PetSugar

Clean Up the "Carbage" Because It Can Drive a Mom Crazy!

LilSugar — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:00:00 -0800

Garbage in the car can make a mom crazy, especially if she spends a portion of her day shuttling the kiddos. Some people chalk it up to having children, but many parents had cluttered vehicles before babies. Whether it's snack wrappers, forgotten toys, or spare clothes, here are five tips to eliminate the moving mess!

One-toy rule. Lil ones love to bring a toy box worth of goodies with them wherever they go, but few kiddos ever get to playing with all their loot, so limit them to one belonging. And make sure they exit the vehicle with it.
Pay the meter, toss the trash. Food cartons, water bottles, and juice boxes can add up - especially when kids need to snack between activities. To prevent backseat buildup, toss the trash each time you park or pay a meter. Turn it into a game for your youngsters by delegating the task to one of them.
Save the paper and plastic. Find a spot in the trunk or glove compartment and start a bag arsenal. Instead of tossing the sacks you get at the drug or grocery store, keep a few to use as trash receptacles or in an emergency.
Assigned seating. Most families have one messy kid- the child who has mysteriously sticky hands or empties his sandy sneakers on the car mats - so stick to assigned seats that hold each kid responsible for his or her space.
Weekly wipe down. Keep your vehicle tidy using wet wipes and a hand vac to clean spills and hard to reach crumbs at least once a week and make sure to enlist your children in the routine. When they find out how much time and energy goes into cleaning up soiled messes, they are less likely to make another one!

Cool Idea: An Interactive Trash Bin

CasaSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:00:33 -0700

British fashion designer Paul Smith and Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic today unveiled a five-foot "rabbit bin." Whenever a passerby drops rubbish in the bin, the bunny's ears light up. The bunny is part of the Design Museum Super Contemporary Exhibition in Covent Garden. I love the concept of making civic responsibility (such as keeping your city clean) whimsical and fun. Perhaps the streets of my fair city would be a little cleaner if there were rabbit bins here.

Would you want a rabbit bin in your town?

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Casa Verde: Consumer Culture Art

CasaSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:30:26 -0700

Think you recognize this painting? Guess again.

While it may look like Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte", it's actually a photograph from Seattle photographer Chris Jordan.

To see what this image is made from, read more.

Jordan creates murals, which he then photographs, from consumer trash. His photographs urge viewers to rethink their daily habits, from tossing disposable coffee cups to drinking cans of soda. In the San Francisco Chronicle article "Consumer Culture Turns to Murals of Trash, Jordan explains his project:

The images, part of Jordan's latest project, "Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait," were an attempt, he said, to take "the dry unfeeling language of data and to translate it into the visual language of feeling."

Tossed out each year: 130 million cell phones. Used each hour: more than 1 million brown paper bags. Used every 5 minutes: 2 million petroleum-based plastic bottles. Produced every eight hours by jets flying across the United States: 11,000 contrails. Used every six hours on those flights, 1 million plastic cups, because, Jordan said, it's illegal to refill your cup on an airline flight.

I'm always happy (though definitely disturbed) to see art that rethinks our consumerism, and Jordan's art definitely makes an impact. While these aren't images everyone wants to see, they are absolutely necessary if we are to turn over our disposable lifestyles (and yes, I definitely count myself among the millions who are living this way). While recycling is a good option, we need to also remember the first two points: reducing and reusing.
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Dog Days of Summer: Keep Pets Out of the Trash!

PetSugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:45:31 -0700

Keep the trash safe from your nosy pets! In addition to the obvious dangers of cleaning product poisons or choking hazards, the bacteria and molds found in rotting foods can seriously endanger your furry friends . . . they can't distinguish between spoiled and fresh yums!

The millions of bacteria found in your old take-out or spoiled meat can lead to food poisoning and inflammation or bloating of the intestinal tract and abdomen (bacterial enteritis). What's more other foods like cheese, nuts, and pasta are ripe environments for a variety of molds that can produce the scary-sounding tremorgenic mycotoxins, substances that cause symptoms similar to snail bait or strychnine poisoning. If your pup has ingested these metabolites, look out for muscle tremors, spasms, seizures, and elevated temperature – it can require overnight hospital care so bring a pet to a vet if you suspect it!

Even if your trash is safely contained, learn one more risky spot pets can find these threats when you read more.

The fungi, molds, and bacteria that grow in garbage and compost can also be found in weathering fruit on the ground – so if you've got a fruit-baring tree nearby, don't let your pets eat the fallen fruit!

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Casa Quickie: Garbage Disposal

CasaSugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:00:07 -0700

To keep your garbage disposal smelling fresh, take half of a lemon and pop it into the disposal. If you do this monthly, it'll help prevent icky odors from building up, and keep your sink, disposal, and kitchen all smelling fresh. I've found that using a lemon that's already been juiced works fine as well. If you already have an odor issue in your disposal, try using half of a lemon followed by a handful or two of baking soda.

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Is Sarah Connor Only Happy When it Rains?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:45:03 -0700

Raise your hand if you recognize this face! Yes, that is Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, the group that scored some hits in the '90s, including "I'm Only Happy When it Rains." There is intriguing news today that she is joining the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles when it returns for a second season on Fox.

Manson will be a regular as "Catherine Weaver, the CEO of a cutting-edge high-tech company."

Last I heard, Manson had been looking to record a solo album but I don't think it's finished yet. Or rather, Wikipedia says it was supposed to release two days ago and it didn't. I wonder if that's still in the works or if she'll put it on hold to focus on acting. She is one of the coolest rocker women from that grunge era of yore and I'm excited to see what she can bring to the small screen.

So what do you think? Is this the weirdest casting news you've heard in awhile? Or totally perfect career progression for a rock star from the '90s?

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FABTV: Garbage "Special"

FabSugar — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:11:22 -0700

Does anyone else seriously wish they were a superhero? I know I'm not alone, but sometimes I will settle for driving around a futuristic craft looking fierce with a slicked-back pony, liquid red lips, and a furry red vest. This video may be borderline Battlestar Galactica geeky but it's dope, OK. Shirley Manson was a diva in her own right, with her punky-posh style. But I love this song, too; it's got a good groove. Watch how the ka-booms in the video synchronize with the song. Special, indeed.

Twin Peeps

GiggleSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:00:00 -0700

Too bad they let go one of the more stunning women on America's Next Top Model. I mean, I know Lauren couldn't walk or even talk properly on camera, but she is amazing looking! She looks just Shirley Manson from the band Garbage.

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Casa Quickie: Trash Made Easy

CasaSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:00:51 -0700

Keep a small supply of trash bags at the bottom of your garbage can. That way, when you pull out your full bag, a fresh, new bag will be waiting for you. Just make sure you take out that full bag of trash, and refresh the bag supply when it gets low.
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Fittingly Mad: Trash on the Trail

FitSugar — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:30:00 -0700

The other day I went for a hike with my girls on a gorgeous sunny day. Everything was green, the birds were singing, and we even got to see a woodpecker. That's not all we saw though. One of my girls said, "Mommy, what's that?" Eww, there was trash on the trail. What is up with that?

On our 2 hour hike we saw energy bar wrappers, empty water bottles, dirty tissues, cigarette butts, a Diet Coke can, and we even saw a sock. This made me so angry, to see people just trashing the trail like it was a garbage dump.

I happened to have a plastic bag in my lumbar pack that held our snacks. So we spent our entire hike picking up after people who were too lazy and inconsiderate to hold onto their litter and dispose of it properly!

Come on people. It's bad enough that we trash our streets and highways, but just because there's no trash can on the trail, (and nobody around to remind you) doesn't give you the right to ditch your junk wherever you please.

I'm sure you've all seen this before too. It just gives me this awful feeling inside to go to a beautiful place and see garbage. It's disrespectful, knowing these preserved places are slowly dwindling away. We really need to work hard at preserving what little natural areas we have left, and cleaning up after ourselves really isn't asking too much.

When it comes to litter bugs, what do you think?

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