May 27, 2012
May 1, 2012
Money Changes Everything…
Sarah's First Fish
Looking at money in a realistic manner can be a life long goal and learning to live within your means is something few people master.
Dr. Kate Levinson has run money seminars for women for years and is interviewed on an NPR member station KUOW with calls from listeners that are fascinating. She is talking about her book Emotional Currency and about our country’s taboo about speaking frankly about money matters. She posits that having too little or too much money can both be major issues and that money can be a very emotionally charged topic. It’s worth a listen to hear her theories through years as a money coach and to hear the callers who certainly add value to the discussion.
April 25, 2012
March 15, 2012
February 28, 2012
As Americans Contemplate $5 a Gallon Gas…
As people begin to freak out about $5 a gallon gas we must remember there are other options and that much of the rest of the world has been paying more for many years. Ask a friend in Europe how they’d feel about a five u.s. dollar gallon of gas and they’d likely jump with joy. Here’s a reminder about our country’s use of oil:
February 16, 2012
January 16, 2012
January 5, 2012
Clean Clothes!
Children enjoy ride on steam powered train
Last summer the 20-something daughter of a friend came home complaining about her dry cleaning bill and it was all I could do not to jump down her throat about the waste of money and all the chemicals she was being exposed to. I calmly asked her why she didn’t hand wash and she said she didn’t know how! I was astonished to learn this and later asked her younger sister about her hand washing skills and she didn’t know either, but her philosophy was if it didn’t go in the washer and dryer she didn’t wear it. Naturally I sent them both this little on-line tutorial about hand washing and encouraged her to save money by not tithing her pay to the local dry cleaner.
I have never taken for granted access to a washing machine. Hardly a week goes by when I use the washing machine that I don’t think about how many women have no access to such machines, who must carry water from far far away to hand wash the family’s clothes.
Here’s a clever article about saving money on washing and another on-line calculator that will help you to realize how much you are spending each time you run these great inventions that so many of us are fortunate to have access to in our homes, down the hall, or in our neighborhoods.
December 31, 2011
Only 20% of Plastic Water Bottles in America get Recycled? Huh?
There are a few topics that Americans don’t like to talk about, they are for the most part topics I do like to talk and learn about; such as the failure of our prison system and our odd relationship with trash.
We have such a weird relationship to consumption and to trash. A friend who was visiting from Sweden this summer was talking about her country’s campaign to get people aware of wasting food. She was raised in America and is astonished with our relationship to food after living overseas so long. I have often thought if we could raise people’s awareness of not wasting food here we could resolve the problem of food insecurity that is a growing issue in America with the struggling economy.
Infographics always delight me and this one called Trashonomics illustrates some of our relationship with our garbage.
A documentary that will change your relationship with trash is called Waste Land From their website: ” Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT and COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.”
It is an excellent film.
As if this isn’t enough take a moment to listen to the Diane Rehm’s WAMU radio program talking frankly about hoarding . This will bring new insights to this phenomena and bend your thinking about what you do and don’t keep. Pass it on if you haven’t used it in the past year… This is a bit like “Scared Straight” for people who have a tendency of being a pack rat!
