Day 46

Collection

• Mail

1. A statement (file/reuse)
2. Bill (file/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 plastic pretzel bag (reuse)
2. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
3. 2 paper bags (reuse)
4. 1 big piece of masking tape, used to pick lint off of something I crocheted (garbage)
5. 1 glossy paper yarn wrapper

Reuses and other projects

• Today I cleaned out some spots in my living room and gathered a lot of reuseable materials in the process. Much of this was paper from my desk, and much of that was made up of piles of junk mail I had not yet sorted. Even before the project started I was finding it increasingly difficult to throw out potentially useful items, so I have quite a collection. I found at least 15 credit card offers from American Express. These should be drying up now that I have taken myself and my husband off the the mailing lists for credit card and insurance offers. In the meantime, I began a project with them. So far, I have made several sheets of homemade paper using just the credit card offers. I saved the intact envelopes, the thicker paper and those fake "your name here" credit cards they send. I threw out the tacky glue that adheres the fake cards to the paper. From all of this I'll be making some small notepads.
  

Day 47

Collection

• Mail and other paper
  

1. A local hospital newsletter (reuse)
2. Magazine offer (reuse)
3. AAA offer (reuse)
4. Credit card offer (reuse)
5. 6 pieces of my son's art (reuse)
6. 1 catalogue picked up from a furniture store (reuse)
7. 1 flyer picked up from a furniture store (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 paper bags (reuse)
   
2. 1 plastic produce bag (reuse)
3. 2 paper receipt (reuse)
4. 1 plastic milk bottle seal (reuse)
5. 1 plastic potato bag (reuse)
6. 1 plastic bag from food leftover take-out (reuse)
7. 1 cardboard food leftover take-out container (reuse if not too messy)
8. 1 cardboard tissue box (reuse, but contents are in the garbage)
9. 3 glass beer bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
10. 1 cardboard toilet paper roll (reuse) and paper wrapper for new roll (reuse)
11. 1 cardboard pad box (reuse, but of course the contents of the box have been put in the garbage)

Day 45

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 bills (file/return/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
   
2. 2 pasta boxes (reuse)
   
3. 1 medication patch packaging (reuse) and patch (garbage)
4. 1 chip bag (reuse)

Reuse: I used a plastic lid, large tin can and my container of bottlecaps to make a toy/game for my son. I cut a hole in the lid and we dropped/counted/sorted the caps into the can. Hours of fun. Also, I am attempting to make my own sour cream. If successful, I could cut down on the packaging used for all those sour cream containers. I can use cream for this that comes in reusable glass bottles from my local dairy.

Day 44

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
   
2. 1 chip bag (reuse)
3. 1 candy bag and candy wrappers (reuse/garbage)
4. 1 receipt (reuse)
5. 1 egg carton (reuse)
6. 1 milk bottle seal (reuse)
7. 1 peanut container and lid (reuse)
8. 2 medication patch wrappers (reuse) and patches (garbage)
   

• Other: miscellaneous fabric scraps

Reuse

• I cut an old and ripped pair of pajama bottoms into rags for various purposes.
  

Day 43

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 1 candy package and wrappers (reuse/garbage)
2. 1 yogurt seal (garbage)
3. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
4. 1 "biodegradable" plastic produce bag with holes (garbage)
5. 1 glass beer bottle and cap (reuse)
6. 1 receipt (reuse)
7. 1 beer box (reuse)
8. 1 small paper bag (reuse)
9. various small cardboard and plastic packaging bits for a small plumbing repair (reuse/garbage)

Day 42

Collection

• Mail

1. Computer ad/miniature catalogue (reuse)
2. Credit card offer (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
2. 1 chip bag (garbage)
3. 1 receipt (reuse)
4. rubber bands/wire ties/plastic bags for vegetable packaging (reuse)
5. 1 glass soda bottle and cap (reuse)
6. 1 plastic bag for doggie treat gift (reuse as gift wrapping)
7. 1 muffin wrapping (reuse)

Day 41

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine (read and reuse)
   
