January 3, 2012: California becomes the sixth state to adopt law that allows the formation of corporations whose main purpose isn’t to make money.

A day at the Secretary of State’s office in Sacramento, where California’s first twelve businesses filed to operate as benefit corporations.

California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Sacramento’s Capitol Park, only a short walk from the Secretary of State’s Corporate Filing Office, honoring Brien Thomas (B.T.) Collins, Vietnam War veteran and CA Assembly Member, who “never wavered in the belief that one should give something back to society.”

I hope five or ten years from now we’ll look back on this day and say “this was the start of a revolution, because the existing paradigm isn’t working anymore. This is the future.”

- Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia, California’s first benefit corporation.

It was only a month ago when I first heard about the concept and existence of benefit corporations. My partner in creative eco-thinking, Debra Baida, had just come back from a Green Chamber of Commerce event at which Donald Simon, one of three attorneys instrumental in passing AB361, California’s new benefit corporation law, had explained the meaning and impact of this new legislation.

Sponsored by Assembly member Jared Huffman, this new bill would allow corporations to register as a Benefit Corp rather than an LLC or C Corp and drastically redefine the purpose of their existence, requiring consideration of non-financial interests when making decisions and being held legally accountable by third party standards to create a material positive impact on society and the environment. After Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, Vermont, and New Jersey, California was poised to become the sixth state to write benefit corporations into law, and its legislation was the most far-reaching to date. There was going to be an inaugural filing of articles of amendment by leading California sustainable businesses for the first effective date of benefit corporation legislation, on January 3rd.

Being a supporter of the Occupy movement and a lifelong advocate of the concept of an ecological economy as the only viable path toward any kind of sustainable future of living creatures — including homo sapiens — on planet Earth, the only questions I had were:

“Why haven’t I heard about this before?”

“Why is nobody talking about this?“

and, “Can we go?”

After a bit of back and forth on whether our presence at this historic event could be meaningful enough to justify the SF to Sacramento round-trip by car, we finally decided that yes, spreading the word about this event had the potential to outweigh the carbon footprint of our trip. We set the alarm for 6am, Deb packed her old Nikons, I grabbed notebook, pen and field recorder, and off we went to document the big happening in our state’s capital.

We got to the Secretary’s office a bit early and were immediately greeted by B Lab‘s Heather Van Dusen, who told us that everyone was hanging out in a cafe across the street. (B Lab is a nonprofit organization that has been certifying non-legally bound B Corporations, and it is one of the third party standards available to Benefit Corporations. See B-Corp vs Benefit Corp). The atmosphere inside the cafe was electric, like the scene from a schoolyard the morning before a field trip, only with suits and cameras. Two of the three attorney musketeers, Jonathan Storper and John Montgomery, were discussing last minute details, while Ari Maslow of Terrassure Sustainable Land & Resource Development, one of the twelve corporations about to step over to the side of light, was collecting snapshots for his Benefit Corp family album.

We quickly realized that this was more like a reunion than a corporate boardroom affair, with cheers, chatter and laughter reverberating across the room. Dermot Hikisch, Director of Business Development at B-Lab, told us that a lot of the folks who were going to sign papers to operate as benefit corporations had been certified B-Corporations since it had become an option in California in 2007. And they were more than happy to share their experience with us.

“B-Corps are all about interdependence, so we all work together,” said Stefan Pellegrini, principal at Opticos, an architectural firm that focuses a lot of its work in rural, under-served communities that traditionally fall below the radar of planning. “The whole thing operates from the viewpoint of sharing resources and encouraging other businesses as much as possible,” added Rose Yee, Co-Founder of Green Retirement Plans, Inc., whose business is built upon environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and community commitment. “We’re always trying to recruit more B-Corps and get them the full benefit status,” explained her husband and Chief Retirement Specialist, Timothy. “If there’s anything we can do to help in other states we’re happy to.”

