I:CO? Who Dat?

I've mentioned I:CO in previous posts about H&M and Columbia.  I thought readers might want to know a little bit more about this revolutionary recycling company.  Today is the day!  You're welcome.

I:CO, which stands for I Collect, is a textile recycling company that has a goal to close the loop on textile recycling.  Each year over 150 million tons of clothing and shoes are sold and the majority will end up in a landfill.  I:CO wants to make that a thing of the past.  

To make it as easy as possible for consumers, I:CO has collection bins at point of sale retailers.  For example, if you wear Columbia shoes and you have a pair that you would normally throw away, take that pair with you when you get your new kicks and drop off the old ones right there!  How easy is that? 

I:CO has partnered with nearly fifty companies and has collection sites in more than 60 countries.  I:CO has a stringent sorting process that sorts materials based on up to 350 factors.  This means they are very picky about the sorting process to ensure the most sustainable outcome for every item they receive. 

Clothing and shoes that are still wearable go to second-hand stores to be given a second chance at life.  Unwearable items are first made into new clothing and shoes.  Shoe soles can be broken down into rubber granules and made into soles for new shoes.  Clothing fibers can be spun into yarn or denim.  Lastly, fibers can be made into insulation for automobiles and construction.  There are also creative items like Adidas rugs that are made from recycled clothing and shoes.  The possibilities are virtually endless.

The next time you have a pair of shoes or worn out clothing that you would normally throw away, remember that they are a valuable resource and can be made into something new and useful.  Want to learn more about I Collect?  Click here.

 Here are some of I:CO's partners:

Adidas

American Eagle Outfitters

Columbia

Forever 21

Guess

H&M

Kenneth Cole

Levis

The North Face

Timberland

and MORE!

Slow Clap Presents: The Fernandina Giant Tortoise

Real Story.  Real Stupid.

The Fernandina Giant Tortoise was thought to be extinct.  It isn't.

The tortoise had previously last been seen in April of 1906 by Rollo H. Beck and members of the California Academy of Sciences on an expedition.  The male tortoise was collected, photographed, and later killed, presumably in the name of science.  Don't slow clap yet.

Later expeditions led to discoveries of tortoise droppings and cactus bite marks in 1964 and again in 2013.  In 2009 there was even an unconfirmed sighting.  In 113 years, no tortoise alive or deceased had been found until February of 2019.

In February 2019 Washington Tapia and other rangers with the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative discovered a female Fernandia Giant Tortoise that is believed to be approximately 100 years old.  The team took the tortoise and brought her to the breeding center for giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island.  At the breeding center, the tortoise has been put into a specially designed habitat.  The team is planning another expedition for later in the year and are hoping to find a male to pair with the female that has been found.  

My two cents: In 1906 a Fernandina Giant Tortoise is found.  It is captured and killed.  In 2019 another tortoise is found and it is taken to be studied, bred, and kept in captivity.  What?  Seems to me the tortoises were plenty fine for the last 113 plus years without us.  I think they should have left it alone. 

Rating: I give the story of the kidnapped tortoise 2 out of 5 possible slow claps.  Leave it to the humans to meddle in business that isn't theirs.

Arbitrary thoughts: I think this should be known as the pig-nosed tortoise, for obvious reasons. 

The Pig-nosed Fernandina Giant Tortoise.

Mason Jars are for Bad A** B!tches

I first started using mason jars close to ten years ago when my mother and father in law taught me how to can tomatoes.  For many years that was the extent of my use of mason jars until I decided to make jam, then pickles, and after that, I started canning green beans.  When we started this journey of less waste I started to discover that mason jars are perfect for just about everything.

I still use mason jars for jam when I make it.  I also still can tomatoes to use for homemade chili and spaghetti sauce.  I sometimes make a marinara sauce that I can just for using to make lasagna during the winter.  Most years now we make our own homemade salsa and can enough to hopefully last until the next year. 

I like to store food items in mason jars.  When I make oat milk I keep it in the fridge and freezer in mason jars.  I recently discovered that you can get a pour top and that will make pouring the oat milk a lot easier.  I also store raw rice, popcorn, and coffee in mason jars.  I buy my coffee from Byerlys because I can pick when I want and they have a plain brown paper bag that you put the beans in and you can grind them at the store.   I transfer the ground coffee into a large mason jar because it stays fresh for a really long time that way and I can compost or burn the paper bag when we have a bonfire.  

