Where Have I Been?

I decided to get a full time job and such, but only if it was for something, meant something. That way I have money of my own and do good, a win-win situation.  I am blessed to have insurance, so I have a luxury that most do not, to work basically wherever I want. Shout out to 30 Rock, you know who you are. :]

Anyway, I applied to the ASPCA and ACORN. I found both on Idealist. I knew all about the ASPCA, as my pets’ veterinarian is at Bergh Memorial. ACORN, I didn’t know much about. I remember when I was younger, working at Whole Foods in Chicago, a bunch of people wearing red shirts with ACORN signs and voices filled up the parking lot. They were protesting that Whole Foods needed to join the union and they were super serious about it. They were cool, you know after we blocked the door to the store and said they had to walk through us to get in…then people ended up talking, etc., etc. The thing is back then Whole Foods was not a publicly traded company, so it was cool, none of us ever thought we needed a union, we made bank, awesome benefits, you don’t know. We kids were living the high life. I know some people who still work there or did not too long ago and man they hate it now. I think a lot of Whole Foods employees may think differently now then back when it was about something. I won’t go on, but feel free to learn more here.

The point is I am way behind on my writing after starting the job at ACORN last Monday and having a life that needs to be handled. That is what has been up. I do recognize that I need to do this and not fall behind. Like I said from the beginning, this time I am serious. :]

You’ll see…

-Cara

A Little Self Promotion Never Hurt

With that said…

The Day After An Inconvenient Truth via e-mail, a gift from me to you.

You’re Welcome. :]

-Cara

Not So Green Sins

Since Friday was my 100th post, we missed the weekly shopping entry, so thank you Monday, for picking up Friday’s slack.

Sometimes I commit sins against green. It is true I still sin. One example of said sinning is my desire to dry the counters with clean, pristine, white, recycled [:)] paper towels. I have a sponge for the counters, but it always seems to get dirty so fast, that I can’t bear to “clean” anything with it. Thus, the paper towel dilemma.

I decided to research this issue of mine and find a solution. Here is what I will try, the European Sponge Cloth. I think it might be a winner. I will let you know, and if anyone reading this has tried it, please review as I am curious.

Second sin…composting. I’ve done tons of research on composting…for whatever reasons, I will not get into now. Nevertheless, with all I know of what makes what type of compost, and what to do to keep out the bugs, how to make it not smell, plenty of room on my fire escape, food byproducts everyday, plants that need to be re-potted and fed…I still don’t compost. What I will do is buy these BioBags [100% biodegradable and 100% compostable bags and films made from the material, Mater-Bi. All of our products contain GMO free starch, biodegradable polymer and other renewable resources. No polyethylene is used in the production process. BioBag products meet ASTM D6400 specifications and California SB 1749 requirements.] and line this old wooden wine box

and compost away. Again, I’ll let you know…

And last but not least, to begin to make up for all the paper and whatever else I have done, I will give to The Arbor Day Foundation’s, Rain Forest Rescue Program.

I like having “to-do” lists.

-Cara

—————————————————

Reason 66 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:
The meat industry doesn’t treat the causes of its problems, only the symptoms. When it imprisons massive numbers of animals in cramped stress-inducing cages, it provides the perfect breeding ground for deadly bacteria, which later infect the meat. Technologies to kill meat pathogens are now very big business. We have acidic-solution carcass misting, alkaline-solution sprays, steam/vacuum technology, high-temperature carcass washes, steam pasteurization, and chlorine applications, etc., ad nauseam. Some bug-fighting methods, such as food irradiation and sprays of antidotal viruses and probiotic bacteria, pose risks in themselves. And in the end, the meat still isn’t safe

100th Post

Today is the 100 post and day of The Day After An Inconvenient Truth. I would like to take a moment to list 10 things I have learned in these 100 days.

One – Writing every day makes you smarter.

Two – Because you say you are green, doesn’t mean you are.

Three – Every time I think there is nothing to write about, there is.

Four – Corporations have more rights than people. They are allowed to kill without repercussions in more cases then you may think.

Five – The truth is out there, you just must search through everything to find it.

Six – More people care about the world out there than you think. Mass media does not want you to realize this, and revolt against the obscenely rich who control the mass media. The people who use the world to become richer at the expense of the world.

Seven – I don’t need or miss TV.

Eight – Globally, human rights are being violated every day and it is not discussed in America on a level that will change things that can be changed. We must question why.

Nine – A majority of people do not think beyond what they are told. In many cases when you point this out to them through love, they begin to deprogram themselves.

Ten – One person can make a difference.

Much love.

-Cara

—————————————————

Reason 63 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Fifty-two billion pounds of inedible byproduct (bones, fats, unusable hides, and cartilage) from America’s meat and poultry slaughterhouses is each year transmogrified by “renderers” into saleable adhesives, lubricants, chemicals, cosmetics, and processed food ingredients–a grisly but profitable side business of the flesh trade. This amount, however, does not include the 6 billion pounds of dead stock that accumulate on U.S. feedlots. It must also be dealt with. Unfortunately, only half of it is rendered and therefore processed safely. If buried, dead stock attracts vermin, leaches nitrogen and methane into the environment, and poisons the groundwater. If burned–usually the case when mortalities are catastrophic due to weather events or disease outbreaks–pyres will poison the air with dioxin. If composted, the process is often poorly managed, failing to adequately promote full decomposition and allowing vermin to carry disease off site.

My Official Site

Today on April 10th, 2008, I welcome the Official Web Site of Me, CaraReynolds.com into the world. Firstly, I would like to thank Marine Boudeau for all the work and time she put into creating this fantastical place and making it more than I ever expected. It has been a long journey, but we did it!

What is CaraReynolds.com all about you may be wondering? It is about me wanting to have a space for my photography that goes beyond Flickr, a place that not only showcases my photos, but my life as well. I think this site turned out amazing. It is as I say ALL the time, AWESOME!

So, sit back and enjoy the show… and remember, just like me, CaraReynolds.com will continually evolve, so come back sometime and see me again.

– Cara

——————————————————-

Reason 55 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Between 1980 and 2004, meat production in the developing world tripled, today amounting to well over half of the world’s output. Dense concentrations of corralled industrial livestock, which create vast quantities of manure, now skirt the edges of major cities in Asia and Latin America, causing severe environmental damages.