Posts Tagged ‘health’
Posted by terrepruitt on October 22, 2015
It has been a little over two months since our cats have been out of confinement. You may have read that we adopted cats in July. Within a week of bringing them home I suspected ringworm, so they were locked in a room until the cultures came back. When the culture came back positive nine days later we had 30 days of pills and confinement ahead of us. Near the end of the round of medicine my husband and I were not sure we could make it. Only because by that 38th day the cats seem to be giving up. They were done with being in one room and they were done with having pills jammed down their throats. We all were done. So when they were cleared to come out we were all happy. So it has been three days over two months and they are still getting used to things. They are just beginning to really run the house, as cats do. Smokey, the black one, does not seem to like her picture taken. As soon as I point my phone at her she turns away. She will stay for a couple of shots, but after a minute she will just get up and walk away or move away. Emmy, the tortoiseshell, is a little bit more tolerant, but not much. Smokey is also very difficult to capture because of her coloring. She is pretty dark. I think of her as all black, but in the sun today she seemed to have a lot of red/chocolate in her. The sun was very bright and I could barely see what I was getting as I was just clicking and clicking. I am surprised at these shots. I thought they were nice so I wanted to share.
Of course, I took more than I have posted, but it is kind of a series of photos, so that is why I have posted so many. You can see how they are both looking at the mouse. Then Emmy looks at me. I have several of these. As I mentioned, I couldn’t really see what I was getting, I was just pressing the button. Smokey’s attention never waivers. Then you see she gets low . . .then she gets a little lower, then . . .a little pounce.
When they were brought into the shelter they weighed in at 9.8 pounds and 8.8 pounds. At the last vet check they came in at 7.44 pounds and 5.5 pounds. Using the hold ’em and weight method, Smokey is back up to 9.8. And Emmy is at 7 pounds. They are much happier and eating better. Plus they have a lot more room to run around. And boy, do they run around. They tear through the house at top speeds. I wish we had something to clock them. They get going so fast!
They are very fun. They want to play a lot. So I am constantly being interrupted to play. They are very good mousers. Smokey is very good at knowing where the mouse will be and she can catch it without having to move a lot. She has slowed down a little bit with having gone from 7.4 pounds to 9.8. Esmeralda is a flier. She is always in the air. All four paws either in a long jump or in a really high pounce. It is amazing. They both would be great hunters.
Well, I know this type of post is far and away from health, wellness, and fitness, but our cats do bring a lot of laughter and joy into our lives. I like to share.
After she got it, she had to roll around with it as cats do. Her trophy. Emmy looks unimpressed!
Show me pictures of your pet! Either e-mail them to me so I can post them, or post a link so we can see them. It is fun to share pictures of our furry family members!
Posted in Cats, Teagan and Nessa | Tagged: adopted cats, black cat, confinement, Emmy, Esmeralda, health, mouser, quarantine, ringworm, ringworm medicine, Smokey, tortoiseshell cat | 1 Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 10, 2013
I know this is very far from health and fitness. I know this is not even in the realm . . . . but it is in my head. It is stuck. I get songs stuck in my brain and they just play over and over. Does that ever happen to you? Do you get that ear worm? Right now I have two songs stuck in my head this one (The Fox) and one that is in the Nia Routine I am current learning/”teaching” in my Monday and Wednesday morning Nia classes. The song is Sexy from the Nia Routine Oshun. It has no words, as this group/woman often “sings”, no words. But the woman makes noises. She hums, moans, groans, hisses, and vocalizes. It is a hauntingly addicting tune and you I find myself moaning and vocalizing along with the song or just singing it out of the blue. But I always find it odd to “sing” the non-words. I had, at one time, a link to a video of it, but I can no longer find that. But the The Fox is all over the internet, including in my last post. In regards to lyrics, “The Fox” also has a lot of “non-words” but I guess that is because that is what the fox says. Because really that is what foxes says, according to recordings made by researchers. The recordings can be found on The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library website.
The the information regarding the one recording states it is a recording of Red Foxes in Ontario, Canada. It can be found here:
http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/55363/vulpes-vulpes-red-fox-canada-ontario-william-w-h-gunn
I think the voice on the recording says, “Young cross fox or black fox still in the puppy stage.” The recording is labeled red fox, but I it really sounds like he say black fox. I think the sound the foxes make is more comparable to the “Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!” Although the Wired blog post titled “What Does the Fox Say? The Viral Music Video Isn’t Totally Wrong” states it is “clearly . . . . a low-key version of Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow”.
