We do we always go overboard with our packaging? This is insanity. This small printer ink cartridge is requiring 3 pieces of packaging plus a hard plastic cover over the cartridge itself. This cartridge could have easily been sold in ONE package. Doesn't this cost the manufacturer more money too?? It is wasteful and sorta counterproductive to the bottom line. It is a win win to include less packaging.
I come from an oyster lovin’ family. My mom eats a couple dozen oysters every Sunday. My mother in law can inhale a bushel in an hour. Oysters even got my marriage off to a rocky start ( ha ha get it, rocky). We had a small beach wedding with a few guests. The next day we had a wedding after-party where we invited everyone else. We had to have oysters of course, and my husband and his buddy ended up missing half the party on their hunt for oysters since our standby seafood market was fresh out. Everyone was a little worried when he didn’t show up, thinking that the marriage only lasted a couple hours and Mike was fleeing the scene. He eventually showed up with two bushels of oysters and it was worth it. It was a small sacrifice to make so that everyone could enjoy some oysters.
So why the hell am I writing about oysters again? I’m sure my family and I aren’t helping the fact that oysters are over harvested. The east coast supply is dwindling due to over harvesting and pollution. Oysters are not only tasty treats, but they also help filter all the crud that is in the ocean and are a vital part of the eco-system. So in a way, I am helping filter the ocean by eating the snot that makes up an oyster. Thin logic I know, but I want to feel better about my un-sustainable oyster consumption.
Hopefully I won’t feel very bad for long since there is a very green innovation taking place to help combat our declining oyster supply. One really smart marine biologist has come up with a solar-powered oyster reef. It creates a chemical reaction in the water (limestone deposits) that attracts oyster colonies. Oysters will now be setting up shop on these artificially stimulated reefs. I can see the branding strategy now…. solar powered oysters.
Not a day goes by where you don’t hear about some kind of animal attack on humans. The animal kingdom has been launching their assault by land for some time. You always hear about a bear attack, but anteaters? I mean they don’t even have teeth.
Now the animal kingdom is taking their revolt to the seas. The first line of infantry was the predatory shark. They were happy picking off surfers and giving me anxiety attacks anytime I paddle out. It is their house you playing in, so I guess we have it coming. Well now the formerly friendly dolphin is in on the action. Just recently a dolphin jumped into a boat and killed a woman. Apparently stingrays have been in on this strategy for a while, jumping into boats and barbing unsuspecting boaters. Mackerels are even trying to join the assault by jumping into boats but they just end up smacking people around. I don’t blame them one bit. We are just dumping tons of waste into their homes and they aren’t going to take it anymore. Think about it. Everything that we put down the drain, eventually ends up in the ocean. Everything that goes in the storm drain ends up in the ocean. So don't be surprised next time you are enjoying a couple drinks on your boat and dolphin comes by and smacks you in the face.
I really hate that we are even thinking about drilling offshore even more than we are already. Hurricane Ike took out 52 platforms in the gulf and damaged 32 more. Why put more platforms in vulnerable locations? I completely agree that we need to get off of foreign oil, no doubt. Drilling offshore is not the answer to our problems. It has been proven that this not going to benefit us for at least 20 more years.
So why bother. Why should we spend even more money than we already do on building and continuing our oil addiction? We can easily spend that money on alternate energy sources and have a quicker impact. I'm not sure where this rhetoric has sprung up that alternate energy is going to take way to long to catch on while we need a solution NOW. It has been proven that there is not going to be an immediate solution ( i.e oil drilling is going to take some time) Oil prices are based on speculation not actual supply. If oil producers see the rise in alternate energy sources and interests, prices will drop accordingly. When investments and tax incentives start appearing, the producers and consumers will respond. Case in point is the current advancement of solar and alternate technology. I read something almost daily on the latest and greatest "green" breakthrough. As money and interest is getting funneled into these initiatives, the technology advances exponentially.The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently did a detailed study of the likely outcome of offshore drilling for their Annual Energy Outlook 2007, “Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Lower 48 Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).” The sobering conclusion:
The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.
And the impact of the projected 7% (!) increase in lower-48 oil production that might result in 2030 thanks to opening the OCS is … wait for it …
… any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.
Mike really got his green on today! First he told me he put some bricks in the toilets. I thought he meant something else.... He was trying to use less water in the tank by having the brick raise the water level. I think he is trying to make some kind of compromise since he hates my "if it's yellow let it mellow" practice. I get it it, but I'm not going to stop. Then he was sooo sweet to run to Walgreens to grab me some popcorn. He came back with some eco-friendly loot. Recycled notebooks, some biodegradable dish soap and didn't use a plastic bag to carry it. I was so excited and amazed I had to document it. Hell has frozen over, my muscle car loving airplane mechanic is going green people!!!!
We have replaced the plastic bag with trendy reusable bags, lets do the same thing with Styrofoam to-go boxes. Going back to my old post on bringing Tupperware with you out to dinner as opposed to using Styrofoam. If you are a treehugger, you know how it feels to have to put your leftovers in those styrofoam boxes. A little piece of me dies inside. I went to Target to see if there were any collapsible containers that you could easily fit into your purse ( sorry dudes, I guess you could rock a man bag?). I didn't really find anything, so I jumped online, because I remember Rubbermaid had come out with a collapsible container. They market it as a handy space saver, but I think they could re-brand it and market it to us treehuggers. I am going to reach out to their marketing team and see if we can start an underground blog buzz movement. Maybe they will think I am nuts, or maybe I can get some free collapsibles for my fellow green bloggers. If you are already in the habit of carrying around your reusable bags, then what is one more thing? I mean come on, don't be a baby about it?
Since I work at a blog marketing company, it would be really cool to get Rubbermaid to send free collapsibles to some of our bloggers. We can then have the bloggers video the reactions of the wait staff and fellow diners. Bloggers will start posting their experiences on their blogs, and then we have ourselves a real compelling story to start using collapsibles in a new eco-friendly way. Rubbermaid could even make a fun compilation of all the vids (I'm sure there will be some funny reactions) and get a sweet commercial out of the deal.
I want to include a video of me at dinner, putting my leftovers in a collapsible but I can't find them anywhere around me( that is a hint to Rubbermaid to send me some swag :) As soon as I get one in my hand I'll post a video.
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