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Absent
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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Thom's back to posting on his blog and I'm back to posting on Ela's blog, but who's posting on Mama's blog? Not me, not lately. And this post doesn't even count as a post because it's more of an apology. There's good news, though-- good enough to possibly make this apology pass as a post. Ready for the news?
Drum roll...
I'm going to grad school!
We found out recently that Thom and I both get scholarships to Emmanuel School of Religion down in Johnson City, Tennessee. I'm excited, nervous, scared, and excited some more. This will be a great next step for our family. It will be a challenge for all. It will put to test our relationships and will either ratify or veto our present routines.
So, while I haven't been posting so much now, I'm hoping to do a little bit of what Thom does and use my blog as a place for my school papers and ideas to be critiqued.
Here's to the unknown. I don't know.Labels: Emmanuel, grad school
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Just a few weeks ago my sister, Megan, and I tried out a recipe for homemade liquid laundry detergent. It took us about 20 minutes to make and we love it. It gets clothes clean, smells great, and best of all, it costs about 3 cents per load. Hard to beat. I recently realized I'm about to run out of the gel hand sanitizer that I use after changing Ela's diaper--I do so because I can't immediately wash my hands and can't stand to pick her up without sanitizing. I began to wonder if I could make my own hand sanitizer and if it would be cheaper, and hopefully save from having to throw another container away. I looked online and sure enough I found a super simple recipe here. I think I'll try it. Another neat recipe I found is for deodorant--which really IS expensive. I can just imagine the savings. Here's to making things at home and saving a buck!
Labels: hand sanitizer, laundry detergent
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Our Children's Safety
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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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Anybody who's ever browsed my blog knows I'm a person who is concerned about many things. Not least of which is my daughter's safety. Along with that concern goes my concern with what is put in things she uses and how what she eats is packaged and prepared. I was recently reading about the danger of plastics containing BPA (Bisphenol)
http://www.babycenter.com/204_heating-plastic-bottles-speeds-release-of-harmful-chemical_5227655.bc
http://www.babycenter.com/204_controversial-chemical-found-in-liquid-baby-formula_5225885.bc
http://www.babycenter.com/204_mercury-in-childhood-vaccines-couldnt-reach-toxic-levels-stu_5227645.bc
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/child-safety-recalls?pe=2U2CvIc&scid=momsbaby:20080204:4610:101313:12556 (recalls)
http://www.budget101.com/recipes/id771.htm (homemade formulas)
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A few months ago Thom and I watched Who Killed the Electric Car? It's a documentary about how in the mid 1990's the electric car came and went and many didn't even know it. Some would say conspiracy theory and others would argue that it just wasn't marketable--that people wouldn't buy it. But people were buying it and were very upset when their nice little quiet zero emission cars were taken from them. I recommend the film to anyone interested in learning more about the subject. It's fascinating. Anyway, it appears that the electric car is pushing through to its second appearance. What fans of the plug-in are trying to assure is that the plug won't get pulled once again. Apparently there are things we can do to help it. Read the email below. I'm really interested in joining the adopt-a-dealer campaign but I think it would be cool if there were several people I knew who committed to it as well. The fact is that we need representatives in Joplin and everywhere else and I don't think I'd last as long if I was going around to dealerships all on my own. So, would you read this and think about it? Would you contact others whom you think might join in? If you'd like to help please email me (stark.erica@gmail.com) or comment on this post. I'll get back to you. Meanwhile read the letter below, it was in my in box today.  Dear Erica Stark, Do you want plug-in electric cars with gas mileage better than 100 miles per gallon on the market, available for everyone to buy? So do we! But the US auto industry is standing in the way of getting this climate-saving technology onto the streets. For curbing climate change, for energy independence, for being prepared for peak oil, for cleaner air and for keeping good-paying jobs in the auto industry in the U.S. – it's time to bring plug-in electric cars to market! New technology to extend the range of hybrid cars by plugging them into renewable energy sources exists right now. We've been reporting on this technology in our publications for the past couple of years. Last summer, we produced a full issue of our quarterly magazine all about the most responsible fuel choices for our future, and we explained how plug-in hybrids are our best (and fastest!) hope for dramatically reducing the fossil fuels we consume for transportation in this country.
