Lead Bags

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

K1P1 - Click Click

Hello,

My name is bwings and I resolve to knit!

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

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

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

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

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

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom. 

Make-up Monday

Hello,

My name is bwings and I must remove all imperfections.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

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

Green Pearly Whites

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Return of the Rubber Duckie

Hello,

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

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

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

Click on picture to view chart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Happy Hippie - Scar Tissue

Hello,

My name is bwings and I can't put make-up on the inside of my bottom eyelid.

It just gives me the hippy hippy shake to even think of it. Something about anything rubbing up against my eyes every time I blink makes me squeamish. It's something my fiancée is always teasing me for, "Everyone else does it! It's hot!" Talk about peer pressure, geez!

He is right about one thing though, a lot of other people do it. In fact, I am now curious if my dear friend, Happy Hippie, also does.

Dear Hippie Mom,

This one isn't so much for being a Mom, as for the Woman who is the Mom. I had an extremely bad experience getting my hair dyed last year. Someone who is supposed to be a professional, dropped a HUGE glob of dye in my eye. The best part was as I am in EXTREME pain from the lovely chemicals burning, I was the one who was calm enough to get myself water and flush it while the hair dresser freaked out. Anyway, since this incident I have noticed I have an issue with eye makeup remover. I like to dress up now and then and wear eye makeup but like most women, I wash it off before bed to head off the raccoon eye look that is so sexy! I have noticed that every time I use the makeup remover I can not see out of my injured eye. It goes cloudy for over an hour which results in a migraine :( I know that it is not a reaction to the remover in general since it does not bother my unharmed eye. I am guessing the one eye is sensitive now to chemicals. Soooo I was wondering if you had any research on something more natural to use? whether it is something I can make myself or I can buy. Soap and water just does not cut it. Thank you so much

Once again

The Happy Hippie ♥

WOW, Happy Hippie, I have so many questions! First, have you seen an eye doctor yet? I know that if untreated damage like that might get worse with time. I'm no eye doctor so I can't offer much in that department. So I will focus instead on the eye make-up remover.

Because I don't put anything in my eyelid I don't use eye make-up remover personally. Sure I might not get all of it off all the time, but I get most of it off most of the time. If you are in need of options though, that I can provide. Of course the first thing I've found is people swearing by baking soda paste. As you can imagine, I haven't tested this, anything going in my eyes makes me shiver. But I have also found an organic and natural eye make-up remover that some others swear by. Earth Science Chamomile & Green Tea Eye Make-Up Remover - $9 or less - Fragrance-free, paraben-free clear gel, non-greasy. Made with Decyl Polyglucose and Vitamin E.

A list of other eye make-up removers to try, these are ranked 0 on the health hazard score. Just in case you were wondering 0 is the bottom of the scale while any number higher is more hazardous.

• Andrea Eye Q's Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads - $4 for 65 pads. - main complaint by reviewers is that it tends to be oily. However another states the oil comes off easily. at $4 that's not too much for a test run.
• Ava Anderson Nontoxic Eye Makeup Remover - No PEGs, no phthalates, no parabens, no SLS, no 1,4 dioxane, no fragrance. Couldn't find much for reviews or cost unfortunately.
• Be Natural Organics Rose Hip Seed Facial Cleanser and Eye Makeup Remover - $18 - Rose hip for overexposure to sun and seaweed to hydrate the skin
• Coastal Classic Creations Coastal Moon Olive Oil Pre-Wash, Moisturizer & Eye Makeup Remover - Shelf life of 3 years, $27 a bottle
• Gi'ovane Italy Eye Makeup Remover - $15 - Made with Organic Sesame Oil, Organic Argan Oil, Organic Pomegranate Extract
• Glam-Nation, LLC Natural Perfection Organic Eye Makeup Remover - $30 a bottle - Long list of al natural and organic ingredients! 
• Healing-Scents Eye Makeup Remover - $9 for 2 oz. - from what I've read these are the ultimate hippies, they believe if you wouldn't eat it you shouldn't put it on your skin. Not a terrible belief but certainly a hard one to follow. Again, not as much information on this as some of the others. But as far as health goes...well it checks out.
• Nothing Nasty Tender Eye Makeup Remover - £18.50 Based upon the ingredients given this is the UK version of "Healing-Scents" 
• Real Purity Eye Makeup Remover - $9 for 2 oz bottle - another oil based one. all natural.
• Skin Apricot Eyes, Eye Makeup Remover - $17 for 1 ounce - Similar ingredients to a few of the afore mentioned products. Honestly, if any of the above worked for you it seems you could easily concoct one yourself out of essential oils 

One to avoid would be Environ Skin Care Interactive Eye Makeup Remover which ranks a 7 out of 10 on the hazard radar. 