The recording of a female and male arctic fox sound to me like a mixture of Ylvis’ Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow and Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! On this recording the fox noises stop at 1:18 then the researching talks about the foxes and the conditions of recording.
http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/138274
Whereas I think the common gray fox recorded in Sierra County, California is saying “A-hee-ahee ha-hee! A-hee-ahee ha-hee!” That recording can be heard here:
http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/60087
Devon Maloney, the author of the Wired Post I mentioned above, and I don’t exactly agree on what the foxes on the recordings say in connection with what Ylvis says, but I do believe we do both agree that Ylvis was onto something. They did get “What the Fox Say” pretty darn accurate. Hopefully my obsession with this song will be done by week’s end. But I won’t be surprised if it resurfaces. It is just so very funny. Very entertaining. I think the two that make up Ylvis are really interested in knowing what their guardian angels are saying. They asks “what is your sound”, but I actually think they have the sounds down pretty well. I am happy that their longing to know what the fox say has led to such hilarious entertainment.
So have you seen the video yet? What do you think?
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: artic fox, Cornell Lab, ear worm, fitness, Fox song, gray fox, guardian angel, health, Macaulay Library, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia routine, Oshun, recordings of foxes, red fox, researchers, Sexy, song stuck in your head, The Fox, Wired, Ylvis | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 12, 2012
I mentioned in my Stuff Happens In Life As Do Moments that I had to rearrange my Nia class schedule because of “stuff”. The stuff that was happening required me to be visiting someone in a hospital. There was surgery involved in the situation and the situation required a “nutrition plan”. As with all surgeries and most medical situations the patient should be eating healthy food. The word HEAL is even in the word HEALthy. One of the “food stuffs” the patient was given to consume was “Health Shake”. I was curious as to what kind of health could be delivered in a carton. Well, after reading the ingredients it was confirmed that there is none – at least not in this carton.
The first ingredient is skim milk. At this point, I will not comment on that. Skim milk and dairy in general will probably be a topic of separate post, but for now, I am sticking to this “Health Shake”. The next ingredient is actually a good one: water.
The next five ingredients and/or additives were what caused me to have a conniption fit in the hospital room. I could not and cannot believe this carton of disgusting stuff is fed to people who are ill and need to receive nutrients to heal their bodies.
This to me is a huge glaring prime example of why so many people are sick in America. If this is what is consindered healthy and nutritious we are truly doomed.
CORN SYRUP, CORN OIL (WITH BHA/BHT), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SOY PROTEIN ISOLSATE!!!!
There isn’t actually any nutritious food in this carton. I didn’t even look at the “nutritional value” because to me there is none. NOT ONE IOTA! Genetically engineered sugar, with genetically engineered oil — that contain preservatives that most counties have banned, with more genetically engineered and further chemically altered sugar, with some genetically engineered protein.
The ice cream they served later was much healthier than this “Health Shake”. I really am completely disgusted with this item. I am disgusted that they are feeding it to a person who needs nutrients. I am even more disgusted that it is called a “Health Shake”. If they called it a chemical shake or liquid crap, I don’t think I would be so upset.
I was even more upset when later on I saw a straw in the carton — meaning the patient actually drank it. Now, let me remind you that I am not a perfect eater. I eat processed foods. I work to avoid food with high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup in them, but I do eat processed foods. But to say that these ingredients are healthy is shameful. To feed a body that needs healing a carton of chemicals is sad.
I just saw this statement:
“The U.S. does not have a healthcare system. Rather, it is a ‘Sickness System’ where the system thrives on people being sick. Far more profit is generated by sickness than health.”
And with this “Health Shake” being given to people in the hospital I am thinking it could actually be evidence that the statement is true.
Many of us have different ideas of what we think is healthy, but I am guessing that most people could look at this list of ingredients and agree that this is nothing but a cacophony of chemicals that really have no nutritional value.
Would you choose to drink this? If you were in a hospital and given this to drink would you think to read the ingredients? What do you think about this?
Posted in Food | Tagged: BHA, BHT, chemically altered, corn oil, corn syrup, genetically, heal, health, health industry, health professionals, Health Shake, healthcare system, healthy food, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, hospital, hospital food, hospital visits, Nia, Nia class, Nia Class Schedule, nutrition, nutrition plan, preservatives, processed foods, skim milk, soy protein, surgery | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 6, 2010
Throughout my day I come across a lot of things I would like to post about, but not all of them are in keeping with or even CLOSE to in keeping with health and wellness. I know I stretch sometimes, but I always write about something I have learned or something that interests me.
