What's a Canadian doing in North Carolina?
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Wow, I am messed up!
¶ 9:38 AM 0 Comments
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¶ 9:38 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Ouch…how do I get a smaller foot?
This article in the Toronto Star today worries and hurts me. For a lot of reasons.
Seriously, how do I get a smaller foot?
The other day I was browsing Ford’s website. Apparently as an employee of Media General, I can get an employee discount on new Ford cars. So, I looked up the Escape Hybrid. It’s the only hybrid Ford makes, and I’m currently driving the “regular” Escape model. With 2 giant dogs, we need a rather large vehicle. But I feel guilty driving it. The mileage sucks; I’d rather drive something a lot more efficient. So, with need of a large vehicle (and domestic, hubby won’t buy foreign cars, even if they’re made in the States) I looked at the Hybrid. The employee discount is a couple thousand dollars. We could trade in the Escape we have now. That puts the price of the brand new Escape Hybrid still at more money than I can make in a year here. Not to mention sales tax, and property tax (yes, vehicles are charged annual property tax here in North Carolina!).
I’ve also considered just buying a little sedan of some sort, something that gets better mileage than the Escape and my hubby’s 14 year old F-150. Something to drive back and forth to work, which is only a couple miles. But we can’t afford insurance on a 3rd car, the dogs won’t fit in anything much smaller than the Escape, and hubby’s not getting rid of the pick-up. We bought it from his Mother after his Pops died. Its about all he’s got left of his dad. So, we’ll have that til it falls apart I’ll bet.
So, how do we get a smaller foot? We already turn off all the mini-fluorescent lights when they’re not in use. And apparently just by switching one bulb to the mini-fluorescent, its like we’ve taken 20,000 cars off the roads. The thermostat is turned down so the heat doesn’t come on all that much (yep, its on already. Seems we’re actually going to have winter this year), and we had my car tuned up recently so I’m getting 2 to 5 more miles per gallon.
Still, I feel guilty.
Solar panels are an option. A very expensive option! More so than a new hybrid car. We’re not close enough to the river to make hydro, and I think there’s a city ordinance against windmills. Not to mention, we’re really hoping to move somewhere other than here!
Perhaps I’ll just turn off the light and the computer monitor and go sit in the other room to watch hockey with James. Its something, right?
Source ¶ 8:51 PM 2 Comments
On average, every person on Earth needs 2.2 hectares, but the planet has only 1.8 hectares of capacity. That means demand is 25 per cent greater than resources.
…
This time, the Emirates' average footprint is a whopping 11.9 hectares, but a small population means its global impact is small. The extravagant American lifestyle requires 9.6 hectares and that heavy footprint combines with its 294 million population to make it by far the biggest drain on Earth's resources.
China has a small average footprint of about two hectares but its 1.3 billion people give it a massive total impact, and rapid economic development is swelling its footprint.
The average Canadian's lifestyle requires 7.6 hectares, a figure that dwarfs the international average and Earth's capacity. And it continues to expand: In 1998, it was less than six hectares.
Seriously, how do I get a smaller foot?
The other day I was browsing Ford’s website. Apparently as an employee of Media General, I can get an employee discount on new Ford cars. So, I looked up the Escape Hybrid. It’s the only hybrid Ford makes, and I’m currently driving the “regular” Escape model. With 2 giant dogs, we need a rather large vehicle. But I feel guilty driving it. The mileage sucks; I’d rather drive something a lot more efficient. So, with need of a large vehicle (and domestic, hubby won’t buy foreign cars, even if they’re made in the States) I looked at the Hybrid. The employee discount is a couple thousand dollars. We could trade in the Escape we have now. That puts the price of the brand new Escape Hybrid still at more money than I can make in a year here. Not to mention sales tax, and property tax (yes, vehicles are charged annual property tax here in North Carolina!).
I’ve also considered just buying a little sedan of some sort, something that gets better mileage than the Escape and my hubby’s 14 year old F-150. Something to drive back and forth to work, which is only a couple miles. But we can’t afford insurance on a 3rd car, the dogs won’t fit in anything much smaller than the Escape, and hubby’s not getting rid of the pick-up. We bought it from his Mother after his Pops died. Its about all he’s got left of his dad. So, we’ll have that til it falls apart I’ll bet.
So, how do we get a smaller foot? We already turn off all the mini-fluorescent lights when they’re not in use. And apparently just by switching one bulb to the mini-fluorescent, its like we’ve taken 20,000 cars off the roads. The thermostat is turned down so the heat doesn’t come on all that much (yep, its on already. Seems we’re actually going to have winter this year), and we had my car tuned up recently so I’m getting 2 to 5 more miles per gallon.
Still, I feel guilty.
