esrosedotblog

Today is the first day of the California plastic bag ban.

I have been using canvas bring-my-own bags for quite a while.

What amazes me is that even with those cotton bags, some baggers ignore them and start to give me a plastic one anyway.

This will create all hell for a lot of people. Good thing.

For me, the best part is that it is a dramatic statement of priorities in a world that seems to have none where ecological concerns are given mostly lip service.

My bags are old. Heavy cotton, they have been laundered a few times.

And they are strong to the point of indestructibility.

They didn't cost much either.

I am proud to live in a state that has the balls to be first on stuff like this.

California Plastic Bag Ban

Labels: conservation

I gave up plastic bags a long time ago.

Soon everyone here will have to do it.

California Closes In On Plastic Bag Bans

So I am an early adopter. That doesn't make me a "good person", better than anyone else. I don't suffer from the malady of "holier than thou" when it comes to things like this. Maybe other things but that is another story.

It is just a simple thing to buy canvas reusables and take them to the store whenever I go. Whenever. Even if there are a couple of things. Although I often falter on the quick stop off for a last minute thing. Then I try just not to take a bag when a handful works fine.

There is so much wrong with plastic bags I can't tell you. And anyway you know already.

There are some stores that have nothing else. Non-grocery stores. I don't take my canvas bags there. I don't like it but that is the only option to walking out with eight little items in my hands. They should be included in this too.

They now have paper re-usable some places. I have not seen them. I don't think I would go for it.

The canvas works fine. The other thing about them is that they are easy to load. No wire frames holding them open. Just open and load. Get the heavy ones. You only buy once. Make it good.

Oh! And what is more about the canvas, they have handles. You can carry them easily. OK?Here they are. Ready to buy. I don't get a commission.

Labels: conservation

RESTORATION

I remember the old Penn Station in New York City.

Don't I?

I think that I do.

It was vandalized and torn down for the new Madison Square Garden complex in 1963. A travesty.

I certainly remember the present Penn Station, the underground that was built when they tore the old wonderful one down.

When I lived in Boston, I went through this station so frequently that I knew all the shops and eateries (such as they were) and environs. I had to wait a lot of hours for trains which I preferred as I lived right near Back Bay station in Boston and it was faster than the shuttle. Really.

I am delighted to see that finally, they are going to remake the Farley Post Office across the street into a new Penn which will be named after former Senator (and other things) Patrick Moynihan who made this his cause for years in the Senate.

Here is a great account with pictures from a wonderful blog that I pass through every day

Scouting N.Y..

It is a blog kept by a movie location guy who takes his own pictures and sightings that he finds on his way to his work.

Very interesting and very well written.

Labels: conservation, history

WATER MARK

We are looking for places to reduce using water.

One would hope that we would be doing this to conserve use and be good citizens. That would be a good motivation but we also have a "deeper" concern.

The cesspool may be showing signs of "failing". Less time between pumpouts and all.

We are getting some professional advice, but it is clear that one of the major contributors to any cesspool problem is water use.

And we have been profligate.

Start with the new washing machine which does conserve water. We have been so anxious to use it that we have been doing more little loads often. The goal should be bigger loads more seldom. And they shouldn't all go down there one day a week. The washes should be done in stages.

We realize that we have been using the maximum dishwasher settings when, in fact, we never need anything but the "light". All pots are handwashed. Every dish gets a precleaning. We don't need the full run. The manual says we can save up to 6 gallons per use with this minor change.

And then there are the flushes. We have never thought a thing about double flushing or flushing at any use. Now, we are adopting an old slogan learned in the Islands and in Provincetown. "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down". There is another one. "In the islands of the sun, do not flush for number one". Cute, but we won't post signs. Just do it.

And so on.

We might try taking showers at the gym too although that is an extreme measure but there are some advantages to that.

The point is that we have been dumping water down there without any consideration and we are seeing the result sooner than in the past.

There are other things that can be done as well. There are treatments. Chemical cleaners.

We want to get ahead of the problem before it gets ahead of us.

Our goal is to have no major construction while we own the house. That is worth some change of habits.

Labels: conservation

WATER TORTURE

This one is doing the rounds.

I got it yesterday and then Dave sent it to me from his channels.

Four (legged) Flusher

I got the email version which Snopes corrects.

Labels: conservation, cuteness, felines, toilets