Category: Uncategorized

Is there an app for that?

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Have you ever used one of those calorie counting apps, or a food diary? You know, the kind of tool that helps you understand how much you are consuming so you know what you need to burn off to lose weight or be healthy?

Wouldn’t it be cool to have an app or something like that for your carbon footprint to help encourage little changes? Think of all the people, like myself, who have a Fitbit telling us how many steps we take each day. What if I walk somewhere instead of drive and I could count those steps additionally as part of my carbon offset? What if we had a carbon budget we should try to adhere to, weekly, monthly – I don’t know, maybe lifetime – and could record things that impact that budget?

Just like you record what you had for lunch, what if you also record if you brought it to work in your own reusable container and didn’t use plastic cutlery to eat it? How about the next time you use a plastic cup the app could tell you something else you can do to offset that impact, like the calories you need to burn after eating a cupcake?

I know! More of a list system, like the ‘Eat this, not that’ food advice!

DO this: bring your own straw, use paper straw, or skip it altogether.

NOT this: use a plastic, one time use, then it is litter forever straw.

DO this: bring your own reusable cup back out for your coffees, smoothies, etc.

DO this: make your own coffees, juices, smoothies at home in a reusable tumbler.

NOT this: get a new disposable cup every time you get a coffee, smoothie, drink to go.

It could be made fun with points and rewards for each time an environmentally friendly choice is made. A game for kids to teach them how to make choices based on how they impact the planet?

Somebody much smarter than me please develop this idea!

Random

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It can be hard sometimes to sit down and write for this blog. I know what sort of information I want to share, I am passionate and enthused; about the subjects I want to discuss and the technology that allows me to reach out to others in such a simple way.

Sometimes it is hard because I am overwhelmed with such a variety of ideas and subjects that choosing what to focus on is nearly impossible. Other times, I may pick a subject and start writing just fine, then suddenly realize I have spun down the rabbit hole of research and back links for over an hour and still not even written two full paragraphs!

These are the distractions that cause me to avoid sitting down to the keyboard and write in the first place. The excuse maker – “I don’t have time to research” “I should write about subject x before subject y”. The self critic, wondering what makes me think anyone cares what I have to say about any subject in the first place, I am no expert, I am not a writer. But I do it anyway and will keep doing it. Why?

Because I am someone who cares about this planet, and all the wonderful living things on it (humans, animals, plants, fish, trees, flowers, insects – you get the idea). I care about learning to treat this planet more gently. I care about our ability to be kind and to and help one another through life, because life gets messy and dirty and hard sometimes, but it is also full of beauty and love. I believe that learning to be a better person and better steward of this earth is a never ending process to be embraced with joy and gratitude. I believe in run-on sentences, lots of commas and good spelling. I enjoy learning more and trying harder. I want to share what I learn with others. I try to treat others as I prefer to be treated; encouraged towards growth without judgement, with kindness, humor, love and always, always appreciation. Gratitude is the key to happiness in my own humble opinion.

I appreciate quirky personalities, different cultures and cuisines. I love diversity and learning through other peoples experiences as well as my own. I will never tire of looking at someone else’s vacation pictures (especially if they are nature shots), but you will tire of looking at mine because I take SO many. There is no sound more magical on this earth than the pure, spontaneous laughter of a baby.

I am a contradictory person: I always want to do better, learn more, read more, exercise more, eat more and sleep more all at the same time. And I think most people are as complicated yet simple inside as well, just with their own particular list.

Environmental issues and the climate crises are really, really important to me and those are the subjects you will find me mostly going on about, here and in my everyday conversations. That doesn’t mean I live some perfectly carbon zero life. I don’t own a hybrid vehicle or have somehow found a way to live a plastic free life, but I am trying. I keep working on reducing my impact in ways that I can, learning more about ways that I can and sharing with others. We all have our own paths to walk and what it looks like to make a gentler impact is also different for each of us.

I feel like I just spun down the rabbit hole again. This time a stream of consciousness that really had no direction or purpose other than to express myself. But, hey, it’s my blog and if that is what I felt like doing with the time I have today, I can do that!

Did you know – The impact your clothing can have on the environment?

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According to an article in Business Insider Malaysia from October 2019 “The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet.”

The article sited a variety of concerns, some of which I had not previously known about. As always, learning more about how we impact the world around us can be an eye opening experience.

