A friend asked me to help her out at an event the other day. She has created a magical sustainability coaching business that provides support to businesses, homeowners, and humans of all kinds. She helps people understand the importance of being eco-friendly and reduce waste around the house (i.e. using glass containers to store your leftovers/lunch instead of Ziploc bags or setting up a home milk delivery from the dairy instead of buying it in the plastic gallon jugs); she outlines small steps anyone can take to decrease the speed of that tear in the Ozone layer,. You know the hole I speak of, the one that is causing catastrophic weather events, bouts of unexplained skin cancer, and is the copyright owner of the tagline, “Damn it never used to be this hot outside.”

My friend is a world-saving, bold, warrior woman who tells people how to shape up and be more friendly to Mother Earth, the OG mother who never gets a break.

My friend’s company is called Eco-Minded, and she is lifting it off of the ground like a mighty rocket. With blood, sweat, and probably tears, she has spread her roots to the music festival scene.

What Eco-Minded does is incredible. The team goes to festival events and they sort the trash to ensure that the recycling actually gets recycled and also decreases the amount of unnecessary waste going to landfills by sorting compostables in a compost bin as well (biggest compost bin ever by the way).

Take a peek at her website if you have a minute, she is a badass lady.

Think of the countless concerts and jams you have attended where all of those shiny, groove-inducing bottles and cans containing remnants (or full gulps) of magic juice go straight in the trash, where they do not belong. We all used to think, “Man, if someone recycled this stuff, they would probably make the world a better place.” She capitalized on that shit if I ever saw it.

My friend asked me if I wanted to work one of her events, AND she even paid me, which was a sweet bonus considering the job description was made of dreams and rainbows, dumpster-diving aside. The gig I signed up for was Trash Sorter, but we all know the actual title was Waste Warrior- A Simple Music Festival Lover, Showing the World How Easy It Is to Do the Right Thing, One Compostable, Half-Eaten BBQ Platter and Recyclable Plastic Cup Full of Unfinished Beer at a Time. Note, both platter and cup were harmed in the making of this story; both were thrown in the trash. In front of my very eyes. Ouch, humanity. Hit me, baby, one more time. Right in the gut, please.

Our team was mighty. Made of five, steady full-timers that expanded as large as nine deep at one point in time (we had some floater litter patrollers who knocked the socks off of the gig). We fought hard, we braved the extremes, we took shit from no one (and got shit on no one), and we smiled at everyone.

Kindness was our weapon, and we were so green we even reeked of a certain semi-legal green plant that some of you are familiar with. In fact, that plant might have helped us cope/mask that garbage smell that followed us around like Pigpen’s cloud of shame. We were Helicopter Parents to the trash, recycle, and compost bins, never letting them out of our sight and always poking, prodding, and peering in. If someone threw something in the wrong bin, not only did they get a lesson in accountability (they always looked back to see how we handled it; some apologized, some grinned out of embarrassment, some did not look back until they were out of sight), but they also became educated on how we can help keep the world in OK shape if we take two more seconds to think and make a decision about that beer can we just chugged.

Do I want that beer can to live longer than I will, or would I like to help it reincarnate into a new beer can, meet a new lip lover, and fall in love all over again, only to be left for dead in a can with the other suckers? Of course I choose the latter, call me a hopeless romantic.

My observations from my eight hours I spent digging in the trash and sorting out the recyclables (all while jamming to live bands might I had…Third Eye Blind might I add; my 90s heart is happy):

