Jan
30
Story of Stuff
Filed Under Green Living | Leave a Comment
The Story of Stuff is an educational, short (20-minute) video that looks at global production and consumption:
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.
The video was put together by the Tide Foundation and Funders Workshop for Sustainable Production and Consumption. Accompanying the video are links to additional resources and a blog.
Jan
30
Microfiber Mop
Filed Under Cleaning, Home | Leave a Comment
I love finding a new product that simply works brilliantly with little fuss. With three cats in the household, they have become absolute masters at tracking kitty litter throughout the kitchen despite the all the mats in front of the litter boxes (that came with sure claims of trapping the litter). Every morning used to be a chore of sweeping up the litter and then having to mop to clean up the invariable clumps of other unmentionables that managed to find their way out of the boxes as well. Real Simple makes a fantastic mop with microfibers that, unlike traditional mops that simply push debris around, grabs hold of kitty litter while you mop. You can use the mop wet or dry and without chemicals to remove dirt and debris from your floor. The mop is fantastic in the bathroom as well, grabbing hold of hair. When you plunge the mop into a bucket of water, the debris releases from the mop head into the water. Best of all, when you’re done, you can easily pull the mop head off the mop handle and throw it into your washing machine. The head cleans easily in a warm water wash and then can be air dried. The mop heads are easy to attach and detach with a velcro like fastener - no trying to insert a clumsy mop head into metal anchors like a traditional mop. The mop is relatively cheap retails for $14.99 at Target. Additional mop heads are about $6-7 each so you can buy extra to use on your tile and hardwood floors.
- Microfiber Squeeze Mop - from Real Simple Products
Jan
22
Can you tell a fake smile?
Filed Under Science | Leave a Comment
Take the twenty person test offered by BBC. Designed by Professor Paul Ekman, a psychologist at the University of California, this test offers quick videos of various individuals smiling. After ranking your optimisim or pessimism level and a self-assessment of your ability to distinguish between a fake and real smile, you are lead through twenty videos of people smiling. After being allowed to watch each video only once, you then decide whether or not the person is truly smiling. According to the explanation after the test, although difficult to distinguish, fake smiles use different facial muscles than genuine ones. Apparently there’s a coding system called “Facial Action Coding System (FACS)” that allows scientists to determine if a person’s smile is the real McCoy.