Plastic In a New Light

I know this video has been buzzing around the net for the past month or so, but I thought it was worth reposting.  This is the future folks!  With depleting resources, combined with a disposable mentality, it won't be long until we're all rummaging through landfills and recycling centers to furnish our homes.  Frankly, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later - when there's nothing left to mine/cut-down/use up, etc!  I often wonder why we don't have more of those earth ships, which are homes made from recycled materials, around.  Instead, I see more and more new developments built from raw materials like wood and steel and such (another phenomenon I don't understand with so many forclosed homes).
While I appreciate the "green" movement, market media has us thinking we need to purchase our way in to it.  Not so folks.  Just look at these remarkable people who have taken something like a plastic bottle and made it useful...like a light bulb.  

The Pillow Pot

We've all done it:  lined up at checkout to realize we left our reusable shopping bags in the car/house.  It's really not that bad since I use the bags to line our bathroom trash, but I've done it so often that I have enough bags to line 50 trash cans for the next two years.. and yet the bags keep piling up.  I tried other uses for these dreaded plastic bags.  I use them as a lunch bag, gym bag, laundry bag, but it inevitably ends up in the trash (and we all know how I feel about that)...until today.  

With Fall right around the corner (2 days to be exact), it's time to move my plants indoors.  I have two particular plants in large clay pots.  They were once little house warming gifts that, over the years, have graduated to larger and larger containers.  The problem with house plants as big as these, is that once they're down on our hardwood floors, they don't move until it's time to take them out again - around late Spring.  Even then, they leave nicks and scratches on the floors, and ring marks for when the water filters down to the bottom of the pot.  Enter the Pillow Pot (made this name up).  It's a plastic bag filled with other plastic bags that allows me to move these clay pots around my living room without scratching the floors. 


Materials:
a bunch of plastic bags
1 fancy, thicker plastic bag
packing tape - preferably the clear ones

Procedures:
1.  fill thicker plastic bag with the smaller ones... the fluffier the better
2.  fold the bag to a size just slightly larger than the bottom of your pot.
3.  seal with tape, and tape in corners (or if you want to keep the square shape - do it up!)
4.  place pot on top
5.  PRESTO:  Pillow Pot

Hooray!!!  I am no longer that crazy woman who walks out the supermarket carrying 10 items to avoid using the plastic bags. 
 

Note:  ziplock bag is optional.  I happen to have one that wasn't quite ready to be thrown out...but didn't want to reuse for food either.

My rubber and aloe plant. These two gave me hope that I can be a gardener. 

Worth my Pepper.

When cooking, I opt,as much as I can afford, for fresh, organic ingredients with as little additivies as possible.  So when I read that most pre-crushed peppers have saw dust in them among other things, I started using the whole peppercorns.   Only problem is they need to be crushed.  

For the past year, I have been talking myself out of buying a salt/pepper mill.   Perhaps if they didn’t sell these whole peppers in flimsy grinders I wouldn’t have held off so long.  Because the semi-crushed seeds would slip through the grinders and in to my cooking, I'd end up taking an unexpected chomp on a peppercorn.  I warned dinner guests of these sneaky whole peppercorns all because I couldn’t get myself to shell out $15 for a good one, $30 for a salt and pepper set.  Well, fast forward to a recent visit to my mother-in-law.  I somehow mentioned to her about this dilemma and she says, "Oh is that all?” and takes out from her cabinet, a wooden pawn shaped salt/pepper grinder set.  The same kind I've been picking up and putting down at the supermarket.  ALAS!!!!  All that ridiculousness of frugality finally “paid” off!!!! 

A Hairy Situation

I love, love, looooooove Summer.  I enjoy the long days, and sticky evenings, lazy beach days, flip-flops, I even secretly enjoy sweating in a hot car while sitting in traffic (I think I'm alone on this one).  But there is a catch!  Each year, as I shift my winter clothes to the back of our closet, for the tanktops and sleeveless dresses, I am reminded that it is now time to get in to the heinous ritual of shaving my armpits.  I abhor shaving.  It's expensive, wasteful, and most of all, uncomfortable.

Women (and men) go through extreme lengths to rid of our body hair...contributing to an estimated $1.8 Billion market.  $1.8 Billion of depilatories, laser treatments, wax strips, (and worst of all) disposable razors with it's hollow plastic handles, flimsy blades, pivoting heads, and lubricating strips piling up in our landfills and oceans;  all promising to effectively and efficiently remove hair... but alas - our primitive (ape-like) genes won't quit and hair keeps growing back.  Good news for the shaving industry, otherwise they'll have nothing to sell.

A few years ago, I refused to shave my armpits as sort of a personal protest but mostly because it was irritated.  After about three weeks, I got so many disgusted glances and snide remarks, I caved in and shaved the hair off.  ,But, I was riddled with guilt each time I tossed a razor in the trash.