Now we're ramping up our efforts. We want all of our members – each one of you – to talk to your local car dealer, and demand better from Detroit. The US auto industry killed the first generation of electric cars in the 1990s, and we won't let it happen again.
That's why we've produced our online Adopt-a-Dealer guide to make it easy for you approach a car dealership in your area. All you have to do is start a conversation. Use our toolkit with talking points, sample letters, and a step-by-step guide to get your campaign on the road. Co-op America members have a history of taking collective action and achieving big victories for the green economy -- from pushing Procter & Gamble to start selling Fair Trade coffee, to pushing electric utility companies to cancel new coal-fired power plants, and more. Now is the time to take action with the auto industry. The largest chain of auto dealers in the country, AutoNation, is already on board with our campaign. "These new hybrids would offer consumers a 50-mile all-electric range, get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, be fully recharged at night and deliver all the performance and comfort of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles
without the damaging emissions," says AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson. "We believe Americans will buy these vehicles, which is why we want to sell them." Help us get your local Ford and GM dealer on board with AutoNation, or visit your local branch of Penske Automotive Group, the country's second largest dealer. Please download our kit, and visit your dealer today. Any dealership you choose to visit represents one more step toward bringing these cars to market.
Imagine each of the 60,000 e-activists reading this message today going to 60,000 different car dealers. And imagine each of those dealers learning more about plug-in hybrid technology, getting excited about selling these cars as the next generation of responsible automobiles, and communicating that enthusiasm directly to the decision-makers in Detroit. We can make a huge difference for the future of cleaner transportation. When you take action with our Adopt-a-Dealer guide, please let us know and feel free to contact us with any questions, and especially with news of your successes. Good luck! It's great to be working with all of you,
Alisa Gravitz
Executive Director
Co-op America | 
Download our
Adopt-a-Dealer toolkit and take action with your local dealer.
| | Help us push corporate polluters to make their companies more responsible. | | Donate today » |
| PLUG-IN FACTS | | • Plug-ins powered by electricity from wind or solar can be 100-percent emissions-free. • Plug-ins charged with coal power still produce 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline vehicles. • Plug-ins cost less per mile, the equivalent of 75 cents per gallon. • Plug-ins can be a reality now. Current technology has been proven to work, and the current electrical grid could already power 73 percent of our commutes. |
Join Co-op America
to keep informed about our work to build a green economy, including our work to push for better cars from Detroit. Don’t miss another issue of our Co-op America Quarterly, and also receive a copy of our National Green Pages™, our Guide to Socially Responsible Investing, and our bi-monthly green living newsletter Real Money.
JOIN NOW »
| Labels: adopt-a-dealer, climate action, coopamerica.org, electric car, gas mileage, green, plug-in hybrid
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Here is a link to a post I think is worth reading. It's a post on my sister, Megan's, blog. In her own way she delves into the subject of pacifism. It blew me away when I read it. I didn't know she was thinking that way at all. So that's all I have for today, read my sister's blog. Thanks.Labels: Megan Calderon
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 Less than two weeks after Fisher-Price removed a lead-tainted red blood pressure cuff from sale in Illinois because the plaything violated that state's lead standards, the Illinois attorney general has announced the same action for a green blood-pressure cuff that is part of another Fisher-Price medical kit.
On Friday, Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned that the same potential lead poisoning hazard exists with the green blood pressure cuff, which is found in the Sesame Street Giggle toy medical kit. (The red cuff is part of the classic Fisher-Price Medical Kit.) As in the previous announcement, Fisher Price will pull the product only from store shelves in Illinois—even though the toy kits are sold nationwide. And as before, the company is offering a replacement part for families who already own the toy; consumers can call 1-800-298-0638. You may recall that the state's action with the first blood pressure cuff was prompted by Consumer Reports' December investigation "New worries over lead" in which we reported finding high lead levels when we tested samples of the red Fisher-Price toy blood pressure cuff, among other items. Our findings prompted Madigan's office to begin an independent investigation that led to Fisher-Price's decision to pull the product out of the state's stores. The reason: Illinois bans the sale of toys, clothing, jewelry or other children's products that contain lead in excess of 600 parts per million. It is one of the strongest lead laws in the country and more stringent than federal regulations, which place limits on only paint and surface coatings. There are no federal limits on lead in plastics such as PVC. The current action with the green cuffs was initiated by Fisher-Price, which tested the product and then reported it to Illinois. Fisher-Price spokeswoman Juliette Reashor explained: "Through research, we identified a similar instance with the green cuff, which revealed levels of lead that, though fully compliant with all federal and international standards, exceeded the Illinois statute. We proactively reached out to the State of Illinois to inform them of our findings." “I am pleased that Fisher-Price took the initiative to test its products, self-report a violation, quickly remove the affected blood pressure cuffs from store shelves, and offer replacements to consumers,” Madigan said. “I continue to urge manufacturers and retailers to review and tighten up their quality control procedures so consumers can be confident that the items on store shelves are safe for their children.” The action once again illustrates the need for tighter federal regulations on lead in children's products. There's no reason that children in one state should be protected while those who live elsewhere are not.
