Publisher's Note: Look at the date this was written before getting too mad at Patrick.

After giving it considerable thought over the past few months, I decided to stop walking to work.

I don’t live terribly far from my job (just a few blocks, in fact), and so when I first accepted the job, I make the decision to walk to work each day. But I’ve been finding myself late to work many days, because of the time-consuming walk from my house to here. I often find my self departing my house at almost 9:00AM, rather than getting in at 9:00AM, and as a result I have to stay late, and work into my evenings.

Driving to work, I have found, also has its benefits. It gives me time to relax, to think about my day ahead and prioritize things. It also gives me time to reflect, on the mellow drive home, and listen to my favorite NPR programming. I can crank up the heat on cold days, to keep myself warm; or turn the AC on when it inevitably gets hot (as it does for about 5 months in the desert). No more sweating for this guy!

In addition, ExxonMobil has decided to help people commute to work! If you sign a pledge saying that you will drive your car to and back from work each day, Exxon will plant a tree in one of their oil fields. These will provide much-needed shade to oil drilling workers, and beautify the lands that we extract our oil from. That will make everyone feel good!

I’m looking forward to the freedom I’m going to gain by driving to work. Freeing up extra time in my day, saving myself from being a sweat mess after walking for five minutes, and a tree planted in my name… what could be better! Here’s to the driving life!

UPDATE: April Fools!

An easy and very important way to do this is through your local newspaper. Local news is where ideas are hashed out… Local media tends to be much less dominated by corporate interests than national or even regional media, and as a result can take firmer stances on pro-conservation, anti-development issues. Even if a local media outlet is unwilling to take a stand on an issue, they are often quite willing to give voice to that issue through involved readers.

That’s where you come in. Writing a letter to the editor is as easy as typing an email. Submissions to the Editorial page don’t need to be extremely verbose, or even well-spoken. They do, however, need to be well-thought out and respectful. Angry jabs or diatribes will rarely get printed in a newspaper. Well-reasoned arguments, however, laid out in a tactful manner, will almost guarantee a good look from an editor. Ultimately, editors are concerned with one thing: readership, and they will likely print any letters they think will generate a debate, and hence increase readership.

A good example is a letter I got published recently in my local, home town newspaper, the Hi-Desert Star in Yucca Valley, California. You can read the letter here. I wrote in regards to the proposed installation of big-game guzzlers in designated Wilderness Areas near my town. While it is a somewhat esoteric issue (OK, very esoteric), I wrote a thoughtful letter that carefully laid out the issues and stated my opinions. This is something editors will recognize, and often reward. The Hi-Desert Star decided to publish my letter, despite its relatively limited audience, and I got many responses.

If there is an issue that is important to you, I would encourage you to consider writing a letter to the editor. Be sure to include an action point at the end of the letter (in the case of above letter, writing a comment on an environmental assessment), or a contact or website for people to find out more information. This will only further help to garner support for your issue, as well as engage people in the issue.

Letters to the editor are a time-honored tradition in American media, and they continue to be an easy way for people to mobilize support on issues, particularly green issues, in local communities.

Getting a craving for a snack midway through the afternoon can inevitably lead to buying some utterly disgusted product from Frito-Lay or Mars. Even those “natural” chips or organic cookies you got down at the co-op tend to have a bunch of unpronounceable ingredients listed on the package.

One way to avoid this is coming up with your own snack alternatives. I’ve achieved this, to a degree, using a food dehydrator. You can pick one up for $50 or so, but they are also a very popular item to find in a thrift store. I found mine at a Goodwill a couple miles down the road for $15.

Deciding what you want to dehydrate is first. Careful selection of produce is needed to ensure a maximum benefit. For instance: I did a 3 pint packages of strawberries in my first go around, and ended up with less than a pint of dehydrated strawberries. Not the best value when you consider the cost. However, bananas make an excellent choice—they are inexpensive in their whole form, and they dehydrate into very tasty banana chips (much better than the sugar laden ones you buy at the store).

Veggies are also a great avenue to pursue. Almost any veggie dehydrates well. In particular, carrots, green onions, squash, and tomatoes are all good candidates. In addition to making veggie “chips” out of dehydrated veggies, you can also make killer home-made soup mixes. Just dehydrate your veggies, add some spices or herbs (which you can also dehydrate yourself), and voila—instant soup mix without a bunch of chemicals in it!

Utilizing a dehydrator can be very time-consuming. In particular, the chopping of fruits and veggies can take up literally an hour a day or more. Getting into a routine where you can find an hour a day to do so (while you’re in a big dehydrating period) is important. Most items take approximately 24 hours to dehydrate, so finding the same time each day to do your chopping will allow you to get maximum benefit from your dehydrator.

Surprisingly, dehydrators don’t really use that much power. I was running my dehydrator 24 hours a day for about 3 weeks, and my power bill went up maybe a dollar or two. And the added benefits of working towards eliminating processed snacks from my life have more than made up for the time and effort of chopping. My dehydrator has changed the way I think about snacking and storing produce. So go ahead, and give it a try—simplify your food chain and enjoy the benefits of dehydrating your own produce.

Most of our modern electronics are completely non-repairable (or repair is prohibitively expensive—in many cases more than the cost of the item!), and so we dispose of them. But how?

E-waste is becoming a major problem in our technological society. When our electronics wear out, rather than getting them fixed, creatively reusing them, or at the very least recycling them, many people are simply tossing them into the dumpster. According to the EPA, computer monitors (amongst the worst of e-waste) contain an average of four pounds of lead, as well as chromium and mercury. When all of these toxic chemicals are deposited into our landfills, they slowly work their way down to our water table.

