What's in my Bag?

Hi guys! I was watching a "What's in my Bag?" video on YouTube when I thought that it may actually be a good idea to share with you guys the things I keep in my bag that help me reduce my use of plastic and other things when I'm out.

Let's start with more obvious things. In my bag, I usually have at least two reusable bags. I really like the kind that fold up nice and small really easily. You can find these all over the place these days (but some of my favorites are from flipandtumble.com). I love having these because they're really lightweight and easy open up. They're also nice to have because they live in my bag, and they're so lightweight, so I always have them with me and I don't feel like I'm lugging around anything heavy.

I also carry around a bamboo cutlery set (mine is from to-goware.com). It contains a fork, a spoon, a knife, and a pair of chopsticks. I love having them because, again, they're lightweight, take up very little space, and come in handy whenever I'm out. It's also an added bonus that they're so much stronger than most plastic utensils! I've actually come to prefer using my bamboo utensils, since they make it easier to pick up food and to cut things.

 I also have a glass straw that my brother got me as a gift from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (I'm not sure what the brand is, but if you search "glass straw" online you'll find a bunch). Before I had my glass one I used to use a sturdy plastic one, which also worked great. I feel like straws are something that we all use a lot, but don't often think about until we actually have to use one, and we start feeling a little guilty about it. I love having a reusable one with me!

I also carry around a water bottle that's made of thin plastic, so its flexible. It's nice and small when it's empty, but if I need water, I can fill it up from a water fountain instead of having to buy a bottle of water. I have one for my school bag too.

So I hope you found this helpful! It's a little different (and a bit longer!) than my normal posts, but let me know if you like it! Email me (beth@whymewhynot.org) or let me know in the comments if you have any requests/ideas for future posts! I'd love to hear from you!

Why Not?

I realize that it's been a while since I've posted, but I was just working on something and wanted to ask you all a question to help me with some future posts.

Think about your life. What do you do on a daily basis? Do you walk or ride your bike, or do you choose to drive instead? How long is your average shower? What do you do that you wish could harm the environment less? More importantly- what is it that prevents you from doing things? I don't mean purely environmental things- it can be anything! What motivates you, and what makes you unmotivated?

Let me know in the comments or email me at beth@whymewhynot.org! I'd love to know what you guys have to say, or what you'd like to hear about!

My TEDx Speech!

TEDx Youth@Monterey - Beth Scrutton - Why me? Why not?
My speech from TEDxYouth@Monterey is up on youtube! There's also hundreds of other speeches that were given around the world on TEDxYouth Day on the TEDxYouth page. Take a look!

TEDxYouth@Monterey

I was incredibly fortunate today to be a presenter at TEDxYouth@Monterey, a part of the international TEDx Youth Day. I had a great time as one of a varied group of speakers. I'll blog more on this later in the week, but for now: What matters to you? What can you do about it? And why not do it?

Back to School!

I've been going through all of my pens, pencils, notebooks, and binders from last year, and most things can be reused! I'll be sharpening and buying new lead and ink refills for my old pens and pencils, and my binders and notebooks are fairly reusable. I can tear out pages from old notebooks to use as regular paper, and I can re-label old dividers for use in my binders.

I hope you guys had incredible summers! I'd love to hear about what you're all doing to get ready for school! Let me know :)

Crazy Summer!

I've had a really busy summer, this year, so unfortunately I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to have been. I've been volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium a lot, an experience I've enjoyed and really appreciated. There have been lots of opportunities over the summer for my family and I to use our reusable cups, and other than one place, they've been accepted. Hopefully I'll be able to get up posts on that experience a couple of other things soon.

Coffee (Make Your Starbucks Trip More Eco-Friendly!)

Who doesn't love Starbucks? We see the logo every day, whether around town or on a paper cup in someone's hand. Often I see my teachers or fellow students with their coffee in the mornings, and when they're done, they throw them out, and unless they're in a classroom, the only place to put them is a trash can, so they aren't even recycled. Putting aside the problem that they aren't being recycled, and think about the fact that it only takes six people to have coffee each day for 1000 paper cups to be used over the course of the school year. That doesn't even account for the ones that don't come to school.

How many people do you see go in to Starbucks, place an order, and ask politely for it to be put in an insulated reusable cup? Not very many. But when it does happen, they almost always are happy to fill your cup, bypassing the wasteful paper cup. Also, your coffee stays warmer for longer. So if ten people at my school were to use reusable cups whenever they went into Starbucks, that would take almost 2,000 paper cups out of the trash over the course of the year. Its just that simple.

You can easily find reusable insulated cups at places like Target or your local grocery store for less than $15, so why not? This is a scenario where the benefits definitely  outweigh the costs.