Saving Planet Earth

Trying to save the earth is difficult to accomplish at times. I know this for a fact! I try to do my part and be resourceful, dependable and try to treat the earth as if we will live on her soil forever. Hopefully we will.

I have several rescue turtles to go along with my rescue dogs. I have two Florida box turtles. Recently they have come out of hibernation (cold Florida winters) and are searching for their favorite foods. They haven't had worms in months.

So off I go to the bait store to purchase their yummy breakfast buffet. The worms come in Styrofoam containers and usually I save the containers and return them to the bait shop. It's been a long winter and my Styrofoam container is apparently history - headed for some landfill to spend eternity. I promise to do better.

I purchase the lovely wigglers - the clerk is always polite and asks me what type of worms I would like. Every time I tell her it doesn't matter they are just turtle food and worms is worms. But she always asks and I always say, "It doesn't matter."

I opt out for the brown paper bag no need to add more trash to our sweet Mother Earth. I place the Styrofoam container on the seat of the car the seat covers were washed by me last week so they are nice and fresh and beigey white. I took the corner a little too sharp but what the hey. I needed paper plates from the dollar store and only thought about turning at the very last minute.

I wander inside the store for what seemed like a short period of time but then when I shop time does slip by - somehow. I leave the store twenty bucks lighter than when I entered. OMG!!! I think out loud as I open the door. There on the passenger seat with my freshly laundered seat cushion is a black blob of wiggling mess. The worms have escaped in the car and are trying to reach freedom. Do they know their destiny? And the dark black dirt that is there home is all over my car seat.

I see them on the floor and crawling around in the cup holder. OMG!!!! This is disgusting. Why didn't I let the clerk place my worm purchase in that little brown bag? I could have recycled the bag.

Trash it Today

Today is the day. Today the inevitable will take place. It's destiny. Time has run out the clock is no longer ticking and the earth - well the earth is still doing what it's supposed to be doing. But - I have to complete the dreaded task. It's over. I might have even heard the fat lady singing or perhaps it was the neighbors dog howling. All good things must come to an end.

The air has cooled a bit and the breeze surely feels like an ocean breeze and not a warm ocean breeze. You can feel the change in the air. Winter is settling upon Florida. The solar heater will no longer be able to keep the pool at a swimmable 82 degrees. And for this wuss 82 degrees is a mite chilly. I really prefer 86 degrees.

I have made promises to hubby and to myself that the suit just has to go. The purple shimmery-shiny tank suit purchased over 10 years ago for 2 bucks off the clearance rack has seen its last hurrah. It has never faded - well only in a few spots where it has become translucent. The 6 inch tear down the side has been mended twice and has begun to tear again. The threads are so bare it's impossible to stitch it back together.

It has stretched enough to cover the bodies of two people. The elastic in the legs and around the armholes disappeared several years ago. The back end of the suit sags to the back of my knees - what a sight that is. It's the kind of suit you never wear in front of people for the peep show you might see. It's time to say good-bye - adios - so long. This will be a hard thing for me to do. Toss the sorry scrap of spandex in the trash. In some ways it just doesn't feel right.

But a promise is a promise and it looks so awful-awful bad. It no longer does the job it was cut out to do. It's a sorry looking sight and I am ever so glad no one sees it but me and hubby and even that is unbearable at times. Hubby makes rude comments quite often. So today the once spiffy-shiny purple tank suit will grace some landfill someplace. I would recycle her if I only knew how. It might make a scary Halloween decoration. The light bulb has gone on. she will look pretty scary hanging from the lamppost outside by the sidewalk.

Distant Drums

I received another advertisement in the mail today. They have gone past looking inside my arteries they are looking at my future. It's a rather scary future. I have been offered insurance to cover my care when I am no longer able to care for myself. What? I have a long way to go before I am plopped into a nursing home facility. And when I am my brain will be so on another planet I probably won't even care I am given jello everyday.

Insurance for long term care? You marketeers need to do more in depth surveys and contact (or harass) the correct population. I am light years away from retirement.

Maybe we could save a few hundred thousand trees by not turning them into advertisement brochures. Or at least use recycled paper. When us folks to get to that nursing home age we will need all that paper to write long letters to our children who have forgotten us.

At least with the mail advertisements I can shred them and use them as mulch as opposed to calls during dinner that push me over the edge. Yes, I am on the Do Not Call list but sometimes they get through.

My rant for today is over!

1.I am happy I go to the doctors today to get a final okay on the foot. I'm hoping he doesn't notice I did not follow his directions and finally had to go in the water. It wasn't my fault - too hot here not to take advantage of spring water at a cool 68 degrees. And oh - so clear and pure. I'm hoping he will accept that excuse.

2.I'm happy hubby made an excellent breakfast for me this morning.

3.I'm happy my friend is no longer unemployed.

Recycle Recession

Recycling is now in a recession. Since so many manufacturing plants are closing there is not a great need for plastic, aluminum, copper or paper to make new products.

