| (Green)Grounded |
| Green Grounded. Ashley Sue’s adventures o’ Green. |
FYI, flowers are lovely and all, but incredibly eco-unfriendly. Particularly when you’re talking the scale of the Rose Bowl Parade. Doubting they are grown with much concern for toxins, not to mention the global transport for these flowers. I have no doubt by refusing to watch the parade I am making a difference, too.
Meh.
Oh yeah, and HAPPY 2010! I’m thirty now!
Sustainably yours,
Ashley Sue
Feeling trapped in plastic, much like this poor couple, I came to a new stance for Marc’s and my wedding (and sanity).
Somehow, when I Googled “Plastic-free wedding”, I found nothing, though I figured all the overlay of eco-concern and weddings would naturally have had a blog or something named this.
Anyhow, I am not going the route of creating a specific website and blog to this specific topic, but you will find posts regarding how I try to make my upcoming wedding friendlier to the Earth and our future. My first vow is to make my wedding as plastic-free as possible.
I have already been weighing the disposable plateware versus china rental conundrum. I think I am within a week’s decision on that one. How about everything else though?
The wedding industry (sometimes referred to as the WIC – Wedding Industrial Complex) is a complete craphole for useless, disposable, stuffs. Favors, decorations, hair goodies, foods, clothing, invitations, programs, and so much more. In fact, it feels that with each year, new crappy disposable things get tacked on to a new bride’s “must-have” list.
Like Save-the-Date cards (sadly referred to as STDs). Those used not to be at all. Now, not only do many brides feel they are mandatory, but the new thing is Save-the-Date magnets. I have received three from friends… and while they are actually cute, it feels weird to leave magnets of all my coupled friends on my fridge for years to come.
We are just bypassing wedding STDs completely. *chuckles*
Marc and I have not picked a church in which to marry, nor have a caterer, musician, or rentals in contract, so we have in no way started a registry. Frankly, I am not sure how I feel about wedding registries at all, but when speaking with my future sister-in-law, registering for plates and such popped up in conversation.
See, Marc’s twin brother is also planning a wedding to his longtime girlfriend (and no, we are not having a double wedding). Stacey is so excited about registering for Fiesta dinnerware, something I had never heard of or noticed. Her excitement regarding their quality and USA-made craftsmanship got me intrigued, though.
I checked out Fiesta dinnerware, and while it is very much not for me, I do like that it is made in America.
Which got me thinking, what other dinnerware companies are still made in America? Who knows… maybe I will register for plates.
I found a few interesting websites. Still Made in USA, Made In USA, and Americans Working all inspire me to research whatever we do choose to register for very carefully. Anything we can do to support Americans staying employed seems socially-conscious to me, since kitchenware is something we need anyhow.
No decisions on a company or style now though. We have much bigger concerns to tackle first.
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
As I try to plan a wedding, something which you think you can do until you are in the position to, and then realize you have zero experience in doing so and should not be given the privilege*, I am faced with yet another conundrum.
Do we use disposable dinnerware for the wedding reception, and what options are there besides plastic?
The whole thing arose when I told my Sis and Gramms over Thanksgiving that I did not know how much rental dinnerware would cost us, and Gramms suggested I could get pretty clear plastic plates from Walmart and probably save a bundle.
Yep, Gramma. I could save a bundle, but I edit and write articles about not doing exactly that. Using plastic plates just does not jam at all with who Marc and I are.** So, I thanked her for the suggestion but explained how that could not work for us.
I have noticed, however, that I am far from alone on this debate. Forum board after forum has brides talking about going plastic.*** Then again, many boards are slamming plastic.
Paper is getting slammed, too.
Enter Bambu Veneerware, made of 100% organically-grown bamboo. The products look chic enough, and I found Pink Argyle and Kirstin Endemann talking up the products.
