Went by the Utrecht art supplies store. Loose pencil (also china markers and colored pencils, in lieu of markers), gum erasers, metal rulers, gummed paper tape and a wide variety of paper supplies — all without additional plastic or extra packaging.
Which is why I think of the art stores as good office supplies stores.
OK: three posts in the last 2 years is a pretty poor result. I’ll try to do better.
Now some plastic reduction. I bought these brass brads to keep papers together. They’re fun and remind me of elementary school book reports and high school plays. Inexpensive, reusable and not a bit of plastic.
From the University of the District of Columbia:
“UDC Releases Bottled vs Tap Water Taste Test Results” (Green Living DC)
This photo, of any empty bottle water aisle in Washington, D.C. is a bit disappointing, if completely predictable.
My solution, based on more than a few times through a hurricane, is to keep a covered dutch oven full of water on the stove, the electric kettle full and a pitcher in the fridge. And I’ll doubt I’ll have to depend on those.
I also make sure all the outstanding dishes and clothes are washed. (Clean clothes are no substitute for a shower should there be a real shutdown, but it does make making-do happier.)
Be safe.
And by good swag I mean promotional goods not made of plastic, and are actually well-designed and useful things that I will actually use.
One is a cotton tote bag with a cute graphic. The other is a glass water bottle. The glass water bottle has what appears to be a silicone thread and was packed in a box with — headslap! — bubblewrap. But I’ll ignore the one and reuse the other. It makes tap water cute, and that’ll be an appeal that saves plastic bottles. So not perfect, but good quality and not prone to be pitched.
Got these at a launch of new Google tools for nonprofits, so a link is only fair. (Overseas nonprofits, too.)
Worth reading.
“How D.C. Beat the Plastic Bag Lobby” by Lauren Markoe. (OneEarth.org, November 11, 2010)
Those who know me personally know I’m trying to learn Esperanto. Here’s a good reason!
Ne trinku botelakvon!
That is, “I don’t need plastic bottles” and “Don’t drink bottled water!”
Good news today for D.C water. It’s often reviled for having poor quality and worse taste; indeed, I get kidded for bypassing the office filter for the tap. But in a blind taste test, the local tap just beat bottled water and many people have no opinion. (My thought, cold water will beat tepid water, whatever the source.)
Beth Terry — she of Fake Plastic Fish — is speaking at BlogHer this weekend. Congratulations!
But what drew my attention to this was a thread of basic advice for reducing convention plastic waste through her Twitter feed. I was already primping for “bring your own badge holder” but her “Water bottles are great, but mugs are more versatile!” tweet is that amazing mix of plainly obvious and really useful.
So be sure to follow both her blog and Twitter feed.
Good D.C. news: MOM’s Organic, a small D.C.-based grocery chain is giving up on bottled water.
Details from the Washington Post, via Tapit.
