MALIKA RISLEY

Dedicated to my dear husband David for his 31st birthday

The celebration is in order
Today you are a whole year older!
I didn’t know what to get you,
The poem seemed to be the perfect venue.

Stuff you can buy yourself, I know,
But I wanted to be more personal, you know.

And since you’re one ‘mean’ blogger dude,
With one successful attitude,
I wish you great success in business,
A lot of money, loyal friendships,
To prosper, flourish and love work,
Enjoyment of your younger years,
Stay strong, benevolent and loving,
Just as you are my knight in shining armor!

Husband looking in the bathroom mirror: “I’m ugly.”

Me, looking in the bathroom mirror next to him: “Me too.”

Husband: “You’re a real confidence buster!”

Me: “You’re welcome.”

I decided to do a body composition evaluation at my gym today. They recommend to do it once per month, but I haven’t done one since August of last year. Even though my weight and my BMI (Body Mass Index) are considered to be in the normal range, my goal is to slim down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Before I got pregnant I weighed 125 pounds and at the time of my evaluation in August I weighed 138.5.

So today I was anxious to see my progress between August and now. I was pretty sure that I lost weight based on how my clothes fit me now, but I was quite surprised to find that I only lost less than 2 pounds! Well, weight is not everything I guess. According to my measurements, I lost some inches everywhere. The biggest difference was in my waist, it’s 2 inches smaller now! My guess is that I did loose some fat and gained some muscle. I think I also had some of that post-pregnancy puffiness back then. Glad it’s gone now!

Well, I still got some work to do to reach my goal. This requires loosing 12 pounds. I know it’s not an easy road, but as long as I strive I’ll be there some day.

For our wedding anniversary we went to New York City. Even though it was early March, on the night of our arrival the temperature outside dropped to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. We went to dinner and after braving the cold  for 15 minutes I told my husband that I can’t stand it anymore and I want to go back to the hotel.

We stayed at Park Central, literally few blocks away from Times Square and a block away from Central Park. The rooms are very spacious for New York City, modern and comfortable. We liked that the room had a fairly large flat screen TV and my husband’s only complaint was that the room was not equipped with a coffee maker.

The weather gradually warmed up over the next couple of days of our stay in New York. On the morning of our departure it was supposed to get into the low 50s. I got to see the snow, which I haven’t seen for over 6 years, I got to feel the freezing temperature and high winds. One thing I wish is that I wore a warmer jacket. Otherwise it was perfect!

We did the tour of NBC, which I really liked. We were taken into an actual news broadcasting studio. Then we went inside of a fake studio, where we got to witness how the news are actually filmed. We got to see the set of the Saturday Night Live. Very cool, even though we weren’t allowed inside, we saw the sets of all of the three stages through the glass wall. Definitely recommend.

Tour of Rockefeller Center was part of the deal. We had a guide who walked us through the Rockefeller Center Plaza focusing on different buildings, telling us their stories and their significance in the history of the Center. Honestly, I could take it or leave it. As soon as it was over, I could hardly remember anything. I guess it’s just not my cup of tea.

On a following day we did a 3-hour cruise around Manhattan island. Very cool, you get to see Manhattan from a completely different perspective. Believe it or not, Manhattan actually has some areas that look completely untouched. Trees, grass, rocks, no people, pretty wild. I was also amazed at how hilly the island is. As we were cruising along Hudson and Harlem rivers, we got to check out other areas of the city, like Brooklyn and Bronx.

The New York experience is not complete without a Broadway show. We went to see Phantom Of The Opera. It was awesome, the best Broadway show I’ve ever seen! Highly recommend it! The best place to get tickets is TKTS, right in the middle of Times Square. If you don’t mind buying tickets on the day of the show, you get them half price. Also, at night the line is probably 8 times shorter than during the day. (As a side note, we went in early March, which is off season. During high season, like the summer, the story might be completely different.)

Central park is pretty uneventful in early March. Bare trees, yellow grass, dirt and snow. The key words are bare and empty.

And how can I not mention the newyorkers. What an interesting and intriguing group. They are on the constant run. They do everything fast, they appear to be in the hurry at all times. No time to rest, no time to take a breather, no time to smell the roses (or overpriced steak of the nearby restaurant in their case). I get tired just by looking at them. But I’m sure their impression of us is completely opposite. I’m sure it’s something like “Could they be any slower? Why does it take over 1 minute to make up your mind on what sandwich to get? C’mon man, it’s not Florida!” lol. Yea, yea, we’re from Florida and we’re slow!

But in any case, I really do enjoy getting out to New York City. I lived in a big city as a kid and a teenager. Part of me misses it. The crowds, the rush, the smell of the subway, the pastry stands.

On that note, I’ll be back!!

Well, starting this year, I am officially celebrating my 28th birth day forever! My chronological age is 32, but it sounds old. I don’t feel like I am this old. I think the perfect age to be is 28! That’s why I am going to be celebrating my 28th birth day every year forever! I feel 28, I really hope I look 28, so I’m 28 damn it!

