They’re green in principle, but not in the way people use them.  While many people have made the move to reusable bags, there is still some debate about whether these are, in fact, better than paper or plastic. Some studies suggest that it takes more energy to produce reusable bags, and that a large portion of those are just ending up in the landfill. Clean Fairfax suggests that reusable bags are still a much better choice if you make the decision to use and reuse them.

Read More:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/09/to-tote-or-note-to-tote/498557/

Here is why the reusable tote movement still carries some weight (sorry—couldn’t resist):

• The cotton bags cited in the article as requiring the most reuse to even out the production impact are the least common option used. It’s not hard to get to the 27 times of reuse identified in the article for other totes.
• Most reusable totes can be filled much more than a plastic bag, so proportionately we use fewer.
• Many plastic bags tear before they can be reused, and many people do not reuse the plastic bags.
• Look around: How many times have you seen plastic bags along the side of the road, in the woods, or, once for me, forty feet under water while scuba diving? Reusable tote bags are much less likely to end up as litter despite the article’s claim that they are ending up in the dumpster.
• Finally, it takes 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture the 102 billion plastic bags that Americans use annually, according to the United Nations.

Consider machine washable bags that can be rolled up and easily transported, like our fabulous CLEAN FAIRFAX bags.

Check out NationSwell for more facts about our plastic usage and great ideas on how to make some personal changes:   http://nationswell.com/37-ways-reduce-plastic-usage/#ixzz4K9gdFL1C

If your honest answer is “yes,” consider attending the following:

Sierra Club—Great Falls, Northern VA Chapter invites you to see BAG IT, an award-winning documentary about the effects of plastics on our personal health & the environment. It is the story of a man who makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags at the grocery store and how it changes his life. What starts out as a simple pledge leads to a full expose of how plastics are affecting our lives.

The film will be shown at 7 PM on September 22 at Patrick Henry Library, 101 Maple Avenue East, Vienna, VA. RSVP, if possible, to s.weltz@yahoo.com.

Free refreshments. And, the Virginia Green Baggers will be giving away free reusable cloth bags.

According to Eco Watch, over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century.

• 50 percent of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw away.
• Enough plastic is thrown away each year to
• We currently recover only five percent of the plastics we produce.
• The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.
• Plastic accounts for around 10 percent of the total waste we generate.

Just about every environmental group has a list of suggestions for reducing plastic use. Rather than approach these lists with despair at all you are not doing, congratulate yourself on those steps you have already taken. More importantly, consider choosing at least one more way you can help reduce your own “plastic footprint” each time you see a new list of suggestions.

Try it here with Green Education Foundation’s list of ways to cut down on our everyday use of plastics:

1. Stop using plastic straws, even in restaurants. If a straw is a must, purchase a reusable stainless steel or glass straw
2. Use a reusable produce bag. A single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to degrade. Purchase or make your own reusable produce bag and be sure to wash them often! (More on this next week!)
3. Give up gum. Gum is made of a synthetic rubber, aka plastic.
4. Buy boxes instead of bottles. Often, products like laundry detergent come in cardboard which is more easily recycled than plastic.
5. Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container. You save money and unnecessary packaging.
6. Reuse containers for storing leftovers or shopping in bulk.
7. Use a reusable bottle or mug for your beverages, even when ordering from a to-go shop
8. Bring your own container for take-out or your restaurant doggy-bag since many restaurants use styrofoam.
9. Use matches instead of disposable plastic lighters or invest in a refillable metal lighter.
10. Avoid buying frozen foods because their packaging is mostly plastic. Even those that appear to be cardboard are coated in a thin layer of plastic. Plus you’ll be eating fewer processed foods!
11. Don’t use plasticware at home and be sure to request restaurants do not pack them in your take-out box.
12. Ask your local grocer to take your plastic containers (for berries, tomatoes, etc.) back. If you shop at a farmers market they can refill it for you.
13. The EPA estimates that 7.6 billion pounds of disposable diapers are discarded in the US each year. Use cloth diapers to reduce your baby’s carbon footprint and save money.
14. Make fresh squeezed juice or eat fruit instead of buying juice in plastic bottles. It’s healthier and better for the environment.
15. Make your own cleaning products that will be less toxic and eliminate the need for multiple plastic bottles of cleaner.
16. Pack your lunch in reusable containers and bags. Also, opt for fresh fruits and veggies and bulk items instead of products that come in single serving cups.
17. Use a razor with replaceable blades instead of a disposable razor

I am excited to have joined Jen Cole at Clean Fairfax part-time as a program manager with a focus on our Clean Streams Initiative. It’s great to be working again with an environmental non-profit (see bio on Clean Fairfax website). I feel I can extend my own zeal for environmental stewardship and urban sustainability to others through Clean Fairfax’s programs.

I have been very impressed with the scope of Clean Fairfax’s influence: providing supplies to groups doing area cleanups, funding environmental projects in schools, giving hands-on environmental non-profit experience to college interns and work-study students, raising public awareness of environmental issues through social media, and, of course, celebrating our environment with the Northern Virginia community at the annual SpringFest.

