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.

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. 

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.

Post # 42!!!!

Hello,

My name is bwings and I'm a hoopy frood who always know where their towel is!

A towel, you see is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.

"Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very, very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. 

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Obviously, being the 42nd entry and my being a hippie nerd I simply had to make a H2G2 reference in todays entry. What better topic than towels? I certainly know no eco-friendly space travel fuel remedies!

I am unaware of what sort of towels I have, inexpensive and in their first 6 or 8 washes they shed a lot of blue! In fact the first time Asmerus got out of the shower and dried himself he shouted out, "Can I have a different towel? Preferably one that doesn't make me look like grover!!!"  But I digress.

I'm certain we will someday replace these towels, as towels go, and when I do so I intend to make a more eco-friendly selection. Most towels are made of conventional cotton, it is this cotton that brings about 25% of the insecticide in the world. The dyes in these towels are often derived from petroleum, polluting our waters and drying our face. Organic cotton, hemp or bamboo towels with plant-based or low-impact dyes are a far more eco-friendly choice. Each has their positives and negatives that accompany them.

For instance, bamboo will grow quickly and with little maintenance. It doesn't require pesticides or fertilizers and when cut needn't be replanted as it will simply grow back. Bamboo made towels are highly absorbent and studies have proven them to be 60% more absorbent than cotton towels. Bamboo towels also have a natural silk quality to them making them comparable to cashmere and far softer than cotton towels. They also have their own unique anti-bacteria and bacteriostasic bio-agent making them naturally anti-bacterial. They are 100% biodegradable and quick drying. If used in hot climate it will keep your skin cool and in the cold will keep you warm. They have natural UV properties, anti-static properties and are odor resistant. However making them into fiber for clothing is a massive chemical bath! There are sources available that have more eco-conscious fiber production but they can involve a steeper price tag.

Organic cotton towels would maintain all the qualities of regular cotton towels except without the pesticides.

Hemp towels are durable, absorbent and will withstand far more washings than cotton. They are also far more resistant to mildew than cotton towels. Because of hemps durability the towel will hold it's shape better than other material and won't stretch out. If dyed it will retain the color a lot longer and better than most any other fabric. This is due to it's porous quality, in addition the pores will allow the hemp to breath and keep you cool in the heat while the absorptive quality will keep you warm in the cold. Unfortunately they aren't sold in standard retail stores and so might be harder to find. But with the invention of teh internetz I'm sure a quick google for a local store would turn up something in your area.

Personally I'm sold on the organic bamboo towels and given that my new bathroom lacks a fan I am often growling when I pick up a new towel and find it already stinks of musk! There is nothing I hate more, when it comes to bathing, than coming out smelling clean and drying off with a stinky towel! To me the musky odour of a dirty towel bares resemblence to cat urine and that is a disgusting thought to run through your head after getting out of the shower. I won't even put my kitty litter in the bathroom. I have always kept it tucked in the back of the storage closet and refused to ever move into an apartment that didn't have this option. So I believe I shall venture out early for a few of these bamboo towels. One or two at first to see what I think of them. If they turn out then I may donate the cotton ones to my kitties for their bedding and dry off in anti-bacterial, odor resistent material.

I didn't think I'd be switching quite so quickly but my research has changed my mind before. As Douglas would say,

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

That is all for now, from your neighborhood hippie mom.

The Wheels on the bus

Hello,

My name is bwings and I don't have a license.

But billions of others do and I'd be willing to bet more than 80% of license holders drive cars and maybe another 15% of those without licenses do as well ;) Every vehicle is different but every vehicle is the same. Or at least every vehicle has the same concept, a device straddling tires/wheels propelled by an engine to get you from one point to another presumably faster than walking when grandma's not at the wheel. So ignoring the obvious question about gas and mileage what else can we think about when going green. Our tires! Of course, these tires that are manufactured using petroleum and then burnt into the pavement when drag racing rushing to work!

About one billion tires are produced annually made mostly of 4lbs of rubber (8 types), 5 lbs of carbon black, 1 lb of steel cord, 1lb nylon, 1lb steel bead wire, 3lbs of chemicals (including petroleum), 6lbs of synthetic rubber.

There is hope yet, there has been production started on various naturally sourced tires. For instance Yokohama has come out with their dB super E-spec. This tire is made using oil from orange peels and natural rubber. Thus reducing the need for petroleum based materials and is replacing it with a sustainable resource. In addition this tire promises a 20% reduction in rolling resistance which will save you in gas. Which is nothing to shake a stick at, for every gallon of gas saved is approximately equivalent to 20lbs of CO2 reduction.

In case you're questioning my math on this one it's as simple as chemistry. Take a look at your periodic table of elements and you'll find Carbon to weigh 12, Oxygen 16 that lovely "2" after the O means 2 oxygen atoms. Therefore 16+16+12 = 44 as the atomic weight CO2. To determine the amount of CO2 in the gallon of gas we multiple the weight of carbon in gas by 44/12 (3.7)  Gas is typically 87% Carbon and 13% hydrogen so where gas typically weighs around 6.3 pounds  the equation looks something like this:
(6.3 x .87) x (44/12) = 20.097 or reduced  5.5 x 3.7 = 20.35

Did you need to read that or did you just trust my math? I'm not just a hippie you know, I once studied math, physics and chemistry in my major at university....BAZINGA! Alright, nerd talk aside, that's a lovely reduction. I actually went as far as calculating my estimated reduction this past year. Starting September 2009 I have been without a car. When I had a car it was a gas guzzling beast of a car. We paid roughly $50 a week to gas up and at about $1 a gallon that's 50 gallons a week, 200 a month, 2400 a year! By no longer having a car I have reduced my carbon footprint by 48,000 lbs! If you need a visual for that take a person you know who weighs roughly 130 lbs, now clone that person 369 times!

According to a study done by TireRack the tires wouldn't save you huge with standard driving, only $50 and some change per year in milage. But that is $50 you wouldn't otherwise have and it is a better tire for the environment. If it is something you are interested in, it's the tire for you. Keep in mind though that it is still a new product and has yet to be taken through the wringer by consumers.

But when shopping for Christmas a tire might be a bit difficult to wrap so perhaps, *aahh aahhh ahhhem* on the 9th day of Christmas a hippie gave to me a Truck Tire Bentley Bag. Another item on Hippie Santa's list that is an upcycle. It is a leather in appearance hand bag made with reclaimed truck tire rubber. Truck stops in Colorado supply the company with used inner tubes and they are then created into something new. The company only uses cruelty free, recycled and vegan materials.

As much as I know what they mean and I adore them for saying it, I did snicker at the idea of a truck tire being cruelty free....how many squashed ... oh never mind. Just take it the way they mean it and don't think about the rest.

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