Green for the rest of us

Great kitchen finds from Goodwill

2012-01-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

I remember reading about planned obsolescence many years ago in an American history textbook... I was stunned to realize that someone had the audacity (in the negative sense) to deliberately create products they knew wouldn't last, just to make more money.

So when I find second-hand items that I suspect may be years, if not decades, old that still work wonderfully, I'm thrilled.

Recently I found two at Goodwill. The first is a blender. Alas, my beloved Magic Bullet has stopped working. (While it's still under extended warranty, I'm not sure I can get it replaced. Hubby didn't screw the base on tightly enough once and liquid leaked into the gears). Since I love my smoothies, I knew I needed to find another blender quickly. I made the rounds to my favorite area thrift shops, finding several blenders that seemed cheaply made and upon testing, did not work very well. Then I found this one:

While Oster still makes blenders that look very similar, it's the kitchy yellow color that makes me suspect it dates back to the 1970's. And it works beautifully! The price: $7. Compare this to Oster's new blenders with glass rather than plastic jars (this one is glass), which run about $50.

The second item is a chopper. I've had two Ronco Chop-o-Matic choppers in my life, one that I owned before my marriage, and one that my husband purchased after we were married. Each of us had been convinced to by it by what seemed to be an amazing demonstration of the product's capability at a mall kiosk. In both cases, the product failed miserably. (Note that the average review on the Amazon link gives the product 1.5 stars! And most of the manual competitors listed on the page, except for the one by the always fabulous Kitchen Aid, fare little better in customer reviews).

So what did I find recently at Goodwill? This one:

This chopper is advertised around the web as a vintage product, with a glass jar, made in the USA by Gemco. The price at Goodwill: $4, compared to about $15 elsewhere. And again, it works amazingly well!

Reuse again... and again

2012-01-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

I love second-hand shopping for numerous reasons, including the inexpensive prices, the ability to obtain higher quality goods that I could afford if they were new, and the fact that it's great for the environment.

For example, due to thrift shopping, my daughter received more gifts from her father and me than we could have privided her if we were buying new. We gave her a set of roller skates, a bigger bike, a boy Barbie, a dress, several cute tops and pants, and a Christmas teddy bear, all in excellent condition, for about $50 total.

Some object, however, that the second-hand market isn't practical for society at large since it always requires a first-hand market. That's true, but the complaint usually assumes a one-to-one relationship between the first-hand and second-hand market for each item. In other words, someone buys something new and donates or passes it on, then someone else gets it second-hand. Once the second person has finished with the item, that's the end of its life cycle.

Many items, however, can have multiple life cycles as long as they're still in good condition. Well-made, durable items like bikes and children's clothing (since kids tend to outgrow things quickly) can be passed on multiple times to multiple users before they're no longer in good condition.

Here's a good example: I purchased my daughter's old bike $8 from a thrift store two years ago. She has recently outgrown the bike and we found a larger one, in great condition, for $10 at Goodwill. It's very possible that either bike had multiple users (say, an older and younger sibling) before being donated and purchased by us.

One of my daughter's friends, two years older, also got a new bike for Christmas. Her mom and I planned at first to pass on both old bikes to younger children, but they were too big for the younger children we knew.

So I came up with an even better plan for passing on the two bikes. I had a meeting in Olympia today and had to pass through Lacey, where Alaffia, my favorite natural body care company, is based. Alaffia has a project, Bicycles for Education, in which they collect bikes from Washington residents to ship to Alaffia's founder's home country of Togo. These bikes make transportation to and from distant schools possible for many rural children who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend.

I dropped off both bikes at Alaffia's headquarters today and was able to have a follow-up conversation with them about hosting a bike drive at Marlene's Natural Market in Tacoma (which will take place in June). So you see, many items can be used not once, not twice, but again and again and again, for older children, younger children, and children across the world!

When you're not the mom you want to be

2011-12-09T13:53:00.001-08:00

I haven't done a lot of blogging in the last few months, mostly because I'm trying to figure out life.

I promised during the summer to write about what I was learning through a number of parenting and education books I had been reading. There were several thought-provoking ones among them, such as Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's Nurture Shock and Ron Clark's The Excellent 11.

But the book that affected me the most was one I discovered by accident while reading a mystery novel (Lisa Gardner's Live to Tell). The novel tells the story of a group of children in a residential treatment center for kids with emotional and behavioral issues, whose families are being murdered. In the author's acknowledgements, she describes being drawn to write the story because of the experiences of a friend with such a child. She also cites Dr. Ross W. Greene's book, The Explosive Child and his "collaborative problem-solving approach," for shaping her thinking about kids with behavioral challenges and what can help them.

I found Dr. Greene's book in the library and decided to read it out of curiosity, not thinking it was really relevant to my life. My daughter's behavior isn't explosive (characterized by fits of rage, extreme tantrums and even violence). And yet, almost immediately upon starting it I knew that the book was extremely relevant to both my daughter and me.

The book establishes a key premise: that explosive children do not behave that way intentionally, because children do as well as they can. Instead, explosive children tend to lack certain skills that make less extreme emotional reactions possible. These include such things as the ability to tolerate frustration, disappointment and sudden changes; the ability to positively express and regulate one's emotions; perspective-taking and empathy; and others. When they encounter life's difficulties, they don't know how to handle it other than to explode.

The author describes his concept of collaborative problem-solving as a method in which invite your child to work through problems together, while you model and guide for your child ways to develop the personal and interpersonal skills they might be lacking.

As I read this, I knew exactly how it applied to my child and me. She doesn't explode when she's frustrated, disappointed, or struggling with her emotions; instead, she sulks and withdraws. It's not a more constructive method of handling problems, simply less destructive than exploding.

But I also realized this: I am not really equipped at this point to guide and model a different way for her, because I do the exact same thing. When I am frustrated, angry, overwhelmed or hurt, I sulk and I withdraw.

Reacting this way has had many negative effects on my family relationships, friendships, and career. I am trying to learn how to deal with it for my own sake and so that I can in turn help my daughter.

I met recently with our minister and talked through some of this. She pinpointed something about me: isolation has been a theme of my life. She's right. I have often heard that people's greatest fears are public speaking and death. I have never particularly feared either of those, but I have always feared being alone. Yet I have often felt alone, despite this fear. I am not shy, but I am reserved, and it is difficult for me to move past the acquaintance stage into true friendship with people--one of the reasons why our move to Washington State has been so difficult for me. (That is one area in which my daughter and I differ. She, like her father, is very outgoing).

It wasn't difficult for me to pinpoint the start of my isolation: something pretty awful happened to me when I was six (for a variety of reasons, I don't want to go into it online). But it seared into my psyche that I couldn't trust people to care about my needs or pain, and that it was dangerous to be vulnerable.

And that lesson took hold quickly. A year later, when I was 7, I was in a work group of four students in my class at school, and one of the other girls in the group began taunting me for reasons I don't remember. She was relentless to the point of leaving me in tears. But they were silent tears, so as not to attract the attention of our teacher. Another girl in the group went up to the teacher to ask for tissue for me. I assume the same girl later told the teacher what happened. The next morning, my teacher pulled me aside and asked, "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

I shrugged and didn't answer, but I was thinking, "Because you wouldn't have done anything about it." Already in second grade, I was that cynical.

I'm meeting with my minister again next week to discuss this further. But I know it's the root of my tendency to withdraw from others and myself when I'm facing problems, and my daughter is learning that from me. I want to be able to show her, and help her, discover a more positive way of dealing with difficulties.

Gabby Giffords' recovery on video--amazing!!

2011-11-15T17:04:00.001-08:00

If you ever want to see inspiration--this is it!

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head last January. Her amazing recovery was chronicled on film by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.

Another homemade failure

2011-10-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

Last week, I had my first-ever cavity filled.

I've always had good teeth, and in 40+ years had never had a cavity. In fact, other than having my widsom teeth pulled, I had never needed any dental care beyond routine checkups and cleanings. My husband is the same.

I know there's a lot of controversy about flouride, about its possible toxicity. I've even heard some say that flouride in our water supply and toothpastes is causing more dental problems than it solves.

I think there might be merit to the first charge (toxicity). I'm skeptical about the second. My parents had all kinds of dental problems, and I remember my mother observing that her children's better dental health was due to two things she lacked as a child: good dental care, and flouride toothpaste. I also remember reading an article in my early 20s that reported that half of American children have no cavities, a big improvement over previous generations that the article credited to flouride toothpaste and flouridated water.

In the past few years, I have tried several homemade personal care products. The products I've created for skin and hair care have worked beautifully. But two others were less successful. I gave up the first, homemade deodorant made of coconut oil, corn starch, baking soda and essential oils, because it made my underarms break out in an itchy rash.

I didn't have any immediate problems with the second, homemade toothpaste made of glycerin, baking soda, and peppermint oil. I stopped using it after a few months, however, because my teeth never felt as clean, nor my breath as fresh, as when I use conventional commercial toothpastes. I've tried a few natural toothpastes, and had the same, "they don't feel quite as clean" feeling.

In June, my family and I all had dental checkups. My daughter and my husband both had clean mouths, but I had my first cavity. I know I take better care of my teeth than either of them; my daughter is still trying to get the hang of flossing and my husband doesn't floss at all, but I floss daily. So why was I the only one to have the cavity? The only thing I can point to is the four months I went without using flouride toothpaste.

How'd my summer go?

2011-09-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

OK, I know, it's been a while since I've posted. And after my high school friend, Laura, sent me a birthday card telling me my blog was how she keeps up with my life! (Hi, Laura!)

My excuses... work has been busy, I've been getting used to apartment living, blah blah blah. (Meaning: no good excuse).

So, time to fill you in on my summer:

Still savoring? Not as much: OK, I've fallen off the wagon a few times from my "savor the sweets" diet, and have times when I indulge my sweet tooth more than I should. But still, at a doctor's appointment this week I weighed 153 lbs, down from 160 at my physical in April, so I'm making progress.

Green apartment living

We moved in May from a house to an apartment, and not long after our move, I shared about some of the "green" advantages I anticipated to apartment living. After 3 months, here is my report:

Growing our own food--a challenge: Because we moved too late in the season to start planting seeds, I bought starts. Our apartment is one of a series of buildings that surrounds a courtyard filled with large trees. Our small balcony overlooks the courtyard, and thus gets virtually no direct sunlight.

The starts I bought were for plants that can do well with little sunlight--cilantro, basil, mint, and lettuce. The basil and mint made it through the summer (but weakly), and the cilantro and lettuce didn't make it at all. I have a lot to learn about growing food in our current circumstances, so I'll try again next summer.

Composting--bokashi on the cheap: I had long heard about bokashi apartment composting. A bokashi system is an anaerobic composter--basically a bucket with a drip spout that allows you to drain off the "tea" (the liquid residue of your compost, which can be diluted and used as a fertilizer). Bokashi is a mixture of bran, molasses and microorganisms that, when added to your food scraps, accelerates their decomposition through a fermentation process. It's ideal for apartment-dwellers, because it's compact, it's an anaerobic system so fruit flies and other pests can't get into it, and because of the fermentation process, it doesn't smell. (Well, yes it does. But it smells like something fermented, rather than like rotten garbage).

A bokashi system can be expensive (about $120). But a gallon of the bokashi mixture is pretty cheap (about $15) and it lasts several months. As some experienced composters have pointed out, a bokashi system is just a bucket with a secure-fitting lid. Thus, you can do bokashi as long as you have such a bucket. I use a large container that once held ice cream served at a church social. You can also ask fast food places if you can have their left-over pickle buckets. If you're really ambitious, you can drill a hole in the bucket and add a drip spout to catch the "tea." But if you are like me, you can just add your food scraps to a Bio-bag in the bucket, and the bokashi "tea" will seep through the bag and pool in the bottom.

The challenge of using bokashi is that once the food scraps are well-fermented, you need to bury them. Once buried, the scraps decompose rapidly and supposedly make incredibly rich compost. I bought a large garbage can for my balcony, filled it with potting soil, and I'm adding the bokashi'd scraps periodically. I'm not sure how well this will work. My plan is to take a sample of the soil to the WA State Master Gardeners in the spring and have them test it to see how healthy it is. Stay tuned.

Transportation--still working on it: I haven't walked or used public transportation as often as I'd planned. Mostly, it's a function of time, since it's faster to drive. In addition, because my daughter's daycare teacher asked to participate in our summer staycation adventures, I often needed to drive because I was transporting other children besides my daughter. However, we have walked or taken the bus on several occasions, so I am patting myself on the back as an encouragement to keep it up and do more.

I haven't learned as much about my car as I had planned. I have been tracking my mileage, and I have made a few changes to improve gas mileage. I removed the luggage racks from my vehicle to reduce the weight, I am keeping my tires inflated, and I learned that the click my gas cap makes when I turned it--which I always thought was a warning not to turn it anymore--is actually a good thing. I should keep turning the gas cap until I hear it click three times, and then I know that it is fully closed and unlikely to evaporate gas.

But my biggest challenge is staying within the speed limit of 60-65 on the highway. The average speed of those around me is 70, and I'm often following the crowd (usually to make sure I get to work on time). I have found that my gas mileage can go from a low of 20 miles per gallon to a high of 35 mpg, all depending on my speed. This, and walking or taking public transportation more often, are often functions of my own discipline. If I plan my time better, I can improve in both areas.

Small green steps: I wrote about my switch to a Moon Cup back in June. I still love it, and the switch came just in time. In June, I also had an IUD inserted, which increases menstrual flow.

Otherwise, I've made two changes this summer:

Reusable straws: I purchased stainless steel drinking straws, which my daughter and I both love! They're easy to clean with the straw brush that comes with them, and neither of us have experienced the complaints some have of funny taste or getting too cold. (Those concerns, if you have them, can be alleviated with glass drinking straws. I didn't want to go that route because I was concerned that my daughter might break them, even though they're made from very strong glass).

Homemade air freshener spray: I have used natural air freshener sprays for some time, but I read recently that those may still contain phthalates. So when my last bottle of Air Therapy ran out, I decided to try making my own. Here are two recipes I use. They're more mild than commercial air fresheners, but they smell good and do the job:

Peppermint/orange air freshener: add 1/2 cup of filtered water, 1/2 cup of vodka, and 20 drops each of peppermint oil and sweet orange oil to a spray bottle. Shake before each use.

Cinnamon/vanilla air freshener: Add 1 cup filtered water, 1 cup white vinegar, 2 cinnamon sticks and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to a pot. Bring to boil, and then reduce to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Allow to cool, and then add to a spray bottle. Shake before each use.

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The biggest focus of my summer has been my daughter. In another post, I'll share about our summer adventures, and my summer reading about parenting and teaching.

Learning to savor

2011-08-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Until I hit my 30's, I was one of those super-skinny people who could eat anything she wanted and never gain an ounce. At 5'7", I weighed about 115 lbs. on average. My low weight came with its drawbacks: I almost always felt too cold, except on the warmest of days; despite what the media tell us, most men aren't attracted to women with "boyish" figures; and I got sick frequently, with sickness taking a horrible toll on my body since I had no stores of fat or extra nutrients to protect me.

I knew even then that my thinness wouldn't last. Throughout my childhood, I witnessed my mom and aunts, almost all of whom had been very thin as young women, struggle with dieting and weight. I knew that one day, too, I would start to gain. I didn't want to end up in that same cycle, so in my 20's, I decided that I needed to eat better.

At that age, eating better meant giving up red meat and fried foods (unless I was being served such foods as someone's guest). Nevertheless, I still started gaining weight when I hit my 30's, and the first 20 to 30 additional pounds were very welcome. I finally had a womanly figure, I wasn't constantly freezing, and I definitely became less sickly.

Over time, I have continued to improve my eating habits. Since I started my green journey when my now 6-year-old was a baby, I eat more vegetarian and vegan meals, more whole and organic foods, and more fruits and vegetables.

But of course, I had given birth, with all its changes to a woman's body. And then I turned 40, with all its changes to a woman's metabolism. So I was still gaining weight.

At my last physical in April I weighed 160 lbs, which is right over the edge into "overweight" BMI. I've never officially dieted, but I know that I now have to do something to manage my weight.

I decided that I need to do two things: 1) manage the amounts of food I am eating. What I am eating (for the most part) is not a problem, it's how much; and 2) manage my sweet tooth.

With the former, I am using the "smaller plate" method of managing portion sizes, and writing down everything I eat. Writing it all down is a great tool, because it makes me very aware of what I'm putting into my mouth. No more mindless grazing, or going back for seconds without thinking about it.

The sweet tooth is the bigger challenge. I love sweets, especially chocolate. I have often had days in which I eat, say, oatmeal and OJ for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and salmon, broccoli and brown rice for dinner. And that same day, throughout the day, I would polish off an entire bag of chocolate chip cookies. Most of my weight gain is probably the result of my sweet tooth.

I couldn't imagine giving up sweets or chocolate altogether, so this is how I've decided to deal with it: I am learning to savor. For example, Safeway sells bags of "Dark Chocolate Covered Mint Cups," a transfat-free candy about the size of a mini Reese's cup. A serving is 3 pieces, but after lunch I am eating one. One piece contains about 63 calories, 3 grams of fat and 2 grams of saturated fat. I take a tiny bite and let it sit on my tongue until it melts, moving it around so I can fully taste it. Then I wait a while and do it again. I can make one piece last an hour, and I'm working on extending that time.

After dinner, I am doing the same with, for example, about 2 ounces of homemade tofu chocolate mousse (made from silken tofu, melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, a little mint or almond extract, and enough almond or rice milk to make it smooth, blended in a blender and chilled). I take a small spoonful and savor it.

In this way I'm getting the same joyful thrill I always get from eating chocolate, without all the calories I used to consume because I couldn't stop eating more and more.

I'm seeing a secondary benefit: perhaps because I am consuming less sugar, fruit is becoming more satisfying to my sweet tooth. I've always like fruit, but given a choice between fruit or cookies, I would almost always go for cookies. But now I'm starting to choose fruit, knowing it can give me a thrill, too.

So far, my "diet" plan is working. I'm down to 155, and my goal is 145.

Parenting advice that works!

2011-08-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

I love reading parenting books. I feel like I need a lot of help, and many books out there have great advice. (In a later post, I'll share some of what I've been learning this summer).

But of course, there are so many parenting books out there, and some give differing or contradictory advice. How do you decide which advice to follow?

I have a good friend whose daughter was born a year after my daughter, and I wrote her a letter upon her daughter's birth titled something like, "The Ten Lessons I Learned from My First Year as a Parent." I don't remember all 10, but I do remember that I wrote something like the following about parenting advice: "Take it all in, weigh it, and decide whether it makes sense to you based on your experiences and what you know about your child. And if you're not sure, try it out and evaluate the results." In other words, parenting advice is just that--advice, not truth etched in stone. Advice can be weighed, examined, tried, evaluated, and even rejected.*

One piece of advice I have often read is about children who are picky eaters. The general consensus is that you shouldn't force children to eat anything, just encourage them to try new foods, and eventually they'll eat a variety. Other tips are offered: for example, having children help you grow, cook or prepare foods, and setting a good example by eating healthy foods yourself are recommended.

Still, there are some dissenters from this advice, those who say that kids learn to eat all kinds of foods only when not given a choice about whether or what to eat or not. And sometimes I struggled with whether or not that was true. Here is my tale...

My stubborn mama: My mom grew up with Depression-era parents who were of the mindset that you never waste food and you eat what's put before you or else. My mom, however, was both a very picky eater and very stubborn, and she fought them tooth and nail in this arena. If she was told she couldn't get up until she cleaned her plate, she sat at the table all day. If she was told that she could leave the table but would have to eat the same plate at the next mealtime, she'd go hungry. When faced with a kid that stubborn, parents either have to give in or become abusive (force-feed the kid, beat them, or starve them). Since my grandparents weren't abusive, eventually they'd give in.

But my mother never forgot those battles, and never really overcame her aversion to many foods, either. To this day, she hates oatmeal and most vegetables, except for sweet potatoes, green beans and iceberg lettuce.** And she decided that she wasn't going to battle with her own kids at the table.

She'd serve vegetables, even though she didn't like them, because she knew they were good for kids. But she'd make deals with us: we had to eat as many bites as we were old. Or, if a nutritional equivalent was in the fridge (a salad, or a leftover vegetable we liked), we could exchange it for what was on our plate. Because of this system, there weren't any dinner table battles in our home. But there might not have been anyway, since my siblings and I weren't very picky eaters. (I only disliked peas and lima beans).

My picky daughter: I had hoped for the same with my daughter, but alas, it wasn't to be. While she happily accepted baby food veggies at first, at about 18 months she started spitting them out. By age 3, the only vegetable she would eat was French fries with ketchup. And that bit of advice about how after 15-20 tries of a new food a kid will eat something? Not my kid. I tried hard not to compare her to my niece, who at age 3 was happily ordering bowls of broccoli for lunch.

At this point, I began to doubt the "don't force them, give it time" advice. Only the realization of how forcing a kid to eat backfired with my mom held me in check.

You know what? It eventually paid off. It took a lot more than 15-20 tries, but by age 4, she was gradually accepting vegetables again. First carrots, then celery, then salads, and so on.

Success! On Sunday afternoon, my 6-year-old daughter asked to make her own lunch, and I said yes. Usually when she makes something for herself, it's a sandwich or a bowl of cereal. This Sunday, however, was different: she made a salad. And not just a basic lettuce salad, either. Her salad (in a big bowl, btw!) contained romaine lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, celery, green beans and carrots. She added ranch dressing and ate the whole thing! Patience and a good example paid off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* One piece of advice I rejected when my daughter was an infant: read to your baby 20 minutes a day. Whose infant can sit through a 20-minute story??! Not mine. She'd either fall asleep after a minute or two, or grab the book and chew it! By age 2, however, she loved to have stories read to her.

** My mom, of course, waited until we were adults to tell us this.

A bunch of cheap (and sometimes green) tips

2011-08-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Thrift store finds, repurposed for fruits and veggies:

~ Crocheted cloth squares, probably created as trivets or potholders, for scrubbing veggies, in place of plastic veggies scrubbers. I had tried a natural coconut coir veggie brush, but disliked it because it shed bristles and often bruised or damaged my produce. These squares are soft enough to prevent damage to produce, but have enough texture to scrub fruit and veggies well.
~ Cloth diapers for patting fruits and veggies dry after washing. They’re very absorbent, and it saves paper towels.

Cough medicine: In the moldy Northwest, I have been plagued by long-term coughs. This recipe is a great cough reliever: mix 1/2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon of honey in 8 ounces of warm water, and drink.

Car dehydrator: I found this wonderful tip at The TangledNest.com blog. I had long wanted to try Condo Blue’s recipe for making orange essential oil, but couldn’t prevent my orange peels from molding while I was drying them out. Now I just place the peels in my car dashboard window on sunny days, and by the end of the day, I have hard, dry orange peels. And the car smells great while they’re drying! (Of course, in Washington State, I can only do this in the summer).

Reduce fat and sugar with water: Sometimes the most natural products in the store (not counting meat or produce), with the least additives, contain the most fat and sugar. Natural mayonnaise, for example, or real maple syrup. I have found that adding water to these is a good way to reduce the fat or sugar content, without the additives of the "lite" version. (I even read a suggestion on another blog recently: buy a half gallon of whole milk, pour it into a gallon jug, and add water. Presto, a gallon of reduced fat milk at reduced cost! It's one way to better afford organic milk).