The mantra of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle is more important than ever when it comes to e-waste. I’d like to focus on the Reuse aspect. There are several creative options for reusing our dysfunctional or dead e-waste, and there is much more work possible to be done.

A Geeky-Green Kind of Accessory

One creative solution to the e-waste problem is to use portions of it in a totally different way. Acorn Studios, a Canadian-based company, has been doing this for years. After working as a Waste Management Engineer, the founder, Nicola Harper, had seen enough e-waste piling up in the landfill to know that it was time to do something about it. She sees herself as “increasing consumer awareness of recycled content products”.

Acorn Studios makes cuff links from keyboard keys, notebooks bound with 5.25” floppy disks, clocks from old CDs, and earrings from circuitboards, just to name a few. They also have a whole section on their website devoted to DIY recycled crafts, like a car mirror bookshelf, or a tie wallet. And a tip section for ways to green your office or other electronic workspace.

Benevolent Green-Geeks

Another creative solution to reusing e-waste is the Free Geek movement. Free Geek started in Portland, OR and has the mission of “reusing and recycling used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.” They collect e-waste, recycle what cannot be reused, and reuse what can, using their geek skills to turn it into useful products for the community to use.

In just four years, Free Geek has collected e-waste from all over Portland, and recycled 360 tons of it, as well as refurbishing 3,000 computer systems that are now in use all over their community. There are a number of other Free Geek operations throughout the US, including in Arkansas, Chicago, and Tennessee. See Also: wikipedia on Free Geek.

Finding creative solutions to the e-waste problem is an important avenue we must, as a society, decide we are going to take. Reusing our used up electronics in a creative fashion, like Acorn Studio, or for the benefit of the community, like Free Geek, are two innovative answers to the e-waste problem.

This isn’t to say that one isn’t a “true environmentalist” until you stop using Kleenex… but making the switch to a non-disposable way of blowing your nose is incredibly easy, and anyone can do it—and it will have a very concrete impact on the world. Paper companies will receive less money, cut down less trees, and less waste will end up in our landfills.

The Modern Hankie

The clear alternative to tissues are handkerchiefs, or their modern-day, budget equivalent: bandanas. You can usually purchase bandanas for relatively cheap at your local clothing or camping supply store ($1 a piece or cheaper). If you’re hoping to go the organic cotton or hemp route, the price can climb quite steeply ($9-20) but the tradeoff of a sustainably produced hankie might be worth it for you.

When you first purchase the hankies, they will be stiff and somewhat painful to wipe your nose with. Throwing them in each time you do a load of laundry can help to break them in. Soaking them in vinegar overnight is also a good way to soften them up. The more you wash them and break them in, the softer they will be on your nose.

Care and Feeding

Once you have them broken in, you can carry them around (I have one folded up in my pocket at all times) and use them each time you need to blow your nose. Again, this seems like a no-brainer, but think of how many tissues the average tissue-user goes through in a given year. Ten boxes? Twenty? Forty for the more stuffy-nosed out there? It is a tremendous amount of paper, at any rate, and using a hankie can eliminate all of that waste and save some trees too.

Of course, washing is important. I like to wash mine, as a rule, every week; but during high-usage times I will sometimes go through a hankie a day. And when I have a cold—forget it! I’ll go through 3 or 4 a day, as they slowly get sodden and… well I won’t go into it. Anyway it’s good to have a stash of 10 or 15 hankies, so you always have a ready supply even when your laundry pile is building up.

One way to start affecting some change in your nose-blowing world is converting your friends to hankie-using ways. An easy way to do this is to simply surprise them with a supply of 7 or 8 hankies. It makes a nice gift, and they will think fondly of you each time they blow their nose in a reusable, sustainable hankie.

Eliminating disposable paper products is an easy way to start changing your world. Tissues are pervasive in our society—and they are also utterly avoidable. Making the switch is easy, and not only will your nose thank you; the forests will too.

Mother Earth News has a fantastic article on Why You Don't Need Antibacterial Soap. While a simple google search will turn up dozens of articles and debates about this across the web (people seem to feel pretty strongly about their antibacterial soap!), for anyone who is serious about eliminating chemicals from their lives and our world, antibacterial soap has got to go.

Featuring a host of nasty chemicals, chief among them triclosan and triclocarban, antibacterial soaps are quickly polluting our water (up to 60% of US streams are contaminated with triclocarban, says Mother Earth News) and our food supply (as the chemicals make it into crops through biosolid fertilizer). Science-A-Go-Go reports on the surprising persistence of triclocarban in our environment. Overall, there is lots of damning evidence coming to the same conclusion: antibacterial soap must go.

There are dozens of options out there for the conscientious soap consumer. A quick search for organic soap turns up dozens of soap companies who are making all-natural, chemical free soaps that won't pollute our earth. After my partner Sam pressured me for months on the issue, I gave in; we've even found homemade natural soap at our local farmer's market!

Pertinent links:

wikipedia on antibacterial soap, wikipedia on triclosan, Worldwatch Institute on soap

Almost every meeting when a decision is about to be made, be it Town Council, County Commission, or others, will have what’s known as a “Public Comment” period. This is a chance for members of the public to stand up before the governing board and to share their views.

The sad reality is, most of the time the decision-makers have already come to their own conclusions. But sometimes, especially if members of the public present a good argument, or are particularly numerous, the opinions of those who make decisions can be swayed. It is important that if there is an issue going on locally that you feel passionate about, that you get to the meetings and speak your voice.