Stefan was in the middle of explaining to me how Opticos was improving infrastructure in impoverished Central Valley minority communities through grant-funded planning, when Heather interrupted the lively discussions all around with a call to head across the street, followed by a much applauded “Let’s make history!“

When we got to the front of the Secretary’s office, it was quite a joyous mob scene. Of course, Assembly member Huffman (left) and Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard (middle), greeted by B Lab’s co-founder Jay Coen Gilbert (right), were the main attractions.

Donald Simon, the buoyant champion of Benefit Corporations who had warded off a whole battalion of detractors and naysayers for eight years, was luminous as he was handing out signing papers (followed by a hug) to each company’s representative.

You could tell these people had gone through a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get here, and the speeches that followed made clear not just how much of a struggle it is to get anything of any forward-thinking significance passed through a largely anemic legislative process, but what a breakthrough the fact that they did was.

Jay Coen Gilbert said that AB361 would redefine the meaning of business from competing to be the best in the world to be the best for the world. Jared Huffman talked about the possibility and promise of this legislation to give investors a way to put their money to work for a better future and consumers new choices. Gary Gerber, CEO of the oldest solar installer in the country, Sunlight & Power, and strong believer that a corporation can have sustainability in its core values, recounted how he immediately jumped on the idea when he heard that it could be made into law. Mike Hannigan, the co-founder of Give Something Back Office Supplies, who has been in business for more than 20 years, pointed out that AB361 would allow entrepreneurs to scale socially responsible principles to a previously unimaginable level.

And then of course there was the star of the day, Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, the reluctant business man whose little company has been around the block since 1956, who said he felt like a farmer who spent all his life building up his farm, but instead of having it turned into a housing development after he’s gone, Benefit Corp would now allow his company’s values to continue.

To understand just how much of a subversively brilliant change maker this man is, consider Patagonia’s recent Black Friday Don’t Buy This Jacket ad in the New York Times.

Next up, the whole strange procession stormed the building, armed with envelopes and file folders, headed for the Corporate Filing Office on the third floor.

Whaddaya think, Yvon, wanna be California’s first benefit corporation?

Okay, why not.

Anyone else? Sure thing. Carolyn McMaster, co-founder and principal of Thinkshift Communications, signs on, joined by Mike Hannigan, Gary Gerber, and Solar Works VP Laura Goldman.

To say the clerks at the corporate filing office were surprised is an understatement. They had never seen anything like it, and you could tell they were having a blast, in a low-key, clerkish sort of way. And of course our intrepid photographer, who had bolted ahead of the pack and boldly jumped over the counter to capture the whole crazy scene unfolding, was cracking jokes with the public servants between shots.

“Hey look, we did it!” Newly minted benefit corporation officers Timothy and Rosi Yee show their “papers.” And in case your were wondering, reusable mugs are just part of a Benefit Corp Executive’s standard attire.

To mark the historic moment, everyone signed a copy of AB361.

Power to (the corporations that work for) the People!

And here they all were: The pioneers of an idea whose time has come, and that with all of our support might soon be the normal way of doing business across the U.S. and beyond.

So where to go from here? Well, first the whole crew reconvened for Mexican food and Margaritas across the street. Deb and I sat at a table with B-Lab‘s Andy Fyfe, Dopehut‘s Felix Cheung, Opticos‘s Daniel Parolek, and Loudsauce‘s Colin Mutchler, remarking how far we have come, but also how much more work still lies ahead. Everyone agreed that for the benefit corporation designation to have a more large-scale impact, many more companies, especially bigger ones and those that aren’t already guided by a triple bottom line philosophy need to come on board. Toward that end, B Corp legislation currently pending in New York, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Washington, DC could all use lots of attention and support, as each new passage will open the door just a bit more for a broader movement.

As Timothy Yee had pointed out to me earlier, it’s a bit tougher for large existing companies ingrained in traditional corporate practices to sign on, since you need shareholder approval. That’s why the authors of the B Corp legislation also included a less restrictive option, the Flexible Purpose Corporation, or FlexC, allowing companies to pursue social and environmental welfare objectives without liability to directors for not maximizing profit. Another choice available in some states is the L3C low-profit limited-liability company, a taxed organization that places social goals above profit.