I am thus torn between renting dinnerware, buying cute mismatch dinnerware I have to wash myself after the reception, or buying this Bambu Veneerware which is still stylish while being super easy to clean up after (plates only, not the bamboo utensils) and says it biodegrades in less than six months. Hmmm…
I really dug this post by Apartment Therapy where Kristen Lubbe debates this exact issue when it comes to hosting parties. I dig the honesty of questioning which to do, and where we (as environmentalist and social-conscious humans) should allow ourselves some forgiveness for accepting a little convenience over moral high-ground. But check out the tremendous slew of comments afterward, many bashing the author for not taking the route of renting or buying new dishes.****
So, suggestions? Feelings why you lean one way or another? Or what you would never do?
Let it fly… I have stuff to decide. And you know you would feel gratified and proven right if your comment is what sways my decision. 
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
*Who am I kidding?! I love this challenge! Nine and a half months left to figure it all out!
**Except plastic plates are cheap. Marc and I are cheap. :/ Cost, however, is not enough of a jam for us to forsake our ethics.
***I’m a honking big snob anyhow and just think plastic is tacky. I would avoid it however I could.
****Commenter Oneformybaby at November 23, 2009 11:25 pm really expresses my feelings regarding this Apartment Therapy post and the commenters with “i totally understand about the need to preserve our environment but why dont we stop attacking each other for trying to make our lives just a little less stressful and start putting our attention to where it really can make a difference. Its like telling someone they are horrible people for eating fast food once in a while! Sometimes, you just need a break!”
On October 8, 2009, North Carolina found itself amidst two conflicting news stories of a national caliber regarding technology manufacturing:
DELL is laying off 905 employees by January 2010. Boo.
CREE is creating nearly 600 jobs in the green tech LED industry. Yay!
On Wednesday, DELL announced they are closing the North Carolina plant in Winston Salem, laying off around 600 employees in November and retaining the last 300 employees until January 2010.
Well, a huge happy holidays to you and yours, courtesy of DELL.
For the record, I want to say how opposed I was about granting DELL any tax breaks, grants, and incentives back in 2005 when North Carolina leaned over and kissed their shiny hineys in order to get the plant here. Not that “I told you so” ever does any good, but I cannot help myself.
So, here we are, four years and two days after it opens, and they announce they are closing down and leaving a thousand families without income and burdening NC with more than $3 million added in unemployment spendings.
DELL says they will repay everything paid to them by the state of North Carolina. Hmmm… did Exxon not say the same thing 20 years ago regarding the Valdez?
On the other hand, Thursday afternoon, CREE (LED Technology) held a planned press conference to announce the creation of 275 North Carolina jobs before the end of 2009, and another 300 jobs by the end of 2012.
Yes, friends, that means North Carolina company CREE is manufacturing LED technology right here in our state, creating 575 jobs. Durham, yet another score for you!
Why do I support CREE? The North Carolina-based company has impressed me with their commitment to such a huge environmental undertaking from the beginning. Add to that how North Carolina State University has a role in CREE technology (a personal victory! They are so underrated), not to mention how our state, at 11% unemployment, needs a company who will invest in the educated and eager workforce in our state.
I support CREE because LED is significantly superior to CFL, which is known as the energy-friendly choice among mainstream America.
Bora and I were able to talk with CREE CEO Chuck Swoboda, Social Media Specialist Ginny Skalski, and Product Marketing Specialist Kyle Rogers. Here, Rogers walks us through a few of CREE’s current major products, as well as discusses with us a few future products for residential use.
If somehow are are asking yourself what LED and CFL light bulbs are, I wonder how you have missed that incandescent bulbs emit 80% or more energy on creating heat, thus creating an issue where you spend more money creating heat in your home than light, and then you have the costs of increasing air-cooling methods to counteract the heat in our sweltering NC summers.
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
For raw clips of the press conference with CREE CEO Chuck Swoboda and Governor Beverly Perdue, you can watch:
Part 1 (CEO Chuck Swoboda introducing CREE and green jobs announcement)
Part 2 (Governor Beverly Perdue)
Part 3 (CEO Chuck Swoboda talking LED as our future)
After a week hiatus, I will have some major major major posts coming about hunting, weddings, BPA, CREE and LED technology jobs, and more!
I do apologize that I took a little break. Marc and I are engaged. He proposed while we vacationed at North Carolina’s Outer Banks (Buxton), and all last week was time with our families telling them.
