If you want to, JUST DO IT!

Hello,
My name is Bwings and I want to go vegan!

I've been wrestling with this for a few weeks now...months even. I've been vegetarian now for years. Over the summer I actually did a fair amount of research into some books that happen to be vegan. After learning even more I have wanted to be vegan. I'm scared of so many changes. Mostly of inconveniencing my friends.
But then I also read a book geared towards vegetarians who suffer the wrath of the angry meat eater. We all know the type, the one who tries to sneak meat into your food and then cackles, "HAHA you just ate meat!"

In that book it says, "if it helps, try to think of all meat eaters as blocked vegetarians." What is a blocked vegetarian you may ask? Quite simply put it is a vegetarian that for some reason still eats me. Simple right? It actually describes pretty much everyone. Go ahead, ask yourself, "Why am I not a vegetarian?" Whatever your answer is ... that is why. Simple and it really helps. As odd as that is. When I hear someone ranting about how I am inconveniencing them I can quietly think to myself, "This person isn't a veg because they worry it would be a giant inconvenience to themselves."
When someone tells me I'm just a big baby and to put on my big girl panties I can think, "This person isn't veg because they think it'd make them look weak." Sure it might not be the only reason but at least it takes the "attack" out of the interaction and turns it back on them. It makes it far less personal and more about their own problems with their own diet.

So having rehearsed that I now find myself applying it to myself. The same reasons I hear meat eaters say they aren't vegetarian are why I'm not vegan.
Lines I have used:

1. It will be hard.
2. It will be a giant inconvenience for my friends.
3. David has already been so compassionate and understanding. How can I put him through more family issues. (if they came up)
4. I might alienate those friends who barely understand my vegetarianism. They wouldn't be able to handle this change.
5. I don't know how to replace some of these foods.
6. I can't find the natural foods in my local grocery store.
7. What if I am in a restaurant and they only have food with animal by-products.
8. My sister will hate me, we'll never go out anymore.
9. David has already accepted vegetarian suppers as the norm. Now I'll have to make two meals or offer him shredded cheese to sprinkle on his food. :p 
10. If I go vegan...what's the next step? When will I be satisfied that I am doing enough for my body, my health, the earth and my morals? 
11. Will it put strain on my relationship with David. He may never be full on vegetarian. That already promises to be a dilemma between us some days. What if he ate cheese covered chicken breasts and I lost it? 

When I went vegetarian my boyfriend at the time heard me running some of these problems through my head and his answer was quite quick, easy and honest. Exactly what I needed to hear at the time. And that was: "It's something you've wanted to do for a while. So just do it! To hell with what other people think. This is about you and if it makes you happy then just do it!"

I've already managed to cut eggs out of our house. We have not had eggs in this house in months. I don't put milk on my cereal, I eat oatmeal. But when I do put milk on my cereal I make it Soy milk. I have been trying some cheese substitutes. Homemade ones mind you and they have been fine. I haven't completely removed these aspects outside of the home but they are growing harder for me to eat. For instance, I bite into something in a restaurant now and I question whether I should. My daughter had mac & cheese at our grocery store the other day and I finished it off for her. As I chewed I thought, "I didn't have to eat this." We had K.D. for supper the other night and again I thought, "Completely unnecessary."

I know as far as my family goes I would be happier if these animal by-products came from a small farm that didn't support veal or grinding up baby male chicks. Then it'd just be the question of the carcinogenic factor. Basically I would still consider it unhealthy but at least it would not be as immoral.

So... maybe I should address some of my own questions and concerns.

1. It will be hard.
   Life wasn't meant to be easy. Get over it! 
2. It will be a giant inconvenience for my friends.
   No it won't. I'm always telling them to not worry about it. It is not their job to ensure the restaurant is vegan friendly it's mine. If they are going to a restaurant that will have nothing for me then I will eat beforehand and if appropriate maybe bring something to eat there. They needn't worry if I don't eat with them but just be content to have me present. 
3. David has already been so compassionate and understanding. How can I put him through more family issues. (if they came up)
   Everyone knows I can stand up for myself. If this put a riff between family members I think I could deal with it. Still I do want to be fair to him. :p he knew what he was getting into when we started dating, but back then I was just a gelatin-free-yogurt eating, barefoot, tree hugging vegetarian. Now I will be consuming soy? Oh boy! 
4. I might alienate those friends who barely understand my vegetarianism. They wouldn't be able to handle this change.
   Let's face it, they are already alienated when the topic comes up. Nothing is going to change. It'll just remain among those topics like Politics, Religion, Sexual preference and Diets. 
5. I don't know how to replace some of these foods.
   That's why it won't happen all at once. Going vegetarian was so much easier. It was simple, cut out meat. Find out what foods secretly mean meat and cut them out too. You're always learning. I don't consider myself a failure just because I haven't completely rid my life of animal by-products. It's a process. I'll get there. 
6. I can't find the natural foods in my local grocery store.
   Then find another store! 
7. What if I am in a restaurant and they only have food with animal by-products.
   Then I should have looked into it before I left home. If that wasn't an option then have a dressing free salad. OR if a small exception to a rule must be made for that day... (not meat) then it's my own choices. The world isn't going to collapse, the mob isn't going to come after me because I picked out the eggs in my spinach salad. Just as no one is going to go nuts that I forgot to ask if they mashed pig fat into my potatoes. Sucks in the moment but you make a mental note, "this restaurant isn't vegan/veg friendly." and maybe fire off an e-mail later asking if they ever plan to have meat/animal free products. Simple. 
8. My sister will hate me, we'll never go out anymore.
   My sister will not hate me for this. She might be inconvenienced but she won't hate me. 
9. David has already accepted vegetarian suppers as the norm. Now I'll have to make two meals or offer him shredded cheese to sprinkle on his food. :p
   This actually worked out quite well. We had an almost vegan supper the other day. I simply had him grate some cheese which he sprinkled over his food. His quote was, "I may go vegetarian but I'll never be vegan." Incidentally those were my famous last words 10 years ago! :p look at me now ;) 
10. If I go vegan...what's the next step? When will I be satisfied that I am doing enough for my body, my health, the earth and my morals?
    Honestly...I don't know the next step. I doubt I'll ever be satisfied that I'm doing enough. As I learn the more I want to learn. I will constantly be bringing things under my magnifying glass and determining what I feel about it before I go forward. This isn't a bad thing. It can be a little overwhelming at first though. Knowing that I'm on an endless quest of constant self-improvement but ... it's also everyone's journey for no one is perfect. 
11. Will it put strain on my relationship with David. He may never be full on vegetarian. That already promises to be a dilemma between us some days. What if he ate cheese covered chicken breasts and I lost it?
    Any relationship has their weakness and if ours is to be our differing diets than I'd say we have it pretty lucky. Some days I am quite withstanding of his plates of flesh. Other days I am honestly disturbed and bite my tongue until it hurts. He knows his food can upset me and so we have both agreed I will never again have to cook dead animals for him. If he wants the chest of a chicken on his plate he will have to cook it himself. ;)  Communication is key and we are always talking. When I learn something new he learns it too. We both are on never ending journeys of self-improvement. I just dive full into some things and he into some others. 

