Switch to Sustainable Living

Just four days away, Nov. 15 marks a holiday near and dear to our mission, National America Recycles Day. Although we much prefer to reduce or reuse our waste, our third goal of recycling is much better than nothing! It is said that single-use plastics, such as plastic water bottles and plastic bags that people take home from the grocery, are hardly ever recycled. In fact, only 10% of these items are recycled. 10%! Imagine the amount that is going straight to our landfills, filling them up quite quickly and taking centuries to break down. Read more about this in an article from The Green Economy Post, Facing the Dirty Truth About Recyclable Plastics.

Portland is one of the very few places in America that has taken the initiative to ban plastic bags at all grocery stores. (Yay Portland!) But what about those rolls of tear-off plastic bags near all produce sections. They are stamped with a green recycle sign but how many actually get recycled? Unfortunately, I couldn't find this answer but it mostly likely is similar to the 10% number above. Shocking, isn't it! And we are all guilty of separating our fresh veggies in these bags when we don't want them rolling around it the cart.

In the spirit of America Recycles Day, I went out searching for an alternative sustainable option. And it was easy to find.

Fred Meyer carries reusable mesh bags perfect for your veggies. I picked up a pack for $1.99 for three bags. Two bucks! And you are set. Just throw them in your reusable cloth tote that you normally take to the grocery store and you'll be sure to never forget them.

This Thursday, celebrate America Recycles Day with Trash for Peace by making eco-friendly choices. Then share it with us! We would love to feature you and share any and all switches to sustainable living. Check out more ideas at AmericaRecyclesDay.org.

Say Cheese!

Okay, okay so we didn't necessarily tell our bins to smile during their photoshoot, but we sure did have fun! The TfP team recently realized that we needed some good, clean photos of our bins for informational and promotional reasons. As much as we love all our photos of children building and recycle fans adoring our homemade bins, we just thought we could use a couple solo bin photos. So a photoshoot was planned!

We found a perfect place near Laura's home consisting of a concrete wall, low-hanging branches and fall leaves strewn about. We used the partly cloudy skies to illuminate the bins and highlight their best features. The photos turned out great and TfP couldn't be happier for our bin family.

Check out our newest bin! It is comprised of four cabinet doors with bottle shapes cut off, thanks to our fabulous carpenter, John. We will be getting this one up on our website soon.

You can take a look at all of our designs on our website here!

Get your helmuffs! Yes, Helmuffs.

Yes, I did say helmuffs. And we discovered them just in time for the cooler weather! They are cozy earmuffs to wear with your bike helmet during the winter months. TfP team member, Kendra Chatburn was at the scene with creator and designer, Gigi.

Gigi started making helmuffs in 2008 when she recognized a need for ear-warmers geared to bicyclists. What started out as making them for friends and her husband's co-workers soon turned into a full-fledged business.

Gigi upcycles cloth from old wool sweaters found at local thrift shops. There are some pretty sweet designs and patterns on old wool sweaters, so why waste money on new ones? These are 100% wool sweaters that she "felts"; a process to make them machine-washable and non-shrinkable to customers. And wool is a great fabric for Portland - it resists rain and odor - perfect for sweaty cyclists!

The helmuffs shield from wind cutting across ears and can be enhanced with reflective adorments to enhance visibility for all you nighttime riders. So ride warm! And be trendy while reusing materials! You can take a look at more designs on Gigi's website, gigishandywork.com or at Bikeasaurus and Pedal Bike Tours bike shops. We support upcycling!

Trashion Exhibit: Awareness through Art

Junk to Funk, a local company dedicated to trash fashion, has recently set up an installation in the heart of downtown Portland. When I heard the theme of the exhibition, Single Use Disposables: Convenience or Conundrum, my inner TfP soul just had to learn more! The display focuses on three of the most thrown away packaging products in the world: plastic bags, coffee cups and plastic beverage bottles. I decided to finally check it out on my lunch break today and it is stunning! If you are any bit interested in fashion, recycling, costumes, upcycling, art installations or curbing wastefulness, this is the exhibit for you. Here's a sneak peak:

Please go check it out! You can see more outfits, how they made the costumes and the facts on the wastefulness of the three products. The show will be displayed through October on the corner of SW 9th and Morrison. Take a look for yourself!

You can find more info here. And JunktoFunk's website here.

A Solid Dose of Science

In late 2009, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality released a Life Cycle Assessment of Drinking Water Systems: Bottled Water, Tap Water, and Home/Office Delivery Water. The report is 500 pages of pure, awesome, straight-up science. I was recently introduced to this study in a workshop called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Zero Waste Strategies to Improve Your Bottom Line through the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Leadership Program. It was taught by none other than Dorothy Atwood, an Associate at Zero Waste Alliance. Dorothy and her friends at the Zero Waste Alliance beautified the results of DEQ’s study and transformed them into pretty, easy-to-decipher graphs. These graphs illustrate the different impacts determined by your choice between drinking out of a disposable plastic water bottle or a reusable drinking container.

This first graph shows a very minimal difference in impacts between recycling a one-time use plastic water bottle and throwing it away. This is not an anti-recycling graph - this is a realistic look at plastic recycling in Oregon.

This graph clearly shows the best possible choice: tap water in a reusable drinking container.

This graph is a big part of why I do what I do at Trash for Peace. Recycling is not the answer. Recycling is a last resort; implemented when good planning and design are absent. Tap water is the way to go, and reusable containers solve some significant problems. Unfortunately, making the best choice in terms of negative impacts will get a little harder.

This controversial local story (Portland Votes to Add Fluoride) was echoed nationally (HuffPost reports) as Portland surrenders its title as the biggest U.S. city to not fluoridate its water.

Fluoridated tap water has the potential to justify one's decision to choose bottled water - despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that reusable containers and tap water are superior. Protect your ability to make informed choices at: Don't Fluoridate Portland's Drinking Water.

- Andrew Judkins

Gear Up! Sustainably, of course.

School has started and schedules have changed but it's never too late to make your routine a bit more sustainable! The TfP team has gathered resources for you to make the switch easier. So cross off plastic sandwich bags and plastic water bottles from your shopping list and let's go green!

First up: Reusable Sandwich Bags

These can be found very easily online by typing reusable sandwich bags into your search for multitudes of sites for reusable food bags with different features. But if you are interested in staying local for all you Portlanders, we found handmade bags by Kim at Simply Practical at etsy.com. The bags come in awesome fabric patterns, perfect for individual personality. Check out more of her creatives here.






Next up: Reusable Water Bottles

These can also be found very easily! They are at every grocery store and super store, they are at sporting and recreational equipment stores, and they are in even in any type specialty shops featuring foods, drinks or sustainable products, literally everywhere. There is no excuse! And we all know that tap water is just as good and even more regulated than the water that is poured into plastic bottles. So get yourself one! HuffPost Green breaks down different reusable water bottle brands here.



And lastly, if you are still looking for some last-minute school supplies, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice has created a Back-to-School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies. Learn about PVC and why you should shop for PVC-free items, such as bookbags, binders and lunchboxes. You can find the PDF document here.

Reasons to celebrate: friends, family and summer!

Ah summer days in Portland just fly by way too quickly. The TfP team recently took a short hiatus to enjoy the sunshine, go play outside and relax on patios with friends. Feeling refreshed and energized, the team is back together and ready to get back in action, this time with our recently tanned faces. We couldn't resist soaking up more sun time by planning a small fundraiser potluck with our closest friends and family. We truly have an amazing set of volunteers who are supported by some pretty awesome people and just wanted to say thank you. So THANK YOU all for your support! We sure do appreciate it. :) Check out some photos from the lovely afternoon.

Our fabulous creatives, Kendra and Caitlin converted our bins to tables for our products and room for plates and drinks.

Delicious food was tasted and drinks were poured (including Caitlyn's famous horchata, yum!), and cornhole was set up in the backyard.

What awesome friends we have.

And awesome family!

A beautiful summer day.