For Deb and I, there was no escaping some of the realities of American life and politics as soon as we got back on I-80. Changing the paradigm on how we live on this planet and plan to keep it livable for generations to come is not just a matter of legislation, but a matter of the imagination and collaboration on a large scale. However, not everyone thinks change is needed.

There was also the reminder that while every small step is important and counts, we are collectively still so enmeshed in a 20th century fossil-fueled…

expansive…

and consumerist way of life…

that any honest vision for a sustainable future must entail two words, seemingly irreconcilable to western industrial thinking, in the same sentence: Degrowth Economy.

So, we arrived back home overcome by life’s mystifying yet strangely inspiring paradoxes that line the path toward a sustainable future:

To think big we have to honor the small,

to move forward we have to slow down,

and to hold on we have to let go.

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~

Photos by Debra Baida
Story by Sven Eberlein

cross-posted at Daily Kos & A World of Words

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~

Passed Benefit Corp legislation
California (AB361)
Hawaii (SB 298)
Virginia (HB2358)
Maryland (SB690/HB1009)
Vermont (S.263)
New Jersey (S2170)

Pending Benefit Corp legislation
New York (A4692-a and S79-a)
North Carolina (SB26)
Colorado (SB 11-005 )
Pennsylvania (S 433)
Michigan (S 359, S 360, HB 4615, HB 4616)
Washington, DC (Introduced November 15, 2011)

For more info, visit benefitcorp.net or bcorporation.net

On days like today, when I’m not seeing any clients, I like to maximize the work-from-home opportunities to do one of my favorite things: cook.

“What!?” you may be thinking, “You’ve got time to cook while you’re supposed to be using your office time to balance the books, take care of billing matters, and work on outreach?” I do because I make the time. In order to feel grounded, inspired, and fulfilled, I literally need to feed the creative impulses as they arise. Without this, it’s impossible for me to be fully present for myself, my partner, my family, my friends, or even my clients.

There are those days when eating a quick home-tossed or restaurant-bought meal between appointments is the only way I know, so when work from home time presents itself, I make food as creative meditation a priority. I always see it coming: it begins with a day that has nary a pencil mark nor commitment attached to it. If needed, I scheme and hunt and gather pertinent ingredients if they were not included in the biweekly box of righteous organic veggies from my favorite farm.

Sometimes the preparation starts the night before (soaking beans for a soup or stew), but on a day like today, it begins first thing in the morning. There’s something special about filling the house with periodic installments of yummy smells and house- and belly-warming goodness. The morning light inspires me and it often causes me to reach for a camera.

(Granted, the photo on the lower right made my partner reach for my camera. We had to document the enormous escarole that came into our lives a couple of veggie boxes ago!)

Remember, it’s important to step away from the computer every 20-30 minutes, to stand up and stretch. So, I stretch my proverbial cooking muscles in the kitchen, often with a big sharp knife in my hand. Chop, mix, marinate. Chop, mix, roast. Chop, mix, simmer. Breaking the job down into little tasks or installments makes it less overwhelming. I’m not on my feet too long, nor am I sitting on my desk stool for too long. It’s my homegrown recipe for balanced multitasking. Over the course of several hours, a meal is ready, pertinent tasks have been crossed off my list, and the day feels that much more complete.

The sun is shifting quickly, so it’s time to head to the office on the other end of the house where I can enjoy the afternoon light. When the sun goes down, I’ll be sharing the warmth of a homemade meal with my sweetie as we chat about longer days ahead.

Happy solstice!

Whether this is your first or twelfth year imagining a stress-free and more simple season of giving, perhaps you’ll find inspiration in the 2011 Simplify the Holidays Challenge from the Center for the New American Dream. Maybe the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) gift guide will strike your fancy. My own list of eco-friendly gifts for any occasion may tickle your mind and help you zero in on the right experiential, tangible, or donation-like offerings for the important people on your list. If you “shop” using these lists, I bet you can avoid crowds and long lines while keeping a happy grin on your face.

