Connecticut Green Living

If there is one thing I hate, it's the sight of those bloody Keurig machines all over the place, from a neighbor's home to an airport I once dashed through. Yes, convenient, but oh-so-bad for the environment. I was happy to try Tentera Coffee, as they say they "care about the planet". Their roaster's mission, they say, "is to replace the environmentally damaging single-serving pod coffees.” These pour-overs, as they are called, don't require any additional tools. All one needs is hot water and a mug; they are lightweight and eco-friendly. The company says, ”They are a better replacement for busy coffee drinkers using instant coffee, and they are convenient for people with limited space and appliances-- not to mention the brew time is completed in seconds. With high-quality beans, Tentera coffee drinkers won't have to endure the unhealthy side effects of drinking low-grade coffee." But how does it taste? Admittedly, it is not as strong as I like...

For better or for worse, we’ve all gotten used to wearing a mask everywhere we go. No matter how stylish they are, we can’t escape our glasses or sunglasses fogging up from our breath, misting over the top of the mask and leading to temporary blindness. I have often been at the store, struggling to find the buttons on the terminal as I insert or pass my credit card over it. A solution for this frustration is a product created by a company called Keysmart, the FogBlock. It is billed as "a no-wipe spray to apply to glasses and sunglasses to keep them from fogging up. Safe for all lenses, the FogBlock works up to 24 hours per application and comes in a 1 oz. bottle, making it the perfect travel accessory." It is officially called an "anti-fog spray for PPE masks". It is wonderful, but in my experience it did not last 24 hours. When I applied to my glasses, I realized I would have to reapply the next day. But it is a small, portable bottle and it's not a pr...

Dr. Jane Goodall, who fits the only definition of "living legend" I know, spoke to the National Press Club during a Youtube interview today. She talked at great length with NPC president Michael Freedman regarding her decades-long work including as a ground-breaking primatologist renowned for research on wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. She made headlines in the 1960s, not only for her ability to communicate with chimps but for being a female doing important scientific work. National Geographic, in 1963, published the first cover story on Goodall and her research,“My Life Among the Wild Chimpanzees”, reaching millions on both sides of the Pond. In "NPC, A Virtual Newsmaker: Jane Goodall ", the British scientist, now a vibrant 86, shared that she supports the next generation of women following in her footsteps but hopes everyone will be careful. If one is researching elephants, for example, be mindful that such work can be dangerous. Remember to respect that a wild a...

Vienese researchers have found that alcoholism and extreme alcohol consumption, evident in five percent of the Austrian population, leads to B1 loss and excess iron in the brain. The iron deposits contribute to dementia. In a release, a team at Medical University of Vienna state: "A common consequence of chronically high alcohol consumption is a decline in cognitive function, which can even progress to full-blown dementia. However, we do not yet fully understand how alcohol damages the brain. A research group led by Stephan Listabarth from MedUni Vienna's Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Division of Social Psychiatry, has now developed a hypothesis whereby iron deposits in the brain – resulting from alcohol-induced vitamin B1 deficiency – can be regarded as key factors in cognitive decline. The work has now been published in the leading journal "Alzheimer’s and Dementia". Researchers find that thiamine can be useful in offsetting the ill effects. In the ...

It took me a few sittings to take in this film, "Wild India" by BBC America and narrated by living legend David Attenborough. Whether it was wanting to get another peek at the Jungle Cats or just relish in the delicious, mystical soundtrack by Indian Grammy winner Ricky Kej , it's a not-to-be-missed visual and aural treat. This hour-long film will premiere next Saturday, July 25, on the nature-focused “ micro-net ,” Wonderstruck . You will have a lot to look forward to: "Wild India" follows creatures that live in the mountains, deserts, jungles and oceans of Karnataka, where three months of the year monsoon rains make life there livable the rest of the year. The variety of animals made me dizzy, whether I was looking at otters or herons, frogs or tigers. Filmed over three years in 15,000 hours, a huge team of photographers (too many to count in the credits as they rolled by) beautifully captured the variety of species. According to the press release, although t...

Tomorrow, June 21, join the environmentally friendly Make Music Day starting at 9 a.m. Eastern to participate in the international Fête de la Musique , taking place in over 1,000 cities across 120 countries. This Make Music Day, Bash the Trash Environmental Arts is raising awareness about trash pollution by building fun instruments from found objects. The organization has promoted, as it says on its website, building, performing & educating with musical instruments made from trash since 1991 . "These amazing instruments tackle issues of waste and offer us an opportunity to look at 'trash' in a new way," according to a statement. The daylong, musical free-for-all celebrates music in all its forms, encouraging people to band together and play in free public concerts. Over 85 U.S. cities and the entire states of Vermont, Connecticut , Hawaii and Wisconsin are participating in this year’s celebration, which will be virtual due to COVID-19 . Participants can joi...

