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Happy Hazardous Collection!

June 10, 2009 by ehoward

Our Town (Stratford) has announced it is making its bicentennial hazardous waste collection on this JUNE 27th from 8 to 1 at the town’s transfer station.

I am excited because that means I can stop pouring our my toxic chemicals such as lead paint, weed killers and Diet Coke down the nearby gutter. I always feel guilty when I dump chemicals down the sewer– and not just because the sewer reads “Leads directly into the Long Island Sound” — but what can you do? I mean, I’m not going to just leave them around the house where anyone I care about can get sick off of them.

Our Town is definitely Anywhere, USA. We have the bare minimum of recycling amenities (I call them that because they really are treated like an “extra”) around here, despite the fact that when you drive down the street on recycling day, virtually every house has a bin at the curb. Fortunately we do have a pretty advance system of collecting and recycling bottles and cans. That involves a sweaty guy on a bicycle with two black trash bags who rides around on the night before recycling to rifle through our bins. Hey, it’s backbreaking work, but it’s a globally-friendly living. God bless the bottle law.

But what the heck? We can’t be expected to change over night. these things take time. Better to take it slow and stick with what you know.

Meanwhile, keep in mind that latex paints aren’t accepted in the hazardous waste pickup. Those Aluminum cans with the hardened rubber paint should just be tossed out with the regular trash.

Cheers!

Posted in Brilliant Things, Our Town, We're All Selfish Bastards, green, humor, old things, recycle | Leave a Comment »

My Favorite Market…. Westport Farmer’s Market

May 18, 2009 by ehoward

I received word from new organizer Sherri Brooks Vinton that Westport Farmer’s Market is opening for the season this weekend (May 21). Here’s her announcement:

I am thrilled to announce the season opening of the Westport Farmers’ Market, this Thursday, 5/21 from 10-2 at our NEW LOCATION, the Imperial Avenue commuter parking lot (adjacent to the Woman’s Club).

Come by, check out our new waterfront space and get yourself some spectacular, local food.  You can even pull up a chair in our new community tent–a 40 seat area where you can meet your friends, enjoy some market treats and take in the music and cooking demos that we will be featuring every week.

After fighting this week with my mother-in-law over NO MORE PLASTIC TOYS! (yes, we did ask her to take the plastic play structure back to the garage sale), I personally can’t wait to take the kids to see REAL FOOD and REAL FARMERS!

So I’d love to know: What’s your favorite market?

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The Books We’re Not Buying

February 27, 2009 by ehoward

I think I might be a bad person. Gosh darn it! Not ANOTHER enviro-existential dilemma!

I love you! Is it so wrong?

I love you! Is it so wrong?

Here’s the thing… I LOVE Paperbackswap. It’s this cool, low-key website where you just list the paperbacks — well, any old book you have lying around the house that has an ISBN really — online and forget about it.

Then someday, magically, you get an email from some stranger! And voila. You can print out a mailer and off  the book goes to a new home where it is loved.

Yes, you do pay postage to send the book off. But here’s the thing. Everytime you send the book away, YOU get a credit for a book yourself! Then YOU can be the mysterious stranger asking for things in someone else’s email. Cool! AND paperbackswap. com starts you out with 2 free welcome credits, so our yearning for instant gratification is fulfilled!All for the low price of US postage book rate.

Right now, charter members (I’m one! Well smart Colin is…) get the service for free, though founder/prez Richard Pickering is hinting that there will eventually be a $10-20 service fee per year. Like an co-op I reckon.

Dilemma Revealed: Am I Shooting Myself in the Foot?

So naturally this does NOT seem at all like a bad thing, eco-speaking. For actual paperbacks, there generally requires no packaging other than the printed mailer sheet. And even larger books can be sent in padded envelopes that you can then REUSE (who doesn’t love that?) on the next book you send away.

BUT, I mean, as much as I love the whole “free” thing, I have to admit– I would like to get paid (hint, hint!) for writing SOMEDAY! Won’t this constant cycle of book-cycling keep members from BUYING books in general? What do you think? Publishing death by Paperbackswap? I’m a bit worried.

