Black beans are simmering on the stove and the windows throughout our apartment are wide open -- even the fire escape door that kitty cat loves to climb and leave rips in the wire mesh is open. There's a storm coming and I absolutely love the chilly wind that cuts through right beforehand, the silence as all the creatures look for cover. Meanwhile, our new strawberry plant looks ready to topple over and poor kitty has been confined to the bedroom lest her claws carve paths for bugs in the screen door (not to mention the rent deposit).
Work is threatening to throw away more crap, so this week I've come home with an almost new white kitchen table (yea! We have a table now, after two painful trips back and forth on the T!); two freezer bags filled with bagels ("It's a long weekend; let's just toss 'em." Umm, hello, freezer anyone? Homeless people downtown? Hungry, pregnant, underpaid staff member?); an mp3 player I will probably try to sell (they were going to throw it out because "everybody already has one," only I don't but I don't need one); two muffins; and an almost new bookcase and 12 planters that I have yet to pick up. All this from a nonprofit that prides itself on being green. No joke there. I actually believed it ... my first week.
I've finally broken down and joined Freecycle at Momma Val's suggestion. Actually, I've wanted to join for years but I never did because ... well, because I don't want another account. I know, I know, it's a dumb reason and I could have been giving all those Goodwill donations away for free and perhaps finding something I needed myself in the process but I just hate all the email accounts and logins and passwords and mess that I have to check. I hate composing this electronic self, and then having to check on it constantly. It's kind of like buying junk to make your life easier, only then you have to take care of the junk and it becomes your life and it's not so easy anymore. In fact, it's harder.
But I broke down and joined up with Yahoo and now I'm a full-fledged Freecycle member. I've only been a member for two days now and I've already given away two moving boxes filled with books in great condition (leftover from our yard sale) and six grocery bags filled with moving materials (mostly stiff tissue paper and bubble wrap). It feels great! I'm still sick over another account to check up on, but it's well worth it. I'm hoping to find a desk chair (we use a makeshift sort of bench right now that has no back support and my back is killing me!) and perhaps some chairs to go with our new kitchen table, courtesy of my "green" workplace. I'm hoping to give away some stuff from my work, too, like the bookcase since I already have a bookcase.
Library emailed and my two reserved books are in: Affluenza and Last Child in the Woods. Yea! I wonder if I'll finish them before Fetus arrives.
This week's "small" goal: start eliminating paper towels. It's been much easier to do than I imagined (my fear was our lack of personal washer/dryer would make this hard to handle) ... and I can't believe I didn't think of it before! I always bought recycled, non-bleached paper towels, but for some reason it didn't occur to me to not buy at all. <-- which is exactly the problem, and we can solve this!
Next "small" goal: create a vermicomposting bin that kitty will leave be.
Quesadillas are ready! Yum ...
Showing posts with label consumerism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consumerism. Show all posts
Friday, May 23
Thursday, May 22
Yard sale ergo green thumb
In my quest to simplify our lives, we held a yard sale last weekend.
It was the first time we'd ever had a yard sale and it went fairly well. Before, we had always just donated items to Goodwill or whomever. This time, it was actually easier to hold the sale because we didn't have a way to easily transport all the boxes to a donation center. If we took it all on the bus, it would be many trips and a bit much for me to carry at this point in my pregnancy. Also, with my unpaid maternity leave coming up, we could use a little extra cash.
Note to other newbie yard sellers: it takes much longer to set up than you'd think!
I didn't price anything, and mostly negotiated fair prices with the people who shopped. There were a few who argued to the point where I was annoyed with them, but most people were nice and thought my prices were reasonable.
One of the annoying customers kept trying to convince me I had said something I didn't.
"How much for the CDs?" he asked, flexing his muscles in a ripped-sleeved purple tee and thumbing through my collection of old-school alternative music like the Meat Puppets and Belly.
"Two bucks each," I replied in my shaded lawnchair, borrowed from our landlord.
"Will you make a deal if I get a lot?"
"Sure," I said, smiling and covering my eyes from the sun.
A little later ... "OK, I have 40 CDs at a buck a piece. What kind of deal will you give me? $20 for all?"