Btw, you’ll often notice that in “lite” versions of products, water is the first or second ingredient anyway. All the additives are added in order to give it the same thickness or taste as the original product, or to prevent separation. So if you’re going to add water, it’s important to only do so with the quantity you’re going to use, right before you use it. It will be thinner, but if you eat it right away, it generally doesn’t separate or affect taste. Experiment to find out the ratio you like best: 4:1 (where 1 is water), 3:1, 2:1 or 1:1. Whichever you choose, you'll be stretching your budget by making the food item last longer, and you'll be reducing fat and/or sugar.

Homemade chocolate sauce: Add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup milk of your choice (regular, soy, almond, rice, etc.), and 1 tablespoon of a mild oil (I use canola) to a small glass bowl. Stir gently to coat the chips. Microwave on high for one minute. Remove from microwave and (optional) add 1/2 teaspoon of flavoring (I usually add peppermint extract). Stir until smooth. Serve immediately over fruit, ice cream, cake or other dessert of your choice. Yum!

I will not complain

2011-07-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

I used to hate winters in Boston, because I couldn't handle the cold. In my twenties, I was very, very thin. (You know those people who can eat anything and never gain an ounce? That was me back then. Alas, now that I'm over 40 and post childbirth, that's no longer true). Because I had so little body fat, cold temperatures took a toll on my body.

A store's motto, however, changed my perspective. I had a boyfriend who planned a hiking trip with some other guys in New Hampshire's White Mountains in November. He visited a ski shop to buy outerwear for the hike, and told me that the store had a motto proudly displayed on its walls: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." Hearing that made me consider that maybe the problem was that I wasn't dressing warmly enough for the cold. I began to wear more layers and found it made a difference. For the first time, I could appreciate, or at least not loathe, Boston's winters. (Of course, gaining weight once I hit my 30s helped, too).

I also made a decision to be grateful for the weather, whatever it happened to be. That attitude served me well during my years in Boston, but I had forgotten it here in Washington. I found myself once more loathing a season, but in this case, it was Western Washington's nine-month rainy season from September through May.

But now... most of our relatives and old friends are living in parts of the U.S. that are sweltering. And meanwhile, I've heard a few locals here in Washington complain about the cool summer. I can't join them.

I will not complain. I know what I could be experiencing, and by that measure, this summer in Tacoma has been beautiful. Yes, it's cooler than usual, but the sun peeks out for several hours most days (sometimes even the entire day!), and by afternoon it often hits a balmy 70 degrees. I drive from work with the sun on my face and have a good hour or so to watch my daughter ride her bike outdoors after I get home. I can drive with the windows rolled up so I can hear the radio or a CD, without needing to turn on the car's AC. We not only don't need AC in our home, we've only needed to use a fan a couple times this summer -- saving both energy and money.

Yes, I most certainly can't complain. Instead, I am grateful for the summer we're having, and I pray for all those suffering across our nation.

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FYI: Crunchy Chicken offers a great list of tips for keeping cool this summer.

For more on what's happening this summer across the U.S., this Weather Channel post shares some sobering information.

Summer Staycation Adventure, Week 1

2011-07-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

(Since last Monday was July 4th, Monday, July 11 was the first vacation day I've taken this summer--making it Week 1 of our Staycation Adventure. My plan is to take each Monday off to have a fun and learning adventure with my daughter. More about our summer staycation plans here).

Discovery Pond: My daughter and I had two adventures last week. On Monday, we visited Discovery Pond at the Tacoma Nature Center. Adding to the specialness, my daughter's daycare teacher has decided to join us for each Monday's adventure, so all of her friends are coming along. Discovery Pond is a play area for kids designed as a natural environment that includes rocks to climb, caves to explore, a pond (with fish!) to rock-hop across, a treehouse to hang out in, and an old-fashioned water pump. A staff person told us that they were amazed that the fish have survived since Discovery Pond opened last year. They were sure that either the fish would die or the raccoons would get them, and neither has happened.

The kids had a ball in the play area, followed by a picnic lunch. We also visited a little of the inside of the Nature Center, and the kids got to see frogs, turtles, snakes and lots of bugs! As a follow up, I asked my daughter what she wanted to learn more about, and she said turtles, so we checked out a few books from the library about them.

Tiptoe through the Tidepools: I learned that day that Metro Parks Tacoma and the Nature Center were sponsoring a free "Tiptoe through the Tidepools" event at Titlow Beach on Saturday (yesterday), one of several they've held this summer. My daughter and I visited and it was fascinating. I learned a new word, "estuary," which is an area where salt water and fresh water come together. The Puget Sound is one of the world's most prolific estuaries, replete with sea creatures that are most visible at low tide. Estuaries are also perfect habitat for salmon, which is why this area is known for them.

My daughter and I were able to see and touch a variety of crabs--and watched a poor kid get pinched by one :( -- along with seaweed, barnacles, starfish, and the most amazing 20-legged sunflower sea star (see pic below). We're following up by reading more about tidepools here in the Northwest.

I'm really starting to appreciate the natural environment here in Washington, and probably will even more so after we visit Mt. Rainier, which is the most prominent mountain in the contiguous US (prominence is the measure of the distance from a mountain's lowest point to its summit), and one of the world's potentially deadliest volcanoes.

I never thought anything could compare to the breathtaking beauty of a New England fall, complete with apple picking and scrumptious apple cider donuts. But I'm learning that Washington state has a unique beauty of its own.

Cheap green tip: Etsy for everything! (almost)

2011-07-11T00:27:00.001-07:00

I have grown to love Etsy so much! It's an online site where individuals can buy and sell handmade and vintage items. It has become my go-to place for so many reusable products. I've purchased (insert "reusable" before each of the following items) sandwich wraps, snack bags, Swiffer mop covers, cotton makeup remover pads and business card holders, and I have (continue to insert "reusable") flour sacks, bowl covers and dryer sachets on my wish list.

These days, anytime I think, "Wouldn't it be great to have a reusable [whatever]," I first check local thrift shops for the item. If I can't find it there, my next step is to do a search on Etsy. I'm usually in luck: if I've thought of it, then someone else has thought to make it. Best of all, by buying through Etsy, I'm buying American and supporting small business craft people.

Cheap tip, period: technology ideas

2011-07-10T23:38:00.001-07:00

These aren't necessarily green tips, but they are money-saving ideas that I'd like to pass along.

Net10 for cell phone service: About two years ago, I had completely had it with most traditional wireless phone services. I was tired of the poor customer service, the sneaky add-on fees in the bills, the two-year contracts with hefty early termination fees, the way they'd extend your contract without your knowledge every time you called to ask for any change in your services (often times to reverse a change that they'd made without informing you), and on and on.

I'd considered pay-as-you-go phones, but most seemed to work best for people who use them rarely. For the amount of minutes I used--typically about 450 a month--most pay-as-you go phones would be pretty costly for me.

Then I learned about Net10. The 10 stands for 10 cents a minute, which is what the phone costs to use (with minutes purchased in $20, $30, $60, or $100 increments). I've now been using Net10 for almost two years, and I love it! All of my complaints about typical cell phone plans are non-existent. And even better, you can add minutes online, saving both the environment (by not buying the disposable plastic cards to reload minutes) and money. Net10's best monetary deals are available if you pay online, so I now pay $25 a month for 750 minutes (which I never use up). And if I ever choose to discontinue service, I can just stop paying.

The best part about Net10 is the fantastic service. My husband became a believer this weekend. We took a trip to the Cascades to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, and while in the mountains, his T-Mobile phone had no reception. As usual, my Net10 phone's reception worked perfectly. Net10 even offers a smart phone, the LG900, which is what my husband plans to switch to as soon as his T-Mobile contract is up. And for $50 a month he can get unlimited service, which is half (when you include all the fees) of what he currently pays for unlimited service with T-Mobile.

One caveat: Net10 offers excellent service at really cheap prices by saving money on the physical phones themselves, which aren't as well made as phones offered by other wireless carriers. I've had one phone that broke into pieces after 9 months, and my current phone has little quirks, such as occasionally freezing up (I have to turn it off and on again to restart it).

Netflix plus Roku in place of cable: Cable TV is another service in which I had been increasingly frustrated. Countless channels with at times nothing good to watch, the lack of ability to select only those channels we really wanted, poor service, and big jumps in cost after an initial startup period. No thank you! So we dropped cable about two years ago. Netflix, in contrast, costs $7.99 a month for unlimited movies and TV shows. I've read a few articles recently noting that several American households are like mine: they've opted out of cable for the much more affordable and more personalized services of Netflix instead.

The Roku streaming player device allows you to watch Netflix on your TV. It's pricey--we paid $79 for ours--but it's a one-time purchase.

But what about Internet? Since many people obtain their Internet service via their cable provider, foregoing cable means finding an alternative for getting online. We use Clear, a 4G wireless Internet provider, which doesn't require cable or installation. Monthly at-home service is only $35, and if you add an on-the-go device (allowing you to use your Internet service anywhere), the price goes up to $60 a month. Note: Clear isn't yet available in all areas of the U.S.

When doing your best is not enough

2011-06-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have blogged before that when it comes to going green, you should do the best you can rather than feeling guilty about what you can't do. I've blogged about the importance of making small steps, and how the small steps of many can make a big impact. I've even ranted about those who would criticize the green steps of others because those steps are less than perfect from an eco-perspective, not considering that that step may be the best the person can do in their circumstances, and may lead to bigger steps if you don't turn them off with smug attitudes.

I still think those things are true. One of the reasons I started this blog was to encourage people who feel left out of the environmental movement because of race, income, time, access, knowledge (both skills and awareness), etc., that green really can be for the rest of us.

But what happens when the best you can do isn't enough? When the small steps don't add up enough to save our world? I read this article today, about the threat of mass extinction of all marine life due to climate change. If that happens, humanity and our planet are screwed. There is so much division, greed and hostility in our nation and world that I fear we might never come together even to address our species' very survivial.

It makes me feel at times as if my green journey is for naught, and my green steps are just useless gestures to make me feel a little more in control and less overwhelmed. Any thoughts? Ideas? Reasons for hope?

Cars, the Year from Hell, and My Delight

2011-06-16T20:45:00.001-07:00

Crazy title, but bear with me, it's all related!

My dad died when I was 16, and as a result, my mom freaked out about the thought of her kids driving. Thus, I got my driver's license just before leaving for college, primarily to have a form of identification.

I lived the next 16 years car-free in the Boston area (easy to do, their public transportation system is very good) until I married a man in 2001 who owned a car. Even then, I continued to take public transportation to and from work and only used the car for road trips and shopping.

And then came the Year from Hell. In one year (actually, about 15 months), my husband had emergency open heart surgery, my father-in-law died, I found myself unexpectedly pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy*, one of my sisters-in-law had a stroke, another had a kidney transplant, two relatives died of cancer, and a young niece, distraught about all that was happening in our family, was hospitalized for cutting.

Buying a car: On top of all this, my husband totaled our car that year, and given that he was still recovering from surgery and not working and I was working sporadically depending on the state of my pregnancy, we had no money to replace it. (The insurance payout was eaten by other bills). That year Boston had one of the worst winters on record, and I found myself frequently trudging though several feet of snow to get to work, while pregnant, incontinent, and suffering from hyperemesis (extreme morning sickness).**

When I gave birth to our daughter***, my husband was working again but I had been on bed rest for four months, so we were still broke. And now with a baby, we desperately needed a car. We bought two clunkers off Craig's List for about $700 each, both of which lasted about 3 months, while we tried to save for a newer car. We eventually purchased a 3-year-old used Subaru, which, because we had excellent credit at the time, we were able to finance over 5.5 years.

Preserving the car: That Subaru is now 9 years old and has 155,000 miles on it. Among other things, it moved us cross-country, was hubby's on-the-road vehicle when he was in traveling sales, and now carries me on my 45-minutes-each-way commute to and from work. (We now have a second used vehicle that hubby drives). We'll make our final payment on the Subaru this summer.

When my car was out of commission this past winter, it cost $1,800 to repair it. At that time I made a decision: I want this car to last at least another three to five years after we own it free and clear.

I recently read an article about a man who owns a 1992 car with 2.5 million miles on it. His secret? Good maintenance. He spends about $1,000 a year to maintain it. The article recommends reading your owner's manual and following its maintenance instructions to the letter.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm reading the manual as well as books such as AAA's Driving Survival guide, I bought a tire pressure gauge to help me keep the tires inflated, and I'm trying to learn all the maintenance tips I never before worried about because I left auto maintenance to hubby.

This is very much a "green" thing to do. Maintaining a vehicle is a greener choice (in many cases) than replacing it, and it improves gas mileage. So here's to becoming an expert on my car!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* I got pregnant the first time my husband's cardiologist gave us the go-ahead to try sex. We had only planned to fool around. Ah, well...

** Since my husband couldn't work at that time, I had no choice but to keep working, no matter how sick I was or how difficult it was to trudge through snow.

*** As you may have guessed, my daughter's birth was My Delight. My mom said she prayed during my pregnancy, "Let this be a good baby, since they've gone through so much!" Her prayers were answered. My daughter was born healthy, she latched on immediately and never had any problems breastfeeding, she was rarely sick, and she was one of the happiest babies I've ever known. We drove with her as a one-month old to New Jersey to see my sister-in-law right after her kidney transplant. The hospital allowed us to bring the baby in for one minute only. The miracle of being alive and seeing her newborn niece lifted my sister-in-law's spirit to the heavens!

Weekly summer staycation adventure!

2011-06-07T15:41:00.001-07:00

Mt. Rainier, Washington. Image from publicdomainpictures.net.

Several factors--a lack of funds for vacation travel, my daughter's daycare teacher being short-staffed on Mondays this summer, and the advice of educational experts--led me to plan what I'm calling our "Weekly Summer Staycation Adventure!"

Instead of taking a week or more off from work, I'm going to take every Monday off to do something fun and educational with my daughter. There are tons of low-cost places to visit in the area, many of which we've never been to. And educational experts advise that one of the most effective way to help your children learn during the summer is to reinforce experiences with reading, writing and other learning activities. Having a different experience each week, rather than cramming a bunch of experiences into a short time frame, will give us quality time to do that.

Here are the experiences we have planned (not yet in any set order):

1) The Hands-On Children's Museum in Olympia, WA.

2) A visit to Alaffia's factory in Lacey, WA.

3) Fort Nisqually Living History Museum in Tacoma.

4) Port Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma.

5) The Tacoma Nature Center's Discovery Pond.

6) A trip to Mount Rainier (this may be a weekend event, because I want hubby to join us). Mt. Rainier is the impressive peak that looms over Western Washington, but is only visible when the sun is out. If you're new to Washington State and you arrive when it's overcast as I did three years ago, the first time this huge mountain appears in your vista is indescribable.

7) Stewart Heights Pool and Water Park in Tacoma. (This one is just for fun!)

8) Maybe even blueberry picking at Charlotte's Blueberry Park in Tacoma.

9) Perhaps a visit to a farm in the area.

We may add others as we discover them. For each experience, we will get books from the library to learn more, we will write stories and do art projects, and if I can be creative enough, incorporate math and science. I'll blog more about this throughout the summer.

Each of these locations is relatively low-cost (admission is either free, or less than $10, except for the zoo), I plan to pack our lunches, and for the Tacoma locations, I hope to take the bus.

BTW, all praise to Metro Parks Tacoma, the muncipal corporation that manages every single one of the Tacoma locations above, making available incredible opportunities for recreation, the arts and nature for the people of Greater Tacoma!

I tried the Moon Cup!

2011-06-04T15:29:00.001-07:00

Since the return of my period when my daughter was 14 months old, I have been a GladRags girl. GladRags are reusable cloth menstrual pads, and in my five years of using them, I have loved them! They are so much more comfortable than disposable menstrual pads, they are obviously cheaper in the long run and better for the environment, and they are multi-purpose--I wear them when I am sick and have stress incontinence while coughing.

But they are messy to clean. So I finally decided to try the other green alternative -- a menstrual cup. I hadn't tried it earlier because I was never much of a tampon wearer, since I found them uncomfortable. But I recently learned the discomfort of tampons has much to do with their absorbancy, which can be drying to one's vagina. Reusable menstrual cups don't have that problem.

I chose the Moon Cup, which I purchased from Amazon using accumulated Swagbucks, so it cost me only about $13 including shipping and handling. (Note: the link shows Size B, but I use Size A, for post-vaginal delivery). What a deal! I knew when I first bought my GladRags that it would take me a few years to equal the cost of buying disposable pads each month. But $13 is what I used to spend in about 3 months on pads, for a product that will last me 10 years!

It took a few tries to get used to inserting it and taking it out comfortably, and my fingers get a little bloody when doing so. According to the instructions, while sitting on the toilet, you fold the cup between your thumb and forefinger to insert, and then release once it's fully inside you so that it opens up. The toughest part is adjusting the Cup once it's in--again, according to instructions, you pull the tab a little bit forward and up so that it's in line with your cervix. I have found that practicing this while wearing a mini-pad helps. Try sitting, standing, lying down and walking. If it feels comfortable in all four positions and you getting little or no leakage, you've done it correctly.

Overall, the Moon Cup is very comfortable and so much easier to clean than reusable pads. And if I have another bout of bronchitis with stress incontinence, I always have my GladRags to fall back on.

Advantages of our move from house to apartment

2011-05-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

We moved two weeks ago from the home of military relatives for whom we had housesat for three years while they were overseas. And I am so glad!

Our new apartment has almost everything I was hoping for in greener urban living:

1) Smaller space. Our new apartment has less than one-third of the square footage of our previous home, but unbelievably, more storage--the most I've ever had in an apartment! It will be so much easier to keep this place warm or cool, as the weather dictates, without using as much energy.

2) More walkability. I had hoped to keep my daughter in the same school system, but live somewhere closer to public transportation and other amenities. We had moved from a neighborhood in Boston with a Walk Score of 85 (very walkable) to a house outside of Tacoma with a Walk Score of 7 (where almost all errands require a car), and I found our car-dependency very frustrating.

We lucked out. We not only found a place in the same school district, but it's also one block from public transportation and two blocks from our local town center. Yesterday, my daughter and I walked to the town center to do our grocery shopping, using a large collapsable canvas shopping bag on wheels that I picked up at a yard sale for $1. It was awesome to be able to do something without driving for a change! Our new neighborhood has a Walk Score of 58.

3) Places to play and garden. One of our relatives' selling points in housesitting was that they had a yard for our daughter to play in, whereas in Boston, we needed to walk to a park. That wasn't the case--they have a beautiful, heavily landscaped yard that was totally inappropriate for a young child to play in. And there were no parks within walking distance. (That will soon change, thanks to a Pepsi Refresh grant my town won to build a new playground).

However, their yard did provide us with the benefit of space to garden, and we had a fun two years of growing our own vegetables and herbs.

One of the downsides of moving to an apartment is that we won't have the space to garden anymore. However, I am growing a few plants on our balacony, and I recently learned that some folks are trying to start a community garden in a park that is three blocks from our new home.

But for my daughter, the move is a real blessing. Not only are there two parks within walking distance of our home, our apartment building is one of several that encircles a huge grassy courtyard where tons of kids play. My very social, very active daughter is loving it. As an unexpected bonus, we found out that my daughter's best friend from school lives in one of the other buildings!

Holding on to recyclables? Yes!

2011-05-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

I've held on to a bunch of recyclables over the last three years, primarily because I knew that these items could be recycled, but my local municipality didn't take them. And sometimes I wondered if I was crazy--after all, these items added to the junk in my house. Now, however, I think it was worth it.

One set of stuff included #5 plastics and Brita filters, which Preserve, a company that makes razors, toothbrushes and tableware from recycled plastic, accepts back through their Gimme 5 program. You can drop off items for recycling at Whole Foods, but the nearest one for me is Seattle, an hour away. Or you can mail them a box of plastics to recycle, which I did about a year ago. It cost me more than $40, which is just too big a chunk out of my pocketbook. Since that time I've been holding on to my yogurt and Smart Balance tubs and filters, hoping for a windfall.

I received it--but not monetarily. As we prepared to move, someone told us that we could drop items off at the Tacoma landfill, even though we don't live in city itself. There's a fee per each 100 lbs of garbage, but recycling is free. The recycling center at the landfill is amazing; they accept much, much more than my local municipality. I recycled all our number #5 plastics, leaving only the Brita filters. I was able to mail the latter to Preserve for a much more reasonable $9.

A second set of stuff was old shoes. In Boston, I was able to easily drop off old sneakers (which are recycled to make playground materials) at City Sports and the New Balance store. When I moved to Tacoma, I googled "sneaker recycling" and learned (at least according to the Google results) that the nearest place was the Nike factory in Seattle. Again, it doesn't make sense to travel an hour just to recycle.

But last week, I had a meeting at the REI store in Seattle, and I decided to call and ask if they accept shoes for recycling. They do--so I brought the old shoes with me. There is also an REI store in Tacoma, but since I've never shopped there, it hadn't occurred to me to ask. So now I know I have a place to recycle shoes in Tacoma, too!

Cheap green tip: A&D ointment for polishing shoes

2011-05-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

Or how to repurpose your unused diaper rash cream.

As I've shared before, my green journey started when my daughter was a baby, as I began to think about how to make sure I was doing what was best for her and for the world she would inherit.

One of the areas I researched was shoe polish. Somewhere I read that petroleum jelly (not the greenest stuff in the world, but less toxic than most shoe polishes) was great for polishing shoes, and lanolin was great for weatherproofing your shoes.

My daughter's first year came and went, and she never once had diaper rash. I took a look at an unopened tube of A&D ointment, wondering who I could pass it on to. Then I looked at the ingredients. The first two: lanolin and petrolatum.

Since that time (5 years!), I have used that same tube of A&D ointment (which costs about $5 for 4 ounces, much less per ounce than shoe polish) to polish and weatherproof my shoes. I squeeze a little on the shoe and rub it in with a soft cloth. A little goes a long way, it's much less messy than shoe polish, and I can use the same ointment no matter what color the shoe.

Furnishing a home for less than $600

2011-05-15T22:29:00.001-07:00

Three years ago, we moved from Boston to Tacoma to house-sit for military relatives who were being sent overseas. We sold or gave away everything we owned and moved west with only some clothes and personal possessions.

Since we always knew that one day our relatives would return and we'd need to move out, I have spent the last three years collecting items to furnish a household. And since we didn't have much money, I obtained virtually everything second-hand, from thrift stores, yard sales, Freecycle and gifts from friends.

We moved this weekend, and I want to share the costs to furnish our new household room by room.

Living room: sofa, easy chair, two bookcases, a TV stand, a TV, DVD player, two end tables, two lamps: $103.

Dining room: table and chairs, computer desk, computer: $133 (computer was $90)

Master bedroom: queen-sized bed (passed on from a friend), dresser, two nightstands, two lamps, exercise bike, file cabinet: $25

Child's bedroom: twin bed (passed on from a friend), dresser, nightstand, lamp, toy box, bookshelf, TV stand, TV/VCR (since kids' videos are much easier to obtain second-hand than kids' DVD's): $30

Kitchen: Too many items to count. We have a fully-furnished kitchen, including small appliances, dishes, flatware, cookware and bakeware. The only items purchased new were a large Teflon skillet my husband bought (because the stainless steel ones I bought used aren't big enough for some of the stuff he cooks); the Magic Bullet I got at a steal during an after Christmas sale at Costco; a cast-iron waffle iron (which still sticks, even though I've seasoned it four times); and a Kitchen Aid mixer, the only kitchen item I brought with us from Boston. My husband bought it for me during our first year of marriage in 2001, and since my mother has had the same Kitchen Aid mixer for 40+ years, I know they're quality-- so I wasn't about to give mine up!

