What? A post?!!

Yes, it's been forever since I have written. I apologize. I was going to merge all three of my blogs into one, but decided that this blog should stay as it is.

What's on today's agenda? Cleaning products!

Four years ago I switched to all natural cleaning products and never turned back. I started out with the Seventh Generation products that were even found in our local conventional grocery store. According to the book "The Better World Shopping Guide", the Seventh Generation company receives an A+. A lot of factors are considered when rating a company such as the environment, human rights, animal protection and more. This book is definitely a worthwhile purchase and has turned me into an even more responsible shopper. I love how on each Seventh Generation product there is a little environmental fact.

Here is one from their site: (Credit to Seventh Generation)
If every household in the U.S. replaced just one 4 pack of 400 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissue with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 1,450,000 trees, 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 5,500 full garbage trucks, 523 million gallons of water, a year’s supply for 4,100 families of four, and avoid 89,000 pounds of pollution!

When I read things like this, I wonder why bathroom tissue that's not 100% recycled isn't outlawed! I won't even get into the health benefits of using all natural products...

Yes, natural cleaning supplies are indeed expensive and I think that's exactly what keeps more people from using them. But did you know that you can make your own with a handful of ingredients most people already have in their homes? Baking soda, vinegar and water (with a little essential oils such as lavender for a yummy smell and tea tree oil for some disinfectant) are all you need! The book "Clean House Clean Planet" is a must-have for anyone looking to make their own cleaning products. A friend has my copy, so I am not able to share any of the brilliant "recipes" in it at this time, but if you do a google search you'll find plenty of information and recipes on various sites.

This is a very affordable option for natural cleaning products. The vinegar smell does not linger and if you add some lavender essential oil, it will smell great.

Another company I love is Earth Friendly or ECOS. I've had a wonderful experience with their customer service as well. I ordered some of their dish washing detergent and it didn't work too well in our washer. I contacted their customer service and they gave me tips on how to make it work better, as well as refunded my money for THREE boxes and sent me a free bottle of their dish soap! Wow! They were so kind and friendly to work with. I definitely recommend this company. I love their pear scented dish soap :) Another one of their products I couldn't live without is the Toilet Kleeener. A mother's group I belong to had a meeting in the spring about natural home and natural cleaners and all the of the mothers complained about not getting their toilets clean enough. This has always worked great for me, in three separate households with three very different types of water. I've never had a problem!

So go throw away (or better yet...give away!) your old Windex and 409 and replace those chemicals with something your body and home will thank you for!

A Green Father's Day

With Father's Day fast approaching, I was desperately searching for a great gift that was different from anything Stephen would suspect. I got on google and searched for "green father's day gifts" and came up with a lot of links. I then checked everything out. No, I was not willing to pay $98 for a hemp briefcase, or $40 for a hemp necktie. Nor did I want to get an organic cotton white, button down, collar shirt for work. Where's the fun in that?

Then I began thinking...

We really don't need anymore "stuff" in the house. Buying a Father's Day gift (which Stephen informed me was not necessary, but I want to be prepared incase I'm not awake enough to cook him a fabulous breakfast in bed...) would just add to the stuff in our home; the stuff we have been trying to clear out for ages. So I had to come up with something different. Something he wouldn't use once or twice and then forget about.

Then I discovered Terrapass. Terrapass is an idea to help off-set your carbon emissions. You calculate the emissions from your travel (car, bus, plane, etc.) When you buy a TerraPass, your money funds renewable energy projects such as wind farms. These projects result in verified reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. And these reductions counterbalance your own emissions. I thought that was pretty neat. Plus, we get a nice bumper sticker and thing for the window promoting this idea and some more info on renewable energy.

There are many other "green" companies you can support, but I totally loved the idea of giving money that would fund renewable energy projects.

(Stephen promised he would not read this blog until AFTER Father's Day!)

It's the little things...

So, when it comes to living greener, does what toothbrush you choose to buy come to mind? Probably not. For years I have been using the Recycline's Preserve toothbrush because I knew that they used recycled plastic to make their toothbrushes and also took back used toothbrushes to further recycle them. How cool is that?!