Labels: Fisher Price, lead, lead poisoning, toy
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  It's twenty-five minutes until 2008 arrives. Thom is at work, Ela sound asleep and I'm blogging. There will be no drinking, laughing or kissing at midnight. Instead I've decided to look through my pictures of the last year and remember. Here's my journey to the past in pictures. Oddly enough, I don't really have any pictures for January, February and March. It's like my life began when Ela's did. Well, at least that's when I started taking pictures like crazy. So here's last year starting with April. April I'm about to burst. That's all I remember about that general time. I was very ready for baby to be born.
May Sweet Gabriela Madeline Stark is born on May 19th at 11:47am. She checks in at 7 lbs 2.1 oz and 20.5 inches long. I won't go into the whole story of her birth, you can read it here if you don't already know it. She came into this world and changed our lives and our outlook on life. She's amazing. 
June
She turns one month, although in the picture below with all three of us she's only two weeks old and had only been home for a week. She's precious, a wonderful gift.
July
Two months old. Ela's first roadtrip to Iowa for my cousin's wedding. She had a great time and got to meet a lot of new people.
August
Three months old. Second trip to Iowa, this time to visit Logan and Aanna as well as James, Lacey and Norah.
September
Four months old. Ela moves into her own room with her own big crib. She adjusts just fine, I experience separation anxiety and have to check on her every ten minutes.
October
She turns five months old and learns to sit up all by herself. She also thinks she's a big girl and gives crawling a really big try. It was a big enough try to last her for a while.
November
Ela is six months old. She meets her Poppy (Thom's dad) for the first time and has a wonderful time with him. Eats solid food (cereal) for the first time.
December
Ela turns seven months and starts eating foods like avocado, squash and banana. She is very serious about her play time and I suspect she will be crawling any day now.
 As you can see, my days are now counted in Ela time. From now on, I suspect, I will remember when events happened by recalling how old Ela was at the time or what she was up to. Life changes when you become a parent, but it's good. Thanks to Ela I would call 2007 the grandest year in my life so far.
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If A Tree Falls
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
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If A Tree Falls
by Bruce Cockburn
rain forest
mist and mystery
teeming green
green brain facing lobotomy
climate control centre for the world
ancient cord of coexistence hacked by parasitic greedhead scam -
from Sarawak to Amazonas
Costra Rica to Mangy BC hills -
cortege rhythm of falling timber
what kind of currency grows in these new deserts
these brand new food plains?
if a tree falls in the desert does anybody hear?
if a tree falls in the desert does anybody hear?
does anybody hear the forest fall?
cut and move on
cut and move on
take out trees
take out wildlife at a rate of a species every single day
take out people who've lived like this for 100,000 years
inject a billion burgers worth of beef -
grain eaters - methane dispensers -
through thinning ozone
wave fall on wrinkled earth
gravity, light, ancient refuse of stars
speak of a drowning
but this, this is something other
bust monster eats dark holes in the spirit world
where wild things have to go
to disappear
forever
if a tree falls in the desert does anybody hear?
if a tree falls in the desert does anybody hear?