All other kitchen items were purchased second-hand. Other than the microwave, which costs $20, everything was $10 or less, with most items costing less than $5. Estimated total spent on used items: $120. (New items were $40 + $40 + $20 + $60 = $160).

Household cost
Living room: $103
Dining room: $133
Master bedroom: $25
Child's room: $30
Kitchen: $120 (estimate)

Total: $411

Counting in the new items adds $140 to the total, including $100 spent in the kitchen (I'm not including the 10-year-old mixer, but only what we've purchased since coming to Tacoma), and $40 spent to purchase bathroom rugs and a shower curtain.

Grant total: $551

The best part is, everything works together. I really searched for quality items that were well-maintained rather than worrying about appearance, but everything looks good, too. I purchased a lot of dark wood items, and it happens to match the cabinetry in the apartment. It won't win any awards, but I think we have an attractive, cozy-looking home!

Private vs. public sector: which is better?

2011-05-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

First, a disclaimer: I have never worked in the public sector. However, I have always worked in the nonprofit sector, which, while technically private, has a public mission.

The public sector has been trashed in many quarters of late, and thankfully (in my opinion), the trashing is producing a backlash. Many people are starting to realize just how much all of us benefit from the public sector and its services.

I wrote a post a few months ago at the height of the protests in Wisconsin, about how thankful I am for the government and its libraries, schools, safety net, etc. Now some might say about the stories I shared in that post, "Well, OK, maybe the public sector can do well sometimes, but if it's a choice, the private sector will always do a better job." Competition and profit, they claim, will always result in better service.

Not necessarily. Often the same problems that occur in the public sector also occur in the private sector. For every complaint about waiting in line at the DMV, there's a complaint about waiting at home all day for Comcast to show up, to give one example.

But there are also occasions when the public sector does a better job at the exact same service. I'll share two examples from my life in recent years.

FedEx vs. the Post Office

The Post Office--"Neither snow nor rain...": During Christmas week in 2008, a terrible blizzard hit the Puget Sound region. Not being well-equipped for blizzards, many of us were shut-in for days, and my street was one of many that went unplowed.

On Christmas Eve, my daughter and I went out to build a snowman. Our snow-blanketed street was deserted and silent. After a while, we were surprised to hear a vehicle approaching. Soon a U.S. postal truck, producing the only tire tracks on the road, came into view. The truck stopped at our house and the mail carrier delivered two packages for my daughter, one from each grandmother.

Without that delivery, my daughter would have had only one present on Christmas day, the one her father and I gave her.

FedEx--"A blizzard? Get it yourself!": The day after Christmas, my sister called to ask how my daughter had liked her gift, and we told her we never received it. My sister said, "Man, FedEx sucks! I paid extra for them to deliver it on Christmas Eve!"

When I called FedEx to inquire about it, I was told that they weren't going to deliver until the snow melted, and if I wanted the package sooner, I had to go to the main FedEx facility to pick it up. I stood in line at the facility for about two hours that weekend. A Tacoma News-Tribune article later reported that neither FedEx nor UPS had made any of their deliveries during Christmas week, to the consternation of their customers, but the U.S. Post Office had made all of theirs.

Public sector: 1; private sector: 0.

AIG vs. Washington Labor & Industries

I'm a grant writer, so I work on a computer all day. When my right hand started hurting in 2002, while I still lived in Massachusetts, my first thought was carpal tunnel syndrome. However, an Internet review of my symptoms vs. carpal tunnel's (pain rather than numbness in my middle finger, no pain in the wrist, relief rather than aggravated pain at night) made me realize that wasn't the case.

I filed a workplace injury clain at work (for repetitive stress) and was referred to an orthopedist, who insisted despite my protests that I had carpal tunnel. She treated it as such, aggravating the problem by making me wear a wrist brace that increased my pain and giving me a cortisone shot in the wrist that caused my fingers to curl into a fist that I couldn't uncurl.

I demanded to see someone else and eventually was able to see a hand therapist (a subset of occupational therapy) who correctly diagnosed tendonitis and was able to successfully treat it.

AIG--"Let's give you the run-around": However, AIG, through which my employer had our worker's comp insurance, refused to honor the claim because I hadn't accepted the first doctor's (incorrect) diagnosis and (harmful) treatment. It was a full year before AIG finally paid on the claim, after numerous phone calls and letters to them from the HR person at my job, the hand therapy clinic, and me. During almost all our dealings with them, they were rude and incompetent (for example, we'd send a fax, call to ensure they'd received it, and a week later would be told that we never sent it).

When AIG had all those problems during the 2008 financial crisis, needless to say I wasn't surprised.

WA Labor & Industries--"We're thorough but caring": When my thumb started to hurt this winter, due to my previous experience I soon recognized the problem. I went through the same process of filing a claim at work and seeing a doctor, who (as I expected) diagnosed DeQuervain's tendonitis in my thumb.

The state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) handles worker's comp claims in Washington. They've been very thorough in the paperwork my employer and I have had to complete, as well as their follow-up--they obviously don't want anyone to game the system. But they've also been very kind and competent in my dealings with them, and approved my claim in about five weeks.

The public sector wins again!

Why a sweeper is better than a vacuum!

2011-05-08T13:58:00.001-07:00

On a recent visit to Value Village, I found a Dirt Devil Sweeper--one of those old fashioned sweepers that uses neither batteries nor electricity, just a pair of roller brushes and your own muscle strength. I don't know what it cost originally (do they even sell them anymore?), but I purchased the used model for four dollars.

I am notoriously lax about vacuuming (just ask my husband!). But I love this sweeper so much, it's inspiring me to use it often. Here, then, are the top reasons why an old-fashioned sweeper is better than a vacuum:

1) No need to unwrap a cord before using--just grab it and go.
2) It takes more energy to push than a vacuum, so it provides a good workout. If you're a busy mom like me who can't get to the gym, household exercise is a plus.
3) It's nice and quiet.
4) It doesn't accidently pull out of wall if you move too far from outlet.
5) No need to switch outlets when you move to a new room or location.
6) No bags to change--just open a small door on the side of the sweeper and dump.
7) It's a very green choice: it uses no energy (other than your own labor), and with no motor, it's unlikely to stop functioning.
8) When I'm finished, I don't have to wrap up a cord again.

None of those reasons are major in and of themselves, but when you add them up--no wonder I disliked vacuuming and love my old-fashioned sweeper!

Memorial Day Update:

Reason #9: When your guests leave late at night, you can use the sweeper to clean the carpet without waking your child or disturbing your neighbors downstairs!

Tacoma's EnviroHouse

2011-04-24T18:40:00.001-07:00

In light of our upcoming move, I've discovered the City of Tacoma landfill and recycling center. They recycle scads of stuff (much more than my local municipality), and it's helping us clear the house out. And in the process, I also discovered the EnviroHouse! Located at the entrance of the the landfill/recycling center, the EnviroHouse is "a permanent model home showcasing green building and natural landscape ideas, materials and techniques to create a healthy home and planet."

My daughter and I visited this week when dropping off recyclables, and it was so cool! The entire house (structure, counters, walls, furniture, floors, etc.) is made from either recycled materials, including glass and paper, or rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo. I can't do it justice to describe everything they've done to make the house and the landscape low-impact, energy and water efficient, and sustainable, so please read the EnviroHouse link for more. At the house, the city offers free workshops, tours and advice to people who want to learn more about making their own homes and yards more natural and sustainable.

My daughter was fascinated by everything she could touch and feel (all the different textures of materials used in the home), as well as the real-time computer readings of the solar energy being absorbed by the house, even on a rainy day! I most loved how free and open the house felt: how fresh the air in the home felt, how bright the natural light coming through the skylights was (and again, this was a very rainy day!), and like my daughter, how wonderful everything felt to touch.

Homemade failure... and success!

2011-04-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

The bad news first: homemade deodorant FAIL

I've given up on the homemade deodorant. Even with all the changes I'd made, my underarms were still red, and the itchiness was relieved but not eliminated by moisturizing before applying. So now I'm trying out Tom's of Maine's Crystal Confidence. It's a roll-on rather than the stick I used before, and has fewer ingredients than Tom's of Maine's stick deodorant. So far, so good in terms of keeping me drying, odor-free, and non-itchy. Let's see if my underarms continue to tolerate it, and if it continues to work when the weather really gets hot.

Trial and error with homemade hair products

I have shared before that I've been successful in making my own products to clean and condition my hair, but have had a difficult time creating my own styling products. As a result of not having the funds to get my hair done often by professionals, and struggling to make my own styling products, I usually opt for the simple ponytail style, which gets boring after a while.

I've had my hair professionally done twice in the past two years, and both times the hair stylists (at two different shops) used products on my hair that they recommended I buy to manage my curls. I bought Beyond the Zone's Noodle Head at the first shop, and was very unsatisfied with how hard and dry it made my hair.

At the second shop, where I had my hair done about a month ago, they used and recommended Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding. I'm familiar with Miss Jessie's because my sister, who lives in New York where it's made and sold, uses it, and it is a good hair product. But it's expensive, and although it hasn't been reviewed by the Safe Cosmetics Database, I looked up the ingredients, and a few are high hazard (like this one).

And now, homemade hair product good news!

Having curly pudding used on my hair inspired me to search for a different curly pudding recipe than the earlier one that had failed so miserably.

Most recipes I found on natural hair care sites were similar, and most involved combining a commercial styling product for curls (most with toxic ingredients) with natural oils. One person, however, wrote down this formula:

holding gel + moisture + shine = voila!

And that formula was the key.

I realized that I have the ingredients on hand for the formula:

Flax seed gel & beeswax + aloe & glycerin + natural oils/butters

Here is the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients
1 Tbsp beeswax
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp unrefined shea butter
2 Tbsp pure aloe vera gel
3 Tbsp flax seed gel (see directions for flax seed gel below)
1 Tbsp vegetable glycerin
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10-20 drops essential oil for scent (I use peppermint and sweet orange)
10 drops of liquid grapefruit seed extract (as a natural preservative)

Directions
-With a shredder, shred beeswax until you can fill a tablespoon.
-Add shredded beeswax, coconut oil and shea butter to a small saucepan over a low flame, stirring constantly, until completely melted.
-Add the rest of the ingredients.
-Blend with a hand mixer until thick and smooth.
-Add to a small glass jar. Makes 4-6 ounces.

Once cool, it will look a little like and have a similar consistency to margerine.

Flax seed gel directions
-Bring 1 cup of filtered or distilled water to boil in a small saucepan.
-Add 1 TBSP whole flax seeds.
-Return to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thick, stirring frequently.
-It may take 10-20 minutes to thicken until it drips slowly off a spoon.
-Strain out seeds.
-Add 2 Tbsp pure aloe vera gel (room temperature), and if desired, 10-20 drops essential oil for scent. Stir gently.
-Allow to gel overnight. Store in a small jar in refrigerator. Makes 4-6 ounces.

Note: Although I store my gel in the fridge, I'm not storing the curly pudding there. I suspect that because of the coconut oil and shea butter, it would become very hard if it were chilled. If contamination is a concern for you, cut the curly pudding recipe in half, or store half in the freezer and then allow to thaw at room temperature when you're ready to use it.

The result: hair product success!!

To use, rub a dollop in your hands and apply to damp, moisturized hair. Rake through hair with your fingers (especially the ends) and allow to air dry. Gently brush the hair with a natural bristle brush (such as boar's hair), and brush out the ends with a shampoo brush or paddle brush. I've used it on both my own and my daughter's hair, and it curls it up nicely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My new hair routine--for the girl with dry, curly hair

Regular cleaning
Add 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar to an 8-oz squeeze bottle, and fill the rest with warm water. Shake gently, squeeze on hair, and massage well through hair and scalp. Allow to sit on hair about 2 minutes, then rinse well.

Regular conditioning
Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. scented vodka (I add a few drops peppermint essential oils to the vodka) to an 8-oz squeeze bottle, and fill the rest with warm water. Shake gently, squeeze on hair, and massage well through hair and scalp. Allow to sit on hair about 2 minutes, then rinse well.

Deep conditioning (occasional)
Add 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 3 Tbsp. water and 2 Tbsp. olive oil to a glass dish. Stir until smooth. Cover and microwave for about 30 seconds, and stir again.

Apply throughout hair, especially at the ends. Cover with a plastic shower cap, followed by a hot towel. (I take a small clean hand towel, wet it so it's thoroughly damp but not dripping, and heat in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Then I wrap it around my head). Keep all this on your head 15-20 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Follow with an apple cider vinegar wash.

Deep cleansing (occasional)
Add 1 Tbsp. baking soda to an 8-oz squeeze bottle, and fill the rest with warm water. Shake gently, squeeze on hair, and massage well through hair and scalp. Allow to sit on hair about 2 minutes, then rinse well. If you're prone to dandruff like I am, follow with an apple cider vinegar wash.

Daily styling
Comb out damp hair after spraying generously with detangler. Use daily conditioner, followed by curly pudding.

Daily conditioner ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. pure aloe vera gel
1 Tbsp. vegetable glycerin
3 Tbsp. of your favorite natural conditioner (I'm currently using Alaffia's Everyday Shea conditioner)
10-20 drops of essential oil for scent, and 5 drops of liquid grapefruit seed extract as a preservative.

Add all ingredients to a small glass dish (except the essential oils and grapefruit seed extract), stir gently, cover and microwave for about 30 seconds, and stir again gently until smooth. Add the oils and extract, and pour into a small squeeze bottle. Makes 4-6 ounces.

Each day, squeeze into your palms and rub gently into your hair.
Follow with curly pudding.

Detangler directions
Mix one part of the daily conditioner with three parts distilled or filtered water in an 8-oz. spray bottle. (In the winter, warm the water for about 20 seconds in the microwave first). Shake gently to mix, and shake gently before using each time.

The kiddie hair routine

My daughter washes her own hair with Burt's Bee's Baby Shampoo or Alaffia Everyday Shea shampoo. We use generous amounts of my homemade detangler and daily conditioner, and style. If the style is loose (e.g., not braided), use curly pudding.

Finally! A green quiz for the rest of us

2011-04-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

At last! The folks at Practically Green have come up with a green quiz and set of tips that make sense!

I've taken several "how green are you?" quizzes (they're all over the web these days), and most of them I find useless. The quizzes tend to fall into three types:

1) The snarky quiz. These quizzes include multiple choice questions with 3 choices, one of which is an absurdly anti-green action, one of which is an extreme green action, and one of which is meant to represent the sensible middle. You know you're supposed to pick the sensible choice, even if none of the above apply to you. For instance, they might ask you about your toilet habits, and the choices are: a) I flush 6 times each time I use it, whether I need to or not; b) I compost all my body waste in a pit outdoors; or c) I have a dual-flush toilet.

2) The "how many earths are you destroying?" quiz (otherwise known as a carbon footprint calculator). These quizzes depress me, without teaching me anything new. I already know that because I'm American, because I drive a car and because I eat meat, that my lifestyle is not sustainable and that if everyone on earth lived like me, we'd deplete the entire planet in about 3 years.

3) The "this only applies to the wealthy and/or homeowners" quiz. These quizzes only ask questions about actions you have to have a lot of money or own a home to do, such as installing insulation or Energy Star appliances, buying hybrid vehicles, buying only clothing made from organic fabrics, and the like. No green actions that apply to non-homeowners, or that cost little or no money, appear on the quiz.

The quizzes all come with recommendations, but the recommendations are often equally useless, to me at least. The first type only offers one possible option per area (e.g., buy a dual flush toilet); the second would require radical changes in our society to have an impact; and the third, I'd have to have a lot more money than I have now to do.

A green quiz for the rest of us: Practically Green

This quiz was awesome! It only takes five minutes, but it asks multiple questions in four different areas: health, water, energy and stuff (possessions). They actually ask whether you own or rent a home, they include questions about things that you need to be a homeowner to do (such as install dual-paned windows), but also about actions that anyone could do (such as wash clothes in cold water). And you can answer "not sure" or skip the question if it doesn't apply.

At the end of the quiz, they bounce back recommendations for you in each of the areas. If you click on the recommendation, you can read why it's green, how to do it, and some resources that will help you to implement it, which is fantastic. Then you can check whether you're not yet committed to the action, whether you're already doing it, whether you plan to do it, or whether it doesn't apply to you.

Although they give you about a dozen recommendations for each area, as you check them off, new ones appear (their web site says their database includes more than 400 actions). I love that, too, because sometimes I feel tapped out, unsure how to keep making improvements to be more green. Because of the recommendations, I have added the following items to my action plan:

1. Clean/mitigate any household mold
2. Shop at a farmer's market
3. Sign up for CSA
4. Inflate your tires
5. Switch to all-natural chewing gum
6. Switch to all-natural hand sanitizer

So, kudos to Practically Green!

Thrift store miracles!

2011-04-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

I've had two of them recently, both at Value Village!

The elusive thumb brace
I currently have DeQuervain's tendonitis in my thumb and needed to purchase a thumb brace. After searching several pharmacies, I finally found one--the last one they had--at Fred Meyer.

Wearing the thumb brace is absolutely necessary when I'm on the computer, but I was running into trouble because I'd leave it at home, or at work. I needed two, I realized, one to leave in each location.

I checked Fred Meyer again, with no luck. I decided on a whim to check Value Village, which is right across the street. And miracle! They had a thumb brace, open but still in its original packaging and appearing brand new (as though the donor had bought it, tried it on, and then decided s/he didn't need it). It was only $3, compared to the $17 the new one had cost at Fred Meyer!

Replacing a salt shaker and pepper mill
The second miracle occurred today, just one week later. My in-laws for whom we've been housesitting are returning from their overseas tour of duty next month, so I've started thinking about how to repair or replace the few things we've damaged. One of the items is a salt shaker which we dropped and broke. It was part of a 10-inch tall, glass and stainless steel salt shaker and pepper mill set. Meanwhile, since we were no longer using it, the pepper mill has gotten a little rusty.

I searched at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target and a specialty kitchen shop, with no luck. Not only did they not carry the same set, but the sets they did carry were all much smaller (4 to 7 inches tall) and expensive ($30-40 a set).

I had seen a small but very nice salt shaker/pepper mill set at Value Village, and decided that if I couldn't match the original, at least the replacement didn't have to cost me thirty plus dollars.

I stopped by Value Village today, and the set I had seen was no longer there. In its place: a 10-inch tall, glass and stainless steel salt shaker & pepper mill set. The exact same ones! They were a little dirty but otherwise in perfect condition. And they only cost $5 (actually, $3.50, after I used a 30% off coupon Value Village have given me in exchange for a recent donation). Another thrift store miracle!

Move over, quinoa, I'm in love with farro!

2011-04-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

At a conference I attended recently, I requested vegetarian for dinner. The meal I was brought consisted of grilled veggies in a creamy sauce, served over a grain that looked like unpopped popcorn kernels.

I had never seen the grain before, but when I tasted it, it was phenomenal! The same grain was served as a crunchy topping on our salads the next day, and was just as good that way. I asked one of the waitstaff about it, and he told me it was farro, a "super grain" that is originally from the Middle East, but is now grown organically in Washington state. As this web site which sells it describes it,

It's high in fiber, protein and nutrients, and absolutely delicious - nutty, full-flavored and with an appealingly chewy texture.

So now I don't have to eat quinoa to benefit from a super grain--I can eat farro! Even better, it's a local food for me!

(*I have to admit, though, quinoa has grown on me--just a little--since I wrote this post).

But what about charity? Part 3

2011-04-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

At last, my long-awaited conclusion! Today I'm going to write about why charity isn't a solution to the health care crisis in our country.

Parts 1 & 2 Recap

In Part 1 of "But what about charity?", I noted that I've worked as a fundraiser for nonprofits for a decade, so I understand a lot about charitable giving in this country. I pointed out that the reason why charity alone is insufficient is because people's good intentions to donate or volunteer are often derailed by laziness or apathy, or are limited by very real barriers such as cost and time.

In Part 2, I wrote about why charity alone can't address the needs of our mental health care system, pointing out that the elements that research has shown motivates people to give charitably, such as immediate needs, appealing causes, and track records of success, don't apply to mental illness. Instead, mental illness is a long-term problem, it's misunderstood and stigmatized, and the likelihood of complete cures is slim--in other words, a very difficult cause to generate dollars for in the world of fundraising.

Health care and charity

Health care is a whole other ball o' wax. Health insurance differs from other types of insurance, which operate on most people not needing it to cover those that do. But everyone needs health care at some point. Only life insurance comes close, since everyone dies--but that's always a one-time payout--which health care most certainly is not.

Moreover, one report noted that half of all americans have preexisting conditions that might have made them ineligible for some or all health care plans, pre-health care reform.

In other words, the only way to make sure everyone gets what they need is for us to have as big a pool as possible, with everyone chipping in. And since not everyone can afford to chip in, the government has to help out. (Many people have made this argument much more articulately than me).

But some disagree. They think charity can meet these needs.

My husband's surgery: a personal example

During the health care reform debates, I blogged about Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, who at a town hall responded to a constituent whose husband had a brain injury and had reached the limit on their insurance coverage. Coburn told her that she should be looking to her neighbors and friends for help in the situation.

I was astounded. Charity alone can't meet the health care needs in our country: too many people need it, and it's often too expensive. As a personal example, we had very good insurance when my husband had emergency open heart surgery in 2004. We got a notice of benefits about a month later (with big letters on top: THIS IS NOT A BILL) that informed us how much his surgery and care cost: $86,000+. If we hadn't had insurance, who among our friends and relatives could have helped us with that bill? No one!

That's not to say that our friends and relatives weren't charitable to us during that time. They cooked meals for us, gave us some funds that helped pay for my husband's medications (even with insurance, the copays were about $250 a month for several months), and bought us a TV when ours went on the blink so hubby could have something to do while recuperating. But that's a far cry from coming up with $86,000 to help us pay the bill. The average American facing a medical crisis is in our shoes: unable to afford the cost themselves, and without a big enough or rich enough network of friends and family to cover them.

When taking charge of your own health isn't enough

That's not to say that I think we shouldn't do more to take care of ourselves. For example, last winter when I was unemployed and uninsured, my toes started feeling numb and tender, swelling and turning red. Internet searches and questions on online forums about these symptoms turned up diseases such as diabetes and gout for which I lacked many other symptoms.

So I went to the library (yay, public libraries!) and began combing through medical books. I finally found something that fit. (Unfortunately, I can't remember the disease's name). But it was a condition that affects primarily women (check), it first strikes between the ages of 30 and 50 (check), and usually has no other symptoms besides numbness, pain, swelling and redness in the toes and sometimes fingers (check). The bad news is that there's no cure, and can, in its worst stages, lead to nerve damage and amputation of digits. The good news is that the condition doesn't affect any other parts of the body, and can be prevented. The main means of prevention: keeping your hands and feet warm.

So I began to do that, wearing several pairs of socks and gloves on my hands, even indoors, throughout the winter, and found that the symptoms subsided. And I felt really empowered by the experience of diagnosing and treating myself.

