identifying information is not shared. This is to encourage people to open up and share their life experiences without fear of judgment or other repercussions. I, on the other hand, am not exactly anonymous on the site. Fake Plastic Fish (which is also my user name without the spaces) has been included as one of the Related Blogs on the "I am trying to be more green" group. Feel free to visit my blog on The Experience Project and click the "Recommend This" button. You'll be glad you did!

Also check out another experience I created called "I want Clorox to recycle Brita water filters" that references the Take Back The Filter campaign. With a little creativity, you can get your message out to people who might not otherwise cross your path or visit your blog.

That's it for sharing the online love tonight. Tomorrow night's post will be more personal, if I can bring myself to write it without breaking down in tears and shorting out my keyboard. Okay, I'm being overly dramatic. But you are curious now, aren't you?
 

 

Blue Vinyl: A Toxic Love Story

I was sick as a dog this weekend and spent all day Saturday on the couch watching videos. Many readers, after reading about my purges (here and here and here) of #3 PVC containers and a MultiPure water filter system containing PVC, recommended Blue Vinyl to me. But I just never had time to sit down and watch it until I was too sick to do anything else.

Wow. Thank you to everyone who recommended this film. And for those who haven't seen it, run out NOW and get it. Rent it from Netflix, buy it directly from Docurama films, borrow it from the library or from a friend who has
it, or come over to my house and see it with me! I just ordered my own copy, as this DVD is one piece of plastic I hope to get a lot of use from. (And no! This is not a paid advertisement and I have not received any free stuff... although if anyone from Blue Vinyl is reading this, I'll be happy to take and distribute as many copies as you want to send my way!)

Watching this film gave me such hope for what we can do as individuals if we put our minds to it. It's the personal story of the filmmaker, Judith Helfand, who reveals right from the start that she's had a hysterectomy from cancer linked to drugs her mother took while pregnant. Right then, I felt I had a certain bond with this uterine-free sister woman. When her parents decide to replace the rotting wood on their house with blue vinyl siding, she begins a years-long campaign to learn as much as she can about the hazards of vinyl and finally convinces them, after they've already finished the house, to actually remove the vinyl siding and replace it with reclaimed wood.

Along the way, we travel from her home on Long Island, NY to Louisiana, where most of the PVC in the U.S. is produced and many workers and residents have been made sick; Venice, Italy, where another huge PVC plant has made workers sick; to the SF Bay Area where she searches for the least toxic building materials to replace the vinyl. Throughout the film, major points are illustrated with charming animations by Emily Hubley, who also animated another of my all-time favorite movies, the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And Blue Vinyl is peppered with Judith's own sense of humor, as she carries her one piece of vinyl siding along with her everywhere she goes.

I call it a toxic love story because the film is not just about an environmental issue, but also about the relationship of a daughter with her parents and the push/pull that happens in families. Her story reminded me so much of myself and my own parents. How she tugs on them to change their minds, and how in the end she has to learn to let go and let them be who they are. Just the fact that they actually allowed her to pull off the siding and replace it was amazing to me, despite the ironic epilogue which I won't spoil.

When you do watch the DVD (and I just know you will because it's so great and I'm telling you to) be sure and watch the extras, including the short video about Greenpeace's non-toxic Habitat for Humanity home built in Louisiana. (It's on the second "page" of extras so you need to click "Next" to get to it.) It will leave you feeling inspired and hopeful for the future.
 

 

Learning to share (and borrow)

This weekend, I had a conversation with my dad about what to do with certain possessions if he rented out their condo in Hawaii. "I'd have to store a lot of books," he said. And it got me realizing that one of the best ways to reduce our consumption, plastic and otherwise, is through borrowing and sharing items that we don't need access to on a regular basis.

I understand his attachment to books. They are part of his identity. And for English major me, some books do have sentimental value. But the majority of the books that I read do not. For a while, I was buying used books and then Freecycling them. But then Michael got his library science degree, and suddenly the idea of borrowing rather than owning became an option I hadn't considered since elementary school. So now, when I want to read something, I try to borrow it from the library or from a friend before thinking about whether I want to purchase it.

But libraries are not just for books these days, or even just videos and CDs. Many cities have tool lending libraries, either as part of the public library system like here in Oakland, or as part of the Public Works Department. Wikipedia has a list of tool lending libraries in the world. I'm not sure how comprehensive it is. Maybe your town has one that's not listed. The beauty of Wikipedia is that anyone can update it.

I've seen posts online that claim that the average power drill gets used anywhere between 3 to 20 minutes during its entire lifetime. Why does every family need to have their own power drill (or table saw or belt sander) when many people could share the same piece of equipment easily and with much less cost to the environment?

If you don't have a tool lending library, think about borrowing tools or appliances from friends. A few weeks ago, I ran out of ground cinnamon but found some cinnamon sticks in the back of the cupboard that had never been used. If only I had a spice grinder or even a coffee grinder. I placed an ad on Freecycle and looked for a used one at Goodwill. Then, it occurred to me that even if I found one, I'd probably only use it a couple of times. So I asked my friend, Nancy, and sure enough, she had one to lend. I got my ground cinnamon and one less plastic item to clutter my kitchen.

