Low Tech Solution In a High Tech World
May 29, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Communities , 9 comments
What does Silicon Valley use when it needs to clear brush? A robotic mower or a “cutting edge” machine? How about a herd of sheep (and goats) to munch away the vegetation? According to city officials, this old fashion solution not only saves money but also reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases from using fossil fuel machinery. These natural mowers will also service other areas in San Jose. The imagery of these sheep mowers makes me giggle 
In all seriousness, it seems like a great idea. Why not take care of overgrown brush and fields (especially during fire season) the old fashioned way? I checked out Living Systems (which provided the herd service to San Jose) and it’s pretty interesting. The company provides grazing services utilizing trained herds, shepherds and herding dogs and the necessary electrified 
fence to keep the herds off the roads. Sheep and goat grazing not only eliminates weeds and excess growth but also reduces the need for mechanical tilling, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. These trained herds can graze anywhere from fields surrounding the airport to vineyards to open land next to residential developments.
I’m not sure if this land management system is feasible on a large scale but at least it’s being tried…..
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Busting my own bubbles
May 28, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , 6 comments
If you are like me, you get half a dozen of email messages a week, asking you to sign petitions for environmental justice, poverty relief, children’s health protection, etc., etc.. What do you do? Sign them? Ignore until later? Delete right away?
It all started when I received an online petition that intended to stop inhumanely hunting down gray wolves. Being a softie with almost all animals, I gladly signed it without asking how my signature would be used and where the petition would go. Afterwards, vaguely I felt that I did something, not sure what.
Then mysteriously, my petition email messages started to multiply themselves. I must have made the mistake of hastily hitting a submit button. Remember all those little checked boxes? They often put you on the list of other petition lists.
It has gotten to the point that I get one everyday. Now you ask, how long does it take me to sign a petition? Truthfully, no more than five minutes if I don’t bother reading in detail what I am signing for. Fifteen minutes if I am diligent enough to get some background information. A few hours if I want to understand the whole story from various angles.
Naturally few people have a few hours to spare every day to research the details about any given petition. So I became an “armchair petitioner”, without remembering a whole lot about what I was advocating for. Again, I have a vague notion that I am minimally potentially doing something useful. Whatever it maybe it is probably worth 5 minutes of my time every day.
Then last week, I received a petition on protecting right whales. I have seen right whales frolicking close to a beach. As far as marine mammals are concerned, they are slow pokes and easy to hunt. That’s why they’ve been driven to the brink of extinction. Clicking, I was ready to sign another petition. But this time something caught my eye.
The petition was to “Dick Cheney, Vice President” And the target number of signatures was 10,000.
Seriously?! THE Dick Cheney who famously said, “so?” when he responded to the fact that majority of the Americans now opposed the Iraqi war. ‘Ya think he cares about saving right whales? ‘Ya think 10,000 online signatures would impress him to sign some sort of protection agreement?
Please! This is when I started thinking about the effectiveness of online petitioning and its merits and drawbacks.
Obviously the primary reason online petition is so popular is its ease of implementation and ease of gathering online signatures for the originators. On the receiving end, the option of e-petitions offers people like me who want to “fix” the imperfections of the world in the comfort of my home.
A few clicks, I am on my way to be outraged about an unjust situation and demand a solution. However as an old adage often reminds us, this is probably a case of “no pain no gain”. I put in little effort, in return the results are likely to be close to negligible.
To start out, are petitions effective instrument to enable social changes? The assessments tilt toward no-so-much. When it comes to leveraging the online community, the scale seems to tip even more to the ineffective end. The e-petitions are taken less seriously because email addresses are fairly easy to forge by petition originators. In addition, petitions, including internet petitions, seem to only gather a bit of steam when the number of signatures gets to a certain level. 10,000 emails do not begin to call anyone’s attention.
Another cardinal rule I have so far completely ignored is the petition recipient. Is this right person? Dick Cheney is clearly not the right person to sympathize with right whales. Is this person a decision maker? A powerful influencer? Otherwise the petition will lay waste in someone’s inbox.
Then I also need to ask for the outcome from petition originators. After signing a petition, do I receive a report on what the originator does with the signatures? What is the outcome from the petition?
Once I asked myself these questions, I realized that 90% of my “armchair activism” was unfortunately a waste of my time (no matter how little time) and the internet bandwidth. One of the hidden objectives of online petitions is to raise awareness of the recipients. For most petitions, that is the only objective accomplished. Surely the right whale originator did not expect to move Cheney. The petition has only served to raise the awareness that these gentle giants are in trouble.
