Greenwashing

Read this - 

Times Article - Eco Buyer Beware: Green Can Be Deceiving

Then look at this - 

The Six Sins of Greenwashing

Interesting I thought......

My first Woods Holian!

I had my first visitor today - and from Woods Hole too! Annette is here to stay for 2 nights before starting a graduate course at the university for the next two weeks. Yay! I picked her up from the airport, we immediately got stuck in traffic and then came home to Ahi Poke and stir fry for dinner. We're just killing some time catching up on emails and such and will head out to the pool for some laps before bed. It's so good to see her, though I fear the Poke could have been too much........

Death by Poke?
This lei is making Grodnick smell sooooooooo good......I should just buy them for myself to make it smell good in here......:0)

It's so good to see a Woods Holian again, but she forgot to pack Kate, so is in the bad books.....I searched her luggage thoroughly, and Kate is definitely not in there.....

Bye Bye Baby

Stian is off to Antarctica today, off to the ice of McMurdo for 2 months, which means i'm not going to get to talk to him for a while. Hopefully we'll have email contact for a few weeks before he heads to camp out on the ice, but after that it's probably nothing for quite a while. I miss him when he goes, even though i've already not seen him for over 3 weeks, I still get to talk to him most days when he's on land. There's just something about being able to talk to someone on the phone that I like, email is fantastic for keeping in contact, but being able to call when i'm down, having a bad day, or even having a good day, makes me feel good. 

I often have gasps of disbelief over how much we see each other (or don't), but you know what, it's okay, and I think it works because I go to sea too. I love going to sea and always want to go to sea (and on fieldwork) for the rest of my life, it's not something i'm prepared to give up, and i'm actually really happy being with someone who knows that and does so themselves. We're also two pretty independent people (Stian more than I, but I like my space too), so I often think we'd drive each other crazy if we didn't go away sometimes. This year has been a little hard on me, as combined with his eye surgeries, Stian has been concentrating on trying to buy some land in CA, which means the only times i've seen him has been on the boats, or when i've visited (which with my work is not easy to pull off), but i'm really happy he's pushing that forward, and can't wait to see what he ends up with and hopefully hanging out wherever it might be soon. It's also been a fairly good year to do that too - sharing two cruises and I was so happy he came on the Italy trip and it looks like we'll meet up in NZ after this ice adventure - so it's worked out just great. 

So have a great time on the ice baby, i'm excited at this McMurdo trip, doing something a little different and kicking ass at it i'm sure! 

Goals, Week 3

Not the best of weeks for my goals, and this week is going to go down a little too I think, my friend Annette is coming to stay for a few days before a course she's doing out here, so that will be fun. 

So here goes - Green good, purple middle, red bad

- Packed lunches - 4

- Walk to work - 1

- Swimming - 2

- Exercise? - Walked to Safeway saturday (3/4 of the way to work and back, and all the uphill!)

- Social activity - Looking forward to my pottery class! 

- Total weight lost - 1.4lbs (yes, that means I gained this week....sigh)

- Diet sodas - 4 (including 2 big ones at the canteen)

- Better meals - Yes! 

- Waste less food - No food waste this week

- Buy less stuff - No house things/clothing bought. My score of the week was a 1l bottle of Thoroughly Clean (desert essence) Tea Tree face wash for $10 - this will last me a really long time (and usually pay ~$4 for a piddle 100ml bottle (random brands)! This is actually all I bought for 'me' this week now I think about it, I did buy some xmas presents. 

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Anyone else as annoyed as I am at the new adverts saying how great High Fructose Corn Syrup is? One just came on, so i'm now going to rant a little. The ads go on about how HFCS has as many calories as sugar, is made from corn and is all natural. That I cannot dispute, HFCS is obviously made from corn, has 4 calories per gram (same as sugar) and is "natural", depending on how modified you like your natural products. HFCS is glucose extracted from corn starch, and then heavily processed so that it turns into mainly fructose. 

So HFCS is mainly fructose, where as sugar (and honey) are pretty close to 50% of each fructose and glucose. This is an important distinction - as glucose stimulates insulin and leptin production, which in turn stimulate us to feel full - they regulate food intake, absorption and so body weight. Glucose can also be broken down by most cells in the body, whereas fructose can only be broken down in the liver (overload on fructose has been shown to cause cirrhosis). Unbound fructose (like that in HFCS - in sugar it is 'bound' to the glucose) has also been shown to have higher diabetic complications and can assimilate minerals robbing the body of vital nutrients. Higher fructose consumption also leads to significant weight gain and higher incidences of heart disease. 