does anybody hear the forest fall? Labels: Cockburn, environmentalist
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I know, it's been a while. I've been busy. And I suppose I still don't have anything of my own to post. But I found this article that I really like. You can read it here, or I've pasted it below. Green food: it isn’t just salad anymore. You want a healthy diet for yourself, but did you realize you’re also impacting the planet with how and what you eat? Whole food, organic food and raw food can all play an important part in preventing climate change, saving fish and rainforests, reducing pollution and conserving energy for future generations. The following steps outline how you can reduce your carbon footprint with your diet: The Enviro-Diet Step One Reduce your meat consumption: Meat, and beef in particular, is the most resource-intensive food you can eat, and eating less of it can greatly reduce your individual impact on the environment. Meat production requires a lot of water, land and potentially harmful ingredients such as hormones and antibiotics, and leads to pollution of soil, air and water. For comparison, a pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, while a pound of potatoes only requires 60 gallons. If you’re a meat eater, try switching from beef to chicken or, better still, a wisely-chosen fish (production of some fish varieties is harmful to the environment while others greatly improve environmental conditions). Substitute meaty servings with beans, tofu and nuts starting with one meal per week. If you must eat animal products, buy the organic varieties; they cost a little more but are much better for you, the animals and the earth.
Step Two Eat organic foods: Organic food isn’t just better for your body; it’s also healthier for the land, water, air, wildlife and the workers who produce it. Nearly everything also comes organic: vegetables, fruits, grains, beverages, dairy, eggs and meat. If you can only find or afford some organic produce, chose strategically; not all fruits and vegetables are equal. For example, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, apples, celery and spinach require and retain higher pesticide levels, whereas pineapple, corn, onions, sweet potatoes and broccoli are better.
Step Three Buy locally-produced foods: Buying local foods that are in-season is good for the environment for many reasons. Food travels on average 1,500 miles to get to your table. Buying from local sellers cuts back on emissions, fuel consumption and unnecessary traffic. Locally-produced food is generally fresher, uses less packaging and offers a wider selection. Buying anything produced locally supports your local economy and saves businesses money on packing, processing, refrigeration, marketing and shipping. The best source for locally-produced food are farmers markets or community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscription programs (where you get a box of produce every week – some deliver to your home or workplace). If you don’t have a farmers market or local food co-op in your town, you may be able to start one. Buy large quantities of locally-produced foods when they are in season and dry and can them for the rest of the year.
Step Four Buy fair-trade-certified foods: If you must buy imported food, check for fair-trade certification. It ensures proper wages and working conditions for the people who harvest and handle your food. TransFair, the only fair trade certifier in the US, also includes environmental standards in its certification process, protecting watersheds and virgin forests, helping to prevent erosion, promoting natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibiting GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. TransFair claims that their standards are the most rigorous in the industry, second only to USDA organic standards.
Step Five Reduce or eliminate food packaging: Try to find foods with minimal packaging (most of which is petroleum-based plastic) and try bringing your own containers and buying in bulk. Pick brands that use bio-based plastic packing. When you must buy food in a new container, reuse the packaging you take home. Recycle packaging you can’t reuse or have reused to death.
Step Six Reduce or eliminate waste: Plan your meals carefully to cut back on waste. If the dish will spoil quickly, avoid making more than your household can eat. Cook meals that will freeze, and store them in serving-size containers; you can take the frozen meals to your office and heat them up/defrost them in the microwave. If you’ve still got extra, share it with friends and neighbors. If there’s a lot left over, give it to folks who have fallen on hard times like the homeless.
Step Seven Treat trash responsibly: Feeding yourself and your family impacts the environment at every stage of the process: where your food comes from and then where the scraps go after you’ve eaten. Composting leftovers lessens the impact on the landfill, generates great soil for your garden, and keeps your kitchen wastebasket from smelling. You don’t even need a lot of space: people who live in apartments or just don’t have a yard can do it too. Once your trash has turned to rich soil, use it in your (potted) garden or take it to your nearest public park. Consider a composting toilet! Composting, along with reducing, reusing and recycling, will greatly reduce the amount of trash you produce.
Step Eight Grow a vegetable garden: You don’t need much space to grow food–just a few flower pots or window boxes. Fresh-grown herbs and greens are delicious, and anyone who’s ever tasted a home-grown tomato knows that the store-bought variety doesn’t hold a candle to its taste-sensation home-grown cousin. Important questions to look up or ask about at your local nursery are how much light and soil a plant needs (relative to what you can offer it) and what the plant’s tolerance for cold weather is (you can grow a lot of things indoors in a sunny room even during freezing winters). Various gadgets like hydroponics and aeroponics make it possible to grown more in less space. Growing your own food reduces environmental impacts of transportation and chemicals (like pesticides).
