From Pebbles to Mountains: How Small Actions Build Success

***This post has been in Drafts for three years... time to finish it off and publish!!***

A few weekends ago I decided it was time to mow the lawns. That's all. Just mow the front yard and the back yard.

Things turned out waaaayyyy differently than I planned... and it all started with one small step... and then another...

The front lawn was relatively easy and took less than an hour. But the back yard... sigh... not so much.

The Problem of the Kayak

You see, we had our deck replaced a few months ago, which meant the kayak, that normally hangs off the deck joists had to be moved out of the way. Since then, the kayak has been sitting along one side of the yard, with grass growing quite happily in its shelter.

In order to mow the back yard... I needed to move the kayak and hang it back up under the deck. Seemed easy enough... just get the big eye-bolts, screw them into the joists and hang the kayak up with bungy cords.

But wait... not so fast.

The Problem of the Soil

You see, when we had the perimeter drain done last year, they back-filled the soil a little too close to the stucco above the concrete foundation. The whole back yard slopes gently towards the house, but under the deck, it's a bit more noticeable.

Our deck contractor suggested installing a little retaining wall under the deck so that we could pull the soil back from the foundation and create a bit of a gap between the soil and the stucco.

The retaining wall would be going right below where the kayak normally hangs... which meant... that in order to hang the kayak, I really needed to put in the retaining wall first. Otherwise, I'd have no head room to dig...

Eyeing the rock-hard soil under the deck (we are endowed with a lot of clay and rocks in our subsoil)... I shuddered to think of how hard that would be to dig with a shovel... until, while lying in bed at night, fretting about this... I remembered a wondrous tool... the pick-ax!

I woke up Friday morning with visions of the pick-ax in my head, grabbed it out of the shed and scrambled under the deck. Let's see... retaining wall to be installed between the new concrete pillars supporting the back end of the deck... Alright, let's hack all this stuff on the house-ward side of that line. I started chipping away and... that pick-ax loosened up the rock-hard soil like nobody's business!

I hacked and shoveled and burrowed my way down so that we had about 6 inches of freeboard below the stucco. The pile of dirt generated by this mole-work was quite stunning and I was a bit concerned about where it would all go but... it all worked out. I gathered up the extra concrete blocks that we have been using and reusing around the yard and started building my little retaining wall. I've found that filling them with rocks makes them virtually immovable. Our property is blessed with lots and lots of rocks... big and small... so finding enough rocks was NOT a problem.

As the wall took shape, I back-filled some of the dug out soil until... voila... the soil pile was pretty much gone.

What had seemed like a huge, massive task took me less than a day... just one step at a time.

The sloping ground under the deck was now relatively flattish, with a nice little two-block high retaining wall near the house. It wasn't quite finished as I had run out of concrete blocks and needed a handful of the half-blocks to fill in some gaps but... heck, it looked good!

Now... I can hang up the kayak under the deck!

The Problem of the View

Nope... not so fast... you see there's a basement window that looks out under the deck... a bedroom window from our AirBnb. It's not a great view for guests, although it did look better with the new retaining wall and all the soil raked smooth... But my partner had this bright idea of buying a load of gravel and distributing it under the deck. Maybe with a dry river bed on top to add some visual interest.

Sooo... before I hung the kayak and obstructed the only full-height access... I considered the idea of this dry river bed. I was not keen on the idea of ordering a load of gravel for many reasons: cost, logistics, carting it to the back yard by the bucketful... etc. etc. Nope, I had a better idea... using our in-house rocks...

When the perimeter drain was redone last year, the diggers excavated all around the house and then backfilled the soil they had dug out. In that process... they turned everything upside down. Our garden beds along the front of the house and the driveway were no longer topsoil but a rock-strewn mess of subsoil. I spent much of last spring sifting through the beds and pulling out buckets of rocks... graded by size of course... big rocks in this milk crate, medium rocks in this bucket... little rocks in these buckets. At the time, I wondered if sorting the rocks might be overkill but... nope.

