Latest from Emerald City, my enviro-blog at LAtimes.com
This week’s eco-topic is recycling!
>> Sunday makeovers: “Presents” from mother. You may think your mama gives you the worst holiday gifts, but you’re wrong. Help me recycle the socks she gave me as a “gift.”
>> Recycle Week: Battery dumping’s illegal. Throw one of those simple alkaline batteries in the trash, and you’re breaking the law. Here’s how to recycle them.
Latest from Emerald City, my enviro-blog at LAtimes.com
>> Q&A: Green business social scene. LA green business people really love socializing — or networking, as they call it. Some events and organizations where you can shmooze eco-style, here.
And a few linky posts:
>> Greenlist: Travel and Leisure. Human fat as fuel, muscle cars, and more.
>> Daily Downers: On the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Did you know that Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into being?
>> Greenlist: Birdie birth control and food fights. Will Nutta the squirrel get fed to the hawks?
Latest from Emerald City, my enviro-blog at LAtimes.com
This week’s eco-topic is recycling!
>> Q&A: Recycling at private schools and businesses. “Can you tell me how I can start a recycling program at our private school in Sherman Oaks? We throw out so much paper & so many plastic bottles…”
>> Recycle week: a beginner’s guide. Never recycled before? Don’t know where or how to recycle? Here’s a crash course for total recycling newbies in the city of LA.
>> Q&A: Recycling newspaper downtown. “Where I work we seem to amass a lot of yesterday’s newspapers…. I can’t find anyplace that buys it, and I don’t want to see it go in a landfill….”
Photo by Clydehouse
>> iPod nation. “There’s a paradox between the cosmopolitan nature of a city and the iPod…. As users become more locked into their increasingly subjective pleasure, they … (are remaking the) world in their own image…. The paradox is, cosmopolitism resides in the person’s iPod. It’s often the most amazing array of music from around the world; the rich mix of songs around the world contrasting with the chilly nature of the city….”
>> Bypassing phone automation. A huge database that tells you how to get beyond a company’s automated phone system to get a human being on the line ASAP.
Photo by Jake Rome via Flickr
Latest from Emerald City, my enviro-blog at LAtimes.com
This week’s eco-topic is recycling!
>> Weekly green topic: Recycle it. Recycling is more lucrative than ever, but is it simply a guiltwashing tactic? Sez The Onion: “EPA: Recycling Eliminated More Than 50 Million Tons of Guilt In ‘96.”
>> Reincarnating the remains of holiday gifts. How to recycle that floorful of discarded ribbons, tissue and wrapping paper.
>> Give your holiday tree an afterlife. Recycling them’s easy. Also, leaving those newly naked trees at the curb or in a street or alley is illegal, as per L.A. Municipal Code 57.21.06!
>> Holiday cards, reincarnated. Put your DIY skills into use and recycle those cards into more cards, postcards, gift tags, and more.
>> Happy holidays! Plus how to throw an eco-holiday party. So my friend Traci and I (right, at Akasha) threw a holiday party on Saturday — and tried to make it as green as possible. Or more accurately, I baked a gingerbread house and Traci basically took care of the rest of it — but I’m writing a how-to anyways.
Photo by Clydehouse
A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.
So I’ve totally made fun of these crazy bamboo fiber towelette thingies before, but they keep coming in the mail! A couple arrived with some bamboo towels my sis got me for the holidays –
I don’t even know what to do with these. But if you do — or are just curious — comment or email by Sunday to get into the drawing, which happens Monday. US addresses only.
Latest from Emerald City, my enviro-blog at LAtimes.com
>>Solastalgia: mourning over warming Do you suffer from solastalgia? Defined as a pining for a lost environment, Solastalgia is a global warming threat we should be concerned about, writes Clive Thompson for Wired. I agree — especially as t huge swaths of California’s wine areas may disappear by 2050 –
>> Chicago is taxing bottled water. Will L.A.? Every plastic bottle of water will cost an extra 5 cents in the Windy City, starting in the new year.
>> Freedom for your new year. “Americans associate cars with personal freedom, but Hodgkinson points out that, according to the late cultural critic Ivan Illich, once you consider all the labor required to pay the loan, gas and repairs, not to mention all the time spent at the service garage, you get an average of only a lousy 5 mph.”
>> Funding it! SoCal-NoCal bullet train and the Subway to the Sea. The public transit projects everyone seems to want are always in jeopardy because of lack of funds. Some ideas to get the money that elected officials are batting around –
And 2 linky posts:
>> Greenlist: crafty challenges. Knit your own Ferrari, craft your own champagne chair, etc.
>> Greenlist: In strange animal news. Kangaroo farts, walrus stampedes, etc.
Photo by transguyjay
>> 7 scientific-sounding myths, busted. Apparently, reading in dim light isn’t actually bad for one’s eyes. But then how did my eyes get so bad? My parents both had 20/20. (via 3qd)
>> 10 strange new genetically-modified organisms. From insulin-producing lettuce to fluorescent tadpoles created for art’s sake.
Photo by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr
A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.
Do picks break often? Or do they get lost often? My guess is that perhaps each individual pick doesn’t get used for a long long time, because now compostable guitar picks are on the market –
These compostable picks are made by Wheatware and come in a mixed pack of 9 picks: 3 each of heavy, medium, and wedged-light. When you’re done with them, you can bury them in normal soil to biodegrade in just 90 days.
So — If you’re a musician with a composter — or just a curious guitar player — comment or email by Friday to get into the drawing, which happens Sunday. US addresses only. Happy strumming –
Your turn to help me –
Help me pick out a new digital camera! While Pixelle’s been okay, she takes really crappy pictures unless it’s really sunny and bright and outdoors. Also, she takes AA batteries — and those things run out fast in a digicam. I’m tired of recharging batteries all the time –
My requirements:
* Something basic. I’m not a photographer; I’m just a blogger who takes photos. I want something that’ll produce relatively decent photos without requiring me to do much beyond pointing and shooting.
* Runs on something other than AA batteries.
* Not too expensive. I don’t need anything top of the line –
Got a recommendation? What do you use, and do you like it?
