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.

Subliminal Greeness

Hello,

My name is bwings and I loved the suntots when I was a child.

Happy Monday to you! I know we've already discussed my inner flower child yet we have not discussed some of the influential childhood movies and books. As a child I enjoyed these movies, books and television shows for their entertainment. As an adult I enjoy them for their lessons and values.

In recent years the United Nations actually went as far as naming Tinker Bell an Honorary Ambassador of Green. But Disney, Dr. Seuss and many others were way ahead of them on this. Subliminally or outright teaching us about the environment we live in and how we should treat it with respect. Some of my childhood favorites as well as later loves and friendly suggestions from friends are below. Maybe some that will strike a chord with you.

Charlotte's Web - As a child I loved the music, the animals and the story. I can't think of anything I didn't like in this movie was a child. I was always said when the spider passes (if that's a spoiler for you I am quite sad for you). I adore this movie as an adult for teaching valuable life lessons to children. You learn about choices, what meat comes from, death, friends drifting apart. As Asmerus said, it doesn't sugarcoat it for you like some modern movies and shows would. Main characters die, pork is a dead animal and life isn't easy. Of course this could be in part due to it's having been based on a novel.

Stop the Smoggies - A tv show that I loved as a child. I don't really know why, I just really loved these characters. The suntots were just so loveable and the smoggies so dense about their foolish ways. I loved that there was always karmic punishment for Emma's abuse of her surrounding nature. As an adult I appreciate this show for getting the eco-friendly messages across without making it preachy. I haved watched some now and it seems so obvious I mean just listen to their theme song! As a child I just sang along and took in the message without being distracted. Poor graphics or not this was a fun show.

Bambi - I always hated when the mother met her end. I would wince and look away from the tv. Even though they never showed the final shot it troubled me that people would do this to animals. Movies like Bambi certainly made me more aware as a child of the injustice bestowed on animals. Combine that with growing up on a farm and you have who I am today. As an adult I still am saddened when poor Bambi turns and says, "we made it mother!" only to find a cold and frozen world of snow (subliminal message perhaps) I don't cry anymore but it's not my favorite part of the movie. My favorite part is easily the owl teaching the hormone ridden animals about the birds and the bees. ;p

Brave Little Toaster - A group of toys and trinkets are tossed out. I can't tell you how boring I found this movie. It dragged on and on and on. I still can barely handle this movie. But there were parts of it that got my attention and were funny or thrilling. When they are lost in the woods, when they are met with those crazy modified electronics or the escape from the evil magnet of doom. Sure it had it's moments and made me feel guilty about throwing things out. I still get a little sad when I see all those singing cars getting crushed. Made me a bit of a hoarder maybe, but it also encouraged my passing things down or giving them away. As an adult I still think they could have made it a little more entertaining for the kids. The best parts were the musical bits and the rest are just so dry and lost on them. What kid knows what "carcinogenic" means?

Free Willy - Another message that wasn't as effective on me, certainly showed some of the hidden truth behind these beautiful caged majestic creatures. Also served as a reminder that they are still animals and as unpredictable as animals can get. Oh, and I can certainly still play the theme song on the keyboard, was never a big fan of Michael Jackson but this song will always make me think of that whale.

Fern Gully - I didn't own this movie as a child and so I don't remember it as much. But I don't think I really need to go into too much detail about the storyline. It deals with the problems in the rainforest today in a way that children can understand. Anti-deforestation message with pixies.

Pocahontas - I loved the music as a child. I wanted to be pocahontas some days and be able to communicate with the earth and trees. Other days I wanted to be a firefighter, I was a kid, of course I wanted to be different things daily. But Pocahontas certainly got a few messages across to me. I opened my eyes to the ignorance some have towards both the earth as well as different cultures. As a child it made me think a little more about the differences between us and animals as well as other races. I began to question the more racist things I heard on a daily basis in the news. People questioning how Eastern culture lives, feminism, language barriors and of course I questioned why we felt we had the right to kill animals. Yes, Pocahontas molded me just as much as the rest in my childhood. As an adult I still absolutely adore the music and if Color of the wind comes on I belt it out with my out of tune untrained voice with all the energy I can muster.

101 Dalmations - The lady turned helpless animals into fur. Was there any question that this would be on my list of influential movies? As a child I loved the music, the story, the animals. As an adult I love that they convey the anti-fur message without traumatizing the children.

The Rescuers Down Under - This movie was filled with animal love, I never owned it but we had a recorded copy that would go purple and splotchy and I watched it until it dragged. In fact when my baby brother was born and I was told of his name I was so sad. My mother asked me why and I said because I had wanted to name the baby Bianca! I later would name my rescue cat Bianca after the little mouse.

The Jungle Book - Who didn't love that bear teaching us about how we only need the bare necessites.

Brother Bear - Such a touching story about putting yourself in someone else's shoes. In this case it also uses animals and as a result shows how humans change the lives of animals as well. I definitely teared up when I first watched this movie. I still find it very touching and influential while having a lot of funny moments and not destroying childhood innocence any more than Bambi did. "Let's get a backseat or something, I look like you hunted me!"

Finding Nemo - Didn't really change me too much, but I'm also an adult so subliminal kid things shouldn't change me now right? But I thought they captured the persona's of certain animals (Sea Gulls) very well.

Shark Tales - A shark that wants to be a vegetarian. Sure it's mocking the mofia but come on... a shark that doesn't want to kill anything.

Little Mermaid - As a kid the fish death DEFINITELY made me not want to eat fish. As an adult I don't think this was subliminal implanting at all. Just one of those things intended to be funny that reads the truth to children. Mind you I already didn't want to eat fish long before watching this. My father once took me fishing. This started by capturing worms which was fun. Then he stuck a hook through the worm. I remember being so upset by this! I wouldn't do it! Then my father caught a big trout and it was tossed in a bucket. I was so excited, "look at the beautiful - ahh what are you doing?!" I had visions of this fish in a tank swimming around for me to feed. As my grandfather picked it up and smashed it's head down hard on a rock my stomach turned. Then to watch him pull out his switchblade and slit it's fishy throat. :(  I never went fishing again!

Wall-E - Off the vegetarian train, focus more on pollution. Wall-E obviously wasn't from my childhood but I still loved it. I know not what effect it might have on a subliminal level with children until this generation is older. But I can speak as an adult that it speaks volumes about the way we are treating the earth as a disposable utensil. The earth will be around long after we're gone, we're not saving the earth, we're saving ourselves.

Animals are Beautiful People - Again, a movie I watched as an adult, but to see how the other side lives was very educational. Presented in an amusing fashion with delightful sound effects and fabricated story lines of romances and drama. The drunken animals from the ripe fruit remains by far my favorite part!

Over the Hedge - Another lovable animal story. There seem to be a lot of them. This one is of course focused on how animals struggle to survive in a city. I was speaking of this topic not that long ago. In our 10 tree big woods there are deer, coyotes, raccoons and potheads. The later certainly isn't endangered in the city but the rest of them are finding their homes shrunk.

Happy Feet - To be honest I was let down by this movie. But yet again it's a movie that takes you on a path as the animals to show you what we are doing to their environment. First they make us love those little happy feet and then they show how we are destroying them. Clever and common in these movies. I just really didn't understand why Robin Williams needed to be the voice of two main characters and a third random character. I love him as a voice actor, of course, but there are more than he!

Captain Planet and the Planeteers -  I have never watched this but from what I see in the intro I can see how environmental it must be. I couldn't find a good copy of the song with the video but Check out this fanboy response! 

The Lorax - I can't remember reading this but Dr. Seuss had a lot of great hits for teaching kids valuable lessons about loving all people "Horton Hears a Who" The important line in this would be "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to happen it's not." I do wonder if "the word of the Lorax" seems a little close to "The word of the Lord" ?

The Greenzys - The greenzys is newer introduction of characters. A book, a website and 12" all green plushies, oh and a theme song but nothing to connect the theme song too. They might do more with it but for now, unless that story is phenomenal it's just another green idea. What's special about them is that their dolls are made from Soy Fibers and non-toxic dyes, packaged in recycled paperboard and with any purchase from the greenzys a portion of the money is donated to a green charity.

