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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 18, 2019 19:13:35 GMT
I bought a Ralph Lauren polo shirt in perfect condition for 3 euros at the second hand store.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 18, 2019 20:24:38 GMT
Wow...bargain! One of my pairs of levis were at a knock down price...the other pair....er....
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Post by lagatta on Jul 18, 2019 22:09:24 GMT
They are still worth it if they fit you. Levi's have never fit me (ample posterior, fortunately well-toned by cycling, relatively small waist whatever weight I am. Not a problem; there are other lines). Any flares got cut off due to my short legs.
I get the idea that women come in a greater variety of shapes than men, though that might be a stereotype, and I welcome any male input.
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Post by bjd on Jul 19, 2019 6:20:20 GMT
I still wear Levi's 501 jeans -- have been doing so for years, despite having some other kinds. I don't wear any jeans cut specifically for women because of the waist/hip ratio. Yes, Levi's are expensive enough, but much cheaper than designer name jeans with torn knees!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 19, 2019 8:42:41 GMT
I used to wear 501s and still have a couple of pairs in the wardrobe but I'm much too fat to get into them atm. I could give them to my DiL ....the new ones are for curvy girls and have a bit of stretch in them. Lovely fit.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 22, 2019 13:26:08 GMT
Do give them to her if they'd fit her. Not cheap. Even if you slim down, you may not be the same shape. I gave away an expensive pair of supposedly comfort walking sandals - bright red - that still hurt my feet. Better than seeing them in the cupboard...
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Post by rikita on Jul 28, 2019 21:28:32 GMT
too much plastic during vacation - but it is difficult to avoid when you are in the countryside at an unknown area, without car, without the possibility to cool food etc. - you just have to buy what you get ...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 29, 2019 4:03:06 GMT
I noticed that the local store (Monoprix) has already stopped selling plastic forks, knives and spoons ahead of the EU cut-off date -- they are all made out of wood now.
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Post by bjd on Jul 29, 2019 8:28:05 GMT
They could also use bamboo -- it grows much faster than trees.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 31, 2019 9:31:00 GMT
Perhaps the wooden ones are actually bamboo. Or if not, felled tree wood that was not of a quality to be used for building lumber or flooring.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 31, 2019 10:09:24 GMT
Actually, I was in Carrefour yesterday which has also eliminated the plastic utensils. I looked at the label and it definitely said "wood" and not bamboo. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51bVJ1btN3L._SY355_.jpgHowever, I have read that straws are being made out of bamboo. Seems to me that the old paper straws would be adequate, though. I also read recently that among the things that cannot be recycled even though everybody puts them in the recycle bins are paper cups. Päper is not waterproof, so they have to put a plastic coating on it. Well, actually, it is not impossible to recycle, but it cannot be recycled with normal paper and at the moment there is not much in the way of recycle bins just for cups (and maybe noodle bowls).
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Post by rikita on Jul 31, 2019 19:43:01 GMT
they say that paper bags aren't that much better than plastic bags (i suppose not so much that they don't decompose, but in their production) - so maybe paper straws aren't that much better than plastic straws? i suppose in the end, reuseable things are best, but at take aways i suppose it is difficult to come up with a good system for that ...
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2019 3:16:41 GMT
When I lived in Spain as a child (1956 -- 1959), the straws were made out of straw. They were smooth, with the fibers running horizontally and with a pleasant straw color. They were called "pajas", the Spanish word for straws. Since the English word for drinking straws is "straws", you have to think that straws in other countries were also once made of straw, so why aren't they now?
I hardly ever think about paper cups and didn't realize they were plastic coated. In the not terribly distant past (well into my adulthood, anyway) paper cups were coated with wax. That always gave you something pleasurable to do once you finished drinking whatever was in the paper cup -- nibbling the wax from the rolled rim of the cup. Supposing that paper is ecologically better than plastic, it would seem that waxed paper products would be recyclable.
The stand where I eat in the market no longer provides styrofoam, etc. for takeaway. This is fine with me since I live around the corner and always brought my own receptacles anyway. But it seems it might cut into their business to a degree, as it cuts out any customer who might want takeaway on a whim.
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2019 5:42:13 GMT
I re-use the brown paper bags I get at the market. I take them with me and fill them with whatever I am buying, until they tear or generally fall apart. I am certainly not the only one to do so,although it seemed more common in Toulouse than it does here. Maybe also because there are lots of tourists and seasonal people here who don't have their old paper bags.
There is also a stand at the market with a guy who raises trout and sells on the spot: fillets, smoked trout, gravlax, little bits of trout to be added to pasta, etc. He does a booming business and I have seen locals come with their own glass dish to put the fish into. Otherwise, he wraps in paper.