But.. like my irrational love for Facebook, I suppose that won’t stop me from using this useful and friendly tool until someone gives me a good reason not to. After all, for now I’ll cling to the bizarro notion that any concept that promotes reading of ACTUAL books can’t be all bad.

Added Bonus:

Here’s just a few Great Books that I LOVE, available on Paperbackswap. For free! (Please note that I was not paid to write this post, in cash OR books! If you decide to join, use us as a referral! Our nickname is “howlips”)

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Join Me by Danny Wallace (only one copy!)
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker

Posted in Brilliant Things, Love/Hate, My Favorite Price, Reading is Fundamental, reuse | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

For Worst Performance by Recycling Committee

February 7, 2009 by ehoward

So I live in a smallish town of 50,000, in New England. For those of you not from this part of the country, the New English people take political landscaping to an entirely different level than anywhere else I have ever been.

For example, in Connecticut there is no real county government. Instead, there are 169 “municipalities” that all have their own way of doing things. In the case of road maintenance, for example, the municipalities, in total have 17,115 road miles that they are required to maintain… 4.5 times the number that the State maintains. As a result, the sheer cost of road maintenance (hmmm, every town has their own rules, storage sheds, equipment, crews) is enormous.

The only thing consistent across the municipalities is the State law requiring that a very bored looking police officer be on every roadwork site, either sitting in his squad car reading a Harlequin Romance, or chatting with one or more of the otherwise-idle workers about the imminent threat of terrorism in Stratford.

Old People Can Recycle Too!

Old People Can Recycle Too!

So, fast forward to this week, when I started to research the RECYCLING PROGRAM in Stratford. I was curious about it because I discovered that even though I was not allowed to toss certain plastic items in my curbside bin (salad containers, yogurt cups), they were completely acceptable if I would only DRIVE THEM to the town recycling center. This is the case with cardboard as well– accepted at the Town Site but not curbside.

Inefficiency through Ignoring-ance

So I took a peek online at the Recycling Committee of the Town of Stratford. The committee is appointed by Town Council, with two-year terms. I thought Hey, if there’s a space available, maybe I can get appointed. After all, the state of recycling in Stratford (much like the state of their restaurants), is YEARS behind such towns as Andover, Mass. with its extensive but standard program, and other town programs managed by RecycleBank’s points program,  initiated in Maple Grove, MN, Sioux Falls, SD and other parts of the nation considered “wildly progressive” by East Coast standards.

It isn’t a surprise that ALL of the terms of the members of the Town of Stratford Recycling Committe are expired (most for more than 5 years) and that the committee is for all intents, defunct. The program like many in the this municipal-fixated state, is languishing in mediocrity  while the staunch New Englanders refuse to consider townline-bending systems that would reduce cost and increase creative involvement.

Throwing the Eldery Out with the Bath Water?

Stratford, like many places in Connecticut, is stagnant because of a unique combination of wealth and weariness. I am too old and too set in my ways to change. Plus, I can afford to throw my trash away! The power of that stagnancy has its own snowball effect here, causing entire swathes of useful, thoughtful people to be swallowed up by its mind-numbing ignorance.

We don’t have to be mummified before we are dead, fortunately. Inactivity and ineluctable stubbornness doesn’t have to be the hallmark of “real America”– New English or otherwise.

Posted in Chew On This, Consume, Local, Our Town, Stratford, old things, recycle, reduce | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Clorox Wipes its Green Slate Clean!

January 30, 2009 by ehoward

A Review of GreenWorks Natural Cleaning Wipes

I am aware that not everyone– especially Moms– are as commited to the “Less is More” ideology that is at the heart of green living. I mean, if America were a person, its first name would be, well, “America”. Its last name would be ” Beautiful” and its middle name would “Most of the Time I am Too Lazy and Selfish to Do What I Should, But does that Make me Any Less?”

A perfect example of this is Clorox brand’s Green Works “Natural Biodegradable Cleaning Wipes.” As part of my commitment to Momcentral.com, I offered to review this product on behalf of Moms, Dads and all other regular people out there. I actually have TWO reviews, one each for the two categories of people who might consider buying this product. Choose your category and then you’ll find a review that fits you!

