As I wrote yesterday, my friend Toby made both a personal and professional commitment to the Carbon Neutral Journal this year. Not only does he support my efforts, but he has become a bit of a fanatic himself.

More than anything else, Toby has become observant and critical of the waste that surrounds us. From his report on Farm Aid, to this week's email about a visit to Starbucks,  I can always count on Toby to call a spade a spade.

Here's the content of an email titled Starbucks debacle:

I'm in NYC, and I wanted to take a picture, but didn't have a good camera.
 
To get a green tea and a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, they used:
 
1 paper plate
1 wax sandwich wrapper
1 sandwich bag
2 cups
2 tea bags
2 tea bag wrappers
1 plastic lid
1 cardboard jacket for cups
1 receipt

While Toby's stats may not be shocking to most folks, they do serve a purpose — they're a great example of the fact that paying attention (and questioning the necessity of standard practices) is the first step to meaningful conservation. If we're not conscious of the waste that is so commonplace in our society, how can we even begin to challenge and change the norm?

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