- You can get a fair amount of pet (dog and cat) supplies at Southwest http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFeed at 408 N California St.
- Need running shoes or children's dress shoes? Brownbilts at 111 Manzanares Avenue has brand name running shoes, some hiking boots and kids shoes...and, cowboy hats, boots and jeans.
- Socorro has a Freecycle group -- it's a listserve where you can post items that you want to give away or items you are looking for (no buying!).
- While Socorro doesn't have a craigslist of it's own, if you go to the Albuquerque craigslist and search for Socorro you'll find lots of buying and selling -- more than 100 items last time I looked -- that's more than is in El Defensor Chiefton. There's also some rentals listed. I've been told that most of the selling is Socorro to Socorro.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Buying and Selling in Socorro
Shopping in Socorro is a little odd...many businesses aren't in the phone book, some of them do two or three things, so I thought I'd sum up what I know about buying and selling in Socorro.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Recycling in Socorro
Recycling in Socorro is a pain. The city briefly supported curbside recycling, but dropping prices for recycling and rising collection costs forced them to stop. Socorro is such a poor city that recycling is just not a priority for the majority of the residents.
Items that are still valuable, or downright dangerous, can be recycled piecemeal, as described in the list below. Or you can hire Morning Wood Cutters for $20 a month at your house. They recycle cardboard, paperboard, newspaper, computer paper, junk mail, magazines, glass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic grocery bags, tin, aluminum, copper, and steel.
Items that are still valuable, or downright dangerous, can be recycled piecemeal, as described in the list below. Or you can hire Morning Wood Cutters for $20 a month at your house. They recycle cardboard, paperboard, newspaper, computer paper, junk mail, magazines, glass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic grocery bags, tin, aluminum, copper, and steel.
| What | When | Where |
| aluminum cans and newspaper | 1st Saturday 8:30-11:20AM | lot south of Ace Hardware |
| aluminum cans | anytime | various cardboard recycling bins |
| mixed paper and paperboard | 3rd Saturday 8:30-11:20AM | Plaza |
| e-waste | business hours | Computers by LTJ 105 Plaza |
| plastic bags | business hours | bin at Walmart or Smiths. Smiths gives "points" for bringing your own plastic bags |
| cardboard boxes, motor oil | anytime | next to animal shelter/UPS |
| vehicle batteries | business hours | NAPA Auto Parts |
| tires | landfill hours | landfill, 1$ charge (closed for high winds) |
| toner cartridges | business hours | Cottonwood Charter School |
| cell phone, rechargeable batteries, all toner cartridges | business hours | Rotary Club boxes at Coffee Shop, Library, Smith's photo, Corner Copy |
What about compost? There are two facts that you need to know about composting in New Mexico -- you must water the compost -- or it will mumify rather than compost. The second thing you need is worms.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Bad sunscreen, no skin cancer!
I belong to that embarrassing group of people who love New Mexico but who don't have the melanin to take the sun. I'm such a mixed race mongrel I don't know where our pale skin and glaucoma-prone eyes even came from; but I'm a hat wearing, sunscreen wearing, lover of New Mexico.
Bummer to find out that much of the sunscreen you can buy either doesn't protect against skin cancer or contains chemicals that are bad for you!
The Environmental Working Group has published a study on sunscreens, rating sunscreens from 0 (very protective, no harmful ingredients) to 10 (no UVA protection, cancer-causing ingredients).
Two things in particular stand out in their research: if you get a sunscreen that protects against UVB but not UVA, then you can stay out all day, not get burned, and still be collecting rays for skin cancer. Secondly, many sunscreens use oxybenzone as a UVB blocker -- but oxybenzone has been shown to cause cancer, and disrupt the reproductive system -- and other, better UVB blockers are available.
Surely the sunscreens (or at least the expensive ones) in our medicine cabinet are OK? No, most of them contain oxybenzone, and they score an average of 6 on the EWG scale. Of the thousands of sunscreens they reviewed, they made a summary of "easy to find" safe sunscreens. However, that list includes things never seen this side of Santa Fe -- I have never run across the brands "Mission Skincare" or "California Baby".
