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Dear Reader,
I don’t know where you are, Reader, but it has been hot this summer where Dot lives. In the interest of saving energy (my own), Dot is going to present some rapid-fire answers to some of your most often-asked questions: hand wash or dishwasher?, recycle (greasy) pizza boxes?, flush expired medications?, and more. Taken together, perhaps these answers will serve as a reminder that the small actions that make up our lives can add up to big change. Let’s go!
Which is better for the environment — to hand wash my dishes or use a dishwasher?
A reader named Maria asked this question and Dot answered. If you don’t want to read the whole answer, here’s the tl;dr version: A dishwasher (loaded properly) is your most water-friendly option.
Is a greasy pizza box garbage? Or recycling?
Dot had long believed that even the teensiest bit of grease rendered a pizza box undesirable in the recycling bin — even though landfilling paper is an eco-sin — because I was under the impression that greasy paper would contaminate and render the entire batch unrecyclable. But my worry was needless. According to The Washington Post’s Climate Coach, citing advice from the Environmental Protection Agency, “you should put them in the bin even if they’re stained with grease. But before you do, make sure to remove any food scraps and flatten the box.”
I know I shouldn’t throw old medications away, so can I flush them instead?
No! On behalf of the fish who don’t want your expired birth control and the dolphins who are anti antidepressants and antibiotics, no! Bluedot’s How to Get Rid of (Almost) Anything reminds us that “October 29 is Take Back Day — when the DEA urges all of us to get rid of no-longer-needed prescription medications to help avoid misuse or overdoses.” And, it says, “Do not flush or dump medications down the sink, where they find their way into waterways and, potentially, harm water creatures. If you miss Take Back Day, ask at your local pharmacy, or visit this site for other disposal locations.”
Do eco cleaning products work as well as conventional ones?
Dot has long been a fan of DIY cleaning products — my favorite all-purpose scrub (counters, sinks, microwave, stovetop, shower, tub) is a combination of baking soda and dish soap — just enough to make a paste. Follow by wiping with a clean, damp cloth.
And to those who argue that my home mustn’t be as dirty as theirs, mine includes two extra-large Dot Canines and two Dot Felines. Oh … and occasionally, three Dot (Young Adult) Offspring. It is possible that I set the “cleanliness” bar a little lower than some. It’s not worth it to me to pollute the indoor air with the VOCs released by many conventional cleaning products in order to get my house “clean.”
That being said, I have long heard the complaint that “green” cleaning products don’t do the job. So I was delighted recently to note that the Washington Post’s Climate Coach put that assertion to the test, concluding, thanks to Jason Marshall, who tested the products at the laboratory of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, “Green products can and do perform as effectively as traditional cleaning products.” Further, Climate Coach reports, “even the toughest household jobs, such as sanitizing surfaces of E. coli, can be done as effectively without toxic chemicals.”
Perhaps, Dot wonders, there’s a disconnect between what is actually clean and what our marketing culture has told us clean looks and smells like.
Do I have to give up meat?
Of course not. Nobody has to do anything. And “meat” covers a lot of ground. Chicken, for instance, doesn’t have the same climate impact as beef. Sardines are better than salmon. What climate scientists want us to consider, however, is eating less meat. And eating lower on the food chain. Dot crunched the numbers in a column on the environmental effects of being vegan or vegetarian, and there’s no question that eschewing meat shrinks your carbon footprint. Curious? Chew on this … and eat as your conscience — and palate — dictates, knowing too that vegetarian/vegan cuisine has an almost infinite number of delicious options that will ensure you never ask, “where’s the beef?”.
– Dot