Step Nine Reduce your cooking fuel use: The raw-food movement has swept the nation, and many people swear they feel better eating raw. Regardless of the health advantages, preparing raw food consumes less energy, and, because raw food is usually fresh by definition, it is likely not to have traveled as far as processed food to get to your table. Try using a solar oven. They can cook a wide variety of dishes and require only fuel from our local stellar nuclear reactor (the sun, of course!). They are simple to design and build–if you’re handy at all you can probably make one for yourself. ----------------------------------------------- I don't know that I'm at the point to be able to do everything suggested by the article but I'm already doing some of them and am very interested in some others. Building a solar oven? It sounds wonderful but unrealistic for me right now. I'd love to grow a vegetable garden someday. It's a matter of commitment. Another thing that's in the works for the future is having a compost. I've looked in to an indoor fermenter that decomposes kitchen scraps much faster than a compost pile (no need to run outside everyday and be flipping the thing). I'll have everyone know that I'm loving being a vegetarian. Anyone who knows me knows I was hesitant. Not because I didn't believe in the value of it but because I didn't think I'd be able to get the protein and other nutrients I needed if I wasn't eating meat. So for a long time I was a meat eating vegetarian in the making. I continued to eat meat until I had taught myself how to get all the nutrition I need in my diet. These days I'm learning to cook more and more vegetarian meals. I try about one new recipe per week. Some are wonderful and some are ok. Our latest favorite is vegetarian chili that no one can tell is vegetarian. Thom loves it and he loves me for it. I've also begun doing some research on how to raise a vegetarian child. If anyone has any experience in this area or is learning about it now I'd like to hear from you. I found this article on vegetarian babies. Along the same line is the research I've been doing on preparing meals at home for baby instead of buying the canned stuff. So if anyone knows anything about that please share. I found this kit I'd love to buy (when I can afford it). It claims to help you prepare meals at home in about 30 min. per week by keeping in frozen. That sounds like what I'll need to do. There's no way I'll fix baby food every day. Labels: baby food, compost, environmentalist, vegetarian, vegetarian baby
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 Garbage. Americans produce more and more of it every year, when we need to be producing less.
Even the most waste-conscious among us can feel overwhelmed by the amount of household waste that goes beyond what municipal recyclers and compost bins can handle. That’s why our editors have spent the summer investigating the state of waste management in our country, and putting together information for you, our Co-op America members, explaining how we can get serious about the three R’s – reducing, reusing, and recycling. Supporting members of Co-op America can expect to receive this issue of the Co-op America Quarterly this fall. If you’re not already a supporting member, join us now to get this special issue mailed to you.
1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.
2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.
3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women’s shelters to see if they  can use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.
4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they’ll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com. 5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter.  Donate wearable women’s business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes. 6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com. 7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com. 8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html. 9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com. 10. Eyeglasses: Your local Lion’s Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses  are reground and given to people in need. 11. Foam packing: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept foam peanuts for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html 12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each. 13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle. 14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org. 15. Phones: Donate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell  it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com. 16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com. 17. “Technotrash”: Easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, cell phones, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk’s Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com. 18. Tennis shoes: Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com. 19. Toothbrushes and razors: Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from  Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms’ yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, www.recycline.com. 20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK. 21. Stuff you just can’t recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly. From: http://www.coopamerica.org/
Labels: compost, garbage, recycling
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I haven't purchased my reusable grocery bags! I was reminded of this by Meghan Breeze who just bought her own. I guess I haven't done it because I don't know where. Meghan, were did you buy your bags? I suppose I could just get some canvas bags or even make them. That would work.
Just a reminder, if there's anything you're doing or plan to do to be more environmentally friendly, please share. It's encouraging to hear what others are doing and in some cases (like the one mentioned above) it pushes me to do what I've already committed to but haven't gotten around to.
