Sophistication in Snot

It's Kleenex-bashing time again. They just make it so easy.

Kleenex has a new-ish product... it may not be VERY new, I tend to skip that aisle completely in the store, so it could have been around for awhile, but only lately have I seen a friend of mine using it. Kleenex Expressions... Yes, just their facial tissues but it a spiffy new box. Oval. Oooooo. So what's the big deal? Their description: "The oval box shape adds a little extra sophistication, and the prints and colors are inspired by trends around the world." OK. Big deal. So what? Well, see that little ring around the top of the sophisticated oval box? It's a ring of plastic. To add rigidity. Or something. There is not a similar ring around the bottom; the paper is folded in such a way to make it strong enough. But around the top, the designers at Kimberly-Clark decided there needed to be a ring of plastic. You can't re-use or refill these boxes; they are perfectly throw-away-able. One use. 'Cuz they're preeetty. There is absolutely no purpose for this piece of plastic put into the world except for people to have pretty pretty snot-rags in their home. 

It's no secret I think Kleenex products are pointless and avoidable, and that Kimberly-Clark is pretty much inherently evil, but really to buy these in particular is the pinnacle of silliness. It just goes to show that we don't pay attention at all. That it still doesn't register with people to avoid plastic. This is not getting recycled. It's just ending up in the oceans. And for what? For what??? It serves next to no purpose AT ALL. 

Our facial tissues are sophisticated. Great. 

I give up.

No Green, Merely an Observation

It's a long way to the 2012 elections....

I have never understood when people vote for a candidate because "He tawks lahk me, I kin unnerstand him." Meaning, that candidate is not too hi-faluten' and doesn't use big $10 words that go over their head. Never understood that. Personally, I WANT my elected officials to be more intelligent than me. I WANT them to know more than me and have more education than me. I want them to know what they are doing. I want them to have a stellar vocabulary so that they can hold intelligent discourse with other best'n'brightest leaders from around the world. I want them to understand when scientists give them reports. Don't we want the head of the class to represent us, not the class clown, the least likely to succeed? Don't we want to feel we are in capable hands? I know I do.

Naturally, I am thinking about presidential candidates that "don't believe in" climate change, evolution... that think the natural disasters are "God's way" of sayin',  hey, stop yer evil ways... that CO2 is a naturally occurring thing that isn't bad... that our oceans are fine... on and on. We have a year+ of all this.

Call me silly, but I WANT to be the dumbest jamoke in the room. You know why? Because I know by the end of the day, I will have left that room learning something. I will be better for the experience.

That's all. I just needed to get that off my chest. (Brain.) Thanks for listening. (Reading.)

Nothing's Fine, I'm Torn

Here's one of those times when I get all mixed up. A seemingly good thing that is really actually bad? Or what I think is a bad thing that really is good? I'm really confused. Perhaps it is that I have lost perspective. Maybe I never had any. Maybe my brain just isn't wired right.

Flipping through a magazine (I KNOW, there I go again. I was on a plane. Gimme a break. I couldn't focus on my book.), I came across a fantastic product: disposable cloth napkins! ??? Good! Wait, what? These are rolls of tear-off cotton napkins. You know, for when you want to be elegant. Sophisticated. "Less pricey than linens" they say. They last for at least 6 wash cycles, they say. You can use them once, or wash them to use them again. They say they are natural, biodegradable and recyclable for other uses. Maybe, like, cleaning cloths, I suppose? That's good, right? Cotton good... so long as it is organic cotton... But I can't tell if it is... I don't think so, or they would say so... So... um... Let's look at them: they come 15-20 to a roll, and they run $25-36/roll. How much are linen napkins? See, I don't even know because making them ourselves is so very easy.

I GUESS these are an OK alternative to paper napkins? You know, no, I can't even get that to ring true as I type it. I think, in the end, I find these unnecessary. Yes. That's it. It could be argued that they are better than paper and on the right track, but I just can't buy into the idea. They are pricey to me. They might seem too easy to throw away... cloth napkins are so easy to have and use and wash and keep that I just can't wrap my head around buying them to use them 1-6 times.

Torn, but definitely learning towards NOPE.

Slacker.

I haven't blogged in awhile. I really, really want to. What happens when your every-day life, your strive to pay the bills, takes away from your desire to get the word out? To be green? To talk? To follow your passion?

Dunno. I guess... you change? We recently went back to my hometown in rural-ish Western PA, and I remembered what I really wanted life to be like. A big garden. Hands-on stuff. A fireplace. Crickets and cicadas at night. A slower life. Nature close at hand.

We are re-examining a lot of things right now. I'm still going to be way to stupid-busy with the petty stuff, and I hate that, and it chips away at me every day, but I'll try to hold on to the good stuff. Forcing myself to be HERE on this page more will help.

Welcoming comments below on how you deal with it, Readers.

Blessed Be.