This promises to be a long path but I feel I will be vegan before much longer. It only took 9 years to consider it and 5 months to convince me! 

Digging those good vibrations

Hello,

My name is bwings and I'm sending good vibrations your way!

It has been a while since I have done a blog, basically since the end of my financial standing with google. Having been permanently expelled from the economical growth provided by blogging I can not justify countless hours researching and blogging when I could be researching ways to make money for my wedding.
However, when struck with a good question or idea I feel I should share with the class.
Due to the nature of this question I feel I should strike it beneath the fold. So if you are 18 or older and not sensitive to the topic of hippie sex fornication then please scroll past the cute pussies kitties below and you will find today's spunky exciting entry..... you have been warned!

 

 

 

If you've scrolled this far either my hippie pussy kitty flower power has sucked you in or you really want to see what I have below the belt this line. Alas, scroll below and there it is.

Dear Hippie Mom,How do you dispose of your....toys? I mean, is it something that must be thrown out because it's come in contact with our bits or is that something ...well...just how?
Yours,
Naughty Hippie

Well naughty hippie, admittedly this is something I've meant to look up out of sheer curiosity in the past. What better excuse than a Dear Hippie letter?

These are my immediate thoughts on the topic:

• Depending on the material it should at least be partially recyclable...maybe
• If it vibrates then it's electronic... those need special recycling like computers and microwaves. 
• More importantly, as you said, if it's touched our bits....can they really sanitize the aids out of it {not insinuating any/all hippies have aids, just going worst case scenario so chill bill!} before they turn it into our water bottles or jacket fillers? Would you want to drink out of a water bottle that said, "recycled from previously loved dildos"? Then again, given prior research would you want to drink out of a water bottle at all? (Plastic, water contamination etc.) 

I'll let my fingers do the searching. First, I want to know if there is a company that specializes in dildo recycling. You laugh but it did not take me long to find something. My first search produced this uk website dedicated to not only recycling your once loved vibrators but to telling you the story of what happens to your little bunny rabbit once it hits the truck, I tell you I watched that smiling vibrator from beginning to end. Not just because he was so ... cute... can you call a vibrator cute? But also because I was terribly curious to see what his bits would become. I was quite thankful to discover his bits were used to create energy and not water bottles or sippy cups! As if ease of disposal, proper recycling and not making dildo cups wasn't enough to encourage you to use them they also offer you "oh points". Oh points are like vibrating coins to be spent on replacement toys. And with 100 points per vibrator, 500 for rabbits and 50 for all other toys under the sun it won't take long for those toys to rack up some mad oh's. It gets even better. Delivery is free on all toys purchased with oh points. Now I know you're thinking, 'Yeah but I'd have to save up so many oh points before I was able to buy a single thing." Not exactly true.
Sure it'd take some serious oh's before you were able to buy the Lovehoney Jessica Rabbit but if you just wanted something simple you could shoot for the lower end of the vibrating scale and get yourself a Lady Lustfinger Mini Vibrator and according to my simple math:
1 Rabbit + 2 regular vibrators + hubbies anal plug = one lustfinger.
Of course if you don't have a rabbit to recycle then you're looking at 7 vibrators + Hubbies anal beads and that's just a lot of toys!

Now that I have you salivating I must apologize because unless you reside in the UK this site may pretty much just be a nice idea and nothing else. Although it seems they are open to toys from all parts of the world so if you want to give them a call or an e-mail you are welcome to it.

I did find another location that claims to recycle specifically sex toys. However once I read what they became...extra layer of silicone or not that just seems nasty. I would not buy a dildo made from a pre-loved dildo. That just seems like asking for trouble, I can just hear some cheating wife saying to her husband, "no I'm not cheating on you dear. I probably got the clap from my recycled love wand!"

