THE recycled SHOE

Photography by Denise Blasor

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in
any direction you choose.
You're on your own, and
 you know what you know.
And you're the guy
who'll decide where to go.

Dr. Seuss

Once upon a time people dreamed of turning metal into gold.
These days we seek a different, more practical alchemy: to
transform old objects into new ones via the process of recycling.

But recycling is not limited to taking an object apart and
using its usable components to make a similar or different article.
You can recycle by giving an item to another person or donating it
to a charity to sell for fundraising or distribute to people in need.

Take shoes. It seems such a pity to consign shoes that are
relatively in good condition to the nearest landfill when this sensible
article -- which makes it possible for people to walk around in
comfort on cement sidewalks -- can be recycled and put to good use.

ShoeBox is a for-profit company that collects shoes from the public
and distributes them where they are needed the most. And to
personalize the giving experience, the company invites people to
write a note to the future wearer, tucking it inside the shoe being
gifted. "When you place a note in your shoes and tell the next
owner what is special about them, you can trace the path they take
and ultimately find your Sole Mate."

You can send in shoes "in all shapes, sizes and colors" as long as
they are in decent condition and are not any of the following:
heavy winter boots, skates, blades, flip-flops, slippers, crocs,
singles or unusable. ShoeBox will even pay for you to ship
the shoes to its address; all you have to do is to request a
UPS label from the company at info@shoeboxrecycling.com/

Another organization that collects gently worn shoes (and money) is
Sole4Souls. Founded in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit
SouthEast Asia, this charity has distributed more than 19 million
pairs to people in 125 countries, including the United States.

Consult the charity's website to find drop-off locations at partnering
retail stores or  if there aren't any close to you, ship the shoes to one
of the organization's warehouses, also listed on the website. Donors
must pay for their own shipping but for those of you on the mainland,
the charity recommends contacting Unishippers (877.791.7447) for
favorable shipping rates.

Soles4Souls accepts all types of shoes (either gently worn or new):
athletic, running, dress, sandals, pumps, heels, work boots, cleats,
dance, flip flops.

Finally, here's a Nike recycling program that has collected 28
million pairs of shoes since it kicked off in 1990. Called Nike
Reuse-A-Shoe, it allows people to drop off athletic shoes and
LIVESTRONG wristbands at more than 200 locations in eight
countries around the world, including most U.S. Nike stores.
The program is not available in Puerto Rico even though there
are two Nike factory stores on the island.

Nike limits in-store drop-offs to "10 pairs of shoes at a time to
prevent overwhelming our collection bins."

Or send your shoes to Nike Grind Processing, 3552 Avenue of
Commerce, Memphis, TN 38125. Mailing labels available at
nikereuseashoe.com

nikereuseashoe.com
sole4souls.org
shoeboxrecycling.com

FOOD for THOUGHT: According to Soles4Souls, Americans 
discard more than 300 million pairs of shoes per year. "When
these shoes breakdown in the landfills, the toxic glue that holds
the shoes together can leak into our water supply and 
atmosphere."

A SIMPLE TIP:          

If you are running out of space to store your books, head over to the nearest wine shop or
even a supermarket and ask if they have any wine wooden boxes to give away. These handsome, practical boxes make excellent shelving for books. You can easily stack them, one on top of the other. Or any old drawer no longer in use will do nicely, perhaps stacked on top of a couple of wine boxes as shown in the image.

Photography by Denise Blasor

To live life you have to season it...If you
don't suffer, you don't learn. So I use a little bit
of thyme, chile, clove & cinnamon 
to sweeten the taste of things.

The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo
by F.G. Haghenbeck

☛ EYE ON PRODUCTS:

If you're into mushrooms (sorry, not the magic kind!), then
you will love the Woodstock brand of Organic Shiitake
Mushrooms. These frozen beauties are ever so flavorful and
a breeze to prepare as an accompaniment to a vegetable stir fry
or a simple, whole-wheat pasta. Check them out at your area
supermarket or, if you live in San Juan, they can be found at
Supermercados Selectos in Santurce's Ciudadela complex.

"Morning Glory," by Lorraine Blasor

That sorrow which is the harbinger of joy
is preferable to the joy
which is followed by sorrow.

-- Saadi

©2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved

Sight is a promiscuous sense.
The avid gaze always wants more.
Susan Sontag
Photography by Denise Blasor

RECYCLING ELECTRONICS

Starting Jan. 1, 2015,  a new law makes it illegal for New York State residents to dispose of electronics 

Electronic waste contributes 70% of toxins found in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That's because they contain such toxic materials like lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants. How to dispose of unwanted electronics?

