The Crib Decision

Aside from our baby's name, the bed she'll be sleeping is probably one of the biggest decisions we'll have to make.

I know people agonize over lots of stuff, like whether to breast feed and how long and what kind of birth plan to have, but those decisions were easy for me because I am so dead set on what I want already. But the name? We're still working on that and the crib, too. But I am really close to finally pulling the trigger and buying one. It's exciting. It means I'll soon have something to measure to make the baby bedding and the room will take shape. I want to have it done in time for my parents to see when they come to visit. I don't know if that's possible but it's my hope.

One of the easiest things about the crib to decide was getting a convertible crib that will grow and expand with our child's age and needs. Convertible cribs start out as cribs then become toddler beds and finally full size adult beds. Ideally, this is something she'll be able to take off to college.

I looked at a lot of cribs in the $200-300 range at places like Overstock.com, Walmart and Amazon and after reading the reviews have decided I'm going to go for a higher end crib in the neighborhood of $800.

The ones I found in the lower price range invariably received complaints that the wood dented, chipped, scratched and showed tooth marks easily. Apparently they are all made of pine, a soft wood. What's the sense of buying a convertible crib if by the time she's old enough to use the bed it looks like crap?

So I decided to look for convertible cribs that are made entirely of hardwood and I even found a company that makes cribs out of discarded rubber trees that are no longer useful for their sap. Now, rubber plantations are a bad, bad thing for places like Indonesia where plantations are being put up in orangutan habitat so it would not be my first choice of hardwoods from an environmental standpoint. It's hard to make the argument that the business doesn't in some way support the economy of rubber plantations.

I would definitely prefer some other kind of wood like oak or maple but I haven't been able to find any convertible cribs made out of domestic hardwood. I am still looking. If you know of any, let me know.

I just refuse to get one of the pine ones if there's a chance it will just end up at the goodwill then the garbage and leave us buying another bed later and result in spending just as much money if not more in the long run. However, if you think that's more environmentally sustainable, I'm all ears. Seriously.

Unusual Finding: Elephants live longer in wild than zoos

More often than not, a life in captivity is associated with longevity. Not so for elephants.

A new study has found that wild elephants outlive their captive counterparts — dramatically so.
Researchers found that the life span for wild African elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park is about 56 years. However for elephants kept in European zoos it was just 17 years.

As for the more endangered Asian elephants, wild elephants In Myanmar (formerly Burma) live about 42 years compared with Asian elephants in European zoos who live only 20 years.

According to the researcher, Georgia Mason of the University of Guelph in Canada, there are about 1,200 elephants in zoos. Half live in European zoos. The research involved primarily female elephants because they make up 80 percent of the zoo population.

Asked why captive elephants don't live as long, she noted that zoos usually lack large grazing areas and the elephants are often either alone or with only one or two other elephants that are unrelated. This marks a significant difference compared with elephant lifestyles in the wild where they roam large grassy areas and live in groups of 8-12 relatives.

In addition to the shorter lifespan in captivity, zoo elephants also have a 2-3 times higher infant mortality rate. Mason isn't sure why.

I have to admit that although I love going to zoos to see the monkeys and apes, who often have good enough habitats that I don't leave with a sick taste in my mouth, I have a totally different experience viewing some other animals. The big cats, bears and elephants are among the worst kept critters in zoos in my observation. Their habitats never seem to be adequate for maintaining their mental health, let alone their physical health. I think it's just their greater need to roam that is responsible. Perhaps primates can much more easily adapt to a more sedentary life.

For the record: I'm with the Polar Bears

I don't know if you've been following the news lately, but if you have you'll know what I mean.

Questions about recycled packaging - Answered!

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm really into going green and hope to use only recycled packaging, however some people may not like it and others may think it looks messy and unprofessional. Do you have any ideas or references into making recycled packaging more "professional"? I already use some recycled food boxes but my family thinks it looks sloppy. Please help if you don't mind.

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I use food boxes in my packaging all the time — including McDonald's happy meal boxes. I use them and cereal boxes, as well as other packaged food boxes that use cereal box style cardboard (as long as the food is dry) - even soda pop cardboard. I flatten them, then cut 2 pieces exactly to fit inside the envelopes I use to ship my cards. I put the cards in between the two pieces then inside the envelope. The envelopes are 100% recycled paper - Kraft paper - that I buy from envelopemall.com.