"Um, no. $60 for all?" I replied, fidgeting a little and rubbing my very round belly.
And so it went. He ended up getting quite a good deal ... 40 CDs, 5 DVDs and a CD box set all for $50. But he was a jerk.
We ended up making $161.26, which is a great help. More than anything, though, I was thrilled to get rid of some clutter, knowing someone else will use it instead. I think we'll post some of the remaining items on Freecycle and donate the rest to our local center.
Since then, I've been considering what to use the money for. We do need to save most of it -- at least half -- but I thought since it's kind of "extra" money, maybe we could use some towards fun money. We almost never have any entertainment or fun money.
We decided Monday to buy two plants and begin our goal of growing some of our own food. Visiting this great natural foods store nearby, Pemberton Farms, we bought organically raised alpine strawberry and basil plants for $12 with our yard sale money. I was so excited! We had a pediatrician "meet-and-greet" immediately afterwards, and it was pretty amusing to have two plants sitting under our waiting room chairs the whole time. On the way home, a lady exiting the bus called back, "Good luck with the berries and that baby!"
Hubby planted both of them the next day in planters left behind from the previous tenants. We put them out on the fire escape. I'll post pictures soon.
The whole planting thing is so new to us: we're scratching our heads at what to do next. I already read online that we should have made the soil very moist for the basil prior to replanting it and different sources vary on the amount of sunshine the strawberry plant should receive (some say partial, some say full). I guess all of the little errors are part of the learning curve. Really, though, what do we do now? Should we put up netting to keep the birds and squirrels from eating the fruit? How often do we prune? What else do we need to know? I need to do some research, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it!
I'm considering buying equipment for vermicomposting with some more of the yard sale money and saving the rest. I have to look into that, too. This site gave me a better picture but I want to look some more.
Fetus news: all systems go, just waiting and imagining what being a parent is really like.
It was the first time we'd ever had a yard sale and it went fairly well. Before, we had always just donated items to Goodwill or whomever. This time, it was actually easier to hold the sale because we didn't have a way to easily transport all the boxes to a donation center. If we took it all on the bus, it would be many trips and a bit much for me to carry at this point in my pregnancy. Also, with my unpaid maternity leave coming up, we could use a little extra cash.
Note to other newbie yard sellers: it takes much longer to set up than you'd think!
I didn't price anything, and mostly negotiated fair prices with the people who shopped. There were a few who argued to the point where I was annoyed with them, but most people were nice and thought my prices were reasonable.
One of the annoying customers kept trying to convince me I had said something I didn't.
"How much for the CDs?" he asked, flexing his muscles in a ripped-sleeved purple tee and thumbing through my collection of old-school alternative music like the Meat Puppets and Belly.
"Two bucks each," I replied in my shaded lawnchair, borrowed from our landlord.
"Will you make a deal if I get a lot?"
"Sure," I said, smiling and covering my eyes from the sun.
A little later ... "OK, I have 40 CDs at a buck a piece. What kind of deal will you give me? $20 for all?"
"Um, no. $60 for all?" I replied, fidgeting a little and rubbing my very round belly.
And so it went. He ended up getting quite a good deal ... 40 CDs, 5 DVDs and a CD box set all for $50. But he was a jerk.
We ended up making $161.26, which is a great help. More than anything, though, I was thrilled to get rid of some clutter, knowing someone else will use it instead. I think we'll post some of the remaining items on Freecycle and donate the rest to our local center.
Since then, I've been considering what to use the money for. We do need to save most of it -- at least half -- but I thought since it's kind of "extra" money, maybe we could use some towards fun money. We almost never have any entertainment or fun money.
We decided Monday to buy two plants and begin our goal of growing some of our own food. Visiting this great natural foods store nearby, Pemberton Farms, we bought organically raised alpine strawberry and basil plants for $12 with our yard sale money. I was so excited! We had a pediatrician "meet-and-greet" immediately afterwards, and it was pretty amusing to have two plants sitting under our waiting room chairs the whole time. On the way home, a lady exiting the bus called back, "Good luck with the berries and that baby!"