Yesterday I realized what my county needs - free masks, widely distributed. Why isn't this being done? I boarded a bus to get to Milford to my doctor's appointment yesterday, an event so traumatizing that I had a nightmare the night before. The issue is not with the driver or how the bus companies have smartly set things up - rides are free because one cannot venture farther than a roped-off portion at the front - but dealing with other passengers. There are a few types: 1. The individual who is casual about his or her mask and just slowly puts it on when he or she has already boarded the bus; 2. The individual who is already wearing a mask and behaving in a civilized manner; 3. The individual who, for some inexplicable reason, is using the mask as an excuse to loud-talk with the driver, therefore spewing droplets as he/she speaks; 4. The person who is unaware of everything going on around them, perhaps for reasons of mental illness, including the requirement to wear a mask; ...

As I write this, Connecticut is suffering from a 2-3 percent reported infection rate of COVID-19 . The statistics are impossible to know exactly because not everyone who wants to be tested has been; others have not been tested for other reasons. In some cases the tests have been inaccurate. Despite the high rate of infection, many in our state refuse to wear masks as they are supposed to do when entering stores or when closer than six feet to another individual outside their home. A concern, too, is that people have misinformation about masks, that they are the be-all and end-all so if one is wearing so much as a homemade cloth mask or store-bought surgical mask, she can stand and chat at close range for several minutes with a friend or stranger at CVS. This is wrong. Surgical masks are only about 50 percent effective, according to Jill Crittenden, a research scientist with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who spoke on May 28 as part of a new series addressing COVID-19; this was ...

For good reason, I have feared going out into the world over the past three and a half months. Yesterday I took three bus rides and on the second, I could have had my life put in jeopardy. I will only know if I come down with COVID-19 symptoms or get tested to find out. Here is what happened: I was on the Coastal Link bus here in Connecticut, gazing out the window, when an unstable and quite vocal disheveled character wandered aboard in front of Stop 'n Shop. He sat down and then got up and started to sing (badly) out the window. This immediately rattled me so I mentioned it to the driver, who called out but then ignored him. As I gazed out the window trying to calm my nerves, I suddenly heard something and turned to my left. He was at my side, crazed One-Flew-Over-The-Cuckoo's-Nest-like, cackling and writhing just inches from where my nostrils could absorb someone's viral droplets. "AAAAHHHH!!!! GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shrieked. He toppled backward, as if...

Have you noticed anything unusual in the news lately? Or more accurately, noticed anything missing? Yes, it's been a long time since the last U.S. mass shooting. That was the February 26 Milwaukee brewery shooting, in which six people sadly lost their lives. To my European, Asian and African readers, this may sound like a dramatic bit of news that occurred not that long ago. Americans know a different story. In 2019 there were 417 mass shoootings, which include those where no one was killed or just a few people, according to Gunviolence.org; and while their records indicate that shootings are still occurring, the rate is clearly falling. According to Wikipedia records, there were 32 deaths from gun violence in mass shootings by this time last year; there have been 11 such deaths this year. Mass shootings in this sense means large enough to have made the mainstream news. While the landscape has shifted in terms of gun violence, undoubtedly domestic violence is surging with so many f...

Due to Covid-19, this Earth Day, the 50th, is sad and challenging but it is also a perfect time to reflect upon ways to protect and honor nature. And while every Earth Day means 102 press releases in my email inbox, on everything from clean make-up to rainforest protection, I was particularly attracted to the birds and the bees this year. Being sequestered in my home for weeks on end - what week is it? what day? - is only counterbalanced by the walks I take here in Branford. Blooming cherry blossoms interspersed with hydrangea, dogwoods and yellow loosestrife explode with color. Dizzy from the beauty, it is easy to forget that we're living in Plague times. Take a look around - from a safe distance. It's gorgeous. What all this floral beauty means is that the bees are in hog heaven. In normal years I'd be getting ready to pad down to the local farmers' markets for some homespun honey. It is delicious, but I didn't know too much about it until I decided to explore ...

A strange phenomenon has crept into our daily lives here in Connecticut - the resurgence of the plastic bag. I understand that we are in a health crisis. I understand that there is concern about cashiers touching reusable bags. But why the rush to revert to plastic bags? What happened to paper? Another scourge: the plastic glove. I went to People's bank here in Branford and tucked into the envelope cubby were two gloves - one blue, one yellow, wadded like chewing gum. Guess what: someone has to remove those. And then these plastic gloves end up in the same waterways as our plastic bags. Remember the campaign against plastic? Remember climate change? Let me connect the dots. Climate change was already threatening our lives when Covid-19 hit. However, because it's a slower killer there was no 'shelter-in-place' command for climate change . If we had a president who believed in science, perhaps there would have been. Now climate change is rearing its pissed off head in...

It still irks me when I recall that someone told me I could not afford home grocery delivery. This happens to be the truth, but it was almost like telling me, "You can't afford to survive. You can't afford the life raft." I just wrote an article about how SNAP, the nation's food stamps program, is starting to roll out at-home deliveries in states like New York. This is a blessing for underserved communities which include the elderly, the "poor" and people like me. People whose income has gone up and down and is now down so they are on food stamps. Everyone deserves to survive this pandemic. When I quit my position at a food market it was after spending a day cleaning shopping carts and checking out probably two hundred customers. I loved my customers (for the most part) there, but realized the next day that my life was at risk. One customer had even stopped to whisper, "Oh, you have to do the cleaning..." I smiled and said, "Yes, it's ...

