How to Keep 10,000 Plastic Bags out of Landfills by doing Nothing

posted by Russ | October 12 | Add a Comment

I consider myself to be a pretty eco minded person, I wouldn’t go so far as too say I’m extreme when it comes to conservation and minimizing waste, but I do exert a fair amount of effort to try to minimize my impact, especially when it comes to over consumption and blatant waste. And I certainly would consider our (Americans) use of plastic a blatant waste.

For my part, I always bring my reusable bags when I go shopping, and I even go so far as to use an empty bread loaf bag to pick up dog poop rather than throw it out unused. These days when I make my lunch I reuse one ziplock bag for several weeks, rather than dispose of it daily, and I also use a tupperware to pack my sandwich and vegetables. Right there, assuming that I make lunch 3 days […]

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Posted in: environment, sustainability

My Green Product Recommendations

posted by Russ | October 5 | Add a Comment

I have seen some people posting recently asking for green product recommendations, so I guess this is as good a time as any for me to post my own. Green products are sometimes a catch 22, they are clearly better for the environment and most often for us as well, but a lot of times the products are much more expensive, and worst of all, sometimes they just don’t work! Well, here are the products that I have found to work for me and would definitely recommend (though I can’t control the price), based on five years of trial and error.

Just a heads up, these links below take you to Amazon, as much as I’d love for you to head over there and buy stuff so I can make a few bucks, keep an eye on the prices, check some of the third party sellers on Amazon for […]

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Posted in: sustainability

Curing acne with a healthy diet

posted by Russ | October 3 | 3 Comments

I’ve been wanting to write about this topic for a while, but never felt comfortable sharing it. However, today I just decided that I will share, if for no reason other than to help someone who might find this page through a web search. So if you’re one of my regular readers, feel free to skip this one, unless of course it’s of interest to you.

I’ve been pretty lucky in that I’ve never had a terrible problem with acne. But around the early part of high school, I started getting some on my back. It was never terrible, but at that age it was enough to make me self conscious. At the time, I sort of just figured I was an unlucky teenager, and hoped it would go away as I got older. I never had any clue that it could ever be related to diet. So even though it […]

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Posted in: health & diet

The best time of year in San Diego

posted by Russ | October 2 | Add a Comment

Everyone thinks summer is the best time of year in San Diego, but I’m here to tell you otherwise. Actually let me back up. Everyone thinks that San Diego is 75 degrees and sunny year round. While it comes close, I can tell you that’s not the case. I might even go so far as to say there are seasons here.

Having grown up in New England, I can attest to the fact that the seasons here are quite different than what many people are used to, but still, we have seasons. Summer goes from May to mid September, then some fall weather kicks in until November or December, then a month or two of moderately chilly nights and cool days with some rain, then spring for another month or two, then summer. Summer is hot and dry, so everything turns brown, and winter is the green season. […]

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Posted in: uncategorized

And that is the power of Twitter!

posted by Russ | September 30 | 1 Comment

Every week I get these emails from Travelzoo, usually I don’t pay much attention. Well, I have been thinking about going up to Los Angeles (well, Carson) again to see another Galaxy soccer game, and out of nowhere I get an email from Travelzoo informing me that there is a 50% off promo for the game I want to go to. Sweet!

So all excited I follow the link to buy the tickets, and it turns out that to get the promo on Ticketmaster you need to enter a promo code… Uh oh, no code was in the Travelzoo email or the linked page on their site. So I look all over their site for a way to ask questions. Can’t find one. The contact page is just a generic “comments” form. Bummer. Replying to the email probably won’t get a reply. So I try […]

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Posted in: technology

This weeks barefoot running update

posted by Russ | September 25 | Add a Comment

I guess it’s about time for my barefoot running update. The first couple times I tried to run barefoot I had extreme soreness in my arches and the lower part of my leg, I’m not sure of the muscle, but basically from the calf down to the ankle. There was no pain, but I definitely could feel the soreness, especially when I would get up after sitting for a few hours.

Two weeks ago I finally made it to Sports Authority to buy a pair of aqua socks. I know, not the most stylish footwear, but they do seem to work as far protecting my feet while still allowing barefoot style running. Right around the time I first tried going barefoot, I was having recurring calf pain while running in my sneakers, but since I’ve gotten the aqua socks, things are feeling better. I’m not even up […]

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Posted in: outside

Exploring the mud caves, Anza Borrego Desert State Park

posted by Russ | September 15 | Add a Comment
Entrance to mud cave in the desert

Entrance to mud cave in the desert

With desert season coming here in San Diego, I figure it’s a good time to share some information about the mud caves out in the Anza Borrego desert. They are great to explore, all you need is a headlamp or flashlight, and a sense of exploration! Bring some water, make sure there’s no rain in the forecast, and don’t get lost!

Here is an excerpt of my previous write up about the mud caves:

I had always heard of the mud caves out in the Anza Borrego desert, and the fact that they are supposed to be some of the best in the world was enough to finally get me out there. I used the “Afoot & Afield San Diego County: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide

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Posted in: outside

Colorado Beer Road Trip – Boulder, Fort Collins, and Denver

posted by Russ | September 8 | Add a Comment
Beautiful Colorado Rockies

Beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains

MARCH – After descending over the Rocky Mountains on one of the more bumpy flights I’ve ever had, we arrived in Denver on Friday morning. The plan was to check out the major cities of Colorado over the next four and a half days, and while we were at to sample a lot of the great breweries and pubs in the area as well. It turned out to be a sort of impromtu beer tour, but that worked just fine because it gave us direction and motivation to keep moving along. So to get started, we picked up the rental car and then headed straight to Boulder, which was the place I was looking most forward to seeing. I had only driven through Colorado, without ever having spent any time there, so this was all new to […]

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Posted in: travel, united states

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