By the time all was said and done last spring, I had four milk crates of big rocks, massive black nursery tubs full of medium rocks and buckets and buckets of smaller rocks. Some stored in the what we call the Back 40... some stored under the laurel bush, some stored by the potting bench. And... this spring, I had started a new pile of random rocks along the back fence, having run out of room elsewhere. Rocks, rocks and more rocks... who needs a load of gravel when you have rocks??

The Solution is Rocks

And so began a massive haulage project. I mapped out the outline of the dry riverbed on the soil under the deck, using the larger rocks, and got the stamp of approval from my partner for its shape and flow. Then I began dumping rocks all around the outline of the river bed - first the bigger "feature" rocks and then the medium rocks, filling in the gaps... finishing off with the smaller pebbles.

Milk crates, tubs, buckets, wheelbarrows of rocks but... believe it or not... we had barely enough rocks to finish the project. There isn't a single bucket of rocks left in the yard and now we have a tonne of empty buckets back in circulation for the garden!

Oh wait... not quite finished with rocks... my partner wanted to use some blue-stone pebbles from a local beach to populate the river bed. So we drove to the beach park (shhh)... and surreptitiously filled two backpacks with pebbles and hauled them back to the truck (twice). Blue-stone pebbles poured into dry river bed and... we're done!

Not quite... we still want to add even more visual interest to the dry river bed and rock expanse... like little painted rock houses and fairy garden tchotchkes... but that can come at a later date. For now... it's good enough... not bad for a few days worth of hard slogging... Partner's happy with the dry river bed and I'm happy to have emptied my massive stockpile of rocks. Knew they would come in handy for something someday!

And all it took was a number of small steps... just hack up the soil, just lay the concrete blocks, just move the soil, just move a bucket of rocks. Every move was a small step, but together they add up to an impressive accomplishment. Something for me to remember.

Can I hang up the kayak now? And mow the hay field that is our back lawn?

Putting a Price on Pollution: Could a Deposit on Cigarette Filters Help Solve Health and Environmental Issues?

True or False?

Cigarette filters significantly reduce the health risks associated with smoking?

The Shocking Truth

If you're like me, you probably answered "True". Of course cigarette filters significantly reduce health risks! That's why there are filters on cigarettes in the first place, right? And we've all seen the brown stains no the filter end after someone has smoked, right? So the filters must be filtering out some gunk. Right?

Not so much.

Filters do trap the bigger particles of tar but... they also make the smoke "milder". Smokers tend to take bigger puffs on filtered cigarettes, which means that the smoke travels deeper into the lungs. And guess what... the smaller particles of tar are NOT trapped in filters and... they just travel deeper into the lungs. Think about it... if filters were stopping the toxins... wouldn't the end of the filter remain white? The bit that goes in the mouth? Just sayin...

So, the answer is... False... cigarette filters do not signficantly reduce the health risks associated with smoking. In the meantime... the environmental impacts of cigarette filters are HUGE.

Eco-Impacts

Cigarette filter fibres are made of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that takes years to decompose. In the meantime, toxic substances absorbed from cigarette smoke leach into the environment. Not to mention the ones ingested by wildlife. We all know the impacts are bad... and if you don't, then read this link from the World Health Organization.

Cigarette butts are THE most littered man-made item in the world. Of the 5.6 trillion cigarettes smoked every year (ballpark estimate)... about 80% end up as litter... that is 4.5 trillion cigarette butts.

Oh, and let's not even mention the wildfire risks associated with discarded cigarette butts.

Alternatives

There are different options to today's cigarette filters...

1. No Filters

One option is to produce cigarettes without any filters. Today's cigarette filters are not a necessary component of cigarettes and their removal would eliminate the health and environmental issues associated with them. People could use cigarette holders or simply smoke unfiltered cigarettes. Of course, there would still be health risks associated with smoking.

2. Biodegradable Filters

Developing filters made from biodegradable materials, such as plant-based fibers or paper, could help reduce the environmental impact. These filters would break down more quickly in the environment and reduce plastic pollution.

