Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, June 8th, 2008, 1:35 pm

Oh, how far we have come in the 4 years since HBO’s Sex and the City waved goodbye to their television audience from the streets of Paris and NYC. We, as a community, have been at war both in Iraq and at home: a global climate war, a racial and feminist political war, an economic war. Yet somehow, in the new Sex and the City movie, Carrie and her girl-friends remain unaffected by it all. How is that possible?

I’m so very disappointed. Last night my husband and I (yes, he joined me and was one of the 10 men in the NYC theatre) watched the movie in disbelief. Don’t get me started on Mr. Big Screw-up as I don’t want to be a plot spoiler. I just couldn’t believe that these four women could live in such a time-warp. After all that has happened to our world in 4 years, how could they continue to live a life of label consumption and accumulation, jet setting and personal gratification?

-          When Carrie is packing up her NYC apartment, she had three boxes: Take, Toss or Store. Where was the Recycle box?

-          Who in today’s world flies clear across the country from LA to NYC and back at the drop of a hat like Samantha without thinking about their carbon footprint?

-          How can these women all still be so shallow that they parade around in brand-new luxury clothing, outrageous accessories and $50,000 dinner rings? Have they not heard about the first R in the Recycling triangle, Reduce?

-          When Louise, Carrie’s personal assistant, introduced Carrie to bagborroworsteal – a rental house for premium handbags, I thought perhaps Carrie would change her constant consumption ways and join the greener path of renting and recycling the finer pleasures in life. But then Louise is rewarded by Carrie buying her a fancy Louis Vuitton bag! (Recycling aside, what about the other R? Recession!)

-          I had another glimmer of hope for Carrie when she announced that she would be wearing a vintage suit to her wedding. But oh how quickly was she then lured into the wedding world of couture designer excess and extravaganza.

It isn’t as if I expected Carrie and her aging gang to become eco-manical global warming activists but to have them emerge so completely unscathed by the most important events of the past 4 years is remarkable. And to see these women, who I related to at times in my single 30’s, be so completely un-relatable now was just plain sad. So sad that I felt compelled to share my thoughts today. Then, as I do with all my blogs, I sent a preview to my mom for her constantly constructive feedback. Ever the wiser one, she remarked, “yes, you are probably right, but who would go to see a movie about Sex and Recycling?”

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: recycling, sex and the city

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, June 8th, 2008, 1:32 pm

Oh, how far we have come in the 4 years since HBO’s Sex and the City waved goodbye to their television audience from the streets of Paris and NYC. We, as a community, have been at war both in Iraq and at home: a global climate war, a racial and feminist political war, an economic war. Yet somehow, in the new Sex and the City movie, Carrie and her girl-friends remain unaffected by it all. How is that possible?

I’m so very disappointed. Last night my husband and I (yes, he joined me and was one of the 10 men in the NYC theatre) watched the movie in disbelief. Don’t get me started on Mr. Big Screw-up as I don’t want to be a plot spoiler. I just couldn’t believe that these four women could live in such a time-warp. After all that has happened to our world in 4 years, how could they continue to live a life of label consumption and accumulation, jet setting and personal gratification?

-          When Carrie is packing up her NYC apartment, she had three boxes: Take, Toss or Store. Where was the Recycle box?

-          Who in today’s world flies clear across the country from LA to NYC and back at the drop of a hat like Samantha without thinking about their carbon footprint?

-          How can these women all still be so shallow that they parade around in brand-new luxury clothing, outrageous accessories and $50,000 dinner rings? Have they not heard about the first R in the Recycling triangle, Reduce?

-          When Louise, Carrie’s personal assistant, introduced Carrie to bagborroworsteal – a rental house for premium handbags, I thought perhaps Carrie would change her constant consumption ways and join the greener path of renting and recycling the finer pleasures in life. But then Louise is rewarded by Carrie buying her a fancy Louis Vuitton bag! (Recycling aside, what about the other R? Recession!)

-          I had another glimmer of hope for Carrie when she announced that she would be wearing a vintage suit to her wedding. But oh how quickly was she then lured into the wedding world of couture designer excess and extravaganza.

It isn’t as if I expected Carrie and her aging gang to become eco-manical global warming activists but to have them emerge so completely unscathed by the most important events of the past 4 years is remarkable. And to see these women, who I related to at times in my single 30’s, be so completely un-relatable now was just plain sad. So sad that I felt compelled to share my thoughts today. Then, as I do with all my blogs, I sent a preview to my mom for her constantly constructive feedback. Ever the wiser one, she remarked, “yes, you are probably right, but who would go to see a movie about Sex and Recycling?”

