Hi all.
Here are some links that we've enjoyed. Now, we pass them on to you.
They aren't really "links." Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste the addresses. Old fashioned, yes.
The first is Ten Thousand Villages. If you want to buy fair trade, handmade crafts and support local artists from around the world, this is the site to check out:
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com
Want some great radio stations to listen to? Check these out:
http://kpfk.org
http://kcrw.com
For "non-garbage" entertainment, check these out:
http://www.freedocumentaries.org
http://thestory.org
http://www.themoth.org
Some good blogs to follow for news and mental clarity:
http://georgehartley.blogspot.com
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Enjoy until next time!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
And with the rain, come the ants!
Okay friends.
We've had a beautiful day of rain. Tristan and I stayed up listening to it. Our girls loved it. The next day, we woke up to trails of ants in the kitchen: ants in the sink, ants on the sponge, ants in the water purifier, ants in the coffee pot (the most sacred of items). They came in for a dry space, and from the looks of it, ironically, some water.
This has happened to us before. Last year, they came for the cat food and water. We decided that we wanted to cohabitant with them. They want food and water and shelter and so do we. So, after much battling, trial and error, we found a system. Hopefully this will work for you too, if you are willing to live with long, busy lines in your kitchen.
Around things that you want the ants to stay out of (like cat/dog food and water bowls) place laundry sheets beneath the bowls and then sprinkle cinnamon around the edges. Yes, the things that smell wonderful to us repel the army. Our cats got used to it. Every six months, when the ants come back in from the rain, and when the smell of the cinnamon and laundry sheets fade, we replace them.
Here is another, general corralling, non-killing method that my grandfather taught my mom. Say your countertops are overcome with ants. Ants, ants, ants everywhere. Take a small dish and pour either honey or sugar in it. Leave it in the corner, away from your work area. After a few hours, the ants will go to eat the sugar. They will send the message to their cohorts, and hopefully (after a few hours), you will be able to take the dish outside, ants and all.
The other option? Just leave them alone. We had some in our kitchen (and in our coffee pot!! AH!) and after two days, they just left. No food in the kitchen prompts them to make a quick exit.
Regarding trash and inventories of worldly possessions, they will follow as promised, before the new year and after finals. :)
Also, we've decided to take an expansive view of the concept of trash. This includes staying away from network television, commercial radio and other forms of media "garbage." It was pretty easy for us to undo the T.V. We've now unplugged our television and placed it under Tristan's desk. We pretty much exclusively listen to public radio and pandora. Yes, we gather around our radios at night to listen to The Story and This American Life. Tristan listens to American Indian Airwaves, Cantos Sin Fronteras, and the spanish language block on KPFK.
More to come!
s&t
We've had a beautiful day of rain. Tristan and I stayed up listening to it. Our girls loved it. The next day, we woke up to trails of ants in the kitchen: ants in the sink, ants on the sponge, ants in the water purifier, ants in the coffee pot (the most sacred of items). They came in for a dry space, and from the looks of it, ironically, some water.
This has happened to us before. Last year, they came for the cat food and water. We decided that we wanted to cohabitant with them. They want food and water and shelter and so do we. So, after much battling, trial and error, we found a system. Hopefully this will work for you too, if you are willing to live with long, busy lines in your kitchen.
Around things that you want the ants to stay out of (like cat/dog food and water bowls) place laundry sheets beneath the bowls and then sprinkle cinnamon around the edges. Yes, the things that smell wonderful to us repel the army. Our cats got used to it. Every six months, when the ants come back in from the rain, and when the smell of the cinnamon and laundry sheets fade, we replace them.
Here is another, general corralling, non-killing method that my grandfather taught my mom. Say your countertops are overcome with ants. Ants, ants, ants everywhere. Take a small dish and pour either honey or sugar in it. Leave it in the corner, away from your work area. After a few hours, the ants will go to eat the sugar. They will send the message to their cohorts, and hopefully (after a few hours), you will be able to take the dish outside, ants and all.
The other option? Just leave them alone. We had some in our kitchen (and in our coffee pot!! AH!) and after two days, they just left. No food in the kitchen prompts them to make a quick exit.
Regarding trash and inventories of worldly possessions, they will follow as promised, before the new year and after finals. :)
Also, we've decided to take an expansive view of the concept of trash. This includes staying away from network television, commercial radio and other forms of media "garbage." It was pretty easy for us to undo the T.V. We've now unplugged our television and placed it under Tristan's desk. We pretty much exclusively listen to public radio and pandora. Yes, we gather around our radios at night to listen to The Story and This American Life. Tristan listens to American Indian Airwaves, Cantos Sin Fronteras, and the spanish language block on KPFK.
More to come!
s&t
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A One Year Plan To Move Beyond Trash In Our Home
Hello to the Bloggesphere!
We would like to introduce ourselves. We are Shayda and Tristan, a married couple living in a small home in Pomona, California.
We have always been disturbed by the notion of trash, of how it is so deeply rooted in our lives and of how consumption seems to destroy everything around us. When we watched a short online movie called Story of Stuff, we knew we had to do something to change our relationship with the earth and with this thing we call "trash."
After drinking tea, and talking late into the night, we listed the small steps we had taken towards recycling, but we knew that there was still too much trash in our lives.
We dared ourselves: could we take one year of our lives and dedicate it to finding interesting, fun, and ingenious ways to move away from trash?
For the next year, this blog will document how we purchase and dispose of the things we buy. We will log all of our purchases and track what happens to them. We will try, for one year beginning January 2010, to be free from trash.
This means, all of the things we buy will either be reusable or recyclable.
We will catalogue all of our possessions, analyze their toxicity, and what we will do with them if they break or if we wish to dispose of them.
As we develop ways to reduce trash, we will post links, take photos, and share the knowledge with you.
So, here is the plan as it stands:
-By January 1st, 2010, we'll have an inventory of our worldly possessions. This will give us an idea of exactly how much we have and may influence us in what we buy in the next year.
-We will also document all the things that we are currently doing to reduce and recycle waste.
Starting January 1st, we will blog once a week with an update of purchases and a tracking of those purchases.
And for next week, we'll blog on tips to reduce waste during holidays~
S&T
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