Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | Recipe: Blueberry-Oat Quick Bread

The September issue of Body+Soul has a special “Going Greener Guidebook” in the back of the issue, and we got some great tips from them on ways to green your home:

Outside:

1. Use a push mower: emits zero emissions, makes less noise, and helps you get a workout, too!
2. Apply weather-stripping: seal all your doors and windows, and it could reduce your energy bill by 10%.
3. Leave Your Yard Clippings: did you know that bagged yard clippings account for 20% of landfill space? Crazy! Leave ‘em behind to nourish the soil and help keep moisture from evaporating.
4. Mimimize idling: don’t idle your car! Warm it up by driving it.

Kitchen:

5. Choose the right pan: using a 6 inch pan on an 8 inch burner can waste more than 40% of the burner’s heat, so choose wisely.
6. True linoleum is cool: When you think of linoleum, you’re probably thinking of its vinyl imitation. True linoleum is made of plant-based materials like linseed oil, pine resin, and powered cork, and it’s been around since the 1800’s. Marmoleum is a good example.
7. Heat water with less energy. turn down the thermostat on your water heater by 5 degrees; then install an AirTap device from AirGenerate, which draws heat from the ambient air into your water. You could reduce your water bill by almost 50%.
8. Use a Convection oven: it circulates air continuously, so it uses 20% less energy than a conventional oven.
9. Clean out the fridge: clean your fridge coils at least twice a year and replace door gaskets to keep cold air from escaping.
10. Use Glass Containers: they’re sturdy, reusable, and pretty — and won’t leach chemicals into your food.
11. Compost: Put your coffee grounds and vegetable scraps to good use by feeding your garden and house plants.
12. Switch to reusable towels: microfiber towels are great, and can be washed and reused over and over again.
13. Turn your Dishwasher on at night: this will avoid peak energy rates. Even better? Turn off the drying cycle as well and let your dishes air dry.
14. Get some green cleaners: try to use non-toxic products without ammonia, chlorine, or bleach.

Living Room:

15. Opt for LCD: LCDs use a mere 77 kilowatt hours per year compared with Plasma’s 441 kwh, thus saving 624 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
16. Set the thermostat: with every degree you lower your AC, cooling costs increase by about 7%. Ideally, your thermostat should be set for 68 degrees in the winter when you’re at home.
17. Use drapes: use free heat by letting the sunshine in, or keep your house cool (and the AC off) by closing the shades.
18. Get your ducts all in a row: if you have a heating and cooling duct system, have it cleaned and sprayed with a sealant to prevent leaks. Untreated duct systems often waste 25-40% of the energy emitted through your furnace or AC.
19. Use a ceiling fan: opt for counter-clockwise rotation to make your home feel at least 4 degrees cooler, but turn off the fan when you’re not in the room.
20. Use sustainable wood: if you need new flooring, make sure it’s FSC-certified which ensures that the wood was sourced in an ecologically and socially responsible way.
21. Build a better fire: start your wood fires with dry kindling to maximize efficiency. Never burn chemically or pressured treated wood. When you’re not using your fireplace, make sure to close the flue.

Bathroom:

22. Fix leaks: stop the water torture and save on your water bill all at once!
23. Avoid PVC like the plague: …since it kind of is. Just say “no” to hormone-disrupting phthalates in your morning air.
24. Go low-flow: unsure if you already have a low-flow showerhead? Try this tip: put a one-gallon bucket underneath your shower. If it fills in 24 seconds or less, you do NOT have a low-flow showerhead and should think about upgrading.
25. Keep air fresh: this does not mean with artificially-and-chemically-enhanced air fresheners. Make your own air spray using 30-40 drops of as many as 3 different oils - lemon and lavender, for example - with one cup of water.
26. Install a Dual-Flush: dual-flush models use 0.8 gallons for fluids and 1.25 for solid wastes compared to 3.5 to 7.0 gallons respectively for conventional toilets. Read more about it at www.dualflushtoilet.net.
27. Dry off with organic or bamboo towels: conventionally grown cotton is responsible for about 25% of the world’s pesticide and insecticide use, as well as petroleum-derived dyes.
28. Change your lightbulbs: replace at least 5 high-use bulbs (like the ones in your bathroom) with CFLs or LEDs. They might cost more to purchase, but they’ll last 10 times as long.