I did squeeze in an amazing press conference with CREE and NC Governor Bev Perdue regarding green technology jobs coming to NC, however, and I can’t wait to share some awesome video with you.
Plus, I have at least one BIG giveaway coming up from Earth Fare… and maybe some from other companies too.
Hugs and sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
As a vegetarian/vegan of over a decade, taking a hunting safety education course and trying deer meat were not things I saw myself doing.
Yet here I am.
For background, you should know that I have not eaten land animals in any capacity since 1996. Oh, except an episode of pepperoni under pizza cheese at my friend Mary’s 21st birthday. One bite into the slice and vomiting shortly commenced.
I largely gave up seafood, the love of my life, in 2003 upon reading Howard Lyman’s Mad Cowboy. This book propelled me into strict veganism for two years until I ate a cheese cube at a baby shower. I have struggled to return to strict veganism since.
I also have to let you know, as background, that Marc comes from a hunting family. The woods have always been Marc’s Dad’s sanctuary, and his connection with the food he feeds his family is one of deep understanding and respect. Marc announced two years ago that he wanted to join his father in the woods and give hunting a shot (pun possibly intended). This, you may have guessed, horrified me, concerned me, and best put, simply baffled me.
Fast forward to now. I see how much Marc, who has always adored nature and wildlife, feels more connected with the natural environment. I see how much more Marc connects with nature now. From the trees and soil that nourish the land, to the deer that navigate the land to raise their fawns, to the way the sunlight falls through the leaves onto the forest floor, Marc has become a nature detective. I also see how deeply bejiggity he gets when he is not regularly able to spend time on the land.
He also profoundly appreciates food more now than he ever had before. He knows how food gets to his plate, as he is a part of that process. From studying life, to deciding whether to “harvest” the animal (standard lingo, not his words), to actively dressing and preparing the animal and its meat for consumption, Marc sees, and is, the process.
Do I understand any of this? No. I do see, however, that hunting is not the barbaric, ignorant, cruel, animal-hating, big-man-with-a-big-gun act of uneducated backwoods folk I once regarded it as. Granted, a few hunters certainly fit that stereotype, but a few vigilante veganazis (my word choice) disgrace us all and leave people like myself to fight stereotypes of the paint-throwing, screaming, sometimes-hypocritical, always-self righteous, animals-mean-more-to-me-than-any-humans freak. Does every label not have a few extremists?
A couple weeks ago, Marc cooked some of his deer for a couple of our dear friends, a married couple. In actuality, being that one of those friends is a land-animal vegetarian of 16 years, Marc cooked the deer for the husband and himself. I made made roasted bell peppers, wild rice, and asparagus for all of us.
The wife had always been curious of Marc’s deer meat, however, and decided to try it. I had never been curious, but decided I would try it as well. Why would I also not try Marc’s deer? I consider deer hunting to be a sustainable food source, I know how and where the meat comes from, and I am embarking on a “project” regarding the sustainability perspectives of hunters.
The deer was good, I am sure. To me, it was simply odd.
Not bad. Meaty. Warm — not in actual heat but in some otherwise indescribable this-is-an-organ kind of warmth. For someone who does not desire meat, the one bite sufficed. If you enjoy that warm, soft, meaty taste in a shredded barbecue texture, you will probably love it. It reminded me, as someone who has only vague memories of most meats, of my mother’s pot roast from childhood. I was never a fan of pot roast.
On the contrary, one bite did not suffice the wife, as she broke away from her 16-year-abstinence and had a plate full of deer. She had loved pot roast as a child.
Anyhow, keep updated. The point of this background story and recent anecdote is:
This, I have a feeling, is going to be an interesting winter for me…
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
Mounting arguments that soy is actually an unhealthy food shake up many vegetarians’ and vegans’ worlds. After all, when shunning meat, soy replacements tend to fill the dietary gap.
I caught the link to a post from True Nourishment declaring that soy is not “real food”. Her argument is that the “health” industry’s reliance on processed soy — soy that is most often from genetically modified sources — does not supply us with necessary proteins so much as deplete our bodies’ vitamin absorption rate and promote estrogen-based tumors. This is in addition to soy decreasing testosterone production in men.
