What do hamburgers, cars, and pollution have in common? For one thing, they're all prevalent in Ohio. But there's more....read on.
Buy 'em by the Sack, and Get the T-shirt
In a story reported by the Associated Press last month, we learned that White Castle T-shirts are selling almost as well as the square little burgers themselves.
A spokesman for Earthtones, the company that makes the T-shirts, said that it has sold about $1 million worth of White Castle logo wear. The shirts, ski hats and arm bands are selling well from Boston to the West Coast, in addition to clothing and department stores here in the chain's home state.
Columbus-based White Castle has been selling burgers since the 1920s, about 30 years before the golden arches sprang up anywhere. And, although the chain has figured in movies before, it finally gets a leading role in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," due out at the end of this month.
If you've never tried a "whitey" or a "slyder," maybe now's the time.
# #
Don't Take a Deep Breath Around Here
Ohio has been on the "Top Ten" list of the most polluted states in the nation since 1998. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency reported that Ohio businesses relesaed nearly 134 MILLION POUNDS of toxic chemicals into the air in 2002--up 10% from 2001. Imagine what we're breathing this year...and it absolutely makes me sick. For several reasons.
First, I'm not convinced the Ohio EPA does much more than push papers. How long did it take for the office to take action on Buckeye Egg Factory? (And why was it allowed to operate here in the first place? The owner left Germany after he was banned from EVER owning livestock again over there. Arsenic on your eggs, anyone??) Second, we're letting developers run our farm industry-and by "industry" I mean mostly family farmers-out of business. Did you know that from 1950 - 1997, Ohio lost nearly 1/3 of its remaining 21 million acres of farmland? And, third, why do we continue to build new highways and widen the old ones, rather than getting serious about a high-speed commuter rail system? It's enough to make a person gag. Literally.
Well, let's look on the positive side: it's great biking weather. Can you bike to the library instead of pulling the car out of the garage for yet another short trip? Walk or share a ride to work? You know, if you walk to your favorite restaurant for lunch, you'll burn off some of the calories from your super-size fries. It's hard to change our habits, but the payoff is great. If each one of us simply eliminated one trip in the car a week, we'd all breathe a lot easier.
Buy 'em by the Sack, and Get the T-shirt
In a story reported by the Associated Press last month, we learned that White Castle T-shirts are selling almost as well as the square little burgers themselves.
A spokesman for Earthtones, the company that makes the T-shirts, said that it has sold about $1 million worth of White Castle logo wear. The shirts, ski hats and arm bands are selling well from Boston to the West Coast, in addition to clothing and department stores here in the chain's home state.
Columbus-based White Castle has been selling burgers since the 1920s, about 30 years before the golden arches sprang up anywhere. And, although the chain has figured in movies before, it finally gets a leading role in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," due out at the end of this month.
If you've never tried a "whitey" or a "slyder," maybe now's the time.
# #
Don't Take a Deep Breath Around Here
Ohio has been on the "Top Ten" list of the most polluted states in the nation since 1998. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency reported that Ohio businesses relesaed nearly 134 MILLION POUNDS of toxic chemicals into the air in 2002--up 10% from 2001. Imagine what we're breathing this year...and it absolutely makes me sick. For several reasons.
First, I'm not convinced the Ohio EPA does much more than push papers. How long did it take for the office to take action on Buckeye Egg Factory? (And why was it allowed to operate here in the first place? The owner left Germany after he was banned from EVER owning livestock again over there. Arsenic on your eggs, anyone??) Second, we're letting developers run our farm industry-and by "industry" I mean mostly family farmers-out of business. Did you know that from 1950 - 1997, Ohio lost nearly 1/3 of its remaining 21 million acres of farmland? And, third, why do we continue to build new highways and widen the old ones, rather than getting serious about a high-speed commuter rail system? It's enough to make a person gag. Literally.
Well, let's look on the positive side: it's great biking weather. Can you bike to the library instead of pulling the car out of the garage for yet another short trip? Walk or share a ride to work? You know, if you walk to your favorite restaurant for lunch, you'll burn off some of the calories from your super-size fries. It's hard to change our habits, but the payoff is great. If each one of us simply eliminated one trip in the car a week, we'd all breathe a lot easier.
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