Getting Prepared

Usually when you first arrive at a meeting, there is a slip you must fill out if you wish to speak. It contains basic information about who you are and where you live. After giving this to the clerk (whomever is taking minutes for the meeting), you will be “in line” to speak.

When preparing your comment, it is important to focus on the specific issues being discussed, and to not get more broad or general. It is also key to speak on facts, and not emotional reactions. This doesn’t mean it’s not OK to be emotional; it is! However, having a well-reasoned argument is more important than sounding passionate.

Plan Your Comment

A good argument against a large new commercial development might be:

“This development negatively affects the rural character of our town.” or “This development will increase the traffic, light pollution, and groundwater contamination levels in our town without providing adequate funds for infrastructure upgrades.”

Whereas a less effective argument might be:

“I used to play in the field that this development is going up on when I was a kid.” or “All new developments are bad.”

There are two important things to remember when coming up with your comment. It’s important to find a theme and stick with it throughout. In addition, it’s important to try and make your comment individual and unique, not just echoing the comments of others. The more diverse arguments there are in support of a position, the harder it is for elected or appointed officials to ignore the position overall.

For instance, at a recent proposal for a sludge dump (see my previous article on it), 150 people showed up at the County Board of Supervisors meeting to comment against it. I wanted to make a comment that was different, and touched on a unique aspect of the negative effects of the dump. So I spoke on how the dump would affect the Wilderness values of several neighboring Wilderness Areas. This was a unique comment, and offered the Board of Supervisors a different angle to think about.

Stand Up and Speak!

When you’re finally called to the podium, it can be very nerve-wracking. No matter how many times I’ve gone up and spoken in front of the public and a governing board, my heart still pounds and my palms still sweat in anticipation. I find having written notes on my comment to be very helpful. However, for me, having my comment written out completely is actually a bad thing, because I then tend to just read it without adding much passion or feeling. Coming across as excited, passionate, and (if appropriate) angry can be very effective in communicating just how strong you feel about an issue.

Make sure you are courteous and polite, and also not too lengthy. A succinct, to-the-point comment can be far more effective than a long and rambling one. And one final tip: Make sure you bring a friend or two. The more voices there are speaking together, the more likely it is that those voices will be heard.

Democracy in action is most apparent at the local level. Standing up and speaking to influence the decisions of your elected officials is one of the easiest and most basic ways to get involved in the democratic process (other than voting of course). Go out, and take some action to make your world a better place. You will find that people will listen, and change is really possible!

In the process of greening my life, I have been especially reluctant to let go of my conventional bath + beauty products. I have a job that gets me especially dirty quite frequently, and so I like to feel especially clean. I guess I’ve always felt that harsh chemical cleansers got me clean. My partner Sam has been attempting to dissuade me of these habits.

Natural Shaving Soap

Recently, as a St. Patrick’s Day gift, she gave me a natural shaving soap kit from A Wild Soap Bar. It consists of a sassafras shaving soap bar, an old-timey bristle brush for lathering up my face, and a hardwood bowl. And best of all, the ingredients are so natural, I could conceivably make it myself: olive, palm & castor oils; aloe; clay; sassafras root and cinnamon bark; oats and sea salt.

And so on a recent business trip, I traded in my Barbasol in for all-natural shaving soap. I was a little confused as to the application process at first—without any pressurized goo spewing out of a nozzle, I didn’t know what to do. But after a little water and some swishing with the brush, a nice (and nice-smelling) foam began to appear.

I have to say that overall, the natural shaving soap didn’t provide quite as smooth a shave as the conventional stuff. But I’m OK with it. As I said earlier, it’s been tough for me to give up the trappings of the non-green world when it comes to bath products, and so taking a step forward with shaving soap is a big move for me. A little less comfort or smoothness on my face is worth it to know I’m making a statement with my dollars not to support the chemical-industrial world.

A Greener Razor

As another way to green my shave, Preserve Recycled Razors are a big step forward as well. Made from 100% recycled plastics (in the handle), the razors act just like regular ones, but are a way of making a statement with the dollars I spend. They are also reusable, as you can interchange the heads while keeping the same handle over and over. The EPA estimates that over 2 billion disposable razors end up in landfills every year in the US. Preserve Recycled Razors are a step in the right direction.

And so I’m excited looking forward: one day when I’m passing down the tradition of shaving to my (potential) son, I’ll be able to pass it down with a legacy of sustainability—a greener way to shave is a step in the right direction.

The best way to do this is to start on the most local of levels. It’s easy to dump all of our problems on Dubya or Congress, but he’s not the one responsible for that new development plowing under the last pristine patch of land left in your town. Big-box stores, the loss of open space, sprawl, traffic congestion & pollution: these are all problems that ultimately can be most effectively addressed on the local level. Every action, from the opening of a new Wal-Mart to the construction of new condos, has to go through an approval process on the local level.

Civics, 101

The specific configuration of local governments can vary. Many people in America live in municipalities of some sort. Townships, Cities, Villages, and Boroughs are just a few examples of the various arrangements of government at this most local level. Other people live in unincorporated areas, which are typically administered by the county government. There is a very good wikipedia article on different structures of local government.

Getting involved starts by figuring out who is making the decisions that affect you. Typically, on the municipal level, there will be something like a Town Council; and on the county level, there will be something like a Board of Supervisors. Names and specific roles may differ, but in general they are directly elected bodies who make all manner of decisions related to zoning, land use, public programs, and transit, amongst other things.

Attend Meetings

Attending meetings is a great way to make your voice known. Almost every item that comes before a governing body has the opportunity for public comment. Don’t like that new 1000 home subdivision going in down the road? Make a comment against it. Not comfortable with a new toxic-waste processing facility opening up in your watershed? Let the government know that you don’t approve. Speaking during public comment periods on local issues can let local leaders know that people are passionate about something—it can very well influence their vote.

Attending meetings is also a great way to find out what’s coming down the pipe. A new Wal-Mart Supercenter doesn’t just pop up before a Town Council once. There is a whole planning process and a variety of approvals it must go through before it can reach the final vote stage. Frequenting local government meetings can clue you in early to new projects as they are first being proposed, which can allow sufficient time to mobilize local support against them.

Other Means

Writing letters is just as effective; while it requires a little more effort up front, it does free you from having to tie your schedule to that of the government. Personalized letters to elected officials with stories, anecdotes, or examples are the best way to sway opinions in your favor. Be sure to be literate, as well as to remind the official that you are a voter who holds their fate in your hands on election day.

Finally, plain old verbal communication with local officials can be the easiest and most effective way to communicate your views. Get on the phone; visit their office; say hello to them before a meeting… Showing that your personally care enough about an issue to contact them face-to-face can mean more than a thousand letters.

Get Involved!

It’s fairly easy to get plugged into government at the local level. A simple Google search for your town name and state and the word “government” should pull up any websites that your municipality may maintain. The same search for your county should direct you to your county government. Most websites will then have meeting dates and times, as well as names and addresses of elected officials for you to be in touch with.

The key in getting involved with local government is not to be overwhelmed by all the issues out there… Find one or two that you are particularly passionate about (in my case, it’s been new housing developments and ORV use) and do as much as you can on those issues.

Becoming involved in local government decisions can help you to feel empowered—like you can really make a difference in your world and your voice is heard. This, in turn, can help to motivate you to continue the good fight for larger scale causes… “All politics is local” as Tip O’Neill said, and getting involved on the local level is the foundation of citizen-activism.

You can easily, however, remove these toxins from your life, as well as support your local farmer's market or organic farmer, by making your own salsa and hot sauce. And furthermore, just an hour’s work one day can give you enough condiments to last you months—and they can be to your taste and up to your standards health-wise and sustainability-wise.

Ingredients

(all to be purchased organic and locally produced if at all possible):

Salsa

• 20 mid-size tomatoes
• 5 tomatillos
• 4 green bell peppers
• 2 white onions
• 1 head garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 3 limes
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• Salt + Pepper
• Optional, for heat:
  (medium) 2 jalepenos
  (hot) 2 serrano peppers
  (very hot) 1 habanero pepper
• Optional, for fun:
  mango
  pineapple
  black beans
  basil

Hot Sauce

• 25 serrano peppers (or 1 habanero for extreme heat)
• 5 jalepeno peppers
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 3 limes
• Salt + Pepper

Preparation:

Salsa

1. Chop ½ tomatoes on a cutting board into ¼-1/2 inch squares.
2. Blend or puree remaining tomatoes in a food processor.
3. Dice onion, bell peppers, garlic, cilantro, hot peppers.
4. Combine all above ingredients into large mixing bowl, with vinegar and salt + pepper.
5. Juice limes into mixture.
6. Spice to taste, adding brown sugar for mildness or tumeric for a twist.
7. Mix vigorously until a uniform texture is achieved. Taste with a chip!

Hot Sauce

1. Stem all hot peppers, peel and section onions, and put into food processor.
2. Blend on high speed, adding vinegar slowly to facilitate blending.
3. Juice limes into mixture.
4. Add salt + pepper to taste.

Storage + Serving:

Salsa

1. Put into glass jars or Pyrex containers, and leave about 1” of room from the top.
2. Freeze with lids loosely on the top (to allow for the salsa to expand as it freezes
3. After twenty four hours, tighten lids and store.
4. When you want some salsa, simply transfer the jar from the freezer to the fridge 24 hours in advance.

Hot Sauce

1. Allow to sit for 48 hours, to let flavors to thoroughly mix with vinegar.
2. Should keep in refrigerator for about a month.

Making your own Southwestern Condiments can accomplish a number of green goals. It can help you eliminate various preservatives and other chemicals from your diet; it can provide a new avenue to utilizing locally grown and organic produce into your life; and it can provide the satisfaction of a tasty food item that you can customize and make your own.

How Much Booze in the Beer?

Actual fermentation time was about 16 days. During that time, the yeast population expanded, fed upon all the sugars in the malt, and slowly converted those sugars to alcohol. At this point in the game, we were probably looking at an alcohol content of around 5.0%

The way to tell the alcohol content of your beer for sure is to measure the Final Specific Gravity (FG) of the brew (think back to chemistry class) using a gravityometer. You then enter it into an equation 76.08*(OG-FG)/(1.775-OG), with OG being the Original Specific Gravity, and you should come out with your alcohol content! In this case, our OG was 1.06, and our FG was 1.01, which gave us a Alcohol by Weight percentage of 5.32%. Just right.

Getting Started

The whole bottling process, which is quite exciting, is predicated by a rather dull period of sanitization. This is when you must sanitize all of the bottles you’ve collected over the proceeding two weeks—any remaining bacteria will contaminate the beer and lead to spoilage, or worse, illness. This takes quite a long time (about 2 hours for 48 bottles) and is certainly the most time consuming part of the process.

With sanitization completed, the real bottling began. I started by uncorking the glass container the beer has been brewing in (known as a “carboy”), and pouring in a packet of Corn Sugar. This will stimulate the yeast into production again (now that they have more food), which will in turn give the beer carbonation in the bottle.

The First Taste

After mixing in the sugar, I put in a siphon hose, and I readied my first bottle. In order to get a good flow of beer coming out of the main container, and into the bottles, I had to get a siphon going. So I sucked on the hose… hard. A big mouthful of tasty (if flat) beer later, the hose was spurting into the first bottle. The siphon is controlled by a pressure-release valve on the bottom of the hose, which you can engage by pressing it onto the bottom of the inside of the bottle.

After the bottle was full, I placed an uncompressed (somewhat flattened) cap onto the top, and used a capper clamp to seal it into place. The first bottle was completed! Success! However in my joy of capping, I had placed the siphon hose carelessly, and lost my siphon. So I had to take another big suck on the hose to get the siphon going. Mmm… sweet, flat beer filled my mouth, and then it filled another bottle.

Several More Tastes

This process repeated itself over the next hour. While I became more adept at keeping the siphon going between bottles, I had to do the hose suck routine many more times. Spillage was inevitable (when I overfilled a bottle or sucked too much beer into my mouth), and by the time my partner got home, she found my sitting on the floor, sticky with beer and surrounded by bottles, glassy eyed and satisfied. She helped me bottle the last few, and to clean up before I went promptly to bed.

The final test will be in two more weeks, when the first bottle will be opened, and we can relish in our success (or commiserate in our failure). Either way, homebrewing has been quite a process, and I’m already looking forward to my next batch (particularly to bottling my next batch!).

Erin Brockovich

Sludge Background

A little background first: sludge is the end-product recovered from the treatment of human waste in a wastewater treatment facility. We produce, as a nation, about 7 million tons of it each year. After leaving a wastewater treatment facility, sludge is either dumped in a landfill, incinerated, or recycled into what proponents call "biosolids". Once turned into "biosolids", it is used for agricultural purposes as a fertilizer, in mine reclaimation, even as bricks in a building. You can get lots more information at the National Biosolids Partnership website, but keep in mind that it is an industry-funded group.

Dust Is an Issue

The chief health risk from these sludge recycling facilities is the particulate matter generated. The dust generated from the decomposition and dessication of the waste has the potential to be an extreme health hazard to anyone who has to breathe it in.

The EPA itself (which is a major backer of sludge and "biosolids") has shown the dust be carcinogenic, to cause damage to lung tissue, and to severely aggravate existing pulmonary and cardiovascular conditions. Additionally once any windblown dust comes in contact with water, it may essentially "rehydrate" and become active again, with all of the typical pathogens and other fun organisms that live in our waste.

Problems with the Hinkley Proposal

The proposal for Hinkley is to install a massive (160 acre) sludge recycling facility. It will bring in approximately 1100-2000 tons of sludge per day (about 400,000 tons per year), where it will be mixed with brown waste (wood chips, particle board, etc.) and essentially composted for 60 days. After that, it will be trucked away to be used for agricultural purposes.

The dust problem is of particular concern at the Hinkley site. For starters, the proposal is for an open-air facility, which would have no covering over the composting sludge. The company making the proposal (Nursery Products LLC) has stated that the compost will be "so wet" that it will never generate any dust. However, with a pan evaporation rate of over 100 inches (which means if you put a pan outside with 100 inches of water- that's over 8 feet- in it on January 1st, it would all evaporate by the end of the year), there is widespread skepticism regarding the claim no dust will be created.

Hinkley Would Get the Full Impact of Dust

And if any dust is created, Hinkley is facing the barrel of a particularly toxic gun. The site is eight miles to the west of downtown Hinkley (such as it is), and the prevailing winds in the area are from the west, 12 months a year, at an average daily wind speed of 10 miles per hour- the fourth windiest area in all of California! Which means any dust that is introduced into the air will go straight for Hinkley. And then on to the much larger town of Barstow, another 12 miles to the west.

As Norman Diaz, a Hinkley resident, and founder of HelpHinkley.org (more on them below) states, "With such consistent winds and high evaporation rate, how can 400,000 tons of material, uncovered and stirred, not be expected to blow?"

Working Towards Change

The citizens of Hinkley gather to discuss sludge (source: HelpHinkley.org)There is a large coalition working together to either put a stop to the Hinkley Sludge Facility, or to at the very least mitigate the inevitable environmental and human health problems it will create. Chief among the coalition is HelpHinkley.org. This is a true grassroots organization, funded by individual donors from throughout the desert, and working day in and day out to spread the word about Hinkley.

And they've attracted the attention of some of the heavy-hitters in the conservation field, including the Center for Biological Diversity; the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment; and Environomental Defense. These groups and others have signed on to help pay for the extensive appeal and litigation costs involved.

Right now, the matter is being considered by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. They have a meeting scheduled for February 27th, during which they will consider HelpHinkley.org's appeal of their initial decision to approve the facility.

Get Involved

If you're interested in helping, there are three chief ways you can get involved (follow the links for more info):

1.) if you happen to live in Southern California, come down to San Bernardino on the morning of February 27th and speak your mind at the meeting
2.) write a letter to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, telling them what you think about the issue, and (particularly if you live out of county or state) letting them know that their decision could affect where you decide to spend your tourist dollars
3.) donate some badly needed cash to HelpHinkley.org.

There is something particularly melancholy about the plight of Hinkley. There is a commonly-held attitude that it's already a "messed up place" because of all they went through with the Chromium-6 battles. But it's a real small-town, with real people living there (about 2,000 of them). And though there are a few of them fighting vocally to protect their community, they cannot do it alone. They need the support of the rest of San Bernardino County, California, and the country. Please do some research, draw your own conclusions, and if so inclined, Help Hinkley.