I just happened upon that tonight. This might not be suitable for everyone and it certainly won’t interest everyone.
I have long wanted to donate my body to science. When I am done with it I have always hoped it could help people. I watched a special tonight that really amazed and interested me and really helped confirmed that donation is a great thing. I was of the belief that it would go as a whole to a medical school, but now-a-days with so much surgery being done laparoscopically the need to practice on real tissue has greatly increased. So an entire body is not always needed.
I understand that this might be against some people’s religion or beliefs which is understandable. But if not, it might be something to consider. Even though I cannot dwell on the actual details, I love to focus on what a donation can mean: saving a life or improving the quality of one. To me that is a tremendous gift.
There is a company here in the United States* that will take a body at no cost to the family. For a lot of people not having the cost of a funeral or anything could be a very big relief. Plus the body can be used for great things.
Body parts can be used in medical studies, in transplantations, in medical products. We could keep on giving.
All of the information on this show** was amazingly fascinating to me, but I have a feeling that not many here would care for the details. I will say that due to all of the medical advances there is an increase in demand by as much as 50% per year. With this huge increase in demand for tissue the black market is getting larger. Since only 1% of Americans donate, it is still very profitable for thieves to steal and sell. It is awful to think that some people are profiting from stealing someone’s body. And on top of that, if they are doing it so dishonestly they COULD be doing it with potentially diseased tissue. This TV program hinted that if more people were to donate through legitimate sources it might help make it less profitable for the shady ones and there for less worth the risk.
Did you know:
—Bone graphs from one person could go on to help 80 people. (That is EIGHTY people that could live a better life because ONE person decided to be generous with something they are no longer using.)
—In Britain it was illegal to practice medicine on a cadaver until 2006.
—Organs need to be retrieved while the heart is still beating, but tissue can be retrieve up to 24 hours after death.
—They can use an achilles tendon to replace a ruptured knee ligament.
—Tissue transplant includes bones, tendons, and skin.
—Donated human tissue can be used in Medical Science, Education, bio products.
*Anatomy Gifts Registry (AGR) – Tissue Broker
**The show I watched was first aired in 2008, I just watched it July, 6, 2010. All the information in this post is from the show.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: AGR, cadaver donation, donate body to science, donated human tissue for use in Medical Science and Education., Donation, funeral, health, Laparoscopic surgery, Medical Science, Tissue Broker, tissue donation, transplant, wellness | 16 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 5, 2010
I have a friend and it seems that one out of every three conversations we have we end up talking about cat poop. Now, for some that might seem odd, but let me point out, if you are a parent, there has been a time when you have talked about your baby’s diaper contents. I remember one conversation where I was subjected to size, shape, guestimated weight, and yes, above all color. So, parents talk about their baby’s waste. Since cats have odd behavior even when they are healthy and “normal” one of the primary ways to detect and keep track of the health of a cat is by their waste.
Things change for cats when there is an adjustment to their diet or whatever and my friend is in the middle of a food transition for her cats. It just follows that if you talk about what goes in, you end up on what comes out.
Now, I apologize if this is just too gross of a subject for you. This might not be “appropriate for a health and wellness blog” and it might not a pleasant topic, but the more I looked for information regarding it the more I realized that people at least need to know what the possibilities might be so that they can decide for themselves, so hence, I am posting about cat poop.
I knew that pregnant women should not be in charge of changing a litter box. The threat comes from handling the cats waste, but . . . just to be safe most women just avoid the process all together. For most women it is roughly just a nine month vacation from having litter box duty. But I bet, even though you have a new baby yet to be born to think about you probably are having conversations with the fill in litter-box-changer in regards to the cat habits. Making sure everything is normal (again . . . that is how we gauge the health of the cats.) Honestly it is not an examination, but somewhat of an unconscious review as we are scooping and cleaning.
Anyway, what I didn’t know is that you should NOT be flushing your cats poop. Even without the litter. So all of the stuff that says you can . . .INCLUDING the EPA information . . . you might want to think twice. Research is proving that the eggs from the Toxoplasma gondii that causes Toxoplasmosis might survive up to a year even after having gone through water treatment. This is the disease that can be fatal to infants and why pregnant women shouldn’t deal with the cat’s little box.
