bossymarmalade | but their concerns were dismissed as "depressing"

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but their concerns were dismissed as "depressing"

It's Valentine's Day! That means it's the last day for

14valentines, and that means I get to talk about something that's been big in the news lately: the environment.

Now, most of you are of the same generation as I am, which means we grew up celebrating Earth Day and learning to recycle and stuff like that. Which is great, but there's so much more to be done.

Sustainability is a cause I believe strongly in, but I have to admit that in some ways it's just too expensive for us average people to invest in. I certainly don't have the money for a hybrid car or the willpower to give up meat or anything like that, but at the same time it frightens me horribly that the place where I grew up (along with some forty-odd low-lying island states worldwide) is in danger of drowning in the next thirty years due to the melting icecaps. I don't want to have a hand in sinking islands, jesus.

Everyone has their own routine of stuff that they do to be environmentally conscious. Here are a few of my tips, because I find them painless to do and the best place to start is to do something painless. As an added bonus, all of these tips will *save* you money, which is why I was raised to follow most of them to begin with! And if any of you have money-saving green tips, please share them in the comments.

- turn off the lights when you leave a room; set your computer to hibernate
- wash clothes in cold water; hang them to dry when possible
- re-use/re-purpose whenever possible (ziploc bags, grocery & produce bags, fast-food napkins [i keep excess takeout napkins in the car])
- try going shampoo-free or using natural cleaners
- run the dishwasher only when it's full; try to cook multiple things if you use the oven
- buy produce from a local farmer's market/stand (it will be fresher, often cheaper, and will have traveled less to get to you)
- scale back on the following: red meat, excess packaging, heating & air conditioning
- recycle everything you can! IKEA will take depleted batteries; Office Max will take used printer cartridges; charities will take broken electronics, old clothes & magazines & videos, and whatever else
- and I can't stress this one enough: AVOID BOTTLED WATER. I understand if your municipal water happens to be unsafe; what I'm talking about is if you live somewhere that the water's good (which, let's put it in context, is most of the developed world) and you still insist on buying bottles of Dasani. What you are doing is paying an exorbitant amount for a BASIC HUMAN NECESSITY, which signals to corporations that they are completely within their rights to place this market value on water and charge impoverished people for water security. People, I'm not just harping on this bottled water thing because I dislike Coca-Cola's politics; there are serious consequences for us 'First-Worlders' monetarily and the rest of the world resource-wise and survival-wise if we continue turning something as elemental as water into a fucking designer accessory. If you absolutely cannot live without bottled water, at least consider buying the generic grocery brand. It'll taste pretty much the same (since after all bottled water is drawn from your municipal source) and it'll save you some change.

Whew! And now that I've flipped my shit over bottled water and its EVILS, here's some music!

Please right-click-download if you're taking any of them, danke!

madeleine peyroux - between the bars: this is a cover of an elliot smith song, but her version is cabaret-smoke and regret

madonna - thunderpuss megamix: excellent stuff! all of madge's 'ray of light' era goodness

malvina reynolds - little boxes: a little odd, a little quirky, and a lot anti-conformist

mariah carey - shake it off: i never cared for mariah, but once mimi came around i was HOOKED

mary j blige & u2 - one: my favourite u2 song of all time, done in classic diva style

melanie - brand new key: oh, so cute!

milla jovovitch - gentleman who fell: this song, like the songstress, is unexpectedly endearing and wholly enchanting

mindy smith - jolene: a straight-up, wonderful cover of the dolly parton original

miriam makeba - pata pata: this song about a South African dance craze just *embodies* joy!

miss kitten - rippin kittin: a dance track about a serial killer. or something. good, though.

mitsou - bye bye mon cowboy: canadians who understand all the references in the barenaked ladies "grade 9" are really the only ones who remember mitsou shooting us with her toy guns

monsoon wedding - mendhi/madhorama pencha: the song that the women sing during the mendhi, the Fair One with skin like butter...

nelly furtado - powerless (josh remix): this was an okay song, but is *infinitely* better with a bhangra backbeat

nena - 99 luftballons: it's a great anti-war song, but sadly all I can think of is German backpackers forcing Homer to sing it and dance. hee!

nina gordon - straight outta compton: she of the sweetest, girliest voice threatening to act the motherfuckin' fool! genius.

