Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Activity 6: A day at the Community Park in Benicia






After being out of town for a week on a cruise to Alaska, having my entire house under construction, starting to prepare for the new school year in my new classroom and with the first day of school tomorrow for the boys, our schedule has been hectic.

It was a perfect day to escape the first day of school jitters and play hard. We met some close friends for a picnic and kept the afternoon free of waste.  It was hot today, which meant preparation of extra reusable water bottles were necessary, a cooler with a lot of ice and a zero waste lunch.

After a long day in the sun, the boys are trying to settle down and prepare for their first day of school. We are not ready to say good bye to summer, however we are excited about making friends in our new school.


Friday, July 11, 2014

Activity 5: Bus Tour around San Francisco







Living near San Francisco, what better way to see the city but to be a tourist.  I went on a bus tour last summer and enjoyed it immensely. The weather was great, wasn't a cloud in the sky, low wind and the tour guide was extremely informative.  I had high hopes that this trip would be the same for my children to enjoy.

The journey started wonderfully.  The morning was beautiful, the sun was shinning and we were full of excitement. The fog quickly rolled in, along with the wind, 20 minutes into our bus ride. Our tour guide was obsessed with checking the traffic report, rather than telling us about the buildings we were passing.  He also told one joke over and over, which was funny the first time, but got old quick (Did you know that Lombard Street isn't the crookedest street in American? Wall Street is!). After the fifth time we started to tune him out. Unfortunately we didn't learn anything and from the picture below, the weather was taking a toll on us and the kids were ready for our adventure to end. The city was still beautiful and had some great views. 

After the bus tour, we went to our favorite organic restaurant and ate our hearts out. They serve all food on washable plates/utensils/cups, no straws and have compostable paper boxes for left over food.  Our zero waste dinner made up for the cold bus tour.

I still would recommend a bus tour for any visiting tourists as long as they follow these two rules:
1) Don't go in July unless you have your winter coat, hat and gloves. It is the coldest month of the year.
2) Pick a guided headphone tour instead of a person guided tour. You can bring your headphones so you don't waste plastic on their headphones. 

Has anyone else had an outing gone awry this summer?



Monday, July 7, 2014

Activity 4: San Francisco Giants Game








Going zero waste at a baseball game took some preparation, however it was not difficult.  My motto for zero waste has become research and preparation. In this case, I was glad that I did my research and found out that we were not allowed to bring in our stainless steel water bottles. We normally bring our water bottles wherever we go.  By checking the stadiums rules regarding bringing food and drinks, we knew to leave our water bottles at home.

The stadium only allows unopened plastic bottles. We really did not want to bring in and drink from the plastic bottles. Our alternative was to purchase drinks in paper cups and keep the cups to put in our compost at home. We decided to eat dinner at home before the 7pm game. Better food and we can control the waste.

We enjoyed to game even though the Giants lost. And we had a bonus: we were there for the Giants' July 4th firework display.