Techno Trash

As of Feb 2009 analog TV “waves” will no longer exist. Our local news has been saying that non-DTV’s will not work anymore, which isn’t exactly the case, but I am sure it will give a lot of people an excuse to go buy a new TV.

I contacted Comcast (my cable provider) to ask about the change. They assured me that my television will still work, but they will supply me with an analog to digital converter. The only set back they noted is that my TV will no longer communicate with my remote control, same is true of my TiVo, DVR, or VCR (if I am still kicking it old school.)

So this isn’t a huge deal to me -I mean I watch some TV, but I have no problem getting up to turn on 30 Rock. I am worried about how the average American will handle the switch. My prediction/fear is that there will be millions of perfectly good (and full of really gross chemicals) analog TV's discarded with no real education about recycling or safe disposal.

C-net’s green tech blog says the reason for the change to DTV is simple: “The U.S. government has long been pushing for the digital television shift so that it may set aside a certain amount of the freed-up TV spectrum for use by emergency responders. It also expects to raise as much as $10 billion for the federal treasury by auctioning off the remaining spectrum to companies that say its inherent scientific properties will make for easier and cheaper broadband deployments.”

C-Net goes on to predict: “Roughly 80 million analog TVs will get heaved out in 2008 and 2009, according to John Shegerian, CEO of Electronic Recyclers (ER), one of the largest e-waste recyclers in the U.S., and someone is going to have to dispose of those old TVs properly. The glass in the tube consists of about 22 percent lead.”

So my way of making a statement is through design, so if you guys want to check out my new techno-trash stuff, please do here:



And let me know what you think: what should we as citizens, families, and members of society do to put a responsible end to techno trash?

Breaking the Plastic Bag Habit

I was at target patiently waiting in line while the woman ahead of me finished checking out. She was buying a magazine - just one. As the cashier scanned the magazine he asked "Would you like a bag?" I was so proud to hear a cashier offering the alternative of no bag at all. She replied "yes." I was shocked. It took every ounce of self control to resist lecturing her on the evils of the plastic bag. Instead I stared at my shoes waiting for this nightmare to be over. Then, as is she were an animal in the wild trying to exert her dominance over the cashier, she said, "Double bag it." At this point I nearly had to be restrained. I could do nothing but stare at her in pure astonishment until she left the store.

Nothing bugs me quite like plastic bags. It's estimated that Americans send over 100billion plastic bags to landfill each year, yet I still see very little being done about it. Bags go from the grocery store to the home. Once everything is put away its straight to the trash. This gives the average plastic bag a life of one hour. Sure there are people who use their plastic bags for their bathroom trash, but are they using the 10-20 bags they brought home that week?

Unfortunately the story on paper bags is not much better. They can be recycled, but did you know that it takes more water and energy to produce a paper bag than it does to produce a plastic bag?

Reusable bags offer structure and durability that disposable bags do not. Many stores offer bags at about $1 each, but most of these bags are still petroleum based like plastic bags. Still they will last much longer than the cheap bags you get at checkout and they will fit about twice as many items. I prefer canvas bags, but they are a bit more expensive. They are more natural looking unlike many of the blinding alternatives available in stores. Also, they are machine washable if you happen to spill anything. Click on the link below to check out some of the canvas tote bags I designed.

Green Stars

Do you remember when you used to get those delicious gold star stickers in elementary school? Well here is your chance to give back with green stars! Every time you see someone doing something great for the environment give them a green star as a token of your appreciation. Want to thank your carpool buddy or positively reinforce that jerk in your office who refuses to recycle? Just give them a green star. What do you think?

Check out this sweet video!

Trash to Treasure Take 2

Recently we've become addicted to online backgammon. We decided it would be fun to play old school, with a board, pieces, human interaction and all that. I thought why hit the nearest target to purchase a set, as I despise shopping in all forms. I set out to construct a board using the resources at hand - garbage. I found a piece of corrugated cardboard to use as my base and thought soda bottles would make great playing pieces. I know thirty soda caps in multiple colors might be difficult to come by, but not in this house. Since these caps are non recyclable, I of course began saving them and vowed I would someday find a use for them. (If anyone has any ideas for larger orange juice caps send them my way.) For the board pieces I went to my recycling bin. It was full of rice and pasta boxes, boxes that once housed cans, and mailing envelopes. Why not use them all? So I created a colorful array of pieces(24 in backgammon) to construct my board. A little glue and my project was complete.

Vote for us on Threadless!

Do your part to live with the world in mind! We are excited to announce that we have submitted our "Live with the World in Mind" design to be part of a contest on Threadless! Click on the link below to vote for our design. If you like our design click I'd buy it(you don't actually have to buy it) and give us a 5! You will have to register with Threadless …they will ask for your name, email address, b-day, and country. I know this part is kind of lame, but if we win we will get a stockpile of shirts to use as contest prizes and give away to the people we like the most!!!

Trash to Treasure

I wouldn't call myself a packrat, but I HATE throwing things away. There must be a direct correlation between the trash you create and your consumption. This is the root of my psychosis - I don't want to consume more than I need to. If I can create something out of a piece of trash I can give myself a green star and have a great day.

Have you ever thought about the plastic bags newspapers come in? Newspapers get bagged at night and you toss them in the trash by 8am. I was determined to find a use for them and here is what I came up with. I made this tote bag with about 30 newspaper bags.

Kick the Beef

The USDA recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef. That's right, I said 143 million. The packer supplies beef to school lunch programs and fast food chains. Who wants to hit the drive thru? Might also want to pack the kids lunches.

If this isn't enough to kick the beef here are a few interesting facts. You could save massive amounts of water and lessen carbon dioxide production by sticking to veggies. Eating one pound of hamburger does the same damage as driving your car for more than three weeks. Meat based diets also require 7 times more land that a veggie based diet.

Try to reduce the amount of meat you consume each week, it's not as hard as you think. I haven't consumed meat or dairy in years, but in the past 48 hours I have not consumed refined flour, sugar, or caffeine and I survived. If you crave the cow I've provided links to some meatless alternatives that still provide that bovine flavor.

Check out these links to learn more:
USDA Beef Recall
Co2 Production
Meat production's environmental toll
The flavor without the mad cow
I Heart Vegans

Welcome!!

Welcome to What’s Your Footprint! Our goal is to inspire and challenge everyone to try to make the world a better place.

We believe that the easiest way to start to make a difference is to talk about the things you are most passionate about. That is why we started our shop: (click the star to go there)



We want to use this blog as a way to talk about the things we are passionate about. So stay tuned for discussions about alternative energy sources, the ins and outs of composting, how to turn your trash into treasures, reusing before you recycle, and much much more.

It there are any topics that you want us to cover, or designs you would like to see please let us know by either posting here or emailing us at whatsyourfootprint@gmail.com.