The EntrePOOneur

Poo-Dough

• Mix and swirl the two tones of brown Poo Dough and place into poo mold to make your own poo

• To make even grosser, use the yellow Poo Dough to make kernels of corn or peanuts using the included molds

• Place the Poo Dough around the house to prank family and guests. Sit back and enjoy the laughs

• Poo Dough looks like the real thing but smells much better

• Contains three 3-ounce cans of Poo Dough, a total of 9 ounces of Poo Dough

Ugly Holiday Sweater

It was only a matter of time before "ugly holiday sweaters" started incorporating poo…  This version features delicate snowflakes, a festive holiday pattern, and squatting moose taking a dump.  This is the type of subtle humor that requires someone to stare at your chest to “get it”.

Here are a few more hilarious bodily function variations:

Emoji Marketing

About 2 months ago, Clear Channel raised a 55-foot-tall electronic billboard in San Carlos (at 800 Bransten Road).  Today, I was blown away to see this New Relic ad.  Poop emoji marketing seems to be all the rage.  I wonder if it's effective?  I guess it got me too look.

Interstate 101 Billboards

I commute along 101 everyday.  I find the billboards along this highway fascinating.  This advertisement for odrive.com cracked me up.

Resource Recovery

Many people ask me:  What is 'resource recovery'?  Here's what I say...

Understanding the lifecycle of the materials that we use and discard is at the core of resource recovery.

Resource recovery is the reclaiming of "garbage" materials for a new use. It includes collecting, sorting, and processing materials that are traditionally viewed as waste and transforming them into the raw inputs used to create new products. Recycling and composting are among the best known resource recovery practices.

The intention of resource recovery is always to make the best and highest use of all materials, and landfilling only those materials for which there is currently no use. Over time, the volume of landfill-bound material to shrink to a negligible amount as a result of creative resource recovery efforts.

Resource recovery is an important aspect of environment sustainability. Resources such as food scraps, yard trimmings, discarded paper, plastic, and fabrics are removed from the category of unusable materials, and recovered for their reuse while preserving the use of virgin materials.

Here are just a few examples of reusable materials that benefit the agricultural and manufacturing industries throughout the world.

    Composting
    Recycling
    Art & Invention

Composting

Composting is the process of managing the natural decomposition of organic material. It involves organic matter (such as food scraps and yard trimmings), moisture, oxygen, and bacteria.

Composting organic material reduces our carbon footprints by avoiding the creation of methane gas when this material is buried in landfills. It also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, and conserves water and energy for the farmers and landscapers who use it.

Recycling (v): To repeat a cycle. To use again after processing

Recycling is the process of collecting, sorting, and converting discarded materials into raw inputs used to produce new products.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists some of the positive impacts of recycling that go far beyond trees. These include:

    Protecting and expanding U.S. manufacturing jobs
    Reducing the need for landfilling and incineration
    Preventing pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin
    materials, including keeping 60    
    pounds of air pollution out of the atmosphere for every ton of 100% recycled
    paper used
    Saving energy from natural resource extraction
    Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change
    Conserving natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals for future
    generations

Art & Invention

Making art of out recovered materials is essential to inspiring the public to see what they discard in a new light.

The Artist in Residence Program in San Francisco and GLEAN in the Portland area provide local artists with access to discarded materials and a stipend. These programs enable artists to educate and inspire the public about recycling, reuse and resource conservation. The program also supports the local art community to creatively divert materials from landfills and promote new ways of thinking about art and the environment.

No such thing as a Poop Fairy

The Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department launched a new sign campaign along West Cliff Drive reminding people that there is no magical fairy that floats along the oceanside walking path and makes dog poop disappear.

The sign, has a purple fairy with a clothes pins covering her nose and a message alerting dog owners that dog waste does not biodegrade like wild animal waste -- it sticks around for a long time. It contains harmful bacteria, pollutes groundwater, and smells disgusting on the bottom of a shoe.

Santa Cruz paid $1,350 for the new poop fairy signs. A fine for not picking up after your dog could cost more than $100.

