The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away. 
-- Pablo Picasso

Photography by Denise Blasor

            A FEW THINGS WE

        CAN DO WITHOUT


1 -- Plastic wrap cling

The apparent convenience of this product is offset by the fact
that it is made with potentially harmful chemicals that can
leach into your food.

2 -- Balloons

Ok, so balloons are romantic and playful (think "The Red
Balloon," the marvelous short film by French filmmaker Albert
Lamorisse about the adventures of a young boy and his newly
found friend, a balloon). But they have a dark side. They
can end up in the ocean and kill marine like whales and
turtles that swallow the balloons thinking it is food.

3 -- Styrofoam

Styrofoam is the end product of a series of processes that
begin with ethylene ( a gas) and benzene (a liquid derived
from coal tar) and ends up with a white-foam material that is
non-biodegradable, and like Dracula, enjoys eternal life
(almost). Solid styrofoam is 95 percent air. Used to make
cups, coolers, containers, and packaging. A fascinating
story in the May 20, 2013 issue of The New Yorker
reported on a new styrofoam-like product, made out of
mushrooms and hence bio-degradable, that was
discovered by two young inventors.

4 -- Oven cleaners

Why would you pay money to buy lye-based products to
clean your oven when you can clean it easily and cheaply
with baking soda? Make a paste with 3 tablespoons of
baking soda to 1 cup of warm water and using a fine wool
pad scrub interior while the oven is still warm.

5 -- Mothballs

The para-dichlorobenzene in mothballs is harmful to liver
and kidneys. More suitable alternative: cedar chips.
Or place a few drops of cedar oil on small pieces of
absorbent cloth which when left inside drawers
will act as a powerful repellent.

 6 -- Fabric Softeners

They contain potentially toxic chemicals such as
chloroform and ethyl acetate (both on EPA's
hazardous-waste list), linalool (shown to cause
disorders of the central nervous system), benzyl
alcohol (irritant to the upper respiratory tract) and
others.

Some of the above information comes from the book
 "What's In This Stuff," by Patricia Thomas, an
excellent guide for consumers interested in knowing
about "the hidden toxins in everyday products and
what you can do about them." Another good resource
is "50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The
Earth," published by Earthworks Press.

Photography by Denise Blasor

Earth provides enough to satisfy
 every man's need,
but not every man's greed.

Mahatma Gandhi

        SAVING MONEY

                   At 79 cents a can, Friskies is not always the
                   first choice for consumers who need to feed
                   more than one cat. But a sale currently running
                   at Supermax stores in San Juan brings that cost
                   down to 60 cent a can.

                   The sale ends Aug. 27.

Photography by Denise Blasor

            A SIMPLE TIP

                 Use a cotton bag to store vegetables, like broccoli,
                 in the refrigerator.

                 Produce keeps fresh and lasts longer.
           

      SOCIAL SWISHING

        Need an excuse to party and add a new
        outfit to your closet at the same time?

        Then hold a "swish" or "swap" event as in ask
        your friends to bring their cast-offs to the party
        and everyone gets to pick what they like.

       As the saying goes, "one woman's trash is
       another woman's treasure" so this is a perfect
       opportunity for everyone to pick up a new
       look without spending a single penny.

       For food: opt for a simple cold pasta dish and a
       large pitcher of sangria. For the pasta, choose
       a type of pasta like farfalle (bow tie), penne,
       rigatoni, or rotini (spiral shaped), cook and
       mix in cut cherry tomatoes, sliced red bell
       peppers, crumbled feta cheese, green onions,
       black olives, mushrooms. Add oil and vinegar,
       and spices like basil, oregano, pepper. Toss until
       evenly covered. Put aside for a couple of
       hours and serve.


Copyright ©  2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved

PICASSO'S COMPULSION
(or, maybe it's time to dump bad products)

This 1913 cubist sculpture, "Mandolin and Clarinet,"
was fashioned by Picasso out of scrap wood.
From  "Picasso Museum Paris"
Prestel-Verlag Publicshers

What an inspiration that Picasso! Not only was he the greatest artist of the 20th Century -- his dazzling  imagination and endless inventiveness are behind some of the most indelible images in art history -- but he was also an inveterate hoarder who liked to save everything: bits of string, scraps of paper, menus, old hats, fish bones. When a house filled with too much clutter, he moved out and bought a new home. And then he started all over again. There was a point to this compulsion. Many of the collected items ended up being transformed into exciting pieces of art. Turns out Picasso was also a great recycler.

