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We all know that the affordability, efficiency, and sustainability of cleaner, greener energy will be a major challenge for this century. Some have called natural gas a better and cleaner energy source; yet, even if we set aside this hot air, the process of extracting the gas (called hydraulic fracturing or fracking) proves problematic for both environmentalists as well as those in proximity to the wells. This article will cover five major problems with fracking; it is based on two SnagFilms from the After the Goldrushseries (which are embedded below).

1. Water Pollution

The fracking process involves pumping large quantities of water, chemicals, and sand deep underground. This process produces a huge amount of pressure, which both extracts the natural gas and forces much of the water back to the surface. The major concern with polluted water is that the salts, radium, other heavy metals, and benzene (a carcinogenic and flammable chemical) are forced back up to the surface with the rest of the wastewater. For efficiency, fracking companies want to reuse this wastewater and they subsequently “treat” the water so that the excess waste does not plug up parts of the well. Consequently, the products that have been removed (radium, and some other heavy metals) are disposed of. However, the water that gets reused still contains salts and benzene. Unfortunately, it is then pumped back underground endangering aquifers.

2. Proximity to Residential Areas: Fumes and Earthquakes

In addition to the risk of water contamination for those near fracking sites, wells also produce excess gasses, which are either simply released into the air or burned upon their release. These fumes both leave an odor as well as present the possibility of negative health effects for those in proximity to the wells. Such effects include dizziness, confusion, and nasal bleeding. There is also growing evidence to support the theory that fracking can produce minor earthquakes within the vicinity of fracking wells. This may not be as surprising as it sounds considering the amount of pressure (around 8,000 pounds per square inch) that the gas extraction process exerts on shale rock deep beneath the surface.

3. Property Rights

It is often the case that when someone buys a property, his or her rights do not extend to the subterranean levels where fracking companies aim to extract natural gas. These multinational companies purchase/lease the mineral rights to the land, and thus they legally are allowed to accesses those minerals through drilling as long as they pay damages to the surface owner (these damages are often do not satisfactorily cover the actually property loss, as average Americans find themselves up against massive corporate interests). Additionally many leases do not require companies to compensate landowners for water contamination. Many American landowners, farmers, and families are thus placed at the mercy of drilling companies who can legally exercise their mineral rights largely regardless of what lays on the surface.

4. Lack of Governmental Regulation

Aside from the government’s lack of regulations on carbon emissions, the disposal of fracking waste products needs better oversight. As noted, the wastewater that rises to the surface during fracking is treated and then reused. After treatment, the waste that is extracted from the wastewater is placed in a landfill, as it is exempt from federal regulations pertaining to toxic waste. This lack of regulation does not recognize the fact that such waste can be extremely dangerous for the environment. As described, the cancerous and flammable benzene, other heavy metals, radium, and corrosive salts remain in the waste; however, regardless of how dangerous these chemicals may be, it is not treated as hazardous waste. If the waste is treated as normal garbage, then these toxic materials may endanger people’s health and the environment’s wellbeing for years to come.

5. Industry Growth

Compounding all of these factors is the fact that the natural gas industry is ballooning. In After the Gas Rush, Roshini Thinakaran states that in Pennsylvania alone 50,000 new wells will be permitted to be drilled over the next two decades. The result of this will be both an explosion in the burning of natural gas as well as in water contamination. One million gallons of toxic wastewater will be produced by each well within the first thirty days of its operation. One can only imagine the degree of environmental damage these wells may have after only a year’s time. Similar expansion is also occurring in states such as New York, West Virginia, and Ohio. Below is SnagFilms’s After the Gas Rush series. In the films, Roshini Thinakaran leads us into Pennsylvania to see how fracking affects the environment and the lives of those living within the vicinity of fracking wells. We invite you to watch the films here or at snagfilms.com and share them with others interested in the subject.

