Who wants to THROWDOWN?

Most of the blogs I read are my friend's blogs. One day, you, too, will be able to read them, as I plan to put a little list of them to the side when I have the time and can figure it out (but I won't list anyone's blog who doesn't want it listed.) There have been a couple of blogs of strangers that have interested me. I read No Impact Man for the year of his big experiment, and I was inspired on a regular basis. A month or two ago, though, I found a blog I like even more. It's called Crunchy Chicken, and if you've noticed the banners over to the right, you may have found your way there as well. (Assuming you can see the banners. I know Renee can and Katie can't. How about the rest of you?)

Anyway, one of the things I like best about Crunchy Chicken (and there's a lot to like, what with Eco-hotties of the week, Diva Cup giveaways, and Sunday confessionals) are the monthly challenges. April's challenge wasn't much of one for me- it was to not buy anything unless it was food, or necessary for growing your own food. That's not to say I didn't slip up- twice- but it's mostly the way we always live. (Spiderman shirt for Zephyr, beautiful ceramic mug at the Earth Day event made by a local artisan, in case you're wondering. My justifications: it was Zephyr's birthday, and I'm going to give the mug to someone for Christmas.)

But May is something else all together. That's right, it's time for the Extreme Eco Throwdown. She introduced it with the following options, and the instructions to pick and choose, trying one for the whole month, or sampling a variety that change by the week:

1. No plastic - Don't buy or consume anything (purchases, food, etc.) that is encased in plastic. I don't care if it's recyclable. If you want to go all the way, this will include your shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. In other words, when in doubt, ask yourself, WWFPFD?

2. No paper products - This encompasses the obvious: no newspapers, paper towels, toilet paper, pads or tampons, paper plates, paper or coffee cups.

3. No driving - This one is pretty straightforward. Check out your public transit and bus routes, get yourself a monthly bus pass, get your bike tuned up or dust off those walking/running shoes.

4. Local food only - Depending on where you live, this may be fairly easy or quite difficult. For those of you with plenty of farmers markets to choose from and tons of different foods coming into season, it won't be too hard. Local bakery items (unless Sara Lee is local to you), local organic or sustainable dairy products, eggs, meats and wineries and breweries are all acceptable. Don't be afraid to forage for those dandelions!

5. No garbage output - You should only be producing waste that is compostable and it should go into your compost pile or your municipal food waste pickup.

6. No excessive water usage - Now, I'm not expecting you to dehydrate yourselves. What this one is about is conserving water. That means, very little water for showering, bathing, washing. Try to use the least amount of gallons of water you can. Pretend like there is a severe water shortage. Drink as much as you need to, just imagine you have to retrieve all your water in buckets from a stream 1 mile away.

7. No electricity - For some of you this may be easier if you rely on gas for heating and cooking. But for the most case, this will give you an idea what it will be like to not rely on power for a period of time. If you only want to try this one out for a day or a week, that's fine. It will be like a self-imposed power outage. For those of you who want to do this one, but don't want to clear out your fridge/freezer, you can leave it running - I'm not expecting you to go off the grid.

You may have noticed that they get progressively more difficult, so it's probably no coincidence that I'm going to try the first four, for a week each. I've been trying to decide what order, but maybe I'll just go numerically. I think Jon is, for the most part, in it with me, but he may have to drive for work during no drive week. My mother and grandmother will be thrilled to know that it will all be over by the time they come for their visit at the end of May!

So it looks like we'll be starting on no plastics this Thursday. I just have a couple of questions. There are some things I buy in bulk at the co-op, toting in plastic containers when I need a refill, like rice, flour, and laundry soap. Can I still consume them, since I just as easily could have stored them in a glass jar? Also, Jubilee sleeps in a disposable diaper at night. Do those count as paper or plastic? I'm thinking plastic, since they come encased in plastic, and they are so not biodegradable. Our soymilk comes in a paperboard package with a plastic lid. Do we have to do away with it both weeks? Now that I think about it, we have some yogurt in plastic quart tubs that expire in early May. It seems like it wouldn't be in keeping with the spirit of the challenge to let it go bad while doing our plastic-free time. Maybe we can use it up before May 1st.

I'm assuming that anything I make at home and store in plastic, like granola or bread, is okay. Shampoo and deod aren't an issue for us, since we use baking soda for both, and our Tom's of Maine toothpaste comes in a metal tube.

Good times.

Anyone else wanna throwdown?