March of the Penguin - I haven't watched this yet, I do have it on my ever growing list of movies to watch and I imagine my animal loving daughter will adore the flapping, flightless birds. I might want to watch it first though to see if there are any bloody seal parts that might scare a 1 year old. I don't intend to hide death from her, I just don't see the point in subjecting her to terrifying moments at such a young age.

Arctic Tale - Another I have yet to watch, I hear there are some sad moments of animal death but that is the point of movies like this they are real. Again, will watch before I let the beast watch it. That is, however, my job as a mom.

What movies, tv shows or books influenced your inner flower child?

I've had far too much subliminal green talk for today, I'm going to go dance play outside with my daughter and enjoy nature at it's finest!

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.

Send an e-mail to Hippie Mom

Give us dirty laundry

Hello,

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

The Beast helping me with Laundry June '09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They have arrived!

Hello,

My name is "bwings" and I'm switching to cloth diapers....or at least my daughter is!

There is a lot of stink around the world about these diapers, pardon the obvious pun. Parenting is such a touchy subject and I don't pretend to be doing it the one and only way. I am going to do it the best way I can and leave you to yours. Removing parenting from the equation let's talk dollars and ecosystems then.

First thing I simply must share with you. It is apparently illegal to dispose of human feces, I couldn't find anything to support this but I have heard it and it does make sense. So why then, you might ask, are you allowed to dump tonnes of it in the landfills in little trojan horses of diapers? Quite simply put...you're not supposed. Do you use disposable diapers? Yes? Go fetch the bag or box it came from. Now turn it over and find on it where it gives you the instructions of using their diapers. Right there, in plain print that you never read because "Pft, I know how to use a diaper" it says, "Shake diaper contents into toilet before discarding"

WHOOPS!

Cloth diapers, what did our ancestors use?

First nations mothers would use milkweed and other plant life to wrap around their babies before strapping them to a papoose board.

Papoose Board

Inuit would use soft moss they had collected in summer months to line their babies clothes. Europeans in the 16th century used squares of cloth folded and tied around the waist with strings. The icky bit would be that rich children had a clean diaper a day anyone else changed once every 3-4 days (EWWW) Pioneers didn't have the best conditions either, they couldn't always clean their diapers and would just dry them for use the next day.

Cloth diapers have definitely come a long way since then.




Disposable Diapers, how long have we been tossing them out?

Disposable diapers largely get their finding from WWII. With women being thrown into the work-force they didn't have time to run around cleaning baby poo of clothes anymore. As they say supply and demand runs the economy and sure enough it wasn't long before they were established.

Marion Donovan & Boater

• 1942, during WWII a swedish paper company (Pauliström ) created the first disposable diaper using sheets of tissue inside rubber pants.  
• 1946 Marion Donovan developed a waterproof diaper shecalled the "Boater" using a sheet of plastic from a shower curtain and using plastic snaps in lieu of safety pins. 
• 1947 George M. Schroder invented the first disposable with fabric that was not woven. 
• 1949 Johnson & Johnson would introduce disposables to the United States. Others quickly joined the market as competitors. 
• 1956 Procter & Gamble {think Pampers}got a sniff of the subject [oh man I keep punning with you]
• 1959 Pampers had a name



Pampers 1961



Pampers vs Huggies

• 1961 pampers was introduced to the market almost twenty years after the first disposable diaper. 
• 1966 Sodium Polyacrylate (Super-absorbant material) is developed but not introduced.
• 1968 Kimberly-Clark {think Huggies} began beta testing
• 1978 Huggies is introduced to the market thus forcing pampers into a long and vicious battle for top diaper ever since. 
• 1984 Super-absorbent material sodium Polyacrylate is introduced. 

Cloth vs. Disposable the Big Debate!

Before I get into the logistics of Economics and Environmental factors let me spout off some fun facts.

The average time a baby is in diapers is 30 months. In that time they average 7,300 changes.
In 1955 it is said that 99.999999% of babies wore cloth diapers and 7% experienced diaper rash.
In 1991 statistics say that only 10% wore cloth and 78% of babies experienced diaper rash. OUCH!

