i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;
this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:
and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth.

e.e. cummings

Photography by Denise Blasor

TOILET TALK


Earth is in trouble:  pollution, global warming, severe droughts,
vanishing bee colonies, contaminated bodies of land and water,
diminishing fish stocks, depletion of natural resources, these
are just some of the issues the planet is facing.

As nations delay what needs to be done to handle these serious
concerns, we, as individuals,  need to get in the act. In fact, as
consumers we have a tremendous power to shape the
marketplace of supply & demand by buying products that are
mindful of the environment.

One such product is Scott Naturals Tube-Free Bathroom Tissue.

Bathroom tissue typically comes rolled up around a paper tube
but the Scott company hired engineers to develop a tubeless
toilet paper roll.

So what's the big deal?

According to the company, some 17 billion cardboard tubes
are thrown out each year and the tubeless toilet paper roll is
one way to cut down on this huge amount of waste.

Most of the tubes that are thrown out each year are not
 even recycled but end up in landfills and even sewage
 systems because of people who flush them down the toilet.

The tube-free toilet tissue is currently sold at Walmart but
as demand grows it is sure to be carried by many other
stores as well.

Scott Naturals Tube-Free Bathroom Tissue Mega Rolls,
400 sheets, 12 rolls for $8.87, or four rolls for $2.97.

   

Photography by Denise Blasor

 The hardest thing to see
is what is in front
of your
eyes.

Goethe

THE SIMPLE VEGANISTA

If you like trolling the internet for interesting
blogs about food, here is one worthy of your
attention: The Simple Veganista, devoted to
the vegan lifestyle.

In welcoming visitors to her site, creator Julie West

notes that  "Eating vegan is not about restrictions,
it's about creating new habits, healthy habits
that encompass the world around us making it a
better place for all."

Her recipes are simple and from the looks of
the pictures illustrating her choice dishes,
quite delectable.

So check it out: even if you don't turn into a vegan,
there are recipes you might like to incorporate into
your cooking repertoire for variety and health.

www.thesimpleveganista.blogspot.com

 A journey of a thousand miles
must begin
with a single step.
Lao Tsu

FISHMONGER ON LOIZA STREET

San Juan -- They call him Mr. Fish but his real name is
Nelson Lebrón and if you are looking for fresh fish,
then head over to Loiza Street where he keeps
shop on the street, au plein air, on Thursdays and
Saturdays.

 The fish is plucked from the sea by fishermen from
the town of Naguabo, on the eastern side of Puerto Rico.
Lebrón buys it at a fishtore located on that town's seafront;
he heads there early in the morning, just when the
fishermen are coming in with their catch. Then it's off
to San Juan to sell the fish.

He can usually be spotted on the block that is home to the
Banco Popular branch and Ferreteria Madrid, the hardware
store, across from Church's Chicken, or he might be a little
further up, outside the pawn shop on the corner of Jefferson
and Loiza St.

He waits for people to spot him, or maybe he'll approach
you and politely ask whether you might be interested in
some fresh fish.

The choice is varied: there's mahi-mahi, red snapper, grouper,

he may even have shrimp  and lobster, everything individually

wrapped in plastic bags stored in foam coolers filled with ice.
He also carries coconut arepas and pastelillos de chapin (trunk-
fish) made by a Naguabo cook.

Mr. Fish is an amiable fellow. He's been doing this for a long

time and he seems to have gotten to know many of the people
who frequent this section of Loiza St. where he does business.

And people have gotten to know him too. He was recently
written up in a blog devoted to Loiza St. He is definitely
a part of the street's charm.

But if you're looking for fish, don't come too late. Once
he starts selling around 10 a.m., it goes fast. And once the
last bag is sold, he's out, gone, and back to his home in
Naguabo.

One word frees us
of all the weight and
pain of life;
that word is love.

Sophocles

Photography by Denise Blasor

 ⓒ  2014 Lorraine Blasor All rights Reserved☂

          THE CHALLENGE OF THE

              ANTHROPOCENE AGE            

By Juliette Blasor

THE revolution must begin from within. 

