Small Business Saturday is here!

If you're going to spend money today, head out to your favorite local small businesses. Keep your money in the local economy and support your neighbors. 

I am starting today with a homemade cinnamon roll and an Americano from Yellowhouse Coffee. 

May your day be filled with local goodness! 

Infographics? (Part 3) & Where to Recycle in Lubbock

Okay, I have teased you long enough. Here is the link to the whole infographic in all its glory!

 

The Truth About Plastic

 

And for those of you who would like to recycle in Lubbock, here are the city-operated locations an hours:

Lubbock Recycling Drop-Off Centers

(click the link for more detailed info)

(ONLY items properly prepared and sorted can be recycled!)

Hours of Operation
Monday-Saturday: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
* Closed during City of Lubbock Holidays

Drop-Off Locations
Southside: 1631 84th St.
West of Avenue P

Northside: 208 Municipal Dr.
4th Street Exit From I-27, Follow Road Signs
(Across from Meadowbrook Golf Course)

South Milwaukee: 7308 Milwaukee
(73rd & Milwaukee, west of the Water ground storage reservoir)

North Quaker: 4307 Adrian Street
(N. Quaker & Adrian, north of the Water ground storage reservoir)

There are also a few non-city-operation locations in town:
Market Street - 50th and Indiana (South of building)
United Supermarket - 82nd and Frankford (Northeast of building)
Lowe's Marketplace - 26th and Boston (West of building)

 

May you reduce, reuse, recycle, and rejoice!

 

Did I mention that I love infographics? (Part 2)

So, the last post was pretty dang depressing, but what can we do? The same infographic offers up some helpful tips.

 

These ten steps are pretty simple. If you're new to this, pick one and work on it for a week. Step #1 is a  very easy one to start with. And you don't always have to have a bag with you. If it's a small shopping trip (just a few items) just carry the stuff. Sure, most Lubbock retailers will look at you as though you have lost your mind when you say, "I don't need a bag," but it's great fun to see the looks on their faces. Also, purses, pockets, backpacks, and messenger bags are a great way to avoid plastic or paper bags. Plastic 5 gallon buckets work great too, but you will REALLY get the crazy looks then.

Plastic Bucket Tip: Many Lubbock restaurants throw away large quantities of 1-5 gallon plastic buckets. These buckets are extremely handy, and they are free. Just ask the manager if you can have some. Most are happy to hook you up. (And the pickle smell will eventually go away!)

 

Step 8: If you're like me, a cheap b-----d who is addicted to caffeine, step 8 will really appeal to you. Many places in town will offer you a discount if you bring your own cup, especially if you purchased it from them in the first place. Yellowhouse Coffee (Buy LOCAL!!!), Einstein Brothers, and Whichwich are three places in Lubbock that offer this discount. And many other places (Sip-n-Dip Donuts) don't mind at all if you bring your own.

 

 

May your list of things that you are thankful for overwhelm you. (If you take time to read this, consider yourself on my list - Thank you!)

Did I mention that I love infographics?

Some days it's a tough love affair. Take for instance yesterday. I ran across an infographic on plastic...

The keyboard upon which I type this is mostly plastic. As I glance around my desk, I notice that almost everything on the desk has a plastic component. Indeed, the desk itself has a significant amount of plastic. The stuff is everywhere.

 

So, if I am indeed average, I will throw away 75 tons of plastic over my lifetime. And I am middle-aged, so I have already thrown 33 tons away.

 

 

I walk a fair amount. Some days I carry a bag when I walk. The trash on the street is almost always recyclable. Paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. Plastic is by far the most common trash I find - drink bottles.

Lots of drink bottles - Americans use 60 Billion per day.

 

 

So, how about that bag I carry?

 

It is truly staggering when you sit back and realize how many of us there are and how much each of us consumes.

 

 

[More tomorrow.]

 

May your day be filled with hope and may your actions reinforce that feeling.

 

 

So, who drives electric cars now?

Another brave soul living the Dream!

Here's a little vid where John Voelcker explains the personality types who now are purchasing electric cars. I see myself in several of the types. Unfortunately, I am too much of the last type to actually buy one yet. Please post and let us know which category (if any) you fit into.

Plugin Personalities

Thank you to the Green Divas for creating and posting this video.

And here's more info on the car above for your drooling pleasure:

Evalbum Commutacar

May your vehicle bring you a smile like the guy with the trophy and may your inner Mesquite Hugger be satisfied.

Small Business Saturday - Locals, PLEASE COMMENT!

For those of you who can't wait until Friday to run out and get those Black Friday bargains, here is a helpful link.
Black Friday Opening Hours

As for me, I hate it! As retailers push the Black Friday envelope in a fiendish plot to destroy Thanksgiving and meaningful human interaction, I feel the need to push back. So, I am drawing my line in the sand. I will not participate. I will not participate in the ravenous consumer orgy that now begins at 6pm on Thanksgiving. I do not want to contribute to the competitive and mean-spirited drive to get the best deal on some gadget cranked out in China. I do not want to contribute to a system that turns a family holiday into a day of drudgery and misery for those who work retail.

What's the fallback plan for Friday?
I am not completely sure, but I have several tentative plans:
I want to start the day by spending a quiet morning with my beautiful wife. As I work on the list of that for which I am thankful, she is right at the top, and I want her to know that.
I would like to hike in a canyon, bake sugar cookies, have lunch with friends and family, walk the dogs in a local park, put up Christmas lights, and start working on a few handmade gifts.

And, if I absolutely have to go out and buy something for somebody, I am going to hold out for Small Business Saturday.

It's a great way to support local businesses. One study shows $45 of every $100 spent at small, local businesses stays in the local economy. National chains only keep local $13 of every $100 spent.

Skip Black Friday - Small Business Saturday (It's an older article, but it still makes a great point.)

So, those of you who live here on the South Plains, do you have any local small businesses you'd recommend for Small Business Saturday? Gift shops? Local artists? Specialty food sellers? Local stores that offer great customer service? Please share your favorites in the comments section, so others can support those brave souls who go head-to-head with the retail giants that surround and overwhelm us!

May all your Fridays be anything but black!

Shakespeare, a tiny car, and a blog much better than this one

This is my favorite of the sonnets:

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare - The crucial turning point that changes the tone
As any she belied with false compare.

My favorite part of any literature is when that transition happens, that direction change that brings it all together, the aha! moment.

So, I was quite happy when I read Jo Borras' article on a very efficient new Mitsubishi and found this jewel:

Instead of behaving like a miserable little “econobox”, the Mitsubishi Mirage CVT in B mode behaves like a cartoon turtle with a nest of angry honeybees crammed under its shell. It scoots, too!

For me, this was the turning point in the article, the line that made me think, "Hey, sit up and take notice!"

For the full text and the link to a very entertaining blog for eco-gearheads, click below:

http://gas2.org/2013/11/17/driving-highest-mpg-car-america-thats-hybrid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-gas2+%28Gas+2.0%29

May your econobox behave like a cartoon turtle (with angry bees)!