If you live in New York city, you're in luck thanks to the Lower East Side Ecology Center which runs a program for the disposal of working and non-working electronic equipment. Items you can drop off at the organization's Brooklyn-based permanent e-waste collection center include: computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes); monitors; printers, scanners, fax-machines & copiers; peripherals (keyboards, mice,cables, cords, chargers, etc.); tablets and E-readers; components (hard drives, DC-ROMS, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.); TVs, VCRs. DVRs. & DVD players; digital Converter Boxes, Cable/ Satellite Receivers; portable music players; audio-visual equipment; video-games; cell phones, pagers, PDAs; telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.). All donations of equipment are tax-deductible.

The Ecology Center center also accepts batteries but requires that you separate alkaline and rechargeable batteries; also, you must either tape the terminals of rechargeable batteries, or pack them individually in plastic bags (another option for disposing batteries is to bring them to any New York City Department of Sanitation Self-Help Special Waste Drop-Off Site.) 

Not accepted: Home appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators and air conditioners; nor media such as floppies, cd's, zips, VHS tapes which can be recycled through Green Disk. 

The Ecology Center holds regular e-waste collection events in neighborhoods throughout the city, a service it has been providing since 2003. Upcoming events: Sept. 29, at the Bellamy Loop North in front of 140 Benchley Place, Coop City, Bronx; Sept. 30, Delancey St. (north side) between Chrystie and Forsyth Street, Manhattan; Oct. 2, Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Ave. and East 90th St., Manhattan. For more events check the organization's website.

Computer equipment dropped off during events is transported by WeRecycle! (an e-steward certified recycler) to its recycling facility in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. where it is processed "responsibly," according to the Center.

The Ecology Center only accepts materials from households, not-for-profits, schools, and small businesses with no more than 50 employees. There is no limit to how much equipment you can drop off but if it's a large amount make sure to contact the center so it can plan accordingly. Founded in 1987, the Ecology Center also offers free public compost collection, stewardship of public open spaces, and environmental education, including classes on composting, fishing, green and street tree care.

Lower East Side Ecology Center Permanent E-Waste Collection Center
469 President Street (at Nevins Street), Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
718.858.8777
Check website for drop-off hours

www.lesecologycenter.org    212.477.4022

Photography by Juliette Blasor

For her, at her age, sleep was perpetual and natural;
it ended only at unusual moments.
And, before long, it would never end.
Philip K. Dick

       "ONE SHOT ISTANBUL"
     

                                            Portrait of Reyhan Ozdilek by Alexander Berg


The unparalleled landscape of the human face has long fascinated photographers.  Alexander Berg is among them and his show of "One Shot" portraits can now be seen at the Conde Nast Building in New York.

Taken in Istanbul, the portraits are part of an ongoing project in which Berg invites the public to sit for a picture. Each person chooses how he or she wants to be portrayed: serious or smiling, alone or with another person, in motion or still, in color or black & white.  Berg takes one shot, but only one, since the essence of the endeavor is to be able to grasp the evanescent truth of each individual face in a single take.

In a short statement about his show, Berg explained the origin of this concept: "In a portrait session several years ago, breaking to look over images, the subject and I were struck by the first shot of the day: It was simply "it." We couldn't surpass its heightened state." To date, Berg has taken portraits of more than 1,700 people in New York, Beijing, and now Istanbul. "I found we all have a need to be seen, identified, exist, wherever we live.  In front of the camera, on the verge of a reflection of ourselves, we are all equal."

The show will be up until Nov. 8. To see pictures from the "One Shot" series, go to www.alexberg.com and click on projects.

Conde Nast Building 4 Times Square

© 2012 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 

SPRING RECYCLING

 IN THE SPRING a young man's, or woman's, fancy turns to thoughts of love. Or maybe, recycling. Springtime is as good a time as any to do a little housecleaning but rather than throw everything away consider donating cast offs that are still usable and in good condition to a charitable organization like the Salvation Army, with more than 2,300 donation drop-off locations throughout the U.S., or to a charity-run thrift store in your city or community. For large items like furnishings and appliances, you can arrange a free pick up by calling the Salvation Army at 1-800-SA-TRUCK (1-800-728-7825).

