Beautiful words

"We must be the change we want to see in the world."

--Gandhi

Sanctuary

Meditative discipline
Breathe...

INHALE to a beautiful EXHALE

Quiet the mind

Jainism?

Letting go -- present

Paris

I would be in Paris in the blink of an eye.
Wonder through the Louvre and race
up the Champs Elysees.

This weekend would be perfect if I could meander
through Monet's Garden. Although crowded
it would still be solitary for me. Strolling through
perfectly placed flower gardens, to admire the
architecture and reflect on past history.

I guess what I love about Paris is the pace
is so much slower -- you savor food and
time with friends.
Cest la vie

It is Beginning to look alot like Christmas...

The holidays always waken my senses
pine and cinnamon liven the air
the lights -- of different colors
festive decorations.

It is difficult not to smile for
overnight it is...
CHRISTMAS

All things good.

Value simple pleasures
savor what is naturally good
REUSE AND RENEW
cook with humor, eat with meaning
Give thanks for farmers and support bountiful oceans
GIVE AND GIVE BACK
share home-cooked favorites
Do good and be well

--Whole foods paper bag packed with awareness

Leads by example every time. They no longer use plastic bags.
Bring value to your shopping
experience, support a cause.

Beauty

Music for the eyes
Angels Trumpet sing
With your
orchestra.

Gracia blanca
en Espana te quedas
pero tu fragancia
siempre espera.

algun dia bailaremos.

The Holy Land

National Geographic always has
the most incredible covers.
they have devoted a special issue
this month.

"The Holy Land: Crossroads of faith and conflict.
Conflict --

Where is peace?

CHRISTIANITY

The promise Jesus makes is not about land.
A bond with God.
The desire for a heaven
on earth.

The Earth

Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a thousand
ways to kneel and kiss the earth.
-Rumi

Permanence

Todo permanece y se queda aqui
I really enjoy writing poetry in Spanish, it seems to flow.


con que cuento?
con nada.
solo con tu sonrisa
que llena mi corazon.

el sonido de tu vos
al saber
eres tu - que contagias el aire
tono enloquesido
y sensual.

A tu tiempo --

Enriquese mi vida con tu sol
como?
alma de dar,
Inspiras.

Thanksgiving card in the mail

Responsible decision
lessening the footprint.
--
Traveling instead
within 25 miles
to enjoy the holidays.

Sending out a handwritten
cards...its unusual to see
these days. But the feeling
is always the same.

So welcome!

Wise Choices

When it comes to food these days, we have so many amazing choices! Corn of all colors, organic everything. Not complaining.

There is always a new type of food that is better for us like Goji Berries from the Rain Forest! Pomegranate juice so good for you.

It is best to let your taste lead the way.

Movie

The movie 2012...
on Friday the 13th?

Just to make life a little stressful
and a bit scary! I am going to go
see the movie.

Good News

Plastic bottles don't look so bad, or feel so comfortable.
Malden Mills the inventors of Polar Fleece introduced
their product in 1979. Warm and lightweight comfortable
ideal outerwear clothing.

Little did they know that this revolutionary fabric would
be what everyone would need to wear. The North Face label says recycled, Patagonia Holiday catalog is loaded with clothing for being in the extreme conditions.


Dyersburg Corporation in 1993 introduced the world's first
post consumer recycled polyester fleece made from recycled plastic
soda bottles.

It is nice to know that plastic is being used for good.

Happy movie watching 2012

Tue cres en los ultimos dias?
que en el ano 2012 se terminara
nuestra planeta?
Porque creer en esta cosa...
la verdad es que es todo una mentira.

The Mayan calendar who is to believe this?
they were pagan worshiping people. I bet
this movie will bring in more money then
Mel Gibson "The Passion."

So are you going to see it this November 13th?
I will be going, hopefully I will be able to find a seat.

Just a little contribution to our planet

Who needs styrofoam? Companies that will not change, it is all about greed.

It is a choice. I have my own cup I bring to Starbucks for my Chai Laitte!
We can all start today -- will you start today?
The sooner the better for our sake and that of our future generations!