3. Cigarette Holders

Cigarette holders are reusable devices that can be used to hold a cigarette while smoking. They were widely used in the early 1900s and were stylish fashion accessories. While cigarette holders don't filter the smoke, they do reduce direct contact between the lips and the cigarette, which may help reduce staining of teeth and fingers. Some cigarette holders are even being marketed as having built-in filters.

4. Reduced-Harm Products

Another approach is to promote reduced-harm products like electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) or heat-not-burn devices. While these are not without their own health concerns, they are generally considered less harmful than traditional cigarettes and do not use the same types of filters.

5. Filter Disposal Solutions

If traditional filters continue to be used, providing better disposal solutions for filters could help mitigate environmental issues. Encouraging proper disposal and recycling of filters can reduce litter and pollution. If all of the cigarette filters actually ended up in a appropriate disposal stream, the world would be a better place.

But... given that the city of Vancouver has an estimated 450,000 cigarette butts being littered on city streets EVERY DAY... the issue comes back to human actions. And we all know how well humans change their habits.

6. Fines

Some jurisdictions (e.g. the US state of Washington) have significant fines for littering cigarette butts ($1000). But you actually have to catch the offender in the act, and the odds of that are low, unless you had an army of bylaw officers standing around.

7. Deposit System

There is one group in Europe that is suggesting the introduction of a filter deposit system, similar to what some jurisdictions do with drink containers.

They suggest introducing a 20 cent deposit on each cigarette filter (so 4 Euros/package). A pocket ashtray would be issued with every pack of cigarettes. Customers who returned the full pocket ashtray along with the empty cigarette package would get their deposit money back.

The group suggests that all of this could be funded by the tobacco industry and overseen by the state.

It's an intriguing option that might encourage habit change in smokers. There would also be an incentive for people to pick up the butts and cigarette packages that litter city streets, similar to bottles and cans that end up on the street.

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada suggested a filter deposit system back in 2014... but it would appear that nothing has moved on that.

8. Recycle by Mail

And then we have a final option... where you can recycle your cigarette butts by mail. Yep, you read that right. Unsmoke has partnered with TerraCycle in Canada to sponsor a FREE program whereby you put all of your butts into a container, print out a mail label and ship it off to TerraCycle.

I suppose this might be good for... businesses? Who have a smoking area for staff? Or maybe a really, really conscientious smoker will save all of their butts at home, pack them up and send them off. Maybe. They also take tobacco pouches, rolling papers, the foil thing from inside the cigarette package, and the exterior plastic wrap.

Businesses can also register to become a Drop off Point, where people can bring their smoking materials. I had a look and there aren't a heck of a lot of them in BC yet. Although Tofino and Ucluelet have gone to town with this and have dozens of places that accept these used smoking materials. 

Although... as an Airbnb host, who often hosts guests who smoke outside... we could collect their butts and mail them off to TerraCycle. We already have to pick the butts out of the can-of-wet-sand ashtray soooo... why not just stockpile those and send it off. Might just do that.

Conclusion

The thing with many of these "solutions" is that they rest on the consumer or the smoker. It's up to us to recycle plastic packaging that seems to have proliferated everywhere... even though many admit that the recycling system is broken. It's up to us to figure out what to do with cigarette butts. It's up to the smoker to decide whether or not to toss that butt or save it and then mail a collection back to TerraCycle. Or... in an age where Decision Fatigue is rampant... just toss the thing out the car window and be done with it. Or drop it on the sidewalk and let it be someone else's problem.

Surely some responsibility rests on the corporations that take the easy route, or the profitable route, to deal with the problems that THEY have created. Us collecting cigarette butts from our Airbnb guests might not save the world... but it is a small step.

