I try to believe in the inherent good of all people. It keeps me going. I try not to look at anyone as absolute evil. After this video, I'm having a very very hard time picturing these people as anything but evil. It's one thing to be greedy -- it's another thing to hold all of life as we know it in your hands as a control & monetary leveraging tool.
This French documentary/exposé is a full-length feature film intended for theaters, and aired March 11 on French TV. Now it's essentially an underground video, squished from major video feeds and stores.
The World According to Monsanto
The video takes us through the beginnings of the Monsanto conspiracy, following a French investigative reporters' footsteps through the web of lies and government favoritism shown to this chemical-producing mega-giant. She goes to the US, India, Canada, the UK, Paraguay, and Mexico in pursuit of the truth. If you go to the Monsanto website, you will see many lies.
One example of a lie where Monsanto was caught is labeling RoundUp herbicides as "biodegradable" -- but the fines don't matter. After years of advertising the product as biodegradable, everyone already believed it -- the fines for false or misleading advertising don't matter. Once you've sprayed with RoundUp -- an intensive defoliation chemical -- it won't go away any time soon. Combine this with genetically modified crops -- crops modified to resist RoundUp.... I thought they would be modifying crops for better taste or yields, the same reasons we cross breed...this is absolutely insidious.
Don't break out the popcorn yet... corn, canola, cotton, soy and wheat are the compromised crops, with more to come soon.
Personal Note: I am SO glad my diet plan is non-gmo soy. However, I need to throw out my Boca burgers. :(
The moral: Buy organic (until the USDA allows gmos sprayed with RoundUp to be labeled organic -- I'm sure it will happen some day), buy non-gmo, buy local, and try SPIN farming. Meanwhile, we have to figure out something much more powerful to do, but what do you do when a powerful company can turn your food supply off?
You can order a DVD or download a copy using the big red button. I recommend downloading.
Showing posts with label ecological. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecological. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Toxic Household Quiz
If you're interested in the effect of toxins in the home, and what you can do about them, you probably want to try the Toxic Household Quiz to see how much you know about what we're doing to our bodies, our family and our planet.
The fact is that we need to change what we're doing. Toxic cleaning product companies started reaching out to consumers with mass advertising in the 1950s and we bought into it. Now nearly every home has products with chemicals that are not tested for human safety, especially 1-3 generations down the road. Now we're seeing the effects of these chemicals on our children & children's children, and watching the decline of human health in the U.S. and other so-called advanced nations. And with the expansion of modernization programs into third-world countries we are ensuring that those giant chemical companies will bring their toxic products into all countries, to their benefit and the global environment's expense.
If you're already ready to change what you're doing, see: The Price of Clean-- and just answer that one question in the quiz.
Namaste!
The fact is that we need to change what we're doing. Toxic cleaning product companies started reaching out to consumers with mass advertising in the 1950s and we bought into it. Now nearly every home has products with chemicals that are not tested for human safety, especially 1-3 generations down the road. Now we're seeing the effects of these chemicals on our children & children's children, and watching the decline of human health in the U.S. and other so-called advanced nations. And with the expansion of modernization programs into third-world countries we are ensuring that those giant chemical companies will bring their toxic products into all countries, to their benefit and the global environment's expense.
If you're already ready to change what you're doing, see: The Price of Clean-- and just answer that one question in the quiz.
Namaste!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Another terrific product line...laundry care!
Ok, a second load of dishes, with a bowl with oatmeal from the day before glued to it, nested in the middle of other bowls to make double sure the dishwasher detergent is making a difference proves to me that I wasn't dreaming about the tiny hands at work in my dishwasher.
So on to laundry. I can't believe how little it takes to wash the laundry. I'm going to have to try the brightener again, but the liquid HE compatible detergent uses very little to wash a whole lot. Everything comes out smelling fantastic -- not heavily perfumed, just lightly scented. The reason I'm going to have to try the brightener again is that I didn't follow the instructions. :( I tried putting it in with the detergent in the compartment and it just caked on the bottom of the compartment, hardly putting any into my load of whites at all. Next time I'll dissolve it in water like the instructions say to. They certainly know best and I shouldn't second-guess them. I'm hoping that they'll erase my son's bad habit of wiping his hands and face on his shirts.
I also used the dryer sheets which I like because when you're done you're left with recyclable paper rather than some nasty man-made material you're not sure if it belongs in the garbage or in the toxic waste facility.
Clean clothes that smell great -- at 1 ounce of liquid detergent per load. An environmentalist's dream.