nina simone - sinnerman: oh, glory glory, crashing gospel redemption the way only nina could do it

patsy cline - she's got you: so sad! you'll get someone better, patsy!

peaches - rock show: it's not 'fuck the pain away', but it's the kind of song that makes you want to drive faster

peggy lee - it's been a long long time: lazy mornings, fluffy hair, a woman who knows who she is. what could be sexier?

pj harvey & bjork - satisfaction: cover of the Stones song, and unbelievably cool and awesome when these two do it

respect & hannah jones - i am what i am: made an anthem by drag queens & kings everywhere!

salma hayek - quedate aqui: just salma and a few incidental shakes of guitar-strum

salt 'n pepa - push it: dear lord, was there anybody as cool as they were?

sarah mclachlan - dear god: cover of the xtc song; really, I should've put up something from "Solace" b/c that's where I remember her best, but this is damn good too

shakira & wyclef jean - hips don't lie (fifa remix): the version for the World Cup!! GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

sheila chandra - standing stones: some of you may recognize this from the US QAF; the rest of you will thrill at the sound of bhajan Hindi and church Latin in the same song

sinead o'connor - daddy i'm fine: omg, y'all, I cannot even BEGIN to express how much i love this song right now. it's just so badass and gleeful and triumphant and proud, and all things wonderful!

spice girls - wannabe: there is no better song to imitate Posh's patented 'pointing dance' to!

suzanne vega - blood makes noise: was this a song about AIDS, or do i just think that b/c they used it while Ballard was getting a blood test on Homicide: Life on the Street? oh well.

tammy wynette - stand by your man: take the message with a generous sense of irony; take the tune to karaoke and be a STAR!!

the chiffons - one fine day: awwww, old-skool girl groups. so sweet, and yet so sort of ... unbalanced.

the colour purple - god is trying to tell you something: this is the kind of gospel music that really makes you feel blessed, hallowed, filled with the Spirit. marvelous stuff.

the harvey girls - white wedding: yes, a cover of the billy idol song. DOWNLOAD IT

the last unicorn - now that i'm a woman: i think this is the version sung by the professional, not mia farrow. you're welcome.

the little mermaid - part of your world: did you used to sing impassioned renditions of this song in your shower? i know i did!!

the pointer sisters - fire: slinky, smooth, insinuating

the roots & erykah badu - you got me: combined laid-back grassy funk

the shirelles - dedicated to the one i love: more along the old-skool girl-group genre

the simpsons - we put the spring: hey, if the pussycat dolls count as legitimate music, surely the women of the maison derriere do as well!

the waifs - bridal train: haunting and so sad; it's about the war brides in australia, leaving their homes.

tlc - no scrubs (left eye remix): this is the version in the video, with left eye's rap. le sigh.

tori amos - 1000 oceans: this song never fails to make me feel like i'm soaring along with her voice when i hear it.

ute lemper - little water song: imagine marlene deitrich singing a tom waits song. that's kind of what this chilling murder ballad is like.

veruca salt - volcano girls: why don't i have 'seether' on my computer? oh, well -- this song is awesome too.

vienna teng - city hall: i heard this song for the first time on my mp3 player at school, and i just about burst into tears on my way to the bus loop, it's so beautiful in both sentiment and sound.

whitney houston - it's not right but it's okay: remember before whitney lost her fuckin' mind? remember how she used to be able to sing and stuff?!?!?

wicked - for good: i certainly don't like all of the songs from wicked, but this one is mucho pretty.

zap mama - iko iko: honestly, the version i'm most familiar with is the cyndi lauper one, but i like this too!

And there we go. These songs are intended for evaluation purposes only; please delete them from your computer after twenty-four hours and purchase the albums if you like them. You know how it is.

Download as many as you like, and I hope you enjoy them!

14 Valentines: V-Day

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've said this before! Terrific post, fabberlous music. Thank you!

Re: the bottled water thing-or buy a water filter for your taps. That's what we did. And holy cow, the money we saved!

Your songs! Awesome! God Is Trying To Tell You Something! Iko Iko! Quedate Aqui! Thank you thank you thank you for sharing those!

