earth day

april 22 was the fortieth anniversary of earth day. earth day was instituted to promote ecology. this is a lofty ideal, but i when i think of earth day i think that it should be honoring world peace as well as the ecological factor. we don't want to ruin the planet by not recycling , pollution, smoking , etc, and we don't want to ruin the world with an atom bomb or scud missiles.

promoting ecology without mentioning world peace for earth day is akin to just blaming tsnius issues for the delay of mashiach but avoiding the fact that we are in galus due to sinas chinum.

its not easy being green....

i would categorize myself as a rational ecologist i dont like being wasteful , but i try not to be ocd about it. i reuse plastic grocery bags, use public transportation, but i do flush my toilet. ive read that some people dont flush their toilets for number one just so they can save water. i dont care about saving water THAT much.

i dont know or care whether or not there is global warming. i do think that its best to use cleaning products with the least toxic ingredients. in the past ive felt like i was being asphyxiated while cleaning my bathroom. the cleaning fluids smelled that lethal.

i eat meat, but i try not to waste meat or chicken that i have prepared. if i cant eat it all up at one meal i freeze it for later.

i donate my old clothing to charity or thrift shops. i often read library books and donate any books i have bought and no longer desire.

i recently bought a seltzer maker so i dont have to buy bottled seltzer. the machine comes with durable plastic bottles and is cheaper than buying seltzer. it also reduces alot of schlepping of seltzer bottles. i know that straight water is the best thirst quencher , but sometimes i need another taste. by having a seltzer maker there are less bottles to recycle.

i went to an eco-fest near grand central station in nyc around earth day. they had alot of interesting innovations. they showed how you could make bottle caps into magnets , wine corks into trivets and magazine paper into stationary. beside not being wasteful, it can help one become frugal.

im including a photo of a woman at the eco-fest who dressed up as mother earth.

december in nyc

one of my favorite pastimes is frequenting the holiday markets in nyc. now there are at least four locations where red and white booths are set up filled with many crafts and fun gift items. bryant park, columbus circle ,union square and grand central ( the only one that is indoors) . though some vendors frequent several of the markets, each location is unique and has its own aura.
though none of the markets are as cheap as amazing savings, there are some reasonably priced items to be found. the grand central holiday market is the most upscale, the other three are less so.
one of my favorite jewelry booths at union square is 3 fish. liat baum , the designer has some really funky and fun jewelry. semi-precious stones and sterling silver jewelry. im not sure how long this designer has been in business, but i do remember her booth at the 42nd street craft market years ago.
another favorite booth at union square and( once i saw them at columbus circle)is litchi accessories. they have an incredible variety of israeli jewlery. their specialty is israeli opal and israeli moonstone jewelry. they can be slightly pricey, although there is a range , and some stuff is reasonable. its fun just to check out the jewelry. its truly beautiful.
2 angels is another booth at union square with great stuff and a variety of prices. they also have a store on 67th street on the east side in manhattan.
alexia crawford and nemesis jewelry both started out at the holiday markets and the 42nd street craft market. together , alexia crawford and nemesis hit it big with laila rowe. when they were only doing the holiday markets and the craft market on 42nd street they had silver jewelry and semi-precious stones. nemesis had the most exquisite pendants .now laila rowe is mostly costume jewelry. though i miss their old inventory, i think its incredible that they hit it big with laila rowe.
the jewelry found in these markets are better than anything i might find at a department store, and many are whooping it up in these craft fairs right before they make it big and get their own store.
years ago there was an incredible booth at union square that sold handmade wooden clocks. they were alot of fun. unfortunately the woman who made them isnt there anymore. there is another booth that makes handmade wooden clocks and travel alarm clocks called pink cloud. this booth is in bryant park this year.
framed memories is a vendor at bryant park that has the most unusual picture frames. they feature action figures on the frame . some frames have action figures who look like they are viewing the picture in the frame. there is a frame with a flasher facing the frame. there are lots of romantic frames as well. a just married couple on the frame, a proposing couple on a frame, and a couple on a bridge. there is an adorable bud vase that looks like a glass tube left over from chemistry class with a cute couple on either side .
this year there is a booth at union square that sells solar powered flashlights and cell phone chargers as well as crank flashlights and radios. these are amazing items. no need to buy batteries. i remember the blackout in new york a few years ago. its nice to be prepared.
our name is mud usually has a booth at all of the markets. they have alot of jewish themed gifts , like latke platters and even matza platters.
hands for peace t-shirts that feature the hamsah are back at union square . they are quite unique. if the vendors know you are jewish they will show you the cool hebrew phrases and jewish symbolism in their t-shirts.
there are many more cool booths to check out at these markets, ill let you know when ive checked them out.
its especially fun going to these holiday markets as a jewish person. im mostly buying gifts for myself, or for others for the rest of the year. i do buy a few Hanukkah gifts, as well as holiday gifts for co-workers, but for the most part its just a time to enjoy looking at unique gifts and chatting with alot of fun and creative people.