I am getting used to my birth day being an afterthought. Ever since we got married on March 3 2007, my birth day is sort of inconveniently squeezing itself between the Valentine’s Day and the wedding anniversary. Since for our wedding anniversary this year we’re going to New York City for 3 days, my husband’s words were, you know it counts as your birth day present too. Oh goody!

Actually I’m not complaining. Even though I wrote this post with a bit of a sarcasm, I think I do have it pretty good. So now, how old am I??

That’s right, 28!!

Compostable plastic that’s made from plants is not a novelty. The manufacturing process is rather involved. It requires land and fertilizer to grow the plants, mainly corn, then the necessary ingredients need to be extracted from the plant, then additional chemical/biological processes are required that involve energy input. Currently to make a pound of widely used compostable plastic, polylactic acid (PLA) requires 25.5 megajoules of energy, same as burning 118 60-watt lightbulbs for one hour. To make a pound of not yet so popular compostable plastic, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) requires the amount of energy equal to burning 170 60-watt bulbs for an hour.

So the present way of making compostable plastic is still involved and costly, it requires land, fertilizer, plants, additional processing and energy.

But in 2005 researchers at Washington State University developed a method for producing compostable material containing high levels of PHA from paper mill waste products, municipal waste and biodiesel waste. In addition, the fermentation process does not require any special equipment, but the existing wastewater treatment facilities and better yet, no additional energy input.

Apparently this research poses high hopes, since this thermoplastic can be used in a number of conventional applications. Based on the latest information that I was able to find, the research is ongoing. Grants of nearly $450K were pending from National Science Foundation and Idaho State Board of Education for 2008-09.

I can’t wait to know more. Wouldn’t it be awesome to produce compostable plastic from waste without complex equipment and energy input?

Reference: “Wastewater treatment generates PHA plastic.” Industrial Bioprocessing (Nov 25, 2005)

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Biodegradable Plastic - Is It Really?

What is the definition of ‘biodegradable’? Here are some definitions that I found:

• capable of being decomposed by e.g. bacteria
• capable of being reduced to water and carbon dioxide by the action of microorganisms
• capable of being broken down by air, water and bacteria

Up until now, ‘biodegradable’ used to mean to me that if I throw such material into the trash, with time it will sort of dissolve into the environment without harming it. In other words, the nature would accept it back as its own.

Plant based plastic manufactured by NatureWorks is labeled as ‘biodegradable’ and is used mainly as packaging by major companies like Newman’s Own, Wild Oats and Wal-Mart. In simple terms, lactic acid is extracted from corn and then chemically processed to create strong bonding between the molecules, so it becomes polylactic acid or PLA. Currently around 20% of all plastic is PLA and it is used in the form of containers and bags.

Here is the reason why the word ‘biodegradable’ makes me think twice about how such material actually decomposes. In theory PLA is biodegradable, but only in certain conditions. I can’t say it better than what’s already been said by the experts:

“PLA is said to decompose into carbon dioxide and water in a “controlled composting environment” in fewer than 90 days. What’s a controlled composting environment? Not your backyard bin, pit or tumbling barrel. It’s a large facility where compost—essentially, plant scraps being digested by microbes into fertilizer—reaches 140 degrees for ten consecutive days. So, yes, as PLA advocates say, corn plastic is “biodegradable.” But in reality very few consumers have access to the sort of composting facilities that can make that happen. NatureWorks has identified 113 such facilities nationwide—some handle industrial food-processing waste or yard trimmings, others are college or prison operations—but only about a quarter of them accept residential foodscraps collected by municipalities.”              “Corn Plastic to the Rescue” By Elizabeth Royte, Smithsonian magazine, August 2006

These plant-based plastics will break down to basic elements and minerals, usually in an industrial composter through the activity of heat, micro-organisms and enzymes. This decomposition has to be measured by standardized tests and must take place within a specified period of time–which varies according to the ‘disposal’ method. Unfortunately, the industrial composting facilities required are so rare that only a sliver of the biodegradable plastic produced actually makes it to them. Ingeo–a polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic developed by Nature Works–is one so-called ‘compostable’ plastic that will not break down in home composters. NatureWorks also admits that PLA will not break down if left as litter in the countryside, in soils, seawater or even in landfill. Over a much longer period of time of course it will break down, probably faster than petrol-based plastics. But there are likely PLA fragments happily bobbing around in the world’s oceans already. NatureWorks insists that PLA can be recycled, but no system is yet set up to capture and re-use PLA resin. In appearance PLA can be confused with PET (polyethylene terephthalate) used for plastic bottles and so can actually hamper recycling efforts by contaminating existing recycling streams. In October 2004, a group of recycling advocates called on NatureWorks to stop selling PLA for plastic bottles until key questions were addressed. In January 2005 the company did stop selling ‘additional’ PLA for bottle production but broke that moratorium this past April. NatureWorks has yet to test recyclability of any post-consumer PLA”. Jim Thomas, New Internationalist, September 2008

So basically, if we throw the ‘biodegradable’ bags into the trash, they won’t decompose in the landfill of garbage. At least the vast portion of them.