The Clean Streams Initiative is a new program for Clean Fairfax. As the year progresses, the plan for this project is to have Clean Fairfax work with the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) Stormwater group, the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and others to locate five streams in Fairfax County for the Clean Streams Initiative. Criteria include “trashiness,” ease of access, proximity to potential volunteer cleanup crews, and equity in spreading locations among supervisory districts. We are currently working out the details to monitor these streams four times a year and clean them up twice annually. We will also be developing educational outreach plans specific to each site to work on pollution prevention.  This will be of assistance to the County in fulfillment of the requirements of their MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit. It will be interesting to see what we find floating in our streams and washed up on the banks!

It’s an important time to be working on environmental issues in Fairfax County as the county continues to grow rapidly. While environmental problems I worked on thirty years ago may not have been solved, it is groups like Clean Fairfax that keep these problems in check and ensure a healthier environmental future.

Roasted Beet, Watercress, and Ricotta Grilled Cheese

• 1 Beet [Van Dessel Farm, Accomack, VA]
• Just a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• 2 slices of bread
• Some fresh mozzarella cheese
• Some Ricotta cheese
• A handful of watercress [Mock’s Farm, Berkeley Springs, WV]

Before you start grilling any cheese, peel, slice, and roast your beet. I sliced mine fairly thin (so that it would easily fit into a sandwich and to make it roast a little faster). Toss it in a small bowl with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, then set it out on a baking sheet and roast at 375° for 20 minutes or so (depending on how thinly you sliced your beet), and flipping halfway through. Since I completed this step in characteristically un-scientific fashion, I would suggest keeping a close eye on your roasting beet to make sure you don’t overcook it.

While the beet is roasting, you can prep your cheese. I used one of those big balls of fresh mozzarella, so I sliced it in vaguely sandwich-like shapes and thicknesses. Make sure your watercress is cleaned and any particularly stemmy parts are removed. I brought my ricotta up to room temperature so that it would be easier to spread.

Now, I’m going to tell you the secret to a fantastic grilled cheese. Prepare yourself. Ready? Okay. My great secret is that you should grill both sides of the bread. So before you’re ready to throw the cheese on, butter one side and just grill it lightly, keeping the heat at a medium level. Once you get a nice golden brown toast on that side of the bread, flip it. Then pile your cheese and fillings onto the toasted side. I do this for all of my grilled cheeses, from last-minute, bottom-of-the-cheese-drawer concoctions to blog features.

Once your beet is roasted and your bread is inside-toasted, spread some ricotta on both sides of the bread, keeping the heat pretty low to prevent burning the outside of the bread. Then put the sliced beet on one side and the watercress on the other (I used a whole bunch of watercress, because it’s very nutrient-dense and I have no idea how else to use it). Then put a (thin) slice of mozzarella on each side, wait for everything to heat up a bit, and slap em together. Press down on your sandwich with a spatula to help everything melt together before flipping. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious with it, throw some grated (fresh) parmesan on the pan when you flip the sandwich, and you’ll end up with a nice extra-cheesy crust. Grill over medium heat until your sandwich is a nice golden brown color (but really it’ll be up to how you like it, mine is a little extra-toasty and on honey wheat bread so it’s darker than you might want).

This recipe was inspired by this beet, arugula, and goat cheese grilled cheese. I figured that watercress and arugula share that peppery flavor, balanced out by the sweetness of roasted beets and a creamy cheese (and I love ricotta on anything). Of course his pictures are about 1,000 times better than mine, but I’d argue that my grilled cheese is better because of the aforementioned secret. Plus I make a lot of grilled cheeses with a lot of not-cheese stuff in them. One of my personal favorites was my BLT grilled cheese, with bacon, arugula, tomato, and provolone. I also did pretty well with a pulled-pork grilled cheese using provolone (I think) and my roommate Natalie’s leftover dinner. (I think she had left for vacation or something? I’m hoping she didn’t miss it and hasn’t been pining after it for the last year or so, only to discover it in this way.) There’s a lot of experimenting that can be done in the grilled cheese department, and now that you have my secret, you’re duty-bound to innovate and report back to me what kinds of things you stick in between your dual-toasted breads.

One of the great things about this recipe (and any grilled cheese, even the ambitious ones) is that it proves how easy it can be to include fresh, healthy ingredients without going through a series of meltdowns or pre-roasting carrots and quinoa. Beets and watercress are both really nutrient-dense (not to mention tasty) and are both easy ways to spice up a quick weeknight meal. Plus, they came from my good friends at Van Dessel Farms (or at least, I feel like we’re old friends, since I’ve been enjoying the fruits (vegetables…?) of their labor for the last two weeks) and new friends at Mock’s Farm in West Virginia (they also grow CHRISTMAS TREES! But I don’t think I’ll be seeing one of those in my 4P bag any time soon).

As an added bonus, here’s a poem dedicated to Natalie:

“This Is Just to Say”

I have eaten
the leftovers
that were in
the fridge

And that
you were probably
saving
for lunch.

Forgive me
they were delicious
and made a wonderful
grilled cheese.