Saving Earth from its current drive toward self-destruction is the responsibility of each one of us… if we care. Of course, it would be nice if scientists could come up with a neat solution to all the planet's problems that would absolve people from having to make any explicit effort. No such quick fixes exist, except perhaps in the mind of a well-paid Hollywood screenwriter. In the meantime, day in and day out, the madness continues.

HERE's one example. Each year, a million ton of fish are unnecessarily killed in the North Sea because fishermen exceed European Union catch quotas and dump the excess fish back into the ocean. Environmentalists are lobbying to reform the Common Fisheries Policy but any change is not expected until 2013. In the meantime, more fish will be needlessly killed.

Born 4.5 billion years ago, Earth has been home to man (hominids first, then Homo sapiens) for the past 4.4 million years, maybe more. Now the future of mankind is in jeopardy. Its threats include global warming, extreme weather, dwindling resources, loss of biodiversity, overconsumption, overpopulation, pollution of water, air and land. Addressing these awesome challenges requires that governments and societies enact large-scale initiatives, actions that often run into conflict with the agendas of influential sectors, such as big corporations, important industries, powerful political parties.

Enter the individual consumer. Now more than ever, every single consumer can become a catalyst for change. One person's effort might appear to have little impact in the overall scheme of things but just consider if enough people were to take action. Multiply that single action tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold and it would swell into a giant tide -- a tsunami even -- that could ultimately achieve change on a grand scale. And it is happening already, with many people making lifestyle changes aimed at lessening their impact on the environment.

ONE such change is eating less meat. The likelihood of the world suddenly turning vegetarian is highly unlikely but reducing consumption of meat makes a lot of sense. Here's why. According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the livestock industry accounts for between 13.5 and 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, or a little over half of the total emissions resulting from food production. Musician Paul McCartney spearheads a campaign promoting reduced meat consumption through the website, meatfreemondays.com. Says McCartney:  "By joining together in having one meat-free day each week we'll be making great steps towards reducing the environmental problems associated with the meat industry. You'll also be giving your own health a boost, and with the added benefit that vegetables cost less than meat, having one meat-free day each week means it's good for your pocket too."

This is but one way to take on personal responsibility in our new Anthropocene age, or the age of man, as coined by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen. At the recent 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability in Stockholm, Sweden, more bells of alarm were set ringing.

"Unsustainable patterns of production, consumption, and population growth are challenging the resilience of the planet to support human activity," concluded this group of Nobel Laureates, assorted experts, and representatives from NGOs and politics.

"Humans are now the most significant driver of global change propelling the planet into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. We can no longer exclude the possibility that our collective actions will trigger tipping points, risking abrupt and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems. We cannot continue on our current path. The time for procrastination is over. We cannot afford the luxury of denial."

The time for action is NOW. We're all in this together. And yes, we can….but only if we care.

                                 In the winter I'm a Buddhist;

 By Bob Bowers

                   In the summer I'm a nudist.

                                  - Joe Gould

O SOLE MIO!

 After all the rain Puerto Rico has been getting lately, it will be nice to welcome the sun back. But for extended periods under the sun, make sure to protect yourself with hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Not all sunscreen is created equal, as reflected in 

an exhaustive survey by the Environmental Working Group of more than 1,700 sun products. Go to www.ewg.org to check the best sunscreens in the market, plus information on issues surrounding sunscreens in general. According to EWG, sunscreens with the minerals zinc or titanium are "the right choice for people looking for the best UVA protection without any sunscreen chemical considered to be a potential hormone disruptor." EWG also advises consumers to steer clear of sunscreens with oxybenzone and retinyl palmitate (vitamin A); to select creams or lotions over sprays; and to reapply sunscreen every two hours, or after getting wet or sweaty.

by Denise Blasor

The grave's a fine and private place,

But none I think do there embrace.

Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"

Copyright©2011 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved

NOT ALL SALMON ARE CREATED EQUAL

A Question of Trust

Commerce is built on trust.

Every day consumers everywhere make purchases based on the merits of a particular product and confidence that the product will be a good buy because a friend or relative has recommended it, they have read about it, or have seen a favorable advertisement.

These daily interactions based on trust have helped grow the U.S. economy to staggering heights. But trust is a fragile thing: it can easily be undermined when companies place the profit motive ahead of the welfare of consumers or when corporate incompetence, negligence or hubris leads to tragic mistakes.

