Recycling - why is it so hard?

At home I am referred to as the "recycle police". If someone (that being my husband, daughter or cat) puts something in the trash that's recyclable, they'll hear about it from me. They do try.

What gets me is the people who don't even try!

For example at work. We have several recycle bins on our office floor, for plastic and glass cans and bottles, and it astounds me that people still just pitch them in their regular office/cubicle trash bins. Similarly, each office/cubicle has a cardboard bin for paper. I can't believe how often I see regular paper or newspaper (stuff that's not even debatable, ie. is it plastic coated?)in the regular trash bin. Hello? Have you heard? Recycling is good. Why do you not care? It makes me wonder if they know something I don't. I have heard at times that the recycling facilities are so overwhelmed that they can't keep up. I have no idea if that is true. But the more there is the more ideas industry will come up with, like the countertops made of paper (with hardeners). I saw this on Good Morning America, but I can't find the link.

Then there's the Metro (the DC subway). Some people apparently intentionally leave their papers on the train thinking that they save paper by "passing it along", but I have my doubts. A certain number of papers are printed already. If someone picks up your used paper, they most likely weren't going to buy one or pick up the free Express anyway. But if they are certain they'll find one each morning well, hmmmm, maybe that does work. I personally would not rely on finding a paper in the car I get on.

Then there are the really egregious people. At Metro Center, the biggest Metro stop, if I'm done with my paper I often drop it in the NEWSPAPER recycle bin on the platform. This is a big bin, and apparently so many people drop their papers in during rush hour that often there is a Metro employeee standing there with an even bigger open bin to collect all of the papers. I thank them. But I am SHOCKED at the number of people that just bypass the big bin, AND the recycle bin, and JUST toss their paper in the TRASH. I DON'T GET IT.

Believe me I'm no earthy crunchy or bark chewer type person. I wear vintage fur (sometimes), and leather, but I somehow have been sucked into this recycling thing. How are others so nonchalant about it? How can one care so little?

Don't we want to help our beautiful world:



if we can at all?

Ieva

Traveling from O'Hare and Stacy London

Yesterday we returned from Chicago. I wasn't as daring as Saturday to ask to take someone's photo. So, just to keep myself honest, here is a picture of my travel outfit. I think in general I was a little worse for wear. I do not give myself an A. It looks more like a C.



I saw two people to be exact that I would've asked for a photo, but I was tired and they were moving fast.

Below, as promised, is my photo from the event with Stacy London. This is after she had me remove my bright pink beads. I might say, her dress isn't the most flattering. But she's so awesome, nobody even notices!



Ieva

Thin wallets and Chicago Street Fare

In Chicago, our friends took us to Market Days. It is an annual street fair on Halstead Avenue, in an area known as Boys Town. The place was packed with people and vendors. There were some vendors just selling clothes and jewelry (and wallets), but most of the vendors were groups with specific goals and interests like pet adoption, Hepatitis awareness, supporting marriage among non-heterosexual couples, stuff like that. I found one booth with just exactly the wallet I had been looking for. I wanted to replace a leather one I had bought about 5 years ago at Nordstrom, made by Lodis (http://www.lodis.com/leather/shop-womens/shop-by-style/accessories/audrey-mini-id-card-case/4699). I wasn't seeing them at Nordstrom and hadn't thought of looking online, where it still obviously is available. It was perfect for carrying a few cards around and my license. I really preferred the plastic window so I didn't need to pull the license out frequently. Here is what my old one looked like:

One vendor was selling these washable, water resistant small wallets. They weren't leather, but after some time looking at leather Prada and otherhigh end wallets, I knew this was my best bet for now. http://www.bigskinny.net/ I've now put my stuff in it and like it better than the prior one, because it has space for bills and coins. See the picture. I got a pink one instead of black, because the vendor said it would be easier to find in my handbag. Black maybe would be more chic. Here is a picture of my new one:

As for Market Days, it is a huge gay and lesbian event in Chicago. It was a fun event. Kind of a specatator thing, for me and my friends, but really upbeat, good music and drinks, and everyone was really friendly, so what's not to like?

So anyway, now I have my new cheap super efficient tiny wallet.

