E-cycling News on Recycling

Afterlife for Empty water bottles- shove those bottles uner the carpet

Responsible Recycling- You pay to get labour intensive, hard to recycle stuff, recycled

EnergyCalculator- so what are the stakes of your device

Why Recycle

• Good For Our Economy -companies rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.
• Creates Jobs
• Reduces Waste
• Good For The Environment -Recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources, and keeps waste from piling up in landfills.
• Saves Energy -Recycling offers significant energy savings over manufacturing with virgin materials.
• Preserves Landfill Space -No one wants to live next door to a landfill. Recycling preserves existing landfill space.
• Prevents Global Warming
• Reduces Water Pollution -Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.
• Protects Wildlife -Using recycled materials reduces the need to damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife.
• Creates New Demand -Recycling and buying recycled products creates demand for more recycled products, decreasing waste and helping our economy.

Recycling Facts
• Recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space and 60 pounds of air pollution.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild their entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months.
• Recycling creates six times as many jobs as landfilling.
• Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70 percent, water use by 50 percent and air pollution by 20 percent.
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for three hours.
• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year
• If every U.S. household replaced just one roll of 1,000-sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100 percent recycled ones, it could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space and 155 million gallons of water.
Sources: Eco-Cycle, Environmental Defense Fund, Colorado Recycles, Steel Recycling Institute, Seventh Generation Co.

Simple Stuff You can Do to Make a Start

• Ebills- say no to paper bills
• Online transfers
• Re-Using 1 side used paper- taking notes, printing, converting to tiny notepads- use it for must writes like recipe notes, shopping lists, grocer bill track etc
• Printing on both sides
• Not printing at all
• Using a white board on your office wall / desk / calendar for short term notes instead of paper
• chalk & slate/ magnetic board for kids instead of paper and pencil for general doodling
• Recycling packing foam/ cartons
• Using bottles/ beakers/ cracked vase as planters- they look overtly pretty too
• Using large calendars for lining cupboards
• Converting old cotton dresses to kitchen napkins/ wipes

Document Must Dos

Being the official scatterbrain, I have often been cornered with mails/ questions like- where is this document or sudden messages that the last date of the bill is due. Since I have the least faith in my memory I have this back-up system in place-
1. If I have submitted a document/ application to the company, I always back it up with a mail indicating the list of documents I have submitted- this includes stuff like application of PF transfer, submission of vehicle documents etc. I have absolutely no faith in either my memory or in the system in any organisation. And even if the system is perfect it is not necessery they will respond the moment I need something.
2. Never ever issue a cheque or lend money whether it is to a colleague, dhobi, maid or neighbour, without making a record of it. Chances are I will forget and they will too- without meaning to.
3. Have a single folder for all bills of major purchases like white goods- whenever I need the warranty card- I know where to look for.
4. Separate folder for all investments big or small.
5. A diary that maintains a record of what comes out or gets in into the bank locker
6. A mini record of who has borrowed my books and when
7. Blog that records major events/ medication/ travels so that I can extrapolate events from there if I need to refer to something.
8. Mobile alerts fixed for - checking if the gas is over, phone bill, credit card bill - so that I am not caught unawares incase I have not been told to book the gas when the gas cylinder is changed in my absence.
9. All bills that are to be submitted to the company are docked separately so that I have to just pull out stuff from there and submit my claim
10. As a rule, I make payments in cheque as far as possible. So that there is always a record of the same.

Is This a Milestone?

Of the Bloggy variety, when your husband calls you by your blog name- Mamma of Twins?

Healthy Kids Exercise With Pooh

This fun book of exercises from Disney is a hard board book with sing along rhymes that make us stretch, bend, run, hop, skip, jump. A CD is also included.
So Stretch Stretch, Stretch like Winnie the Pooh, Kanga & Roo...
.... and the other friends as they sing & exercise. Altogether great fun for both Mamma & Babies though Mamma was left panting at the end off it all. Very bad example set out!

Jai Hind

Ojas & Tejas wore their Lucknow Chikan kurta pajama on Friday for Republic day celebrations at school. A snap captures the moment...
A day before they had to dress up as a joker & a juggler respectively.
Smart Mamma picked up the relevant masks during a birthday party & gave them the same! Easy peasy!

Animal & Plant Kingdom

2 crows guarding the fish below Cat-fish

Duggi takes a swim to retrieve the stick Huggy is p1ssed off at being tied up

Zimba observes the next door neighbour dog duo taking a walk in their garden

This birdie hikes on the hedge, pecking at delicacies on its way

Guess What...

...Exactly is this?

Describe the photograph in detail.

I am Abdullah

Shopping/ Task List
1. Sarees
2. Good Salwar Suits
3. Party wear Sandals
4. Shawl
5. Cardigan
6. Sweaters for kids
7. Clothes for the husband
8. Jewelry
9. Make up
10. Parlour visits- Pedicure, Manicure, Facial?
11. Hair Styling
12. Make up practice
13. Clothes for kids
14. Appropriate footwear for each dress for the kids
15. Wedding gifts
16. Shopping Service
17. Party Purse

So thasswhy it is said ki Begaani Shaadi Mein Abdullah Deewana!
Loosely translates to the fact that- The participants get over-excited about a grand event (wedding) that is happening- seemingly much more excited than the actual stakeholders ...

Everyday Art

Sunset at Marakkanam Table lamp, impromptu boquet and lots of reflections

Block Train

Technicolor Flower

View from the car- Marakkanam

View from the car

Chalk Art by Hubby- cannot figure out how to straighten this...

It Feels So Good...

...When the TV is not working on a holiday.
...When you are in no mood to cook and you have lots of leftovers or the Hubby declares that he is eating outside today or you find a dish (prawns) tucked inside the fridge that you didn't know of.
...When the maid is on leave and you are despairing at the work load and the door bell rings and lo and behold a substitute sent by your maid turns up for work.
...When you discover that the artisan fair is still on and it's the last day and you rush to visit it and come back with a few good purchases...a bamboo log converted to a flower pot, brass knick knacks, ettikoppa holders and dress material.
...When the first leaves of a sheared plant emerge after nearly a month, much to your relief.
...When someone mentions that it was good to have you in their city and it felt like the old days again.
...When some people make an effort to make you feel welcome to their home and city.
...When people pitch in to help you from all sides in organising a big day.
...When you go for shopping and find stuff that you wanted.
So this was what the last week had been about!