So on to laundry. I can't believe how little it takes to wash the laundry. I'm going to have to try the brightener again, but the liquid HE compatible detergent uses very little to wash a whole lot. Everything comes out smelling fantastic -- not heavily perfumed, just lightly scented. The reason I'm going to have to try the brightener again is that I didn't follow the instructions. :( I tried putting it in with the detergent in the compartment and it just caked on the bottom of the compartment, hardly putting any into my load of whites at all. Next time I'll dissolve it in water like the instructions say to. They certainly know best and I shouldn't second-guess them. I'm hoping that they'll erase my son's bad habit of wiping his hands and face on his shirts.
I also used the dryer sheets which I like because when you're done you're left with recyclable paper rather than some nasty man-made material you're not sure if it belongs in the garbage or in the toxic waste facility.
Clean clothes that smell great -- at 1 ounce of liquid detergent per load. An environmentalist's dream.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The youngest bag lady!
I asked my partner to come to the grocery store with me, and he eventually gave in (muhahahah!), and on the way out the door he said we'd take his car because it was already clear of ice. Ok, no problem. Then I said "Oh, I have to get the bags out of my car!" He stops and looks at me funny. "Bags?" "Yeah, bags for the groceries."
At this point I'm a little puzzled by his reaction, he's looking a little incredulous, like he's indulging a weirdo at a funny farm. With a little shrug he's off to his car, and I fetch a bag -- full of bags -- and get into his car. I'm puzzling over what's so odd about bringing my own bags to the store.
Mind you I have one of the most eclectic collections of bags. I have many more bags, but here's a sample in a photo of the types of bags we're talking about -- the ones that were in my car on Saturday.
So we fill up a shopping cart with more things than we intended to buy, and at the register, I put 3 bags on the belt and start putting the groceries on the belt. The cashier nonchalantly takes the bags I offered and starts checking out groceries and filling the bags. It's a Redners, and they have a bag policy (2cents off for every bag you bring -- it's not much: it's the environment that matters). At this point, my partner is watching. When the guy is running out of bags, I hand him a few more. He uses one plastic bag for the yogurts (the ones with only a flimsy tin lid now that they've dropped the extra plastic one (yay!)) in case they leak. When he's done he tallies the bags in my cart, and refunds me. Never mind that the bags in my cart hold 2-3 times the number of groceries -- the point is still clear that we're saving something. Money, environment, whatever it takes to motivate people.
We leave with about 6 or 7 of MY bags full of groceries. We're putting them into the car, and finally it's all filtering in and digesting in my partner's brain. When we're unloading the car carrying 6 comfortable bags over our shoulders and in our hands, packed to the brim, instead of 15 flimsy plastic bags with tiny uncomfortable handles, half-filled because the stuff weighs too much for the bags to handle he finally gets it. By now he's muttering, "This is brilliant! I hate even touching the plastic bags. And they gave you a refund for them!" I'm not impressed about the $.12, but I chuckle knowingly.
I always loved to carry a backpack with me in the city. A notebook, a fiction book, pens, pencils, maybe a sweatshirt, and often an extra string bag. It always gave me a pleasurable feeling to tell merchants to skip the bag and toss something into the backpack. I've been doing it for years and years. That's how Europe works -- they don't do the whole massive plastic bag thing like the US. We think it's a major hassle to carry a bag around, but they fold up really small or the string bags easily stuff into a spare compartment of another bag. My bag-of-bags fits easily in my trunk, and is easy to grab the big bag's handle and run into the store.
I have string bags from food coops, a couple paper bags just because they're large and it's a shame to not reuse them a few times -- they also hold their shape really well for bread and other soft foods. I have a huge(!) shopping bag -- certainly a 3-4 bag capacity -- from Prisms Promotions, a local promotional products consultant. I have another smaller bag from the Sullivan (NY) County Chamber of Commerce that specifically talks about going green. A very large plastic bag (in case I purchase pillows or blankets -- craft store purchases, etc. fluffy light huge things or big boxes) from a wholesale liquidation outlet. I don't always remember to take my bags into stores, I'm trying to get better at it. If you add my collection of "gadgety bags" like messenger bags, waist pouches, briefcases, computer bags, etc. I really start to look like a bag lady. I even crocheted my own string bag, and create bags when I do craft projects. Just call me a bag lady!
At this point I'm a little puzzled by his reaction, he's looking a little incredulous, like he's indulging a weirdo at a funny farm. With a little shrug he's off to his car, and I fetch a bag -- full of bags -- and get into his car. I'm puzzling over what's so odd about bringing my own bags to the store.
Mind you I have one of the most eclectic collections of bags. I have many more bags, but here's a sample in a photo of the types of bags we're talking about -- the ones that were in my car on Saturday.