But... what if my library research had turned up a disease that required more than wearing socks and gloves? What if it had required some sort of surgery, or expensive medication? What would I, as an uninsured person, have done then? And please don't give me blather about going to an emergency room. Yes, anyone can go (at high costs to us all!), but they treat what their name suggests, emergencies. My condition wouldn't have presented as an emergency unless my toes were falling off. Barring that, an emergency room would have turned me away.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

2011-04-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

William Kamkwamba was a 14-year-old in his native Malawi who used a science textbook to build a windmill. His feat would change the lives of his family and everyone in his village. The young man is now a student at Dartmouth. He will share his story at a book signing for his memoir, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, this Sunday at 2 pm at the main downtown branch of the Tacoma Public Library. Visit Youtube to hear more about his amazing story.

A GREAT reason to use recycled paper products!

2011-03-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Because one of the biggest makers of non-recycled paper products in the U.S., Georgia Pacific, is owned by Koch Industries, one of the major players behind the union-busting going on in Wisconsin and other states.

Here is a list of paper products to boycott:

Bath Tissue

Angel Soft®
Quilted Northern Ultra Plush®
Quilted Northern Soft & Strong®
Soft n' Gentle®

Cups & Tableware

Dixie®
Insulair®
PerfecTouch®
Ultra™
Vanity Fair®

Napkins

Mardi Gras®
Vanity Fair®
Zee®

Paper Towels

Brawny®
Mardi Gras®
Sparkle®
Zee®

So, how about some good alternatives?

CVS 100% recycled paper products
Safeway's Bright Green paper products
Trader Joe's
Marcal
Seventh Generation

All of the above are 100% recycled. Marcal and Seventh Generation can be a little pricey unless you get them on sale, but CVS recycled, Safeway's Bright Green, and Trader Joe's are all very affordable.

Mmm... more great homemade skin care

2011-02-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

I got a great suggestion for a homemade facial cleanser from a friend at church. This feels heavenly when applied to your face!

Almond-grape facial cleanser

Add 1/2 cup of slivered almonds and 1/2 cup of white grapes to a blender and puree.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Because the resulting mixture can spoil easily, I split it up between several 2 oz containers and froze all but one. I placed the remaining container in my refrigerator. I take it out at night, wet my face with warm water, massage a little of the mixture all over my face, and then rinse off with warm water again. Moisturize when complete.

After I use up this container, I'll take another out of the freezer.

Gotta love thrift shopping!

2011-02-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Think it's hard to find what you need at a thrift store? Think again. I often find that I have just as much (if not more) success looking for something I need at a thrift store than a mainstream department store.

Like kids everywhere, my daughter is growing so fast! She recently outgrew her boots, and a pair a hand-me-downs from a friend that are couple of sizes too big keep slipping off her feet. She's also taking swimming lessons, and her swimsuit is becoming too tight.

Boots are everywhere right now, but since it's neither the beginning nor end of the winter season, sales are unlikely. And who wants to pay full price? And where can you find swimsuits at this time of year? Maybe a sporting goods store, but I'd have to call around to know for sure.

Instead, my daughter and I went to Goodwill and Value Village today. We found a cute pair of boots in excellent condition in her exact size for $8 at Goodwill, but no swimsuits. At the end of one aisle in the girls' section of Value Village, however, there was a small selection of swimwear. We found a suit she likes that also fits well (with a little room to grow into) for just $4.

In fact, my daughter made another special find today. She has a wooden rocking chair we bought at Value Village for $7 about two years ago. Recently, she commented that she wishes her Baby Alive had a rocking chair, too. Guess what she found today for $2 at Goodwill? A doll-sized wooden rocking chair!

Is my compost toxic?

2011-02-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

I'm always getting green tips from the internet or books, and composting is no exception.

I have two bins I started on my porch last summer, and in each I did something based on a recommendation I'd read. Since then, I have been afraid I've ruined both batches.

For the first, I added a few briskets of charcoal. I read this recommendation in a children's book about going green, which suggested the tip as a way to reduce odor (the charcoal absorbs it).

Since then, I've read that charcoal should be buried as deeply in the ground as possible, away from anything you're trying to grow, because it's so toxic.

In the second bin, I added shredded personal documents. I read this recommendation in several places online, as a good way to get rid of documents you don't want to add to your recycling bin while still intact because of identity theft concerns. Shredded paper shouldn't be added to recycling bins either, because the small scraps are difficult to recycle, and they are hard to separate from everything else, thus corrupting the other materials (e.g., glass or plastic) to be recycled. So shredding these documents and adding them to a compost bin as part of your "browns" (i.e., paper and leaves) should be an ideal solution, right?

Well, other sites say no. Newspaper is OK, because most newspaper is printed with soy ink. But the ink generally used on business paper is more toxic, which can then contiminate your bins, harm your plants, etc.

So have I totally ruined these two bins? Should I just bury the stuff, or are the naysayers exaggerating the issue? (With both bins, the amount of charcoal and shredded paper I added was minimal compared to the total content). Any guidance on this will be appreciated!

I'm thankful for the GOVERNMENT

2011-02-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

In solidarity with the protesters in Wisconsin, today, I'm thankful for the GOVERNMENT. I turned on the faucet this morning, and realized that I can thank my local public water treatment plant for clean water. I don't have to fear getting dysentery or other water-borne illnesses from drinking the water.

For a safety net
I thank the government for unemployment benefits and food stamps that helped sustain my family last year when hubby and I were both unemployed. Without those things, I doubt that he and I would be working again today. We probably wouldn't have been healthy enough to conduct our job searches, and we certainly wouldn't have had money for gas to travel to job interviews.

For libraries
I'm also thankful for the public library and state-funded job centers, where I could use the Internet (and print resumes and the like) for free to conduct my job searches. And I thank the library for books and movies that help keep my family informed, engaged and entertained. (We gave up cable and haven't resumed it).

For health care for children
I'm thankful for the government-run SCHIP program (State Children's Health Insurance) that helped keep my daughter healthy when we were unemployed.

For public parks
I'm thankful for the local public parks system, where my daughter takes ballet and swimming lessons for an affordable fee (cheaper than the Y!). And where we can go for a walk or play on a nice day.

For public transportion
I'm thankful for the public transportation system that allowed me to get to work for several weeks while my car was in the shop. Yes, commuting was a pain (it took 2 hours to get to work!) but I'm thankful I could travel to work and didn't lose my job because of lack of a car.

For student loans
I'm thankful that I have a college degree, paid for in part by government-backed student loans, college work-study and Pell grants.

For benefits for seniors
I'm thankful for the Medicare and Social Security benefits that are helping to support my mother in her senior years.

For public schools
I'm thankful for public schools. My kindergarten daughter learned fiction vs. non-fiction from her school librarian, she learned “pianoforte” from her music teacher, she just finished reading her first entire book independently ("Bear Hugs"), and she does math in her head. "Three two's makes six, right?" she asks me. "You're four years older than me!" she tells a 9-year-old. Thanks, public school teachers!

There are some who might dismiss my words here--they might consider me a freeloader for having had to rely for a while on food stamps and SCHIP (although I've paid plenty of taxes and have worked most of my adult life). But I doubt that those people haven't relied about as much as I have on government services. Almost all American families use libraries and publicly funded roads. Ninety percent of Americans are educated in public schools. A majority of seniors rely on Medicare and Social Security. Even the wealthy need to government--it provides the laws and security that protects their businesses and investments, the roads they drive on, the clean water I mentioned at the start.

So the next time you want to complain about the government (not that there isn’t always room for improvement), remember all the ways that you benefit from it, and from the tax dollars that sustain it.

Cheap green tip: foaming hand soap

2011-02-14T07:56:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't finished my series on "But what about charity?" I'm still without a car, so my days are really long, which makes blogging hard. But I do plan to revisit it!

Meanwhile, here's a cheap green tip: foaming hand soap dispensers are a big saver of liquid soap. The soap and water are mixed in the dispenser at a ratio of one part soap to four parts water.

To keep this going, purchase large soap refills when your foaming soap runs out. However, this can be a challenge. It's hard to find large soap refills that don't contain tricolsan, the antibacterial agent that's contributing to so much antibiotic resistance. The greener alternative is to buy a gallon of castille soap--but that costs about $55.

So here's an alternative to both bad-for-the-environment and green-but-expensive liquid soaps: I use dish liquid instead. I can buy a 135 oz. jug of Kirkland Environmentally Friendly dish soap at Costco for about $8. I take a large container (a clean, empty gallon milk or juice carton, for example, as long as it has a resealable cap), fill it one-fifth full with dish soap and the rest with water, and give it a good shake. When I need to refill one of my smaller hand soap dispensers, I shake the large carton again just before doing so. I have found that pouring in pre-mixed soap creates better suds than if I mix the soap in the hand dispenser itself.

A gallon of this mixture (cost: about $1.50 for less than a quart of the dish soap) lasts about 6 months, while filling up hand dispensers in two bathrooms and the kitchen!

But what about charity? Part 2

2011-01-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

I began writing a few days ago about why I believe that charitable giving is not a substitute for robust government support, particularly when it comes to health care and mental health care.

In Part 1 of "But what about charity?", I noted that I've worked as a fundraiser for nonprofits for a decade, so I understand a lot about charitable giving in this country. I pointed out that the reason why charity alone is insufficient is because people's good intentions to donate or volunteer are often derailed by laziness or apathy, or are limited by very real barriers such as cost and time.

Why charity alone cannot address mental health needs

In this post, I'd like to address why charity alone can't address the needs of our mental health care system. In particular, I'd like to discuss a comment on another BlogHer blog, in which a conservative commenter said that in the wake of the Arizona tragedy, we should be looking at how to provide better mental health care in this country, supported by private funds. (emphasis mine)

My thought upon reading that comment was, "Private funds to meet the needs of the severely mentally ill in this country? Not likely." Working as a fundraiser, you gain an understanding of why people give to charity. There are several factors that inspire people to give, and unfortunately, mental illness lacks most of them. Please note, I'm not sharing these things to be cynical, just realistic.

Mental illness lacks the appeal of other charitable causes

1) People give to relieve urgent, immediate suffering. When people can visibly see suffering and recognize it as urgent, they are very motivated to give. That's why many people donate generously to provide aid after a natural disaster or tragedy--they know their gift will have an immediate and profound impact.

In contrast, the suffering of mental illness is often invisible, and both the conditions themselves and the treatment for them are long-term. People don't feel the urgency when they can't see the suffering, nor do they have the satisfaction of knowing that their gift donated today will relieve someone's suffering right away.

2) People give when the recipients of the gift are appealing. That's why programs that help young children or animals are often very successful in raising funds.

In contrast, many severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia (which some have speculated afflicted Jared Loughner) don't arise until a person is in their late teens or 20's. And the condition may make their behavior appear odd or scary--the very opposite of appealing.

3) People give when they are personally affected by the issue. Programs to support cancer care and research have been very effective in attracting donations in part because so many of us have been touched by cancer. When greater than 1 in 3 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, virtually all of us will be affected by cancer in some way.

Mental illness, ranging from mild to severe, may impact Americans to as great a degree, but again, it's much more invisible. And it's much more stigmatized--you are much less likely to know that your neighbor or co-worker (or one of their relatives) has a mental illness than that she or he has cancer. Out of sight means that many people don't feel a personal connection to the issue, and are less likely to donate to it.

4) People give when there's a strong possibility for, and/or track record of success. This is crucial to my role as a fundraiser: I have to always make the case to potential donors why our programs are, or will be, successful. People want their money to go where they feel like it's making a difference.

Treatment for mental illness doesn't easily make the case for "success." Many mental illnesses affect those with them for their entire lives, and often the best one can hope for is to manage the disease, not to be cured. In contrast, many cancer survivors go on to live cancer-free for decades.

As a result, the treatment of mental illness requires public funds

These factors are why mental illness has usually been treated via public funds, such as Medicaid and state hospitals. Even private nonprofit providers of mental health services are primarily funded with government dollars, because people don't give to address mental illness the same way they do for many other causes. Perhaps the shootings in Arizona will raise enough awareness about the needs of people with severe mental illnesses that charitable dollars will follow. But there's no guarantee of that. In the meantime, should we just let people suffer?

Next post: charity and health care reform

But what about charity? Part 1

2011-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Or, "Why charitable giving is not a substitute for robust government support!"

I'd like to spend several posts addressing health care reform and some thoughts I have about Jared Loughner and the shootings in Tucson. My thoughts came together after reading a comment about the Arizona tragedy on another BlogHer blog. The commenter noted that she was conservative, and said that rather than focusing on whose rhetoric is to blame, we should be looking at how to provide better mental health care in this country, provided by private funds. (My emphasis added).

While I agree that we should consider how we can better help people with mental health problems, I want to address the "provided by private funds" part of her comment. I have worked throughout my career for charitable nonprofit organizations, and for the last 10 years, I've worked in charitable fundraising. I think it's fair to say that I know quite a bit about the possibilities and limitations of charitable giving.

People often don't follow through on their good intentions

I'd like to share a story I read once in a Christian inspirational book. The author described a study in which researchers called several hundred people randomly from a phone book and asked whether or not they'd be willing to donate blood if a blood mobile were to come around their neighborhood. A very high percentage--perhaps 80%--said yes.

The researchers then waited a month or two and called these same people back, telling them that a blood mobile was coming to their neighborhood, and asking them if they'd like to schedule an appointment to donate. Only a fraction of the people, perhaps 10%, agreed to actually donate.

The author of the book used this example to make the point that people often overestimate their own goodness, while underestimating their need for a Savior.

While I agree with the author's conclusion to some extent, I believe the reasons that many of those who expressed willingness to donate didn't follow through are more complicated. A commenter on another (non-BlogHer) blog criticized liberals' "pessimism about human nature--they think people won't give or help their neighbor, so the government has to do it."

What he called pessimism, I call realism. Many people's good intentions are derailed by the human weaknesses that plague us all, such as laziness or apathy, or their good intentions are limited by very real barriers.

Blood donation: a personal example

I'll use a personal example of blood donation. I have O negative blood, so I'm a universal donor. This means that I get called all the time (sometimes as often as every week) with requests for me to donate blood. An individual can give as often as every 8 weeks, or about 6 times per year.

Although I give blood regularly, the most I've ever given was four times per year, back when I was childless. Now as a mom, I donate blood once or twice a year.

Why don't I give more often, when I know that there are many people whose lives could be saved by my donation? Sometimes it's because I get lazy or apathetic. But often, it's because I encounter barriers to donating. For example, I may be sick or I've just had an immunization right around the time I'm eligible to give again, both of which mean I'm not allowed to give at that time. (I have frequently had bouts of bronchitis that lasted weeks or months*; and I believe you have to wait a month after an immunization before you can donate). Also, blood mobiles and donation centers are often only open during hours when I'm at work or taking my daughter to her classes, or they're located too far away for me to get to.

I've shared pretty openly on this blog about some of the barriers I've encountered to going green. Those same limitations (cost, time, access) that prevent many of us from living as green as we want to often affect our ability to give to charity.

Next post: how the limitations of charitable giving affect mental health care for people such as the Arizona shooter.
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* I have previously posted about my recurring problems with bronchitis. Well, I've now gone 12 full months without any serious cases of bronchitis. Yay, Emergen-C!

UPS: 1; Fed-Ex: 0

2011-01-18T08:56:00.005-08:00

UPS accepts used packing peanuts for reuse. Fed-Ex doesn't. 'Nuff said.

Cheap green tip: old socks = doll clothes

2011-01-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

Are you like me? I have a bag of socks in my room, waiting in vain hope for their missing matches to turn up, or for me to darn them.

My mom gave my daughter a Baby Alive for Christmas. This toy has been around since I was a kid, but it still seems to be the rage among the 3-7 year old set.

Guess what? My daughter and I have discovered that old socks make great baby clothes! Cut off the toe, and then cut other holes for arms or legs, depending on what you want to make. My daughter's small socks make great underwear and tops, and my larger socks make great dresses, skirts and pants. And the cutoff toes can be used for mittens or socks--just secure to the doll's hands or feet with a small rubber band or scrunchy.

My daughter is now the envy of her friends, because she has the best dressed Baby Alive!

Ragging on quinoa... again!

2010-12-31T23:49:00.000-08:00

In my never-ending quest to find natural ways to manage my hair, I recently read a recipe for exfoliating one's scalp. The recipe called for mixing 1 TBSP of either quinoa or brown sugar with several tablespoons of conditioner, massaging that into your scalp, and rinsing it out, followed by washing your hair.

I have both quinoa and brown sugar in my pantry, but since I haven't yet made myself try the recipes recommendeded by readers of my "Why Quinoa Is Like Liver" post, I decided that I might as well use this healthy but (to me, anyway) foul-tasting grain for something.

I knew I'd made a big mistake as soon as I was finished. Quinoa, unlike brown sugar, doesn't dissolve in water. It was a bear trying to rinse the stuff out, and I'll probably be picking quinoa pellets out of my hair for days. Poor quinoa... it gets no love from Tacoma Green Mama!

On an upnote, I turned the job of combing out our daughter's hair to my husband several weeks ago, and he's become quite good at it, accomplishing the task with much more gentleness than I can achieve. And he graciously offered to comb out my hair tonight. Now that was a New Year's treat!

A love-hate relationship with public transportation

2010-12-12T23:11:00.000-08:00

Loving it in Boston: For most of my adult life, I didn't have a car. Living in Boston, I didn't need one. Public transportation was inexpensive, plentiful and frequent, while crazy drivers, lack of parking and exhorbitantly high auto insurance rates made having a car in Boston a big pain.

When I needed a vehicle for travel, I rented one; to do grocery shopping, I usually hailed a gypsy cab. (Gypsy cabs were cars driven by retired men who picked up people in their own vehicles and charged less than regular cabs. Most folks in Boston ignored the illegality of the practice: merchants knew that they increased business, and regular cab companies knew they generally made shorter trips then the regular cabs wanted to make, and often into neighborhoods the regular cabs didn't want to frequent. The police, I think, didn't want to crack down on old men who were just trying to make a little more income).

I finally bought a car after getting married, but even then, I continued to use public transportation (or walking) to get around most of the time. I especially loved taking public transportation to and from work, because it always provided me a relaxed chance to read, think, write, or even sleep.

Liking it in Tacoma: One of my struggles in moving to Tacoma was that the public transportation system isn't as extensive or efficient. Still, during my first year, I found a job that allowed me to take public transportation to work, which I could catch a few blocks from my home.

In my second year, that changed: due to the economy, Pierce Transit had to reduce service. After that, the nearest bus stop was a 40-minute walk from my home, and the nearest stop to my job was a 15-minute walk away. Hubby would drop me at the bus stop, and I'd walk the final leg.

Hating it in Seatac: A few months ago, I got a new job in Seatac, a city between Tacoma and Seattle where the SeaTac (for Seattle-Tacoma) Airport is located. I started driving to work, which takes about 45 minutes. However, my conscience about using so much gas bothered me, and on a few occasions when I attended conferences in Seattle and took the bus instead of driving, I remembered how enjoyable taking public transportation could be.

Well, I got my chance to take public transpotation to work. My car broke down a few weeks ago, and it's taking some time to save the money needed for the repairs. Here's what I've had to do:

-- Hubby drives me to the nearest bus stop. Time: 10 minutes.
-- I take two buses to get to downtown Tacoma. Time: 40 minutes.
-- I tranfer to a bus to the SeaTac airport. Time: 45 minutes when the traffic is flowing; as much as 1-1/4 hour when it's not.
-- A coworker picks me up from the airport and drives us to work. Time: 5 minutes.

That's an hour and 40 minute commute each way, if the traffic is good.

Note the last step. If I were to take public transportation regularly, I couldn't always depend on a coworker. So I looked into what it would take for me to get from the airport to my job. I tried all the configurations possible on Sound Transit's trip planner: fastest way, fewest transfers, least walking.

The answer was the same each time: one train ride, followed by two buses, taking one hour. For what is, by car, a 5 minute drive. And if there are any delays? Forget it!

This would add two hours to my already 3-1/2 hour commute. Walking is not an option: the journey from the airport would probably take me about 30-40 minutes, and involves some steep hills. I have a bad knee, and after a few days, I'd barely be able to walk at all.

I also looked into van pools, of which there are several that go from Tacoma to Seatac. But most of those are TSA employees who work staggered shifts at the airport, so they depart Tacoma at times such as 6 am, 11 am, and 2 pm. Nothing is available for someone who works a 9-5 job.

So what does this mean? Well, it means I need to get my car fixed! Public transportation just isn't an option: I can't impose on my coworkers forever, and a daily 5+ hour commute would mean I'd never get to see my daughter. Not to mention, I sometimes have out-of-office meetings during the day that I need a car to get to.

I have heard the arguments against expanding public transportation. Jeff Jacoby, a columnist with the Boston Globe, made them regularly, arguing that Americans love their cars and hate public transportation. I agree with the first claim, not the second. I don't think most Americans would give up cars altogether, but I think many people hate the rush hour drive to and from work. If public transportation is efficient and convenient, I think many people would choose that option. But as my example shows, for many people it's either not available, or so unwieldy it might as well not be.*

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* And please note that moving closer to one's job, or taking a job closer to one's home, is not always possible either.

Dragging my family along on my green journey

2010-12-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

OK, I admit it. I'm the big greenie in the family. But I love how my family comes along on the ride.

Not perfectly, of course. I have the hardest time getting my husband to remember to use reusable bags, even though I put them in his car. (Fortunately, I do most of the shopping in the family, so we don't collect many disposable bags).

But in other areas, my family has come a long way. For example, even though we keep a roll of recycled paper towels around the house (which lasts about 6 months), they've gotten used to using cloth towels and napkins.

But it's really cool when they start to love some of the green changes. My daughter loves helping me mix together my skin and hair care recipes. I never expected my husband to be more avid about gardening than I am. And he loves my homemade deodorant. As a big guy, it's been hard for him to find a deodorant that keeps him dry all day. My homemade stuff does the trick!

Reusable bags and the barriers to going green

2010-12-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

I recently got into a discussion on the blog of a company, which I won't name, that sells reusable bags. The company's blogger was responding to a news story about lead being found in the inks used in some reusable bags.* The blogger wrote about how this news story shows why people shouldn't buy those cheap $1 reusable bags now sold in almost every store, and should buy quality bags like theirs instead. Their bags sell for $13-16 each.

He or she added that it's embarrassing to be a walking advertisement for a company, since many reusable bags carry the logo of the store where they were purchased, and that it's even more embarrassing to use a reusable bag in one store that carries the logo of another store.

I responded in part because of the blogger's tone: it was snarky and critical of those who buy inexpensive bags, rather than simply positive about their product as a great alternative.

I wrote back that for many people, their bags are too expensive, and if it's a choice between buying their bag or none at all, they'll continue to use disposable plastic bags. I added that I personally feel no embarrassment about whatever label is on my bag, no matter what store I'm in. (Does anyone else? When you think of all the ways we advertise companies, from the labels on our jeans to the logos on our T-shirts, does anyone even care anymore?)

The blogger responded to my comment that it's better to buy one quality bag than a cheap one that people won't value and will likely discard. She or he then linked a photo of one reusable bag thrown into a pile of garbage, which consisted of several disposable plastic bags, and added a comment about it being silly to think we can save the planet for a buck.

The blogger then deleted my follow-up comment twice. But since this is my forum, I'll share it here. My points were:

1) Comments like that are the reason many people think environmentalists are out of touch with the needs of ordinary people. A family household probably needs an average of five bags to carry all the groceries they buy for the week--so to buy this company's bags, they'd need to spend $65-80. In this economy, many households don't have that kind of spare income--but more can afford to spend $5 for five reusable bags.

