A forest in your bathroom

Hello,

My name is bwings and I roll my toilet paper underhand!

Without getting into the argument of overhand vs. underhand I'll go right into todays entry in my green-living adventure. I through a big shindig here the other day, small apartment, one bathroom, twenty guests. Crazy? Maybe a little! Even more crazy was the realization at the last moment that we only had one roll of toilet paper left! OH NO! That just wasn't going to do at all! Asmerus headed out to pick up some more while my friend and I continued to ready the meal for everyone.

Upon his return and my first visit to the lavatories thereafter I discovered he brought home 1 ply simple and plain paper. Not that we get frilly or puffy spoil your bum paper. Just this was the very basic of the basic. And as I sat there on the throne I asked myself, "Which is more eco-friendly? One Ply or Two?" I don't imagine there is one answer to this as without an extreme controlled study there would be no determined answer. Even then the answer would be completely unscientific which just wouldn't do at all. Whether a person uses more or less toilet paper when using 1 or 2 ply depends purely on the person and the purity of their erm.. dumps. But it did make me question the toilet paper as a whole. What, if anything, should someone be watching for when shopping for their toilet paper.

I had heard one thing which, sorry earth, I won't be doing, this is family cloth. I don't think I need to go into too much detail but essentially it's the replacement of conventional toilet paper with individual fabric cloths to be washed (I'd assume daily) and reused repeatedly. In some cases families would keep toilet paper options for twosies and guests. But like their are intense activists I'm sure there are those who say, "If you use my john you use my johnny cloth!"

There are other things to keep in mind when shopping for butt wipes, things I'm much more willing to do. Such as buying toilet paper free of bleach and chlorine and if in conjunction with being made from recycled material all the better. The problem with recycled toilet paper is that it is normallly bleached to remove prior ink. When the chlorine combines with the paper fibers it creates toxins such as dioxin. Dioxins cause cancer, learning disorders, impaired immune system, impared developing nervous system, impared endocrine system, fertility issues, diabetes and more. Therefore my top priority is in purchasing chlorine/bleach free toilet paper. Second to that would be to ensure it is recycled.

I will likely continue to purchase 1 ply paper. My family doesn't increase usage with ply reduction and 1 ply will break down easier and quicker. In case you were worried about Dioxins it might pleasure you to know that toilet paper is the least of your worries. I imagine you'll be less than thrilled to discover that more than 90% of exposure is through meat (yes fish included) and dairy. The higher up on the foodchain you go the higher the concentration of dioxins. (that puts vegetarian/vegan down at the bottom of the cart with cows) ;) Yes...I just compared myself to a cow mooooooo. Dioxins thrive in your body because of their endurance and ability to be absorbed by fat tissue. Their half-life in a body is estimated to be seven to eleven years.

While doing my research into toilet paper I discovered two things I thought to be really amazing! First is a nifty video showing an invention called the white goat. It is intended for companies that go through a lot of paper through the day. Taking their shredded paper and making toilet paper rolls for the company use. I assume the paper is bleached inside the machine but it's still a pretty nifty idea.

Second is the new tube free toilet paper from Kimberly Clark. It is said that the simple cardboard tube in our toilet paper roll is to blame for 160 million pounds of waste annually, in the United States alone. If you were to put the rolls end to end you could go to the moon and back....TWICE! Of course people are only going to continue to toss the toilet paper roll in their bathroom waste bin rather than walk it out to the recycling bin. I think this is quite innovative! I read that it was released November 1st and promptly got on the phone with my local grocery department. When reaching customer service I said, "I have an interesting question for you. I just learned about this new tube free toilet paper roll introduced by Kimberly Clark. It would've been released to public the first of November and I was wondering if your stole carried it." Well Customer Service promptly transferred me to Grocery who stuttered and transfered me to the assistant manager. It is their belief they do not carry this product.

Next step is to call Kimberly Clark themselves and see where one could purchase this product. It is my understanding that it is to be released in the United States at first and then later spread if it is popular. In my household our rolls are recycled and so it won't change the environment any if I purchase these rolls. However, I am ever so curious as to how these rolls hold their shape, so foolishly curious! If I find anything more about them during business hours I will surely update you.

For now I've looked into a clever eco-friendly bathroom trash can and seeing as it's the 11th day of Christmas *clears throat* on the 11th day of Christmas a hippie brought to me a recycled cotton wastebasket. But don't let that hippie catch you tossing toilet paper rolls in it! Or she'll open a BPA free can of whoop a$$ on you ;)

That's all for now, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom!