Economics

Economically speaking it all depends on a lot of things. Diapers can cost up to $100 a month depending whether you are a name brand addict or a coupon cutter. It would also, of course, depend on your own level of hygiene but I'm not even going to think about that. *Shivers* Depending on how old your child is when you are using cloth diapers the same could be true for them. If you're using a laundry service for them it will balance out to be the same. And to wash them in the machine will cost a fair penny too. Not really encouraging as far as the money speaks. Although if you consider the rate at which you'd go through low grade disposable that might be cheaper then you might actually be saving money by going cloth anyway.
I couldn't do the math in my head but this lovely lady did and broke it down quite beautifully I might add. Her findings also lean towards cloth diapers being more economical. Although not by much if you are using a laundry service as opposed to washing them yourselves.

Environmental

Although there is a huge smelly mess of discussion about the impact of each on the environment, again with the unforgivable puns, to me it's pretty obvious that the cloth diapers are less impacting. The pro-disposable diaper argument is that the grey water caused by washing the cloth diapers is just as bad as the manufacturing and disposable of disposable. I haven't yet posted on laundry but I will say this, grey water impact can certainly be lessened depending on your detergents and water temperature.

An estimated 5 million tons of untreated waste and 2 billion tons of urine, feces, pastic and paper are added to landfills every year. It would take 80,000 pounds of plastic and 200,000 trees to manufacture disposable diapers for the United States alone!  "Bio-degradeable" diapers would have to be exposed to air and sun and in a landfill this is not very likely and thus would take hundreds of years to decompose only partially.

Untreated disposable diapers sitting in landfills risk contaminating ground water while the contents of cloth diapers get flushed down a toilet and then washed into grey water which will go into sewer systems to be treated at wastewater plants.


Conclusion


I'm not here to tell you how to raise your child, I am never here telling you which way is right or wrong in life. I am here only to draw conclusions on environmental impacts and express what I am personally going to do about it. Thus the blog about a mom going green. {there, I think I avoided angry mom mobs}

It is evident that cloth diapers are easily more environmental, but that was never a question for me. Assuming you are using environmentally friendly detergents and cold water {see tomorrow's post} you are not damaging the environment as much as you would be.

What am I doing about it? Well, I didn't use cloth diapers in the early part of her life because I am a working, stay at home mom. I would never have had time to get them clean as quickly as I should and therefore would have had maybe 20 odd dirty diapers just piling up, ewww. So for hygienic reasons I abused the earth as well as my wallet. My daughter wanted to potty train at 8 months (bless her) and so at 8 months I did start shaking her turds into the toilet, even before knowing I was supposed to be doing it all along. I did this in an effort to show her where they are supposed to go. Now that she has mastered the potty I have purchased 6 pre-fold cloth diapers. These are less expensive as they are not as "high-tech" as far as cloth diapers come. I will touch more on cloth diapers in another post. But for now I should go wash the potty seat for it's next visit from my cloth diaper wearing beast.

Your neighborhood hippie mom

Baby, it's cold outside!

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I don't have a wood stove...

... but some of my readers do.

Dear Hippie Mom,

I was wondering how environmental a pellet stove is for the environment both indoors and out.  

Anonoymous Hippie

Well Anon Hippie, tis the season to freeze our butts off in Canada, so that's a very festive question.

First, what is a Pellet Stove.

A pellet stove became popular in the 80's as a slow burning source of heat. They came about largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. Although burning pellets has been around for hundreds of years. Settlers would burn grass and buffalo chips, cow pie, meadow muffins, feces; if no wood or coal was available. Pellet stoves burn compressed wood or biomass pellets slowly with a constant flame. If history tells me much from my candle research slow burning is definitely a great thing as far as emissions go. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself.

So how green are these heat emitting devices in our family room? From everything I've read they seem to be very sound and the options for fuel consumption is quite vast. Some can use a long list of self-sustaining resources such as cherry pits, corn, wheat and sunflower seeds! Now isn't that great?! Then as far as their use goes there is a long list of pros as well. According to my findings most are self igniting and can be controlled by a thermostat or even a remote control.

I remember growing up with a wood stove and sitting on a freezing cold night huddled around the ice cold stove because no one woke up to stoke it. Smoke would pour out as attempts were made at starting a fresh fire. Often we resorted to boiling water, filling old pop bottles with said water and then tucking those in bed with us. We soon learned you wanted to keep these bottles a few blankets above you to prevent terrible burns like those my poor fathers leg experienced one frozen night. If you were really on top of things you would have 3 in your bed an hour before you went to bed.

