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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

A greener year

Hello,

My name is bwings and I have set my new years resolutions!

Yes that was "resolutions" plural. I read somewhere about this person doing 365 things for 2009. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided to do that for 2011. I only have 77 things yet but I will continue to add to it where I can as I go.

Some things are juvenile like:

• knit a Yoshi
• get a massage
• look nice everyday
• learn to pole dance

Some more serious like:

• learn to knit
• Participate in Relay for Life (or another run)
• Read a book a month (and other goals of 15 books a year)
• take dance lessons with David (in preparation for our wedding day)

But throughout my resolutions, even the ones that are not completely green, I maintain a level of green mindedness. Even the juvenile goals will have green undertones.

For instance when I:

• knit my Yoshi (after learning to knit) - I will seek organic cotton/bamboo yarn.
• get a massage - I will ask that they use only products free of Parabens and EDTA.
• look nice everyday - I will work towards reducing the Parabens in my make-up products
• learn to pole dance - ...let's call this one a freebie ;)

Of course I have green goals littered spread throughout as well. Such as reducing the EDTA usage in our household by removing all soaps, lotions, bubble baths etc. with EDTA in them. Reducing parabens with much the same method. The bigger challenge I've set is by the end of the year I want to reduce our garbage to 1 grocery bag a week! Right now we are at one grocery bag a day!! I have high hopes here but I feel with some amount of effort it can be accomplished. I don't know how I feel about composting with the beast around, so for now I'll do what I can.

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Have a happy and safe new years eve everyone and I'll be back with more eco-friendly blogs in the new year. See you in 2011, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Stubborn daughter

Hello,

My name is bwings and my daughter has the devil in her!

Okay, maybe not all the time, but tonight definitely! And for the past 3 or 4 days! She won't nap, not that she screams or anything! She used to wake up at 9am, nap from 2:30 - 4:30 on the dot every day and then back to bed at 10pm for her 11 hours. Normally it's as simple as giving her a bath at 9:30 to wind down and then tucking her in and walking away. Now, she absolutely won't go to sleep. Just lays there singing to herself. What does this mean? Come bedtime she is as dramatic as a late Shakespearean play! Not if I let her stay up she wouldn't be, but if I try to put her to bed it's screaming fit. A big change from the standard!

So WHAT does this have to do with Eco-friendly anything? Quite simply it has NOTHING to do with eco-friendly anything. However, it has resulted in some late night random research into old findings and some interesting discoveries. So this tired hippie mom thought she'd share some of her more silly findings with you for your light hearted enjoyment as her daughter screams from the next room. *joy*

Firstly, here is an old discovery of mine, it's called Veggie Connection where one can sign up and find vegetarian/vegan love! As much as it may serve a purpose I did get a small chuckle from the idea. But if there are sights like Ashley Maddison out there (a site dedicated to helping married people have affairs) then why not have a vegetarian dating site?

I of course couldn't help but to sign up for an account just to see what it was all about. Don't worry, Asmerus, I'm not going to abandon you for a full out vegetarian. I simply was curious as to what it had to offer. As you would expect it asked for your basic information, height, weight, star sign, body type, ethnicity etc. None of which you had to input. But you could filter others by such input. Then it asks about your diet and your preference in a partners diet. You can also select to seek only friendship and whether you want your friend to be semi-vegetarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw Foodist or Macrobiotic. Aside from the last question, "I'm most drawn to these charities:" the rest of the questions were pretty standard lifestyle questions. I felt so odd filling it out, even if it was a bogus account. I selected friendship only at first, requested that my new penpal be only vegetarian/vegan. None of these "practically vegetarian" types. ;) After browsing through some profiles I decided to see who on here was seeking love. I will admit some pretty cool people popped up in my search. Unfortunately they had selected that they were only seeking love and not friendship and so I won't be getting to know them. None the less an interesting find for a laugh or two.

Secondly when looking for organic cotton and bamboo towels I discovered this delicious site called Le Viette. Organic towels styled in a way to make you drool and rage. I could never have one of these around for the simple fact it would make me want a cheesecake and all I'd have to eat is my towel! As delicious as they look I'm certain the taste would not compare to a cheesecake. But if I was ever being attacked by a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast from Traal this would certainly be a towel I'd be sure to have around. Can you imagine not knowing where your desert shaped towel was?

Well, I'm going to pass out soon and I believe my daughter already has. I hope you enjoyed my lighthearted post, if she keeps this up I'm sure there will be more in our future.

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

P.S. after much deliberation my daughter finally decided she was going to go to bed....with daddy. What a silly beast.

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.

Another Manic Monday

Hello,

My name is bwings and I rarely wear lipstick.

