I have 25 slaves working for me

Slavery Footprint is a newly launched website and mobile app to help consumers calculate how many slaves are working to prodvide what you use, wear and eat. It's easy to navigate, and "fun" to use, if something that informs you that dozens -- or hundreds -- of human beings, many of them children, are working under the worst possible condictions to make sure you have your chocolate bar, designer jeans and MP3 player. My score was 25, and I am grateful that the website also points me to actions to make slavery truly a thing of the past.

Van Jones: "It's not too late."

I am at a conference, and alternating my time between attending sessions and grading, but I wanted to quickly share this inspirational video from Van Jones (former White House green jobs "czar" and Glenn Beck witch hunt target). When I start feeling down about the state of environmental activism, I can count on Van Jones to restore my optimism.

It's not too late

My Earth Day rant

My Twitter friend, Amy (AKA @UUatHome), recently posted a reflection about living green with small children. It's a familiar story, and a timely one as we approach another Earth Day. Most American adults living today have grown up hearing the messages of conservation and environmentalism. I was not quite twenty-one on April 22, 1970, a college student caught up in activism on multiple fronts. It seemed to me at that time that my generation, through the sheer force of numbers, would be able to alter the destructive course our culture was pursuing. Now in my sixties, I look around with a heavy heart and feel that we failed.

I covered this territory in an Earth Day post in 2008, when I was feeling more optimistic.

But the power of the environmental movement, for me, is that the personal level means something. There WAS something I could do; in fact there were lots of things. I could choose to live and work near public transportation. I could grow and cook my own food. I could have no more than two children. I could redefine the American Dream for myself and my family, and raise young adults who shared that dream. I could live and consume consciously, with open eyes.

Why so glum today? Let me list a few reasons: Van Jones being run out of the White House by a demagogue. BP oil spill. Japanese nuclear reactor. Fracking. GOP governors canceling high-speed rail projects. GOP House of Representatives trying to defund the EPA. A Democratic White House sending mixed messages about its commitment to the environment.

All the bicycling, recycling and freecycling in the world won't do a damn thing if those in power are determined to sell out humanity for personal gain. Lately I have been nursing a baby conspiracy theory of my own: they are all aliens, and they need to rebuild their spaceships so they can get out of dodge and rendezvous with the mothership. That's why they don't care about the damage they are doing; they won't be here to see it.

Seriously. All the green initiatives by individuals and communities and -- yes -- corporations won't amount to a hill of beans if we don't elect leaders who support environmentalism. Get out your checkbooks and your canvassing shoes, people. There's an election coming, and it's a big one.

Polyester as an Eco-Friendly Fiber

I've been posting less about green fashion, but it's still on my radar. There are many creative people out there in the fashion world looking for ways to make our clothing habits more environmentally friendly. This article on Ecouterre makes a good point: much-aligned polyester has potential for ethical fashion, despite its use of non-renewable resources. It is easier to recycle than other fibers, and its upkeep requires less water and energy. Best of all, the author hits the mark with her question:

Can one often-worn and well-loved polyester garment be good for the environment?

My answer is yes, because my own clothing philosophy is based on a flexible, high mileage wardrobe. My well-made, high quality black polyester trousers have survived five years of weekly use (daily use when I attend conferences). $50 on sale, dry cleaned two or three times a year. It's about time to start shopping for a replacement pair, and I am still thinking polyester.

Christina and Zoe

Since the horrible events in Tucson, Arizona, my thoughts have been drawn to two little girls, both about nine years old. Had they met, these two vivacious, outgoing children might have been great friends, but their lives only intersected on a single day: September 11, 2001. On that bright Tuesday, as we know too well, Christina Taylor Greene was born, a symbol of hope in a terrible, frightening time. That very morning, Zoe Falkenberg, just two months shy of her 9th birthday, had boarded American Airlines flight 77 with her parents and 3-year-old sister on her way to an adventure in Australia.

Zoe's mom was a former colleague; we were also neighbors, members of the same babysitting co-op. September 11 will always summon up Zoe's face, and my still-confused horror that anyone could be so villainous as to look at that child and see a de-humanized, symbolic target for their hatred. Of all the victims in Tucson, it is Christina whose face and story haunt me, somehow joined now with Zoe in the sad trajectory of our recent past.

There were children born all over America on January 8, 2011. What kind of America awaits them in 2020? What can we do to break this destructive cycle of hatred, dehumanization and destruction? Minister better to poor in spirit? Pursue more just policies, here and abroad? Address our culture's embrace of violence? Speak to each other with respect and care? Turn away from those in the media who profit from inflaming our fear and anger?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. For the next Zoe, the next Christina and your children and mine. For Glenn Beck's children and Barack Obama's children. For all of us.

Lentil and sausage soup

One of the contradictions of my pursuit of minimalist living is that I aim to simplify my consumption of things I actually love to consume. Project 333 is more delicious if I try to make every single one of the 33 items in my wardrobe something I love and could wear EVERY SINGLE DAY, if I had to. Likewise, I love cooking, but most of my adult life has been devoted to discovering ways to maximize my enjoyment of kitchen time and produce great leftovers. The result is a seasonal approach to ingredients combined with what I call "investment" cooking: cooking a large batches of food that can make several encore appearances.

Winter is my time for chili, soups, stews and roasts. Having a large pot of soup simmering on the stove, or a savory roast in the oven on Sunday, warms and perfumes the house with promises of quick meals in the busy week to come. This week's soup is a recipe I clipped about 35 years ago from a now-defunct magazine, Attenzione.

Lentil Soup

2 cups lentils
1 lb. Italian sausage, browned (I prefer sweet, but if you like a really spicy soup, you can use 1/2 sweet, 1/2 hot)
8 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
8 oz. thinly sliced pepperoni
1 cup chopped onion
1 16-oz. can of tomatoes
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients above in a 6-quart pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring now and then.

Add:
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced

Simmer 40 minutes more.

We'll be eating this all week, and I don't care. In fact, I'll be sorry when it's all gone.

If you love the idea of minimalist cooking, I recommend Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist" column in the New York Times and the brand-spanking-new blog Simplifried, Unclutterer's baby sister devoted to "ending mealtime stress".