Recycling is bigger than ever these days, and not just as a vehicle for making art. For the environmentally conscious, it is but one of a number of personal actions one can take to help the planet. The benefits of recycling include diverting tons of materials away from landfills, reducing energy costs and pollution, conserving natural resources and slowing down habitat destruction. Other steps one might consider are reducing consumption (putting need ahead of want) and dumping products that carry a danger to health and the environment. Here are a few suggestions:

1) Paper napkins. Sure they are convenient, but they are wasteful especially when you can easily replace them with cloth napkins which in addition to adding a touch of color to the table, offer the practicality of repeated use. In Europe, a custom prevailing in many homes is for each member of the family to have their own cloth napkin, easily identified by an individualized napkin holder.

2) Plastic water bottles. It used to be that the ubiquitous water bottle was the preferred accessory for urbanites on the go. They remain as popular as ever (consumption is up) but here's the drawback. More than 80 percent of the 25 billion-plus single use plastic water bottles American consumers will buy this year will end up in a landfill where it will take hundreds of years for the plastic to decompose. If those statistics are not sufficiently damning, then consider that certain plastics have been shown to leach Bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, male infertility, aggressive behavior and more. By the way, this chemical is also used in canned-food containers and while there is a movement afoot to eliminate its use from cans, doubts abound as to whether the replacement will be any better.

If not plastic, then what? Opt for a stainless steel bottle which you can carry along already filled up with water or can refill at your closest water cooler, friend's house, or sympathetic restaurant. These bottles are available in many designs and prices with some models advertising that they are free of BPA, lead, phthalates, and toxins. Healthy is always the best way to go!

3) Air fresheners. They may cover up smells but do not eliminate them. Worse, behind the sweet smell of fresheners lurks the danger of phthalates (also used in personal care products and cosmetics) and nasty chemicals such as formaldehyde ( a known human carcinogen), petroleum distillates, limonene, and others. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology released a study last year that tied air fresheners to serious lung problems, including asthma in kids. Want your house to smell nice? Then how about opening windows and letting fresh air do the job. Or roll up your sleeves and clean up with natural substances such as baking soda, vinegar and lemon. Sure beats chemicals!

4) Cleaning products. Most cleaning products on the market contain chemicals that not only have the potential to harm people but, after disposal, pose a hazard to landfills and water disposal systems. Again, why turn to chemicals when there are natural substances that will do the job just as effectively and without hurting mother nature? Like the above mentioned trio of beauties: baking soda, vinegar, and lemon.

5) Non-stick cookware/bakeware. That slick, shiny surface on nonstick pots and pans is made out of a synthetic material called perfluoroalkyl acid which has been linked to ADHD, high cholesterol and thyroid disease. This chemical also is suspected of contributing to low sperm counts and female infertility. Ideal replacements: Cast iron, glass or stainless steel.        
                                         

BEST ALL PURPOSE CLEANERS/DEODORIZERS

Baking soda, lemon, white vinegar

1) General cleaning solution: mix one part white vinegar 

and nine parts water. Use to kill bacteria and

 spores on kitchen counters and bathroom tiles

 with this added bonus: when finished, dump down the toilet 

for odor control.

2) Cut a lemon in half, sprinkle baking soda over it and

 use it to scrub dishes, pans, surfaces and stains.

3) A mix of 1 cup olive oil with 1/2 cup lemon juice is

perfect to polish hardwood furniture. For more ideas, check

this website devoted to green living:

 www.rodale.com

Photograph by Denise Blasor


Live the full life of the mind,
 exhilarated by new ideas,
intoxicated by the romance of
the unusual.

Ernest Hemingway

☛ A SIMPLE TIP: A used up paper towel need not be a one-shot deal. If not overly soiled, dry the paper towel, store it in a little bag and and keep it on hand to clean up floor spills and whatever gook you find around the house.

Photograph by Denise Blasor

"Everything he did now was for the last time -- an odd sensation. He would never come this way again and five minutes later
 taking a new bottle of gin from his cupboard, he thought: I shall never open another bottle. The actions which could be repeated became fewer and fewer. Presently there would be only one unrepeatable action left..." Graham Greene, "The Heart of the Matter."














Copyright © 2012 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved