———————– ** Fresh Green Beans ** ———————– Grown in Kansas. Eaten Worldwide.

In 1960, the United States produced 88 million tons of trash a year.  Today, we are producing 245 million.  Where it is ending up?  You guessed it, landfills.

It’s pretty obvious to most that we are a nation full of material things.  As Americans, all we want is more more more - but what happened to the recycling bandwagon that emerged in the 90’s and the thoughts of “going green?”  Despite the new green trends and efforts to improve sustainability, the trash is still piling up in landfills, and garbage does not lie folks.  We are still throwing away perfectly good materials that could either be, you guessed it:  Re-used or Rec-ycled. 

Here’s another disturbing fact for you.  In 1960, when no one had the option to recycle, each person only generated 2.7 pounds of waste per day.  Today, although Americans recycle more than ever, we also generate a disturbingly high amount of waste: 4.5 pounds per day.

Landfill limo.

Photo:  *Raffella, Flickr

So, what exactly is in our landfills?   According to the EPA, it separates our waste into two categories: product-related wastes and non-product wastes.  Product-related wastes are all the durable goods we use (appliances, furniture, books - anything that lasts over five years), non-durable goods (newspapers, disposable diapers - anything that lasts less than five years), and packaging. The non-product waste materials are food scraps, yard trimmings and miscellaneous waste. 

Paper accounts for the biggest portion of waste ending up in our landfills, at around forty percent.  The two runners-up are construction waste and yard trimmings.

The question of when our landfills are going to fill up is one that is under debate.  Georgia currently has a landfill that is almost at capacity, and Europe has a couple that have less than ten years left.  No matter what people are saying, it is inevitable. 

We need to start practicing what we were taught in kindergarten folks-reduce, reuse, and most importantly, recycle.  Otherwise, instead of hearing about landfills, we will all be living in one.

-Sarah Nelson

Photo: MacGBeing, Flickr

A “media and the environment” class is been something that I would have never seen myself signing up for a year ago. I was about the farthest thing away from a “green” person. And if you said the word “sustainability” to me, I probably would have given you a blank stare and moved on with my life. But as we learned in our last meeting, living sustainably - can’t really be defined. WE are the ones that define it for ourselves. In our interview with Adam Werbach, however, he said it best though when his definition of sustainability was “a harmonious relationship between human culture and the living world.” Congratulations Adam, we have spent an entire semester trying to define it like that, and you did it in like, 15 seconds, and it was a beautiful.

I looked back at my first post, where I was talking about taking baby steps in my own life and how that was how I was going to live sustainably. Today, I still believe that. I still believe that people need time to change, and they need to find some sort of comfort in making those changes. So if Clorox wants to gradually convert it’s consumers to “green products,” then I applaud them for doing so. If Wal-Mart is STARTING to make changes to be more eco-friendly, I applaud them too. I’m not going to be a pessimist and say they will never be a “green” corporation. I choose to be an optimist. I choose to believe that they will continue to make their corporation more environmentally friendly, and become an example for other corporations to follow.

I also choose to believe that what we did in this class HAS made a difference. By just talking about these issues, and making ourselves known on this blog - I think we accomplished what this class was all about. People are starting to change the way they live, companies are realizing how important it is for them to be sustainable, and “living green” is starting to be a way of life for more people.

As our class is coming to an end, I am taking away so many things I have learned from all of you. I have met people who truly care about the environment, and I’m proud of the huge conversation we have begun as a class. I look forward to continuing that conversation in the future.

-Sarah Nelson

When we think about reducing our family’s carbon footprints, we often are neglecting to remember the impacts of our extended family…our pets. You know, the cute little ones we can’t live without?

With almost 62 million dogs in the in US, they are unquestionably making an impact on our environment too. They poop outside, they eat unnatural food, and they chew up plastic toys that have to be replaced. Now companies are giving pet owners the opportunity to green their pets too! Organic dog toys, biodegradable poop bags, and microchip trackers are the future of the ‘green pet.’