I hope this helps some in finding a product that works for your poor eye.
In the meantime GET YOURSELF TO AN EYE DOCTOR a quick search tells me that it can be bad news to get that in your eyes. Especially if you are so clearly having adverse reactions. I don't need a blind hippie typing me letters...for one thing, if you are a one fingered typer I would have difficulty making out what you typed. ;)

But while you can still see to read I thought I'd continue with the last two posts for the 12 days of Christmas of this week. For instance, on the 5th day of Christmas a hippie gave to me a wind up universal remote! and all that other stuff. On the 6th day of Christmas a hippie gave to me a tie fold wallet .

MOOOOOO

Hello,

My name is "bwings" and I don't feed my daughter hormones.

My daughter was breastfed until 14 months and then switched over to formula. She has the occasional sippy with milk but only when there are not other pleasant options. Although I could preach, "We are the only species that feed off another species breastmilk" but I needn't give you visuals of suckling on a cow's utter, and it's not the reason I don't feed her milk.

In actuality it was something that Asmerus wanted and I agreed with. Cows in factories are injected with countless chemicals and as a result we did not feel comfortable feeding standard milk to her until she was older, if at all. However, for my American friends you may already be aware that in the states bovine are injected with hormones to increase milk production. Bovine growth hormones also known as Bovine Somatotropin (rBST)  injected into bovine often leads to utter infections, resulting in antibiotics and multiple other treatments and injections. A cocktail of chemicals you would never inject a toddler with yet we fill their sippy with the juices from these walking syringes on a regular.

So what's a mom to do? If you live outside the United States you have far less to worry about, buy local, avoid American labels. If you are concerned with the additional chemicals or the vegan aspect there are organic options or milk alternatives such as Soy Milk or Rice Milk. However, if you are in the United States, as long as the FDA continues to approve growth hormone injections it will be in your milk and beef. Look for labels with the words, "no artificial hormones" on them. All milk has hormones, so anything labeled "Hormone free" is incorrect and should be brought to the manufacturers attention for misleading information. Labeling of injected milk and rBST free milk is not required by FDA and so in some cases you might have to research the company providing the milk. Wal-mart, Kroger and Costco have pledged not to sell milk from rBST injected cows.

I recovered a list of some others that I hope may help our friends south of the border.

• Ben & Jerry's ice cream is rBST free.
• Braum's 
• Chipolte Mexican Grill only serves rBST-free sour cream.
• Kroger & Ralphs have banned rBST milk since 2008
• Publix rBST free since 2007.
• Safeway have been rBST free since 2007.
• Starbucks free since 2008
• Wal-mart & Sam's Club provide "Great Value" brand which has been rBST for years but labeled free since 2008
• Winder Farms a home delivery dairy and grocer in Utah and Nevada sells only rBST free milk.

You can also check by state to see what is in your area for rBST free products.

Oh, and wouldn't you know it, it's the 3rd day of Christmas. *cough* ♫ On the 3rd day of Christmas a hippie brought to me a flip-flop door mat.♫ A flip-flop door mat? Yes, that's what I said. A flip-flop doormat. Simply put it is a colorful doormat made out of reused, pre-loved footwear.

Happy shopping, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

12 days of christmas

Hello,

My name is "bwings" and I'm making my list and checking it twice.

Going to find out what's naughty or nice eco.
As I'm sure you know, yesterday marked 12 days until Christmas. WOW, have you gotten the gift for that special someone on your list yet? Is there an eco-friendly hippie on your christmas list? Well if so, and you're stumped for ideas, I'm here to help you out. For the next 12 days (excluding weekends of course) I plan on presenting you with one green gift. Friday & Monday I'll make it a lovely double gift to make up for the lack of weekend postings.

To start off, seeing as I missed my opportunity yesterday, I thought I'd bring you two gifts to start with.

So, *clears throat* ♫ On the first day of Christmas a hippie brought to me a bobble water filter ♫ these are bottles are awesome for a person on the go who is on top of their water intake. It can be such a pain to have to refill the Brita water filter and then fill your bottle and rinse repeat. There is the obvious option of installing the water filter tap filtration. But that can be a bit pricey and my experience tells me if  you do not have the water presure to match you'll be waiting just as long as if you had the extra step.
The bobble water bottle has a built-in carbon filter with an electro-positive charge to attract chemicals and impurities. It's made from recyclable plastic bottles, BPA free, phlatates free and PVC free! I have not personally tried it but at $10.00 it is something I have been considering for some time. Maybe this year it'll be stocking stuffers for my hippie family.

Alright ....ahem *clearing throat* ♫ On the second day of Christmas a hippie brought to me 2 cangle earrings and a bobble water filter ♫ A cangle what? A cangle is Can + Bangle. What started as a family wanting to clean up their neighborhood of cans littering the roadways has become a family run business in jewelry made from recycled aluminum cans. Another item I have not currently worn but I have viewed their products online and the price isn't bad considering how much you would pay for factory made jewelry. This is essentially the same price for something that was handmade.

Happy shopping, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Variety, the spice of life

Hello,

My name is bwings and I started with the basics.

When it comes to cloth diapers I am a first time user and didn't want to throw a bunch of money into something I wasn't sure I'd be able to do. Although pretty certain, it's still an investment. So I started with the basic of all cloth diapers, the prefold cloth diaper. What is a prefold and what are the other types? I thought you'd never ask...I suppose you didn't ask. Nevertheless I will tell you.

I had a rather flustered mother hippie respond to my previous post on cloth diapers.

Dear Hippie Mom,

I am coming at you with flaming torches held high lol. I agree that cloth diapers are better but more of a pain in my trying to be green A**. With daughter one I did disposable until training began. Pull-ups were easier for quick trips and my cloth diapers have the pins. With daughter 2 i am using disposable for now but will go back to cloth once i am settled into the new house and unpack. Disposable really hurts the wallet but you get extra hours due to absorbency. I agree this is one of those things that there is no right answer when you weigh the pros and cons of environment vs mommy hours!!!

Yours Truly,

Happy Hippie :)

P.s A shout out to the Beast, from the Monster!

Well, Happy Hippie, glad to see you are still with us. How did your microwave hunt go? I hope my microwave findings were helpful, since then I have been considering trying out stovetop popping with a pan for the first time. Stay tuned, I hear it's quite difficult so should likely result in another attempt at cleaning a burnt pan with baking soda, but I digress.

I agree, in some cases they can certainly be more of a pain. I think, however, this depends on what type of diaper you are using. For instance, I am currently utilizing the basic prefold (sounds like you are using the same) and while it's delightful for her when she goes in the potty, it's a pain for both of us when she has an accident. It's absorbency level is lower than a dollar store disposable and it doesn't come fitted or with attaching pieces to hold it up. This was my own doing though, I could have purchased the higher end models but they were an investment and I am cheap and poor.

I imagine having two children you likely know of some, if not most, of the other varieties but just in case I'll go into more detail.

For types there are:

The flats

The Flats, Prefolds, Fitted, All-inOnes (AIO'S), Pocket Diapers, Pocket Diapers, Doublers & Liners.

• Flats - one-layered diaper, generally 100% cotton gauze, can be used as a doubler or stuffer for pocket diapers. Absorbent, economical, easy to clean, fast to dry. Flat & Prefold are least expensive choice $15-$20 per dozen but you get what you pay for as it's a 3 piece diapering system (Diaper, Cover, Fastener) they are more challenging to fold and pin.



Prefolds

• Prefolds - Similar to flats but with multiple layers with focus in layering the middle. Referred to as 2x6x2's, 4x6x4's, 4x8x4's etc. The numbers is of course the layers side,middle,side. Come in variety of sizes, come in bleached (BCPF) or unbleached (UBCPF). Need to be pinned, don't come with cover. Hemp prefolds are more absorbent but also more expensive. Store easily, dry quickly, less pieces for wear and tear. Again Flat & Prefold are least expensive choice $15-$20 per dozen. But you get what you pay for as it's a 3 piece diapering system (Diaper, Cover, Pin/Snap) Can be used as a doubler or stuffer for pocket diapers.

Fitted

Pocket

• Fitted - Have elastic at legs and back, resemble disposable diaper, requires a cover. Often come with fasteners, easy to use, babysitters have little problem, range in price from $10-$20 each.
  
• Pocket - Has layer of fleece/PUL (Polyurethane laminate) with opening in back to stuff with a doubler/stuffer/prefold or some use handtowels. This way you can decide the absorbency level. Less bulky depending on stuffing. Can come with cover, outer layer is often waterproof.
  



