Our not-so intrepid blogger

Dear Friends and readers!

Yes it's been awhile (like, over a month!) I haven't forgotten or abandoned you!!! Sometimes life's momentum takes over in an unexpected way and some passions get put on the backburner for awhile, only to be rekindled later. So that's my way of saying that I'm putting 42 million beats on the backburner of my solar powered range for the next little while. Check back with me in August, K? I think I'll be a little bit more put together by then.
In the meantime, keep plugging along on your green path 'til I see you next!

love, aim

hello, honeybee?

Ever call a loved one honey, honeybee, or honey bear? Perhaps it's some tacit understanding that honey is pretty darn awesome, and well, bees are just amazing. A few years ago, I became fascinated with bees' complex social structures and the ways they produce beeswax. They make their homes out of their own abdominal secretions!!! Think about it, humans save up and pay off mortgages for decades just to have a house- bees just up and make their own :)
As humans, we also depend on bees, not just for the obvious honey and beeswax, but also to pollinate the following crops:
almonds, peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers and strawberries.
As well all know, bees are in serious trouble at the moment. Researches have numerous theories, but no one knows for sure why entire colonies are dying off. It's called "Colony Collapse Disorder."
Some of the culprits being considered are: environmental stress, disease, mites, pesticides, GM crops and emissions from cellphones and cellphone towers (or some combination of these factors).
Here's one fact that is seems to be highly telling. Checkout Wikipedia as well, as they corroborate. Wild and organically-raised bees do not seemed to be affected by the mystery die-off. The non-organically, commercially raised bees are dying.


Here's a quote from the wikipedia article:

A chilling prediction about the importance of bees to mankind popular in the press recently is "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." This quote has been attributed to Albert Einstein, however the original source for this quote has not been reported and the earliest known use of the quote is from 1994.<sup>[76]

I don't know what we as individuals can do to help the bees (and help ourselves). Once again, it appears that supporting organic practices is the way to go. The magnitude of the problem makes me hope it's not too late.</sup>

Time 4 a Fash Bash!

These are some friends from Ottawa; they're a pretty diverse group who's interests include play therapy, cuban music, graphic design, aboriginal rights, date squares, and prancing (!) They also happen to be some the participants in the FashBash I put on when I was still living in Ottawa! A Fash Bash is a party, in which we bring together a collection of stuff from our closets that we don't want anymore, and share it. Consumption of snacks and drinks are also a main feature.
It's a nice way to connect with friends, clear out the closet, and to keep clothes out of landfills.... all the leftover clothes are donated to charity when the party's over.
We all scored a few items that were really unique that night (a vintage dress/ shirt, a brand-new item that didn't fit the 1st owner, etc...) In the end, we ended up donating about 70-80% of the clothes we dug out from our closets.
Spring cleaning that's fun, and eco :)


(miss you guys!!!)

A sordid public confession (!)

Let me begin with a true story. Back in the days when I worked at an organic coffeehouse in Ottawa (the incomparable, Bridgehead), a number of my colleagues were crossovers from Starbucks. One of these, let's call him Cameron* (ok, so it's his real name), told me of a group meeting held for Starbucks staff, in which slides were shown. So Cameron swore up and down that the following is true- even as I gasped "No! I can't be true!" One of the slides shown was an image of a landfill... and there were so many Starbucks cups, that they were visible to the naked eye, scattered everywhere in this landfill. Apparently this slide was not intended to talk about how Starbucks could improve, but rather to illustrate: "Look how big we are."

Next comes my twofold confession:
1. At various times I've resolved to stop supporting Starbucks (I rarely drink their coffee, but I have to admit liking their teas and soylattes). I've been not so good at upholding this! There is a Starbucks right in front of my yoga studio, and when I'm working there, I'll often go to Bucky's for a takeout tea and a pack of almonds.

2. The takeout cups!!! I was totally ashamed the other day as my boyfriend and I were out for a stroll (with takeout Bucky's cups in hands) and we walked behind a couple drinking from reusable stainless steel cups o' hot beverage. BAD AIMEE!!!

So on these too fronts, I've been a slacker! I'm posting this publicly as a motivation to improve.

The people don't want war

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

-Herman Goering, Nazi leader, at the Nuremberg Trials