To think these burns and late nights of smoked out kitchens and blaring smoke alarms that ended up disconnected more often than they offered security could've all been prevented with the addition of a pellet stove! Another pro, is that these pellets burn cleanly and create only a fine layer of ash rather than a thick sticky layer of creosote and therefore with proper care are far less likely to cause chimney fires. I know that could have saved a few firefighters from coming to my place too! In fact these pellet stoves pollute so very little they don't require certification from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) though most get certified anyway.

Also, it should be noted that because trees and plants suck carbon out of the air any burning of them would result in a 0 balance change in Carbon emissions. Thusly they are exempt from the carbon taxes in the world. I struggled to find anything for Canada but in the states an efficient pellet stove is eligible for a tax credit up to 30% of the cost of the appliance and labor. If you've just had one installed it is worth mentioning to your accountant during tax time.

These pellet stoves sound like a very practical and green choice for heating your house this winter. In fact the only two possibly negative thing that stood out was the fact that, like with a car, one should be aware of the grade of fuel they are using and try to remain consistent so as not to damage the "engine" so to speak. Also you'll want to make sure you have a pellet fuel source provider before making the switch as it's still gaining in popularity. In most cases cost is the same but if you have the mind power to use it I found a fuel value calculator that breaks it all down for you in determining how to save money.

Long story short a pellet stove is definitely a step up from a regular wood stove and doesn't use up precious resources such as fossil fuels. It causes far less toxic emissions and lessens our carbon footprint while trying to keep warm. It may not save you any money but it probably won't cost you more either. It will, however, reduce your carbon footprint as well as the carcinogens emitted into your home and that is a saving worth a switch for me!

If you want to e-mail your questions to Hippie Mom you can do so at hippiemom@hotmail.ca {note, ca not com}

Keep warm, your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.


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Book Worms

Hello,

My name is "bwings" and I read a lot!

Screenshot from Silly Survey Sunday 21

When I was a kid my nickname was Miss Read-a-lot. Not very creative but certainly true to my character. At 5 years old I would go to the library, borrow 30 books and read them in one day. I would then beg and plead with my mother to let me go back to the library for more books. The librarian used to become annoyed and say, "Shouldn't you leave some books for the others?"
By 8 I had this unspoken goal to read every book in the library. I learned quickly this was a hard task. Not because there were a lot of books in the library, but because when you went back they were always in a different spot. They were sorted by author but not necessarily in alphabetical order after that. I suppose this might have started my obsession in alphabetical order and everything having it's place. My DVD rack is in alphabetical order Annie through to Zoolander. But I digress.
I never did finish reading all those books, although I did read an entire bookshelf section of Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. I did however partake in a green and practical exchange of literature. Because of the glue that binds the books they would not be considered recyclable. In purchasing a book I would have to sell, exchange or donate the book afterwards. In the effort of keeping green and saving some money the library is among the best options. Assuming of course you are studious and return your books on time you won't have to pay market value for the book. If you want to spend countless nights snuggled up with this particular book, as is the case with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in this house, then taking advantage of a second hand book store might be beneficial.

Now for a survey of 100 top voted books of our century according Waterstone's Books/Channel Four's list of the 'One Hundred Greatest Books of the Century',
That and a poll is beneath the fold. Until tomorrow that is all from your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.

To the left is the fridge...

Hello, 

My name is "bwings" and I'll be your tour guide for this evening.

To touch more on the previous post I thought I'd give you a tour of my kitchen.
With vegetarian food it's all about spice and/or flavor. Literally taking something simple (vegetables) and spicing it up. I try to keep most of these items in stock or plan to in the new year.