Further Reading

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada - A Provincial Deposit – Return Program for Cigarettes

Initiative for the Establishment of a Universal Deposit System for Filter Cigarettes and their Packaging

NIH - The ‘filter fraud’ persists: the tobacco industry is still using filters to suggest lower health risks while destroying the environment

WHO raises alarm on tobacco industry environmental impact

Health without filters: the health and environmental impacts of cigarette filters - PubMed (nih.gov)

The ‘filter fraud’ persists: the tobacco industry is still using filters to suggest lower health risks while destroying the environment - PMC (nih.gov)

The dirty truth about cigarette filters | CNN

Cigarette butts are toxic plastic pollution. Should they be banned? (nationalgeographic.com)

Consumers' knowledge and beliefs about the safety of cigarette filters | Tobacco Control (bmj.com)

Plastic straw ban? Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash (nbcnews.com)

Cigarette Butts: Toxic Plastic Pollution | OceanCare

Homemade Broth: Is the Flavour worth the Effort?

I made vegetable broth/stock the other day. Was it a waste of time and energy and money? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy a carton (or two) of vegetable broth? I can't decide...

Frozen Leek Scraps

It all started with trying to make some space in the fridge freezer. I have two ziploc bags of frozen leek scraps - you know the dark green parts that are tough and yucky. I had saved them last year because I thought I could use them to make stock/broth. But they take up space.

On top of that, I had several plastic containers in the freezer with spinach juice in one and rehydrated tomato water in two other ones. You know... when you take dried tomatoes and rehydrate them in water and then use them but what do you do with the red water now? Well, you put it in a plastic container and save it for broth.

But they take up space.

And freezer space is at a premium in our household soooo... I decided to make a pot of veggie broth/stock. We use veggie broth in various recipes. But what we often do is just use a Knorr bouillion cube or a concoction made out of nutritional yeast and various herbs and spices.

I had made chicken stock last year, and salmon stock, with the pressure canner, and they are handy jars to have in the pantry. So why not some veggie stock!

Making Veggie Stock

I rummaged around in the freezer and dug out the following:

• 1 bag of frozen leek tops
• 2 containers rehydrated tomato water (about 1.5 cups)
• 1 container spinach water (about a cup)
• 3 cubes of pureed garlic scapes
• small packet of frozen cauliflower mushrooms
• some frozen shredded parsnip

I dug around in the pantry and came up with:

• some dried tomatoes
• a dried red chili
• some dried cauliflower mushrooms
• some dried chanterelle mushrooms

On top of that I had the usual culprits of onions, celery & carrots as well as a couple of yellow peppers and some parsley and chopped chives that needed to go. Picked some thyme out of the garden, tossed in some bay leaves, salt and pepper.

I put it all into the big stock pot and topped it up with water. Let it burble away for 5 hours and then strained it and canned it with the pressure canner. We came out with 3 x 1000 ml jars and 6 x 500 ml jars. That's 6 litres of veggie broth.

Was it worth it??

There's a part of me that thinks it takes a lot of time and energy to make veggie broth. The stove energy... cooking the broth and then doing the pressure canning. Not to mention my time in gathering vegetables, watching the broth simmer (occasionally) and then the pressure canner (about an hour).

Surely it would be cheaper to just get a few cartons of veggie broth? 

Maybe not.

Store-bought Vegetable Broth/Stock/Bouillon

I had a look at Superstore's online shopping site and searched for veggie broth. I use Superstore because by-and-large, it is the cheapest. Shop at Save-on-Foods, Safeway or Thrifty's and you're likely to pay a LOT more for the same brand.

Let's look at some options.

No-Name Vegetable Broth

This would seem to be a no-brainer. Although I did notice that the 1000 ml container has now shrinkflationed down to 900 ml. Sneaky. Anyhow... Price is $1.90 for one litre. So for $11.40, I could get my 6 litres of veggie broth. It's certainly convenient.

But goes into this veggie broth?? Let's check it out.

Ingredients: Water, Salt, Concentrated Tomato Paste, Concentrated Carrot juice, Concentrated Onion Juice, Yeast Extract, Concentrated Celery juice.

Ewwww. That's not very good. Highly processed and concentrated stuff. Plus that's a heck of a lot of salt if it's the SECOND ingredient! Not sure what yeast extract is doing in there either.

Soooo... health-wise, I would say this is probably not the best.