As gross as that was the website did offer another side to the story that I had once considered. We are careful about what we put in our mouth but not so wise about what we shove in our hoo-haws. Call me nutty but that seems a little counterproductive.
Those pretty shiny jelly rubber toys you have hidden in your bedside drawer contain phthalates. We've talked about those before and although often the focus is on the impact on children let's think about what phthalates do to the adult body as these are not children's bath toys! In women there have been studies that have shown an association between phthalate exposure and endocrine disruption that can develop breast cancer. This can happen as phthalate mimics human hormones thus gaining entry. What better entry than your most personal areas? These studies were originally done on high exposure but now have been on more common doses and are still being related to such things as infertility and hypospadias in men. Which, in laymen terms, is a penis whose pee hole is not where it ought to be. Instead of peeing out the tip of his penis he pees out of the underside. Considering he later shares this urethra with the fertility process....this is terribly inconvenient.  I could go on forever about the downfalls (changes to hormones, reproductive systems, damage to kidneys and livers, connections with cancer) to phthalates, PVC and various other plastic or you can just click on the link and see some for yourself. We all know plastic isn't natural so I don't feel the need to drag it's name through the proverbial mud all day. Instead, my point isn't just that plastic is bad for us and our body, but that we are stabbing ourselves in various places with these plastic members. Seems a bit foolish when you consider it. What is even more alarming and a little disheartening I'm told is that when you read the fine print on the packaging of your playmate it often says, "this is for novelty only" Oh my goodness. They weren't actually made for anything other than a laugh? YIKES! I may have to march into a sex shop and confirm this allegation to be true. I didn't believe the story that diaper packages said to dispose of content of diaper into your toilet before disposing of diaper. But that turned out to be true so this might as well. If it does, that truly does send a slight shiver down my spine.
So how do you make love like a hippie? Well there are some tried and true methods to greenifing your bedside table collection:

• Use glass or metal sex toys, eco-friendly, durable and still sexy. Production has a lesser environmental impact and they will outlast the rubber comrades. 
• Instead of petroleum based products use organic lubes and massage oils
• Recycled rubber or wood for your accessories like paddles and whips for those extra kinky hippies. Avoid polyester or nylon suits for those kinky nights of passion and use silk (peace silk if you so chose) or cotton (bamboo for the extra conscientious hippie) 
• Use rechargeable batteries in your vibrators
• For vegans you can check to see that your condom doesn't have milk enzyme added.

Treehugger has a list of sites that will provide you with green sex toys. Resources are definitely on your side. 

Back to your question Naughty Hippie, can you recycle your toy? Absolutely, although it might take a little courage as it seems you'll have to drop it off at a specialty spot or mail it to the uk for oh points. My suggestion is to call those who recycle your electronics locally and ask about drop off and whether they accept sex toys. You may shiver when I tell you to do that but why worry? For one thing, remember you are on the phone and not in person. They can't see your face turn red although they might hear the tremor in your voice. If you are still terribly embarrassed and can't dispose of your vibrating friend "properly" just wrap it in a plastic bag and ask your friend who is way out in left field. We all have that one friend who strives to be different and out there. I'm sure you have one who would do it for you and laugh the whole way home at the idea of your dildo bouncing along side a computer keyboard on a giant track of recyclables.

Hopefully this answers your question and then some. Now to go to my local sex shop and see if these toys really were only intended for novelty. But until that entry I must go shower off all the sex talk.
Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

She's back...the b*tch is back!

Hello,

My name is bwings and I'm coming back!

Yeah I know, scary picture, but it was the only one I could think of that consisted of me running. Or at least running with great enthusiasm.

After my google ads became suspended and I was no longer able to financially prosper from express research and time I stopped treating this blog like a Monday - Friday and more like "that thing I do when I have some free time. The problem with that is I am unsure of what this free time thing is!

I have not stopped my green living, I've only continued to learn as I've sampled new things, tried out different approaches to life and researched alternatives to things taken for granted. Waste not want not is huge in my house and we are now composters as well.

We are rounding the 5 month mark since I've made my live green resolutions and although I'll go into more detail through the week I can give you a brief update on my successes.

Resolution 1: Reduce waste to one grocery bag a month. So far we have reduced it to one grocery bag a week. Much closer than we thought we'd be in such a short time. Considering we used to be one garbage bag a day! Composting is a huge help in this department.

Resolution 2: Introduce more plant life to the house. I now have a plant for every room. They may not be in every room but there certainly are enough.

Resolution 3: Purchase only paraben free products. check...well except this one thing I purchased on the fly on day and then only a month later realized it had parabens. I thought it was mostly a water item and so didn't look too much into it.

Resolution 4: reduce EDTA in the house. This has been done. Aside from the odd overnight guest perhaps using EDTA shampoos etc. There is no EDTA going down my drains.

Resolution 5: Purchase Bamboo towels. This I actually completed today. I'm excited for them to go in. These are one of the few situations where the eco-friendly option is more expensive. Alas, I wanted to wait for the towels to be on sale. They are currently 45% off, an inarguable price. So in 5-6 business days I should be drying off in eco-friendly luxury.

I can not think of the rest of my resolutions off the top of my head right now, nor what I have been doing to continue to improve my home life and the earth. I'm an avid searcher of ingredients in food as well as cleaning and beauty products now and more understanding of what I'm reading.

What have you been doing in the new year?

Keep me updated, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom. 

Lead Bags

Hello,

My name is bwings and I use cloth bags when I shop.

Actually most times I simply use the stroller but when I'm without the beast I try to always have cloth bags on hand. Not only are they eco-friendly but they are easier on your hands when you carry home heavy groceries. I carried home 30 lbs of groceries a month back and my fingers weren't incredibly mad at me for it.

So imagine my surprise when among my e-mails I discover this inquiry from Happy Hippie.

Dear Hippie Mom, I have been using my reusable grocery/tote bags when running my errands in an effort to be more green. I admit sometimes I fail when I forget to take them in the store or place them back int he car or stroller. But I would say I use them a good 90% of the time. Here is my concern. I recently heard someone say they had seen a thing on tv claiming these bags have an unsafe level of lead in them. Before giving up and going back to plastic or paper, I decided to check with you and see if you have heard anything? Thank you so much.Trying to stay green :)Happy Hippie

Well Happy Hippie, my initial reaction is this must be a rumor started by a method similar to the 'phone game'. We all know the phone game, one person whispers one thing in another's ears and the message is passed on until it returns to the initiator as something completely different. I envision this moment something like this:

Instigator - "Oh, you use cloth bags?! Why bother?!"
Hippie - "It's better for the environment and isn't that much trouble."
Instigator - "Better for the environment? Pft we're going to hell in a cloth handbag!"
Hippie - *eyeroll and walks away*
Instigator turns to his friend and says in a joking fashion, "I bet you she'd use plastic if she knew the bag had lead in it!"
Instigator's friend doesn't have a sense of humor and takes the joke seriously and BANG instant rumor.

Honestly, that's how I see a lot of these rumors starting. BUT nevertheless it's a statement I hadn't yet heard and so now I shall do what I can to seek the truth. Cloth bag conspiracy or legitimate concern?

As I did my research into this one I found that the facts were there but there was certainly a bit of twisting. Yes there are in fact bags being discovered to have lead contaminations in them. However, and I can't stress this enough, this was in polypropelne reusable bags (plastic #5) not cloth bags. So, in short, cloth bags are still safe as far as this particular concern. Three cheers for cloth vs. plastic winning yet another battle.

Now for the scary facts as they have been presented to me. It is true that some reusable bags have been found to contain lead. These bags with lead were found to have 194 parts per million. This is below the government standard of 300 ppm. But above (nearly double) the standard allowed in children's project which is 100ppm. {Don't let your children play with your plastic bags it um...er... well it says it pretty much everywhere that plastic bags aren't play things!} 


Good news, as I've already stated, the reusable bags in question were polypropolyene (number 5 plastic). It is my not-so-expert opinion that if you are already making a step towards a greener world by using a reusable bag, switching from a plastic reusable to a cloth reusable isn't that far a leap. However, if my not-so-expert opinion is incorrect then I have some data for you. The Tampa Tribune purchased some reusable bags from popular locations and commissioned lab tests on them for heavy metals. Feel free to examine their results.

For now I shall victoriously overpack my strollers and carry cloth bags.

As always, I enjoy your e-mails happy hippie, keep it green, you friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

I plan to post

Hello,

My name is bwings and I have not turned my back on you!

I have been receiving several letters of encouragement to return. I think I shall. I miss posting and learning new things about the products I use and their impact on both me and my environment. Although I continue to research products before making any major purchases and I have continued to move towards a greener lifestyle, I feel I would be more active in this department were I still posting.

A few days after google terminated my account they sent me a coupon for $100 of google advertisements to direct people to my blog. Wasn't that nice of them? *cough* Hey, you can no longer work for us, however here's a useless coupon...um....enjoy.

Oh well, bygones.

Klanchoe - Chloe

Hyacinth - unnamed

In the past month there are several moments I have meant to blog about something I have been doing. For instance, I have added two new lovely plant additions to my household plants. A kalanchoe I have named Chloe who I introduced to the house in January. And a Hyacinth who has not yet been named. But she smells beautiful! I brought her home just a few days ago.

I have also purchased a fountain to add essential oils to. This way I can have a smog free scent in my apartment. Rather than using candles and generating petroleum pollutants in my air. Oh and it's purrrrty too.

I also purchased my very own pedicure kit and put anything with EDTA back on the shelf. This was hard as some of these smelled oh so delicious! I chose instead to go with a more natural foot scrub and so far so good.

These are all the little things I've done in my absence. I now must filter through my Hippie Mom e-mails and answer some questions. I see Happy Hippie has written me a few questions and shall respond as soon as I finish this post.

See you all tomorrow, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom. 

I whip my hair

Hello,

My name is bwings and I'm just gonna whip my hair back and forth.

Still no word from google, I have, however, had a few comments and messages about not letting them push me down.

Dear Hippie Mom,

I miss your posts! What am I supposed to do without your educational and witty entries on our crumbling world? 

Lonely Hippie

Dear Hippie Mom,

How did you get in trouble this time?! I don't get it, you have got to be the cleanest controversial person I've ever read/watched. Hope this clears up soon and we can get back to cleaning our acts with bwings!

Youtube Hippie 

Dear Hippie Mom, 

You are just going to have to get your own site so no one can dominate you. MWAHAHAHAHA!

Diabolical Hippie

So digging down deep in my granola child spirit I stood up and as Willow Smith would say,

"Don't let haters keep me off my grind

Keep my head up I know I'll be fine

Keep fighting until I get there

When I'm down and I feel like giving up I think again.

I whip my hair back and forth!"

I've also added some themed music to the page for your listening pleasure.
Alas, this is Friday, the end of my blogging week. But I will make a strong attempt at a return on Monday.

For today I thought I would leave you with a quick grin about the different types of hippie as defined by Robert Fuller.

According to Robert Fuller there are four main type of hippies, New-hippie/Neo-hippie, Granola Children, Techno-hippies/Angry Hippies, Rippies/Yunkers

• 
  New-hippie/Neo-hippie - A child of the 60's, politically informed and often well educated. They are always in touch with current political and environmental events/trends. Advocate causes in the spirit of peace, love and freedom. Protest against values that contradict theirs. These new-hippies are often associated with odd clothes and drugs. Every fiber of their being is a flower-child.
  
  
  
• 
  Granola Children - A similar to New-hippies yet slightly diluted. These are the garden variety, non-pushy, mostly vegetarian, environmently-friendly, tree-hugging hippie. They don't waste their time trying to change the world but will educate where they can and otherwise walk through life peacefully enjoying their clean, green lifestyle. {this is what you would classify this hippie mom as!}
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Techno-hippies/Angry Hippies - The complete opposite of granola children these hippies are more in your face about their morals and values. Like a futuristic version of the neo-hippie, often gamers who speak out using the internetz. They are quite flashy in comparison as well, with tattoos, body piercings and strange hairstyles like dreadlocks. Attending rave parties where they, like their archaic neo-hippies, consume large quantities of alcohol and drugs.
  
• 
  Rippies/Yunkers - A hippie without a cause, a poser you could say. Called a rippie as they are ripping off the hippie lifestyle. Some theorize they hide behind the hippie culture to take drugs with a 'reason'. This isn't a hippie, just a wannabe. 

A PERFECT celebrity example of this would be the Olsen Twins (right) they dress and act like hippies yet are anything but. Promoting fur is so definitely not in a hippies true colors.

I agree with most of what Robert had to say. Save his statement of all hippies wearing tie dye and sandals. This is one hippie who wouldn't be caught in tie dye save for Halloween or a joke and although a sandal wearer definitely prefers to foot it bare.

Well that is all from this granola child for this week. I apologize once again for the lack of posting. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and will see you again with some make-up on Monday.

your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Muted Silence

Hello

My name is bwings and I have filed an appeal with google. 

As I mentioned yesterday google has shut me down. Yes I could continue to blog, and I will make my attempts. However, until this is straightened away I remain slightly offended and put off. Thus logging into my account only brings back sour memories. ;)

On a more serious note, when filing my appeal it was asked by google if I had purchased traffic to my site. I am not even certain how one would do that, nor how that works. I have heard of it and know it exists, yet I certainly did not buy traffic to my site.

I don't expect to see a difference and believe barnyardtaz was on to something when they mentioned my knitting post. I inadvertently posted a secret knitting code releasing the knitting brigade's plan to blanket the world in organic bamboo knit! Yikes!

Hope to talk to you soon, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom

Temporary hiatus

Hello,

My name is bwings and google has shut me down!!!

Just as has been done before in youtube, google has shut me down. Until I can get to the bottom of this I will no longer be posting. I will instead spend my time attempting to contact google and appeal this decision.

Sorry for this and I thank you for staying with me this far. I hope to return in a few short days but given my 6 months suspension on youtube and the fact that I STILL can't reach anyone to appeal the removal of my video I suspect goggle will have the same no communication policy in this case.

your friendly muted neighborhood hippie mom.

K1P1 - Click Click

Hello,

My name is bwings and I resolve to knit!

One of my 365 things for 2011 was to learn to knit. I went out last week on a mission for the appropriate supplies. Organic cotton yarn and bamboo knitting needles. I was surprised to find that the bamboo knitting needles did not cost me more than the plastic ones would have. Snatching up a set of bamboo needles I turned to examine my yarn options. I wasn't in a craft store and unfortunately there weren't many options. Given that I'm going to be making things for my daughter acrylic was the best option based on it's machine-washable quality. I grabbed up two large balls of acrylic yarn in two different shades of pink and proceeded on my merry way.

Given that I didn't find an eco-friendly yarn I thought of a way I could balance it out in my head. Simple, find a way to knit things out of some not-so eco-friendly material. Therefore expanding the life of the garbage and upcycling. Like using old tattered plastic bags as yarn and making a tote. But first I'd have to learn how to make yarn out of the plastic bags. That was easier than coming up with the idea. A quick search found not one but two sites with lovely ideas detailed for you. I'm sure I could find many more. I did some browsing and found a few more cute ideas. One of which was this portable yarn holder set-up using recycled containers.

So what about the question of eco-friendly yarn for next time? Another search a few days later found a few options.

• Repreve - by Unifi was once featured on the discovery channel. It's an innovative 100% recycled polyester yarn made from both post-consumer and post-industrial waste. There is a long list of brands that are already using the like-wool material in their clothing. 
• Blue Sky Alpaca's - Has a large variety of self-sustainable yarn such as Alpaca-silk as well as reycled and organic materials like organic cotton and recycled silk from saris. 
• Eco2Cotton - Produce yarn from recycling new, pre-consumer (post-industrial) cotton knit cuttings. These would be discarded during clothing design and are reprocessed and blended into fiber to be re-spun into yarn. According to their statistics a t-shirt only contains 60% of the cotton grown to produce it. The rest is tossed out on the cutting floor. 
• Cornucopia - Yarn made 100% from corn.
• Bam Boo - Yarn made with Bamboo
• Soy Silk - Yarn/Silk made with soy. 

For now I will work on my needlework and drop far few stitches before I invest in a more pro eco-friendly yarn.

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom. 

Make-up Monday

Hello,

My name is bwings and I must remove all imperfections.

One thing I've learned about applying make-up everyday is that I need an exfoliating scrub! When applying this foundation daily I noticed a frustratingly inconsistent look to my skin. Day 2 of the new year I returned to the market in search of an exfoliant. Not before first doing some amount of research to see what I wanted to avoid. I already knew to avoid parabens and EDTA which I expected to find in most creams. What I found, and already slightly knew of, was another ingredient I chose to avoid.

Salicylic Acid is an ingredient used to ease pain, reduce fever through consumption of asprin. It is also used in treating acne, psoriasis, calluses, corns, keratosis pilaris & warts. It is in many anti-dandruff shampoos as well as being the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol. It is used as a food preservative and an antiseptic in toothpaste. In short, it is used about as frequently as EDTA but serves more purpose.

When I went off my birth-control several years ago my hormones went out of control. As a result I looked as though I was a chocolate hungry teenager for a good year. In that year the acne was so bad it burned and I needed to take action. As far as self-esteem was concerned I used foundation in high amounts to cover the scarring blemishes. However, the pain and burning was incredible and I needed to reduce them as much as I could. Some quick clickity clacking and I read up on Salicylic Acid. I went out and bought a facial cream with the highest amount of salicylic acid available over the counter. Application of this cream produced almost as much of a burn as the actual problem. I later reduced the amount of acid and the burn decreased. I don't know if it did much for me or if my hormones just leveled off. To be safe I continued to use the cream for three months at which time halting didn't bring back the blemishes.