I have been reading about ‘fast fashion’ as a problem for a few years now and try to keep it in mind when purchasing clothing. Luckily for me it’s a bit easier than some, I don’t really like shopping much anyway and have rarely followed designer brands or fashion rules. However, even a mostly jeans and t-shirt, thrift store donating and shopping kind of gal like me can always make improvements, so I try to stay informed.

Here are some things to think about:

  • Clothing production doubled the last decade, yet people are keeping items only half as long.
  • That means more clothing is ending up in landfills, or worse – it is burned.
  • Washing clothing releases microfibers into the oceans. Especially items containing polyester.
  • Polyester is a plastic, producing it releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton, and polyester does not break down in the ocean.
  • Cotton is better than polyester on the backend, but it is a very water-intensive plant.
  • It can take 2,000 gallons of water to produce one pair of jeans, 700 gallons for one cotton t-shirt.
  • There is a lot of water used and or polluted in the making of most clothing.
  • Dyeing of fabric is also a major contributor to water pollution.

Sounds a bit daunting and depressing to put it together like that, but my goal here is to inform, expand my own base of knowledge and provide inspiration towards positive change.

So. What can I (you, we, all of us) do?

  • Buy less – don’t be a slave to fashion trends or disposable clothing.
  • Wash less when possible. Do you toss a shirt in the laundry after one day of wearing indoors? I’m not talking about your favorite workout outfit that you sweat all over, but really think about what you can wear multiple times between washes.
  • While we are talking about laundry – consider your cleaners and their packaging. More on that in other posts, I promise.
  • Also use cold water, lower drying temperatures or line drying to extend the life of the fabric.
  • Get to know your fabrics and try to make decisions that are gentler to the environment.
  • Learn more about synthetic fabrics that pollute the oceans to avoid.
  • Seek sources of cotton or other materials that are being utilized in more sustainable ways.
  • Shop at and donate to thrift stores, vintage shops. Find creative ways to keep using older clothing.
  • Learn to sew, mend and repair clothing items that begin to wear out. Let’s bring back the popularity of patches!!
  • Seek out recycled and upcycled fabrics. I have a favorite shopping bag made from an upcycled sari.

Most of all and always:

Research, read, educate yourself, share what you learn with others. Be positive, encouraging and non- judgmental because all efforts help. We have a long road to re conditioning ourselves to think about how we are treating this planet. Together we can make difference.

Did you know? Prescription bottles can be re used.

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There is something useful you can do with your old prescription bottles? If you put them in your regular curbside collection they will likely go to landfill, but there is a really great alternative.

Pill Bottle Donations

Matthew 25: Ministries accepts donations of empty plastic pill bottles for inclusion in shipments of medical supplies and for shredding and recycling. “Our pill bottle program fulfills the dual needs of improving medical care in developing countries and caring for our environment.”

Of course, it’s great to find ways to re purpose them also, but I was thrilled to know they can be used in this way.

Some of my favorite re uses for the ones I am not donating are simple and obvious.

  •  Putting other pills in them for travel – we buy the very large containers of ibuprofen or vitamins and use old Rx bottles to take smaller amounts in our toiletries bag.
  • Storing bobby pins, q-tips (not the kind with plastic wands), even drill bits in the shop.
  • I sometimes use them when packing lunch for small things that you want to mix in later, like green onions to sprinkle on a soup after you heat it.
  •  They can make a great way to keep quarters gathered up in the car for when you need to fee a parking meter!

There are a lot of crafting ideas on the internet as well.

Hope you find this helpful!

 

 

Giving Tuesday

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Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and was introduced in 2012 to encourage charitable contributions during a time of much spending and consumerism in the United States.

It has since become a global effort and continues to grow each year.

The idea is not just about sending money to a charity, it is about giving time, sharing kindness, spreading the word about good causes.

Here are some charities or ethical companies I would like to share with you to support:

Habitat for Humanity

Red Panda Network

NAMI – National Alliance of Mental Illness

International Sanctuary  and Purpose Jewelry

SheHeroes

Childhelp

American Red Cross

Humane Society

Any local shelter in your area.

This post was not something I took the time to plan well, but prefer posting something imperfect in hopes of reaching at least a few people, rather than not trying at all. There are so many I would add that I am not thinking of right now.

Go give some good today! Whether it’s dropping your change in the red kettle in front of the grocery store, taking some old clothes to the thrift store, handing a blanket or food to a person on the streets. And if you can donate to an organization today the receives matching funds, that would be really great!

Add your favorite charities in the comments to help spread the word!

 

Making waste worth something

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Food waste turned to electricity

I just read this great NPR article on a story featured on PBS News Hour about dairy farmers in MA using food waste from local stores and other waste from their own farms to convert into electricity.

