Last weekend, Matt and I visited a small organic farm outside of Albuquerque under the guise of an article. Now Matt wants to be a farmer. I feel like I should write more about this, but I already wrote an article.
It was beautiful and idyllic. The farmers were total hippies - one old, one young. The young one's wife just birthed a baby at home in the bath tub. The older one has held just about every job that ever existed including lobster fisherman and poet. He says he can use all his skills at the farm. They were both extremely nice, welcoming people, and they sent us home with a huge bag of spinach and a parcel of garlic - their primary crop. This is why you should buy local and organic if possible. We ate spinach straight from the plant. No pesticide, no herbicide. Highly efficient drip irrigation. People who stand to gain from the sales - not just agribusiness. A beautiful setting. Crop diversity. Extremely happy dogs and cats.
Maybe someday we can grow something in our yard. I don't know about a whole farm, but it sure did seem appealing. Except for the work schedule.
Showing posts with label consumerism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consumerism. Show all posts
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
What the hell happened to technology?
Matt and I went to Target today to purchase an answering machine for our home phone. We lived for a year in Socorro without one, and for two years before that without a home phone at all, but now I am using the home phone for freelance-related calls and it is sort of crucial that people be able to leave messages. Turns out Target sells only one answering machine that is not attached to a phone. One. And it's not very exciting. So I decided to upgrade my $5 phone from Family Dollar to a cordless phone/answering machine all-in-one. It cost 1/8 of the payment for my current article. So ridiculous. I hope a lot of people leave me messages. And I even more hope this isn't the last article I do, because then it really would have been a waste. Seriously, whatever happened to a plain old answering machine? Is this a function that some Apple product now supersedes? On the plus side, I did buy an Energy Star phone that is made without some harmful metals including mercury and lead. So if I eat it maybe it won't be that bad.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Sidebar and Gifts
I recently updated my "Eco living and buying" sidebar to include some newly found goodies. Among them are recycled plastic razors and toothbrushes, another green home store, and most importantly, some gift-giving options.
Living so far away from family and friends, as well as from stores, has made gift-shopping and sending rather difficult for us. It is also hard to find online donation places that allow you to send emails to people rather than actual cards (for belated gifts as well as more eco-friendliness). My two new favorites are Heifer International and the World Wildlife Fund.
Heifer International allows you to make a donation and then send either an email or a snail mail card celebrating an event and letting the person know you have made a donation in their name.
World Wildlife Fund allows you to symbolically adopt numerous kinds of animals. The gift recipient can be sent an email and snail mail with a picture and adoption certificate. If you donate more than the minimum, you can also get a stuffed animal version that would make a great gift for kids (although not so eco-friendly).
Also, Terrapass allows you to give gift carbon offsets that come with little things like luggage tags, cfls, etc. Although I am a big fan of donation gifts, it is always nice when a little something comes with them so the recipient still has something to open. (NOTE: you do have to plan farther ahead for these since shipping has to be involved - no email option.)
Anyway, for the people in your lives who have everything, these are just a couple of ideas. Many other sites allow you to make donations in other people's names, but I have not found them as user-friendly.
(Also be sure to check on the safety of your personal care products using the Skin Deep link. I don't recommend throwing anything out, but it can be helpful for future purchases.)
Living so far away from family and friends, as well as from stores, has made gift-shopping and sending rather difficult for us. It is also hard to find online donation places that allow you to send emails to people rather than actual cards (for belated gifts as well as more eco-friendliness). My two new favorites are Heifer International and the World Wildlife Fund.
Heifer International allows you to make a donation and then send either an email or a snail mail card celebrating an event and letting the person know you have made a donation in their name.
World Wildlife Fund allows you to symbolically adopt numerous kinds of animals. The gift recipient can be sent an email and snail mail with a picture and adoption certificate. If you donate more than the minimum, you can also get a stuffed animal version that would make a great gift for kids (although not so eco-friendly).
