Posts archived in Environment & Politics

Then I think you should watch this BBC documentary, Racism – a history. You can stream it directly on google videos here. Part 1, part 2, part 3. Each part is one hour and I think they’re very worthwile, they have been shown as part of the development courses I’m taking. They’re just what the title says; a pretty thorough history from colonialism through slavery and eugenics…

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Carin was going to come to Göteborg today and have an adventurous day with me, but she got a cold and had to stay in Jönköping. I was in a cranky mood and tried to make my other friends on facebook do something fun with me but noone complied!!!! Except Suss but we have an adventurous household together everyday so that doesn’t really count! Then I went to town with Suss, thrifted a heap of things and then met up with Frej to try out glasses for him which failed. The things I thrifted were: a long pink 70s floral dress that I will wear when it’s spring. Which should be now. A beige/light orange tulle skirt. A few books, a framed 50s illustration that will go great in our kitchen, and two pairs of stockings. I gave one pair to Frej because it was those with one black and one white leg and they suited him way better than they suited me. I don’t really like wearing black and white sadly, I think it’s really pretty but I always feel uncomfortable in it.
Can’t really say that shopping made me in a better mood though I really really like this long dress, it’s barbie pink with turquoise flowers and buttons all the way up the front. Pink dresses = more comfortable!!!

The stockings I found at Ebbes hörna by Stigbergstorget. I was also at Ebbes hörna by Bellevue yesterday with Frej and there they had more stockings, unopened ones in high opaque for 25 kr each so that’s a tip! Suss explained it’s because Åhléns gives their unsold stuff to Stadsmissionen which I think is very good! Not like crappy H&M destroying things that don’t sell, and then giving swedish second hand store Myrorna their sustainability award?!

Now I’m gonna go back to watching Frej bake bread in his new stockings!

/Karin

P1180143Spotify Playlist

1. Det ska bli slut på rumban – Röda Bönor
2. Oh bondage, up yours! – X-ray Spex
3. Beauty Fiend – My Ruin
4. Awful - Hole
5. Gloria – Patti Smith Group
6. Nanny Nanny Boo Boo – Le Tigre
7. Can’t Hold Us Down – Christina Aguilera feat. Lil Kim
8. Down at the Pub – Lunachicks
9. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien – Edith Piaf
10. To Kill a King – Hungry Lucy
11. That’s Not My Name – The Ting Tings
12. Shake Yer Dix - Peaches
13. Sången om Sexualmyterna – Röda Bönor
14. Då Är Det Inte Kärlek – Tant Strul

Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl

Ani DiFranco – Shameless

Wish I had time to think of more songs to put on the playlist but I have to rush off to school! Tonight I’m going to a demo and then to a party to celebrate the 100th international women’s day!


At the gathering point for the demo on the 16th

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Frej had made cloud flags which he handed out to random people.

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Frej, Mårten and I

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Kenny, Frej and Mårten

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McDonalds under police protection

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By Bella Center

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While economies grow, social justice is unnecessary, as lives can be improved without redistribution. While economies grow, people need not confront their elites. While economies grow, we can keep buying our way out of trouble. But, like the bankers, we stave off trouble today only by multiplying it tomorrow. Through economic growth we are borrowing time at punitive rates of interest. It ensures that any cuts agreed at Copenhagen will eventually be outstripped. Even if we manage to prevent climate breakdown, growth means that it’s only a matter of time before we hit a new constraint, which demands a new global response: oil, water, phosphate, soil. We will lurch from crisis to existential crisis unless we address the underlying cause: perpetual growth cannot be accomodated on a finite planet. - Monbiot

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COP15

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I am back from Copenhagen! Or, we came back Thursday but both Frej and I have had bad colds and also I’m writing an essay for school so I’m really busy. I’ll write about Copenhagen when I have the time, for now, let’s just say that being there was fantastical & sad at the same time and that I am as convinced as ever that change and real solutions does not come from above.

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Soap nuts

I’ve done my laundry with soap nuts instead of regular detergent in three or four rounds of laundry now and I think they are working fine. Just as fine as ordinary anyway, which is great – since they are a better environmental option in a lot of ways. (Though just as important is to not wash in warmer water than absolutely neccessary – often a garments biggest environmental impact is the energy needed to wash it throughout it’s lifetime)

IEverything I tried to wash out got clean, though I haven’t tried to get out any real bad staining yet so I can’t say how that’s working. Since they won’t give you allergies like chemical detergents, are better for the environment both in that they can be composted and that they are imported by boat by many of the people who sell them; while they do get things clean and good I’d recommend them warmly! Also they’re cheaper than regular detergent and really easy to use, you just put them in a little cotton bag or an old sock, in to the washing machine along with the laundry.

This is what they look like.
My mom had bought some from a different place and hers were harder and less soapy feeling. Hers also had instructions on how you could make your own shampoo with them.