A study published today, April 6, in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment examines a novel twist on an old idea: that beauty is more than skin deep. The authors have shown how one should take charisma into account when studying and managing invasive species. Such interlopers are the second largest cause of biodiversity loss. Transferred to new environments by human activity, they become competitors or predators of local species, which are often unable to withstand the incursion. An international research team, involving two French laboratories, have evidenced an aspect of these invasions: species charisma. The popularity of a species and its perception by society and the media, they concur, determines how it is introduced and what impact it has on its new surroundings. In Italy, for example, the arrival of the popular North American grey squirrel threatens the existence of the native red squirrel. "Charisma is used in the literature to refer to the “attractive...

"We can't take a step outside and see what we are doing, just like orangutans can't. -- Dr. Birutė Galdikas, world-renowned orangutan expert ..... "The Trimates - three women who went to live among our closest relatives" sets the tone, the narration harkening decades back to when bravery and curiosity were more commonly deemed male traits. The term was coined by anthropologist Louis Leakey for three of the most famous champions of studying primates in their natural environments, Drs. Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas. In 2020, lauding female scientists is more popular but not necessarily de rigueur . That's only one reason why "She Walks with Apes" is important. Airing on Earth Day's 50th anniversary April 22, this compelling documentary narrated by Sandra Oh concerns three women who embarked on lifelong journeys to live amongst humankind's closest relative, the ape. The stories of Goodall, the late Fossey and Galdikas ...

Maybe you are chomping on the hollow leg of an Easter bunny right now, hoping it will get you through the current health crisis. Or maybe you are the disciplined sort, waiting til Easter morning to gobble up every piece of candy corn in sight. Whatever your level of discipline (I am a -4 on a scale of 0 to 10 when it comes to Easter candy), you need a time out from the news. So read this: Candystore in L.A. compiled their annual list of worst candies , but happily, also their customers' favorites. Here they are: 10. Skittles-Filled Easter Eggs. Down from #9 last year. Skittles Easter eggs combine the fun and re-sealability of candy in a plastic Easter egg, with the desirability of not being generic jelly beans, says Candy Store. Skittles are a very popular candy overall. They finished as the #1 overall top Halloween candy last year. 9. Sour Patch Easter Bunnies. Up from #10 last year. It’s no surprise that Sour Patch Kids are hugely popular right now. Sour candy and...

Source: CandyStore.com Easter is a really big candy holiday. Did you know more is spent on candy for Easter historically than for Halloween? According to Candy Store, who is always kind enough to send me this data every year (along with images that make me want to eat my laptop screen), The National Retail Federation says Easter candy spending was $2.49 Billion this year. That's down slightly from last year’s $2.63B, which may be due to the Coronavirus outbreak though it's not clear that's the case. However, of the people who do not plan to celebrate Easter, 33% will still buy Easter candy. Yes! This is a really fun list because there's a chocolate cross - yes, you heard that right - and yes, someone manufactures them. Easter Candy Quick Facts: - Among those who celebrate Easter, 87% plan on buying Easter candy - For those who don’t celebrate Easter, 33% plan on buying Easter candy - People will spend about $21 on average - 90 Million chocolate Easter bunn...

"A new waterless aromatherapy gadget that’s unlike any other diffuser on the market" was the promise. Well, given that I have never tried any other aromatherapy gadgets, I can't substantiate that claim. However, I can attest that Guru Nanda, the maker of a line of 100% pure essential oils, has produced a very snazzy diffuser. Called The Guru Nanda Natural Mist Pluggy, it is the only USB powered plug-in essential oil diffuser on the market that uses 100% pure essential oils and no water, according to a statement. It was easy to assemble. The kit came with a lavendar and a eucalyptus bottle of essential oil, as well as a handy clean white waterless diffuser that plugs into any socket. Simply unscrew the top and screw the perfume top to the diffuser, flip, and press either the blue or green button. Instructions on the box say, "When plugged in and then power button is pressed, unit will run for 8 hours then sleep for 16 hours." So far I've been turning it o...

"These are the times that try men's souls ..." - Thomas Paine. Although Thomas Paine was referring to an entirely different crisis in 1776, during this health emergency we are in a similar way forced to come together for our country ... and our world. We are forced to stop thinking only of ourselves while at the same time steeling ourselves for worsening crises. We are faced with the unknown, and we know that some will fall and others survive. Whether you are overloading grocery carts with Charmin or practicing Zen meditation, this health crisis has gone viral. Perhaps in the 21st century we will have to abandon that phrase. Here in Connecticut we have seven reported cases , but because of testing shortages there is no way to know the true number. Nearby New York has the second-most Covid-19 cases in the country at 325*; Massachusetts has 108 reported cases. Schools are closing, as are libraries, public gatherings, Broadway. What is not closing, though, is the human...