After the Gas Rush: Part I

After the Gas Rush: Part II

Photo credit: Erland Howden via photopin cc

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Working to create a sustainable world hasn’t been easy. One reason for this is that people are highly capable of knowing something but acting as if they didn’t. It is epitomized by the attitude, “I know I should, but I don’t.” We know we should eat local, bike more, etc. etc., but so few of us actually live up to what we know.

In Buddhism, there is a huge emphasis on the different between knowing something intellectually and having the kind of understanding that leads to insight and transformation. Once we have that insight, we are changed by it and there is no going back.

So if we in the sustainability movement want to create this deeper type of understanding, we can see mere education won’t be enough. Instead, we can combine education about these issues with the practice of mindfulness that helps turn “mere ideas” into deep insight.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts, describes mindfulness as “purposeful awareness.” A more traditional definition would be that practicing mindfulness means that we are strengthening our ability to focus attention while remaining relaxed and letting go of our attachments to ideas. When we develop this capacity, we can more easily let go of strongly held opinion in order to be open to new information.

So how does one develop the kind of mindfulness that helps us let go of entrenched ideas? We start with basic mindfulness building exercises like “full awareness of breathing” and build toward exercises that help us see our deep interconnection with all beings and the planet.

Here are some instruction for “full awareness of breathing.” You can try this yourself:

• Stop whatever you are doing and assume a comfortable position.
• Bring all of your attention to the sensation of your breathing. It can be at your nose, chest, abdomen or your entire body.
• Allow yourself to really enjoy the sensation of breathing. It can be truly pleasant to be able to breathe freely. Give yourself permission to enjoy that pleasant sensation as breath moves in and out.
• When you realize that your mind has wandered, very gently and with no self-criticism, bring your attention back to your breath. It is entirely natural that your mind will wander because it has a lot of momentum from moving so fast. By bringing your attention back to your breath, you are letting it slow down naturally without trying to force it.

Just a few minutes of practicing mindfulness of breathing can help refresh our minds and create a sense of openness. As we develop this ability, we can use the same concentrated yet relaxed attention to contemplate interconnection and the consequences of our actions.

Tim Ambrose Desmond is a therapist and consultant. His website is www.phonecounseling.net

Photo Credit: premasagar via photopin cc

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Want to learn what it is really like living off the grid in a solar and wind-powered straw bale house? Want to try your hand at organic gardening and building a sauna with natural materials? This summer, you can have your chance at life off-grid at Gooseberry Farm in northeast Missouri, a family homestead demonstrating the modern low impact lifestyle!

Gooseberry Farm of Red Earth Farms, a collective of off-the-grid homesteads in rural Missouri, is accepting intern requests for the 2012 season. This is a great opportunity for the budding homesteader to get his/her hands dirty in a functional homesteading environment.

This is a full-featured apprenticeship that will give you experience in many aspects of establishing a natural home and organic garden for a small family. As you work alongside us we will give you guidance and hands-on practice in gardening, building, cooperative decision-making, and creative child care. We will also share with you what we’ve learned about making income while getting started on your farm and raising a family. Sometimes you will be working with Mark on our off-grid strawbale house, other times you might be helping Alyson decide where to plant the corn, or figuring out how to make last year’s corn into cornbread with our 4-year-old daughter Cole.

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Cooking packs a wallop in terms of health and environmental impact in the developing world: I’ve seen the numbers time and time again as I come across new appropriate technology for addressing that impact. Various social enterprises have played with clean, efficient cookstove models to address respiratory disease and deforestation that results from cooking with wood. I’ve been fascinated by these approaches: from rockets stoves to cogeneration concepts, there’s been a lot to admire on this front… and not just because these ideas are environmentally sustainable, but also address the economic impact of cooking in the developing world.

Of course, a stove that required no fuel would be perfect: no carbon emissions, no time devoted to gathering wood or working to earn the money to buy other fuels, no fine particulates that make people sick. The Wonderbag, a creation of South African social entrepreneur Sarah Collins, doesn’t eliminate fuel, but it does cut its use: once a pot of food reaches the boiling point, it can be placed in the insulated bag to keep cooking without burning any more wood or gas. When paired with a clean cookstove, I’d guess the resource savings would be tremendous.