2. bill (reuse/file)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
2. 2 plastic produce bags (reuse)
3. 1 chip bag (reuse)
4. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)

Day 40

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine (read/reuse)
2. bill (reuse/file)

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 glass juice bottle and cap (reuse)
3. 1 glass olive oil bottle and cap (reuse)
4. 1 cardboard pasta box (reuse)
5. 1 butter wrapper (garbage)
6. 1 cheese wrapper (garbage)

Day 39

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine subscription renewal form (return/reuse)
2. Water utility notice postcard requesting voluntary water use reduction (reuse)
3. Catalogue (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. Milk carton (reuse)
2. Chocolate bar wrapper (reuse/garbage)
3. Plastic flower bag (reuse)
4. Rubber band (reuse)
5. 2 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)

Day 38

Collection

• Mail

1. Ad postcard (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 plastic medicine bottle (reuse)
3. 1 cardboard medicine box (reuse)
4. 1 plastic medicine seal (garbage)
5. 1 chip bag (garbage)
6. 1 wire twist tie (reuse)
7. 2 plastic bags (reuse)
8. 1 cardboard kleenex box (reuse)

Day 37

Collection

• Mail and other papers

1. 2 preschool flyers (reuse/file)
   
2. 1 insurance offer (reuse)
3. 1 credit card offer (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 coffee cups (garbage/reuse)
2. large cardboard box (reuse)
3. large plastic bag (reuse)
4. packing peanuts (reuse)
5. 2 toy packaging boxes, toys, and clothing (use)
6. 4 plastic packaging bag (reuse)
7. 2 candy bar wrappers (garbage/reuse)
8. 1 cookie box (reuse)
9. 8 plastic cookie wrappers (garbage)
10. 3 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
    

Day 36

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 3 beer/soda bottles and bottle caps(reuse)
   
2. 1 pizza box (to hold leftovers--reuse if not too dirty)
3. 1 peanut container (reuse)
   
4. 3 receipts (reuse)
5. 1 botanical garden brochure (reuse)
6. 1 plastic produce bag (reuse)
7. 1 toilet paper roll and paper wrapper for new roll (reuse)
8. 1 buttermilk container (garbage--seems too dirty/filmy on the inside to wash without destroying the container, but ideas for getting around this are welcome as I regularly buy buttermilk)

In other news: I opted out of credit card offers online. This is part of my Month 2 focus on paper. More on that coming soon (on fr(ECO)logism)--I'm still catching up on everything as I reenter life following the recent illnesses in my family.

Day 35

Collection

• No mail!

• Food and other packaging

1. cheese packaging (garbage)
2. pasta box (reuse)
3. milk container seal (reuse)
4. 1 chip bag (reuse)
5. 2 tin cans (reuse)

Also...today I reused some paper scraps, cardboard scraps, and a wire to make a small notebook. It was a decent attempt, although I don't have a small enough hole-punch to have done it well.

Day 34

Collection

• Mail

1. 1 letter (save/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 chip bags (garbage)
2. 4 take-out containers (garbage)
3. 1 tissue box (reuse)
4. 1 plastic bag (garbage--already reused once)
5. 1 plastic pharmacy bag (reuse)
   
6. 1 receipt (reuse)
   
7. 1 paper prescription bag and 1 paper prescription insert (reuse)
8. 1 doctor's appointment reminder card (reuse)
9. 1 doctor's appointment copay receipt (reuse)
10. 1 sour cream seal

• Other: One package from the grandparents for Valentine's Day containing 5 books (to keep and read), 4 book covers (to reuse, since my son is very clear about not wanting to keep them on the books), 2 stuffed animals (to keep and play with), 1 boxed game (to play with), 2 heavy duty plastic bags (to reuse), 1 hat and 1 t-shirt (to wear), 1 card (to save/reuse), and packaged in 1 box (to reuse)

Day 33

Collection

• Mail

1. Bank statement (reuse/file)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 chip bag (garbage)
3. 1 peanut container (reuse)
4. 1 cardboard tissue box (reuse)

Day 32

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 cards (save/reuse)
2. 1 tax form (file/reuse)
3. 1 newsletter (read/reuse)

