Fall is here (officially tomorrow), meaning scarf weather is on the way… eventually. Eight of the hottest years on record have happened in the last decade, and knitters are taking action to present climate data in a new medium. This post illustrates trends in global temperatures and artistic displays of that data, some of which have inspired new lines of craft projects and merchandise.
This month marks five years since I realized I was in an abusive relationship and decided to get out. My blog is about challenging beliefs, and I believed that it couldn’t happen to me. Abuse can happen to anyone, and I hope this post can serve to diminish some of the associated stigma, as well as provide resources for someone who may need them.
Many vegetarians say they don’t eat meat because of responsibility to the environment. Mock meat is a great way to reduce your footprint, but I wanted to see how the numbers stack up when comparing our different options. Just how beneficial are plant-based foods for the environment compared to their meat-based equivalents? Are there negative impacts of these “responsible” food choices that we’re not considering?
About 5% of Americans are vegetarian, and many of us don’t even miss the taste of meat. Nevertheless, plant-based burgers designed to resemble beef are appearing in upscale restaurants, grocery stores, and now fast food chains. Eating a plant-based diet is one of the easiest things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Is meatless meat good enough to get meat eaters to cut back?
In just the past week, I had the opportunity to try both the Beyond Burger at a cookout and the Impossible Whopper at Burger King. With all of my raving on social media about these new and different options, I’ve gotten a lot of questions from both meat eaters and vegetarians, some of which I could answer, and some of which I couldn’t – until now.
I spend a good bit of time in my garden, weeding more than anything else. A year or so ago, Christian suggested that I use a weed barrier so I wouldn’t have to work as hard. I never knew of any weed barrier options other than plastic sheeting, so I didn’t consider weed barrier a viable option until a coworker mentioned her grandmother’s method.
When the weather gets hot, you need to stay hydrated, but how do you do that if you’ve pledged a Plastic-Free July? Sports drinks come in plastic bottles, and are further secured on flats in layers of plastic film. This summer I turned to an old recipe that predated plastic (and probably the Roman Empire) to help me through the heat and my zero-plastic challenge.
We’ve examined both sides of the issue, and it’s still less than clear. Are juries deciding cases based on fear instead of facts? Are scientists being muzzled? What happens if we get rid of glyphosate for good – is it a win-win, or will there be some losers? Here are some final thoughts, organic alternatives, and ways to get involved, if you so choose.
It would be hard for anyone to parse all the information available on Roundup – there is just so much of it. One count claims over 3,300 peer-reviewed studies on connections between glyphosate and cancer. But what do these studies tell us, and is cancer the only risk? Glyphosate is winding up in our stomachs and may be having an impact on our gut bacteria.
Give anybody a controversial topic and the internet, and sparks are sure to fly. In this post we will go through the history of glyphosate studies and the contradictory results that have left two intensely opposed camps in their wake. We will also take a look at some questionable actions on Monsanto’s part that are not helping parent company Bayer through its current legal battles.