The most important thing to do is to adopt a homeless pet. Over 50,000 cats and dogs are born every day in the US, most without homes. Adopting a furry, loving, homeless pet is a great feeling - and a huge step forward to getting rid of this problem. And remember as Bob Barker says, “Spay and neuter your pets!”

A little dog, with a big opinion.

Photo: Dasqutt, Flickr

In order to green your pet, buy sustainable goods for them. Web sites like EarthDog and GreatGreenPet offer everything from organic toys to hemp collars and leashes. While browsing through Petsmart the other day, I even came upon a whole section of organic dog clothes and toys that were reasonably priced, and also some natural doggy shampoos. Not only are organic and all natural dog foods better for you pet, they are also obviously more eco-friendly. There is a growing number of these types of foods available in pet stores and online.

An eco-friendly pet store.

Photo: ddp4566, Flickr

The main eco-concern about our animals is their poop, as fun as that is to talk about. People need to make sure to clean up after their dogs and if possible, use biodegradable bags to do so. Something little that can make a huge difference.

Without pets, life wouldn’t be the same for me. At least now we can start helping our animals live a little greener, and healthier, while making the change for ourselves as well.

-Sarah Nelson

I think One Week’s Worth of Food Around Our Planet just reaffirms that we are on the right track when it comes to starting to eat in a “greener” way. Did you notice that in every picture of these families that the ones who have the majority of natural foods also have the lowest costs per week? I think it would also be safe to assume that they are also the ones that spend the least on transportation of these foods and save the most energy.

Now as far as the United States versus the other countries in consumption level, I’m not sure these pictures tell us anything we don’t already know. We consume too much unhealthy food, we use way too much packaging, we don’t recycle enough and we spend the most money. Go figure. But on a more positive note, America is changing. Maybe it’s not noticeable to some yet, but slowly but surely, America is changing the way we eat. Organic food is one of the most rapidly growing trends in America today, and this is for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is the health and wellness benefits associated with natural grown food, they are healthier, safer, better tasting, and more sustainable.

Photo: lindvall, Flickr

In America, we are known for our high consumption of fast food. But now companies are taking their own steps to make their food healthier and more environmentally friendly. Panera Bread now offers a large selection of natural and organic foods, McDonalds sells organic milk at their locations, Starbucks now offers Fair Trade coffee beans as well as organic milk, and Chipotle has pork-free carnitas!

Photo: -clb-, Flickr

Many environmentalists will argue that this is simply not enough. I agree. If McDonalds wants to be considered environmentally friendly it needs to come up with it’s own organic Big Mac that tastes exactly like the real one and find some way to make all their wrappers biodegradable. But until that day comes, I will commend them for making the effort and hopping on the bandwagon to becoming eco-friendly. Soon many will follow!

-Sarah Nelson

Instead of picking a business to “green,” I thought it might be more interesting and beneficial to me personally if I made up a laundry list of the things I need to start to do to green my own apartment…and possibly my ridiculously high electric bill.

Lately I have seen green articles popping up everywhere I am reading, and find myself getting rather excited about them. Whether it be online, in magazines, or newspapers, it’s cool to read a new article with a fresh perspective on being green. So when I curled up with the April issue of Glamour magazine yesterday, I found myself excited to use my many new ideas that came from 30 Little Ways to Save the Planet that will be so simple to implement into my lifestyle.

Photo: Glamour Web site

I know a lot of people in our class probably already are aware of these small changes you can make, but some of these are new information to me and I thought I would share of few of the best, and some that even surprised me:

-Sign up for online banking. If every American did this, 2.3 million tons of wood would be spared every year, and 3.9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases would be eliminated. This goes for the ATM receipts too (I’m one of those people that always gets one even though I never look at it again).

-Skip the screen saver. Apparently they are energy suckers! It’s better to switch to sleep mode during the day, shut down at night, and un-plug. Guess this means goodbye to my David Beckham screen saver

-Two words: power strip. 75 percent of all household electricity is from standby power. When you turn the power strip off, then you shut down everything!

-Go ahead and use the dishwasher. Running full loads is actually less water-intensive than hand-washing (This is good news).

