Dual flush toilets have been around for awhile, but now local plumbers know what they are - not the case a few years ago. Simple tech, makes a lot of sense. On a trip to Europe and Israel I photographed a few different styles back in the day.
Here is an article from the very mainstream (pardon the pun) AARP, reporting on modification kits to add to conventional toilets. Sounds like they pay for themselves, for a family of four, in about a year. And even if you're not in it for the $ savings, it's a great way to contract your eco-footprint without any loss of convenience - especially prudent if you live in the drought-plagued Sun Belt.
Save a Buck: Flush Right
Dual-flush devices allow more economical toilet use
In a typical household, a toilet consumes the most water—roughly 27 percent of the total, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. A dual-flush model cuts that usage by providing full flushes to dispose of solid waste and half-flushes for liquids.
But before you pay $300 or more for a new toilet, you may want to consider a conversion kit for your existing unit. Available for $99 at major retailers, the Perfect Flush works with a top-mounted push-button box. It takes about 30 minutes for a homeowner to install and can save a family of four about $100 a year in water costs, the company says.
Similar products are Select A Flush and Aquanotion’s TwoFlush.
Who knew we have a National Holiday devoted to Regifting, December 17? Featured in my local newspaper, amidst all the ads, was an article extolling the virtues of regifting. To me this is just common sense, but apparently it is taking on a life of its own, since it perceived as somewhat transgressive. Maybe that was the case when people were materially deprived, or in places where that's still the case, but most of us are drowning in stuff. Any strategy to move it along is sensible.
You can read up on the subject at two cool sites, Regiftable, which is maintained by a financial ed site, Money Management International, and a very funny site, ShamelessRegifting. Apparently people do some pretty dopey things when it comes to regifting, so guidelines are included. I can add a few points:
The first is, if you are interested in de-escalating the Gift Arms Race, don't regift. Instead write a personal note and explain that you have more than you need, you presume that's the case for others, and therefore you are doing something else to honor this relationship and occasion, like making a donation to X, Y, or Z. [Of course you need to follow through and actually do this.] If people don't like this, what's the worse that will happen? They'll take you off their lists? For many, you will be an inspiring role model, giving them cover to follow suit. You can always give a little consumable treat along with the note - so you're not cutting back to zero all at once.
If you regift, check the gift itself. We were once amused - though not at all offended - to receive a beautiful box a stationery with a card in it. Except the card was written to the giver, not to us. Then there was our friend Josh, who admired a friend's Sherlock Holmes bar mitzvah gift. Dontcha know when Josh's day came around, the friend gave him a copy of this book - except that it was inscribed to his friend. Whoops.
Don't keep regifting stock for more than a year or two. Fashions change as does your life stage. I stashed away tons of kids' birthday gifts, and some are still there - though my children are now adults. Anything tech will quickly age, often to the point of obsolescence, so get it off your shelf fast!
Remember that gifts as well as regifts are reflections of your persona. If you hate something, just get rid of it. It's bad karma, IMHO, to give it to someone as a gift. Just go with coal in their stocking.
If you have any good regifting stories, we're all ears!
Yes, shopping on line is more energy efficient and therefore has a lower carbon footprint than going to the mall. Of course not shopping at all has a yet lower footprint - 0 - but these types of comparisons always leave out the most ecological options. Like when they compare brand-name paper towels to Brand X paper towels and ignore cloth, which is eminently more absorbent and reusable.
Check out this report of a study which show online shopping is anywhere from 15 t0 50 times more efficient than conventional store shopping. And of course you can comparison shop online and get better prices if you know precisely what you're seeking.
Much ink has been spilled providing suggestions for greener gifting and spiritually enriched, materially-contracted celebrations. I am skipping that pep-talk this year and going straight to two emphatic recommendations.
First, buy Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s amazing bookHalf The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide - for all the women on your shopping list. Don’t forget to buy one for yourself, as well. Men should read it, too, of course, but its stories will particularly resonate with women from middle school on up. WuDunn and Kristof, well known for his wonderful New York Times columns, have written a book with potential to really be a game changer, allowing us in the affluent world to connect with and support millions of women in the developing world.
As the book describes, in ways that make it hard to put down, these women are up against terrible odds. Grim fates await baby girls unlucky enough to be born into the grinding poverty reinforced by inadequate access to food, sanitation, electricity, clean water, education, health care, and legal representation. When these constraints are combined with sexism and misogyny, the result is devastating. Daughters receive less health care, food, and education than their brothers. Young girls are bought and sold; girls are married off at young ages, curtailing any schooling they might obtain. Women die of childbirth complications unseen in the developed world for over a century.