Mason jars are handy for non-food items as well.  For years we've had a large vintage mason jar where we store spare change.  It's handy and it looks better than other containers that serve the same purpose.  I started storing our granulated dishwashing detergent in a small mason jar that I leave on the counter.  It's easy to fill the dishwasher with the mason jar instead of getting the big box out and we set the mason jar on top of the dishwasher to indicate that the dishes are clean.

When we got married a few years ago we did a sand ceremony and used a mason jar.  I ordered a nice decorative metal lid for it so that it would look nice.  For the ceremony, I had six small mason jars with colored sand for each of us that we each poured into the larger jar.

Try using mason jars in the following rooms:

Kitchen-Store your flour, sugar, coffee, tea, rice, popcorn, and noodles.  Use the quart size for homemade oat milk or nut milk.  Try using the pint or half pint size for packing snacks and lunches for work and school.  Use mason jars to hold knives, forks, and spoons for entertaining or eating on the deck.  Use a large size to hold utensils like spatulas and other cooking utensils.  Turn a tiny size into salt and pepper shakers.  Buy a sugar dispensing lid and use it for pouring sugar into your coffee.  Buy a pump top and use it for hand soap.  Use a pour spout or sugar dispensing lid for your dishwasher granules.  

Bathroom-Use a wire lid insert and use a mason jar as a toothbrush holder, for your bamboo toothbrush, of course.  Use a large size to store nail polish.  Try using varying sizes for your makeup brushes and q-tips.

Office-Use varying sizes to organize your paperclips and other small items.  Mason jars make great pencil holders too.  You can do the same thing with craft supplies and sewing supplies.

Patio and Miscellaneous-Make some DIY tiki torches.  Try making your own candles in different size and colors in mason jars or buy some votive candle holder inserts.  Store wooden matches in one with a sandpaper lid to strike them on.  Mason jars make great vases and you can use a wire lid insert to help hold the stems.  You can even plant succulents and herbs in them.  Remember to pick out a unique jar for your change jar.  Lastly, my favorite put a jar in your laundry room and add all the weird crap that finds it's way into your laundry.  People with kids will enjoy looking at their jar of "kid art" while they fold clothes.

Vintage half gallon blue Ball for change.

Half gallon Kerr for coffee.

Kerr pint for dishwasher granules.

Quart Kerr for popcorn.

Quart Kerr for weird crap that your kids put in the laundry.

Vintage quart Midland with pour top for oat milk.

Seasonal Sunday: Harvesting that Compost

It's been a long winter and you are starting to get your garden ready. One of the things you will want to do is harvest the compost that you have been adding to all winter.  Spring is a good time to harvest to add to your garden and fall is another good time so that you can make room for fall cleanup as well as the long winter.

If you have a single composter, you are going to want to stop adding to it about three to four weeks before you are planning to harvest.  This gives things a chance to dry out a bit and it will save you from having to pick out freshly rotting things.  During these few weeks, try freezing your kitchen scraps so that you can add them into your bin after you complete your harvest.  If you add yard waste to your bin you can set it somewhere else during this time.  If you have two composters or a unit that has a divider, just add to the opposite bin or side while you let the one you are planning to harvest take a little rest.

Ideally, your compost should be on the drier side when you harvest it to make it easier to work with.  If yours isn't dry you can leave the container open to dry out or you can empty the compost onto a tarp to dry out that way.  If you are planning to screen your compost, you want to have it on the drier side or you will be pushing mush through a screen and that's just gross.

If you choose not to screen your compost, you can just pick out any larger pieces and toss them back into your bin to finish breaking down.  If you screen your compost, you want to place the screen over your wheelbarrow and either use a shovel to load it onto the screen or, depending on the type of compost bin you have, you can empty the compost directly onto the screen.  Pick out the pieces that don't fit through your screen and add them back into your bin to finish "cooking."  Egg shells are something that takes a long time to break down.  You can either toss them back into the bin or just leave them in the finished product.  Eggshells make a good natural slug deterrent.

Compost is great to add around the base of plants and around seedlings.  You can add some to any indoor plants that you have or just toss it around your lawn to give your grass a great natural fertilizer.  