2) When you tell people that the efforts they're making aren't good enough, rather than encouraging their progress, the end result is that people often throw up their hands and say, "Forget it!"

3) It's important to acknowledge the barriers that people face, and offer "next best" alternatives if a reader can't, because of whatever circumstances, do the very best. I shared a quote I'd read recently by a doctor, who said that if people can't afford to adhere to the "12 things to always buy organic" list, they can still reduce the burden of pesticides they ingest by eating a wide variety of produce, and washing produce well before eating it. I suggested this company do the same (perhaps not on their company web site, but at least on their blog), saying something like, "For those who can afford it, please buy our bags for these reasons. But if you can't, please continue to do what you can to reduce the amount of disposable bags you use."

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What do you think? I'd like to do the very best for my family in everything, but that's not always possible. I started this blog because I want people to know that even if you can't buy a homestead and live off the grid, or afford to purchase organic cotton clothing and a hybird vehicle, there are still ways to become more green inexpensively.

The blog Condo Blues also recently took up the topic of reusable bags. She writes,

I don’t support laws that ban plastic shopping bags because it ends up hurting people that cannot afford to buy reusable shopping bags. I’d rather a store or city offer incentives for using your own bag because I think you get more flies with honey than vinegar.

Condo Blues goes on to share some sweet honey: an interview with the "Green Bag Lady," a woman who sews reusable bags and gives them away for free.

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* Note: The news story that reported on lead in reusable bags had some interesting readers' comments. One reader questioned the holes in the story. He pointed out that the story never reported how many bags were found to contain lead nor how much lead they contained. He asked whether or not ink in the lead on the outside of the bag can leach into food on the inside of the bag, as well as how much lead can be absorbed by food that generally remains in a reusable bag for less than an hour. Without this more specific information, he noted, the story sounds like propaganda by the makers of disposable plastic shopping bags who want to discourage people from using reusable bags.

Maybe I like to shop after all...

2010-11-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

A conversation with a coworker about my love of thrift shopping got me thinking.

When I was younger, I thought I didn't like shopping. My mom loves to shop, and used to take us out every weekend when we were kids to try on new clothes, jewelry, whatever. She often didn't buy things, especially if they were out of her price range. The fun was in the experience.

Well, I always hated that. So when I became an adult, I would only go shopping when I needed something in particular. I always had specific features in mind (but I didn't care about brand), and a maximum price I planned to spend. For example, "I need a pair of boots with a low heel that are warm and waterproof and stylish enough to wear to work, and I don't want to spend more than $60 on them." Then I'd go shopping for just that, and when I found it, I'd go home. None of this browsing around my mom used to do.

However, since I started thrift shopping in earnest (which really happened when I moved to Washington, since the thrift shops tend to be better here than the ones I left behind in Massachusetts), I have grown to love browsing, shopping for no other reason that "just because."

When I discussed this with my co-worker, I realized why. I always hated the feeling of seeing things I wanted to buy but couldn't afford. My mom doesn't care--for her, it's fun to see what's out there, whether or not she can actually buy it. But that frustration for me meant that shopping wasn't fun.

Thrift shopping is a very different experience. If I see something I like in a thrift store, I can almost always afford to buy it. I don't always indulge--either because I know the item is something I really wouldn't use, or because I've already spent enough (even second-hand shopping can add up after a while!). But I never feel that frustration of things being priced out of my budget, so browsing around is fun for me.

It's interesting to realize this about myself. I never thought about myself as much of a consumer, but maybe I am--just in a different way, or maybe even moreso than my mom.

What does this mean for being green? I'm not sure. Yes, thrift shopping is a green practice. But is being a big consumer while thrift shopping green or not? Something to ponder.

Update on deodorant

2010-11-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

I now apply Alaffia Everyday Shea lotion to my underarms before applying my homemade deodorant. Itchy underarm problem solved!

Black Friday/Saturday, thrift store style

2010-11-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it. I didn't join the "Buy Nothing" boycott, and instead I went after-Thanksgiving shopping on both Friday and Saturday.

A couple of my stops were to big box stores. I spent $43 at Walmart (yeah, I know) for two toys, one of which will be my daughter's Christmas present from Santa, and another for a toy drive for needy children I'm participating in. I also went to Casual Male Big & Tall to buy my 6'7" hubby much-needed socks, gloves and slippers.

But most of our shopping was done at Goodwill and Value Village, and the deals were awesome! I bought several things for the kitchen, including a dish drainer, a wooden snack tray, a pizza tray, a cookie sheet, a vegetable peeler, a gravy boat, and a mini loaf pan, all in "like new" condition. We bought seven picture frames to frame my daughter's school photos to give as presents to relatives. My daughter bought a butterfly blanket and a cute set of toy animals. And at Goodwill, where everything was 50% off, we bought at least a dozen learning and art activities for my daughter, including magnetic wooden letters, math, phonics and rhyming flash cards, gel markers, a "make your own journal" craft kit, a wooden tic-tac-toe board, and more. Total spent: $47 for 43 items. What other Black Friday deals could possibly be this good?

If birds can't find your feeder, does it exist?

2010-11-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I wrote about getting a bird feeder so my daughter could watch the birds, and then about having to get rid of the bird feeder, after a raccoon tried to abscond with it.

A year and a half later, we are trying again. My daughter saw an episode of Curious George in which he made a bird feeder (and had to fight off a pesky squirrel), after which some real kids gave instructions about making your own homemade bird feeder. She really wanted to try, so we cleaned out an empty 64-oz Epsom salt carton, cut a hole for an opening, filled it with bird seed, taped the top shut, and stuck a pencil through it for a perch.

Hubby had wired one of those big stakes for hanging tomato plants to the deck, and I thought this was the solution to our raccoon problem--the advice I've seen is that if it hangs higher than eight feet, the raccoon can't get to it. None of our trees are that tall, but the deck certainly is. Second, the stake allowed us to point the feeder outward, which would prevent bird droppings on the deck (hubby's concern).

So I bound the feeder to the stake and waited. And waited. And waited. I even added the shelled sunflower seeds that were so popular with the birds in the last feeder--and nothing.

Is it the weather? We've had some crappy windy rainy days, but also some beautiful sunny days, and on the latter, I still see birds around. (And amazingly, the stake seems to be strong--the feeder is just as secure as when I first mounted it).

Or is it that the birds don't know it's there? In our effort to post the feeder somewhere the raccoons can't get to it, did we put it someplace where the birds can't even fathom there's food?

My deodorant's not working so well...

2010-10-22T15:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I started a new job at the beginning of October, one with a long commute, so my free time is much more limited.

So, the homemade deodorant I raved about a few months ago? Not working out so well.

Not because it's not effective. On the contrary, it still works better in preventing wetness and odor than most deodorants I've ever tried, natural or otherwise, and almost as well as most antiperspirants. (Antiperspirants are typically stronger than deodorants, because they stop you from sweating).

However, I started breaking out in a red, itchy rash under my arms a few weeks ago. After googling, "rash from homemade deodorant," I learned that it is a fairly common problem. The major culprit is the baking soda, which, as I discovered when I used to wash my hair with it,§ can be very drying to scalp and skin.

Here are the changes I've made, which have helped the problem, but not completely eliminated it yet:

Revised homemade deodorant recipe:

* Place 2 T of unrefined coconut oil and 2 T of unrefined shea butter in a pot and liquify over low-medium heat. This happens fairly quickly.

* Remove from heat and add other ingredients:

-- 5 T of corn starch (CHANGE: more corn starch)
-- Slightly less than 1 T of baking soda (CHANGE: much less baking soda)
-- 1 T of witch hazel
-- 1 T of pure aloe vera gel (CHANGE: added to improve moisture)
-- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil. (CHANGE: peppermint instead of orange, because citrus oils can irritate. Note: you can choose a different type of essential oil, based on whatever scent you prefer.)

* Stir continuously until smooth

* Pour into a 4 oz canning jar.

*Leave lid off until cool. Re-stir once cooled, as essential oils sometimes float to the top. Can refrigerate for a couple days to solidify.
======================

The other change I've made is that after showering, I apply some of my olive oil/shea butter facial moisturizer to my underarms before applying the deodorant. It has definitely helped--the rash and itch are much better, but not completely gone. I'll update again about this in a couple of months.

======================

§ This post describes how I currently wash and condition my hair, although now I generally wash with apple cider vinegar & water, and condition with olive oil/vodka/water.

Little things that make life easier, second-hand

2010-09-30T19:36:00.001-07:00

One thing I love about thrift store and yard sale shopping is that I can find so many little things--things that I might never pay full price for, but that make life easier. Here are some recent example:

--A key case for 25 cents. I was tired of my keys piercing holes in my pockets and purses.

--A large bucket with a secure lid (this was the key feature) for $2.50, for soaking such things as my reusable menstrual pads without exposing them to others.

--Eight handkerchiefs for $4. This came in handy when I had a recent cold--I could use them with the five or so I already had, and wash them out each night. It was the first time I didn't need to rely on paper tissue when I was sick.

--My daughter's Halloween costume for $6. She wants to go as a doctor this year. At Goodwill, I found a plain women's white blouse with snaps down the front for $4 that, on my child, looks just like a doctor's jacket. Then I found both a real set and a toy set of a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Both sets were $2 each. Knowing my daughter (who wants to be a doctor when she grows up), she'd want the real set to actually hear heartbeats and be able to puff up the blood pressure cuff on someone's arm, so that's what I bought. (FYI, I'm to go as her patient this year. She will cover me in bandages).

--A stainless steel covered cake plate (round) and an oblong covered casserole/cake pan, $5 each. Now I no longer have to cover cakes and other dishes with foil and hope the icing or food doesn't get stuck to it.

--Two little silicone trays for $1, each with 12 small pumpkin molds in them. I think these were to either create pumpkin-shaped candies or pumpkin-shaped pieces of ice. Nevertheless, I have my own use for them: so that my daughter can mix paint colors together. If I allowed my daughter unrestricted access to her Crayola paints, we'd end up with 10 jars of muddy brown color. Instead, I pour a little of each color paint into different pumpkin holes, and she can mix them together to her heart's content.

--A beautiful, small but sturdy covered picnic basket for $3. I start a new job on Monday, and I will use it to carry a lunch plate, glass, mug, utensils, place mat and cloth napkins for easy and discreet storage under or near my desk.

--A large glass casserole dish lid for $1.50, which we are now using to cover food in the microwave. Our previous options were a plastic microwave cover (which deteriorates over time), or using plates (not the best, since they smash your food and can get too hot to easily remove), cloth napkins (messy) or paper towels (wasteful). This lid is a better alternative than all of the above. It sits high enough not to touch the food, and has a handle for easy lifting.

Bonus yard sale discovery: I wrote a while ago about being frustrated that I couldn't find anyone who could repair my leather purses. I buy them used (usually for $4-6) and have several now sitting in my closet because I always break the strap. Otherwise, these bags are all in great condition, and it seems a waste to have them sitting there gathering dust.

At a recent yard sale I visited, I noticed a "Tailoring and Clothes Repair" sign in the window of the home. I asked the woman about it, and she told me to step inside and talk to her husband, who is the tailor. I described my purses and asked if he could repair leather--and he can! I'll post again after I've had a bag repaired (provided the price is reasonable!).

Cheap green tip: toilet cleaning

2010-09-15T08:44:00.001-07:00

I have mentioned before that one of the drawbacks to the "yellow, let it mellow" method of saving water (in other words, not flushing after #1, unless the bowl is filling up with paper or we have guests) is that your toilet bowl gets dirty pretty quickly and needs to be cleaned every couple of days.

I had heard about the method of using baking soda and vinegar to clean a toilet bowl. As anyone who has ever made a "volcano" in fourth grade science class knows, mixing these two items together produces quite a reaction.

I was skeptical, however, because I have found the mix of these two to be less than effective in another often-recommended green household tip: freeing clogged drains. The idea is to add one cup of vinegar and one cup of baking soda to the drain, wait 15 minutes, and then pour in a kettle of boiling water. When I've tried this, water may begin to trickle down what had been impassable pipes, but the drain never completely clears. This method might be good as a way to regularly maintain your drains and prevent clogs, but clearing already existing ones? Not so much.

So, how to clean my toilet? I've tried several homemade tricks: using baking soda alone, using vinegar alone, and using a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mix. None of these works very well. I read a list of the best "green" toilet cleaners, and Clorox Greenworks was recommended. I've tried it, and it does work. However, with every other day cleaning, you can go through a bottle very quickly, so it's not very cost effective.

This week, I found myself out of Clorox Greenworks toilet bowl cleaner and a dirty bowl, so I thought, why not try the baking soda and vinegar method? It couldn't be any worse than anything else I'd tried. Here's the method: add 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of baking soda to your toilet bowl. Wait about 10 minutes until the two stop reacting, and then scrub your bowl with a toilet brush.

It worked! My toilet bowl was sparkling afterward. My guess is that the chemical reaction between the two helps scrub the stains, in a way that vinegar alone or baking soda alone can't do. Best of all, this method is cheap!

Update: The baking soda and vinegar method even cleaned the ring around the toilet bowl in our second bathroom. This ring had been there since before we lived there, I think because my in-laws rarely used that toilet. And now it's gone! The natural method strikes again!

Gourd watch and garden update

2010-09-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

Nada. Yup, that's what my experiment in growing squash plants has produced.

This year, we kept all of our plants in pots on the deck, except for the few that like to spread long and wide: the mints, the cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchini and butternut squash.

As I had noted in an earlier post, for some reason the deer had left our yard alone this year. Until my birthday in late August, that is. We were celebrating on the deck when a deer decided to visit. Hubby scared it off, and I then told him he needed to make his "deer-be-gone" again (a mixture of urine, garlic and cayenne).

It was too late, however. The next morning, everything except the mints and the pumpkin were gone. The rest of the vines were completely stripped of all leaves, bulbs and flowers.

Why the deer left the pumpkin alone, I don't know. And now I know that if we try to plant pumpkin again next year, I do need to hand-pollinate (here is a handy set of instructions, complete with photos), since the pumpkin plants produced flowers but no fruits.

Nevertheless, I think we still had a pretty good year for the garden. We successfully grew spearmint and peppermint in the yard (not hard at all--mints grow like weeds), and in pots on the deck, we've grown tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, basil, collard greens, and for a short while, Swiss chard. Surprisingly, we've even picked a few cucumbers from the yard--apparently the deer missed a few. As a result, fresh salads have been a favorite meal for us this summer.

We did fail at growing a few other random herbs and once again, spinach. However, on a visit a month ago to an otherwise verdant urban community farm, I noticed that their withered spinach patch looked much like my poor spinach pot. A farm staffer informed me that spinach is very tough to grow, so I don't feel so bad about it.

Add to this the joy of discovering fresh blueberries, blackberries and plums growing in our yard this year. The plums, sadly, were ripe for only about two weeks and then withered into prunes right on the branches. The blackberry bush, I have also learned, is considered an extremely invasive plant that can easily choke out other plants growing around it, so we may at some point have to try to get rid of it. Still, eating freshly picked fruit all summer has been wonderful.

I know we have a long way to go in being gardeners--for example, we have yet to grow enough to not only feed our family but to share with neighbors or food pantries; grow a winter crop; or learn how to preserve/can foods and save seeds. Still, for year 2, after being afraid I couldn't grow anything during year 1, I'm pretty satisfied.

When going green is a pain in the *@%&

2010-08-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Let's face it--one of the challenges to going green is that some of the things you must do are a pain in the *@%&. It seems selfish to admit this; after all, compared to many of the daily living tasks our grandparents did all the time, or that many people in less developed nations still do, the stuff I want to complain about is nothing. However, I don't think much good will come from not admitting my annoyance, and maybe by talking about it, I will be able to think of ways to overcome the frustration. So here goes:

Green living takes forethought and preparation. Unfortunately, I'm not always as prepared as I would like. On Saturday, we went to Puyallup to get some work done on our car. Originally my husband was going to go alone, while I remained with my daughter taking care of our various Saturday tasks. For a variety of reasons we realized on Saturday morning that we all needed to go (the money to fix the car was in my account, but I needed the card, so I couldn't just give it to hubby; and we still needed some form of transportation once the car was in the shop).

Thus, we set off on Saturday morning rather quickly, without having prepared for the day. Normally, I'd make breakfast for the family in the morning, and we'd carry lunch with us. Yesterday, however, we dropped off the car and hadn't had breakfast, so we went to a nearby McDonalds. Then we decided to visit the Puyallup farmer's market, one of the biggest in Pierce County, while we waited.

In many ways, that was great--we bought lots of fresh produce, at much cheaper prices than at the farmer's markets in Tacoma. I also bought some natural fragrances--gardenia in jojoba oil--at a great price from a vendor, who discounted her products because this is the last farmer's market booth she plans to do for the year.

However, we then needed lunch, which we bought from food vendors at the market, and it was all packed in styrofoam. And we were there so long waiting for our car to be ready that we had to rush to a birthday party that afternoon, for two sisters who are friends of our daughter's. There was no time to carefully shop for presents, so we hurried into Walmart for heavily plastic-wrapped dolls. (There were some really cute handmade items at the market, such as tie-dyed sundresses for little girls, but they were too pricey for our budget, especially since we had to buy for two children).

Thus, we generated a lot more garbage than we might otherwise have done had we been more prepared. (Although I tried to make up for it by collecting the bottles and cans to recycle at both the birthday party and a church picnic today!).

Green living sometimes just takes more work. The watermelon rinds and corn cobs and husks collected at my birthday party two weeks ago have been decomposing in a plastic bag on the deck. I started to add them to the compost pile today. Before I could do that, I had to chop up the rinds and cobs and cut up the husks. And yeah, it got tiring after a while, which is why I started thinking it would be easier to just throw it all away (I didn't).

While I love all my handmade personal care products (hair conditioner and detangler, facial moisturizer, deodorant, toothpaste), it can be a pain in the *@%& to make them. Not that any of them are complicated to make, but the fact that I have to make them, instead of just buying a pre-made product at the store, can sometimes be annoying, especially if I'm tired or I'm in a hurry when I suddenly discover that I'm out of what I need.

And my reusable menstrual pads? Yes, I love them, as I wrote about a few days ago. But I'll admit, there is a bit of an "ick" factor when I'm rinsing out the pads that have been soaking.

So what to do? Well, sometimes you just gotta vent. After that, I think it's like anything that's a pain in the *@%& to do (taxes, say)--remember why it's important. And remember the benefits. It's easier with things for which the benefit is immediate and obvious, such as my personal care products. But "saving the planet" is a long way off from my small efforts. But perhaps I can focus more on the intermediate term. With my compost, for example, I can remember that next spring, my plants will love me!

Cheap green tip: substitute flax seed for eggs in baking

2010-08-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

By now, I'm sure you've heard about the massive egg recall taking place in at least 14 states due to salmonella contamination. If you're an egg eater in an affected area, you currently have to forego eggs for a while or pay the much higher prices for uncontaminated organic, free range eggs.

Well, I have a cheap green tip for you! It won't help if you like eggs for breakfast, but it will certainly help if you love to bake like I do.

Purchase a bag or jar of milled flax seed, milled meaning pre-ground. (If you purchase whole flax seeds, you'll have to grind them yourself in a coffee grinder). For each egg you want to replace in a baking recipe, add 1 tablespoon of milled flax seed and 3 tablespoons of water to a blender. Blend about one minute until smooth. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

You'll notice no difference in the taste or texture of your final product, you'll have added some excellent fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids to your recipe, and as an added bonus, you can give the spoon or beaters to your kids to lick without worrying about making them deathly ill.

Is this really a cheap green tip? I did some calculations, and yes, it is. I buy 12 ounce bags of milled flax seed for $2.99 from Grocery Outlet. According to the serving size information, the bag contains 48 tablespoons, or the equivalent (when blended with water) of 48 eggs. That's an average price of 6.2 cents per (substitute) egg.

Regular, non-organic large eggs range in price across the country from $1.39-3.99 a dozen. That's an average of 11.5 to 33.3 cents an egg. So the milled flax seed egg substitute is much cheaper than regular eggs.

OK, you may not have a Grocery Outlet around. Where else could you buy milled (or possibly whole) flax seeds? I'm pretty sure any store that sells natural foods, such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Fred Meyer, will carry it. I've never checked, but it's possible that ordinary grocery stores might have it as well. If you still can't find it, you can always purchase it online (see below).

Will it be as cheap as at a discount store such as Grocery Outlet? I think so, or at least comparable to regular eggs. This is a list of flax seed products sold on Amazon.com. Here are my calculations for just the first two:

Hodgson Mill Milled Flax Seed, 12-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 8), for $15.20. That's $1.90 for each 12 oz box, or about 4 cents per tablespoon (and remember, each tablespoon makes one egg).

Flax Usa Cold Milled Flax, 40-Ounce Canister (Pack of 2), for $25. That's 80 ounces of milled flax seed, or about 320 tablespoons. So the price is about 7.8 cents per tablespoon/replacement egg. In both cases, it's still much cheaper than buying regular eggs.

Another added benefit: while you have to use the flax seed/water mix within three days, the unmixed flax seeds themselves can be stored in your refrigerator for a couple of months, or your freezer for even longer (and yes, you must refrigerate or freeze the bag or container once it's been opened. Milled flax seed will go rancid otherwise). Try doing that with a dozen eggs!

A party and plums and an almost non-existent utility bill

2010-08-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hubby threw a birthday cookout for me this weekend, and we used the same things as for my daughter's bubble party in July: reusable plastic plates and cups and cloth napkins. We also gathered all the leftover corn husks and cobs for composting.

Even better, as snacks, I set out plums and blackberries from the yard. Alas, the blueberries are all gone for the season, but the plums are now ripe and sweet! I realize the mistake I made earlier: I was trying to eat the plums when they turned purple. I need to wait until they're so dark they're almost black. That's when they're perfect!

We received our latest bimonthly utility bill (water and electric). You may remember that our April bill was twice as high as February's, and we discovered in June that they had overcharged us. The credit to our account was enough to wipe out the June bill and give us an additional credit of $91.

This bill was just as amazing. We had successfully brought down the bill from $600 every two months, to $400, to about $250. This bill was $118. In other words, it breaks down to an average cost of usage of only $29 per month, per utility. We're definitely doing something right. Each bill shows a comparison chart to the same billing period the previous year. Our water and energy usage is less than half of what we were using at this time last year -- which was less than half of what we had used the year before. Best of all, given that we still have the $91 credit, we only have to pay $27 of that $118!

It's amazing what you discover in your own yard

2010-08-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if I'm so much of a city kid that it takes a long time for me to notice natural things. Or maybe, just maybe, my yard is changing before my eyes.

Last summer, our friends Johnnie and Michele came over when we were planting our garden in the yard, and pointed out that the two bushes near the garden spot were blueberry bushes. I couldn't figure out how I had missed that the year before, since I love blueberries.

Last year most of the blueberries that grew were eaten by the deer as soon as they started to ripen, and those that weren't eaten by deer were rather bitter in taste. It's possible the deer had eaten them all the year before, so we hadn't noticed.

This year, the deer have oddly left the berries alone (and we've seen them running around the neighborhood, so they're still here). Not only that, but the berries that ripened have been nice and sweet. I've already speculated that the deer dislike the smell of the coffee grounds we used to fertilize the garden--which also may be the reason for the improved berry crop. My daughter found a bush in another part of the yard that still bears a tag reading, "blueberry plant." The latter grew no berries, so I definitely think our cultivation of the general area of the two fruitful bushes has had an effect.

