We use 6 billion paper coffee cups (not even thinking of the styrofoam ones still being used) a year. If just 1% of us used reusable mugs, we'd save 65 thousand trees per year.
Whenever I go to lunch where single-use plastic ware is offered, as well as paper napkins, I just pull out my own set, and my own napkin for my lap. (Unfortunately I use enough Kleenex to offset this, due to my allergies! Sorry about that) As my son reminded me, our individual efforts are just to remind us that there are much larger forces that need to be addressed to limit the damages from climate change.
One day last week I met friends at a pizza place and had a ham and cheese sub sandwich with kettle chips...it was delicious. Other days I went to the Lakeview Senior Center. Here's one of their servings.
I ate the sweet potato, corn bread, apple pie (without crust part) and half the roast pork...didn't like butter beans. But I'm so glad the Council on Aging is using these cardboard plates now! They used to be Styrofoam. I declined the little carton of skim milk, as it doesn't help my mucous. They provided a tiny tub of fake-butter which I chose to put on the potato, because the cornbread was moist enough to eat straight.
Not bad for $1.50 if you're a senior (over 60? I think).
I had also taken part in chair yoga class before lunch. I just do the stretches slowly and usually hold onto the back of my chair for the balancing poses. But when I walked back down the stairs to the parking lot, I noticed my hips were moving differently as I walked. Wow. I need to do this more!
I've got Katharine Hayhoe's newsletter to publish too, as to the good and bad news on climate change. But for now, I'll just say, this is one thing I can do. I try to eat plant-based meals at home, and sometimes will just give away the meat portion of these senior meals. Meatloaf is a favorite of a lot of people, but I give mine away.
And yesterday I saw this disturbing video...a carry through from my post yesterday!
Remember I'm a pacifist when it comes to war/military actions between countries, and using guns to kill any humans (and maybe even animals unless for food).
But I can also be an activist who tells my opinions to anyone who will listen.
So, you also have this to consider from Robert Reich on Mon. 1.8.24 regarding the Secretary of Defense missing for 3 days:
"Earlier this year, Trump said at a rally in Iowa that he’d unilaterally send the military into Democratic-run cities. “You look at any Democrat-run state, and it’s just not the same — it doesn’t work,” he said, referring to cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as crime dens. “We cannot let it happen any longer. And one of the other things I’ll do — because you’re supposed to not be involved in that, you just have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in — the next time, I’m not waiting.”
If you think Congress or the federal courts would stop him, think again. As head of the executive branch of government, Trump could theoretically ignore whatever the other two branches told him to do or not to do, because a president is the only one with power to “execute” the laws.
And the core of that power is a president’s command over the military.
I don’t want to alarm you, but if Trump is reelected, everything could come down to whom Trump appoints as his secretary of defense, and the top generals whom that secretary appoints. (The secretary of Homeland Security could also play a key role.)
Might doesn’t make right, of course — which is exactly why it’s important to be aware of Trump’s potential for using the military to get his way.
Throughout history, the only real check on dictators has been the military. Dictators rely on their militaries. Militaries enable dictatorships. Militaries are behind most coups d’état."
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PS, as my last comment on my post yesterday said, I finally caught up with Barry and gave him a good thank you.
More photo notes from Beyond Land Acknowledgement" a seminar of Tribal Native peoples given to white citizens who care... (Being posted on Living in Black Mountain blog)
Jamie Marie Spears was the only vendor who came to the seminar (she also sang and played the flute)
I loved this all organic body butter which came in a glass jar with a metal lid! (Hooray no plastic!)
I enjoyed sitting on this patio listening to a pair Red Eyed Vireos talking loudly from above us and in nearby trees...while others had people conversations together!
Someone sitting near me had an app to identify birds by their songs. I just looked on line to download that app for my phone, which I carry everywhere! Now I can at least learn who I'm hearing (birdwise) while I can't always see them!
I can't figure out (this is the limit of my tech skills) how to share a Vireo's speech, but I can give you the link to where it's posted! I think we listened to these two sharing what's called the complex song. It was most enjoyable!
Now imagine seeing just the head, beak, and chest from 3 stories below the one we could see at the peak of the roof. Photo of Red Eyed Vireo by John Forbes. Searches I do are all through "Duck Duck Go" (not Google)
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Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine
The 2023 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Hungarian-born Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman for work that enabled the development mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
Their work, undertaken at the University of Pennsylvania, made it possible to develop vaccines based on genetic material called messenger RNA.
The scientists discovered that changing a chemical building block of mRNA – substituting pseudouridine for uridine — eliminated an inflammatory side effect that was a barrier to development of this new kind of vaccine.
They published their work 15 years before the COVID pandemic.
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And be aware that Wednesday this week...
Be prepared for your mobile phone to go off when FEMA and the FCC conduct a nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert System at about 2:20 p.m. ET. And if you happen to also be watching TV or listening to the radio at that time, you'll get a double dose of alerts. Basically, don't schedule any meetings for that time.
I carry my own bags (when I remember) to grocery store, and haven't had water in a plastic bottle for a year. My remaining roll of paper towels is unopened, and I'm happy with reusing/washing cloth ones!
Presently, GreenWorks’ long-term vision includes four core impacts: Community-Scale Climate Resilience, Empowered Communities, Systems Change and a Healthy Environment. Key programs and projects in these areas include restoring the urban tree canopy, preserving native pollinators and reducing air and water pollution.
While GreenWorks’ overarching mission may have evolved, education remains a central tenet of the nonprofit’s work. “Our work has always been to be in conversation with Asheville’s communities,” says Dawn Chávez (GreenWorks executive director.) “GreenWorks is celebrating 50 years because the organization has remained relevant to the changing needs of the environment and the community over time. We have invested in building trust and meaningful relationships, followed through on commitments and demonstrated to communities that we are with them for the long haul.”
Spray-on Biodegradable Produce Coating Could Replace Plastic Packaging It rinses off with water and prolongs shelf life significantly.
Imagine if you could buy fresh produce that didn't come swaddled in disposable plastic packaging. Instead, it came covered in a thin gauzy layer of something that could be rinsed off under the tap, revealing a perfectly intact fruit or vegetable beneath. No rotten bits for your compost bin, no added plastic in your trash.
This description is closer to reality than you realize. Last year, a group of scientists from Rutgers and Harvard organized a study and came up with a spray-on antimicrobial and biodegradable food covering that rinsed off with water. It could replace single-use plastic packaging, they said, by guarding against spoilage and transportation damage.1
Plastic packaging is a serious global problem. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that 300 millions tons of plastic are produced annually—"nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population"—and half of that is for single-use items. A vast majority (91%) does not get recycled (because recycling is largely a myth), but rather ends up in landfills or the natural environment.2
The innovative protective coating, described in detail in a study published in the journal Nature Food, was made using pullulan, an edible polysaccharide fiber that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says is "generally recognize[d] as safe" (GRAS).3 The pullulan was spun using a technology called focused rotary jet spinning that had previously been used for tissue engineering and was likened by one scientist to a cotton candy machine.4
According to a Rutgers press release: "Like the webs cast by the Marvel comic book character Spider-Man, the stringy material can be spun from a heating device that resembles a hair dryer and 'shrink-wrapped' over foods of various shapes and sizes, such as an avocado or a sirloin steak. The resulting material that encases food products is sturdy enough to protect bruising and contains antimicrobial agents to fight spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria."5
The antimicrobial agents include thyme oil and citric acid, both of which are naturally derived, and nisin, a bacterially produced compound used as a food preservative. All are deemed safe for human consumption in the quantities used for this coating.
The researchers used avocados to test the coating, as these fruits are prone to uneven ripening and quick decay. When the time came to remove the coating, it could be washed off in water in a matter of seconds, and was found to extend an avocado's shelf life by 50%.1 This was likely due to bacteria being unable to infiltrate the coating, thus reducing the rate of natural decay.
Not everyone is convinced it's a surefire solution to the plastic pollution problem. Duke University environmental toxicologist Nishad Jayasundara said he's excited about any biodegradable alternatives to plastic, but that we need to understand more about the rinsing method of disposal, i.e. asking whether this could cause nontoxic materials to break down in potentially harmful ways.
"As a toxicologist," he told Scientific American, "the primary thought whenever you see a newly synthesized product is 'Do we know enough about it?' ... When we first thought about plastics, they were deemed pretty safe molecules. But over time we realized, 'Oh, actually, no, that's not the case.' Now we know that plastics at all levels, regardless of the size, have cellular-level effects, molecular-level effects and ecosystem-level effects."4
The scientists behind the spray-on coating remain optimistic. As they point out in the study, the use of micro- and nanofibers for food packaging has been limited up until now due to their reliance on non-GRAS materials and chemical processes. They see this new development as a valuable breakthrough: "This study demonstrates a scalable fibre spinning system for sustainable food packaging technology that enables the one-step synthesis and direct coating of antimicrobial fibres onto fresh foods without further treatment."1
While this solution won't work for every kind of food, it's certainly good news for a plastic-ridden world. We need all the help we can get to phase out single-use plastics and come up with alternatives for preserving food to reduce food waste. It will be interesting to see what comes of this particular discovery.
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