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Post by rikita on Aug 1, 2019 7:56:20 GMT
bringing your own dish, at least for take-away, apparently is difficult here because of hygiene laws. it seems to be alright with reuseable coffee cups, but i think you aren't allowed to bring your own container for food, as your container isn't allowed behind the counter, and the food isn't allowed across the counter without a container, or something like that.
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2019 8:00:04 GMT
Rikita, I'm talking about a stand selling food at the market. I have never seen anyone with their own dish at a take-out place.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 1, 2019 9:39:07 GMT
On the Belgian coast, I have seen plenty of locals bringing their own bowl or plastic box to buy a "family-sized" portion of frites for a meal. That is definitely one item for which there is no point in cooking it yourself if there is a place to buy them near home.
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Post by lugg on Aug 1, 2019 19:38:12 GMT
I try to be ... rarely eat meat, re-cycle as much as possible, avoid plastic and have next years Xmas tree growing in garden which has been dug up and used twice so far ( actually I am not sure that is good or bad ), compost, sow wild flowers in my garden for bees/ insects etc, use my car as little as possible but have a box for my horse transport... but completely fail at the point when I book flights. I am not sure that I can be altruistic enough to ditch foreign flights . I am however considering an electric car for my next purchase just to make me feel better.
and I like rice ... a real no-no in terms of methane production
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 1, 2019 20:11:34 GMT
We all just do what we can -- and have to bend our moral rules about certain items. But in a few years, with global warming, perhaps England will be growing its own rice.
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Post by rikita on Aug 2, 2019 18:17:04 GMT
not sure, i think it'd be the same as take-away places on markets here, at least legally, but there might be less control about it. might ask sometime. though just remembered - the ice cream place my mom sometimes goes to allows her to bring her own container for the ice cream. on the other hand, it is quite a way from her house and she usually takes the car, so i guess that equals out what she saves in plastic ...
hm, i suppose if i go get a kebab to take home, they usually wrap it in aluminum foil for me, but i could just claim i get it to eat right away, then they'll only wrap it in paper, and i could just put it in a container afterwards - though i rarely eat kebab these days ... ah and the sandwich place downstairs uses containers made of sugar cane ...
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Post by rikita on Aug 3, 2019 18:10:39 GMT
maybe it isn't as strict as i thought - my neighbour in the shop downstairs said i can bring my own dish or container, so i went upstairs and got one ...
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 3, 2019 18:35:03 GMT
Often real life is much more realistic than the official rules.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 6, 2019 21:54:13 GMT
In general I'm a good consumer, but I'm too cautious sometimes. I need a good raincoat, and have found one for $150 Cdn. Not a lot for the quality, and a colour I love - a rich red that is neither the orangey Chinese red nor sometimes too murky wine red. It aslo comes in black and while I love that cloak of invisibility, it is probably unwise on my bicycle in the autumn, or I'd have to buy one of those day-glo things to pop over it. This is one of those raincoats made to roll up to fit in a tiny bag, for travel.
But I've had some very skint periods not long ago, so it pains me to see my bank balance go down...
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 10, 2021 18:58:49 GMT
In another vein, the national electric company in France has informed me that I have paid 1053 euros for electricity in the last 12 months. No big deal since anybody can calculate that if they want to. But we have new "intelligent" electric metres in France now and they can tell us pretty much exactly how we used our electricity without ever having set foot in our residence or questioning us about our equipment. It is both creepy and fascinating. Some people think that it is an unacceptable invasion of privacy. So, what else is new in modern life?
These devices know exactly what you are using at what time. It knows (without being told) the size of my water heater, my type of heating, what kind of cooking method I use, the size of my refrigerator. I am informed that my biggest expense is heating (30%), and I already know that I need to change to something more efficient. Hot water is 23%, which also seems excessive, but that might be my fault. My 3rd largest expense surprised me -- 10% for "audiovisual." Lighting is 8%, cooking is 4%, the refrigerator and washing machine each use just 2%. When I checked my profile, nearly everything about my "equipment" was correct. It knew for example that I have a microwave but not a toaster oven... In other words, every time I turn something on, it knows what I have turned on and at what time. This implies that if I get up at night to pee and turn on the light, they know what I am doing.
Welcome to the future.
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Post by questa on Aug 10, 2021 22:58:54 GMT
I haven't read all of this thread yet but I saw a brief grab on tv showing brand new clothes being tipped into pits by the truck full and earth-movers burying them because they are last season's. Another victim of covid. Tons and tons of waste.
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Post by mossie on Aug 11, 2021 7:02:19 GMT
The last 2 posts show that the world is going to hell in a handcart at an ever increasing pace. For K, Big Brother is on your case and if you don't mend your ways quickly, watch out. As for the clothing, with thousands of sweat shops serving the rag trade, the fashion warehouses just cannot keep up. As someone brought up to scrimp and save it is all too much and I am thankful that my days are numbered.
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