Also, Terrapass allows you to give gift carbon offsets that come with little things like luggage tags, cfls, etc. Although I am a big fan of donation gifts, it is always nice when a little something comes with them so the recipient still has something to open. (NOTE: you do have to plan farther ahead for these since shipping has to be involved - no email option.)
Anyway, for the people in your lives who have everything, these are just a couple of ideas. Many other sites allow you to make donations in other people's names, but I have not found them as user-friendly.
(Also be sure to check on the safety of your personal care products using the Skin Deep link. I don't recommend throwing anything out, but it can be helpful for future purchases.)
100 Mile Diet
Many people ask the question, is it better to buy local or organic? Buying organic is generally easier for most of us. The Smith's here in Socorro even has a small (and over-priced) organic section, while the one local farmer's market only lasts from July - October and is less than comprehensive. Local food from small family farms is probably more likely to be organic, or at least natural, than what you normally buy at a grocery store. Farmer's markets also give you the opportunity to discuss growing practices with farmers and encourage them to become more enivronmentally- and health-friendly. And food from farmer's markets does not travel 1500 miles to get your plate.
To be completely honest, I have not shopped at a Farmer's Market since I lived in Bend in the summer of 2003. A few of us would head over from work to be there close to opening since it sold out fast. We then took our (reusable) produce bags back to the office until the work-day was over. Some communities require more effort to find local eating options. The closest we get here is buying local Albuquerque or Santa Fe products from the grocery stores. But who knows where the ingredients to those products come from.
So here is my idea (which I have not discussed with Matt). We can be lazy for the rest of the time in Socorro, since we know that our backyard is definitely not meant for growing things. Then, when we move to Albuquerque, we will try out this 100 mile diet. You can also find local resources here. We have already looked into Los Poblanos Organics (a CSA) and the Rio Grande Community Farm where you can get individual plots. We will also grow some things in pots on our balcony or patio. There are nearby places that sell local eggs (not sure about meat for Matt). The biggest challenge I think is finding grains and beans, etc. Also, the challenge of preserving things for winter when not much grows. The 100 Mile Diet page has links to some places that teach you how to do this.
I am not intending to be perfect about this diet. We like going out to eat, and if we had friends, we certainly would not make them subscribe to this. But to be able to grow or buy most of our food would be a fantastic step in our relationship to nature as well as helping the environment. I know Ms. A. greatly enjoyed her time spent growing things.
I realize y'all are probably thinking, gosh, she's been talking about growing a garden for 3 years now and still hasn't done it. Please, please, please, if I don't start doing these things when we move to Albuquerque, slap me. Electronically. Leave me comments and make fun of me. I will deserve it. Sure, growing and eating local takes some research and a lot of time, but I think it will be time better spent than watching tv or playing on the internet.
Also, Matt and I made a fantastic potato, leek, and carrot soup last night. Growing up, I would never have imagined that I would ever eat leeks, but I enjoy a wide variety of vegetables now, and I am eager to see what new things I will encounter in my quest to eat locally.
To be completely honest, I have not shopped at a Farmer's Market since I lived in Bend in the summer of 2003. A few of us would head over from work to be there close to opening since it sold out fast. We then took our (reusable) produce bags back to the office until the work-day was over. Some communities require more effort to find local eating options. The closest we get here is buying local Albuquerque or Santa Fe products from the grocery stores. But who knows where the ingredients to those products come from.
So here is my idea (which I have not discussed with Matt). We can be lazy for the rest of the time in Socorro, since we know that our backyard is definitely not meant for growing things. Then, when we move to Albuquerque, we will try out this 100 mile diet. You can also find local resources here. We have already looked into Los Poblanos Organics (a CSA) and the Rio Grande Community Farm where you can get individual plots. We will also grow some things in pots on our balcony or patio. There are nearby places that sell local eggs (not sure about meat for Matt). The biggest challenge I think is finding grains and beans, etc. Also, the challenge of preserving things for winter when not much grows. The 100 Mile Diet page has links to some places that teach you how to do this.