So what do I do next time I get a petition email? In fact I have a few in my inbox right now.
Rather than vaguely feeling that I may accomplish something (and now knowing that little is accomplished), I am planning to focus on one or two a month, understand the issues and ask for the outcomes from the petition originators. I will write personal letters and make personal phone calls. Yes, they take more time and I can advocate far fewer issues, but the results are likely to be more effective.
Truthfully perhaps the rethinking of online petitioning is a call for real action – participate in my city environmental planning and events to enact local changes.
CindyW at Organicpicks
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More Square Footage Put to Good Use
May 27, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Green Journal , 4 comments
Even since my last book club discussion on From Grass to Gardens, I’ve been looking at my yard with new eyes. Bless with a great view but a hilly and somewhat shady yard, we’ve had to be very creative in how to best use our little plot of land. So far, we’ve managed to squeeze in a small grassy area for kid and dog, a variety of foliage and blooms and even a few fruit trees. With no room for a formal vegetable garden, we planted our edibles among the blooms: tomatoes and cucumbers with the sun loving roses, potatoes mounded in an awkward corner and lettuce seedlings (keeping my fingers crossed on these) mixed among the hostas.
But that still left a terraced strip of dirt at the very top of the yard which is long in length but measures only 8 inches in the narrowest section. It’s too narrow (and too high) for seating but not enough width to plant in rows. Finally we decided that if we can’t grow out, we’ll grow up. This lead to our Memorial Day weekend project: building a 16’ long trellis.
The project required a trip to Home Depot for wood, cement and screws, some know-how and lots of sweat equity (digging post holes in our rock hard soil is hard work). The skilled labor portion was executed by my husband and dad but it allowed plenty of unskilled help too. My daughter and I had a great time helping carry wood pieces, dig in the dirt and of course, supervise the project.
After 2 days of work, the trellis is now complete.
Next week, we are going to work on making my dream of a bean espalier backing finally come true.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Operating in the fuzzy gray zone
May 22, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , 11 comments
This is my stream of consciousness following Needle’s eco bitch post. So be warned that you will see a lot of rambling. A couple of days ago, Organicneedle reprimanded herself for being judgmental when she observed someone riding a car for two blocks rather than walking the short distance. Quite a few people responded (including me) and confessed their collective inclination of jumping to conclusions.
For some reason, I could not get this discussion out of my head. Can we be vocal without being judgmental? Can we be loud eco advocates without being eco bitches? If so, how do we form constructive persuasion instead of critical disapproval?
Recently I received an off-putting comment on a post written a while ago. In February this year, Stanford students started a campaign to get their shower heads back after the housing authority swapped in low-flow shower heads in the dorms without discussing with them. I have low-flow shower heads at home and they have not degraded the quality of my life in any shape or form. So I was surprised by the outcry from the students and even more so by the obviously angry commenter to my post: “You’re all so damn pompous. Step back and look at yourselves. 21st century arrogance, walking around thinking you’re better than others because you’re “environmentally friendly”. All of you have it too easy and you supplement your time by telling others what to do and think and “Judging others”. Go work on a farm, gather your own food and hunt instead having the convenience of shopping in a store where everything is so readily available to you. Then maybe you’ll be able to understand why those college students protested.” I muttered to the screen “dude, take a walk around the block or take a Valium” before removing some expletives that began the comment.
I completely disagree with the notion that I have to work on a farm before voicing my opinion about the shower head outcry. But this is not the point. Was my post somewhat judgmental? Perhaps, since I had no knowledge how terrible the low-flow shower heads might have been. Was I being an eco-bitch? I’d like to think not. Unfortunately it’s not so clear.
When can we take a stand? In what situation(s) can we voice our opinion? Should opinions be accompanied by suggestions to be deemed worthwhile?
This past weekend we went to a local beach and ended up spreading our blanket right next to a birthday party for a girl turning six. At the end of the celebration, the birthday girl let go of her helium filled balloons, probably unintentionally.
Out of blue, my 5 year old daughter walked up to her and said, “Do you know when the balloons get to the ocean, turtles and fish may eat them and choke?” You can imagine that I was both so proud and so mortified by her unsolicited statement.
Not a bit offended, the birthday girl asked, “How do you know?” My daughter replied without missing a beat, “My science teacher told us that at school.” The birthday girl nodded. Her mom was ever so gracious, “Wow, thanks for telling us. Now we know.” A couple of adults at the table rolled their eyes.