How does this work? Essentially, thermal mass: the Wonderbag uses polysterene balls as insulation in the bags themselves, which hold the heat from the cooking pot. It can do so for several hours, turning a standard Dutch oven into a slow cooker… all while cutting emissions. Collins estimates that the Wonderbag “has already saved enough CO2 emissions to travel the globe 9,452 times…”

Want to see how it all works? Check out the video on bringing the Wonderbag to Rwanda on the company’s website. No doubt a simple invention like this would be great for American outdoorsy types (who can afford a $65 bag); for women and children in the developing world, it’s another lifesaver.

via yesterday’s Green tech finds post at SUNfiltered

Image credit: screen capture from “Wonderbag in Rwanda” video

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Almost exactly five years ago, I took at look at Transcendentist, a Berkeley based “green dentistry office” that combined environmental responsibility with a very different approach to patient care. Rather than the typical clinical approach, the founders of Transcendentist created a spa-like atmosphere… complete with foot massages. Even then, the idea was taking off: nothing like a little calm to take the edge off of that fear of the dentist thing.

Now, five years later, the concept has gone national (in part because of the work of Transcendentist founders Ina and Fred Pockrass)… so, yes, you can even find eco-dentists here in the Midwest! In Chicago, the hub of all things green in the region, the ORA Dental Studio has really picked up the concept and run with it. Not only do they offer what is now the typical combination of Earth-friendly dental equipment in a relaxing atmosphere, but they do it in a certified green building: their Wicker Park location has received the LEED Gold designation “for its eco-friendly and high-performance design, construction and operation.”

Designed by Chicago-based green architects 2Point Perspective, features of the new space include:

• Motion-sensor lighting, with all lighting consisting of LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures and Energy Star appliances
• Doors made of recycled resin
• Low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint and flooring
• Reclaimed cabinets
• A high-efficiency mechanical system (Once installed, the system worked even more efficiently than originally envisioned, enabling ORA to surpass the LEED Silver rating it originally sought and achieve LEED Gold.)

And, as you can see, it’s also gorgeous… I probably won’t be taking a trip to Chicago for a teeth cleaning, but it’s tempting. If you are in the area, ORA Dental Studio is celebrating with specials on both routine visits (cleanings and such), as well as teeth whitening at the new LEED-certified office.

Use an eco-dentist? Tell us about it…

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“I love to upcycle because it’s in my practical, frugal nature to get the most out of what I purchase,” said Andrea. “I also think in our throw-away society, anything we can do to eliminate landfill waste creates a healthier environment and a healthier us.”

This sweetheart of a project is perfect for scraps of fabric, felt, paper or other materials which can be stitched together using a sewing machine. You’ll also need an iron, scissors, thread, a sewing machine and liquid seam sealant/fusible web (optional) to complete your garland.

How to Make a Valentine’s Day Garland from Scrap Fabric

1. Gather your fabric scraps. Pinks and reds are great choices to make a traditionally Valentine’s themed garland, but whites or non-traditional colors would work well too. (Designer note: If needed, iron your scraps to remove wrinkles and creases.)

2. For each scrap iron a fold in the material approximating the width of half of your heart. In this project, it doesn’t matter whether you iron with the right- or wrong- sides together. Like so:

3. Next, using fabric scissors cut out half a heat shape. If you prefer uniform hearts, create a cardboard template first. Andrea did this free hand for a more relaxed feel, and varied the heart lengths between ½” and 1½”.

4. After you cut out each heart, press it flat with your iron. If you want to completely eliminate the crease, you may need to spritz it with water.

5. This next step is optional, but helpful for fabrics with a loose weave and/or ones that look like they’re fraying after you cut out the heart shape. Dip the tops of the hearts into some liquid seam sealant and lay flat to dry. Or, if you’re using fusible web, iron it to the back of each heart.

6. Once your hearts are prepared, arrange them in a pleasing pattern. The designer chose to randomly vary the sizes and colors, but if you prefer a more formal look, try a repetitive pattern either with the colors and/or heart sizes.

