Valentine's Day is on the horizon. And no, it's not a "fake holiday started by card companies to make a buck." This sweet little celebratory day commemorates love — LOVE — love, the heart of human connection. Valentine's practices trace their roots to a few different figures in antiquity who were known for their devotion, selflessness, or compassion. Commemorating those figures began with … [Read more...] about Vintage Handkerchiefs, A Sweet and Sustainable Valentine’s Day Gift
waste
My Beautiful Ugly Packaging
"Beauty is as beauty does" — Chaucer in The Wife of Bath's Tale (c. 1387) (Originally "Handsome is as handsome does.") The other day an ad for "sustainable" branded packaging passed through my Instagram feed. The eye candy hooked me, and I clicked through. On their About page the company, Noissue, says they were founded ...to provide makers, brands and businesses of all sizes access to … [Read more...] about My Beautiful Ugly Packaging
Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
And Irma, we don't really give a crap about you, either. Water, Water, Everywhere Twenty-seven TRILLION gallons of water dumped on Southeast Texas in six days? That's what the various reports say. And we say, "Big whoop!" Wild-Westy, pavement-obsessedy Houston essentially destroyed, molded, and steeped in a toxic stew from chemical plants gone kablooey while the persistent deluge … [Read more...] about Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
Junk thought
Human life is messy, and human beings even more so. Working out our "stuff" together is no easy feat. And it's made no easier by the flood of all kinds of information into our minds, too much of which pollutes our internal lives rather than edifying our personal existence. The powerful tsunami of junk info we face daily comes in the forms of advertisements, which are pervasive, continual, and … [Read more...] about Junk thought
Capturing embodied energy
Have you ever heard the term "embodied energy?" It refers to energy that has already been spent to create something. Take a box of cereal as an everyday example. Embodied energy is everywhere Inside the box there's cereal. The embodied energy in the cereal contains everything from the sunlight and water (energy) that fed and made the grain grow, to the human laborer or machinery and fuel (or … [Read more...] about Capturing embodied energy
Road trip
Summer's here and the livin' is easy. Well anyway, summer's almost here. And what that means for lots of folks are day and weekend trips to nearby haunts. If you're planning either a road trip or to get to your vacay destination by car, you're probably still looking at your overall expenses. Gas, tolls and pre-trip car maintenance are a given, leaving you with variables like lodging, food and … [Read more...] about Road trip