In short, fructose on it's own is not so great for us - hence HFCS is not that great for us either and really shouldn't be 'touted' as "as good as sugar". That kind of thing really pisses me off.  

So I believe it is almost impossible to avoid HFCS as it's in so many things now (bread, fruit juices, non diet sodas), but it's worth looking at how much your intake is to make sure it isn't in everything your eating - remembering to count foods that have it in as part of your sugar intake. Like most things in the food world, a little won't hurt, but a lot will. Just looking it up, current guidelines suggest 10% of your calories from sugar. 

Goals redefined

They were a little fluffy, so thought I would clear them up for me to work from - 

- Take packed lunch to work everyday

- Walk to work at least twice a week

- Go swimming at least twice a week

- Get more exercise (join a class, go to the gym etc) - 1-2 a week

- Do more social activity (pottery class)

- Goal - Loose 10 pounds

- Cut down my diet soda intake

- Eat better meals (more veg, meat, fish)

- Buy less food - waste less

- Buy less 'stuff' I don't need

- Goal - spend less

Fresh bread.....

There is something about the smell of fresh bread. It's 10pm and the breadmaker has ten minutes to go. Rather than leave it until morning as I first thought I would, the smell has made me starving, so i'm staying up to eat the first slice with some honey before bed.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Happy Weekend!

Phew, it's the weekend again! Happy Weekend everyone, from the purple pigeon and the blow up gnome, nestled amongst my lemongrass (planted after a visit to Kristen in SB - where I was parking my car was the wonderful scent of lemongrass every morning, so trying to recreate!) and flowers. 

Slam dunk......

This week's stress (and let's face it, stress for the last 2 weeks) has been a department seminar I was giving today. I'm not a "talker". It doesn't come naturally to me to stand up in front of 100 people and tell them how wonderful I am and how my work is the best ever. And I usually have dreams for a good 2 weeks in advance of me standing up there and then realising I forgot to put any pictures in my powerpoint. I was talking about my antarctic work, and mainly some results I got on tuesday using the Scanning Electron Microscope. Basically i'm damn lucky my larvae did what I wanted them to do in the experiment and that the SEM was working this week.

But it went well today! Did my voice waver, yes it did, as usual. But I did get into it, got everything across, no-one fell asleep, had a few laughs in there, and lots of interested questions at the end. 

That my friends, is a slam dunk for me. Can I have a beer now??

a happy antarctic coral larvae

Sponsor Mollie!

Mollie and family are walking this weekend for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - so get in and sponsor her if you haven't. Here is Mollie's blog and here is where to sponsor her for her walk. 

Whole Foods Shopping List

Finally remembered to post this....culmination of 2 shops at Whole Foods......

1% Milk - 1/2 gallon - organic - $4.99  $3.59 (non-organic)

12 freerange eggs - $2.99 $4.19

4 pk unbleached toilet paper - $3.99

Small pack (~250g?) organic whole wheat pasta - $1.99 (they didn't have non-organic here)

Loaf sesame bread - $4.79 $3.49

Corn chips - $2.99

2 apples - $3.19 ($0.80/lb) 4 apples $2.66

2 pears - $2.90 ($0.97/lb)

4 bananas - $1.73 ($1.94/lb)

2 grapefruits - $5.45 ($2.19/lb)

Some good, some bad. But interestingly nothing majorly over what I would pay in the safeway here, which sucks, but thats Hawaii. Need to break out my breadmaker after this loaf runs out......not to mention plant an apple tree......

Added - Safeway prices from this post

Michael Palin for President

I don't know how to upload You Tube Video's on here (i'll try and investigate later) - so you'll have to click the link below. If I could vote, I know where my vote would be......

Michael Palin for President

Chondromalacia patella

My phrase for the day. Well last week when I walked in to work I started to have trouble in my "good" knee on the downhills again. So with more than a little trepidation I went to see an orthopedic today, still with fresh visions of my "bad" knee surgery 2 years ago that just took forever to right itself from. X-rays done and prepared to ignore what the surgeon said, I was delighted and highly relieved to have the above phrase spouted at me. 

It basically means my kneecap is not tracking properly, and she (my very nice orthopedic!) nailed it from my x-rays - it's only off by under a centimeter, but apparently enough to make downhill and crouching a real problem. Interestingly it's also in my "bad" knee, but not nearly as bad as my "good" knee (confused yet). The really excellent thing that made me smile was hearing that it's fixed by a few physio sessions to learn some specific exercises to build up my inner quads (to pull the kneecap back into position) and it should clear up almost immediately. Huge sigh of relief and big smile. 

