A More Conscious Seed Order

Last year, I had one seed ordering goal: organic. This year, I still preferred organic, but that wasn't my only requirement. Brought on in part by the plastic organic seed packets from Seeds of Change . Yeah, yeah, I read the disclaimer about why they're plastic and how their recyclable, but I don't care. While recyclable plastic is better than not, it's still plastic.

So I grabbed all of my seed catalogs and...wait, wait, I know what you're thinking and while I actually place my orders online I have paper seed and plant catalogs and, much like I still enjoying reading a book in book form, I still like flipping through the paper versions . Besides have you ever READ some of the seed catalogs? Not just looked at the pictures or the name next to it, but read the text? Give it a try, there are some funny gardeners out there.

Step 1: Sort my seed catalogs by location; I made one pile of East Coast nurseries and another that weren't. That was pretty easy, but there was a tricky one-Vermont Bean Seed Company. Obviously a no-brainer, but wait...yep, sure enough, the Vermont Bean Seed Company is in Wisconsin!

Step 2: Small business versus big. I determined this by visiting their Web sites and reading carefully. Again, tricky, tricky. Cook's Garden who I ordered from last year, is owned by Burpee, read under General Copyright Information. I couldn't tell for sure about John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds, but it's associated with two bulb company's and has lots of divisions soI put that in the questionable pile. That left me with two Maine companies, Johnny's Selected Seeds (employee-owned) and Fedco (a co-operative.)

Step 3: Try to order just from one company to reduce the environmental impact of shipping so I went with the company that had most of what I wanted in stock and made substitutions where necessary.

In no time I had a winner...


During all of this careful evaluation, I had one cross my fingers goal: unwaxed paper packets, but I had no way of confirming that immediately so I took a chance. As you can see above, I lucked out! Another bonus: the seeds were shipped U.S. mail which, like the rest of American, already comes to my house everyday anyway! The last question to be answered is of course quality, but they're in the Garden Watchdog Top 5 for Vegetable Seeds so I'm not worried!

There is no such thing as away

What I really wanted to title this post was "The Tyranny of Trash," but I think I'll save that for a later, more ambitious post exclusively on trash. The phrase "there is no such thing as away" came to me as I surveyed the dumpster at my apartment complex. Several people have taken to leaving items like chairs, lamps, tables, boxsprings, mattresses, even once a crib, at the side of the dumpster, even knowing that it won't get picked up.

These are not chairs damaged beyond all use, or broken lamps. These are merely items which are no longer wanted, and are therefore going "away." The problem though, is that there is no away. These items are being literally buried in the ground - and isn't that a lovely thought. Rather than take this furniture somewhere for other folks to enjoy, all that wood and plastic is getting buried in the ground with no more use. Don't even get me started on the number of recyclables I see in there! 'Away' comes to mean 'somewhere else,' but when we've filled our planet with trash, where will 'away' be then?

One of my favourite no-trash bloggers is the lovely - and award-winning - Karen Cannard over at The Rubbish Diet. She recently posted an article recently about the importance of composting. I knew there were plenty of reasons to compost, but I didn't realise that not doing so is actually harmful. She notes that

Interesting research from WRAP reveals that over forty percent of us believe that because food is biodegradable, it is harmless when it gets thrown out and sent to landfill and are not aware that it can produce methane, a powerful global warming gas which damages the environment. Of course the same waste composted at home produces no methane and provides free fertiliser and soil improver for our gardens.

Additionally, Beth Terry, another favourite blogger (her home is Fake Plastic Fish) has an excellent article on plastic-less garbage collection. As with many other steps on my journey, I had an inkling of this idea in the back of my head, but Beth articulates it more clearly than anything that I had percolating. Cutting out the food waste has helped immensely in keeping the same garbage bag (an empty dog/cat food bag) for sometimes two or three weeks. But what happens when I (finally) get around to making my own, healthier dog and cat food? Will I be on Beth's level? I doubt it, but us mere mortals can only try.

I live in a small apartment, so composting has been difficult to do. I'm hoping to invest in one of those awesome tumbling compost bins someday (in that rosy future where I have lots of money) but for now I've been using an old plastic bin that seals tightly and I can keep indoors, and then taking it to my parents' house where they have a large composting area. It's not ideal - in fact, it's a total pain - but articles like this remind me that I'm doing it for a reason.

Breaking it down into small steps, doing what I can reasonably do, has helped immensely, and I hope to be reporting back some good changes on here.

Priorities

Overwhelmed with all that I have been reading, grocery shopping became an overwhelming endeavor. Do I buy lentils in a can which probably has BPA's or in an environmentally taxing, probably not recyclable bag? Do I splurge for organic onions when I'm going to remove the peel anyway or purchase the less expensive option? Shopping was getting harder and harder and taking longer and longer. I had to get a grip.

So I thought in terms of a new car. Environmentally friendly is very important to me, but I'm not going to pay over $20,000 to do it. If I applied that same sort of prioritization to shopping, more specifically to food, would it help me make my daily choices?

Yes! After careful consideration, here are my current priorities when it comes to consuming.

1. Health-mine and my families
   
2. Humane and ethical treatment of people and animals
   
3. Environment
4. Cost
   

So I would buy the bag of lentils to avoid the cancer causing BPA's even if I had to throw away the bag they came in, but I would buy the pricier organic onions because the way they were grown is better for the environment.

It sounds simplistic, but it has dramatically helped me incorporate the numerous low impact considerations into my life. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed by my choices, I take a deep breath, remember my priorities and comfortably make my purchase. Of course, sometimes that also means NOT making the purchase , but at least I know I did the right thing for me and my values whenever I walk away.

BPA's in Cans

The Washington Post had a great article today, "Alternatives to BPA Containers Not Easy for U.S. Foodmakers to Find." I knew the FDA had reversed its position on the substance, but not that BPA's have been found in the urine of 90% of Americans! It was also great to read that companies are making efforts to remove the substance (even if it's only because the public is worried!)

You can read more on the subject, and see further information on the health risks at the Environmental Working Group site. In mid-January they sent a letter demanding the FDA curb BPA's use.

Introduction

Hi, I'm Kate!!!!

And I'm Becky. We've been doing some reading. As a result we're traumatized and

this is our way of coping. It's somewhat cheaper than therapy.

Kate told me about Jainism, but that seemed unrealistic. So I'm working on a new theory of collateral damage

which is what this blog is about.

Our efforts to minimize our impact on everything -

our health, the planet, animals, the oceans, ecosystems -

without losing our minds. We're undertaking this project together because everyone else was tired of listening to us and

this is our way of letting other people know they are not alone or insane. Hopefully, it will document our ongoing quest to find others like us, and to help those starting out on a low impact journey of their own.

So we hope you'll join us in our struggle.