All that said there is more to Salicylic acid as you would expect. If you are pregnant it is one of those many of hundreds of things you're not supposed to consume. In late pregnancy it has been associated with neonatal intracranial bleeding. A study of 108 infants born at 34 weeks gestation or earlier was performed to determine incidences of intracranial bleeding and possible risk factors. Of these infants 49% developed intracranial hemorrhage, studies showed the bleeding to be more common in parents who consumed aspirin during their pregnancy. Another study was carried out evaluating the effects of aspirin during pregnancy. 60% of the mothers and 90% of the infants had bleeding when aspirin was consumed 5 days before birth.

Lastly, and most importantly, the use of salicylate, such as with aspirin, has been linked with Reye's Syndrome.  Reye's Syndrome is a disease that attacks quickly and with no warning and in often cases is fatal. It affects all organs but focuses mostly on the liver and brain. Often misdiagnosed as encephalitis, meningitis, diabetes, drug overdoes, poisoning, SIDS or psychiatric illness. It typically follows behind a viral infection (flue, cold, chicken pox) when a person begins to recover fat develops in the liver and other organs, severe pressure in the brain and unless diagnosed and treated death is the end result in a few days.  I don't want to give you too much information as that alone terrifies me. I just know I will be sticking to advil, something which I avoid taking anyway unless absolutely necessary. But if you are concerned you can look more into it at the Reye's Syndrome Foundation.

As far as topical application is concerned there is far less concern in any of these reports, in fact most concern seems to lie in aspirin alone. However, I do not have severe dermatological issues aside from psoriasis which I have controlled by improving my diet. Because of my clear complexion I do not see any reason to use something I don't need and possibly create a chemical dependency.

I ended up purchasing St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub. An inexpensive scrub that is EDTA, Phthalate and Paraben free. Most other scrubs ran $8/100ml and had EDTA and/or Parabens where as St. Ives was only $1.40/100ml and contains no oil or damaging ingredients save a fragrance that would cause allergies in some. A large recyclable container with no frilly packaging makes it that much more eco-friendly when purchased in bulk. For those animal loving types the products claims to not be testing on animals, a quick check of astrostar shows they make the list with no intentions of animal testing in the future. Sadly this doesn't mean that they aren't testing their products under another companies name. Some companies will commission another company to do their testing for them. An examination of Peta's list (they are anal and therefore thorough) shows St. Ives to be neither on the Do Not Test list nor the Does Test list. If I find out more I will of course advise. Right now I can just say it works and to the best of my knowledge does you no harm.

Altogether it's an inexpensive, eco-friendly, toxin free, recyclable, most likely animal friendly product that does what it advertises my skin was smooth the next day and foundation was less flakey in appearance.

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Edit: Having used it now for a while I can say it works wonders, my skin is sensitive though and so I can only use it a few times a week. But my skin looks and feels incredibly smooth now.

Green Pearly Whites

Hello,

My name is bwings and my daughter scrubbed the toilet....with my toothbrush!!!

No worries, we caught her in the act, she was only trying to help and the toothbrush was immediately placed in the cleaning supplies container. Of course this little cleaning endeavor on her part resulted in subsequent replacement of said toothbrush. Given my new efforts at greening the house I thought I should make any attempt I could to make this a green purchase.

I figure a toothbrush may be just a small piece of plastic but it's a household staple, one per person to be replaced once every 3-6 months! As I did with my artificial vs. natural christmas tree entry I will do the math, if everybody had a life expectancy of 85 years, 12 months in the year and a potential for a new toothbrush every 3 months (or 6 but we're going with the higher scary number) that means 4 new toothbrushes annually for 85 years. 340 in a lifetime per person and approximately 6,892,048,568 people in the world there is potentially 27568194272 per year and 2343296513120 per lifetime. I of course didn't subtract the 500 or so fuzzy teethed individuals who don't brush.

Some ways I could make my pearly whites a little more green (in a purely figurative manner of course) would be purchasing a(n):

• toothbrush made of recycled materials - Everything but the bristles can be made from recycled plastic. In some cases you can find toothbrushes made using recycled wood fiber, yogurt containers, flax and even dollar bills. Using recycled materials saves natural resources and uses less energy during manufacturing. Not to mention it's a clever form of upcycling. If there are no local recycling programs instated for #5 Polypropylene some companies will let you mail back your old toothbrushes to be crushed up for plastic lumber. 
• toothbrush made of renewable materials - Some companies use cellulose acetate extracted from cotton. This makes their toothbrush more bio-degradable. In fact, they claim it will degrade in the same amount of time it would take an oak leaf, 6 months. As compared to the thousands of years it would take a standard plastic to do the equivalent. 
• toothbrush with replaceable heads - As much as you'd still be changing the head every 3-6 months it'd be less plastic. It is estimated that you would have to throw away 14 - 42 replacement heads to equal the waste of 1 toothbrush. If you're looking at 340 toothbrushes in a lifetime that translates to a reduction in waste the equivalent of using only 8 - 24 in a lifetime! I actually had to do the math twice on that one as it's such a huge reduction! 
• electric toothbrush with rechargeable base or batteries - This is the least green of the green alternatives to plastic brushes. But one with rechargeable batteries and replaceable heads isn't too bad. 

The more dedicated hippie would rinse with tea tree oil and water and brush instead with the root of the Araak Tree. As silly as that may sound that root is pretty nifty. It contains natural nutrients like fluorine, silicon, vitamin C, sulphur, sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate and calcium oxides. All of these things will whiten and strengthen your tooth enamel.


Unfortunately my local grocer didn't provide any with replaceable heads that weren't electric. I am certainly not in the market for an electric toothbrush at the moment so I settled for a regular toothbrush made of recycled materials for now.

Perhaps next time I will purchase one online. A quick search found these gems:

Acca Kappa Biocete Toothbrush - $6.50 - designed with natural bristles and a handle of biodegradable cellulose acetate. Only takes six months to biodegrade. 

Eco-DenT TerraDent Replaceable Head Toothbrush - $4.50 - $5.75 - Self-explanatory, only ever need to replace the head. 