1. PEOPLE ARE AWESOME. Today I heard and felt more gratitude than I have received in quite some time. And trust me, I worked in the LAB during COVID. The department where all the testing was done. During COVID times at the hospital, people thanked us all of the time, they bought us lunch, they sang us praises, hell, they even howled for us night at 8pm on the dot for a good year or so. But the genuine and kind nature of the thank yous that came my way during the festival event today were of an alien nature (a nice alien, in the same category as ALF and ET). Yes I know, I bitch a lot on this blog about how rude people can be, but deep down I know the world has a fine balance of good vs evil, the great usually outweighing the rotten. The kindness that came my way proved that people want this whole eco-friendly thing to work, but they are hesitant to put in the work. Rightfully so. It is not for the timid.
2. Being environmentally-conscious is worth the time and energy. Not only does saving the world require you to stick your arms two feet in a trash can to pull out a plastic cup and place it in the recycling bin, but being eco-friendly is sometimes more expensive and laborious than going to the store and buying a preservative-packed Lunchable that is drowning in plastic and probably shedding plastic into the processed lunchmeat section. It is easier to do the wrong thing and use the plastic, and that is what is wrong with this picture. Be prepared to work hard for sustainability, but please, please, please help us work diligently now to make it easier in the future. I am referring to the life that your cute grandkids, nephews, nieces, and children will be living out. You determine if in the future you would like for them to be able to walk outside safely or not.
3. Trash Juice, the name of my next band. Not sure how many times I said “trash juice is on my pants” today, but the group I was with probably wanted to drown me in it at some point in time out of annoyance. I am turning into my mother, and it is terrifying. Nonetheless, my pants, shirt, and arms were doused in a healthy dose of “trash juice” today. You decide what color it was.
4. Some people will do the wrong thing, intentionally or not, mostly because it is easier. They will look you in the eye, ask you which bin to use, and then throw the item in the opposite bin. People used to tell me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
5. More people will throw the plastic cup in the trash bin when you aren’t looking. For the plastic cup, the trash is the wrong bin for all viewers out there – plastic can be recycled). Said people who gave the plastic cup a death sentence at the landfill will turn around to look at what happens next. They know you will not see them looking at you since this Waste Warrior is forearm deep in trash juice (literally cannot help myself from reincarnating this definition), digging out your plastic cup along with three other passerby’s cups. And if the person performed the act out of poor intentions (which I was told in corporate leadership that all people have good intentions) they usually move on, quickly, perhaps walking even faster than before, realizing the retributions of their choices they inflicted on the Recycling Queen. Who is soaking in a tub of beer remnants and pizza crust.
6. The work itself was easy, mostly because we were doing the right thing. Colorado Sunshine. Bluebird Day. Live Music.. Walking. Talking. Beer. Buds. Buddies. GOOD STUFF.
7. A tiny part of you dies inside when you find a full beer, an uneaten meal, an untouched cigarette, or an entire anything on the ground or wasted away in the garbage. An entire Oscar the Grouch has a seizure whenever this happens. You deal with that guilt and tell me how you go to sleep every night.
8. Stats Save Lives: At a glance, here is how the waste broke down for the day: Roughly 15% Landfill (the bad place), 35% Compost, 50% Recycling. That’s 85% eco-friendly if you think about it. Impressive. Here is a picture to prove it.

9. Had we not been there to sort it throughout the festival, it would have been about 75% Landfill, 20% Recycling, 5% Compost. Sad, but true.
10. ….we can help you. People are scared to understand how to save the world, recycle and compost.
    • Compost at a festival or live event (different from composting at home) = anything that can rot in less than one month. Not a McDonald’s French Fry, a cigarette, certainly not a plastic straw. Think napkins, paper plates and to-go containers with food.
    • Recycling = Aluminum, cardboard, plastic, sometimes glass. Teach your children well.
11. I walked 9.8 miles today, and it felt damn good.
12. The people who were on my team were true artists, and not only did I enjoy their company, but they helped me get out of one of my first bouts of writer’s block that has been haunting me this month. I have always dreamed of finding a troupe like the one Bob Dylan used to run around with, one full of storytellers and dreamers. It felt good to be around like-minded company.
13. I learned that the Ronald McDonald House pays its electric bill using soda tabs. Apologies for fry-shaming you earlier, that is a cool technique.
14. On top of all of the fun, we even squeezed in an impromptu dance party right before the last set was over. Dancing while picking up trash? Yes, please! Put me down for two.
15. Today was an awesome day. I hope you had a good one, too.

[2022 EV Roadtrip – Post #4]

It has been awhile since we last spoke. A lot has happened, but not so much that we cannot write about it. This morning I sit in a hotel lobby located in the sweaty and sweet Nashville suburbs. The temperature is a decent 75 degrees but feels more like 85 with the 95% hovering humidity. The vegetation is lush here, and I’ll choose to admire it from the air-conditioned lobby instead of a bench in the parking lot.

I’d prefer I were typing this out on my laptop instead of my phone. I have a fervent wish that all hotels had private balconies for all of the people who need a minute of peace time. For all of the mothers out there longing for ten minutes of silence in the morning before the kids, dogs, and husbands wake up to inquire of the whereabouts of their belongings, which they should have been keeping track of the entire time, but who needs to remember when we’ve got a mom around? Alas, hotels do not care about us mothers. They know we are creative and can make a secluded space out of a used Kleenex and a reusable straw if we had to, but we believe we deserve better.

Get Yourself a Good Hotel Balcony

I once had a balcony at a hotel in Moab. It was an anniversary trip, and bonus points, it was Mother’s Day. A Mother’s Day without my children, with a foliage-drenched balcony, sunshine, coffee, and one of the books from the Dark Tower series. Ask me what the my most comfy spot is and that, my friends, is your answer. But eventually I started to miss my kids, and after some time I was hoping my husband would wake up so we could go explore. All good things must come to and end, right?

