Comments estark has made

too sweet!

I don't know why most American beers are so dang sweet -- some I can hardly stand to drink; I generally prefer the European beers for their lack of stickiness and tendency to not cause headache. You definitely missed out on Pinkus -- it's excellent.On In our latest tasting, organic beer comes of age posted 9 months, 1 week ago 10 Responses

we need population controls

Far too many people using way too much energy. Besides soiling our own nest, we greedily dig our own graves and the graves of other innocent beings. No other animal on the planet would do such a thing, but we have become so anti-natural that it comes easily. Very sad. On World heads for 'water bankruptcy', says Davos report posted 10 months ago 31 Responses

A real environmentalist won't eat animal products

Why? To:

-Save massive amounts of water - 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water for every pound of beef you avoid;
-Avoid polluting our streams and rivers better than any other single recycling effort you do;
-Avoid the destruction of topsoil;
-Avoid the destruction of tropical forests;
-Avoid the production of carbon dioxide (Your average car produces 3 kg/day of CO2. To clear rainforest to produce beef for one hamburger produces 75 kg of CO2. Eating one pound of hamburger does the same damage as driving your car for more than three weeks);
-Reduce the amount of methane gas produced;
-Reduce the destruction of wildlife habitat, and
help to save endangered species
-Reduce welfare ranching.

more info: www.earthsave.org
On Umbra on homegrown meat posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 33 Responses

cut vs. tear

Yumm! I'm going to try the mortar & pestle method because I hate the sound of my processor and because it's more natural. I'm wondering though, about tearing the leaves with a mortar & pestle. The reason we tear salad greens like lettuce is to minimize the amount of moisture that results from breaking veins, not the other way around. Cutting lettuce leaves with a knife, mom told us, cuts into the cell walls and releases more moisture, leading to a soggy salad. So if the point is to release basil leaves' flavor, why wouldn't you want to cut the leaves? I'm not sure how cutting "blocks their veins from releasing their flavor."On When the basil plants get out of control, reach for the mortar and pestle posted 1 year, 2 months ago 4 Responses

disposal

The article neglected to discuss how to dispose of partially used bottles of nail polish -- both the chemical-laden types and the new ones mentioned. Much more important than how they apply and look is how they are disposed of. No matter how "safely" you dispose of them or any other human-made toxin, they end up in the earth and subsequently affect living beings.

I like the natural nail idea.
Here's one idea from Natural Beauty at Home by Janice Cox:

Natural Nail Polish

    1 Tbsp olive oil
    ½ Tbsp powdered white clay

    Mix together into a smooth cream. If too thick, add more oil. Massage a small amount into nails and cuticles. Wipe off excess and buff lightly for a soft glow.
On A five-fingered review of less-toxic nail polishes posted 1 year, 6 months ago 12 Responses

Choose biodegradable bags

The obvious answer to this is to use biodegradable bags or reuse plastic bags that you find or from recyling bins, as sje333 mentioned.

But we need to address the insidiously dangerous issue with plastic (polyethylene) bags in general: they are everywhere and they're a disaster to ecosystems. They're in landfills and in the oceans and other waterways; most are not recycled and they never go away. According to Californians Against Waste, 19 BILLION plastic bags are used annually in California alone and only 1-4% are recycled. Furthermore, recycling plastic bags is difficult and not energy efficient. Thousands of animals die every year due to bags. Wild birds get entangled in them and die deplorable deaths and it's estimated that 100,000 endangered sea turtles and marine mammals ingest them and die as well. The problem is atrocious. Resuing plastic bags is good, but they still end up in landfills and waterways and never disappear.

I was at Whole Foods the other day and had brought a biodegradable plastic shopping bag with me. Upon seeing the bag, the checker perked up and asked me where I got it. I told him it was from a vegan cafe on Kauai called Lotus Blossom where I had purchased a bamboo t-shirt. Then he started lamenting about the whole plastic bag quandry. I suggested he talk with his bosses. That unleashed more, with him telling me that they don't really care, the store just cares about what they appear to be, it's too expensive, etc. etc. After I left I wondered why, even if it's more expensive, that they don't even give folks the option of paying an extra 15 cents or whatever they cost, so that if we forget or choose not to bring our own bags, we can at least get a biodegradeable that will break down when in prolonged contact with water. It would help the store to appear 'greener,' as well. Sure, at this time biodegradable bags do require a petro-based form of polyester, but research is in the works to develop biodegradable plastics based on renewable feedstocks.

