Green Drinking - Water, That Is.

There's information out there (Green Guides from two years ago was my source; but I'm sure elsewhere, too) that drinking bottled water is awfully hard on the environment. Here's another article, from 2010, with some quick facts (like this one: "The bottled-water industry is so successful, it has outpaced milk, coffee, and juice in number of gallons of drinks sold—putting it behind only beer and soda" about water bottle pollution.

Read down to the health section and you may never re-use a plastic water bottle again.

But, to get personal about this issue, I've had some interesting conversations about the "water bottles" I use. Everyone knows there are SIGGs and other aluminum bottles, which have become popular over the past few years... but when you carry around an old jar that used to have salsa in it (and still has the label on it, and a pepper on the lid) you get funny looks, raised eyebrows, and amused comments. Some of my friends have even laughed at my salsa water jar.

Yes, they're heavy, and yes, you get all those reactions from incredulous friends and acquaintances - but, I don't have to buy aluminum water bottles, and I get to re-use the glass jars that I buy at the grocery store, when they're not holding nuts or cream of wheat or other dry goods.

And, frankly, I like their uniqueness, their quirkiness. To all those with the raised eyebrows and incredulous looks - Yes. I proudly drink water out of salsa jars.

America Runs on Dunkin' Freebies

So a new Dunkin' Donuts (really, the reincarnation of the old Dunkin' Donuts) opened up on base today. And of course, to promote the new location (as though we haven't missed it desperately since the old one got demolished) they gave away free donuts, coffee, and, as we discovered to our surprise when we arrived, free travel mugs!!! They replicate the yucky plastic or styrofoam one-use cups you get everyday, and apparently they're so original there's a patent pending on the design. Go figure.

Being the conscientious, preoccupied organic/Green freak, I almost immediately flipped the cup over and checked the number. My memory failed, but happily I found out that #5 is one of the best plastics to buy. Or get for free. Check out the breakdown-by-number here.

Organic Dairy, Organic Meat, Organic ... Beer?

True story! According to the Green Guide (here), the next big organic product is beer. Well, I might be exaggerating. But Anheuser-Busch, Miller and New Belgium have already brought out organic products. There are also a number of microbreweries and smaller labels that brew organic beers.

Read a pretty thorough article on why one should drink organic alcoholic beverages (yes, it includes wine and even "teetotalers"! Also has a section on buying local beer, as opposed to imported or mainstream American labels.

Read this article (also by the Green Guide) for more information on buying local and the reasons to drink organic when you want to get foxed. Or buzzed, if you're like me. This article includes some pretty creepy and unsettling facts about non-organic beer and other spirits.

Here are some things I learned: Reasons to drink organic include saving birds and fish that die after ingesting pesticides and fungicides sprayed on fields. If you're democratically minded and would like to see small family owned and local organizations gain more business, instead of financing large corporations (which are rarely well-read on ethical behavior, IMO), buying local, which can also be organic, wins. Lastly, they taste good! Perhaps it's similar to the difference between tap water and filtered water. Though last I checked tap water doesn't cause cancer...

To Do List: Taste organic beers.

Read these informative articles and enjoy, maybe with an organic brew in hand!

A Little Rant About Allergies

Because ranting is cathartic.

My allergies used to be normal. Excessive, but normal. As in, stuffy nose, sneezing, watery eyes... those of you who have them will know the basic symptoms. Now, for some reason, everything is bypassing my nose - which is very uncomfortable. I won't go into details, because it's rather gross, which is why I find it depressing, too.

The Ent doctor doesn't know why it started (sometimes viruses like the cold can last for a longer time, causing similar problems, but the only cold I've had recently didn't begin till the allergies had been worse for weeks), which means there's no easy fix. A change in medicine, he suggested, and guafenisine, which tastes nasty, in case anyone's interested. Neither of these things have cleared it up yet. The only other solution, according to the Ent, is to get tested for allergies so they can make me a "special sauce" and then give me shots - I've heard twice a week, once a week, for a year... Shots! Also, they have to monitor their victims for an hour after they administer the "special sauce", which means time off work...

I'm also wading through health insurance for the first time, and the plan I thought was great, really isn't that great if you've got to get expensive shots during office visits once a week for the next year.