I have already been focused on organic or green or whatever
feels good to help our environment. The warnings everywhere
that we should care more...
Just imagine there are 1,008 Mcdonald's Franchises in France.
that is only France. In the USA according to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food nation, his research indicates that in 2001 there were about 30,000 McDonalds and says they open about 2,000 a year. So that means there are probably more like 47,000 McDonalds today.in the U.S.

So the dilemma of carry out food. We live in a fast pace society
with everything at our fingertips. Creating more problems for
our exhausted planet.

So I was reading in Grinning Planet -- Clouds in your coffee? Try less Styro , more foam.
Polystyrene foam cups & containers, styrene migration, and your health.

Most foam cups and containers are made out of polystyrene, and therein lies the rubber biscuit.
The basic chemical component of the material (styrene) has the potential to leach into your food and then into you.

Foam Cups & Containers Drink in this article about foam cups and containers, styrene migration, and your health. And we'll also explain why, there is no such thing as a Styrofoam cup! CLOUDS IN YOUR COFFEE? TRY LESS STYRO, MORE FOAM Polystyrene Foam Cups & Containers, Styrene Migration, and Your Health THE MYTH OF “STYROFOAM CUPS” This article explores the issue of whether styrene from foam cups and containers can leach into food. But first, let's clear up something: Styrofoam cups cannot possibly be a problem in this regard—Styrofoam cups do not exist! "How can that be?" you say, "I just drank from one this morning!" Nope. You most likely drank from a polystyrene cup. Styrofoam is a trademarked material made by the Dow Chemical Company—and they don't make cups, plates, egg trays, or other types of food packaging from it! To quote them directly: "Next time you get a cup of java to go, remember, you can't drink coffee from a STYROFOAM cup—because there is no such thing!" All day long in our fast-paced modern world, coffee gets poured into foam cups. Double-decker mega-burgers get plopped into foam clamshells. Restaurant leftovers get put into "doggie bags"—usually foam food containers. Most foam cups and containers are made out of polystyrene, and therein lies the rubber biscuit. The basic chemical component of the material (styrene) has the potential to leach into your food and then into you. This article discusses the probability of this happening and the potential health effects. INTRO — FOAM CUPS AND FOOD CONTAINERS It was big news years ago when McDonalds moved some of its sandwiches out of their trademark foam clamshells and into paper wrappers. The environment was proclaimed the winner and we all went back to saying, "Yes, I'll have fries with that." But foam food containers—or more properly, polystyrene food containers—did not go away. Today they are still going strong in both food and non-food applications. The table below provides examples. Polystyrene Food Containers and Related Applications Non-Food Applications of Polystyrene coffee cups soup bowls and salad boxes foam egg cartons; produce & meat trays disposable utensils packing "peanuts" foam inserts that cushion new appliances and electronics television and computer cabinets compact disc "jewel boxes" and audiocassette cases Polystyrene clearly has many non-food uses, but this article will focus on the implications of using polystyrene in food and beverage applications. Most importantly, we will talk about how styrene—the "monomer" form of polystyrene—can migrate into your food and beverages from polystyrene food containers. STYRENE MIGRATION FROM FOAM CUPS AND CONTAINERS The migration of styrene from a polystyrene cup into the beverage it contains has been observed to be as high as 0.025% for a single use. That may seem like a rather low number, until you work it this way: If you drink beverages from polystyrene cups four times a day for three years, you may have consumed about one foam cup's worth of styrene along with your beverages. Mmm.... chem-i-callyyyy... Styrene migration has been shown to be partially dependent on the fat content of the food in the polystyrene cups/containers—the higher the fat content, the higher the migration into the food. Entrees, soups, or beverages that are higher in fat (like a bowl of three-cheese chili or tall cupful of Triple-Cream Frappa-Mocha Java Delight) will suck more of the styrene out of the polystyrene container than, say, water. Some compounds found in beverages, like alcohol or the acids in "tea with lemon," may also raise the styrene migration rate. When it comes to more solid food, the meat or cheese you buy from the market on a clear-plastic-wrapped polystyrene tray may be picking up styrene from the foam container. Styrene also appears to migrate more quickly when foods or drinks are hot. HEALTH EFFECTS OF STYRENE Studies suggest that styrene mimics estrogen in the body and can therefore disrupt normal hormone functions, possibly contributing to thyroid problems, menstrual irregularities, and other hormone-related problems, as well as breast cancer and prostate cancer. The estrogenicity of styrene is thought to be comparable to that of Bisphenol A, another potent estrogen mimic from the world of plastics. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing: low platelet counts or hemoglobin values; chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities; neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system. The International Agency for Research on Cancer lists styrene as a possible human carcinogen, though this conclusion is primarily based on studies of workers in styrene-related chemical plants. The Vallombrosa Consensus Statement on Environmental Contaminants and Human Fertility Compromise includes styrene on its list of contaminants of possible concern, noting that even weak estrogen mimics can combine with other such chemicals to have negative effects even when the chemicals are individually present at levels that would have no impact. On the positive side, a 2005 expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that there is negligible concern for developmental toxicity in embryos and babies. RECOMMENDATIONS ON FOAM CUPS AND POLYSTYRENE Overall, the evidence of health impacts from polystyrene, styrene, and foam food packaging is suspicious though not clearly damning. More studies are needed. But we know from studies of other chemicals that long-term, constant exposure to small amounts of foreign substances—especially those that mimic hormones—causes problems. Further, styrene is a benzene-based molecule, and the evidence against benzene is pretty clear, so we personally avoid polystyrene (and all plastic) when it comes to consuming or storing food. A CERAMIC MUGGING Always using a ceramic mug instead of a foam cup is highly advisable, and mugs with lead-free components are preferable. If you use a "regular" mug, watch for breaks in the inner ceramic surface that might expose your beverage to the lead. If chips or scratches show up, pitch the mug. Our recommendations are: Use ceramic plates, bowls, and mugs/cups whenever possible. If you can't do that, choose paper over polystyrene. Item 1 applies especially if your food or beverage has medium to high fat content; contains alcohol or acidic substances; or is hot. On this last point, never microwave or heat food in polystyrene containers. If a supermarket item came in polystyrene packaging, consider transferring it to a non-plastic container until you're ready to cook or eat it. Glass, ceramic, or porcelain containers, bowls or plates are preferable for food storage (so you don't get chemicals from plastic food containers). If you can choose food products that don't come in polystyrene containers in the first place, so much the better. (And remember that most restaurant "doggie bags" are really polystyrene food containers.) Buy food in glass containers when possible. For non-glass-packaged items, buy the larger sizes, where the surface contact between the contents to the container is reduced. (Buying in large sizes makes economic sense anyway, assuming you can use it all.) FOAM CUPS AND CONTAINERS — POST-NOTE People occasionally have sent us questions and comments about foam coffee cups, foam food containers, and related issues. Here are a few of their questions ... and our answers. Q. I read somewhere that a US EPA study found styrene in 100% of fat samples biopsied from human subjects. Is that true? A. Yes, it's true. The study results were presented as part of the agency's document, "The Broad Scan Analysis: Human Adipose Tissue Survey." The study has been criticized by some for its choice of methodology, but that is not to say that its results are necessarily invalid. Unfortunately, like so many other scientific documents, it seems to have disappeared from the EPA's web site, so you can't go look for yourself. Q. I was recently on a flight [and] I was quite upset that they still serve hot drinks in Styrofoam cups [sic]. How do we get