Modern Toliet Restaurant

I guess I need to make a trip to Taiwan to check out this bathroom-themed restaurant called Modern Toilet.  Apparently, the inspiration for this place came from a robot character from the Japanese cartoon Dr. Slump who loved to "play with poop and swirl it on a stick."By the way, there is also an  ice cream shop selling swirled chocolate ice cream on top of paper squat toilets.

Here are some photo to give you an idea of that the place looks like:

Deja poo

The undeniably eerie feeling that you've seen all this shit before.

Valentines Day

Gifts of jewelry and chocolate are appropiate for VD day.  So what kind of stone would be appropiate for someone like me?  Coprolite!

Coprolite is fossilized animal waste i.e. "dung stone".

My poo collection won't be complete until I get this (hint hint)...

Get a load of this...

With the holidays here, it's time to think about recycled paper sources.  One of my favorites is Poo Poo Paper who makes orderless paper products from Elephant Poo.  You can check out their stuff here:  http://new.poopoopaper.com/

FECAL MATTER O'FACTS

Poop, poo, dung, doo, pies, patties - whatever you want to call it - has been used for millenia in so many useful ways: as a fuel; as a building material; as an insect repellant. POOPOOPAPER™ products simply continue a long time tradition by using poop as the base for our unique pulp mixtures.

Moral of the story: Don't piss off your tattoo artist

This story cracked me up:  http://www.iol.co.za/news/back-page/woman-sues-over-poo-tattoo-1.1190957

Water Conservation

Snapple Real Fact #700

Turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth can save up to five gallons of water.

LEED® registered building

I’m very excited to be moving into a GREEN building tomorrow!!

Here are some design highlights that contributed to the building's LEED certification (i.e. LEED = Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design):

Eco-roof absorbs heat, filters rainwater and offers organic views

Stormwater planters collect rain runoff and irrigate landscaping

Environmentally appropriate plants including native species

Water-efficient toilets and low-flow fixture to reduce water consumption

Green power derived from wind farms

Efficient heating equipment like programmable thermostats and insulated building skins

Energy Star appliance to reduce energy usage

Recycled materials used in carpets, tiles, and the building structure

Locally sourced products to reduce transportation pollution and put money back into the local economy

Rapidly renewable flooring called Marmoluem made from linseed oil, wood flour and pine resin

Daylight maximizing design saves energy by reducing light usage

Non-toxic finishes and material use little or no VOC (volatile organic compound)

Building recycling program to lower environmental impact

Fleas!

So, I just moved into a new apartment and it's infested with fleas - AHHHHH!

I've done some research about fleas and have discovered it's a never ending battle against blood sucking insects. Fleas have to be some of the most annoying, because they seemingly appear out of nowhere and last for ages!

Fleas are a wingless, blood sucking insect that feed on animals and humans. There are many different flea species, but the most common flea causing problems in a household is the cat flea, or Ctenocephalides felis.  And, since we know the previous occupants of our apartment had cats, I'm sure this is the type of flea we have.  The good news with this flea is that it doesn’t transmit plague (unlike the rat flea which spreads bubonic plague). The bad news is it is still a blood sucker, and therefore still really annoying to anyone unlucky enough to get infested.

The cat flea will bite humans for a blood meal. Flea bites present as small, round, red marks, usually on the ankles or lower legs. People who are sensitive may see raised bumps and experience intense itching and rashes. Sever allergic reactions take approximately 12-24 hours to develop, and can last over 7 days. In the case of a bad reaction, a topical antihistamine cream, and an oral antihistamine may be used to treat the symptoms.

Fleas have a relatively simple life cycle, which makes interrupting said life cycle easy. The female flea must take a blood meal in order to produce eggs. She then lays her eggs within 2 days of her first blood meal. The eggs are found in carpet, bedding, upholstery... The eggs are tiny (1/50th of an inch), white, and generally round. They are rather delicate, and can be dried out by many products. A single female flea can lay up to 27 eggs per day for around 9 days.

The female flea also excretes what she doesn’t use of the blood meal as feces, often termed “flea dirt” which serves as food for her young. The feces looks just like dirt, and can most easily be seen in the fur of infested animals.