The latest Green Guides issue has a short article on allergies... and how global warming contributes to them and makes them worse. As in, with warmer weather, the trees and flowers and grasses have longer pollinating seasons, which can make allergies last longer. More pollen can be produced, too. Not only that, but allergies evidently used to be an urban problem - until mass transit like trains transported the pollenating particles to the country. Then, in places like Arizona, which used to be a pollen and allergy-free state (it being desert), city planners started bringing in trees and bushes and flowers, etc to make it look less like a desert. Short-sightedly, most of those trees were male, which are the gender of trees that distribute pollen. Semen, if you will. Apparently, according to these city planners, having fruit drop on the ground was much more unpleasant. Hah.

So here I am, about to start the next, expensive, part of my life getting shots in the arm every week. Hopefully the inconvenience and pain will be balanced by some kind of correction of my allergic reactions to just about everything.

Triathlons: the Finish Line

I spent Sunday morning this past weekend in a surprisingly interesting fashion: I waited at the finish line for The Nation's Triathlon (to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society), just a block away from the Federal Triangle Metro stop at 12th and Pennsylvania.

I got up late yesterday morning, so I didn't have time to eat breakfast before I left, so I brought it with me, even on the Metro (without drinking my coffee, which was hard -though it did keep my hands warm in the air-conditioned train car). I found a spot directly in the path of the hot, hot sun (Brother Pele's in the back, sweet Zina's in the front, cruisin' down the freeway in the hot, hot, sun), and ate my breakfast under the keen eye of a neighbor's dog, who was very interested in my bacon... Mine, puppy. Mine. Anyway, once I finished my breakfast and coffee I started clapping for everyone who ran by, because I know that if I were just finishing something so incredibly impressive like a triathlon in the hot, humid weather of DC in early September, I would want someone to clap for me. A big moment, you want somebody to notice, right?

I went because a friend of mine, who has apparently been doing this for five (!?!) years now - and every time she tells me that, I can't believe it - ran this one. So I looked really hard at every short (and I can say that instead of the euphemism "vertically challenged" because I'm short, too) woman as she finished, and of course nearly missed my friend! She ran by, and I yelled in a sort of knee-jerk reaction, forgetting to whoop and even to clap, before I crossed over to look for her.

I feel this is a good time to promote the use of sunscreen: Use it! Even at 10am in the morning I felt like my hairline was burning, and then my ear started heating up... not so much fun. Made me wish I'd brought my cap like I thought I might, before I left the house. Luckily, I don't have a stripe of sunburnt forehead today, but it was a close thing.

I've just recently become a sports fan (hockey, college football and tennis are my favorites) but even so, I never thought watching people run the last 10 yards of a race would be as interesting as it was. Instead, I enjoyed it more than I expected to. I guess one of the main attractions is that it was really good people watching. Not only is a spectator watching people, but the people are running, and the different strides can be fascinating. The other reason I had so much fun watching must have been that the part of the race I watched amounted to the most emotionally exciting section: the Finish Line.

For Starters

Recently, I've done quite a few things a little bit differently, and a little bit greener. The most exciting one is probably shopping.

I enjoy fashion, so was initially hesitant for that reason about buying 'green' clothing. With so few companies that make them, and mainstream companies not necessarily buying into organic clothing, how fashionable and chic can they be? My first thoughts included hemp tunics and shapeless tie-dyed dresses. Not true, anymore. Although green clothing is becoming more popular, and more fashionable as a result, there's then the cost factor - my Green Guides magazine priced some beautiful pieces of organic cotton, etc - at about $100 a piece!! That may be affordable for some, but probably not many, and certainly not me.

So I needed an alternative. Remembering a few trips to thrift stores in my poor, unemployed childhood, I buy used, instead! This weekend I took a shopping trip to a consignment shop I'd never been to before, and spent a couple hours trying on designer jeans, dresses, tops and bags, which were very affordable at their 1/3 off original price. Thrift stores have cheaper items, but consignment stores are good for brand names and designer labels, with slightly more expensive price tags. I can look good knowing that the clothes I bought have been rescued from the landfills, and are being re-used at least once more. The other advantage is I would still pay more to buy new clothes at the mall.

The other side of that coin is donating used clothing, which is something on my List of Things To Do. I have piles of acceptable, clean clothing at home that can be sold at a yard sale (initiative permitting) or donated to the local Goodwill.

To find thrift stores and consignment shops in your area, google 'best thrift store' with your zip code.