Taste-wise... you might as well use salty water instead of this veggie broth.

Campbell's No-Salt Added

Well, how about Campbell's Soup then? With "No Salt Added". That's gotta be better, right? It does cost more - $15 for 6 litres but... no salt! Let's take a look at their ingredients...

Ingredients: Water, Sugars (brown Sugar, Pear Purée, Apple Juice Concentrate, Dextrose), Vegetable Juice Concentrate (sweet Potato, Carrot, Red Pepper, Citric Acid), Tomato Paste, Onion And Celery Extract (soy Lecithin), Natural Flavour.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me???!!!! So they take out the salt and add sugar??? WTF? WTH? And that would be a LOT of sugars given that it is the second ingredient in the list.

I am shocked. Call me naive but... seriously... sugars???

And the rest of the ingredients are, again, highly processed concentrates and extracts. With "natural flavour"... uh-huh... not sure what that means.

Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable Broth

Alright, let's skip right to the most expensive one because... seriously... these lower cost ones are comical. Ouch... $6.80/litre = $40.80 for 6 litres of vegetable broth. Well, that makes me feel better with my time and energy.

This company's write-up of this broth says "We keep our recipes simple, use ingredients with integrity, and honour what nature gives us by minimizing our impact on the earth." Excellent...

So what ingredients do we have?

Ingredients: Water, Carrot Juice Concentrate*, Sea Salt, Celery Juice Concentrate*, Sugars (dextrose*), Garlic*, Leek Juice Concentrate*, Onion Juice Concentrate*, Tomato Paste*, Mushrooms Juice Concentrate*, Spices*, Apple Cider Vinegar*.

Sigh. Salt is ingredient #3 which means that will be a lot. And there are sugars. And most of the stuff is from juice or concentrate. What the heck??? I am not sure what the * means as the Superstore site didn't give a key for that. Will have to look on a box.

This does not impress me at all. You think "Organic" and most expensive would translate into "best one" but... no.

Let's try some bouillon cubes...

Go Bio Organic Bouillon Cubes (No Salt Added)

Organic bouillon cubes gotta be good, right? Mind you, this has only 6 cubes which makes 6 cups of broth, or 1.5 litres. Sooo... $31.76 to make 6 litres of broth.

But what ingredients do we have?

Ingredients: Non-gmo Corn Starch,* Non-hydrogenated Palm Oil,* Onion,* Carrot,* Yeast Extract, Leek,* Parsnip,* Parsley,* Lovage,* Thyme,* Rosemary,* Oregano,* Turmeric,* Mace,* Garlic,* Natural Flavouring.

Oh wow. Starch and oil are the primary ingredients. With a lot of herbs and spices. And no celery. Interesting. Topped off with "Natural Flavouring". At least it has no salt.

The Go Bio team has one with No Yeast and that one has Mineral Salt as the primary ingredient. Great.

Knorr Bouillon Cubes

Knorr. A name that stands for quality. Yes? The box says "Our Promise: Made with High Quality Ingredients". OK... so price wise... we have 6 cubes which makes 6 cups or 1.5 litres... or $13.16 for 6 litres of broth. Not a bad price. Let's look at these high quality ingredients:

Ingredients: Salt, Modified Palm Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Corn Starch (sulphites), Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Sugars (sugar, Maltodextrin), Onion Extract, Xanthan Gum, Water, Tomato Powder, Dried Savoy Cabbage, Spices, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Dried Parsley, Caramel, Garlic Extract, Dried Oregano, Silicon Dioxide, TBHQ. Contains: Sulphites.

Salt is the first ingredient. Of course. Then Palm Oil. Sigh. MSG. Starch... more Palm Oil. Sugars!!!! Then extras and powders and Disodium this and Disodium that. With some dried spices... and TBHQ and sulphies...

What the heck is TBHQ??? "Tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, is an additive to preserve processed foods. It acts as an antioxidant, but unlike the healthy antioxidants you find in fruits and vegetables, it has a controversial reputation." Errr... that doesn't sound good!! It is made from petroleum and is essentially butane. Charming.