I've never really saw much point in lipstick, it stays on your lips or it's faded in places, it's on your teeth. I prefer eye shadow for it's room for artistic flair. Regardless, I do have, in my tool kit, some lipstick. Revelon Moon Drops. Scary thing is it rates 9 on the hazard scale!!! NINE! Well, isn't that lovely. I don't know that I'll bother replacing it because of my lack of use. However, it's good to know my good list and bad list.

The Good

Boots No7 Mineral Perfection (0) - $10
Coastal Classic Creations (0) - $16 - $20
Afterglow Cosmetics Organic Lip Love Lipstick (1) - $24
barefaced Mineral Cosmetics Natural Lipstick (1) - $12-$15
Cargo (1) - $12-$24
CNaturals Vegan Lipstick (1) - $14
Cosmic Tree Essentials Lip Care Confections Lipstick (1) $9
Earth’s Beauty Shea & Aloe Lipstick (1) - $10
Hemp Organics (1)
Inika Mineral Lipstick (1)
Johnny Concert, LLC Narcissistic Lipstick (1)
Maia’s Mineral Galaxy Ecstasy Lipstick (1)
Monave Vegan Lipstick (1)
Pure ANada Cosmetics Natural Lipstick (1)
Real Purity Lipstick (1)




There are options, even if I don't plan to replace mine, at least I know I have a lot of options.
Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are ready for the new year.
Your friend neighborhood hippie mom.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hello,

My name is bwings and I stuff my stockings with a tangerine/clementine!

I don't know for sure where the tradition started, I just know that I am not the only one who grew up with a tangerine in my stocking. All through the holidays the tangerines sit on a shelf pleading with you to buy them. Sale after sale they jump out at you. Just like egg nog they are here and then gone after the new year. I was fortunate to be pregnant in season as I craved the juicy fruit.

Some sources say the tradition started in the 18th century when nuns would stuff socks with nuts and tangerines and leave them at doorsteps. Other sources say it was Bishop Nicholas who, having learned  about 3 daughters with no dowries destined to be old maids, tossed 3 bags of gold down their chimney. It of course landed in their stocking as the folk lore goes and as the fire heated the socks the sacs of gold melted and softened into balls of gold. The tangerines in our stockings are to symbolize these gold sacs.

Do you know what I think? I think it's just because tangerine season is from October to April. The centre of this season would be December & January when the fruit would be just right! Not too sweet, not too sour. Why stuff it in the stockings? Simple, so the gifts don't get stuck in the toe. It fills the toe perfectly and then parents aren't busy saying, "Are you sure you got everything out?" "yes mom" "I think there is something more....Santa told me what he left in your stocking and you're missing one thing."

Two nights ago I received a letter from one of my hippie viewers.

Dear Hippie Mom,

How do you recycle Clementine boxes? It seems like such a waste to just throw them in the garbage.

Anonymous Hippie

Honestly this was something I was curious about as I have two boxes sitting on my counter. Now to find out what is allowed in my location. My first step was to call my local waste company. They said unfortunately it would be considered garbage as far as they are concerned as it's not plastic or cardboard. Disappointing as it's wood. I suppose it'd break down relatively nicely in a waste pile. But all the same, next was to call my city office.

My city office was able to help me out. Before I even finished the question the operator told me they could be put in the green bin provided all the staples were pulled out. Well that wasn't so hard was it? Now I can stuff my stockings without feeling guilty.

Now seeing as it's Christmas tomorrow (and Kawanza on Sunday) I guess I better finish up our song.

Are we ready? Do you remember the lyrics? Sing along everyone!!

♫On the 12th day of Christmas a hippie brought to me a hand woven telephone wire bracelet, a recycled cotton wastebasket, a set of Circuit Board Cufflinks, a Truck Tire Bentley Bag, a triple razor, a splaff thin recycled tube belt, a wind up universal remote, a tie fold wallet , a biodegradable fertile tee, a flip-flop door mat, 2 cangle earrings and a bobble water filter ♫ 


That about wraps it up! Have a very, merry Christmas! 
Your friendly neighborhood Hippie Mom

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!

Technologic

Hello,

My name is bwings and I never have just one computer running at a time!

What happens when two nerds come together and make a love nest? They don't use feathers to line it, instead they have laptops, computers and multiple electronic accessories. This is not a joke, it's a very serious fact!! If there was a theme song for our house and it's relationship with electronics and technology it would very seriously be Technologic.



But with all these computers there often lies the need to replace or recycle a computer. How does one dispose of an aged computer nicely? This all depends on what the exact issue is.

