linzzay’s Recent Comments

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  I can't escape the mercury!

  The industrial processes that have polluted our food are the same as those that polluted Onondaga Lake.

  Caustic soda and hydrochloric acid were produced as part of Allied Chemical's operations.  Caustic soda was produced at the Main Plant, which operated from 1881 - 1986.  Mercury was used in the plant's operations beginning in 1930 and continuing until closure.    Hydrochloric acid was produced at the Willis Ave plant, which operated from 1918 - 1977.  The mercury cell process was used here from 1947-1977.  Allied Chemical, now known as Honeywell International, dumped the byproducts of these processes, including mercury, directly into the lake and their wastebeds along the lakeshore.

  Today, Onondaga Lake is a Superfund site. How many other Superfund sites are being created from the need for these products to create high fructose corn syrup today?On The FDA sat on evidence of mercury-tainted high-fructose corn syrup posted 9 months, 4 weeks ago 13 Responses

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  "Recycling is a hassle"???

  Sometimes I forget that there's places in the country that think this way still.  I blame not the people, but the recycling agencies who obviously have failed to do their job.  

  "Operation Seperation" started in Syracuse, NY back sometime in the 80s around the same time I was sipping milk out of a carton in my elemenarty school lunchroom.  They did a great job educating the public about what could and could not be recycled, and targeted kids in the schools early on.  We told our parents.  At first, a lot of people did think it was a hassle.  20 years later, with ongoing education and streamlining of the process, so we don't actually have to peel labels and only need one bin for paper and cans etc, the campaign has a new slogan, "Blue Bin It!"  They've kept up the efforts (which pay for themselves, incidentally) and are extremely successful.  Now, the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA, pronounced like "Okra") has problems convincing people not to take their free Blue Bins with them when they move away!  

  My parents, for example, just moved to North Carolina, and were very, very happy they brought their blue bin with them when they moved.  For whatever reason, only paper is picked up curbside where they now live.  Everything else they have to take to the local transfer station.  Talk about a hassle... but you know what?  They do it.  They can't imagine not doing it.  OCRRA did its job.  

  In my household, we recycle everything we can, products of early indoctrination by OCRRA.  We're lucky enough to have one housemate whose parents live in Herkimer County, which accepts a wider plastics range and styrofoam for recycling.  We keep a can in the garage for these items and when her parents come to visit, they take the items back with them.  It requires a bit more sorting than usual, but it ends up being one housemate's chore, and they get out of cleaning bathrooms.

  Now, how about the rest of the country?  We keep exporting people from CNY who know how to recycle - when's the rest of the country going to put the systems in place to let them do that?

  Recycling isn't a hassle, it's a privilege.  And once we stop thinking of it as a hassle, and instead as part of the daily routine, it's as easy as breathing.On When you get fed up with separating trash, make a quick-and-easy Spanish-style tortilla posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago 11 Responses

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  GladRags rock my world!

  I've been using GladRags for eight years now and was astounded to hear they only last for five, because mine are going strong! Admittedly, that's also in combination with a Keeper.

  Re:  the "ick" factor.  I'll admit, I found it pretty weird to start with.  But not for long.  A lot of the ick factor, I found, came from the societal associations I had with the plasticky pads.  The smell, for instance, I've noticed was far worse with plastic pads... and because you had to throw them out, the association that's made in the mind is dirty pads = gross waste.  The weird coagulating chemicals or whatever is in those pads didn't help.

  Washing out GladRags is the same as washing a cut, or washing out sheets that you might have accidentally bled on.  Women for generations before us did much the same, using rags that they would wash... it's where "being on the rag" comes from as a saying.  It's my blood, and I found myself -literally- getting in touch with it.  I learned a lot about my own flow, and was fascinated by the pretty bright red color in the water that you never see in the pads.   The shower trick's a good one, as is a bucket under the sink (change the water daily though or it gets funky - hand washing them immediately really is better)

  I'll admit I draw the line at washing out my housemates' GladRags though.  There is something to be said for keeping one's bodily fluids to oneself.

  So what I'd say is, if you're going to try them, give them a chance.  Give them a few months, work through the ick factor, and you may find yourself not only significantly reducing your impact on the environment, but making peace with your period.

  I can't even contemplate going back now - the disposable ones are so gross!On A review of eco-minded feminine products posted 1 year ago 46 Responses