I thought of you all when skiing yesterday. At the lunchroom/lodge at top of ski lift, there was a sign directing people to leave their trays on the counter and let staff sort it out. Goal of Zero by 2030 on waste. Not sure they will get there, but nice to see the efforts.
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Hopefully those aren’t styrofoam containers on the counter.
Paper for sure. 
Sorting out waste streams is my biggest pet peeve!! How come highly intelligent folks, many of whom have doctorate degrees, can’t figure out that soda cans do NOT belong in garbage, and styrofoam (ugh!!) doesn’t belong in compostables bin. Argh 
!!
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I wish our small community would have recycling. We have to drive 40+ miles for recycling bins. One thing I do is use foaming hand soap. I have had several from Dial that I have had for 10 years. I simply put a small amount of liquid soap, fill the container up with water and shake. With only 2 of us, a large liquid soap lasts over a year. It is so inexpensive.
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Not styrofoam. But not sure if the paper/cardboard is compostable. This is at the top of the ski slope, no takeout. Hopefully over time they can switch to plated burgers. They now use plastic and glass water glasses. I suspect though that water supply currently limited at mountain top. For one of my breaks, I used my small pocket flask to save washing a glass - silliness I know.
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Styrofoam is wrongly demonized as is nuclear power. It has very little material in a styrofoam product compared to any other containers. A paper cup could be far more polluting than a styrofoam.
When a paper cup blows onto our property it can be put into one of our decomposition holes and it will decompose. When anything styrofoam blows onto our property it will neither decompose, nor is it recyclable. It has to go to the dump and live there forever.
And last I knew, hot foods/drinks in styrofoam cause leaching into the foods - not something I, personally, want happening in my foods for my health. To each our own on that.
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I think we’d all agree that reusable containers are preferable where possible.
I loved hearing a niece talk about how her campus is trying to reduce waste. For outdoor events,students bring their own mess kits.
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Recycled or composted and job is done? Where did the paper come from to make the paper cup? If one recycles or composts, does that tree come to alive? Is cutting down a tree better so as not to produce minuscule chemical for a styrofoam cup? We need to look at the overall picture from start to finish.
A tree, that once cut down for use is almost always replanted with another in today’s tree farming.
And the oil to make the styrofoam? How is that replaced?
Yes, we need to look at the overall picture from start to finish. That’s the point of caring for our planet.
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I will say this. Hopefully our kids (and theirs) will have grown up with some of these trash reduction tips in place. Recycling, compost, more sustainable products, etc. “Saving the plant” will be a little more second nature to them.
But also let’s be honest. At different times of life we have varying degrees of time - and perhaps resources ($) to dedicate to the process. As a retired person or empty nester “we” may have lots of time/resources to think through, set up systems, make it happen. If I think back to 25 years ago when I was working, taking care of 3 children w/H alone (no relatives nearby to help), I’m gonna do what I can but my bandwidth is probably more limited.
But as I said, hopefully those under 40 today have some habits that are second nature because they grew up with recycling cans, awareness of garbaging the earth.
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Yea, hopefully. My kids really never resisted seat belts or bike helmets. It was just part of their childhood. Funny story - my neighbor and I used to have our kids wear their “motorcycle helmets” when on their tricycles. There was minimal risk of falling, but oh how they like to mimic the motorcycles that passed on the street).
For those curious about paper vs styrofoam there are MANY discussions online. This one is admittedly biased (makes styrofoam recycling equip) but makes some good points.
Another view
It seems like the best option (if disposable is needed) would be biodegradable or compostable cups. Not sure that now affordable / available they are.
For really green people like my youngest, this is why he resists either and will carry his own mug with him or go without if a place won’t fill it and wants to use something disposable.
All three of my kids are far more environmentally aware than either H or I were at their age and two of the three put it more into practice than H or I do now TBH. We’re the “old fogies” catching up to them.
At school I see a combo among the teen set. Most care, but certainly not all, and the level of how much they care varies a lot. Having their own reusable water bottle is the most common trait I see. It helps that our school installed refilling machines and got rid of the old water fountains.
