I have long wanted a working seltzer bottle. I had to order three off eBay before I realized the vintage ones didn’t actually function. Oh, I love those wire wrapped Art Deco beauties! Oh, how they are pointless paperweights! Why did no one tell me it’s impossible to get the caps off them and refill them with water? That age has fused them into metallic and glass lumps?
Filed under: green
This is more like a future reference note to myself, but why not share?
This webpage offers information about where you can send CDs, cases, and liner notes to be recycled (pick-up is available in New England). I don’t see why your liner notes can’t go in regular local recycling, but the info about CDs and cases is handy. I personally am still hanging on to my music CDs, but I saw CDRs and CDRWs get trashed regularly in school and if I’d known about this, I would have organized the collection of them as a grassroots project. As it is, I am going to keep it in mind for all the offices I work at in the future.
Filed under: green
European Brita has been recycling water filters since 1992, but apparently the service has not been available in the United States. On one hand, “That sucks!” On the other, I’m kind of glad, because I would have felt stupid for every time I’ve put mine in the trash with a bummed out sigh if I was actually supposed to recycle the thing.
Good news as of January ’09, however!
I went to recycline.com this morning to get a postage label for my Preserve toothbrush and what should I see but an announcement that Preserve is going to start accepting Brita Filters! Even better, you can drop your filter off at select Whole Foods and skip the shipping altogether. I have my fingers crossed that because I live in a wealthy part of tree-hugging California, my local Whole Foods will be one of the “select.” Participating stores will also accept any #5 plastics. Check with your local recycling folks to see if that is a boon over your current program or not, though, as it makes no sense to divert your #5s if they’re already being properly recycled.
Now, shall we start a petition to get them to accept PUR filters too?
This was super interesting. Apparently the ‘micro-beads’ that swirl down your drain as you rinse off are often microplastics (unless noted as ‘natural’). Sewage treatment systems aren’t designed to remove microplastics, and they end up washing downstream into the ocean, where they end up in the digestive systems of aquatic life.
Food for thought.
Looks a lot prettier than a fly strip, doesn’t it? It’s also greener: nothing to throw away, and infinitely reusable. Target is selling them in clear, purple, and teal, Smith and Hawken brand, for a little under eight dollars apiece. At my local store the lids had been lost for all of the ones left in this size, but a wine cork does nicely in a pinch.
I’m also a big fan of the red biodegradable plant pots they’re selling right now. I bought three!
I tried to join a local CSA a few months ago, but they were booked full. They offered to put me on a waitlist and I accepted, although I didn’t think it would do me much good. I was wrong! Last week, my number on the waitlist came up, and yesterday I got my very first CSA box ever. I can tell right now it’s going to be like getting a present every week. The anticipation, the hints, the slow reveal, the tearing through the packaging…it’s all there.
I found Khadi brand toiletries for sale outside of India! Not that it’s any easier for me to buy them in Euros from another country, but at least it’s proof that the stuff is exported. I daydream sometimes of contacting the manufacturer and asking them to let me import some of the products to sell in the United States.
Meanwhile I still ask everyone I know going home for a little while to bring me back one of everything they find.
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The farmer’s market in San Pedro Square runs 10 am to 2 pm every Friday, May through December. It is primarily targeted towards all us poor folk stuck in our offices downtown wanting something nice to do during our lunch breaks. I adore that it’s an urban market and a lunch oriented one – I wouldn’t like to have to drive out to the suburbs on the weekend just to experience this.
The war on plastic food storage just got one more champion. I hadn’t gotten rid of these plastic containers yet because they truly were the most water-tight storage I owned (and I may still keep them for the freezer). But I wasn’t happy with them for day to day use from fridge to microwave, as I try to never put plastic in the microwave. I’ve been using Crate and Barrel lidded glass bowls, and while I love them dearly, I must be truthful that they’re not leak proof.
This would probably be The Best Tea Ever even if my mom hadn’t kept a bag of it in the “tea cabinet” over the microwave when I was twelve and totally ingrained the taste of it into my nostalgic memory taste buds.
What is this Best Tea Ever? It’s hibiscus! Hibiscus tea is ridiculously good for you – full of antioxidants and good plant matter, and it doesn’t have any caffeine to give you the jitters or addict you. If you’re into traditional medicine, it’s also believed to be good for your blood pressure and has mild diet advantages. But beyond that, it tastes really really good. Hibiscus tea is tart and fruity and it’s delicious hot or cold. In the winter I like it hot and strong. In the summer I like to brew it extra extra strong, cool it off, then cut it with sparking water for a healthy homemade take on soda.
