How Often Does This Go Unnoticed?

Happened to catch this one in the news. But I'm willing to bet things like this happen all the time, we just don't hear about it.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/28/peanut-butter-landfill/7004653/ Nearly a million jars of peanut butter are being dumped at a New Mexico landfill to expedite the sale of a bankrupt peanut-processing plant that was at the heart of a 2012 salmonella outbreak and nationwide recall.

That's a whole lot of plastic in the ground. Unless you think they will scoop it out and re-use the jars. Yeah, that happens.

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A million jars. The article doesn't make it entirely clear why they could not be donated, as they were seen as fit for sale. We would rather toss them into a gaping hole in the Earth and cover them with dirt than donate them to a prison. I can only hope people will sneak out and dig some up.

A million jars. So much for recycling. Some future civilization will unEarth this trove and come up with some interesting theories. Maybe we should include a note, explaining our massive screw-up.

A million jars. I'm still trying to fathom.


Yeah, no. I can't. All I can come up with is that this is far from an isolated incident.

What do I suggest?

Nothing. I got nuthin'. I just had to share. This is what we do. THIS is humanity.

That's all. Gather your own rosebuds on that one.

Compostable Insecurities

It's another one of those things I should have been doing for a very long time but never did, and constantly kicked myself, and always meant to, but either had an excuse or just couldn't get around to it. Composting. A fairly easy no-brainer. Yet, I didn't do it.

Well, we lived in an apartment. -So? Still can get a small container. Well, where to put it? -There were places.These were merely excuses. When we moved to a house with an actual garage and yard, the excuses were going to have to stop. Sure, it's Winter. Sure, it's cold, can't really bury the waste or do anything with it, right? No - no more excuses. But... but... I don't have a container for under the sink. I have to go buy one...

Right under my sink...

It went on and on with me. With ME! We have a unique garbage situation in our small town, one that would seem to encourage not throwing things away. So, every time I continued to throw away organic waste, I yelled at myself yet again. Just DO it already. Finally, I did -  just got up and did it. We moved into a place that was previously inhabited by a cousin, and he left some things behind. I went down to the basement to see if maybe I could find a suitable container. I'd seen something I thought might work for my purpose, and sure enough, there it was by the washer & dryer. It was a plastic container that previously held moistened towels, the kind that pop up one at a time as you use them. It was perfect. Plastic, so throwing it "away" would suck, so now it's re-purposed. Fairly airtight, so it won't smell up under my sink and won't leak. Whatever was in it before may have been oh-so-toxic, but now it has a second life as wonderfulness. 

So there was my first step. But what next? It's still too cold to bury stuff, and just dumping it outside wasn't really a good solution. But having this first step out of the way got me moving to the next one.

Ideally, I would have found another container to re-purpose, but lacking that (and not using it as yet another excuse), we went ahead and purchased a very large garbage bin at the local hardware store. You know, that big kind with a big lid and wheels? It took me a few days to get around to drilling the holes in it, but I did that too. I have to stir it more frequently, and pay more attention to it when the weather gets warmer... you know, make sure it's balanced and not smelly etc... but it's finally going. It's out there. I don't have to smack myself in shame every time I peel an orange or banana or oops that spinach went bad - not just throwing it all away anymore! I did it. One of those damn things I've been meaning to do forever and ever... and it really is not hard. A lot of this stuff boils down to just-get-up-and-frickin-do-it.

I was so stuck on the thought that I couldn't do it perfectly, that I was just plain stuck. NOT doing it. Holding back. It's OK if it's not perfect. It's compost. It's pretty forgiving, actually. Starting to smell? Well, then it's a little unbalanced and needs an infusion of browns to balance the greens. No big deal. It's not with worms? Well, I'm not comfortable doing worm-composting, I wish I was, but I have this terrible fear that one day I'll come out and hundreds of worms will have died. I wish to avoid that particular guilt. Silly? Oh, for sure. But, just the same, I'll just stick to the non-worm variety. The point is, I'm not tossing that stuff in the garbage anymore. I finally put myself aside and did it.

