Buying American

On my drive home from work yesterday, I caught the middle of a report about KEEN shoes and how they were opening a factory in the United States. It got me thinking about the economic aspect of social responsibility. The reporter was polling people asking if they knew products were American-made, were they more inclined to buy the product? Most of the consumers in the report stated that yes, this was important to them. I realized that without really thinking about it, this has become something I look for, in addition to environmental and health responsibility, as well.

A few years ago my brother and sister-in-law requested gifts that hadn't been made overseas. My brother had just returned from a military deployment in Korea, and there was a scare with chemicals in some toys with China. It was nearly impossible to find reasonably priced toys that were American made, or even simply not made in China.

Since then, I've been more inclined to buy from company's that proudly boast their American made products. With my brother's recent deployment in Iraq and the economic downturn of our own American economy, I continue to find it more and more important to support manufacturing in the U.S. In addition to financially supporting my home country, I find it more environmentally responsible because the goods don't have to travel quite as far.

I bought my own pair of KEENs this summer simply because I wanted the toe protection while walking my dog. Now I will wear them even more proudly this coming summer, knowing that KEEN is doing more to invest in American manufacturing.

What to do with your old meds?

It's been nearly a year since I was all doped up on giant Ibuprofen and Tylenol with Oxycodone (because of my c-section, not because I'm a recovering narcotics addict!), and as I was going through the bathroom closet, I noticed my old prescriptions. I pulled them out to remind myself that I had to figure out how to dispose of them. Interesting timing, because the next day I was diagnosed with the most painful strep throat I remember ever having. The doctor offered me some Vicodin, and I said if it was okay with her, I could just take my Oxycodone. Clearly, you need to be in more pain (like post-surgery pain) to not notice the major side effects of this drug, because I don't remember being so looped when I took it last year.

Anyway, I'm digressing. After I took one of those for my strep, I decided the side effects were worse than the pain, so I re-shelved the drugs and made a mental note that I had to figure out how to get rid of them.

It used to be recommended that you flushed your old drugs down the toilet so that little kids and addicts couldn't get a hold of them, but then they figured out that all the little water microbes and fishies and animals that eat the fishies were getting doped up on our old narcotics. So they had to come up with plan B. Thanks to Representative Paul Gardner, new regulations have helped solve the problem.

Conveniently, Ramsey county sent me a little postcard around this same time explaining how to get rid of our drugs. They now have a medicine collection program in which you drop off your drugs, and they dispose of them by burning them and converting that to energy.

Here are more reasons why we need to dispose of our drugs this way.

I'm sure there are programs in your city/county/region that allow you to dispose of your drugs. I encourage you to find out how to do it. Or, you know, wait til you have strep and knock yourself out for a few hours. 

E-Reader Vs. Library Card

 

We never owned a ton of books, but I was a voracious reader as a child, because my mom and I would go to the library weekly. I'd come home with armloads of books, and organize them from shortest to longest to decide which one to read first because I just couldn't decide where to start and that seemed the most democratic. (Looking back, I guess it's a more socialist notion).

Within the last year, my mom purchased a Nook because her local library started providing books electronically. I also downloaded the Overdrive app on my iPhone, which allows me to borrow electronic library books. However, the selection is limited and I find myself still reserving the hard copies through the library.

My husband keeps saying I should buy an e-reader because we'll save money, and I keep telling him we will spend more money because I'll have to buy the books I want to read rather than borrowing them from the library. But it made me wonder about the economic impact of reading library books versus buying them on an e-reader. So I did some research. I found the following:

Taken from Good.is

Okay, so once you've purchased 20 brand new books, you'd be better off with an eReader. How does this translate to the library? For me, I need the library to have the books I want electronically in order for it to be worth it to make the switch (both for my interest and for my wallet). So, I'll continue to browse my e-library, but I think it will be a while before I make the full electronic switch. However, if you are a book buyer, I'd recommend an e-reader for you! 
 

Melissa and Doug

We were happy to receive a Melissa and Doug Shapes Sorter from Uncle J and Aunt M. Melissa and Doug toys are sustainable products made of wood and non-toxic paint. The company is also based out of the U.S. They leave a low carbon footprint and use high quality, long lasting materials. For more details about Melissa and Doug, visit their website. 

Homemade Chicken Stock

I love to buy whole chickens at the St. Paul Farmer's Market and from my parents' good friend who grows delicious, giant free range chickens, but I'm less inclined to cook them for just two adults. So when we had another couple over for dinner and New Year's festivities last night, I was excited to bust out a frozen young chicken.

I was inspired to save the leftover bones and skins to make my first chicken stock after reading about how much healthier it is than store-bought broth or the bouillon cubes I typically use when a recipe calls for chicken broth.

By cooking my own stock, I was guaranteed a healthy, organic, free range broth that didn't require an extra trip to the food co-op.

Here's what I did:

Stick the whole carcass in the crock pot. Stick in a celery stalk cut into slices, a handful of baby carrots, a small onion quartered, and a clove of garlic. Season with spices as you wish. I included 5 sprigs of thyme (which I have growing in a pot after plucking the plant from my garden-I can't believe it's still alive!), a bay leaf, some dried parsley, and a dash of course grind black pepper. Cover the whole shebang with water-I used about 6 cups.

I cooked on high for about 7 hours, and it wasn't tasting like much more than gross water, so I turned it down to low and cooked another 3 hours. Much better!

Strain the whole thing and stick it in the fridge. Tomorrow, I'll skim the fat off the top and voila! Chicken broth for the chicken soup I'm sure I'll be making soon, inspired by the recent snow!