Day 31

Collection

• Mail

1. DVD envelope flap (reuse)
2. donation request (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 chips bags (reuse)
2. 3 soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
3. 1 plastic bottle (reuse)
4. 1 half gallon milk carton (reuse)

Day 30

Collection

• Mail (all to file and/or reuse)
  

1. Tax form
2. Bank statement
3. Car ad
4. 2 Realty ads (one for me and one for my husband)
5. Sandwich shop ad
6. Bank ad
7. e-file tax ad/info

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 tin can (reuse)
2. rubber band from vegetables (reuse)
3. 1 bread bag (reuse)
4. 3 soda bottles and caps (reuse)

Other: I used some of the vegetable stock I made a couple of weeks ago to make soup. Combined a few ingredients (a dab of dish soap left in the bottom of the bottle, castille soap, essential oils and water) in an old dishsoap bottle to reuse the bottle and to make what I hope will work as dishsoap.

Day 29

Collection

• No mail!!! (Thank God for Sundays.)
• Food and other packaging

1. medicine plastic seal (garbage)
2. yogurt container plastic seal (garbage)
3. grocery receipt (receipt)
   
4. wire twist-tie from a bunch of beets (reuse)
   

Other

• Washed off the new window screen in preparation for papermaking whenever my son feels well enough for me to be off the couch for long enough to do this.
  

Day 28

Collection

• Mail

1. Subscription offer (reuse)
2. Local realtor ad (reuse)
3. Local realtor magazine (reuse)
4. magazine (read and reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging
  

1. 2 beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
   
2. 1 medicine bottle (reuse)
3. 1 medicine box (reuse)
4. plastic medicine dropper wrapper (garbage)
5. tissue box (reuse minus plastic; tissues themselves are in the garbage)
6. wipes plastic packaging (garbage, I think)
7. orange juice gallon container (reuse)
8. plastic cheese wrapper (garbage)
9. plastic bag and receipt (reuse) from grocery store run (our canvas bag didn't hold everything...)
   

Other

• Shopping: I bought new shoes for my growing son. I'll try to find a reuse for the plastic inserts and tag, and put the receipt in the reuse pile. I also bought an old window frame/screen to use for homemade papermaking at a local building supply salvage shop. Not sure what I'll do with the frame once the screen is out...
  

Day 27

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 magazines (subscription--read/reuse)
2. 2 bills (filed/reuse)

• Food and other packaging
  

1. 5 popsicle wrappers (garbage) and sticks (reuse)
2. tissue box (reuse, minus the plastic lining)
3. 2 soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
4. notebook (to write in) in a plastic wrap (garbage) in a plastic bag--a gift for/from my husband that he brought back from a business meeting
   

Day 26

Collection

• Mail

1. magazine subscription renewal notice (reuse)
   
2. magazine subscription offer (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 6 popsicle wrappers (garbage) and sticks (reuse)
2. 4 glass beer/soda bottles and caps (reuse)
   

Day 25

Collection

• Mail

1. Valpak savings coupons (reuse)
   
2. insurance offer (reuse)
   
3. 2 magazine offers (reuse)
   
4. An informative letter from my local school district (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. Medicine bottle (reuse)
2. 3 food cans (reuse)
3. 1 orange juice carton (reuse)
4. pasta box (reuse)
5. popsicle stick (reuse) and wrapper (garbage)
6. cottage cheese seal (garbage)
7. 4 soda/beer bottles and bottle caps (reuse)
8. coffee cup (reuse)
9. small paper bag (reuse)
   

Day 24

Collection

• Mail

1. ADVO mailing (reuse)
   

• Food packaging

1. juice carton (reuse)
   
2. guacamole container (reuse) and lid (garbage)
   

Reuse

Used a couple of eggs cartons as drawer organizers, and a guacamole container to hold some small toy parts.