Ieva

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Travelers at Reagan National

I observed travelers at Reagan National yesterday, and not much caught my eye as great or terrible. A lot of women were wearing shorts or capris. Capris are probably safe (with respect to getting rashes from the seat or making it down the escape slid). But I focused on women in pants. First I saw one example of what NOT to wear. I figure these people I don't need to ask permission to take their photograph since I'll be cutting their head off (in the photo).


Here is the what not to wear. Because I cut off the head you aren't seeing the cowboy hat:

This was kind of fun. I was waiting for someone that looked great enough to warrant getting up my courage to ask to take their photo. I had even brought some personal cards on which I could write the address of the website.

This woman caught my eye, she looked great and comforatble. I was looking at what she was wearing and I thought she noticed I kept looking at her, so I went up and told her about my blog topic and she gave me permission to post the photo with the head. I've got two shots. One ypu can see her handbag better and the other shows her rolly carry-on bag. She was very nice and posed for several shots so I could get the right light:

She is wearing simple black pants, and very cute peachy high heeled sandals. Her gray bag is great too.

My yoga pants turned out to be extremely comfortable, but my step daughter (Katie) asked me if I was wearing pajama pants. So I'm not sure that I've really gone beyond sweatpants. But my husband liked them, and they were VERY comfortable. I think Katie may have been getting back at me for the crack the other night that she used to wear pajama pants.


ieva

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Travelling Clothes

I love writing on the blog. I think of things that I think are important all the time. My latest really important issue is, "what to wear on the plane". At my age and having travelled a fair bit one would think I'd have it worked out. I like to be pulled together when I travel, yet this issue comes up every trip whether my travel is for work or pleasure. Here are my restrictions:

1) no skirts or dresses - a colleague who had to evacuate on the slide wearing a skirt told me it was horrible as she got "rubber burns" and in the future she would never fly in skirts, dress or shorts.

2) Another friend got a rash wearing shorts on a plane;

3) I believe the seats are filthy and don't want to wear "good clothes" if I can avoid it, and also don't want to be wearing the filthy stuff (whether its just in my mind or not) for the rest of my trip; and

4) I also don't want to stretch out my jeans, as somehow flying really takes a toll on them.

As I write this I am beginning to wonder about mytops and the seat back. For some reason that has been less of a worry.

So, in the past I've had some pants I don't really care about that are washable, and I'd wear them there and back, and that was it. But then I look at some other people in the airport and they just look so sharp. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with this, but I don't like to look like a mess. Saturday we are making our annual summer trip to Chicago to visit friends. My stepdaughter flew home from Vermont to join us. She has no problem. She used to fly in sweats, but the photo above is how she arrived tonight. She doesn't have the jeans issue. She looked great.

I went to City Sports on 7th St. in DC, to look for travel pants that didn't look like leggings or sweatpants. I found these awesome yoga pants:

http://www.prana.com/002012-Bliss-Nylon-Pant.aspx

Except I got them in black. They are much nicer looking than in the photo, and I am tall and they are long enough (unlike in the diagram on their site), AND bonus, they are made in the U.S. I love the slits on the leg, and the fact that they have pockets, which make them look more like pants, not sweatpants. So I'll try them. with a nice top and cardigan.

On our trip I may try to get up the courage to photo some great travel oufits, ans also bad ones. I will certainly mortify my family. I assume anyone I ask to photo for a good one will be flattered and will say o.k.

At least I'm packed. By the way, check out this other blog. A woman described what she packed, in a carry on (!) for three weeks in Italy:

http://decorno.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-in-world-did-you-pack-for-3-weeks.html

I am curious however about the space bags. I have some questions for her about that.

ieva

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

MEETING STACY LONDON!


O.K, I love the show What Not to Wear. So when Margaret at the last minute told me about this blog launch party with Stacy London at Urban Chic (in Georgetown) (http://www.urbanchiconline.com/) I HAD to go. My husband was out tonight with the guys, and my big plans had been to go to Costco and then come home and spend time snuggling with Manon (my one-eyed cat).

