I know, I’ve been gone a loooong time. BUT, if you have to come back with a post, then it may as well be with one about how to extend the life of all those beautiful Christmas cards we’re receiving this time of year. When the season is over you can ship the ones that are regular holiday cards, i.e. no photo cards, to St. Jude’s and they have a huge program in place to repurpose and sell the cards for the following year. The program has been such a success that they receive nearly 1 million cards per year now, and it’s the kids at St. Jude’s who tackle the project.
Tags: Repurpose Christmas cards
by:LC
I had a post last fall about the insane amount of trash that we send to the landfill. Using biodegradable bags that allow air to reach the garbage so it can do what it’s meant to do – biodegrade – seemed like a step in the right direction. Unfortunately those bags aren’t quite where they need to be yet, they’re just not as strong as they should be, which means…more plastic bags. Not sure why it took me so long but eventually it just hit me that composting is not some hippie-dippie thing to do, it’s the responsible thing to do. every two days I keep sending a bag to the dump with stuff inside it that is completely biodegradable. All those vegetable trimmings, leftover food. It may sound simple but it’s taken me this long to get it: I’m part of a system that makes no sense.
While I was researching composting systems I came across something I did not know: the city of Berlin (Germany) actually takes up its citizens’ food waste separate from everything else, and composts it, giving it to farmers and such. That blew my mind. Really it just goes to show that necessity is the mother of invention (like most European cities Berlin has more people than space). But whatever the reason, it shows that when pushed to the limit people will find ways to do things that make sense. Talk about closing the circle. And like most heavily populated urban spaces, Berlin also has a problem with dog poop, so now they are trying a pilot program to compost dog poop – yep – to see if it can fuel some public transportation. (Think about all the little plastic bags that never biodegrade, sitting in landfills because they’re filled with dog poop. Talk about not closing the circle.) There are alot of options for composting, all really depending more or less on how much you want to have to think about it. I got this Green Cone Solar Digester System because the reviews said you could literally forget about it and it would still do its job, to which I said to the computer: sign me up! Let you know how it goes.
Tags: composting, Green Cone Solar Digester, reducing landfill waste
by:LC
Forget the summer solstice – for mothers summer begins the minute school ends which means that summer is officially here. All the mothers are looking at each other with a mild panic in their eyes: “what are you planning to do with them this summer??,” hoping for ideas. The panic is that when they’re still small, camps are not an option. We must be millions strong who are wondering what the heck we’re gonna do with our kids for three months. If you live somewhere hot like we do then Little Gym and swimming are about the best options that you have. Those are great, but like anything there’s only so much you can do of that. We need more options close to home. Like, at home. And if like us Texans you’re wondering how you can play with them outside without melting, I got my Magic Cabin catalog a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with both of these ideas for outdoor play. Since we’re going to the beach for the first time that Miss P will actually be able to play there, I have a feeling that it’s going to be a hard landing when we get back. That kind of fun activity can’t be topped really for summer. So I’m planning to invest in this sandbox. Not only will it keep the beach fun alive, it won’t look unsightly in our backyard. Made from solid spruce, the roof cranks down to cover the sand when you’re inside (so bye bye critters that seem to be making Miss P cry these days). And a friend of mine told me about Safesand.com, which unlike most all sand sold in stores does not contain crystallized silica, a potentially carcinogenic dust.
Because lets face it: sitting inside some days can be like watching paint dry. I’m going to give Miss P a shady place to sit outside with this Gardenfort, it’s sooo dreamy. At least here if we have to watch something it’s watching nature grow. So between these, Little Gym and swimming lessons (plus the occasional trip to the mall where all the strollers gather to watch whichever puppeteer or musician is thankfully putting on a 30 minute show), we may just survive summer yet, and even enjoy doing it!
Tags: Gardenfort, Safe Sand, Sandbox, Summer activities
by:LC
The other day I was watching television and an ad came on that caught my attention right away. Mom holding baby, baby with a hacking cough, hand-held camera, quick edits, scary music…It was an ad about how moms can be the ones to actually give their children Pertussis, and doing its best to make that prospect really, really scary. I’m certainly not saying that Pertussis is not a big deal, or that children should not get vaccinated. Both of mine have been. What I am saying is that the alarmist tone of the commercial seemed unfair in that it preys not just on a mother’s fear of her child getting sick, but it actually seemed to be trying to tap into a real Achilles heel for all mothers and that is her guilt. About…everything.Then just as the ad was ending, there it was at the bottom of the screen: Paid for by Sanofi Pasteur. Excuse me while I clear my throat. Now I know they have every right to advertise their products, but color me skeptical when the maker of a vaccine is the one telling you why you should get it. And making you feel terrible if you don’t. Maybe this commercial is for a certain demographic that is not up on vaccinations, I have no clue. But it bugs. See for yourself.
Tags: Pertussis commercial, Sanofi Pasteur
by:LC
