I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a pyromaniac, but I do have a fairly intense fascination with fire. The Fourth of July was my favorite holiday even before I discovered the wonderful math of beer + barbecue = good times because I loooooved watching stuff blow up. On family camping trips, my relatives would have to force themselves out of bed long before they would have preferred because seven-year-old Mike would inevitably find the matches and set about trying to start up the campfire for breakfast.
But pilot lights? They are the enemy. I love fire, but I absolutely cannot stand the heat. Loathe it. I devolve into a whiny, sweaty ball of complaints when the temperature rises above 85 degrees. And there's always a tiny bit of heat emanating from that little flame hidden in the furnace. Slight though it may be, anything that raises the temperature more than 0.00001 degrees in the summer must be stopped, because then I'm just gonna run the A/C longer, burning up even more resources - and I'll have to buy more deodorant.
SF Editor Mike...off to tell his roommates that they can't use the oven until Nov. 1...
For some reason, for me there's always been a higher barrier to entry to composting versus, say, recycling, or avoiding plastic bags and water bottles. Part of this is that I don't have a yard; I have public park. For years, a fellow apartment-dwelling friend of mine has collected all of her compost in a large plastic bag that she stores in her freezer until she can drop it off at a city composting facility or throw it into a yard-owning friend's heap. It's smart and doesn't require tons of effort, but it's still not what I'd call easy.
Luckily, some cities are putting a lot more effort into making it even easier - in SF, for example, we not only have communal veggie gardens popping up behind and between apartment buildings, but we also have a major city composting program, where you can chuck your compostables into a green bin just like you'd throw a can into the blue recycling one, and the city will pick it up and put it to use.
-Jenifer...off to take a walk down easy street...I had the op to see the clandestine gray water system mentioned in today's Personally Speaking firsthand on Easter. The thing was pretty impressive - rigged by [Anonymous]'s dad for under $100 and a lotta elbow grease.
[Anonymous]'s mom took a shower before Easter brunch, so we watched the slightly sudsy water trickle out onto a bunch of healthy California poppies in the yard. Gray water systems: the eco-friendliest way to break the law, ever?
-Toshio...off to suds up...
We have a reed diffuser in the WC at home. The scent in the water is a pretty mild "Dogwood" that could use some fresh essential oil, and it doesn't work as well as the scented-soy-candle-and-a-match trick for squelching bad smells, but (assuming you opted against the spinach burrito at last night's dinner) it does the trick.
-Toshio...off to pull a finger...
Even better than steam cleaning your carpets? Getting rid of them altogether. It's what my parents did last year in their office and family room, replacing the decade-old off-white rugs with bamboo for a more modern look. They weren't thinking about the health benefits of doing so, but Mom has mentioned the new floors are a little easier to clean. Especially when Junior, hobbling since he tore his ACL a couple weeks ago, still spends a good amount of time chasing rabbits through the dirt in the yard, then tracking said dirt into the house.
-Toshio...off to stain a carpet...
Meet my maid: Jenifer Morgan. Alas, I've never used a maid service - that's mostly because my house is shoebox-size. But I recently considered calling someone in for advice on scrubbing out the ever-so-revolting grout mold that persists in SF apartments, even if you squeegee after every shower, scrub regularly, or take excessive pains to ventilate.
There's bleach, but, you know, I take baths in there. So my last resort before getting an eco-pro involved: whitening toothpaste. Here I come, Tom's, let's see what that silica can do!
-Jenifer Morgan...off to brush in the shower...
Here in San Francisco, the daffodils are definitely done, and even my lilacs are nearly past their prime. In much of the rest of the country, however, Spring is just starting to raise its head in shooting crocuses and melting snows and tiny buds. Makes me feel awake and alive and fresh and refreshed...
But I'm still not gonna spring clean my house.
-Heather... off to sniff my jasmine flowers...
Think the bad day-trading you've been doing out of your home office is the only thing that's been losing you money? Think again. That cell phone charger you have plugged in perpetually, that wireless printer that is always on - blue light glowing in the night - and that computer you never shut down...they are all culprits in the neverending drain on your bank account.
Unplug, people. Get a surge protector strip with an on/off switch, and click that puppy off whenever you are not in the office.
The end. By Heather.
-Heather...off to sing some "Think of Me" and "Masquerade"...
I watch America's Next Top Model, The Hills, Lost, and The Colbert Report regularly, but I've created a policy for myself: Never stay home for a TV show when you could be out.
Three reasons why:
1. Most new shows are downloadable online.
2. If the show's worth watching, it'll come out on DVD.
3. They rerun The Hills three times a day.
-Toshio...off to mourn the death of Heidi Montag's music career before it actually happens...
In the next year, I plan to do a bunch of improvements to my house to bring it closer and closer to LEED status. Among the best plans:
- Solar Panels
- Soliotubes
- On-Demand Water Heaters
- Radiant Flooring
However, for all that these are marvelous new technologies that will save the world, my house is greening the world in a somewhat different way already.
It's vintage.
Yep, at 100 years old this year, I gotta say that my house is just about the biggest used or recycled thing I've ever bought.
-Heather... off to admire my 100 year old wainscoting.
So recently, my building manager started posting rather elaborate signs in the garbage area. One actually incorporates clippings from a magazine to create a sort of stalker-esque collage. Its message is good - to summarize: Before you throw stuff away, make sure you recycle what you can. But y’know, duh.
Monographs could be written about the efficacy of sign-posting, or lack thereof, but one thing’s certain: They do stand to be misinterpreted (especially when written in the passive voice), especially when one needs to cull the meaning of the message from within an artsy collage of seemingly random imagery. From the smell of things, it appears that no one in my building is worried about rinsing out their recyclables at all - either that, or the sign is convincing certain someones that they can recycle all their trash.
-Jenifer Morgan…off to post a sign about it…
Toshio's instructions for snaking a drain:
0. The faint of heart should don a pair of heavy-duty gloves. This could get hairy.
1. Insert the plumber's snake into the offending drain, turning it clockwise as you push it down.
2. Once it's down there, switch on the water for a couple seconds to help the snake along. Keep turning.
3. When the turning gets tough, pull the snake back out and clean it off, then repeat the process until you're all clear.
The end-result should look something like this:
(Photo credit: Toshio's roommate Jon.)
-Toshio...off to drain a snake...
I have a vintage Wedgewood stove in my kitchen. Since the griddle part of the stove has a pilot light that is so excited it will burn your hand if you don't wipe down the griddle carefully, and since the oven part is almost always warm to the touch, I'm quite sure that I am wasting more energy than I save by driving a Prius (which is in the shop, since it's only getting me 27 mpg these days. Grr.).
But I love love love that stove. It is the centerpiece of my kitchen and was one of the things that made me fall head over heels for the house. I can't get rid of it.
Maybe I should see about turning down those pilot lights, though.
-Heather... off to price out high-efficiency washers...
My favorite piece of furniture is an old 50s-style wooden bar that belonged to my grandparents. It was originally made from not-so-sustainable cherry wood, but someone along the way painted it pea green (of all colors). The design made it cool enough to keep, but it was only after I accidentally nicked it that some paint chipped off to reveal the richly colored wood beneath. Well, I promptly got out some sand paper. Then some varnish remover (anyone tried a soy-based varnish remover, by the way? If so, please tell us about it in today's comments!).
Many hours later, I had a stunning piece of antique furniture in front of me.
Just something to think about if you end up browsing used furniture - there are a lot of beauts out there, waiting for you to scratch their surface.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to mix myself a drink on the bar...
Whenever I'm mid-flight and in need of a laugh, or just a little reminder of how ridiculous the human race can be, I turn to SkyMall.
Over at Pandasmash, the editors pitted some of SkyMall's best-of-the-worst, next-to-useless gadgets against what-were-they-thinking gizmos and put them all to a vote. The Championship Round's resulting two worthless gadgets? The DayClock (a wall clock that doesn't tell you the time of day, just which day of the week it is) and the Solar-Powered Bible (a steal at $149.95). At least the latter is eco-friendly, I guess.
-Toshio...off to ask "why?"...
Today's tip is the second in a series of monthly recycling tips intended to help us all figure out the nitty-gritty details of certain types of recycling and to answer some common questions.
Compared to a lot of materials, things made of metal tend to have a lot more potential for creative reuse. I love that more and more nonprofs take used vehicle donations - the cars are sold at auction to licensed car dealers or recyclers, and the majority of the sale price goes into the nonprof's bank account. Recently, I donated my old, giant, metal Power Mac to my favorite local theater company - I got more space in my house and a $500 tax deduction, the theater got a badly needed boost to its sound system. And while I normally return my hangers to the dry cleaner, I ended up bringing a few to my ballet school's dressing room so that my fellow dancers wouldn't have to pile their coats on the floor. I also just turned my beautiful old red tea kettle (which I replaced with an electric one) into a pot for a homeless plant.
Anything's better than sending things to a landfill, but recycling factories obviously use up a lot of energy and recycling pickup trucks obviously consume a lot of fuel.
All redistribution takes is a bit of thoughtfulness and creativity.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to scratch my head over what to do with that sardine can...
Bet you don't leave the shower running continuously after you finish with it. I'm pretty sure that when you leave the house, you turn the lights off and the heat off or down. And when you aren't using the oven, my guess is, you turn it off (unless you fear a spontaneous urge to bake will creep up on you at any moment).
So why, then, are we all heating up vast amounts of water at all times "just in case" we need to drain an entire, huge hot water tank?
-Heather... off to take a short shower...
When I recently tried to donate blood, I was turned away because I had "spent three or more months in the UK from 1980 through 1996." The fear is that I may have been exposed to mad-cow disease during that time, but in truth, I ate little more than cheese and crackers, Nutella on crackers, and Cadbury chocolate (with a side of crackers). And I drank tea, tea, and more tea - up to, seriously, 12 cups a day.
Why? Because it tasted good, soothed my frozen bones, helped achieve the sensory boost needed for slogging through critical theory, and was quick to make. Like supersonic quick, thanks to the electric kettle we had. Ever since, I've kind of marveled at how few people here at home use them...how loooooong we wait for that pot to boil!! It's such an effort comparatively, but electric kettles haven't always been easy to find.
I just ushered a new Breville Ikon kettle into my kitchen. Wish me luck moderating my tea consumption.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to crack open a box of crackers...
Fortunately, however, he has two little space heaters that do the trick quite nicely, without resorting to heating up the entire building with central air. There's one little baddie (heats fiercely but with one heat setting and no finesse) and one sophisticate (all oscillation and digital temperature control).
The age-old wiring in his building keeps us true to our eco-commitment to heat only one room (ideally the one we are in) at any time...if we try to run both, simultaneously, well, it throws a breaker switch and all the lights go out.
Nothing like a little incentive to go green. And light a candle.
-Heather...off to burrow into a sweatshirt to take off the chill...
She wouldn't share the juiciest bites, but here's a real, live page from Heather's journal.
-Toshio...off to reveal some dirt...
I'm guessing she probably flips through a little less than half of them, but then volume is how direct mail works. Marketing 101: She's not going to get through all of those catalogs, but bombard her with enough images of cashmere sweaters, and she'll have to have one.
Get off the catalog mailing lists, and you're bound to save some cash money.
-Toshio...off to put on a sweater...
For Christmas this year, I did the Good Biter Thing (GBT?) - I made a list of what I wanted for Christmas.
Clearly, there were many things on the list that were a bit of a stretch:
But some things were more manageable...like my plea for funky napkin rings.
Mom came through with flying colors - gorgeous, festive, red-beaded rings - a perfect blend with golds and browns. I didn't have the heart to tell her about today's tip - to admit that I also needed eclectic, mismatched, bizarre rings so that I could use them during the Christmas holiday and let my guests have individual ring designs so that they could save their almost-unused napkins for reuse. The red rings were just too perfect to tarnish with additional conversation/requests.
The way I see it? Great addition to the Christmas wish list for next year.
-Heather...off to admire a Christmas gift of garden art made from old oil drums...
Unfortunately, the Indian match industry has a bad rep for unfair labor practices. Finding an American brand isn't tough, so until matchboxes start carrying the fair-trade label, buy U.S.-made when you can.
-Toshio...off to spread some ambiance...
Clearly, those days are over. Between my Treo and my laptop and my exchange server, I'm almost never disconnected from the Internet, let alone my email, phone, or digital calendar. In fact, if it's not in my Outlook calendar, I'm probably not showing up for it.
So I find it fascinating that I am spending a great deal of time these days with people who seem to be a throwback to a previous time - planning their days in paper notebooks and scrawled on old-fashioned calendars and whiteboards. Now, this would seem much more romanticized to me if these weren't also the same people who were slavishly devoted to their iPhones and Blackberrys (hmmm... do you even change that to a "berries" if it's a brand name?), texting more in a few hours than I do in a week.
What's your game? You live your life with little pop-up phone notifications reminding you to go to yoga, or do you plot it all out on paper?
-Heather...off to schedule a meeting in my calendar (complete with an alarm notification)...
I recommend that latter, if you can bust the moves, since it means one less thing to carry around and one less plastic bottle to recycle. If you use a paper towel to dry, you can even use it as a kind of mitten until you've opened the door, then hold the door with your body, crumple the mitten, and shoot for the trash can. It's fun. Try it, and see.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to make a basket...
Even without the construction paper and brass brad contraption, I continue to uphold my duty as trash-taker-outer. Like doing laundry and washing dishes, it's one of the few tasks I actually don't mind. In a post-chore wheel world, I'm hoping I can convince the others to let me stick to the trash and forgo scrubbing the bathroom floors and vacuuming, both way worse fates, IMHO.
-Toshio...off to call a maid...
Ah, how the mighty have fallen. Now, I love to buy sheets. In fact, I'm sort of a sheet connoisseur, and a trip to the linen aisles of department stores is nearly a religious pilgrimage for me. Thus, I'm quite pleased that there are now organic options popping up in those aisles.
Kitting out a bed in fab linens and fluffy pillows is just one of those strange joys in my life - ranks up there with champagne and face cream and laundry and babies' necks.
-Heather...off to figure out how to childproof my house for my perfect nephew next week...
Do you have your snowblower? Ladder? Giant pruning shears? Riding lawnmower? Small edging lawnmower? Compost chipper? Compost bins? Chainsaw? Leaf blower? Power paint roller?
Thousands of dollars and a very full tool shed later, you kinda need to step back and reevaluate. Really? Really, do you need all of that? You're gonna mow your lawn once a week, maybe. Prune a few times a year. Paint the house every so often...
So here's a radical idea: Go meet your neighbor. Loan, borrow, buy together. That ladder you have and use three times a year? Let everyone on the block have at it when need one. Then, when you need a chainsaw to get rid of that downed tree across your driveway, you can feel just fine asking to borrow the Jones's.
Sharing isn't gonna make your roses the prettiest on the block, but it might remind you to stop and smell them every so often.
-Heather...off to borrow someone to prune my roses...
-Toshio...off to keep the fire burnin'...
Oh no. Like most things I do in my "play big or go home" life, I bought a whole house.
And it's 100 years old. (As I said to my mom: "I feel like I just learned to run, and now I have to do a sprint in the Olympics.")
In an effort to "green" the place up, I'm doing a remodel next year. In addition to putting in radiant flooring, on-demand water heating and solar panels, I'm going to be putting Solatubes in - incredibly cool "tubing" that brings sunlight from your roof anywhere in the house - even a really dark basement like the one I've got.
I'll report back once they are installed, but for now, check them out at: http://www.solatube.com/homeowner/beforeafter.php.
-Heather...off to open some blinds...
Toshio parked his posy and made like he was at the office, calmly sitting down in the midst of the madness, as if it were a totally normal place to work. Staring and chuckling and confused apprehension of passers-by ensued. Where's a camera when you need it?
But what we should have done at that moment of course was race. Next time...
-Jenifer Morgan...off to with the hope that there isn't actually a next time...
Libby's in beautiful country - all peaks and streams and evergreens - and when I was growing up, one of the town's main industries was mining. What did we mine? A pretty little substance called vermiculite - a golden-streaked shale stone that got puffy when it was heated. A stone that was soft and smooshy? Sounds like awesome insulation to me.
It sounded like awesome insulation to big business, too, and by the time I was born and living in Libby, W.R. Grace had bought the operations and was using the branded Zonolite vermiculite in housing insulation. And as a company town, we used it for other things, too - we rototilled the tailings into our gardens to help with aeration. We built a high school track out of it (nice and soft to run on). My little league fields were surrounded by the stuff.
Little did we know that the vermiculite was loaded with tremolite asbestos or that it was laying the groundwork in our lungs for something called asbestosis - a disease that is killing an amazing number of people in my hometown, a fact means I need to get free asthma tests and chest x-rays every few years.
Whenever people hear this story, they always make a leap - always wonder if the reason I am now spending my days working to make the planet a little healthier stems in part from the fact that I grew up in a town touched by that tragedy.
Truth is, I don't know. I'll never know how much it played into my desire to do what I do today. I actually don't think about it all that much, to be honest. I figure that there are a lot of people all over the world, who are a whole lot worse off than I am (or than the people in Libby are), with shorter life spans and even more terrible diseases. And given the way that people drive here in the Bay Area, I could get hit stepping off a curb long before my lungs potentially give out.
Still, when a tip like today's comes up, I gotta praise the giant strides we are making in the green world.
Eco-insulation? Yeah, sign me up.
-Heather...off to remind myself to replace my insulation with some denim stuff...
When I spent a few weeks in Beijing during the dead of winter, the long johns (worn simultaneously) were the only thing between me and an ice statue.
As a result, I completely tune out when people complain about the cold here in San Francisco. In the states, I've had to wear the long johns only very occasionally, one at a time, and lucky for me, apparently, rarely during dates.
-Toshio...off to strip down to jeans and a t-shirt...
-Toshio...off to haul some hardware...
There is one type of reclaimed art/fashion that makes me sad: jean skirts made out of former jean pants...where there is a long triangular panel (usually cut from a different color denim) patching together the former legs, usually frayed along the seams.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to stitch together my own cringe-worthy accessory...
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