Georgia

On Thursday, my daughter and I decided to give our scarecrow, Georgia, a much needed and much deserved makeover.  For several months, Georgia had been rocking a 70s short-sleeved denim jumper, macrame bag, and felt purple hat.  But given the season and the fact that she was looking a little too shabby, we went shopping.

We ended up dressing her in a satin orange gown with a beaded neckline, a modified black stretch lace top to cover her awkward shoulders, a black tasseled velvet evening bag, and a black hat with assorted coordinating ribbons.  And voilà:

As you can see, Georgia is now ready to make the rounds at all the krewe parties for Gasparilla and Mardi Gras - all along the Gulf Coast, from Tampa to Mobile to New Orleans.  (Our black lab Ginny is thinking about joining her in the festivities.)

Sustainable Living 3

Of course, since I've decided to make the switch from liquid shampoo in plastic bottles to bar shampoo, it only follows that I do the same with hair conditioner.  Bar conditioners are more difficult to find than bar shampoos.  I used Lush's bar conditioner for a while but decided to make a switch to support an indie company.  A search on Etsy revealed several choices.  I made a selection and placed an order with BallyHoo Bath  and here's what I received:

Clockwise from upper left:  solid lotion bar (that's for another post); solid hair conditioner bar; and a soap sample

I received my products with minimal impact packaging.  There was a plastic bag, that might have actually been cellophane, but the conditioner bar comes in a cardboard box.  (More later on the solid lotion bar.)   I was pleased with the size of the bar and, as I had just run out of hair conditioner and didn't have a replacement bottle (part of my "use it up" challenge), I put the bar to work.  So far, I'm pleased with the results.  If you're interested in trying bar shampoo and conditioner, Ballyhoo Bath offer samples of each for $3.00.

After using up the last bottle of hair conditioner, I can now boast that my shower is plastic free!

Sustainable Living 2

Another area where I felt I was lacking in sustainability was with my shampoo.  Between the chemicals in the shampoo and the plastic bottle (and cap), I knew I had room for improvement.  As with laundry detergent, I tried to buy ecologically friendly shampoos to at least reduce some of the chemicals.  However, the bottle issue still bothered me.  Although the bottles can usually be recycled, that's not good enough for me.  


A few years ago a friend mentioned that she used shampoo bars and so I ordered from the company she recommended.  The shipping was expensive so I ordered several bars that lasted quite a while.  When my last bar was almost gone, I looked up the web site to order more and found that the online store had closed.  My research had revealed that Lush made shampoo bars.  Unfortunately, they don't have a store near us and the shipping can be expensive.  Again, I used up my Lush shampoo bars and started looking for a new source.  Thus, I stumbled upon Chagrin Valley where they ship the bars in a $5 flat-fee envelope and say they can get as many as seven bars in a package!  So, I ordered from them and this is what arrived:

[sorry about the poor quality photo]

They arrived packaged in paper bags, so no plastic bottles or bags.  These bars are a good size - about 3 x 3 1/2 inches - so I'm going to cut them in half for use.  I ordered three different types of bars to get an idea which I like best and then will order more of my favorite once they're all gone or perhaps try a new variety.  Although I was pleased with the Lush bars, I like the idea of ordering from a small company rather than a major corporation.  However, it might be a while before I need to place another order.

Wellness Wednesday

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Winter seems to be the time of year when our health can be at it's worst.  Often, it's not the weather but it's poor habits we have acquired that cause many of our health problems.  MindBodyGreen offers the following ten things to avoid to stay healthy over the winter season:

1. Sugar and artificial sweeteners
2. Being a couch potato
3. Stress
4. Drinking
5. Smoking
6. Processed foods
7. Cold medication
8. Staying up too late
9. Negative attitude
10. Artificial heat

For more details on why to avoid these behaviors, go here.

Sustainable Living 1

My first post on sustainable living covers laundry detergent.  My journey to sustainability with laundry detergent has taken many turns over the years.  Originally, I used powdered laundry detergent because that's what my mother always used.  Then I learned about how bad phosphates were for the environment and that liquid detergent didn't contain phosphates, so I switched to liquid.  A few years ago, I started buying Seventh Generation laundry detergent to avoid the other nasty chemicals found in your typical laundry detergents.  However, I knew that even Seventh Generation was not perfect and that the plastic bottles were not good for the environment.  So now, this is what I use:

Soap nuts!  Soap nuts are entirely organic in the sense that they grow on a tree, the sapindus tree to be specific.  There is minimal packaging and a few soap nuts go a long way.  As you can see from the packaging, I should be able to get 330 loads out of a bag the approximate size of a typical laundry detergent bottle.  All I need add is boiling water, some essential oils, an upcycled bottle, and my time.  And the used soap nuts go to compost.  It's a win-win situation.

2012 Goals

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Rather than doing New Year's resolutions, I prefer to set goals - usually monthly or quarterly.  This year I have two goals for the first quarter of 2012:


I'm going to recommit to my Quaker testimony and will be focusing on the concept of sustainability.  In doing so, I will be blogging regularly about the ways in which I attempt to live a sustainable life.  When I say sustainability, I look to the environmental science definition which, according to Dictionary.com means "the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting the long-term ecological balance."  My goal is to both share with others how I attempt to do this in my everyday life and to also learn new things to reduce my own environmental damage.


My other goal is to eliminate dairy from my diet.  Except for the eggs produced on our farm and when I eat away from home, I want to go vegan.  The main reason I am a vegetarian is because of the cruelty visited on animals in order to provide food for human beings.  Although I refuse to eat animal flesh, I've turned a blind eye to the truth behind the dairy industry.  Milk and cheese comes from the production of milk by cows and goats who have given birth.  While the female offspring of these animals will become producers of milk themselves, the male calves and kids are useless to the industry.  Therefore, they are removed from their mothers shortly after birth and become the veal and other types of meat that are consumed by others.  Thus, I have been helping to perpetuate cruelty to animals.


Although I dearly love cheese, it is wrong for me to continue to be a part of this cruel industry.  So, I'm going to use up the cheese that is already in our house and then no more cheese for me except when I'm away from home.  If I could, I would go entirely dairy-free.  However, it is very difficult to eat a healthy vegetarian diet away from home (at least where I live), so meat- and dairy-free would be impossible.

A Year in Review

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It's hard to believe 2011 is over and 2012 is here!  So much has happened this past year that I had to go over past blog entries to help refresh my memory.  Here are some highlights of my year:

• visited Haiti and saw old friends and made new ones
• began my second year in my volunteer job for Danita's Children
• went vegan for 21 days
• began a cookbook project for low income families [close to completion]
• completed 4 grad school classes
• started shopping more consciously - no bananas due to environmental degradation; fair trade chocolate, coffee, and tea due to child slavery
• worked on the CROP walk for the first time
• got involved with Grace and Main, a great homeless ministry
• hosted two of the children from the His Little Feet Children's Choir Haitian group when they were in town
• Bill retired from the practice of law
• finished reading the Bible in a year
• worked on ways to refuse/reduce/reuse/recycle
• continued my "use it up" quest to use what I already have before buying replacements for food, cosmetics, etc.
• successfully completed a 3-month no shopping challenge
• attended Wild Goose Festival where I got to see a lot of progressive/liberal Christians - some heroes of mine, such as Jim Wallis and Brian McClaren, and some new to me, such as John Dear, Jay Bakker, Nadia Bolz-Weber, and Jennifer Knapp
• saw Sister Helen Prejean (of Dead Man Walking fame) speak
• saw student production of Dead Man Walking and heard a first-hand account of a man sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit (he was since exonorated)

A very busy and fulfilling year.  Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year,