The eggs don’t die upon treatment and they get sent out to see where our sea life eats it. And while I don’t see that this has a direct affect on us as humans the fact that our otter population has gone from 15,000 to 2,500 and a large percentage of dead otters have been found with the parasite in them, just gives you another thing to think about. Since in the grand view of things it all affects us.
Not ALL cats even have this parasite. I was just surprised by the idea that flushing cats’ waste is not good since I had always thought that flush it was fine it was the LITTER that was the concern, but apparently not. As with a lot of things it could have just changed since the population of humans has grown so has to populations of house cat. Flushing is an easy way to dispose so more people might do it than have done it in the past and with all of the products that are out there that say it is fine, it is just interesting to know that it might be affecting our sea life. Of course putting it in a plastic bag and putting it in the garbage that goes to a landfill is not necessarily the best way to deal with it either, but it is the alternative that was have at the moment. Now at least you can have a little bit more information and make a choice.
So, since this is my blog, I like to share things I learn. The things I learn might not always DIRECTLY relate to health and fitness, but I have said, “In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.” I guess you could say I was inspired.
Posted in Cats | Tagged: cat poop, EPA, fitness, health, inspired, litter box, otters, pregnant women, sea life, Toxoplasma gondii, Toxoplasmosis, wellness | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 29, 2010
Sodalite – From the things I have read the main thing sodalite is believed to do is bring calm, inner peace, and balance. I have often seen it associated with helping make clear and rational decisions. (Which I would imagine would be easier if your mind was calm and you had inner peace, so those two things seem like they would go together.) In addition to clear and rational thinking, some information states it helps with creative thought too. I have also seen that it helps with inflammation which goes along with the information I have seen that says it assist with immune systems. (Because inflammation is part of that system.)
Moonstone – I see that this stone is said to also bring calm. Most information states, “Moonstone is a stone of inner growth and strength.” Also, it is said to stimulate balance of hormones. (Which we must remember is necessary in males as well as females.) Several things say it is a stone of protection and that it is a healing stone.
This is stuff that interests me. At one time I thought it was pretty (what I call) woo-woo, but then when I start looking into Nia I started seeing things a little differently. When I first discovered Nia I bought the book (The Nia Technique Book). As I started reading it I thought it was too “woo-woo”, but then they related it to science and it made sense. Then I started thinking that there had to be things on this earth that we were given before we had science that could assist with our health and wellness. So I thought, “Why not energies in a stone?” So, I am just interested in this. I feel more comfortable when I read the information out there (and there is so much out there) and it states basically the same information. Then I feel like at least everyone is on the same page.
I was interested in some of the properties these two stones were said to have. I have not listed them all but just some. I have a few in the house. Not sure they are doing any good, but they are pretty.
Do you think stones have energies? Do you think stones have healing properties?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Amazon, healing properties, healing stone, health, inner peace, Moonstone, moonstone healing properties, Nia, Nia energy, Nia Technique, Nia Technique Book, Sodalite, sodalite healing properties, stone energies, wellness | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 27, 2010
My husband broke a vase last night. As he first starts to read this he probably won’t be too happy because this post might appear to be about him and this blog was not supposed to be about us, it is supposed to be about Nia, and health, fitness, and nutrition. I have noticed that my posts that are strictly about exercises and working out don’t get as much traffic as the ones that are about life’s situations. There are so many sites and blogs about ways to exercise and workouts to do, so I am thinking I will do more posts about situations that connect to health and wellness, like this one. It is not about my husband, but about me and how I feel I have progressed to assist with my own wellness.
Used to be a broken vase would greatly upset me, but I think of myself as getting better with stuff like that. He was in a hurry and was doing something nice for me (very nice*) and he accidentally knocked a vase down. Oh well. I sighed. I was sad for a moment. He even said, “Vases are like that, ya know? They break.” Which is true and truly funny at the same time. But for me, just going on with the evening is different than I used to be about a decade ago. I am a “stuff” person so I used to lament over broken things. Sometimes I do a little still, but I am learning—still.
I was wondering what to write today when I was rushing around trying to bake some banana bread for a friend who donated to my MS Walk. Guess what I did? I broke a vase. I laughed. Then I was sad. But then I was happy because, “Vases are like that, ya know? They break.”