If you don't have a compost screen you can buy one, make one yourself, or better yet, have your handsome husband build one for you!  The one my husband made comes right out of the book Composting for a new Generation by Michelle Balz.  

Here's what your husband will need:

*2 x 4 lumber (2) 48", (2) 21"

*2' x 2' galvanized hardware cloth (1/2 inch or 1/4 inch)

*Galvanized #10 screws, (12) 4"

*Staple gun and 1/2" staples

*Screwdriver

*Saw

*Hammer

*Tape measure

*Gloves

*Safety glasses

*Aviation shears or wire cutter

*Drill

I don't have a step by step on how to put it together.  I showed my husband the picture and he did the rest.  Big strong men don't need instructions anyway, right?  Below is what the finished product should look like.

*Mama Betty's DIY Gremlin Milk

So you got a Mogwai and you tried to follow the three rules to the best of your ability.  Rule number one, do not expose to sunlight or you will kill your Mogwai.  Rule number two, do not get your Mogwai wet or it will spawn.  Rule number three, never feed your Mogwai after midnight.  

The first two rules seem simple enough but that third rule is a little tricky.  When, exactly, is "after midnight?"  Isn't anytime, technically speaking, after midnight?  Would "after midnight" end at noon?  Maybe midnight is 12:01am-11:59am?  What if you feed your Mogwai at exactly midnight?  Would that be okay?  As long as the food is swallowed before 12:01am, obviously.  Can the Mogwai drink after midnight or is the ban inclusive of beverages as well?  If the eating is specific to foods that need to be chewed, can the Mogwai have thicker liquids like a malt or a slushy?  

At any rate, you f*cked up and the Mogwai has eaten after midnight.  Don't despair, once you catch that crazy gremlin, you can make highly nutritious and delicious milk.  You can make "milk" out of anything now.  Almonds, cashews, soy, oats, the sky is the limit really.  I have come up with a very simple recipe that turns out great every time.  The milk keeps in the fridge for up to a week too.  I like to use the ears as a garnish but that's totally optional.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine has.  My only suggestion is that if you have small children, don't tell them that the Gremlin you used in the milk used to be their Mogwai, this is going to upset them.  The bonus, of course, is that they will have so much energy from the Gremlin milk that they can keep looking for their "lost" Mogwai until they forget about it and move on, or until you can find a replacement doppelganger, whichever comes first.

Gremlin Milk

1 Gremlin (save the ears)

4 cups fresh, cold water

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp maple syrup (or 2 dates if you prefer)

Add all ingredients into your Vitamix blender and pulse a few times to chop the meat a bit.  Feel free to add any optional add-ins like stevia, cucumber, or berries.  Blend for 1-2 minutes.  Strain the milk through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag making sure to get every last bit of milk that you can by squeezing the pulp.  I compost the pulp and toss the cheesecloth or nut milk bag into the washer. 

Delicious, nutritious Gremlin milk.

*Satirical Saturday brought to you by Betty

Dear Betty: Reader Question 5/3/2019 BPA

Dear Betty,

You sometimes mention BPA when you talk about plastic.  What exactly is BPA?

Thank you,

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for your question and thank you for reading!  I looked into BPA a little closer and below is a summary of what I found.

Thanks,

Betty

Bisphenol A, better known as BPA is used in the production of polycarbonate plastics.  Polycarbonate plastics are typically used for food and beverage containers, water bottles, and baby bottles.  It is used to line water pipes and it is used as a coating in food and beverage cans.  It is also used in thermal paper coating.  Annually, over 4 million tons of BPA are released into the environment according to the EPA.

BPA is potentially harmful to everyone with those most easily affected being pregnant women, newborn babies, and small children.  People are mostly exposed to BPA and other Bisphenols through their diet.  It is consumed after leaching into food and drink. 

BPA binds to estrogen receptors and can wreak havoc on the body.  BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can affect thyroid function, reproductive organs, cause developmental issues, and can cause metabolic disease.  BPA has a link to prostate cancer, breast cancer, infertility, PCOS, and asthma.

BPA has largely been replaced with another bisphenol, BPS.  BPS is in the same bisphenol family and shares a similar structure to its BPA counterpart.  BPS so closely resembles BPA that studies are suggesting that it could be as bad as BPA or even worse.