7. Now for the stitching. Andrea threaded her machine with a light pink thread, but white or red would work as well. Make sure you leave enough of a tail (about 2-3”) at the beginning of your string so it can be tied or taped to something when you’re finished. With your presser foot raised, place your first heart under the needle, bring the needle all the way down and lower the presser. Using a straight stitch, begin stitching your hearts together – the stitches should go through the top ¼ of the heart and leave about a ½’space between each heart.

A good guide for this is as you finish stitching a heart and it reaches the back part of the presser foot, thread your next heart into place to be stitched. This probably sounds a lot more complicated than it really is, but if you’re unsure, try a few practice hearts until you’re pleased with the results.

8. Here you can see what the hearts look like when stitched together. Notice where the thread line lies on each heart – this is important as a lower thread line will cause the hearts to flip upside down when you go to string them up.

9. When all your hearts are stitched, cut the threads, again leaving a 2”-3” tail.

10. If this is a gift, or when you are ready to store them, wrap the strand around a piece of cardboard –food/cereal boxes are perfect for this – to prevent the string from tangling. If you’re gifting this string of hearts, consider decorating the cardboard holder and/or writing a special message to the recipient.

Saved by Grace Designs is an online shop handcrafting beautiful and practical creations like cherry pit packs, apparel, accessories and so much more from Upcycled materials. Andrea, the shop owner, strives to use minimal and environmentally friendly package for all her items. She loves doing custom orders because “the best way to keep something out of a landfill is to tailor an item exactly to a person’s tastes”.

Please note that a portion of the proceeds from each sale at Saved by Grace Designs is donated to causes working to alleviate the suffering of women and children. For every purchase made from the shop between now and February 20th, Andrea will include a SweetHeart Love String of 14 hearts as a special gift along with your purchased item.

If you’d like to stay updated on the latest blog posts, new items added to the shop, announcements, discounts and special offers, you can find Andrea on Twitter and her blog.

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Flooding on Arkansas' White River

By Janet Larsen and Sara Rasmussen

The global average temperature in 2011 was 14.52 degrees Celsius (58.14 degrees Fahrenheit). According to NASA scientists, this was the ninth warmest year in 132 years of recordkeeping, despite the cooling influence of the La Niña atmospheric and oceanic circulation pattern and relatively low solar irradiance. Since the 1970s, each subsequent decade has gotten hotter — and 9 of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the twenty-first century.

Each year’s average temperature is determined by a number of factors, including solar activity and the status of the El Niño/La Niña phenomenon. But heat-trapping gases that have accumulated in the atmosphere, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, have become a dominant force, pushing the Earth’s climate out of its normal range. The planet is now close to 0.8 degrees Celsius warmer than it was a century ago. Hidden within annual averages and expected variability are startling instances of new temperature and rainfall records in many parts of the world — weather extremes that would once be considered anomalies but that now risk becoming the new norm as the Earth heats up.

Worldwide, 2011 was the second wettest year on record over land. (The record was set in 2010, which also tied 2005 as the warmest overall.) Heavier deluges are expected on a warmer planet; each temperature rise of 1 degree Celsius increases the amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold by about 7 percent. Higher temperatures also can fuel stronger storms.

Weather-Related Natural Disasters… Worldwide

Brazil started the year with the deadliest natural disaster in its history: in January, a month’s worth of rain fell in a single day in Rio de Janeiro state, leading to floods and landslides that killed at least 900 people. That same month, flooding in eastern Australia covered an area nearly the size of France and Germany combined. Overall, it was the third wettest year in Australia since recordkeeping began in 1900.

The most expensive weather disaster of 2011 was the flooding in Thailand in the second half of the year, which ultimately submerged one third of the country’s provinces. At $45 billion worth of damage — equal to 14 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product — it was also the costliest natural catastrophe the country ever experienced.

