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Post by lagatta on Oct 13, 2014 2:59:10 GMT
Kerouac, I have a lot of old wooden furniture that was probably made extremely locally. But while I do have some locally-made clothing, most isn't. Things like socks and tights used to be made in Canada, many of them in Québec. No more. Obviously there are no locally-made computers.
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Post by tod2 on Feb 2, 2015 10:54:44 GMT
A year ago we had to figure out a way of launching the Guy Fawkes rockets successfully. I gave my gardener some 2L cool-drink bottles to bury in the garden - facing at a slight angle so the rockets would shoot over the farm on the other side of the road. After that we forgot about them until just before this past New Year's Eve. They were still there ready and re-cycled for the next volly of rockets! He even put the caps back on to keep them dry.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 4:56:55 GMT
Scottish artist Michael Pinsky has put on temporary display some of the "treasures" fished out of the Canal de l'Ourcq which runs through the Parc de la Villette. The Vélib municipal bicycles have paid a particularly high tribute to the canal. Next week the Canal Saint Martin is going to be drained for 4 months for its first major cleaning since 1999. The things they are going to find in it will defy the imagination.
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Post by htmb on Dec 30, 2015 5:23:17 GMT
Vélibs and shopping carts I can understand, but an oven and a refrigerator? Amazing.
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Post by htmb on Mar 15, 2016 20:48:38 GMT
I'm not sure this is the right place to put this since it involves my office, but I always carefully separate my work trash and most goes into a recycle bin. My workplace has a plan that includes recycling of all paper, aluminum, glass, and most plastic. I only use my regular trash can for non-compliant materials such as Kleenex tissues and food wrappers.
In recent months we've had a change in our nighttime cleaning staff. I've met the new night person but I'm not usually around when he comes to collect my carefully sorted office trash.
Since I'm working late today I was there when he came to collect the garbage and I watched as he carefully combined both my cans and then dumped everything all together into his big refuse bin!
Apparently, we have not been recycling on my end of the hall for the past few months!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2016 14:29:20 GMT
Tomorrow we have in our neighborhood a rummage sale that is to take place on the little commercial street that runs for about ten blocks. It will be an opportunity for folks to sell unwanted items, books, clothes, etc. I hope the weather holds up but, surely it would be rescheduled because so much effort has gone into this event.
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Post by rikita on Apr 10, 2016 10:44:52 GMT
htmb - that is annoying, i imagine ... did you speak to him about it?
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Post by htmb on Apr 17, 2016 4:41:57 GMT
Yes, I did, Rikita, and he assured me he kept the recycling separated from the regular trash.
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Post by chexbres on Apr 17, 2016 13:06:34 GMT
I recycle everything I think should/could be recycled. But the gardienne in my old building used to chew me out when I put something in the yellow bin that she disagreed with - even if I was right about it. Thank goodness my new gardienne doesn't give a hoot one way or the other. And I am a devoted "ramasseur", even if people still give me the evil eye when I pass by a pile of poop made by someone else's dog. This is what annoys me about European packaging - there is usually one little universal symbol for recycling, followed by "pensez a tri" (think about recycling). Then, sometimes there's one or more of these other symbols which you have to hunt for, then disassemble the packaging...or worse, read that the package is non-recyclable after all and must be thrown away! www.smitred.com/fr/content/les-symboles-du-recyclage-mode-demploi
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Post by rikita on Apr 18, 2016 6:06:17 GMT
what is a ramasseur and what do you mean by passing by a pile of poop?
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Post by chexbres on Apr 18, 2016 7:56:40 GMT
Ramasseur is someone who collects things that are lying around. There are signs in Paris that say, "J'aime mon quartier. Je ramasse." (I love my neighborhood. I pick up.) You'd think it would be easy to understand, because there's a picture of a person with a dog on a leash and a little shovel - but, no...
While I'm walking my dog, I often get the "evil eye" from someone who is convinced that my little dog was guilty of leaving a mountain of poop - probably left by a Labrador. Since it is obvious that it was impossible for her to produce this, I just walk (pass) on by.
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Post by bjd on Apr 18, 2016 9:25:23 GMT
We went for a walk yesterday afternoon and at the entrance to a passage between some houses there was a notice: "Will the disgusting person who lets their dog crap here, where children and others step in it, pick up after your dog." Then it gave the reference of the civil code saying that you have to pick up or face a 35€ fine.
Well, I have never seen anyone charged for letting their dog crap on the sidewalk. I had the impression that things were getting a bit cleaner for a while but it seems to go downhill again. The only person I know who scoops is Argentinian.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2016 10:41:52 GMT
In Paris and other big cities, the fine has been raised to 68 euros. An article in Le Parisien says there were 2507 fines issued for dog shit and 2189 fines for peeing in the street in Paris last year. These are the most difficult fines to issue, because you have to catch the culprit in flagrante delicto. An additional 11,248 fines were issued for trash bags abandoned on the street or trash containers put out too early or taken in too late. On top of those, there were another 9000 fines for "public insalubrity" but the article did not give details.
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Post by rikita on Apr 18, 2016 11:41:07 GMT
i do see quite a few people who scoop here, but there are more who don't. and it is indeed sometimes difficult, especially when outside with a person who on principle doesn't look where she's going and runs very fast so you can't stop her and occasionally falls down, too (fortunately so far, she has never managed to land her clothes or face in dog poop, but i am just waiting for that day) ...
i do sometimes wait a bit when i see a dog poop, to see if the owner picks it up, but not sure what i'd do if i saw them just walking on (well i saw that a few times but they were the type of people i'd be a bit scared of getting into a fight with - and they had big dogs with them, which makes it even scarier) ... but yeah, blaming someone if you don't know if it really was them is a bit mean ...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2016 12:33:42 GMT
I usually stop and stand there, too, when I see a dog doing its business. I must say that in most cases now, the owners pick it up. When they don't, I make sure they see me glaring at them.