Photo: Jonlesser, Flickr

-Sarah Nelson

Not people are interested in my daily food intake, but I’m posting it anyway to see how guilty I feel afterwards looking at it:

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs and a piece of wheat toast, and a cup of coffee —>obviously.

Lunch: one crunchy chicken cheddar wrap (from the union, duh)

Dinner: one serving of california roll sushi (courtesy of the Target deli section, love it)

Nighttime indulgence: a way-too-big piece of of white cake i made when i was bored yesterday.

So, besides the huge piece of unnecessary cake I ate last night when I was feeling particularly sad, I would say my food intake as a whole is pretty healthy in my opinion.

When I’m choosing what to eat, the main thing I TRY to go for is whether it is healthy or not. I’ll admit, I’m not a big organic food person, and I love convenient, semi-healthy food in my life. I’ve had Local Burger before, and honestly I enjoyed it. But if I have the option of lunch at the Underground while on campus, instead of driving off-campus to Local Burger just so I can eat organic, I’ll take the convenient route any day.

When I’m at the grocery store, I always stroll past the organic section but never really browse it or think about purchasing organic. I think that making the effort to eat organic is good in theory, but not realistic for me, or any other college student, for that matter. Organic=Expensive. In my opinion, why would I want to spend more money and more time when I can just buy food that is just as healthy, and less expensive.

Photo: Jeremy Brooks, Flickr

I came across an article where a student claims he based his decision on choosing Yale over Harvard because of Yale’s effort in serving sustainable food on it’s campus. In my opinion, that is a little extreme. Choosing a college because it serves MORE organic food?

In theory, I think eating organic is awesome, and for those people who are able to fit it into their lifestyles..more power to them. At this point in my life, I’m not sure if that’s me. I hope someday I will have enough money and determination to make that lifestyle change.

-Sarah Nelson

Soooo one of my roommates accidentally threw out the trash before I could snap a picture of our ridiculously full kitchen trash can for this post…but now that I think about it, that probably saved me from a great deal of embarrassment. My puppy Romeo is happy though because he got in the picture at least! (Sorry I’m a little obsessive, he’s my child) Anyways, sometimes I can’t believe how much waste the three of us generate together in a day in this garbage can. This also seriously pisses me off because we live on the third floor and I hate hauling the trash to the dumpster, but that’s beside the point right?

Had I gotten a good picture of my personal garbage (imagine with me here), it probably would have consisted of the following: used coffee filters (Hi my name is Sarah, and yes, I am a caffeine-addict), empty sushi boxes, coffee cups from Dunn Brothers (usually my second fix of the day by the time I make this pit stop), string cheese wrappers (obsessed), a cheez-its box, definetley at least one Weight Watchers Smart Ones box (I pretty much live off these things until I can learn how to cook), and LOTS of paper towels. I don’t know why, but I cannot seem to kick my frivolous paper towel using habit…I’m working on it. Oh and after two weeks of our refrigerator smelling like a dead person was frozen in it, we finally found the source of the stench…a rotten tomato (yes, it was mine - and they blame me). So make sure and add that to my trash pile.

After our recent field trip to Hamm Landfill, the composting site, and the recycling center, I am even more motivated to recycle. I couldn’t believe how much paper we use. The landfill trip really opened my eyes to all the garbage we produce. I also proceeded to spread the word to my roommate, Sam Hamm (yes, as in Hamm Landfill) that she alone fills up half the garbage can in the kitchen from all her fast food wrappers and that she should cut back and not contribute to the landfill her family owns. She laughed, but trust me, I’m workin’ on her. My goal by the end of the semester is to get her to recycle We’ll see…

-Sarah Nelson

With the words “green, oil and global warming” popping up everywhere these days, I am finding that every time I get into my SUV to drive; I am feeling a little more guilty about it. This could possibly also be because every week I am faced with the choice of either buying gas for my car, or eating for a week. Uh, screw that, I’ll eat more potatoes and ride my bike thanks.