AIO (All In One)


• AIO's - Absorbent diaper with cover all in one just like disposable, easy to use. SUPER EASY for babysitters! Harder to clean, takes longer to dry and they are the expensive option. Most start at $18 a piece but again, you get what you pay for.
  
• AI2 - Has everything of an AIO and the absorbent material can be removed making cleaning and drying faster. Easy to use and stuffer can be replaced. More expensive. 
• Doublers & Liners - Used to improve absorbency to diapers. Best in cases of naptime or overnight. 

I purchased the Pre-fold variety with intentions of taking them for a test run and then seeing if I couldn't modify them. I can easily see myself sewing them, adding elastics if need be and just generally making them more easy to use. For now, my clever self, I simply take those cute diapers covers that you are supposed to use under a dress and stuff it with the prefold. Lazy or creative you be the judge. It works for this hippie mom. Of course if she has an accident it means the whole shebang needs to be washed. But that's the joy of potty training isn't it?

If none of the above works for you and you still hate disposable diapers too you could always go diaper free. There are hoards of parents out there who have potty trained their child by the age of two or three months. If you ask me this is more a case of the infant training the parents as the child is certainly not capable of carrying themselves to the potty. However, I'm sure if it works for them it's certainly better for the environment. No diapers has to be a positive result of early training.

Hope your diapering becomes easier for you, Happy Hippie, and if not, may your first daughter soon be completely potty trained and then you'll only have on set of diapers to contend with. :)

Have a good weekend!

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

P.S. The beast says a chipper "hi" to the monster. Followed by a "mommy, dat ball!" and footsteps off down the hall.

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Give us dirty laundry

Hello,

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

The Beast helping me with Laundry June '09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baking Soda Vs Pot

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Before

After

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

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

Until then adieu from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

Let's wrap this up!

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I've started the holiday wrapping!

This Shiny Paper is not recyclable! But totally reusable!

In the policy of keeping Monday light I'm bringing up a previous topic. Wrapping paper, although most has already been mentioned on this topic it is good to note something brought to my attention that I missed. As a reminder you should know that not all wrapping paper is recyclable so if you are concerned about recycling you want to purchase paper that hasn't been overly treated and glossed. Not only is it not likely to be recyclable but consider the amount of toxins that were used in making that same paper. Second and what I missed last week is the fact that once you are tossing the the paper into your blue bags for the curb ensure you've removed all the tape from the paper. It may seem completely annoying but trucks will reject whole bags if they spot one spot of tape.

I have worked as a landlord and I can tell you 100% for certain that my cardboard recycling has gone untouched for a week in the past because tenants hadn't properly disposed of their boxes. As a result it was left for us to correct so the trucks would gather the recycling. If you don't have a huge hate on for your landlord or you just want to make sure your paper is recycled for another purpose, then make that extra effort and snatch the sticky stuff off of it. So check to see if your paper is recyclable and then call your local clean up crew to see if they will accept your wrapping paper. A lot will, provided it's recyclable.

I purchased my wrapping paper last week for a quick and easy $5. However, not all my presents will be wrapped in recyclable paper. WHOA, WHY NOT?! you might be asking. Well it's simple, last year, and years prior, I received gifts wrapped in over glossy, non-recyclable wrapping paper. When I open these presents the paper doesn't always become crazy destroyed. I'm not anal about unwrapping gently mind you. But if it wasn't crazy wrapped in tape the paper is salvageable. Once unwrapped we put all the paper in a big gift bag that I have out every year. While everyone is off playing with their presents I go though this gift bag and fold the salvageable paper into neat folded piles and store them for next season. This is my way of twice loving paper that is just otherwise going to sit in waste for years. It honestly only takes another 5 minutes out of the year and saves the paper from years in trash. Not to mention it stocks me up on paper every year and reduces my wasted cash. I have, this year, wrapped 10 presents in reused wrapping paper. The more I wrap my families gifts in the more I'll have for next year.

Remember, in the U.S. of A. alone an additional 5 million tones of waste is generated from Christmas!! 4 million of those tones are from wrapping paper! Do you know how much paper equates a ton?!

Well, I'm going to go back to wrapping presents with the beast now. Your friend neighborhood hippie mom.

it's the most wasteful time of the year!

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I'm out of wrapping paper!

When it comes to wrapping paper and bags I have a system. In my storage closet there is a large plastic storage bin on a shelf. It contains within it gift bags of every size and occasion from years of collection. These bags are sorted by size making it easy to find what you are looking for. On the side of this container is a stack of folded neutrally colored tissue paper, neatly tucked for your packing pleasure. I have not had to purchase a gift bag in maybe 7 years! Gift wrapping paper I will keep in a similar style. Even when it's down to the sliver, I will use those slivers to make name tags for my gifts.
So after 6 years my wrapping paper has almost completely dried up. This year I am on a mission to replace it, the additional mission is to replace it with recyclable paper. A commonly missed fact is that christmas paper is not recyclable! Does that not make you a little sick?! Just think how much paper you go through in your house, now think how much paper your friends go through in their house. Now think of that estimated  6.6677 billion people who celebrate Christmas every year and how much they might be going through.
So now that I have run out wrapping paper that I admit I purchased cheap and was likely not recyclable in the slightest, I shall see what I can do. Of course the quick easy solution would be to chase down a recyclable variety. But that's boring, so I looked up some other methods of wrapping. Here are some of my ideas and some I found online.

• Personalized paper - Take standard brown paper (like a brown paper bag or big brown paper towel) and personalize it, color on it with your children, glue things on the finished wrap job. Sparkle it up. I really think I may do that this year. Get some large recyclable craft paper and go nuts with the family. Make it a family fun day of doodling. And on the bottom of each gift I might just stamp, "100% Recyclable" so the recipient knows to not toss this with the rest of the paper ;) 
• Gift Bags - Might not be as fun to open but you can reuse them over and over again. That's what I do for my adult friends. I love to wrap though and kids can sneak into bags. 
• Gift in a gift - Teen in university/college pack a laundry basket of goodies. Fisherman friend, tackle box of presents. Buy them a gift you can pack in a gift, like a gift and a towel. Wrap the towel around the gift and tie it off. 
• Fabric gift bags - Make your own fabric gift bags. As much as this sounds like a sweet idea it doesn't really seem cost effective to me. Unless you had some pact with your friends that you give them the fabric bag this year and next year they use it for you. That just seems like a lot of work for a once a year event. 
• Recycled wrapping paper - already mentioned but it goes without saying. 

Those are just some ideas, I'm sure if you think on it you can come up with so many more! I am set on the crafty idea, adds a personalized touch and can be personalized for every season so no need for me to have so many individual rolls in my storage closet. One roll to rule them all one roll to...wrap them!

That's all from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

The day has arrived

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I'm getting married!

Alright, so maybe I am looking for an excuse to announce it! Maybe I just like to keep Monday's posts light. Or maybe I am looking for a way to direct you to my alternate blog! No matter what the reason for today's topic it is the topic. So let's continue forward.

Keeping with the topic of going green and being green I decided to look into ways I could have a green wedding. When you think of a wedding it is one of the least green events. It's also the least economical for a household. $600-$1,000,000 spent on a dress that will most likely be worn once. Not very wise! Then there is all the wasted food that will most likely result from the reception. As beautiful and exciting as a wedding can be it still maintains mass potential as an exceptionally wasteful event.

If you're having a wedding chances are you or your groom have envisioned this day for many, many years! You've imagined the flowers upon flowers down the aisle. Your silk dress with it's silk train leading out the door. Candles lit all over the church or hall. A cake that was taller than you and three different types of chicken with enough for seconds, thirds and left overs for everybody. The question is then posed, how much are you willing to sacrifice to make a wedding green? How expensive is an organic wedding? How much or how little will make you hypocritical towards all your morals for the day? There is no easy answer, it's all preference. Yet, one thing is readily available, greener solutions to the very things you desired and in most cases you are actually saving yourself some money.

I have only touched the surface today on all my green wedding options. With the little bit I've looked into I imagine it'll not only save my values and standards from a blemish but also my wallet from bleeding out. We wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?

Here are a few of the ideas I've come up with so far to be more cost-efficient and green, I feel most are obvious:

• Bonbonniere - In case you don't know what a bonbonniere is, it is the gifts or trinkets you send home with your guests. Little things like candles with your names on them, small containers of bubbles...with your names on them. Maybe a bag of candy. Bag of seeds etc. In this case the goal would simply be to make sure the gifts were eco-friendly ie: not a candle. Or if it was a candle one that is more eco-friendly (see previous post) I do think I will hand out eco-friendly gifts while not being pushy eco-friendly gifts. I'm not about to hand out small "go vegetarian" booklets, but I might give a gift of seeds to be planted or maybe some eco-friendly bubble solutions that do not have and EDTA in them.
  
