A few months ago I sent away for the NYC DEP’s free water conservation kit for apartment dwellers. Well it just arrived. First let me say…kudos to NYC for thinking ahead and for creating these free kits. Why wait until we actually have a shortage to get people on board with conservation?
So…lets have a looksy.
* Low flow aerators for kitchen and bathroom faucets. Sweet.
* Drip measurement valve and shower flow rate bag. Cool beans.
* Toilet displacement bag, toilet leak tablets, early closure toilet flapper. Nice.
* Low flow massage-type shower head. Mama may need a little special alone time to “research” this one.
* Plenty of info. on how to use the stuff and other tips to reduce H2O use.
Not bad, NYC. Not bad at all. And here I thought I would get a fridge magnet and a bumper sticker saying, “Be dirty like me: Save NYC Water!”
So why am I giving some of my goods away. Well …I have a low flow toilet that has no tank. Do I think I am hot snot for having such a thing? Why yes…yes I do. But this means I have no use for the float, the displacement bag, or the leak tabs. Rather than let them go to waste…why not share the potty wealth.
So if you are interested in any of the toilet accessories…just leave a comment in the comment section stating which thing you would like and I’ll throw your name in the pot. (I will draw for each separately.)If you are a NYC resident you can get an entire kit all to yourself by logging onto the NYC DEP’s website. If you are not…my condolences. You can either move here…or take the easy way out and contact your own town’s DEP and see what they have for you and your throne.
Sunday I took my peeps to the good ol’ Bronx Zoo. Always educational for all. In addition to staring down the Eco Toilet for 20 minutes and excitedly talking about what eats poop, besides the weird kid at the playground, we also visited the recently renovated Madagascar House. There we met a 10×20 foot screen showing footage of the devastating deforestation of the island. 80% of 99% of its land animals’ habitat is gone. Just gone. The evil culprit…the poor farmers trying to make a living. Not so evil, huh?
Well…apparently, I learned, there is a solution…one that we all can be a part of. By supporting shade-grown coffee we can send the message that we are willing to pay a little more to save a whole lot…an entire eco-system to be exact. Shade growing not only keeps the much needed animal habitat, but also lessens soil erosion, requires less pesticides,and lessens the plants’ vulnerability to climate changes. It’s a win-win…as long as the farmers can still make a decent living with less crop output.
Costa Rica has already launched their own shade-growing effort to save their migratory birds’ habitat. Hopefully their success will encourage others that economy and ecology do not have to work against each other. 
So send a message to coffee growers around the world that we want them to have fair wages, lessen their chemical output, and keep their lands in tact. Here is a list of resources to find exactly what you are looking for in your morning cup. Demanding little group, aren’t we?
Gosh golly…you know what would go perfectly with your new organic, fair trade, shade-grown coffee? An organic cotton reusable coffee filter, of course. (I am nothing if not subtle.)
Setting a new greener standard for NYC cabs in an effort to cut fuel consumption AND clean up our air appears to be the Sisyphean feat of the year. In 2007 a brilliant challenge was made to the automakers of the world to offer up their replacement for the traditionally used Crown Victorias which get a depressing 10MPG. You would think this would be a golden ticket for US automakers whose sales have been severely lagging in the past decade or two. NYC Yellow Cab Taxi fleet is comprised of about 13,000 cars + there are an estimated 40,000 private car service autos! That is no small order. Plus, chances are if the new greener cars could make it here they could make it…well you know how the song goes. Only Kia offered up a modified Rondo…coming in at about 18MPG. Not great…but almost double the Crown’s. It is estimated that if Rondo’s replaced the 13,000 it would mean a savings of 22,285,714 gallons of gas a year! That’s right…22,285,714 gallons a year. One city…one service…22,285,714. So how many of these cars have I seen? 1. Yep…in over a year since they were designed I have seen 1. Strike one for cleaner NYC air.
Bloomberg then tried the ever-popular Congestion Pricing, modeled after London’s traffic volume reduction plan, to clear some smog. That went over like a lead balloon. Strike two for NYC air.
Then as part of Bloomberg’s 127 initiatives to reduce our carbon load by 30% he created the 25/30 rule. All new taxis would have to get 25MPG this year, and 30MPG by next. 1,500 hybrids were voluntarily introduced to the roadways. The NYC Taxi commission, however, fought back saying that the size of the cars available in the new gas range weren’t suitable for a large percentage of their passengers. Cabs often have to pick up multiple passengers and their luggage. They claim they have tested out this fleet of hybrids and the cars that meet that the mayor’s standard can’t hold up to the wear and tear of city traffic. They stated that the cars were constantly in need of repair and some were rendered unsafe within a year of taxi service. They filed a lawsuit against the city and a judge decided that the mayor does not have the right to set any type of gas limit. Only the state can set such limits. Therefore, he doesn’t have the right to combat smog. Doesn’t have a right to keep our asthma rates from constantly increasing. Doesn’t have the right to try and start a new greener path for New Yorkers. Doesn’t have the right to move us one step closer to energy independence. They won. Strike three for the breathers. We all lost big.
