I really enjoy sharing my passion for helping improve the earth we live on with, well, just about everyone really. Education should really begin at home and one of many ways you can try to do so without leaving your children feel bogged down in "life lessons learned" is to allow them to enjoy a movie with you.
Wall-E (2008)
Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Over The Hedge (2006)
Hoot (2006)
Happy Feet (2006)
Bambi (1942)
Furry Vengeance (2010)
Chicken Run (2000)
Free Willy (1993)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Tarzan (1999)
The Lorax (2012)
Totoro (1988)
Brother Bear (2003)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Homeward Bound: An Incredible Journey (1993)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Lion King (1994)
Rescuers Down Under (1990)
A Bugs Life (1998)
Watership Down (1978)
Showing posts with label waste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waste. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
I've Got Compost Fever
Well it's finally happened. If you regularly read this blog or know me personally you may have seen this one coming. I did - but not this soon. I've got composting fever.
The other week I was throwing out banana peels left from my daughters snacking and something in me sort of snapped, not in an angry way, more in a - WHY AM I DOING THIS!? . . . sort of way.
In my attempts to become greener and greener and all I have been learning needless waste is something that is frequently (if not constantly) on my mind. Throwing away banana peels that could be composted along with other table type scraps just felt so completely wasteful.
I'd learned a little bit about vermicomposting from watching the documentary, "No Impact Man." So on the night of this "revelation" I went to bed dreaming of an indoor worm composting bin and growing fresh, wonderful tomatoes. And if I wanted that compost to take any part in my spring and summer gardening I needed to start now.
Disheartened that I didn't have the funds for a vermicompost bin and not yet finding a site detailing how to make a bin that would be "as good" as the kind you buy I hit up Pintrest. This fantastic pin gave me the first ray of sunshine. Knowing that I wanted to start my compost bin in a month or less I still felt unhappy with throwing away things I knew I would one day (hopefully soon) be composting. There was the answer, freeze it. If you have too much food that will be going into your bin you're advised to freeze it. Why not just begin freezing it now!?
I got out my freezer bags.
Then went through my fridge to find out what had gone bad and what needed to be thrown away anyway.
I felt a tad stupid. My grandmother had been freezing her compostables all of my life and I never thought anything of it and the idea never occurred to me. She keeps a small ceramic container that looks like a tiny garbage can on the counter and when it's full she would put it into a plastic bag and freeze it.
After I began bagging I looked at the amount of food that would have just gone to waste and felt a bit better. Who knows if I will always have the amount of food I need to provide for my little worms to be? This way at least I may have some food here and ready to go for them.
The other week I was throwing out banana peels left from my daughters snacking and something in me sort of snapped, not in an angry way, more in a - WHY AM I DOING THIS!? . . . sort of way.
In my attempts to become greener and greener and all I have been learning needless waste is something that is frequently (if not constantly) on my mind. Throwing away banana peels that could be composted along with other table type scraps just felt so completely wasteful.
I'd learned a little bit about vermicomposting from watching the documentary, "No Impact Man." So on the night of this "revelation" I went to bed dreaming of an indoor worm composting bin and growing fresh, wonderful tomatoes. And if I wanted that compost to take any part in my spring and summer gardening I needed to start now.
Disheartened that I didn't have the funds for a vermicompost bin and not yet finding a site detailing how to make a bin that would be "as good" as the kind you buy I hit up Pintrest. This fantastic pin gave me the first ray of sunshine. Knowing that I wanted to start my compost bin in a month or less I still felt unhappy with throwing away things I knew I would one day (hopefully soon) be composting. There was the answer, freeze it. If you have too much food that will be going into your bin you're advised to freeze it. Why not just begin freezing it now!?
I got out my freezer bags.
Then went through my fridge to find out what had gone bad and what needed to be thrown away anyway.
I felt a tad stupid. My grandmother had been freezing her compostables all of my life and I never thought anything of it and the idea never occurred to me. She keeps a small ceramic container that looks like a tiny garbage can on the counter and when it's full she would put it into a plastic bag and freeze it.
After I began bagging I looked at the amount of food that would have just gone to waste and felt a bit better. Who knows if I will always have the amount of food I need to provide for my little worms to be? This way at least I may have some food here and ready to go for them.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Toxic Teas
I love me some tea. I've been in love with tea and the many opportunities for ceremony and ritual surrounding it ever since my mother asked me if I wanted to have a peppermint tea party with her when I was a little girl. Heck yeah I wanted to have a tea party! She brewed us a couples of cups of tea and we sat in my room enjoying it. Tea is simply magical.
There are secret dangers everywhere these days and unless you actually go looking for them you have a great chance on missing out on what could prove to be useful information. Looking for trouble sounds crazy and exhausting. I look at it this way - if you're reading this blog then it's likely you're interested in these hidden dangers and I'm happy to share whatever I've learned with you.
The subject of toxins in tea was just one of those thoughts I had in passing and chose to revisit. Honestly, it came to me while I sat watching The Backyardigans with my daughter. I let my mind wander and suddenly found myself wondering - are there hidden toxins in tea? It wasn't a search that took much digging to find an answer to my question, and that answer was a resounding yes.
Many tea bags are produced using a nasty chemical used in the production of plastics and insecticides. When this chemical, epichlorohydrin, comes in contact with water, it hydrolyzes into a carcinogen. In a world where we are trying so hard to rid our homes and bodies of endocrine disruptors we sit down with a nice, hot, cup of cellular metabolic process disruptors.