As you ponder your list and check it twice, perhaps you might consider this notion from a recent article on GreenBiz.com:

There’s nothing inherently wrong with buying stuff — without consumption, we’d have no jobs or economy — but our goal should be to buy stuff with the lowest possible environmental footprint, stuff that is produced and transported using renewable energy and stuff that, when it’s no longer useful or needed, can be turned into something else.

Moving smoothly then to the topic of things that can be turned into something else, I am constantly amazed by those who use their creative magic using society’s refuse. Yes, that would be trash.

Despite being a non-TV watching kid now, I happily admit that I was of the first generation to grow up with TV friends like Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch. Back then it was hard to understand his love of trash which he jubilantly sang about while showing off treasured pieces from his personal collection. Who could have imagined that a life surrounded by trash could be so entertaining? And how about a life surrounded by trash as inspiring? If you’re intrigued by the notion of fabulous trash-centric cinema to keep you warm on these cold winter nights, I’ve got a couple to recommend for your viewing pleasure:

WALL-E – If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean when I say “awwww”. If you yet to view this Pixar classic, do yourself a favor and watch it! You’ll experience a landscape awash in society’s trash after mankind has left it all behind.From the comfort of your favorite movie-watching seat, you’ll befriend an adorable little robot named WALL-E who collects the garbage and along the way, strikes up a little romance.

Waste Land – This is a deeply inspiring and humbling documentary about a few of my favorite things – community, recycling, reuse, collaboration, resilience, optimism, creativity and photography – and it amazes me to no end! This is the first and only DVD I own because it resonated to my core. Truly! Warning: Tissues are a must when viewing this film for all the good happy reasons that can make you cry!

So as you salt the organic popcorn, pull up a blanket, and queue up some trashy films, remember that there is beauty to be found in everything – especially the places from which we often avert our eyes.

Five years ago, the now 22-year-old HPP purchased and occupied its current home, a big grey building with a nondescript facade on the corner of 18th and Potrero streets in San Francisco. Once we were past the front desk, we were struck by the friendly and open physical interior of this surprisingly modern and inviting space that once upon a time was fixed up by a now evaporated dot-com. Visual awe gave way, however, to a deep sense of amazement and frequent mouthing of “wow” at one another as the extraordinary array of services provided by HPP was described by our tour leaders,Sharon Bechtol, the volunteer coordinator and donations manager, and Chad Christensen, founder of SFSmiles, a partner charity.

We learned about an extraordinary array of classes and services – prenatal classes, parenting classes (including those for single mothers and fathers), child care, support and assistance overcoming substance abuse, tax services, computer training, a wellness program, meditation classes, social services and art classes – all offered at no charge. (See? That’s way more than just prenatal!)

On top these services, we heard about the paid and volunteer staff’s passion for fulfilling HPP’s mission. It was infectious. I couldn’t help but feel a little giddy inside. “By seizing the motivational opportunity created by pregnancy and parenthood, HPP joins with families to help them recognize their strengths and trust in their capacity to transform their lives.”

But all this fascinating stuff led to the real motivation behind the tour: to learn about donation opportunities for our clients – many of whom are in a state of transition themselves – to help transform the lives of strangers who are also in the throes of big life changes.

I have found that when I am able to share firsthand knowledge about what a nonprofit organization does with the donations it receives, my clients are more willing and ready to let possessions go. I believe this will be the case when they learn that donations will go directly to the individuals (homeless or recently homeless clients in the case of HPP) and the other charities that SFSmiles supports.

Here’s what we learned:
Homeless Prenatal Program accepts donations of clothing for infants to adults, books, new pots and pans, new towels and bedding, unused diapers (open packages okay), car seats, strollers, rocking chairs and more.

SFSmiles is hands-down a favorite new find! Chad will pick up donations from private homes or storage units for free. He and his team will distribute the items to the impressive roster of charities that his organization supports. Got too many stacks of National Geographics or other magazines languishing in your garage? He’ll take ‘em! At the moment, SFSmiles serves San Francisco with select forays to Marin and the near East Bay. (Please click the logos above to read exactly what items are needed and can be donated.)

