Planet Green
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This year on Wa$ted! we gave ourselves new challenges and asked the households we worked up to, as Emeril says, "kick it up a notch." I think it's very much a sign of the tough economic times that everyone we worked with was really interested in implementing strategies that were both eco-friendly and money saving, and our contributors took us up on more challenges than last season.
Between our two seasons now we've worked a big variety of households and businesses. I hope that you'll see something of yourself in one of our stories. So whether you have a family in a large house in the suburbs, you're in college, you're living in small apartment in a big city, sharing a loft with roommates, or you have a bunch of pets, you'll see challenges that you can relate to. We have single people, multigenerational families sharing a home, people who take the subway and folks who drive Suburbans (don't get me started!), we can help get started on an eco plan.
Some feedback from viewers last season:
We were asked why we weren't working with households who were already dedicated to an eco-friendly life, as these emails said, "we could use some of this great stuff you gave away." This year, we have a range of levels of "green." Some of our contributors were already set on a path, and we were able to stretch their imagination further than they thought they could go, that was fun. One family, you'll see, The Daniels, I confess, put me to shame. These people were up for anything. We also had a pretty big, er, flop. I won't spoil the surprise for you by revealing which episode, but let's just say, my rocker buddy Sal, has a looong way to go. I never give up on anyone, though, and I might just have to move in with Sal for a little while and work a little harder. Maybe I didn't have the right strategy. After you watch that episode, please, let me know your thoughts. It does give me an idea, though, next season, I'm going to suggest I move in with reluctant contributors and annoy them 24/7 into less wasteful ways. Let me know if you want to invite me over.
This year we also tackled some new types of setups that were pretty ambitious: our firehouse in New Jersey was particularly inspiring in seeing the power of a group working together.
We also have an Orthodox Jewish family working with us this year. Many religious groups around the globe have become leaders in sustainable living and making a commitment to the planet is a great way to put your spiritual practice in action.
Preparing for the shoot this year, I attended numerous conferences and was able to incorporate some of the things I learned about into episodes we shot. Here are a few of my favorite things in Season 2:
- Terracycle. This company has been on the forefront of upcycling. They've found a way to save so much packaging from landfills and repurpose what we throw away. Plus, the products they make are useful and inexpensive and great conversation starters. Are you single? Wanna meet people? Don't buy a new handbag this year, carry a Terracycle tote, on average, I get 7-9 people a day coming up to me, asking about the bag and starting a conversation.
- Belkin. I was really excited to spotlight their new product, a power strip with dedicated outlets for both appliances that need to stay on, and others that can be shut off with a remote.
- Junk mail is always on my mind, so of course I found opportunities to remind our contributors to sign the petition from Forest ethics to opt out of receiving unwanted mail.
- Of course, you don't even have to take our word for it, on Saturday Night Live, the April 11th show, did a great sketch about junk mail, using only facts, funny and scary!
- Freecycling. Sometimes, I feel like we'll all just carting around crap from one home to the next. As we learned from E-Bay, there's often someone looking for the stuff you'd like to kick to the curb. Freecycling groups have been getting really popular in this economy. Go online and find one near you. If there isn't one, be a leader and start one. It's free. It's easy and a great way to connect to your community.
Other highlights of the season include D.I.Y. fun with fast easy recipes for making your own eco cleaning products and even your own pet food, our designer water taste test, we got one of our firefighters to try and tell the difference between bottled and city water. Perhaps the hardest thing I've ever done however, was trying to convince a group of sorority sisters that a "flat iron" is not an appliance that needs to be on 24/7.
Of course, the heart of our show is to bring consciousness to our wasteful way of living on the planet. As a typical American, I can tell you, every time we sort through someone's trash it's a wake up call to rethink how many uses I can get out of items before I toss them in the trash or recycling.
I'll be blogging about our successes and failures for each episode and I'll include information we didn't have time to show on-air.
Questions? Comments? Send them my way, if I don't know the answer, I'll direct you to someone who does.
Meanwhile, check this out: The Timberland Boot company sent me out to interview some leading eco-filmmakers. Here are the links to the short interviews I did, some great films are on their way out, with mind blowing information and great entertainment value. Want to get them on your radar!
Read more about Wa$ted!
Read more about reducing waste:
Don't Throw That Out Just Yet—Online Database Can Help You Fix Anything
60,000 Plastic Bags are Being Used This Second: Help Slow it Down
How to Reuse and Recycle Answering Machines
Mulch with Newspapers
This is the Week to Recycle Your Cell Phone
