Framing

The other day in the car there was an interesting article on the radio.  It was discussing how social scientists have discovered that re-framing global warming might be the ticket to get people to care.  Apparently we are all so selfish that we care very little about humans effects on the planet, but if we turn that around to make global warming affect human health then we give a hoot.  And the effects of global warming do affect your health, but that is not what this post is about.  Anyway, it sounded so funny to me, but I can totally see what they were saying.  And if re-framing works then I am happy to go along with it.  If it gets people (especially those who under normal circumstances would do nothing) to do something then I see that as advancment.  But I was thinking, why can't we re-frame environmentalism, not just global warming, as a whole.  Instead of trying to sell people on saving a planet, why don't we sell people on being financially savvy.  All of my small acts of environmentalism I do because I honestly care (but who cares about that), the money saving part is just an added bonus.  And it is a bonus I enjoy and take pride in, since I am a cheap skate.  So I say lets roll with it.  Not everyone has money to burn, most of us schmo's have to watch our money, so why not highlight ways to save money.   I hate to admit this, but I was at a county fair the other night, and I went in with so many negative ideas of what it was going to be like, but I was pleasantly surprised.  One of the booths was a group called something like sustainable living (cannot remember the exact name).  And you know one of the displays they had was a clothes line.  See this is what I am saying, we can re-frame this whole concept for cheap-o's like me. Now I am no mathematician, but I do know that the cost of a clothes line and some clothes pins is much cheaper (less than) the cost of an electric dryer.  Now there are degrees to how far people want to participate and how much they want to do, and I get that (I still have electricity).  But that is always my point the more people that do small acts the greater the results.  Better to do something than nothing.  And if that something helps your wallet at the same time, enjoy that bonus for caring enough to do something in the first place.  Everyone is always trying to sell you something and this sales pitch is how you can save some dough.  So come on lets be cheap I mean financially savvy together and OK we will maybe help the planet as well.
I would also like to take this chance/post to reiterate my love for vinegar.  Vinegar is cheap (see what I did there) and less offensive to the planet than other chemicals that you could chose to use.  I once again burned something the other night.  I know, don't even ask.  And once again white vinegar came to the rescue and saved my pan.  Yes I did have to let it soak over night, but it is now so clean and shiny and the elbow grease I had to apply was minimal.  And I have also recently found out that vinegar also works on pet stains.  I was reading that the vinegar kills bacteria and it deodorizes the stain, and it is way cheaper (re-framing, cost saving tactic) than the stuff you can buy in the shops.  What you do is, pour, spray, or blot some vinegar on the spot and let it sit for a while.  Scrub the spot until the stain is gone.  Baking soda also works on these sort of stains as well, but I prefer the vinegar.  And I also read that you can use lemon juice to eliminate the lovely pet smells.
So as always thanks for reading.  And I hope that the some of the information is useful.  Have a great day.

Some great articles.

http://www.globalonenessproject.org/library/articles/living-just-enough

This is an awesome article, and I could not have said it better myself.  Well actually I could not have said it better, 1. because it is very well written, and 2. because I could not string together two coherent sentences together about the Edo period.  Anyway please read because it is very good.

The second article is very short.  It is so awesome, so smart, and so true.  Really gives you something to think about.  Not only about being a minimalist for environmental reasons, which are very good reasons, but also for reasons based in wanting to end suffering for all humanity.  Great read.

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/simple-living-expert-takes-happy-minimalism-extreme.html

Trash

Well it has been a while since I have written anything and this is how I am going to start off, by bragging.  The last few weeks my household (which is a 3 people of various sizes, and 2 dogs also of various sizes) have had a bag (please note bag refers a small grocery sized bag)  or less (which means nothing) to put in our big wheeley bin that you stick out by the curb.  I must say that I am pretty proud of this accomplishment.  But it does leave me with a dilemma, do I take the bin to the curb on trash day or do I leave it.  So many problems so little time, what is a girl to do?  Anyway so I (re)present the green challenge of the day, week, month, or whatever you want to make it, see if you can have a trash free day.  I have found it is really pretty easy, and if I can do it I swear anyone can.  The rules: you can recycle, compost, and save/reuse, you just cannot toss anything in the bin that would end up in the landfill.  Easy enough.  If you are brave enough to take the challenge let me know how you do.

Now while we are on the subject of trash, check out http://www.facebook.com/events/361832557226137/.  Septemeber 22nd there is an event called Global Litter Clean up.  This goes along with another challenge I presented a while back, but someone has actually organized something a bit better than me, shocker.  Anyway it is worth checking out and participating in, if for no other reason than to go outside and enjoy the weather as it starts to cool down or warm up (depending upon where you live).

Now the last thing I wanted to chat about was not trash, but if we stretch we can make a connection, creepy crawleys.  Now I witnessed to murders the other day, it was pretty horrific, I witnessed 2 small spiders get stomped on for no other reason than the person was scared.  Well we all no how I feel about snakes being killed (see previous awesome posts), and spiders are in that same category.  So I would just like to remind people who are scared of spiders or any other creepy crawly, know what you are killing and why you are killing it before you kill it (that makes sense in my head).  All I mean there is a lot of those spiders that get stomped on may eat the little pesky bugs or mites or whatever else may actually cause harm.  So yes squash a mosquito if it lands on you because there is a threat there, they can carry disease and they make you itch.  But the spiders or centipedes or whatever else you have crawling around help to keep those bad populations in check.  Just like the snakes and lizards eat the pests and bugs that we do not want to get out of control.  I am just saying thinking about it for one second please please please.  And always remember they are way more scared of you than you are of them.  Peace out.

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