Hidden Magnolias

During our quarantine time, I have been reading various sustainability sites and blogs. And I am profoundly disappointed. I am not going to name the sites because I don't like to publicly humiliate people -- there is enough of that in the news. But here is one. Shopping with a picnic or other basket A particularly delightful blogger uses a picnic basket when she goes to the farmer's market. It looks cute and does reduce the waste of putting things in plastic bags or paper sacks. And is a great idea. So what is my beef? She directs people to an Etsy store, where they are some beautiful hand made baskets you can buy. BUY???? Why buy? Yard sales, garage sales, jumble sales, and thrift stores are full of these things. The baskets on Etsy don't say anything about being made from recycling materials or anything, in fact they look brand new. Yes, it is reusable. Yes, it does cut down on waste. Yes, it is cute and trendy. Yes, it is handy. But a trul...

Just read an article about iconic brands closing. You can read it here. What I thought was very interesting is the H&M is closing some stores in the USA. I was happy when I read that sentence because they are one of the worse pushers of "Fast Fashion."  (Read the book,  Overdressed  to learn more.) Image: Hypebae I was happy, I was dancing. But then....I stopped in my tracks when I read this sentence: "However, while they are booming, the H&M’s in the U.S. are showing slower growth and they plan to close 160 stores. The good news is they’re planning to open more stores in other parts of the world." They are going top open more stores in countries whose consumers  are not conscientious  as those in the USA. More and more we are saying NO! to fast fashion.  But many other countries are not.  Two  brands reducing their stores: Charlotte Russe "Since 1975, the Californian-based retail chain, Charlotte Russe has been the ul...

I am constantly bewildered by the enormous amount of things out there for me to buy to help with sustainable living. It has almost become a huge Industry by itself -- t he prices are outrageous!  Let's look. One website offers an on-the-go reusables kit for $114.99. Now I like all this stuff, it looks good and is very cool. BUT..... https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/bundles/products/on-the-go-reusables-kit?variant=30683874164834 Why not use what you have instead of buying this kit? Start with the utensils. Just pull out of set of stainless steel you already have in your kitchen drawer. OR buy a set from a thrift store or yard sale if you don't want to use what you have at home? Pennies on the Dollar. You can make or have a chum make you the carrying case with left over fabric from a shirt/top/skirt/pants that you are throwing away or from a scrap of cute fabric you can find at yard sales. Another things that had me scratching my head is the silico...