A Book Review From My Goodreads

I love to read, but rarely read an actual book, so when I do I like to publicize it. You’re welcome! :P

Water for Elephants

Here is my review of, “Water For Elephants”.

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thought it was a great book. Every time I picked it up I was not disappointed, that was a bonus.

I found the circus and individual characters to be quite interesting. I could have cared more for Jacob and Marlena’s relationship than I did. It was never a great romance. I also thought she wrapped up the ending pretty fast and perfectly, but I don’t mind that part. :)

View all my reviews.

A Day To Shop

It is Friday again and time to look for three fantastical eco/green/recycled gems in this World Wide Web of ours.

The first thing I am going to show you are three different things, but due to their similarities I am going to list them as one gem out of three. They can be purchased on Recycled Planet Store, Inc..

Recycled Maps Frogs made from discarded and misprinted New York City Subway Maps.

My Opinion: Who are you person who created such an awesome thing??? Thank you! :D

Recycled Maps Beads Bracelet made from discarded and misprinted New York City Subway Maps.

My Opinion: Super cute, love the color of the blue beads in the pic.

Recycled Maps Square Beads Necklace made from discarded and misprinted New York City Subway Maps.

My Opinion: Looks art deco, love the squares.

Number Two comes from a cool store , Bibelot. They carry a great line of ecobags made from recycled candy wrappers, recycled plastic bottles, recycled aluminum, recycled Coca Cola cans from Vietnam, and recycled newspapers.

My Opinion: I like anything that’s shiny and good for the world!

Last, but certainly not least is the elephant dung paper product site, Mr. Ellie Pooh. According to their site,

Mr. Ellie Pooh is a new eco-friendly, innovative company that sells 100% handmade journals, stationery, crafts, scrapbook/photo albums and various grades of paper made of 75% elephant dung (Ellie Pooh Paper) from Sri Lanka. Mostly, elephant orphanages supply the our Pooh, while Maximus makes a our exotic paper. Mr. Ellie Pooh distributes throughout the US and Canada.

All of our paper products are 100% recycled, 75% Pooh and 100% fun.

There are no toxic chemicals used in our paper-making process. Only basic bonding agents such as alum and rosin, along with water soluble salt dyes for coloring are used. No bleach. No Acids. As no alkaline or acid solutions are introduced during manufacturing, our handmade papers are of an ideal pH value for photograph preservation.

My Opinion: Why not! I love anything handmade and recycled. :)

OK, that’s all for today.

Charge It!

-Cara

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Reason 35 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

University research asserts that the feeding of approximately 10 million tons of poultry litter to U.S. cattle and other livestock every year is safe. But the mere presence of wasted feed in the mix, which otherwise includes excreta, carcass parts, bedding, and feathers, could include the stray remains of cattle. This would seem to violate the 1997 USDA rule that no cow is to eat the flesh of other cows, instituted to thwart the spread of mad cow disease. Also, poultry litter needs to be properly composted to neutralize microbial toxins–in practice not always done. Furthermore, livestock, so fed, need sufficient time to flush out veterinary medications that might have tainted the litter. Finally, feeding poultry litter to livestock provides one more vector for the spread of bird flu.

What I Did On Tuesday

Marine & I ended up at Madison Square Garden on March 18th, 2008 around noon, to show our respect for Angelica, an elephant abused in Ringling Bros. Circus. It was a press conference for Intro 389 run by The League of Humane Voters and PETA.

If you don’t feel like clicking on the links, here is a sad blurb about some of the abuse that has gone on and why you should call or email your council member and urge him or her to support Intro 389, the bill to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, “A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report revealed that inspectors found large, painful wounds on the legs of baby elephants Doc and Angelica, caused when they were separated from their mothers. In the wild, female elephants remain with their mothers their entire lives and males for up to 15 years, but both of Ringling’s baby elephants were just under 2 years old when torn from their mothers.“

I put together some pictures from the event and put them on my flickr.

Elephants deserve better!

-Cara

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Reason 34 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

The late parent advisor Dr. Benjamin Spock maintained that cows’ milk “causes internal blood loss, allergies, and indigestion and contributes to some cases of childhood diabetes.” In the last edition of his famous baby book he recommended, essentially, that children adhere to a vegan diet after the age of two. But he did not recommend dairy milk for babies either. According to renowned nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell, “Cows’-milk protein may be the single most significant chemical carcinogen to which humans are exposed.”