And the clincher: how do these two organizations work together? SFSmiles collects furniture donations for clients whom HPP has assisted with finding housing. Working with HPP’s in-house case managers, potential donations that can be used to furnish and outfit a small apartment or studio will be matched to current clients’ needs. SFSmiles will pick up such furniture donations and deliver them directly to HPP clients’ homes. This makes for a win-win-win situation!

To learn more about these organizations and how you can get involved, please visit homelessprenatal.org and sfsmiles.org.

The elephants are parading through space to an unknown destination, but the “traveling” part of the piece hails from my insanely talented, creative, and silly friend, Sharon. Throughout the earlier part of this year, I received sporadic emails from her that read, “Now where? Hee hee,” and “Elephants in Orleans, CA?” accompanied by an image of the quilt in progress. Then one day a box arrived and this masterpiece came into my life. What a gift!

I thought I knew what a quilt was until I experienced the stunningly beautiful and story-rich assemblages that were exhibited in The Quilts of Gees Bend, a traveling exhibition that came to San Francisco’s deYoung Museum in 2006. These “quilts were pieced from scraps of fabric often salvaged from worn-out clothes combined in extraordinary combinations of color, pattern, and texture,” said the museum’s website, and my perspective on this art form changed overnight.

Mere months after seeing the show, I met Sharon, and in these years since, I’ve also met her quilts. Just like the pieces produced by the women from Gees Bend, I am in awe of the deeply personal, beautiful, and surprising directions her creations can take. Her home is awash in the magic, and I love the unexpected recycled and/or collaborative content many contain.

The piece above is made from her father’s jeans. The random pieces of metal are from the eclectic collection of things he found on the street during his daily stroll through the San Jose neighborhood where he lived. Another piece (not photographed) was made using several of his shirts, complete with writing implements he also found on the street tucked into a pocket.

In Sharon’s sewing room which doubles as the guest room, there resides a cozy work-in-progress made from sweaters knit by her grandmother. While it seems like sacrilege to some to “destroy” such a family heirloom, I love that my friend willingly defies convention and turns these meaningful creations into something even more meaningful to her. She gets to experience her grandmother’s stitches, re-experience the sweaters, and tell her own tale of this relationship in color and texture…

And my favorite quilt in the house: a collaboration between Sharon and her dragon-loving, eight-year-old daughter, Emily. Emily drew a dragonian representation of her choice elements – air, fire, life, lightening (yep, I spelled it the way she did!), rock and water – and chose the fabrics to accompany each.

The result is an amazing snapshot of their respective creativity and time spent being together…

…and of the place that friendly monsters, make believe, and unbridled creativity can play in all our lives.

Now I know what a quilt really is.

I was perplexed by the amount of time it was taking my partner, Sven, when he disappeared into the bedroom to put away the small bundle of clothes he unpacked from our weekend away. Did the exhaustion from the drive and the days of relaxation overtake him? Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to investigate.

When I entered the room, I saw piles of clothing covering half the bed. He was at the far end of the room flipping through a stack of shirts. He was well beyond putting away. He was in the midst of a spontaneous purge.

I tentatively sat on the edge of the bed and watched as the piles of clothes that returned to the armoire were considerably shorter than they were mere moments before. He said he was determined to make them more manageable and to eliminate the need to use force on laundry day when his shirts had to be wedged backed onto their piles. A mound of soon-to-be outbound items gradually increased. He was in it up to his elbows.

A familiar pang of envy washed over me. I wanted to do what he was doing. I retrieved my weekend clothes and carefully put them away, doing my best to avoid interrupting this man’s determined progress. Next thing I knew, I was harvesting pieces from my piles in the armoire. Like a farmer who knows which fruits are ripe and ready, my sense of what had to go was keen. My motions were swift, my intention was focused. One-by-one, pieces of clothing were tossed in a gentle arch toward the vicinity of his outbound piles. Once I started, I was unstoppable. The closet was next!