The True Nourishment Diva pulled me in quickly:
The soy yogurt, ice cream, protein bar or fake meat you regard as healthy food very closely resembles junk food. People! This is the biggest scam in the history of “health food”!!! Hurray! for the food corporations and PR companies that put it together. They are making fortunes and we are paying with our money, our health and the health of the environment.
I agree. Particularly when I became vegan, I spent a year or more relying on analog meats, most of which focus on soy ingredients. Eventually, I realized through research how this is an unhealthy reliance and that many of these foods are also packed with preservatives, overly processed and/or genetically-modified agricultural by-products, and high doses of salt and sugars.
Further, on an opinion note, most of these foods are exorbitantly priced and barely edible, often lacking much of any flavor or enjoyable texture.
Between the health and financial aspects, save your taste buds the pain and simply eat healthy. Healthy foods — truly healthy foods — rarely come in a box or shaped liked tubes. Healthy food comes from the Earth and is often best consumed in the same shape as when it came from the Earth.
That said, I truly do enjoy certain soy products, particularly from Turtle Mountain. Their line of soy ice creams is unbeatable, full of flavor, great texture, and always expanding in varieties. They make the best yogurts. They have a fantastic coconut milk line too. I choose soy ice creams and soy milk over real milk because they are truly delectable, and I do feel they are a healthier choice than cow milk. I eat Tofurky franks sometimes because I occasionally crave a hot dog. I also do not see these items as being marketed as “health foods”, but merely as alternatives to the more conventional options.
Do your own research and make your own choice. It can be frustrating and take time, but the rewards are immense. Knowing what those odd-sounding ingredients are is your responsibility. Blame no one but yourself for your ignorance.
My advice: make your fruits and veggies, close to their purest form, the base of your diet. Have you ever heard of someone getting fat or acquiring diabetes from eating too many berries, legumes, and artichokes? I am guessing not.
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
Between leading a World Wide Photo Walk and eagerly waiting to find out if my Beginner Darkroom class starts Monday, I cannot help but ponder how environmentally-friendly photography is. I particularly wonder about my own love affair with 35mm photography.
I often have digital photography enthusiast jab at me for my seemingly hypocritical juxtaposition as a naturalist and environmentalist with my 35mm photography addiction. The petroleum and chemicals involved in film and developing, the waste of hundreds of photos taken for me to find the handful of prized images worthy of framing… blah blah, I know. I have not been heckled yet for being a vegetarian 35mm amateur (film also uses gelatin), but I am obviously aware, so do not bother with that argument.
I guess this is where I choose the “Grounded” side of (G)G. Photography is something I love, and the quality and experience of 35mm is not something I am willing to compromise. I may in time get a quality digital camera as a supplement to my photography experience, but not yet.
I would love any addition and elaboration on any side of this argument. The same could be done for another love of mine: letter writing. The waste and energy associated with writing letters and sending cards could make a strong argument for email and ecards being a sound environmental choice, but to me, that completely compromises the experience of personal communication.
Am I going about this all wrong? Do you have questions or answers of your own? I would love a well-rounded debate on the merits of each side.
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
Without dramatics or great elaboration, here is a list of common ingredients in foods that I work hard to avoid. I would love to hear what ingredients you choose to avoid and why.
These can be very tricky to avoid, and I have learned not to take anything for granted. Now I read every label, and you might be shocked to realize what “healthy”-marketed brands have completely horrific ingredients.
Any food ingredients I need to avoid that I missed?
Always do your own research. Know what your ingredient list is. Decide for yourself how you feel. Plus, be warned that finding credible third-party information from peer-reviewed scholastic independent journals can be incredibly hard to find. Do not rely on any information supplied by branches of the government, pharmaceutical companies, or food processors… as they have obvious ties and financial interests in securing you to believe what they want you to believe. In fact, with every single study you find, you have to find out not only who conducted the study, but who paid for that study. Like the “high fructose corn syrup is made with corn, so it’s good for you” ads: provided by the Corn Refiners Association of America. That said, please do not rely on scare-tactic emails and Wikipedia as your sources either.
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
