Recently in News Category
m o r e (truth be told)
I was lucky to see the Oscar-nominated live action short films this week (living in L.A. makes things like that a little more accessible) and they were all excellent--really strong entries this time around. Heavy too--one was about Chernobyl, another something I won't reveal in case you see it. One Swedish entry though was simply hilarious and light and luckily it came at the end of the screening, for some comic relief.
And while it wasn't my absolute favorite pick per se, one that definitely caught my attention because of the poignance of its subject was Kavi.
Kavi is a young boy in India who, with his parents, works at a brick kiln where they sleep in tiny quarters, do back-breaking work, and are told they have a debt to repay that keeps them bound to the boss. This kid wants to play cricket and go to school, but it isn't in the cards. Until one day...
It's astonishing that modernday slavery exists and exists in such numbers:
27 million people are enslaved today in one form or another.
It looks like the easiest way to see Kavi now is to buy the DVD. And I assume the whole lot of them will be out at Netflix in the coming months. (A loosely related documentary I saw a few years ago that's widely available is Born into Brothels.)
According to Kavi's website:
"Bonded labor, a form of slavery, often occurs when people are tricked into taking loans from creditors who have no intention of letting them repay the loan. The creditor then uses violent intimidation to keep his workers slaving with no hope of escape."
And there are links to anti-organizations if this is an issue you'd like to explore further and support.
A book I haven't read but have heard good things about is Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales.
And it does happen in the U.S. and it is connected to our everyday lives, like the tomato pickers in Florida who were forced to work and treated terribly.
Finally, at Made by Survivors, you can support people who have made it out of slavery and help them maintain an income by buying their wares (the felt/kids items are especially nice).
m o r e (living small)
With our booming world population and the not so booming state of our economy, not to mention our air, land, and water, big is definitely no longer better.
I can't remember where I saw the blog, The Tiny Life, but I was immediately intrigued. I've written about at least one manifestation of a tiny house here at Less Is More (Balanced) before, but TTL's every post is about something tiny. Mostly houses and how to live with less, but all kinds of miniature movements and moments as well.
The blogger, Ryan, describes the tiny house movement this way:
"Simply put it is a social movement where people are downsizing the space that they live in. The typical American home is around 2600 square feet, while the typical small or tiny house is around 400 square feet. Tiny Houses come in all shapes, sizes and forms but they focus on smaller spaces, simplified living."
I'm really digging his post on Lucy's Love Shack featuring a renter with 371 square feet to work with. I love the little dog house under the bed and the mini stove (I used to have one like that, too!). It's spare and simple and inspiring.
And the one on foldable tables for large gatherings in a not so large space.
I'm sure there'll be more as I follow along from here on out.
And if you want to get together with people and build a tiny house, there are resources in his localize section.
Other tiny houses I've heard of: tiny texas and the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.
My apartment is definitely small, but I'm not sure it it's tiny (maybe 800 sq. feet?). All I know is I don't want to live anywhere bigger!
Do any of you live in a tiny space? How I'd love to see photos!
Photo credit: Tumbleweed Tiny House Blog
Thrilled to report that I've got another piece up on Shareable. This one profiles two different manifestations of cohousing, communities in which people choose to live together in some capacity for the good of the world and themselves. In these examples, one is an apartment building with 42 renters, the other a big 'ol house full of a dozen roommates:
"Their set-ups and specific vibes are unique, but they share many qualities too. They both have "business" meetings to organize the flow of tasks and come to consensus on changes, for example, and each has its share of clashes over hot-button issues (pets can be troublesome). Residents at both have a deep concern for the state of their city. And not surprisingly, neither living room has a TV!"
Wrote a roundup of sites that help you share today at Your Daily Thread.
And am sharing it with you:
"As they say, when the times get tough, the tough get...sharing. That's right. One positive side effect of this recession is more people are getting together and pooling what they have. So, for Valentine's Day, maybe we can ditch romantic exclusivity and share the love--and other stuff--all around."