Here is what their website says about the materials used to make these toothbrushes:

Innovative Construction Materials

The Preserve's materials, all of which are completely recyclable, have been selected for both performance and their recycled origins.

The Preserve's handle is made of polypropylene. This plastic material was chosen for its strength and flexibility. It is an efficiently recycled material--its strength does not break down in the recycling process. Polypropylene's recycling efficiency means it is commonly reprocessed and cleaned, and we have been able to hire the best in the business to recycle our plastics. Please see our plastics recycling section for more on our recycling process.

Polypropylene is also available in many sources of post-consumer and pre-consumer recycled plastics, labeled #5. Presently our main source is from recycled Stonyfield Farm® yogurt cups. Read more about our innovative recycling project with them. After reprocessing, our post-consumer plastics are tested to confirm their cleanliness - this test is called a "foreign elements reading" which shows that our cleansed and reprocessed plastics have the same infinitesimal readings of foreign elements as virgin plastics. Please see our plastics testing page for more about tests and their results.

The Preserve's materials are also completely recyclable. The handle and bristles are effectively recycled together--the polypropylene and nylon actually strengthen as they combine in the recycling process. Preserve's postage-paid envelope assures that your used brush will be turned into plastic lumber.

That's right, wherever you purchase them, you can get a handy envelope to mail them back to the company when you're through. You don't even need to put them in the trash!! I love this! I try to be very aware of everything we throw out, so the fact that I use a toothbrush that won't end up in a landfill makes me happy :) They don't make them into more toothbrushes, but instead grind them up and use them to make things like park benches and picnic tables.

Buying one of these (and they're really not that expensive) will help keep more junk out of landfills and will also help manufacture something that is needed without the use of new materials.

More from their site:
Why Recycle a Toothbrush?

Dentists nationwide recommend that patients replace their toothbrushes at least 4 times a year. The ADA concurs. Toothbrushes not only lose their effectiveness, but they also build up bacteria. Though the average American currently replaces a brush only 1.5 times a year, replacement is expected to increase due to the growing awareness of the benefits of preventative oral hygiene.

If we all obey our dentists, toothbrushes will begin to make a pretty significant impact on landfills. At present replacement rates, annual toothbrush waste amounts to about 50 million pounds. With the Preserve, significant amounts of plastic waste are diverted from landfills back into usable goods. As toothbrushes become more and more of a consumable, using recycled materials and the Preserve's recyclable design makes more and more sense.

I have seen these at most natural food stores, and I know for sure that Wild Oats and Whole Foods carry them. The bristles stay nice and firm and don't break down as quickly as other brushes I have owned. I'm really pleased with these brushes...environmentally friendly or not!

Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers do still exist. And they are better than ever. If you choose to cloth diaper your little one, it will quickly become an obsession, as I have learned!

Why cloth? Well, the Maine Cloth Diaper Company has a good explanation of the reasons someone would choose to cloth diaper their baby:

Why Cloth?
There is a simple answer to this.
Cloth diapers are not full of chemicals that may be harmful to your baby. Therefore, they are a healthier alternative to disposables.
Cloth diapers are much more affordable than disposable diapers. On average a baby would cost anywhere from $1500 to $2500 for disposables, when you can start cloth diapering for as little as around $350 for a basic system to $500 for an all organic/ natural diapering system for the complete two to three years of diapering.
Cloth diapers are better for the environment! By the time a baby potty trains he or she will go through approximately 5000 diapers! That is a lot of diapers for one baby to be going into a landfill. No one knows for sure, but it is estimated to take at least 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose!


The cloth diapering world can be overwhelming for a new mother. Prefolds (that rectangular piece of cloth that you fold and stuff in a cover) are the most widely recognized cloth diaper because they've been around for so long. They're like what your grandmother probably used. But there are so many other kinds out there now! When I first started learning about cloth diapering, I became quickly frustrated because there were so many different types and systems that I didn't know where to start! A lot of message boards (I learned about them on MotheringDotCommune) use abbreviations, so that made it even more difficult for me. Luckily, the mothers on Mothering are so nice and helpful and talked me through everything. So now, I will do the same for any readers out there willing to "convert!"