Day 23

Collection

• Mail

1. Catalogue (reuse)
   
2. Another catalogue (reuse)
   
3. Magazine offer (paper: reuse, plastic wrapping: garbage)
   
4. Bill (reuse/file)
   
5. Bill (reuse/file)

• Food and other packaging

1. juice carton (reuse)
2. medicine bottle (reuse)
3. tissue box (reuse)

Day 22

Collection

• No mail today...if only every day were Sunday!
  

• Food and other packaging

1. orange juice carton (reuse)
   
2. plastic grocery bags (reuse)
3. 1 ginger ale soda bottle and cap (reuse)
4. egg carton (reuse)
5. glass milk bottle (return) and cap (reuse)
   
6. tea bag and packet (reuse/compost)
7. 2 "biodegradable" plastic bags (garbage--already reused once or more and quite well-worn and dirty)
8. plastic seals on 2 resealable plastic bags (garbage)
9. Straws--may reuse the actual straws, but I also cut the bottoms off to get them down to 4-year-old cup size, then cut the straw bottoms into small bits to string onto an old shoe lace. This occupied my sick son for a time.
   

Other: Started up the third tier of my worm compost pile today. I have one tier full of great compost and one tier ready to rest for a while.

I've started sorting through and trying to organize my reuse piles, and to come up with a better system for this so that I don't drive my husband crazy before the end of month 1. My biggest issue is clearly going to be beer and soda bottles, so this will be the first reuse and alternative project I tackle. The main thing I find myself throwing away is plastic wrapping from food and other packaging. Although I am reusing plenty of plastic bagging, I am bringing in more than I can reuse, and much of the plastic isn't suitable for reuse as packaging.

Day 21

Collection

• Mail

1. - 3. 3 generous offers (a.k.a. junk mail)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. toilet paper roll and paper packaging (reuse)
2. orange juice carton (reuse)
3. cheese wrappings (garbage)
4. sour cream container (reuse)
5. 2 medication bottles (reuse)(for my poor sick child)
6. aluminum foil (reuse/garbage)

Other: more cleaning out of my child's room. I used another food can for his crayon stubs, and added some paper bits to the reuse piles. But mostly just hung out on the couch soothing him and his poor running nose and warm body. I can't seem to convince him to use a tissue more than once, so we'll see how he takes it if I ask him to use a handkerchief. He actually preferred a soft cloth over tissues as a baby...

Day 20

Collection

• Mail

1. magazine (to read)
2. bill (filed/reuse pile)
3. another bill (filed/reuse pile)
4. yet another bill (filed/reuse pile)
   
5. postcard ad (reuse)
   
6. another postcard ad (reuse)
   
7. subscription offer (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 spice packets (garbage)
2. Plastic bag (garbage--"biodegradable" and already reused at least once)
3. Two cardboard pasta boxes (reuse)

Day 19

My collection

• Mail

1. A catalogue in plastic wrap (reuse/garbage)
2. 4 pieces of mail delivered to the wrong address (an ongoing problem)

• Food and other packaging

1. jalapeno jar (reuse)
2. rubber band and twistie tie from radish bunch (reuse)
3. receipt from grocery store run (reuse)
4. plastic seal from glass milk bottle (reuse)
5. plastic seal from rice milk container (reuse)
6. plastic seal from sour cream container (garbage)
7. bandaid and bandaid wrapper (garbage)
8. coffee cup (reuse)
   

Reuse: I made vegetable stock from scraps today.

Other: Garbage day tomorrow! I have nearly half of a tall kitchen bag full--mostly some food scraps that couldn't fit into or wouldn't be good for my compost bin.

Day 18

New Collection

• Mail and other papers
  

1. 2 bills (filed parts I need, the rest in reuse pile)
2. 4 junk mail letters/offers (reuse)
3. my son's art--1 large piece of paper (reuse)

• Food packaging and other
  

1. food can (reuse)
2. pretzel bag (garbage)
3. plastic carrot bag (garbage)
   
4. 2 vegetable bouillion cube wrappers (garbage)
   
5. bandaid (garbage) and bandaid wrapper (reuse)
   
6. My husband brought home a few knick-knacks/swag from a business meeting: handheld fan, notebook, pen, paper bag and a bit of packaging. All for use or reuse.