I raged against bottled water hm last year? Mainly because of the consequences it was having on areas that are not abundant in fresh water! Canada has ENORMOUS quantities of potable drinking water! There is ZERO need for us to import bottled water from other countries! There is ZERO need for us to be depleting the natural resources of less developed countries just because they need the money so they sell their water to Coca Cola.

*rage*

I use a Brita filter if I want to feel fancy with my water.

Another good tip for using the oven/stove: You don't need to have it 'on' for he last few minutes of cooking. I usually turn the oven off five minutes before the end of cooking time and the stovetop a minute or so before the end. The radiant heat will finish off your foods nicely.

Hee! And I will d/l songs when I get home tonight. Thank you!!! So many good artists to check out.

I, too, hiss at bottled water, but I'm not giving up the filter on my sink at home. Nope nope.

Have you ever given freecycling (http://www.freecycle.org/) a try? I've been able to send a lot of odds'n'ends to a new home via my local chapter. And as soon as I get off my butt and clean out my closet, that's how I'll be passing on a lot of clothes that no longer (or never did) fit me properly.

I had dandruff that nothing could cure. I switched to sulfate free shampoos and the problem is practically gone.

I'll have to try the baking soda thing, too.

About bottled water. The water in my home town now contains 75% of the allowable arsenic and 50% of the allowable mercury. Yeah, it's still legal to send it out of the tap but my Dad and Stepmother use bottled water (good old $.33/gallon store brand purified water), and frankly, I can't say I blame them. I'm thinking of getting them a reverse osmosis system for their kitchen tap next christmas.

Me? Vegas water is hard and full of chlorine. It just ... tastes funky. Hello Brita. Problem solved.

(Plus, if I want I can now filter el-cheapo swill Vodka through it and make it taste better.)

I switched to sulfate free shampoos and the problem is practically gone.

Really? Hm. Must ponder this. I've been trying to find something that irritates the boyfriend's scalp less.

I don't know if I could go shampoo free (as my hair gets clumpy with grease), but THANK YOU for this list! You are absolutely right, and there are so many little things we can do. I hope that we can put the pressure on Congress to raise federal standards on things like coal fired power plants. I'd love it if we had subsidies for environmental choices instead of SUVs.

Btw, more (overlapping) tips here:
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp

I'm a crazy downloading girl!! :) Thank you!

Jam tarts! Oh, jam tarts.

I still know all the words to Part of Your World. ALL THE WORDS. DON'T MAKE ME START.

Excellent music as always, I grabbed lots, and most of the ones I didn't get this time I think I've got from you before. Pata Pata is now one of my favourite songs. Am looking forward to adding to my mp3 player.

Also, I have nothing but agreement re. recycling, bottled water, etc. You talk sense.

My dream is to be as sustainable and self-sufficient as possible. You know, growing wheat and corn myself, grinding it up, using honey from my own bees, etc, SOLAR POWER!. Until that time, I'm doing my part as an insufferable treehugger. This post is GREAT. Sometimes it can get depressing and I feel world-weary, and I need to commiserate with people who feel the same way I do, y'know? So thank you.

imagine marlene deitrich singing a tom waits song. that's kind of what this chilling murder ballad is like.

This is a spot-on description of that song. Love!

Happy V Day, sugarplum! <3

This is a wunnerful post. Thank you for being so ecologically aware, and for writing about it in such a practical way. I love people who actually put out viable suggestions for how to make the world a better place.

I'd quote Gandhi here, but you know what I'm getting at.

I grabbed a TON of music, thank you very much!

I downloaded some music, thank you! :)

Snagged a bunch of tunes. Thanks!

Nice. I often feel guilty about getting bottled water, but we're trying to send an opposite message: City/State/Country - please tell corporations/monster farms to keep heavy metals/pesticides out of public drinking water.

I'm so with you on the bottled water thing. I get the strangest looks when I'm refilling a bottle in the tap, but seriously, I can't get over people who charge $1.25 for something that you can get for free!

Mitsou! Her music brings back such happy memories of my first years in Canada.

I'm pleased to see that most of the things you've listed, I mostly do, and now there are more things I can do to make a difference. Thank you for the list.

Also, I have downloaded all the music. Thank you so much for uploading them. <3

Thank you for the environmental tips and links!

