Vac from the Sea

Three cheers for the "Vac from the Sea!"  

Electrolux is going to create a vacuum cleaner that is made from plastic scooped out of the ocean! Thank you Electrolux for bringing attention to the issue of plastic pollution in the oceans. I only wish I could own my very own recycled plastic vacuum cleaner!

Facing reality

I just saw this photo online and my stomach dropped. OH MY GOODNESS!!! This is a loon in case you can't tell from all the gobs of oil. He apparently drowned shortly after this photo was taken.

This is awful and the worst part is that nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. We're just pointing fingers and playing the blame game. What is wrong with us? How could we have created something so horrendous? It's just sick. It seems to me like people used to talk about the potential hazards of our non-sustainable way of life and warn that "someday we're going to start seeing enormous environmental disasters if we continue to live like we do." Well, things have been going downhill for a while now. Giant pieces of the ice caps have been crumbling away and melting into the ocean. Polar bears are drowning. AND NOW THIS! We screwed up big time. We screwed ourselves.

I'm not about to blame anyone else either. I am just another person who is living in their happy little oblivious bubble, totally detached from the reality of it all. It's so easy to ignore. We have made it so easy. I really feel like I need to try and make a change though. I'm starting by avoiding that all-to-convenient BP on my drive home from work every night. NO MORE BP.

I can already hear you saying, "That's totally lame Kate, you think this is all BP's fault?!? I know, I hear you -  so I am also going to try to start riding my bike to work. I'm hoping that everything works out. I used to ride to work in high school and I went over my handle bars twice and once ran into the side of a minivan. I'm going to pick out a new helmet today or tomorrow :) No more excuses though - It's really not that big of a deal! This tiny little sacrifice is NOTHING compared to the loss and destruction on the Gulf Coasts. There are so many reasons to bike instead of drive, and I'm not going to ignore them anymore.

I can totally do this...well, at least until November...

Stealing Ideas from Etsy...

I have found my next projects. I am posting this so that I actually do them. Part of me feels a tad guilty about stealing other peoples creative ideas instead of purchasing their original creations and supporting a fellow artist... but only a tad guilty. Making it yourself is so much for fun, plus way cheaper.

Love this leather leaf necklace. Seriously, how hard can this be?


Kind of like the scarfy necklace, but a little less scarfy and a lot more necklace. Something about cutting up and reusing old t-shirts is just so satisfying.

This one is not actually an idea I stole from Etsy. While at a friend's cabin a few weeks ago, I discovered the unbelievable cozyness of fur. Faux fur actually. I couldn't possibly sleep under a blanket of real fur. The idea of using a poor dead animals skin for warmth sort of sickens me. I don't really even like the way fur looks. It's all hairy and dead looking.

Despite my aversion to fur, however, my experience sleeping under one of my friend's faux fur throws was one of the most comfortable sleeping experiences of my life. The experience has since motivated me to create my own extremely cozy faux-fur hibernation blanket. I will probably line one side with fleece or something else, otherwise I can see myself getting freaked out by the pile of fur on the couch. I have been somewhat converted to fur though (for blankets at least), and let me tell you, once you experience it, you probably will be too ;)


I leave you with one final warning though ... be careful where you get your "faux fur" from...

"We're here. We're weird. Deal with it."

This is a totally eye-opening and fascinating look into the world of autism. I am doing research on autism for a special needs class that I am taking as part of my master's program. I recently stumbled on this article from Wired and I can't stop thinking about it. I think everyone should see this. It will change how you think about people with autism, and hopefully how you treat them.

The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know


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