Freedom through conservation
Human life is messy, and human beings even more so. Working out our "stuff" together is no easy feat. And it's made no easier by the flood of all kinds of information into our minds, too much of which pollutes our internal lives rather than edifying our personal existence. The powerful tsunami of junk info we face daily comes in the forms of advertisements, which are pervasive, continual, and … [Read more...]
Have you ever heard the term "embodied energy?" It refers to energy that has already been spent to create something. Take a box of cereal as an everyday example. Embodied energy is everywhere Inside the box there's cereal. The embodied energy in the cereal contains everything from the sunlight and water (energy) that fed and made the grain grow, to the human laborer or machinery and fuel (or … [Read more...]
Summer's here and the livin' is easy. Well anyway, summer's almost here. And what that means for lots of folks are day and weekend trips to nearby haunts. If you're planning either a road trip or to get to your vacay destination by car, you're probably still looking at your overall expenses. Gas, tolls and pre-trip car maintenance are a given, leaving you with variables like lodging, food and … [Read more...]
I love coffee. I was never one of those folks who started drinking it in childhood, or at college. I actually didn't start drinking it until my mid-thirties, when my then dear friend Amy, a total coffee junkie, got me hooked. In the ten years or so since then I've come to love grinding my own, brewing in a French press, and bypassing all the fancy coffee options for a straight Joe, with a lil' … [Read more...]
I'm a romantic in so many ways. I'm particularly attracted to some of the devices from the past that were a part of daily life. One of my real faves is the wash basin and pitcher. I think they're ripe for a comeback among the conservation-conscious, while lending a bit of the romantic lifestyle splash of which I speak. Whenever I'm brushing my teeth or washing my hands or face in the bathroom … [Read more...]
A small amount of prepared foods have been around since there were first open air markets in any of the big cities of the world. But mostly this took the form of dried meats or already ground spices. And you brought your own cloth sacks. It wasn't until the mid 18th century that more prepared and packaged foods were available, and then, only to households that could afford them. But just as … [Read more...]
