Great Vid (thanks Kaysh)

Ok. This vid is awesome. Please watch it. Courtesy of Acacia.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Cold and Ganglely

For those of you who don't know me (which is wishful thinking considering the only people who read this are a few dear friends. Thanks guys.), I'm what one would call SORTA TALL AND RATHER GANGLELY. I have these arms that always seem to be sticking out a bit too far from the cuffs of my shirt. God bless the 3/4 length sleeve. I wasn't too surprised when I could find little at the Goodwill long enough for these go-go gadget arms (do people over 5' 5" donate to Goodwill?), and what I could find was not going to cut it in the blustery winter of NYC (especially when I consider 70 degrees a bit chilly). So, I turned to my rules: buy as close to the source as possible, buy local, buy quality, and buy natural. Thus, I found myself at a local outdoor shop surrounded by gear...none of it fitting all my requirements. The sturdy coats were all made in China, and I couldn't bring myself to purchase one. Here's what I ended up with:

1 Polyester insulator. It's made in El Salvador of US materials. Yes. Plastic. I know. But it's made by Patagonia, which has a RECYCLING PROGRAM FOR FLEECE and the like.

1 100% Merino (New Zealand) wool insulator made in China. Yeah wool! Boo China.

1 Polyester Fleece made in Canada, eh.

All will last and when layered are quite cozy (and the two insulators have those little key holes for the thumb so my arms are never left out in the cold!). On especially brisk days, I throw a pea coat shell over the top (both made in China, only one bought after "Rachel Goes Global"), wrap a scarf, throw on a beanie, and put my head into the wind.

I wish I could have bought American made wool layers, but that just wasn't an option. I did what I could and now own QUALITY ITEMS that will get the job done for years to come. Huzzah!

Happy New Year!

Go Planet.

Good News and Bad News!

First some good news: I'M BACK! I took a hiatus (from blogging, not saving the planet). Yes. I know. Good news for whom? Well...for me.

More good news: my eco foot print (http://www.myfootprint.org/) is now down to 3.3 PLANETS. Pretty sweet, eh? All due to me moving to NYC (more on this below). Improvements are still necessary, but I was pretty happy to see the change.

The update about the "eco-ness" of my new city with the bad news interspersed: I'M OFFICIALLY A NEW YORKER, and as such, I sold my car and now live in an apartment with a roommate. All of which have helped lower my Ecological Footprint to 15 acres. Of course, the move has also prompted the need for a lot of new items. Boo. Acacia and I (shout out, Roomie!) are doing pretty well with the second-hand finds (silverware, bread machine, table), but there's still a large influx of new items (IE: new material, lots of packaging, and most of it made in China). We're workin' on it, though (emphases on work. This savin' the planet thing ain't easy). Craigslist is pretty rad. Then there's the new job and new climate, meaning new clothes (i've never needed slacks and collars before...ack! and yes, I've lived in the cold, but I've never had to walk a mile or two (depending on the day) in it). On top of that is the air time. I've racked up quite a few hours flying now that I'm not located in the destination point. That'll slow once the holidays are over...till next year. I've heard about programs in which you can cancel your emissions by buying trees or donating to renewable energy sources (or something like that). I'll look into it.

Immediate goals: diet! Somewhere along the line (I think it was when my body was crying out for protein in the middle of Japan) I REGRESSED INTO QUITE THE CARNIVORE. Less meat it is (see blog "Buying Close to the Source). Also, getting fresh ingredients when a trip the store is a half day venture is so much work (especially when you're limited to what you can carry for roughly 8 blocks and a subway ride). Man...more effort. *heavy sigh.*

I'll finish here. I could go on for days, but for the first post in over 2 months (shoot...I really am a slacker), I think that'll do.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Go Planet!

Remember when...

I don't get why they don't air this anymore. Well...maybe I do. You should watch it anyway.

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/499/

Go Planet

Artistically Speaking...

Artist Chris Jordan on the Colbert Report:

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=111474&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/celebrity_interviews/index.jhtml&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true

Web site (particularly "Running the Numbers"):

http://www.chrisjordan.com/

I don't have much to say. That's sorta the point. You just have to see it.

Go Planet

Already Failed (and it took less than 24 hours)

So you know that self-righteous blog I wrote last time? Yeah, well, it didn't even take 24 hours for me to be bucked off my high horse.

I was in an airport (more on my air travel at a later date) waiting for my flight when a guy started chatting me up (and no, he wasn't that scuzzy guy trying to pick up chicks. I've met him, and this guy wasn't him). We probably talked for 20 minutes, in which time I had numorous oportunities to be like, "and I'm a budding environmentalist. It's something I'm really passionate about and you should be too. Here's my blogspot." The closest I got was telling him about the National Geographic article I was reading on carbon emissions and how we're killin the planet (read it. also look for the article on bio fuel in the same issue http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-10/carbon-crisis/carbon-crisis.html). Yeah. No one said it'd be easy.

Go Planet

GOALS UPDATES:
Goodwill and I are compatable. 2nd trip: successful.
I had my first sewing lessond today. Tricky, but not impossible.

Super Power Environmentalist

Recently I was out to tea with a friend of mine, telling him all about my new found environmental passion, when he threw a question my way that stumped me: "What can I do--me and only me--that will make a noticable difference?" Said friend is a long time environmentalist (recycling, buying local, donating to organizations, etc), but not being able to see active results from his efforts has gotten to be frustrating over the years. While he has no intention of stopping his eco ways, he said that if I could find something that one person could do to MAKE A VISABLE DIFFERENCE, he'd be thrilled.

As we age, we must come to terms with certain facts of life: the New Kids on the Block aren't cool, our parents did in fact have sex to have us, and there isn't a city of Fraggles living underground with a WICKED COOL THEME SONG. I, however, refuse to believe that the old addage "one person can make a difference" falls into that category. My friend wants an answer to the order of: if you (and only you) burn oak wood from precisely 3-3:15am during a full moon in February, it releases a powerful substance that actively patches the ozone so that the next day you can go down an SPF. Alas, such a solution doesn't exist (if it did, we'd have seen it on the Today Show), and if it does exist but has yet to be discovered, I would not be the one to discover it (said discovery would clearly be made by a Fin). So I began turning my brain on something a little more abstract.

What if as environmentalists, we defined it as part of our mission to turn as many people into environmetalists as possible? Thus, by definition, they would then be turning as many people into environmentalists as possible exponentially. Now, in my experience, one can generally break environmentalists down into two groups: the in-your-face-chip-on-her-shoulder-turn-you-off-by-her-brashness kind, and the I-don't-want-to-be-rude-so-I'll-recycle-my-bottle-and-hope-you-see kind. What if we merged the two to make a SUPER POWER ENVIRONMENTALIST--one who is persistant, yet polite? What if instead of telling people about our dogs, schooling, jobs, family, etc. when they ask about us, we told them about something that actually concerns them: the environment? What if instead of shoving our opinions down peoples' throats or being afraid of peoples' judgements we spoke passionately, knowledgeably, and sincerely about something we're passionate, knowledgeable, and sincere about?

That's some big-ass talk. I know. But we need some big-ass change.

Go Planet!