Here are the different types of diapers you can choose from:

-Pocket Diapers: We have been using pocket diapers from the start. Not the cheapest option, but definitely convenient. Basically, it's a diaper with either velcro or snaps with a water resistant outer liner so it DOES NOT require an extra cover. The inside lining is usually fleece which helps keep the moisture away from the baby's tush. There is an opening between the two layers in the back where you "stuff" the diaper with inserts depending on the needs of your baby. Some babies are heavy wetters and require more inserts than others. That is the reason I like them. If you use them at night, you can stuff a bunch of inserts in them. They are also pretty trim and fit under clothes well.
Brands of pocket diapers that I have used/heard good things about include:
Fuzz Bunz
Haute Pockets (These are also one-size...more on that later!)
Happy Heiny's
BumGenius 2.0 one-size

-All-in-Ones (AIO): A diaper that does not require a cover or any inserts. It's basically everything in one diaper, kind of like a disposable, but made out of cloth! So they are easy. Downside is they take a while to dry after washing, so they're usually on the line longer or in the dryer longer. We have only used AIOs a couple of times and I have to say they are easy and great for outings. You can add a "doubler" (what you call an extra pad for absorbency that you sit right in the diaper) if the diaper themselves aren't absorbent enough. They usually aren't too bulky either, which is great!
The only brand of AIOs that I have used is Bumkins and they have a good fit and are trim. I'm not usually a fan of velcro, but the velcro on these are fine and don't bother my daughter's tummy when she is sitting down (she has a Buddha belly!).

-Fitted diapers: These look like a regular diaper with either snaps or velcro, but require a cover and often a doubler. We used these when our daughter was first born because they were relatively easy and you can get newborn diapers in this style. It's hard finding a pocket diaper that fits a newborn. We are just starting to use them again now that she's older and moving around more. You can get them made in hemp, cotton, even bamboo and more. They require a cover like I said, so are often quite bulky. They are good for at home or night time when you don't have to worry about fitting a cute outfit over that big diaper bum! I never understood why some fitteds have cute designs when you cover them up with something anyway, but they are still fun to look at drying on the line :)
Brands we like or have heard are good:
Bambineo One-Size (Made out of bamboo which is super absorbent and grown without the use of pesticides!)
Sandy's Fitted Diaper
Luxe Diapers These are so gorgeous and a bit pricey, but oh my...they are just SO NICE!

-Prefolds: The "old-fashioned" diapers that you fold and put under a cover. The middle sections have multiple layers of cotton to add absorbency. You will sometimes see them described as 4x6x4 or 4x8x4. This means that there are 4 layers on each side and the middle either has 6 or 8 layers. There are many different folds you can use. The Maine Cloth Diaper Company has some good folding instructions illustrated on their website. They also carry prefolds on their website. The benefits of using prefolds are they are the cheapest option and can also double as inserts for pocket diapers. We are just now starting to use prefolds under wool covers.

Now, for covers they are just as many options. You will need a cover if you are using fitteds or prefolds. Have I lost you yet? Don't get discouraged!!

Wool-Breathable, natural, warm in the winter and cool in the summer, naturally antimicrobial, water resistant, is cute and stylish and you don't need very many! There are many types of wool covers. Some are trim and have snaps or velcro and just go on over the diaper. Some don't have any snaps or velcro and pull up over the diaper (like undies) and are called "soakers". There are knitted wool pants called "longies" that are great for the winter. There are also knitted shorts called "shorties." We are using wool over her fitteds and prefolds now and like it. It is more expensive than other covers, but you don't need as many and the washing time is once every one to two weeks! That's because wool is antimicrobial. If the baby gets poo on it, you'll want to wash it sooner though. Just toss in a cold water wash, then lanolize and dry! That's it.
We like:
Loveybums wool covers
Kozy Designs soakers and longies
Woolly Bottoms Recycled Wool Covers You can find more of these online. They are made from sweaters!
Stacinator

