FeeFiFoto Blog

I Am Mossy: Replacing Grass That Won't Grow, With Moss, Which Might

With sincerest apologies to Bossy, who is one of my blogging idols.  In fact, I might or might not have a shrine to Bossy in my home, replete with life size graven images of her and her Great Dane, Stella (I wanted to name our dog Stella, or Taxi, because, how funny would it be to chase a fleeing dog yelling either name? but my kids wouldn't buy it).  Y'all go read Bossy's blog and then come back to my paltry post.  Better bookmark me, because once you've met Bossy, you might not be interested in me any more, kind of like when Jan's boyfriend met Marcia and all of a sudden he was like: "Jan who?" and Jan was like: "Marcia Marcia Marcia!!"

Was I talking about something?

Ah.  Moss.

More Power To Me: Choosing Green Power

I received a flier in the mail today from our electricity provider, titled "Choose Green Power."  Here's the gist:

"When you enroll in Pure Power, AmerenUE buys 100% renewable energy credits on your behalf.  Most households can reduce the same amount of CO2 emissions in a year as they could by not driving one car for 19 months (emphasis in the original.  Gee, sometimes it's just a little too obvious that I'm a former lawyer, isn't it?).  And they do this for about 50 cents a day."

What are Renewable Energy Credits?  According to wiseGEEK:

"While a consumer would ideally... purchase renewable energy for his or her home, this is not always possible. Renewable Energy Credits allow companies and individuals to support alternative power in areas which do not offer it directly...

Along with carbon offsets and other incentive programs, Renewable Energy Credits are part of a growing movement which acknowledges that even small changes make a big difference. By supporting green energy, consumers show that there is a demand for it, and companies can build more plants or accelerate production with the funds raised through the sale of Renewable Energy Credits. Organizations which promote programs like this hope to eventually see everyone's ecological footprint, meaning the amount of resources and space needed to support a particular lifestyle, greatly reduced."

Doing Our Part For The Environment: Composting

Remember to enter FeeFiFoto's Fall Fame Contest. The winner's name will be drawn on September 15. Good luck!

A guy walking through a cemetery comes upon an open grave.  He's astonished to see Beethoven sitting at the bottom of the hole with an enormous musical score on his lap and a huge pink eraser in his hand.  Beethoven is busily erasing and erasing and erasing.  The guy calls down into the grave: "Hey, Beethoven!  What are you doing down there?"  And Beethoven, who evidently enjoys perfect hearing in death, looks up and replies: "Decomposing."

Let's talk about composting.

According to Wikipedia:

"Composting is the aerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic matter, producing compost. (Or in a simpler form: Composting is the decaying of food, mostly vegetables or manure.)"

Making The Transition From Incandescent To Fluorescent

When we last saw our hero she was explaining the fundamental differences between incandescent lighting and fluorescent lighting.  Let's continue our discussion, already in progress.

I started buying compact fluorescent bulbs about a year ago.  When I first saw compact fluorescents in the 1990s they were tall and square and didn't fit most lamps or fixtures; now you can even get floodlights with the twisty stuff inside the globe, as well as chandelier flame bulbs.  They take a moment to warm up after they're switched on; as soon as they're running at full force they give off as much light as incandescent bulbs but with much less generation of heat and usage of electricity.  They're way more expensive than comparable incandescent bulbs but they're supposed to last up to seven years, as opposed to the approximately 1000 hours alloted to typical incandescent bulbs, except for the Centennial Light.

I Was Going To Write About The History Of Light Bulbs But This Is Way More Interesting

Guess how many years this light bulb has been burning.  Go on -- take a guess.

No.

Nope -- way longer than that.

Nuh uh -- not even close.

Find this clip at MSNBC.com

The Livermore, CA Fire Department's Centennial Light is a four watt hand blown light bulb with a carbon filament that has been burning almost continuously as a firehouse night light since 1901. 

Read the above line again and catch your breath -- it wasn't a typo: the bulb has been burning more than 107 years, which makes it slightly older than Hugh Hefner, and considerably brighter and more useful.

Although quite bright, the bulb is very shy: it doesn't give interviews.  Still, the bulb's press has included recognitions from the Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, CNN, NBC, NPR, and newspapers across the country and around the world, as far away as New Zealand. 

The bulb is monitored by the Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department "Bulb Cam", which refreshes every ten seconds.

Why this sudden fixation on lighting?  Because lately, in self defense, I've had to take a crash course in the qualities of different types of light bulbs lately.

They Might Just Make It After All

Kids really do want to make a difference.

A month ago I posted about my concern that Americans' environmentalism will fizzle as soon as we find something easier or more appealing, like American Idol or something -- naah, that could never happen.  Maybe space travel...

Anyway, today Robespierre told me that one of his friends is circulating a petition around the fifth grade suggesting that the school install solar panels to cut down on electricity use.  He signed the petition and wants to organize a fund drive to raise money for solar panels.

Way to go friend!  Way to go Robey!  Way to go fifth grade!  Looks like at least some of my preaching encouragement has gotten through.

See also:   Kids and Politics, Kids and Giving

What are you doing to reduce your environmental impact?

Carry FeeFiFoto personalized canvas tote bags to the supermarket to cut down on landfill use.

Teaching Our Children To Clean Up Our Act

The "Green" movement: does it have staying power?

Amy, at Mums The Wurd, showcases the "Dream Green" collection of children's and toddler tees from a boutique in Nashville called Peas on Earth (cute name -- you know how I love puns).  These simple cotton tees have cute graphics and captions like "Aspiring Environmentalist" and "Aspiring Humanitarian":

"I'm thrilled that there are boutiques like Peas on Earth out there. I believe they will play a part in making a difference in our children's future. It's all about raising awareness and they're on the right track."

I worry about movements like this one.  I worry that protecting and restoring our environment may turn out to be the flavor of the month (or decade), and that we'll move on once we tire of environmentalism.  I hope I'm wrong.  I hope that by teaching our children habits of sensible conservation we'll foster and perpetuate in them an attitude of respectful and thoughtful use of resources.

What do you think?

Oops -- Must Have Gotten The Zip Code Wrong

Enough with the catalogs already!  Enough with the real estate agents dying to sell my house and help me buy a new one.  Enough with the offers to trim my trees, resurface my driveway, clean my teeth or find me a date for Saturday night.  Check out Not Always Right.  I thought I was the only person who did this:

"Why Asking Why Is A Bad Idea ...

Me: “Okay, and if you could just sign the top line of this receipt copy for the return, you’ll be all set.”

Customer: “Wait, this isn’t my correct address. This address printed on this receipt is not mine.”

Me: “Yes ma’am, I realize that. However, our cash registers make us enter address and telephone information whenever anyone does a return or exchange. It’s for fraud prevention, etc. However, whenever I request a customer’s address, they panic, clutch their purse to their chest and hiss, ‘Why would you need to know that?’ Or they shout, ‘I’m not getting on any more [g** d***] mailing lists!’ or they are conspiracy theorists who are convinced that I’m an agent of the government monitoring their spending habits through my DOS-based cash register. Or they think I want to come and hang out with them after I get off work. And it really doesn’t matter how many times I try to explain that it’s a fraud prevention requirement and that I’m neither immediately passing it on to Big Brother nor to my drug dealer named Tito. So I make up addresses because I don’t particularly want to have these conversations anymore.”

Customer, after a long pause: “Yes, that’s a very good plan you’ve come up with.” *scampers away from me*"