I am not intending to be perfect about this diet. We like going out to eat, and if we had friends, we certainly would not make them subscribe to this. But to be able to grow or buy most of our food would be a fantastic step in our relationship to nature as well as helping the environment. I know Ms. A. greatly enjoyed her time spent growing things.
I realize y'all are probably thinking, gosh, she's been talking about growing a garden for 3 years now and still hasn't done it. Please, please, please, if I don't start doing these things when we move to Albuquerque, slap me. Electronically. Leave me comments and make fun of me. I will deserve it. Sure, growing and eating local takes some research and a lot of time, but I think it will be time better spent than watching tv or playing on the internet.
Also, Matt and I made a fantastic potato, leek, and carrot soup last night. Growing up, I would never have imagined that I would ever eat leeks, but I enjoy a wide variety of vegetables now, and I am eager to see what new things I will encounter in my quest to eat locally.
Friday, March 23, 2007
No Impact Man
See the blog here and the mocking here. So I found this through a blog, Little Birds, that Ms. A links to, and it sounded pretty neat. The guy has even been featured in the NY Times. But I've read through some stuff and thought about it for awhile, and discussed it with my intelligent and skeptical sister, Karen, and I'm thinking this guy is cracked out. It is great to try to reduce your environmental impact, but seriously, no toilet paper? I use recycled paper. And while, yes, it is still waste, what about the water he is wasting with his 'cleansing bowls'? I just don't know about this. And to top it all off, he is hesitant to talk about what he thinks are "private" (despite the fact their lives are being filmed) like toilet and cleansing specifics, feminine hygiene, and birth control. We all know that CFLs are a good idea by now, but I think really most of us don't know what we should be doing about those pesky tampons and the fish-mutating birth control. Some help you are, No Impact Man.
I'm going to go there because he won't. Just in case you are wondering about the feminine side of things (although I realize some of my dear readers are not interested in contraception and by default having periods right now), some of No Impact Man's readers suggested the following: www.gladrags.com, www.thekeeper.com, and Mirena. To be honest, I am not an environmentalist in this arena of life. I like my trusty tampons and BCPs. However, I was recently thinking that maybe I could explore the use of an IUD or IUC to prevent the hormones that I inevitably pee out and travel to the waste water treatment plant from hurting nature. I am a little concerned about the copper-release aspect (IUD) and the hormones still used in Mirena, an IUC. Also, Mirena is most recommended for people who have already had children, although they claim as soon as it is taken out you return to your previous state of fertility. After a year of using it, it is supposed to reduce your period by 90% or eliminate altogether, thus making scary environmental options like The Keeper unnecessary. What do y'all think? For some reason, even though I'm all in favor of organic cloth baby diapers, I twinge at the idea of cleaning those re-usable pads. Eeew! As far as toilet habits go, I think recycled paper and 1.6gpf or dual flush toilets are just fine for us. Most people waste more water in the shower than in their daily toilet trips. Get a composting toilet if you want to, but for god sake, don't forgo toilet paper. I mean really!
In other, low impact living, here's what I do:
I'm going to go there because he won't. Just in case you are wondering about the feminine side of things (although I realize some of my dear readers are not interested in contraception and by default having periods right now), some of No Impact Man's readers suggested the following: www.gladrags.com, www.thekeeper.com, and Mirena. To be honest, I am not an environmentalist in this arena of life. I like my trusty tampons and BCPs. However, I was recently thinking that maybe I could explore the use of an IUD or IUC to prevent the hormones that I inevitably pee out and travel to the waste water treatment plant from hurting nature. I am a little concerned about the copper-release aspect (IUD) and the hormones still used in Mirena, an IUC. Also, Mirena is most recommended for people who have already had children, although they claim as soon as it is taken out you return to your previous state of fertility. After a year of using it, it is supposed to reduce your period by 90% or eliminate altogether, thus making scary environmental options like The Keeper unnecessary. What do y'all think? For some reason, even though I'm all in favor of organic cloth baby diapers, I twinge at the idea of cleaning those re-usable pads. Eeew! As far as toilet habits go, I think recycled paper and 1.6gpf or dual flush toilets are just fine for us. Most people waste more water in the shower than in their daily toilet trips. Get a composting toilet if you want to, but for god sake, don't forgo toilet paper. I mean really!
