Doggie-Bag Dilemma

We eat out. It happens. Portions are very generous these days. Remember back in the '80s when it was all the rage to have stupidly tiny portions for insane prices? That sure went away. I can rarely finish my meal when I go out to eat. If it's a sandwich then I ask for a piece of foil rather than a container which is inevitably and will for some future time in my area be Styrofoam.

That leaves the other times when I have something slightly messier. You'd think that I - of all people - could remember to bring something from home to take my food home, instead of using that offensive piece of garbage they bring out to me.  Why can't I remember this one simple thing? 

Styrofoam is getting banned in a lot of towns and will be in more to come. I should not be waiting for that. Tossing them in the recycling bin isn't a solution. Not using them in the first place is. It's mind-blowing to me to think how much garbage we would save if everyone refused this stuff for just a week. But we don't even think about it. I think about it and still forget when it comes down to it. Would restaurants frown upon the practice of our bringing our own containers? I get weird reactions when I ask for foil, but they come around quickly enough. We can point out that by bringing our own containers, we are saving them money.

It's not like I'm talking about bringing them to a buffet. But for a meal for which we have paid, this shouldn't be questionable at all. Is it inconvenient? Probably to those who refuse to bring reusable bags to the grocery store. If you take food home you will be carrying a bag anyway. Why not carry one in? 

And while on that point, you can refuse that plastic bag they give you, as well. If it's something that's going to spill, either be careful or make sure you have something in the car for such an occurrence. It's not difficult, once you get in the habit. 

Let's all start this habit. We'll save a ton of trash. Literally. I promise, next time I go out, to friggin' remember this at last! Embarrassing? Hell no! What's embarrassing about trying to save this place for the next generation? We can at least try. 

They Make Banana Slicers.

I'm not kidding. I almost feel like I don't need to say anymore.

But you know me. I shall say more.

A simple Google search on banana slicers, which I did not know existed until a good friend pointed them out to me, yielded not just one but many different types and styles to choose from. Because, you know, your hand and a BUTTER KNIFE just won't do. I have cut a banana into cereal WITH A SPOON so I didn't have to dirty another utensil, for frick's sake. WHO BUYS THESE THINGS??? I can't even imagine.

If you are spending otherwise perfectly good money on a plastic product like this, you need to be removed from the gene pool. Now. You need to stop using air. You need to not use otherwise perfectly good water that the rest of us need, for you to wash this thing. I suppose you wash out something that you only used to measure out water, too. You have your kids use paper or plastic or Styrofoam plates for dinner some days because you don't want them messing up other real plates. I'm just guessing, here. By all means, let me know if I'm wrong. You use lots and lots of single-use plastic bottled water - at home - which is the last place anyone needs it. You leave the water running while you do dishes and brush your teeth. You use a Kleenex to wipe your nose just once then throw it away even though there is plenty more Kleenex to use. You flush bugs. You think those disposable hand towels might be pretty nifty, because life is germy.

Actually, I'm not really sure what you are really like, if you are the kind of person who buys this sort of useless plastic crap thing. I think I'm pretty sure I don't really need to know you.

Please, just don't have kids.

School Lunch Horror

So a picture cruised over Facebook the other day. I don't even remember what group posted it. It was supposedly a picture of some kid's school lunch. The idea behind the picture was that it looked nasty, and here they thought their kids were being overly picky, but now seeing this they realized how horrible their poor little angels had it at lunchtime.

Now, it's really hard to tell where this picture really came from. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like ethnic take-out, as one person commented. That's really what it looks like to me. Looks pretty good actually. I know many people who would be perfectly happy to have this. I'd try it. Looks like grape leaves. Looks like a lentil or other bean mixture. And, look, fresh veggies. What's the problem?

Well. I'll tell you what my problem is. I hope to HELL this isn't a school lunch. Not because of how it looks (again, I'd eat it), but because of WHAT IT'S IN. Are you kidding me??? Is there a reason a school lunch would be in a TAKE-OUT Styrofoam container??? With a little extra cup of something on the side for added Styrofoam pleasure? Do they have plastic forks and spoons and knives to go along with this??? (Actually, I'm pretty sure if they pulled out on this, yes that would be the case.) I know a lot of schools have been using one-use Styrofoam trays in the lunch room. I'm not really sure when or why that happened. Why it was easier to have kids throw things away and learn to be disposable rather than the solid trays that got washed every day, the ones we used, the ones you gave back for tomorrow's lunch. I know (and applaud) that some school are seeing the error of those ways and are returning to something a little more Earth-friendly and cost-efficient...

So, yeah. It's amusing that they are trying to sell this as some horrifying school lunch thing. I'm not amused that we aren't horrified by the thought of all this garbage emanating from our schools on a daily basis.