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: sex and the city, recycling

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, April 6th, 2008, 3:40 pm

“To Mel, Love Sylvia”

Since April is “Earth Month” I find myself with lots of Green events on my calendar – so many in fact that it is hard to attend them all but as with my philosophy about living green, I simply do the best that I can. So yesterday morning I woke up with a little green dilemma…I wanted to attend the Bedford Spring Antiques Show sponsored by St. Matthew’s Church in Westchester County. This year’s theme: “Renew, Recycle, Redecorate” is part of their “Bedford twenty by 2020” pledge to help Bedford reduce CO2 emissions by 20% by the year 2020. Furthermore, I’ve been attending the annual event for years and was excited to see their collection of antiques and some old friends. But I had suffered a neck injury earlier in the week and was under doctor’s orders to rest. My original plan to lug myself (and whatever I might purchase at the show) from NYC to Bedford and back via trains and taxis didn’t seem very restful. And given my stiff neck and lingering pain, I couldn’t rent a car and drive myself.

Then I thought…Ozocar to the rescue! I contacted this hybrid car service (Prius and Lexus hybrids) and felt relieved about being as green as can be. When a large black Lincoln town car arrived to take me to Bedford, I was surprised and disappointed. Seems that Ozocar had run out of hybrids, and they didn’t think to tell me when they called to confirm. I guess to some folks, a car is still a car. So I reluctantly got in and reassured myself that I had at least tried to go green.

Every year for over 15 years now, I visit Josephine Thrasher’s antique jewelry booth at the show. She is nearly 80 years old now and running her small business alone since her husband died suddenly over 2 years ago. The first year after he died, I helped her work her booth at the Bedford show. In the car, I sorted through my Envirosax bag full of goodies I was bringing to her to recycle. Over the years, I had unconsciously collected a very wide assortment of small jewelry store boxes and earring storage envelopes. Josephine likes to give her customers their antique jewelry purchases in pretty boxes so I knew these would go to good use.

When I got to the Bedford Spring Antiques Show, I immediately saw all the thoughtful ways they were going green. In the entrance lobby stood a recycled cardboard box calling for your recycled cell phones. Signs encouraging you to “Dare to Recycle” led you to the ticket table with a raffle for his-and-her premium bicycles and an electric children’s dirt bike. Their show program was a simple and effective 8 pages on recycled paper with listings of the sponsors rather then the typical 50 page, glossy ad filled, printed book. Then a close friend of my parent’s, greeted me warmly and handed me a list of the 20 steps for the “Bedford twenty by 2020” pledge and a brown eco-friendly, re-usable grocery bag.

With my own eco-bag of boxes to recycle in hand, I made a beeline for Josephine’s booth. She greeted me as only old friends can, with a big hug and wet smiling eyes. She saw my 40 jewelry boxes and announced that “it must be Christmas!” as it seems she had been running low on her own supply. Conscious of the car service waiting outside, I tried to take in the show as quickly as possible. And I did make one special purchase – an antique 18 carat floral-engraved 200 year old, gold wedding band. A unique, yet more everyday choice compared to my diamond wedding band. Since it was antique and by definition, recycled, it was a green solution too. “A true find” remarked Josephine. Another old Bedford friend arrived at the booth while I was trying it on and called it “my-running-to-the-A&P” wedding ring. I smiled and said “rather, my running-to-the-farmer’s market!” ring and paid cash.

On the way home in the car, I thought back to how nice it was that an event I’ve always enjoyed was now made even more special by going green. I thought about how “green” seeing old friends was because you didn’t have to exert as much energy as when meeting new people. And as I twirled my new ring in the sunlight, I saw the inside engraving for the first time. “To Mel, Love Sylvia 2-12-74”. Gosh. While I enjoy going green as much as I can, it sure can be full of surprises.

Mary Beth Gonzalez

iVillage.com

Tags: green, antiques, jewelry, recycling

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, March 9th, 2008, 2:36 pm

Remember that Dunkin Donuts commercial where the guy would stumble into the bakery in the wee hours to start making the donuts so they would be fresh for the morning rush? It was time to make the donuts…Now picture me in my bathrobe, hair askew, teeth unbrushed, moving zombie like on weekend mornings because it was time to make the water…

I know folks claim that NYC’s water is the “best tasting” water in the nation. Maybe by some standards it is but that does not mean that it is healthy for you. I’m not a water expert, but 7 years ago we had our NYC water tested in a lab and found it that our water sample, collected directly from our kitchen tap, contained fecal contamination. Yes, we were drinking, cooking and brushing our teeth with poop. Plus, our NYC city water contains chlorine which, sorry, has been shown to be carcinogenic, and fluoride which still generates serious controversy over its safety. Furthermore, today, an AP investigation announced that a small amount but a “vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans”.

So, we set up a powerful water filter in our back kitchen and every weekend we would hook up the filter hose to an empty glass gallon jug and make water. Making water this way is a slow process that reminds me of old movies about Chinese Water Torture. The filtered water drips drop by drop into the gallon jug. On a good day, we could make a gallon in 2-3 hours. On a day with low water pressure and when the water needs more filtering, it could take 6 hours to make a gallon. Since we would use this water for all our personal and cooking needs, we needed 12 gallons of water to get through the week so our weekends revolved around watching the water and being ready to switch in the next gallon jug just before the first one overflows.

