You can stand under my um-ber-ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, under my um-ber-ella (Day 251)…

November 6, 2007

umbrellas

Sorry for the long subject line but I’ve had that Rihanna tune stuck in my head for days, especially now that it’s been pouring rain here in the YYZ.

On the bright side, the lousy weather actually gave me a perfect idea for another green change: using a big, sturdy golf umbrella, and sharing it with others who’ve left theirs at home, in a cab, under their seat at a restaurant or … well, any of the other kazillions of places umbrellas get left.

Investing in a good umbrella means it’ll last longer — usually, the bigger the size, the more it’ll be able to resist strong winds. This means fewer of those cheap compact ones end up broken and in the dumpster. Also, it’s a great excuse to go up to that cute boy getting drenched at the bus stop — you can offer him a little shelter, and perhaps your phone number, too.

But in all seriousness, I will be using my big brolly from now on, or just going without, because there’s no harm in getting a little soggy anyway — I might even end up jumping in a puddle or two!

Photo courtesy of solidether on Flickr

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

The environment can’t afford to be picky (Day 250)…

November 5, 2007

toothpicks

The other night, at a party, my friend and I were loitering around the food table because we didn’t feel like dancing. After stuffing various victuals in our mouths, she went to grab a toothpick and offered me one. I grinned and asked if I had any stuff in my teeth — she said no — so I declined.

This is, I’m realizing, precisely what any eco-minded person would do. It’s become a natural reaction for me now; unless I really, truly need to use something, I just don’t.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to use this as my green change for today! Yup, no toothpicks it is. I have my vegan-waxed floss if I really need to dig something out of my chompers, as well as some natural mouthwash, and if I’m desperate there’s always my fingernails.

There are some environmentally friendly toothpick options out there: Preserve has a line of them made from sustainably harvested birch, and you can get bamboo ones, too. However, it’s always better to reduce, so that’s what I’ll be doing (but please do tell me if I’ve got broccoli in between my teeth).

Photo of multicoloured toothpicks from this photog on Flickr

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

Another this instead of that (Day 249)…

November 4, 2007

hands

I know, it’s totally lame of me to toss out a one-line post in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday, but while I’m more than comfortable going into the details of menstrual cups, I just can’t elaborate when it comes to my romantic life.

So, much like my previous this-instead-of-that, I’m going to simply say that I’ll be switching from brands like Trojan and Durex to something like Beyond Seven, whenever the need arises (crap, bad choice of words).

Compared to the other options available of this particular prophylactic, Beyond Seven offers a product that’s naturally lubricated with aloe and they’re very open about their manufacturing process (you can get a funny visual tour of the factory — yes, there are full-time condom testers — over here).

Funny condom/peace imagery courtesy of Beyond Seven

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

A lacklustre Dustbuster (Day 248)…

November 3, 2007

dustbuster

A couple years ago, my boyfriend at the time bought a Dustbuster for our apartment. It was one of those things where I thought, “Why would we need this when we’ve managed so far without it?” and then a couple months later, thought, “This is so handy!” And it was — for all the minor spills like a potted plant toppling over, crumbs underneath the couch cushions, mini tumbleweeds of cat hair, etc.

But in order for it to work, it needs to sit in its charger all day, plugged in, sucking back lots of electricity. Plus it looks sort of ugly, mounted up on the wall (now if I had one of those fancy conical Karim Rashid ones, it might be a different story … but I don’t).

Anyway, for my Simple Saturday feature, I’ve decided to take the whole thing off and will most likely Freecycle it, if I can (and I’m sure I can — those Freecyclers take anything!) because whatever small amount of dust I need to bust can easily be swept up with a brush and pan, damp sponge, or just my vacuum cleaner when I bring it out on chores day.

Image courtesy of Home Depot

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

In lint condition (Day 247)…

November 2, 2007

lint

Now that I’m not using my dryer as often, there’s less lint building up in the door trap. But what I always forget about is that annoying other trap, hidden by the vent that comes out the top end of the dryer, supposedly to protect the ducting, like some just-in-case kind of filter, which I don’t really understand — I mean, why can’t we have one stupid thing to empty instead of one stupid thing and another, harder to reach stupid thing?

Either way, my green move today is to deal with my lint. For starters, I’ll be emptying the secondary filter on a more regular basis, both to ensure the air is flowing easily and to prevent crazy lint fires; and secondly, I’ll be feeding the lint to my dear little worms in the compost bin on my balcony (providing they haven’t frozen to death yet… after all, it’s getting pretty cold here in the Great White North).

By getting the lint sitch under control, I’ll be breathing cleaner air and creating less waste, which counts as green in my books.

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

First past the Post-It (Day 246)…

November 1, 2007

Scribble

Did any of you ever see Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion? Remember how Michele (Lisa Kudrow, in her prime) had this whole made-up story she was going to tell about how she invented the Post-It note, and then it totally backfired? Haha, that was great.

Sorry, I know, one too many pop culture references for a green blog.

Anyway, there’s no question that everyone likes Post-It notes. You can write a single idea, message, picture or phone number on that little piece of happy yellow paper, then put it up where you can see it and take it down when you no longer need it — all without the complication of thumb tacks, staples, tape or scissors. They also make great bookmarks, or sometimes even art installations.

But they also encourage wasting paper — what’s written on a Post-It can often be written down in a day planner, or entered on a cell phone or PDA, or simply remembered. There’s also the issue of that thin layer of glue on the back, which seems to be recyclable in most cases (although those plastic sticky tabs are not).

Either way, I’m going to try not to use any more Post-It notes, and instead try to find smaller bits of scrap paper, extra space in my homework book (sorry, my planner, whatever) or just use the back of my hand.

World Famous Drawing on a Post-It note courtesy of this guy

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Posted by Vanessa Farquharson

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