It seems reasonable to avoid BPA, BPS, and other bisphenols as well as any plastic whenever possible. 

Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion?

I'd love to hear from you!

Email me at Mrs.Stebber@gmail.com or comment on the blog

Plastic Number Six

Plastic resin code number 6 is Polystyrene.  You may know it better as PS or the name Styrofoam.  It is a polymer made from the monomer styrene.  

Polystyrene was first discovered in 1839 in Berlin by apothecary Eduard Simon.  In 1941 Dow Chemical invented the styrofoam process.  Later, in 1954, expanded polystyrene was developed by the Koppers Company.  Dow Company shipped its first order of foam cups in 1960.

Polystyrene can be smooth or foam-like in texture depending on the manufacturing process and desired application.  Polystyrene is frequently used for "disposable" food containers, packaging materials, packing peanuts, plates, cups, meat trays, egg cartons, cafeteria trays, plastic utensils, coffee cup lids, toys, insulation board, and desk accessories.

Polystyrene is known to leach toxic chemicals, including styrene, especially when heated or exposed to heat.  Insulated styrofoam can release styrene into coffee or tea.  Styrene is suspected to be carcinogenic and can possibly increase thyroid hormone levels.

Polystyrene is extremely difficult to recycle and in its foam or expanded state, it is nearly impossible to recycle.  Most recycling facilities are not able to recycle polystyrene and it is typically not accepted curbside.

Polystyrene is not a good choice for plastic.  Try to avoid this plastic whenever possible and certainly don't eat or drink out of it, especially if it has been exposed to heat.

Polystyrene.

Weekly Weigh In 5/1/2019

It's the first weigh in of May and we are off to a p!ss poor start.  Handsome Husband rolled a whopping two bags out to the curb today.  Why two bags you ask?  The teenage daughter cleaned out her car and I went through our compost.  The paper-like diapers our puppy mill rescue dog wears are not compostable.  I'll have to issue a retraction to that post and seek counseling for my diaper-compost PTSD.  [Shudder]

How did you weigh in this week?

First of the Month Challenge: May

Reusable Napkins

The very first blog post that I wrote was an ode to Ginger Pie and her fabulous cloth napkins.  You can read the post that started it all here.  

I had spent a lot of time looking for cloth napkins for my circus of monkeys and found that most cloth napkins are large enough to double as a parachute if you were so inclined to do just that.  I wanted cloth napkins that were in the neighborhood of about 12 inches.  Ginger Pie's napkins are exactly that and they come in an array of pleasing designs that make it easy to remember which napkin belongs to whom. Since we aren't complete and utter slobs, we are able to pick a fresh one every week and that works out well for us.  The best part about cloth napkins is that we save on having to buy new "disposable" napkins from the store all the time, we save money, and it's good for the planet.  Guests we have always enjoy our fun, cute napkins. 

What are you waiting for?  Stop being a filthy trash monger and buy some reusable cloth napkins.

You can check out Ginger Pie's perfectly sized napkins here.

Guest Blog with Esmeralda (not her real name)

Our Zero Waste Journey 

by Esmeralda

When I was younger my family was “very” great at recycling and composting! No, I’m kidding!  We thought we were good at it though.

A couple years ago we probably thought we were doing it right, we composted and recycled, what more could there be to it? WRONG, we didn’t know a lot about it so we got strange results and stopped composting.

After a couple of years, my mother found a book that gave us ideas, she also started noticing the effect of plastic on the world.  My mother started with composting again, we learned many new correct ways to compost and somewhat weird things you could compost as well.

We slowly started putting new things into our lives. First, we got a big composter and a little one for a couple rooms. Then we learned that to correctly recycle we needed to wash it out and take off the label. Next, we decided to get bamboo toothbrushes and I tried to make tooth powder  Oh boy, that didn’t work at all!

We worked up to bigger things and slowly wasted less and less.  At first, it sounded difficult to do.  We had to remember to wash things out and adapt to using new things but honestly, after a couple weeks it just became normal and we could see the benefits. We had barely any trash in our garbage can and we had more money at the end of the month.

We just started our zero waste journey and we have a lot more changes to make still, but we have made progress and are excited to continue.

Peace I’m out.

P.S. There should be a petition to make Handy Girl a movie, it would be rated R for uh... radical.