Category A: “Hey! Green living is important to us! My family recycles. We eat healthy, even organic sometimes. And someday, once the kids are done with soccer, band, choir, hockey, ice skating, dance classes, tae kwon do, and their Wii training sessions, we’ll be getting rid of the Tahoe and the minivan and replace it with something smaller– maybe a Honda Pilot!”

Category A Review – These wipes are perfect for you. After all, we Moms understand how quickly fast-food sauces can get smeared on the door and dashboard of the Tahoe! And who has time, running from practice to lesson to Wii training sessions, to get out a bucket of vinegar and water and an old rag and clean it up? (Besides, vinegar stinks and these wipes smell delightful!)

I mean, you could ask the kids to do it, but you know how hard it is (they get so belligerent when they are tired from all that running around!) to get them to do their chores! Category A, Clorox Biodegradable Wipes are for you… the perfect balance between no time and green guilt.

Your Grade: C (because the wipes don’t actually do the work themselves! Damn!)

Category B: “I am on my way out to turn the compost pile. Can we get on with this?”

Category B Review – Besides the plastic packaging (only 25% post consumer) and fact the cleaning power just doesn’t meet the power of good old vinegar or baking soda, the single biggest problem with these wipes is DISPOSABLE. In the real world, the world of true green living, the land of Convenience is sweet, but it is also one we are migrating away from.

Sure, the wipes are compostable, but why do we need to even get to that step? If you COMPOST (ie. you aren’t Category A-type and you’ve gotten REDUCE FIRST memo), then you came to same conclusion I did– DUH! Don’t be hypnotized by”Green Works” label on this ridiculous product… you DON’T need it, and we should NOT encourage them to keep making it.

In case you need to be reminded (which you don’t), if things get messy, go old school when you clean: use a rag (made from clothes you don’t need anymore), vinegar and water. Cheaper, easier and completely Earth friendly.

Remember, just because you have money in your pocket, and there are shiny products with unsubstantiated labels on them to lure you in doesn’t mean you have to buy it.

REAL Grade: F

Posted in Consume, Marketing, Mom Central, We're All Selfish Bastards, green, humor, reduce | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments »

If You Are Ever in Venice…

January 14, 2009 by ehoward

I want to write you a thank you note, but you wont appreciate it enough.

I want to write you a thank you note, but I don't think you will appreciate it enough.

… and you think of me (and who doesn’t?!), would you mind stopping by Alberto Valese’s paper shop in Castello? I just need a few more boxes of the most beautiful, exquisite handmade cards I have ever owned.

Alberto Valese’s lovely cards, to me, are the essence of craftmanship, earthly beauty, and old world goodness, all captured into one 10-count package.

I remember when Colin and I went into the shop together– it sold mostly to tourists, since that’s about all that is left in Venice anymore– and Colin could see there was going to be a problem.  I was stroking just about everything in the shop, from handmade trashcans, to the many many bound journals. I almost left the shop without buying anything, because how could I? How could I write in those journals, desecrate that lovely paper?

As Luck (and Love) Would Have it

Fortunately, my mother beat something into mine and my siblings heads when we were young which (indirectly) made it possible for me to buy two boxes of the expensive Valese cards, without guilt: the absolutism of Thank you Notes.

After all, if you don’t say ‘thank you’ properly, my mother always said, you are a bad person and you will go to hell.

Or, anyway, you won’t get nice gifts at the next birthday party, or get invited at all. Something like that. Anyway, it was a habit I have never been able to break, not out of fear, but mostly because I guess I figure people who go to all that effort, whatever it might be (bailing me out of the drunk tank, donating me a kidney, watching my cat for two months while I am in Italy) deserve at least the effort of handwritten thanks on a nice card, if not inscribed on the vanity plates of a thoughtful vintage Lambroghini.

And the Biggest Thanks Goes To …

Still, I have to say, it has been almost four years since the card-buying trip to Venice and I still have half of my stock of notes left. Hmmm. I wonder– have my friends been remiss in doing kinds things for me, or am I hoarding the best of the best for only the best?

Either I’ve lost the meaning of thank you notes, or someone owes me a kidney.

Posted in Brilliant Things, Consume, I get around, We're All Selfish Bastards, desperation, humor, old things | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

When A Yule Log Goes Wrong

December 31, 2008 by ehoward

What not to do in a fire.OR, Top Green Fire Safety Tips!