words out there for a change to a safer choice [like] cardboard? A. First, as we've mentioned before, Styrofoam is not used to make food containers. That said, here is our answer. There are worse environmental and health threats out there than polystyrene, but since alternatives exist and it's easy to make the switch, why not do it? Some people will listen when you tell them things like "drinking out of a foam cup is not your best choice." Others just think you're a nut or a hypochondriac and ignore you. The first group is why we started Grinning Planet -- to try to inform people. As for the latter group, it usually takes some personal health disaster before they wake up and start paying attention. Environmental and public interest groups can also have some effect by organizing boycotts and letter-writing campaigns, and by working directly with companies to try to get them to change their policies, supply sources, and products. Supporting these efforts is a good thing. Q. On my way to work today, I decided to stop by a local Mexican restaurant drive-through and order a taco plate. It came in a [foam] container, which is still the normal serving container for smaller restaurants. I took the food to my desk and squeezed some lemon juice on my tacos from the freshly cut lemon wedges that were served with the meal. I then placed the lemon wedges in the top portion of the container. When I was finished eating, about 10 minutes later, I moved the wedges to throw them away and noticed holes the in container where the wedges laid. Imagine my surprise at the realization that something natural (lemon juice) could breakdown something manmade. Could lemon juice be the solution to get rid of the [large amounts of foam trash] in our landfills? A. Another of our readers suggests an answer for this question: Citric acid in the rind will "pop" the beads [that together form the polystyrene material], letting air escape. Sounds plausible to us. The reason the beads pop would be that the structural integrity of some of the polystyrene beads has been damaged by the citric acid. Once polystyrene is converted to styrene, natural processes can break it down the rest of the way fairly readily, so this sort of reaction could be helpful in catalyzing the overall degradation of polystyrene. But we suspect that to take on mountains of polystyrene trash with lemon juice would not be so simple, since the foam trash is crammed together with all the other trash. The lemon juice (and the microbes than break down styrene) are unlikely to work effectively in such an environment. Q. Are there any studies that you are familiar with that compare environmental impact of [foam] plates and cups with biodegradable paper compared to china? Comparisons of energy required to produce products, as well as impact to dispose of products would be helpful. Also energy required to wash china and impact of detergents so that there is a net impact both to the environment and the health of humans and or animals connected to the use of the various products. A. There may be studies, and your question is reasonable, but it's beyond the scope of this article. That said, here are some general thoughts. In our opinion, it's preferable to use washable dishware. The cost of the "real" cups, plates, and utensils plus the water use and energy use are part of the equation, but the pollution factor associated with polystyrene has to be given a lot of weight. "Plastic pollution" is becoming a very, very big problem in the environment generally and in the ocean specifically. Reducing the amount of polystyrene trash in the environment is a good thing, period. The monetary cost-benefit case will be harder to make since many of the costs of product manufacturing, use, and disposal are externalized as unbilled environmental degradation and human health impacts. I suspect that polystyrene food containers are going to easily beat the cost to procure and manage a set of real dishes. But in our opinion, any company that wants to take a step forward in protecting the environment and the health of its employees can do so by making the switch from polystyrene food containers to real dishes (or at least to foam containers made from natural materials). Q. Styrene is a naturally occurring product that is in many of the foods we eat. Do you think that, just perhaps, some of that styrene found in one's body may have come from actual food? A. Migration from foam food containers into food is not the only way we can get an unwanted intake of styrene. Other sources