Other covers: There are many other covers out there and it's pretty much trial and error. You have to decide which system works best for you. Some covers have velcro which many people don't like, others are too plasticy, some have snaps, some are softer, etc. You just have to see what you like and also see what fits your budget.
Some are:
Proraps
Bumkins Diaper Covers
Bummis Diaper Covers

Another note: One-size diapers mean that they are adjustable and can fit newborn to toddlers. We have tried the BumGenius ones and they were very trim, but the suede-cloth lining made my daughter breakout for some reason. (She has very sensitive skin!) The Haute Pockets are a nice, adjustable diaper. This is good if you're looking for a diaper that lasts a long time and to save some money!


I hope I've convinced at least one reader to convert. I'm willing to answer any questions if you leave a comment, or you can find my e-mail through my blogger profile. Happy cloth diapering!

Don't Buy Gas Today!!

Gas Prices
Originally uploaded by Seismic_2000.

NO GAS...On May 15th 2007
Don't pump gas on May 15th
...in April 1997, there was a "gas out" conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight.

On May 15th 2007, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in most places.

There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.

If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take
$2,292,000,000.00 (that's almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companies pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one day.

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun....

Sorry about the lack of posts. My daughter has been keeping me busy! Our worms are doing great and hopefully multiplying so they will be able to eat all of our scraps soon. We have been giving them probably only 30% of our scraps now.

The sun is shining more and more and it's getting warm! After a bad sunburn (and I mean BAD...) two years ago, I am always careful about not being in the sun too long. The sunscreen I have had for years is getting too old and needs to be replaced. Plus, I looked on the label and couldn't pronounce any of the ingredients, so that was a red flag that I needed a new product!

Did you know that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States?? 1.3 million cases reported each year? So I guess all those times my mother begged me to put on suncreen and told me not to sun bathe like all of my friends did, I should have really listened to her! So if sunscreen is supposed to protect us from getting cancer, how come it's loaded with suspected carcinogens like diethanolamine and other ingredients similiar (DEA, TEA). Suspected endocrine disrupters make up a large portion of the suncreen too. I'm not saying that wearing sunscreen is going to give you cancer, but just keep in mind that our skin absorbs everything. I wouldn't eat those chemicals, so why would I put them on my body?

Both my daughter and I have very fair, sensitive skin. I didn't know that the AAP says you shouldn't put sunscreen on babies less than 6 months old! Luckily, my daughter was born in the fall so we never had the need to. But now that it's getting sunny, I had to find sunscreen for both of us.

Now, I don't get any money from the companies I recommend. I simply advertise their products because I have them, like them and use them. A lot of people are overwhelmed with products on the market today, or some people who are switching over to more natural products might be wondering which ones people enjoy the most.

For sunscreen, I chose the California Baby No Fragrance sunscreen for my daughter. Their products are chemical free and free of common allergens. Since both my daughter and I have allergies, what I put on our skin is just as important as what we put in our bodies.

For myself, I love Aubrey Organics products. They are a great company. A while back my blonde hair was turning green from the copper in our water, so I used their "swimmer's shampoo and conditioner" and it helped. Their products are organic, not tested on animals, vegan and the best thing about them is you can pronounce just about every ingredient on the label. Just pick up a bottle of their shampoo and compare to the next natural shampoo. The more you can pronounce, the better! I picked up a bottle of their unscented sunscreen. Just to reiterate my point, look at the ingredients in the sunscreen I bought:

Active Ingredients: Padimate O (PABA Ester), Titanium Dioxide.
Inactive ingredients: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Jojoba Oil, Aloe Vera Oil, Organic Rosa Mosqueta® Rose Hip Seed Oil, Canadian Willowherb Extract, Aubrey’s Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E), Silica, Lecithin.

