Friday, January 11, 2008, 19:44
Going Green
Is everyone as confused as I am?
I heard a lady on television the other day, the author of a book called "The Green Book" about "going green" and saving energy, telling people to refill their plastic water bottles.
A year ago, no one was talking about "going green." Now it is THE buzz word -- or words, I suppose I should say. No one was talking about reducing carbon footprints a year ago, either. But in the past year, global warming or climate change or whatever you want to call it has come to the forefront, and the media is reporting on all aspects of it more and more.
As I understand it, the book the woman has written is filled with suggestions about saving energy and also contains statistics about how much you can save if you do this thing or that thing, like refilling plastic water bottles.
"Refill your water bottles from the tap. You will save plastic. You will save money. Tap water is more regulated than bottled water anyway," she said.
Hmmmmmm. . .
A while back, I heard Dr. Zorba Paster (On Your Health; Public Radio) tell people *not* to refill their water bottles with tap water because when plastic bottles are re-used like that, as the plastic begins to degrade, plastic molecules leach out into the water, and then you are ingesting plastic, a known carcinogen.
Personally, I don't know if the issue should be saving plastic or saving money anyway. I think the issue should be bottled water.
Why do people buy bottled water? Don't they know that beverage companies go into an area, drain an aquifer and then leave? Don't they know that the bottled water industry, in and of itself, is harmful to the environment because of the damage to the aquifers? Don't they know that once an aquifer is dry that it will take years and years, if ever, for the aquifer to refill? Or maybe they simply don't care because it is not *their* aquifer.
Granted, if you live in a city with chlorinated water, it might not taste all that good. But you can always drink 100 percent fruit juice if you are thirsty.
Then again, it seems to me, if you live in an area with horrible tasting chlorinated water, that would be one very good reason to drink bottled water purchased from the grocery store. It's the other people who have perfectly good tap water who buy bottled water that ought to be rethinking what they are doing. They are only buying bottled water because they have been influenced by beverage industry advertising.
But you see, that's the problem for American consumers. We are bombarded with conflicting information from all sides and from different sources, some from advertising, some from "experts" who are supposed to know what they are talking about. They all contradict each other, and they contradict themselves from time to time as well. One day you will hear, for instance, that eggs are very bad for you because they will raise your bad cholesterol. And the next day you will hear that eggs are very good for you because they contain lutein, a nutrient believed to help prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
No wonder I am confused.
The lady on television who wrote the book also talked about using canvas shopping bags for groceries instead of the paper or plastic bags that come from the store.
Randy and I use plastic shopping bags from the store for garbage bags. In the past three years, we have bought only one or two boxes of garbage bags. The grocery bags work well for the bathroom garbage container and other little garbage receptacles around the house. We also use the plastic feed bags that the horse feed comes in for "big" garbage bags in the kitchen.
I think I would rather use the plastic bags from the store (and the feed bags) for garbage rather than buying boxes of garbage bags every time I turn around.
After all, if I reuse plastic bags for garbage bags, I know I am unlikely to ever run out of garbage bags. Which is not the case if I have to buy garbage bags in the store. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, January 10, 2008, 14:41
On Thin Ice
I knew this would happen.
The weather warmed up enough earlier this week to turn the snow on the paths down to the barn to ice. Usually this occurs in March, but here we are in January with icy paths.
Monday and Tuesday the paths were especially treacherous because it was warm enough for a thin layer of water on top of the ice. I could barely stand up, and not only was getting down to the barn an adventure, it was even more of an adventure trying to get up the path on the bank coming from Isabelle's pasture. It was a matter of taking one step forward, sliding back two steps and then taking another step forward. I thought I was never going to get to the top.
Fortunately, I managed to stay on my feet while I was carrying buckets of water and hay for Isabelle. Falling down with hay in my arms wouldn't be too bad, but I would just as soon not slip and fall while carrying a bucket of water. Spilling water would only make the path that much worse. And then, too, I would probably end up soaking wet.
Cold again
Wednesday morning the temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and the colder temperature kept the paths from being quite so slippery. They are still covered with ice, but the colder air eliminates that thin layer of water.
One good thing, though, is that the driveway isn't *too* bad. Usually when the weather warms up in the winter like this, the driveway ends up icy as well. But the driveway is actually clear enough now that we stand a pretty good chance of driving out to the road when we need to leave.
Free to roam
Because the temperature was so cold Wednesday (with a high of 23 in the afternoon), the snow froze. I was able to walk along the snowshoe trail Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon without snowshoes. Pixie and Charlie were delighted to discover that they could run anywhere on top of the frozen snow. Charlie broke through sometimes here and there, and so did I if I tried to walk off the trail, but little Pixie could run wherever she wanted. And she did.
When Randy came home from work a little after 5 p.m., Pixie was way out at the other end of the hayfield a quarter of a mile away, snooping around. The days have gotten just enough longer now that I could still see her out there. At Christmas it is fairly dark by 5 p.m. Pixie had been snooping around for at least a half an hour by the time Randy came home. I thought maybe she would hear the truck and would come on her own, but she did not.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and drew a deep breath. "PIXIE! HERE PIXIE" I bellowed.
My little Shetland sheepdog heard me and immediately came on the run.
"What's Pixie doing way out there?" Randy asked.
"Snooping," I said. "She can run anywhere on top of the snow now. I went for a walk on the snowshoe trail and the dogs discovered they can go anywhere."
It has been a long time since Pixie has been able to snoop around out in the hayfield. Ever since we got that first seven inches of snow early in December, she hasn't been able to snoop. The snow was too deep for her.
Of all the dogs I have ever known, Pixie spends the most time sniffing. Several years ago when I went out for a walk with the dogs, Pixie found a good smell to investigate. I was curious as to how long she would keep at it, so I just let her sniff. Charlie and I continued on our walk around the neighbor's pines, and when we returned 15 minutes later, Pixie was still in the same spot sniffing. I concluded then that she is a dedicated sniffer and wants to be sure she accesses every particle of scent that's available.
Screech Owl
I was down in the basement Wednesday evening cleaning out kitty litter boxes when I heard the call of a Screech owl. Since the sound was loud enough for me to hear it inside the house, I concluded the owl had to be in one of the trees out in the east side yard.
When I went upstairs, I told Randy I had heard a Screech owl and that it must be out in the yard.
My husband smiled and pointed to the laptop. "It was the computer. After reading your blog, I wanted to see if I could find some sound files on the Internet."
He found the calls of the Great Horned owl and the Barred owl, too, but the sound of insects in the foreground on the recording was so loud, it was difficult to hear the owls themselves. The Screech owl, however, was very good.
LeAnn R. Ralph