Since we are socially obliged to be hairless, here is a video on how to make sugar wax.  My friend used to wax mine and my sister's legs and armpits with this same recipe.  And the hair took longer to grow back, looking slightly thinner than the last time.  All you need are ingredients probably already in your cupboard (sugar, lemon juice, and water)... and a few strips off your unwanted/worn out jeans (they make the perfect wax strips).  One thing the video doesn't mention is to keep temp at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  If it goes over, the mixture will harden in to candy.

I store my homemade wax in the fridge in an empty peanut butter jar.  Whenever I have to use it, I place the jar in hot water until the wax becomes that honey consistency again.  The sugar wax has been an underarm saver since I never developed the callous from constantly running a blade through my skin.  Usually on the 2nd to 4th day of shaving, I find myself inadvertently scratching my armpits in pubic:  I could feel the lady sitting next to me on the bus inching away from me.  My ancestors cannot be denied.  I am the hairless ape, scratching her stubbly armpits.  

Time Management

I should have probably eased up on planning my kid’s birthday party last month when I realized 44 people confirmed attendance - YIKES!    What can I say, I love birthdays... not just mine, but anybody's because it’s a great opportunity to catch up with the people that matter to us.  Once upon a time, it was effortless to be with these people, that you can do it just about everyday. Now that I'm living at least an hour away from friends and family it’s been especially difficult to catch up.  Not only are we spreading away from each other geographically, but work schedules took precedence over many things, leaving only the weekends to maintain these relationships.  Reminds me of the time I volunteered for the Special Olympics.  I was assigned to escort participants to the starting line.  At one point, I was escorting about six 4-6 year olds to the starting line for a 100 meter dash.  When setting out to cross the field to the starting point, we were all holding hands, but as we walked on, about four of the kids on both ends let go and wandered away from the group.  I was frozen, how could I gather those kids without losing the ones that stayed with me?  The longer it took me to act, the farther away they were getting.  Which leaves me to wonder, how can I hold on to important relationships while preserving my livelihood?

I maintained, as much as I can, the attitude that although three years of work was a significant amount of time, it was still temporary.   But I am also susceptible to allowing my job to cross over personal boundaries:  occupying more time out of my days, corrupting my emotional and mental well-being, and even degrading my physical wellness by spending at least 40 hours a week sitting in front of a computer.  Leaving little of myself to other matters of my life.  I understand that the bills have to be paid, but overworking has become such common practice that my self worth was gauged on gross income/assets, blanketed by so many distractions of wants disguised as needs, losing sight of what’s really important in life.  John Trudell, Native American activist, speaks of the "Spirit Eater," as an authoritarian systems that siphon off human energy to fuel a materialistic, technological reality. We are delusional to think that working more and gaining monetary assets will wash over our problems and improve our quality of life.  When in fact, it is the very thing that contributes to the misery. 

As I got closer to the termination date, reality set in and I had no choice but to ease up on my dependency to the job.  Rewiring my approach to spending really helped to differentiate my needs and my wants.  For instance, when I think I ”need” something, I go to my basement or attic and realize I already have it.  Or I get distracted by an item I forgot I had and for some reason, it satisfies the so-called need.  Either way, it kept me from shelling out some cash, and best of all I've just (very, very slowly) unpacked some of our boxes from our move.  Other times, I wait it out, until by chance, I come upon the item for FREE!!! I recently acquired a metal file cabinet from someone’s sidewalk who put it out for garbage pickup (gotta love the sidewalk boutique).  I’ve been talking myself out of this $300 purchase for almost a year, and finally, the waiting paid off.  All of a sudden, my lifeline to the 9-5 (or more) is not so desperate.  I’m realizing I don’t need that much cash flow to run our household.  I would say, one of our biggest expense is travel.  Not only for work, but also to visit friends/family.  We’ve refrained from so much frivolous/impulse spending (I can’t tell you the last time I bought a new outfit) that we were able to book a trip to visit friends and family in the Philippines for when I’m out of work.  An expense that definitely contribute to our quality of life instead of take away.  

Life’s demands tend to steer us away from each other so if we don’t have much time for anything else, at least we can come together to celebrate life’s milestones (i.e. birthdays).  Bring on your 44 guests!!

4-Drawer Metal File Cabinet = $10 (for black spray paint), Sidewalk Boutique

Globe = $0, Sidewalk Boutique; Fancy cloth under the globe = $0, basement find

Mama Said

As children we think everything is vastly available. Our world is HUGE! Growing up, my mom made sure to remind us otherwise. “Since you do not know how to make water, then you should not waste it,” was a common phrase heard around the house. This statement applied to all sorts of resources. From water, to food, to paper, school supplies, electricity, etc. When I started taking chemistry classes, I learned you can make water by combining two Hydrogen atoms with one Oxygen atom. So when I smartly replied that I do know how to make water, she then asks me if I knew how to make a Hydrogen atom, or an Oxygen one – stuck again. Basically, she broke it down to the fact that we cannot make anything without starting with some kind of natural resource. Even if you find a way to create something out of thin air, you still have to rely on the “thin air” to create it…and do you know how to make “thin air?” So, I’ve been conservative and mindful (almost to a fault) with my resources ever since. Well, give and take some wild and rebellious phases growing up when that kinda stuff didn’t matter….but now it does – again.


