Comments Gatta has made
Garbage Bags
I'm another one who uses grocery bags for garbage, because for the life of me, I cannot see the logic of paying money I can't afford to buy plastic bags to put my garbage in to throw it away when the market gives me perfectly good plastic bags for free.
I am fortunate enough to have a disposal unit in my sink, so most of my wet garbage goes down that. Paper garbage goes in the waste basket, and anything in between (mostly washed cans) goes in the garbage bag under the sink, which has nice little handles to hang it up by. Once it's full, out it goes. I know these bags biodegrade fairly quickly, because I've tried storing things in them outside, and they turn to shreds as soon as they get wet.On Umbra on trash bags posted 1 year, 8 months ago 21 Responses
Making music, and beyond
As a recorder player (sopranino through bass) and percussionist, I have to agree with by J4zonian and Storm Dragon. There is nothing so wonderful as making your own music, in groups or by yourself. My recorders are made of wood (mostly sustainable, rosewood, pearwood, boxwood. Only one, a cranky little soprano, is made from ebony. My drums are of wood, goatskin, brass, and ceramic.
Just out of idle curiosity, what are CDs and DVDs made of? And for that matter, what are their jewelboxes made of? Vinyl? Something we don't even want to think about? What happens to all those CDs and jewelboxes once they go out of fashion and the little teenyboppette tosses them? Inquiring minds want to know.On Umbra on vinyl records posted 1 year, 9 months ago 10 Responses
Let There Be Music!
Just out of idle curiosity (I have a lot of that), before we decide that our ancient LPs are the work of the Evil Empire, what exactly are CDs and DVDs made of? And for that matter, what are the "jewel cases" they come in made of? My LPs, which I'm not parting with until they cart me out feet first, are in nice, biodegradable cardboard envelopes, though I hope right-thinking people will want to adopt them and preserve them long after I'm gone.On Umbra on staying positive posted 1 year, 9 months ago 10 Responses
Golden Oldies
Old LPs aren't doing any harm sitting on a shelf or spinning on your stereo. Keep them and enjoy them, and take good care of them so you won't have to throw them away. (Get a DiskSaver.) I have LPs you can't find on CD, and I love to listen to them. Am told there is even a resurgence of enthusiasm for LPs; people love the soft sound of the old recordings. YIKES! Does that mean that us Golden Oldies are undermining ecology? That companies are going back to marketing vinyl records? Say it ain't so, Joe!On Umbra on vinyl records posted 1 year, 9 months ago 10 Responses
Leather vs. ?
Like you, I'm sort of stuck with leather. Either I'm allergic to pleather or I need a material that "breathes"; wearing any kind of "man-made materials" on my feet causes them to break out in a very disagreeable rash. I get round the issue of leather and animal welfare by buying classic styles (pumps and boots with moderate heels, clogs, oxfords, "ballet" slippers) that will be good for a number of years, and sticking to basic colors (black, red) that go with a lot of things. Then I wear them till they're falling apart, get them repaired, and go on wearing them. I stay away from extreme styles, no matter how "kicky" the salesperson tells me they are. Fortunately for me, I live in a part of the world (central California) where people tend to wear what they have and feel good in. I can't image having to clothe and shoe myself in a place like New York City.
One very good investment I've found is Ugg boots. They wear for ages if you get them a size larger than your regular shoe size (they're very soft sheepskin, so if you don't get them large enough, your toe eventually comes through the end). They're like going barefoot, only your feet are warm.On Umbra on leather vs. pleather shoes posted 1 year, 10 months ago 22 Responses
Ivory?
If the thought of wearing ivory disgusts you, by all means donate the necklace and earrings to a zoo or an animal-welfare museum. You are right, the problem is the same as for inherited fur. I guess it all comes down to what turns your stomach.
However:
- You might want to read what Stephen Budiansky has to say in Chapter 1 of Covenant of the Wild about the protection of elephants in African game parks, where populations are falling drastically due to the poaching of elephants for black-market ivory, versus the elephant management program in Zimbabwe, which involved the local villagers in maintaining the elephants and their habitat. The villagers shared in the income from tourism and the ivory from culled animals. From 1960 until 1990, when the international ban on the sale of ivory went into effect, the population of the elephants in Zimbabwe nearly doubled. Elephant habitat also increased, because some villagers turned their land back to elephant habitat instead of farming it. And as you may imagine, the local people come down very hard on poachers.
- You might want to give some thought to the ivory carvers of the Far East who have been put out of work by the ivory ban. East Asian craftsfolk are not generally wealthy people.
If you want the look of ivory without the guilt, check out vegetable ivory. Vegetable ivory comes from the tegua nut, which grows on the tegua palm. The tegua palm grows in the South American rain forest. Harvesting the nuts gives a source of income to local villagers and gives them an incentive to keep tracts of rain forest standing where the tegua palm grows. Tegua nuts also give out-of-work ivory carvers something to work on, and the result is indistinguishable from elephant ivory. Tegua nuts are a renewable resource. There's a crop every year and an incentive to plant some of the nuts to make more tegua palms.On Umbra on (inherited) fur coats posted 1 year, 10 months ago 60 Responses
- You might want to read what Stephen Budiansky has to say in Chapter 1 of Covenant of the Wild about the protection of elephants in African game parks, where populations are falling drastically due to the poaching of elephants for black-market ivory, versus the elephant management program in Zimbabwe, which involved the local villagers in maintaining the elephants and their habitat. The villagers shared in the income from tourism and the ivory from culled animals. From 1960 until 1990, when the international ban on the sale of ivory went into effect, the population of the elephants in Zimbabwe nearly doubled. Elephant habitat also increased, because some villagers turned their land back to elephant habitat instead of farming it. And as you may imagine, the local people come down very hard on poachers.
Wearing Fur
On the subject of native people trapping fur-bearing animals in their native habitat: I treasure the observation of one of my friends that the only people entitled to wear fur are Eskimos and cats.
For what soft-hearted sentimentality is doing to animals in their native habitats, I strongly recommend Stephen Budiansky's The Covenant of the Wild, for a common-sense approach to wildlife management, which does NOT include killing off predators (per the agendas of that idiot in Boise, Idaho and that idiot in Washington, D.C.) to save the poor deer and elk or make some moron with a high-powered rifle feel like a Great White Hunter.On Umbra on (inherited) fur coats posted 1 year, 10 months ago 60 Responses
Ancestral Fur
Wear the fur coat as a bathrobe and spread it over your bed at night. You'll sleep warm and be warm around the house.
Alternatively/in addition, have it sewn into a waterproof silk or synthetic cover. It will still keep you warm, and nobody needs to know what your waterproof coat is padded with.
Destroying the coat won't help the mink. They've been dead longer than you've been alive. Frankly I find the idea of mink teddy bears and throw cushions perfectly revolting.
--GattaOn Umbra on (inherited) fur coats posted 1 year, 10 months ago 60 Responses