I contemplated for a few seconds to apologize to the birthday party. But I didn’t because I could not bring myself to dampen my daughter’s innocent enthusiasm.
It got me thinking though. Despite the fact that it is probably not socially acceptable for my daughter to correct other children without being called upon, a few kids and perhaps one or two adults at the birthday did learn not to release balloons on the beach. The birthday girl certainly didn’t seem to mind at all. Children don’t judge so they don’t feel judged either. Sadly adults judge therefore we feel judged in return.
We tell children what to do, rightly assuming that they are relatively new to this world and they have a lot to learn. We stop telling adults what to do, assuming that they have successfully mastered the way of the world and no longer need any more learning from each other. But the latter assumption can be easily picked apart.
Most of us don’t stop learning new ideas, new activities, new things, and even new moral values. We get it from books, various media, and each other. So while being presumptuous and judgmental is less than a virtual, passing along information with good intentions, solicited or unsolicited, ought to be welcome in most cases.
A friend came to visit the other day as I was draining bath water from the tub. She said that she used bath water to flush their toilets and asked if I ever thought about it. We discussed the necessary logistics and I declined her suggestion at the time. While I did not believe we could realistically implement her idea right now, I was very glad that my friend brought it up unsolicited.
Given my clear as mud stream of consciousness thus far, should I from now on offer facts and practical information only while holding back any opinions? Easier said than done. In reality, most situations are in the gray area. If a co-worker tosses his soda can into the trash can that sits right next to the recycle bin, are there any facts to be offered? Sure, 100% of aluminum can be recycled and reused to make new cans. But facts are not likely to be the issue in this case. If I offer my opinion - hey, you can recycle the can - am I imposing my value on him? I don’t think so, but people with more scruples may.
Unfortunately until resource conservation and reuse become a commonly accepted moral value, we have to navigate in this fuzzy gray zone. Once common, throwing trash on the ground now will surely get you dirty looks. So there is hope that one day soon the same coworker will feel the pressure to move his hand a foot further.
For now, I will try to be mindful of not being judgmental. But I will not feel bad about giving out solicited or unsolicited information. That’s just being a good eco advocate. Every so often, I may slip into the eco bitch zone. So be it. We all have bad days.
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Copyright 2007 Organicpicks
Shed Some Hair
May 21, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Opinions & Thoughts , 4 comments
When I took my daughter to school yesterday, I noticed that her teacher was sporting a new hairdo. She went from having long flowing tresses to the current short but stylish pixie cut. I admired her new do and asked what inspired this dramatic change. “Well, I’ve been waiting to recycle my hair for quite some time!” she claimed with a wink.
In all seriousness, the teacher told me that she’s always been a short hair person but has been growing out her hair for the past year so she can donate it. I vaguely remember hearing about organizations that take donated hair but confessed I don’t know much about it. So, the teacher gave me a quick lesson.
There are apparently organizations that accept donated hair and use it to make wigs for chronic ill patients (children and adults) who have lost their hair. There are some variations in criteria but generally donated hair have to be at least 10 inches long, not bleached and bundled in a ponytail or braid. Anyone can cut the hair though it’s recommended that you go to a familiar person or salon, as 10 inches will mean a dramatic cut. It can take 10 to 30 ponytails to make one good wig so these organizations are constantly in need of donations. Comparable wigs generally retail for $2,000 to $3,000 and these nonprofits provide them either free of charge or on a sliding cost scale. Some of the more well-known organizations that our teacher suggested are:
- Wigs for Kids
- Locks of Love (helping kids under 18). Caution: I did find some disgruntled comments about LoL but not sure whether there’s substance behind them.
- Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths (helping women with cancer). This seems a bit commercial but has received a lot donations, including Hillary Swank’s hair.
So if you are thinking about cutting your hair to beat the summer heat (like me), consider “recycling” your hair for a good cause.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Green is so yesterday, red has arrived
May 20, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Fresh Look , 10 comments
This is cause for some serious celebration – kiwi season is OVER and orange season is OVER! at least for our family. Don’t get me wrong, I love both kiwis and oranges. Coaxing my kids to eat them for months hasn’t been a tremendous headache. However kiwis and oranges are after all no peaches or cherries which were spilling over a few stalls in my local farmers’ market this week.
Passing by an organic peach stand, I was amused to see people eagerly put tooth picks through cut up samples and deliver into their mouths with a great urgency. Then came the satisfying signs. People - I thought - you all were kinda nuts. But I followed suit to reward myself with the first taste of peach since last September. Oh, so good!
To kiwis and oranges that sustained my family through winter and spring, sorry, but I am so happy to see you go.