Give us dirty laundry

Hello,

My name is bwings and I don't roll my clothes around in animal fat.

The Beast helping me with Laundry June '09

Maybe you weren't aware of this, but most fabric softener is made using animal fat from cows, sheep and yes even horses. That ought to capture your eye. I have heard of people eating cow burgers and leg of lamb but at the mention of a horse burger everyone gets angry. I don't pretend to be perfect, it's quite hard to know what is in everything we use. That is, in fact, why I started this blog in the first place.

To make the fabric softener they boil down the animal fat and mix it with ammonium among a few other chemicals and you create a compound to coat your clothing in fat and make them soft to the touch.

I just resolved to not use fabric softeners, I never did anyway but I would continue to avoid them. What they, can one do to soften their clothes if they were not to use fabric softener? From what I have read, aside from more naturally derived softener you can add vinegar to your wash. If you want soft and pretty smelling clothes you can also add some essential oils to the wash to aid in this. If you are seeking a natural fabric softener this blogger created a list of her findings. I have not personally researched those individual softeners so can not confirm how accurate her findings are. In other words, if you are seeking a animal friendly alternative you can use their list as a reference and then look into the product yourself to confirm. 

Aside from animal fat there is also the question of phosphates and EDTA among other chemicals in our detergents and softeners. A quick review, phosphates are a favorite diet for algae. The more Phosphates we add to the environment the more algae that is mass produced and the algae uses up all the oxygen thus killing the fish in the water. EDTA is found in so much! Shampoos, bubble baths, soaps, detergents etc. It bonds with metals increasing the mercury in fish and thus humans that do eat fish. 

Check your ingredient list, question statements like, "natural ingredients" and "Bio-degradable" for their are always lovely loop holes for manufacturers to use. For instance they can claim to be derived from natural ingredients when in fact it's just the water that these natural ingredients soaked in to make the scent. The rest of the cocktail is still EDTA and or phosphate ridden. 

And what about the container? I purchase my soap in large containers and refill my smaller container at home. It's a pain to always carry the big one around and I always manage to lose that little cover so it is not an option. But I ensure that the container I use is recyclable so I know when I am finished with them it won't spend hundreds of thousands of years in a landfill.

Remember that chemicals were used to create that smell you so adore, consider replacing it with essential oils or maybe just putting essential oils on your wrist and neck throughout the day. You don't need to soak your clothes in chemicals to smell pretty.

Lastly, when and where you can, wash your clothes in cold water and hang to dry or tumble dry on low heat. It will consume far less energy and save you money on your bill. If you are going to use cold water you might want to find a green detergent that is geared towards cold water.

That is all for today as I have a basket of laundry to fold.
Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Baking Soda Vs Pot

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I burnt my pot!

I believe we have all done this before, you put rice,pasta,vegetables etc. in a pot of water, you walk away, become distracted and before you know it... you have burnt impressions of your food on your pan. You can scrub and scrub and it still won't come off and can be so incredibly frustrating. If you're anything like me you give up and resort to using this pan for things like boiling eggs until you can replace it.

Given the results from the stove I thought I'd give baking soda a try. You've already seen the before picture, so let's move on.

I ran some water through the pot to moisten it and then added a good helping of baking soda to the damaged goods.

After about 5 minutes of rubbing I had removed a lot of it. But the centre remained stubborn.

 I repeated this behavior twice more before deciding to add vinegar to the mix.

Of course it bubbled and foamed angrily and then I scrubbed just a little more off and then snarled. Baking soda was getting it's butt kicked. I had heard about boiling vinegar and can I just say that vinegar boils fast! After it boiled I added some baking soda and then scrubbed again. Less came off this time than the time before.

Before

After

So it did make a difference but I believe this will be an over time process. I also read about leaving it soaking for several hours in vinegar. I had done this once before with an egg as an experiment as a child. The vinegar ate away the shell of the egg and left me thinking it was the coolest and messiest experiment ever at 8. 

Moral of the story, don't leave minute rice unattended. For tonight Baking Soda vs Burnt Pan is in hiatus while the pot soaks in vinegar for the night.

Until then adieu from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

A look at my grocery list

Hi,

My name is "Bwings" and I need to stock my shelves!

Well pay day is here and I'm headed to the local grocer. Each pay day I plan to get at least one thing off my list of cleaning supplies. Some are pricier than others. For instance I wish to replace my standard mop with a microfiber mop. One that will actually pick up the dirt rather than pushing it around. However, something like that will run me at least $15 where as some of the new cleaning products will only cost me $3-$5 so I'm going to start with the less expensive expenses.

