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I have been trying to decide what compost unit to buy for the last several months. We don’t have tons of room in our backyard, and I wasn’t sure how big of a composter I should buy do to our large family. This past weekend I visited the Museum of Science and Industry’s Smart Home Exhibit (see: msichicago.org) and was amazed at this great kitchen countertop composter they had on display. When the tour guide said it takes 10 days to break down the compost and you can include meat, dairy, paper, and pet waste – I was sold!! Plus the unit looks nice, added bonus.
Checked out the website and it’s awesome! See: http://www.naturemill.com/video_histChan.html
or www.naturemill.com
Add up to 5lbs a day, it provides the “hot composting” conditions: mixing, air flow, heat, and moisture using only 5watts of energy or $0.50 per month. The energy released destroys odors, pathogens, and seed germination. The compost is later transferred through a trap door to the lower cure tray chamber, where it continues to compost while you add fresh waste items to the upper chamber. Provides home gardeners with a source of rich, organic fertilizer.
• Leader in indoor home composting • Bug free, worm free • Compact sleek design • Fits inside any standard kitchen cabinet
• Recycled & recyclable: stamped with the “5” triangle recycling symbol
• Size and Weight: 20”L x 12”W x 20”H (51 x 30 x 51cm); 17 lbs (8kg)
I am feeling more and more confident that within the next year, we should be able to reduce our garbage (for a family of 6) to less than 1/4 of a 32 gallon can per week. So we could potentially go a whole month with only 1 can. At $3 per can for disposal, that is at least $100 garbage savings per year from our current spending. Not to mention the cost savings on not having to purchase top soil anymore!! Win Win…for my family and the planet.
If you get one let me know!! I’m interested to hear how much trash reduction people experience. This is cool for kids to witness as well. My son is stoked about recycling and composting.
Note: Sun Chips is expected to put out a compostable chip bag for next year. Excellent, eat chips then compost the bag. Much better plan than our current system. If you know of other companies doing biodegradable packaging, please post.
Currently reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. I’m interested in feedback from others on this book.
Since I’m tackling the Unabridged version, it may take me a little while to get through it, but I’d welcome comments/discussion – anytime.
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A little about the book and Ayn Rand:
With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, “Who is John Galt?”, Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers.
Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world–and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder–and rebirth–of man’s spirit.
* Atlas Shrugged is the “second most influential book for Americans today” after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club
Only one day after Peta’s controversial letter was released to Ben and Jerry’s, more than 69 women replied on their blog site http://blog.peta.org/. I agree with a number of women that posted – great letter to put our use of cow’s milk in check. I see that Peta was trying to make a point. I really don’t believe they were seriously suggesting that we farm human breast milk – the reality based on supply and demand is only feasible if we treated people in the US like some are treated in China (keep them in a factory and only pay them $0.25 per hour). Could you imagine. One cow could feed my family – but believe me, as a mom of three, I couldn’t feed everyone in my family unless that is all I did all day long – really now.
I appreciate Peta making the attempt to spark controversy in order to bring about awareness and a paradigm shift. Breast Milk is certainly best! And since it isn’t something in abundance, it should be reserved for the ones that need it most – human babies!! 
As for the cows…well, Peta has a big job in front of them if they think they are going to stop American consumption of cow milk. I personally live without it just fine. But I’m one in a million 
haha
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For Immediate Release:
September 23, 2008
Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382
Burlington, Vt. - This morning, PETA dispatched a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of ice cream icon Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., urging them to replace the cow’s milk in their products with human breast milk. PETA’s request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow’s milk in the food he serves. PETA points out to Cohen and Greenfield that such a move on their part would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health at the same time.
“The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn’t make sense,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Everyone knows that ‘the breast is best,’ so Ben & Jerry’s could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk.”
For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site Blog.PETA.org or click here.
PETA’s letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield follows.
September 23, 2008
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Cofounders
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc.
Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I’d like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry’s. Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers–and cows–would reap the benefits.
Using cow’s milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer’s health. Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America’s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow’s milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease–America’s number one cause of death.
Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.
And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry. Because male calves can’t produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can’t even turn around.
The breast is best! Won’t you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow’s milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry’s ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President
Just purchased a 4T Drobo and love it. I’m getting all my data backed up and then I’m consolidating everything. File storage needs keep getting greater and greater. I’ll write more as I get more experience with it.
I purchased a Vita-Mixer at Sam’s Club a couple years ago and it was well worth every penny. The power of the motor and the tamper that allows you to push the items down makes it easy to place ice and flavoring in to make ice cream in minutes. I’ve broken other blenders trying to do this.
If you’re looking for a stylish version of the Vita-Mixer go to their website and purchase it online. All of the models sold in the warehouses are discounted but very plain looking.
— have allergies —–
Vita-Mix is a perfect kitchen companion. You can make up all kinds of recipes to accommodate your allergies.
Potato Ice Cream (Dairy Free)
1 Cup Ice,
TBSP Vance’s potato milk (dairy free),
TBSP cocoa powder, and 1/2 TBSP xylitol
I have many alternative recipes for allergy sufferers. If you are interested in more allergy resources, let me know.
Great Job Apple Crew!!! You did it again. I love the new iMac. Great graphical presentation and easy to use.
Couple suggestions to Apple
1. Bigger screen option;
2. Screen position should lock so it doesn’t swivel when you are trying to plug and unplug devices;
3. Needs a better fan to cool itself, screen gets really hot (enough to burn yourself);
4. Could be lighter (pretty heavy).
Those minor things aside – I’m happy with my purchase.
My husband convinced me to get an iPhone and it was the best phone purchase I have ever made!!! It ended up paying for itself because the data plan is so much less expensive than our previous BlackBerry service. I saved $30 a month. The phone is beautiful, functional, pretty easy to use (a little learning curve). I dig the ability to call people from an e-mail – way cool and easy. I love being able to map anything and follow the map on the screen. No need to print out map quest before setting out places – no need for GPS. It keep me organized with my many e-mail accounts. I can stay educated – MP3 files of my audiobooks – listen on the go. Having all my music for relaxation is great too.
If you haven’t purchased one…you’re in luck the new even better ones are due out soon. Get on board iPhone is the best. Just another great Apple product!