I digress. Thank you for letting me vent about the things I enjoy out of life.

The drive to Nashville was shorter for me than for Frank as he drove 80% of the way. I have acquired a new skill set—sleeping in cars without pillows. I’d like to think I’ve gotten quite good at it. I slept around five hours before he asked me to take the wheel. Five hours of half shuteye, with sprinklings of little events taking place mid-sleep. Lobbing back bottles and snacks to the gremlins whenever they rustled, jolting awake whenever the streetlights that shine as bright as those pesky dental chair spotlights shone in my direction as we landed at a charging station to “fill up,” opening one eye whenever I heard the car ride over the rumble strips. Sweet, interrupted snoozing. Nothing quite like it.

Some things that were pleasant:

—Kansas and Missouri scenery > Nebraska and Iowa scenery (for now)

—No manure smell while driving (see aforementioned reference about Nebraska)

—Driving in the twilight = Decreased traffic, minimal road rage, cooler weather (I brought three different jackets, all of different layers and warmth, and I’ve used all three. Thank goodness I did, because it was hard to justify bringing all three until just now.)

—Staying hydrated. Since you have to stop every two hours, you are guaranteed a bathroom break, so drink away my friends! Be that lush we all know you can be.

Some ways the car helped us out:

—Automatic windshield wipers that adjust to the intensity of the rain.

—Heated and cooled seats to accompany all of your hot and cold flashes.

—Bitchin’ stereo, that you are unable to blare when driving since your crew is sleeping during your turn to drive. (Frank connects his headphones when driving so we can sleep, pretty snazzy stuff)

—Built-in sound machine that can play rain or nature sounds. No joke, we used this to calm down the girls, and it worked like a charm.

—Hands-free driving. When you put the cruise control on, the car literally drives itself. It hollers at you if you have your hands off of the steering wheel for over ten seconds or so, but I was able to take my braids out and put my hair up safely while driving (and watching the road). It was delightful. The possibilities with this are endless.

I have no cons, this trip has been amazing so far.

The Dirty Details

Total money spent on “fuel”: Less than $40. We are not able to calculate our travel costs in a precise manner because we got 2,000 free miles of charging from Kia when we bought this car (yet another incentive in addition to the $10,000 we will receive next year on our tax return). We are using free miles here and there, some chargers have been free to use, etc., but we think it has been around $40 all together.

Current national average gas price is $4.52 a gallon. If your car goes 25 miles to a gallon, which more than likely it doesn’t if you drive anything bigger than a sedan, and you drove 1,100 miles, you would have used about 44 gallons of gas, and this trip would already cost you around $200 in fuel. AND, lest we forget, you have contributed to stretching out that ozone hole like putting a small sweater over a large head.

I will return in future blogs to go over what we saw on our journey through the lower Midwest. We have seen things that cannot be unseen.

For now, I must go back to my hotel room. This lobby is played-out.

[2022 EV Roadtrip – Post #3]

Friday, July 29, 9:00pm Central time

Now Playing:  An unknown scary podcast story

Saw some suspicious clouds on our way to the next stop. After just having seen Nope, we decided that it was definitely an ominous situation. I’ll try not to spoil it for anyone as it was a wonderful flick.

Stopped in Hays, Kansas, which feels like a town of 500 people but probably holds more like 50,000.  We charged, we took pictures, we soaked up the sun in a Walmart parking lot while doing some exercises and twirling in the parking spots.  We charged for about 30 minutes, probably less.  

Saisons Save Lives

The most Yelp-friendly restaurant was a brewing company on main street, which turned out to be a brick road, not yellow, but that would have been something, with historic buildings and giant murals of statues of men on horseback.  Note to self – look up Hays, Kansas and go down that Wikipedia wormhole so deep until you somehow find yourself reading about caterpillar life cycles.  I’ll loop back about Hays once I feel up to reading in the car.  For now, I’ll enjoy the Kansas hills and countryside.

The brewing company was massive, and appeared to be an old school.  I believe we ate in the gym, and the cafeteria was where the bar was.  The beer was tasty (I had the Triason which was an awesome saison) the food was also delicious.  They even featured a fried bologna sandwich on the menu, and I thought I could only order that at my parents house.  I had some garlic fries that I will never forget, nor will Colette, as she was devouring everyone’s food from all sides.  Sweet potato fries, salmon burger, Rueben, garlic fries, she tried for Carmella’s lemonade but decided milk was a better choice.