We all need to speak up and tell stores what we want. Targeting ubiquitous Whole Foods initially may help to consolidate our efforts. And because they're such a big company, they may set an example for other stores down the road. So here's what we need to do: Please contact Whole Foods and tell them that you want them to provide biodegradable plastic bags, both at checkout and in the produce aisles.

Whole Foods contact: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/contact/contact.htmlOn Umbra on trash bags posted 1 year, 8 months ago 21 Responses

Cafe Mam

My personal favorite is Café Mam, whose organic and shade-grown beans are roasted in Eugene, Ore., just before shipping ... when you open the bags it smells like it was just roasted! Their dark French Roast is sublime. The company also supports pesticide reform groups and is fair trade and socially responsible. Nothing tastes better than that. http://www.cafemam.com/
On A review of six Central American coffees posted 1 year, 10 months ago 18 Responses

And it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without ...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_martha_r_071120_t ...

and here is the video referred to in the article:
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/HOR/On USDA orders Tyson Foods to stop using antibiotic-free labels on poultry posted 2 years ago 5 Responses

variations

"she whips up a few variations -- for vegans and carnivores alike ... "

Where's the vegan version?
On A recipe for no-boil pumpkin lasagna posted 2 years ago 10 Responses

Consider other species!

Tossing food scraps, regardless of how quickly they may decompose, it a bad thing because it will attract animals. Personally I love all animals, but many people don't and attracting urban wildlife to congested areas could lead to awful, intolerant people harming the animals or more animals hit by cars, etc.

Umbra, tell your mother than tossing scraps out of car windows only invites wildlife dangerously close to roads. There are many more fatalities caused by animals scavanging near roadways than you'd like to think. Millions and millions of innocent animals are hit by cars every year. You need to think how your personal choices impact other species besides humans, down the proverbial stream. On Umbra on tossing food waste posted 2 years, 1 month ago 23 Responses

Impractical answer, for some

Sorry, but the hanky solution is a lame answer (as well as the high fructose corn syrup one, since we never consume the stuff). Some of us have chronic allergies to environmental allergens and there are days when we'd probably need about 50 hankies a day to blow our noses and soften our sneezes. Laundering that many hankies can't be a good thing.

I personally have tried two years of allergy shots, every allergy medication out there and every preventative. The only thing that helps is anti-histamines that make me so sleepy that I can only take them at night or the type that don't make me sleepy but raise my blood pressure (not a good thing) and cause dehydration, despite drinking a lot of water. My husband has similar problems and uses even more tissues than I do, so again, is it better to flush or throw them in the wastebasket?

The one solution I've come up with is to take the used but dried tissues (allergies produce extremely watery fluid) and use them for, well, toilet purposes, thereby reusing them once before they go down the drain.  On Umbra on mini-dilemmas posted 2 years, 2 months ago 14 Responses

re: cleaning bird baths and more

Keeping birdbaths clean goes beyond keeping the mosquito population down. It's also very important so that birds, who often drink from them, don't get sick from molds and other organisms that may be in the water. I regularly scrub mine with a stiff brush every week or two, without bleach or other strong chemicals, and it stays quite clean. While I'm on the subject, birdbaths should be shallow, so that even tiny birds can use them without fear.

Birdfeeders, if you must use them, should also be cleaned at least twice a month, particularly in wet weather, or you could be causing illness in the birds. This is particularly true for hummingbird feeders -- they should be cleaned every 3-4 days, when the sugar solution is changed.

Someone mentioned that birds' migration may be screwed up because of well-meaning bird feeding.  Here in Oregon, we have Anna's hummingbirds overwintering every year. I've read that this resulted from hummingbird feeders that were left out in the autumn/winter months, which induced the birds to stay all winter (they normally winter in Calif). Although my yard is filled with native plants and the hummingbirds also eat insects and spiders and are able to lower their body temp to adapt, there are some times when it is so damn cold that I believe my feeders have saved some from death when the temperatures were abnormally low (yes, I run around thawing out the frozen feeders every hour or so during those frigid days).