My daughter found something else this year: a tree in our year bearing what my neighbor informs me are Italian plums. Again, how did I miss this the past two years? Unpicked fruit trees usually results in rotten fruit on the ground, and I certainly have done my share of raking and yard work! So far, the plums are hard and bitter, even the purple ones, so we'll see if they improve as fall approaches.

And best of all, my husband discovered a blackberry bush when he was mowing the lawn! It's growing up among the shrubs that border our yard, so he's pretty sure they're wild berries that weren't intentionally planted. He used his garden gloves to pull a bunch of braches out of the shrubs and into the yard. Daughter and I collected enough to make two dozen blackberry tarts!

Discovering all this fruit growing in our yard has been a delight. I think of the words from the movie Jurassic Park (used in an entirely different context, of course, but they can apply here): "Nature always finds a way."

Weekend news and basil-mint pesto

2010-08-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Besides swimming, we had other outdoor experiences this weekend. Our good friends Johnnie and Michele are living on Vashon Island this summer and caretaking at a cottage there. It's a pretty rustic cabin right on the water. We joined them for dinner on Sunday evening.

The last time we were there, on July 4th, my daughter and I picked up seashells off the beach (which the kids painted at my daughter's bubble party). This time, the tide was high and there was no beach.

However, there is a long, thick rope hanging from one of the trees in the yard. Michele said it was once a swing, but the seat broke off at some point. No matter: my daughter used the rope to play Tarzan and swing all over the yard.

They also have wild blackberries growing in the yard. I spent some time picking them (mmm, I love blackberries), and I have scratches all over my arm to prove it!

Johnnie and Michele's dinners are usually open potlucks for their friends. My contribution this time was a basil-mint pesto, made from the basil, spearmint and peppermint growing in our garden. It was a big hit with everyone, "addictive," as one woman called it. Here is the recipe I made (modified from this one at Post Punk Kitchen):

BASIL-MINT PESTO

Ingredients

-1/4 cup each almonds and pine nuts

-2 c. basil and mint leaves (I cut off two tall stalks each of basil and spearmint, and five or six short stalks of peppermint, and pulled the leaves off the stems)

- juice of one lemon (tip: firmly roll the lemon around on a hard surface for about 10-20 seconds, and the juice will squeeze out much more easily)

- 3 T olive oil

- 2 garlic cloves, chopped

- 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Directions

- Using my Magic Bullet blender, I chopped up the almonds and pine nuts until they they resembled coarse crumbs and set them aside.

- I added the basil and mint leaves to the blender, along with 1 T of the olive oil, the lemon juice and the garlic, and blended until smooth.

- I added the chopped nuts, the rest of the oil, the parmesan cheese and salt to the basil-mint mixture and blended. The resulting mixture is lumpy.

- I served with whole wheat crackers.

For a vegan variety, you can replace the parmesan cheese with 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes.

Learning to swim

2010-08-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

My kid loves the water. She is taking lessons at Tacoma's Eastside Pool, the only pool in the area with Saturday lessons for children her age, as well as the one with the cheapest rates. She took their tot class last summer, and is now in their Level 1 swim class.

We attended a birthday pool party for one of her friends on Sunday. My daughter turned down eating lunch so she could stay in the water, came out of the pool long enough to sing happy birthday to her friend, and then jumped right back in.

I really want her to learn how to swim, in part because I can't. You may have heard about the six teens who drowned in Shreveport, LA last week when they jumped into a river to cool off from the oppressive heat. This article about the tragedy is one of many that notes that nearly 70% of black children in the U.S. can't swim, compared to only 42% of white children, and that African-Americans drown at much higher rates than do whites.

There are many reasons for the racial disparity in swimming ability, including historical segregation and current poverty which made and make it difficult or impossible to have access to pools and opportunities to learn to swim. Add to that the fear factor: when adults never had the chance to learn to swim, they are more likely to be fearful of the water and thus not allow their children to go near it.

My first opportunity in the water occurred when I was seven and my mother signed me up for lessons at the YMCA. There had to be at least fifty children in the class, so the instructors had no time to give individual attention to anyone. Instead, they demonstrated and explained certain techniques, and you either got it or you didn't. I learned to hold my breath under water in that class. (Even in my daughter's class, which only has ten kids, there is little time for individual attention. The instructor works with each child for about three or four minutes, while the rest of the kids play in the water).

My next chance occurred in seventh grade, when I took a semester of swimming as part of gym class. However, the swim teacher was a diabetic who was going through some serious complications, and he missed most of the semester. The substitute who replaced him declared each class "open swim," so we were never taught anything. A friend of mine taught me how to float in that class.

In tenth grade, I also had a chance to take a semester of swimming as part of gym. The swim teacher was well-known as an excellent instructor. But early in the semester, a kid lit up a cigarette in the gym, tossed it on a mat and set the place on fire. The gym, a separate building from the school, had so much smoke damage that they had to close it down for the remainder of the year. We spent the rest of our gym periods doing calisthenics in the basement of the school until it was warm enough to play a few sports outside. I never again had room in my school schedule (high school or college) to take gym.

The rest of my family can swim, but they all learned as adults. After her children were grown and out of the house, my mother signed up for swimming lessons and kept taking them until she learned. My dad and brother both learned to swim in the military. My sister learned to swim in college. Lucky woman, she could take swimming as a credit elective at her university. I didn't have that option.

As an adult, I never took independent swim classes because, I hate to admit, I was worried about my hair. When relaxed hair gets wet it tends to frizz up, which doesn't look so hot when you're a working professional. Straightening it out again requires several hours involving dryers, flat irons and curling irons. As such, swimming lessons seemed like more trouble than they were worth.

During the few times over the years I had the chance to get into a pool, I taught myself how to kick while floating, and I can make it across the shallow end of the pool that way. Still, that's hardly competent swimming. My husband, on the other hand, used to be a lifeguard.

So here's hoping that my daughter's love of the water will continue, and that she will become an expert swimmer. And perhaps her mother will, too. Learning to swim is not a hair challenge anymore, since I no longer relax my hair and don't care if it gets wets, but it is a time and schedule challenge. I would love nothing more, however, than being able to join my daughter in the water.

I visited Alaffia!

2010-08-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had a meeting in Olympia Wednesday, and since Lacey, WA, the location of the headquarters of Alaffia, is between Tacoma and Olympia, I decided to visit. Their offices are beautifully decorated with African art and large photographs of the women's cooperative in Togo that produces the shea butter and other ingredients for their products, and of the women and children assisted by Alaffia's donations for maternal health and education in Africa.

Unfortunately, the staff was very busy that day and could not give me a tour of their production facilities, but I did get a chance to buy one of their new Beautiful Curls products, their Nourishing Shea Butter Leave-In & De-Tangler (for babies and up). It was $12 for a 12 oz bottle, so a pretty reasonable deal.

After trying it, I still need something stronger--my hair, like my skin, is a desert that sucks moisture up and begs for more--but it worked beautifully to soften and condition my daughter's hair. The best part about it is the heavenly smell, NOT created by synthetic (and often toxic) 'fragrance'! Instead, the product is scented with vanilla flower extract and mango extract. Orders have just started coming in for their Beautiful Curls line of hair care products, so they are not yet in the stores, but the woman who sold me the bottle encouraged me to tell my local stores (in my case, Marlene's and Super Supplements) to carry it. So Bravo, Alaffia!

The Safe Cosmetics Act: where do you stand?

2010-08-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

On July 21, three Congressional Reps introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (H.R.5786), "which gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients." In many ways, this bill is very necessary and overdue, as "The Story of Cosmetics" video (created by the same makers of "The Story of Stuff") reveals. The Safe Cosmetics Campaign provides information about how the act will protect consumers going forward.

However... The Indie Beauty Network, a coalition of small businesses that create and sell personal care products, opposes the bill, citing the following reasons:

-- Small cosmetic businesses have a history of producing safe cosmetics.

-- The requirements of the law, including scientific testing of all their ingredients and reporting of trace elements found even in natural ingredients, would be onerous to small businesses. They give the example of having to identify and label everything in water, if that is an ingredient of the given cosmetic, noting that water "contains a number of chemicals, including nickel, lead, copper, silver and dozens more — depending on the water source."

-- The law allows individual states to add requirements to the federal law, compounding the burden to small businesses.

The Indie Beauty Network adds that this law would decimate the small cosmetics industry at one of the worst times possible, when we are trying to rebuild the American economy.

Here, however, seems to be the crux of all the above concerns:

H.R. 5786 does not contain an exemption for small business owners. Many laws in this country exempt small companies because compliance would put them out of business without any real benefit to society. The same is true in this case. H.R. 5786 treats the smallest company making 50 products a day the same way it treats our nation’s multi-million dollar companies. While there is an exemption from the annual payment of fees, the testing and paperwork requirements in this bill place burdens on very small businesses that are unfair, overreaching, unnecessary, offensive and intrusive.

What are your thoughts? I definitely think a Safe Cosmetics law is long overdue. However, wouldn't it make more sense to amend the bill to include an exemption for small businesses, than to fight against the bill altogether?

My husband could have worse vices...

2010-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

... than a fondness for sunflower seeds. He loves them so much, he probably munches on a complete 16 oz bag every two days.

You know the old saying, "Pick your battles"? This is one battle I've chosen not to pick. Yes, it drives me nuts that despite carrying around a cup or bag to spit the shells into, he inevitably leaves a few shells around on the floor, on counters, and under seat cushions, and I hate the way it makes his breath smell. However, I remind myself that of the many vices he could have but doesn't, this one is relative minor.

But one thing I am proud of: he has found a way to put the used shells to good use. He has begun scattering them around the garden as part of our mulch. I have to admit that they don't look bad at all in a natural setting, and it's one more way to help keep the slugs away.

Pumpkins, zuchinni and squash, oh my!

2010-07-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

This year, my daughter planted pumpkin seeds as part of a kids' project led by the Master Gardeners program at the Puyallup spring fair. Given the size they grow to, they were the first of our plants to be transferred to the yard this year.

About a month ago, I bought some zuchinni and butternut squash starts and planted them outside also, because these are my two favorite vegetables.

When each of her two pumpkin planted sprouted one flower about two weeks ago, I proudly told my daughter that the spots with the flowers would turn into pumpkins. Then I read this post by Crunchy Chicken. Pumpkin plants need male and female flowers? (And how do you know which one is which?) The male and female flowers need to pollinate to actually produce a pumpkin? Sometimes the gardener needs to help the pollination process along by hand? (And how in the world do you do that??!) Huh??!!

So when the two little flowers died, I despaired the possibility of my daughter's pumpkins ever growing.

But not so fast. I was listening to "Gardening in the Northwest" on radio station KPTK-Seattle on Saturday, and someone aked about squash plants and pollination. Scott Conner, who leads that show, answered that pumpkins, squashes, zuchinnis, etc. tend to produce a few early flowers that die, and then produce a boatload of flowers again during the hottest month of summer, August. The second batch, he assured, will most likely pollinate and produce fruit. He added that zuchinni, in fact, can go from nothing to fruit in a matter of hours.

When I woke up this morning, my zuchinni plants, which had NO flowers yesterday, had about a dozen flowers on them this morning, and the pumpkin plants have re-flowered. (Nothing yet on the butternut squash). So I still have reason for hope! I'll keep you posted as "gourd watch" develops.

Praising Alaffia yet again

2010-07-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, I blogged about discovering that my daughter has the same dry, sensitive skin, especially on the face, that I have. My homemade shea butter and olive oil moisturizer caused her to break out in little pimples, and plain aloe vera didn't provide enough moisture to keep her skin from becoming dry, red and itchy.

At Super Supplements, a clerk recommended and I purchased Earth's Best Organics' Calendula Extra Rich Therapy Cream, designed for babies' skin. It worked for a while, but after about a month (as was always the case with me, using commercial moisturizers), my daughter started reacting to the product, breaking out in rashes.

Well, my resourceful child has come up with her own solution. She started applying Alaffia's Everyday Shea Body Lotion to her face. It has been working beautifully for months now, keeping her skin soft and smooth with no reactions or breakouts.

I encourage my readers to support Alaffia*, including their Everyday Shea products and their upline skin and hair care products. They're an awesome company, not only for the quality of their products**, but also for the values and principles they espouse and practice. Alaffia products are available at Whole Foods, Super Supplements, Marlene's (for those of you in Tacoma), and other natural food and personal care stores, as well as online.

=======================

* I have no relationship with Alaffia other than being a satisfied customer, and I receive nothing from them for my endorsement.

** Something else I love about Alaffia are the 2-oz glass jars they sell their pure shea butter in. I reuse these jars to make my homemade moisturizers, deodorant and (my latest experiment) toothpaste. They're the perfect size in which to make and store small batches.

Was this an especially bad allergy season?

2010-07-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Was this an especially bad allergy season? It was for me. The important question, however, is why.

Some background: I learned that I have seasonal allergies during the first and only time I attended summer day camp at age 6, when my eyes swelled up so badly I couldn't see. Needless to say, my parents never let me return to camp.

My allergies continued to worsen each year. As a young adult in 1995, I decided to begin allergy shots after meeting a woman whose sinuses had collapsed due to allergy problems. When I first began the shots (four of them, weekly, for trees, grass, mold and dust mites, respectively), I was told that I needed to continue the weekly shots for six months, switch to monthly shots for another six months, and then I'd be done.

It never happened that way. First, I was never able to have shots as infrequently as once a month; rather, I was reduced to every other week. Second, after a year I was told that I needed to receive the shots for five years. At five years, I was told that I needed the shots for 7 years. At seven years, I was told that now the science was recommending that people receive allergy shots for 10 to 15 years, or else one's allergies would return.

At that point, I couldn't stand the thought of continuing to receive four shots every other week for another three to eight years (and always having to miss some work in the process). In addition, my allergies had drastically improved until they were practically non-existent.

It's now been 15 years since I first started the shots, and eight years since I ended them. During my first summer in Washington, 2008, I had no allergy symptoms. Last summer, I had very mild symptoms. This year, however, my allergies fiercely returned. The question is why. Here are some possible reasons:

1) Geography. I moved in 2008 from Boston to Washington. The shots I received were created to help build my tolerance to local pollens in Boston. There are no doubt pollinating plants here in Washington that I never received shots for. This may help explain why my allergies returned only moderately last year--the local clime has taken time to affect me. In addition, during my basically allergy-free years, I took a few trips home to Ohio in June (usually to attend a relative's graduation), and there I would experience symptoms that I didn't have in Boston.

2) The allergist was right. In other words, I needed 15 years of allergy shots to ensure my immunity. Either 15 years was indeed the length that the shots would last, or the eight years that I've been off the shots now override the seven years I was on.

3) Global warming/climate change. One of the likely consequences of climate change is that we will have much longer growing seasons. Longer growing seasons = longer periods of time for plants to pollinate. Prior to my allergy shots, my allergies primarily affected me during May and June. This year, for the first time ever, my allergies started in April and only this week, the last of July, have they subsided. If climate change is the culprit, this doesn't bode well for the future for the many of us who suffer from allergies.

What do you think? Obviously, I'm one person, and my anecdotes are not data. I'd like to hear from others. If you are an allergy sufferer, were your allergies worse this year? If so, do you have any thoughts about why?

Awesome nature in the city moment

2010-07-26T12:13:00.001-07:00

My favorite nature in the city moment occurred about a decade ago, when I was taking a walk on the Esplanade, the long stretch of park that runs along the banks of the Charles River in Boston. I spotted a mama duck and about five or six ducklings standing beside the shore. Several people gathered to watch the sight when suddenly a St. Bernard appeared, barking furiously and running toward the ducks. The mother duck started quacking loudly and jumped into the water, with her babies right behind her.

Although his owners were calling for his return, the dog ignored them and jumped into the river after the ducks. The ducks swam as fast as they could behind a rock. Once her ducklings were safe, the mama duck turned and let out what can only be described as a primal scream. She then took off like a low-flying missile aimed right at the dog!

The funniest part was the expression that appeared on the dog's face. You could tell he was thinking, "Oh no, I'm in trouble now!" As if he had just become aware of his owners' calls, he turned and hightailed it back to them as quickly as possible!

By this time, the dozens of people who saw this scene were rolling with laughter and speculating about what would have happened had the duck actually caught the dog. Despite the massive size difference (this was a St. Bernard!), she meant business. As one person pointed out, "This was a wild duck protecting her babies, vs. somebody's pet."

Yesterday I experienced another awesome nature in the city moment, and my daughter was there to see it as well! We attended Tacoma's annual Ethnic Fest held in Wright Park. As we walked along the duck pond in the park, a guy who passed us pointed to an area of the pond where hundreds of half-foot long goldfish were swimming. Just as we arrived at the area with the fish, we heard a whistling sound and saw something drop from the sky so fast we couldn't tell what it was. It landed with an explosive splash in the water. A few seconds later, we saw wet wings emerge and a bird lifted into the air. Not just any bird, either--this was a hawk who had caught a nice, juicy goldfish for lunch!

I remember watching a story on TV a few years ago about a family of hawks nesting on the eaves of a tall building near Central Park in New York City. People came out daily with binoculars to watch as the parents fed their babies, and as the fledglings began to learn to fly. It was an amazing sight, and highly unusual, according to the announcer, to have a family of hawks make its home in the city. Well, it seems that Tacoma has at least one hawk living here! And perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. We seem to have plenty of deer around here, even in the central city, not just the outskirts.

My favorite homemade cleaning products

2010-07-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've blogged a lot about homemade products I use on my hair and skin, but very little about homemade cleaning products. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that finding commercial products that worked for my hair and skin without causing reactions was such a challenge, and so homemade, natural personal care products have been a godsend to me. I just can't get as excited about stuff for cleaning. Plus, there are plenty of natural cleaning products on the market that work well and are reasonably priced, so I don't feel as much of a need to make my own. Planet dish detergent, Trader Joe's laundry powder, and Seventh Generation all-purpose cleaner are some that I use, just to name a few.

Nevertheless, I do make a few of my own cleaning products, and here are some that I like the best:

Bathtub scrub: in a bowl, stir together a lot of baking soda, a little liquid soap and a little more hydrogen peroxide until the mixture reaches a Soft Scrub or toothpaste-like consistency. Spread all over your tub and let it sit for a half hour. For tough stains, cover with a towel (hydrogen peroxide's power breaks down in light). Scrub with a scrub brush and rinse well. Your tub will be shining without any leftover grit. This formula also works well with stains on your kitchen sink.

Carpet and shoe freshener: I've been using this one since my daughter was a crawling baby. Mix together equal parts baking soda and corn starch (say, 1/2 cup each), and add about 15-20 drops essential oil. I add about 10 drops each of my favorites, sweet orange oil and peppermint oil. Stir well, add to a jar (ideally one that has a shaker top, but any jar will do), and cover. This last point is very important! Let the mixture sit for about 24 hours before use. If you use it too soon before the essential oils are dry, the stuff will stick to your socks, feet, or carpet and you'll end up with white dust footprints all over your house.

Once the mixture has dried, sprinkle on your carpet or in your shoes as needed. After about a half hour on the carpet, you can vacuum it up easily. When the smell in your shoes is gone, shake out the excess. How long it takes depends on the stinkiness of your shoes. :)

Deodorizer: Vinegar, vinegar, and more vinegar! I have found that nothing works quite like white vinegar to get rid of strong odors. I just love the stuff. I used to boil bathroom and kitchen sponges (laundering didn't work very well, since I wash in cold water), add baking soda, etc., and they still smelled like mildew. Now I soak them in white vinegar and pop them in the microwave for two minutes and the smell is gone! Add vinegar to a spray bottle and spray your smelly garbage can. Put vinegar in a bowl in your car overnight to get rid of musty smells in your car. The uses are endless.

You might object that vinegar itself has a strong, and to some people, unpleasant odor. Yes, it does. But here is the miracle of vinegar: once it dries or dissipates (usually after about a half hour), you can't smell the vinegar anymore and it takes the stinky odors with it.

Making my own deodorant

2010-07-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's another reason why small steps are a good thing: each time one small step results in success, it encourages me to take another.

My latest is making my own deodorant. A few years ago, learning about the toxins in many antipersperants, I switched to natural deordorants. Most I tried didn't work well at all, leaving me wet and a little stinky at the end of eat day. Finally, I tried Tom's of Maine's long-lasting deodorant. It worked very well, except on very hot days. Thus, I began carrying a deodorant stick with me during the summer in case I needed to reapply it.

Last week, I read an article about unhealthy substances in deodorants that fingered many "natural" deodorants as culprits. One of the bad ingredients listed was propylene glycol--which turns out to be the first ingredient of my Tom's of Maine deodorant. Wikipedia states that propylene glycol is not harmful to humans in small amounts, but that it can be a skin irritant, and I wonder if that was the case with me. My underarms have had red, itchy patches on them lately.

It was time to try making my own. After googling and looking at several recipes on the web, I decided to try this one, found at the blog Cheap Like Me:

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* Place 5 tablespoons of coconut oil (unrefined from natural food store) in a pot and liquify over low-medium heat. This happens very quickly.

[Amy's note: I used 2 T of coconut oil and 3 T of shea butter, since I love shea so much! Shea takes a little longer to melt.]

* Remove from heat and add other ingredients.

* Add 1/4 cup of corn starch

* Add 1/4 cup of baking soda

[Amy's note: I added 1 T of witch hazel to the mix, which the first article (on toxins in deodorants) recommended as a good ingredient. So I also added an extra tablespoon each of corn starch and baking soda, to retain the mixture's consistency.]

* Stir continuously until smooth

* Add essential oils drop by drop until desired scent is reached

[Amy's note: the blogger used lavender and tea tree oil. I used sweet orange oil.]

* Pour into a 4 oz canning jar.

*Leave lid off until cool. Re-stir once cooled, as essential oils sometimes float to the top. Can refrigerate for a couple days to solidify.
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Once more, the results have been awesome! The homemade deodorant has kept me dry and smelling good all day. I've carried a small amount with me in case I need to reapply it, and I haven't had to. And the red, itchy patches have gone away!

So many natural products I make myself work just as well, and usually better than the commercial varieties, without the toxins or (for my sensitive skin) the side effects. Other than the time factor of making them, why would I ever go back?

Why quinoa is like liver

2010-07-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

Did your parents ever serve you liver as a kid, "because it's good for you"? Whether it is or not is debatable, but what isn't debatable is that liver is one of the foulest tasting things you can eat. My siblings and I learned, however, that if you smothered liver with enough bacon and onions, it became edible.

Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa") is one of the healthiest grains you can eat. I learned about it during pregnancy, reading something or other about the best foods to eat for your baby. So I bought it, cooked it, ate it--and promptly upchucked all of it. Like liver, quinoa was one of the foulest tasting things I'd ever tried. (Although quinoa's health benefits are much more certain!).

I couldn't stomach the thought of eating quinoa again during pregnancy, nor a year later when it was served at a luncheon I attended. But my daughter is now five and morning sickness is a distant memory, so I decided it was time to try it again. (Because it's good for me, of course!). No, I didn't throw up this time. But I decided that as with liver, you need to smother quinoa to make it edible. In this case, I used curried tofu and vegetables. As long as each bite had enough tofu and veggies to overpower the taste of the quinoa, I was fine. But without it, blecch!