I think borrowing from friends sometimes is good for us. It can be humbling for those who like to feel that they are self-sufficient. And a little humility is not a bad thing in a world full of entitled individuals consuming far more than they need. Of course, being willing to share is also important, as is taking care of what you borrow and getting it back to its owner in a timely fashion!

But back to libraries. Another hunk of plastic you can avoid buying is a personal computer. Now, Michael and I do have our own computers which we use every day. But Michael's mom uses the computer at the local library, and another friend of mine only uses the computer at her job. For those people who aren't as cyber-addicted as me, borrowing computer time might be a great resource-, as well as money-, saving option.

And finally, the biggest hunk of plastic that Michael and I share rather than own is a car. For those of us who live in urban areas with excellent public transportation, owning a car can be an expensive pain in the butt. And renting cars is a hassle, what with waiting in line and filling out paperwork each time. Instead, we belong to Flexcar, one of the three car-sharing companies in the Bay Area (along with Zipcar and City Car Share.) We borrow the car once or twice per month for shopping or driving somewhere inaccessible by BART or bus. It's way less expensive than owning a car and we save a ton of plastic in the process. Check out this cNet article about the increasing use of plastics in cars.

What other things do you borrow or lend that I haven't thought of? Reducing the amount of stuff I collect is a big part of this project and any suggestions for ways to borrow rather than own are welcome!
 

 

Free plastic (and other items) on Freecycle

Do you all know about your local Freecycle™ group? Freecycle™ is a great way to save plastic, and other items, from the landfill. If you have an item that you no longer need, list it on Freecycle™. There is probably someone else out there who could use it. Need an item and don't want to purchase a brand new one? Post a WANTED ad on Freecycle™. Maybe someone else has it for you.

Freecycle™ is actually a huge organization of Yahoo Groups that operate pretty independently in each city or area. Each group must follow some basic Freecycle™ rules, but then they can make their own rules regarding things like the number of Wanted postings allowed per month (some groups limit Wanted postings; others do not), whether or not pets can be exchanged, and the format of posts.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am a member of 4 different Freecycle™ groups:

Oakland: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaklandfreecycle/
Berkeley: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Berkeley_CA_Freecycle/
San Francisco: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SFFN/
East Bay: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleEastSFBayArea/

Items I've received for free include plants & pots for my roof garden, a copper bowl, a ceramic painted bowl, a citrus juicer, a worm bin (which I've never used. Getting ready to Freecycle this one again), a pair of crutches after a running mishap, 3 power strips (avoided buying some new plastic!), 1 cookie sheet, 2 oven mitts, and 10 soap molds (Yep. Gonna make some soap some day.)

While I've received some great free stuff, I tend to use Freecycle™ for giving away things that I no longer need. (Many things that I never needed in the first place but impulsively bought. That's a different problem, and I'm working on it!) Here's a partial list of a few items I've found homes for through Freecycle™: plastic grocery bags, plastic plant pots, a white board, an old cell phone and charger, books, CDs, unopened packages of food, running shoes, a wine rack, some vitamins, & some paper office supplies.

Some of the giveaways were things that I listed as Offers on Freecycle™. But others were the result of scanning the Wanted ads and realizing I had things that I'd never used but that someone else was actually looking for.

So, skeptics might ask why we don't sell these items on eBay or Craigslist and make some money from them. And yeah, that's a good idea too. I've certainly sold my fair share of items that way. But Freecycle™ is for things that you really have no time or energy to try to sell... things that would end up in a landfill otherwise. And it really feels good to give somebody something they need for free. Just ask my dad; he does it all the time!

Other skeptics might worry about making contact with people you don't know. The beauty is that if you don't want to meet people face to face, you don't have to. You can arrange to leave an item on your porch and have the person come and get it at a time when you're not home. Or you can choose to meet them. You can arrange it however you want through e-mail. The one big no-no is to place a first come/first serve ad saying you'll leave the item for whoever gets there first. That just leads to chaos and is strictly forbidden in all Freecycle™ groups.

So yay for Freecycle™. Check it out and see if there is a group in your area. Here are a few links for Freecycle™ groups in other areas where I know there are readers of this blog. I've done a little research for you:

Marin County, CA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marinfreecycle/
Redwood City, CA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/redwoodcityfreecycle/
San Mateo, CA: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/sanmateofreecycle/
Vallejo, CA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vallejofreecycle/
Honolulu, HI: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleHonolulu/
Greenfield, MA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GreenfieldMAFreecycle/
Bowie, MD: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bowie_freecycle/
College Park, MD: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleCollegePark/ (This looks like a brand new group)
Columbia, MD: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/columbiafreecycle/
Silver Spring, MD: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Freecycle-SilverSpringMD/
Bergen County, NJ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BergencountyfreecycleTM/
Lehi, UT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LehiFreecycle/
Seattle, WA: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycleseattle/

If your area is not listed, go to Freecycle™ to search for a group near you.