i love the sf historic streetcars! i love their color, their shape, their proportions. i love that when you sit inside in the cutely-proportioned seats, you sit by these little windows that make you feel like the windows are for you. similar to train windows.
and look at those cute rounded windows above (in below pic).
i really think things were better designed/proportioned back in the day. (ok i know that's a little vague.) i want them all over town please.
here is some history and info about the cutiepies.
and now the rant...
i read in my graphic communications the printed image book, that in the 1980's scientists discovered that dioxin (which is created when chlorine is used to bleach paper) is a carcinogen that passes up the food chain easily. even low levels create adverse health effects. so as a result of this discovery, europe started making paper that was totally chlorine free (TCF). Currently 40% of European mills are operating TCF. The markets there are spurred by greater consumer awareness of chlorine issues and tighter regulations of chlorinated chemicals. In the US, TCF use is (when this book was printed i guess) expected to reach 10% by the year 2000. this infuriates me. i realize it's a pain in the ass to change up the factories and create a new color matching system for inks (which probably also should be changed to be environmentally friendlier. soy-based inks??), but isn't it worth it to make the changes?
and there are of course thousands of other ways manufacturing could be made more environmentally friendly i'm sure. the shortsightedness and lack of care for the earth and its plants and animals is confounding.
anyway, this is just the tip of the iceberg (or pile of paperwaste) on this topic. and i know it is overwhelming as a consumer to get educated on all the products and foods one consumes. kind of makes me want to start a blog just about consumption, researching one item per month perhaps, and writing about how we can produce/consume that item most responsibly. and get industry and government to regulate more responsibly....
8 comments:
Yay cousin! I agree. It's really weird how the US works... It shouldn't be so hard. We managed in Europe, why should you not!
I really like the pictures, especially the top one :-)
Could you send me an e-mail from your new address again, please? I seem to have lost it.
yes yes
the streetcars-
i was so
in love with them...
and the cute little
art deco
booths on the bridge...
everything in
perfect
proportion!
.....
as for the chlorine
in paper...
it would just make
you
sick sick sick
to know
all the things
that are not
regulated here
in the us
that are heavily
regulated everywhere
else...
like pesticides
on cotton
for instance...
the sad part
is that most
people
don't really
care to be educated...
and even when
they are...
few people
will actually
change their ways...
people don't like
change...
even if it's
in there best interest...
sorry-
i work in
conservation
so your rant
is up
my alley...
shash... oh yes yes on the old streetcars... just so perfect
and yes yes on the rant too! i would love if you do that! and would be happy to help in anyway. i feel i am finally at a point financially where i can make choices and decisions like spending the extra couple bucks for the eco-friendly product. and if we don't even know the evil that lurks.... ugh. it is sad and frustrating.....
xo
I just finished reading the Omnivore's Dilemma...and it made me think a lot more about what I consume. However the hardest part is separating the facts from the fiction in the marketing of products. I'd be interested to read what you've got to say about consuming....
hear hear on your rant... the scariest to me is chlorine-bleached tampons and the dioxin buildup those cause.
hi shash,
love the streetcar photos. they sound awesome. i also love love LOVE your idea for a blog about consuming wisely. i'm with lisa...i'd love to help! xo shari
grr- stuff like that confounds me too- it's just so sad they only care about profit.
:(
That makes me so upset. It's disgusting how much more important money is than our health. Unfortunately, this has been going on for a very long time, and the only way companies will change is through legislation and enforcement.
When I was in law school, we watched a video of a program Bill Moyers ran about vinyl chloride. I can't even begin to tell you how nasty that stuff is. He interviewed one man who's job it was to clean out the containers of vinyl chloride every day with NO protection. He started having problems with his hands. He went to the doctor, who took some x-rays of his hand, and the bone on the tips of his fingers had actually disintegrated. DISINTEGRATED! The companies knew how dangerous the stuff was a colluded to keep the information from the public. disgusting.
anyway, I would love a blog about this stuff. You would be an investigative blogger about these things that the companies try to keep from the public.
(sorry this is so long)
Post a Comment