AND WHAT ABOUT electronics, whose toxic components make them a hazardous waste? One reliable recycling option is Best Buy, the specialty retailer of consumer electronics which in addition to recycling also allows trade-ins for some items. With more than 1,000 stores nationwide, the company has a broad reach. The Best Buy store in San Juan is located at 230 Calle Federico Costa, practically around the corner from Plaza Las Americas shopping center (787.764.4900). Business hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

PRODUCTS accepted by most Best Buy stores span nearly everything electronic, including TVs (as long as they don't exceed 32"), DVD players, monitors and mobile phones, desktop and laptop computers with the hard drive removed.  Consumers may drop off two items per day for free with the exception of small TVs, monitors and laptops, for which the company charges a $10 fee. In return, however, you get a $10 Best Buy gift card.

BEST BUY'S trade-in program, according to the company's website, lets you trade in "gently used electronics for Best Buy gift cards," either in-store or online. For in-store trade ins, bring Apple laptop, Apple iPod, mobile phones and PC laptops purchased at Best Buy and get a Best Buy gift card instantly.  There are three requirements: be at least 18 years old, have a valid Best Buy receipt, and bring along a government-issued photo ID. Online trade-ins cover a wider range of articles. For more information on Best Buy's recycling program, including a full list of all items accepted, go to the company website and look up the recycling section under product support. 

RECYCLING gives new life to materials otherwise headed to the local dump. The idea that something unwanted can be turned into something valuable is awesome, particularly in view of the fact that landfills are a limited resource. To find out more about recycling and to locate recycling centers in your area consult Earth911.com for its comprehensive recycling directory covering over 300 materials, plus news and tips. The company also runs a toll-free, bilingual environmental hot line at 1-800 CLEANUP®.

EQUALLY HELPFUL is 1800recycling.com,  a recycling location search engine. The site includes a blog with very interesting stories. One recent piece under the headline of "Holiday E-Waste? Beware Fake Recyclers!" highlighted the growing problem of unscrupulous e-recyclers selling their toxic scrap to brokers who, in turn, dump these materials in Asia and Africa where this waste is broken down in a dangerous way, creating dangerous toxic areas.

©2009 Basel Action Network (BAN)

Accra, Ghana, among the 
 most toxic places on Earth

How to differentiate between good and 

bad e-cyclers? The answer is the e-Stewards® 

Recycler Certification Program that certifies

 responsible e-recyclers and was developed

 by a leading environmental watchdog, the 

Basel Action Network (BAN). "Only

 Certified e-Stewards Recyclers ensure your 

e-waste will not be exported to developing

 countries but rather recycled by the most

 secure practices in the world," said the story.

Best Buy, by the way, is a good recycler. 

The company, according to e-Stewards, 

uses legitimate recyclers.           

                                    

Artwork by Lorraine Blasor

TEA TIME: Everything about tea is perfect. It is soothing, relaxing and drinking it makes you feel like the heroine, or hero, of a British novel (in Barbara Pym's novels, everyone seems to be drinking tea all the time!). One especially delightful brand is Rishi Organic Green Tea Mint, a harmonious blend of full-bodied, roasted loose leaf green tea and aromatic peppermint. At vitamin shoppe.com, the 1.94 oz tin sells for $9.99. 

Photograph by Denise Blasor
Artwork outside shuttered business in San Juan, P.R.

"I can't go on. 
 I'll go on."  

     -- Samuel Beckett

Copyright©2012 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved

Gastronomic History

CRIOLLO COOKING FOR THE AGES

 Photograph by Bill Gelabert

JUST in time for Mother's Day, a gorgeous table top book that honors women in the kitchen (plus a few men, too) and the glory of traditional Puerto Rican cuisine is out in print: "Sofrito The Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine," by Blanche and William Gelabert. 

IT is clearly a product of love. And while its reason for being is to celebrate Puerto Rico's "soul food" in its many manifestations, this 185-page, full-color tome is also a paean to Puerto Rico, its landscape, its people. Its pages are chock full of fascinating facts like the clever ways used by the Taino Indians in hunting for fish (amazingly, they used trained sucker-fish to capture other fish) and the curious life of the Ceti, a fish with parallels to salmon.

THE book combines easy-to -follow recipes and plenty of lovely

pictures of foods and places around the island. Some of the recipes are hand-me-downs from Blanche's mother-in-law while others, including recipes no longer part of the day-to-day culinary lexicon, were culled from old timers that the couple met during their travels around Puerto Rico. One encounter led to another: each person they met would refer them to someone else who they absolutely must visit in order to learn some terrific recipe. These special recipes came, from among others, Aida Olga Genoveva Cummings de Florit, who shared her grandfather's recipe for Pan de Mallorca (sweet yeast bread) while Melquiades Nieves contributed his favorite recipe for Empanadas de Ceti (a small fish) and the daughter of Maria de Mari de Burset shared her mom's Ponque Divino recipe.

