The Best, the Worst, and the Whatevers…..

   Leaving the current year and moving into 2010 means a host of “Best Of…” lists and other retrospectives. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll post links to the ones I’ve found interesting.

      For starters, the Christian Science Monitor posted a guest blog on the Best Cookbooks of 2009. It’s quite mouth-watering.

      Not to be the lone list on this topic, the folks at Epicurious also published a list of their TOP 10 COOKBOOKS FOR 2009

      The Los Angeles Times moved past the stove to create a list of the
 best non-fiction for 2009. Lots of ineteresting reads……..

Fr. www.flickr.com

 

The Biggest Loser…..

          In my efforts to live in a more eco-conscious manner, I’m happy to report that my household paper usage has  reduced by at least 80% from last year!

Back in the spring, I started keeping track of just how much paper towels were actually being used. Before then, my daily usage was part of the 300 tons of paper that went to landfills daily. It used to be common to go through a roll and a half every week, and I didn’t give it a second thought.

It’s a big shout-out to report that the roll of paper towels in my kitchen lasted 3 months [!] until shortly after the 4th of July. How did it happen?

        By using more cloth items that were washable, and paying more attention to just how much was being tossed. For instance, paper napkins were always part of my meals at home. But when I replaced them with cloth napkins, that brought the  disposable  rate way down. Those packs of 500 paper napkins are no longer on my shopping list.

      Also, whenever I did take-out, items like paper napkins and plastic cutlery were asked to be omitted. That was less waste for me to bring home

      BTW, a second roll  of paper towels lasted even longer–from July 7 to November 11–that’s a shade over FOUR months! Going on a “paperdiet” has worked wonders.

       Speaking of even more waste reduction, the same thing has occurred with that infamous garbage by the kitchen door. Now, there’s been more recycling over the last ten months–about 2:1–instead of plain ole’ trash. Taking out trash nearly every other day has slowed down to almost once a week, along with having a tall kitchen bag  of recyclables every 4-5 days.

          This is a far cry from the days when everything went into the trash bin. My mind immediately separates what items go where–paper, cans, proper plastics, boxes, etc.

 

Merry Greenness, Happy Re-Use!

       As we celebrate the 2009 edition of Christmas, let’s not forget to give ourselves the gift of Conscious Celebration.

       Getting caught up in the frenzy of food, family, and festivities all the more reason to step back and take a look at what we’re doing. “Green” holidays are not just about spending money or sweeping up fallen pine needles. It’s an awareness of our impact on the earth, and how we can make beneficial choices.  A few suggestions to keep our minds in a
 green-set: 

1. When picking up folks over the next few days, consider carpooling. It reduces gasoline consumption.

2. Avoid plastic wraps, most of which contain PVC, which has been linked to harmful environmental carcinogens.

3. Use less paper disposables as possible–go for reusables like glass, metal, fabric, etc.

4. Buy less food. Cook what you’ll actually need, not dishes baed soley on “tradition.” At least 28 billion pounds of food are wasted each year, according to various sources.This is not about over-stuffing oneself with too much, and/or overly rich foodstuffs.

5. Plan ahead for tasty leftovers. Look up suitable recipes in advance [count on about a week's worth to be on the safe side], so your culinary efforts won’t go down the drain or waste. disposal.

6. When possible, recycle those gift bags. Plus, much of that gift wrap can also be repurposed for other smaller gifts, or turned into a craft project for the kids.

7. Donate leftover food to a nearby food bank or a shelter; it will be appreciated.

     December holidays don’t have to put a hole in your wallet or sense of well-being for the earth.

 

Nothing To Play About

         The sound of a banging screen door has been traded in for the silence of a computer or video screen by many kids as they choose staying inside for leisure. The words “Go outside and play,” is heard less and less by youngsters. Resulting in obesity, lack of connection with nature, and unstructured down time, today’s kids are missing out on what was once a  routine aspect of childhood.

        The is a significant week, for lack of a better term, for “play activism”, a movement to return outside play to children. Starting last Sunday are Play Days, sponsored by KaBoom!, a national advocacy group, asking families to take part in free, fun-for-all family activities that celebrate outdoor play.
With hundreds of events held in communities throughout the U.S. , people have come together in support of this cause, even in some cases adding a service twist, like taking part in an improvement project. You have just 2 more days to get involved in yur area, so go to the website to see what’s offered, and start gearing up for next year’s activities. Even after this campaign ends, it’s a great time to get involved with their other campaigns of putting the “play back in the backyard.”

        KaBoom! does an admirable job of building areas such as bike parks, and playspaces, and creating various initiatives that provide opportunities to bring communities and families together. 

         Another weeklong event, Take A Child Outside Week, overlaps, which started on September 24, running through September 30.
This program is an outgrowth of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and is held in conjunction with other partner organizations all over the nation. Like Play Days,  this is a week dedicated to participating in local activities that focus on the outdoors, and not games like soccer or football.

          An interesting example might be to start a nature journal with your kids, as they draw and write about their observations in the natural world around them.  There’s no hard and fadt rules; just have fun and SEE. 

         Or what about just going outside with a blanket, and really noticing the night sky–the infinite number of stars and constellations? Being on the inside takes away this simple sense of wonder at the vastness of the universe, and our onnectiveness to it.

         Another related source of green for families, is  Green Hour, part of the National Wildlife Federation that’s an excllent source of ideas, and resources about unstructed play and an interaction with the world of nature.  

        This quote from Richard Louv, author of the acclaimed book, Last Child In the Woods, is quite fitting in shifting our thinkgin about kids and nature:

  “Nature— the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful— offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young with something so much greater than they are; [ed.] it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity.”
—Richard Louv

Get outside and KEEP playing!

 

On the Menu

      Thanks to a growing national conversation about food as a political and social issue, there are a number of projects, initialtives, and efforts to get real food on the tables, and improve our gastronomic literacy. I’ve noticed a greater demand for more viable, sustainable alternatives to overpocessed, cheap, “just-fill-you-up” fare.

      Three notable alternatives have caught my attention that are worth sharing:

      1. Eat-Ins. An eat-in is a group of people gathering in a public place to share a meal. It’s a fabulous resource to get to know one’s neighbors, build commuity, and make a powerful staement.  Slow Food USA, the global grassroot movement,  has sponsored over 300 eat-ins nation-wide on Labor Day for the “Time For Lunch” campaign.  September 7, 2009, has been marked as a Day of Action. You can still get involved by going to the website,  and  signing the petition to get real food back in the schools. The goal is  20,000 signatures for this petition, which has gone beyond the goal!  These events are intended to send Congress a message–to provide U.S. schoolchildren with REAL food–making the time to invest in children’s health, and teach them lifelong habits about nutrition.
This is good for the kids, good for the farmers, and mostof all, good for the planet.

 

An Extraordinary View of the Ordinary

     Like a fragrant cup of tea amidst a sea of coffee , the televison show
“CBS Sunday Morning” definitely stands above the crowd. Marking its 30th season today, I’ve long called it the “most civilized 90 minutes on tele-
vision.”

       When it debuted back in 1979, the Internet was a distant dream, laptops were cardboard box tops on my lap, gas was around $0.85  a gallon, and social networks, like Facebook, didn’t exist. My radio was playing “My Sharona” and “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People, and electronic chess was a hot item.

        Just like the indisputable sun image  it uses for a logo, it’s constant, comforting, but fortunately not predictable. As a weekend  newspaper carries more than hard news, CBS Sunday Morning delves into other areas, such as the performing arts, along with topics usually not covered on Sunday morning political chatfests. A  wide assortment of veteran correspondents and commentators have exposed  and informed me  to a world that lay beyond my front door over the years.

       Beginning with the late Charles Kuralt as presenter for the first 15 years, and now with Charles Osgood in the role, this show has quietly and steadily brought us so many interesting people and ideas just like a print edition Sunday paper. Standing beside a glass “totem pole” of story headlines, viewers are treated to a buffet of interesting topics for the next hour and six minutes [not counting commercials]. Watching it  became a pre-church Sunday ritual with me  over twenty years ago, and I was hooked, videotaping many segments and clips  for my growing personal “videography”. For me, the show was a pulse of the times, chronicling what made us happy, sad, or simply curious about.

     Over those years I’ve become “friends” with cast members like Nancy Geist, Rita Braverman, David Edelstein, and Bil Geist,to name a few,  looking forward to their stories and commentaries.  When film correspondent John Leonard left this world last November, it was like losing a well-loved family member. Charles Osgood’s piano playing and sprightly poetics never fail to delight, and the 60-minute visual meditation of nature at the show’s end is a fitting closure.

      Whenever I hear the familiar trumpet fanfare, named “Abblasen,” it’s like a clarion call to another weekly adventure reflecting and reveling in what’s going on around us. Just like I can count on the sun coming up every 24 hours, I’ve counted on CBS Sunday Morning to start my week with optimism and relaxation. Bravo to another 30 years!

 

Celebrity Foods?

Here’s a wonderful quote from noted author, Barbara Kingsolver, who said this in The Essential Agrarian Reader: The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land [2003]:

“Our gustatory industries treat food items like spoiled little celebrities, zipping them around the globe in luxurious air-con-ditioned cabins, dressing them up in gaudy outfits, spritzing them with makeup, and breaking the bank on advertising, for heaven’s sake. My farm girl heritage makes me blush and turn down tickets to that particular circus. I’d rather wed my fortune to the sturdy gal-next-door kind of food, growing what I need or getting it from local, you-pick orchards and our farmers market.”

I’ll go with that “gal-next-door food” ANY day!

 

Flag-Waving Words

         While Saturday marked the official 233rd birthday of our nation, an interesting item crossed my desk about another, more recent major shift in the country’s pulse.

          Kadir Nelson’s book, Change Has Come, although intended for young readers, is a wonderful celebration for all ages on  Barack Obama’s ascent to the Presidency. This award-winning illustrator captured the spirit of those history-making moments through  powerful drawings that complemented key phrases from several of Obama’s speeches.  He explains what drives him to bring words to life in in this brief, yet dynamic video..

        This volume is definately a nice, big surprise in a small package–it’s poised to become a tradition for these times.
    Change Has Come, by Kadir Nelson, Simon & Schuster (2009)
Available at: Amazon, Powell’s Books, and bookstores everywhere. 

 

You Can Wear Just One!

       Being a product of a Catholic girls’ school, wearing a uniform every day was just part of the deal. I  didn’t have to think about what to wear, and it wasn’t until after graduation that I really got influenced in the mode of wearing 365 styles/365 days.

       This uniform thing gotten a new twist from a Brooklyn designer with her launch of The Uniform Project  in May.  The goal for Sheena Matheiken is to wear only one dress for one year, as a statement of sustainable fashion–making do with what we already have, and as a yearlong charity fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundatin, a grassroots group supporting education in India.

      

A sample of variations

Actually, for laundry reasons, it’s seven identical black dresses, that can be accesorized in an array of different accessories, like scarves, vests, leggings, etc.  It’s a simple tunic style, that can be worn either front or back, made from a breathable cotton that can span seasonal changes. Monetary and fashion accessory donations are gladly accepted, so go to the website for more info.

       As of June 23, over $2,700 has been raised. Way to go, Sheena!

 

Wisdom Thoughts

“Dream lofty dreams,
and as you dream,
so shall you become.

Your vision is the promise
of what you shall at last unveil.”

                                   —John Ruskin