And it wasn't in the least bit difficult. I can tackle other things now! Time, soon, to get those rainbarrels going... but... it's cold....

Magic Tap: Plastic AND Batteries For What?

Here's another one of those wonderful solutions to a problem I did not know we had.

Is it convenient? Sure! Is it useful? Yes. Do people with small children or older adults who have problems lifting need it? Need? No. Helpful? Sure. I lean more toward the older adults, because people with small children don't need yet one more thing to duck out of when being around their kids. (Yeah, I said it. bring it. I'm a witch, not a fluffy bunny-land airy fairy.) It's the Magic Tap Automatic Drink Dispenser. Battery operated.

One of their selling points is that kids can help themselves now.When you have kids, you accept certain responsibilities. One of those is pouring the heavy stuff or cleaning up a spill when you let them pour the heavy stuff. Kids don't really need to be helping themselves to things all the time and you don't have to give them a sense of independence by letting them get their own damn drinks. They need supervision at certain ages. And if they are too small to handle a gallon container of something, then they are still at the age of supervision! Why do I care? Because this is more plastic crap that breaks and gets tossed when it doesn't work right and uses batteries which also just get tossed when they are spent... and really it's for nothing. This is not a problem. If it is, maybe you have to think about some things long and hard. This is simply a company trying to make money. They don't care about your home life. They just are trying to make a buck. Yay, America. Of course they are entitled, but it doesn't mean we have to fall for it.

Yes, I can see where it would be handy for people who cannot lift, or have arthritis, but look at this thing. It IS plastic crap. It can break anywhere so easily, or it'll be a pain to clean out when necessary so into the drawer it goes, then into garbage... and of course they are SO nice and cheap that if it breaks, just buy another, no problem! It's just part of a bigger picture. Solutions to problems we don't really have, and things we have dealt with more or less in an OK manner for years.

If the bottles are too big for little kids, handle it for them. If you don't have time, don't have kids. (Again... "witch." Sorry. It's long been my philosophy that if one doesn't have the time needed for kids or finds life too inconvenient with kids... don't have kids.) If the bottles are too heavy for some people, buy smaller amounts, or have someone (if you can) split them into smaller containers that are easier to manage. (Yes, I have more sympathy there, arthritis runs in my family and I realize certain things become difficult.) But please let's stop with the As Seen on TV crap that addresses made-up issues. We aren't helpless. Our predecessors got along without these stupid things, and just because we think of them doesn't make it "Progress." One of their claims: "If you're tired of lifting large containers, do yourself a favor and buy these." Notice a marked increase in obesity out there in the world? How about we DO lift heavy stuff for a change?

Think.

And actually, if your kid is standing there with the fridge door hanging open in the hot Summer while waiting to fill up a glass of plastic-encased high-fructose corn syrupy crap, you got more than just the one problem. Just sayin'.

Symptom of a bigger thing. Yeah, I picked on the Magic Tap, but really it's all these damn things out there. These stupid products sell millions and then end up where? You guessed it. Ever Ever Land. Part of which is right smack in the middle of all of our oceans.

Bring Back the Zippo

There are so many disposable things in our lives that we don't need to be disposable, it's mind-boggling. For example, take the easily-ignored lighter. There are a lot of smokers out there. I used to be one of them. How many times does it happen that they have lost the lighter? Constantly. How many lighters do we go through in the course of, say, a year? 3? 6? More? We have them left over from my smoker days and from when we have found them in the laundry room, etc. We use them to light candles and incense. They get lost or get used up, and thrown away they go. As I've said before, though, away isn't really away.

Cigarette lighters collected by volunteers;
 picture by D. Tsukayama,  Midway Atoll

Remember Zippos? Those awesome metal refillable things that just plain looked cool back in the day? Why did we abandon those in favor of plastic? Plastic lighters can be dangerous. I had one explode in my car once, as it sat too close too being in the sun as my car was parked at work. Plastic shards everywhere, lighter fluid smells. They go through the laundry. They end up in the ocean. They leak their toxic fluid into the ocean. They never go away. And for what? Convenience? Because we cannot be bothered to refill Zippos?

Here's what REALLY funny: It's very hard to buy the necessary lighter fluid. This I know because I was fond of using refillable lighters. They make it very hard to purchase that stuff. Because it's dangerous. I find that vaguely ironic, because I find the plastic lighters far more dangerous in the long run. Is that why people don't buy Zippos? Because it's too darn inconvenient to buy the fluid? That has to be the reason, because overall there really can be no other excuse. They have a lifetime warranty so it's not like it breaks and you are SOL. Pure, sheer convenience, I guess.

Look, almost all of us have need for lighters at one point or another. Lighting candles in the dark when the power goes out, camping, fireplace, pilot lights that went out... why not have something of quality that will last, rather than cheap dangerous plastic that ends up in the Midway Atoll of all places, in the stomachs of baby albatross??? What a great cool neat thoughtful green gift: a Zippo. I went to their site after thinking about this, and WOW! I have to say, I was even more impressed. What a great story they have, and what cool products. I don't get on people for smoking. It is what it is. I DO get on them for littering or for the plastic lighters. Matches are preferable, for that matter. But, yeah, let's please do away with plastic disposable lighters. There is nothing redeeming about them. We do not need them. The planet doesn't need them. They are bad-bad-bad. 

I will buy no more. When I find need for a lighter, I will purchase a Zippo and keep it forever. Better yet, I will find an older one and keep it forever. Those things rock my world.

I didn't intend this to be a commercial for Zippo, but it sure turned into one. HAH! This IS an indictment against plastic lighters. Please: buy no more. And think about gifting something to that candle enthusiast you know... a personalized pretty lighter is really a very thoughtful gift! Designed. Engraved. Whatever! They will think of  you every time they use it, too! Get one for the smoker in your life. Even if you do not approve of their choice to smoke, at least you can help them be a little better about it! Right? 

And when you go to Zippo's site, please tell them I sent you. Not that I'll get anything, just... well, they should know. Hah!

Who the @#*&*$^ Serves Pasta on Paper????

Do YOU serve spaghetti on paper plates? I know I don't. Because THAT would be STUPID. 


Dixie Ultra... "No Soak Through." "Look, mom, no mess, Even with extra sauce." You know what else has no soak-through? Real plates. Who sets their mother-flippin' SUPPER table with all paper/disposable products? Here's the thing: I KNOW there are people that do. I will just never ever ever ever ever understand why. Look: there is NO reason for that. At all. Throw any "reason" at me; I will refute it. 


"Set an attractive table with a full line of coordinating products including plates strong enough for even your heaviest, messiest meals, soft and absorbent napkins and fun, festive cups. All available in a variety of counts." They forgot to mention the plastic forks and spoons and knives. How is a table full of land-fill-fodder an attractive table? Because it has pretty colors on the plates and napkins? 

Can we just get back to Sense? I know it's asking a lot, but really, it is time. Can we get out of this mentality that disposable is OK, because it is not. It is not necessary, it is not OK, it is merely a little convenient, and where has that gotten us? Can we wake up? Will we? Ever? Before it's too late?

This is about more than the stupid enduring paper plates. This is about attitudes toward the world and toward life in general. It's about what we teach our kids. Values. Respect. Respect for the Earth, respect for each other. THAT is sorely lacking in today's society. Is it because we have becomes more concerned about ease and convenience than with actual concern for our surroundings? 

With this pervading attitude, PEOPLE have become disposable. We should all be very, very concerned about that. And we should look around. And we should SEE for a change.  

Simply Potatoes. Oh, and Chemicals.

"Stop peeling, dicing, and boiling. Start enjoying."

