Monthly Archives: February 2011

MP3 player — to buy or not to buy?

That is the question that I’ve been pondering for months.  Months turned into years, and I do not own an MP3 player.  Since I made it through all this pondering time without one, I obviously don’t NEED one.

So why am I considering purchasing an unnecessary THING in the first place?

I have the special inability to do anything other than sit and stare straight ahead when I am in any kind of moving vehicle, be it a car, bus, train, or airplane — no reading, no crossword puzzles, no movie watching — I can carry on a conversation, but I won’t turn my head to look at you while doing so.   That’s correct, my motion sickness is so sensitive that I can’t even read on airplanes.

Fortunately, I don’t spend much time on airplanes (as flying is almost always the least green transportation choice), but a flight in my future always brings up the MP3 player subject.  Now I’m about to make a trans-Atlantic journey, the longest flight of my life, and while I hope to spend a good chunk of that time sleeping, some form of entertainment might be nice, not to mention possibly having a calming effect on my unmedicated self.  (I usually take Dramamine when I fly, which I won’t be using this time due to the pregnancy.)

So what do I have against MP3 players?

An MP3 player is just another THING, engineered, like most things these days, for planned obsolescence.  Most articles tell you not to worry about the non-replaceable battery wearing out, because the battery will last 2-3 years, and by then, you’ll “need” a new player anyway.  Strangely, this reasoning fails to comfort me 😦

Aside from lengthy trips (of which I don’t take many), I don’t know that I would use an MP3 player all that much, which makes it hard to justify the purchase, both in terms of environmental impact and the impact on my wallet.

Well, writing thoughts down can be a great way to take a new look at an issue and find new solutions.  Now I see that maybe “buy” or “don’t buy” aren’t my only options here.  Since I want to use an MP3 player for a specified, finite period, borrowing one would be ideal.

Do you have an MP3 player you want to lend me for a couple of weeks?

These boots were made for walking

But unfortunately, these streets were not!

Saturday afternoon, we walked to an apartment viewing.  I knew it was less than a mile away, and the streets were in no condition for biking (for those of us without studded tires), so we laced up our boots and began the trek.  Unfortunately, the most direct route took us down a major arterial with lots of businesses.

I expected unshoveled sidewalks.  What I didn’t expect were the mounds of piled-up dirty snow and ice we encountered every time we came to the driveway to one of these businesses*.  The snow plows did a great job of clearing the streets and parking lots for drivers, with no regard whatsoever to any other users or means of transportation.  And we were not the only ones navigating the obstacle course, as a major bus route runs along this street, which means more pedestrians.

Despite the less than ideal walking conditions, I’m glad we opted to walk.  The apartment was another bust, which just made me extra glad we didn’t waste gas driving.  After viewing the apartment, we ventured just a bit further and had a lovely, snowy walk in Tower Grove Park — a great way to redeem the outing 🙂

* I don’t have photo evidence of the snow “removal” transgressions, but if there’s snow where you are, just look around when you’re out and about — I’m sure you’ll notice plenty of examples — especially if you’re out on foot!

Pregnancy thoughts for the week

This week, at least one person, possibly more, found this site through the search engine term “preggo booty.”  I’m not exactly sure who searches for that phrase, but I have some ideas, and I imagine he left this site disappointed.  So sorry!

I have my second prenatal visit next week, and given the condition of our streets after Tuesday’s ice storm, I don’t think I’ll be biking there 😦  However, I don’t plan to resort to the car — walking and public transit should do the trick, it will just require a bit more planning.

I read about Six Items or Less a few months ago — though their focus is not sustainability or the environment, the experiment shows that we probably need far less clothing than we own — and buying/owning less is green!  Now, I am not officially participating in the experiment, but between my [slowly] expanding belly and my winter itchies, my wardrobe is greatly diminished.

I have two pair of “work” pants that still fit, which I pair with my two or three sweaters that are not tight (tight =  itchy) or my two employer-branded polo shirts, so I’m unintentionally pretty close to “Six Items or Less” with my work wardrobe.  It really simplifies things in the mornings, and I plan to go through my clothes and really pare things down, though I will probably wait until after the baby, to see where my shape and weight settle, before getting rid of too much.

Depending on who you consult, my developing baby is the size of a turnip, an onion, or a hockey puck.  The food comparisons are odd, because every individual fruit or vegetable varies so much in size . . . or maybe that’s the point.

The three of us went sledding last night (4th time this season).  Given the current conditions, we renamed Art Hill.  Ice Hill was much more fitting.  The upside was an awesome sled run that took us over a foot bridge at the bottom of the hill — and drew a good bit of admiration from other sledders.  The downside?  Walking back up the icy slope!

Snow removal dilemma

I don’t mind the work involved in shoveling snow (especially not the relatively small quantities we get around here), but it presents a bit of a dilemma to my green sensibilities.  Sure, it’s the neighborly thing to do, but a shoveled walk almost always requires some salt to keep the newly snow-free pavement from being covered with hazardous icy patches, whereas the snow on an unshoveled walk usually provides plenty of traction, even if there is a layer of ice underneath.  The salt is not exactly the best thing environmentally, as it can harm plant life and usually ends up in the water supply, not to mention speeding the demise of the sidewalks themselves.

I dutifully, though somewhat guiltily shoveled the sidewalk in front of our building after the first two snows of the winter and pondered my dilemma during many snowy walks to the Y.  Assuming you’re an able-bodied individual with a decent pair of boots, walking on snow-covered sidewalks is not that big of a deal — I’d rather walk on the snow than on cleared, but unsalted and icy surfaces.

However, I realized that in addition to leaving out those who didn’t have (perhaps cannot afford?) boots, my thinking also left out people using wheelchairs, walkers, or other assistive devices to get around. I imagine snowy sidewalks are no fun for these folks.  People walking with small children would also fit in this category of “maybe not so easy to just tromp through the snow.”

Since I am all about promoting alternative and active means of transportation, I conclude that shoveling, along with the requisite and maybe not-so-green salting, is the best option.  That said, I use a light hand with the salt and don’t use salt for what could be accomplished with a shovel  — no need to overdo it!

What are your thoughts on shoveling?  Have you used any eco-friendly salt alternatives?  If so, are they effective?