Yet the stories shared by Kristof and WuDunn are hopeful. Amazing resilience and talent can rise up in the most surprising places, and very inexpensive interventions – trivial amounts by Western standards – can change not just girls’ lives, but the lives of their families and communities, helping all to achieve a higher quality of life and a change to meet their potential. So while the book describes unimaginable trauma, it is ultimately inspiring and empowering – we can help change all this!
That’s where my second recommendation comes in – a shameless pitch for a nearly miraculous initiative, The Kibera School for Girls. Kibera is a slum; over a million residents crowd this large, unincorporated shantytown adjoining Nairobi. No municipal services are provided, including schools, so only 8% percent of the girls born here get any schooling at all. Kennedy Odede, a young man raised in Kibera, watched in frustration as girls as young as six were forced into prostitution to survive. A natural community organizer, he founded Shining Hope for Community, starting with a soccer team.
In time, his local efforts led to more successful activities, and the arrival of a young intern from Wesleyan Univeristy, Jessica Posner. Jessica was captivated by Kennedy’s two dreams: to start a free school for girls in Kibera and to study in the United States. Jessica helped him with the university application process, and he is presently a fulltime student at Wesleyan in Middletown, CT. Jessica and Kennedy quickly attracted a group of students to help raise money for their dream, the KiberaSchool for Girls. With a grant from Wesleyan, successful student fund raising, and modestdonations, their dream has been launched. This summer Jess and Kennedy went back to Kibera, leading the community in the building of their school, hiring the staff, and opening their doors. To pull this off in a year is utterly astounding, really.
Three classes, each of 15 girls drawn from the poorest of the poor, were accepted. They are provided uniforms, often the only clothing the girls own, as well as nutritious meals each day. Their Montessori curriculum has been so successful that these little girls are already a year ahead of their Kenyan counterparts, after only two months of school. Their mothers and fathers volunteer at the school which eventually will house a library, computer center, bio-sanitation center, health center, and a microfinance office. Look what vision and persistence can accomplish!
This is where we all come in. The KiberaSchool for Girls operates on a shoe string. Go see the school and its engaging students at www.hopetoshine.org. Contributions of any size go directly to paying for the relatively modest costs of running a school in Kenya. You can contribute directly, or specifically sponsor a girl for $30 a month. I have been so taken by this project, that I now find myself Secretary of its newly organized Board. What I love about the Kibera School project is that that numbing statistic of 2 billion people living on a dollar a day is transformed into helping 45 specific little girlsthrough education, food every day, and a community who cares for them. You can help too! What an easy way for us – so blessed with enough - to make a difference. If you ever wondered how to make a positive impact in the world, this is a great answer. Educate a girl! Here is a video that captures the excitement of bringing school to these adorable girls:
Do you have US Treasury Bonds sitting around, maybe in your Safe Deposit Box? They're the boring gifts that are worth half of the face value when you receive them - try explaining to your child that though it ***says*** it's a $100 Bond, it will only be worth that when the kid is an adult! Talk about deferred gratification.
Apparently there are $17 billion in unredeemed Series E Savings boond, sold from 1941 to 1980. If you bought or received one from 1973 on, here's a data base to check, using your social security number. I did a quick check and yes, it seems we cashed in our wedding gift bonds.
Anyone know how to check bonds that are newer than 1980? In any event, cashing them is a good idea.
Catalog Choice continues to be run an awesome program: efficiently and easily removing people from catalog mailings. Every now and then a catalog sneaks through the mailbox, and it's a guilty pleasure for me, but by and large we receive 1 or 2 catalogs a week at most. An average household must receive a dozen or two per week this time of year. (Online I read that the average american household receives 88 catalogs a year but that seems way low to me. Feels like, before Catalog Choice, I received that many just between LandsEnd and SierraTraders!) Looking at my account I see I've canceled 82 different catalogs in the past few years. Most of them were from companies which purchased my name, not companies I buy from.
In an effort to cancel future Sundance catalogs, I went straight to CatChoice, where they informed me this company, which seems to tout it's green cred, doesn't participate. So I figure a little public shaming might help. Sundance! Behave! Be a good corporate citizen and help people to cut down on mailings which you send and they don't want. Duh.
Here are the CatalogChoice instructions:
Sundance Jewelry requires an email from you to opt-out of their mailings. Fill out the form below to create the email message. This will also record your request in My Choices. Alternatively, you can call them at . Or call 800-422-2770
To: Service@sundance.net
Please remove me from your catalog mailing lists. I no longer wish to receive your mailings. Do not rent or sell my name and address to other organizations.
In a typical household, a toilet consumes the most water—roughly 27 percent of the total, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. A dual-flush model cuts that usage by providing full flushes to dispose of solid waste and half-flushes for liquids.