But wait there's more! (I'm so so sorry . . . )
Tea bags are also usually bleached (that's how most of our household items [examples: toilet paper, baby wipes] get that lovely white color. The edges of these bleached bags are also sealed using MORE CHEMICALS!
After these tea bags have been made with epichlorohyrin, bleached, and heat sealed with chemicals; the bags are "wet strengthened" using additional chemicals making sure that the bag doesn't fall apart upon impact with your hot water.
How can you avoid these pitfalls? Check labels. Some teas are made with chemical free bags. Look for "chemical free" or "bleach free" and I should think any company side-stepping a clear answer about if their products are exposed to these things or not should be side-stepped when it comes to your next cup of tea.
Tea companies I found to be free of epichlorohydrin
Twinings (uses a thin layer of polypropylene plastic to seal the tea bags)
Tea companies best to avoid on this issue
Celestial Seasonings
Stash
Bigelow (contain polyamine-epichlorohydrin resins)
Yogi (contain polyamine-epichlorohydrin resins)
Numi (provided an inconclusive response when questioned)
Lipton
Ahmad (will not respond)
Salada (will not respond)
Tazo (will not respond)
Harney & Sons Fine Teas (will not respond)
Ginar (will not respond)
Red Rose
Tetley
Alternative options
Loose tea
Bag your own tea
Related reading
The Truth: About Tea Bags
Twinings FAQ
Bleach in teabags - health risks
Bleached tea bags
Yahoo! Answers
Green Tea May Fight Cancer But The Tea Bags Might Cause It
List of Epichlorohydrin Free Tea Products
How To Tell if Epichlorohydrin Is In Your Tea
There are secret dangers everywhere these days and unless you actually go looking for them you have a great chance on missing out on what could prove to be useful information. Looking for trouble sounds crazy and exhausting. I look at it this way - if you're reading this blog then it's likely you're interested in these hidden dangers and I'm happy to share whatever I've learned with you.
The subject of toxins in tea was just one of those thoughts I had in passing and chose to revisit. Honestly, it came to me while I sat watching The Backyardigans with my daughter. I let my mind wander and suddenly found myself wondering - are there hidden toxins in tea? It wasn't a search that took much digging to find an answer to my question, and that answer was a resounding yes.
Many tea bags are produced using a nasty chemical used in the production of plastics and insecticides. When this chemical, epichlorohydrin, comes in contact with water, it hydrolyzes into a carcinogen. In a world where we are trying so hard to rid our homes and bodies of endocrine disruptors we sit down with a nice, hot, cup of cellular metabolic process disruptors.
But wait there's more! (I'm so so sorry . . . )
Tea bags are also usually bleached (that's how most of our household items [examples: toilet paper, baby wipes] get that lovely white color. The edges of these bleached bags are also sealed using MORE CHEMICALS!
After these tea bags have been made with epichlorohyrin, bleached, and heat sealed with chemicals; the bags are "wet strengthened" using additional chemicals making sure that the bag doesn't fall apart upon impact with your hot water.
How can you avoid these pitfalls? Check labels. Some teas are made with chemical free bags. Look for "chemical free" or "bleach free" and I should think any company side-stepping a clear answer about if their products are exposed to these things or not should be side-stepped when it comes to your next cup of tea.
Tea companies I found to be free of epichlorohydrin
Twinings (uses a thin layer of polypropylene plastic to seal the tea bags)
Tea companies best to avoid on this issue
Celestial Seasonings
Stash
Bigelow (contain polyamine-epichlorohydrin resins)
Yogi (contain polyamine-epichlorohydrin resins)
Numi (provided an inconclusive response when questioned)
Lipton
Ahmad (will not respond)
Salada (will not respond)
Tazo (will not respond)
Harney & Sons Fine Teas (will not respond)
Ginar (will not respond)
Red Rose
Tetley
Alternative options
Loose tea
Bag your own tea
Related reading
The Truth: About Tea Bags
Twinings FAQ
Bleach in teabags - health risks
Bleached tea bags
Yahoo! Answers
Green Tea May Fight Cancer But The Tea Bags Might Cause It
List of Epichlorohydrin Free Tea Products
How To Tell if Epichlorohydrin Is In Your Tea
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Trash Day
In making the choice to increase our greener actions within our household while decreasing our carbon footprint we have managed with little effort to drastically decrease the amount of waste our household produces each week.
Here is an example:
Right now our garbage goes out every Friday (there's an odd rotating schedule of when the garbage is collected here) and a couple of weeks ago I missed trash pick-up. There have been many times where if we missed trash collection we found ourselves drowning in our own garbage by the next week. Well maybe not drowning, but the can would usually be overflowing.
This time, a week's worth of waste only filled the can about a quarter of the way. At that rate we could miss it a few times without having to worry about having missed it.
Next up on the chopping block is excess plastics. Slow and steady wins the race and making too many life-changing alterations could just leave us backsliding into our old wasteful ways.
Here is an example:
Right now our garbage goes out every Friday (there's an odd rotating schedule of when the garbage is collected here) and a couple of weeks ago I missed trash pick-up. There have been many times where if we missed trash collection we found ourselves drowning in our own garbage by the next week. Well maybe not drowning, but the can would usually be overflowing.
This time, a week's worth of waste only filled the can about a quarter of the way. At that rate we could miss it a few times without having to worry about having missed it.
Next up on the chopping block is excess plastics. Slow and steady wins the race and making too many life-changing alterations could just leave us backsliding into our old wasteful ways.
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