Chico, Sustainable

The standard pair of men's undies has four "openings," shall we say. My wife was noticing that some of mine had six, or eight, or ten, and said it was time to get some new underwear. Perhaps I was overwhelming her with too much of a good thing.

I inquired about purchasing underwear at the same stores that I had been so successful in supplying me with blue Hawaiian shirts: the thrift sto-

She said no. I deserved new underwear.

I went online to see if I could support a company that is manufacturing organic cotton undies. There are plenty of eco-undie choices out there, but the best "deal" I could find for organic underwear was $16 each, or $44 for a packet of three, plus shipping and handling. Could I find organic undies that originated in California,the second-largest cotton producing state in the nation? No. The closest could get was Rawganique.com which sells "Clean Undies," made in Canada from U.S. cotton. They run $21 each.

At Mervyn's, basic cotton undies were on sale for $18 for a packet of 6, including tax.

Organic food commonly costs twice as much as conventional. But organic undies would cost me almost five times as much.

But shouldn't what I put on my body be as important as what I put into it? Isn't showing support for organic cotton growers important too? Haven't I read that it takes 1/3 of a pound of chemicals (pesticides + fertilizers) to produce enough conventionally grown, genetically modified cotton to make one t-shirt?

In the end, I bought two 6-packs from Mervyns, and saved $54 than if I had bought that same amount organic. My justification was that there are better ways to stretch the eco-value of my money.

But my choice nags me.

Perhaps I should be going commando.

Posted by jmiller at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A dedicated group of community volunteers and school employees teamed up to establish a school garden at McManus Elementary this past February. The garden includes nine raised beds, trellises, and signs identifying different vegetables and berries which have been planted by the students.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, the garden was hit for the second time by vandals, who pulled up plants and signs, snapped the trellises, and walked through the garden beds.

Like many of Chico's schools, McManus's campus serves as a park of sorts for the community; during non-school hours citizens frequently use the basketball courts, play fields, etc. The McManus garden is located in the center of the campus to maximize student access and involvement. However, school buildings shield the garden from the view of casual passersby on East Avenue, thus allowing bored vandals to deface the garden in relative seclusion, especially in the early hours of the morning.

It angers me that there are people in our community who are so willfully destructive and hurtful, but at the same time I pity what their lives must be like, if this is one of their favorite pastimes.

It is a sad and frustrating situation to try and solve.

Survellience cameras have been suggested, but there is no money available at the moment, and I am skeptical that it will work--And besides, cameras need to be maintained, footage needs to be viewed, etc.

Others believe that we should fence off the garden area and put it under lock and key. But I fear that this would turn the garden into a compound or a fortress, rather than a space of smiles and reflection.

I told Debra, the Garden Educator at McManus, to rebuild, plant again, and in doing so show and teach determination to the students who have been effected.

In the mean time, I plead to the community to recognize that a school garden that is accessible to the greater population becomes a community garden, hopefully to be enjoyed by all. If you live near McManus Elementary, or any other school that has a school garden, please keep an eye out.

A community that cares is the best defense against those who don't.

Posted by jmiller at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hate buying clothes. It is part of the genetic coding of many guys.

But sadly, even the hardiest pair of jeans can only be worn and washed so many times.

I had two pair that had so many holes that I was risking being arrested for indecent exposure. My wife was pleading with me to buy some replacements.

With the "3-R" mantra in my head, I went not to the Chico Mall but instead to the Salvation Army, where I knew that plenty of options would be available to me.

I have purchased many thrift store Hawaiian t-shirts, but this was my first foray into clothes for the waist down.

For those that wish to follow in my pant legs, here is a word of advice: You will not be able to try on any of the pants in the story, so know your size ahead of time, and don't risk purchasing anything smaller than your size or anything bigger than 1" on the waist.

Though I know for many not being able to try on items to see if they fit right would be annoying, for me it was actually quite liberating as it meant spending less time in the store.

I made three purchases, all were the same waist size. When I got home, I found one was snug, one fit well, and the third fit with about 1/2" of breathing room.

At $6.50/pair, I think I did pretty well.

And I also purchased a Hawaiian t-shirt for less than the cost of a Starbuck's frappucino

I am searching for a location that will be able to recycle the material from my old pants. I have heard of some companies that take used blue jeans and use them as home insulation material. Does anyone have any information on where I might drop off my old jeans?

Posted by jmiller at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I must extend my public apologies to Gaia Creations Ecological Landscaping, which I originally neglected to recognize as an integral resource for my front lawn elimination project, which I described in my posts of April 3 and 4 ("How to Kill Your Front Lawn," "Lawn Gone").

One of the things that I try to do in posting sustainability tips and eco-home projects is demonstrate and promote the "do it yourself" aspect to sustainability. All too often sustainability is seen as something that requires a budget beyond the scope of many individuals. For my wife and me, sustainability is a priority in our lives, and thus we have allotted funds toward such efforts. However, I recognize that not everyone has this ability, and it is for this reason that I did not originally disclose that I contracted with Gaia Creations to complete this project; I wanted to communicate that people could turn their lawn into a more sustainable landscape using a minimal amount of funds. Not sharing the whole truth was an error in judgment on my part.

While I could have "killed my front lawn" on my own, I would not have been able to do so with the same care, dedication, and competency had I not contracted with Brian and Stephanie Ladwig-Cooper of Gaia Creations. Brian provided labor, expertise, and materials as a part of his service, and much of the information that was included in these posts comes from his experience. As such, the reason we chose to contract with Gaia Creations in the first place is because of their dedication to organic horticulture and sustainable landscape methods.

I meant no ill-will towards the efforts of Gaia Creations, and I should have recognized them when I originally wrote these posts. Both posts have since been changed to accurately reflect Gaia Creations' contributions. I deeply regret this error, and again extend my apologies.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Miller

Posted by jmiller at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)