I know that often times it is so much healthier to let things go, but honestly it is not always easy. Once upon a time I would have been so upset about the vase last night that I would have allowed it to ruin the evening. Because accidents seem to happen when people are rushed (see the first sentence in this paragraph). If I would have had a fit last night I would have ruined the evening AND had a totally impossible time dealing with the vase I broke today. It would have been, “What? It’s not ok for my hubby to break a vase, but when I do it, oh well?” Yeah, right. And we were both trying to do something for someone else.
So . . . . sigh. I feel so much better that I had a nice evening last night with my hubby. I will also be able to have a nice evening tonight too because he will just be able to tease me about breaking a vase, but I won’t be apologize because I was a jerk when he broke one. So instead of getting upset (over something that really is not worth getting upset over) I let it go which actually helped me health-wise because I didn’t have a ball of anger inside. That helped keep the evening open so that we could have a nice evening. I am not worrying about how I am going to explain to him that I can break a vase and he can’t.
Being able to let things go and just move on away from it is a good thing sometimes. Because really in life vases ARE like that, ya know? They DO break.
*This is what my husband was doing when the vase broke. He had gone outside in our yard and cut some flowers for me. Usually he just gives them to me to put in vases, but I was busy cooking so he was being super nice and putting them in vases too. Sometimes life it like that too, homegrown freshcut flowers brought to you by your love.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: fitness, health, letting go, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia fitness, Nia wellness, Nia workout, nutrition, vases, wellness | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 13, 2010
We have a certain expectation of things in the United States. We have the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates Biologics, Cosmetics, Drugs, Foods (except meat and poultry), Medical Devices, and Veterinary Products so we expect a level of safety. Did you know that supplements are NOT required to be tested and/or approved by the FDA? There are NO “clinical trials” or safety inspection administered by the FDA that a supplement is required to pass. Most supplements aren’t even required to be so much as registered.
An Act was signed into law back in 1984 by President Clinton, the Dietary Supplemental Health and Education Act (DSHEA) that makes the supplement manufacture responsible for self regulation. The supplement manufacture is to make sure the product is safe and pure, with NO policing. No one checks on them. This is a $27 Billion business (it could be more that figure is the only one I could find and it is from 2007–three years old).
There are rules about the labeling and so they are “supposed” to be truthful in their labeling. The FDA steps in where there is a problem (as in reported deaths or mass illnesses), but there is no testing done by the FDA to ensure anything about the supplement before it is marketed and used by the public.
I just find that so amazing. I wanted to share it with you because even though I know this, I still forget. I would think that if you are concerned enough about your health and wellness that you want to take a supplement, I would check with your doctor to see if you really even need to be taking a supplement. They are expensive and you might be getting all the nutrition you need from your diet. That is actually the best way, but I understand that it not always possible. I would advise people to be careful. I would suggest that one way to be careful would be to buy supplements that are manufactured by trusted companies. I like to think that a well known, well trusted company is going to produce a safe quality product.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: diet, dietary supplements, FDA, health, nutrition, nutrition supplement, President Clinton, supplements, wellness | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 31, 2009
So here it is the end of the year. I have been blogging since March (2009). I have posted 130 times. This is 131. I thought I would end the year with a review of some of my favorites and according to the numbers some of your favorites too. Here they are, not in any order:
Lyrics Gone Wrong . . . I had entertained the idea of doing this once a month, but after the second month I ran out of songs to play with.
Interesting Picture – Marilyn Monroe Albert Einstein . . . I LOVE optical illusions and this one is a doosey.
Hummingbird Tongues . . . they still fascinate me and I am still surprising people with the fact that the birds have tongues and use them more than the beak is a straw. And usually they tongues dart in and out so fast it is a rare treat to catch it out for a picture. Yay!
A Poem Says A Lot . . . Fabulous! We Have Come To Be Danced . . .
Nia Belt System . . . Before you can move onto the next belt they say a year must pass. You do not have to get involved. It is a great workout without being involved with the belts. The belt system only comes into play if you care to get that involved in Nia. Nia’s belts mimic some Martial Arts; white, green, blue, brown, black. I am learning so much with my White Belt, I can see myself waiting at least another year before I move onto the next belt. There is so much to learn and enjoy in each belt, I am not in a hurry.
Say: “I Am Wonderful” . . . I like to say this, I like to hear this song. I like to remind people to go to iTunes each week to download the free song.
A Brief Look At Nia . . . still excited to share Nia with people. It is a great body-mind practice and a workout that can make you sweat yet not really feel like exercise. It is learning to follow the body’s way.
