Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Confucius

Photography by Juliette Blasor

THE VIRTUOUS CONSUMER

HOW to be better consumers and denizens of Planet Earth in
2014? Let us count the ways:

-- Reduce, reuse, recycle. One way to recycle is to join a
barter group, or you can start one on Facebook. Visiting
the group's page will give you an idea of the kinds of
things that people need and items you might want to
keep on hand to exchange at any given moment. Like,
glass jars: people who sell home-made foods are sure to
be on the lookout for jars to package their products.

-- Buy wisely & use everything up to the last drop, even
tooth paste. You can squeeze a tube by hand or, if that
is too much trouble, try a squeezer like Squeezit, available
at Amazon in a pack of two, each in a different color.
Prices start at $2.95.

-- The flip side of squeeze is stretch as in stretch products to
get their full value. Take tomato sauce: watering it down will
not dramatically alter taste and may even enhance it as some
sauces can be too thick. A good way to get more bang for
your dollar!

-- The average person generates 4.3 pounds of waste, 1.6
more than most produced in 1960, according to Duke
University's Center for Sustainability & Commerce
(www.center.sustainability.duke.edu). Thanks to composting,
you can easily reduce waste by as much as two thirds. If
you have a patio or garden, composting is a breeze but even
people in an apartment can compost. Find out how at:
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/apartment-compost-guide.htm/

-- Buy local. In Puerto Rico this means supporting the
many farmers' markets that have cropped in recent years
as well as buying locally sourced vegetables and fruits at area
supermarkets.  Puerto Rico is now producing a much more
varied basket of farmed products and it behooves us all
to support the island's agriculture.

Photography by Carl Pierre Blasor

LOOK AT EVERYTHING
AS  THOUGH YOU WERE SEEING IT
 EITHER FOR THE FIRST TIME OR
LAST TIME.

BETTY SMITH

           LET THERE BE LIGHT

Courtesy of Mozaik

San Juan -- Light refracted through transparent colored glass has
a magical sparkle, a richness that beguiles and creates a spell.
Entering MOZAIK is to be totally swept by the spell of lovely
handmade lamps imported from Turkey. Skilled artisans make
the lamps using the very craft that gives the store its name: glass
mosaics.

The lamps are made with brass and are decorated with countless
small bits of cut, colored glass to create beautiful abstract designs
that come to life once the lamp is glowing with light.




They come in different shapes and sizes.

There are tea light cups, table lamps, tier chandelier lamps, tall
lamps to place on the floor and ceiling lamps. Prices from $45
and up (one splendid chandelier is $1,200).

Lamps are useful and necessary. These, additionally, happen to be
prized pieces of craftmanship.

Mozaik also sells crafts from Puerto Rico and other countries,
including Nepal, Bolivia, Kenya. Though small, this fair trade store
is chockful of things, everything neatly displayed in a simple yet
colorful manner: beauty products, recycled bags by Sonia Iris
Giusti and Angel Luis Morales, Turkish money bags decorated with
verses from the Koran, sweets, clothing, and jewelry.

Owned by Brenda Almodovar, Mozaik has been in business
for a year. Located in San Juan's Condado tourist area, the store is
open all week-long.

MOZAIK World Village Bazaar
at Condado Village, 1214 Ashford Ave.
Hours: Tue-Sat 10 am to 10 pm;
Mon 10 am to 2:30 pm; Sun 1 pm to 10 pm

787.724.3769     www.mozaikbazaar.com

 ☛   A SIMPLE TIP:

Plastic lids, the kind commonly found on top of cans, make
useful trays for products such as oil bottles that tend to drip and
get oily on the bottom. Being plastic, these trays will last
a long time and are easily washed with soap and water when they
get too slimy.

Let's go and get drunk on light again.

It has the power to console.

Georges Seurat


Photography by Juliette Blasor

©2013 by Lorraine Blasor all rights reserved