• Dinner - This one is simple, don't over cook and go vegetarian. Will I be doing that? Yes and no. I'll certainly not be cooking too much and YES I will offer a massive amount of vegetarian friendly food. Hello, I'm a vegetarian!!! My daughter is vegetarian and my fiancée has always been on the fence. So why on earth would I make it so we were only getting salad while our guests dined on the finest death platters we could afford.
  I plan to have a middle eastern food platter. The food is delicious and largely vegetarian. That doesn't mean I'm going to be filling my guests with egg plants and chickpeas with no carcass on their menu. Of course we'll have chicken, and likely cow, we'll simply have more vegetarian options. Honestly there are only three main animals that people dine on regularly, Pigs, Cows and Chickens. Why on earth should there be seven different variations of dead cow at one event and only one salad? I'm not going to make my wedding about converting the carnivores in my circle, that simply isn't my style. I'm also not going to violate an entire barn of animals either. I feel I'll be fair and offer an opportunity for my carnivorous family and friends to experience alternative vegetarian meals. A lot of people believe if you're a vegetarian you eat tofu everyday. I have not digested tofu in 2 years and when I do it's usually exceptionally random. There really are good meals out there for us eggplant lovers. I also don't eat eggplant!
  
• Dresses - Buying a bunch of dresses that people are going to wear only once seems wasteful, yes. There are those who buy them from a second hand establishment or agree simply to wear one of their own and have matching colors. Again, I don't think I'll be doing that. I have promised my bridesmaids they won't have to wear anything...that will end up on a "bad bridesmaid dress" website. I keep my promises. I would like to pick out dresses that my bridesmaids can wear out after the wedding for years to come. Assuming they fit for years to come, that part I can't control
  
• THE DRESS - Then there is THE dress. Of course one could go vintage, or wear their mothers. No offense to my mother but giant frilly shoulders is no longer the style. As for vintage from other family members, we are not the , er.. same...body type. I want my dress to be my own so although vintage may be an option it won't be heirloom vintage.
  There is also the option of purchasing or having your dress custom made using eco fabrics such as cotton, hemp, bamboo and Peace Silk. Peace silk is made by harvesting the fibre after the silkworm have left their cocoons rather than boiling the silkworms alive. Certainly a much more animal friendly method. It is a bit more expensive at roughly $25 a yard. But I'm short, I don't need that many yards right? As long as there is still something left to the imagination right? Right?!
  
• Flowers - Face it, chances are there are going to be a lot of flowers at your wedding. Most conventional flowers are grown using irrigation and often hazardous chemical pesticides/fertilizers. There are a lot of options in major cities for eco-minded florists who specialize in organic or more environmental and sustainable growing methods. You can ask the florist if they are eco-friendly VeriFlora, Florverde and FLP certified flowers. {see below for some Canadian options}. If organic isn't possible you can always try to find in-season, locally-grown flowers. In Canada this would mean a wedding between May and October. I imagine I'll just have fewer flowers than some of the traditional weddings. I will have the bouquets and boutonnieres but I'm not planning to be wed in a church so I don't picture pews decorated with flowers.
  
• Gifts - Okay, this one doesn't stand out as quickly to me. But there, I suppose, is the issue of wrapping paper and luxury or frilly gifts. A thought would be to request some donate instead to an eco-charity. I don't imagine that is what we're going to do. However we might offer it up as an alternative to a gift. It's a nice idea but I don't feel pots, pans and millions of toasters is that wasteful of a gift. A boat maybe, but not a spatula.
  
• Invitations - This was an obvious one, for each invitation you send there will be an rsvp coming back. Depending on the size of your wedding party that is a lot of paper waste. I don't know about anybody else but I don't want to e-mail my invites. A solution might be to have the RSVP's be electronic. I don't know which I will do. I imagine I'll go the standard route with RSVP's coming back in paper form. I don't feel too awful terrible about this as my wedding should be well under 100 attendants. Another save would be to print the invites on recycled or plantable paper.  I'll likely do the first although the later sounds really interesting. It is paper that is embedded with seeds so once planted will grow wildflowers.
  

Organic Florists:

Toronto area, EcoFlora, Whole Food Market 
Vancouver area, Amoda Flowers ,  Capers Community Market/Whole Foods 
New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, Canadian Sierra Eco website .

So as I said, fairly obvious for most of those and it is all personal preference. Even I won't be sacrificing it all but I will certainly be saving a dollar or two on the other things.

Well, I have invites to write and dates to pick, so until later this is all from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.