Here's the rest:
Many, many thanks to Angela at My Year Without Spending for passing on the Kreativ Blogger Award in my direction!! (You can read about the origin of the award here.)
Here's the deal. When you get one, you reveal seven things about yourself and then award it to seven other creative bloggers who'll do the same.
So here goes:
1. I have never ridden a horse, but plan on remedying that this year.
2. I spent 10 years of my childhood in Singapore and 4 years of teenagehood in Hong Kong, which I loved! I didn't learn to ride a bike or get to spend time in nature, but I did get plenty of concrete craziness and super girlfriends to make up for it.
3. My great dream as a kid was to be to be a dancer or a writer. As a grownup I've narrowed that down to just the latter.
4. I walk pretty much everyday or risk feeling totally bleh.
5. I don't like driving or flying or riding in pretty much any motorized vehicle. Motion sickness doesn't help. Except on my husband's scooter, which is a blast.
6. I recently got two sweet mice (Flora & Fauna), the first pets I've ever officially owned.
7. Someday I would like to have have my very own goat.
And now, the award goes on to the following uber-creative bloggers...
Abby @ New Urban Habitat
Christine @ Simple Savvy
Tammy @ RowdyKittens
Julia @ Color Me Green
Liz @ raganella
Lisa @ Craving Balance
After seeing my post on laundry soap nuts, Maggie's has offered to have six lim(b) readers give them a try for free!
Details:
The first six people to comment on this post will get their choice of the nuts or the liquid soap (from the nuts) sent to them by the company. (Just make sure you fill out your email address in the comments form so they can contact you for your mailing address and specify which you prefer to receive--nut or liquid.)
Maggie is especially interested in having people with skin or immunological disorders try the products and give feedback as to how they help such sensitivities.
So, if you're interested in giving soap nuts a spin with your wash, comment above!
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m o r e (truly inspired reuse)
I get a huge kick out of Robert Fontenot's Recycle LACMA project.
When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art needed to get rid of pieces from its textiles and costumes collection, artist Fontenot saw a golden opportunity. And as is with so many good ideas, a blog quickly followed.
On his, he shows the ways he reimagines what he bought at auction into totally new, still interesting objects.
A Morrocan textile? Now it's a sheath for a machete.
A brightly-colored Korean wedding jacket? Now it's a pink strap for a canteen.
Neck pillow, scrunchie, fanny pack, a sling, it's amazing what he comes up with as a usually functional use for what once hung in a museum and is now, well, waste.
I thought I'd share it as inspiration for your own creative reuse at home. I love how the endeavor uses every little shred of something for some inventive use.
So, what will you come up with next?
m o r e (mindful money)
I've written here about slow fashion, slow food, and slow communities, so why not slow money?
Our financial system has already shrunk down with the recent economic meltdown, (something I'm not qualified to comment on). However, as we look to rebuilding, might things be different?
According to the NY Times, Americans are buying less and doing more in this recession. In fact, I think with signs like many more people planting so-called "recession gardens," buying local, learning to knit, looking for life/work balance, and desiring sustainble products, it's possible that our values are shifting.
Woody Tasch of the Slow Money Alliance has as new set of money values for us to consider. Instead of building on growth at all costs and mega returns, he wants to refocus our financial system on something that matters, and that takes a while to see bear fruit: local food.
What if we invested in something worthwhile within 50 miles of where we live?
He's proposing that we "invest with more realistic return expectations" and subscribe to principles that:
"enhance food security, food safety and food access; improve nutrition and health; promote cultural, ecological and economic diversity; and accelerate the transition from an economy based on extraction and consumption to an economy based on preservation and restoration."
The idea is that we invest in small farms who need help and get the rewards, some in the form of dividends, some in the form of a better world.
The Alliance is striving for a million signatures to its principles and there's a slow money gathering at a farm this June.
m o r e (simple, spare stuff)
Muji brand from Japan isn't necessarily a totally sustainable company and its wares, of course, are shipped from there to here, but I'm intrigued by its philosophy and like some of its stuff.