Resources:

The EPA on Biosolids, High Country News on Sludge, Wikipedia on Sludge, Sludgefacts.org

So I’ve made it a point to try and head off the problem—to keep a stash of sustainable, green, ready-to-eat food in my freezer so that when I’m feeling the crunch, I won’t reach for some pre-made, loaded with preservatives food that I got out of the frozen section at the grocery store. Instead, I can reach into my freezer and pull out a homemade and organic meal that’s ready to eat in minutes.

For Instance, Beans

One of my favorite things in the world to eat is beans… beans in every shape and form, but especially refried beans. For my whole life, I’ve been buying them in a can. Usually, they are laden with lard and numerous chemicals meant to preserve them; you can tell what you’re getting yourself into right around the time you break the air pressure, and a perfectly can-shaped mass of mush falls into your skillet.

So I decided to create my own supply of refried beans. I started by pressure-cooking about 7 cups of dry pinto beans (which translated to almost a gallon of cooked beans). Then I got out the biggest skillet I had access to (14” across and 3” deep), sautéed some garlic and onions in organic olive oil, and then started mashing. Using a potato masher (and a wooden spoon), I worked and worked and worked the mass of beans until they started to take on that great, somewhat mushy, refried beans consistency. It helps to overcook the beans, as they fall apart quicker… unfortunately I undercooked the beans slightly, and I spent almost an hour working out my aggressions with the potato masher at the expense of some innocent pinto beans. After properly mashing the beans, I liberally applied spices and let it simmer for an hour. Then, I allowed it to cool before freezing it.

Other Considerations

One thing to consider with making your own “fast food” is how to store it. Plastic tends to be less durable when frozen (it can break), while some glass is at risk of cracking if it is overstuffed with food (which will expand when frozen). Enter: Pyrex. This stuff is very durable, freezes just fine, and best of all can be microwaved for quick heating when you need a fast meal. You can get large packages of a variety of sizes at CostCo for a reasonable price ($30 or so) and they fit very well in the freezer.

This is also a convenient way to ensure that you always have tons of produce available, even if you don't have time to run to the store. If you process your fresh, organic fruits and vegetables in your favorite way (say, stewing the carrots or sauteeing the peppers) and then freeze them, you will have a backup in case you run out between trips to the Farmer's Market.

It’s easy to expand this to all sorts of meals, as well. I have frozen homemade soups in my freezer; frozen stir-fry with grains; frozen sauces; even frozen berries! Now there’s less stress when I’m on the run—I simply defrost and warm one of my wholesome, organic, homemade “Fast Food” meals, and I’m eating well in a pinch. Just another step in Kicking the Habit of letting my values slide when I’m in a rush.

We started by selecting our ingredients. While in the name of expediency, we went to a standard brewery supply place, I’d highly recommend checking out the Seven Bridges Co-op. They are the largest (and possibly the only) organic brewing supplier on the net, and they have a tremendous amount of resources on their website, including detailed instructions. Anyway, the ingredients you need are relatively simple: barley malt, hops, yeast, and water.

We decided to try doing a Stout, and so we got the proper types of malt and hops (brewing supply houses will be able to tell you what combinations of ingredients will produce your desired results). The actual preparation is relatively easy: you put your barley malt in a mesh bag and boil it for 30 minutes- kind of like a gigantic tea bag- and then add hops and the malt extract and keep it boiling for an hour or so.

After this process is over comes the yeast. The yeast is perhaps the most crucial ingredient in turning your wort (the hops/malt/water mixture) into beer. First, you have to allow the wort to cool, so as not to harm the little yeasties, and then you “pitch” the yeast, which merely means putting it in the container with the wort. The yeast then initiates a surge of reactions: it converts sugar into alcohol, and with such an abundance of sugar (provided by the malt), it undergoes a population explosion.

Of course, as I learned the hard way, if temperature in your slowly brewing beer is too high (78 degrees or higher) the yeast will quite literally explode, spewing out the top of your container and all over the ceiling, floor, and countertop. I arrived home one day after work to find a virtual geyser of foam bursting several feet into the air. We’ll see how this affects the beer.

I’ll post an update in a couple of weeks, after bottling and further fermentation. If all goes well, we'll have 2 cases of tasty stout. If not, we'll have 2 cases of sweet bitter water. Either way, a learning experience, and another step forward in simplifying my food supply.

Its become something of a crusade of mine to eliminate plastic shopping bags from my life. The first and most important way to crush the scourge of the plastic bags is to bring your own bags. Canvas bags of all sizes, colors, and configurations are available commercially, and at your local thrift store. There are also convenient folding models available that will stash very small somewhere. Many people attempt to sew their own, which would be a good way of ensuring humane labor (your own), and sustainable fabrics.

It's vital to keep a supply of durable bags in the car– it is even more vital to remember to bring them into the store, however! And furthermore, because you will inevitably forget to bring them in, you must have a willingness to run out to your car to fetch the bags before (or after) checking out.

Sometimes, for whatever reason, I don't have my canvas bags around. These times are when one must be the most vigilant. The people dispensing plastic bags at stores are truly passionate about their cause. They really want you to take home your goods in a plastic bag! "Oh, no bag please," you'll say at first. Then you'll see them reach for a bag anyway. "Please, I don't want any plastic bags," you must insist. And then finally, when they make that last deseperate attempt to foist a bag upon you, you must grab your items and walk away. Quizzical looks inevitably will follow, but you can walk proud in the knowledge that you just introduced one fewer plastic shopping bag into our world.

One final note: when you do get broadsided with a plastic bag affront, and you end up with them in your home, do not fret. They can easily fill a number of uses. We've ceased purchasing any garbage bags, just using plastic shopping bags now. I wrap my home-made bread in them (which is nice because it lets the bread breathe), pack my lunches in them, even use them as a cutting board in a pinch. I keep a small stash of them in my car to reuse them, and also to collect garbage.