When I'm not shipping something that is flat, I re-use the smallest cardboard box I can find to do the job — or a bubble mailer that I re-use. Sometimes I reinforce those with cereal box cardboard.

I have never had any complaints - in fact - I have received some really nice compliments about my packaging. I think people who buy the things I make are eco-friendly to begin with so they appreciate it. I do put a statement in my etsy seller's profile that I use re-used packaging, but I don't go into detail.

I really don't take to heart the concern some express about needing to have frilly packaging or making things look 'professional.' The vast majority of people when asked say they think what really matters is the content and they don't care what the packaging looks like as long as the item arrives safely.

That doesn't stop me from wrapping a monkey figure or a handmade box in tissue paper or raffia ribbon though! When I do make an effort to wrap a purchase like a present, I always re-use material — usually from Christmas and birthdays. Fortunately the vast majority of people who buy presents for me use non-Christmassy wrapping paper and tissue which makes it easier to re-use.

I also use butcher paper to wrap packages - you can get it from your local newspaper for cheap or even free. At some point, the paper on the huge rolls they buy is too short to run through their press, so they accumulate 'end rolls' of unprinted newspaper. You can call them and ask if they give away or sell their end rolls. Crumpled, it makes nice padding for items that aren't heavy. You can also buy rolls of Kraft paper to serve the same purpose. It's also inexpensive.

For heavy items like pottery, you still need bubble wrap or those plastic peanuts - I save all of that type of thing I get so I can re-use it. I've never had to buy them since they are so ubiquitous.

Basically, if you save all packaging material you receive, you can re-use almost all of it. The only things I throw straight in the recycling bin are materials that are soiled, stained beyond all recognition, or crushed to the point of being useless. For re-sued packaging materials like boxes and bubble mailers that have been around the block and don't look pretty, I wrap them in Kraft paper off a roll.

Biodegradable Plastic Bags

Before too long the days of "paper or plastic" will be history. Cities all over the word are making the bold move to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags. I think this is a smart move.

If people won't change their behavior - bringing their own reusable bags - they have to be given no other choice. Giving people an "incentive" of 5 cents off for bringing their own bags clearly does nothing to change behavior en mass.

Plastic bags are now on the market that are made of corn and fully degrade in 120 days. They are made by Trellis Earth, a company based in Portland, Oregon. The bags have already made their way to grocery stores there, with The Daily Grind being one of the first to adopt them. They're on Hawthorne street by the way, if you want to see what the bags are like. Or, you could go to the homepage of Trellis Earth and watch the video.

If I never see another plastic bag washed up on a beach, stuck in a chain link fence, way up on the tips of the highest branch of a tree - the world will be a better, and cleaner place.

The corn-based bags cost stores about 6 cents each, compared with 1 cent for the petroleum-based bags.

If communities won't go for an all out ban on petroleum-based bags, there is another way to change consumer behavior really fast - grocery stores can start charging people for the plastic bags consumers use. I'd charge 6 cents per petroleum based bag, 1 cent for the corn ones.

And, while I'm at it, you know - If I Was President - I would establish a national bottle bill.

Here's the letter I sent the company:
Dear Trellis,
I am busy writing a blogpost about your bags, and while doing so I was forced to think about my own relationship with plastic bags. The only time I routinely use plastic bags is for dog poo clean up while out on walks around my city. I looked through your inventory and saw that the only size bag you make that would fit the bill is not the right dimension for this job. I have a Newfoundland who leaves monster dumps, so it's important for me to have the right dimensions. Please consider making bags that are 6 inches wide by about 12 inches tall. I know many other eco-conscious dog owners like myself would be happy to buy and use them!
Thank you,
~ me

eMagazine - An great source for environmental news & tips.

Recently I discovered an online news source that covers exclusively environmental topics. Included on the the website are links to things I find useful, such as information about Presidential candidates' track records with regard to supporting (or not) laws that make good environmental sense.

