Not a CTWW Post – 18th Dec

This was me yesterday

OMG, now it’s Thursday.

I had so much on yesterday. Read Not a Damned Thing and you’ll see why.

I didn’t even get the dishes done! Oh, wait, that’s normal.

The plants only got watered because it rained overnight.

I got some blogging done, mostly minimal posts with a single, but pertinent, image. By the time it got to 11pm, I ran out of steam. I typed in the title, and stared at a blank screen for several distraught moments and decided the best place was bed; as I wasn’t in bed, I rectified the situation.

Do you ever have those days?

So, what does one do on a CTWW, that’s not a CTWW on a Wednesday,  but a Thursday?

Does it even qualify?

We are all gearing up for the Silly Season, heck it’s only a week away, and I haven’t been near a shop. I don’t intend to go near a shop until after New Year.

My thoughts are on how we can recycle for Christmas.

I saw this lovely image that represents recycling, so a quick plug for the site from which it was purloined.

If you are lucky enough to live near Buxton Market Place they may be doing the same thing as last year, check the link, and offering to accept your unwanted presents in return for something you want.

A Bit of History

Many people are under the impression that it was Coca Cola who turned Santa Claus red. Certainly from the 1930s Coca Cola has capitalised on a red Santa as it suits their corporate colours.

But Santa was based on Saint Nicholas of Myra, Turkey, who was a bishop in the 3rd century. The red and white comes from the colour of the bishop’s robes.

My Not a CTWW challenge this week, is to avoid any product that uses a commercialised form of Santa Claus. Now in today’s commercialised world that is a hard one.

Leave a comment tell me the about what you hate about the commercialisation of  Christmas, or the worst advertising you’ve seen.

Mine, here in Brazil, is a TV ad that implies, in fact brainwashes you into thinking that only Coca Cola can bring you happiness and joy. Every time I see that ad I want to puke.

Oh, and Christmas carols in shops and stores…

Don’t get me started.

 

Change the World Wednesday – 20th Feb

Passionfruit juice, although I usually skip the decanter and serve straight from the blender, the advantage of living alone – image: Green Kitchen Stories

The year is marching on. It does so relentlessly.

The house has returned to normal, the dishes done after three attempts to clear the bench. BBQs do seem to make more than their share of dishes.

My passionfruit vines have produced more fruit. Tons of flowers, but so many failed to be pollinated. But there will be enough for a couple of big juices (2x ingredients- juice & sugar; does ice count as an ingredient?).

So, I had a good fridge clean out.

I must thank Small Footprints for the Monday Moaning post that got selected for mention-in-despatches last week, very much appreciated.

Click for the full post

On with this week’s challenge.

This week, buy only foods with 6 or fewer ingredients. Here’s a tip … shop the perimeter of the store rather than the center isles … you’ll find more options. Want to kick this challenge up even further? Be sure that high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils aren’t in the food you choose … they are really “bad for you” substances. And if you have access to the information, choose non-GMO foods.

I rarely buy prepared foods, sometimes a bottle of ketchup or my beloved Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce, which certainly have more than six ingredients. I have been known to slip the odd frozen lasagne in for the freezer. I like to have one on hand to heat in the oven if I arrive home late from work; who wants to begin cooking at 9pm?

I mainly buy meat, fish, etc and veges and cook them at home in preference to ready made stuff.

I don’t use cooking oil, rather I use banha (lard) and I prefer butter to margarine, although I have both in the house; the latter for convenience is used rarely.

HFCS and GMOs are on mylist of pet hates. It goes without saying that I have no ‘diet’, ‘light’, or ‘low cholesterol’ things in my house, therefore there is no aspartame either. I have in the past bought syrups to make cordial, but I have stopped that, because they have HFCS. The only drink that I buy now is agua com gas (sparkling mineral water). I refuse to buy water without gas, because that is ‘free’ from the tap in the kitchen via the freezer. So drinks like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, etc are also a no-no for me.

I am sure beer has more than six ingredients, but asking to give that up for an entire week would be like purgatory, and I’ve been a good boy, mostly.

Besides the weather here has been so hot and we’ve had no rain for more than a month.

So this challenge is not so much a challenge to me, more like my regular shopping.

Blogging right along, I’ll see you next week.

Retro

Remember when we could tell lies…

Monday Moaning

Greenwashing

Look, no paint!

I have written on this before, but that blog disappeared. But the latest move by Coca-Cola to ‘greenwash’ its product is a farce.

A can without paint.

How lame is that?

Of course the move is hailed as going green. But going green has nothing to do with it. Just think of the money the company will save, just think about the increase in profits, just think will that saving be passed on to the consumer?

Like shit it will!

Until they fix the problems INSIDE the can there is no way Coca-Cola can be considered ‘green,’ it will always be RED!

:: 1 – Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a product that is used to line metal (inc Aluminium) cans to prevent spoilage; that is among many other things like baby bottles, baby food cans, etc.

Coca-Cola has not denied when asked by Environment Working Group (EWG) in 2009, in fact they said nothing. Read the report.

:: 2 – The use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in place of sugar. Read the Accidental Hedonist about Why Coke uses High Fructose Corn Syrup. Here’s an extract:

“Some quick numbers, on why Coke would use HFCS over sugar.

Annual US Per capita consumption of Coke in servings: 411

People in the United States: 297,890,000

Servings of Coke in the US, per year: 122,432,790,000

How much a 5 cent cost increase in sweetner, per serving, would affect the bottom line of Coca Cola: $6,121,639,500″

That’s BILLIONS!

Then there’s this from Wikipedia: “The highly processed substance is more harmful to humans than regular sugar, contributing to weight gain by affecting normal appetite functions, and that in some foods HFCS may be a source of mercury, a known neurotoxin.”

Aspartame, a product initially used in chemical warfare

:: 3 – Coca-Cola Diet and Coca-Cola Zero, this is just wonderful, they is sweetened with aspartame, now recognised as a neurotoxin.

Check this quote: “During the Gulf War (not Iraq), ten thousand soldiers were victims of poisoning by Coca-Cola light. A Coca-Cola light é adoçada com aspartame. The Diet Coke is sweetened with aspartame. Durante os combates, os paletes com as latas ficavam expostas ao sol muito quente nessa região. During the fighting, the pallets with the cans were exposed to very hot sun in this region.

A partir de From 33°C 33 ° C , o aspartame se transforma em metanol (álcool metílico), muito tóxico, que, depois, se reduz a formaldeído (formol), ainda mais tóxico. , Aspartame turns into methanol (methyl alcohol), very toxic, which then reduces to formaldehyde (formalin), even more toxic. E o que acontece no estomago a 37° C? And what happens in the stomach at 37 ° C?

Aspartame was invented by Monsanto during chemical warfare.”

Chemical warfare, now isn’t that just ducky?

With global warming many other areas of the world are being exposed to high temperatures, doesn’t this ring alarm bells?

It doesn’t matter if the can has freakin’ polka dots, it’ll NEVER be green until these issues are addressed.

In the meantime, just keep feeding it to the kids so that Coca-Cola can continue to make a profit.

Greenwashing, Bah humbug!