In October, more than 100 people died as two storms — one from the Pacific and the other from the Caribbean — pounded Central America with rain. In western El Salvador, nearly 1.5 meters of rain (almost 5 feet) fell over 10 days. And in December, Tropical Storm Washi hit the Philippines, creating flash floods that killed more than 1,200 people.

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season had 19 named storms. Hurricane Irene brought extreme flooding to the northeastern United States in August, with total damages topping $7.3 billion. The year was the wettest on the books for seven states in the country, while it was among the driest for several others. Although the extremes appear to balance out, making for a near-average year, in fact a record 58 percent of the contiguous United States was either extremely wet or extremely dry in 2011.

Drought conditions in Somalia

Indeed, as is expected on a hotter planet, while some parts of the globe were overwhelmed by rain in 2011, others were distinguished by dryness. A severe drought in the Horn of Africa that began in 2010 devolved into a crisis situation in 2011, characterized by crop failure, exorbitant food prices, and widespread malnutrition. Exacerbated by chronic political instability and a belated humanitarian response, the death toll may have exceeded 50,000 people.

Back in North America, a drought that began in late 2010 and worsened over 2011 led hundreds of farmers from northern Mexico to march to that nation’s capital in January 2012 to draw the government’s attention to their suffering. Nearly 900,000 hectares of farmland (some 2.2 million acres) and 1.7 million head of livestock were lost due to the dryness — the worst in Mexico’s 70+ years of data collecting.

Scorching heat, drought, and wildfires across the U.S. Southern Plains and Southwest caused farm, ranch, and forestry damages that exceeded $10 billion in 2011. Wichita Falls, Texas, experienced 100 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit — far more than the previous record of 79 days set in 1980. Oklahoma and Texas had the hottest summers of any states in history, breaking by a wide margin the record set in 1934 during the Dust Bowl. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, writes that the likelihood of such extreme heat waves “was negligible prior to the recent rapid global warming.” Texas also had its lowest rainfall on record. Invigorated by the heat and drought, wildfires burned across an estimated 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) in the state.

How Hot Was 2011?

For the continental United States, summer 2011 was the second warmest in history. Nearly three times more weather stations hit record highs than lows in 2011, in line with a trend of increasing heat extremes. Whereas in the middle of the 20th century there were close to the same number of record highs and lows — as would be expected absent a strong warming trend — in the 1990s highs began outpacing lows. In the first decade of this century, there were twice as many record highs as record lows.

Worldwide, seven countries set all-time temperature highs in 2011: Armenia, China, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Interestingly, Zambia also was the only country to experience an all-time low temperature when it dropped to -9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) in June. Kuwait experienced the year’s highest temperature, with thermometers measuring a searing 53.3 degrees Celsius (127.9 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth during the month of August. Even more threatening to health than daytime highs are extra hot nighttime minimum temperatures, which do not allow any respite from the heat. The world’s hottest 24-hour minimum ever — 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) — was recorded in Oman in June 2011.

Even the Arctic had a notably warm year, with the 2011 temperature a record 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) above the mean for 1951–80. Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost U.S. city, spent a record-breaking 86 consecutive days at or above freezing, far more than the previous record of 68 days set in 2009.

In fact, over the last 50 years temperatures in the Arctic have risen more than twice as fast as the global average, melting ice and thawing permafrost. Arctic sea ice has been shrinking more rapidly, falling to its lowest volume and second lowest area on record during the 2011 summer melt season. With the summertime ice loss outpacing wintertime recovery, Arctic sea ice has thinned, making it increasingly vulnerable to further melting. Scientists expect a completely ice-free summertime Arctic by 2030 or even earlier.

As the reflective ice disappears, it exposes the dark ocean, which more readily absorbs solar energy, further warming the region. This sets forth a climate cascade, accelerating ice loss both in the ocean as well as on nearby Greenland, which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 7 meters (23 feet) if it completely melted. The warming also thaws Arctic permafrost, releasing carbon dioxide and methane, further accelerating global warming.