Previously, when I worked for the National Audubon Society after college, I became aware of the League of Conservation Voters. The eMagazine has a nice article up now (EarthTalk, this week) that compares the candidates' green ratings from the LCV. If you want to vote for a candidate who is at least a decent prospect for wielding green ideas from the executive office, it pays to check out what the LVC has to say. After all, according to psychological research: Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. I don't trust what people say; I trust what they do.

This week eMagazine carries a story about how CA and 15 other forward thinking states sued the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) when it denied a request from CA to waive the federal law that makes pollution control the domain of federal regulation. I'm with those 16 states. Although you can hear me chanting "states rights" from time to time under my breath, I do see the advantages of federal law. If it weren't for squashing states rights advocates in the 1860s, our country might still condone slavery in Alabama.

As for tips, eMagazine offers advice on how to tread more lightly on the earth. Leave no footprint... or ought we say leave no carbon footprint now? Hey, I'd love to be more carbon neutral, and I think all things considered - since I don't drive more than once a week and also heat my house to 65 and cool it to 76 in the summer - I do a pretty good job already. But I could do better, and so could you.

Replacing inefficient appliances is a good way to go. This article explains how to choose new ones wisely - without breaking the bank.

Hint: If you can afford to exchange only one kitchen appliance, choose the refrigerator. It's the only one that is on all the time, and its efficiency has improved the most of all appliances.

Two other features on the site that are useful:
1) Ask an environmental question. They get answered in the magazine's weekly online
EarthTalk column. Want to know where to go to responsibly get rid of an obsolete
computer? Just submit your question.
2) An online directory of environmentally themed products and services. If you operate a earth-friendly business, you can sign up to have your business linked here. If you're a conscientious shopper looking for earth-friendly gifts, browse the listings - or hop on over to check out the green gifts Recycled Ideas offers.

Instead of buying products that aren't already recycled or at least recyclable, choose products that are both!

And now comes another plug for smart green gift choices for your family, friends, and coworkers. Recycled Ideas offers a range of cute, clean, attractive gifts that are made from high post-consumer recycled content: bookmarks, bird cards, even felt monkeys made from recycled plastic bottles.

Video of Squashed House

I have so much footage that I am still editing, so this is a brief bit of the squashed house on my block and the tree that still blocks our alley.

Walla Walla Rocked by Wild Winds, Paper Barely Gets Out

Although the winds were howling when my day began, as I walked to the coffee shop where I have been creating my primate portraits, there was nothing exceptional about the day at all - not even the noticeably strong wind. It does get windy here from time to time - kicking up dust and making a mess of the town as branches and power lines fall.


Little did I know that in about 4 hours, my little corner of heaven on earth would be rocked with winds that uprooted huge trees, took down entire power poles, smashed a well-known statue on the campus of my alma mater, and caused the local newspaper (the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) to be printed by a press located in another city - for the very first time in at least 28 years.


The newspaper had talked about what to do in case their press couldn't actually print the paper, but they never had to execute those plans - until today.

As luck would have it, I was right there on the front lines, observing as the publisher whipped out his own personal credit card to buy the generator that powered up the server and three computers that would put together a skeletal paper for the day. Someone had to get gas to get it going and an extra long extension cord to power up the equipment that had been temporarily moved into the conference room. It was not by any means, a sure thing, that the newspaper would come out at all today.

That would have been unfortunate given that it was a fantastic day for local and national news.

I watched as the experts put together pages in a flash - snagging news stories and photos off the wire, formatting them, writing headlines and sub-headlines, and making sure it was all accurate. Mr. Field Notes demonstrated why he is the go-to guy for getting things done in a crisis. He is calm, cool, collected. I have to say I was impressed and proud.

I even got to play a role; I spotted an error in the headline of the story about the results of the Iowa caucus - Hillary's name was spelled with one "el." It's not that big of a deal, but when errors like that are front and center in headlines and sub-headlines, it really weakens the credibility of the paper. I also caught some minor grammatical errors on the front page.

The pages even came out on time. That is an achievement given that they had to rebuild entire pages from scratch and get them out the door and on the road to Pendleton, Oregon in less than 45 minutes.

That wasn't the only excitement in my neighborhood.

The walk back to my house got increasingly more exciting as I approached home. Away from downtown, old trees line every street and many grow well within the range to do major damage to structures.

