Elisa's Green Scene

Today is Blog Day: Share the love

Today is Blog Day. What is Blog day, you ask? Well, you can read all about it here, but the basic point is to point people to 5 new blogs to read, preferably blogs outside your own particular culture or world view.

So, here are five blogs that you may be surprised that I'm subscribed to:

1. I do read your basic techie geek blogs...which sometimes seem as far outside the realm of hip & zen as they can be. What do I mean by techie geek blogs? TechCrunch, Valleywag, Dave Winer, Robert Scoble...them and a bunch of other mostly white guys that sometimes seem to be nothing more than participants in one big Silicon Valley echo chamber, but generally keep me plugged in to the latest, greatest, and sometimes just snarkiest goings on here.

2. AskPatty.com is a site about the automotive world, with a focus on women as purchasers, maintainers (and even dealers) if cars. And they have a blog. When I had my Audi A4 I was surprisingly into my car, and when I gave it up I was very sad. I still miss my Audi, even though I must admit that Saturns have been very very good to me.

3. OK, it's not too surprising that I read The Offbeat Bride, given my impending nuptials. And given my general resistance to the idea of the traditional bridezilla behavior and accompanying anxiety. But even if you're not getting married, I think Ariel Meadow Stallings' focus on doing things your own way, even if that's off the beaten path, can apply to even the non-brides amongst us.

4. I don't know Erica Barnett, I've never met Erica Barnett, but her blog I'm Sick of Your Insane Demands! rocks my world. She is a sharp, unafraid feminist who highlights some of the still-outrageous stuff that we are otherwise in danger of becoming inured to.

5. Tara Hunt from HorsePigCow is also perhaps not surprising, since she writes about marketing and online community and the internet, sort of like I do on my blog Worker Bees, but unlike me Tara writes consistently and substantively and I often marvel and wonder how on earth she keeps it up. So, clearly there's something about her approach that is far beyond my ken, since I think I've posted in WB twice this month or something abysmal like that. Check her out.

In fact, check them all out! Now! It's Blog Day for another few hours, m'kay?

See that cute dress? I'm wearing that cute dress.

See that cute dress in the right-hand side bar. (For those of you reading this post far in the future, the dress can be found here.

Today I am wearing that cute dress, and I feel really, really cute.

I have a very similar dress by the same maker, but in a different color scheme, that I bought last year. And the first time I wore it I got called a beautiful goddess. So I may be just a little biased towards this style, maker and cut. (I told the beautiful goddess story here. Turned out the guy who called me that was probably a derelict, but I still think he was sincere, so I'll take it!)

Like the other dress, I've been wearing this with black leggings and a little black jacket. And again, did I say I feel cute?

Sometimes I want to feel hot or sexy or powerful or elegant.

But sometimes it's OK to enjoy feeling cute. Even if I am a 43-year-old woman.

No?

So, what makes you feel adorable?

Computer donation vs. recycling logic

Recently found this quite old post that makes the case that donating electronics equipment is just "transferring the burden of disposal on to a needy individual or school that does not have the resources for proper recycling."

The argument is made that if one wants to be sure one's electronic and their associated toxins don't end up polluting our environment, then one better take responsibility for the recycling oneself.

I just can't quite bring myself to agree. So many organizations list used computers etc. on their wish list. And if you're donating something in good shape, then they can get years of use out of whatever you give. Sure it might not be the hippest industrial design. Maybe it doesn't even have the capacity to run some of the latest and greatest software. But it will probably help a non-profit or a school do research, or keep track of their finances, or write their next grant proposal...don't you think?

It just seems kind of patronizing to assume they won't be able to do the right thing with the equipment once they're done with it. Is there any data to show that computers received via donation are any more likely to end up disposed of badly than other computers?

Of course Green Citizen, the organization whose blog I pulled the above post from, rather ironically has Classifieds where people who have and people who need computers can connect...so I guess they agree with me themselves :)

For other wanna-be Eco-Marthas out there

When I moved into my house I suddenly was consumed with fantasies of becoming a wonderful DIY master-homemaker. That was 6 years ago.

In that time I've painted one downstairs bathroom and hung one set of sheers in the dining room. Both were executed pretty badly, if I'm being honest.

Eventually I even stopped my subscription to every home magazine known to man (or woman) including Martha Stewart Living, and decided I wasn't up to the task.

Now I comfort myself that all of these home projects would be hard to do without buying products featuring harmful chemicals and dyes, or fabrics containing animal fibers, or...etc. etc.

That excuse might not be quite so accurate anymore. Thanks to eco-fabulous I found Curatins a la Carte and their Chic and Green Collection of curtains made from organic cotton grown in the U.S., featuring low-impact dyes and hemp linings.

Could I become re-inspired to decorate my house...finally...?

Help us refine the BlogHers Act initiative

Last month I told you about BlogHer's year-long activism initiative, BlogHers Act. The community weighed in and chose Global Health as the single red-hot burning issue that we want to focus our blogging energy and influence on for a whole year. But Global Health is a dauntingly HUGE topic, so now you can help us narrow it down by taking this poll and spreading it around! The deadline for voting is August 25th.

I'm going to keep this poll sticky at the top of the blog for the next week while the poll is live.

Fee free to share the poll, and here's the post that explains how the project will roll out after voting closes.
considering how intertwined the environment is with health around the world I think this topic is a very hip & zen-appropriate one. Go help us refine it even further!!

Ooh, a glossary of modern, green terms

Thanks to designTURF for pointing me to this glossary of green modern terms over at re:modern. This is perfect for understanding what a company's actually telling you about their products.

And it's even better for telling the difference between what they're telling you and what they want you to think they're telling you!

Given how it's so hip to be green now, any little thing that can help me tell what Siel over at BlogHer calls the Green Wheat From the Greenish Chaff is a very good thing.

So if you don't know your pre- from your post-consumer recycled goods, the re:modern list should come in handy. I feel very educated!

Color Inspiration (and an Inferiority Complex)

Over at decor8 blogger Holly Becker cites the Brides.com color studio tool as a great tool and inspiration for people looking to do more than plan a wedding.

Use the site, she urges, to assist your interior decorating, or to get cool crafty ideas.

Being that I actually am planning a wedding, I can tell you what the Brides.com site/tool is good for: making me feel very cheap and inferior.

Seriously, who creates these table settings with 18 different components and layers. Who can afford to give favors that look like they are $100 baskets full of goodies?

Here's my table idea: A cornucopia of seasonal fruits and vegetables on every table, and a canvas grocery bag as a favor, so people can take the fruits and vegetables home. I like the colors green and purple, so in my one concessions to style over substance I am going to try to pick seasonal fruits and vegetables in that color scheme.

Other than that, I'm going au naturel instead of au-ver the top!

Sorry for the long hiatus, I'm back with food storage tips

Sorry it's been over 10 days since I posted. At first it was because I was hosting this little blogging shindig in Chicago.

But while there I managed to get myself a corneal ulcer, and that resulted in some forced down time. I was so sensitive to light that for days I couldn't bear to look at my big beautiful iMac screen.

I'm just now getting back in the swing of things. I drove for the first time today, but I'm not so sure it was a good idea...given I'm still off contact lenses and don't have prescription sunglasses. I'm sure I looked bee-yoo-tiful driving with my sunglasses hooked over my eyeglasses, trying in vain to stop my left eye from watering profusely and closing of its own accord.

Anyway, just saw this post on simplehuman about how to store fruits and veggies. Considering my Organic Express box came on Friday and it's still sitting in the kitchen only partly unpacked, it felt timely to me.

Did you know all the dos and don'ts on their list? I didn't.