include: dental fillings agricultural products food additives breathed-in fumes from some protective coatings, glues and adhesives polluted air or cigarette smoke On the food front, a 2005 NIH Monograph on the Potential Human Reproductive and Developmental Effects of Styrene (opens as PDF, 6 MB) lists some "natural styrene content" values for selected foods: Unprocessed Food Styrene level (ppb) Cinnamon 170 - 39,000 Beef 5.3 - 6.4 Black currants 2 - 6 Coffee beans 1.6 - 6.4 Peanuts 1 - 2.2 Strawberries 0.37 - 3.1 Wheat 0.4 - 2 The report did not give an explanation for cinnamon's outlying value. The same report also looked at styrene values in packaged food, which in general were higher than in the natural foods. Here are a few: Processed Food Styrene level (ppb) Milk and cream 134 (avg) Beer 32 Yogurt 26 Desserts 22 Soft cheese 16 The amount of styrene in the food was found to be directly proportional to the fat content of the food and inversely proportional to the size of the container. The latter point makes sense, since larger containers would expose a lower percentage of the food to the container. What does all this mean? Mostly it means you'll have a pretty hard time avoiding styrene altogether. To us, though, it does not mean that we're just going to shrug and not worry about it. Instead, we choose to be sensible—to avoid plastic and foam packaging when we can and eat whole, non-processed foods as much as possible. The latter point is a good idea regardless of the evidence on styrene migration or how serious a health threat it might or might not be. Updated: 08-APR-2008 (Original: 01-NOV-2005) Know someone who might find this article about foam cups and food containers interesting? Please forward it to them. Books: See books related to household chemicals/toxics Search Amazon.com for .... Home & Garden Health & Personal Care Grocery Magazine Subscriptions Books DVD Video Electronics Toys & Games Video Games Office Products Popular Music All Products GP ARTICLES RELATED TO Foam Cups/Food Containers “LEFTOVERS AGAIN?” SAID THE REFRIGERATOR Plastic Food Containers, Health, and Better Food Storage Solutions KILLER POTATO CHIPS OF DEATH FROM THE DARK SIDE OF DOOM Acrylamide in Food — A Health Risk Worth Worrying About? “ENGAGE THE GLOBAL TOXIFICATION WEAPON!” SCREAMED THE KLINGON COMMANDER Hormone Disruptors — The New-Found Problem with Chemicals More articles and resources on.... Chemicals & Toxics Food & Nutrition All subjects You can sign up for our free email list so you don't miss anything! Options: Go to signup page See samples: HTML Email | Text-Only See GP's privacy policy FREE NEWS SERVICE For more reviews or purchase info, click on any title to go to Amazon.com Hormone Deception How Everyday Foods and Products Are Disrupting Your Hormones—and How to Protect Yourself and Your Family The first prescriptive book on the subject, Hormone Deception reveals where hormone disruptors come from and how they affect adults, children, and the unborn. It also provides easy, practical tips for protecting your home and your family, such as vacuuming frequently and using water filters. (by D. Lindsey Berkson) Exposed The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products The European Union has adopted strict standards for products sold there. Thanks to lobbying efforts by the US chemical industry, products developed and sold in the United States are increasingly equated with serious health hazards, and many of those products are soon to be banned from Europe and other parts of the world. Schapiro's revelations in this thought-provoking work will change the way American consumers think about everyday products—from plastic chemicals that can contribute to sexual malformations to lipstick additives that are potential toxins to the brain, liver, kidneys, and immune system. (by Mark Schapiro) Raising Healthy Children in a Toxic World Your home is the focal point of your child's life—it's where he learns to crawl, where he eats and sleeps, where he plays. Home represents a safe haven for him ... yet just how safe is it? Even if your home is brand new, it might not be as safe as you think it is. Get 101 suggestions for reducing your child's harmful exposures. (by Phillip Landrigan, Herbert Needleman, Mary Landrigan ) Search Amazon.com for more... Books Magazine Subscriptions Popular Music Video DVD All Products Or see more books on GP: Food/Gardening Books Environmental Books / Health Books Back to . . . 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Environmental thought