The house around the corner from me is completely smashed by the huge tree that fell on it. The root ball of the tree blocks our alley.

Power lines are down everywhere, including the pole that brings power to our house. We will not have power for a good long time, I would imagine. The line that delivers power to, I mean delivered, swings in the breeze right over our front porch.

On campus, old trees are uprooted everywhere. They are mostly pines, but a few others of substantial size are also uprooted. The path over the campus creek to my old building is blocked by a huge tree. That pales in comparison to the damage leveled by the huge tree of heaven that stands, at half mast, behind "Mem." It fell over and crushed the most loathed piece of art on campus - the statue of the "paper clip."

Unless I go somewhere else, which I plan to do, blog posts and all etsy business will be on hiatus until power is restored to my house.

Dinner should be fun...

Great idea. Piss poor execution.

Maybe I am being too harsh, but it really irks me when I see good ideas wasted. This one has to do with the city's plan to offer curbside green waste pickup. Green matter will go in a separate container & be picked up on the same schedule as the trash. This has been offered only to people on the Wednesday schedule and now it will be offered to those on the Thursday one. Great! I love being able to take actions that make good green sense.

In this case, the city wants to collect green matter that can be composted by the city instead of having it go to the landfill. Mr. Field Notes commented on seeing the signs for the city's "sanitary landfill" on our drive home from the Westside, which I have to say, tends to be more eco-aware than the Eastside, that there is nothing sanitary about them. So today when we received a letter today letting us know that we can opt into the program, I immediately thought GREAT! Yes, that makes good environmental sense and if the city is going to make it easier for its residents to adopt eco-friendly behaviors, I am all for it.

HOWEVER -

If you charge people $200 a year to haul away their leaves and what not, who but people who have disposable income are going to sign up? It would cost me far less to buy a bin and take it to the city's composting area than that. That's not what they want people to do though. It would also cost me less to set up a composting area on my own property (we already have).

I am sick and tired of eco-friendly behavior costing more than eco-aversive ones. If you want to change behavior, you've got to make the desired behavior cost less than the undesired one.

Sixteen bucks a month is too much. I don't have 60 gallons a month of green waste even in green waste heavy months, like November when most of the trees shed their leaves.

Here's my solution -
Charge people a fee for waste pickup based on the weight of their waste.

That way the cost of throwing away something is relevant. It would give people incentive to use less, use what they have longer, and contribute less to the landfill. If you hit people's pocketbooks, they will change their behavior. People drive less when the price of gas goes up. If gas cost what it ought to, people would choose other methods of transportation. Of course, with my weigh the trash solution, you would have to figure out how to police people who would cheat the system by throwing their waste into someone else's bin.

Puzzle of the Mystery Tree - Solved!

This fall has been a truly terrific fall foliage season. The colors of the leaves are every bit as vibrant and glorious as those I remember from New England.

What's more, I live in the middle of a huge arboretum and never really realized it until I started making regular rounds to pick up leaves for my embossed paper cards. My favorites are the ginkgo, the heart shaped leaves from the redbud trees, the rounded leaf white oaks, and my new favorite - a tree that produces one of the funkiest leaves I've seen.

I had collected some of the leaves before for my papermaking without knowing what type of tree they were from. I didn't really care too much... until the other day when Mr. Field Notes drew my eye to the tree's unique seed pod. That piqued my interest.

The seeds radiate out from a central stamen-like structure making the whole pod look a bit like a flower. But that's not where the tree's name comes from. It produces yellowish-orange flowers that look like tulips.

I used a website to help me identify the tree it comes from based on just the leaf, but that was a bit tricky because the tree is evidently rare enough to not make the list of the tree I.D. tools that appear on the first page of google.

After a diligent search, I discovered my mystery tree is a tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

It's the largest member of the magnolia family, but it is also called a yellow poplar. Go figure. It's native to the eastern part of the country. I've found a few of these trees growing here, and judging by the size of the ones I found, they've probably been growing here for as long as the town has existed.

Mr. Field Notes wanted to plant some seeds in our front yard when he learned more about the tuliptree, but then we found out the soil condition in our front yard is not at all likely to sustain it even if the seeds succeeded in germinating. So, instead, I am going to experiment with making them in to paper!

