If you've been reading this blog, or even just peaking in on occasion, then you've probably realized that I'm making changes to how I live. Some are small, and I certainly haven't completed a total overhaul. But there are changes, and some are more noticeable than others. Some are more wacky than others (honey as face wash, for one).
All of this is just fine and dandy when I'm at home, and the only one there to give me funny looks is my husband. And even he only balks at a few things (like the honey, and really, you're baking more bread... again!). Overall, he's supportive and sees the benefits of my madness. Not always so sure about step-families, in-laws and the rest.
At home, I also have access to all the accoutrement that is required (like the big jar of honey and smaller bowl for actual application). Traveling, like I do a bit of for business or we do to see family, presents another set of... opportunities for creativity.
So far, I've been able to make my squeezable-honey bear of honey work for face wash on the road, but my skin much prefers the sugared honey exfoliant. And tea tree oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E oil are all portable enough. I just have enough insecurity about myself, and what I am doing that being "found out" and "thought of as truly different/insane" are things that scare me. My in-laws like me now, and I don't want to make them think I'm crazy!
I know that this is silly, and that in reality, I'll just be taking my toiletry bag to and from the bathroom anyway, so it is not like they'll "find me out."
Anyway, long ramblings. But it raises another question: as we are making these changes, and eliminating some things from our daily life and consumption, what do we do when visiting? I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, because, even though it is chemically (I believe) the same as sugar, and fine in moderation, it is impossible to have only in moderation because it is in EVERYTHING! Not everyone does. Do I just deal, and eat what I think I can when visiting, or do I make a big stink about it (so not my style). But does eating that way for the weekend mess up everything I've done before?
Perhaps HFCS isn't the best example. Maybe SLS is better. If I work to purge SLS from cleaning agents in my home, what do I do at my parents' homes? Bring my own soap, or just use theirs, knowing it has SLS? Do I say anything?
Guess you can say that I have a lot of un-founded insecurities, and think about some things way too much.
Have you encountered similar situations before? How did you/would you handle it?
Showing posts with label sls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sls. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Use less printer ink, by changing...
...the font.
Century Gothic will use less ink, but possibly more paper... discuss. Here's the article.
Blogger doesn't have Century Gothic as an option, but it is a perfectly fine looking sans-serif font. If you don't know, something like Arial(mnop) is a sans-serif font, where as Georgia(mnop) is a serif font. Those little horizontal lines at the top and bottom of letters make a difference in how we see the letters, the spacing, and even how easy it is to read on paper versus the screen. Since starting work at the university, I've learned that I prefer serif fonts, but that sans-serif are easier to read on the computer screen (so says our tech-and-tech-teaching department).
One point raised by the article is that because the space allotted to each letter in Century Gothic is more than in other fonts, the same amount of text in CG will take more paper than it would in Arial. If your one page document becomes a two pager in CG - does the extra piece of paper negate your ink savings?
This is a very fair question, but I think that changing things like margins, and font size, and using double-sided printing can alleviate this problem, in most situations. Also, this answer depends on the type of paper you use. Is it recycled? How much of it is recycled? Is it sustainably produced?
I know that personally, I can only focus on changing one or two things at a time. So I sometimes fall into the "can't see the forest for the trees" problem. I am so focused on being green and/or frugal about one item, that I forget to consider other items or habits, or what the carbon backstory of my green/frugal item is.
That is what this sort of feels like. Use less ink or less paper? Can't we do both?
This whole greening up our lives is a slow-process for us. Replacing one product or habit at a time, instead of pitching everything we have now, and spending the money to buy all 'new.' The slow approach makes sense, but it can make it difficult to see progress sometimes.
And it can make the slip ups even more pronounced. For instance, we needed to buy toothpaste. We were at the local co-op, and were prepared to plunk down some money for said toothpaste. We were a bit anxious to go ahead and get out of the store, so we picked up the cheapest one. I didn't look at the label close enough. There was no fluoride (not a huge deal to meal, I can take it or leave it, but husband prefers fluoride). Then I actually read the ingredients, and there was SLS!! (sodium laurel/laureth sulfate) The thing that I was actually trying to avoid! Sure, it was way down on the list of ingredients, instead of being second or third. Still, I was crushed.
(Why am I avoiding SLS, which is as pervasive as high fructose corn syrup? Because it is in everything, and isn't as safe as I'd like. It really does deserve a post of its own; one that I haven't found the time to write, yet. Here are some more random links, though: Crunch Chickens' SLS-free toothpaste search; from Wise Geek; natural health info site has some info on it; and from Tom's of Maine (at the bottom of the page. Here's the other side of things from snopes.com.)
Ok, back to the paper and ink. What are your thoughts on the less-ink-font issue? Are you in favor of switching over your default font and sizing to save both ink and paper?
Century Gothic will use less ink, but possibly more paper... discuss. Here's the article.
Blogger doesn't have Century Gothic as an option, but it is a perfectly fine looking sans-serif font. If you don't know, something like Arial(mnop) is a sans-serif font, where as Georgia(mnop) is a serif font. Those little horizontal lines at the top and bottom of letters make a difference in how we see the letters, the spacing, and even how easy it is to read on paper versus the screen. Since starting work at the university, I've learned that I prefer serif fonts, but that sans-serif are easier to read on the computer screen (so says our tech-and-tech-teaching department).
One point raised by the article is that because the space allotted to each letter in Century Gothic is more than in other fonts, the same amount of text in CG will take more paper than it would in Arial. If your one page document becomes a two pager in CG - does the extra piece of paper negate your ink savings?
This is a very fair question, but I think that changing things like margins, and font size, and using double-sided printing can alleviate this problem, in most situations. Also, this answer depends on the type of paper you use. Is it recycled? How much of it is recycled? Is it sustainably produced?
I know that personally, I can only focus on changing one or two things at a time. So I sometimes fall into the "can't see the forest for the trees" problem. I am so focused on being green and/or frugal about one item, that I forget to consider other items or habits, or what the carbon backstory of my green/frugal item is.
That is what this sort of feels like. Use less ink or less paper? Can't we do both?
This whole greening up our lives is a slow-process for us. Replacing one product or habit at a time, instead of pitching everything we have now, and spending the money to buy all 'new.' The slow approach makes sense, but it can make it difficult to see progress sometimes.
And it can make the slip ups even more pronounced. For instance, we needed to buy toothpaste. We were at the local co-op, and were prepared to plunk down some money for said toothpaste. We were a bit anxious to go ahead and get out of the store, so we picked up the cheapest one. I didn't look at the label close enough. There was no fluoride (not a huge deal to meal, I can take it or leave it, but husband prefers fluoride). Then I actually read the ingredients, and there was SLS!! (sodium laurel/laureth sulfate) The thing that I was actually trying to avoid! Sure, it was way down on the list of ingredients, instead of being second or third. Still, I was crushed.
(Why am I avoiding SLS, which is as pervasive as high fructose corn syrup? Because it is in everything, and isn't as safe as I'd like. It really does deserve a post of its own; one that I haven't found the time to write, yet. Here are some more random links, though: Crunch Chickens' SLS-free toothpaste search; from Wise Geek; natural health info site has some info on it; and from Tom's of Maine (at the bottom of the page. Here's the other side of things from snopes.com.)
Ok, back to the paper and ink. What are your thoughts on the less-ink-font issue? Are you in favor of switching over your default font and sizing to save both ink and paper?
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