Present day: I go in to the bathroom at work. While washing my hands, another lady goes over the next sink and turns on the water FULL BLAST!.... keeps it on while she soaps, rinses, and pumps out approx 12 inches in length of paper towel from the dispenser, crumples the huge paper towel in her hands as a way to dry them (she didn’t even dry the back of her hands) before turning the faucet off.  Then she uses the automatic handicap door opener so she didn't have to touch the handles. My mom would have a conniption if she saw you… and I guess so am I.


I think about the measures this woman is taking to keep her hands clean, but take no consideration to her environment (I know – total nerdy statement – but it’s true). Yes, I get it, proper hand washing encourages good health, but this woman works in a cubicle – what kind of germs does she have in there???? Maybe she’s afraid to get sick, but let's think about the potential health risk of those living near a landfill  (let’s not even get in to the vast real estate a landfill occupies. Land that could have been used for something more than storing garbage); or surely she must be aware that America’s water supply is dwindling down to obsoletion within our generation’s life time. As of a 2010 news article, 36 US States face water shortages in the next three years (well, 2 years now that it’s 2011). I'm sure she’s not aware of all of this, nor does it vaguely cross her mind but I SOOOOO wanted to tell her. But how can I without crossing some undefined boundary between strangers in a bathroom? Maybe I could have taken that risk of offending her, after all, her ignorance is "offending" our environment and future generations, but I punked out and watched her walk out the bathroom.  (sigh) If only she had a mom like mine she wouldn't have been so wasteful.


Perhaps conserving resources was a way for my mom to keep us from running up the bills, or from having to replace any item she’s already bought for us, but it sure left an impression. The other day, I heard my 6 year old niece say to her sister, "Can you make water? then you shouldn't waste it." I'd say it is one of the best nuggets of knowledge ever to pass down the generations. Thanks Ma!

Stone Walk

I am perfectly aware how seemingly ridiculous it is to handpick stones for your landscaping, but that is what I am doing. I have an 8’X2’ space that divides the grilling area from the garden, so I don’t need that much. Garden centers or Landscaping stores sell river rocks in bulk at a handsome cost and for the quantity of rocks I want, I doubt they’ll deliver. I can see why it would cost so much. The process of bringing these rocks in bulk to the stores requires resources: You have to hire people to operate heavy machinery (that use up all sorts of oil byproduct to make it run and releasing pollutants in to the earth) to mine these rocks, and then truck it to some processing center or to the garden center directly which probably drives up the cost as we are nearing the $4/gallon mark on gas prices (and again, more pollution). Just so we can have something pretty to look at in our yard. Ok, so I don’t really know how those rocks get to these stores, but I bet the folks who work at the garden center aren’t bringing them in themselves, and I’m pretty sure I’m right about using the diggers and dump trucks to ship said landscaping commodity. But in all honesty, my main deterrent was the dollar cost. I just don’t have the kind of money to spend on rocks. So, I decided to do it the long and cheap way by heading down a nearby river with son and bucket in tow.


It takes 5minutes to walk toward the river, cross a couple of train tracks, through a short bridge over a man made canal and in to a paved trail. The canal empties into the river creating a refreshing, semi-natural water fall near the entrance of the trail, where you can find the prettiest stones and pebbles. Along the path are side trails towards the river bank. At first glance, it’s all mud and sand and some sharp rocks, but once you find the first stone the others start to appear and before you know it, your bucket is filled. I don’t know what it is, but there is something so satisfying in finding rocks. I guess it would be similar to looking for shells at the beach. Sometimes I get carried away, and realize I’ve selected more rocks that I can manage, so I dump some out and head home. This time, it takes me 20-30 minutes to get home now that I am approx half a mile away from the entrance, and I am now carrying a bucket full of stones.  Did I mention that the way home is all uphill (and at some parts have a steep incline)? While this part is probably not as fun or relaxing, I find it rewarding: I somehow squeezed in a workout. On my last trip, I had a scene from the movie Spaceballs where the characters were carrying suitcases full of rocks across the desert, flashed in my head. I felt a little silly lugging around these stones back home, but I’ve already committed to this project.


I’ve made two trips so far and this is what I have to show for:

As you can see I have a few more trips to make. I honestly didn’t account for the weight these stones amount to, and the challenge of walking back home with it, but this time I’m going to bring my son’s radio flyer wagon instead of his Lightning McQueen Easter bucket (which cracked from the weight of all the stones); and I’m going to pick up the rocks at the farthest point of my walk first, instead of point of entry – the waterfalls. Maybe if I had gone by myself, I would have topped off my bucket at the waterfalls and headed home. But I failed to realize that my son had his own agenda of walking through the woods a little further than the entry point. I ended up walking another half mile with a bucket full of stones before heading back home. Lessons Learned!


So, what does the long and cheap way add up to? A lovely stroll around the woods with my son, about 300 calories burned, money still in my pocket and no harm to the environment…oh yeah, and some landscaping rocks. WINNER!






Just passed the waterfall at the entrance

 

One of the river banks



Heading back home