I'm the only person in the house to turns off the TV when I leave the room. It's not rocket science - it's just one button. Even my four year old can handle one button.
I've tried and tried and tried to get the others to follow my lead, but nope!! The TV yammers on and on to and empty room. I've pretty much given up on training the others - I just wait until they leave and then turn it off myself.
At the moment it's on, but my daughter is actually watching it. Hey maybe I can find something for her to watch about energy conservation...
Gardening Year Round
I just planted garlic bulbs in my garden - this is my first year trying them. In the past I've always just planted stuff in the spring and waited to see what would grown. The idea of starting to grow something at the end of August seems bizarre to me, but apparently that's what you do with garlic.
My plot looks quite a bit different now than it did a couple of months ago... all the radish and pea plants have been pulled, having long since gone to seed. Now I'm harvesting carrots daily, waiting for my tomatoes to ripen (this year maybe?? sigh!!) and starting my garlic and onion crop.
(Oh yes, and I have some new carrot plants sprouting in my laundry room... We'll see how that works out!!)
My plot looks quite a bit different now than it did a couple of months ago... all the radish and pea plants have been pulled, having long since gone to seed. Now I'm harvesting carrots daily, waiting for my tomatoes to ripen (this year maybe?? sigh!!) and starting my garlic and onion crop.
(Oh yes, and I have some new carrot plants sprouting in my laundry room... We'll see how that works out!!)
Clean Oceans
After returning from a week on the Sunshine Coast of BC, I just want to comment on the difference in the ocean water between the lower mainland and further up the coast.
I don't have much time for a lengthy post (my oven timer is beeping at me!!), but I feel compelled to comment that even though our campsite beach was not even halfway up the coast of the province, the water there was dramatically cleaner than the local beach we went to recently. Not only was the northern water a lot less stinky, but you could see much more clearly in deeper water, and there was an abundance of live marine life, from crabs to fish to starfish (you name it).
What a difference a little pollution can make...
I don't have much time for a lengthy post (my oven timer is beeping at me!!), but I feel compelled to comment that even though our campsite beach was not even halfway up the coast of the province, the water there was dramatically cleaner than the local beach we went to recently. Not only was the northern water a lot less stinky, but you could see much more clearly in deeper water, and there was an abundance of live marine life, from crabs to fish to starfish (you name it).
What a difference a little pollution can make...
I'll Be Baaaaack....
....after August 18th. We're away on a family vacation until then, so I'm posting this same message on all of my blogs.
(I thought I'd be organized and write some posts and post date them for while I'm gone, but that never happened. Life got in the way, I guess ;-)
See you soon!
(I thought I'd be organized and write some posts and post date them for while I'm gone, but that never happened. Life got in the way, I guess ;-)
See you soon!
Solution Stupidity
You've got to be kidding me.
With obesity and diabetes rates at their current level, the environmental movement (of which I am part) wants to eliminate water from vending machines?
WATER??
What about all the plastic bottles of pop, and "juice" that's made up of chemical flavouring, artificial colour and added sugar?? Why not eliminate those instead?
Unbelievable.
Meanwhile, as a result of the very climate change this proposed bottle ban is trying to prevent, our other water alternative - from the tap - is supposedly at risk: due to extreme weather (lots of rain), apparently the load capacity of our water processing facilities may no longer be adequate.
Simply put, that would mean the quality of our tap water will be lessened, and may eventually be unsafe if nothing is done. Without some kind of bottled water alternative, we'd become one of those societies without safe drinking water.
We've lived through boil water advisories before, and I hate to think of them becoming the norm. What's the best solution? Do the green thing and ditch the plastic water bottles, or do the healthy thing and drink water that is consistently free of fecal particles (not to mention readily available in vending machines as an alternative to pop and other sugary drinks)?
While I support some type of plastic bottle ban in theory, should WATER be the target? (C'mon, guys!!)
Is a bottle ban alone enough to change the increasing extreme weather patterns? Can we undo what's been done? Would taking away bottled water be enough to prevent climate change from worsening? How long will the water treatment facility upgrades take (and where will the money come from)?
(How about getting more people out of their cars instead? No wait - they can`t walk or cycle because when they get thirsty there won`t be any water available to drink).
I apologize if I seem to be cranky, but of all the products in plastic that could be banned, why choose the very liquid that's necessary for the sustenance of life?
Meanwhile, as I'm stuck in the stifling heat, staring at the vending machine, my only choices will be Pepsi, or some kind of "Ade" beverage that's loaded with God only knows what, in addition to too much sugar.
Of course I bring water from home (in a stainless steel coffee travel mug - I try not to buy it from the vending machines because of the cost). We have Canadian Springs deliver their 18.5L bottles that they sanitize and reuse once they're empty.
On hot days, however, it's easy to run out. At that point, that chilled vending machine bottle of Dasani or Evian is my only reprieve. My two young children, ages four and five, stand at the vending machine with me. They point at the pop, and the colourful "juice" bottles, and I say "No, but you can have some water."