So we fill up a shopping cart with more things than we intended to buy, and at the register, I put 3 bags on the belt and start putting the groceries on the belt. The cashier nonchalantly takes the bags I offered and starts checking out groceries and filling the bags. It's a Redners, and they have a bag policy (2cents off for every bag you bring -- it's not much: it's the environment that matters). At this point, my partner is watching. When the guy is running out of bags, I hand him a few more. He uses one plastic bag for the yogurts (the ones with only a flimsy tin lid now that they've dropped the extra plastic one (yay!)) in case they leak. When he's done he tallies the bags in my cart, and refunds me. Never mind that the bags in my cart hold 2-3 times the number of groceries -- the point is still clear that we're saving something. Money, environment, whatever it takes to motivate people.
We leave with about 6 or 7 of MY bags full of groceries. We're putting them into the car, and finally it's all filtering in and digesting in my partner's brain. When we're unloading the car carrying 6 comfortable bags over our shoulders and in our hands, packed to the brim, instead of 15 flimsy plastic bags with tiny uncomfortable handles, half-filled because the stuff weighs too much for the bags to handle he finally gets it. By now he's muttering, "This is brilliant! I hate even touching the plastic bags. And they gave you a refund for them!" I'm not impressed about the $.12, but I chuckle knowingly.
I always loved to carry a backpack with me in the city. A notebook, a fiction book, pens, pencils, maybe a sweatshirt, and often an extra string bag. It always gave me a pleasurable feeling to tell merchants to skip the bag and toss something into the backpack. I've been doing it for years and years. That's how Europe works -- they don't do the whole massive plastic bag thing like the US. We think it's a major hassle to carry a bag around, but they fold up really small or the string bags easily stuff into a spare compartment of another bag. My bag-of-bags fits easily in my trunk, and is easy to grab the big bag's handle and run into the store.
I have string bags from food coops, a couple paper bags just because they're large and it's a shame to not reuse them a few times -- they also hold their shape really well for bread and other soft foods. I have a huge(!) shopping bag -- certainly a 3-4 bag capacity -- from Prisms Promotions, a local promotional products consultant. I have another smaller bag from the Sullivan (NY) County Chamber of Commerce that specifically talks about going green. A very large plastic bag (in case I purchase pillows or blankets -- craft store purchases, etc. fluffy light huge things or big boxes) from a wholesale liquidation outlet. I don't always remember to take my bags into stores, I'm trying to get better at it. If you add my collection of "gadgety bags" like messenger bags, waist pouches, briefcases, computer bags, etc. I really start to look like a bag lady. I even crocheted my own string bag, and create bags when I do craft projects. Just call me a bag lady!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Dishwasher concentrate powder is like a hundred tiny hands in the machine!
I'm not a big fan of electric dishwashers. Energy-star-water-conserving or not, if they don't clean the dishes, you have to hand-wash the dishes yourself.
We got a dishwasher when we moved in. My partner hates hand-washing the dishes. I don't like hand-washing dishes, but I like hand-washing them after wasting water and electricity in the dishwasher even more. So after 1-2 years of using the dishwasher it started to leave a film of icky white stuff on the dishes, especially the top of cups, and hardly cleaning the silverware. Nothing I wanted touching my or my children's food. So I end up hand-washing the dishes. Bummer.
My roommate, the anal one who does most of the cleaning and hand dish-washing, is of basically the same opinion I am. If you have to re-wash, pre-wash, soak, spit, rinse and shine by hand, why the heck are you using the electronic dishwasher in the first place?
My partner doggedly insists on using the dishwasher. Me and my roommate wash by hand. It's a neverending battle. He's probably right that the residue and water sitting in the machine does it no good, but running it just for the sake of running it isn't good either.
That experience was with typical bulk-store-bought Members' Mark (Sam's Club) detergent -- your results may vary, mine stank. I bought it figuring that at least if I had to buy evil chemical waste producing dishwashing detergent, I would buy it in bulk and save waste on the garbage end of the cycle. Does anyone want a nearly-full container of conventional powdered dishwashing detergent? I didn't think so.
I may have a complete change of heart about the electronic dish washer. You see, I got the terrific starter kit for the green household cleaning products (and blogged about said green cleaning kit), and it came with automatic dishwasher concentrate powder. My partner had the conventional stuff out ready to use it, but he didn't run the dishwasher last night. I thought to run it this morning, and looked at the detergent sitting on top of the dishwasher. No Way, I thought. I put that box of detergent away, and I ran the load of dishes with the new eco-friendly dishwasher powder. One scoop in each cup -- it's a small scoop -- 2 teaspoon scoop. So 4 teaspoons of concentrate went into the machine.
