Day 1, On the Move

I'm on this Waste Not Journey with Amy. We discussed this over the phone and decided to make it happen for ourselves and whoever else was excited about seeing what it means for them. I realized that Lent, and thus my [official] quest for less waste, would start while I was out of town at a conference. I tried to plan accordingly--I took plastic containers for restaraunt leftovers and some of my own snacks and food. (Back home later, I again took plastic containers to a restaraunt and someone mentioned that it took too much time to do such things. I contended that it's more a matter of habit than time--I have long been in the habit of taking cloth shopping bags to the store. Taking containers to restaraunts is just a habit that I need to make regular and it won't seem difficult to remember or do.)

Temptation hit on the first day, however. At REI, we were offered free snacks from their collection: protein bars, trail mix, etc. I was hungry and a snack would have been nice but I walked over to the snack area without much hope. Sure enough, nothing was wrapped in anything other than throw away packaging, so I regretfully declined. A ray of hope: REI is aiming to be a no-landfill waste company by 2010 (I think I have the date correct) and they seem to be taking great steps toward that. They work with companies that supply them to help them design better packaging (i.e., less of it and recyclable). That's exciting!

More later--I share the public restroom/paper towel dilemna with Amy and my latest dilemna is cheese. Must I really do without it for 40 days?

Becky