I have recently started reading the New York Times
Tuesday Paper. What can I do to help any of these
problems?

float in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash

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By LINDSEY HOSHAW

Published: November 9, 2009

ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.

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Lindsey Hoshaw for The New York Times

A spotted gray trigger fish was just big enough to fit inside a caulking tube, and became highly protective of its tiny habitat, snapping at approaching fish. Mr. Moore and his research team removed the tube from the garbage patch in September and placed it in an aquarium for observation. More Photos »

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Rubbish in the Pacific

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DISPOSED Rubbish in the Pacific, where Charles Moore found a large trash patch by accident 12 years ago. More Photos >

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Mr. Moore holds a bottle covered with barnacles and algae, indicating it had been in the water for a long time. More Photos >

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Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But one research organization estimates that the garbage now actually pervades the Pacific, though most of it is caught in what oceanographers call a gyre like this one — an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.

Scientists say the garbage patch is just one of five that may be caught in giant gyres scattered around the world’s oceans. Abandoned fishing gear like buoys, fishing line and nets account for some of the waste, but other items come from land after washing into storm drains and out to sea.

Plastic is the most common refuse in the patch because it is lightweight, durable and an omnipresent, disposable product in both advanced and developing societies. It can float along for hundreds of miles before being caught in a gyre and then, over time, breaking down.

But once it does split into pieces, the fragments look like confetti in the water. Millions, billions, trillions and more of these particles are floating in the world’s trash-filled gyres.

PCBs, DDT and other toxic chemicals cannot dissolve in water, but the plastic absorbs them like a sponge. Fish that feed on plankton ingest the tiny plastic particles. Scientists from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation say that fish tissues contain some of the same chemicals as the plastic. The scientists speculate that toxic chemicals are leaching into fish tissue from the plastic they eat.

The researchers say that when a predator — a larger fish or a person — eats the fish that eats the plastic, that predator may be transferring toxins to its own tissues, and in greater concentrations since toxins from multiple food sources can accumulate in the body.

Charles Moore found the Pacific garbage patch by accident 12 years ago, when he came upon it on his way back from a sailing race in Hawaii. As captain, Mr. Moore ferried three researchers, his first mate and a journalist here this summer in his 10th scientific trip to the site. He is convinced that several similar garbage patches remain to be discovered.

“Anywhere you really look for it, you’re going to see it,” he said.

Many scientists believe there is a garbage patch off the coast of Japan and another in the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Bonnie Monteleone, a University of North Carolina, Wilmington, graduate student researching a master’s thesis on plastic accumulation in the ocean, visited the Sargasso Sea in late spring and the Pacific garbage patch with Mr. Moore this summer.

“I saw much higher concentrations of trash in the Pacific garbage patch than in the Sargasso,” Ms. Monteleone said, while acknowledging that she might not have found the Atlantic gyre.

Ms. Monteleone, a volunteer crew member on Mr. Moore’s ship, kept hoping she would see at least one sample taken from the Pacific garbage patch without any trash in it. “Just one area — just one,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to see. But everywhere had plastic.”

The Pacific garbage patch gained prominence after three independent marine research organizations visited it this summer. One of them, Project Kaisei, based in San Francisco, is trying to devise ways to clean up the patch by turning plastic into diesel fuel.

Environmentalists and celebrities are using the patch to promote their own causes. The actor Ted Danson’s nonprofit group Oceana designated Mr. Moore a hero for his work on the patch. Another Hollywood figure, Edward Norton, narrated a public-service announcement about plastic bags, which make their way out to the patch.

Mr. Moore, however, is the first person to have pursued serious scientific research by sampling the garbage patch. In 1999, he dedicated the Algalita foundation to studying it. Now the foundation examines plastic debris and takes samples of polluted water off the California coast and across the Pacific Ocean. By dragging a fine mesh net behind his research vessel Alguita, a 50-foot aluminum catamaran, Mr. Moore is able to collect small plastic fragments.

Researchers measure the amount of plastic in each sample and calculate the weight of each fragment. They also test the tissues of any fish caught in the nets to measure for toxic chemicals. One rainbow runner from a previous voyage had 84 pieces of plastic in its stomach.

The research team has not tested the most recent catch for toxic chemicals, but the water samples show that the amount of plastic in the gyre and the larger Pacific is increasing. Water samples from February contained twice as much plastic as samples from a decade ago.

“This is not the garbage patch I knew in 1999,” Mr. Moore said. “This is a totally different animal.”

For the captain’s first mate, Jeffery Ernst, the patch was “just a reminder that there’s nowhere that isn’t affected by humanity.”

Travel expenses were paid in part by readers of Spot.Us, a nonprofit Web project that supports freelance journalists.

Next Article in Science (1 of 27) » A version of this article appeared in print on November 10, 2009, on page D2 of the New York edition.

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