Our stop was peaceful and good bonding time.  We relaxed with some beers, let the kids be free and stretch out, and we also got them into pajamas because now we are entering the twilight zone.

Ah yes, at this time, we start our descent into the midnight hours.  I am writing this in haste so I can begin my shift of sleep.  My turn to drive is coming up soon.  I forgot a major thing back at the house – a pillow. And our next stop is coincidentally not a Walmart, but a Casey’s, which we can all agree they do not sell pillows, but I should not speak too soon as I forgot about neck pillows being a thing.  Hmmmm, I’ve never tried a neck pillow, but today could be that day.  Just another thing for me to have to bring everywhere I travel.  Too bad I didn’t pack Colette’s Boppy pillow that could probably double as a super bougie neck pillow.  Next road trip, I have a plan.

We did talk about how some electric cars come with blow up mattresses for the backseat. If only we didn’t have two carseats to compete with. They are worth much more than our sleep, we all know that.

Bonus Points

Frank told me some of the EV chargers that we use are powered by solar panels.  Doubling up on our carbon footprint.  Yet the world still limps along, overheating, complete with wild weather patterns and entre environments being wiped away on a regular basis.  Scary stuff.

We put Carmella on the passenger’s side so the seat can recline as far back as possible.  The children are quiet, the night has begun.  We saw a good sunset, let the car sleeping games begin.  We have driven five hours of our nineteen-hour trip.  A third of the way done.   March on, friends.

[2022 EV Roadtrip – Post #2]

Friday, July 29. Around 6:00pm Central Time

Now Playing:  Comedy Bang Bang podcast

Two stops down, upwards of ten more to go?  Maybe less, maybe more, I like the surprise of not knowing how many we have left.  

This is the First Stop

Our first stop was a flash in a pan – fifteen minutes at the I-70 Diner, in Flagler, CO.   The establishment looked like a stretched-out airstream with windows (super cool), and Frank had been looking forward to the stop, but lo and behold, the diner doesn’t live here no more.  Diner is closed.  But there was a cool pink car on a pole in which Carmella stated, “Yeah, it probably needs worked on” as we passed and admired it.

Flagler, CO also had a sign behind the diner that outlined all businesses present in the town.  Quite impressive to have a legend for your town, I somehow forgot to take a picture of this to share with you.

We played Frogger and crossed the dusty road to the gas station, where we did a quick restroom stop and picked up some drinks.  Carmella snagged a fruity drink equivalent to a Squeeze-It, and it had Spiderman for a lid. 

Another absent-minded moment was Frank and I both forgetting to make a bottle for Colettie, so the two-hour drive after was full of squeaking and singing and screaming for crackers and anything else you might want.  Girl has an opinion.  

Electric Kettle

We made it through the earful and parked it at a Walmart in Cody, Kansas.   We bust out our brand-new electric kettle that we plug in to the back of the car while charging.  I fumble with hot water, two bottles, formula, bottled water, and the wind.  Thank goodness we didn’t have a party with formula confetti, the wind gusts were kind to us.  We manage to make two warm and delicious bottles for the Coconut, hand it over to her, and she proceeds to not want the bottle.  Only wants to play with Snoop Dogg, the sloth stuffed animal who likes to party.  

A swift family trip into Walmart later, and we are ready to rock. Fantastic stop as the bathrooms were in the front of the store unlike all other Walmarts we encountered on our last road trip.

One thing I forgot to mention – as we parked the car, we were approached by an elderly gentleman who was driving a rusted yet retro pickup truck from the 90s.  He spoke with Frank, and I missed most of the conversation, but he was curious about the EV situation, which was refreshing.  I enjoy when people ask questions about it, because it means they are making an attempt to understand our perspective.  Sure, he had opinions about the EV scene, mostly fake news, but who is counting.  I hope he walked away with a better view of electric cars.  That truck might not make it much longer, and you never know, this run-in could have changed his viewpoint in a positive way.  The other thing he quoted though…”These wind turbines aren’t going to last.  They built them all over here, expecting to save the environment, and they are just going to be broken down and dead in 30 years.”  Touche, my good friend.  Touche.

The fear of electric vehicles is prevalent throughout the country, and I am here to tell you there is nothing to be afraid of.  Ask questions, ask me anything.  I would love to help your curiosities along.  

That stop was around 30 minutes of pure enjoyment.  Done. Done. On to the next one. My butt does not hurt in these seats, the girls are recharged for another leg, and we got the squeaky one to go to sleep.  The other one is coloring on her iPad, because yes, I am not about to entertain my child for 24 hours on manual-mode.  Sometimes you’ve got to get a distraction.  How else would I write this blog?