Right. Scratch Knorr off the list. Worst of the bunch. Should we try a concentrated bouillion broth?? Why not...

Knorr Concentrated Vegetable Bouillon

Knorr... we've met them before. Their Promise of Quality. Uh-huh... Apparently you just use a drop or two of this to add extra flavour to sauces and broths, etc. Is this like Maggi?? No, but... not much different. Not going to factor in the cost because this is just silly...

Ingredients: Sugars (maltodextrin, Sugar), Water, Concentrated Vegetable Juice (carrot, Celery, Onion, Cabbage, Tomato, Mushroom), Salt, Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Spice, Spice Extract, Natural Flavour.

Sugars are the primary ingredient... and then the usual concentrates, juices and extracts.

Meh. Gonna pass on this one as well.

Knorr had an Instant Stock Mix as well... primary ingredients are salt, sugars and MSG.

Wow. I had no idea.

Is Home-Made Veggie Broth Worth it?

Whaddya think? Is my home-made stock/broth worth it? I don't think I put nearly enough salt in... to be honest. But, you know what, salt can be added later.

Health-wise - I would have to say ABSOLUTELY my veggie broth is worth it. The ingredients in all of these store-bought versions were just... wrong.

Cost-wise - It's only my time, really. And whatever electricity is used for the stove. And a few onions, carrots and celery. And the jars and lids. But we do reuse our canning jars so it's the snap-lids that are the physical cost... And they run $0.50/snap lid. Sooo... not bad for the 1 litre jars but the 500 ml jars... it takes two snap lids to make a litre. 

Still... cost and convenience isn't everything. And for an outlay of 1 hour of my time per litre of broth... we're doing not bad. I guess.

Do you make home-made broth - veggie, chicken, bone, fish? Is it worth it? Or am I just fooling myself?

I had fun doing it... so that must count for something?!

Pet Peeve: Unnecessary Plastic Windows in Pasta Boxes

Today's Pet Peeve is Brought to you by Catelli Pasta!! (And Barilla)

I was consolidating some whole grain wheat pasta to bring to my sister. I can't eat wheat stuff anymore and holding onto wheat pasta is just wishful thinking.

But as I consolidated two boxes of Rotini noodles into one box, I was left with an empty box.

No biggie. Just recycle it. Right? Easy peasy.

Not so much.

You see... I am a conscientious recycler. I am the person who sticks their hand into the opening of an empty tissue box and pulls out the plastic window in the top of the tissue box. They actually come fairly easily. And they do serve a useful purpose, ensuring that only one tissue (usually) comes out of the box at a time.

Because recycling a tissue box with the plastic window just contaminates the recycling stream. Which is not good. And as a conscientious recycler... I just... can't... do... it.

Which brings me to pasta boxes. You see... Catelli has a little clear plastic window in the middle of their pasta box.

For those of us who can't read and who can't determine the type of pasta based on the picture of rotini noodles on the cover. It looks like a pretty small piece of plastic. But in order to get it out of there... you have to tear the box apart and then try to pull the plastic off of the cardboard. But they use a much sturdier glue than the tissue box folks. And for such a small window... Catelli uses a HUGE piece of plastic!

So you grab a corner and you pull and... it tears. leaving you with shreds of plastic to peel off. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to stand in the kitchen muttering swear words as I peel off shards of plastic window material.

So that whole piece of cardboard with over-sized piece of window material goes straight into the garbage. Is this not a waste of cardboard? Waste of energy? Waste of plastic? Waste of time and energy and decision-making power? Why is it on ME to have to tear out this piece of cardboard in order to allow Catelli to have that itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny window in their pasta box???

So, while I was at Superstore the other day, I did an informal survey of pasta boxes... because I had come across a UK article that said Barilla pasta had gotten rid of their pasta box windows!!!

Let's see what we can find on our shelves...

Catelli. Yes, well we know what they do. But my box of whole wheat pasta was several years old so I thought... maybe they have changed? Nope.

President's Choice? Nope... little plastic window.

