The Summer Issue has Arrived!

The summer issue of Community Seeds Eco-Magazine is here!

Visit www.communityseeds.com to see the full issue for free anytime. This summer's issue is focused on water- the importance of conservation, ideas for saving water in your home, great water bottles to carry with you, and more! As always, the issue is also jam packed full of tasty recipes to try, fun community photos, craft ideas and lots of tips on living a more sustainable lifestyle everyday.

Visit the site www.communityseeds.com and view the summer issue!

Why Recycle?

By Jennifer Arbuckle, Written for www.communityseeds.com

It is true that recycling can be costly, time consuming, and not as easy as throwing all your trash into one container. Literally, the behavioral meanings and implications of recycling fit rather poorly into standard economic theory. The American consumer found in the text books wants only to acquire the most stuff with the least effort, and would not comprehend that there is such a thing as “obviously enough:” five times the present standard of living would be better than four times but not as good as eight times as much. Recycling, unless adopted as an idiosyncratic hobby, would seem to be undertaken only in response to the kinds of economic incentives seen during World War Two. Fortunately, there is evidence that the world is not populated solely by such slothful gluttons.

The growing acceptance and expansion toward supporting recycling cannot be understood in terms of economic incentives alone. First we must understand that basic values and positions on public policy are not externalities waiting to be monetized. And second, while recycling is not always profitable in the short term, it is nonetheless a valid response to long-term environmental problems, which cannot be reduced to narrowly economic terms. Obviously, human needs would have to include much more than material sufficiency to obtain fulfillment; surely the good life includes the development of far more glorious capabilities than merely having lots of “stuff.” Should our goals not include an awareness and connection to our social and environmental context? The urge to recycle may be viewed as evidence of this broader connection, seen as a statement of responsiveness and responsibility toward one’s surroundings. In fact, recycling is one the most accessible, tangible symbols of such an awareness.

Recycling on its own is, actually, the minimum effort an individual can do to reduce their impact. The four R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and buy Recycle) are not in an undefined order, there is a purpose. Reducing the amount of waste you have is far more beneficial than having the same amount of waste and then reusing and recycling it. Reusing old clothes for rags or old milk cartons/ toilet paper rolls for art projects etc. is better than just recycling them because they serve another use, someone might learn something in the process, and in the end they’re recycled. There you have it, fun and education all in one, what’s better than that? Buying recycled products is part of “closing the loop,” which means buying recycling content products, using them and finally, recycling them back “into the loop” whenever possible.

Wait there’s more! There is a fifth R out there that provides the ironical cherry on top of the individual’s plight to reach sustainable living: Rot (i.e. composting). Rotting your kitchen scraps and yard waste is an easy diversion process that adds the side benefit of providing the best soil nature can provide. Put the myth of a stinking mound of ‘crap’ out of your uneducated mind and embrace the fact that this natural process smells merely of dirt! All you need is greens, browns, air, water, worms and boom: You’re a full fledged, aware, participant in the environment. Be happy, jump up and give a little “hip yip;” you’re on your way to being part of the solution not the problem.

Final facts: If it is a typical day in America; 368 million people will each throw away 4.4 pounds of trash, totaling 1,619,200,000 lbs of trash per day and 592,112,000,000 lbs per year; Making America the #1 trash producing county in the world at over 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that Americans whom constitute only 5% of the world’s population generate 40% of the world’s trash.

Each day, 115 square miles of rainforests are destroyed, totaling 27 million acres per year. About 38.9% of the U.S. waste stream is paper. American’s throw away 44 million newspapers everyday. To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year. If every household reused a paper grocery bag for one shopping trip, about 60,000 trees would be saved. Until next issue of Community Seeds Eco Magazine (see it at www.communityseeds.com), live well.

Being Green is Not a New Concept

My Eco Friendly Grandma
Being “Green” may be a new term, but it is not a new concept...Ask my grandma.
By DeAnna Holman

Last year, the magazine I publish, Community Seeds Eco Magazine, sponsored The Threshing Bee at the Patrick Ranch in Durham (As we will this year).While at our booth, I met great people, had great conversations, and learned a great deal. One sweet woman came to our booth and was interested in the magazine. She shared with me ways she has been “green” for over 40 years. Over 40 years! How can that be? It got me thinking about my grandma, now 95, and how she has actually been being “green” ever since I can remember. Actually, before I can remember because she tells me her stories, true stories.

My grandma did so many things to be kinder to the earth. She would always turn off the water when brushing her teeth and she would never leave a light on in an empty room. I remember she had fruit trees in her backyard and she used “natural” ways to keep pests off. She did not have access to many chemicals and she wasn’t interested in them anyway. Granted, she was living in Los Angeles and the pest problem was minimal, but still it is noteworthy. I remember she would bury compostable items in her yard to make “mulch” and I thought that was odd. Now, I am making compost or “mulch” and people are writing about it for my magazine! I remember her telling me time and time again how coffee grounds were so good for her roses. She had a bowl near her kitchen sink for composting materials and come to think of it, she had very little waste at all.

If my grandma did not finish a glass of water, she would dump the rest into a house plant. She never had a dry, wilting plant in the house. Those house plants emitting oxygen in her house was just another way she was being green. She has the smallest carbon footprint of anyone I know. She has even taken public transit or walked all of her life. She has always thought there is no need to get a car if you live in a city. I always thought she was being frugal, but she was simply not being wasteful.

Perhaps having parents that were immigrants from Russia helped my grandmother to be more conscious of wastefulness. Or maybe it was because of WWII and the hardships faced. Everyone around her worked, they had to ration food and necessities, and no one was wasteful. People appreciated the smallest of things. It may seem like it was a complicated time, but there was no TV, no clutter, no fast-pace rat race and no, “what’s in it for me” attitude. It was innate to reduce, reuse and recycle. It was not a chore to be eco-friendly, it was a way of life... Yes, over 40 years ago!

We can learn so much about being “green” from our grandparents and their grandparents. It would certainly be worth while to interview them about the ways they were less wasteful. And, although I always chuckle when my grandma tears a napkin in half to use the other half later, I now appreciate that small gesture.

For more articles like these, go to www.communityseeds.com!