Peering Over the Side @juliawhitmore - Tumblr Blog

Things I Think I Need (but don't): trash bags

Do you line your garbage cans/baskets/bins with plastic bags?

My trash bag habit started when we were invited to dinner with friends. It was one of those fantastic get-togethers where needs have been anticipated, beverages and snacks ready when guests arrive, in a beautiful and welcoming home.

At one point the hostess opened the cupboard under the sink to throw something away, and wow. The…

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#Alternatives to trash bags #Plastic garbage bags #Plastic waste #Things I do not need #Zero waste

Follow up Friday: Do "Compostable" Bags Really Compost?

Have you tried composting any of the “compostable” produce bags that have shown up in some grocery stores? How did it go?

This is a follow-up to an earlier Scam Watch about “compostable” bags from local Natural Grocers and Trader Joes stores.

To recap: the bags say, in big letters “COMPOSTABLE” and in small letters “not suitable for backyard composting,” or suitable only for composting “in…

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#Compostable plastic #Natural Grocers compostable bags #Plastic Scam Watch #recycling plastic #Trader Joe&039;s compostable bags

Guest Post: 10 Tricks of the Trade in Marrakech

Traveling to Marrakech, in Morrocco? Here are ten tips you need to know before you go. Rule A1: bring a sense of humor. Thank you to guest author Daniel Brooks.

The Medina, the name for the old town of Marrakech, is a massive outdoor market. If it isn’t the world’s biggest one, it should be. The narrow streets go on and on, selling everything under the sun. The Medina is as old as the hills…

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#Bahia Temple #Jamaa El Fna #Learn to haggle in Marrakech #Medina Market Tips #Morrocco Travel

Pass and Yield: Oregon Rules for Bikes

When you are driving, and pass a bicyclist, how much room do you leave? How much should you leave?

What are bicyclists supposed to do at a stop sign if no one else is around?

Photo: Noirathsi’s Eye https://www.flickr.com/photos/natsihlaneone/

On cars passing bicycles: While twenty-seven states have laws requiring cars give bicyclists at least three feet when passing, in Oregon, the law…

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Fish Scales: A Plastic Solution?

How often do you use single-use cling wrap-style plastic? Do you think twice about it? What if there was an alternative?

The winner of the 2019 James Dyson Award* is a biodegradable plastic-like material called MarinaTex. It was invented by Lucy Hughes, a recent graduate of the product design school at the University of Sussex, U.K. The ingredients: Fish scales, fish skin and algae.

For…

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#Biodegradable Plastic #James Dyson Award #MarinaTex #Plastic from fish waste

Tech for Troglodytes: Replace your Macbook battery?

Have an older Macbook in need of a new battery? Have you replaced a laptop battery on your own? How did it go?

My 2013 Macbook Air is a workhorse. It’s been all over the world, reliable and powerful. The time came though, as it does for all laptops, to change the battery.

How did I know? It no longer held a charge the way it used to. Sometimes it shut down unexpectedly, and would only boot…

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#Macbook Air batteries #NextStep Recycling #Replace battery Macbook Air 2013

Follow-up Friday: Slaves to Chocolate

Halloween is almost here. What treats do you buy? Do you buy treats at all? At our house, the go-to is chocolate, and right now Kit Kat bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups strategically placed by the grocery checkout stands are mighty tempting. Should we buy them?

No.

In 2012, I wrote about the chocolate industry’s dependence on child slavery. At the time, things were looking up.…

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#Child Slavery and Chocolate #Chocolate industry #Ethical Chocolate #Fair Trade Chocolate

Person to Watch: Greta Thunberg

Don’t miss this speech given to the UN Climate Change C0P24 Conference by Greta Thunberg.

Last year, Greta started skipping school on Fridays to sit outside the Swedish parliament, holding a sign that said: “School strike for the climate.” She has inspired a worldwide movement of people too young to vote. This month she…

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#Climate Change Protests #EU and Climate Change #Greta Thurmberg #Swedish girl protests climate

Water and Trash: Bonaire

Do you ever wonder about the trash you leave behind when you travel? If the signs on hotel beds encouraging you to save water by re-using towels and taking short showers, make any difference? Or where the water you drink and shower in, comes from?