They know that I won't give in (and they like water), so they don't argue. I then take the bottle I've purchased and fill their travel cups (also previously filled with water and brought from home), and they drink it.
The thought that in the future, that water may not be available to my children, makes me angrier than I can express.
Isn't the whole point of climate change to save the health of our planet and its occupants? Is taking water really the way to do that?
With obesity and diabetes rates at their current level, the environmental movement (of which I am part) wants to eliminate water from vending machines?
WATER??
What about all the plastic bottles of pop, and "juice" that's made up of chemical flavouring, artificial colour and added sugar?? Why not eliminate those instead?
Unbelievable.
Meanwhile, as a result of the very climate change this proposed bottle ban is trying to prevent, our other water alternative - from the tap - is supposedly at risk: due to extreme weather (lots of rain), apparently the load capacity of our water processing facilities may no longer be adequate.
Simply put, that would mean the quality of our tap water will be lessened, and may eventually be unsafe if nothing is done. Without some kind of bottled water alternative, we'd become one of those societies without safe drinking water.
We've lived through boil water advisories before, and I hate to think of them becoming the norm. What's the best solution? Do the green thing and ditch the plastic water bottles, or do the healthy thing and drink water that is consistently free of fecal particles (not to mention readily available in vending machines as an alternative to pop and other sugary drinks)?
While I support some type of plastic bottle ban in theory, should WATER be the target? (C'mon, guys!!)
Is a bottle ban alone enough to change the increasing extreme weather patterns? Can we undo what's been done? Would taking away bottled water be enough to prevent climate change from worsening? How long will the water treatment facility upgrades take (and where will the money come from)?
(How about getting more people out of their cars instead? No wait - they can`t walk or cycle because when they get thirsty there won`t be any water available to drink).
I apologize if I seem to be cranky, but of all the products in plastic that could be banned, why choose the very liquid that's necessary for the sustenance of life?
Meanwhile, as I'm stuck in the stifling heat, staring at the vending machine, my only choices will be Pepsi, or some kind of "Ade" beverage that's loaded with God only knows what, in addition to too much sugar.
Of course I bring water from home (in a stainless steel coffee travel mug - I try not to buy it from the vending machines because of the cost). We have Canadian Springs deliver their 18.5L bottles that they sanitize and reuse once they're empty.
On hot days, however, it's easy to run out. At that point, that chilled vending machine bottle of Dasani or Evian is my only reprieve. My two young children, ages four and five, stand at the vending machine with me. They point at the pop, and the colourful "juice" bottles, and I say "No, but you can have some water."
They know that I won't give in (and they like water), so they don't argue. I then take the bottle I've purchased and fill their travel cups (also previously filled with water and brought from home), and they drink it.
The thought that in the future, that water may not be available to my children, makes me angrier than I can express.
Isn't the whole point of climate change to save the health of our planet and its occupants? Is taking water really the way to do that?
4 Pieces Of My Indoor Garden
Today I got busy with my plan to grow food indoors. Here's what I did:
1) Strawberries: I cut off the runners from my outdoor strawberry plants, and rinsed them to get rid of any aphids or other bugs. They're now in potting soil on a window ledge in my kitchen. Not sure if they'll take... I thought about starting them in water first to establish more roots, but I've rooted cuttings directly in soil before so I thought I'd give it a shot.
2) Oregano: I planted some seeds in potting soil, on my office window ledge. This is how I started the other herbs in my outdoor plot, but this one I'll keep indoors.
3) Chives: I'm a glutton for punishment!! This is the third or fourth time I've tried to grow chives, and I've never been able to get them to sprout in the past. Wish me luck this time. They're in a pot on my kitchen windowsill (next to the strawberries).
4) Carrots: I planted them from seed, on my laundry room window ledge. I used a long rectangular planter that is deep enough to allow for the carrots to grow, and I planted two rows of seeds.
I have more ideas, but I need to buy more potting soil first. I still have lots of window ledge space that I can fill up, so I'll keep you posted as I plant!
1) Strawberries: I cut off the runners from my outdoor strawberry plants, and rinsed them to get rid of any aphids or other bugs. They're now in potting soil on a window ledge in my kitchen. Not sure if they'll take... I thought about starting them in water first to establish more roots, but I've rooted cuttings directly in soil before so I thought I'd give it a shot.
2) Oregano: I planted some seeds in potting soil, on my office window ledge. This is how I started the other herbs in my outdoor plot, but this one I'll keep indoors.
3) Chives: I'm a glutton for punishment!! This is the third or fourth time I've tried to grow chives, and I've never been able to get them to sprout in the past. Wish me luck this time. They're in a pot on my kitchen windowsill (next to the strawberries).
4) Carrots: I planted them from seed, on my laundry room window ledge. I used a long rectangular planter that is deep enough to allow for the carrots to grow, and I planted two rows of seeds.
I have more ideas, but I need to buy more potting soil first. I still have lots of window ledge space that I can fill up, so I'll keep you posted as I plant!
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