September 26th, 2007 Frank
Now this is pretty cool. I’m a fan of re-using things for as long as possible, and if it’s kitschy and cool that’s even better!
Foldschool is a site that has free patterns to download that allow you to make some sweet-looking furniture for kids. The idea is to make the furniture and let kids decorate the furniture however they like: stickers, paint, pictures glued on, drawings, whatever. A very European ethic. I like it!
I think with a vector graphics program like Illustrator or something similar you could scale up the patterns by about 150-200% to make them adult-sized.
All you need is large sheets of cardboard, a wide space to cut everything up, a box knife, ruler, computer and printer, strong paper glue and masking tape.
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September 25th, 2007 Frank
So to follow up the post I did a while back about the chemicals and stuff that are in cosmetics nowadays, and how many large cosmetic companies still use animal testing and with the recent trend for ‘paraben-free’ cosmetics, I’ve been trying out this stuff called crystal deodorant.
If you do a search for ‘crystal deodorant’ on Google, you’ll find many places online that sell it. I found some in a drugstore under the name Bionsen, but you can find a brand called Pit Rok and there are a few others you can find online. With the stick type deodorant, you apply it while your armpit is still a bit damp, and with the spray type you add water to a spray bottle containing the crystals, shake it a bit and spray where ever you normally spray deodorant.
It all sounds a bit feng shui (which I don’t subscribe to) but it seems to work for me. Online review sites seem to be split, with the crystals working great for some and not for others. I suppose it depends on your body’s chemistry and pheromones or whatever, but for now I’m sold! I’m keeping some of the spray deodorants that are unscented and least harmful (0% aluminum, 0% alcohol) though, just in case the crystals stop working.
The best stuff about this stuff is that it has no scent, is aluminum-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free, and is pretty much as natural as you can get. With the spray applicators, you get a plastic pump sprayer filled with crystals that you add water too, and when the water is gone just add more, until you’ve filled it five times. After that you’ll apparently need a new spray bottle. Another cool thing is the bottle is pretty small so it doesn’t take up much room, and it’s re-used a bunch of times, so you don’t have to worry about how much junk you’re throwing away.
I’ve been trying this stuff out for a few weeks, and I can say that for me it works really well!
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September 21st, 2007 Frank
I think anyone who’s done gardening has had to deal at some point with slugs and snails. They love the soft, tender shoots of lettuce and many other plants. For anyone trying to do their gardening in an organic matter, it can be nearly impossible to eradicate slugs. Copper pipes, copper tape, sharp-edged sand and many other things have been tried, and for some people some of these things work, sometimes they don’t.
Since I do container gardening I just sprinkle slug pellets outside the containers, but if some of the slugs go into the container I don’t really mind so much - some slugs will get in the containers no matter what, and part of me just wants to get rid of the slugs no matter what.
The problem with normal slug pellets is that they’re basically poison, and if birds, cats or other animals eat them they can die, especially smaller birds.
Well I’ve just found out about organic slug pellets (try a Google search), which aren’t necessarily ‘organic’ in the sense they safely biodegrade into the soil, but they are more wildlife-friendly and still kill the slugs.
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September 19th, 2007 Frank
Lighter Footstep.com has a dozen tips to help reduce your impact on the environment and help save you money:
- Weather stripping around the house - the 100-year old sash window in my room is very drafty so when it gets cold I stuff a towel around it to stop the air coming in and out.
- Check attic insulation - I’ll mention this to the house owner and see what he’ll do about it.
- Seal window air conditioners - this is England, these don’t exist, but I use a fan during the summer to keep cool.
- Change to CFL or LED lighting - done for some fixtures, on the way for others…my room is LED-light mostly.
- Put in a programmable thermostat - no thermostat in the house, so can’t do this one.
- Start a compost pile - got one going recently, I have some worms on the way!
- Plant some trees - I’ll see if I can volunteer to do this, England is in the midst of a tree-planting programme.
- Bring the summer herbs indoors - I’ll have a small greenhouse set up outside, or I’ll bring them fully inside so I can have fresh herbs for the winter.
- Switch to winter (thinner) engine oil for the car - My car will get serviced next month, this will be requested.
- Request propylene glycol (PG) antifreeze - better for children, animals and the environment than regular ethylene glycol (EG) antifreeze.
- Take off the roof rack - don’t have one! I don’t believe in using them.
- Check your tires - did this last week! They should be checked once a month anyway to get ideal fuel economy.
So I can ‘action’ (or have done) 10 out of the 12, the remaining 2 I can’t do anything about. How many can you tick off?
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September 16th, 2007 Frank
Earthtimes.org has an article saying an ‘Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears‘
I fear that this will only go to confuse people about environmentalists, or worse, entice them to just not care about the environment and energy use, etc.
Basically, the gist of the story is this: ‘more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares’.
The article runs through quite a bit of evidence, such as paintings from antiquity that portay sunny skies during the ‘Medieval Warming’ and cloudier skies during the ‘Little Ice Age’, reports of the Roman wine harvest in the first century, and other things.
This is the reason that I choose to talk about sustainability, saving money, saving energy, etc., instead of harping on about global warming or the more modern term of ‘climate change’. Why wouldn’t someone want to save money or make things a little better?