In other, low impact living, here's what I do:
- CFLs
- Walk around town
- Use heat as little as possible by bundling up
- Use air as little as possible by opening doors and windows, or covering windows with thick shades in the summer
- Recycle everything I possibly can
- Try to limit purchases, or at least buy eco-friendly or recycled items
- Compost food scraps
- Try to turn off power strips at night
- Drive a car that gets 40mpg
- Currently trying to get creative and reuse things I currently have instead of buying things. I recently made a picture frame for some wedding pictures out of a partially broken old frame and some pretty paper. (Okay, it was my first try, so it's not that great...)
- Line-dry clothes
- Wash clothes in cold water. Most detergents now are designed for this. Speaking of, I use 7th Generation detergent.
- Get rid of more things (mostly Matt's). And by get rid of, I mean donate, not throw away
- Read magazines online instead of the paper version. But I love getting magazines in the mail y'all. Finding them in the box and flipping through them... It's just so, so textual.
- Move to a small apartment with a smaller ecological footprint
- Get rid of some furniture when we move and buy some smaller used, recycled, or eco-friendly items. I have my heart set on some things from Gaiam.
- I have mixed feeling when it comes to buying things. Is it better to buy nothing or to buy eco-friendly and recycled items to support the market and encourage it. We can never honestly end consumerism, so wouldn't it be great if it was green consumerism? What do y'all think?
- Not drive ever. I'm not sure how to go about this since Matt and I like to explore the lovely out-of-doors. Is this a sacrifice we should be making?
- I would really like to get off those BCPs. I don't want to hurt the froggies!
- Be more activist in encouraging green and healthy lifestyles.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Stuff and Nonsense
I went up to Albuquerque, not to work, but to see the allergist, which cost me $45 (stupid health insurance increases). And he did nothing that could not have been done over the phone, except that the nurse discovered my blood pressure is 86/62. She seemed to think it was fine as long as I felt okay. Now I am paranoid.
I also realized, again, that I do not want to live in Albuquerque. But I think it is inevitable. I'm sure it's no worse than Phoenix, but at least I am familiar with Phoenix and I understand it. I'm pretty sure it is worse than Tucson, although one of my friends likes Albuquerque better. I'm hoping maybe we can find somewhere in the city to live that we like and that also has public transportation to take us where we need to go. It just seems like we have to drive everywhere, and the driving sucks.
While in town, I went to Wild Oats to stock up on our organic food, Goodwill to drop off stuff that has been replaced by wedding presents, and Target to kill time before my doctor's appointment. I meant to buy nothing. I bought the following:
Yahtzee
Jenga
Peeps (I know they're made of gelatin, but I just love them!)
Stickers for the wedding scrapbook I keep planning to do
Today in the mail and UPS we got more new things:
Drinking glasses
Cheese slicer
Cheese grater
Mortar and pestle
Darts and fliers
CD from Laura
My new computer!
This computer seriously has the prettiest display I've ever seen. There isn't even a point in my printing out pictures anymore because they look so much better on here. I am addicted to technology!
I also realized, again, that I do not want to live in Albuquerque. But I think it is inevitable. I'm sure it's no worse than Phoenix, but at least I am familiar with Phoenix and I understand it. I'm pretty sure it is worse than Tucson, although one of my friends likes Albuquerque better. I'm hoping maybe we can find somewhere in the city to live that we like and that also has public transportation to take us where we need to go. It just seems like we have to drive everywhere, and the driving sucks.