For Dry/Canned goods {I avoid cans because of possible BPA lining}:

• Pasta
• Beans, chickpeas,lentils
• Rice or whole grains
• TVP (textured vegetable protein)

Baking  supplies:

• Baking Powder, Baking Soda {of course Baking Soda is great to have around no matter what!}
• Cocoa Powder/Chocolate Chips
• Egg Replacer (I currently eat eggs but am considering switching to no eggs or milk)
• Flour
• Liquid Sweetner
• Sugar
• Vanilla

ESSENTIALS (most common in vegetarian specific recipes)

• Soy Sauce (I don't use too much because fiancée hates it)
• Tahini (think Humus!)
• Stir Fry Sauces {Peanut ... oh the name escapes me right now...I'll get back to you. It's delicious! Spicy and delicious! Goes great with pasta's. Sweet Chili Sauce as well.}
• Olive Oil, Sesame Oil (Again, I use Canola Oil as I find it to have more nutrients.)
• Balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar (I have white and balsamic. Again another good thing for cleaning ;) )
• Peanut Butter/nut butter (I have but honestly don't use pb much. Mostly my meat-eating partner in crime)
• Yeast (I keep active yeast available when I can)

My Spice rack favorites are Paprika and Garlic Powder. Often onion flakes as well:

• Basil
• Cayenne (Remember, only a little can make it hot hot hot!)
• Chili Powder
• Cinnamon
• Cumin (I personally do not like it, it's in a lot of vegetarian dishes though. I find it has a taste that you either love or can do without. Often in Samosas) 
• Curry (again, not often used in this house.)
• Garlic Powder (in everything! I will put it in instead of chives because it's quicker)
• Ginger Powder (I have run out)
• Onion Powder (or onion flakes)
• Oregano (running low)
• Parsley
• Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt (I really don't use that much

Aside from that I personally buy my fruits and vegetables frozen, mostly because it can be hard to keep and expensive to buy fresh. That's not to say we never have fresh never frozen fruit/vegetables. Just you'll always find a bag of frozen vegetables in our freezer. Rarely will you find canned fruits or vegetables (again bpa lined cans)

I also try to keep a little container of lemon juice and some people always have tofu handy but I rarely have tofu.

This is the kitchen of a vegetarian. The chicken in the freezer is my meat-eating roommates *cough* finacée's ;p

Now that I've made you all hungry I'll leave you to make some din-din.

Have a great weekend,

Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom!

Cooking in the Kitchen with Bwings

Hello, 

My name is "Bwings" and I'm still a vegetarian. 

As I stated in the previous post I can sum up most meat-eaters into seven categories. Open-minded, close-minded, jealous, offended, "practically a vegetarian", former vegetarian, compensating. Each has their own responses to the statement, "I'm a vegetarian." and each plays their own role in my life as a vegetarian. My  friends, who for the most part are meat-eaters, know I respect and appreciate them regardless of their animal consumption and I hope it is the same in the reverse.

I started this post because I received a letter asking for vegetarian recipe ideas. Although I have responded individually I have thought of this letter a few times. The genuine desire to make a vegetarian meal for their friend warmed my heart. I have friends who have done the same and I love them for it so this letter reminded me of how much a person can care. I have had a vegetarian meal made for me and I in turn have cooked my share of chicken or hamburger for someone. It's not easy for me to do but I have done it out of love before.

Dear Hippie Mom,

I read on here that you are a vegetarian. I was wondering if I could get a good recipe from you. My friend has always been so helpful for us in the past. Always cooking for us and taking care of us when we need it and now I'd like to return the favor. But she is a vegetarian and her husband is a huge meat lover so it is hard thinking of a meal to make them. Do you know of any good casseroles or soups to make that they both might enjoy. I don't want to just give her a salad or veggie hamburger because it's not original. I just don't know of any good recipes without meat or what could be substituted for the meat that would taste good. I know she makes bean burritos that are good. If you know of anything good please let me know it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Thoughtful Cook

Well, Thoughtful Cook, it is wonderful for you to think of your friend and want to do something for them. Even more so for you to want to make it individual to her diet and unique at the same time. I can understand not being sure of what to make as a vegetarian I am always trying to spice up my cooking. 
A few recipes come to mind but in general it's your own creativity that makes the dish special. For instance I love burritos but my fiancée hates beans. So I make egg burritos, which are incredibly easy. Imagine an omelette, scrambled, put into a wrap. Similar to a crepe I suppose. In mine I put paprika, garlic, and mild-medium salsa all mixed in two eggs. While that is cooking on the stove (scrambled so stir often) I grate some cheese over the centre of a tortilla wrap (cheese flavored typically) and occasionally I will put a tbsp of plain unflavored GELATINE FREE yogurt. I stress Gelatine free because some don't realize that Gelatine is actually made using pig tendons and bones. If it jiggles check to see if it uses Gelatine! The yogurt is not necessary and I only put it in occasionally, mostly for extra nutrition. 