The eggs hatch between 2 days and 2 weeks after being laid (depending on temperature–optimum temperature for this species seems to be between 80 and 90 F, with a relative humidity of 70%. They will hatch at lower and higher temperatures, just not as quickly or readily. They don’t seem to hatch below 50 F) into a small, worm-like larvae. These larvae are the most vulnerable stage. The larvae live in the carpet, bedding, or upholstery, feeding on flea feces in those same areas. The larvae go through several stages, or instars, in this form, and stay as larvae for as few as 6 days, to well beyond 2 weeks, once again depending on temperature.

Once the larvae have finished their instars, they begin to collect debris in their immediate area–things like hair, dust, dirt, fibers, etc. They use these debris and a silky material produced by their saliva to construct a hard casing around their entire body. This casing is almost impossible to see, because it is to completely camouflaged with its surroundings. The flea undergoes a complete metamorphosis inside the casing, where it breaks down its body into its basic components and reforms it into the adult flea form. This stage is very hardy–it can take a lot of stress and abuse without dying. In fact, most insects use the pupal form to survive adverse conditions, such as winter or drought. Fleas are no exception, and it is very, very hard to kill the pupal stage.

Pupae take between 7 and 10 days to emerge into adults. However, if conditions are adverse, they newly formed flea may stay in the pupal casing until it is all but guaranteed a blood meal after emergence. This is why an empty home can suddenly have a flea infestation right after you move in. Fleas can stay dormant in the pupal stage for months at a time, waiting to sense a blood meal. Vibrations caused by walking and moving appear to trigger the dormant insects into emerging all at the same time.

Newly emerged adults must have a blood meal to survive. They will attach to any animal that happens to be in the area, feed, mate, and repeat the cycle.

So, in an indoor habitat, let’s assume that the average temperature is 75 F most of the time. This would put the life cycle at 1 week for the egg stage, 10 days for the larvae, and 10 days for the pupae (approximately). That’s about 27 days for a flea to go from egg to adult.

Flea bombs are a way to quickly kill adult fleas, but they present their problems. They must be used in a tightly closed area, and are designed for specific square footage. If you attempt to use a bomb incorrectly, it will not kill the adults at all. Secondly, there are really only a few pesticides licensed for indoor use. Fleas have this annoying ability to evolve, and the more they are exposed to a pesticide, the more likely they will become immune from it.   Plus, you have to remember the life cycle–you can easily kill the eggs and larvae, but the pupae are a pain. You may have to wait them out for up to 2 weeks then re-bomb.  In other words, you cannot free your space of fleas I one day.  It's a long process filled with many toxins.

It's clear I need to move.

Ape for iPad

Did you see the Milwaukee County Zoo has Orangutans who use iPads?

 http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/plugged-in-primates-could-the-ipad-save-monkeys-in-the-wild-26496590.html

Mushrooms

Have you seen these mushroom growing kits from Back to the Roots Ventures in Berkeley, Ca.?

You soak it for 24 hours and then put it back in the growing box and mist each day. Look at how cool my little 'shrooms look already! I get excited to go look at them each morning to see how they're progressing...and I'm especially excited to harvest the fungi. 

Want your own mushroom growing kit? You can order one here.

Botox Mannequins?

I recently spotted these mannequins in a storefront… they appear to have botox injections!

Really?

Finding ways to interact with other species that doesn’t involve exterminating them

I recently enjoyed a presentation from Joshua Klein a guy who is fascinated by crows.
http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html

The gist is this:  Joshua's friend was complaining about crows making a big mess in his yard.  He acted like the birds were pests much like cockroaches and wanted to exterminated them from his yard. In researching crows, Joshua discovered these birds are intelligent: they learn from each other: and, they easily adapt to cultural changes.

Joshua has a great idea to create an environment that is mutually beneficial to crows and humans - he suggests that we should train a few crows to do meaningful jobs, such as cleaning up stadium trash.  He proved his theory that crows are trainable by creating a vending machine.

I look forward to Joshua taking the next step in training the birds to perform more substantial labor.

I heart P.Nosa

P.Nosa is a talented artist.  One of the ways he expresses himself is though free-hand machine embroidery.  He travels with a solar powered sewing machine and makes free hand designs based on a 'five-words-or-less' challenge.  My words were:  'Armadillo Peace Sign'… here’s what he created for me:

You can check out more of his designs at www.pnosa.com