Anyway, they had all these cookies and (see attached photo of one I took home) cool looking sweets and chocolate covered strawbwerries. Mind you most of the women in the place were of course slim and not likely to indulge in big cookies. I had one chocolate covered strawberry and several champagnes. Most people were drinking water. Not me. Then Stacy arrived fashionably late. As I needed to get to Costco I was one of the first six or so to try to get her attention. I was in front of her as she was finishing up with someone else, and she was heading towards me ready to have me remove my necklace. It was a fuchsia plastic bead thing. She said it was fine, just too playful for what I had on. So the rest was o.k. I guess. She LOVED my yellow vegan leather bag that I wrote about previously. She said that was a good pop of color. Her words of wisdom to the group, "smart is the new black". She's in town b/c she's starting a styling service in DC for all the smart new people flocking here. She said she hopes Michelle Obama uses her service but didn't elaborate. That's it.



When I told my mother about my encounter, she asked if she said anything about my hair. Well no she didn't, she's not the hair person. I'm sure my mother was waiting for a big "told you so"moment, that my hair is terrible.



Oh, a Washington Post reporter took my picture with Stacy, and promised to send it to me. I'll share if I ever get it and it doesn't look too awful.

I still haven't eaten the gorgeous cookie.

Friday, June 26, 2009

My new handbag

Oops, I got behind. It is because 1) I am frustrated by my anti-virus program, so dread turning on the computer, and 2) I got very busy participating in and volunteering at the recent triathlon in Washington, which put me behind on EVERYTHING. But I'm back. I did end up purchasing the eco friendly handbag. It was sixty some dollars. They told me it was environmentally friendly because it was PVC. Well PVC is plastic. I asked why is it environmentally friendly, and they said it was made out of recycled materials. Well that was good enough for me. I needed a reason to justify purchasing a plastic handbag. Later I Googled the brand and found out that they do promote environmentally friendly practices. The brand is Shiraleah, and they make lots of really cute inexpensive bags.
http://www.shopbossa.com/store/m/1-Shiraleah.html I may be hooked. I could save money buying these bags and then every now and then get a fabulous dream bag. This is the actual bag I bought:
http://www.shopbossa.com/Shiraleah_Handbags_Hudson_large_messenger_cross_body_bag_and_shoulder_bag.html

I love how these are called vegan leather. I've heard of vegan bags, but not vegan leather. Somebody asked me if it was from a cow that was only fed vegetables and grass. The thing that I think is really cool is that the bags biodegrade in 10 years. But, what if I'm still using it in 10 years? Will it just disappear on a certain day? What will happen to my stuff? If it's in the closet, will it just disintegrate? Or, do I have to bury it in my backyard. I'm assuming that the ten years begins from when I bury it or it enters the landfill. I may just hide it in my closet after I'm done with it and see what happens!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

First rant

I've been wanting to start a blog for a while. Sometimes I get thoughts I want to write down. And thoughts I think others might share. But the first time I really thoroughly thought it out, was after a stay in a very nice NYC hotel. The toilet paper wouldn't roll. It was one of those things, that is very simple, yet encountered a lot. How often does one spend in an office restroom (forget the public ones) or a hotel or even a friends home, fixing the tp so it rolls. Who cares which direction, just roll.

I decided then that I would write about everyday irksome things that are simple, yet still out there being a problem. I figured I'd have a daily one. But now, several months later I don't even remember all of the little thoughts I had. Then, I thought I'd write about the travails of a stepmother of a college girl. I figured I'd need to be anonymous. Now I think even if she saw it, she'd think it was funny.

Then today, I thought about funny eco friendly thoughts. I just bought a new handbag yesterday when I went to get my haircut at Celadon (http://www.celadonspa.com/). The bag caught my eye as I walked in. The fact was that I was carrying my relatively new all white leather handbag which I now hate. A few days after I started wearing it (b/c we wear bags and don't just "carry" them) I noticed it was already dirty. After researching the internet for cleaning this brand, I bought some cleaner at a shoe repair. He also recommended waterproofing it. O.K. fine. So I put all ofmy stuff into last years smaller multicolor cute handbag, and went thru the cleaning process and waterproofing process. The cleaning worked somewhat, although I knew the bag would never be the same as it looked right after I brought it home from Nordstom's. O.K. I have to stop now, and it appears that the autosave failed and I don't know if I can come back to this so I'll continue another day. Hopefully before my triathlon on Sunday.....