[2022 EV Roadtrip – Post #1]

Friday, July 29, sometime in the early afternoon.

Now Playing: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia podcast

We meet again. This time we are in a new ride.

Why are we doing this?

Back in February 2022, we decided to go electric with both of our main vehicles. We traded in our GMC Acadia (my sweet, smooth-rider, orange-seated, Odella) for a 2022 Kia EV6. Right before the gas prices started skyrocketing. This rise of fuel costs also excluded us from several intense conversations about how traveling became unaffordable for many people. These days I wave when I drive past gas stations, never really missing the times when we used to make those short stops to fill up, grab some candy, etc. My problem was that I would wait until the last minute to fill up my gas tank, thus making me late for work at least once a year due to forgetting to fill up the night before – always on a day where I had a vital morning meeting to attend. No, sir or madam, I do not miss gas. 

I am fully aware that I use petroleum in other facets of life, and I acknowledge that my actions are still part of the problem of the Earth burning up at a rapid, gut-wrenching, anxiety-ridden pace, but I’d like to think that our carbon footprint has shrunk a little bit since we bought our electric stallions.

But we couldn’t escape all of the rising prices, and we have been ogling in despair at plane tickets. When the Cartwright family chose the Smokies for our family trip, we were taken aback by the price of flying a family of four (even discounted to a family of three since Colette, our 10-month old, is a free rider) to Nashville, Knoxville, or surrounding areas of our vacation spot. We scoured the interwebs for cheaper options, but even the soul-sucking airlines such as Frontier or Spirit were priced as such that you would have thought you were getting a gilded, plush, first-class seat, but what you are actually getting is a seat that is equivalent to putting your body in a large suitcase for a few painful hours, hoping your knees don’t implode, all while wrangling a baby and a toddler and attempting to read a few pages of your book. Sounds pleasant eh?

Not really.

So here we are, road-tripping to the Smokies in our lovely ride. Frank smothered a nine-year ceramic coat on this baby last weekend, so we are hoping for our car to be so clean but not so clean that it blinds the oncoming traffic. Safety first. 

Several people have questioned our sanity when we tell them we are taking this trip. We are not crazy, we like to ride. Watch and learn. We have taken this pretty lady out for a few rides in the mountains to stretch her legs out. She has done well. We are confident she can do even better on this excursion. 

How Far We’ll Go

(not the song from Moana, but that is a great song)

We start our journey at 1:00pm on Friday, July 29. Not bad for a family that was aiming to leave around noon. 

The trip is around 1,300 miles, which equates to about 24 hours of travel time, including stopping to charge and refuel our bodies. 



We do not plan on driving straight through (remember, safety first), although the first leg will vaguely resemble driving straight through since it will be about a 20 hour drive. We built in some cushion so if we wanted to, we could grab a hotel tonight for a quick snooze. We are choosing to stop in the blazing town of Nashville, Tennessee to visit friends who just welcomed a new babe in to the world, and because Nashville is a quick 3-hour drive from our final destination. The last day of a dinosaur exhibit will be at the Nashville Zoo, and we are hoping to cram that in right before taking off for the cabin where the 10 person family vacation awaits on Sunday afternoon.

In an effort to keep the weight in the car lighter, we chose not to bring the suitcase and we used packing cubes instead. Maybe saved us about 3 pounds. We brought all of the necessities and wants that we desired to bring, we did not have to skimp, and we have a good starter supply of snacks, including chile-lime pistachios (shelled might I add), beef jerky, mixed nuts, Triscuits, and a handful of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans for those wee hours where we might need a little *zap.*

Let’s Get Rockin’

So please join me in welcoming everyone to the 2nd Cartwright Family Cross-Country Electric Vehicle Roadtrip. The title is boring, but the adventure is real. Denver, Colorado to Sevierville, Tennessee. All aboard. Stats will be shared, laughs will be had, you might get bored, but stick with it. I will try my best to educate you on what it is like to drive an electric car. If you want to stop reading now, I can summarize it for you. It is an awesome and worthwhile experience that I keep wanting more of. It is comfortable, it is snazzy, the radio wails like a front-row seat to a banging concert, and it fits my Wolfpack. 

Current status: Frank is driving, I am typing, Carmella is snoring, and Colettie is singing. Life is good. Rigby is at the doggy hotel, enjoying life, and we gave her some treats and nightly CBD treat to keep her calm. We will miss her furry soul.

And I believe it took me so long to write this first post, that we have almost arrived to our first stop.

Update: Colette is now sqwuaking. 

See you at the next stop.