Hello peaches! and apricots! and cherries! More oowing and ahhing, and all around exhilaration. There was a general excitement in the air around me. Could the summer’s first fruit be this intoxicating?
I don’t care that the calendar says summer is still a month away. Every bite of peach heaven, apricot glory, and cherry loveliness has brought summer right in front me with all its aromas and flavors.
I don’t care that newspapers continue to fight over eating local vs. organic. At this moment, I am eating purely for joy.
For those who still have not had the opportunity to frequent their local farmers’ market, I am so sorry to say - you are missing the best collection of fruit, sweet, juicy, fragrant, and beautiful. Did I mention, mmm, mmm yummy?
Summer has definitely arrived in my little calendar-by-fruit world. By the delighted look on their faces, most people at my local farmers’ market would have agreed.
CindyW at Organicpicks
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What’s In a Name
May 19, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Opinions & Thoughts , 4 comments
In response to my musings and ensued discussions on Plain & Simple, one of my friends sent me this story. In addition to Environmentalists, Eco-friends, Green or Hippee, there’s a new name (actually acronym) in town – YAWNs.
These Young And Wealthy (but) Normal are folks who choose to live below their means in order to lighten their footprints on the planet and change the world. Some YAWNs drastically change their lives, profession and homes to inspire change. Others do more mundane things like support local growers, resist over-consumption and reconnect with their community. The article implies that YAWNs are mostly motivated by environmental concerns, which is great. However, I know others who just want to free themselves from consumer debt and living paycheck to paycheck. Or still others who just want to regain their sense of community and spiritual sanity.
Perhaps it is a backlash against the materialistic hoarding of the 80’s and 90’s. Perhaps the current economic conditions have folks think twice before spending. Perhaps more have woken up to the grim future awaiting us if we continue to treat our resources and community like an endless roll of toilet paper. I guess I don’t really care what names are used or what their motivations are, as long as these Eco/Green/Hippee/YAWNs continue to grow in number.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Better late than never
May 15, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , 12 comments
Ding Dong! My door bell rang. I opened the door.
“Hi, I am Scott,” the young father-to-be extended his hand
“Hi, I am Cindy. Come on in.” I swung open the door all the way.
Scott walked into the guest room and examined the pieces carefully. “Awesome. My wife will be so happy.” He handed me a stack of $20 bills.
A deal has been closed. Scott was taking away the crib, the dresser, the mattress, beddings, and blankets that my kids went through. I got $500 in return.
For a few seconds, I was very excited about having cash in hand; for some reason, plain cash still had its unique appeal, as compared with a check or a credit card.
But wait, we paid $2,000 for the crib/dresser set five years ago. So basically it has depreciated 75% of its value, not considering the inflation rate. Then I looked around our garage – a baby jogger, used fewer than a dozen of times, a baby backpack, never used, a twin bed, slept on for less than two years, a pack-n-play, used 5 times at best. Then there were a couple of walkers, a tricycle, a small bike, a run bike, a three-wheel scooter, a Razor scooter, and on and on.
All of them have a depreciation rate greater than the crib (I checked Craigslist), i.e., they are worth a few bucks here and there. My past few of years of frequent Target acquisitions flashed through my mind. Those clearly have a depreciation rate of 100% - junk to junk.
Standing there, I was shocked at how unwise I had been as a parent. Had I been as smart as Scott, my kids’ 527 education funds would have been so much more endowed. Instead I have a garage full of nothing to show for.
Watching Scott load the furniture pieces into his truck, I wish that I had wised up much sooner than a year ago. If Scott and his wife can use the crib and dresser set for 5 years and give it away for free, they will still only lose $500, instead of $1500+ in my case. I have always thought that I was financially responsible – 401K, savings, blah, blah. Guess the first-time-parent excitement got the better of me.
I suppose I can take comfort in my late-but-better-than-never embracing of a non-consumer centric life. At least the unnecessary buying stopped a year ago.
A couple of days ago I was at REI exchanging my Nalgene bottles for BPA-free ones, I fought every urge to buy random gear, shoes or clothes. If you think Target is bad, REI trumps Target as my shopping pitfall any day. But I walked out of REI with no more than two exchanged BPA-free water bottles.
Better late than never, I comforted myself as I waved Scott good bye.
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Plain & Simple
May 14, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Opinions & Thoughts , 8 comments
I was listening to some radio banter yesterday about how vastly different California communities are. One DJ said that if you think of California as a bowl of granola, Nor Cal would be ordinary granola sprinkled with raisins whereas So Cal would be granola infused exotic mangos, papaya and flecks of gold. Although tongue-in cheek, it got me thinking about our trip last week.
