A Girl's Gotta Knit

A blog about opening A Swell Yarn Shop, knitting and the rest of the stuff that makes life fun :)

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Ignorance is bliss...


It all started with a very casual converstation with a friend about plastic and do we really know if it's safe. All I was thinking was, "idunno!" Then she went on to say...'like when you microwave it, there's gotta be some chemicals coming out of it and getting on the food'. My thought was then, "Oh my gosh, you think so?" And I could have left it as the casual conversation it was, but the wonder about the chemicals stayed with me. So I started using glass containers a little more, until I could read a little about it.
So I read a little more about it, which lead to learning that we have amazingly dangerous chemicals right under our sinks! "THAT'S JUST GREAT!!!" I thought, and made some natural household cleaners (some of which were part of the Christmas presents I made this year)
That casual conversation lead to a string of changes and more learning.
HOLEY CRAP...the food we put in our bodies!!! The destruction of the enviroment!!! The landfills over-flowing!!! UUUuugh!!!
I know I have only begun to scratch the surface, and that's what scares me!!!! And it's too late to go back to ignorance...there is ABSOLUTELY no way you will get me to eat the meat from a chain grocery store now!!!! I can't bare to put anything in the garbage can that will end up in a landfill. And now I have to think of a safe way to dispose of all those cleaning chemicals under our sink, because now I can't bring myself to pour them down the drain.
Since I can't go back to not knowing, I must go foward (but I might stop reading about this stuff for a while)... our garden is getting planned, I am learning how to can fruits and vegetables, I have begun researching food dehydrators and decided on this one. I have also started looking into purchasing direct from a local farmer for our meat and eggs and I have Red Wiggler Worms on their way here for our compost bin.
The moral of the story
What you don't know CAN kill you...
or at least give you unexplained allergies, cause cancer, destroy our enviroment, kill off species of animals, etc......

7 Comments:

At 12:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

LOL - I wonder if anyone else started singing, "Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of worms" from WKRP in Cincinnati?

 
At 1:28 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Let me know how you dehydrating works out. I think I have the same dehydrator in your picture and its iffy at best for me. I would love to figure out how to make 'fruit snacks' for the kids.

 
At 3:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I dehydrate Asian pears from my orchard every Sept. Bananas all year around and other stuff if I think about it and I also have a garden and can beans and beets and make a trip to Wenatchee for peaches in July. Sometimes I have extra bartlett pears so I will keep you in mind for that. DO NOT dry onions in the house!!!!don't ask...... just down the street
1needler Sylvia

 
At 5:37 PM, Blogger Abi said...

That's pretty much what has happened to me, too... Once you open that can of worms, everything goes topsy-turvy! I even started down the "what kinds of toxic chemicals are put into the environment to make/dye the yarns I love" path, which really scared me...

Good luck!

 
At 8:07 PM, Blogger Paula said...

There's a great episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown dehydrates fruits using box fans and air filters. Talk about eco-friendly! (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37444,00.html)
We've been using glass storage containers for a while after Barry listened to an NPR story. I'm also not allowed to have plug-in air fresheners. Grrr!
-Paula

 
At 1:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had the same epiphany recently. Isn't it amazing what we can clean with white vinegar? And the compost really will be beneficial for our tomatoes this year! Have you read Michael Pollens' Omnivore's Dilemma or Botany of Desire? Good info on foods. Yarns look beautiful as usual! Tricia

 
At 8:43 PM, Blogger Marigold said...

most cities or counties have a Hazardous (Household) Waste disposal policy. If you call up the local sanitation dept, they should be able to tell you where to take your household chemicals to have them safely taken care of.

 

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