By the time we were finished all that survived the great purge of 2008 was tidily back in place.  In addition the recovery of several items that had been long buried and “lost” in the armoire, I found myself feeling that I had just acquired a whole lot more wardrobe as a result of letting go. And every time before, during, and since that purge, one particular three-piece ensemble has stayed quietly tucked away at the far end of the closet: my Halloween costume from 1971.

There were few things I wanted to keep when my parents decided to move and sell the house I grew up in, and the costume was one of them. The fact that this awesome homemade artifact from my childhood was still around meant something to me. While I have vague memories of my mother sewing the beautifully fringe-edged gown and cape with accompanying felt hat, I distinctly remember wearing them. This was probably the only costume I ever had which could be layered from below. Halloween on the east coast could be cold, and I’m pretty certain my costume was exposed the entire time I was trick-or-treating and not zipped up and hidden beneath my winter coat. This was first time I dressed completely in black, a trend that I would rediscover with great joy in college. (Just to be clear: the black clothing trend, not the witching trend.) But this is not why I keep it. I keep it because I like it. I enjoy the memories it conjures of my childhood: a time filled seemingly with infinite amounts of play and creativity. It reminds me of my favorite season and traipsing across leaf-covered lawns. I keep it because it makes me smile. It takes up a minuscule amount of space: it resides on a single hanger at the end of the bar in the clothes closet. There it sits year in and year out, an unofficial part of my wardrobe. Every now and again, I take it out for show-and-tell.

A few weeks ago, in anticipation of Halloween, I asked my mom if she had any photos of me in the costume. Days later, the answer arrived in my inbox in the form of the photograph (above) that she found and scanned. What a cute and good witch I was…and still am!

Today – literally today – forty years to the only day I wore it, I tried the costume on. It still fits! Well, sort of. The gown is now a mini-dress with 3/4 length sleeves. The cape snaps around my neck, but it’s snug. The hat perches gingerly atop my vastly shorter swirls of curls. This costume has enabled me to share this story and ponder memories that may not have ever come back to me. We all carry and save things from our past. It’s okay to keep them as long as they don’t get in the way of doing the things we love. I love to share stories, to inspire, and to make people laugh. I have to think that at least with the following photo, I’ve achieved one of my goals for today.

Fast forward to today, more than (ahem) twenty years later. A box of Band-Aids ® sits beside me. Times have changed. Their distinctive logo remains the same, but the box design has been modernized in ways unimaginable back then. The FSC, or Forest Stewardship Council logo appears on the box. In a nutshell, this means their boxes are made from responsibly managed forests. The box also reveals that this all-American seeming product is made in…Brazil! There’s a possible irony there that I’m just going to avoid for today.

And that brings me to the main point of this post: how often do you read labels? For someone like me with food allergies, or for anyone who needs to be mindful of sugars, sodium, and any range of other health concerns, label reading is a way of life. As you can see from my observations above, it has branched out past food! But even the most staple food items – like canned products – can lead to startling revelations. When was the last time you read your cans of beans?

Yep. These two cans of kidney beans are sold under the same label of a popular U.S. grocery store. Finding this in my pantry was surprising, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Globalization and keeping costs low are the name of the game for major manufacturers…of everything. But do I need to be buying organic beans from China? No way. This label-inspired reality check quickly led me to switch to another brand whose labels indicate that their organic beans are “California or Arizona family farm grown.” Now there’s a can of beans I can dig into when soaking and cooking their dried counterparts is too inconvenient.

And perhaps this is a good reason why, whenever we can (pun intended!), we should remember to peruse the tags, wrappers and labels that make informed consumers of the curious among us. Choices are ours to make!

My earliest memory of a packing list was a piece paper Scotch®-taped to the inside lid of the trunk that followed me to summer camp. It was an itemized rundown of every thing a camper needed to survive a four- or eight-week summer session away from home. If I recall correctly, it included how many of each item to bring and/or a space where my parents could fill in how many of each item was packed. Underwear and towels were accounted for along with calamine lotion and toothpaste. It was a portable accounting of all I had to keep track of and bring back home. After summer camp, a packing list had no place in my world…until a few years ago.