We must end the tyranny of plastic shopping bags in our world– if we don't use them or accept them, they will no longer exist!

external link: Stop Plastic Bags

Reusable Filters

I first started greening my coffee by addressing how I make it. I prefer to use a coffee maker, which generates a small amount of trash daily—coffee filters. First, a few years ago, I switched to unbleached filters. I thought that this was an important step forward. However just this year, I’ve switched to a permanent filter. Now I don’t produce garbage at all!

There are two types of permanent filters: Steel and Gold. The stainless steel type are less expensive, and are treated in such a way as to not transfer a metallic taste. What exactly this treatment is, I could not find out, so I decided to go with Gold. Gold filters are made from 23-karat gold plated stainless steel. The gold keeps the filter from transferring a metallic taste, and they are made with an extra fine mesh to keep grounds out of your coffee. I’ve been using mine for 3 months now—that’s 90 fewer disposable coffee filters in the garbage!

Selecting the Bean

The more obvious way to limit one’s environmental impact with coffee is in selecting your beans. Coffee production in our modern world has spawned a variety of environmental problems: clear-cutting the rain forest; polluting the areas near plantations due to waste products; habitat loss of birds and other fauna due to increase production; not to mention incredible amounts of pesticides used in production.

Proposed solutions for the aforementioned problems abound. It’s common to hear phrases like Fair Trade and Shade Grown tossed around. Organic coffee eliminates the pesticide problem. My local coffee shop imports Fair Trade, Shade Grown, Organic coffees which they then roast themselves.

While I’ve increased the amount that I spend on coffee exponentially (a pound of Folger’s costs a couple of bucks, a pound of the good stuff is more like $12), I feel good taking that first sip of the day: because of the rush of caffeine to my brain but also because I know I’m reducing my footprint each and every morning.

I have long fallen prey to the “disposable clothing” phenomenon (NYT via Treehugger), buying clothes as absolutely cheap as possible. And of course, they fall apart rapidly. However, while Wal-Mart and Madison Avenue are not moving quickly towards sustainable clothing, there is a large movement towards shifting our manufactured clothing supply to use sustainable materials.

Organic Cotton

A few weeks ago I needed some new undershirts, and decided to go organic. There are a variety of manufacturers out there (see the organic cotton directory); I ended up going with Maggie’s Organics, due to their commitment to 100% organic cotton, as well as their utilization of fair trade in manufacturing their clothes. The shirts were certainly more than the disposable kind at Wal-Mart (13.95 for one shirt, rather than $10 for 3), but the payoff was great. The shirt is actually more comfortable than the bleached, poor-quality shirts I used to buy, and it can be worn with pride.

There are many other materials that are alternatives to plain old cotton. Of course the two conventional alternatives to cotton are wool and polyester. However, to me I feel that both of these fabrics have their own issues: wool is not always gathered in the most humane of ways (and sheep can be particularly environmentally destructive) and polyester is made of petroleum products. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find sustainable alternatives to the traditional wool and polyester (Patagonia utilizes recycled polyester for their clothes, and there is a humane wool movement). But there are two other fabrics that I’ve tired out: hemp and bamboo.

Hemp and Bamboo

Hemp clothing is widely available (see a list of hemp clothing retailers http://www.greenpeople.org/Hemp.html ) and has proven to be far more durable than conventional cotton clothing. I get my hemp from Patagonia , who make very nice hemp shirts and pants. Hemp also has the benefit of being typically a looser weave, so that it keeps me cooler in the hot desert sun.

Bamboo clothing is just starting to move into the forefront of the alternative clothing world. Bamboo is a very fast growing plant, which also takes in five times the amount of CO2 of an equivalent stand of trees (benefits of bamboo), and can be spun into fabric. I got a Bamboo shirt from Kavu—the fabric is tough but supple, and does not wrinkle much. There are lots of other bamboo retailers out there if you search for them.

All decked out in my sustainable clothes, I feel like I’ve made a small stab at changing the way I dress myself, and the impact what I purchase has on the earth. While it will be some time before I can say I have a sustainable wardrobe, buying some organic, hemp, and bamboo clothing is a small start towards a better world.

What I’m trying to do is eliminate foods that have unpronounceable or artificial ingredients, are heavily processed before they reach our kitchen, or in general are made from stuff that I wouldn’t normally stock in my pantry.

To start off with a new way of eating, it’s necessary to have a store of base ingredients with which to make good food. I wanted to purchase a large amount of food in bulk. And I mean serious bulk. 50 pounds of organic wheat flour, 40 pounds of organic pasta (yes, pasta is processed—but we’re not superheroes! We have to start somewhere), 5 gallons of olive oil, 25 pounds of organic quinoa, etc.

Advantages Of Bulk

Less dough. Buying in bulk can definitely save money. For example: one 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans at the store costs about $1. Bought in bulk, five pounds of dry garbanzo beans costs $10. However, one pound of dry garbanzo beans will yield roughly 3 pounds wet (which is how you buy them in the can), yielding a 50% discount. And that’s not including water weight!

Less trash. Purchasing in bulk rather than individual portions cuts way down on packaging. Rather than generating fifteen cans with those garbanzo beans, I’ve generated one large paper bag. Buying ten pounds of pasta at once yields a packaging savings of about one-tenth (plus there’s no little plastic window on the bulk pasta box).