But first I am forcing myself to revamp my behemoth of a dissertation into two short articles.
Believe me, I'd rather be making paper...

This is the mini-card I made last week (you can see part of the seed pod in the upper right hand corner of the photo):

Blog Action Day: Save the Earth-Don't Have Kids

Thanks to my blogpal Sciencewoman, I was alerted to Blog Action Day's topic: the environment.

As I started to write a comment on her post, I realized I had a lot more to say than could appropriately be considered a comment. Plus, my comment may have come off as a bit snarky.

So here goes. I have some opinions about how best to help the environment through small actions, but I also have a big one in particular that I haven't talked about very much. It's not bound to be a popular one, but I think it is the morally right decision to make. It's the issue of having kids - reproducing.

One of the best things you can do to reduce your personal impact on the environment is to not have kids. If you make the choice to not reproduce, you won't create a kid who grows up in this throw away American culture. Americans burn through the most natural resources of any group of people in the world. Why would you want to add another one to the planet? It's selfish.

Think of all of the stuff you buy and then throw away when you have kids. Thousands of diapers. Toys, clothes, bedding, bottles, etc etc. Then there's all of the extra driving you will do to cart them to and fro.

You are not off the hook if you adopt from another country. You're still raising the little one in this consumer culture. Sure, you can do your best to instill your values, but even if your child grows up to consume less than you do, you have still added another resource consumer to the planet when you didn't have to.

There is no way you can produce a child and have no added strain on the environment.

I don't blame anyone for wanting to have kids. As an evolutionary psychologist I understand the fundamental drive to reproduce. But we are not solely creatures of blind desire, we can make choices that aren't in the best interest of our genes.

I'm not the only one who thinks Having A Child - Even One - Is Environmentally Destructive and there are certainly people who passionately and vehemently disagree with this position, as can be seen here.

Clever Art Made From Recycled Things

A sampling of killer art - all made from recycled objects - that I found on etsy.com:




From GeekGear, to the right, a working desk clock made from an old computer circuit board and floppy disc. Sweet. And a steal at under 30 dollars. GeekGear also makes nifty miniature notebooks out of floppy discs.








To the left from KillTaupe, a picture frame made from recycled cans of Squirt soda - perfect to show off the little squirts in your life.









From retrograndma, below, a purse made from a research methods textbook. What a clever idea!





Need an environmentally friendly alternative for a school notebook? Below, check out the notebooks ivylanedesigns makes from cereal and other packaged food boxes.






To the right, Dudley the camera dog, from Artsy.

This is exactly the kind of art that adorned a restaurant called the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, NH. Seeing these whimsical pups reminds of the ambiance of that place. The decor is really the reason to visit, unless of course you fancy greasy homefries.

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And finally, below, an idea I wish I had thought of (because I certainly have lots of the raw materials hanging around) - envelopes made from old calendars.


These ones in particular are made by jessprkle from an old Gorilla Foundation calendar.

An Inconvenient Truth

Polar bears are drowning.
It rained in Antarctica.
There will be no glaciers in a decade in Glacier National Park.

These are some of the inconvenient truths I was exposed to while watching a Melissa Etheridge video that promotes Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth, which I have not yet seen. And, I don't feel compelled in the slightest way to get in my SUV drive to go see it either. That's not because I don't care about the environment - I certainly do. It's just that I'm already in the choir so preaching to me won't change by watching the movie. I did visit the website and counted my personal carbon impact by aswering a few questions about my energy consumption here. I came in 33% below the average. How well do you do?

Now, if the movie actually has concrete take home suggestions for personal action after an impactful call-to-arms message for those who need a kick in the pants, I would watch it. But don't tell me something I already know. It'll only make my anger and resentment grow. I might come away feeling hopeless and helpless rather than empowered.

At this point, I've heard the message and I want to know what I can do to reduce my personal impact on the income that my family has. I add the income part because if you look around, it actually costs something to make immediate green changes to your lifestyle that take a while to 'pay off.'

For instance, we could sell our house and have a totally green one built. Geothermal heat pump. Solar power. Composting toilet. Xeriscape yard with organic garden. It would be within walking distance to work, groceries, banking, the vet, doctor, and the post office. I'd have a second car that is a hybrid for trips to visit family and get out into the remaining wilderness. That's my dream life.