Getting ready for a trip often became a somewhat stressful process. I’d routinely find myself mentally and physically going through the armoire, the closet, and the bathroom as I recreated the patterns of my days, what I used, and what had to remember to bring with me. I’d make lists on scraps of paper again and again. Then came the notes as mandates. “PACK HAT!” would scream at me. “CHECK FILM” was the reminder to make sure I had enough Tri-X in my camera bag. So, it came to this: I had gotten tired of trying to remember what I was possibly forgetting whenever I took a trip. There had to be an easier way. And there was: I created a packing list.

Are you intrigued? Does this sound like something that could ultimately make your traveling life a whole lot easier? Here’s how to do it:

• Open an empty document page on the computer, and save it as packing list. If you prefer to start with paper and pen and then transcribe to the computer, by all means, please do so.
• Create a simple framework using categories that make sense to you. For example, clothes, toiletries, carry-on, and work bag may be starting points.
• Let the free-flowing list of seemly mundane words that correspond to each category populate your page. Embrace the obvious and the minutiae. They are all part of your list and what makes sense for you.
• Allow words such as hat or jacket to be broad yet non-specific so you can tailor your ultimate selection/s to the needs of each trip. A broad phrase like travel documents could suffice, or conversely, listing the actual array of items – boarding passes, reservation confirmations, passport – may be more helpful.
• Adjust your list accordingly and save it.
• Prior to each trip, print it out and cross things off as the item gets added to your luggage. Yep. It’s really that easy.

When I first sat down to make my list, it felt like a silly exercise, but as I saw the outline of my wardrobe and carry-on bag take shape before my eyes, silly gave way to relief and clarity. Over the course of the next year or so, I refined the list. It’s a flexible document that is ready, willing and able to be altered as my needs change.

My list is as close to complete as I could ever imagine it being, and whenever it’s time to hunt and gather for a getaway, I simply take my list and check it twice. It has freed my mind and my time. I now leave town with greater peace of mind.

Think about it. What do you do with the lids from milk, juice, kombucha, vinegar, olive oil, wine, and beer bottles? And how about the wee tops from tubes of toothpaste, mustard, and tomato paste? Ooh, and the larger lids of the variety that “pop” when you open the jars from store-bought sauces, pickles, and sauerkraut? Do these go in the trash or the recycling bin?

My inquiring mind needed some answers, so I approached the source – San Francisco’s Department of the Environment – with my dilemma and a group portrait of lids and caps I collected just for this purpose.

And the answers, provided by Hillary Near, Commercial Zero Waste Associate, were as follows:

“Lids (metal and plastic) should be recycled along with their associated containers. The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) reports that plastic bottles and containers with caps and closures should have the caps replaced prior to recycling.” She directed me to APR press release which (sadly) is no longer available in its entirety for you to geek out on this aspect of recycling.

In San Francisco, we can recycle many plastics, so “Plastic lids are usually too small to be captured by the recycling recovery facility. They’re much more likely to be recycled if the container is first crushed, then the lid affixed to the container.” This means that empty metal toothpaste, mustard, and tomato paste tubes can also go into the recycling cart with their plastic lids and that plastic corks can be recycled along with their bottles. Replug the jugs!

And what about the beer bottle caps, since those cannot be re-attached to their bottles? (And to clarify, I am not a beer drinker. It’s what one gets for living with a German!) Drop ‘em in the recycling bin.

“Beer bottles caps are probably made of metal, in which case they will likely be captured using the high-powered magnet that pulls ferrous metal off of the sort line at the recycling facility.”

And back to the topic of those corks. Regardless of where you live, please do not put real cork corks in the trash or compost bin! Corks can be recycled. Check reCORK’s website to find a collection location near you.

If none of these items are recyclable in your community, take action. Make some calls and see what can be done. And if that leads you to a dead end, use those lids and tops to make a statement. Make some art!

Cheers!

I’d always wanted to try my hand at canning, but the risk of accidentally creating a lethal stockpile of botulism kept any attempts at bay. I wanted professional guidance and in 2009, I stumbled upon classes offered by a the folks of Happy Girl Kitchen Co., a local independent producer of yummy things in jars. (Trust me, try the okra sometime!)