Reuse

Donated 2 half gallon milk containers to my son's school for an art project today.

Other

Cleaned out a couple of drawers today. Several paper scraps and a few miscellaneous bits went into reuse piles; 5 plastic wrapping scraps and an empty foil pill wrapper (garbage).

Day 17

My collection

• Mail

1. 1 magazine (of the type I will read and keep for a while), annoyingly packaged with an ad (reuse) and wrapped in plastic
2. 1 catalogue (reuse)
3. Various papers (reuse)--I cleaned my son's room and closet out today, and found multiple little paper scraps, pages from books he has destroyed (by accident, I'm sure), as well as...
4. Various bits of plastic wrapping (garbage)--also from my son's room. A few tiny pieces of some kind of packaging.

• Food packaging

1. 1 food can (reuse)
2. soda/beer bottles and caps (reuse)

Reuse

Cleaned a tin can for hold chalk for my son's chalkboard (opened with an opener that leaves a smooth edge, of course)

Other

Researched glass bottle reuse and garbage statistics. Post(s) coming soon on fr(ECO)logism...

Day 16

My growing collection

• Mail, flyers and other papers
  

1. ADVO Shopwise ads (reuse)
2. bill (files and reuse)
   
3. 2 school handouts (reuse)
4. my son's art: 5 large pieces of paper (reuse)

• Food packaging

1. 3 bottles and bottle caps (reuse)
2. 1 tin can and the can's paper wrap (reuse)

One reuse

My son broke a little knick-knack--a glass square weight with a small metal stick sticking out of it and holding up a two-piece glass magnet. It is meant to hold a picture or paper. I pulled the metal stick out of each glass piece and have repurposed the magnet set as refrigerator magnets. Still looking for a use for the metal stick and the glass square.

Day 15

Garbage and reuse pile

• No mail (Sunday)
  
• Food and other packaging
  

1. yogurt container (reuse)
2. 5 soda/beer bottles and lids (reuse)
3. 2 chip bags (garbage)
4. toilet roll (reuse)
   
5. paper wrap for new toilet roll (reuse)
   
6. receipt (from grocery store run)(reuse)

Day 14

List of things acquired, discarded, and placed for reuse today:

• Mail

1. bill
2. credit card offer

• Food packaging

1. plastic sour cream seal (garbage)
2. plastic jar seal (garbage)
3. bandaid and bandaid wrapper (garbage)
   
4. 2 butter wrappers (garbage)
5. butter box (reuse)
6. beer box (reuse)
7. 2 six pack/soda cardboard carrier (reuse)
8. 12 beer/soda bottles and caps (reuse)
   
9. tea packet (reuse)
10. flour bag (reuse)
    
11. olive jar (reuse)
12. peanut jar (reuse)
13. sour cream container (reuse)
14. 4 plastic produce/bulk bags (reuse)

• Other

1. receipt (from grocery store)(reuse)
   

Things I reused today: 4 plastic produce/bulk bags. Also, I went to the grocery store, carried the groceries in my own canvas bag, and avoided using produce bags when possible. The store I went to uses biodegradable plastic bags for produce bags, but I am still trying to minimize and reuse these.

Day 13

Things I put into the garbage or reuse containers today:

• Mail

1. 2 magazines. It is a weekly magazine, but for some reason I got to issues today. I plan to read them and then put them in the paper reuse pile.
2. 1 weird kids language course product magazine/offer. There is a phone number in it, so I will put that on my list of people to call next week, and put the magazine itself in paper reuse pile.

• My son's art: four large pieces of paper, one small piece, to be placed in the paper pile to use again for the reverse sides. I worked at my son's preschool this afternoon, and one of the other parents asked if I wanted to take home a painting that was just barely a line, and about the fifth painting of the day. I said no, then realized that if I took it home I would reuse it, whereas if I left it there it would be stuffed in the recycling bin. Too late, though. On the positive side, I was told one of the morning teachers is collecting half gallon milk containers for an art project. I have two or three I will be able to take in next week.
  