Some interesting things i've learnt from the handout they gave me - 

- More common in women

- Seen more often in those that walk, stair and hill climb more often

- Onset can occur with prolonged periods of sitting (think airplane seats too many times this year), excessive bending and kneeling (think 3 cruises in a row with lots of kneeling on hard decks). 

Hmmmmm..........and it all makes sense as to why this came up this year.......just wish it hadn't been in time for Italy.....:0(

Goals, Week 2

Green Good, Red Bad, Purple Middle

Walked to work - 2

Walked around the neighborhood - 0

Swimming - 2

Yoga/Gym - 0

Packed Lunches - 4

Diet Sodas - 2 - green, I think this is as good as it's going to get with it being so hot here! 

Iced Tea - 1 litre......before I broke my ice tea jar! 

Alternative found - not really, i've been drinking more coffee which is not good

Eating Well - Up until the McDonalds and chocolate covered raisins on saturday yes.....:0(

Pottery - Yes - Start on the 18th! 

Weight Lost - 1.9 lbs.........guess that McDonalds and chocolate really did it.......still, i'll take 1.9 lbs........8 more to go......

A Life Less Plastic

Check out this blog - Life Less Plastic - I just discovered it, but it's going on my reading list. 

My thoughts on plastic are mixed - yes there is just too much plastic discarded around this earth, and do we really need all the plastic toys and trinkets, but in some ways maybe it's a necessary evil. I'm a big devotee of not using disposable plastic bags (shopping, ziploc etc etc), and reducing my use of other plastic items, but i'm also not about to give up my computer, my phone, my car, medical things and all those plastic items vital to me. I also have much of my foodstuffs in plastic containers to keep out bugs and keep things fresh, the same with sandwiches and other lunch things (I absolutely won't use ziplocs for lunch). But I don't throw these away often - some of my foodstuff plastics have been with me since I lived in Southampton 6 years ago - and they have a long way to go. I look to buy glass storage jars regularly, but often they are either expensive, or shoddily made, and a glass jar thats not going to last a month (or the seal isn't going to keep things fresh) to me is less environmentally friendly that a plastic jar that lasts a decade (think recycling glass isn't carbon free either) and stops me throwing away food as often. But thats my thoughts. 

So plastic, i'll live with it, but i'll cut down on what I buy, be picky about the plastic I do buy and make it last as long as possible. 

Croc-a-doodles

I have two baby geckos living under my orange crocs on my back porch. I've called them Croc and Doodle. Trying to get a photo, but they keep going under the slats before I can click. 

My little back deck, with chair, cooler, BBQ and my orange "gardening" crocs that Lala (aka NEA) gave me. I love this little back deck, but don't get to use it much, as it faces the rain direction so is almost always wet out there. Les, Alison and I are trying to come up with an  awning scheme for it so I can use it to sit out on more often. 

Leaning over the railing there you can see my little garden (on a concrete patio the previous owners had an old hot tub on). At the moment I have 3 papaya trees, mint, basil, hoards of bitter (old) lettuce. The cucumber, tomatoes, sugar snap peas and peppers are all starting to sprout. I love that it's nearly october and i'm just sprouting.....:0)

This weekend has been relaxing, got lots of little chores done, though have loads more to do around the house. It was Stian's birthday on saturday and I missed not seeing him for it (though I have never actually seen him for his birthday (nor he for mine) because of cruise schedules). I dipped into my first experiment with natural soap making, but more on that in another blog. I spent a ton in walmart (yes I know, the axis of evil...) for lab things. Did manage to to swimming, though have fallen off the wagon a little with the healthy eating (those Trader Joes chocolate covered raisins started screaming at me for not eating them yet), so i'm not looking forward to my weigh in tomorrow AM (as of yesterday i'd lost just under 3 pounds). We'll see at the Goal Post #2. 

The Wrapsack

Anyone who has either received a gift from me, or follows this blog regularly, knows how much i love WrapSacks - reusable cloth gift bags. So why do I love wrapsacks?

- They are reusable (or precycled!), even better than recyclable! 

More interesting than home made these have a free website attached - you put in the code of the bag and you can follow the bags journey being passed from person to person. The website is free to use, you just have to sign up (and you don't get spam from them which is nice) and off you go! The website does sometimes mess up the order of the tracks though, but I wrote in recently and am told they are working on it. They have been really responsive to questions too, which is nice. 