I signed up without hesitation and took a class…

I was inspired and excited with my new stash of know-how and got my partner and a couple of friends fired up. Next thing I know, we had an all day marathon canning 60 pounds of tomatoes. Oh, yes, we canned! The one thing I neglected to give much thought to was the fact that as we consumed our sauces, we’d soon have a small army of Ball jars awaiting their next deployment.

For close to 18 years, I have been storing rices, flours, beans, grains, salts and dried foods in a wide array of glass jars – repurposed pasta sauce and pickle jars, as well as co-op bought Ball, Quattro Stagioni, and wire bail varieties. With the new surplus on hand and no new dry goods to house, I took on a personal challenge of finding new ways to use them.

Slowly but surely, I began defying my own sense of “normal” by storing leftover  soups and salads (yes, even the leafy variety!) and pasta and sauce and you name it in the surplus Ball jars. What a delight to have the jars tidily lined up in the fridge and to be able to see what was in each of them! Gone was the need to guess what was in the translucent plastic containers. In fact, I now had an excuse to start putting plastic storage containers into quiet retirement. I test drove jars of coffee, flax seed, and Parmesan cheese in jars the freezer. Soups and sauces were next.

Me and my partner are hooked on the merits and joys of glass jars.

SO, WHY USE GLASS? THE BENEFITS ARE OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE

The uses and benefits of glass jars are numerous: they are easy, economical, reusable, and healthful.

• A transition to glass is a huge step toward making a simple earth-friendly change in your life.
• Glass containers get recycled* domestically – even locally! Glass collected by municipalities in the San Francisco Bay Area goes to the Strategic Materials facility in the East Bay, thereby keeping jobs and money in the local economy. Bottles do not have to hop onto cargo ships to sail to far and exotic locales which most of us will never visit.
• Glass is non-toxic and will not leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into your food.
• When it comes to canning jars that come in a wide array of sizes, lids are pretty much one size fits all. This saves you time spent playing the kitchen classic “match the lid to the container” game. Oh joy!

• It is easy to replace a lid if one goes missing.
• Food stays fresher longer when stored in glass.
• Glass containers are more easily and thoroughly washed than their plastic counterparts.
• Glass jars will not melt in the dishwasher.

AND A GLASS JAR HAS A PLETHORA OF PRACTICAL & CREATIVE USES

Front row (l. to r.): dried shiitake mushrooms, cooked noodles, chili oil (I brought this jar to one of my favorite restaurants that makes their own and asked for some to go; the waiter obliged!), polenta, dried beans. Back row (l. to r.): leftover risotto, quinoa, peanuts

• Reuse a jar when you purchase bulk liquid and goopy foods such as peanut butter, syrup, olives, tahini, etc.
• Store bulk dry goods such as beans, nuts, seeds (flax, sesame), sugar, loose tea, etc.
• Pack a jar-friendly lunch and bring it to work or school. Finally, a leak-proof soup transporter!
• Bring a jar for packing up possible leftovers when dining out. Small jars are just the right size for many kinds of food items. As a bonus, others may see your actions and be inspired!
• Use a jar as a collection receptacle for small recyclable items like batteries, corks, and blue tubes (homeopathic remedy containers).
• Glass provides is a neutral (odor-free) environment for storing tubes of homeopathic remedies.
• Collect loose change in a jar, and when it’s full, bring it to the bank to be cashed in.
• Safely store useful random items such as nails and screws. Safely store useless random items, too!
• Fill the jar with favorites from your rock or shell collection, invert, and voila! a homemade paperweight.

WANT MORE INFORMATION & INSPIRATION?

• My Plastic-free Life
• Environmental Working Group
• National Center for Home Food Preservation
• Learn about Ball jar canning and preserving

What are you going to do with your jars?

*A fascinating aside I learned while researching local glass recycling: Glass Pyrex dishes CANNOT be recycled. This goes for windows, mirrors, and car windshields, too. These glasses are smelted several hundred degrees higher than bottle and jars. Therefore, they must be put in the trash.