summer apples

at the risk of making myself sound like i originate from the backwoods, i will share this memory...
when i was small my family had an apple tree in our back yard. it was really cool being able to just pick an apple off the tree and just eat it. my mom didnt even make us wash them before eating.
the apples on our apple tree were of the green variety. until this week i hadnt had an apple like the apples from that apple tree since i was eight years old. yesterday, at the union square green market i purchased green apples marked "summer apples" which tasted just like the apples we had on our tree. it was an amazing experience. munching on that crispy apple transported me to that space in time.

buzz.. buzz...

today i was flipping through people magazine ( my most reliable news source!) and i noticed an article about possible bee extinction. apparently , over the past 25 years there has been an over 50% decline in the bee population. this of course is a bad thing because one in three bites of food relies upon the pollination of bees.
normally i wouldnt pay any mind to such an article , but today i did. recently i had the pleasure of viewing jerry seinfeld's bee movie, which dealt with this very issue. if bees do not make honey or pollinate their up to 30% of this nation's food supply, we may not have berries , nuts or watermelons and much, much more.
researchers think that this decline in bees may be due to pollution or parasites. what do these bees know that we as people dont? why dont they want to stick around?
if one little bee can effect the world so deeply, imagine how each person effects the world.
and of course watch the bee movie. after tisha b'av. its cute and apparently more educational than i ever imagined!

union square green market

one of my favorite pastimes is shopping at the farmer's market in union square.the produce during the summer and fall months are superb. so fresh.... so delicious.
i bought peaches there just yesterday. the fuzz on the peaches still feel fuzzy. and they tasted so sweet. the kirby cucumbers still feel prickly.
i bought kohlrabi there as well. kohlrabi is a vegetable that looks like a light green turnip that is in the broccoli family. it can be eaten steamed or raw. one of the farmers recommended grating the kohlrabi and putting it in cole slaw or grating it and adding grated apple and lemon juice . i tried the second option with the grated apple and lemon juice and added a little splenda. i also grated an onion and added it to the mix. it was quite tasty.
part of the fun of going to the farmer's market is being able to ask the farmers how to prepare unusual veggies and to learn how to pick out the best vegetables.
there is something about buying something that a farmer said he picked "just this morning" or "yesterday".
one interesting vendor at the union square green market is shushan farms which grows hydrophobic tomatos. they tast amazing and make me think of purim at the same time!!!
i would say that i feel like im communing with nature when i go to the farmer's market, but it would sound ridiculous. its in the middle of the concrete jungle of union square.
it is neat to meet the farmers who grow the produce. they are all so nice. i like supporting local farms. and the prices arent half bad either. if you go around 5pm they have specials.
i like the fact that the green market produce is so fresh. i also love the recipes they provide.
i bought garlic at the green market. it cooked so easily . it was sooo fresh. id never seen garlic so fresh.
forget the ecology propaganda. go to the green market for the experience. you wont regret it.

mosquito bait

i must be the only one in the world who gets mosquito bites in this kind of weather. if i would have thought i was going to get bitten i would have put on some mosquito repellent. i found this really great mosquito repellent at an eco-fest last october. there is something called body guard by this company named sound earth that has this natural mosquito repellent. its the only thing ive found that works. its made out of some sort of citronella blend. it has a strong smell, but not bad . when ive worn it people just ask me what perfume im wearing, so it cant smell that bad. either that or they want to know what scent not to wear. either way, it works and its not toxic like other insect repellents , so im going to use it. http://www.soundearth.com/

trader joe's

one of my favorite places to shop is trader joe's in union square. they have an awsome variety of kosher cereal, some that are even their own brand. they also have these very unique totally parve rice and seaweed crackers that taste like sushi. their frozen latkes are tops. they also have a unique variety of kosher cookies and candy. since the store is near nyu , alot of students who appear to be from out town work there. the employees wear these funky hawaiian shirts. the lines are always way long, but to me it adds to the experience. as long as the line is, it tends to move pretty quickly and its very organized. and since generally im not a fan of long lines and crowds, it says alot. the other great thing about trader joe's is that you can purchase all these "exotic" foods for a very reasonable price.

another cool thing about trader joe's is that they incorporate caring for the environment in to their business practices without making it preachy. for example: if you bring your own tote bag for your groceries instead of using their bags, they give you a raffle ticket for the next week and you are entered for a drawing for a bag of groceries . i think this is an ingenius ploy on their part. they make being ecological fun!! they save money on bags as well as saving the evironment!! i think its so cool how they just sneak it in. if other stores did this i think it would really cut down on consumer waste. hooray for trader joe's!!!