While visiting Bonaire this spring, I wondered about the Nespresso coffee pods and Keurig machine supplied by our hotel. What happened to the used…

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#Bonaire #Caribbean travel #Landfill in Bonaire #Nespresso pods #Recycling in Bonaire #Water in Bonaire

Five Destinations with Bans on Sunscreens

What’s the best kind of sunscreen? The kind that doesn’t kill marine life.

About half the coral reefs in the world have been lost during my lifetime. Climate change is part of the problem, but another insidious contributor is sunscreen. 6,000 to 14,000 tons* of sunscreen washes into the oceans every year. Much of it is toxic to coral reefs and fish.

Coral reefs provide critical protection…

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#coral reefs #reef-safe sunscreen #Skin Care #Sunscreen bans

How to Recycle Your Contact Lenses

Do you wear contact lenses? Did you know, small as they are, contact lenses are a big pollution problem?

Contact lenses are packaged in non-degradable plastic, and the lenses themselves take eons to break down. When dry, lenses crumble into micro-bits and if not disposed of safely, scatter in the wind, soil and water. About 20% of users toss their lenses into the toilet or down the sink.…

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#Bausch and Lomb recyclling #contact lens pollution #how to recycle contact lenses #Microplastic #Plastic recycling

Will Art Save Us From Plastic?

The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the mind.”

Marina Abramovic, b. 1946

“Plastic Entanglements” is a traveling exhibit featuring art made out of plastic. I generally don’t like art made from plastic. This exhibit, however, is inspiring — imaginative, provocative, whimsical.

Aurora Robinson,…

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#Artist Aurora Robinson #Artist Chris Jordan #Artist Pamela Longobardi #Artist Willie Cole #Plastic Art #Plastic pollution

Tech for Troglodytes: You need a VPN. Here's Why.

Tech for Troglodytes: You need a VPN. Here’s Why.

If you …

never use your laptop away from home,

never use public WiFi,

never buy things online or

do anything online you might want to hide,

… you’re probably OK without VPN,

But —

Let’s say you’re in the Denver airport. Your flight has been delayed indefinitely, there’s a blizzard outside and you’d love to pass the time streaming a movie. It’s risky to use the free airport WiFi, right? Should you…

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#Internet Protocol #internet security #Virtual Private networks #VPN for dummies #What is an IP address #Why you need a VPN

Magic No-Knead Bread & How to Store It

I’m on a quest to minimize the amount of single use plastic packaging in our household. This week: bread bags.

Why cut back on plastic bread bags? After all, most bread bags are made out of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), a plastic considered safe enough to store many kinds of food, and for baby bottles?

Because even though it’s “safe,” it doesn’t degrade, and most municipalities don’t accept…

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#baking with sourdough #Bread #LDPE #No-Knead Sourdough Bread #Plastic Bread Bags #Plastic recycling #Say no to single-use plastic

Make your own kefir (It's a cinch!)

Make your own kefir (It’s a cinch!)

As part of my campaign to cut back on unnecessary containers* I decided to try making my own yogurt and kefir. Yogurt making did not go very well. Kefir, however, turned out to be amazingly easy.

If you’re unfamiliar, kefir is like a pourable yogurt, but with a different set of probiotic bacteria. Yogurt has about one billion bacteria which feed gut bacteria and cleanyour intestinal tract. Kefir…

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#Benefits of kefir #How to make kefir #Make your own kefir

Finding Better Bags

We’re seeing more in the news about plastic pollution these days.

This week I learned plastic bags caused a flood in Bangladesh after they clogged the drainage system.

I also learned almost half of the plastic in those gyres in the middle of the ocean is abandoned fishing gear.

Photo credit: Kevin Krejci

And that we in the US are way behind when it comes to a coordinated effort to get a handle on…

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#3Bs Bags #Bees Wrap bags #Ireland&039;s plastic bag tax #reusable grocery bags #reusable produce bags #Source of plastic gyre

Three Fingered Jack

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