What to Do with Doggie Doo?

I learned something today! Always a good day when that happens. While green cleaning, and listening to one of my favorite Podcasts from Itunes, "The Dog Trainer's Quick and Dirty Tips", Episode 008, I was suprised to learn about the environmental impact of our poochies poo!

Now, I had actually considered the fact that picking up dog poo with plastic bags and then throwing it in the trash probably wasn't the greenest way to do it. I mean, I could just imagine my dog's poop being forever "preserved" in a landfill somewhere and it gave me the creeps. So...I was thrilled when I found these biodegradable doggie bags at a pet store. They were pricey, considering their job, but I figured I needed to make this change.

Then "The Dog Trainer" explained how to decide what to do with the poo. In summary, she says that if your trash goes to a traditional landfill, it will be buried in an anaerobic environment and will not break down, likely, in our lifetime. Therefore, if I plan to throw the poo in the trash, and this is where it goes, there is no point in using those expensive "biodegradeable" bags that simply won't break down in a landfill, because virtually nothing does. And, of course, using regular plastic bags doesn't help things either. Why am I going to use a petroleum-based product for a task as remedial as handling doggie doo? Also, should the landfill fail to be air tight/water tight, the bacteria from the feces could escape into our ground water. Yuck! So, what are greener and safer options?

According to The Dog Trainer, if you have a backyard, you may be able to incorporate it into your composte and use on non-food plants in your yard. However, you have to check with local ordinances to see if this is even allowed. The simplest, best way (and I could kick myself for not thinking of it) is to do the same thing with the dog poo as we'd do with our own - FLUSH IT down the toilet. Use common sense, and not too much at once and not the petrified (hardened) stuff. You can use trash paper or a scooper to pick it up and toss it in the bowl. The toilet water goes to a waste treatment plant meant for handling this kind of waste, without harming the environment or the health of the community.

Greener Grocery Shopping - at Aldi's

Aldi Food Stores are a different kind of grocery shopping experience. Growing in popularity, they offer "select brand" instead of "national brand" groceries at deeply discounted prices. You can save up to 50% on your grocery bill, shopping at Aldi. As well, you will find it to be a "greener" way to shop because of the way an Aldi store operates.

Here are some tips for shopping at Aldi:

First of all - BRING A QUARTER. The shopping carts are outside the store, linked together buy a chain and a lock that will only open when you put in a quarter. Don't worry! You get your quarter back when you take the cart back and lock it back up. This eliminates the need for employees to fetch carts in the parking lot.

Secondly - BRING YOUR OWN BAGS! As you shop you may pick up emptied boxes from around the store to use (similar to Costco) and you can purchase bags at the checkout, if you forgot to bring your own. They have paper bags, heavy-duty handled plastic bags, and the popular fabric "green" bags for sale. The price for paper and plastic is nominal; I think it was 6 cents a bag at my store. But, we greenies like to bring our own bags anyway, and it is refreshing to find a store that encourages the practice.

Third - DON'T GO NUTS! It is easy to get carried away, when you notice how extremely low many of the prices are, and end up running out to get a second cart! They aren't going anywhere! Take a list the first time, to help with self-control.

Fourth - Find out when your local store gets it's weekly shipment. This is the day the special items of the week get in, as well as they will have the most grocery items in stock. The weekly special items can go fast. This information is available on their website.

I think I am about Aldi's biggest fan. I actually discovered it many years ago, but have not always lived near one. I am happy to find there are 18 Aldi stores in Maryland, and one that I know of in nearby Hanover, PA.

Visit the Aldi Foods website to learn more about what they offer, and find a store near you. http://www.aldifoods.com/. Have fun, and shop smarter!