Issue 1:
Your computer isn't working anymore and it's driving you crazy! You want to throw it out the window.
Solution:

Almost everyone knows one tech loving friend who will give a good crack at that aggravating data muncher for you. Talk to your friend, see if they will look into it for you. Most will do it for a pizza or some other favor. It will save you on having to send it back to the retailer and hope they can do something....in a few weeks. This solution is NOT always an option if your computer is under warranty. I can't stress that enough! If your computer is under warranty and the problem proves to be a hardware issue and not a software then your tech loving friend will not be able to open your computer. For there are stickers intended to show if a computer has been tampered with. Breaking these seals will void your warranty and that's a lot of pressure for your friend. Know your warranty going in.

Issue 2:  Your computer is getting old and you want to upgrade.

Solution:

This one leans back on those tech loving friends. You can either donate your worthwhile parts to these friends or ask if they wouldn't mind stripping your old computer for it's newer parts. In some cases they might be able to simply replace old parts of your computer for newer ones and save you money on the packaging of a whole new computer. In my house we have a computer that has been around for 12 years now. It's up to date as of 2009 but the computer has never been replaced. Simply parts and pieces removed and exchanged for others. Old parts sit in another tower casing to be sold at later available times or used to make new computers. It's completely possible to rebuild a computer without forking out the money for a new container. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

Issue 3: Replacing the trivial things, monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.
Solution: If these parts still work and you just want a sleeker design you can donate it to another who might not be able to afford the sleeker designs. Monitors will sell on kijiji or craigs list for a couple dollars here or there depending on the age and quality of the monitor. If you are replacing a wired keyboard or mouse for their wireless alternative then you want to store the wired version. If the day comes, and I hope it never does, that you need to enter safe mode or your bios this will be impossible with a wireless equivalent. A wireless will not (at least in my experience) run until your computer is on. To enter bios or safe mode you need keyboard use before computer start up. It's always good to keep one spare wired mouse & keyboard for these situations.

If the keyboard or mouse doesn't work and you know someone with a child ... do I need to spell it out? My daughter loved typing on our keyboard, but for the earlier part of her life she was rather aggressive with those buttons. Watching her mash the keys on a keyboard was cute, but watching her slam the keys on an expensive wireless model made our stomach turn. The solution was to donate an 80's model keyboard to her. She loved it and it is still one of her favorite toys.



Issue 4: You have exhausted your upcycling and reusing options with your friends or simply have no tech loving friends.
Solution: Find a computer refurbisher in your area. If your computer is less than 5 years old they will recycle it's parts into newer systems. They use the parts to replace broken parts in a newer system to save the owner some money.

Issue 5: Your computer is older than 5 years old/has no useable parts/has terrible hardware problems!
Solotuion:  Computer Recyclers in your area will do basically the same thing as a refurbisher. They will take the salvageable parts (if any) and recycle unusable parts.

In some cases recycling your computer can result in a tax deduction. Either it's market value or it's un-depreciated value. This may be only $10 if your computer is ancient, but if you go through computers quickly and treat them well you might be looking at a bit more. Worth looking into.

When recycling or donating your computer try to have all your documents with it, any discs that came with that computer were useful to you and will be useful to the next owner.

Additional things you might want to know before going ahead with a recycle or refurbish is to ensure all your data is erased before passing it on. To prevent identity theft it is crucial that you format a hard drive to erase all your data. When you format it make sure you are doing it in the traditional way as there are now options to format and save your data. You want this hard drive wiped clean. A study on 129 old hard drives (many formated) found more than 5,000 credit card numbers, medical correspondences, love letters, porn, banking information and other data you wouldn't want in the wrong hands.

Lastly, please don't just toss these things out, there are so many options and what you're throwing out potentially contains lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and PCBs. Some have found their waste departments to be less than helpful with this and so I hope my suggestions have been helpful. Some find speaking with their local Geek Squad (best buy) has been helpful in locating a recycling program for their computers and laptops. In fact in some cases Best Buy will recycle most of your electronics, although TVs, CRTs, Monitors, Desktop Towers, & Laptops will cost you $10 to recycle through them. KEEP READING they will in exchange give you a $10 gift card. So really you're just promising to spend at least $10 in their store in exchange for their recycling. See? not so bad! If you're already a tech user you can likely find something to spend $10 there. A new mouse maybe?
You will have to take your harddrive out before giving it to best buy though or they will charge you a removal fee. But that's not such a bad thing, call up your tech friend, they might even be able to turn your harddrive into an external for you, thus making music storage practical.

Your options are endless really so there is no reason why you can't find something to do with that old computer. If you ever need any help from us you can feel free to e-mail your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

In the meantime I believe we're on the 10th day of Christmas a hippie brought to me a set of Circuit Board Cufflinks. Oh you know I had to go there, but honestly they are sort of nifty looking.