For the record, though, I am unconvinced that global warming is purely caused by people, although I think that things like factory farming, the industrial age and thousands of jet planes going around the world aren’t helping matters at all. I think we could help things by cutting our emissions and all that good stuff but like I say above it’s not what I concentrate on when talking to people about this stuff.
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September 14th, 2007 Frank
In addition to watching what cosmetic products I slather all over myself, I’ve carried on cutting my own hair, which I’ve done off-and-on for a few years now. Lately I’ve started doing this more regularly, because a salon haircut with shampoo, consultation and whatnot costs about £20 when done at a good salon, and about £8 when done at a regular place without shampooing.
The weird thing is, they’ll shampoo your hair before you get it cut - which I can understand because it’s hard to work through the hair if there’s a bunch of gel and stuff in it - but they won’t wash out all the little bits of hair after you get it cut. Now, guys generally have shorter hair styles than women, so maybe for the ladies it’s not such a big deal, but guys with shorter haircuts will often have bits of hair all over the place, and if you don’t get it brushed or washed out then you just go home with hair all over your shirt and neck. Imagine getting a cut and going out to eat or have a few drinks, and you have hair all over your food or floating on the surface of your drink! No thanks.
Anyway, my dad was a barber and used to cut my hair until I wanted something a bit less military (he was in the US Army) I would get my hair cut every few weeks. I eventually settled on a style that was short on the back and sides, and longer on top so I could ‘do something’ to it, which usually meant gel or whatever. With an Army dad and a mom who wasn’t really into fashion, plus no brothers or sisters, it took me a LONG time to work through mousse phases, gel, hairspray and whatnot to figure out what I liked. Unfortunately this was during high school and for a while after, so I basically looked like a dork for years. Good times.
The point is, I was already used to having haircuts at home, in the back yard. Wrap the sheet around my neck, whip out the clippers for the tidy bits and scissors for the rest, and a little while later it’s all over. It’s taken me a bit of practice to get used to using the scissors and a single mirror, but the results are good, if I may say so. I’m going to try to keep to a regular schedule of cutting my hair every couple of weeks, keeping it short so I don’t have to resort to gels or waxes - the less poison I put on my hands and head the better! Plus it makes getting ready in the morning that much quicker if I don’t have to worry about sorting out my hair.
Think about it - one decent cut will pay for itself immediately (good barber scissors are about $15/£10, decent clipper set with guards is $20/£15), the scissors will save you electricty, you can practice on your kids, you learn an extra little skill, you don’t have to schedule any appointment (although you’ll of course have to make time to do it), and if you do royally screw up your ‘do you can always go to the salon and ask them to fix ‘that other salon’s mistake’ 
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September 13th, 2007 Frank
Unfortunately there are folks who think the whole ‘green’ thing is being shoved down their throats, but in the long run it’s a good thing, because it gets more people to change eventually.
Just look at some other high-profile campaigns that have worked:
- Drunk driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) aren’t a very active organization these days, but in the 80’s you couldn’t have a drink without hearing something they were saying.
- Smoking. The state of California and New York city have banned smoking, and countries like Ireland and the UK have banned it as well, with decreased heart attack rates (in Scotland) and nicer dining opportunities all around. More countries are doing it (the Netherlands included) and I’m sure more are debating it.
- Whale hunting. Hardly any countries participate in this any longer, with only various tribes in Canada and countries like Japan still hunting. Even Iceland just announced they would stop whale hunting, due to decreased demand.
- High-fuel mileage cars. Ever since the 70’s and the rumors of 100mpg cars, people on the fringe of the conspiracy culture have claimed that cars with unheard-of fuel mileage exist but have been repressed by oil companies and car manufacturers. Well, now carmakers are working on models with truly astounding fuel-sipping cars. There are cars on the horizon that have unprecedented fuel mileage and zero emissions.
- Blood donation drives. In the past couple of decades donations of blood have gotten really organized, and whole offices and companies have given blood in the various ‘bloodmobiles’ because of the heightened awareness of
Generally I try not to get too wound up when I see friends throwing away stuff that could/should be recycled, but I still collect whatever they’ve tossed and drop them in a recycling or compost bin. If drawn into a discussion I try not to sound *too* holier-than-thou, but it’s tough, I’ll admit 
There’s always more to do to help the environment, or stop animal cruelty, or conserve energy than I or any single person can do, but there’s a practical limit to the amount of extra ‘duties’ that the average person will accept in their daily lives.
I suppose I see my ‘mission’ as increasing the number of duties that the average person in my little circle will accept. If they take it upon themselves to recycle, then hopefully they’ll encourage and share that habit with their circle of friends, and so on.
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September 12th, 2007 Frank
The Times has a pretty good site that allows you to roughly figure out how much carbon dioxide you put out. Even if you don’t agree with the mathematics, like some of the commenters, maybe it’s an eye-opener to see what what you can do to move your lifestyle towards a more sustainable future.
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September 7th, 2007 Frank
This seems to be taking off in the UK far more than in the US, but instead of scratchy, eco-unfriendly fiberglass insulation, there is a growing movement of eco-friendly construction and one of the popular choices for insulation is wool.
That’s right, wool from sheep!
It’s one of the ultimate renewable resources, is fireproof, provides acoustic insulation, typically has no chemicals, is biodegradable and has many other great properties. Check out all the wonderful features of wool insulation here and here.
Thanks to my friend at Potential and Expectations who pointed this out for me, check out her blog here
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