By the way, the new cloth diapers are fantastic. I'm so excited about them and Ela seems to really like them. Here's to cloth!Labels: cloth diapers, environmentalist, green, grocery bags, Meghan Breeze
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I had nothing better to write about and Ela is taking a nap. So, here are my top ten needs as determined by a google search:
1. Erica needs to come home, and to work things out with their daughters.
2. Erica needs to be in a much better place. And I'm going to make sure life will never hurt us again.
3. Erica needs help.
4. Erica needs to be able to feel proud of Todd and the work he does, his achievements, and accomplishments.
5. Erica needs to be alone or with Malaria Guy Jeff.
6. Erica needs a reality check!
7. Erica needs to dump Jack FOR GOOD.
8. Erica needs to stop pouting.
9. Erica needs to learn how to spell my last name right!
10.Erica needs to go.
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My friend Ceri gave me a good pointer. She informed me that using vinegar and hydrogen peroxide disinfects just as well as any other disinfectant but without the harmful chemicals. You simply put the white vinegar in a spray bottle, put a spray bottle top on the hydrogen peroxide bottle (it needs to remain in the dark container), spray one, spray the other, wipe down, voila. Another thing that Thom and I want to invest in is a compost bin. We can't do it right now but we eventually hope to invest in an indoor kitchen composter. This little container takes care of almost any kitchen scrap. Our reasoning for buying an indoor one is that we aren't very likely to keep up an outdoor one and just end up with a mess. But who knows, maybe someday we'll have an outdoor compost. One thing we're really excited about is Thom's new scooter. He has to go pick it up from Springfield tomorrow. It's a Sicilian 150. It gets 80+ miles p/gallon so not only is it less harmful to the environment, it will also save us a lot of money in fuel (plus we won't be giving as much money to the big mean oil companies). Thom calculated that the scooter would pay for itself in about 8 months just in fuel savings. It makes sense for us since he goes more places than me (school, work). We eventually hope to buy a good diesel car and convert it to vegetable oil. This idea comes from James and Lacey Bell. Kudos to them for being ahead of the game (at least my game). Thanks to Ceri, James and Lace for inspiration and ideas. Labels: Ceri Otero, compost, environmentalist, James Bell, Lacey Bell, scooter
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You scored as Albus Dumbledore, Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering.
Albus Dumbledore: 75%
Remus Lupin: 70%
Ron Weasley: 70%
Ginny Weasley: 60%
Severus Snape: 55%
Harry Potter: 55%
Harmione Granger: 50%
Sirius Black: 45%
Lord Voldemort: 40%
Draco Malfoy: 25%
Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? Labels: Harry Potter
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I've denied it so far and I still hate to admit it: I've gone through my life as a consumer, without giving so much as a thought to what my wasteful habits have done to the environment. I now stand convicted. Seriously, I feel convicted and now I have to take responsibility for the damage I've done and start looking for active ways to put a stop to it (I doubt I can undo what's already been done). So, in a desperate attempt to redeem myself I hereby declare myself a tree hugger. Think it's extreme? I used to think it was, but I've come to see I have to go all the way if I'm going to change my daily wasteful routines and habits. Here are just a couple of steps I've taken in an effort to create a new, more environmentally friendly routine: - Cloth diapers. Yes, I know, this sounds kind of extreme. But it's not so bad as it sounds. Nowadays you can buy cloth diapers that work just as well or better than disposable ones. And yes, it will be a little more work for me to wash them, but it helps to think of the ton of waste (yes, literally one ton per child) that won't be dumped in a landfill to finally decompose about 500 years later. - Recycling. This is one that I was already doing but I've decided I need to be more dedicated. - Reusable grocery bags. No more paper or plastic for me. Cloth is the new coolest grocery bag. - No more Wal-Mart. This one isn't just about the environment but about fair trade and even American and world economy. I've been meaning to cut this one out of my daily routine for quite some time now but hadn't taken the time to find a new place to shop. My new stores: Food4 Less and Dillons (both under Kroger). Go here to find out why I will be shopping at these places. Also, local shops such as Fox Farms and Suzanne's. If anyone has any suggestions of what else I can do, please comment. Maybe there's something you've been doing, please share. I'm very excited about the changes I'm making and I'm hoping to find others who feel the same way so we can feed each others enthusiasm. Labels: cloth diapers, environmentalist, fair trade, green, recycling
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