Guy Goes Green

Wannabe green guy going green

Posts Tagged ‘styrofoam’

Eat a Green Lunch

January 26th, 2010

I have been packing Ben’s lunch now for a while. I think I started because I wanted it to be healthier than other options he has, like eating out, but I also wanted to make sure he wasn’t making a negative impact on the earth. Eating out can create a lot of waste, especially of the fast food type. I think of all of the wrappers that end up in the landfill each day. I used to work in the fast food industry and I remember all of the food waste, wrappers, cups and plastic utensils that were thrown away.

I have taken a few steps in reducing our waste that is involved with lunches. First thing that I did was to purchase a reusable lunch box. They keep food cool for a while and it’s a nice and organized place to keep your food and silverware. The second thing that I purchased was reusable sandwich containers. I stopped using sandwich bags over a year ago, because they are mostly single use packaging. I also reuse butter containers for veggies that I pack for Ben. I have been bringing silverware from home so I won’t need to use plasticware.

There are also ways to make eating out more green. It isn’t right in expecting Ben to not go out to eat. He needs to get out of work every now and then to socialize with friends. There are ways that he can reduce his impact on the earth by changing a few things or being aware of a few things.

Choosing a place to eat can be difficult depending on where you work. Ben is close to the city center so he does have a lot of options close to work. Choosing someplace close will reduce the amount of gas used to get there. Also picking a place that reduces portion size so you don’t over eat, and have to take home leftovers in a very un-green Styrofoam to go box is a green option. Picking an appetizer will help you save money and calories. Opt to not use paper napkins but instead bring your own. I know people to grab a large enough stack to use for a week then to just throw away. Sometimes I will bring the un-used napkins home and use them. It’s better than if good napkins end up int he landfill.

There are a lot of ways to have a green lunch. If you have any great ideas, please leave us a comment below.

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Posted in Ashley's Posts

Tags: green green lunch reusable styrofoam

Packaging sucks. Avoid packaging.

December 29th, 2009

When given a new green challenge by Ashley, I have found it a useful exercise to examine why following the given task is a good idea. This week’s green challenge is to reduce the amount of packaging I use and try to eliminate as much packaging as possible. To eliminate packaging completely is pretty much impossible, but it is certainly a worthwhile endeavor to use as little packaging as possible.

In a previous week, and with the help of our NatureMill composter, we worked to reduce the amount of food waste we produce. Besides the food that cannot be used or composted, what else is there that goes into the garbage? Some people put diapers in the garbage. Most of us have paper waste, but hopefully we are trying to recycle what we can. What is left? Packaging.

A good chunk of the packaging in our landfills is Styrofoam. 25% of our landfills are made up of Styrofoam. I am sure part of this 25% is Styrofoam coffee cups (which could generally be avoided), but part of this is the packaging that we send and receive. Everything from the Styrofoam eggshells to molded Styrofoam packaging goes straight into the garbage. This material cannot be disposed of in an eco-friendly way (that I am aware of) and should be avoided.

Besides Styrofoam, which I am learning to be evil, there are other reasons to avoid as much packaging as possible. If Styrofoam takes up 25% of the landfill, I wonder what the percentage is for all packaging waste. Even if you buy a product that uses recycled packaging and you recycle it yourself, it still takes resources to recover that material. Somebody needs to pick up the item in a carbon emitting vehicle, go through an industrial (and likely carbon emitting) process to change the item into whatever, then turn around and transport the item back out to the public. A recycled product is a way BETTER way to consume, but avoiding the waste packaging product altogether is BEST for the environment.

Avoiding packaging will always be better for the environment. I already have some ideas on great ways that we can avoid packaging further and sure I will have a list coming up in the near future. Please let me know any information you have or what you do to reduce your packaging waste in the comments area below.