Freegan update...For about a year, I've wanted to have a greenhouse, not a really big one which would be too expensive, but a small, portable one. Well, last week, imagine my surprise when I found a small, portable greenhouse in good shape in the trash last week in our neighborhood. It's about half as tall as me, with 2 shelves and an open bottom, so it can be used as a cold frame to grow lettuce, spinach, and other crops in the ground during cold weather.
Apparently, trashpicking is garnering media attention, as evidenced by this MSNBC piece dated today (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24879628/). I feel so hip...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
My Freegan Finds
One of my passions is simplicity and cost-cutting. Reading about freeganism today, I fondly recall the following items that I have trash-picked:
--an upholstered rocking chair that is currently in our basement (covered with a flannel sheet)
--broadcast seed and fertilizer spreaders (not just one, but two!!)
--two matching white 70's era lamps also in basement(bought new shades and good to go)
--2 brass floor lamps
--one volume of a kid's science encyclopedia and 2 videos: Lady and the Tramp, Milo and Otis(latest finds)
--barely used box of laundry detergent
--brand new package of plastic Dixie cups
--two tricycles (our kids had trash-picked play vehicles until age 5)
--electronics rescued from trash to take to recycling instead (my good deed for the Earth)
--a soccer goal without a net; purchased new net and "Santa Claus" brought it for Christmas
--a wooden porch swing with chains that -- alas -- we never used on our porch in Maine
--kid's bike that I'm going to donate to a local project that fixes bikes and gives to them away
The key to good trashpicking is always having your eyes peeled. Visiting college campuses at the end of the semester is fruitful as well. Happy picking!
--an upholstered rocking chair that is currently in our basement (covered with a flannel sheet)
--broadcast seed and fertilizer spreaders (not just one, but two!!)
--two matching white 70's era lamps also in basement(bought new shades and good to go)
--2 brass floor lamps
--one volume of a kid's science encyclopedia and 2 videos: Lady and the Tramp, Milo and Otis(latest finds)
--barely used box of laundry detergent
--brand new package of plastic Dixie cups
--two tricycles (our kids had trash-picked play vehicles until age 5)
--electronics rescued from trash to take to recycling instead (my good deed for the Earth)
--a soccer goal without a net; purchased new net and "Santa Claus" brought it for Christmas
--a wooden porch swing with chains that -- alas -- we never used on our porch in Maine
--kid's bike that I'm going to donate to a local project that fixes bikes and gives to them away
The key to good trashpicking is always having your eyes peeled. Visiting college campuses at the end of the semester is fruitful as well. Happy picking!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Mitt Romney: The Anti-JFK?
Is Mitt Romney the anti-JFK? This is what David Sarasohn of The Oregonian (Portland, OR) thinks. He writes in his article, "Romney's anti-JFK speech," that Romney's recent speech actually is the antithesis of what JFK was aiming for in his own historic speech: to convince voters to choose him in spite of his Catholicism (a faith that is still suspect today; just ask John Kerry) since his faith was private, not public. Rather, Romney argues that voters should choose him because of the religious views he would bring to the presidency.
Whence cometh the current obsession with religion on the part of the presidential candidates? The "values voters" of 2004 probably have a lot to do with it. The Democrats running this time are much more conversant with mainstream evangelical Christianity than the Democratic front runners of 2004.
Reading Romney's speech, it eventually becomes clear what is missing from it: any mention of the possibility of Americans who have no religion. The America portrayed in his speech is 100% theist and overwhelmingly Christian. In his America, there seems to be simply no room for unbelievers or doubters of any stripe. The only mention of unbelief is in the passage in which he denigrates Europeans as "too 'enlightened'" to pray. Surprisingly, at least here he seems to recognize that it is the establishment, not the absence, of state-supported religion that inevitably diminishes the religious vibrancy of a nation.
There is one statement Romney makes with which I fully agree: "We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny..." However, it is not just from the radical Islamists that Romney mentions. This danger comes from radical Christianists as well.
Whence cometh the current obsession with religion on the part of the presidential candidates? The "values voters" of 2004 probably have a lot to do with it. The Democrats running this time are much more conversant with mainstream evangelical Christianity than the Democratic front runners of 2004.
Reading Romney's speech, it eventually becomes clear what is missing from it: any mention of the possibility of Americans who have no religion. The America portrayed in his speech is 100% theist and overwhelmingly Christian. In his America, there seems to be simply no room for unbelievers or doubters of any stripe. The only mention of unbelief is in the passage in which he denigrates Europeans as "too 'enlightened'" to pray. Surprisingly, at least here he seems to recognize that it is the establishment, not the absence, of state-supported religion that inevitably diminishes the religious vibrancy of a nation.