It's all about simplicity. Using conscientious materials, eliminating fluff, dross, and anything extra. It is bare bones and beautiful. It likens its approach to using every part of a fish, from head to tail, creating uber-efficient products that disdain waste.
Some of the cool stuff they make:
reused yarn scarf & socks, cool recycled paper notebooks,
an aluminum clothes hanger, cardboard speakers (above),
wooden city in a bag (a great teaching toy for a getting older kid), and handkerchief's printed with different cities.
Visit the online store.
Or see what NY's Museum of Modern Art carries by Muji.
Thanks to everyone who took the online survey and shared valuable feedback about this blog! Your thoughtful responses are much, much appreciated in this collaboration and I'm enjoying reading and reflecting on them.
If you missed it, there's still time to give your two cents:
m o r e (stuff that lasts 100 years)
Saul Griffith (inventor and founder of the DIY site, instructables) is a well-known proponent of heirloom design. What's that? It's stuff that's designed to last long enough that it could be passed down to the next generation. It's the opposite of what we've got in abundance now--planned obsolescence, machines that can't be easily repaired, their parts replaced, fad fashion, etc., and stuff that just plain isn't prized for its longevity. All that adds up to waste. Waste in the manufacturing process. Waste in the landfills. Waste in the toing and froing to get the stuff.
As non-designers, we can't make much difference, unless we, well, become designers. But as we have been dubbed consumers, we can make a difference with what we buy.
Griffith said in a recent interview with GOOD Magazine: "An enormous amount of energy we use [industrially] is locked up in 'embodies energy.' It's trapped...in the materials our stuff is made of...While we can choose materials that have less embodied energy for any given product, it's much better to choose objects that last two or three, or preferably 10 times, longer."
Yes, some heirloom items are uber-expensive and that's why they're known for quality and durability (Rolex watches, for example). But in thinking about it, I have some heirloom items in my apartment since I've been prizing quality over quantity for some time now. Some of which were inexpensive while others I saved for to get the better version. (I put away money for four years, for example, to get my healthy, environmentally-friendly bed and mattress and until my current versions were squeaking so badly I couldn't wait another night!)
My Lodge Cast Iron Skillet will last 100 years. I think it cost about twenty bucks. My other stainless steel pots should prove hardy as well. (See all my long-lasting, efficient cookware here.)
I have a vintage wardrobe that is pretty aged but will go strong for decades more with its solid wood construction (before the time of toxic stains and glues most likely, too). I've gotten a few other vintage furniture pieces that will stand the test of time. A Herman Miller Aeron Chair has cradle to cradle certification along with its modern, ergonomic styling.
A few weeks ago, I scored a pair of leather gloves via a friend's clothing swap. They were a gift from her mother (not sure when), are exactly what I was looking for, and, even though free for me, will surely last a lifetime.
There are two winter coats in my closet, both of which I got for around forty bucks at thrift stores, that appear to be very well-made and I'd wager they'll be around for a good many seasons as well.
The bed frame I purchased last year (part of my eco-bedroom project) is constructed of FSC-certified wood is built to last. My natural latex mattress should outlast conventionals by two or three times too (as it should for the price).
Seems like once a year (for the last two anyway) I get a Patagonia wool top (wearing one now!). Not only are they warm, layerable, super quality, and made from natural wool, they're part of Patagonia's Common Threads program so I can recycle them when they're done. I may not be able to pass them down, but I can pass them on to someone else via some creative reuse. (Here's a merino wool men's baselayer, and a women's.)
My husband has a couple of power tools that cut the mustard as well--and hey, a good hammer never goes out of style or breaks down!
So, do you have any heirloom designed items in your home or office? Is there a way to strategize and get one quality item instead of one that will need to be replaced over and over?
Hi lim(b) readers! I'm wondering if you might take a few minutes to take this online survey I've cooked up with the intention of finding out about you and what you think of this blog. I have no exciting incentives to offer, just the promise that I care what you think.