Hubby planted both of them the next day in planters left behind from the previous tenants. We put them out on the fire escape. I'll post pictures soon.
The whole planting thing is so new to us: we're scratching our heads at what to do next. I already read online that we should have made the soil very moist for the basil prior to replanting it and different sources vary on the amount of sunshine the strawberry plant should receive (some say partial, some say full). I guess all of the little errors are part of the learning curve. Really, though, what do we do now? Should we put up netting to keep the birds and squirrels from eating the fruit? How often do we prune? What else do we need to know? I need to do some research, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it!
I'm considering buying equipment for vermicomposting with some more of the yard sale money and saving the rest. I have to look into that, too. This site gave me a better picture but I want to look some more.
Fetus news: all systems go, just waiting and imagining what being a parent is really like.
Monday, April 14
The Story of Stuff
I came across this blog, Crunchy Domestic Goddess, through BerryBird's blogroll and decided to watch the video she recommends, The Story of Stuff. It's 20 minutes long, but a very quick download (with a pause button) and well worth the time. As Crunchy Domestic Goddess writes, "Warning: it will make you think." Check out The Story of Stuff.
Saturday, February 16
"Changing Sex" by Janisse Ray and the interference of hormonal messages by synthetic chemicals
I recently finished reading an interesting collection of tribute essays on Rachel Carson called Courage for the Earth. As a whole, the essays were a bit redundant in the biographical sections of Carson's life, but individually well-written. I learned more than I expected to, both about Carson and more about nature.
The most thought-provoking essay was "Changing Sex" by Janisse Ray. She brings up how chemicals are interacting with animals and nature in profound ways, pointing to the many studies of endocrine disruption on a wide variety of animals (alligators, fish, gulls, marine snails, beluga whales, black bears, etc.). Many of these reproductive changes (intersexed, low testerone, gender mutations, infertility, reduced anogenital distance) are attributed to chemicals including the well-known DDT, diethylstilbestrol (synthetic estrogen), polychlorinated biphenyls (widely known as PCBs; used in fluorescent lights fixtures, adhesives ... though widely banned, they remain in our environment and even in mothers' milk), many pesticides, dioxins (formed during industrial practices like bleaching: this is why brown rice, turbinado sugar and whole wheat are better for you!), phthalates (found in solvents, soft plastics like shower curtains and baby toys, and plastic packaging), bisphenol A (which is catching on in the baby bottle industry through biA alternatives like BornFree ... also readily found in dental sealants and water bottles), estradiol, phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens), pp'DDE, dubutyl phthalate (very common in personal care products) ... we are literally slathering ourselves with endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Since this system regulates our hormones -- not just the reproductive ones -- it is of paramount importance that we stop industries from producing more in their profit-greedy mindset, inform consumers of the dangers, etc.
The interesting point of the essay, however, was how Ray suggests that these endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) could be causing some of the reproductive issues humans are facing. She includes infertility, early-onset puberty, distorted sex ratios, intersex infants, genital malformations, and lowered sperm quality and mobility on the list ... but she also mentions transgendered persons and issues of gender variance or ambiguity. I have never considered this before, so it really made me think. And wonder: how might transgendered people feel about this correlation?
Might prenatal and childhood exposure to EDCs be responsible for a variety of abnormalities of human sexuality, gender development and behaviors, and reproductive issues? The October 2005 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives took a stab at answering this.
"A developing fetus receives messages not only through its own hormone system but also its mother's. These signals guide its development, shaping characteristics as blatant as number of toes to those as intricate as details of the brain." -Janisse Ray
"Chemicals are disturbing normal hormone-controlled development," she writes, "affecting gender, sex, and reproduction. And, we are now seeing, low doses are disruption enough." Carson predicted this, and it is our generation that is beginning to notice its effects. Unfortunately, like this article, we're still not believing the science ("no evidence of actual harm"), perhaps due to the financial campaigns of institutions like the American Chemical Council (which produces "informational sites" like this one). Until we believe, we won't act. At least, I suppose, the word is getting out there and becoming more mainstream.