While in town, I went to Wild Oats to stock up on our organic food, Goodwill to drop off stuff that has been replaced by wedding presents, and Target to kill time before my doctor's appointment. I meant to buy nothing. I bought the following:
Yahtzee
Jenga
Peeps (I know they're made of gelatin, but I just love them!)
Stickers for the wedding scrapbook I keep planning to do
Today in the mail and UPS we got more new things:
Drinking glasses
Cheese slicer
Cheese grater
Mortar and pestle
Darts and fliers
CD from Laura
My new computer!
This computer seriously has the prettiest display I've ever seen. There isn't even a point in my printing out pictures anymore because they look so much better on here. I am addicted to technology!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Consumerism
It took me three tries starting my computer tonight before it actually came up with some icons. I think it has reached its last days. Luckily, I ordered a new one just yesterday that should arrive before the end of the month. And it is a kick-ass computer so hopefully it will last more than 3.5 years. I hate to buy new stuff, but this thing just can't hack it anymore. I will probably have it recycled or donated somewhere, providing that some computer tech is able to make it work a bit better. It really irks me that computers are basically built not to last. 'Improvements' in web pages and programs quickly makes older computers obsolete. I think this one has 128mb of RAM, or something pathetic like that. My new one with have 2GB!
Perhaps the best thing would be for me to learn how to live without a computer again, but I have been sucked in too far. What would I do without email? Without Word, so I can submit my endless applications? Without the internet so I can avoid using a phonebook? Maybe if I had a social life. But I don't; I just have my husband. Who is pursuing a PhD and therefore often unavailable. So it's just me and my computer. I should go read a book.
Perhaps the best thing would be for me to learn how to live without a computer again, but I have been sucked in too far. What would I do without email? Without Word, so I can submit my endless applications? Without the internet so I can avoid using a phonebook? Maybe if I had a social life. But I don't; I just have my husband. Who is pursuing a PhD and therefore often unavailable. So it's just me and my computer. I should go read a book.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Rio Film Fest Part Two
Well, it appears Matt has beaten me to this blog. You can check it out at http://blog.myspace.com/32688197.
The Film Fest ended yesterday, so today I tried to inspre Matt into reducing our belongings. Sadly enough, I think I got rid of as much stuff as he did and yet I don't have nearly as much to start with. Anyway, I used to be a believer in only having as much stuff as will fit in your car, but needless to say I have recently surpassed this. As Matt and I will probably be downsizing soon (into a smaller place), but we will also be getting things for the wedding, it only make sense to get rid of stuff. Yet Matt claims his stuff makes him happy. I'm not sure what that says about me. It is probably a fight we will never resolve, but I will at least try to hold up my end. I think about this every birthday and Christmas, because I just keep getting more stuff. I think the answer to this consumerism is to give donations, buy people trees and alligators and carbon offsets - somewhat intangible things. I for one don't really need more stuff. And charity registries are really cool!
The Film Fest ended yesterday, so today I tried to inspre Matt into reducing our belongings. Sadly enough, I think I got rid of as much stuff as he did and yet I don't have nearly as much to start with. Anyway, I used to be a believer in only having as much stuff as will fit in your car, but needless to say I have recently surpassed this. As Matt and I will probably be downsizing soon (into a smaller place), but we will also be getting things for the wedding, it only make sense to get rid of stuff. Yet Matt claims his stuff makes him happy. I'm not sure what that says about me. It is probably a fight we will never resolve, but I will at least try to hold up my end. I think about this every birthday and Christmas, because I just keep getting more stuff. I think the answer to this consumerism is to give donations, buy people trees and alligators and carbon offsets - somewhat intangible things. I for one don't really need more stuff. And charity registries are really cool!
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