Garlic Shrimp Pasta Salad

A favorite recipe of mine for summer:

Garlic Shrimp Pasta Salad

2 1/2 cups dry macaroni
1 6 oz. can tiny shrimp or 1 cup cooked small shrimp (the smaller the better)
3 tbsp. olive-oil based mayonnaise
1 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. cooking white wine
2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tbsp. chopped garlic (ready made, packed in olive oil)
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a large glass mixing bowl. (No added salt is required, as the Old Bay and the cooking wine are salty.) Drain pasta and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Add to the dressing in the mixing bowl and stir until combined. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to allow flavors to combine.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Beverages to Go - Greener Choices

The greenest way to have your favorite beverage to-go is to make a big batch and use your own portable beverage containers (thermos, aluminum bottle, plastic if you must). If you stock up on a enough of these containers you can make a big batch of your favorite drink, and pour into your ready containers, and keep on hand, ready to go, in your fridge. Excellent beverages for making in big batches are ice tea, sweet tea, green tea, lemonade, half fruit juice/half water (homemade flavored water!), iced coffee (mix in sugar and cream or flavored creamer while warm), but you can use anything that doesn't require carbonation as most portable containers don't do a very good job of keeping carbonation in.

Now, if you are not the perfect model of a "greenie" (very few people are) you will run into the occasional temptation to grab a drink on the go at a convenience store or grocery store. If you want to buy a convenient drink to go - what are your greener choices? For one thing, you could keep a few clean to go beverage containers in your car (with your green shopping bags, of course) and use the fountain drink machine. Most convenience stores allow you to bring your own drink container and often give you a discounted price on the beverage for doing so. You can also try doing this at fast food restaurants.

Sans drink container, my first choice is whatever I can find in an aluminum can. Aluminum cans, unlike plastic bottles, recycle readily and aluminum can be recycled over and over, infinitely, so I understand. Plastic bottles, even the types your recycling center will accept, have limited after-cycling uses, and plastic apparently breaks down into less usable product when recycled over and over. Another bonus to aluminum cans is that if you save them up and take a trip to your local metal recycling center a few times a year, you can get some cold hard cash for your aluminum. Keep a trash can just for collecting aluminum cans at home, and invest in a can crusher (saves a lot of time). Save up your cans until you have a sizable load, as heavier loads usually get a better payout price when you turn them in for cash.

I was about to blog about my frustration with finding something other than sodas, and sickeningly sweet beverages, available in aluminum cans. Then I had to make a quick trip to my local organic foods store for cleaning supplies, and noticed they carried quite a selection of more appealing, healthier beverages in cans. Fabulous! Now I can keep an assortment of sodas as well as healthier drinks on hand at home, grab and go when I need them, and save up the cans for some cool cash back. I like to use my can money to throw a little cook-out party in summer. Cost of admission? - BYOB, in cans! Thanks for your donation! ;-)

When it comes to recycling, glass bottles would be the next best choice, I believe. However, I don't see a huge come-back of this as I'd imagine shipping these would be a nightmare due to breakage. However, I would like to see it if it can be done. Also, retailers could start offering BYOC (bring your own container) beverage service. No waste! Much less packaging needed for the bulk beverage stations, and the large jugs or kegs, or whatever they use, can be sent back to the producer and cleaned and refilled over and over! I've heard of a few small retailers doing this, like out in California, but haven't found one in Maryland that I know of. If you know of anyone doing this, please let me know!

Thoughts? Comments? Any other ideas for greener alternatives for beverages on the go? I'd love to hear from you!

What happened to the milk man?

When I am pondering a better, greener way to accomplish something or to have something, I often find the simplest answers in old school ways of doing things. For example, what happened to the milk man? Before the plastic era, milk was delivered to homes in glass returnable bottles, by a local company, with milk from local farms. Fabulous idea! Could other beverages be added to this service, such as fruit juices? Fresh fruit juices and milk spoil quickly, and require frequent trips to the store in order to keep in stock at home. Wouldn't it make sense for a milk delivery service to plan out efficient routes for their drivers, reaching more homes, and ultimately requiring less fuel per beverage sold than all of those clients going out to get their milk and juice at a store? They'd do very well, fuel wise, with the use of electric or hybrid vehicles for delivery, as in stop-and-go driving these get the best milage. If I got wind of a local entreprenuer starting up such a business, I would likely be one of the first in line for this service. Any other ideas?