The one item I do take issue with is the recommendation against any use of spray sunscreens. EWG worries about ingesting and inhaling all sun screen ingredients, but is especially worried about inhaling spray sunscreens. As you can see in the picture, my babies have just a tiny bit of hair -- not enough to protect their scalp. We have done battle with hats, but finally spray sunscreen has come to the rescue. We only apply it outdoors, we spray from the back, but it protects her head and cannot be easily replaced by a oil-based cream.
So I did some research, at Smiths, John Brooks Supermart, Walmart, then in Albuquerque at Walgreens and La Montinita. Walmart had decided it wasn't summer anymore and taken out ALL OF THE SUNSCREEN. John Brooks had several "natural" brands of sunscreen, but all contained oxybenzone. Since the safest sunscreen recommended by EWG were extremely expensive, I have sorted this list of "locally" available sunscreens by price per ounce.
I will mention that many of the "safe" sunscreens leave me with a white pasty face all day -- which is fine for my busy unselfconscious children, but not as acceptable for grown ups.
Bummer to find out that much of the sunscreen you can buy either doesn't protect against skin cancer or contains chemicals that are bad for you!
The Environmental Working Group has published a study on sunscreens, rating sunscreens from 0 (very protective, no harmful ingredients) to 10 (no UVA protection, cancer-causing ingredients).
Two things in particular stand out in their research: if you get a sunscreen that protects against UVB but not UVA, then you can stay out all day, not get burned, and still be collecting rays for skin cancer. Secondly, many sunscreens use oxybenzone as a UVB blocker -- but oxybenzone has been shown to cause cancer, and disrupt the reproductive system -- and other, better UVB blockers are available.
Surely the sunscreens (or at least the expensive ones) in our medicine cabinet are OK? No, most of them contain oxybenzone, and they score an average of 6 on the EWG scale. Of the thousands of sunscreens they reviewed, they made a summary of "easy to find" safe sunscreens. However, that list includes things never seen this side of Santa Fe -- I have never run across the brands "Mission Skincare" or "California Baby".
The one item I do take issue with is the recommendation against any use of spray sunscreens. EWG worries about ingesting and inhaling all sun screen ingredients, but is especially worried about inhaling spray sunscreens. As you can see in the picture, my babies have just a tiny bit of hair -- not enough to protect their scalp. We have done battle with hats, but finally spray sunscreen has come to the rescue. We only apply it outdoors, we spray from the back, but it protects her head and cannot be easily replaced by a oil-based cream.
So I did some research, at Smiths, John Brooks Supermart, Walmart, then in Albuquerque at Walgreens and La Montinita. Walmart had decided it wasn't summer anymore and taken out ALL OF THE SUNSCREEN. John Brooks had several "natural" brands of sunscreen, but all contained oxybenzone. Since the safest sunscreen recommended by EWG were extremely expensive, I have sorted this list of "locally" available sunscreens by price per ounce.
| Name | Size (oz) | Cost | $/oz | Score | Where to Buy |
| Coppertone Water BABIES - “Pure & Simple” | 8 | $12.00 | 1.50 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Banana Boat Kids Tear-Free UltraMist Spray 30 | 6 | $9.65 | 1.61 | 4 | Walmart |
| J.A.S.O.N. Mineral | 4 | $7.99 | 2.00 | 2 | La Montanita |
| Neutrogena “Sensitive Skin” | 4 | $9.99 | 2.50 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Walgreens Sunblock with Zinc Oxide, SPF 45+ | 2 | $5.00 | 2.50 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Blue Lizard “Face” | 5 | $14.99 | 3.00 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Blue Lizard "Baby" | 5 | $14.99 | 3.00 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Blue Lizard "Sensitive" | 5 | $14.99 | 3.00 | 3 | Walgreens |
| Neutrogena “Pure & Free” | 3 | $10.99 | 3.66 | 3 | Smiths, Walgreens |
| Burt's Bees Chemical-Free Sunscreen, SPF 30 | 3.5 | $15.00 | 4.29 | 4 | La Montanita |
| Kiss My Face Face Factor | 2 | $12.49 | 6.25 | 4 | La Montanita |
| Solar Sense - “Clear Zinc Sport Stick” | 0.45 | $4.49 | 9.98 | 3 | Walgreens |
I will mention that many of the "safe" sunscreens leave me with a white pasty face all day -- which is fine for my busy unselfconscious children, but not as acceptable for grown ups.
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