An aide-mé⋅moire

My first post for 2009 is a little story about how I was forced to welcome in the New Year by renouncing almost all consumerism.

I had a break from blogging and writing in 2008 to follow other projects, and although I feel that I make careful choices in my day to day consumption I did not stop to record or carefully consider issues that had interested me in the first two years of being introduced to the concept of renounce.

Now that I am back on the wagon, so to speak, it was quite fitting that my year began as it did. There are two culprits in this story: myself and a giant phone company. I am a culprit simply because of a period of time where I lapsed slightly in the area of organising my mundane tasks such paying bills and the like, and the phone company is to blame through their lack in customer service and rational problem solving strategies.

Back in late 2008 particular reasons caused me to use my mobile phone much more than normal. I did this without consideration and before I knew it I had gone over my monthly cap. Way over. Way, way over which equalled a preposterous amount for a full time student to repay within the timeframe that the phone company required. They understood my dilemma (it happens all the time apparently) and allowed me more time to pay. In the meantime however, I put a stop to the monthly amount being debited from my bank account, and they put a stop to outgoing calls from the phone. Lucky for me the semester was over and the lead up to Christmas ensured I had plenty of work to help pay the awful bill. I did this a few days before Christmas, and called the phone company to reactivate my phone.

All was well, I believed as I was standing in the queue of a bottle shop on New Years Eve, until my card was declined and friends had to come to the rescue. Back at work two days later I discovered that the phone company had not only reactivated my mobile account but also the direct debit of my bank account which had in turn debited the preposterous amount for a second time.

I will not bore you with the longwinded details of what ensured over the following three weeks, as I want to get to the point of all this, except to say that it included over 8 hours on the phone to incompetent and untrained staff who were restricted by company policy, trying to have my money returned. I was finally reimbursed and am, needless to say, in the process of changing providers.

Now, the point of this story is that my financial situation during first few weeks of the year forced me to live very frugally indeed. I went for days and days without buying anything except for a public transport ticket and resorted to walking to work a few times as well. I ate out my cupboard, rescued things from the depths of the freezer, drank coffee at work or home and bought fresh produce that was on sale at my local grocer. I invited friends to my house, instead of arranging to meet out and made the most of the free entertainment that was in my immediate environment – old CDs, books, the internet, my backyard, bike paths, and friends in the neighbourhood. This especially pleased my attention seeking cat who took advantage of all my spare moments for maximum patting time.

It was an unintentional and unplanned experiment in my lifestyle but it proved without a doubt that money is a key factor in not only what I consume but how I spend my time. For someone who feels they are constantly time poor it was a nice outcome to realise that by changing my social spending habits I will help create more time to enjoy what I already have.

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Say NO to Chocolate

The Bitter Truth About Chocolate : TreeHugger

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Hershey’s kiss, and yet a celebration is hardly in order. Why? Because with each bite, we are reminded that most chocolate sold in the U.S. comes from cocoa farms where farmers work in unsafe conditions, receive below poverty wages, many of them children under 14 years old who are forced to work and denied education.

With another Valentine’s Day approaching, happy couples will wine and dine, showering each other with flowers, jewelry, and chocolate. Unfortunately, knowing where most chocolate comes from makes it hard to swallow!

It’s 2007, and people are finally starting to question where the products they buy are made and whether the workers who made them were treated fairly. Sweatshop-free apparel is becoming hip, and Fair Trade coffee is at least a blip on the map. Yet chocolate is still being made with cocoa beans harvested by children in Africa working in unsafe conditions, while the average consumer has no idea this is going on.

The truth behind chocolate is not-so-sweet. The Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer, providing 43% of the world’s cocoa. And yet, in 2001 the U.S. State Department reported child slavery on many cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. A 2002 report from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture about cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and other African countries estimated there were 284,000 children working on cocoa farms in hazardous conditions. U.S. chocolate manufacturers have claimed they are not responsible for the conditions on cocoa plantations since they don’t own them.

fair-trade-chocolate-gg-02.jpg

Chocolate comes from cocoa, and the cocoa supply is controlled by a small number of companies worldwide that are allowed to function with limited accountability. Hershey’s and M&M/Mars alone control two-thirds of the $13 billion U.S. chocolate candy market. The result? An industry marred with child slavery, unsafe working conditions and a cycle of poverty with no end in sight for cocoa farmers. Chocolate companies are not held accountable for sourcing practices, and despite their knowledge about the travesties that occur on cocoa farms, they lack the will to change.

The U.S. chocolate industry has faced multiple deadlines requiring new protocol, and yet little has changed. Under pressure from Congress, in the Harken-Engel Protocol, the U.S. chocolate industry agreed to voluntarily take steps to end child slavery on cocoa farms by July of 2005. This deadline has since passed, and the chocolate industry has failed to comply with the terms of this agreement.

So in July 2005, International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Nestlé in Federal District Court on behalf of a class of children who were trafficked from Mali into the Ivory Coast and forced to work twelve to fourteen hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent beatings. What was Nestlé’s response to court questioning? “We are only buyers of a product.”

There are a plethora of examples of company leaders who were publicly criticized for selling clothing lines manufactured by sweatshop workers, Kathy LeeScryve Corporate Social Responsibility Rating Gifford and designer Jessica McClintock to name a few. Chocolate companies should be held accountable for the conditions of cocoa producers they buy from.

Consumers can hold chocolate companies accountable by choosing only Fair Trade Certified chocolate. It’s easy to do. Simply look for TransFair USA’s Fair Trade logo on the package. TransFair is the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. Fair Trade Certified chocolate ensures that no forced or abusive child labor was used. If consumer demand for Fair Trade chocolate increases, perhaps chocolate companies will alter their practices. Thus, buying Fair Trade chocolate can put an end to the disastrous cycle of poverty and child endangerment.

It is estimated that Fair Trade chocolate represents less than 1% of the world’s roughly $60 billion chocolate market. According to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and National Confectioners Association, in 2005 more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate were sold for Valentine’s Day. How many hours of exploited child labor went into those boxes of chocolate?

So what’s a chocolate lover to do? Choose Fair Trade chocolate this Valentine’s Day, a sweet deal for loved ones and cocoa farmers.

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Work From Home

How to Go Green: Work from Home : Planet Green

Working from home can be a great alternative to a desk in a cubicle, but, as many people who try it will tell you, it isn’t as easy as slapping your laptop down on the dining room table. And, while wearing pajamas all day might sound nice, it doesn’t make the cut for many who work from home. Still, whether you embrace the romantic-sounding ideals of managing a home office or not, one thing remains true: It can be way greener than commuting to an office every day.

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Kitchen Throw-Outs

Kitchen reductions – Megan McArdle

Right before Christmas, I told you what to add to your kitchen. Now Mark Bittman suggests things you can get rid of. My top ten:

1. Jar tomato sauce: takes five minutes of prep, 40 minutes of no-stir simmering, to make your own, which keeps for weeks: cheaper, better, and only a trivial amount of extra effort. Incidentally, for the fellow who asked: the large tomato cans referred to in that recipe are indeed 28 ounces. But I’m flirting with a switch to Pomi, which don’t have that metallic taste. Home canned are best, of course, but not economical unless you grow your own or live in farm country.

2. Preground parmesan: forget the lack of fresh taste; the damn stuff clots and wastes half the jar. Try a microplane cheese grater and a block of fresh cheese from Costco or another warehouse club.

3. Bottled water: Distilled water has some uses for cleaning. Bottled water for drinking, however, is a total waste of space and money. It is tap water, just tap water you’ve paid someone to pour and transport. I repeat, most bottled water comes out of a municipal water system somewhere. If your tap water tastes funny, buy a Brita filter.

4. Mystery frozen things: They were on special 6 months ago. You got an amazing deal so you bought an extra pack and popped it in the freezer. Now you can’t find a recipe for “mystery meat with a two-inch-thick crust of ice”. Unless you have a deep freezer, the natural lifespan of frozen meat is six months. Throw it out. Then resolve not to buy and freeze anything you don’t have an actual plan to consume. You will save money in the long run, and also, right now.