FIFTEEN years in the making, "The Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine" summons up the diversity of the island's gastronomic heritage for the benefit of master or novice cooks, a culinary inheritance made all the richer by the contribution of different cultures: Taino, European, and African. Blanche is quite familiar with island fare having learned to cook the Puerto Rican way from her husband's mother, Doña Maria Gelabert. She and her husband met as teen-agers living in New York. Doña Gelabert "loved to spend hours on end in her kitchen preparing comida criolla and it was always a joyous occasion for me to visit her and learn about native island cuisine," Blanche writes in the preface. Preserving this trove of culinary history is important because, as Blanche points out, today's generation "has lost the art of original Puerto Rican cooking…Everything is frozen food." 

PULLING the book together is the vivid photography of William Gelabert. His still life pictures of food and table settings are sure to steer you to the kitchen to recreate the delicacies that his wife Blanche explains with such ease and clarity (the large type in the book is a plus for those with less than 20-20 vision!). Interspersed throughout are views of the Puerto Rican rural and urban landscape, images that focus on the island's idealized beauty.

"THE Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine" follows in the footsteps of the couple's earlier "The Spirit of Puerto Rican Rum", a book devoted to rum-infused recipes. Though the rum book was a success, the Gelaberts did not make plans to work on another book. In fact, for almost a decade they pursued a dream of establishing a bed and breakfast in their magnificent colonial house in old San Juan, an endeavor that, Blanche recalls, "took a lot of stress, money and legal battles" against opponents of the project. Eventually, they gave up on the plan in order to concentrate on their long-running business, a tourist publication titled "San Juan Guide," and to assemble all the recipes left out from the previous project plus information collected through the years into a second book. 

ITS publication is a bittersweet moment. Bill Gelabert died two years ago from cancer. For Blanche, the book encapsulates the lifework of her husband, a professional photographer who specialized in commercial food photography. During his illness, Gelabert worried about what would happen to his work and this concern pushed Blanche to bring the book to fruition with the help of several friends. "Bill was shooting photos till the end. That was his passion and therapy," she said. Ultimately, "this is a tribute to his work and to Puerto Rico."

"THE Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine," priced at $55, is available at Borders in Plaza Las Americas and these stores in old San Juan: Spicy Caribbee, Butterfly People, The Poets Passage, Concalma, Puerto Rico Arts & Crafts. Written commentaries in the book are by Ellen Hawes, Lisa M. Gelabert-Rivera, and Della Smith. The attractive book design is by John Rivera.

Date to keep in mind: MAY 29, 2012

Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of cast off ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT... That's the invitation issued by The Colegio de Contadores Autorizados de Puerto Rico to everyone with retired electronic equipment lying around the house. You can drop off the equipment 

TOMORROW FRIDAY at the atrium of the Capital Center building on Hostos Ave. in Hato Rey from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Depending on the item, you will have to pay a fee ranging from $1 for mouses, keyboards and speakers to $20 for servers and rear-projection TVs. For a list of items accepted and corresponding fees check www.colegiocpa.com

Photograph by Rafvs Franco-Steeves

For each ecstatic instant/ we must an anguish pay/

in keen and quivering ratio/ to the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour/sharp pittances of years/

bitter contested farthings/ And coffers heaped with tears. --Emily Dickinson

NEW YORK FINDS:

Greenwich Village, at one time a magnet for bohemians, revolutionaries and the literati, is now, instead, a draw for the fashion set thanks to chi-chi boutiques by the likes of Mark Jacobs, Burberry, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors. And tourists, of course. Still, to walk along its quiet, tree-lined streets flanked by townhouses and other admirable brick buildings is one of the most enjoyable delights when visiting Manhattan. And if you love cheese, one stop-over you will want to make is Murray's Cheese at #254 Bleeker Street. It used to operate out of a smaller corner store right in front of its present location but the new digs have allowed it to expand into other food categories. Still, the "piece de resistance" here is clearly cheese from all parts of the globe and at prices spanning affordable to ritzy. Check it out and when you leave, stop next door at the delightful Amy's Bread for a bit of refreshment. The breads are divine!

Copyright 2011© Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved