Gleanings of the Week Ending December 20, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Hooting Season: Enjoying Great Horned Owls - I liked the owl pictures!

What Are MOOCs Good For? - I enjoy the Coursera MOOCs so I thought I would read a review of MOOCs in general.  I was surprised that the review barely mentions people like me that enjoy MOOCs to learn about a topic rather than to get a certification or qualification for a career. When I look at discussion boards - it seems like there are quite of few of us ‘post career’ folks taking MOOCs.

Walking Fish Model Evolution - I had heard about ‘walking fish’ but had never seen one in action. This post includes a video....and discusses how the fishes bones change if they are walking frequently.

Three ways cats can control our minds - There is a summary in the narrative of the three ways but the video is worth watching! Fun!

An Ocean of Plastic - I’ve been hearing more about this recently…we have to figure out how to stop putting more plastic into the ocean. On an individual level - recycling plastic is an OK answer but not really good enough. It’s hard to avoid plastic but that is what we need to think more about. I have already stopped buying bottled water and I carry reusable shopping bags whenever I shop (not just for groceries although that is how I started).

A Bird's Eye View of Humpback Whales Participating In Bubble Feeding - This is like the walking fish post - something I’d read about but never seen. The second video provides more narrative about how they do it (if you don’t hear the narrative check the audio volume).

EPA’s Energy Efficiency Action Week & New Energy Star Home Advisor - This online tool has been updated according to this post. The tool itself is available here.  Be prepared to hunt through records if your want to assess your house with this tool!

Absolutely Stunning Examples of Lakes and Rivers with Unearthly Colors - I appreciate the ones that are colors from nature….the ones from pollution are very sad.

Chemical-Sensing Displays and Other Surprising Uses of Glass - A peek at Corning research.

Desalination out of Desperation - There is a lot of water in the sea….but desalination is still very expensive. But we may be coming close to a time when we’ll pay the price.

Still in the Trash

My last post on the topic of trash was back in January.  I decided to do another inventory.

What is changed from January?

Composting fruit/veggie parings and eggshells. The old joint compound buckets we have left from our basement finishing are great for loading up about half full then moving on to fill the next one. I have enough to hold the compost until it is ‘done’ and ready to go on into the chaos garden. I think my strategy will work even during the colder months!

Small pieces of paper and clean foil. I’ve become expert at collecting small pieces of paper in small boxes and putting the whole thing in the recycle when it is full. When I get pieces of foil that are clean (like on dark chocolate), I collect it into a ball of foil until it is large enough to go into the recycle.

Package avoidance. We have made an effort to stop buying food in packaging that is not recyclable. Microwave popcorn is probably our biggest change. We used to eat a lot of microwave popcorn but buy the plain popcorn now and use a Nordic Ware popcorn bowl to hold it in the microwave (this is healthier too). The CSA has also help reduce packaging - clamshells and plastic that sometimes is too messy to recycle.

So - what is still in our trash?

Packaging from food. Messy plastic or clamshells from meat purchases are the most significant food trash right now; we aren’t buying as much meat but the packaging is always plastic/foil shrink wrap or clamshells that are messy with meat juices. There are small items that are made of recyclable materials but are not allowed because of their size or sharp edges; these include the flip tops from canned goods (the most numerous in our household is from cat food) and straws. I am using up the straws I have on hand then won’t buy more.

Kleenex and paper towels. I am going to try using less Kleenex when I am around the house; I’ve dug out handkerchiefs I’ve had for years to put in strategic places and then into the weekly laundry every week whether they are used or not. I’ve already dramatically reduced the paper napkins we used by keeping a stack of cloth napkins on our table. We don’t use a lot of paper towels; mostly they get used for spills on the floor in the kitchen.  I’ve made the old towels more accessible so maybe we’ll forego the paper towels more often.

Used cat litter. This will always have to go in the trash. It probably already makes up a sizable portion of our trash.