If you've got the time for seven answers to seven questions, your feedback is wanted here:
Through her comment on a recent post here about i love mountains, I got the chance to interview Emily Fox, a photojournalism/religious studies student in Kentucky on the subject of mountaintop coal mining.
She's from Eastern/Central Kentucky, in the range of what's referred to as coal country.
Before asking her questions, I watched Burning the Future: Coal in America, a documentary all about mountaintop coal mining and the damage it does to communities of plants and animals and communities of people. It has a particular focus on the water quality and subsequent health problems of people near these mountain sites. I highly recommend it.
After all,
over half our electricity comes from coal and in 2005, we burned a billion tons of it.
Mountaintop removal is a newer, particularly destructive mining that blows off the tops of mountains to get to the coal, and meanwhile causes noise, shaking, and floods, lets toxins seep into groundwater (on which people are dependent), dumps waste into streams, and destroys habitats and ecosystems that would take thousands of years to restore.
Here's what Emily had to say about the human effects of coal:
Are there any ways coal mining has affected your community for the good?
Coal mining is a major industry for my state, so I feel like we are all affected by it in one way or another. Personally, my closest contact with mountain top removal has been through working with The Appalachian Culture Project, a workshop designed to document life in Whitesburg, KY, for several years.
When it comes to positive contributions to the community, I think there is a big difference between the effects of coal mining in general and mountaintop removal specifically. This is a region that struggles intensely with poverty, and coal mining provides jobs at decent pay (for the area, that is, many people start around $8/hr), but mountain removal requires fewer workers and therefore fewer jobs.
Okay, how about for the worse?
I live just above McCreary county, which used to rely on mining a low-grade coal. Now that the coal is gone the median income has dropped to around $10,000/yr. It's one of the poorest counties in the country. People living in Eastern Kentucky want to hold on to their jobs because that's all they have but as technology advances they are losing jobs right and left.
Not to mention that mountaintop removal is ecologically devastating.
You mentioned boiling water--can you talk more about other
precautions/hazards people who live near mining operations deal with?
Sludge ponds overflow leaching heavy metals into the water; there are ash spills like the one
that happened with TVA in Tennessee earlier this year. I know that often the byproducts, such as dirt and earth containing arsenic and mercury, have been used as fill dirt for building soccer fields for schools. People often rely on shallow wells for their water, which is contaminated. Many of the people who live in these areas are mistrustful of the coal companies and worry about their health, but are unsure of what precautions they can take, and afford.
How do you personally feel about coal mining?
I have a very negative view of mountain top removal: it kills much needed jobs, destroys the environment and is hazardous for those who live around it. Coal mining in general is tough because I have met so many people who have coal mining jobs and are grateful for them, despite the risk. I have met so many hungry people trying to get by, it's hard to dismiss it all outright. The land of Eastern Kentucky is comprised of poor soil and transportation is limited. I really love my state and feel a connection with the area and the people. All I can do is promote awareness and hope for an alternative.
Web resources on Appalachia, its culture, and mountaintop coal mining:
Burning the Future's Coal Impact Guide
And you can view more of Emily's excellent photographs, some of which are for her school paper, on her blog.
Photos courtesy of Emily Fox.
I'm delighted to have contributed an article to Shareable.net today.
The site is DIY meets green meets the commons and common sense. I think it's reporting on unique and exciting stuff happening in the world.
And yes, it's all about sharing and how the world is shifting and can shift in that direction. It says:
"In a shareable world, things like clothing swaps, childcare coops, potlucks, carsharing, community gardening, and cohousing bring us together, make life more fun, and free up time and money for the important things in life. When we share, not only is a better life possible, but so is a better world."
Please check out my article, "Make Your Holiday a Shared Affair" and feel free to tell me what you think along with ways you've made your holidays more shareable in the past.
m o r e (serving up local)
Leave it to Slow Food to organize a day for getting together and enjoying local foods together, with relish. This Wednesday, December 10 is Terra Madre day to celebrate mother earth and her bounty.
