2006
the earth can be any shape you want it
maura @ 10:31 pm
It was rainy and cold all day today. Stupid global warming. It has snowed exactly ONCE this whole winter, and what the hell else is winter good for if not for snow? Surely not that whole getting-dark-real-early thing, or that too-cold-for-my-kid-to-be-running-and-screaming-outside-so-he’ll-have-to-do-it-inside thing. I love love love snow, and this winter is so bumming me out. Plus, the flowers are all confused and the crocuses and daffodils in front of our building think it’s time for them to wake up, which of course it is not so they will all just freeze and die when we do finally get some wintery weather.
Boy, that was upbeat! Cheerful, even! Let’s start again. Hi! How’s it going? Everything is fine here in Brooklyn, barring the lack of snow. Lately I have been obsessing over treehugger.com…thank you, Ann and Daniel, for giving me something to ease the procrastination pain! Chock full o’ green tips + tricks, it’s pushing my buttons bigtime since these days you can mostly find me right at the intersection of green + frugal (some would say stingy, but those people don’t realize how cool I looked today in my $10 Goodwill ensemble!). I will fault them a *little* bit for being so very consumer goods focused, but since those goods are recycled and/or sustainably produced I guess it’s not that bad.
And they helped me out with research into my latest eco obsession, the Plastics Are Evil campaign*! Really it wasn’t as crazy as it sounds — mostly I just cleared out all of the gnarly old takeout containers we’d been using and bought some real, microwave-safe rubbermaid containers. And banned microwaving in plastics in the apt. And decided to chuck our reused plastic water bottles for some spiffy new metal models. J + I are getting these (red and slate green, the on-sale colors), and Gus, this (airplane). I have to admit that I’m not 100% on board with these because of the possibly-weird “inert, water-based internal lining”, but the alternative was steel bottles which seem so so so heavy (plus I couldn’t find a small one for Gus). These are aluminum and very pretty, here’s hoping they’re durable and don’t give us cancer.
* Longtime (snort) readers may recall that my suspicions about plastics began last fall when I read Garbage Land. Go read it now, it was so good! But depressing, too.
Time to catch up on Arrested Development, and wine, yes, wine!
2 comments on “the earth can be any shape you want it”
Snow, I wish! Still none here, drat, though it is colder today.
YAY for Krispy Kremes, we love ’em too though haven’t had them in a while (they are still not as common here as Dunkin’s, not that we eat there because their donuts are crap! well, except for the chocolatey munchkins, which look like poop but taste so yummy).
And good on you for hauling your own trash! That automatically makes you eco in my book, since you are probably looking to reduce it since you have to haul it yourselves, right?
The plastic thing is more not to microwave in grody old crappy takeout plastic containers, to make sure you are using microwave-safe, non-single-use plastic. #s 2, 4, and 5 are best.
There ARE these crazies who say that both plastic AND microwaving are evil, but I can’t have any truck with that. When Gus wants mac + cheese for lunch, who am I to say no?
If you can’t microwave in plastic, then what? OK, stoneware or something, but you can’t take an entire plate to work. Well you could, but the breaking hazard…
If I sound confused it’s because I am! This morning our family makes that deposed FEMA guy look well-organized and thorough and calm. It was a 2-donut morning, and I must say that new carmel creme one from Krispy Kreme is FINE, even though (especially though?) it is crummy and leaves little nut-thingies all over your (read: my) coat and leaks caramel everywhere. And I didn’t even get it at a real Krispy Kreme, slave to the Hot and Now light that I am! That would have taken me like an hour out of my way–not that it wouldn’t be worth it, but Zoom’s is closer, i.e., “in the county,” and I had to get gas in the Rodeo because someone left it w/o any gas! Sorry, eco-bitch, it’s the only thing that holds 2 carseats, wood, groceries, trash (we haul our own to the dumpster), and drives through high water! But you should try these donuts. They do not come in styrofoam, just a handy little piece of earth-lovin’ waxed paper.
Ohh, someone in the hall here just said “30% chance” of snow! If it’s that much for us, then it’s probably more for you crusty northerners.
Crud, I gotta work. Just catching up and spreading the Krispy Kreme Word…as for the pie & BBQ, tell that Jonathan to get his butt down here. Surrey House closed but there are other places to eat.