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Post by htmb on Apr 18, 2016 14:10:20 GMT
Residents in NYC are pretty good about picking up, and will also angrily confront anyone who is lax about doing their job.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 21, 2018 18:54:04 GMT
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Post by casimira on Sept 23, 2020 16:18:33 GMT
The city of NOLA has no citywide glass recycling services. Only paper and plastic, aluminum and tin cans. But, there have been various attempts at different locations to recycle glass. Tulane University has a limited number of bins that the art department collects for their use. But given the number of glass bottles etc. that any given household generates it really is pitiful that the majority of glass items go into the municipal garbage bins collected twice a week. Along comes two Tulane University students who are making a change.
"While drinking wine one evening, Tulane University students Max Steitz and Franziska Trautman began discussing how the bottles would never decompose and would likely end up in a landfill due to meager recycling programs in New Orleans. At the same time they were worried about how "this incredible city could disappear before our very eyes to coastal erosion". They realized these existential issues could be mitigated with one solution: pulverizing glass into sand and using it for coastal restoration. After several successful crowd-funding campaigns, a Go Fund Me drive and then a grant from the EPA they were able to purchase the equipment, rent a warehouse and launched Glass Half Full, a free program in the Riverbend section of New Orleans. Trautman, a chemical engineer, conducts research, coordinates volunteer shifts, runs social media and manages drop off days for the program. With COVID-19 restrictions in place , the duo says they're constantly busy because their operation is limited in size, but when the virus is under greater control, they look forward to more community engagement. This is the story of a city coming together to bring about much needed change Steitz says. Our program is funded by both small dollar donations along with the grant from the federal government and driven by the community"
After reading this again while culling through my articles I wanted to get around to posting on here, I of course had to wonder just what Mr. Steitz does. The plant is only a few blocks from my house and I volunteer one Saturday a.m. a month. I have yet to lay eyes on the guy.
Source: Gambit Weekly, 8/18/20
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Post by mossie on Sept 23, 2020 18:22:25 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 6, 2020 16:36:46 GMT
Going right back in my own backyard I was wondering how many Anyporters have investigated their Family Coat of Arms. We all have long pasts and some numerous relatives with a number of names, but have any of you done the Family Tree thing if only as far as obtaining your Family Coat of Arms. We did this on one of our first trips to the UK and just love having our Coat of Arms displayed at our front door. It looks like this:
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 6, 2020 16:42:32 GMT
I'm peasant stock tod. Doubt that there's a family coat of arms for us. Yours is impressive tho.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 6, 2020 16:59:09 GMT
Cheery, I am from Dutch stock with a side of old England. I have my family tree right down to almost cave-dwellers but my husband gave me a new name, a river in England, and 2 Hamlets in Devon and Cornwall and a Hamlet village in Wales all bearing our name. So, what does a new bride do with her acquired status? I got our Coat-of-Arms, I got us travelling to the Hamlets and even blimming well got us on a narrowboat drifting down our very own river! The boy could not have asked for more…..
Cheery, You do have a Coat-of-Arms. Everyone in England has.
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Post by bjd on Oct 6, 2020 19:07:44 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 7, 2020 9:42:21 GMT
Thank you bjd - It is so long ago that we attained our "shield"/Coat of Arms that I was under the impression every family born in England would have one - presuming they had one made in the first place. I'm better informed now but I still would encourage Cheery to fund out if she has a Family Crest. She may be pleasantly surprised!
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 7, 2020 17:01:51 GMT
Sorry, Tod, but that article Bjd linked tells the true story. There has been tons of genealogy done on my English side of the family, going back to the 1500s. The very origin of our surname is vague, and surely any trace of nobility would have been seized upon by the zealous family genealogists. I believe that years ago my dad fell for the coat of arms thing, and that our spurious nobility was enshrined on a piece of wood. I wonder if one of my siblings has the thing.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 8, 2020 12:02:00 GMT
What a shame to have to go down a dead-end alley. When we were with the man who had an enormous well leafed through book, he let us read the explanation of our name but I can't be sure I actually saw the Coat-of-Arms. Maybe that part is a general Made up one they stick on any name? Don't know but it would be nice to think it's genuine.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 10, 2020 2:45:09 GMT
We did this on one of our first trips to the UK and just love having our Coat of Arms displayed at our front door. Tod! Tod! Look at this: establishedtitles.com/
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Post by mossie on Oct 10, 2020 6:55:57 GMT
A nice moneymaking scam scheme
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Post by tod2 on Oct 10, 2020 10:58:27 GMT
Oh good grief Bixa, what have you found! I agree Mossie, it is a lucrative scheme/scam, but a fun gift for sure.
Unfortunately it reminds me of the area allocated by my Late mother's church, St.Matthews, for the burial of ashes. It is neatly brick-paved into small squares about a foot wide. On a wall nearby you can place a plaque with the names of the deceased and it has a little number. My mother & father are E19. They are the first people to be buried together all because of a clerical error in the vestry. I requested two plots, but on the day of the Committal we arrived to find only one plot of soil had been removed. It was a Sunday, no church workmen around and the Minister was waiting to conduct the graveside service - He seemed totally ignorant of the one -plot -one -person's ashes, so we went ahead and poured both into the earth in one space. My mom & dad would like that.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 10, 2020 15:16:43 GMT
In France they are trying to get composting of the deceased approved (apparently it is already done in a few countries). It is a one year process to allow your loved ones to slowly become potting soil. (I think I missed the part about what happens to the bones.)
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