The pillars of slow food include access to fair, good food, biodiversity, small-scale production, and sustainable agriculture and trade relationships.
If you can get behind those, then there's still time to organize a little slow food soiree with your family or friends or school...
Or find one where you live anywhere in the world. I don't see any for Los Angeles, so my dinner with my husband prepared with foods from the farmers' market and local bulk bin will have to be extra celebratory tomorrow night!
Any day of the year, Slow Food USA has so many resources for conscious eaters (and growers). You can find an event, a dinner, a panel to attend; get involved with your local chapter; or get the resources to plant an endangered food in your garden.
m o r e (silent places)
I heard about the square inch of silence a long time ago but have neglected to write about it until now. Perhaps it's the inner and outer noise the holidays can produce that brought it to mind now.
One Square Inch is acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton's project in which he designated just that measurement as a silent space in the Hoh Rainforest in Washington State's Olympic National Park.
Why? He says:
"The extinction rate for quiet places vastly exceeds the rate of species extinction."
So Hempton's mission has been to preserve those quiet places and the sounds they naturally murmur--bird and animal calls, rivers, and the like.
Probably the biggest audio intruder in wild places is air travel. American and Hawaiian Airlines have changed their flight paths to avoid the whole park including the square inch. Alaska appears to still fly passenger planes over the area--Hempton asks that you talk to your airline before flying and make it known that you don't want to fly over sensitive spaces like national parks.
You may be thinking, "What difference will one measly square inch make?" It turns out a lot. That square's silence can reverberate beyond its boundaries, benefitting large stretches of the park.
You can visit if you're going to the Hoh (which is incredible if you get to--home of the largest, best temperate rain forest in the W. hemisphere, 200 streams, and 1200 plant, 300 bird, and 70 animal species!). But only if you remain quiet of course. And, you can add a reflection to the Jar of Quiet Thoughts before you leave.
He's got a book about his journey of sound too. And you can purchase an album recorded at the square inch to help support his work.
Plus, he's recorded natural sounds all over the earth on albums (found at The Sound Tracker) so you can hear a cave in Hawaii, dawn in the Amazon, or sunrise in South Africa without going anywhere.
Finally, I'm wondering if you've found your own silent or quasi-silent places where you live. Are they outdoors or indoors?
How do you find one square inch of silence in your own life?
m o r e (good gifts)
As I've said, I'm taking the year off official holiday gifts and I'm probably not the only one. However, if you have the time and resources to get something here or there for loved ones, it can be truly blessed to give. And if you choose wisely, your gift can be good for everyone and everything involved.
In that spirit, here are some alternative gift ideas.
Barbara Kingsolver gives her jars of summer salsa and jams away during the holidays. If you didn't plan that far ahead, you can always give a baked treat made with fall/winter seasonal ingredients. Other HOMEMADE things to try your hand at:
*These really cool knit hat patterns for guys and gals. (Photo credit: the purl bee.)
*Jars of tea or spices.
*Homemade soap or lip balm or some such pampering.
*These downloadable vintage labels (via i do it yourself) might come in handy.
*And I adore these DIY smores kits! (Photo credit: Twig & Thistle.)
*Or there're always handmade goods made by somebody else.
Sometimes gifts bring beauty and creativity into our lives. By supporting people who make them consciously, we're avoiding the ones who don't and fostering more green, creative spirit. Some of my favorite UNIQUE, ECO-FRIENDLY things I've seen lately:
*Cara Lydon's vintage hair pins. (Photo credit: Cara Lyndon.)
*100% recycled blossom flower bracelets by aster + sage.
*For kids, Little Saplings [via coreyackelmire] has natural, safe toys made from reclaimed or FSC-certified wood. For every purchase, a tree is planted and they even use a beeswax and jojoba oil finish! (Photo credit: Little Saplings.)
