Coupon Chief's Ultimate Cheap Green Living Guide with 41 Tips

Hi guys. A little while back Coupon Chief contacted with a link to their Cheap Green Living guide, and just a head's up it's now in Cool Lynx section for future reference if you'd like to take a look :)

Usually 'cheap' might not be the first word that comes to mind with green living, but the guide lists 41 ways to live more sustainably without requiring extra money. Some of the items listed are investments that pay off in the long run, while others are more direct like thrift shopping.

Here's the link:

https://www.couponchief.com/guides/guide_to_cheap_green_living

Convenience Meets Conscience: Beeswax Food Wraps

Litterless lunches were fun in gradeschool. Classes were awarded points every Wednesday, lots of us got really into it; I remember this one kid in one of the classrooms I checked had a kept up a perfect streak throughout the whole year. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and with all the kids in our school it added up and it's my hope that some good habits have stuck with us all as we grew up.

Litterless lunches (and dinners, and breakfasts for the work day) became less fun when for work I started bussing to distant locations, and our team had only a little shared space to store personal belongings. Particularly in wintertime, I started to resent the thick, bulky lunch containers in my backpack and was eager to look for ways to cut corners, and aluminum foil was looking really appealing. (Bad Melody). 

When my backpack tore after only a few months I started a more serious search for alternatives to bulky containers. Rubbery collapsible containers were a step in the right direction, but the thing that has revolutionized my lunches the most has probably been beeswax food wraps.

etee beeswax food wraps. While this particular brand's colours of choice are not my favourite, they come in three convenient sizes that are easy to distinguish on the run.

I ordered this blue and green set from etee, a Canada-based company that has become quite popular. (Note to Canadian shoppers: online prices at the time of my purchase at lease are in USD). It actually works very well!

Making changes in daily activities can feel a little bumpy until you're used to it, so here are a few tips for getting started:
- It is easiest to clean with a clear sink. If you're living somewhere where the sink isn't typically clear, a salad bowl with cool soapy water can easily do the trick.
- After being used a lot, the dark blue one does kind of look like like garbage, or stone-washed denim if you want to be optimistic. Someone accidentally threw mine out. Tip: do inform others you live with that it's not garbage, or if the look bothers you simply order pale-coloured wraps, such as the ones sold by abeego. Personally I do like the colour of the abeego wraps in the long term because you can't see the creases as much, but the etee ones are cut to very nice sizes.
- You can't put hot foods in it. (It is wax, it will melt. In cases for hot food, opt for a reusable sandwich baggie or simple reusable container.)

Nevertheless, it is reusable, biodegradable, breathable, and convenient.

While of course it does need to be cleaned which takes a bit of effort, personally I think it feels nicer than aluminum foil, and is less messy than cling wrap. And even without that, it definitely feels better in the long run to be using.

A quotation from an unknkown source said of plastic and packaging, "we make products that last forever for minutes of use." On the other hand, beeswax food wraps are biodegradable. This way, when it comes time to replace them it will be recycled by the earth.

While virtually every piece of plastic ever made still exists, it is better late than never to stop using plastic wrap in its tracks. This prevent more plastic from ending up harming albatrosses, turtles, and other sea creatures, and pave the way for greener day-to-day habits.

Re-published 2019-03-13

Thousands of Brooding Octopuses off the Coast of Monterey, California

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/videos/gallery/rare-thousands-of-brooding-octopuses-found-off-california-coast/sharevideo/5855861738001/most_popular

So many octo... octopi?

For any of you who remember Nature Nimbus' Hall of Fame (it's still there, just not with it's own tab!) but Monterey was where Ed Ricketts (marine biologist friend of author John Steinbeck) lived.

(Sorry for all the parentheses tonight)

Dear Divers --Sustainable Diving Practices

Hi guys... finally started a post-secondary Environmental Technician course so have been working on homework more than blog posts, but a couple publishable pieces coming soon!