The sad fact is recycled materials have dropped in value. Not enough money to make a profit so we slack off and quit recycling altogether. Money is the root of all evil.

More litter will grace our roadsides, landfills will increase and the recycling fad will disappear. I do not think it is a fad nor do I personally profit from recycling. I recycle for my environment.

Money seems to rule society. I urge everyone to continue to recycle.

Frugality - Fact or Fiction

I see myself as 'frugal', my children see me in a different light - they call me 'cheap.' Perhaps we are all right. I know if I ever win the lottery I will still hunt for sales and use my 20% off coupons. Hubby at times has poked fun at me and my antics - especially the napkins I save from fast food restaurants. He wasn't laughing that time he needed one and I opened the glove compartment and a bunch rolled out.

One Christmas my children bought me two huge packs of napkins and asked me not to horde any more freebie ones. I see nothing wrong with my yellow MCnapkins on the dinner table.

I also save those little ketchup, mayo, mustard, duck sauce and soy sauce pouches. I keep them in a zip lock baggie and they are ready to roll at any time someone says the word -picnic.

What can I say to defend myself? I really don't think I need defending. They can tease me all they want.

So hubby dear, the one that sometimes makes wise cracks about my peculiar habits has topped me one - but good. He's come over to my side.

Today he went on a shopping spree and purchased a beautiful area rug. It retailed for over $300.00. He paid $10.00. Gotta love that guy!!! And the colors were absolutely perfect. A designer could not have done any better - or more better. Family joke -more better.

I was so proud of him. And such a great bargain.

Then he took me aside and whispered look under the couch by the wall. I dropped down on that soft, cushy, beautiful new rug and looked under the couch. I'm thinking the cat had already barfed on the new rug. Just like the sun rising in the East everyday, the stupid cat barfs on all new rugs and new calendars placed on the kitchen counter. You can count on her for that episode - every time.

I'm looking and see no cat vomit but what I do see is a small rectangular patch maybe 2 inches by 6 inches cut out of the rug. You know that sign that says 'sample' on the sample rugs. Well the store removed the sample sign and left this empty space in the side of the rug and sold it for ten bucks. What a bargain. I don't believe too many people will get on my floor and search for irregularities in my pretty new rug. It's hidden and no one will know.

I love my bargain conscious hubby. I guess this could be referred to as - saving the earth - one sample at a time or cheap or my preference Frugality at its finest.

What was trash - now eclectic trash

How my creativity saved me money - or - how to survive being cheap. I needed an umbrella stand and having little cash to spare and being on the skimpy side of the moon - I improvised. And I did a darn good job improvising and saving the planet one plastic bucket at a time. Pat myself on the back.

Materials

Lightweight Umbrella
Large Plastic Container (bucket) with lid
Sand or (weighted materials, bricks, stones, broken concrete)
PVC Pipe (optional)


Any large plastic container with a lid will work. Chlorine pool tablets come in a large bucket with a lid. Take a small piece of PVC pipe; make sure the umbrella post fits snugly inside. This can be used for balance and strength. Measure for the PVC pipe from bottom of bucket to approximately 3 inches above the lid, it can be higher or lower depending on how much pvc pipe you already have. Trace with crayon or marker around the diameter of the PVC pipe on the lid in the center. Drill or cut around the marking in the center of the lid to fit in the PVC pipe. A sharp knife can be used to cut the plastic lid.

Place the cut PVC pipe in the center of the bucket (lid off). Fill the bucket with sand, rocks, gravel or any other usable material. I used left over play sand. Slip the lid over the PVC pipe and seal. Place the umbrella pole into the PVC pipe.
You can place the umbrella pole directly into the lid and then add weighted materials into the bucket and not use a PVC pipe. It makes removal of the umbrella easier with the PVC pipe in place.
This works great with small to medium sized lightweight umbrellas. You can paint or decorate your white bucket to match your décor or mood.

Human Footprint

I watched the 'Human Footprint', last night and I knew it would be a little depressing and full of guilt. It was. During a commercial I jumped up and searched through the trash to pick out the soda cans to be recycled.

What worried me the most was the amount of stuff and food THEY used to get the point across. The producerer stated they did not want to use animation - it needed to be real. So the gallons of milk bothered me even though they used water instead of milk for the scene. Okay - but what about all those cartons that were used? Did they go to a landfill? What about all the water inside the cartons? What purpose did the water serve?

The thousands of bananas dropped on the floor and smashed was another sore spot. They showed donating the bananas to a pig farm. Hmmm - is this why I have to pay 69 cents a pound now for bananas when just a few months ago they were 49 cents a pound? Supply and demand?

It was very interesting. But as a consumer I have little control how items are packaged and sold. Have you ever opened a package of Prilosec? The amount of cardboard for one tiny pill is unbelievable. How about placing some of this responsibility on the manufactures.