A lot of things on my list are already in my kitchen though. So it won't be long before I'm buying a new mop. Let me introduce you to my grocery list.

• Baking Soda - (Sodium Bicarbonate) Cleans, deodorizes, softens water, scours {Cleans your stove and tub like a wonder material!}
• Borax - (sodium borate) cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens waters, cleans wallpaper, painted wall and floors.
• Cornstarch - Cleans windows, polishes furniture, shampoos carpets & Rugs
• Lemon - One of the strongest food-acids, effective against most household bacteria.
• Soap - unscented soap in liquid form, powders and bars are biodegradable and will clean just about anything. But no soap with petroleum distillates.
• White Vinegar - Cuts grease, removes mildew, odors, some stains and wax build-up

But when looking at that list I have to say that in my opinion baking soda and vinegar will replace most cleaners. 

I'm off to go shopping, have a good weekend, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom. 

All you need is love, bah bah bada bah

Hi,

My name is Bwings and I've taken a lover!

Don't worry, there won't be any "I'm getting a divorce" posts any time soon. My lover goes by the name of "Baking Soda". Given the results I obtained washing the stove with baking soda I now have high hopes when talking about baking soda's cleaning power. I have no doubt it'll easily wash off my tub. In my previous domasile we had a fan and a ventalation system in the ceiling of our apartment. Now we have a hole. Just a venting hole, no powerd fan to suck up unwanted moisture. A hello, how are you, hole! As a result we have had, for the first time in our life together, Serratia Marcescens. This is a pink colored film that you may find in your tub/toilet/sink. Annoying as we'd never previously had to deal with it.

But cleaning a tub always meant a headache. You have to spray the tub & tile cleaner, let it sit, drip and then wipe. The lack of fan then becomes a double edged sword. You have to clean the tub more often because of the lack of fan and while cleaning there is no fan to suck out the fumes from cleaning. Joy! The prospect of being able to apply baking soda to my wash cloth and wipe down my tub is thrilling and I actually look forward to my daughters nap today so I can tackle the evil Serratia marcescens!

There are no before and after photos with this post as our tub isn't that dirty and therefore the pictures wouldn't show a visual difference. This was more of an experience in itself. No more nasty fumes, no more headaches, no more intense scrubbing. Also, I used to designate rags for chemical use because I was scared to wash those rags with our clothes, now my wash cloths are only being dosed in Baking Soda. Less loads of laundry separation.  So verdict is that it worked, reduced my chemical intake and I no longer have to worry about subjecting my daughter to a chemical bath when she soaks in the tub.

That's all for today from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

That messy business about cleaning

Hi,

My name is "Bwings" and I love me a clean stove.

But how to clean it without using massive amounts of naughty chemicals? A lot of soaking for the burners perhaps, but what about that little rim where food drips under and sticks, heats up, sticks, heats up rinse repeat. Sure, you could capture every spill before it dries, that's a start. But we're only humans and in day to day life there will be spills.

Standard cleaners are filled with chemicals and in the cases of sprays you're looking at propane and other such propellants. Alternatives to cleaners in most cases consist mostly of variations on Vinegar. In this case though the recommendation is either a green variety of cleaner such as something from Seventh Generation , Melaleuca or Eco-Green. But if you want to do it yourself most advise applying baking soda directly with a damp sponge.

I don't believe in sponges, although I do know they exist, they are germ ridden creatures I chose not to have in my home and certainly not my kitchen. However I do have some clothes and bygones aside I believe it'll be a similar if not the same result. I'm certain my stove won't be offended.

I am a little reluctant to believe baking soda as a lone product will get away that baked on junk. But I am willing to try mostly anything once. So let me present you with my before and after pictures and you be the judge. Be warned though, some of this caked on food has been here from previous tenants. It's anyone's guess as to how long. So it's not pretty. I wiped the entire stove down with soap and water and this is what was left. I could scrub for hours but this particular part never comes off.

After Soap & Water but before baking soda

I only took one before shot as I was pretty skeptical about this method. Now I wish I had taken multiple. Check out the results!!!

I will never go back again. I didn't have to apply any elbow grease like I have to with soap and water. I didn't have to let it soak in smelly fluids that give me headaches. I just put some baking soda on the cloth and rubbed. This was after one application. Never again will I go back.

Can you argue with these results? If you can, try it for yourself! I promise you will be as surprised as I was! Even after seeing this, I'm still surprised. I'll be bouncing around Asmerus when he comes home squealing about my new discovery.

I'm going to go clean out the interior of oven now while the beast slumbers.

That's all from me today, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.