Utter frustration. Who’s to blame? A deactivist judge? The taxi commission? The car industry for the inability to produce a car that can meet the qualifications necessary? The state for not setting this standard across the board for all of our cities? Very frustrated. Very disappointed. Please let me get happier news tomorrow night. Otherwise I may be shopping for a nice cave to curl up in for awhile. Hey…Gollum did it and look how well he turned out!
What? Palin 2012! Noooooo….back to the cave!
Survived the family vacation…yes the whole extended in-law family vacation. We will just leave it at my husband and I have veeeeeeerrrrrrrry different life styles and politics than most of his family so it is a balancing act. But we survived and had some fun without anyone leaving early, swearing allegiance to a new family down the block, or divulging any deep deep, but perhaps entertaining, family secrets…such as who was actually born with a tail. I guess you can’t get everything. (My money is on the sister.) And no one came home Aunt Edna style.
We went to Cape May. It is pretty much a sleepy little Victorian beach town. Any hoooo, while I was there it was my birthday. And guess what the hubbaronni got me? Carbon Offsets. (I can’t even imagine what the rest of the family thought. Let’s just say they weren’t seething with jealousy.) Wow…I thought…does he actually listen to a portion of my rambles? All this time I thought he was just staring at me waiting for me to be quiet long enough to reach for a booby without seeming like an insensitive pig or to tell me that one of the boys has created poop art.
Okay…now for the information you probably actually care about. My husband purchased carbon offsets from Climate Friendly . He offset all of our traveling, including air travel, and our car use for the year. Pretty cool, no? The website has a neat little calculator to help you figure out your personal damage as well as more detailed information about the projects they support with the money. If you are thinking about doing offsets for yourself or as a gift for that hard to please crunchy loved one in your life I suggest you give it a glance.
***Also while we were away we had friends take our CSA share. Now they are hooked and will probably join next year. Mooooohaaaaaahaaaaa….the first share is free but just when you get a taste of the peaches…we make you sign over your soul. Mooohahhhahhha. (Okay…maybe just make you agree to hand out veggies.)****
Now…I love Burbanmom. She is like my little blogspiration in a can. When she started her new challenge…I said sure sign me up. Laundry…yes I had already thrown in the towel on account of NYC mugginess…but out of love for her I did manage to smuggle all my sheets and blankets upstate for a dance in this neat thing they have up there called wind. Grass eating cows…not a beef eater…so sailed through that one. Compost…you all know my worms well. But her energy source switch challenge has got me in a pickle. Here’s the deal…my energy company is EEEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLL. Seriously…ConEd has actually killed people and their dogs.
And their Green Power program is a little too wishy washy for me. Well…more like a joke. They say they use the extra money paid for green energy to “create a market for green energy.” WTF? Yes…they could use the extra money to create new wind or hydro powered grids. Yes…they could. I could also paint myself green and change my name to Super Pickle. I guess they just don’t want to bother customers with the pesky details of exactly where each nickel is going. I just pay the extra money and they will figure out how to handle it. I don’t need to worry my sweet pretty little self about it. Well…I’m the kinda gal who wants to know whose wasting my money…besides me.
Actual Photo taken at Con Ed Meeting
Ummmmmm. So to summerize…I’m suppose to trust the company whose CEO gave himself a 24% raise and is about to raise NYC’s rates 22% to use my extra money to buy green “credits.” The same company that was responsible for a 9 day blackout that wiped out 1/2 the small businesses in Astoria and said they didn’t have enough money to actually pay for their mistake. (They offered businesses $7,000. 9 days of no business plus ruined inventory. Most businesses were out 10s of thousands and many more were just plain OUT.) Oh…and this is also the same company that blew someone up last year. Pick, pick, pick.
I don’t know Burbarino…I just don’t know if I can do this one. I would feel better donating money to a company that had a clear cut energy plan than to trust that my corrupt monopoly of a zapper is going to do anything but pay out lawsuits or stuff their little fat pants with it. How about I just promise not to buy each of my worms personal air conditioners? See…I can sacrifice too.