More facts about PLA

PLA plastic takes one and a half times as much energy to manufacture when compared to it’s counterpart, the polyenthylene or PET plastic. Therefore more fossil fuel is used for production of PLA versus PET with more emissions from the power plant. To make it easily understood, making one pound of PLA equals to the same amount of energy as burning 118 60-watt light bulbs for one hour, and only 78 bulbs for PE.

Huge amounts of corn are required to make PLA,  therefore a lot of land and fertilizer is needed to grow it. Manufacturing of fertilizer involves energy as well, since it is made from separate chemical substances into granules. Granulation process alone requires a lot of energy. These numbers are probably not being accounted for in the above PLA energy consumption number.

Some companies in UK refused to use PLA and went back to PET plastics since they believe that their country’s waste management infrastructure is not set up for handling PLA as it was meant to be handled, so mixing PLA and PE makes it more confusing for the waste management companies and the consumers.

My Contribution

I started to use reusable bags when I go shopping. Wal-Mart and Publix, the two markets that I shop at regularly, offer reusable bags for a buck or less per bag.

In case I don’t have my bags on hand, I request paper bags instead of plastic when available.

I try to buy food that requires plastic containers in bulk. For example, instead of individually wrapped single-serving yogurt containers, I buy one big container.  A lot less plastic is used for the same amount of yogurt. And it’s cheaper too!

I carried out my Valentine’s Day plan of making sushi for the first time. Both my husband and I love sushi, so that was one of my contributions to our Valentine’s Day’s date.

That afternoon I went online, checked out the key ingredients required for basic sushi preparation and left for my hunting, aka grocery store. To my luck, the sushi guy, from whom I was supposed to purchase the sushi-grade fish, was on the break and was due to be back in 20 minutes. So there I was waiting on the sushi guy and staring at already prepared and prepackaged perfectly good sushi.  A thought ran through my mind, maybe I should take a shortcut and buy the premade sushi? Certainly it would be easier, I wouldn’t have to mess with cooking the rice, buying seaweed, rice vinegar…, wrapping it all together. But then what fun would it be?

So I decided to wait. In the meantime I picked up a jar of short grain rice, which wasn’t cheap.  I payed over seven dollars for 2 pounds of it, it’s just rice for god’s sake! I got a tube of wasabi sauce, jar of pickled ginger, rice vinegar and seaweed.  To my surprise seaweed is quite cheap, I payed $1.89 for 20 sheets of it, which is good for 20 sushi rolls.

As for the sushi-grade fish, it ain’t cheap! Tuna goes for $29 per pound and salmon for $19. So I bought a third of a pound of each and it cost me roughly $16. My total for the sushi ingredients was around thirty dollars. On the bright side though next time I make sushi, I will only need to buy the fish. The rest will last me for a while.

As I got home, I realized that I didn’t have the sushi rolling mat. I got creative and used bamboo place mat with plastic wrap instead. I found the process of making sushi fairly easy. Though, I think it would have been easier to use the actual sushi rolling mat.

As you can see on the picture, visually it wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it tasted great! We could definitely taste the difference between the store-bought and the homemade sushi. Homemade tasted more plain and fresher. I got lot’s of compliments from my Valentine. By the way, what you see on the picture is about half of what I made. On the plate next to it, there were two more rolls and couple of pieces of sashimi.

In the end, was making our own sushi worth the hassle? Absolutely! I’m looking forward to the next time!

This morning my husband and I decided on our tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day date. We’re hoping to tire out the kiddo by eight, so we can have the rest of the night to ourselves.

For dinner we decided to stay in and enjoy a healthy home-cooked meal. It’s nice that we don’t have to leave the house for our date, we don’t have to hire a baby sitter, deal with traffic and spend gas.

I’m going to make sushi. Sushi is basically raw fish wrapped in rice and sea weed. Fish and sea weed don’t require any hot cooking, so no electricity or gas is spent. Rice does require cooking, but it cooks fairly quickly, in about 15-20 minutes.

I love candles, so I’m planning on setting the mood by lighting some candles and turning off all the electric lights. Lastly some Michael Buble on the background should do the trick!

We decided not to get any cards, since they can be pricey and they will end up in the garbage eventually. I feel it’s more personal to voice the appreciation for one another, than to write it on a card. And a card is such a cliche. It’s better write a poem or a song and then recite or sing it to your loved one.

I’m not sure if my husband is going to get me flowers this Valentine’s day. I’ll leave it up to him. All I know is that most commercially grown flowers require fertilizer. Fertilizer is made out of chemicals like sulfate, phosphate, urea, ammonia and it requires energy to produce. Another thing is, if you do get the flowers, try to get as minimum of wrapping as possible. Potted flowers might be a nice alternative, since they last a heck of a lot longer.

I already know what my favorite Valentine’s day gift is going to be. My husband is going to help me redesign my blog to better reflect its theme. I’m so excited!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an option of purchasing a shatterproof CFL light bulb, so in case the bulb breaks the mercury stays contained within the bulb? Even though Environmental Protection Agency issued a thorough clean up procedure for mercury spills including broken CFL bulbs, many consumers still have concerns with using CFL bulbs in their house. I happen to share this concern since I have a toddler, a dog, a cat and an oblivious husband!

So is there a solution?

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