Simply supply cover, clean water and food (native plants are always best) and you will be rewarded with many avian visitors -- just think like mother nature would.On Umbra on feeding birds posted 2 years, 4 months ago 19 Responses

quick soaking dried beans works well

If you're not a far-sighted meal planner like I'm not, you don't have to soak beans overnight before cooking. Just rinse them as usual, place them in a pot covered with a few inches of water and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat and let sit for a few hours (the more the better; I try to soak them for at least three). Then cook as usual and you'll have pretty much the same result as soaking for a long time.On Beans, beans, good for your recipe posted 2 years, 5 months ago 14 Responses

Eggs?

You've got to be joking!?

'Cage free' may a teeny tiny bit better, but
go here: http://www.upc-online.org/freerange.html
if you still believe the free range nonsense. They're still kept in close confinement, kept from exhibiting any natural behavior and they're painfully debeaked. It's still cruelty on a massive scale and I fail to see how anyone, especially someone who is promoting earth-friendly choices, can justify it. They produce the same amount of waste as other (caged) chickens, as well.

Why not offer a plant-based meal instead?On Earth Dinners keep cuisine and conversation flowing posted 2 years, 7 months ago 10 Responses

Re; grassfed livestock & fish

Re: grassfed beef and chicken: its takes massive amounts of water to grow grass. And they do poop and pee as much as any similar animal.

Re: What about fish and those sources of meat that don't pollute large amounts of water?

ALL animals raised for food pollute. Most of the fish at your grocery store is farmed fish and they are raised in intense confinement, analagous to a veal calf in its tiny cage. Very bad.
Chemicals such as disinfectants, antifoulants and pesticides are used. The most controversial of these is the organophosphorus pesticide Dichlorvos (related to military nerve gases and the most toxic of the Government's 'Red List' substances), used to treat sea lice in salmon farming. It was originally named Nuvan but was renamed Aquaguard as a PR ploy.

Dichlorvos not only kills sea lice, but is highly toxic to all forms of marine life, from plankton to crustaceans, and higher up on the food chain. It is reportedly also harmful to the fish being treated.
Dichlorvos is also a hazard to fish farm workers, who may become poisoned through skin contact and inhalation.

Fish farms also cause intense and highly localised pollution from feces and food pellets. Since salmon cages are generally placed in shallow and sheltered areas with little water movement, the bulk of the waste accumulates beneath the cages. Toxic by-products build up and this toxicity, along with physical smothering, cause destruction to natural organisms and can change the whole balance of the ecosystem.

Then there's the matter of nitrates, phosphates and nitrogenous waste products (eutrophication). Eutrophication encourages population blooms of phytoplankton, some of which produce highly toxic substances. These can cause mass mortalities of fish and other wildlife, and are associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans. I just read that a US study has shown that a 20 acre salmon farm produces as much organic waste as a town of 10,000 people!

Think about it ...

The best thing to do for the planet and the animal victims is to eat a PLANT-BASED DIET. It's that simple.
On Umbra on water conservation posted 2 years, 7 months ago 15 Responses

Want to really save water?

Nearly half of all water consumed in this country is used to raise livestock, mostly for feedcrops (globally, it's 8%). According to EarthSave International, it takes about 25 gallons of water to grow one pound of wheat compared with about 2500 gallons for one pound of beef. It takes about 660 gallons of water to produce a pound of chicken, including the skin and bones. With the same water, farmers could produce 16 pounds of broccoli, enough soybeans for three pounds of tofu or enough wheat for nearly five pounds of whole wheat bread. Overall, US poultry operations use 96.5 billion gallons of water annually, enough water to meet all the yearly domestic needs of nearly 4.5 million North Americans.

In addition, livestock production is the largest source of water pollution (from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feedcrops, and sediments from eroded pastures).
It contributes to "dead" zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, antibiotic resistance and much more.

An article in The Guardian exposed that "meat-eaters consume the equivalent of about 1,100 gallons of water a day compared to the roughly 300 gallons used by people on vegetarian diets in developing countries. All that water has to come from somewhere."

So, scientists are finally concluding that it will be almost impossible to feed future generations the typical diet eaten in western Europe and North America without destroying the environment. No kidding. Go vegan.On Umbra on water conservation posted 2 years, 7 months ago 15 Responses