Labeling is a key aspect in promoting that spirit of trust because it gives consumers the information necessary to make informed purchases. The product label lists the product's ingredients or components and also may provide additional information on its safe use, cleaning, and disposal. Knowing what you buy is increasingly important to consumers concerned about health, the environment, and other issues.

But not everyone is happy to disclose product information. Take the case of the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now getting ready to approve a transgenic salmon that grows at twice the normal rate. It was developed by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies and the FDA says that it will not require any special labeling for this product.

Why? The FDA's position is that GE foods are equivalent to conventional foods so they don't need to be labeled.

Genetic engineering is a controversial new technology that is altering food production everywhere around the planet. As befits the information age, consumers have every right to know what they are buying and consuming, all the more so in the case of a genetically engineered fish. According to the Center for Food Safety , a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy group with offices in Washington, the amount of antibiotics given to transgenic fish may be higher than that given to farmed fish.

"Already farmed salmon are given more antibiotics than any other livestock by weight, threatening the health of those who eat them and the continued efficacy of these antibiotics to treat human disease," the organization warned in a recent online posting.

AquaBounty maintains the fish is a safe and healthy alternative to wild salmon. Furthermore, it will only breed sterile female salmon in contained facilities designed to prevent any fish from escaping into the wild, another source of concern. "Because salmon grown from AquAdvantage®eggs are nutritionally and biologically the same as any other Atlantic salmon the consumer purchases, there is no reason for it to be labeled as different. Voluntary labeling is sometimes acceptable, but would be the responsibility of the fish growers," the company said on its website.

You would think that a cutting-edge company would take great pride in identifying the revolutionary new product it is about to put on the table of American consumers. Apparently, the opposite is true. In the case of a hot potato like a genetically altered fish, the easiest option seems to be to sell the fish without any identifying labels that might discourage consumers from buying the product.

If a transgenic fish is safe to eat, why the need for secrecy?

This salmon needs to be labeled for what it is: a fish created by bioengineers who are tinkering with the genetic code of the animal kingdom. Not all fish are created equal and consumers need to know which are man-made and which were created by nature.

Honesty and transparency are the only way to go.

(On Nov. 18, a coalition of consumer, environmental, animal welfare and many other groups demanded that the FDA deny approval of the transgenic salmon or require mandatory labeling of the fish should approval proceed. The comment period on the labeling of GE salmon ends on Monday, Nov. 22.)

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." Isak Dinesen

A SIMPLE TIP Fruit juices provide welcome refreshment at any time of the day but their high sugar content can also make them excessively sweet. Mixing juice with water will not only modulate the sweetness of the drink but, even better, will help you stretch your dollar.

Duly Noted 

-- Not familiar with JJill, purveyors of stylish women's clothing via retail outlets and the internet? Then, go to jill.com. This company is a real find, offering items for daily wear and special occasions that are smart yet easy going, with prices ranging from $23 to $190. Plus you can pick up some tremendous bargains by checking the site's sales pages. 

-- There is help out there for people who want to get involved in community service but don't know how to get started. AARP runs a website -- createthegood.org --dedicated to providing ideas and helpful advice on tackling different types of initiatives such as organizing a food drive, providing assistance to caregivers, or starting a community garden. There is also a Spanish version: compartiresvivir.org  

Editor's Note: If you are interested in Puerto Rico or wish to revisit some of the news stories that captivated newspaper readers in recent decades, then pick up a copy of "A Reporter's Notebook in Puerto Rico (1973-2010.)." Written by Gino Ponti, a police reporter for the now defunct The San Juan Star, the book is part biography, part short history of The San Juan Star, and part retelling of the stories that made Ponti's reputation as one of the island's finest journalists, including an investigative series that proved the innocence of a man incarcerated for seven years based on evidence fabricated by the police. Ponti's style of writing is so charmingly colloquial and his news stories so compelling and vividly described that one can forgive him the occasional repetition and copy editing lapses. The book is available at Borders in Plaza Las Americas and La Tertulia, in Río Piedras.

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." Dalai Lama

Copyright ©2010 Consumer Planet  All rights reserved