Leave it alone (if you read you will see why this title is cute)

Not sure what the weather is like where you are, but here where I am it is getting cool and the leaves on the trees are falling.  Time to start raking all those pesky leaves up I suppose.  But here is an idea, instead of bagging those leaves up in plastic bags and throwing them away why don't you use them.  The main thing here for me is to stop using/wasting plastic and putting it into the landfill for no reason.  The other reason is because it is actually easier to not bag up leaves and they are beneficial to your garden.  I have been saying this since I have been able to talk, ok well not that long, but for a long time nonetheless.  And I heard on the radio the other day about alternative uses for your fall leaves other than bagging them up. You can mulch them and use them as a sort of fertilizer for your yard, you can add them to your natural areas, or if you want to get rid of them  just put them directly in your trash bin without the plastic.  Most recycling centers also have a mulch section that you can donate all your fall leaves to as well.  The point here is, I was right and that hardly ever happens, intelligent people who actually work with trees and leaves agree with me, don't bag them up.  Well that should do it for me for today, hope all is well out there in the world outside of my head.

My post of shame

Well here it is, my first public post of shame (or maybe my fifth or sixth, really I lost count along time ago).  After putting my baby, Leftover Love, out there to my local newspaper, they reward me with a hard smack in the face and nice hot glass of rejection (insert loud sobbing here).  OK so there was no actual hitting or hot drinks for that matter, but I was rejected and it stings.  Anyway I will not let this get me down.  Apparently they think this idea needs some actual people and restaurants involved before they can write about it.  Crazy I know.  Anyway so just to recap her is my idea.  As I am sure you already know, it is simple, take your own doggie bag with you so you are not forced to use the disgusting styrofoam boxes so many restaurants hand out.  I had wanted to expand a bit on that idea and get some local restaurants involved by creating an incentive sort of program in which the patron is rewarded for bringing in their own container say with a percentage off the bill, or a free dessert, or maybe even a card that you have punched on the 5th time coming in with your own container you get a free meal.  Anything really would work, but apparently for the newspaper to write about this they want someone else other than all the voices in my head involved.  Well I will not let this rejection get to me, I am no even more determined to get someone that actually owns a business to fall in love with this idea.  I mean they are already doing this in different parts of the US so it is not like it doesn't work.  We just need to catch up with the rest of the forward thinking restaurants.  I mean it would save them (the restaurant) money, right, and it may bring in a new customer base or a more loyal customer base, it could gain them recognition for being the first ones in the area to do it or recognition from the local newspaper of local environmental groups.  Come on restaurants this is my desperate plea, be cool try my idea lets see if together we can't make it work.  Anyway so for anyone that was looking for an article about this idea you can stop looking for the time being (insert even louder sobbing here) but fear not as I will not quit.  Thanks for all the support that I have received.  Best wishes.

Give it up

Well this post may be a short entry or a really long one.  But I was thinking last night, what can I give up, do I need so much stuff (from here on out referred to as stuff) around.  How can I simplify?  Getting rid of clutter just seems smart, and in my mind a way to organize.  Stuff can really start to weigh you down, I mean how much stuff do we actually need?  But we need to get rid of stuff in the right way, an environmentally friendly way.  Because where is all this stuff coming from and where does it go when we are finished with it that is what we need to keep in mind here.  Then I started thinking what could everyone give up that may help or benefit the planet, animals, or human animals in some way.  I guess the point is, similar to the very subtle (yeah right) underlying theme of this blog, is it is the little things that count and that add up quickly if we all start doing them, but we have to start doing.  Doing nothing does not seem right, and trust me when I say that I get we all cannot go out and stop factories from polluting or a million other large scale atrocities that happen every day, but we can still do something.  I would also like to add before I continue that I get it, I am not perfect I have stuff, I have a lot of stuff.   Does that mean I need it?  No, I can donate, I can go without, sure I could I am weak human no different than other humans.  So I guess that is really who I am talking to here and now, is me.  I need a good slap in the face every once in a while to remember that I can be better.  Not trying to sell some extremist philosophy here, not asking myself, or anyone else for that matter, to give up everything and live in a hole in a tree and eat nuts and dirt for the rest of their lives (although that does sound delicious, just in case anyone eats that).  But there have to be areas in my life, or your life, where we can cut back.  So what can we give up?  Can we give up trash?  I mean for just one day could we figure out ways to avoid putting stuff in a trash bin.  It will make you think about where stuff goes, and maybe how much stuff we actually throw away.  Multiply your trash by 6.5 billion and you get, crunching the numbers here... a lot of trash.  So could we give it up for a day?  What about water bottles, could we give up buying those annoying water bottles?  Maybe use the one that we used the other day and refill it with tap water, could we do that?  I mean it saves some money and no one would know.  Could you give up plastic bags at shops, not just grocery shops but any shops?  Could we say I don't need a bag, thanks or I have my own bag?  I mean how many plastic bags do we need at home anyway.  Could we give that up?  What about the doggie bags could we do that, could we say,  "I will give up styrofaom doggie bags", even if you just make the decision to do it once, could you do it.  Could we give up meat, just for one day?  If you figure out how much money you save by giving up meat at least once a week you may end up giving it up twice a weak.  Could you donate some food or clothing to a friend or charity?  Let me say again, I am not perfect.  I mean look at my constant struggle to give up paper towels (oh please,  know right,, but if I could give up paper towels think how much paper just my family alone would save, just typing that sounds awesome and is providing some extra motivation), I work on it every day.  And the thing is, even in a moment of weakness if I do use one, I still think about what I am doing.  And even that thinking is doing something.  I guess sometimes, me and we, have to remember there is more than stuff.  There is life, people, and a planet to remember, all of which is bigger than me.  Lets save the world, yay!

Few discussion items

1.  Vinegar.  I have always loved vinegar, malt vinegar is yummy.  I like it on lots of foods, mostly English chips aka french fries.  But I have recently discovered how great other vinegar, like white vinegar, is for cleaning.  It is awesome.  It is cheap, it cleans very well, gets rid of any weird smells you may have in your house (don't ask), and did I mention it is cheap.  It is awesome in the laundry (we use it on the cloth diapers for the baby) and I am always using it in the kitchen now.  It is also a very environmentally friendly alternative to other household chemicals.  Just saying I love it.  And if you make a batch of chips (I mean french fries) you can pour it (the malt kind that is) on and you have dinner.  Just thought this was worth a mention.
2. Adverts and commercials.  I am not sure what is going on with me these days, but commercials are really starting to annoy me.  How stupid do these people think we are at the other end of the tv, radio, or magazine.  I mean seriously.  I heard one advert the other day say that they could defy gravity with their face cream.  Really? Are you floating in space while you put on this cream?  Just wondering.  I think that if someone had really found the answer to wrinkles we would know about it, and none of us would be able to afford it so it probably wouldn't matter.  Actually when I think about it, the commercials that annoy me the most are the cosmetic ads.  I mean don't get me wrong all advertising is annoying, especially when you just want to watch your program, listen to music, or find the article in magazine without flipping through 800 million pages of ads. But these cosmetic ones are super annoying.  Just think about it, if any of the crap they were trying to sell you worked...  Again just thought it was worth a mention.
3.  Snakes.  OK please please don't make me say this again, STOP KILLING SNAKES.  I was out for another run today and saw another tiny snake murdered by the side of the road.  The little guy was no bigger than a pencil.  DO NOT KILL SNAKES EVER.  It is really not hard, and if you are a big snake killer it many actually save you some time so you can do something else, anything else really, other than killing.  I do not want to hear that you only kill the venomous ones, that is a load of crap.  Most people could not identify a poisonous snake from a non-poisonous one.  And if you think it is venomous, here is an idea, leave it the frick alone, and don't risk the trip to the doctor.  If you are in real danger move away and call a professional.  But killing a snake will never be the right answer.  As much ass you may not like them, we still need them.  Sorry just saying.
4.  Ammonia Gas.  I know for many this is old news, and even for me it is not new, but I was reading an old New York Times article the other day about Beef Products Inc., and their use of ammonia gas in the ground beef product they make from the fatty deposits that would normally be used in pet food.  I do not eat hamburger (or any meat for that matter) so this is not a big one for me.  But for those who do, in case you did not know (look at me pretending that people read the blog, aaawww denial, not just a river in Egypt hehehe, so cute) they do not list the ammonia as an ingredient and it is in most fast food and grocery chains ground beef.  A little gross and disturbing, but again just thought it was worth mentioning.
5.  World Peace.  Just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone had some awesome world peace ideas.  I really think now is a great time to start working in it, and if you want to use this blog as a forum to promote your peaceful ideas feel free.  How cool would it be if we could create world peace, so awesome.   Bet you are wondering where this is coming from, saw the quote "peace begins with a smile", by Mother Teresa, and I liked it and just thought it would be nice to bring about peace and solve all the issues that humans have created.  So easy right, I think we can knock this out in about an hour.  I guess I was hoping to get some great ideas from some other great people out there and start to expand.  I mean we need a great reason to save the planet.  Saving it for fighting kind of blows.  I hope this was worth mentioning

So yes I have gone from vinegar to world peace, a totally normal list of discussion items.  Hope all is well, and pass along a smile.

Want to lose weight?

OK really this entry has nothing to do at all with weight, but rather just getting rid of stuff (but you know in an environmentally friendly way).  Anyway I know I have been a little inconsistent with the blog lately, and that honestly has to do with the move.  I have been a total stresscase and not had much time to sit at the computer and share all my awesome ideas (oh brother at  least we know I am still totally lame, even stress can't kill my lameness, ha), but I think I can see the dust settling and hopefully I can get back to the blog a bit more and ideas and work that is bigger and more important than me.  Plus I thought of this really great way to start this entry, but because I have not been on the computer in some time I lost it, and now you have to deal with my cheese ball opener.  Anyway to the point here.  So recently I was involved in a community yard sale.  It was great (minus waking up early), you get to chat with people, you may find a bargain, or better yet if you have something to sell you may get to add a few extra bucks into your wallet.  Because of this move we did have a few pieces (mostly furniture) to add to the yard sale.  And while I was haggling over how much one of our old dressers (and second hand purchase to start with) should cost I realized, this is a really great way to recycle.  Woohoo reduce, reuse, and recycle.  When I thought about it I discovered that my family has been recycling furniture for a while.  There are very few pieces in our house that have not  come from parents or grandparents.  And honestly I like it better that way.  First off new furniture is expensive (secondhand is either cheap or if you are related to the one donating sometimes it is free, and I love free.  Or it could be valuable, antiques are awesome).  Secondly new furniture has a pretty big impact on the environment, so not buying it saves a lot of trees, water, chemicals, and energy.  And thirdly there are memories attached to most of the furniture, and that is priceless (yuck that was lame).  Anyway it just makes a lot of good sense.  Save some money find your local second hand shop (which are usually connected to a charity of some sort and that is also good), search through parents basements and attics, I bet you may find something you like, could use, or may even need.  All of that is so much better than buying something new.  As always this is just a thought.  I am sure there are those who would disagree, but then again they probably do not understand that conservation is survival and all your actions, negative or positive, count.

Just a few things

Well I have been away for a while, but I am here to say I am back.  Yay I am sure that is what everyone is saying (deflating my fat head now).  Anyway I hope all has been well with the world.  I have been busy moving, traveling around a bit, and just being super busy.  

As I mentioned we recently moved,  so I had to make sure to sign up to take our new house of the junk mail list.  If you want to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive this is a great site http://www.directmail.com.  It really helped at the last house and I hope it cuts down on all that extra paper we receive.  The amount of paper, water, and energy it takes to make and deliver junk mail is gross so I won't scare you with that data, just know it is bad.  If you do not believe you can research it.

Not much happening on the Leftover Love front.  But now that the dust is settling a bit I should be able to regain my focus and my aggressive (aka annoying) position on trying to make something happen.  I will say that I was out last night and the waiter (super nice guy) complimented me on using my own container.  I knew it was cool.  

I would like to mention one last thing before I go and start thinking of the many other awesome blog entries I plan to write in the near future.  I am a walker.  Not an actual metal walker with tennis balls on the feet, but someone who is now able to walk to the grocery shop and a few other shops around me.  OMG it is awesome.   The problem is that the grocery shop at  the top pf our street does not have a plastic bag recycling bin yet and I have so much plastic that needs to  be recycled (I guess they don't really get me yet).  So my goal is to try and get that set up for them soon.  Since the town we are living in at the moment makes it very difficult to be able to recycle plastic bags.  Haha that will change soon my friends, oh yes it will change.

Anyway have a great October 6th.  Much love to all.