I recently put together a huge order at Mountain Rose Herbs for a bath product workshop I’m doing with a friend. I took advantage of the order to get a few things for myself, naturally. First up is this blend of organic herbs and flowers for a spa-worthy facial steam bath. I’ve noticed, lately, that with a little smart shopping, “spa-worthy” can be had for pennies on the dollar. I’ve no doubt this facial would have cost at least $45 at the local day spa, yet if I’m willing to DIY on the towel and boiling water part, I can have it for $1.65. Heck yes!
On choosing between two retail products based on environmental impact:
“Above all, how about hitting the local vintage shop? Or, if you must go new, don’t be a total cheapskate. A quality leather or pleather jacket will last for years, if not decades, making it well worth the investment in the long run. That lesson that applies not only to clothing, but to cars, appliances, and electronic goods, too. Sometimes the greenest choice isn’t the product that labels itself as such, but the one you won’t have to replace a dozen times over.”
via Slate Magazine
image by el floz
I all but moaned aloud when I saw The Crafty Devils have put a couple of their handmade recycled leather purses on sale for HALF OFF. I’d been coveting the Mazel Hobo bag in brown and aqua for several months, until someone bought it. This red one is hardly second rate, and at $49, I’m not sure what more you could ask for. Christmas present for me, anyone?
This morning, as I sat in the bathroom slicing aloe for my latest sunburn, I started pondering what other medicinal house plants I could be growing.
A google search gave me lots of hits for mushrooms, but that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Other than basic mint for soothing tea, what kind of plants can I grow in my house for home remedies?
In my social and economic circle, Whole Foods is referred to as Whole Paycheck, and I haven’t shopped there since I was an impressionable teen still tied to my parent’s purse-strings. But I took a spin through one Saturday morning because I was there and it was there and I couldn’t think of why not. Glad that I did, because now I can report that they had the Dr. Hauschka Trial Care Kits recommend earlier on sale for $17. Good stuff!
I have much admiration for anyone doing the Fall Cure this year, and I have been quite the lurker spying on everyone’s progress. The end of September also marks the wrap up of Adornment Month.
I just wanted to share this picture from the farmer’s market downtown today. I went with my camera in tow to get some shots for AT-Kitchen’s farmer market roundup. Going with your photographer’s cap on is much different than going with your Mmmm-I-Love-Fruit cap on. I didn’t get too many “fabulous” photos, but I do like this one.
For the record, they’re organic raspberries, for $2 a container, or 3 containers for $5.
I am completely susceptible to a good sales pitch. As Sprig gave such a good one here, all I can say in response is, “Ooooohhh, I want one of those!” Read up on Dr. Hauschka, my friends, and you’ll want one too. Good clean ingredients, a holistic view towards the health of your biggest (and most visible) organ, and the donation of partial profits to a good cause. Who wouldn’t be a little seduced by that?
Nothing can quite make me feel like I’m doing my part more than taking homemade lunches to work every day. I think about the quality of the food I’m putting in my mouth and sigh with happiness. I think about the paper and plastic takeout packaging that’s now not going in the garbage and sigh happily a little more. I think about the $8 I save everyday and positively swoon.
But all good things can be improved upon.
I love to stop in periodically at The Crafty Devils and see what’s up for grabs. Some of their jewelery I could take a pass on, but the above three items are definitely want-worthy. Their leather goods are worth a peek too. Many are made from recycled leather (like this one, from a sofa on its way to the dump). I’m obviously keen on the recycling thing, but also, how lovely to have something so unique!
More love: hobo bag, peacock imagery, and dang (an awesome congrats card just waiting to happen).
If you have any desi coworkers or friends who are going home for Christmas and are likely to bring you back a souvenir, be sure you ask for this. I picked up my jar at an admitted tourist-trap (The Bombay Store in Mumbai), but they’d probably buy your souvenir from a place like that anyway, so don’t let them give you any grief about having to go there for you.
I use this stuff to soothe my skin when the prescription acne medications I use have stressed it out. I feel like a queen every time I smooth it on. When the main ingredients are honey and saffron, how could you not?
Ingredients: honey, saffron extract, walnut oil, almond oil, pistachew oil, wheat germ oil, neroli extract.
Did you see any parabens, mineral oils, preservatives, or fillers in that list? No? Neither did I.
Isn’t life grand?