There is one statement Romney makes with which I fully agree: "We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny..." However, it is not just from the radical Islamists that Romney mentions. This danger comes from radical Christianists as well.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Contentment
I just found a great site: The Little Brown Dress Project at www.littlebrowndress.com. It is a blog by a woman who has experimented with "intentional wardrobing" by wearing the same little brown dress for one year. Her next year-long project was to wear only clothing that she sewed herself, made from clothing that she already owned. You can read her reflections on what she learned from both projects on the blog.
The Little Brown Dress website caught my attention because, since reading Judith Levine's book, Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, I've been wishing that I could try an anti-consumerism project of my own. I've tried to go even one week without buying anything (other than food) and have never been able to do it. The closest we've gotten lately was the 4-day Thanksgiving 2007 weekend.
However, while it seems impossible to reduce our non-food purchases to zero, lately I have had very little desire to purchase "stuff." My mantra of late has been, "I have everything that I need." It is soothing and comforting to repeat this mantra to myself. The material side of our lives just seems completely sufficient right now, and the contentment that comes with not wanting more stuff is rewarding in itself.
Of course, much of this contentment is due to the generosity of others. Our kids are having a ball playing with their "new" 30-year-old Legos (including police and fire stations, medical clinic, and moon explorer's base) which used to belong to my brother. I've been incredibly lucky to receive tons of used clothing from friends, including a pair of black leather pants, a beautiful dress for warm weather special events, and six classic wool skirts, vintage 1980, exquisitely hand-sewn by an elderly friend of mine. And, I just discovered that the library where I work subscribes to my favorite magazine, Mother Earth News...forget buying copies!
The desire to consume is an exceedingly difficult one to extinguish, or even to diminish. Sometimes, the stuff you have requires you to purchase more stuff to go with it. In order to wear the black leather pants to a New Year's Eve party, I just had to buy a purple top and silver earrings to go with them. And just about a month ago, new black leather boots were calling my name...of course, they were the perfect accompaniment for the wool skirts.
I have everything that I need...I have everything that I need...I have everything that I need...Hopefully this mantra will carry me through the Christmas season and well into the 2008. There's probably not a better way to have a happy new year.
The Little Brown Dress website caught my attention because, since reading Judith Levine's book, Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, I've been wishing that I could try an anti-consumerism project of my own. I've tried to go even one week without buying anything (other than food) and have never been able to do it. The closest we've gotten lately was the 4-day Thanksgiving 2007 weekend.
However, while it seems impossible to reduce our non-food purchases to zero, lately I have had very little desire to purchase "stuff." My mantra of late has been, "I have everything that I need." It is soothing and comforting to repeat this mantra to myself. The material side of our lives just seems completely sufficient right now, and the contentment that comes with not wanting more stuff is rewarding in itself.
Of course, much of this contentment is due to the generosity of others. Our kids are having a ball playing with their "new" 30-year-old Legos (including police and fire stations, medical clinic, and moon explorer's base) which used to belong to my brother. I've been incredibly lucky to receive tons of used clothing from friends, including a pair of black leather pants, a beautiful dress for warm weather special events, and six classic wool skirts, vintage 1980, exquisitely hand-sewn by an elderly friend of mine. And, I just discovered that the library where I work subscribes to my favorite magazine, Mother Earth News...forget buying copies!
The desire to consume is an exceedingly difficult one to extinguish, or even to diminish. Sometimes, the stuff you have requires you to purchase more stuff to go with it. In order to wear the black leather pants to a New Year's Eve party, I just had to buy a purple top and silver earrings to go with them. And just about a month ago, new black leather boots were calling my name...of course, they were the perfect accompaniment for the wool skirts.
I have everything that I need...I have everything that I need...I have everything that I need...Hopefully this mantra will carry me through the Christmas season and well into the 2008. There's probably not a better way to have a happy new year.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
New England and Megachurches
This week's New Yorker has an article by Frances Fitzgerald, "Come one, come all: Building a megachurch in New England." It describes the challenges faced by a young evangelical preacher in New Milford, Connecticut who is trying to grow a megachurch there. Along the way, Fitzgerald includes details on megachurches in general (and their pastors); why they are so attractive to many Americans today; and a laundry list of beefs that Christians in other churches have against them. Her takeaway message is this: New England is the most difficult place in the country to establish a megachurch.
One of the reasons given for the lack of megachurches in New England is that church is not a "way of life" for this culture to the same extent that it is in other areas of the country. This fact was illustrated for me when we moved from Maine to Central Pennsylvania. In northern Maine, the church scene there was pretty quiet. My coworkers and neighbors rarely discussed their religious commitments. Catholic, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches seemed to predominate. Interestingly, there seemed to be a significant contingent of Pentecostals, judging from the many women seen there wearing no makeup, very long skirts, and long hair piled on top of their heads.
In contrast to Maine, the number and size of churches in central Pennsylvania is amazing. In fact, it was one of the differences that we recognized first. Sizeable churches are seemingly on every street corner. There are three huge (if not mega) churches of pseudo-nondenominational character close by where we live. In our town alone, there are large churches of Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Church of God, and Catholic stripe--several of each. Anabaptist churches such as Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren are found in significant numbers.
The other thing we noticed pretty quickly was that people here often don't hesitate to talk about their faith. When I was doing business with an insurance representative a few days after arriving, he encouraged me to check out his church if we were "looking for a church home." The Welcome Wagon and Mary Kay ladies did that as well. It was low-key, but unsolicited nonetheless.
Finally, each and every day the Harrisburg newspaper contains at least one, and usually multiple, letters to the editor in which the writer chastises someone for not following God's commands. I don't ever recall that being true in any place I've lived before.
One of the reasons given for the lack of megachurches in New England is that church is not a "way of life" for this culture to the same extent that it is in other areas of the country. This fact was illustrated for me when we moved from Maine to Central Pennsylvania. In northern Maine, the church scene there was pretty quiet. My coworkers and neighbors rarely discussed their religious commitments. Catholic, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches seemed to predominate. Interestingly, there seemed to be a significant contingent of Pentecostals, judging from the many women seen there wearing no makeup, very long skirts, and long hair piled on top of their heads.
In contrast to Maine, the number and size of churches in central Pennsylvania is amazing. In fact, it was one of the differences that we recognized first. Sizeable churches are seemingly on every street corner. There are three huge (if not mega) churches of pseudo-nondenominational character close by where we live. In our town alone, there are large churches of Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Church of God, and Catholic stripe--several of each. Anabaptist churches such as Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren are found in significant numbers.
The other thing we noticed pretty quickly was that people here often don't hesitate to talk about their faith. When I was doing business with an insurance representative a few days after arriving, he encouraged me to check out his church if we were "looking for a church home." The Welcome Wagon and Mary Kay ladies did that as well. It was low-key, but unsolicited nonetheless.
Finally, each and every day the Harrisburg newspaper contains at least one, and usually multiple, letters to the editor in which the writer chastises someone for not following God's commands. I don't ever recall that being true in any place I've lived before.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Blogs I Wish I Could Write
It's been quite a while since I've blogged in earnest. October was a very busy month at work, and I'm just getting back to normal. Six days spent at home with family (four of them with my husband) has helped.
Tonight, as I perused The Simple Dollar -- one of my favorite blogs -- I had the same thought as I usually do: "Why didn't I write this?" Then I started thinking about the blogs I wish I could write (in addition to writing on The Sacred Page more frequently):
1) "A Christian Reads the Koran": I heard an NPR interview once with a Jewish man who decided to read the Hebrew scriptures in their entirety (usually referred to by Christians as the "Old Testament,") and blogged about his experience. He suggested at the end of the interview that someone do the same with the Koran. Sounded like a great idea to me.
2) "Living Within Your Means": Tried and tested ways to save money and consume less. My mantra lately is: "I have everything I need." I tried writing it on the bathroom mirror with a washable marker, but my husband didn't like staring at it every day, so now I'm thinking of cross-stitching it and hanging it on the wall.
3) "Your Personal Librarian": This blog would give tips on finding all kinds of information in and out of libraries: everything from more efficient ways to do a Google search to highlighting different information sources on specific topics (like career information, how to find out about toxic waste releases in your community, government information, how to find out which of your acquaintances owes back taxes, how to mooch free services at your nearest college or university library, services offered at your average public library that most people know nothing about, etc.) . Hmmmm...the more examples I write here, the more excited I get about this idea...
Tonight, as I perused The Simple Dollar -- one of my favorite blogs -- I had the same thought as I usually do: "Why didn't I write this?" Then I started thinking about the blogs I wish I could write (in addition to writing on The Sacred Page more frequently):
1) "A Christian Reads the Koran": I heard an NPR interview once with a Jewish man who decided to read the Hebrew scriptures in their entirety (usually referred to by Christians as the "Old Testament,") and blogged about his experience. He suggested at the end of the interview that someone do the same with the Koran. Sounded like a great idea to me.
2) "Living Within Your Means": Tried and tested ways to save money and consume less. My mantra lately is: "I have everything I need." I tried writing it on the bathroom mirror with a washable marker, but my husband didn't like staring at it every day, so now I'm thinking of cross-stitching it and hanging it on the wall.