• Food packaging: a tea packet (reuse pile), a really disgusting piece of candy in its wrapper that my son found god knows where and brought to me (garbage), a candy bag, beer bottles (reuse) and lids (reuse).

• Other: a cd The Destroyer (a.k.a. my four-year-old) broke (reuse), more dryer lint (dryer lint pile)
  

Day 12

Things that I put in the garbage or reuse piles today:

• Mail. All pieces I don't need to keep for my records went into paper reuse pile.
  

1. A credit card offer
2. A bill
3. A postcard verifying that I removed my name from ADVO's mailing list. The postcard gives the details of my "delete status", which is effective for five years, then warns: "Please note that by removing your address you won't receive valuable ShopWise coupons and sale information from area grocery stores and retailers." Yes, that's the idea. I may keep this one for my album rather than putting it in the paper pile.
   

• My son's art: 4 large pieces of paper with paint on one side that we will reuse for more art. 1 small piece of paper that is already used on both sides, put into paper pile. 1 sour cream container lid with sequins glued on it. Hmmm. For now, this is sitting on the end table.
  
• Food packaging, etc.: 2 pasta boxes (to reuse pile), 2 spice packets (garbage), that little plastic seal ring from the milk container (reuse, I guess), a tea packet (reuse?--tea bag went into the compost pile), butter wrapper (garbage), coffee cup (garbage--from a day trip a few days ago), 2 chip bags (garbage), yogurt foil seal lid (garbage), beer bottles (reuse), 2 paper grocery bags (reuse).
  
• Other: some dryer lint (!) (into dryer lint container, i.e., a reused tissue box).

Other things I/we did today: My husband went to the grocery store and took a canvas bag, though also needed two paper bags (mentioned above). He took back a few glass milk bottles. Our local dairy rocks.

A note: This is the first day that I have posted on this blog, although the project began on January 7. I will be backdating posts from previous days--until now I have been jotting things down in my notebook each day. I'll capture the first days of the project as well as I can.

I am still adjusting to this, and working out the logistics of this plan. When do I write things down, for example? When they come into my home, or at the moment I would otherwise be throwing them into the garbage or recycling? For now, I have decided to make a note of mail and other papers, along with any gifts, magazines, and anything else I plan to keep for some period of time on the day they enter my place. Most food packaging and other consumable packaging (e.g., shampoo bottles) I will log on the day I would have thrown them away or recycled them. Similarly, things like toilet paper, tissues, etc., I will log when the roll or box is empty rather than one square or tissue at a time. I will see how that works. Maybe it will be better to log things I am planning to reuse less than daily. This is more difficult that I thought it would be. Try logging everything you put in the garbage for a few days and you will see what I mean.

I wish you all blissful garbage disposal...

Day 1: A seed is planted

Sunday, January 7, 2007. I'm something of a procrastinator, and I'm just now getting around to pulling together a few New Year's resolutions. This year, I am focusing on the renewal of my pledge to The Compact, considering how compacting fits into my life and my family's life, and adding a few resolutions on top of not buying new things for the year. One of the things that led me to join the Compact in July 2006, and that my involvement in the group's email list has continued to inspire, is my desire to be more mindful of the impact of my life and lifestyle on other people and on the planet. I am reminded each day to be thoughtful about even the smallest choices--from what I do with an empty jar to how much soap I squeeze into the dishwater.

I am particularly impressed by the volume of the little things coming into my home with the groceries and the mail and leaving my home in the garbage and recycling bins. I've been gradually finding myself hanging onto potentially useful bits and pieces I might once have gotten rid of. With this in mind, I write the following, which you will find buried near the end of my resolutions:

I'll continue my ongoing attempts to reduce the amount of garbage I have through recycling and reuse. My goal is to compost more, and to reuse at least once things that I might have otherwise thrown away or recycled. If I can't reuse it myself, I'll collect and freecycle.

This is how the fr(ECO)logy project begins. At the moment I have no real concept of the magnitude of this resolution. Then, on January 8, I bring the mail in, and it hits me...

Written January 29, 2007, and adapted from my journal entries from the first days of the project.