Cheap green tip: visit your local Starbucks for coffee...

2010-07-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

... grounds, that is!

Starbucks coffee shops are saving their used coffee grounds in bags and making them available for free to anyone who wants to add them to their gardens.

We've been having slug problems again, and the beer in a small pot trick just wasn't working. (Maybe because the beer is old and stale? We're not beer drinkers, so what we have was left over from a party last summer).

I did some internet searching, and found some sites that recommended mulching used coffee grounds around your veggies to ward off slugs, as well as to help nourish your plants. Because coffee grounds are so fine, you have to mix them with something rougher such as broken-up eggs shells or dead leaves or bark mulch, so the grounds don't become impacted and prevent water from penetrating to your plants. The slugs don't like the feel of the rough stuff and they don't like the smell of the coffee, so they stay away.

Since we don't eat enough eggs for the quantity we'd need and our dead leaves went in the local yard waste disposal months ago, we chose organic bark mulch. Because organic bark mulch is more expensive than non-organic, another benefit to free Starbucks used coffee grounds is that it makes the bark mulch go further. So far, so good--no slugs!

And I have to wonder if the coffee smell is distasteful to deer as well. I spread some of the coffee/bark mulch around our blueberry plants. Last year, the deer devoured all our blueberries, and this year, they haven't touched them--and my husband hasn't even made his "deer off" pee-garlic-cayenne mix yet!

Cheap green tip: use (a lot!) less laundry detergent

2010-07-14T09:16:00.001-07:00

I've been hanging my clothing to dry for about a year now, indoors when it's cold and wet, and outdoors during those glorious few Northwest months of summer. But I still occasionally dry laundry when some item is needed right away, or we have a big load of towels or jeans.

One of the challenges of air-drying heavy items such as towels and jeans is that they end up hard and stiff. I usually add a half cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle and shake these items out a few times while they're drying, and that helps. However, they still end up a little stiff.

One recommendation I've read is to add less detergent, because part of the stiffness is due to all the soap not completely rinsing out. I was skeptical about that because I already use half the recommended laundry soap detergent whenever I wash.

After my daughter's bubble party, we had all these wet towels that the kids had used to dry off after running through the sprinklers. My original plan was to wash them at home and dry them at the laundromat, but when the day turned out to be gloriously sunny, I switched tactics.

I washed the towels, not with half the scooper cup of detergent, but less than one-fourth, figuring that since the towels had only been used once, they weren't that dirty. I added vinegar to the rinse cycle, and then hung them over chairs on our deck to dry. They didn't end up quite as fluffy as towels dried in the dryer, but still, no stiffness! Once more, I'm a new believer!

A few inexpensive items for going green

2010-07-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Inexpensive, in my thinking, is around $10, or less!

Thinking about the plastic straws at my daughter's party prompted me to do a little internet research. I found these compostable straws at buygreen.com, for $5-11 for 250-400 straws (depending on the length of the straw).*

I wandered around that site and found these refillable wooden pens, from $3.75-9.95, depending on the style of pen. Refills are $3.75.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I have been doing some shopping on Etsy, an online store for vendors of handmade items. I've already purchased a reusable sandwich wrap and reusable snack bag from a vendor there for about $11, including shipping, and I couldn't be happier with the results. The items were bigger than I anticipated, they seal very nicely, and the quality is excellent. My next order will be for reusable covers for my Swiffer mop.

All of the above are small investments, but they will both save money in the long run and do a little more to help our environment. Just remember, small steps count!

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* You can buy reusable glass straws instead of biodegradable ones, but at $6.50-8.50 each they're a pricier (and more fragile) investment, and I certainly couldn't afford the quantity needed for a kids' party!

UPDATE: if you're like me and lose pens easily, then paying $4-10 for a refillable wooden pen you'll probably lose might seem like too much. Another option might be pens made from recycled materials. I saw packs of a dozen Bic stick pens made from 80% recycled materials for $1.99 at Office Depot. Retractable Bic pens made from 70% recycled materials are also available, but they're more expensive, about $16 for a dozen. Office Depot also carries Ticonderoga pencils made from recycled materials at a very low price.

How to have a (mostly) waste-free children's party

2010-07-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my daughter came up with a great idea: have a start-of-summer bubble party! We began planning a day in which her friends would gather at our house to blow bubbles, run through sprinklers, and drink bubbly milkshakes. The date we set is tomorrow (July 10th). When we first started planning, I wasn't sure it would work out, since the temps were about 60 degrees and we were wondering when summer would ever get here. Now that the mercury has hit 90, a party like this is an excellent suggestion. According to my daughter's daycare teacher, the kids there are so excited that the party is all they can talk about.

I started thinking about how I could make the party relatively waste-free, and here is what I came up with:

-- I purchased some durable, reusable plastic plates at Value Village (my favorite thrift store!) and durable, reusable plastic cups at a yard sale, to supplement the ones we already have that we use with my daughter. Cost: $2.50 for five plates and $2 for 8 cups.

-- Since we don't have a hand towel rack in our bathroom, we usually just dry our hands on our bath towels, and put out a roll of recycled paper towels when we have guests. So at Value Village, I bought a stand-alone twin hand towel rack and two sets of hand towels: a plain set for the kids, and a fancier set for when we have adult guests. Cost: $3.50 for the hand towel rack, and $3 for two sets of hand towels (so really, $1.50 for the set we'll use at the party).

-- We currently have a plain set of cloth napkins for everyday use, and a couple of fancier sets for guests. Because these are children (who tend to be messy), I needed some more plain napkins. I bought eight cloth napkins at Value Village for $4.

-- We bought a "bubble toy bonanza" kit that comes with all kinds of bubble wands and pipes. Because the kids are going to be putting their mouths on the pipes, I decided to have two bowls available outside: one filled with soapy dish water, and one with clean water with a little vinegar in it. The kids can swish their pipes in the sudsy bowl and rinse in the other bowl before passing a bubble pipe on to another child. No need for things like disposable wipes! Cost: $6 for the bubble toys, and to clean them: free.

-- I bought two durable, reusable vinyl tablecloths at yard sales. Cost: $1 for both.

-- As take-homes, the kids are going to get two things: a jar of bubbles, and a seashell they paint themselves. We spent July 4th at a cookout on Vashon Island and my daughter and I collected a bunch of large sun-bleached clam shells, which look gorgeous when painted. My daughter already has paint and brushes. Cost: $8 for 16 bottles of bubbles, and painted seashells: free.

Now, I did say this party would be mostly waste-free. Here are the areas where we'll still generate waste:

-- The various bags and containers for food and drinks, including hotdogs and buns, fruit, chips, juice, ice cream and milk (including non-dairy varieties for a few kids who are lactose-intolerant). I'm not yet at the place where I purchase all my food from farmer's markets and have milk delivered in glass bottles. However, I'll try to buy the largest sizes I can, recycle those containers or bags that are recyclable, and of course, use my reusable bags for shopping.

-- The plastic wrap around the packs of bubbles and bubble toys.

-- Plastic straws. It would be pretty tough to have young kids drinking milkshakes neatly and easily without them. Plus, it will help prevent brain freeze.

-- Invitations. We made really cute paper invitations with a clip art cat blowing bubbles. I know the "green" recommendation is e-vites, but c'mon, we're talking about 4-6 year olds here, the parents of whom, in some cases, I don't know very well. Thus, paper was the way to go.

So, for not much more than it would have cost to buy disposable napkins, plates, cups, paper towels, tablecloths and wipes, and with the added benefit of having these items available for future use, we will have a (mostly) waste-free kids' party. And I hope the kids' parents appreciate the take-home bubbles and pretty seashells rather than gift bags filled with cheap plastic toys!

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Update: The party was a hit! The one thing that didn't last long was the sprinkler--the kids started complaining they were cold after a few minutes (it wasn't quite as hot today as yesterday). But they loved blowing bubbles, painting the seashells, and drinking milkshakes! Interestingly, one of the parents gathered all the used straws and put them in a large container of soapy water. So that's one less area of waste for this party! And one parent commented that it was nice not to have their kids sent home with gift bags full of junk.

Cheap green tip: use cereal box liners instead of zippable plastic storage bags

2010-07-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Since I stopped getting plastic bags at the grocery store, I started saving the plastic bags I obtain from other things, such as loaves of bread, bags of produce, etc. I find that if I need to throw trash away or have a plastic bag available for say, packing shoes or carrying a child's wet clothes, these work just as well as plastic grocery bags.

However, one of my favorite (plastic? wax?) bags to save and reuse are the ones inside boxes of cereal. These make awesome substitutes for zippable plastic storage bags. They're strong and waterproof, and usually can be reused longer than plastic storage bags, which tend to break down after two washings. I use them for such things as storing leftover pizza, pancakes, and chicken. Smaller cereal inserts can be used for such things as sandwiches. These bags do well in the freezer, too. To use, remove the bag after finishing a box of cereal, shake out the crumbs, and seal with a chip clip, twist tie or rubber band. Because they're waterproof, damp foods store well without leakage. Of course, since they don't seal completely, you can't use them for anything completely liquid. Otherwise, however, they're an excellent alternative to plastic storage bags.

In praise of small steps

2010-07-05T17:36:00.001-07:00

Grist, an online environmental magazine, has a regular column, "Ask Umbra," which answers green living and environmental questions for its readers. Most recently, a reader named Patty asked the following of Umbra:

But right now with the oil spill taking over the Gulf and ruining so many ecosystems, I just don't know if anything I do really makes a difference. ...

I live in southern Louisiana and remember feeling the same way after Katrina. ... Why even bother? What can the little things I do matter when compared to one big horrible thing like this?  I hope you disagree with me and tell me why I should care.

As I've shared before, I can relate to Patty's feelings of being overwhelmed. Here's what Umbra shared in response (emphasis added):

Being overwhelmed by a big crisis may cause us to think that our personal actions are meaningless. But this is where we’re wrong, dear Patty.

Just this week New York Magazine noted that, "recent neuroscience and behavioral-economics research suggest that changing people's individual behavior may be the best way to grow a movement."

Furthermore, an analysis from the Garrison Institute’s Climate Mind Behavior Project (CMB) and the Natural Resources Defense Council, found that "Americans can reduce U.S. carbon pollution by 15 percent -- or one billion tons of global warming pollution -- through collective personal actions that require little to no cost."

So go ahead and sweat the small stuff! The "little things" we all do are not futile. In fact, little things add up fast. Especially if you do them, and then talk to your friends and family so that they start doing them too. That’s the magic of the multiplier effect.

Grist put it best: "Practiced consistently, small steps facilitate both gradual evolution and rapid revolution for positive lasting change. Of course institutional and policy change is crucial, but it doesn't happen on its own; it happens when people fight for it, motivated by their values."

Umbra ends with a few famous quotes about doing small things with great love (Mother Teresa), about how small groups of committed citizens are the only thing that can change the world (Margaret Meade), and one of my favorites, from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax:

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

Another reason to go natural

2010-06-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

A blog I follow, The Black Snob, posted this story today about supermodel Naomi Campbell losing her hair. The blogger, Danielle Campbell, writes that Naomi Campbell is only a very visible example of a common phenomenon:

I know too many black women who have receding hairlines, severe hair breakage or who have gone bald as they got older due to alopecia. Usually these things are caused by harsh chemical relaxers or too-tight cornrows or heavy hair extensions.

Like the blogger, I had always had very thick hair, and it had been thinning and receding after years of using chemical relaxers. My main reasons for choosing to go natural were because of my concerns about what the harsh chemicals and toxins in relaxers were doing to my body and the environment, and to set an example for my daughter so she would know that her natural hair is beautiful.

Going natural seems to be spreading, at least in my circles. My sister, my college roommate, and the mother of the only other black child in my daughter's daycare, are all people I know who have gone natural in the last few years. And as the Black Snob notes, it's not really a political statement. It's about embracing our natural beauty, saving our bodies, saving the environment, and yes, saving our hair.

It's yard sale season!

2010-06-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've posted a lot about my love for thrift shopping, but often as good--and sometimes better, in terms of deals--are yard sales. Folks here in Tacoma love to have yard sales. In Boston, it seemed like most of the yard sales were held by people who were moving or a group of families who combined to have one big sale, but here it seems like many folks have a regular yard sale every year after doing spring cleaning. This means, of course, that many sales don't have a large variety of items. However, it also means there are a lot of yard sales going on every weekend from May through October, and you can find many treasures if you hop around.

This past weekend, my daughter and I were able to hit four yard sales in the three miles we drove between home, the park and the library. One of the sales was to raise funds for a woman who is about to do the three-day breast cancer walk.

At the sales, I purchased a really nice four-slot, big-enough-for-bagels toaster in great working condtion for a dollar. My daughter found four cute summer tops in sizes 6 and 7 for a quarter each. A minor item I bought came in really handy already. For fifty cents, I got one of those squeegee and sponge things to clean your car windshield with, and needed it yesterday morning when I woke up to discover my car windshield covered with pollen, and my car out of windshield wiper fluid. I had to bypass a beautiful set of matching bookcases because I didn't have enough cash on me. But I know that as the summer goes on, there is more to come!

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* In terms of furnishing our future home, we're getting close. With a queen size bed and dresser given to us by a friend, a dining room table from Freecycle, and numerous items purchased from thrift shops and yard sales (toddler bed, dining room chairs, a sofa, recliner, dresser and matching night stands, end tables, lamps, microwave, toaster, toaster oven, pots and pans, set of dishes, set of flatware, cooking utensils, bakeware, casserole dishes, tablecloths and napkins, computer desk, bookshelves, TV), our future home will be pretty well furnished. The most expensive of any of the above items was the sofa, purchased at Value Village for $25. The vast majority of these items cost less than $10, and many were less than $3. All total, I've probably spent less than $250 over the last two years on these things.

Is boycotting BP/Arco a good idea?

2010-06-17T22:10:00.003-07:00

I stopped in a 76 station today and asked the clerk if she knew why gas prices were going up everywhere in the area except Arco, when news reports indicate that gas prices are going down nationwide. We discussed it for a while, but she had no idea either, and said I should call corporate headquarters. And once more, I gritted my teeth and paid for gas that was 24 cents more a gallon than at Arco.

Later, I read this comment on a blog I follow, Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic, and it made me rethink what I was doing:

I would just add, not buying gasoline from BP really does nothing to hurt them. Oil is a fungible product, so as long as you're buying from someone else, the price stays the same. Contra popular belief, the vast majority of gas stations are not company-owned, so you may put the franchise owner out of business, but the oil companies are collecting their revenues on the liquid, diffuse wholesale market, which sure as hell isn't going to boycott BP.

Only by using less oil do you hurt oil companies. That's how fungible commodities are different from everything else--BP's oil goes in the same pipelines as everybody else's.

Crunchy Chicken made a similar point on her blog tonight, as did the blog Fake Plastic Fish. The latter includes links to a number of articles about how all of us are contributing to the problem, by driving and the use of so many plastics in our lives. Here's a good one, among many: 23 Ways to Use Less Oil.

There is so much to change, which can feel overwhelming again, so I repeat my mantras: Small Steps. Do the Best You Can. On an upnote, a recent article about Pierce County Transit noted that the overwhelming response of people in our county has been to ask them not to make any more cuts in bus service, even if taxes have to be raised to maintain them. Breaking our oil addiction will only work if we keep pushing for alternatives to driving!

On a personal upnote about using less energy, we received our latest bimonthly Tacoma Public Utility bill today (which covers electricity, including heat, and water). Our April bill was twice that of February's, and equal to that of April last year. I had lamented the fact that our track record of reducing our energy usage had been broken (although the bill seemed too high for what I'd thought we'd used; c'mon, we used more energy in April than in February?!). Turns out, the bill was too high, and TPU corrected it. The resulting bill for June is a negative $91!

I will end this post with a challenge from Beth, the blogger at Fake Plastic Fish. This challenge is more for me than for anyone who might be reading. I don't want to start thinking, "Whew! I can buy the cheaper gas at Arco again!" This whole issue is so much bigger. Here's Beth:

The point is not whether we drive some or buy some plastic or eat some meat or carry a reusable bag. Those things won’t matter if we don’t change our basic mindset of entitlement. As far as I’m concerned, we’re entitled to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothing on our backs. We’re entitled to healthcare and fair treatment and the opportunity for self-actualization. We are not entitled to a new car or prime rib or an iPod or expensive shoes. We’re not entitled to a latte wherever and whenever we want one or even a hamburger. We’re simply not entitled to destroy the planet, its animals, and the 85% of the world’s population who earn less than $2,500/year so we can have these things. We’re just not.

The confusing, the good and the even better

2010-06-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

The confusing: a news story on the radio yesterday reported that gas prices have decreased an average of 15 cents a gallon over the last three weeks, and now average $2.72 a gallon across the nation. Now the cheapest price around here is Arco/BP, at $2.75 a gallon. That's not that surprising; averages are averages, and different regions will have different prices.

But there is no way gas prices have declined here in Tacoma. I've been watching the gas prices very carefully and they've all been going up at stations other than Arco/BP, from $2.79-$2.85 a gallon a few weeks ago, to now $2.86-$2.99 a gallon. It makes sense that our prices might be higher than other regions, but not that they are going up when others are going down. Can anyone explain this?

The good: Thanks to Aimee for her suggestion of the eco-friendly Rome's Old-Fashioned Cast Iron waffle iron, available at Amazon for only $19.99! Check out the informative Amazon reviews, too--this iron makes better waffles, but it takes a little more care to do it well, especially pre-seasoning it.

Even better: Our veggies are reviving! Despite the chilly springtime, our collards, kale, lettuce, rasishes and herbs have strengthened and are just about ready to pick! My spinach is still pathetic, though. I can't seem to get spinach right. My daughter is also excited because the seed she planted this year--a pumpkin--had outgrown its pot and is now flourishing in the yard.

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Update, 24 hours later: Gas at my local Arco/BP station is down again, to $2.69 a gallon for regular. The other stations around me? Haven't gone down a cent.

Anyone know of an eco-friendly waffle iron?

2010-06-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

One of my fondest memories of childhood was my dad making pancakes for us on the weekends, and it's a tradition I've continued with my daughter, only I make them from scratch (so I can add good stuff like whole wheat flour and milled flax seed) instead of a pancake mix.

I've added waffles to this tradition because I love waffles. We left a fairly nice waffle iron back in Boston, and so, given our tight finances here in Washington, I bought a cheapo $9.99 waffle iron at the drugstore.

Bad move. It's teflon and the teflon is starting to wear off. The waffle iron we had in Boston was also teflon, but because it was of higher quality, it hadn't experienced the visible wear and tear. I've read a lot about the dangers of teflon and other non-stick coatings (made worse if it's wearing off) and so I no longer use any such pots and pans, switching to stainless steel and cast iron instead... except for said waffle iron.

But it seems to me that all the waffle irons I've seen for many years have only had non-stick coating. Does anyone make them without non-stick coating anymore? And if not, are any waffle irons more eco-friendly than others? If so, please let me know! I may not be able to afford it right now, but it can join the wish list (along with a bicycle, rain barrel and compost tumbler)!

The Green Bike Project

2010-06-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ask and you shall receive... I wrote a few days ago about my transportation challenges. I have been boycotting BP by not buying gas at Arco, but that's getting mighty tough since in the past week or so, Arco's prices per gallon have gone down, and all their competitors, higher than BP for the most part anyway, have gone up such that now, many are 15 or 20 cents more per gallon than Arco, rather than 2 or 3 cents more. With finances tight, I grit my teeth and add 2-3 gallons of more expensive gas, crossing my fingers and praying that I'll see some cheaper prices tomorrow.

I also wrote about why cycling isn't an option for me: no bike, fear of traffic, leg problems. Well, there are possible solutions to the first two! A Seattle-based organization, Cascade Bicycle Club, offers a number of classes to help people learn bicycle safety and skills for commuting via bike, as well as the Green Bike Project, which provides free bikes to people who keep a pledge to reduce their ride-alone car rides by 60%. It's not home free for me just yet: given that I currently have to use my car on the job a lot (not just for commuting), I'm not sure I could pledge a 60% reduction at this time. But it's always exciting to know there are options!

Gotta praise Alaffia again!

2010-06-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

If you've followed my blog at all, you know I've written a lot about hair. Hair care is a big deal for most black women (see Chris Rock's Good Hair documentary for more). I've written about my decision to stop using chemical relaxers and my attempts to make my own hair care products from natural ingredients because existing products on the market for black hair are so laden with toxic chemicals. I have noted that I like the feel of my hair, as well as the fact that my dandruff problem is gone, due to using my own hair care products, but I haven't been as successful using my own mixtures for styling. I've also blogged about wanting to be able to be successful in styling my daughter's hair naturally.

Well, Alaffia, a company whose motto is, "Advancing Gender Equality and Alleviating Poverty through the Fair Trade of Handcrafted Shea Butter," has just introduced a line of reasonably-priced natural hair care products for wavy, curly and kinky hair. It also includes a line of products for children's hair. I can't wait to try them! So once more, thanks to Alaffia.

Making it work for everyone

2010-06-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

OK, confession time: I watched about half of the No Impact Man movie when I first got it from the library. It was due yesterday and remembering how long I waited for it on the request list, I watched the second half before returning it.

The second half was very thought-provoking. I really respect Colin Beavan and his wife, Michelle Conlin, because they were very upfront not only about the challenges of trying to spend a year making as little impact as possible, but also about the strain that it put on their marriage. They also went through the painful time that year of Michelle getting pregnant and losing the baby.

It was helpful to see some of the things that went wrong for them, or that were just plain frustrating, because it gave me encouragement when things don't go as well as I'd like (like my garden so far this year). For example, flies started breeding in their worm bin and then spread throughout the house. (At the end of the movie, as they discussed the new practices they'd keep and the ones they'd get rid of, Michelle said, "Worm bin goes!") They also tried, after shutting off their electricity, to use a "pot in a pot," a system for keeping foods cool developed in Nigeria, and it didn't work very well.

At one point, when Colin is installing a loaned solar panel on the roof of his building, he comments that he now realizes, "It's not about using as little as we can use, but about how to get people what they need in a way that doesn't harm the planet." In other words, how do we make living more environmentally work for everyone?

This came up for me in the context of a conversation on an online forum about eating locally. One woman who is lactose intolerant and can't absorb gluten (a substance in many grains, including wheat, oats and barley), said that eating local for her would mean not getting the nutrients she needs to live. In earlier times when local food systems were all that most people had, people with dietary restrictions like this woman often died young. I don't believe we should sacrifice people in the name of doing something environmentally good, such as more local eating. But, as someone in the same conversation pointed out (as do most locavores), our current non-local food production system isn't sustainable. So once more, we come back to Colin's question: How do we get people what they need in a way that doesn't harm the planet?

Mayer, a lifelong activist who mentors Colin about urban gardening, thinks that individual action isn't the way to go at all. He argues in the film that doing things like changing your lightbulbs fools people into thinking that's enough, and lets politicians and business off the hook for making the big societal changes that need to happen. Colin counters that "walking the walk" is the best way to get people to listen to you as you fight for the larger changes needed. I would add that just because big changes are what's needed shouldn't be a reason not to make the small changes. But Mayer's point is well-taken: I can't grow complacent and think that small changes are enough, or that, "At least I'm doing something!"

Colin later says, "Using less is NOT enough; we need to demand that our systems become sustainable." That takes action. In response to a question asked by a college student about the most important thing one could do for the environment, he answers, "Volunteer for an environmental organization." These groups have been on the frontline for years in trying to make our systems more sustainable, both through their actions and their advocacy.