Catelli again... with a miniscule window into the heart of spaghettini... why?? What purpose does this serve???

And Barilla... from Superstore's online shopping... because the UK version has NO window... but our Canadian version... it has a plastic window. Ugh! 

I am so miffed with Barilla for being so two-faced that I went to their Canadian site's Contact Us Form and sent this message...

Can you explain why Barilla in the UK has gotten rid of the plastic windows in the pasta boxes but Barilla in Canada still has them?

Do you know what is involved in me recycling the empty pasta box?? With a plastic window? Why??? We can read. We can see your very clear pictures of the pasta. Take the eco-lead and get rid of these windows. They serve zero useful purpose. You don't see cereal boxes with plastic windows. Why do pasta companies do this? Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply that won't be a standard "thank you for your comment and we have sent this to our product team." 

Hmph. Back to Superstore... and look what I find. An actual box of spaghetti with NO window!  Amazing. Although this one was down the organic food aisle.

You would think that making boxes without windows would be easier and cheaper for pasta companies. You would think... But I guess they really like having people SEE what's in the box. Strange.

Post Script

I wrote to our city's recycling department to see what they have to say and after 10 days, received a reply. For us... we can leave the plastic windows in the pasta boxes! Yay! Win for us. Not so much a win for some other places. I do wonder though... in the pulping process of pasta boxes... when they fish out the plastic windows as contaminants... where do they go? Landfill?? Sigh.

That ends today's Pet Peeve Rant. Carry on with your normal daily activities.

Trying a Local Coffee Shop

A Serious Coffee just opened in our neighbourhood!! It's a 3 minute walk from our house. Soooo close! Sooo convenient. More or less. So I am going to try them this week (May 27-May 31) and see how it goes. I already miss my Starbucks but... change can be hard and painful and... I am going to give it my best shot!

Serious Coffee is a local roastery based out of Duncan. Each location is a franchise so is independently owned and operated. Support Local! Buy Local!

They had their Grand Opening on Thursday last week and I walked in and had a look around and promised I would be back. So here I am.

The Good

Local - yep, definitely local. So I am supporting a local business. Theoretically. I am not sure who actually owns this franchise. It would be some rich tycoon who lives in Vancouver.

Walkable - I've never lived so close to a coffee shop. So being able to walk here in the mornings is a definite bonus.

Wifi - they are piggy-backing on the next-door restaurant's wifi. Which, according to my phone is 200 Mbps. So that is good wifi.

Seating - lots and lots of seating, with a couple of booths and a long banquette... with cushioning!

Electrical Outlets - They have at least 2 outlets so I can sit here and plug in my aging, tottering laptop (8 years old) with it's failing (failed) battery).

The Bad

Working out the Kinks - the credit card terminal was hiccuping this morning and the server didn't know how to fix it.

New Staff - the server couldn't find "tea" on the terminal and was going to charge me $4.50 for a small tea, even though the wall menu says "Loose Tea" is $3.39. I ended up paying cash so she calculated the advertised price. But still... that price is MORE expensive than a small Starbucks tea. But... I am supporting local. Yay.

Chai Tea Syrup - even though the wall menu says "loose tea", which to my mind means loose leaf tea, what I received in my cup was sweetened which makes me think the server made my tea out of the chai tea latte syrup. I've had this happen in another coffee shop. And I could see the server mixing up something with water in a little container. I will have to double-check what is going on tomorrow when I come again.

The Meh

Opening Hours - their opening hours are... meh. 7 am to 7 pm is not bad. I really like the earlier hours that Starbucks has - 5:30 or 6:00 am. But I am trying to make the 7 am work for me. Get up, have breakfast, then head out to do my thing at the coffee shop. We'll see... If I get up super early, I could also go for an early walk, have breakfast and then come here! We'll see...

Growing Pains

It is a new location, with new staff. They are still getting the kinks worked out and I understand that. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

On the plus side... I am trying a local coffee shop! And not going to Starbucks and supporting a global mega-corporation. Small steps... I am committing to this week and we'll see how it goes.