Earth Pie Diminished - Hurrah!

I'm down from 3.8 to 3.4 Earths - think of it: 0.4 more Earths to go around.

I would say the largest reductions came from reduced plans for plane travel, as well as eating a vegan diet twice a week.

For my three goals:
1. Don't wear deodorant for a month
2. Cut plane travel to one round trip a year
3. Educate suitemates about sustainability

I passed the first one with no problem. For a simple action, it has caused me to completely rethink my chemical needs. On top of that, I have adapted a sponge bath that works in a college dorm. I only need to ensure that it uses less water than the showers I currently take. I switched to a biodegradable shampoo (Dr. Bronner's!) and have reached the point where my head produces less oil because it's not as vigorously scrubbed every day (who knew what a cleanliness treadmill we're all on).

For the second, I managed to cut out the study abroad completely and make way for quality time with family instead. I switched half of my California trip this spring break to train - but then - I waited too long to get tickets and something happened - the price of train tickets doubled while plane tickets halved! I find that even I am somewhat price sensitive. So I'll be taking a plane back from California. As for my trip to Kentucky this summer, I plan to have a grand adventure taking trains across the country.

The third and final goal - I'm still scared to ask my suitemates about a no-flush option, but I did put up signs about unplugging power strips, and organized the recycle bin to make sense out of the madness for my roomie. Besides, I've enjoyed finding environmentally-oriented tidbits and posting them on this blog!

Trashion Fashion

Bringing recycled art to the fashion scene, the Western Washington industrial design program put on a preview runway show on the third floor of the Ross Engineering Building last Wednesday. Here are shots from the show:

The parade of outfits. Photo credit: Becky Tachihara

Daniel Galan as supervillain. Photo credit: Becky Tachihara

The idea behind the project: raise recycled matter to the hautest of haute couture, and you demonstrate to the masses that trash is trendy. Let the major designers catch on, and from there the main clothing chains, and you have a revolution in garb. Ultimately people will choose to surround themselves and express themselves through items that have seen more than one use.

It's the impetus we've been waiting for to extend product lifetimes in an industry marked by seasonal switchovers. It could make resale venues such as antique stores and thrift markets more highly frequented. Marketers: watch out for this new opportunity in years ahead.

The outfits will feature in the Bellingham Trash Fashion Show, hosted by the RE Store, on Saturday, April 23rd, 7pm and 9:30pm, in the Viking Union Multipurpose Room. Come see what it's all about.

My tribal trash bag bellydance outfit, as modeled by my fantastic roomie, Gabby Deede.

Meatless Mondays Gone Mainstream

Many of you have probably seen these around the dining halls...
So now you know it's not just our class that's pushing peanut butter and jelly. The school is taking sustainable food consumption to the whole student population. We'll see how the student population takes it.

I remember when they began the trayless dining program in 2009. Students were apt to complain, but in spite of themselves reduced water usage and and cut food waste by at least 35% (http://housing.wwu.edu/dining/faq.php). I'm curious to see how students respond to this latest measure - whether like me they will be all the happier to attend Western for it, or if they will feel it is sustainability shoved down their throats (I notice they will still be serving meat at the grill and deli to avoid some of this ill sentiment).

Just one more example in the debate: should businesses be the ones to put forth a sustainable product array, or should consumers be the ones to choose among them?