More links for action and information
Women's Voices for the Earth
Pesticide Action Network
Campaign Whale
Chemical Injury Information Network, Our Toxic Times
Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers
The most thought-provoking essay was "Changing Sex" by Janisse Ray. She brings up how chemicals are interacting with animals and nature in profound ways, pointing to the many studies of endocrine disruption on a wide variety of animals (alligators, fish, gulls, marine snails, beluga whales, black bears, etc.). Many of these reproductive changes (intersexed, low testerone, gender mutations, infertility, reduced anogenital distance) are attributed to chemicals including the well-known DDT, diethylstilbestrol (synthetic estrogen), polychlorinated biphenyls (widely known as PCBs; used in fluorescent lights fixtures, adhesives ... though widely banned, they remain in our environment and even in mothers' milk), many pesticides, dioxins (formed during industrial practices like bleaching: this is why brown rice, turbinado sugar and whole wheat are better for you!), phthalates (found in solvents, soft plastics like shower curtains and baby toys, and plastic packaging), bisphenol A (which is catching on in the baby bottle industry through biA alternatives like BornFree ... also readily found in dental sealants and water bottles), estradiol, phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens), pp'DDE, dubutyl phthalate (very common in personal care products) ... we are literally slathering ourselves with endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Since this system regulates our hormones -- not just the reproductive ones -- it is of paramount importance that we stop industries from producing more in their profit-greedy mindset, inform consumers of the dangers, etc.
The interesting point of the essay, however, was how Ray suggests that these endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) could be causing some of the reproductive issues humans are facing. She includes infertility, early-onset puberty, distorted sex ratios, intersex infants, genital malformations, and lowered sperm quality and mobility on the list ... but she also mentions transgendered persons and issues of gender variance or ambiguity. I have never considered this before, so it really made me think. And wonder: how might transgendered people feel about this correlation?
Might prenatal and childhood exposure to EDCs be responsible for a variety of abnormalities of human sexuality, gender development and behaviors, and reproductive issues? The October 2005 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives took a stab at answering this.
"A developing fetus receives messages not only through its own hormone system but also its mother's. These signals guide its development, shaping characteristics as blatant as number of toes to those as intricate as details of the brain." -Janisse Ray
"Chemicals are disturbing normal hormone-controlled development," she writes, "affecting gender, sex, and reproduction. And, we are now seeing, low doses are disruption enough." Carson predicted this, and it is our generation that is beginning to notice its effects. Unfortunately, like this article, we're still not believing the science ("no evidence of actual harm"), perhaps due to the financial campaigns of institutions like the American Chemical Council (which produces "informational sites" like this one). Until we believe, we won't act. At least, I suppose, the word is getting out there and becoming more mainstream.
More links for action and information
Women's Voices for the Earth
Pesticide Action Network
Campaign Whale
Chemical Injury Information Network, Our Toxic Times
Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers
Monday, January 7
Warm couches and toxins
Today has been kind of weird.
Remember how I was yearning for the unnecessary purchase of a sofa when I found out I was pregnant? My boss offered me the one I nap on at work. Apparently they were going to get rid of it during upcoming renovations. It's an orange, cushy leather one, which might seem an odd choice for a vegan couple, but I have no problem using animal products secondhand. If I'm not contributing to the industry's bottom line and I'm helping to reuse something rather than buy more, I'm all for it.
We just have to figure out how to pick the couch up. I can't help much, being pregnant with a bad back, and we haven't made any big, burly friends with pick-up trucks yet. But even if we pay for someone to pick it up and deliver it, I can't imagine that would be more than $100. We could squeeze that out of our pockets somehow. Maybe Hubby can pick up an extra work shift.
The weather went from 15 below last week to in the 50s today. Tomorrow (ultra-exciting ultrasound day!) is supposed to be 60. 60 in January! Strange.
Momma Val posted about toxins, a subject I care deeply about. I eat organic, read labels, buy green cleaners, and still my personal choices aren't enough. It comes down to the realization that it's a community issue, and that means every individual has to make better personal choices AND better community choices have to occur in neighborhoods, cities, states, and the federal government. So, awareness and education continue to be of upmost importance.
