Tonight I was going through my old clothes. I have kept almost everything from a size 6 on up. As I am losing weight, I am pulling out my old clothes to wear. I was looking through the sizes 6-12 today & remembering where I wore some of them & how good I felt. I had some clothes still with tags on them. I was sad when I thought of how much weight I have gained and how much it has limited me. I have avoided places, people and activities because of my body. It is sad I let myself go like this.

At least I am now on the losing path and can get back in to life and hopefully those clothes. And then I will be less embarrassed of myself.  Another plus is that I am reusing resources, which is one of the best ways to reduce waste and overconsumption of the earth's resources. 

I went to the dentist today, determined not to produce a lot of trash. Here I am, in the washable and reusable bib made for me years ago for eating spaghetti. The first time I wore this to the dentist, the dentist took a second take. The hygienist told me she has seen me a few times with it, and that I am the only one who brings my own bib. The bibs provided are paper lined with plastic, which would sit in the landfill not able to degrade, leaving our children and grandchildren with a legacy of a pile of non-degradable trash.

By far, the hardest challenge we are doing is reducing our food related trash.  Often we find that we think we have bought compostable packaging, but it actually isn't, because it is lined with plastic.  This week, I ordered a share of primarily local organic produce from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  The produce delivered was great, but several things were in plastic bags, a container or shrink wrapped in plastic.  I did not think they would come with plastic, and now this plastic goes in to my Trash Bin of Shame.  It is really hard to do it all - organic, local and waste free.

Paul and I watched the film Forks Over Knives last night (I know, I should have been studying instead).  It spoke of how studies have shown a direct correlation between eating animal products, including meat, fish and dairy products and the development of cancer, heart disease and stroke.  People who have switched from a primarily plant based, unprocessed diet to a diet high in animal protein, got "fat and sick" and developed these diseases.  I thought about a patient I had once in the emergency department, who had just had a stroke that paralyzed his left side and he still was insistent on having cream in his coffee, even after being advised not to.  As human beings, we value personal choice, regardless of how it may affect us.  There was hope in this film, however, that people who switched to a plant-based diet had reversal of some of their disease. 

This film was very convincing as to personal reasons for eliminating animal products from our diets.  I find I don't miss the beef we cut out of our diets and am open to cutting out other meats as well.  The real challenge for us is to cut out dairy, cheese and eggs, due to flavour and baking.  I ordered two vegan recipe books today to try some new recipes, that hopefully will taste good as well as actually be good for us. 

Logan turns 3 this weekend and he is already showing an interest in cooking.  On May 19th he will be participating in a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day Event and participating in a Hands on Cooking class at the Petits Chefs Academy in Vaughan.  We will be filming the class and will post photos after the event is done.   

Food Revolution Day - http://www.foodrevolutionday.com

Petits Chefs Academy - http://www.petitschefsacademy.com

Today we had Logan's 3rd birthday party and completed one of our challenges for May, to plan and hold an eco- friendly party. We had the party at a kids indoor playground and brought our own organic juice, tap water in a jug (no bottled water), organic chocolate & vanilla cake, organic fruits & vegetables that I chopped myself, compostable paper plates and cups and steel forks that we took home to wash. When I visited the landfill last month, I was told it was best to use paper cups and paper plates if choosing disposable, as they will break down in the green bin facilities, whereas plastic like compostable cups and utensils do not break down in those conditions, as they need adequate sunlight, heat, soil and time.  I know I have used corn resin utensils and cups in the past, thinking they were acceptable in the green bin, but now I know differently. 

Do you have any other eco friendly birthday party ideas that you would like to share here?   

The only trash we produced from the party.  Paul washed the tray and I am going to keep it for future gatherings in which I need to bring food, so it will not end up in the garbage.  Part of the foil covered cardboard will end up in the garbage because the foil is glued to the carboard, making it non-recyclable.  I know
I could have less waste by making it myself, but with my baking skills, there would not be a guarantee that it would be edible.  I probably would have wasted the cake if it did not turn out :)  I think I will ask at the bakery in the future what kind of container the cake comes in, because I assumed it would come in a compostable cardboard box.