i've determined that it takes me five songs to drive everywhere close to me, or, alternatively, twenty-three for when i make silly driving errors or visit somewhere i've never been before with hand-written google map directions on a sticky note. i always seem to stop and then restart the next time on that same song.
this is not taking into consideration that i almost always skip track three and sometimes repeat eight and eighteen an undetermined number of times, depending on the day, or depending on if someone passes me and i consequently miss singing my favorite part out loud.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
this is the family i've been waiting for
The No Trash Family
By Sharon
Cotliar, Susan Young
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20559312,00.html
When Bea Johnson decided her family should stop having any trash to throw out, her husband, Scott, says, "I thought she had lost her mind." No trash? Just about. Since 2006 the Mill Valley, Calif., couple and their sons have cut down their garbage output so that they now produce only enough in a year to fill a 1-liter mason jar. (The average American leaves behind 1,051 lbs. annually.) Everything else? They reuse, recycle or compost.
Gone are Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap-Bea brings glass jars to the butcher, fish and deli counters to fill with meat, fish and cheese. Cereal or cookie boxes with plastic liners? Banned; she makes her own or buys from bulk bins. Rags replace paper towels, washable pads for cotton balls and toilet paper-well, they still buy toilet paper but recycle the tubes, along with any other cardboard that finds its way home.
Why live this way? "We set out to simplify our lives, and it turned into something good for the environment," says Bea, 37, an artist (pesky unrecyclable butter wrappers are one medium) who also runs a decluttering business and writes a blog, thezerowastehome.com, on which she documents her low-impact life.
The boys, Max, 11, and Leo, 10, barely notice their life is unusual. They've grown up carrying lunches in knotted towels and playing with recycled toys. (Plastic toys they outgrow are donated.) "I don't want my children to feel deprived," Bea says. For gifts, they often get experiences like sports outings. But, says Max, sometimes "I'll bring home things that can't be recycled," like the wrapper from his 3-D movie glasses. Scott, 48, despite being an eco-business consultant, admits he became enthusiastic about their lifestyle only after he noticed they were saving money-Bea shops resale stores for clothes, and he estimates they've cut 25 percent of their food costs, more than offsetting the premium they pay for green and specialty items. Recently Scott was the one approaching the deli counter with glass jars. When he did, the clerk asked, " 'Hey, do you know the jar lady?' " he recalls. Scott told him, "I'm married to the jar lady."
AT THE STORE
At the super-market, Bea (right) brings sacks for baguettes and food bought from bins, and glass jars for meat. At home the kitchen cabinets are stocked with nuts, dried fruits, peanut butter and pasta. "As long as they have the cereal, fruit and cookies they like, they're happy," says Bea. Adds son Leo: "Most of my favorites aren't in plastic."
NO-WASTE KIDS
Leo, 10 (with Zizou), snacks from a cloth sack of nuts. Even at school he shuns waste. "It isn't hard to say no to chips. They are gone in three seconds, then the bag is in the trash." His and Max's artwork decorates the stairs.
IN THE YARD
Now an expert at composting, Scott relies on worms to turn trash into fertilizer for his garden.
IN THE BATH
They use bamboo toothbrushes and homemade baking soda toothpaste. Bea also makes her own eyeliner, but Scott can't lose his plastic contact lens case.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Refuse plastic bags. Bring jars and reusable totes to the store.
• Buy secondhand; if you buy new, choose glass and metal, not plastic.
• Swap disposables for reusables (refillable bottles, cloth napkins, rags).
• Fight junk mail. Get off lists at dmachoice.org or catalogchoice.org.
• Turn down freebies; taking them creates more demand. Says Bea: "Do you really need another pen?"
• Download music and videos online instead of buying CDs and DVDs.
WHAT THEY THREW OUT
Items that can't be recycled go in a jar under the sink. Packaging from infrequent large purchases (like their computer) gets left behind at the store. "Zero waste is idealistic," says Bea. "We refuse packaging material as a statement that might lead to more recyclable materials."
Paint rollers
Plastic tie from a pair of shoes
Plastic hanger straps from a dress
Plastic cork covers from wine bottles
Plastic casing from an electrical cord
Candy wrapper
Photos
Clothes tags
Old plastic toothbrush
Masking tape
Packaging of home repair/electrical items
A fruit sticker
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
"I HAD A GOLDFISH AND I FED IT TOO MUCH AND IT DIED."
eugene, the beta fish, died at age three.
when i see other beta fish in the pet stores or in fancy vases on admin desks in offices, i'm reminded of how big our fish grew to be. he must have been at least three times the size he was when we bought him for a dollar seventy-five or whatever. i read somewhere, i think, that they grow to a size proportional to their environment, and we once had him in a really giant bowl because we felt bad for how they are usually kept in small plastic cups. the bowl was from winners, and it actually came with a sticker that said DO NOT FILL WITH WATER.
eugene survived when the bowl split in two during transition from one apartment to another. it just fell apart. one leak and then another, right in my roommates hands. the beta fish was welcomed into our new apartment in a small remainder of the base of the do not fill with water fish bowl. we downsized after that.
someone who didn't know eugene very personally flushed him because he was sick, on the bottom of the bowl. he couldn't swim anymore, but we could see his gills moving, so we couldn't bear to kill him. he was just a beta fish, like the ones in the little plastic cups.
but once, i put him in a beet jar, and punched holes in the lid, and seatbelted him into my passengers seat, and the man who pumped my gas said he'd seen alot of things, but a fish, a little beta fish in the jar, going home for christmas, WELL. that was new.
when i see other beta fish in the pet stores or in fancy vases on admin desks in offices, i'm reminded of how big our fish grew to be. he must have been at least three times the size he was when we bought him for a dollar seventy-five or whatever. i read somewhere, i think, that they grow to a size proportional to their environment, and we once had him in a really giant bowl because we felt bad for how they are usually kept in small plastic cups. the bowl was from winners, and it actually came with a sticker that said DO NOT FILL WITH WATER.
eugene survived when the bowl split in two during transition from one apartment to another. it just fell apart. one leak and then another, right in my roommates hands. the beta fish was welcomed into our new apartment in a small remainder of the base of the do not fill with water fish bowl. we downsized after that.
someone who didn't know eugene very personally flushed him because he was sick, on the bottom of the bowl. he couldn't swim anymore, but we could see his gills moving, so we couldn't bear to kill him. he was just a beta fish, like the ones in the little plastic cups.
but once, i put him in a beet jar, and punched holes in the lid, and seatbelted him into my passengers seat, and the man who pumped my gas said he'd seen alot of things, but a fish, a little beta fish in the jar, going home for christmas, WELL. that was new.
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