For now, I resolve to think globally and act locally.

Here are a few things I already do and that you can easily do too in order to minimize your impact:
1. Shut off the lights you don't use.
Be an Energy Ant. You should install efficient fluorescent bulbs in high-use spots.
2. Turn up the thermostat in summer and down in winter.
Put in good insulation and seal cracks around windows, doors, in the attic. Open the windows at night and shut them in the morning to trap the cool air inside. Don't run the AC/heat while you aren't home.
3. WALK or bike everywhere you can.
It takes longer so plan ahead. You may have to trade driving to your gym for walking to work, getting groceries, etc. It's excellent exercise. If you have to drive, plan ahead so that you run all of your errands in the order that amounts to the least driving. Better yet, combine with a friend or more so you use one car rather than more. Incorporate walking into your family together time.
4. Water at night.
There's no reason to let the sun dry it up before it makes it into the ground.
5. Install a low-flow showerhead.
We found one for less than ten bucks and it didn't reduce the water pressure. It does the opposite.
6. Reduce the amount of stuff you buy.
Use the things you already have longer. If it's broken, fix it first.
7. Recycle everything you can.
Buy products that come in recyclable containers. In my town curbside recycling only takes #1 plastic. I haven't heard of a curbside that doesn't take glass so buy products that come in glass (peanut butter, jam, etc) rather than plastic you can't recycle.
8. Re-use stuff.
You can clean out jam jars and use them for drinking cups. You can use yogurt cups to start seeds for your garden. Dust with used dryer sheets - they are fantastic for picking up pet hair. Wash your windows with newspapers. It really works. Seriously.
9. Use Seventh Generation products.
I love their lavender dish soap. They've even got a line of products for your baby. Think about the environmental impact of diapers. We've had the debate about cloth vs. disposable and we don't even have kids yet. With cloth, you've got tons of washing and chemicals. With plastic you've got plastic, the stuffing, and landfill accumulation. Which is better? I have no idea but I will figure it out when the time comes.
10. Ask other people what they do to conserve.
You'll get ideas and you'll force people to think about the impact of their actions.

On that note, what do you do to reduce your impact on the environment?

No Dirty Gold Campaign

Don't trash your old cell phone - recycle it.

That's the advice Alasdair provides over at his blog where he highlights a much needed organization (recyclemycellphone.org) that can hook you up with a way to safely dispose your old cell phone so its contaminants don't pollute the landfills. He's even got his employer on board with the mission.

Little by little he's doing gorillas a favor.

He's already recycling unread and unsold copies of newly released books that get sent to his company along with hoards of promotional material they expect his company to disseminate. When the books don't sell, he puts them up for sale to the lowest bidder at an online clearinghouse for books. The proceeds go to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the United Way.

By recycling cell phones, pressure may be reduced on coltan mining. Coltan is a mineral used to make cell phones. Guess where it's mined? Deep in the heart of darkness in the Congo. Roads in - miners in - guerillas in - dead gorillas out and prime habitat polluted and destroyed for all.

The cell phone recyclers have teamed up with the No Dirty Gold Campaign that seeks to make gold mining less horrible.

They say that the tiny band of gold around my finger created 20 tons of mining waste to produce. Holy crap. That's a lot of cyanide and mercury. And that's not to mention the impressive diamond nearby - for all I know it's a conflict diamond.

What's so impressive about a diamond anyway except for the mining?

As I look at the tokens of love and commitment on my finger and my nearby cell phone that I use to stay in touch with loved ones, I can't help but to reflect with new eyes on the impact these things have.

And, I am reminded of a favorite line in a song from Sarah McLachlan:
love-- a tight, thorny thread that you spin in a circle of gold

From an EP standpoint, it's crucial to have a signal of commitment and monogamy to deter others from trying to poach your mate. Yes - mate poaching. It's a named phenomenon that happens often enough for it to be a serious problem. Would be adulterers are well known for slipping off the symbol so as to increase their pool of potentials, so we know at some level that rings do signal availability.

We obviously didn't have rings of gold to signal a bond in ancestral times, so what did we do then and why not do that?

It would probably be a whole lot more environmentally responsible.