"We here at Michael Foods know you are FAR too busy with every little thing to be bothered to actually COOK anything, you know, because it's so important for you to have a family and children and don't have the time or desire to actually do things the right and healthy way, so here: be convenient. We'll help. Don't pay attention to the additives and crap we have to put in it to make them stay white and fluffy and whatever, because we're really just potatoes. Simply Potatoes. In plastic. We say the little trays and the cardboard are recyclable, but they aren't, really. Because the cardboard has crap on it and the tray is a #7 that doesn't have an audience yet to call to be recycled. But it's OK. You're busy. Shh shh shh... don't think about the fact that our products have an expiration date, and that there is no way all of them will ever get sold all by that date, because we make enough so that no one ever runs out, and then all those packages of Simply Potatoes are now Simply Garbage. In plastic. It's OK. We know you don't have time to cook REAL potatoes. You know, those thing that really ARE simply potatoes? Potatoes? And potatoes that go bad can be tossed in the compost. Oh... that's right, we forgot, you don't have time to compost either. It's OK! Just buy another bag of our product! Because with all that time you are saving by not actually cooking real potatoes, you can... you can... well you won't be composting, ha ha ha! Oh, chuckle. You can spend more time in front of your computer ignoring your kids, who are in front of their computers! Or, oh hey, shopping for more stuff you don't need to try to make yourself happy because you are soooo empty inside! There ya go! Ain't progress grand? We love it. We love your microwave, and, shucks, we love YOU, because we know you are hooked on the ease of our products, and our shareholders are so happy. They love you, too. Keep on keepin' on, you!"

Do I blame Simply Potatoes, Crystal Farms, A Michael Foods Company? Of course not. I blame us. Someday, maybe we'll open our eyes.

Maybe.

Waste Not, Want Not

Feeling the need to continue on the theme of waste.

Is it because we have too much? If things were a little more scarce, would we care more and waste less? If things were as precious as they really should be? If things cost more? The fact that we CAN walk in to any store any day mostly any minute and have everything at our fingertips, is that making us somehow feel that it's OK to waste? (Cuz it's not.) Are things too easily accessible, that we have forgotten the value of all things? And things we break are so cheap and replaceable, we end up not taking care of them as much. Eh, so what, go get another.

Are we clear?

Having a massive surplus of *stuff* is a sign of prosperity. We're doin' OK. The economy is crap, people don't have jobs, but darn it the shelves are stocked so we feel safe. We aren't going to run out of stuff. Warm fuzzies. Comfort. Having just enough isn't good enough. Wanting and not being able to have... very bad. That would be a sign that we can't have everything we want when we want it, and being left wanting means we are not safe. We're not OK. Kids crying because all their immediate needs aren't being met. But we're adults. We can realize we are OK even if the sheer inconvenience of a store being out of my favorite dressing should happen to me. I'm OK. I move on. Is it ok for us to stop making SO much stuff? So we stop consuming and wasting so much stuff? Can't just enough, be enough?

How did we get here? Is it the commercialism from the television era telling us to want more more more? If we can't have it all, then our lives are empty? I'm reminded of the show Hoarders, which, for some reason, and no reason that I can explain to my husband, who just shakes his head, is my favorite guilty pleasure to watch. We know why people hoard: they are trying to fill something they cannot inside themselves, and usually avoiding FEELING something. It's like, "Oh no! I'm about to feel bad about this! Quick, buy something so I feel better! Safer! I don't want to have to feel bad!!!" Stuff makes us feel like everything will be OK, but it's not. It's not OK. And you know what? It's OK to NOT be OK. We get past it. Shit happens. Our worlds will not end.

Will gaps or a few empty shelves in stores make us uneasy? Pop our little bubble of the American idea of progress and prosperity? Make us think we're in Russia? That collapse of modern society as we know it is upon us? I don't have an answer. this is just something that has me thinking. Can we stop to think about it? We have, buy, consume, waste too much. How do we stop it? How do we get back to simple frugality that made sense and was so much better all around? Do we need to have some large-scale disaster fall upon us to make us change?

I hope that's not what it takes, but I just don't know what else has to give. I just don't.

All I know is we have to start treating things, all things, as much more precious than we currently do. Does that mean higher prices, so we don't dare waste as much? Do we waste because stuff is cheap and we can?

Can we stop?

Garbage In Garage Out Part 2

A lot of people seem to have a deep concern for the safety of their garbage. Either that or they are too nancy to deal with a little mess. When grousing against plastic bags, the inevitable question comes up... what about my garbage can?

Yes. What about it?

Well, I need a bag in there to line it.

Why?

Well... it's...

Gross?? It's garbage. Of course it's gross.

Well don't you...

Nope. I know I can rinse the wastebasket out with very little water if I need to. And ya know what else? I bet you don't have a shortage of bags from other places... chip bags, bags from frozen foods... if you have to be so dainty about what you are throwing away, why not save those for the messy times? Are we SO worried about our garbage that we have to make sure it is tied up and saved for all posterity in plastic in the landfills? Not everything you throw away is gross and messy, so why not assign those to smaller bags? Or if you MUST line your can, why not just dump the garbage out of that into the bigger can, if it's not so terrible?

Ohhh... wait, yeah that's right, I just realized. That might be inconvenient. Because, see, then you would have to bring the can out then bring it back IN to the house. You couldn't just run it out on your way to somewhere. It might take foresight, and planning, and some thinking. That just won't do. What was I thinking.

The water used to rinse out your can a little every so often (I hear the argument already) is nothing compared to the water used to make/transport the bags. So you are reusing ones from the store. How about not ever getting them from the store? The little bit of water used to rinse the can (reasonably, mind you, and I know, that too is a stretch) is nothing compared to disgusting amount of plastic floating in the ocean. And sh*t's not breakin' down in landfills, because we have to protect our garbage at all costs by confining it to plastic bags. Look, the garbage pick-up NEVER touch the stuff anymore; y'ain't protectin' THEM from anything. And the truck don't care neither.

And the title here and in the other? My dad used to write GIGO on the calendar every Thursday. We asked him why. It was to remind him to take the garbage that was in the garage in cans down to the end of the driveway. Garbage in garage out. That was before wheels on cans, when, bless his heart, he had to lug the METAL cans down one at a time. Talk about inconvenient. I feel like maybe we made less garbage in those days.

We were thinner, that's for sure.

Garbage In Garage Out

Just as I was sitting here planning to write a blurb about garbage, a commercial came on that stopped me with my fingers over the keyboard.

Yes, never fear, no worries, your problems with your garbage are over. I know, it was scary there for a second, it was touch'n'go. But you're good now. Hefty has the answer. BLACK garbage bags. Yes. I know. It's about time. Here's their spiel from a marketing sheet: "While stainless steel is the bigger trend in appliances, black is a bigger deal in trash cans, said Lisa Smith, marketing manager for Hefty waste bags, primarily because black cans are less expensive than stainless steel or chrome. Consumers also find black bags look better with stainless steel than white ones, she said. Delving deeper, Hefty discovered trash also looks better, or at least less messy, in black bags."

Our trash looks messy. Mmm hmm. Definitely a problem. I know my whole day is just ruined when my garbage is too messy. And when my garbage bag doesn't look good with my $100 designer garbage can... well just shoot me now. I may as well not take up space on the planet if my garbage is too messy or my trash bags look bad. 

Really? Is this what we are now? From their site: "Keep your kitchen garbage out of sight and out of mind!" Some of the other quips are even worse. This is just more of the same problem: don't do anything about ANYTHING, just hide stuff. It's OK if I don't see it. One of their "customer quotes" actually says, "My kids don't see when I throw their art projects away." Really??? Sigh. I almost don't know where to go with that. That's a selling point? I'm farther gone than I originally feared, I guess. 

How about instead of hiding our garbage, we instead do something moderately constructive with our waste? How about we make an attempt to NOT make a lot of mess throw so much away? How about we compost the messy stuff instead of putting Time Capsules of Junk in landfills? Oh I know I know, we don't have TIME. We're too busy working too much and having warped priorities and running off to soccer games and ballet and way too many activities for kids who really just need to have being-a-kid time because we're trying to live our failed existences through them because we feel so unfulfilled with what we've done and therefore have to live vicariously through them so naturally we are way too busy to make sure they have a planet to actually enjoy when their kids are trying to live although it might not matter too much because with all the cancer running rampant in children we'll have much bigger problems by then so sure it's OK well and fine now to go ahead and hide that mess instead of dealing with it because we're pretty much doomed anyway.

Wow. And that was all before my second cup of coffee.