Organic Food

Callmeserenity writes about life and organic food:

But the thing I’ve always wanted more than anything else is to finish college. I want to learn, I want to have a degree and do something worthwhile. I want to travel and see the world. I want to leave a footprint. I don’t want to be famous or rich or write books or make movies. But, I want to make a difference somehow. And I want to learn! I like learning. I am a very curious person, I want to know things. I am a bit obsessive about languages and mythology. I want to learn linguistics so I can understand language better. Maybe be a translator, maybe teach English around the world. There’s so much I could do! I’m wasting my life being a secretary.

So, I feel like I’m not ready to get married or have kids because I haven’t finished college yet. The problem is, I keep getting older and older and no closer to getting a degree and it makes me feel like I’m wasting my life away. And then, if I don’t get my act together, I’m going to end up degree-less, child-less and husband-less living all alone with several cats (that will begin to eat my dead body before people realize I’m gone). And with only two stamps in my passport.

So, my feelings of jealousy and frustration stem from my own perceived inadequecy. I’m not accomplishing the things I want to accomplish. I’m failing at my own life, and therefore I envy those that aren’t.

There, how’s that for a self-evaluation? It helps when your best friend is a psychologist.

Now, on the upside: I am doing what I can. I’m paying off my debts and trying so very hard to save for when I have the opportunity to go back to school. I volunteer. I roof houses and donate to food pantries and buy organic foods. I try to be good at my job and to be nice to all the TIMS in my life. I clean up after the grands and call my mother. I am trying to use the time I am given. I don’t know what else to do, but to keep trying. Even if I feel like Sisifus sometimes.

Hankies Better for the Environment

Treehuuger on making a better choice for the environment:

It’s cold time, with the wheezes and the sneezes and a sinus that’s really a pip… Instead of searching desperately through your handbag or pockets for a dirty tissue, try an age-old solution: the handkerchief. Before they even knew about the environment our fathers used them—a clean, ironed white hankie in the breast pocket of the suit jacket. So did our grandmothers: flowery, sweet and smelling of eau de cologne. And now we can. Softer on the nose and kinder to the environment, carrying a real handkerchief instead of tissues cuts down on the use of paper.

Carbon Footprint of a Cheesburger

Treehugger reports on the carbon footprint of the humble cheesburger:

Jamais Cascio, former managing editor over at Worldchanging and current proprietor of Open the Future, recently got to wondering: with all the recent hubbub surrounding carbon footprints, credits and offsets, what do everyday, common items contribute to our warming globe? He started with an American institution: the cheeseburger, and, after a little digging and number-crunching he came up with 6.3 to 6.8 pounds (2.85 to 3.1 kg) of carbon emissions per burger. This includes a myriad of factors, from growing the feed for the cattle for the beef and cheese, growing the produce, storing and transporting the components, as well as cooking them all, and he appears to have done a fairly thorough job.