5. The crepe maker. The quesadilla maker. The margarita machine. The fondue pot. Used each of them twice, didn’t you? If you haven’t used an appliance or a pan in the last nine months, give it away, to a friend, relative, or goodwill. Exception: Christmas cookie cutters, ice cream machines that get heavy use three months out of the year, wedding gifts from immediate family. Do not let your fantasy kitchen take up more space than your real cooking.

6. Expensive cooking wine, “cooking” sherry: Anyone who tells you they detect a difference in the quality of wine used to cook is lying: the things that make expensive wine taste like expensive wine are denatured by heat, which is why you don’t store your ’62 Yquem in the closet next to the boiler. “Cooking” wines are a stupid waste in another direction: loaded with salt and priced higher per ounce than a decent table wine. Go to the liquor store and buy the cheapest bottle they’ll sell you, dry or sweet as per the recipe.

7. Brownie mix: Brownies take ten minutes to make in one bowl: microwave the butter and chocolate together on low, then add the other ingredients, stir, and pour into a cooking plan. There is no excuse for wasting money on subpar baked goods.

8. Winter tomatoes, asparagus, etc: There are plenty of vegetables that it is fine to consume in winter, because they travel well (and inexpensively) from happier climes. Green beans, for example, or broccoli. But it is not worth it to pay the kind of money that is asked for crunchy, flavorless tomatoes, or something that tastes like a ghost of an artichoke. Better to dress up frozen (or, if you must, canned) during the winter months and save your money for a produce orgy come spring. You can make a spectacular, springy tasting soup by simmering frozen peas in a little broth with fresh tarragon, and stirring in buttermilk and fresh ground pepper at the end.

9. Bad frozen dinners: there are actually quite a number of things that are good frozen–I’m currently enjoying frozen onion soup from Costco, and I’m a big fan of the frozen pea. Frozen puff pastry sheets are a dinner-party life saver when your souffle dies. But how often do you actually enjoy a Swanson’s salisbury steak that you could have produced in five extra minutes with a packet of Knorr onion soup mix and a cheap bottle of red wine? (Mix the onion soup mix into the hamburger. Shape. Pour a little wine mixed with soy sauce over the steak and broil until the outside is crispy brown).

10. Potato buds: With the Rotato on the market, there’s just. no. reason. Use the rotato to peel some actual, cheap potatoes (kids love this). Cut into 1-inch chunks. Simmer until tender in skim milk, whole milk, or cream, depending on the condition of your budget and waistline. Especially delicious if you throw a clove of garlic or two into the pan. Then pour off half the milk and all of the garlic, and mash. Took you five minutes of prep time, and saved you infinite taste bud agony.

My biggest new years resolution for the kitchen, and one I commend to readers, is not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good in your endeavors. If you can’t whip up crepe suzettes, that doesn’t mean you have to resort to box brownies; try baked apples or use frozen puff pastry sheets and fruit to make a quick strudel. If you are worried about animal welfare, but can’t give up meat, or afford the humane stuff, try having one or two vegan meals a week, or splurge on pastured beef once in a while. If you’re too tired to cook, try to find a recipe that takes an extra five minutes and one dish over heating a frozen dinner, like simmering chicken breasts in barbeque sauce for half an hour (or sticking them in a 400 oven in a baking dish with same for 50-60 minutes). If you’re too tired to spend five minutes cooking, you’re too tired to eat. And better to have a good tuna sandwich that tastes like a tuna sandwich should than a frozen “pizza” that could just as easily be the plastic one from the store display.

Filed under: Food, uncategorized

Frugal Soup

Save Money With a Soup Night | beingfrugal.net

Now that the weather is cold (and rainy in Oregon), it’s the perfect time to save money with a soup night. I like to schedule a soup night once a week, because it’s a great way to use up leftovers that might otherwise go bad in the back recesses of the refrigerator.

I keep a 2 cup container in the 
freezer, where I keep leftover veggies. When the container is full, I know it’s time to make a big pot of soup.

To make a frugal soup from leftovers, start with about 5 cups of some kind of broth or soup base (beef, chicken, tomato, etc.).

Add a cup of protein, such as beans, beef, or chicken.

Add a cup of rice or pasta, a cup of vegetables, and season with your favorite spices.

Throw it all in a slow cooker and cook on low all day.

At dinnertime add some bread (I like homemade) and maybe a salad, and you have an easy, frugal meal. And your leftovers won’t be wasted.

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Bookmarks for Renounce

I have made a set of bookmarks on the theme of frugal – aka renounce here: http://delicious.com/faintvoice/renounce

And another iceberg photo.

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Renovating my Garage

I have been painting these past few weeks – renovating our garage to make it into a studio. And this takes em to places where I see pictures of similar projects – and get all excited. This is the latest in the line. All – “All clean, simple, bright and white.” Take a look.

The space is a recycling story – like what I am doing. I am also planing to extend this to encompass the notion of the hut – as in Ann Kline’s ‘hut of ones own’, or japanese huts. More on this in time.

Stair of the Week: Loft Reno in Florence by B-arch : TreeHugger

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third-hand smoke

I smoked a bit – for about 20 years of my life. Gave up when the children came along. Or gave up just to feel I was doing the right thing. So I am not against smoking but happy to pass on bad news about the effects of smoking.

Word Spy – third-hand smoke

n. Particles that linger on surfaces after second-hand tobacco smoke has dissipated.

Example Citations:
Researchers have found that third-hand smoke containing heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials lingers long after second-hand smoke has dissipated, and can be ingested by children crawling around a room.

Winickoff says parents who try to protect their children from second-hand smoke by rolling down a window of the car or smoking only when the children are out of the room are not doing enough.

If the smell of the cigarette lingers, he said, so does the danger.

“You’re nose isn’t lying. If your body detects it, then it’s there,” he says.

“And children are more susceptible than adults.”

third-hand smoke has been found to contain hydrogen cyanide, used in chemical weapons; butane; toluene, found in paint thinners; arsenic; lead; carbon monoxide; and polonium-210, the highly radioactive carcinogen that was used to murder former Russian spy Alexander V. Litvinenko in 2006.
—Stuart Laidlaw, “Toxins from ‘third-hand smoke’ linger on,” The Toronto Star, January 6, 2009

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air of second-hand smoke, but experts now have identified another smoking-related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.

That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.

Doctors from MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston coined the term ‘third-hand smoke’ to describe these chemicals in a new study that focused on the risks they pose to infants and children. The study was published in this month’s issue of the journal Pediatrics.
—Roni Caryn Rabin, “A New Cigarette Hazard: ‘Third-Hand Smoke’,” The New York Times, January 3, 2009

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The iceberg in antarctica

I find icebergs are the ultimate symbol of global warming. Or they have been made out to be – and when they all melt – then it is over. We will all be under water. Take a look at this image larger and for more Antarctica pictures see http://cathywebster.com/antarctica/

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More “global warming is a myth”

I came across this piece in the Telegraph (see below). And I am sympathetic to the argument that questions whether there is global warming – the Al Gore sense of the term. I also hear that Britain is going through a nasty cold winter. On the other side:
1. Yunus talked about the sea taking over land in Bangladesh.
2. The Maldives are talking to Australia about relocating – and abandoning their island.
3. The coral reefs are dying.

And the earth is a dirty place in many countries.

So for me its not as if global warming is true or not. Its that the planet is getting hotter in places, toxic in other places and there is a lot that is wrong in the way we go about things.

Global warming: Al Gore’s convenient untruth freezes over :: Gerald Warner

You have to wrap up well against this global warming. Over the past 48 hours the temperature has fallen as low as -12C in Dorset, with the sea at Poole Harbour frozen up to 20 yards from shore, and parts of Britain colder than Greenland. Phew, what a scorcher! Might be a good idea to start up the car (if it will start) and pump some more CO2 into the atmosphere before we freeze to death. What did the media warn us about climate change?

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