It’s not what you think.

Swinging singles? Just by its very sound it seems unsustainable, as if one person can have so much fun, an item should only have a single use or, god forbid, it might take more than one person to save the world. This week’s Friday Five focuses on the extraordinary number one, the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.

As a young woman you had sex just to tell the story. You traveled the world looking for romance finding it in the most unexpected places. Your life was full of it. Your cherished secrets nobody can (to this day) take away but one morning you woke up and realized it had gotten complicated – and maybe even a little crowded. Sex by Numbers columnist Abigail Wick discusses her new life as a single woman in 6 Months and Single: “My habitat is quiet, my heart is crystalline in its clarity, and my mind is no longer buzzing with white noise. It’s just me, my professional ambitions, my new friends, and an abiding sense of silence. ”

We believe there’s a special place in hell for single use kitchen products and thought a nice list with images to show you how dumb we’ve become as a society to want them was in order. Enter The Rachel Ray Garbage Bowl and Other Ridiculous Kitchen Products. If you have any of these things…we don’t want to know.

One of the hardest things you might be faced with as a woman is being single and people not thinking you’re doomed to spinsterhood, not to mention facing people who don’t understand you also don’t want children or the low sex drive that comes with long term marriage. In 9 Things You Don’t Need To Be Happy, writer Kim Derby celebrates celibacy and gives the middle finger to being forced to find a home for her eggs.

You have clothes with only a single use? That is so ’80s. Here in 2011 we like to maximize the use of our clothing to do double and triple duty and how lucky are we that more designers are jumping on the bandwagon to accommodate us. From the Video Vault: Convertible Clothing features designer Lara Miller whose Callie Cardigan made us freak out the first time we saw it in this video.

Critics warn that large-scale eco-communities aren’t all they’re hyped up to be. Shelter Editor, K. Emily Bond, writes that “despite all of your personal homesteading, composting, upcycling and permaculturing efforts, one-off sustainability is simply not enough to make a meaningful impact on the world. Rather, it takes a village to raise the world to a higher standard of living.” In Does it Take an Eco Village to Save the World?, we learn that plus one might just be one of the most empowering things we embrace.

The post The Friday 5: Swinging Singles Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnDo we really need all this stuff?

I think there should be a special place in hell for single use kitchen implements.

Bagel slicers. Avocado slicers. Egg slicers. And those are just the slicers. Who likes these bulky, cheap plastic uni-purpose utensils cluttering up the kitchen? Someone must, because marketers work themselves into a froth trying to convince people that they need a special appliance or tool to accomplish each kitchen task. And they’re upping the ante, with celebrities putting their names on everything from skillets to spatulas to food. Yes: Paula Deen has her own ham.

Here are my top nominations for most useless kitchen items:

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl: (shown above)

I received a press release the other day that breathlessly informed me that a Rachael Ray “Garbage Bowl” would “reduce wasted time in the kitchen.” Rachael’s technique of keeping a bowl near your prep area to gather scraps and dispose of them all at once is a good idea, though hardly original. But I take issue first with the construction of this argument. Saying it “reduces wasted time in the kitchen” implies that all time spent in the kitchen is wasted. I just don’t believe that. Some people like to cook. Secondly, won’t any similarly sized bowl in my kitchen cupboard do the trick? Well, according to the press release, no.

Here are the selling points of this glorious bowl:

It’s lightweight melamine so it’s never too heavy to lift.

As regular bowls are too heavy to lift when full?

It can be easily cleaned by hand or in the dishwasher.

So amazingly versatile!

The retro speckled design hides unsightly peels and other scraps.

Are onion peels and carrot tops really more unsightly than that weird, flesh colored bowl?

A rubberized base keeps it from skidding off counters or tables.

Good point. You never know when a bowl is just going to up and skid off the counter.

In the event the Garbage Bowl drops to the floor, it won’t break.

Why not make everything plastic so it doesn’t break?

For cooks who are growing vegetables and composting this summer, the Garbage Bowl provides an aesthetically pleasing way to carry food scraps from the kitchen to the garden.

They’re serious. I think.

Hot Air Popcorn Poppers:

I thought those enormous, electric hot air popcorn poppers had gone the way of Fantasy Island, but evidently not everyone is eating microwave popcorn these days because they are still manufacturing them. Let’s not even talk about why people can’t make popcorn on top of the stove.

Electric Muffin Maker:

Are we now so incredibly lazy in the kitchen that we can’t make muffins or cupcakes in tins in the oven anymore, nor time their readiness? This snippet of sales copy should tell you how stupid the manufacturers think people are: “A red power light lets you know the unit is on. And a green light tells you it’s ready. So simple to use!”

Electric Pancake Maker:

Since it’s admittedly taxing to flip pancakes over after you cook them on one side, you’d better make sure you put a pancake maker on your wedding registry. And, since whisking, measuring, and ladling is such an unnecessary pain, this wedding gift wouldn’t be complete without a couple cans of Batter Blaster.

Recloseable Can Toppers:

For those times when you just can’t finish a can of soda or beer, here are these nifty toppers that make the cans look like bottles! And they’re colorful!

Countertop Paper Towel Holder:

One of this aesthetic train wreck’s crimes is overdesign. Look at all the parts on that thing! Do we really need our paper towel dispenser to help us tear it right, every time?

Leave a comment and tell us about your favorite wasteful or just plain silly gadget.

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

The post The Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl, and Other Ridiculous Kitchen Products appeared first on EcoSalon.