Bedroom:

29. Be conscious of carpet: choose fibers such as coir, jute, and sisal which are biodegradable, nontoxic, and renewable. Also look for products with a Green Label Plus certification from the Carpet and Rug Institute to ensure low emissions.
30. Install better windows: look for Energy-Star-qualified windows with insulating glazes and gas fills.
31. Rethink your bed: thank goodness we don’t know exactly what we’re sleeping on, because the long list of chemicals, fire retardants, pesticides, dyes and bleaches would probably ensure we never sleep again. Look for mattresses made out of organic cotton, pure wool, and natural rubber.
32. Unplug your electronics: cell phone chargers and computer cords all continue to emit energy even when they’re not turned on. Plug everything into a power strip and turn it off when they’re not in use.
33. Use eco paints: we all know how conventional paints smell, and that it can’t be good for us. So look for no or low VOC paints to give you peace of mind.
34. Green your sheets: The same issues around towel production apply to sheets. Look for organic cotton or bamboo.
35. Wash in cold: about 90% of the energy used for a load of laundry goes to heating the water. Running a load though a cold wash will get your clothes just as clean.

Make sure to check out the September issue of Body+Soul for more green living tips, available on newsstands now.

outside set

before after

I like the rug and use of the table to fill in the empty space

August 3rd, 2009

….

One of the things people tend to say to me (especially after they’ve tried to hammer sense into someone’s head for hours only to discover that bigotry can be a security blanket to some people) is that they don’t know how I keep my calm in these conversations. And I tend to wave it off, because really I don’t see a point in talking about the emotional impact of participating in these discussions. No, that’s a lie. I do talk about it. In safe spaces, behind closed doors with people I know I can trust. Because that’s the only place it’s (generally) acceptable to show weakness as an anti-racist POC. Otherwise the slurs and the misconceptions and the appropriation and the fucking fail will make you cry in front of people who have already made it clear that your feelings don’t matter to them.

Because if they cared about the feelings of POC they wouldn’t use racial slurs, they wouldn’t insist that we have no right to dictate the treatment of our cultural icons, they wouldn’t say that we were too angry (By the way, who stays calm and patient when someone is shitting on their shoe?) to discuss things “rationally”, they wouldn’t insist that being called out on their bigoted statements is more painful than being the target of bigotry. Basically they’d treat us the way they want to be treated and stop expecting POC to meekly accept being spit on, their culture, music, and religion picked apart for a moment’s entertainment, their families dehumanized and disrespected, their history and their literature discounted and ignored…all without ever once expressing their anger or their hurt. Because that’s the wrong tone. And of course when POC say “Turnabout is fair play, if I can’t talk about my emotions then yours don’t count either” suddenly we’re so cruel or we’re attacking or we’re still not using the right tone if we want to end racism. Because clearly if we’re calm enough and nice enough in the face of offensive behavior then everything will get better right? After all that’s usually what’s implied someone trots out MLK Jr. as an example of how POC should behave in the face of racism. I heartily suggest the next person to feel that urge spend some quality time reading Letter From a Birmingham Jail and recognize that nonviolent protests didn’t include smiling sweetly and eating shit.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Now this might shock and/or offend some people, but I have to say that today is not a day when I give a fuck. Because when POC have teaching moments? It costs us. Sometimes a little. Sometimes a lot. It’s a sacrifice that we choose to make in an effort to improve things. It’s a moment (or more) out of our lives that we knowingly open ourselves up to things that any sane person would want to avoid under normal circumstances. Because there is no other option. Oh, we could leave the people saying awful things to wallow in ignorance. But in the long run isolationism is not actually a helpful position. Especially since we are living in a global society, and there really is nowhere to withdraw to for the long haul. So, we wade in when we can, and we try to make sure that if even if the person saying offensive things doesn’t get it; other people reading will have access to the right information. And sometimes when the fail is too big and the pain is too acute? We get sarcastic and snark the stupid. Because you have to do something to ease the trauma when you’re 100 comments in and people are still insisting that the 65 links to respectable websites, 23 bits of anecdata, and the entire weight of history are all wrong and it’s the fault of POC that racism isn’t gone because they insist on being people of color instead of “normal” white people. It’s hard enough to stand strong in the face of willful stupidity, don’t expect us to be nice about it too. Gallows humor is often the best coping mechanism available. For the record, anger is a perfectly valid emotion but don’t get confused…we have others too…you just don’t get to see them.

http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/08/03/we-have-feelings-too-or-the-cost-of-being-a-poc-in-race-discussions/