None of us wants to be preachy, but a useful gift that helps jumpstart a burgeoning green effort can go a long way. Here are some ideas and jumping off points for gifts to helm them GO GREEN:
*Global warming action kits (something you could easily put together yourself with your top picks for reusable water bottles, faucet aerators, books, solar garden lights, etc.). Here's another great green kit that's pretty serious-minded.
*Something for the garden like a pair of gloves or Seeds of Change. (Photo credit: Seeds of Change.)
*You can check out the books and films I've read and watched over the past few years in case they might tickle someone's fancy.
*Indoor or outdoor water saving kits. (Photo credit: Grow and Make.)
I love gifts given in someone's name. My brother and I had 100 trees planted in my late father's honor as a memorial and I have given a tree for Mother's Days past. But it goes beyond trees. You can give all kinds of charitable gifts and let someone know or a group of people know you gave a gift to DO GOOD in their name.
*Sponsor a wild place through the Sierra Club. (Photo credit: Sierra Club.)
*Find a project to help fund through Global Giving.
*Give an animal that will provide sustenance to a family somewhere through Heifer International.
*Oxfam's doing great work too. I especially like the gift of a can of worms! Here are others to choose from. (Photo credit: Oxfam.)
*Kiva offers microfinance loans to fund projects for people to get on their feet and flourish.
*There's always the gift of GOOD magazine.
Lastly, there's the gift of you, of TIME SPENT. You can give the promise of:
*A meal cooked.
*A night or day out (like to the movies, a museum, tea, etc.).
*A trade of services (babysitting for baking or some such arrangement).
So, Happy Holidays and possible alternative gift giving! If you have more ideas to share, please do in the comments!
I was reminded of Chris Jordan, whose series "Running the Numbers" I once blogged about here, from Your Daily Thread's piece on his new work.
It's called "Midway: Message from the Gyre" and documents what he found on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific. What was there? Baby albatross carcasses whose bellies were full of the plastic trash that's been carried out to sea. Human waste has, in fact, created a garbage patch in the Pacific. (It's called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.) And 40% of the albatross chicks there die.
It's horrifying to think that little plastic whatsits travel so far away and do so much harm. It's also horrifying to view Jordan's photos--to capture them, he didn't move a thing.
I'm currently watching Nature's Most Amazing Events, a film narrated by David Attenborough, and what I've been most struck by is how delicate a dance nature is. Animals depend on weather patterns that bring certain foods and nutrients their way. We're upsetting that balance in all kinds of ways. These albatrosses, fed plastic parts mistaken for squid and such by their unknowing parents, is just one.
Here's the arresting video/slideshow:
Photo credit: www.chrisjordan.com
I'm honored to be included in the November/December edition of the Simple Living Network Newsletter. The Network is an excellent resource for those wanting to joyfully pare down their lives and the Newsletter has a variety of perspectives on that theme.
You can find my article, "Saying Goodbye to Stuff" in addition to others on the definition of success (by my friend Angela at My Year Without Spending), how to need less by having less, what really makes us happy, and holiday alternatives that shun ultra consumerism.
m o r e (good city living)
According to the online community, Livable Streets, 6.5 billion humans now live in cities (of which I am one). And that's not always a pretty picture. But perhaps it could be if we devoted more of our street space to pedestrians and cyclists, town centers and public plazas (an idea that New Urbanists like those interviewed in The End of Suburbia support).
That's the idea with Livable Streets. To redesign thoroughfares to be pro people (and pro alternative transportation and pro oil-independent, healthy communities at the same time).
If you live in New York, L.A., San Francisco, or on Capitol Hill, there's a Livable Streets Blog to check out to see the green street movement in your community. Or get involved in any city, on any road.
Also, loving the videos in the StreetFilms section on biking, rude drivers, walking to school, and this one, on the education and efforts of some cute, committed Brooklyn students.
There's an international conference also working for mixed-use neighborhoods that make people feel like walking, all around the world.
And see the difference it can make when an intersection is transformed to be more a livable street at GOOD. And even more designed by its readers.