Solar panels are an option. A very expensive option! More so than a new hybrid car. We’re not close enough to the river to make hydro, and I think there’s a city ordinance against windmills. Not to mention, we’re really hoping to move somewhere other than here!
Perhaps I’ll just turn off the light and the computer monitor and go sit in the other room to watch hockey with James. Its something, right?
Someone recently asked if we should inform our users that monitors in screen-save mode reduce energy consumption by only a few watts. At $.105 per kilowatt hour (kwh), turning off a 75-watt monitor outside 40 hours a week saves $4.38 a month (42 kwh). This saves 750 lb. of CO2 (greenhouse gas emissions) by burning 450 fewer pounds of coal each year! Flat screen monitors consume about one third this much energy.
Some typical consumption levels for computer equipment are:
* desktop computer: 60w (watts)
* CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor: 75w
* flat screen monitor: 25w
* laserjet printer: 7.2w
Using a 120-volt wattmeter borrowed from the public library, I made a quick check of some high-profile energy-consuming items at home, revealing the following:
* 32” television set: 90w
* coffeemaker: 980w brewing, 2w warming
* microwave: 1950w
* fan: 95w on low, 125w on medium, 180w in high
* 100w-equiv. compact fluorescent light bulb: 22w
* 17” Dell monitor: 84w active, 74w blank blue, 67w blank black, 69w screen-save, <0.1w active-off (standby)
* Laptop computer: 60w active, 25w idle, 1.6w standby mode.
* Dot-matrix printer: 3w idle; 13w max
Source ¶ 8:51 PM 2 Comments
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Going Organic – Part II
As I posted a while ago, Watkins now has a line of 19 USDA certified organic spices (available in US only for now). Apparently, this is in large part with thanks to Wal-Mart of all companies. Yes, Watkins does business with Wal-Mart. As well as other large US retailers, (Target and others) as part of their retail initiative to get the Watkins brand name back out there. With larger retailers buying Watkins products to stock, Watkins can buy more, and sell at a lower price, even to direct customers through their traditional sales associates like me.
Well, a while ago, Wal-Mart decided that it wants to carry organic foods, to allow low income families the option of going organic (organics in most retail stores are pricey enough to keep a large percentage of buyers away). When Wal-Mart decides to eat healthy, that’s sayin’ something! Although, I’m really not sure how I feel about this, for various reasons.
I had read on a message board that the USDA had loosened the rules for organics just for Wal-Mart. This comment annoyed me enough to do some research, and it turns out, the rules were not relaxed for Wal-Mart, they were relaxed for other food manufacturers, like Dole:
source
Further to that, now that Wal-Mart is going organic, organic farms are getting bigger and bigger. This is not necessarily better.
source
In 10 (or less) years’ time, what exactly will “organic” mean? Who knows, now that Wal-Mart is writing the dictionary.
Good or bad news to the smaller family organic farms? Only time will tell I s’pose. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart usually. Our local doesn’t have a full grocery section. But the Super Wal-Mart is in the city plans, hopefully we’ll be gone by then. Target is also coming, so its not all bad. ;-) But for now, I’ll keep buying organics at Bo-Lo and Ingles. At $5 for a gallon of organic milk, or 75 cents for a serving of organic yogurt, its still a bit out of our everyday price range. But I still refuse whenever possible to buy products with high fructose corn syrup in them, so I buy organic cookies (Newman Os), and organic breads, and organic breakfast cereals (yep, the ones made by the biggies, who’ve apparently changed the USDA legislation).
Its all kind of bitter sweet. Sweetened with natural organic sugars, not hfcs of course. ¶ 11:39 AM 1 Comments
As I posted a while ago, Watkins now has a line of 19 USDA certified organic spices (available in US only for now). Apparently, this is in large part with thanks to Wal-Mart of all companies. Yes, Watkins does business with Wal-Mart. As well as other large US retailers, (Target and others) as part of their retail initiative to get the Watkins brand name back out there. With larger retailers buying Watkins products to stock, Watkins can buy more, and sell at a lower price, even to direct customers through their traditional sales associates like me.
Well, a while ago, Wal-Mart decided that it wants to carry organic foods, to allow low income families the option of going organic (organics in most retail stores are pricey enough to keep a large percentage of buyers away). When Wal-Mart decides to eat healthy, that’s sayin’ something! Although, I’m really not sure how I feel about this, for various reasons.
I had read on a message board that the USDA had loosened the rules for organics just for Wal-Mart. This comment annoyed me enough to do some research, and it turns out, the rules were not relaxed for Wal-Mart, they were relaxed for other food manufacturers, like Dole:
And large companies have tried to use their muscle in Washington to their advantage. Last fall, the Organic Trade Assn., which represents corporations like Kraft, Dole, and Dean Foods, lobbied to attach a rider to the 2006 Agricultural Appropriations Bill that would weaken the nation's organic food standards by allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing, and packaging of organic foods. That sparked outrage from organic activists. Nevertheless, the bill passed into law in November, and the new standards will go into effect later this year.
source
Further to that, now that Wal-Mart is going organic, organic farms are getting bigger and bigger. This is not necessarily better.
