Archive for January, 2008
Tuna Test
The New York Times published an article last week about some new research that showed really really high (scary high) levels of mercury in tuna found in sushi restaurants in New York. For those of us who love sushi, tuna, and fish in general, this is bad news. My personal recommendation is just to stop eating tuna, especially bluefin tuna, because aside from being mercury-laden, it’s also over-fished.
But, if you just can’t live without it, and want to find out the maximum amount of mercury tuna that your body can handle safely, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Tuna Calculator. As a woman of child-bearing age, I am basically told not to eat any tuna at all (boo). Apparently, mercury has this nasty habit of causing brain damage in fetuses. Pretty lame.
Also, if you want some more info about the mercury-in-fish situation, Consumer Reports provides a decent overview. It even answers the question “how the heck does mercury get into fish in the first place?” (here’s a basic answer for those of you who are too lazy to click on the link:
1. coal and other fossil fuels are burned up to make power for our TVs and cuisinarts and whatnot
2. the smoke from the power plants contains mercury, and blows all over the place – including into the ocean
3. here the mercury gets absorbed by plankton and other tiny organisms at the top of the water, then fish eat those little guys, then bigger fish eat those fish
4. the mercury gets caught up in the fish’s fatty tissue and never comes out until that guy with the funny hat and the super sharp knife slices it up and puts it on a plate in front of you).
The End. Watch out for the fishies.
People Power
Isn’t this a sweet new alarm clock? I bought it for myself the other day, after the cheap plastic one I’d been using for three years self-destructed. I didn’t want to get another cheap one, because I need an alarm clock that will be with me for the long-haul, so I looked for a sturdy, metal model that could put up with my morning crankiness, as well as being repeatedly knocked off my night stand by my cats.
So this is the clock I found. I bought it at a small local appliance store and it’s nice and sturdy, which is great, but it has one more feature that I think is totally cool: it’s people-powered.
Now, many of us may look at the back of this alarm clock in confusion and perhaps mild disdain, because it’s quite old-fashioned. I, however, see it as a symbol of the future. (more…)
Winter Greenhouse Update
I just thought I’d post an update about my mini greenhouse experiment. I planted lettuce, broccoli, oat grass (as a winter cover crop) and a transplanted rosemary bush in the greenhouse earlier in the fall (here’s the original post about it), and today the rosemary and grass are doing quite well, but unfortunately the broccoli is pretty non-existent and the lettuce leaves are only about an inch tall.
So far I would call it a semi-success, because the space inside the greenhouse has stayed warm enough to sustain plant life. I’ve had to open up the greenhouse on warmer days to air it out, because the damp weather has caused it to get a little moldy in there, but overall it’s been very low-maintenance.
And, as you can see, my cats are pretty fond of it.
Story of Stuff
I highly recommend checking out this video and passing it along. It’s about 20 mins long, so you should set a little time aside to watch it, but it’s highly worthwhile and very informative.
Obsolescence vs Reuse
This is a 2003 iPod. Maybe I got it in 2004 – I honestly can’t remember. Regardless, I know when it stopped working: approximately 2 years ago. And it’s still in my desk drawer. Yup, still there. Why? Because I have no idea what to do with it. Apple has completely shirked the responsibility of disposing of these gadgets which it has successfully managed to distribute worldwide. The company has also successfully managed to design these music machines so that they pretty much self-destruct after about two years, and then are essentially unrepairable.
This is why I no longer own an iPod, and why I also use a PC (hear that, Steve Jobs? Of course you do). (more…)
Green Skincare
I just want to take a second and give a shout-out to Dessert Essence for making this super facewash. It’s made of tea tree oil and other natural, non-toxic ingredients. It keeps my skin looking smooth and clean and I totally recommend it.
On a similar note, I think it’s time we give up these plastic scratchy body wash thingies and instead switch to loofahs. Like tea tree oil, loofah is a natural, non-toxic, biodegradable and totally effective skin care option. Next time you’re shopping for skin scrubbing devices, go with loofah and forget the plastic. It’s better for you and its better for everybody else, too.