Less crap. And finally, it helps me keep track of exactly what I’m putting in my body. Canned garbanzo beans also have (in addition to the beans) water, salt, citric acid, and disodium EDTA. Now, I’m not sure what disodium EDTA is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not something I regularly sprinkle on my food.

Bringing It On Home

We got in touch with a natural foods distributor, and placed the order. A few hundred bucks and a long haul up the stairs later, there I was with several hundred pounds of food trying to figure out what part of my home to co-opt into a bulk pantry.

Storage is something to consider. Large plastic totes seem to be the best option, as they are relatively airtight and will prevent spoilage. However, some items like dried beans, couscous, or quinoa do not need to be stored in an airtight container: because they are dry they will last years in a cardboard box or shopping bag (provided they don’t get wet).

You can more than likely place a bulk food order through your local co-op or health food store. Simply ask at the counter about when and how they place their orders, take a look at a catalog with them and make your order. They may want a commission on it, which is reasonable, but if you’re friendly or friends you could just get in on wholesale prices. (Note: larger chain-stores like Whole Foods or Wild Oats may be less likely to let you get in on an order.)

Having a large cache of base ingredients is an essential step in making one’s food supply greener. Moving closer to the source can save money, cut down on packaging, and give you a greater awareness of what it is that you are eating. Now all that’s left to do is to think up as many different ways of cooking 50 pounds of pinto beans as I can!

Changing The Way I Recreate

Each day off that I have, I go through the same ritual of “driving-recreating-driving back home”. This is particularly ironic in my case, as I live in an area surrounded by wild lands: a National Park, a National Forest, BLM land, and two private Preserves all lie within ten miles of my home. So why on earth do I consume hundreds of gallons of gas a year driving to the farthest flung spots on the map so that I can get my dose of the wild while I recreate?

I can no longer justify this. The poet Gary Snyder once said, “Being a member of a place is to be in a relationship.” This week, I decided to begin to enter more fully into that relationship. To know the ecosystem in which I live, to know its rhythms and cycles, and to truly be a member of my place.

Learning About a Different Kind of Wild

This has produced a number of interesting encounters. On Monday, I headed south of town, toward a small peak I can see from my bedroom window. I had a bit of a run-in with a pack of howling, snarling, barking dogs whose owners presumably know that they are on the loose, but are happy for the protection. Just yesterday, I had my partner Sam drop me off on her way to work, and I hiked up a long canyon and ridge to get back home. Passing through a homeless encampment and an illegal trash dump proved a slight diversion from my normal wild-lands experience; but ending my hike with a cold beer out of my refrigerator (rather than a 3 hour drive home) was rewarding.

Another day I headed up a quite steep peak just across the highway from my home—up through juniper and scrub oak I scrambled, with a stiff wind howling down from the higher mountain range to the west. After topping out on the ridge and enjoying the view, I started to blast down the hillside toward town. My descent was little more than a controlled fall, and before I knew it I was stumbling into someone’s backyard. They happened to be out that morning, hanging up their laundry. And there I was, clad in rain gear (to block the wind), a balaclava, and big sunglasses, looking like some kind of deranged REI-Storm Trooper.

Find Resources for Yourself

Depending on where you live, there are a variety of local resources. If you live near federal land, get in touch with your local BLM Office or National Forest for more information on public lands near you. In places somewhat less wide-open, State, County, or City Parks or lands can provide close-to-home options for recreation. Land Trusts can also provide you with info on local areas to get outdoors and have fun.

All in all, shifting the focus of my recreation from far-flung to closer-in has had a positive impact on my life so far. I’m spending less time in the car, and more time outdoors. I’m using a fraction of the gas I would otherwise use. And I’m getting to know the place that I live in (feral dogs and all) much better than I did before.

Editor's note: Green Options' newest blogger, Patrick Donnelly, will be sharing his experiences as he and his partner attempt to "green" and simplify their lives. We're very happy that Patrick has joined us!

If one is to judge by the collective “buzz” of our society—newsmedia, blogs, at the coffee shop, over our wiretapped telephones—it’s a pretty bleak world out there. Iraq and Iran, big oil and climate change, E. coli and GMOs… it can really start to get you down, if you let it. Long, sprawling conversations over the state of our culture and our planet so often end with the throwing up of hands, “Bah! Forget it! We’re all screwed anyway.”

But it’s hard to live that way. How can I go through my day, feeling like the work I do is meaningful and the Earth I’m living on is being made better by my actions, if I’m utterly convinced that it’s all going to go down in flames within my lifetime? My mother once told me the Adlai Stevenson quote, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” at the end of one such conversation. And I guess that summed up something that I felt but couldn’t quite put into words for the past few years. That is, while I’m thoroughly despondent over the apparent fate of our civilization, I am by nature a hopeful person, and I need to be able to express that in my life.

Kicking the Habit

So late last year, my partner Sam and I made the conscientious decision to start living a simpler life. That’s it. No mottos, no credos, no pacts or rules. Just to live in an intentional way, being conscious of each and every lifestyle decision we make, and its potential ramifications to our earth, to other people, and to ourselves.

There are many stories out there about buying nothing for a day, zero consumption for a year, and so on. While I feel that these are all admirable efforts, they are not necessarily for me. I’m not looking to temporarily change my habits. I’m also not looking to so radically change my life that I can no longer get on as I normally would. I am a person of relatively limited income, who has to hold down a relatively normal job. I feel that many others out there may be able to benefit by hearing of my successes and failures, and the lessons that I learn along the way.

And so we set off! I foresee many challenges ahead (have you ever tried making your own nasal decongestant?), but I am also looking forward to decreasing my footprint, increasing my quality of life, and lighting a candle in the face of the chilling darkness that can come from living in our doomed world.