recycling – hannah ananas

Talk about toothbrushes

Toothbrushes… they seem to be one of those things you can find anywhere and in all different types and styles, and it seems that it really doesn’t matter which one you pick, because they’ll all get the job done about the same. The electric ones seem to be the only real difference in quality of result… supposedly, anyway. I’ve never read a study on them, and advertisements don’t really use quality ones to express their preferred outcomes, so we may never know the actual facts of the matter. It certainly makes sense that they’d be more efficient, but it isn’t a guarantee.

Anyway, I have a comment on this: The greatest toothbrush I have crossed to this day is the Preserve recycled yogurt cups toothbrush.

First off, it’s being kind to the planet in a way. That’s great. They even ask to have the toothbrushes returned afterward for further recycling of the plastic. Even cooler.

Secondly, they have various levels of bristles softness. I use the ultra soft, of course, because I don’t need to be pushing hard on my teeth. We all have our own opinions for our own teeth, of course.

Thirdly, and this is the best part, they have a curved handle. Instead of being a straight stick that requires us to open our mouths wide to get to the back, this curved one makes it loads easier to brush anywhere in the mouth without opening up the mouth a whole bunch (and likely spilling) and without having to get creative with wrist angles. In a way, it is a lazy man’s non-electronic toothbrush. It’s awesome.

And, just for fun, fourthly, they come in all different colors. Beautiful.

Anyway, try them out. They’re aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically efficient, as well as kinder to the environment than other brushes and just plain neat. They’re only a few dollars. So far as so can tell, while you can get them at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s always carries them for much less. Likely, any local health-type foods store will carry them, too… that whole genre of shops, you know. Preserve toothbrushes. They’re stellar and totally worth the quality price.

Post-a-day 2023

Día de Muertos

¡Feliz Día de Muertos!

Happy Día de Muertos!

Saturday was All Hallows’ Eve, Sunday was All Saints’ Day, and today was All Souls’ Day. My family has a very strong connection to Mexico and Mexican celebrations and culture, so we always celebrate Día de Muertos. Last year, I even brought sugar calaveras to my French students to have them decorate the extra sugar skulls from an event my mother had led (and with which I had helped). Talk about mixing cultures, eh? Houston kind of already is a huge mix of cultures, and in various ways, so I grew up in a world of mixed culture, with my family embracing the people around us in life. In other words, mixing cultures is totally normal for me and to me. 😉

This year, I created a special project for myself. Mattel created a Día de Muertos Barbie both last year and this year, but sells the collectible doll for far more than I could afford to pay. (Though, to be fair, she is stunning. They both are.) I found myself wishing I could have just one of these Barbies, perhaps one day, and, as I was looking at photos of them, my brain somehow developed an idea.

You see, there have been several old Barbies – from my childhood – in a box in my mom’s laundry room for ages. They, for some unknown reason, are all naked, and they have always kind of reminded me of a graveyard of Barbies. Though, I’ve never used that word, graveyard, as I’ve always just thought of them as, “the poor, dead Barbies”. It seemed like an extremely low-risk situation, since, and I mentioned, the Barbies were already “dead” anyway. So, I went for it. And I had a student join in with me.

I brought a bag-o-Barbies (yes, all still naked) to her house, and we each selected a Barbie. We then painted their faces and bodies, over a few days’ time, to be the designs we each wanted. Afterward, I then shopped for some ribbon and tulle, picked up a few fallen fake flower bits at the store, and then sewed a couple dresses for the dolls.

I hadn’t played with Barbies for probably about two decades at this point, but I think this really was some of the best fun I have ever had with Barbies. 😀

Alas, here are the process and the final results of today. Enjoy!

And the dresses…!!!

Post-a-day 2020

Swiping Nuts

My mom steals nuts. She really does. Well, sort of, anyway… She doesn’t actually steal in the traditional sense…

Every time we go to this specific grocery store, I somehow forget about this fact. That is, of course, I forget about it only until my mother walks up to me and offers me some nuts. “You want some nuts?” she’ll ask, and proffer me a handful of mixed nuts. The first time she did it, I didn’t understand. Where had she gotten a handful of nuts? Did she bring them in with her, and I just hadn’t noticed? But it quickly hit me.

“Did you get those from the …?”

“Mmhmm,” she cut me off, and then offered me the nuts again.

Naturally, I accepted. They were a bit old that first time, but that was it. Today, they were actually quite good. I really enjoyed them.

Perhaps you are wondering how it is my mother gets these nuts in a way that I do not feel any guilt or obligation in eating them. Well, you could call it a sort of recycling, in a way. You know how some stores have the pull-down dispensers for nuts, and sometimes even for cereals and other grains and such in the dried bulk foods section? And you know how there are almost always those same dried bulk foods spilled around on the little shelf below all of the dispensers? Do you see where this is going?

Hopefully, you aren’t entirely repulsed by this idea. It isn’t as though there is anything else on the shelves – they are cleaned constantly, as is required for something in such proximity to unpackaged foods.

Anyway, this particular store has a sort of tricky system for making those shelves look nice all of the time. Instead of just having it be a shelf to catch the falling dried foods, it is a sort of grate on top of the shelf, and the grate allows the foods to fall through it and onto the shelf, while leaving the appearance of a totally clean and clear shelf, free from food spillages.

So, as I went to get another bite of nuts after we finished what my mom brought over to me today, I had to enlist the help of my mother, because I did not yet know the last piece of information I just shared here. However, she happily showed me her secret means of stealing nuts destined for the trash, and I got my other desired bite of fresh nuts, and I felt good about helping prevent that extra bit of unnecessary waste.

Next time you’re at a grocer with some nut dispensers, perhaps you’ll consider helping prevent waste, eh? ;P Or you could just imagine my mother showing up and saying, “Want some nuts?”

Post-a-day 2017