3) "Your Personal Librarian": This blog would give tips on finding all kinds of information in and out of libraries: everything from more efficient ways to do a Google search to highlighting different information sources on specific topics (like career information, how to find out about toxic waste releases in your community, government information, how to find out which of your acquaintances owes back taxes, how to mooch free services at your nearest college or university library, services offered at your average public library that most people know nothing about, etc.) . Hmmmm...the more examples I write here, the more excited I get about this idea...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Conscious Consuming
I've been tagged by my friend Valerie with a Conscious Consuming meme. Here's the info: "The purpose of this meme is to inspire some reflection about how we shop and what we purchase. The idea isn't that consumption itself is somehow bad, but that we all could probably stand to put a little bit more thought into what we buy. And, of course, it's supposed to be fun. So here goes!
Pick a recent shopping trip -- for clothes, shoes, groceries, doesn't matter. The only guideline is that it will be easier to play if you purchased at least a few things. Now tell us, about your purchases:
1. What are you proud of?
2. What are you embarrassed by?
3. What do think you couldn't live without?
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing?
5. What were you most tempted by? (This last one may or may not be an actual purchase!)"
Ok, I'm going to combine my last two trips to the local farm market. Here are my answers:
1. What are you proud of? I've been really trying to purchase local foods since reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. It requires extra time and effort to do so, since it means I have to shop at one of 2 local farm markets and then go to the supermarket to get everything that the farm market doesn't have. So, I'm proud that I'm at least making the effort, even though sometimes I must, for convenience and for keeping my DH happy, buy far-away foods instead of local. (Like last week when I had to buy apples from Washington State when we live right next door to one of the best apple growing areas in the country: Adams County, Pennsylvania. However, my husband wanted apples for his lunch the next day, and the farm market was closed.)
2. What are you embarrassed by? That I will have to buy Brussels sprouts from the farm market when they are available, instead of harvesting my own from the four plants that I planted last spring but never watered at all.
3. What do you think you couldn't live without? Local apples.
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing? One of the farm markets sells local meat and I bought bacon, ground beef, and chicken. I won't buy chicken from the grocery store anymore; the farm market chicken is so much better. Purchasing local meats makes me feel virtuous...plus it tastes better.
5. What were you most tempted by? Both the farm markets I frequent sell mouth-watering, homemade pies, and I saw a Concord grape pie last week. It had a bottom crust with a brown sugar topping. I've never had a grape pie before, and really wanted to try it, but it was $3.75 for a very small pie, so I didn't buy it. I'm on the cheap and lazy diet...I don't buy things like grape pie because I'm cheap and convince myself that I will make it myself to save money. Then, I'm too lazy to do it!
Pick a recent shopping trip -- for clothes, shoes, groceries, doesn't matter. The only guideline is that it will be easier to play if you purchased at least a few things. Now tell us, about your purchases:
1. What are you proud of?
2. What are you embarrassed by?
3. What do think you couldn't live without?
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing?
5. What were you most tempted by? (This last one may or may not be an actual purchase!)"
Ok, I'm going to combine my last two trips to the local farm market. Here are my answers:
1. What are you proud of? I've been really trying to purchase local foods since reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. It requires extra time and effort to do so, since it means I have to shop at one of 2 local farm markets and then go to the supermarket to get everything that the farm market doesn't have. So, I'm proud that I'm at least making the effort, even though sometimes I must, for convenience and for keeping my DH happy, buy far-away foods instead of local. (Like last week when I had to buy apples from Washington State when we live right next door to one of the best apple growing areas in the country: Adams County, Pennsylvania. However, my husband wanted apples for his lunch the next day, and the farm market was closed.)
2. What are you embarrassed by? That I will have to buy Brussels sprouts from the farm market when they are available, instead of harvesting my own from the four plants that I planted last spring but never watered at all.
3. What do you think you couldn't live without? Local apples.
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing? One of the farm markets sells local meat and I bought bacon, ground beef, and chicken. I won't buy chicken from the grocery store anymore; the farm market chicken is so much better. Purchasing local meats makes me feel virtuous...plus it tastes better.
5. What were you most tempted by? Both the farm markets I frequent sell mouth-watering, homemade pies, and I saw a Concord grape pie last week. It had a bottom crust with a brown sugar topping. I've never had a grape pie before, and really wanted to try it, but it was $3.75 for a very small pie, so I didn't buy it. I'm on the cheap and lazy diet...I don't buy things like grape pie because I'm cheap and convince myself that I will make it myself to save money. Then, I'm too lazy to do it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)