Recycle @ MindSay

Time to get serious. Yesterday I took some time off to play around (and what a good time it was!) but now we get back to "serious" blogging.

 

I'm kidding, of course. How could anyone take this seriously? I realize that people do, but that's just nuts. This is the biggest ego trip around. I love it, really do, but I never take it seriously. I am not saving the world....just some random thoughts and stuff. And hey, if you learn something-that's great!

 

Which brings us to today's subject. Learning stuff. I am bringing forth a new chapter of Things You Never Knew You Never Knew to tell you all about..........drumroll..........toothpaste!

 

Yep, toothpaste. That is my serious topic for the night. As usual, while internet surfing, I came across an interesting article that tickled my funny bone and nibbled at my brain. The article was called "Why Does Everything Taste Bad After You Brush Your Teeth?" and is brought to you by our friends at Mental Floss. (Which is in my lefthand toolbar...for those of you who never visit those fun links). Well, they decided to research and offer us an explanation for this phenomenon. You all know it, you've all been there...clean, minty-fresh breath--right before a glass of orange juice. It is the worst thing in the world. And why?

 

Well, according to the article, most common toothpastes have an active ingredient called, sodium laryl sulfate (and a couple of alternatives) that are known as surfactants. These are the agents that create the foam when you brush your teeth. Apparently, these surfactants, in addition to creating foamy toothpaste, also manage to stunt the sensors in our taste buds that percieve sweetness. They also break down something called phospholipids which are molecules that help prevent bitterness. So, when you brush with a toothpaste containing surfactants, they essentially make sweetness disappear and enhance bitterness. Which is why stuff (orange juice) tastes so bad after you brush your teeth. Ta-Da! Wasn't that fun?

 

Oh, just you wait! We're not done yet. Today is two-for-one day at Livlife's Emporium of Random Knowledge. We are now going to spend a moment talking about the Green Movement. I will admit that I am not a green person. I usually don't give a ton of thought to it. I recycle, sure. But that is about the extent of my committment. I have, however thought about different ways to get rid of unwanted items....and then I saw this article. It gives environmentally healthy tips for how to get rid of some common items that may be unwanted.

 

Plastics, packaging, apparel, shoes, batteries, old cds and dvds, etc. These are some of the items covered. Check it out, I know everyone has items in their closet that they could get rid of. I actually tracked down this article to mention here because my friend Elena mentioned (in a survey) that she has bags of old cds and dvds in her closet that she doesn't want. For under $7 she can mail in up to 20lbs for recycling--better than just throwing them out, I suppose.

 

So there you go. That is our latest installment of TYNKYNK, along with some helpful tips on how to sustain the green movement. Now, where's the nearest tree? I need a hug.

 

 

 

 

Heh. One good blog gives rise to another. Today I am highlighting my newest project:

The Plastic Bag Rehabilitation Center (pbrc.info)

Find out what you can do to contribute to making bad bags into good, productive, cooperative citizens of the world ;)

I am working on recycling plastic bags into one or two rather large take-along grocery bags. Knitting with it is like scraping nails over my fingers, so I will probably cut up a heap more bags and crochet them instead. I am running out of bags though, since I continuously reuse the ones that I have OR they are cut up to use as reusables later. My mom is about to donate a heap of plastic bags to my cause. I think the only thing worse than trying to knit them is cutting them up to work with.Oh, but the fun of knowing I am helping to save the environment just a little makes me happy.

 

 

Billions of trees are cut down each year to send those catalogs out that you either toss or in my case put in the recyce bin. Now there is a web site that let's you cancel those catalogs- sorta like the do not call list- so today I cancelled more than 37 catalogs that come to my house and I never buy from and just toss in the recycle container. Like: travel smith, levenger, domestications, cuddledown, lillian vernon, horchow, ross simons, anthropologie, home decorators, restoration hardware- I could go on  and on. 

 

http://www.catalogchoice.org

It is free to register

 

some of these venders I DO shop with  but I know how to get to their web site so if talbots sends me an email about a 80& sale I go to their site and shop- I bought a dress originally tagged at $186 for $15. last week. so an email gets me there and no trees die.

 

and aside from the fact that I simplt LOVE trees, deforestation is a major cause of global warming. so everytime one gets cut down, the problem increases. You know the cliche- if you are not part of the solution you are part if the problem- right?

 

and while we are at it - think about what trees you are going to plant in your yard next spring and how much grass you will remove and add planting that are self sustaining for your climate. Get  you ass in gear people !!!

Is love recycleable? Just like everything else in our society these days? Can you love someone so much and walk away from the emotional bond, give yourself some time to lick your wounds and move on? I know we have to move on and I know that most of us do after the end of something wonderful or even a relationship the sucked. But what about the ones that just had to come to an end but they were not bad and they had the right chemistry? Can you really recycle your love with someone else? Have that "something" more than once or is that just it? Leave it at the curb, move on, and do the best with what is left. Can you find True honest to goodness pure love to be had or to be give more than once?