Food waste sent to landfills will create methane gas on it’s own as it breaks down. This is one of the reasons food waste is such a huge problem we need to address.  When you hear people talk about waste, especially food waste, it isn’t just some moral judgement of our excessive lifestyles that we throw too much away. It directly contributes to the degradation of our planets eco system.

This process of using anaerobic digesters uses waste to create methane gas and trap it so it can be used to make electricity. It becomes a closed loop system. The electricity is used to power the machinery creating it, as well as the rest of the farm and much more.

It is not a wholly new concept. There is a reprint of a 1963 Farm Journal story on Mother Earth News about a methane digester.  

And in Europe there are thousands of the anaerobic digesters currently in use. Hopefully, we will see more solutions like this gain more support here in the U.S. 

It is pretty amazing to think of food waste and cows becoming parts of the solution instead of contributions to the problem. 

 

Going beyond Reduce, re-use, recycle

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For decades we have been told of the 3 r’s concerning waste. but there is a 4th that is even more important.

First we need to re-think. Put consideration into every purchase and think about the entire life span of that item.

As a person who was always  very committed to recycling it became too easy to think I was doing less harm to the environment than I was. But the creation of plastic in the first place is very harmful, and now it turns out that recycling isn’t quite what many of us thought all these years. Even before China started refusing our refuse the process was not very clean or happening as much as we thought. Sometimes our ‘recycling’ was traveling this world to other countries and simply being burned. But that is not really my point.

Plastic, glass, paper, cardboard, metal, wood, bamboo, vinyl. Think of all the source material whatever you are using comes from, and how it is processed. How does it start, what happens as it becomes the item you use, and what happens to it when you are done using it?

Cork is one of my favorites. Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak without harming the tree. It absorbs carbon, it can be recycled into other items and is very low impact to be put to use in the first place.

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Re-thinking what we buy and use is a subject I plan to get into often here. I hope it will lead to conversations, suggestions and additional awareness for us all. I encourage feedback and comments to further the conversation.

 

Red Panda – Love

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If you are not yet familiar with the Red Panda, let me introduce you to one of the cutest creatures on the planet. Baby Yoda is no competition for these adorable real-life critters (who currently sit on the endangered species list). Red pandas are elusive and rarely-seen mammals found in the mountain forests of Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Myanmar (Burma). There are several zoos in the United States that have them. If you get a chance to see them in person, go for it! They are adorable!

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Sadly, one of the very things that makes me swoon over them is what makes them endangered. Red Pandas are subject to poaching and illegal trade both as pets and for their fur, in addition to potential threats to their habitat.

There is a great organization called Red Panda Network that is devoted to raising awareness and helping with conservation efforts to protect them and their natural habitat. I have been following them for a few years and support as much as I can. Educating others is part of that support.

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A great gift idea right now is the Adopt a Red Panda promotion. The new large plushes are filled with 100% recycled water bottles! AND all November and December gifts are matched x2! It’s a great way to increase awareness and support a great cause at the same time.

This is not me dropping a hint to anyone whose gift giving list I am on. *wink

What to do with extra party food?

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I got this cool trick while attending a good friend’s bridal shower a few years ago.

The hostess offered us all to take home food because like any good host there was more than enough. And you know how some groups don’t eat as much? All that lively conversation keeping our mouths occupied. The food was delicious, but we had barely put a dent in it! Everyone’s politely declining until she points out the empty take out containers. Suddenly the idea of taking home leftovers seemed much more acceptable! If my memory is correct, she had like Chinese food boxes. You know the upright white cardboard with little metal handles.

Well I thought it was brilliant so I now keep a giant stack of paper take out containers so my guests can have something to tote home from our many gatherings!

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It’s so nice, especially when you have generous friends like I do who also bring more treats to any gathering. If I don’t send home leftovers after a party I sometimes end up with no room left to store everything. And it really works. People know you mean it when you ask if they would like to take some home if you also have a container for them. No one has to worry about returning a Tupperware and I feel ok about the fact that it’s paper and will break down naturally over time. Yay!

With the holiday party season upon us, I wanted to share this idea. It’s one of my favorite party tips. Take some with you, or have some available if you are hosting Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Christmas, Ugly Sweater, New Years or ANY party this holiday season!

Enjoy!

P.S. Please enjoy all celebrations responsibly. Get a Ride if you are going to partake in libations. Keep the fun, fun and make sure everyone is still safely around for the next get together!