We greenies love to be “natural” with our lighting and heating options, which often means burning candles, having woodburning stoves and fireplaces, or even just smoking a little “natural herbs” on occasion (that’s just from what I hear! I am married to a Canadian after all!)

But if we are going to “light up” — in whatever way it may be– it is critical we think safety too. After all, we want our obviously superior genetic pool to continue, and not to be snuffed out by a Darwinian towering inferno.

So, in case of human error, I recommend we all spend a few minutes on this great website that Momcentral.com turned me on to– Be Fire Smart. I browsed around the place and it gives all sorts of fun tools for parents, teachers, and kids to learn about being smart around fire, and most importantly, what to do if you are in a fire. My favorite is the Burning Questions quiz, which reminds us (I’m giving one away here!) that more people die every year in the U.S. in fires than they do in natural disasters.

JUMP! I’ll Catch You!

Of course, it really got me thinking about what are some top tips to give environmentalists for fire safety. So here they are:

  • Hemp– great for clothing or plant hangers, not so great for rescue ladders.
  • When the firemen are dousing your flaming house, that is not the best time to pummel  them with facts about water conservation.
  • Worst place for rechargeable batteries? The smoke detector!
  • Save the baking soda for teeth whitening! You’d need a LOT of it to put out that grease fire. Try a lid, and CALL 911!
  • Practice what you preach (this should be something we are good at, right?). Have escape plans and practice them, including from second and third floors.
  • I know it feels so wrong, but abandon ship pronto! Get you and the kids  out of the house and let the experts save you!
  • DON’T reduce on smoke detectors. You need one on every floor of the house, including the basement. (Duh. That’s where you have the furnace, and your husband’s elaborate handmade sawhorse collection. What is  more important than that?)

Well I hope you enjoyed my tips. If you want some more fun, click here and meet Firefighter Frank!

Happy green-not-charred 2009!

Posted in Brilliant Things, Great People, Later Days, Pay Attention!, reduce | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

My Cup of (Green Organic) Tea

December 29, 2008 by ehoward

Fujian's Butterfly Brand Organic Green Tea, from the Lin Asian Food Market, Milford, CTI have a real problem with the perennially-peppy,  “EVOO”-chugging hypocrite Rachel Ray, which might explain why I have never become a true convert to Dunkin Donuts coffee.

That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate DD and their brilliant re-branding strategy that saved them from a deadly one-two punch  of healthier eating and viral spread of the Starbucks experience.

However, whether you are clinging to your cup of Joe at the moment, or, like me, huddling around a mug of green tea, there is something about the hot beverage that instills true loyalty and keep us focused and motivated, especially in the mornings.

Bring It!

There’s a bit of a problem with these delightful hot (or iced double-half-caf with a twist) drinks, naturally, as they are never going to be local for us Westerners. Tea is grown primarily in India and China, and coffee beans, my friends, grow around the world like a belt — at the equator, ideally with temperatures of 60-70F and rainfall of about six inches per month or more.

So, like almost everything green we do, we have to compromise. Here’s some options:

1. Drink hot water, steeped with your own homegrown, organic flowers and herbs. Country Living and Web M.D. suggest using pansies, honeysuckle flowers, bee balm, lemon balm, mint, hibiscus flowers, and stinging nettle, name a few.  I should say, although I like growing my own herbs on the windowsill, but I tried Nettle tea once and it tasted like hot dirty perfume.

2. Buy Fair Trade coffee, which, by the way, includes ALL of Dunkin Donuts espresso-based drinks (not their regular coffee, however). When you buy fair trade, you pay a fair price to the small farmers of your coffee bean. However, buying fair trade coffees from DD is completely cancelled out if you buy it in the huge plastic cup with the orange straw which you later throw away. And I doubt the whipped cream is fair trade.

3. Look for the “USDA Organic” Certification - It isn’t just better for YOU, it is better for the workers in the fields, who are exposed to less deadly toxins as they slave away for your morning pick-me-up, and for the communities where the tea and beans are grown. Remember, they eat food grown in the earth and water that runs-off of any of the  fertilizers and pesticides used to make our Chai Lattes. The more we buy organic, the more demand there is to care for their health, and our own.