You have to admit, it makes you think. In America we use our resources abundantly, and up until now have not given much thought as to what could happen if someday they run out. Take for example, our oil supply. The thought of Americans trying to survive without oil is like college students trying to survive without Facebook. We could live without it, but we are just too used to having it to suddenly lose it. It would be the like the apocalypse.

Here’s the deal: we are running out of oil. The most noticeable way to see this is by taking a trip to your local gas station. No, these prices are not the result of a conspiracy among the oil companies; they are the result of us using too much of it. We peaked our oil production in 2006, and it will only continue to decline.

The good news is, we can make minor adjustments in the way we use energy, and possibly avoid this apocalypse. Instead of driving everywhere ourselves, we can use public transit. Or in my case, I could trade my SUV in for a more fuel efficient car. We can shop and structure our lives to work within walking distances of our homes, or ride a bike. By taking these small steps, instead of living in the present culture we have become accustomed to, we could enter into a post-oil culture that we can be proud of.

-Sarah Nelson

I have to hand it to Arnold. Not only did he find a way to go from a greased up bodybuilder to the Governor of California; but he hit the nail right on the head when he used “sexy” and “the environment” in the same sentence. As Americans, we know that sex sells, so why not sex-up being green?

I think Arnold had the right idea. While searching for sites about this topic, I came across this cool Web site: Ecorazzi. I found myself browsing it for at least an hour! It is chalk full of links and articles that link the environment with mainstream media - part of what Arnold was suggesting. It discusses topics such as celebrities, fashion, events and shopping - while keeping the overall focus on being green.

They report on events that are environmentally focused - and most importanly, they are intersting to ME. For instance, on January 31st, some of the most famous fashion designers, like Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Bottella Venega participated in the EarthPledge Future Fashion Show that kicked off Fasion Week in the New York. They created fashions using natural and sustainable materials. Models strutted down the runway in materials such as organic cotton and bamboo. That’s hot - and sexy. In our world, even the “fashionistas” can go green.

Absolut, a premium vodka with a seductive image, has recently partnered with Live Earth to “reduce the effects of global warming by offering simple steps they can implement in their daily lives.” Number one: Drink heavily. You’ll drive less, sleep more, and basically reduce your overall consumption of the world’s resources. With the familiar print ads we all recognize, and the tag line “Absolut Global Cooling,” I think it’s a catchy campaign and shows exactly how we can angle the environmental movement in a unique and sexy way.

-Sarah Nelson

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream speech” is famous because it put forward an inspiring, positive vision that carried a critique of the current moment within it. Imagine how history would have turned out had King given an “I have a nightmare” speech instead.

When we talk about “hooking the reader” in journalism, the line above has got to the one of the best ones I have read. Talk about getting the reader’s attention. This was not the first line in this essay, but even in the middle of all the “environmental” talk of it, it hooked.

I’m not going to lie, I really liked the The Death of Environmentalism. Although I don’t agree with everything in it, it was incredibly well-written, informative, witty, and spoke the plain English most people like myself crave. Something about it really hit home with me. I’m not agreeing and saying that we should drop all the progress we have made thus far in the climate change issue and start-over, but I also think somewhat of a ‘new plan’ couldn’t hurt.

The authors’ proposal of a new, innovative environmental approach makes more sense to me than the traditional approach that clearly has not worked very well thus far. Instead of continuing on a road that seems to be going slowly downhill, why not ‘back up’ as they suggested, and re-map?

As we discussed in class, climate change has been as issue for years. Yet we have not found an effective way, as a whole, to make a big change. Yes, companies are “going green,” and politicians claim to support the issue, but how long has that taken and what is REALLY being done about it? It’s taking TOO long to make people listen, in my opinion. I don’t believe that focusing on just one issue, like limiting our use as humans, or reducing carbon, is the answer. As the authors point out, sometimes what we need is a new plan.

The reality is that making a big dent in global warming might require slashing emissions by 80% or more, something that’s not possible with current technology unless we don’t drive, fly, or power our homes. No one will sacrifice that much.

America thrives on ideas and dreams, new technologies and the future. Their suggestion of using these things to overcome this crisis is just that: innovative. I think environmentalists should listen.

-Sarah Nelson