The Power Cooking Challenge
I love to cook, and I love having good tools to cook with. Sharp knives, big shiney mixing bowls, wisks – these all make me very happy for some reason. Over the past couple of years I’ve managed to collect a few nice gadgets for my kitchen that have brought my cooking to a whole new, more delicious level, and I really don’t want to live without them. The problem? They’re electronic, meaning they’re diabolical and highly guilt-worthy.
Anyone who has ever whipped egg whites or heavy cream into frothy white peaks by hand can relate to my love for the electronic hand mixer. Hand mixers and cuisinarts and coffee grinders are the tools that separate the modern cook from the cave man (who I believe is known to have bought his coffee pre-ground). These tools hold places of honor in my kitchen, and although I certainly do not have to plug-in every time I make a meal, I am sure to bust them out at least once a week. And every time I weep the tears of a thousand lost kilowatt hours.
So, should I abandon power-cooking altogether? Fat chance. You’ll have to pry that cuisinart out of my cold, dead hands to get me to give it up. But I’m also not willing to live with the guilt.
The challenge: get a small generator that I can power myself – using solar, wind or human energy – and run my small electronics off of it. I found this online – Human Power Generator – and it looks pretty sweet, but it requires making it myself and I’m not very confident in my skills as an electrician. In fact, all I can find online, are more sites like this that instruct you in making your own generator. Why doesn’t anyone manufacture small human-powered generators for running home electronics? WHYYYY!!???
This is frustrating. Please write to me if you’ve got any leads. I’m going to keep working on this, and I’ll definitely let you know if I find anything.
Flower Bulb Update
Remember that post I wrote about a month ago about giving out second-hand pots full of flower bulbs for christmas? Well, I just wanted to let you know that it worked out nicely – by the time Christmas rolled around the bulbs had grown nice tall green stalks, and now they’re blooming. This is one of the paperwhites that I kept for myself (there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself a little something for Christmas, right?).
New Year, New Opportunities
Happy New Year!!
I must say, most New Years come and go with little significance for me – usually it just means I have to remember to write a new number on checks and whatnot. But 2008 is a year I’ve been waiting for for a long time – nearly 4 years, in fact. And I don’t want to get too political here, but I don’t think you have to be political to realize that it’s time for our current president to hit the road and make way for somebody that actually is up for the job of leading our country.
Aside from the upcoming regime change, 2008 also offers us each a chance to make change on a small, less national level. I’ve never had much success with the New Years Resolution. In fact, if I remember correctly, last year I promised myself to do 10 push-ups a day, and so far I’ve completed about 25 of them (total). But that doesn’t mean that I should give up. I’ve managed to integrate lots of positive changes in my life over the years, all it took was time and determination.
As a child, for instance, I had trouble giving up my finger-sucking habit (similar to thumb-sucking, only weirder), and ended up carrying around a ragged blanky at an embarrassingly old age and growing in some petty gnarly teeth. Some might have predicted at the time that I would never grow out of this 10-year phase, but with support (and nagging) from my family, I managed to overcome the habit and now I only occasionally dabble in chewing on my appendages.
This year, my resolution is simple, small, and inspired by a Christmas present that Boyfriend gave me:
Hankies!
Yes, I’m going to give up disposable tissues and use hankies instead. I actually started the new practice yesterday, and it went pretty well. Depending on how runny my nose is, I think I’ll probably go through about one every two days, and wash them with my laundry every weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes -the upcoming Jan/Feb cold season will certainly put the hankies to the test so I’ll be certain to share with you stories about inevitable and embarrassing subway snot fiascoes.
And if you’re looking for something green to add to your life this year, you might get some good ideas by reading what people on Wisebread are resolving to do. The little changes we make can really add up big, so picking something that’s easy to integrate into your daily routine is probably a better choice than making a bigger change that you’re less likely to carry out. Good luck and happy New President Year!!
