Posts from — May 2008

Today is my fourth wedding anniversary with my wife, Adele. I am fortunate and honored to have her in my life and as my wife.

Life is funny sometimes and our anniversary typifies the life we lead, and is also probably indicative of many of your lives.

Last night our teenage daughter Candice finished work at 8pm came home began her night time routine. While I went off to pick Candice up, Adele finished putting our toddler son, Jake, to bed. This means our day that began around 5:30 am is just winding down around 8:30pm 15 hours later. After getting home I fell asleep sometime around 9 O’clock, as Adele settled in for the evening. Before I fell asleep we said “Happy Early Anniversary” to each other and then my snoring began.

[Read more →]

Over the weekend I needed to put gas in both of our cars, they each cost around $50 to fill up. Luckily I traded in my Toyota 4 Runner last year and got a 4 cylinder Rav 4 which we use for much of our driving. Last year the 4 Runner was costing $60 to fill and I was filling almost twice a week.

Recently I read a few articles and have seen news reports about the escalating price of oil and in turn gasoline. We’re currently paying $3.95 for regular at the station I go to. I’ve also heard the Presidential Candidates talk about their plans to curb prices. I think suspending the Fed Tax is a foolish idea. Tax revenues are already slowing and to me this step won’t do any good for most people short or long term. It’s a great sound bite and that’s all!

I made me think…So where are we headed?

[Read more →]

One of my colleagues pushed me information about a Chrysler incentive program “Refueling America” designed to increase sales that’s causing them Environmental Public Relations heartburn.

The incentive locks a vehicle buyer’s regular gas price at $2.99 for three years. It’s already being pointed out, by various media, that many of Chrysler’s vehicles have lower MPG ratings than their competitors. Other media outlets have done the calculations and share that, dependent on the price of gas, this deal is probably not better for consumers, actually in many cases its less then previous incentives they have offered.

[Read more →]

By Joanne Schenker

About four years ago, I was on my usual night run to Borders looking for the next great read. As I was paying for my purchase, I noticed a flyer for The North Sea Poetry Scene. They were offering creative writing classes and poetry readings on the island. After attending a few readings (one very memorable one in The Conklin Barn in Huntington), I was hooked. It was wonderful to reclaim my passion for poetry—my first connection to the world of writing.

TNSPS’s founder, Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, and public relations person, Barbara Reiher-Meyers are gifted writers and incredibly dedicated to the organization. Barbara’s weekly online calendar of events is an endless list of poetry readings, workshops and writing classes from Long Island to Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Keeping up with the calendar is a job within itself, but you will often find Barbara conducting readings, as well. Her energy can fill a room, her words follow suit.

[Read more →]

By Chris O’Hara

Although my wife Jennifer and I have been trying to get “greener” around the kitchen over the past few years (using the smaller, energy efficient drawer-style dishwasher more; recycling more; using CFLs instead of conventional light bulbs, etc), we weren’t 100% ready to commit to green cleaning products. For my recent canvas article, we put a variety of cleaning products to the test to see whether ammonia and bleach-free cleaning products would get the job done. For them to pass the “Jen test” they would have to be pretty tough.

I found a bunch of products I liked, but two that really stood out:

• Simple Green: They say that necessity is the mother of invention. In 1978, long before “green” products were on anyone’s radar, a man named FaBrizio was trying to figure out how to remove tannin from coffee roasting machines without using toxic chemicals. After three years, he came up with a biodegradable, nontoxic, non-abrasive solution he called Simple Green. He began to sell the product in 55-gallon drums to automobile shops and factories, and many years later, into consumer stores. Now the “Sunshine Makers” company has one of the most popular and diversified natural cleaning product lines in the world. I found the concentrated formula to be the most effective—and cost effective—of all the “green” cleaning products.
• Seventh Generation: Seventh Generation products include everything from chlorine-free baby diapers to recycled napkins, and everything in between. I wanted to see how the Ben and Jerry’s of household cleaning products handled the mess I created making Cincinnati chili. As the author of several popular cooking books, including one on chili, I feel obligated to cook in a manner that makes me look as talented as the pictures that accompany my recipes. In other words, to needlessly shake pans, toss ingredients up into the air, and make as much noise and mess as possible. Jen tells me that this doesn’t add anything to my cooking but, since I usually clean it up anyway, she abides my foolishness. But, would Seventh Generation’s “natural all-purpose cleaner” be up to the task of degreasing a very greasy Garland stove? I put 7G’s citrusy cleaner to the test against both Fantastic and my home-diluted mixture of Mr. Clean, and found that it held its own.

A month later, we are still working our way around the kitchen, and for the most part we have found that the green cleaners can do the job 9 times out of 10. With a third grade boy in the house, plenty of bleach-based products are still called upon for regular bathroom maintenance, however. That being said, with green surface cleaners, dishwashing detergent and soap, and even biodegradable laundry detergent, there are a lot of ways to avoid putting chemicals back into the ground. And that’s some “clean living” that’s really easy to do!

LINKS USED IN THIS ARTICLE:

http://www.greenhomeguide.com/index.php/knowhow/entry/649

http://www.fisherpaykel.co.nz/dishwashing/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

http://www.simplegreen.com

http://www.seventhgeneration.com

http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-2168-ultimate-chili-book.aspx

http://transcendentalfloss.com/media/images/2006/mr-clean.jpg