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I read up on the internet and some people seem to have a bit of trouble getting them to work and that it might be an issue when you’ve got hard water. They said that they had better experiences with something called EcoBalls.

<a href=”http://www.portfolio.lilyofthevalley.se/images/asa.jpg” title=”Åsa — akvarell och tusch — 2009″ rel=”lightbox-tavlor”><img src=”http://www.portfolio.lilyofthevalley.se/images/thumbs/tumnagel16.jpg” style=”opacity:0.9;filter:alpha(opacity=90)”
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Art not Oil

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Roads To Nowhere - Fiona Richmond

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Lots more at the galleries for Art not Oil

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Small steps

If you live in Sweden you can join Reklamfritt to block the adressed paper advertising you get in your mailbox. The advertising that doesn’t have your address on it will go away with a simple “No advertising please”-sign but the most common others that they will force upon you anyway, you can block in like a second on the site and won’t ever have to bother with it again!

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This morning Sweden’s prime minister Reinfelet was in town to hold a lecture on climate & finances at my university. Took this picture from Greenpeaces campaign against the expansion of the coal industry that is run by state owned swedish company Vattenfall who are building new coal power plants outside of Sweden even though 97% of Sweden’s people do not want more coal fuel.. Today Vattenfall is producing twice what all of Sweden is realeasing of in carbon dioxide in a year! I participated in Greenpeace’s action with some 20 other people in the audience holding paper signs telling him to take his climate responsibility as our leader & stop the coal industry of Sweden. He seemed a bit annoyed with the banners that were held up during the entire hour, and we were told he’d gotten pretty angry with the Greenpeace people outside the building holding up a textile banner with the same messages.
Also his idea on how to solve the enormous carbon dioxide  emissions that meat is responsible for was to “just wait, and science will figure out a way to change the way the animals digest their food.” Insanity.

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In other news, Frej and I ordered soap nuts to do our laundry more eco friendly! I’ll write a longer post when I’ve tried them out properly.. Also we ordered those French Letter (faitrade & vegan)  condoms I was talking about here a while ago and while I usually try to not get affected by wrapping and such, they look so much nicer than ordinary condom packages. And the ones with smells have really nice ones such as rose, passion fruit and vanilla, the ones without smells are completely odourless instead of smelling like rubber = great!
We ordered both products from  Jordklok which is a swedish store, but if you’re from abroad Sweden I am sure you’ll find plenty of retailers for both the soap nuts and French Letter with just a quick google search.

http://greenpeace.cc/stoppasverigeskolkraftverk/

Information worth remembering.

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By I am Green, found through Ekoshoppa.


Facial cleansing: Water
Facial peeling: None
Facial water: None
Facial creme: None
Eye creme: None
Razors: None
Shaving-gel: None
Facial peeling: None
Body peeling: None
Day creme:
None
Night creme: None
Body lotion: None
Nailpolish: None
Concealer: None
Perfume:
None
Foundation: Nivea Ideal Finish
Rouge: None
Highlighter: None
Soap: A soap
Powder: None
Mascara: Masterpiece Max apparantly.
Eyeliner: One from Coop that is cheap.
Eye shadow: None that I use every day. I own four in total: one shimmery white, one pink, one black and one yellow.
Lipstick: I borrow Susanne’s red one on occasion. I also own one of those Lip Finity ones I use when I want to wear lipstick & kiss.
Lip gloss: I own one from Face that I got as a sample a couple of years ago.
Eyebrow pencil: One I found unused in a pile of trash! Happy times!
Hand creme: None
Body butter: None
Deodorant: Nivea “for men”. Though next time I get one I will try something natural instead, havn’t gotten around to researching good deos.
Shampoo: Coop X-tra Shampoo (costs 10 kr and lasts for about 3-4 months)
Conditioner: None
Leave-in-conditioner: None
Hair spray: None
Hair gel: None
Hair wax: None
Hair dye: Henna

Saved this survey from some beauty blog a while ago. People don’t need that many products to look decent. I look decent. It’s all chemicals anyway. I don’t think chemicals on skin will make the skin look better. I think a healthy nutrient source is the key to have a healthy body and if you don’t have a healthy body no peeling in the world will peel that off.
Also a lot of these are just trickeries. You use one and end up having to use 5 more to correct what the first one did to you. I used to have to use both shampoo, conditioner & hair spray to make my hair look exactly the same as it does when I only use the cheapest shampoo on the market. That is because the products leave traces in your hair that makes it look weird & get greasy fast. When you clean them out and use a shampoo with few different things in it it will be clean and look as it should without all that crap.
There are like 35 items on this list. If each thing on average is 100 kr, that is 3.500 kr worth of pretty useless things, if you buy more “fancy” things maybe it’s about 10.000 kronors worth of nothing.