Even without fully incorporating such climate feedback, models show that continued reliance on fossil fuels could raise the global temperature by up to 7 degrees Celsius (over 12 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. Such an elevated temperature would amplify temperature and precipitation extremes enough to make the weather events of recent years look tame in comparison. Only a rapid, dramatic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can hold future temperatures in a range bearing any resemblance to what civilization has known.

Images credit: USFWS/Southeast at flickr under a Creative Commons license;  Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) at flickr under a Creative Commons license

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I never knew how to upcycle them, so I never tried. But I recently came across some really cool ideas that I now plan on using on the huge number of spent gift cards I have in my wallet following the holidays. I would encourage you to do the same, or come up with your own.

String Picks

Super cute and easy to make yourself, these picks for guitars and other string instruments are a great idea. The plastic density of most cards might be a little thin and overly flexible for good use, so you might want to think of using a trace to make two identical drawings before cutting them with an exacto knife, and then attaching the two for something thicker.

Make sure to use an adhesive that is well known for binding plastic, such as industrial strength plastic repair glue, including Henkel or Scotch Grip.

Photo Frame

This simple picture frame took a basic frame you can buy from any craft store, and then cut expired credit cards up into small squares to attach around it. The designer seemed to own quite a few cards, but upcycling is a great way to save money to help pay off credit card debt. A win-win situation! This would be a perfect project for after the holidays, since most of us have a large number of gift cards by the end. Especially if you are like me and impossible to shop for.

Spiral Notepad

Starbucks gift cards tend to be more attractive than most. This Etsy seller took advantage of that fact by taking used cards and turning them into these adorable little spiral notebooks with a closing band. As they point out, the pads are pretty durable and so easy to keep with a purse or pocket without damaging it. It wouldn’t be hard to decorate your own.

Mosaic Art

This Etsy user makes cute, custom mosaics using old gift and business cards, all set in wooden frames. They are complex and interesting, and show what you can accomplish with a little creativity. Most cards are so colorful and varied that you could easily create your own to hand on the wall or put on a desk, maybe even gift to someone close to you.

Bracelet

My favorite idea, simply because I love upcycled jewelry, this is an easy bracelet that can also be applied to other pieces of jewelry such as necklaces. You simply create little plastic disks from the card and connect them using split rings and end with a lobster clasp. They have full instructions here and a list of necessary tools.

There is no reason to throw out those plastic cards when you are done with them. Just use one of these handy ideas for upcycling, and keep the landfills free of plastic it can’t naturally break down.

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So what can you do with an old shipping container? Start an indoor farm? Build a mobile strip mall? These are just a couple of the more unique ideas I’ve come across; there are many others.

This weekend, while reading Fast Company‘s interview with Jason Aramburu, the CEO of re:char, I was struck by (among other things) the company’s design for a shipping container-based factory for its “Climate Kilns” (“a small pyrolysis system capable of generating biochar or fuel charcoal”). The idea’s ultimately very practical: according to Aramburu, “In places like rural Africa, it’s really hard to import and transport finished goods efficiently,” so the social enterprise start-up decided to create a mobile production space for its signature product that could be moved to the places where re:char would sell its kilns.

So. how do you turn a shipping container into a factory? re:char’s CTO Luke Iseman did a presentation at Austin’s Dorkbot in December, and shared it on the company blog (where you can also just look at his slides if you prefer):

The company is still working at getting one of these up and running in Kenya, but it’s a really intriguing model of reuse (which makes sense: everything this company does seems based on reusing “waste”). If you’re so intrigued by the biochar concept that you’d like to try making you’re own, re:char sells both complete Climate Kilns, or DIY basics (plans plus the pyrolyzer) on its website.

So, whaddaya think? Share your thoughts with us below.

via Triplepundit and @costrike

Image credit: Luke Iseman at Slideshare

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Read through, and take a look particularly at the potential for self-adjusting glasses: these strike me as having real potential to not only serve the vision needs of many around the globe, but to also cut back on the resources that go into new glasses for changed prescriptions.

Of course, we’re always interested to know what you think.

Image credit: Mezzmer

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