Interesting post, especially the bottled water stuff. I'll have to look into that a bit more. I wanted to pick up on this though, "What you are doing is paying an exorbitant amount for a BASIC HUMAN NECESSITY...", and give a slightly different perspective about the cost of water (not bottled).

Here in Australia, where we are in the throes of one of the worst droughts in the country's history, we don't charge enough for water. Nowhere near enough. Water, as it comes out of the tap, is dirt cheap and as a result it has been wasted and wasted; it used to be common to see spinklers on in the middle of the day, people hosing down cars or footpaths, kids playing with hoses or having massive water fights. You don't see it anymore, but the reason people were able to do that kind of thing is because water is cheaper than any other utility (about $0.60/kL (http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs21.htm)). Why you don't see activity like that now has nothing to do with the price of water increasing and everything to do with water restrictions and major metropolitan water supplies sitting below 34% for Sydney (http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/), 37% for Melbourne (http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water/weekly_water_update/weekly_water_update.asp?bhcp=1), and 25% across three dams for Brisbane (http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE::pc=PC_2159). And it's much worse in rural areas (see Qld's Water Storage Information (http://www.sunwater.com.au/#), some of regional NSW (http://www.g-mwater.com.au/browse.asp?ContainerID=water_storage_levels) and Goulburn (http://waterrecycling.blogspot.com/2006/06/goulburn-pioneer-inland-city.html), in particular).

The thing is, despite water restrictions, water usage is not declining as much as it needs to in order for any kind of sustainability. We have people installing rainwater tanks, but you need rain for them to be useful, there are discussions of desalination plants and recycled water, but both of these options freak people out; yet we still have people who are more concerned about their lawns being green than the fact that water is now essentially a finite resource (we may be getting rain and floods in the tropics, but I don't think all of us want to move there).

What it comes down to is making people think about their water usage and, from my experience, the only thing that does that is hitting them in the hip pocket. Yes, water is a basic human necessity, but it is also one that gets treated far too casually by those of us who have infrastructure that provides quality water. I agree that a certain level of water should be free, or near to it, and certainly it shouldn't be withheld at all, but in the modernised world we abuse our access. We don't need hundreds of litres (http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/9B8672490C837E96CA25723400211F60?opendocument) per day per capita to survive and I think that an argument can be made for placing a higher monetary value on water precisely because it is a human necessity.

And in keeping with the saving water theme I'm going to suggest:

- turning off the tap when cleaning your teeth or washing your face,
- placing a brick or similar into the toilet cistern so it doesn't fill as much, and
- using grey water from the rinse cycle on the washing machine or from the fish tank to water plants.

I also highly recommend reading The Weather Makers (http://www.theweathermakers.com/) by Tim Flannery. He's an incredibly interesting environmentalist; his book on global warming is excellent, accessible and a good companion to An Inconvenient Truth.

Thanks for the thought provoking post and the music. I shall be grabbing some later.

i think this is the version sung by the professional, not mia farrow. you're welcome.

Ha! I snorted in a seriously unattractive manner when I first read that. Good thing I was only sitting in a totally silent library surrounded by people who were, like, attempting to learn or whatever or it might have been really embarrassing. *g*

Thank you for the music and for the conservation lesson(s)!

I have recently changed my bottled water ways-- I used to not be able to stand the taste of unbottled water, but suddenly I was freed from that nonsense and now I can drink it all.

Plus, apart from all the very good reasons you mentioned, I stopped buying bottled water because something I read that mentioned all the oil it takes to get that water to you-- loading it on trucks, etc.

wonderful post! and of course, I snagged a bunch of music.

hi! am snagging some songs from here and your previous post (artists a-m), thanks! :)

Downloaded stacks - thanks again for the exposure to music I would never have seen otherwise!

Downloading shiny music, thank you kindly!

I grabbed a few of these thanks, you've got great taste in music. :)

I love the Patsy Cline song, and the old girl groups.

I tried the washing-hair-with-baking-soda-and-vinegar-instead-of-shampoo-and-conditioner thing last night, and holy cow, it worked! I usually wash my hair twice with shampoo (it never seems to feel clean enough after the first time...) and then glop heavy conditioner on and leave it for 5-10 minutes, and a brief scrub with a spoonful of baking soda in water and a quick rinse with a glug of apple cider vinegar in water produced pretty much the same effect. Damn! It never would have occured to me to try that...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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