Perspective. Think for yourselves, people. See more than what they are trying to spin at you.

Over 36 Pounds

Very excited... I am taking a Speakers' Training Course called Rise Above Plastics. Yesterday was our first class. We met at Venice Beach for a clean-up to see exactly what gets washed up/left behind on a daily basis. We arrived with buckets and gloves and great attitudes, and set to work picking up what we could.

Just my small contribution to the pick-up.

The beach looked pretty clean on a sunny Saturday morning. The craziness of Venice Beach had not quite hit full force yet, and there were surfers, and people riding bikes on the path. Typical Southern California day. We were to go out for just 20 minutes. In that time, about 40 of us picked up almost 40 pounds of crap.

When you think about that number, please realize that the nearly 20 cigarette butts I personally found weigh very very little. It takes a lot of those to make a pound. Bottle caps, same thing, they are pretty light. Also, most of what I was trying to grab were tiny little broken bits of Styrofoam. You know, that stuff you use for mere minutes but then it never, ever, ever goes away? Styrofoam and plastic will never break down completely; they are here for good. I picked up countless little bits that used to be something bigger and got broken up out there to be eaten by fish and other animals that have no idea that what they are eating is going to kill them.

The other thing about cigarette butts: think about all those chemicals and carcinogens that we humans happily and willingly take into our bodies, and what is left in the filters. Now realize that when that filter hits the water, those chemicals get leached out immediately into the water. Now think about the 100 or so that we picked up in 20 minutes on one tiny stretch of beach on one morning. That adds up to a lot of chemicals. The oceans can only handle so much. Small little tiny creatures directly affected, which affects the bigger guys, which affects the even bigger guys, which eventually comes right around to... us. Is there any wonder the cancer rate among our children and pets has exploded? I never wonder. I know why.

And soon, I will go around speaking out alllllll about it. Come see me!

Dishwashers

After my last post about the whole Jet-Dry crap, and subsequent washing of dishes by hand, and the comments by all yinz (getting back to my Western PA vernacular), I got to thinking a little more. I haven't had a dishwasher in YEARS. My parents have one, and I never know how to load the damn thing, and somehow there are always complaints about its performance. And manufacturers are taking the phosphate out of detergents, because it's kind of bad stuff, but then the dishes don't get very clean. You have to rinse them well and hell by then you may have as well just washed 'em by hand, right? Seems like an awful lot of extra water to me. Rinsing them off... then all the water even in your "water saver" mode... hmmm.

People say washing dishes by hand wastes more water. I say no, not necessarily. You just have to be a little conscientious and judicious when washing by hand. For instance, don't fill up the whole damn sink THEN start washing. Wash while filling. Don't rinse one thing at a time. Stack them then rinse quickly. Don't use too much soap; then you don't have to rinse as much. And most importantly, don't turn the water on full blast when you really don't need to.

SO THEN comes in the argument about TIME. My favorite.  Greenie, I don't have time to do dishes. I'm too busy. I have kids. We make a lot of dishes. Um, that's what kids are FOR... to do dishes. If you have kids and they ain't doin' dishes, you are doing something seriously wrong. They're too busy with all their activities?? YOU are doing something seriously wrong. Chores are FOR kids. Kids are for chores. We all did them. It made us better. I know a certain 22-yr-old that can't do dishes to save her life. THAT is WRONG. Kids on step-chairs to reach the sink to do dishes? THAT'S more like it. We juggled school and homework and playtime and still were expected to do our chores. Period. We earned an allowance, we didn't just get it handed to us, or get "rewarded" for behavior we were supposed to exhibit anyway. Kids should do chores. I will not back off of that opinion, no matter how many people try to say I have no idea what it's like because I don't have kids. I was a kid. I did dishes. Every day. Get over yourself and get over your kids and figure it out.

Then there's my other favorite thing: families who use paper or Styrofoam (??????!!) plates at dinner because they don't have time/can't be bothered to do dishes. See the above paragraph so I don't have to repeat myself. There is NO excuse to use anything disposable at the dinner table. Hell, I ain't even giving a pass on lunch. PLATES. Clean things when done. Repeat.

This is what we call progress, Folks. Disposable lives and no time to do BASIC things that we used to have to do, but now we don't have time because we are too busy running around and stressing out to do the most basic things in the world. Make it into family time. Catch up on the day over dishes. You're spending time together, who cares if it's a "chore"? Whatever. Just frickin' do something.

Wait, wait.. we have free time now and we're happier and oh so much more productive and life is so much easier.

Oh. Wait. No it's not. No WE are not.

Let's go back, shall we?