Compared to Coppertone's sunblock SPF 30:

Ingredients: (from retailer or packaging) Active Ingredients: Homosalate, Octocrylene, Octinoxate, Octisalate, Zinc Oxide Inactive Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, PVP/Eicosene Copolymer, Dimethicone, Arachidyl Alcohol, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Behenyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Glucoside, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Diazolidinyl Urea, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

I think I'll stick with the Aubrey Organics :)

I urge you to think twice about what you are putting on your skin. The fact that sunscreen is put on skin, then exposed to heat and the sun which opens pores and allows it to absorb more easily should be enough to change your mind!

We have some new pets....WORMS!

That's right folks...we went to F.W. Horch yesterday and picked up a take-out container full of little worms. We then picked up a plastic container (I had a hard time with this one, but plastic keeps the moisture from being absorbed which the little worms need to survive, and wood would just soak it all up) to keep our new pets in. Why worms? They are GREAT composters!

Let's face it, when it comes to getting our veggie and fruit scraps out to the compost bin, it doesn't happen too often. More so in the summer, but when winter comes who wants to be walking through feet of snow to get to the bin? Not to mention the fact the decomposition slows down majorly in the winter because of the cold where we are, so we basically have a smelly pile of rotting food until the weather warms up. So these worms live right in your house (downstairs in our shop) and you can feed them everyday if you like, and the guy at the store told me that if you forget to feed them for a couple of months, they'd still probably be okay. Easy!

I think this is ideal for people in apartments, or for people who don't have a yard to compost in. Let's face it, Americans have a trash problem, so composting is one way to ease up on the stuff that ends up in landfills, reduces your total garbage output (which is great when the city implements a law where you have to buy trashbags with the city's name on it and pay $1-3 a bag!), and helps out your garden or potted plants at the same time!

Now worms are not that gross, so stop saying "ew". They're teeny tiny ones, so for those who are squeamish when it comes to things like this, they're not so bad. I took pictures of the process and will explain some more about it for those who think it may be fun to start worm composting.


What you need to get started-

1) Container: A plastic bin with tight fitting lid is a good container because the moisture isn't absorbed and the worms need this moisture to survive. One pound of worms will consume about 3.5 pounds of food weekly, and this amount would require about 3.5 square feet of surface area. Or a half pound of worms, consuming 1.5 pounds of food weekly would need 1.5 square feet of surface area. The worms need air to breathe, so drill some holes (small ones) near the top. Don't make them too big because you don't want flies getting in there. The worms like darkness, so do not get a clear bin. Here is the bin we bought. The worms are in the take-out container. They are mixed with some organic wastes and there own poo which is like gold loam!



2) Bedding:Shredded newspaper is great for bedding. The bedding must be organic matter so it can decompose. Any paper should do, but make sure it isn't coated. The bedding should be kept moist, so make sure you soak the newspaper first. Ring it out before putting it in so that it's as moist as a wrung out sponge. Here is the shredding process underway (my daughter thought this part was so much fun!):



3) Worms!: There are two species that will work: Eisneia foetida, AKA, red worms, or Lumbricua rubellus. These species produce the largest amounts of organic material. Here are the worms we got:




After I got all these together, I put the worms with the bit of organic matter they came with on the bottom of the bin spread out like so:


Then I covered them up with moist newspaper strips:



Then I put some of my daughter's mashed pears that were getting old in about 4 different piles (little piles) under the newspaper. I then covered the piles back up with the newspaper.

These worms are just getting started, so they are tiny and need to reproduce to consume much more. They will be able to eat much more in about 2 months. I should be able to throw all of my veggies scraps in there daily. You just pull back the newspaper and place the food in there and cover it back up. Keep an eye on how much they're eating.

You don't want to keep your bin in temperatures lower than 40 degrees, or higher than 80. We keep our worms in the shop downstairs which is heated.

Do NOT feed your worms meat waste, bones, fats (oils).

DO feed them veggie waste, fruit waste, tea leaves, tea bags, coffee grounds complete with filter, etc.

Depending on all these conditions, you should have some compost to use in about 3-5 months! Just pull back the paper and scoop out the compost. Some people put some food over to one side of the bin the night before, so the worms are all over that way and then go in and get the compost from the other side.

So go get some worms and have fun!!

I wanted to name all of our worms, but I figured once they reproduced it would be too hard to keep up! :)