Fuchs Ekotec Replaceable Head Toothbrush - (on sale) $3.74 - $5.75 - Comes with 2 replacement heads and then simply replace the heads. 

Radius Intelligent Toothbrush - $8.99 - An electric toothbrush with replaceable heads. The batteries will last over six heads worth of use (18 months) after which you can return the handle for recycling. 

Radius Source Toothbrush - $6.95 - Replaceable head toothbrush with a handle made from 100% recycled material - Half wood, half plastic but both recycled. 

Recycline Preserve Toothbrush - $2.99 - Made from 100% recycled plastic. 25-65% of that plastic comes from Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. You can even send back the toothbrush to be recycled if you don't have a local recycling centre accepting of toothbrushes. They then grind it up to make plastic lumber for picnic tables etc. What I found cool was they have a thing called "Toothbrush subscription" where they will send you a toothbrush every x months (your choosing) to replenish and change your old one. I thought that was great considering how often I've looked at my toothbrush and asked myself, "Did I change that 3 months ago or 4?" 

Well, I'm going to go brush my teeth and go on a hunt for some more eco-purchases of the day.
Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Return of the Rubber Duckie

Hello,

My name is bwings and I'm still struggling to remember what plastics are worse.

I doubt I'll ever get rid of all plastic in my household, but I would like to make an effort to rid myself of the most damaging. Since my initial post about PVC and BPA I've reduced the cans in our household in case of BPA plastic lining in the can. If they had some regulation enforcing companies to state what they lined their cans with I might continue to use canned goods. But for now the only canned goods in this house are to be canned corn as it's my fiancée's favorite. For now, if we buy beans, they will likely be canned as well simply for simplicities sake. However, we don't frequent the beans in this house so that should not be a problem.

So what is the deal with plastic? I know to avoid BPA and PVC but what labels am I looking for. Not everything that is BPA free will say so. Although I'm sure most will seeing as it's considered something to brag about in plastic departments. To remind myself I returned to the charts of recycling codes.

Click on picture to view chart

There is going to be a complaint about all types of plastics with leeching, bio-degrading etc. So for now, for my sanity and my families, I will focus mostly on those concerns that affect my health and the health of my family.

PVC (our lovely rubber ducky's skin) has a massively bad rep. But a little research would find that this is because of the plasticizers (mostly phthalates) added to soften the PVC and make it flexible. These additives can leach out into our food, mouths or ... other body parts, as they are common in shampoo bottles, shower curtains, food containers, children's toys and adult toys ...so to speak. This leaching is concerning as Phthalates have been linked to liver/kidney damage and tumors. They can mimic human hormones and hurt the environment. Studies have shown statistical association between allergies in children and indoor air levels of DEHP. This additive of particular concern, DEHP (Diethylhexyl phthalate) has, among other phthalates, been banned in Europe. In the United States it has not been banned but most companies have voluntarily ceased production of PVC toys using DEHP additives. An alternative to DEHP called diisononyl phthalate (DINP) has been found to have unlikely risks by the European Commission.

What, outside of Europe, has been done to reduce issues with PVC? As far as toys are concerned factories have started using DINP in lieu of DEHP although it is not required and so personal investigation into purchases would be necessary. There is a call for a ban on use of DEHP on shower curtains and a few other household items as the initial outgassing of the additive may cause medical complications. In November '05 Catholic Healthcare West signed a contract for vinyl-free IV bags & tubing. Several corporations including Microsoft, Wal-Mart & Kaiser Permanente have announced efforts in eliminating PVC from products and packaging in that same year. Japanese car companies (Toyota, Nissan & Honda) have eliminated PVC in car interiors in all models 2007 and beyond.

As far as environment is concerned I doubt I need to mention that plastic does not biodegrade in the environment because they are not digestible to microorganisms. If you toss plastic out instead of recycling it will simply be moved about by are or water and accumulate.  Animals can become entangled in some plastic litter or eat plastic mistaken for food and die.

So what have I done to reduce plastic in my home?

• Grocery bags - I take my stroller with me most times and instead of bagging them I put them in the carriage of the stroller. I am a vegetarian and so meat juices is not an issue here. In addition I have over two dozen cloth bags that I bring with me when I am without a stroller. I do bring home the occassional plastic bag when I'm low at home. I use them for kitty litter sometimes and also as my main form of garbage bag. A resolution in my house is to reduce our waste to one grocery bag a week. This has meant composting for the first time so we're still working on it. 
• I purchased a soap dispenser and buy my soap in bulk recyclable containers to reduce the amount of plastic containers. 
• I have been enforcing the bare bum or cloth bum policy when home. I still use disposable when out of the house or when we have a babysitter. But my daughter runs around disposable diaper free as much as I can. 
• I poked a bunch of holes in some containers and reused them as containers for her bath toys, so they get the proper drip dry anti-mildew action with the holes but I get to put them away and reuse a plastic container.
• I bought a wipe container and always bought refills thereafter.
  

I know I can only get better at this as I look around and see various plastic objects everywhere. But as far as the health of my family is concerned, it is my top priority. I will be even more mindful now of PVC (#3 plastic) and try to find out what ones are made using DEHP. I have stopped microwaving in plastic. I may still occasionally store leftovers in plastic but when they are heated I put them on the plate they will be consumed from. It might make more dishes for me but that is what a mother is for. Right?

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Smokin'!

Hello,

My name is bwings and my roof is on fire!

I don't need no water let the ... oh... well....censorship and all. *ahem*
Sorry, got a little carried away. I haven't checked my smoke detector because I know it isn't broken and it isn't due to be replaced for another 10 years. However there are some facts about your smoke detectors I feel you might want to know.