During our Disneyland extravaganza, we took a break to see our friends living in the area. The weather was stereotypical So Cal: sunny, slightly breezy, temperate and perfect for outdoor activities. However, rather than hanging out at the parks or famous beaches, we drove 45 minutes and met our friends at an outdoor shopping mall called The Grove. We had lunch at a trendy restaurant, walked around the Farmer’s Market (which has now become more of a tourist attraction), browsed upscale stores and (the kids) played on a grassy patch, in front of a Las Vegas inspired water fountain, smack in the center of the mall. After the “exhausting” afternoon, we drove 45 minutes to another part of the LA region, had a huge dinner and then piled into our separate cars to drive another 45 minutes home.
Don’t get me wrong. I had a great time relaxing, catching up with friends and staring at B-list celebrities. But why is it that on a nice day, no one thought anything about spending most of our waking hours in a man made environment that promotes excessive consumption. Or driving hours just to have lunch, dinner and do a bit of window shopping. They say that in LA, every destination takes at least 45 minutes to reach and I no longer doubt that saying.
To be fair, my friends often plan trendy itineries for us visitors and we have gone to parks, beaches and even museums on other trips However, we always had to drive long distances, fight for parking and wait in long lines. I recognize that the Bay Area isn’t perfect. We too have congested freeways, excessive spenders, and insufficient public transportation but at least we seem more willing and able to find a good restaurant within walking distance, even in the suburbs.
I guess I am happy being just plain granola.
CindyC at Organicpicks
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Make way for ducklings
May 13, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : For Kids , 11 comments
On a usual Sunday morning, I roll out of bed, make my coffee and head out to walk our dog. It’s quite pleasant just strolling in the neighborhood parks and open space. But last Sunday my kids decided that they had to go with me because it was Mother’s day and their perpetual presence was obviously the best gift to me. But that really meant that I had to answer to “what’s this” and “mommy, look at this.” every two minutes. Signing to myself, I helped them with shoes and jackets. How could I reject my gifts?
As we entered a neighborhood park, my 5-year old, the natural born treasure hunter, spotted something in the middle of the grassy field. “It’s moving,” she announced. When we all stopped yakking, the early morning quietness allowed us to hear waves of chirps. We tiptoed a little at a time, as lightly as possible. We were about 50 feet away from “it”. There they were – not one, but nine little ducklings waddling behind the mother mallard duck who quacked occasionally to guide them.
My normally very muted motherly instinct took over. What if the neighborhood dogs chase them? What if the cats hunt them? What if the hawks, which perched on the nearby treetop, snatch them up? What if they get run over by a car? We decided to follow them.
Someone must’ve called the neighbors. More kids showed up with their parents who tried their best to curb their kids’ exuberance. So they did not all run up and scare the ducks. Yes, we saw ducklings following mommy ducks on TV, in movies, and in magazines. Still, the recently hatched squabbling bunch captured every child’s heart.
Momma duck knew exactly how much waddling the fuzzy ones could handle. They rested in the ivy for 10 minutes. And off they went again, searching for their new home. But where? A phone call to the local wild life rescue returned a strange answer – momma duck apparently had a plan. Best to leave her alone to lead the bunch. A plan? Including crossing big streets and open fields where cars and predators could make them all disappear?
Quite a few kids there demanded that the parents escort the ducks. On a perfect Sunday morning, in a quiet neighborhood, a dozen of people, big and small, followed a momma duck and her nine chirping ducklings to who-knew-where. It was a strange sight to say the least.
The ducks finally settled into someone’s hedge, perhaps for the hour or for the day. A thoughtful girl wrote a note “baby ducks in your hedge. Please put out a bowl of water.” and left at the front door of the lucky neighbor. We all reluctantly left the ducks alone.
Within an ear shot, I heard a boy ask his mother whether they could bring back a video camera and follow the ducks to make sure they get to a safe nesting spot based on momma duck’s “plan”. I made a mental note to check back with the mother.
Perhaps that was how we connected with nature – for almost irrational reasons, we cared about what would happen to the mallard and her offspring. For the rest of the day, my kids spoke about the ducks to willing and not so willing audience.
For me? What gift can be better for a Mother’s Day than following a momma mallard duck and her waddling ducklings with my kids? We witnessed “make way for ducklings”.
*all pictures are courtesy of a thoughtful neighbor who never parts with his camera.
CindyW at Organicpicks
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