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We are considering a refilling machine at church lobby. (When there is a downtown outdoor event, sometimes we open up the restrooms to the public. Also have water dispensers to refill water bottles and dog dishes, but it’s a pain to arrange.) Glad to hear they have them in schools.
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During our son’s first year at Choate, the school opened the Koehler Environmental Center which hosts its Environmental Immersion Program, “a year-long residential and interdisciplinary program open to juniors and seniors who have a passion for understanding and preserving our natural environment.”
Some of the environmentally advanced design features of the LEED Platinum KEC include:
- A one-acre, 296-kilowatt ground-mounted photovoltaic (solar) array that provides 100% of the KEC’s energy demand.
- A rooftop solar evacuated tube system that provides hot water for residents.
- A research greenhouse that provides a computer-controlled environment in which students, faculty, and visiting scholars can conduct experiments.
- Supplemental heat is supplied by burning biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil.
- The closed-loop, ground-source heat pump (geothermal) system includes twenty-five, 450 food deep vertical wells.
- The KEC Sustainable Food Project is based in the southernmost field of the center. The gardens and orchard are tended using methods of organic agriculture and permaculture. The food produced in the gardens is used in the KEC kitchen and students study the complex issues around food production.
Although our son did not opt for the year-long residency, he (and every student) benefited from the KEC sustainability principles implemented throughout the entire campus. At some level, it even became humorous, “I hope you plan to recycle those exams once you’re done taking them.” You can’t be on that campus for ten minutes without knowing where its environmental values lie, and students begin to participate in reuse/recycle/eliminate waste from day one.
I would like to say that these principles have stuck with him but, by the end of his time there, he did feel a bit chafed by the requirements and restrictions. His life now is more moderate, but he is not ignorant of his choices.
ETA: Choate opted to use the donation funds to build the center rather than the golf course that was initially planned.
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It seems like there are 3 categories, varies by person. (some of my own examples in parenthesis).
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Willing to do (added Compost/yard waste bin to our plan) or have always done (finding “good homes” for giveaway items, to keep out of landfill)
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No Thank You (reusable toilet paper)
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Potential changes (I’m trying to use cloth napkins, at least some of the time…. still not a total convert, but coming around to the idea).
I like to read what others are doing, particularly if it gets me thinking on that last category.
And honestly sometimes my decisions are a compromise. I still buy Sam’s stuffed peppers in aluminum pans (which I reuse or recycle). But instead of putting foil on top I cover with another old pan turned upside down. Foil is recyclable, but it seems better to reserve for times where there is not an easy workaround. Cheaper too.
I think most people who are cognizant of and care about environmental issues try to do the best they can in whatever way they can. We all make tradeoffs and I try to do the best I can. One of the things I started doing about 5-6 years ago was to get rid of plastic storage bags. I now use brown paper bags or wax sandwich bags and have every imaginable size and type of glass storage container so that I can keep leftovers and not resort to Ziplock!!! I recycle as much as I can, but I have relatives in the recycling business who say that signal stream recycling actually gets recycled but when you have mixed recycling (cans and plastic together), recycling doesn’t really happen. It’s confusing to know the right thing to do. I keep recycling. We drive our cars for a very long time (my current vehicale is 2009 model wIth 200K miles–my mechanic tells me I can keep it going for another 25K). I’ll get an EV then because that will work for me.
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I wrote earlier about my city’s proposed fee for plastic bags (don’t know what happened to that proposal, as its sponsor is no longer on city council). One of the many speakers in favor of it had relocated from another part of the state (that has a plastic bag tax/fee). She said that she didn’t like minors to participate in her organized trash cleanups, because it was discouraging.
?! That makes no sense to me. Why shouldn’t kids see all the trash/plastics/etc. that people carelessly toss? It’s not as if they don’t do the same thing! I think they buy drinks/snacks when they are out more than many adults. And I don’t think they care what kind of container it’s in, and many don’t care if they carelessly toss it away.
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I do think it’s good for kids to see roadside trash.
Long ago I picked up trash as part of a youth group service project. Wow, so many trash bags of litter! (We just left them alongside the road, and at the end a big flat bed truck came around picking us up and the bags along the way. It had an impact.
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Trash pickup/cleanup is a perfect activity to get those required service hours that so many schools and organizations require.
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