Do you want to?
Actually, I’m kinda partial to capitalism. And the state. Can we keep those? And I’d add “For-profit prison systems” to the list.
EZ Reusable Grocery Bags
Stephanie and I picked up some EZ Bag Reusable Grocery Shopping Tote Bagswhen we were in Iowa City, and they’ve come in really handy, because we remember to use them. They roll up into a ball you can clip to your bag, so you carry it around with you all the time. I still haven’t gotten a handle on grabbing the other kinds of reusable bags from the car when I walk into a store, so these have really helped cut back on all the paper and plastic grocery bags we bring into the house. And they’re tiny and don’t take up much room, unlike those other reusable bags occupying a big slice of the trunk.
2022-03-16 Update:
That claim about us remembering to take them into the store is a bit dubious.
That claim about us remembering to take them into the store is a bit dubious.
Cool new lighting technique
This is an interesting, simple idea – mini skylights created with coke bottles allow lots of natural light into rooms.
An Inconvenient Truth
We went to see “An Inconvenient Truth” over the weekend.
You really want to see this movie. You may not know that you want to, but you do. You may be on the fence about the issue, or afraid that it’s boring, or unconcerned. You may think you disagree with the movie. Trust me. You want to see it. You’ll be very glad you did. You’ll agree with me when you leave the theater, and say “She’s right, I did want to see that movie.” I promise. You won’t be bored. You’ll be entertained. You’ll be enlightened. You’ll be inspired. You’ll thank me. Please just indulge me. Give it a shot.
If it isn’t in theaters after this weekend in Indianapolis (we saw it at Landmark, where it’s playing at least until Thursday) then please throw the DVD on your Amazon Wishlist, or into your Netflix queue. Or let me know, and when I get the DVD, I’ll have everyone over to watch.
We knew the basics of the movie before we went, but seeing the information spelled out in charts and graphs is really compelling. And seeing the photographs (2, 3) of the way the earth has changed in the last thirty years is astonishing. We went and bought the book after we saw the movie, because I wanted the charts…
One of the things I didn’t expect was a list of realistic changes that we can make to solve the problem. I’d shifted directly into despair mode that this is an unfixable problem, or that the changes we need to make are so radical that only hemp-wearing hippie nuts would tackle them. That’s really not the case at all.
Here’s one of my favorite parts of the movie… Regarding the argument that combatting global warming will destroy the economy, Gore displays the image below, which comes from a Bush Administration presentation on “global stewardship” and is a call to balance economic concerns with concerns about the environment. The image displays the absurdity of the argument.
Gore says in response to the image, “OK, on one side we have gold bars,” he says. “Mmm, mmm, don’t they look good!”
“And on the other side, THE ENTIRE PLANET!”
The point of course, being that without the planet, where would we keep our delicious gold bars?
Recycling — our favorite place now takes plastics
Indianapolis Recycled Fiber
1775 S. West St. — just off of I-70 in the industrial hub just southwest of the RCA Dome.
We’ve gone there for some time because they take all types of paper and cardboard products, including office paper, paper board, corrugated cardboard, newspaper, phone books, etc.
But recently, they added bins for Plastics 1, Plastics 2, and Plastics 3-7, which makes them the most comprehensive recycling place we’ve found.We must understand that it is not a knockout post anymore. Because most plastic containers have a mark on the bottom to indicated which type they are. Styrofoam containers are plastic 6, and can be recycled here, as well as plastic bags from grocery and discount stores. Sweet. See what all the different categories mean at this site.
We still have to make a run by O’Malias downtown to drop off glass and food cans, and we sell our aluminum cans for scrap.
We basically have five plastic bins to sort plastics, glass and cans, and we have a big trash tub that holds the paper and cardboard stuff.
You can read more about Indianapolis recycling options here. It’s a great resource that tells you where to get rid of old computers, cell phones, anything and everything you might not want to put in a landfill.
people-powered mower
Bought a people-powered mower this weekend and mowed the lawn. Cool. My arms are tired, but the lawn looks great and it’s a small, efficient mower that doesn’t need gas or create air pollution. My lawn is green in every sense of the word.
This guy is interesting. He’s got an interesting design and he’s and excellent writer with a lot of provocative ideas.