Mary Renaker

I joined because I want to reduce plastic everywhere! I want plastics made of mycellium or other plant materials that biodegrade. Better yet, biodegradeable plastics that feed fish & birds! However, I'm posting today about saving water and watering my garden with water saved in the shower and in the kitchen sink. I've been "showering with a tree" since 1990, when I met the man who started San Diego People for Trees, Mark Wisniewski, who advised me to do it. Keep a 2 gallon bucket in your shower and save the water to heat up shower and while you're showering to fill the bucket. Pour on garden and repeat. I've also been keeping bowls and dishpans in the kitchen sink since the 1990s and empty them regularly into plants in pots near the kitchen with water used for washing veges & dishes. I've also walked buckets down apartment stairs to a garden or a street tree well when I've lived in a city apartment. Don't let it all go down the drain, there are thirsty trees everywhere. Thanks for being part of the Plastic Free Ecochallenge everyone!

Learned what the label symbols mean.

I object to Downey fabric softeners because they pollute the air. The smell and chemicals pour into the air and onto the sidewalk from apartments and condos where I live in Santa Monica and can give me a headache if I stay near them too long. Fabric softeners are air pollution.

We hosted two others yesterday for an afternoon Salad Sunday using all washable utensils, glasses and compostable cups, cloth napkins, recyclable wine bottle. All vegetables from farmers market in bulk, bread in paper bags from bakery. Many oils and vinegars in glass and cans, not all.

Was able to recycle all extra cables and electric wires, old electronics and batteries at Staples. They took everything I brought in except light bulbs. What do we do with light bulbs?

I read and copied an article at the Environmental Media Awards website <greenforema.org> on the Green Seal of Production which featured storytelling with environmental messaging, character behaviors and simply showing a recycling bin in the family kitchen, or driving a hybrid. It also had a "Prop Master Shopping List" for Homes, Offices and at School that characters can use. It's a long and comprehensive list!

I bought a set of metal utensils, held together by magnets and kept in my purse, which I used at an event at work yesterday! Felt great, avoided plastic forks. Now all I need is a re-usable straw.