Although it is common knowledge and there are certainly enough warnings, as is required by law, I'm sure at least 60% of my readers are unaware of radioactive material in their home. Hmmm I just heard at least a few jaws drop, don't worry, it's not deadly....sort of. If you take your smoke detector down, assuming you even leave it up, and look at the bottom you might discover some warning signs. "Contains Radioactive Material", "Warning radioactive material" and most importantly "Return to supplier or department of health for disposal"

As long as you don't take your detector apart, severely damage or crush it you will be fine as the small amount of radioactive americium is contained securely inside. The radiation is also predominantly alpha which can not penetrate paper. The thing that concerns me is the disposal and possible resulting damage and compromising of the beta particles. I'll admit I haven't looked into proper disposal of my batteries I just toss them in the trash. I know this is wrong and I keep meaning to make an effort to correct this. Instead, my main effort, has been in the reduction of my battery trash. I have rechargeable batteries for all heavy electronics and even my wii balance board uses a modified piece that charges through the usb port in your computer. Instead of tossing out 4 AA batteries every time I just disconnect and charge.

The idea of radioactive material laying improperly disposed in the waste land does concern me a little more and so in 10 years time (although I hope to not be in this present location by that time) when I need to replace my detector I will be contacting the manufacturer of the alarm. Unfortunately it may be the case that you would have to pay the postage to send the detector but this may differ per company. I'm sure there are at least some who will send you a box to send the detector back in. There should be a telephone number on the bottom of your detector that you can call to find out this information.

Don't necessarily run out and replace your ionizing smoke detector with a photoelectric detector as there are differences.

An ionizing detector is that annoying apartment detector that goes off when you're having your shower, this is because the ionization detector can detect slight alterations in the atmosphere such as steam or combustion gases produced by an open flame. This makes it more sensitive to open flame fires than a photo-electric detector.

There have been studies to determine the more common causes for false/nusiance alarms. Findings in Woodlands, Texas from 1970 found the most common causes to be: Cooking (30.4%). Mechanical/Sensitivity (24.2%,. Fireplace (21,6%). In  Maryland, Texas 1984 another study found similar reasons but a tendancy for cooking to be the problem. Their findings were cooking (72%), Fireplace (7%). Steam (4%) and more recently in Devils Lake Sioux Reservation again it was found that cooking was the main cause at (76.7%), Steam from bathroom came in at second (17.8%), followed by Cigarettes(5.5%)

I first heard of the steam situation from two tenants when I first became a landlord. I had never heard it before and were it not for the honest reputation of these tenants I'd have smiled, nodded and went on my way. To this day I have never had my smoke detector go off from my shower or, as some stated they had, boiling water on the stove. So what makes it happen? Condensed steam from sources such as showers, kitchens (tea kettles), laundry rooms, sterilizers, humidifiers etc. would be viewed and register with the detector as being white smoke. If it's a heavy steam it will even set off a photoelectric smoke detector, think fogged up sauna's, you wouldn't want a smoke detector in there.

In summary, the comparison between the two main types of smoke detectors shows the main differences are the type of fires they are better at detecting. Ionization detectors are best at detecting smoke from an open flame fire while photoelectric are best for smoke from smoldering fires where there is enough heat to create smoke but no flame. If anything I would say you'd want one of each but the fire departments say either or works just fine. All the same, before tossing yours in the trash, phone the number on the back or bottom and see about returning the americium for proper disposal.

Until then, everybody wave your hands in the air, like you just don't care...the roof...the ...umm...sorry.

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Homemade beauty

Hello,

My name is bwings and I haven't yet made my own beauty products

There are a select group of people who are of the belief that you shouldn't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't consume. It bares some logic as your skin is only so thick and resistant to things being absorbed into your blood. I have been curious to try some of these recipes for home made cosmetics and someday I just may.

I'll probably mostly tamper with my hair as I won't have to worry so much about my poor peepers. One thing I am often worried about is that my hair is losing it's shine. Some days the blond is so vibrant, others I look brunette. After some searching I found this recipe:

• 1 large apple, peeled and cut into small pieces

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (1 tbsp for sensitive/dry scalps)

• 2 cups water

Mix all ingredients in a blender/food processor set on high. Pour through strainer into a container to remove all solids. Pour the strained mixture over your hair after shampooing. Massage and rinse thoroughly with cool water. 

This mixture should restore a scalp's pH level and rid it of buildup from hairsprays/gels. 

If any of you try this mixture out before me please let me know how it worked out.

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Major Make-up Monday

Hello,

My name is bwings and I resolve to look good everyday!

One of my new years resolutions was to look good everyday instead of just when we were going out somewhere. This is becoming increasingly difficult not only because of my daughter and other priorities in my life, but also because of another resolution I made to decrease EDTA and Paraben usage in my house. My foundation had not one but five variations of parabens in it. On New Years Eve I ventured out to purchase some new paraben free foundation and if luck would have it one without any EDTA as well. This was excruciating! Nearly every foundation had a paraben of some variant, expected since it is a form of preservative. Lise Watier had one for $40 which was a little out of my price range. I soldiered on and eventually found another paraben free product by the name of Maybelline Mineral Powder Foundation. It only set me back $15 and promised no oil, talk, preservatives or fragrance. Sadly it does, however, contain one other ingredient that has raised flags as a possible carcinogen. It still has far fewer flags than parabens and so I will continue to use it for now until I can find another option. That ingredient is Titanium Dioxide, in particular in dust form as would be the case in a powder formed foundation. When inhaled the powder deposits particles, impairs lungs clearance thus injuring cells developing excess fibrous connective tissue followed by mutations of the cells and finally cancer. Similar to how a cigarette reacts with your lungs, but I am certain I will be inhaling far fewer titanium dioxide particles than I would toxins through smoking. Titanium dioxide dust is more of a problem for a person working with the product in high concentrations. Until someone brings more evidence to the table I'm not going to worry quite as much...although I certainly won't start snorting my foundation. ;)

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.