If I had a sewing machine (and room to put one) I would make gift bags as well, but I would still buy some of these too, to give to people I know love this stuff and know would pass them on. I do love seeing my bags travel - i'm actually number 15 on the highest mileage wrapsters! 

They come in some really cool patterns and a whole variety of sizes! 

So lets talk prices - 

mini - $3.99 Small - $4.99 Medium/wine - $5.99

Large - $8.49 X Large - $9.99

So not cheap at all, which is why making would be good (though as said, I would still buy some, as I like the tracking option for uniqueness). BUT, there are ways to get them cheaper - Bulk buying in their value packs gets you $10+ savings, and looking on their "flavour of the month" is their older designs - you save $1+ (~$4 on the large sizes) on each bag. Pretty much all of my bags come from these options, unless there is a design that is 'so' someone I know. I buy once or twice a year, as the postage is a flat $5.60 no matter how much or where (which is great for Hawaii!), and everytime i've bought from them, i've been given a bag or two free, and even had some of the cards (which are not as hot) and zip bags free too! I like small companies! 

I also include the price of the sack in the gift I am giving, as I figure it really is a part of the gift and can either be used by the recipient as a baggy, or used as gift wrap saving them some $$. I'm pretty strict on myself on this, so it works. The only time I really don't is when i'm filling them for Stian to take to sea with "at-sea goodies", but after the initial outlay, we've been using the same 4 bags for 2 years now.....so I figure we're good on that....:0)

So wrapsacks, i love them! 

Happy Weekend!

It's that time again - happy weekend everyone! This morning as I sat eating my cereal with my front door open (think airflow) a wonderful scent wafted in, just like Lei's, and it is these fragrant flowers blooming just outside Grodnick. Wonderful! 

So today has been another mixed day. I gained a much nicer and newer microtome today, barely used and makes wonderful sections. I made my first slides in my lab today, from material that has been waiting 3 years to be done. I talked to an enthusiastic student who has some amazing results and is ready to get going on her paper(s). 

But I also found out today that the graduate student community knows me as the "faculty who looks like she's 18". Kind of funny and kind of not. I'm just frustrated. And i've tried to look my age (I just want to look 30). I don't go to work in t-shirts and jeans, I don't wear sneakers to work, I wear accessories, I cut my hair, I do up my hair, I stop short of make-up (marine biologists just don't do makeup). What more can I do???

But I felt more up when I got home, three parcels were waiting for me, and I love parcels. I even love parcels that I know are things i've bought for other people. And today I knew what two of my parcels were, and have been waiting for them for a week! 

My annual WrapSack purchase! One of my favorite things to open! 

My Wrap-N-Mat.......as I use i'll let you know how it goes....

And my surprise 3rd parcel....from my mum! An interesting array of socks, smellies and my favorite, photos of family! New pictures of Jack and Ruby for my kiddy fridge. Thanks Mum!

Mixed Day

It's been a busy week, and it's only wednesday! And today has been my biggy. Today I was interviewed to be on the "graduate faculty", that is to go up a step (in nothing major like pay, or permanence) so I could be on graduate student committees and be an advisor. I was told it was a "formality", yet I was grilled. There are two levels to being on the graduate faculty here - one is Associate and one Full (the difference being in associate you have to request each time you want to advise a grad student, both you can be on committees regardless) - and the department chair advised me to go for full. Well the faculty pulled the 'too young' card and grilled me for 30 minutes on my lack of advising experience. 

So the good thing is I am now an "associate graduate faculty" and according to the chair it would be no issue for me to get my own grad students to advise, so thats a yay. But I didn't get on the full, so thats kind of a poop. "Junior faculty" and my position is soft money (money you have to raise yourself through grants - so isn't certain or steady) is the reasoning. Which I can kind of see, so shouldn't be too bummed as I did still go up a step. But I also can't help being bummed, I hate having the "you're too young" card being pulled at me, really pisses me off. Doesn't seem to matter that i've brought in more grant money or written more papers than many of the faculty on tenure track around here. Or that I advised two masters students when I was doing my own PhD thesis. Or that I already have 2 PhD students here basically working in my lab. Nope, just too young. 

And when I got home I managed to drop the toilet roll holder (the springy bit in the middle sprung away from me) in the toilet........the only time my "if it's yellow let it mellow" rule really wasn't a good thing.........so it just feels like things are against me today. 

The mosquitos they are a biting.....

There was I thinking the heat had killed them off. There was I not sleeping with the bug net closed. There was I waking up this morning with over a dozen bites all over. There was I saying "ug".