My Cup of (Green Organic) Tea

As for me, I have got a real love for tea, both caffeinated and herbal, now almost entirely organic. My two favorites include the Butterfly Brand Green Tea from Fujian (pictured above) which I found at the Lin Asian Food Market on the Post Road in Milford, CT for just $5 for 100 tea bags. And recently I picked up a box of 150 tea bags of Bigelow Green Organic tea bags at BJs for about $7.

And even though I love coffee, I feel great when I drink green tea which may be because it has 30 percent of the caffeine of coffee, and is also packed with antioxidents. Its delicate flavor also doesn’t leave a taste in my mouth that reminds me slightly of  fresh asphalt on a windy day.

Oh, and for a spicy treat, I love Good Earth’s Organic Original Tea (Sweet & Spicy) which isn’t green, but is delicious. It is also available in Decaf (pictured).

Posted in Brilliant Things, Chew On This, It grows on you, Love/Hate, green, mmmm... | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A Tool to “Solve Wrap Rage”

December 21, 2008 by ehoward

Being married to the Ultimate Internet Shopper means we tend to have more packaging around here than I’d like to admit. This does mean, however, that we get to see all the varieties of packaging that really keeps me on my toes, and in some cases, provides 20 minutes of aerobic activity.

The latest was a 1 inch-by- 1 inch memory card for my camera, sealed TWICE (one inside the other) in clamshell packaging that was was 12″ by 10″ on the exterior. Sweet. It took me about an hour to open it. By then my camera was obsolete.

That’s why I was thrilled to discover this handy device– The PACKAGE SHARK! For a mere $15, I can get not one but TWO Sharks– presumably, one for each floor in my house,  to reduce any excess exercise/walking/freak chance of tumbling down stairs on my way to the junk drawer in my haste to open the latest scissors I purchased, shipped inside a clamshell package.

The Stats the Cut

Hey, I’m not the only one who thinks we need a way to solve wrap rage. Wired magazine reported recently that in 2004, 6,500 (yes that is 6-THOUSAND, 5-HUNDRED… 6,499 more than YOU) people went to the hospital with packaging-related injuries.

Amazon, the nation’s largest online seller, recently heard our ear-splitting/worse-than-paper-cut screams and offered a solution. NO, they are not sending complimentary SHARKS to every customer. They have, however, launched the Amazon Frustration-Free (TM) Packaging Initiative. It’s a multi-year project that is part of Amazon Green. It started in November and they have mind-boggling NINETEEN products available. Phew. What choice.

Good Things Come in Brown Paper Packaging

I should mention, Colin and I are accidental members of Amazon Prime (member fee, but free shipping!), so most of what we order comes from Amazon and not from an outside sellers. In the last 6-8 months, I’ve noticed a big change in the packaging. Most of the interior packaging is either inflatable plastic (I have to throw it away, but there is less and no styro!) or plain brown paper (which is great to save and wrap gifts with!)

So I’m holding off on buying a SHARK. I think I can live without for now. On an unrelated note, I still have to explain to the cashiers at my grocery store that I want paper, JUST PAPER. And repeat that two or three times.

P.S. I  can and DO shop local, but it’s hard to find Stratford-made memory cards for my digital camera.

Posted in Brilliant Things, Local, Marketing, Stratford, box store love, desperation, green, reduce | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Free Plenty Magazine!

October 28, 2008 by ehoward

Information still has to get around, and even though I like to read the New York Times on my iPhone in the bathroom, I am still partial to a real, honest-to-goodness magazine to hold onto and distract me when I am having quiet time in the morning. Also, I don’t have to worry about dropping my $300 investment in the toilet.

So naturally I am excited that Pepsi has teamed up with PlentPlenty Magaziney Magazine, for who knows how long, offering FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS to the green . Just click here, then click on the little green monster on the right side of the screen. There doesn’t appear to be any catches. They will send you an email confirmation and …poof, free magazine for a year.

Just be sure to share the mag, and recycle it when you are done.

Here’s a question for you:

Posted in Brilliant Things, Consume, Marketing, My Favorite Price, green, media | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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