In the meantime, for for ocean-lovers and divers (and aspiring ones), here is an article published by world nomads about safe diving practices:

https://www.worldnomads.com/make-a-difference/responsible-travel/planet/redefine-the-dive-10-tips-for-sustainable-divers?utm_source=worldnomads&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nomadsnews-73-oct-row&utm_content=button

If you've been reading Nature Nimbus for a while you might have already noticed some keen personal interest shown in diving. Spending time close to nature is probably the most natural way we come to deeply appreciate it (no puns intended); nature lovers don't typically need to be taught this. At the same time, even in ecotourism humans are known to accidentally leave a negative impact on what we love so much.

Also, some freedivers on Instagram have cautioned for those using dive scooters to also make sure they don't end up chasing aquatic wildlife (as tempting as it may be) to get as close to them as possible.

If you happen to be going on a trip whether it's diving or exploring nature some other way, a quick google or asking a local naturalist or expert can help in getting some simple tips to ensure we are respecting the beauty we have come to visit, and seek to become a part of in that moment.

History in the Storeys of Sediments in an Ontario Lake

Hi guys, hope everything is having a great summer in the northern hemisphere/winter if you are in the south.

Just wanted to share some local news from Ontario on the research side of things, as the Weather Network reported that a team of researchers believes they may have found a treasure trove of environmental history at the bottom of a lake, which happens to be right here in Ontario!

What they're looking for is a way to examine what might have been a turning point due to human activity, changing the way our planet operates on a significant level.

Francine McCarthy, who is leading the research team, explained that Crawford Lake is an ideal place to be taking samples because nothing lives as the bottom, as the lake is 22 meters deep and anoxic, (anoxic meaning there is little to no oxygen).

If you have ever explored the Niagara escarpment, chances are the stones rocked your world. These are not only parts of the habitat beautiful to the eye, but over time they also can tell a story. McCarthy explained that over summers, pieces from the rocks bordering the escarpment will sink to the bottom. This creates layers of information-containing organic matter that can be analyzed like the rings of a tree.

The goal is to get some insight on just how much human activities have affected the environment, as these layers can help tell the story of what has happened globally through those years.

Specific information they are looking for includes amounts of materials related to human activities such as plutonium and microplastics. These can serve as something measurable to help with defining the start of the anthropocene, marking when humans really did take over the planet.

Source:
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/team-of-researchers-from-ontario-believe-a-turning-point-in-earths-history-is-sitting-in-a-lake-in-milton-brock-carleton-mcmaster-university-sediment-crawford-lake/109666

Introducing 'Cranberry Works' | feat. Ocean Minded Water(colour) Art

If you have explored the navbar recently, you might have noticed some changes to the directory from "Cirrus Photography" to "Photography & Projects".

Meet the newest sister project, Cranberry Works.

This is the name of my new online art shop being kickstarted via the online market and print shop, Society6. It features mainly artwork, and may also include some words making cameo appearances from another one of my projects. Products are printed on-demand to avoid waste, and artists of all skill levels from around the world can publish their pieces and put together collections.

I do accept custom orders and commissions for personal use and events and if you are looking for more info please visit the page in the navbar, but one of the main features of the shop will be the Ocean Minded Water(colour) series.

The name 'Ocean Minded' is meant to imply daily mindfulness of how our activities affect life in the water -and by extension, life on land- and being open to making changes in harmony with that.

Here the ones from the series featured so far:

For myself, simply going swimming or looking at animals or images of animals is always a good reminder to take shorter showers, recycle e-waste, and be careful of what I put down the drain, and it is my hope that my personal hobbies can hopefully help others feel good about making adjustments to live more in harmony with nature as well.

Also, I believe that like spending time outside, the process of creating little pieces inspired by nature can help strengthen that bond we have, and I'm not the first to see this. At many environmental conferences in school and festivals a man would often come in to do a sketch, Paint, and Shoot workshop. If you create any nature-related work you'd like to share, please don't feel shy to drop a reference in the comments, it would be lovely to see more projects.

(l~w parallel post under the same date, 20/08/2018)

Recent Adventures in Watkins Glen and Algonquin Park

 

Posted Aug 20, 2018, postdated to Aug 19; see both on lunar-winds and naturenimbus .blogspot.

Happy World Oceans Day

Sea mindful and keep an ocean mind, and have a happy World Oceans Day, all 💙