And nothing's wrong with the dishes. They're mostly dry, we air dry the dishes -- there's a couple drops of CLEAR water on the rim of the bowl.
They don't smell like a dirty swimming pool.
They shine.
There are no spots -- I'm not a spot hawk, so don't quote me on this one, but I don't see the streaks and spots I've been seeing from the conventional detergent.
Everything is clean.
Everything smells safe.
I'm amazed. It's like a hundred tiny fairies were at work in my dishwasher making everything perfect. I had to blog about it immediately and let you know. I'm tempted to wake said partner and roommate and rush them into the kitchen to show them. That's why I have to blog. :) They'd kill me.
I hate having to say it, but your results may vary. Maybe we didn't have oatmeal this week. I don't know, but I know this load of dishes came out exactly the way I want them to!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Getting Greener & Cleaner
My big green cleaning kit finally arrived. I've been waiting on the edge of my seat. I now have a 2nd bottle of the all-purpose concentrated cleaning solution -- and the hand "soap" is on back-order, but I already bought a bottle several months ago. Since these products last for quite some time, I better batten the hatches and go all out for spring cleaning.
Now my cleaning contingent is complete (see photo) with laundry products on the far left, general cleaning product wipes, then dish products in the center and the general cleaning solution, with all the bottles to fill on the right. In the forefront on the right is the heaviest duty oven cleaning non-toxic stuff, and microfiber towels with measuring instruments in the forefront.
I'm eager to run around my house, do laundry, a load of dishes, fill all the bottles, and generally make a menace of myself cleaning stuff. I spot-cleaned only a part of the oven so I could go "See, it works!" when my partner gets home. I have to do my car windows with the window-strength (2 drops in 16oz water) of the general cleaner. Oh, yeah, the degreaser.... on (part of) the range hood. Yep, that works. One pane of the 2-pane bathroom mirror.... oh yeah, I didn't really want to see myself that clearly yet. Shoot.
I better stop cleaning and go back to work. This way my partner and roommate will get tired of all the half-clean stuff and maybe they'll finish it off -- mu-ha-ha-ha!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
What's all the fuss about?
Our planet is in trouble. I'm trying desperately to get this point across, without sounding like someone shouting about doomsday on a soapbox. I'll be heading out to Abundant Life Farm later in the month for the 2% Solution, but this is not the type of thing I wait to do. I just get up (or in my case, sit on my fat duff) and do something about it. Whether it's something to help the planet, or something to change my own life.
Picture this: Lex Luthor (symbolic of all the multinational conglomerates and large industry -- and nations -- run by greedy barbarians disguised as men-about-town in their 3-piece suits) has our planet by the horns, and is driving humanity into extinction. But what if there's no Superman to fly backwards and reverse time for us? Oh, yeah, there isn't! So what do we do? Like proverbial lemmings we increase the rat race, head straight for a cliff and into our doom? Well, yeah, as a species that's exactly what we do. Am I the only person who finds that frustrating?
But as individuals we can each make a difference. Change your shampoo. Change your deodorant. Bring shopping bags when you buy groceries. Change a lightbulb. That's all a good start. Keep it up. It's not just doing one thing each, try one thing a month -- then one thing a week. Before you know it, you'll be doing one new GREEN thing a day. Blog about it. Shout about it. Call your mom and have her join you on your mini crusade. Feel good about it. Celebrate it. Wear it on your sleeve. Brag about it. Make being GREEN the next big IN thing (it is anyway, so get a head start before the runway models and supermarket rags realize it!).
Let's make being green a no-brainer. Make it so easy to be green, it gets to be CHEAP to be green. Yeah, it would take a few months, maybe a year, but take it to the point where NOT being green is like smoking in New York State. People look at you like you've got 3 heads. Where you used to stand outside puffing with the "In" crowd, now you're outside in the cold alone with your stained fingers and bad breath wondering when you missed the new health wave.
I want you to join me in Your Green Club. It's about all of us.
So, I want to be a guinea pig for a bit. I've been doing things different for a while, now I'm going to do thing differently and loudly. I have the right lightbulbs, but maybe they're not in every socket in the house. I have a box of ecologically friendly cleaning products on their way -- maybe I'll clean and blog and clean and blog and videotape and blog and you can see what I'm up to. I'm going on an eco-friendly weight loss program. I'll blog about it to you. I'll let you know how it feels. My next post will be a benchmark for my house. Later, I'll benchmark about my weight. Right now, I want to benchmark my state of mind. More later. Ciao, bella!
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