Wrapping Tips . . . WHAT? I was shocked that everyone did not read my blog. On Christmas Day and the day after the bags and bags and bags and bags of wrapping trash that I saw on the curbs just blew my mind. In this day and in these times, I was just utterly flabbergasted that people don’t re-use the wrappings. It amazed and saddened me.
My Favorite Mugs . . . so I found out that not everyone got my little joke. Ya know, back in the day (what day, I don’t know), they used to call faces mugs . . . get it now?
The Seven Cycles Of A Nia Workout . . . The workout has cycles, somewhat like Jazzercise. I like to share this aspect of Nia so people have an idea of what a workout class will be like. We set a focus and an intent, step in, warm up and move all the way through the cycles to the floor, and then we step out.
Well, thank you so much for joining me on my blog. I hope that you continue to read, I hope you enjoy and learn. I learn from your comments so keep them coming. Thank you for a great year. Here is to the NewYear.
But . . .before we jump into the New Year, share with me what your favorite post from my blog was? AND/OR give me ideas on what you would like to see posted in the New Year.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Albert Einstein, Bay Area Workout, Belt System, Black Belt, blonde sex symbol, Blue Belt, body's way, Body-mind, body-mind practice, Brown Belt, Carlos Rosas, cats dancing, Christmas, Christmas Day, coffee mugs, cool down, cycles, dance, dancing cats, Debbie Rosas, exercise, floorplay, Free download, Free iTunes, free iTunes download, free song, Gary Go, gift bags, green, Green Belt, Healing exercise, Healing workout, health, heaven dance, Humming bird, Hummingbird, hummingbird pictures, Hummingbird tongue, I am wonderful, iTunes, Jazzercise, Jazzercise San Jose, Jewel Mathieson, lefty, Lyrics, March 2009, Marilyn Monroe, martial arts, Martial Arts Belt System, mind body, Mugs, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia exercise class, Nia play, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia teachers, Nia Technique, Nia workout, Non-Impact Aerobics, Painted Glove, Personal Trainer, Poem, San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, sanctuary, sex symbol, theory of relativity, tongue, warm-up, We Have Come To Be Danced, White Belt, Working Out, Workout cycles, workout routines, wrapping paper, Yoga | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 17, 2009
As you know I post about things other than health, wellness, exercise, and working out. I do try to post helpful things.
Recently we got a box of wrapping paper down and I opened it up and there was a pile of folded kind of crumpled paper. I pulled it out and set it aside. I figured that I saved it to use to re-use for wrapping. But it was so crumbled I didn’t have the heart to try to deal with it at that moment. So as I was wrapping over the next couple of days it dawned on me what that pile of paper really was for—-packing. A couple of years ago I started saving paper that had been used. If it was pretty or I really liked it I save it.
I use my shredder to shred the wrapping paper. When I use those handy gift bags I use the paper shredded instead of using tissue paper. I also use shredding wrapping paper when I am shipping packages (usually in addition to another recycled packing product). I really like this idea of re-using the paper. Other paper that works is the paper that is too small to use to actually wrap a gift. It all looks really pretty and festive once it is shredded. It works really great when you have two sided paper.
I love wrapping paper, but I think it is a huge waste, so if I can re-use something I love it. I save bows to re-use them. Drives my husband crazy It used to drive my husband crazy, but I save them and re-use them. Please don’t be offended if you ever receive a gift from me with a bow taped on the package. That actually means that I recued that bow from being thrown away then loveing stored it and saved it until it had the perfect recepient.
I also don’t usually write on the gift bag or put the stick name tag directly on it. I usually stick the tag on the shredded paper or stick it to itself over the cord/handle of the bag. That way the recipient can use the bag again.
Sometimes these bags can become family traditions. You can use a gift special back to swap back and forth. For years my family had a bag going back and forth. It was a sea of white cartoon rabbits with one rabbit dressed in red and white. It lasted a long time, but eventually it tore and we moved on, but it was fun while it lasted.
Bags, tissue, bows, and shredding aren’t meant to last forever, but if they get more than one use, that is a great thing.
If you really want to be resourceful and “green” you could always give one of those reusable grocery bags as the gift bag, “wrap” the gift it that!
Do you have any wrapping re-use ideas? What works out for you and your family?
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: exercise, family tradition, gift bags, green, health, recycle, recycling, shredded paper, wellness, workout, wrapping paper | 13 Comments »
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