We have already seen what happens when the logic of the factory is applied to organic food production. The industrialization of organic agriculture, which Wal-Mart's involvement will only deepen, has already given us "organic feedlots" — two words that I never thought would find their way into the same clause. To supply the escalating demand for cheap organic milk, agribusiness companies are setting up 5,000-head dairies, often in the desert. These milking cows never touch a blade of grass, instead spending their days standing around a dry-lot "loafing area" munching organic grain — grain that takes a toll on both the animals' health (these ruminants evolved to eat grass, after all) and the nutritional value of their milk. But this is the sort of milk (deficient in beta-carotene and the "good fats" — like omega 3's and C.L.A. — that come from grazing cows on grass) we're going to see a lot more of in the supermarket as long as Wal-Mart determines to keep organic milk cheap.
source
In 10 (or less) years’ time, what exactly will “organic” mean? Who knows, now that Wal-Mart is writing the dictionary.
Good or bad news to the smaller family organic farms? Only time will tell I s’pose. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart usually. Our local doesn’t have a full grocery section. But the Super Wal-Mart is in the city plans, hopefully we’ll be gone by then. Target is also coming, so its not all bad. ;-) But for now, I’ll keep buying organics at Bo-Lo and Ingles. At $5 for a gallon of organic milk, or 75 cents for a serving of organic yogurt, its still a bit out of our everyday price range. But I still refuse whenever possible to buy products with high fructose corn syrup in them, so I buy organic cookies (Newman Os), and organic breads, and organic breakfast cereals (yep, the ones made by the biggies, who’ve apparently changed the USDA legislation).
Its all kind of bitter sweet. Sweetened with natural organic sugars, not hfcs of course. ¶ 11:39 AM 1 Comments
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving
To my Canadian family and friends.
I got up this morning, and made a pumpkin pie, and at the moment, I’m smokin’ a couple of turkey breasts out on the grill. It’s a wonderfully blah drizzly day. Just as Canadian Thanksgiving should be! Too bad its not snowing, that would cap it.
I’ve also got a pan of parsnips, taters and carrots in the oven. I par boiled them then put them in a baking pan with some grapeseed oil, salt and Italian pepper. James doesn’t know if he’s ever had parsnips before. Sheesh, what did his Mother ever feed him? Never had rhubarb before a couple weeks ago, and never had parsnips!
I smell all smokey. I put some hickory chips on the coals. It’ll probably take a while to cook those pieces of bird, but I’m sure gonna love it! James doesn’t like bird of course, so he’s having steak :-p Then he has to go to work this afternoon, so it’ll be an early feast. This is normal for him, but not so much for me. His family always had holiday dinners at lunch time I’m used to later in the day. But today its just the two of us, and the dogs.
And back to work tomorrow. Then it’ll be Happy Columbus Day, to celebrate the discovery of not America ;-) He actually found the Caribbean. But I s’pose if they want to continue the myth, it’s an excuse for a holiday. We need more holidays down here in the States. There’s not nearly enough.
Well, for your enjoyment, here’s an article from the Morganton News Herald. ¶ 1:14 PM 1 Comments
I got up this morning, and made a pumpkin pie, and at the moment, I’m smokin’ a couple of turkey breasts out on the grill. It’s a wonderfully blah drizzly day. Just as Canadian Thanksgiving should be! Too bad its not snowing, that would cap it.
I’ve also got a pan of parsnips, taters and carrots in the oven. I par boiled them then put them in a baking pan with some grapeseed oil, salt and Italian pepper. James doesn’t know if he’s ever had parsnips before. Sheesh, what did his Mother ever feed him? Never had rhubarb before a couple weeks ago, and never had parsnips!
I smell all smokey. I put some hickory chips on the coals. It’ll probably take a while to cook those pieces of bird, but I’m sure gonna love it! James doesn’t like bird of course, so he’s having steak :-p Then he has to go to work this afternoon, so it’ll be an early feast. This is normal for him, but not so much for me. His family always had holiday dinners at lunch time I’m used to later in the day. But today its just the two of us, and the dogs.
And back to work tomorrow. Then it’ll be Happy Columbus Day, to celebrate the discovery of not America ;-) He actually found the Caribbean. But I s’pose if they want to continue the myth, it’s an excuse for a holiday. We need more holidays down here in the States. There’s not nearly enough.
Well, for your enjoyment, here’s an article from the Morganton News Herald. ¶ 1:14 PM 1 Comments