Remember how I was yearning for the unnecessary purchase of a sofa when I found out I was pregnant? My boss offered me the one I nap on at work. Apparently they were going to get rid of it during upcoming renovations. It's an orange, cushy leather one, which might seem an odd choice for a vegan couple, but I have no problem using animal products secondhand. If I'm not contributing to the industry's bottom line and I'm helping to reuse something rather than buy more, I'm all for it.
We just have to figure out how to pick the couch up. I can't help much, being pregnant with a bad back, and we haven't made any big, burly friends with pick-up trucks yet. But even if we pay for someone to pick it up and deliver it, I can't imagine that would be more than $100. We could squeeze that out of our pockets somehow. Maybe Hubby can pick up an extra work shift.
The weather went from 15 below last week to in the 50s today. Tomorrow (ultra-exciting ultrasound day!) is supposed to be 60. 60 in January! Strange.
Momma Val posted about toxins, a subject I care deeply about. I eat organic, read labels, buy green cleaners, and still my personal choices aren't enough. It comes down to the realization that it's a community issue, and that means every individual has to make better personal choices AND better community choices have to occur in neighborhoods, cities, states, and the federal government. So, awareness and education continue to be of upmost importance.
Sunday, December 23
'Tis the season
Without the spirit of the holidays but with hope for a shift in future consumption patterns, I bring you this stunning array of artwork via CoolPeopleCare. May we all think before we buy.
Saturday, December 8
Shopping
I'm doing some online holiday shopping today, partaking in more consumption than I probably do all year. I try to keep the gifts handmade, through iGive, or edible. And I definitely try to minimize the number of gifts I buy, for financial and environmental reasons. Luckily, I've managed to convince my fairly large family to do a Secret Santa with a $30 limit, so we've had that going for a few years now. It seems to make everyone's lives easier, even the people who enjoy consuming like there aren't any tomorrows.
Ahh, back to finding a used CD for my brother-in-law.
Ahh, back to finding a used CD for my brother-in-law.
Tuesday, July 24
So much fabric ... (I spare you the obvious)
I walk through fabric stores like I do bookstores: like a kid in a candy shop. It's almost overwhelming, to be surrounded by so many choices, but in a delightful way. I want it all. That sort of notion ("oceans of notions!") leaves me guilty every time. Guilty of spending money, wasting resources ... it's hard to be creative when I'm forever competing with my guilt. I'm still figuring out how to solve that one. I went to a fabric store in Arlington and couldn't decide, so we ate some Thai food (hey, inspiration can come in many flavors), browsed the arts and crafts section at the library, and then headed back. I ended up with three fabric choices: yellow with 1920s-ish red dots, yellow with muted sunflowers, and yellow with multiple flowers in a 70s style. Mike can't believe that I buy all that fabric without having a clue what I'm going to do with it. I want to make some quilts, pillows, maybe a purse ... but his shock made me feel guilty again, i.e., I spent too much and I don't even know what I'm going to make. I'm using all this cotton without having a real purpose in mind! What if it just sits there, unused? And so on and so on, my brain repeats. Christina wrote on a post-it note last week instructions for the remote control: "Just press repeat. :0)" with a little arrow pointing upwards. I put it below my calendar at my workstation. Ain't that the truth.
Friday, June 15
Popped
It's sickening to see the amount of packaging thrown away every day in retail. Sure, there's all the statistics, 100 tons of this, a million pounds of that ... but when you have to confront it face-to-trash, it really hits home. This morning, for instance, I received a shipment of 16 small glass bud vases. The packaging alone filled two 60-gallon plastic garbage bags. We - and all the other retail joints I've worked at - throw away bags stuffed with bubble wrap and tissue paper on a daily basis, and in the meantime we're using brand-new bubble wrap and tissue paper to wrap our customers' purchases, also overly packaged in general, and place those packages in neat little plastic bags. Being a proud environmentalist already, I have made numerous attempts to get the store to reuse that perfectly good bubble wrap that has only been previously used once (and stored inside a cardboard box at that!). I've also tried convincing them of something like this. So far, no luck. Any suggestions?
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