Sure, we could have just purchased gallons of spring water every week but even when you recycle, all that packaging is still wasteful and plastic bottles leech chemicals into the water. I tried ordering glass gallon bottled water from Mountain Valley Water service who would deliver weekly, but then I couldn’t handle the carbon offset guilt of personally trucking in my water. So making my own water was the greenest and best solution.

When you work that hard at something day in and day out, you can grow attached to it and so there was born my little water obsession. By Sunday night, I would have 6 gallons ready to drink above the refrigerator, 2 gallons in glass water pitchers keeping cold in the fridge, 6 gallons stored in a special portable kitchen cabinet I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond just for this purpose, and in case of an emergency, I had 12 half gallons in 2 crates in the hall closet left over from our Mountain Valley Water days.

Is this all worth it? I asked that question a lot as my water adventures started to flood my brain. The no-brainer was that I only wanted to cook and drink with clean water in the greenest way possible. But surely there was a better way. So last summer we invested in a reverse osmosis water filter that is built into the kitchen sink and has its own separate faucet. It lives under the sink, constantly makes water and can theoretically produce up to 35 gallons in a single day. Voila! Somebody took my weekend job!

Now 6 months later, I still marvel at how I can simply walk up to the kitchen sink with a glass in hand and pour myself a fresh glass of water. It takes me back in time to the days of yesteryear before we knew that virtually everything around us is toxic and damaging the environment. It brings me hope for the future that we can find more ways to live green without having to change our lifestyle radically. Yet old habits die hard…this weekend, I was cleaning out the guest room closet and found another 24 gallons of crated water that I must have been saving, just in case…

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: water, toxic, recycling

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, March 9th, 2008, 2:32 pm

Time to Make the Water

Remember that Dunkin Donuts commercial where the guy would stumble into the bakery in the wee hours to start making the donuts so they would be fresh for the morning rush? It was time to make the donuts…Now picture me in my bathrobe, hair askew, teeth unbrushed, moving zombie like on weekend mornings because it was time to make the water…

“Best Tasting” Does Not Equal “Healthy”

I know folks claim that NYC’s water is the “best tasting” water in the nation. Maybe by some standards it is but that does not mean that it is healthy for you. I’m not a water expert, but 7 years ago we had our NYC water tested in a lab and found it that our water sample, collected directly from our kitchen tap, contained fecal contamination. Yes, we were drinking, cooking and brushing our teeth with poop. Plus, our NYC city water contains chlorine which, sorry, has been shown to be carcinogenic, and fluoride which still generates serious controversy over its safety. Furthermore, today, an AP investigation announced that a small amount but a “vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans”.

Water Torture

So, we set up a powerful water filter in our back kitchen and every weekend we would hook up the filter hose to an empty glass gallon jug and make water. Making water this way is a slow process that reminds me of old movies about Chinese Water Torture. The filtered water drips drop by drop into the gallon jug. On a good day, we could make a gallon in 2-3 hours. On a day with low water pressure and when the water needs more filtering, it could take 6 hours to make a gallon. Since we would use this water for all our personal and cooking needs, we needed 12 gallons of water to get through the week so our weekends revolved around watching the water and being ready to switch in the next gallon jug just before the first one overflows.

Sure, we could have just purchased gallons of spring water every week but even when you recycle, all that packaging is still wasteful and plastic bottles leech chemicals into the water. I tried ordering glass gallon bottled water from Mountain Valley Water service who would deliver weekly, but then I couldn’t handle the carbon offset guilt of personally trucking in my water. So making my own water was the greenest and best solution.

When you work that hard at something day in and day out, you can grow attached to it and so there was born my little water obsession. By Sunday night, I would have 6 gallons ready to drink above the refrigerator, 2 gallons in glass water pitchers keeping cold in the fridge, 6 gallons stored in a special portable kitchen cabinet I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond just for this purpose, and in case of an emergency, I had 12 half gallons in 2 crates in the hall closet left over from our Mountain Valley Water days.

Old Habits Die Hard

Is this all worth it? I asked that question a lot as my water adventures started to flood my brain. The no-brainer was that I only wanted to cook and drink with clean water in the greenest way possible. But surely there was a better way. So last summer we invested in a reverse osmosis water filter that is built into the kitchen sink and has its own separate faucet. It lives under the sink, constantly makes water and can theoretically produce up to 35 gallons in a single day. Voila! Somebody took my weekend job!

Now 6 months later, I still marvel at how I can simply walk up to the kitchen sink with a glass in hand and pour myself a fresh glass of water. It takes me back in time to the days of yesteryear before we knew that virtually everything around us is toxic and damaging the environment. It brings me hope for the future that we can find more ways to live green without having to change our lifestyle radically. Yet old habits die hard…this weekend, I was cleaning out the guest room closet and found another 24 gallons of crated water that I must have been saving, just in case…

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: water, toxic, recycling