More small changes

2010-06-01T11:55:00.001-07:00

I was ready to post this and then noticed that a blog I follow, Condo Blues, writes about making small changes also.

Yes, they do add up! I've been thinking a lot about what more can I do. Of course, huge, structural changes are needed. For example, many people are car-dependent, as I am, because public transportation options are limited or they have health challenges.* I hope, hope, HOPE the Gulf Oil catastrophe will get our country to more seriously address our oil-dependency.

In the meantime, I continue to search for non-BP/Arco stations to buy gas from. I keep hearing too many bad things about Chevron, so although Chevron's gas is often comparable in price, I decided not to buy gas there either. I filled up at a Valero station last week, which was cheaper than Arco but it's not close to where I live or frequently drive; thus, not a good regular option. Many 76 stations have gas that is only a few cents more a gallon than Arco, so I've been getting gas there. Likewise, Costco's and Safeway's gas are often the same price as Arco or only a few cents more. Therefore, I do have alternatives for buying gas without spending a lot more.

OK, small changes. I bought a set of dining room chairs about two years ago from a thrift shop (my in-laws left us with a table, but no chairs). The fabric, worn to begin with, had become really frayed so I decided it was time to upholster. I had never done any upholstery before, but I asked advice from a woman shopping in the fabric aisle at Goodwill. She helped me pick out a nice, thick material (price: $3) and gave me some pointers. I purchased a staple gun and staples at a nearby sewing store ($7 total), unscrewed the seats, pulled up the old staples, measured the new fabric, and went at it. I'm pleased with the results. On an added note, the seats all had yellowed tags stapled to them that read they were made in compliance with some law dated 1929--how cool is that? It made me wonder how old the chairs were.

I recently purchased a Misto, a handy little kitchen spritzer gadget that allows you to fill and refill it with olive oil and use it in place of disposable cooking sprays.

I have long wanted to buy reusable sandwich bags and reusable Swiffer dry and wet pads, but the ones on sale at stores are a little pricey. Then I thought about checking out Etsy, an online marketplace for items made by craftspeople. Searches on the site yield dozens of handmade reusable snack/sandwich/produce bags and dust/mop pads, often starting as low as $2-3. I will purchase some in the next few days, and begin make that much less garbage.

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* "What about biking?" someone might ask. Well, first, you need a good bike, something I can't afford right now. The bikes for sale on Craigslist are mostly children's bikes; the adult bikes I've found in thrift shops aren't in very good condition. Second, fear, travel time and route, and physical fitness play a big role in whether commuting by bicycle is realistic for someone. Tacoma is a very hilly city, which requires strong legs and great lungs, neither of which I have right now. And yeah, I'm a little scared of biking in traffic. (Colin Beavan's wife Michelle was as well; she got a scooter to power around on NYC's sidewalks instead. Later, she is loaned a large tricycle in which her young daughter can ride in the back).

At the Livable Communities fair back in April, one of the vendors was demonstrating electric bikes, which you recharge overnight. Cool stuff: the small engine makes tackling Tacoma's steep hills a breeze. However, the cost is 2-3 times more than purchasing a very good, new bicycle.

We have a winner!

2010-05-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Winner:

We went to a wedding today at which Hershey's kisses were the favors. I took a few, only to discover that I accidently sat on one on the way home and stained the back of my dress with chocolate. Since the drive home was more than an hour, the chocolate stain was pretty set by the time we arrived. Thus, I had a chance to test out my homemade laundry pretreatment spray, using this recipe*. It worked like a charm: I sprayed the stain, rubbed it and rinsed it, and it was gone within seconds. Buh-bye, Resolve! (formerly Spray and Wash).

The Jury Is Still Out...

On this year's garden. As with last year, we planted seeds and a few starts indoors back in April, and moved them outside the second week of May. But May in Tacoma has been rough, alternating between hot sunny days and cold, stormy, windy ones, and these poor young plants have been battered. I keep reminding myself that last year my lettuce looked wilted and battered, and then suddenly revived in early June to produce a fantastic crop. So I'm crossing my fingers that our veggies and herbs can come back this year also.

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* If you follow this recipe, be sure to read the tips and warnings at the end (under the ad links).

Small changes again

2010-05-21T23:44:00.001-07:00

I was overwhelmed a few days ago, but I decided I need to keep making small changes. One is with laundry pretreatment. I use eco-friendly detergent, wash in cold water, hang most things to dry (unless it's heavy stuff like blankets, or I need something right away), and when I do use a dryer, I reuse squares of aluminum foil instead of dryer sheets to reduce static cling.

However, I still use Resolve (formerly Spray and Wash) to pretreat stains. That's partly due to the fact that I can buy a huge bottle of the stuff at Costco, and because it seemed to be the easy thing to do with a young child who gets a lot of stains on her clothing.

So a few days ago I decided to check out Resolve's ingredients list on the company's web site, and then google some of the ingredients to see whether/how toxic they are. And yikes!, several of them are, such as the first ingredient listed after water, ALCOHOL C-12 C-16 POLY (1-6) ETHOXYLATE. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this compound is "A major threat to the environment in case of a spill. Immediate steps should be taken to limit spread. Can easily penetrate the soil and contaminate ground water and nearby streams. Very toxic to aquatic organisms."

So I found a recipe online for making homemade laundry pretreatment spray from water, glycerin, castile soap and borax*. I've made it and will try it. One logistical advantage is that you can spray clothing and let the stuff sit, whereas the instructions for using Resolve say that you must launder clothes right away after spraying it. (Or else what? Will it burn a hole in the clothing?) This recipe will save me the half-hour or more before doing laundry of endlessly spraying stains, plus I can treat stains right away, instead of waiting until laundry day.

Another small thing I'm trying to do is buy gas at someplace else besides Arco (which is part of BP). I found a Chevron station recently with gas just as cheap. I know that Chevron's environmental record isn't that great either (is there any oil/gas company that is?), but I think the current goal is to send a message to BP so that they take their responsibility for the Gulf spill and cleanup.

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* Borax is toxic if ingested, so keep out of children's reach. Also, if you follow this recipe, be sure to read the tips and warnings at the end (under the ad links).

What do you do when you're overwhelmed?

2010-05-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling overwhelmed by a few things environment-related. The first is, of course, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is appearing more and more each day to be an environmental catastrophe the scope of which the world has never before seen. Even my daughter seems to realize it. She had heard about it from radio news stories in the car and was asking questions, so I showed her some photos of the oil spill on the Internet. Her response was, "Mama, we have to do something. What can we do to help?"

But so far, I have done nothing. It can be so easy to get (choose one: busy, lazy, apathetic) about these things. But I also feel overwhelmed because I realize that my efforts alone aren't enough, that we as a society have to drastically change.

I am also feeling this way because I recently watched the No Impact Man movie, after waiting for it for months at the library. It's incredible just how radical the Beavan family was in their decision to live one year with as little environmental impact as possible. And it's a reminder just how many things I have yet to change.

But from reading the book, I know that Colin Beavan wanted to be so radical because he no longer wanted to sit on the sidelines with causes he cares about, because he wanted to see what was possible in terms of reducing one's impact, and because he wanted to become a credible spokesperson for environmental issues by walking the talk. He found that some things were too onerous to continue after the year was up (such as doing laundry by hand), but other things made his and his family's lives better.

I think I have to remember that. To give a (very) small example of better, I have seasonal allergies and year-round allergies to dust mites, so I have a runny nose pretty much all the time. I used to carry tissue with me constantly, and no matter how carefully I thought I checked my pockets, invariably I'd overlook a tissue in some item of clothing. This meant that whenever I did my laundry, I'd find small pieces of tissue on all the clothes in the load when the wash was done.

I no longer use tissue but handkerchiefs instead, and guess what? Even if I leave one in a pocket, no tissue scraps on the rest of my laundry! OK, small victory, but maybe it's remembering those things that will help me not feel overwhelmed. And maybe also motivate me to do something about the BP oil spill.

Ten Ways to Help the Gulf Coast

2010-05-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sickened as well as frightened by the recent oil spill. US News & World Report published this list and the Daily Green has published this one, of things you can do to help clean up the spill.

I have to admit that the idea of boycotting BP is very challenging to me. BP owns Arco, which has the cheapest gas around in my community. Because we live far from public transportation, we have to drive. Because our finances are tight, Arco is where we go to buy gas at Arco. I'll write more as this story (and my conscience) develops.

Am I a consumer? Say it isn't so!

2010-05-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered The Non-Consumer Advocate blog. The blogger had a recent post in which she included a Top Ten Ways You Know You’re a Non-Consumer quiz. I took the quiz and scored 8 out of 10. The two I didn't line up on were having a growing bank account (too many life difficulties for that to happen), and turning down free stuff.

I almost never turn down free stuff. I will if it's really cheap or badly damaged, or really have no use for it, but if it's free and I can think of a way to use it, I'll snap it up.

The quiz got me thinking: am I more of a consumer than I generally admit to being? Two recent incidents have made me pause.

One of the ways my consumerism comes out is with my daughter. I enjoy shopping for her far more than I ever enjoyed shopping for myself. It helps that she loves dressing up--much more than I did as a child--and that clothing and other items made for little girls are so cute.

Her fifth birthday is this week. Last Friday I took her to the Build-A-Bear Workshop at the Tacoma Mall. We first visited the place right after Christmas when we were completely broke and I promised her we'd come back around her birthday. We bought the cheapest bear they have ($10). However, once she had clothed her bear and added hair and accessories, the final cost was about $44.

I also went to Value Village today and bought clothes for her. This was for two reasons: because she already has the bear, I wanted another gift to give her on her actual birthday; and because she is growing so fast, she is unlikely to fit any of her clothes from last summer. For about $13, I bought her a dress, four outfits (top/shorts or top/skirt combos), two additional skirts and one additional pair of shorts.

It's much easier to justify the Value Village purchase than the bear. The former included items she needs, the price was right, the quality was good, and buying from a second-hand store is an environmentally smart choice. Furthermore, clothing is something she will naturally use again and again.

On the other hand, while my daughter loved the building a bear process, she hasn't shown much interest in the bear since we brought it home, preferring the dolls and stuffed animals she had before. So did I spend more money than I wanted to spend on something which she may not enjoy or play with much?

The second event is the closing of a local QFC store. They're selling their remaining inventory at drastically reduced prices, and they carry many natural and eco-friendly products. Well, I went in and spent about $100, which was far more than I wanted to spend. I got some very good deals which will save me money in the long run, such as Preserve razor refills for about 60 cents for a four-pack (I bought five) and Tom's of Maine deodorant sticks for about $1.59. But I'm still trying to figure out how I managed to spend so much.

My conclusion is that I can be a spender, if the price is really cheap or there is a sentimental value attached to the purchase (such as making a promise to my kid about returning to Build-a-Bear...). But I need to be more thoughtful about my shopping and spending, or I will end up with purchases I regret or buying more than I intend to.

The Healthy School Meals Act--will it help?

2010-04-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

My brother alerted me to HR 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, sponsored by Rep. Jarod Polis, D-Co. At first glance it seems like a great idea, but after reading the key provisions of the bill, I feel more than a little concerned.

One of the main provisions is this (emphasis mine):

The Healthy School Meals Act directs USDA to conduct a pilot program in which the Secretary provides to selected school food authorities at no cost plant‐based alternate protein products and nondairy milk substitutes. The USDA shall conduct an evaluation of the pilot program and shall be allocated an amount of $4,000,000 for program implementation.

The highlighted phrase above is troubling. It sounds like the bill would make it more possible for schools to provide soy burgers and soy milk, which is helpful for kids with milk allergies or who are vegetarian. However, this bill won't necessarily make kids healthier. It makes NO explicit provisions for increasing the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables served to kids, which is what so many of our children really need. In addition, there are many who have concerns about soy, which is a heavily subsidized crop in the U.S., is already added to many processed foods, and is a suspected hormone disrupter.

There is a provision to provide additional funds for schools to purchase "plant-based commodities," but again, that doesn't specify fresh fruits and vegetables. Schools and school districts on tight budgets often have to maximize the return on their dollars, and funds go further for canned and processed foods than they will for anything fresh.

My brother suggested "use your mojo" with this, encouraging me to contact Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, and the director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), one of the main organizations pushing for the passage of this bill. My "mojo" is the fact that our dad, who was a horticulturalist, worked for Cleveland's Department of Parks and Recreation back in the 1970s when Dennis Kucinich was mayor. I think I will--I have lots of questions about this one!

Awesome Earth Day event

2010-04-23T16:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, my daughter and I attended an Earth Day Fair at the Bryant Montessori School in Tacoma, where I was helping to staff a table for the Tacoma Food Co-op. It was everything I had hoped the Livable Communities Fair would be. Held on the school grounds, the event had lots of activities for children, a lot of small, home-based vendors selling handcrafted items, information about sustainable living, and lots of gardening information, including local farms which had plant starts for sale or, in some cases, to give away.

But the best part about it was the feeling of community. That is my conviction now: sustainability should always be about community.

Bixby's Rainforest Rescue

2010-04-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

This act, which teaches children about the rain forest and encourages them to care for the environment, was a really great part of the Puyallup Spring Fair/Livable Communities Fair. The young man who plays Bixby is very talented; in the course of the half-hour show, he sang, did magic tricks, performed ventriloquism, interacted wonderfully with children, and handled wild animals, including a macaw, a coati, and a Burmese python.

BTW, my daughter is pretty sharp. When he did his ventriloquist act with a toucan puppet, she commented, "The boy's making that puppet talk, right, Mama? I can see his throat moving." (Bixby's adam's apple was bobbing up and down).

She also asked a great question. At the end of the show, Bixby asked for donations to help save the endangered animals of the rain forest. I gave her a dollar to put in the basket. She asked, "How does that money help save the animals?" I told her a few possibilities (to pay scientists who help the animals have babies safely and then release them into the wild; and to set aside land as nature preserves). But the real answer is, "I'll have to get back to you on that!"

Thoughts on the 2010 Livable Communities Fair

2010-04-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Livable Communities Fair was a shadow of the 2008 event. The 2008 fair was a one day free event held on a Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. This year's fair was a portion of the Puyallup Spring Fair, a four day event with an entrance fee, held at the Puyallup fairgrounds.

I wonder if the organizers thought that combining it with a well-attended event such as the Puyallup Spring Fair would give it increased exposure. The fair will continue through Sunday, but my impressions from attending it yesterday is that it might not, for several reasons:

--The Livable Communities Fair has its own tent/pavillion, and you have to intentionally enter to see the exhibits there. With so much else going on at the fair (carnival rides, performances, a livestock fair, etc.), people seem unlikely to accidently drop in. The few people I saw wandering around there yesterday already seemed to have an interest in sustainability/eco-living, and made a point to visit.

--I also got the impression that people are eager to visit the sections that have been long-time parts of the Spring Fair, such as the livestock exhibits. A new component, without something special to draw people, might not get a whole lot of attention.

--Some of the types of exhibits that might have been a part of the Liveable Communities Fair two years ago are now split with other exhibit halls. For example, there is a kids' pavillion with activities for young children that was packed with people, and groups such as health care providers and even the Master Gardeners have displays there, rather than in the Liveable Communities tent.

Although having such groups in the kids' tent is great, this saddens me a little, because one of the things I loved in 2008 was the wide range of exhibitors at the Livable Communities fair, demonstrating that the types of programs that make a community "livable" go far beyond environmentalism/eco-friendliness (although those are two important aspects of liveable communities).

--Even taking into consideration the other exhibit halls, the number of exhibitors was greatly reduced. This might be because this year's event requires more time (four days rather than one) or more travel (to Puyallup, rather than downtown Tacoma), and some organizations just couldn't make that commitment. There may also have been a greater cost to participate, although that's just pure speculation on my part.

Oh yes! The Seattle Organics mystery has been solved

2010-04-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Ballard Organics. My guess was correct: they do produce the Seattle Organics castile soap. They produce it as a special discounted product for Grocery Outlet. So in addition to my road trip to Alaffia in Lacey, I have to take a trip up to Seattle to visit the Ballard Organics store.

Nope... just visited the web site. They're closing their retail store and going to all wholesale operations.

Alaffia continues to impress me

2010-04-07T20:05:00.001-07:00

I've shared about how much I love Alaffia's Everyday Shea body lotion, not only for the product, but also the values of the company that produces it. I was telling someone about it recently, and it prompted me to visit their web site again. They've updated it since I last visited, and now the company's founder, Olowo-n'djo Tchala, has written on their web site about the company's commitment to moral responsibility, environmental, social and economic sustainability, and fair trade. It's worth a read, starting here (see the right side bar for other topics).

Our friend Michele has suggested a small road trip to Lacey, WA to visit their company operations. We have to plan that sometime soon!

Pierce County Livable Communities Fair

2010-04-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Pierce County Livable Communities Fair is a biennial event that last occurred during our first weekend in Tacoma. In 2008 it was held at the Tacoma Dome; this year it will be held at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. The 2008 event was a great introduction to the city: we met our first friends there (a family with two daughters a year older and a year younger than our girl), I found some job contacts, and we generally got a good sense of the city and what it has to offer. The event includes both "green living" group and many other organizations that help make a community livable, including nonprofit, service and civic organizations.

The only downside (in these tight times) is that while two years ago the event was free, this year there is a fee to attend: $9 for adults, $7 for kids 6-18, and free for kids 5 and under. (However, discount tickets can be purchased at Safeway and Fred Meyer, $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for ages 6-18).

UPDATE: The reason for the fee this year is that the Livable Communities Fair is now part of the Puyallup Spring Fair, and the admission is included in the Spring Fair price.

A few updates

2010-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Heart & Soil didn't get the grant... not surprising, since the funder really wanted to support programs that improve distribution channels for delivering fresh food to inner-city neighborhoods (such as trucking operations). However, we agreed that it was good to have a proposal written that we could build upon for the future.

Hubby and I attended a meeting last week sponsored by the Tacoma-Pierce Public Health Department. One of the priorities they have identified is community gardening, and so several interesting people were around the table. I look forward to working with them.

And in a truly strange occurrence, my brother back in Boston ran out of gas and was given a ride by a kind stranger. The man who picked him up turned out to be the coordinator of a community organization that started a youth-led community garden, and he's looking for help with grant writing. He wants me to call. This will be fun--I may be able to continue to helping folks back in Boston while doing more here in Tacoma.

Boy, was I a good citizen this week!

2010-03-19T14:41:00.001-07:00

So this week I did the following:

1) Completed my income taxes.
2) Filled out my census form.
3) Enrolled my daughter in kindergarten for the fall.

About the only thing I missed was voting, jury duty and signing up for military service! Although we are still house-sitting for a member of the armed forces (hubby's brother) and I voted a month ago for a school levy issue. Does that count?

FYI, we are due to hear this coming Monday about the grant proposal (actually, a preliminary letter of interest) that I wrote for Johnny and Michele's Heart & Soil organization. Crossing my fingers that they will invite us to submit a full proposal!

Tomorrow is a big day for events. The Healthy Kids and Green Parenting Fair, sponsored by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, will be held at the south Park Community Center, and the Tacoma Community Gardening Summit, sponsored by MetroParks, will be held at the Manitou Community Center, from 10-3 and 10-4, respectively. Johnny and Michele are presenters at the latter. Fortunately, the two locations are within a five minute drive of each other. :)

Mystery solved? And more about hair

2010-03-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Remember my Seattle Organics castile soap mystery? I have an email in to a company called Ballard Organics, asking if they were once called Seattle Organics, since I haven't been about to find anything about the latter. It's possible, since I've been seing Ballard Organics soaps on the shelves in several stores, and the labels of the two products looks the same.

In any case, I wish I had heard of them sooner. I just received an order of AAA shea butter, which I ordered online because as much as I want to buy shea butter from a local company, Alaffia, $10 for 2 ounces doesn't compare to AAA's $25 for 16 oz. But on Ballard Organics web site, they sell 16 oz. of shea butter for $24.25. Even cheaper and local! I would need to find out more to know if their shea butter is unrefined and as good quality as Alaffia's and AAA's.

I know I talk a lot about hair, but it's a black woman thing! So, I went to get my hair done last week (for the first time in more than a year), along with my daughter, with a hair dresser who works in the barbershop where my husband gets his hair cut. I told him that I don't want to use chemicals on either of our heads, and I want to find something I can do with my hair naturally and easily, and that daughter wanted her hair straightened. He gave me a nice cut, and applied a product called Noodle Head, which he said would keep it curly. I like the cut, hate the product. It contains, of course, a list of unreadable ingredients (although a quick scan on the Safe Cosmetics Database shows that many of them are low hazard), and alcohol is the second biggest ingredient (after water). My hair looked great at first, and an hour later, was dry and rough to the touch.

I think I'll stick with my homemade products, thank you. I really like Green Barbarian's hair recommendation -- washing with 2 T. apple cider vinegar in 8 oz. water, and then conditioning with a mix of 2 T. olive oil and 1 T. vodka in 8 oz water, with a little essential oil for scent. And my conditioners are working well.

The hair dresser did recommend a product that I purchased and do like: a paddle brush, which is great at detangling curly hair (when wet). I also just invested in a better flat iron, which a woman at Sally's Beauty Supply said for very curly hair, needs to heat up to 450 degrees. The one I bought was far from the $240 the woman at the mall tried to sell me at Christmas time--only $40. I won't use it often, but I'd like the option to straighten my hair or my daughter's on occasion.

Connections

2010-03-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

Once more, I don't have enough time to post all I want, but I'll try to do this quickly.

Everything is connected... that's what I've been thinking about.

When Colin Beavan reached the "no more electricity" stage of his No Impact project, he realized that some of the challenges he and his family would face are the same that impoverished people around the world face daily: keeping food from spoiling; keeping cool in hot weather, and warm in cold weather; doing laundry and other chores without labor-saving devices; providing artificial light after the sun goes down so children can do homework; etc. As Beavan writes on p. 170, "When you take the 'use less' philosophy to scale, you have to question its worldwide applicability. Because how on earth can someone who has no access to electricity possibly use less?"

This makes me recall what the Permibus folks said: any "sustainable solution" that doesn't work for poor communities and urban communities isn't sustainable.

I am working with our friends Johnnie and Michelle on a grant application for their organization, Heart and Soil, so that they can do more projects engaging youth in community gardening, provide more support for local gardeners and small farmers, and do more community outreach and education. Their long-term goal is to ensure that everyone in Pierce County has access to health, local, sustainably grown foods. As Johnnie put it, if something were to happen to the highways between Pierce County, where Tacoma is located, and King County, where Seattle is located, the shelves in grocery stores throughout Pierce County would be empty in 48 hours.

Speaking of connections, we've been talking about ours. Johnnie and Michelle moved to Tacoma about the same time we did (they came from California); they are also house-sitting; they, like us, have backgrounds in community service and youth development; and they, like us, really want to make sure that the sustainability movement doesn't leave out low-income communities and communities of color. So there is at least one reason we're here in Washington after all!

And speaking of Tacoma, it's funny how one of my complaints about Washington two weeks ago has changed. We've had a lot of sunny days recently, while the east coast was getting slammed with bad weather.

Some good news

2010-02-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day: about 60 degrees and sunny, witn clear blue skies. And we got our latest utility bill: our heating costs are down about 70% compared to this time last year.

I needed some good news, since my frustration with Washington state has reached its peak recently.