Make one for yourself first to see what you think of it. 

As for casseroles one of the easiest things to do is go into the salad section and buy the fake ground meat they have there. It may seem like cheating but why put yourself into chaos of trying to master what someone else has already figured out. Unless of course you're going to be doing it a lot and could save yourself money by mastering making fake meat. Fake meat is usually made using TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) and there are plenty of recipes online to try out. But in a hurry the pre-faked-fake stuff is just as good 9 times out of 10. But I will try to make my own again soon and when I do I'll definitely post my results :) 

Using the fake meat you can make that lasagna or your tried and true family recipe passed down from great-great-grand-mama. Just use the fake stuff in substitute and most meat-eaters wouldn't know the difference unless a vegetarian was serving and or eating it. I suspect if I made a huge casserole and served it my meat-eating friends would ask what was in it. If I was biting into it they'd either faint or assume it was fake. Actually I once panicked a friend when they saw me take a big bite of a veggie burger they didn't realize was fake. They couldn't tell the difference and I had thought they already knew. Whoops.


One final thing to note is to always check the ingredients on the products you buy. You might be surprised as to what you'll find. I once grabbed a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook. The recipe called for Worcestershire sauce, if you look at the back of your bottle and read the ingredients you'll learn that Worcestershire sauce uses anchovies. Same is true for a lot of Caesar dressing. Not so alarming that it happens but more so that a vegetarian book called for this ingredient. Moral of the story is to always question what goes into the products you purchase pre-made. 

I hope that helps some, I do have lots of other recipes although most just involve subtracting the meat, such as the case with my quiche recipes and such. 

If you have recipes or suggestions for Thoughtful Cook then post a comment below for them to discover. 

Your friendly neighborhood Hippie Mom


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Friend not food

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and I'm a vegetarian!

As is my daughter until she is old enough to decide for herself. I'm not going to be preachy that's not what this website is about. However I received a letter asking about how to feed a vegetarian. Bare with me I promise this will be informative and related to my efforts in going green. I also promise I am not trying to convert you to stop eating carcass meat and go vegetarian no more than I'm trying to make you clean your stove with baking soda. Skim if you must and you will see I'm not a mean paint slinging activists out to destroy your plate of death meat although I might tease you. This post will be long so will be in multiple parts this week.

I am often asked what I eat. My simple answer is, "The same as you just not the meat." It is not my intention to be a smart ass, I just get that question a lot! Having been a vegetarian for nine years I have formulated the quickest answer for the most common meat-eater question. Here's the scenario, you've gone to a new restaurant with friends (brave, brave you) and unfamiliar with the menu you ask the waitress/waiter what they recommend for a vegetarian. They offer the smoked salmon and without biting their head off you say, "I don't eat fish. I'm a vegetarian."
"oh!" they say, "Do you eat Chicken?"
Sure you could carry along pamphlets from PETA or some other pushy organization but I find the best answer in my experience is to say, "I don't eat anything with eyes, brains or a nervous system with the exception of carrots or potatoes." Why include the last part? It's simple, because it aids in not offending them as it's humor and because there is always some smart-ass in the crowd who will say, "Duh, but potatoes have eyes!"

In my opinion there are seven types of meat eaters

• The open-minded meat eater who can completely wrap their head around a diet without meat, it's just not for them.
• The close-minded meat eater who believes you need meat to live.
• The jealous meat eater who wants to be a vegetarian for health/morals but: doesn't have the will-power; can't afford a vegetarian lifestyle; loves the taste too much; wouldn't know how to cook meals anymore and would starve.
• The offended meat eater who is enraged by your vegetarian/vegan lifestyle as it is a direct insult to him/her as a person.
• The "practically a vegetarian" meat eater who only eats ugly animals. "I don't eat cows, well except steak, and I won't eat chicken unless it's grilled." "I only eat fish, they aren't animals." 
• The former vegetarian meat eater who sees the best of both worlds.
• The compensating meat eater who can't figure out what you'd eat or what to feed you. 

How I respond to each:

• Open-minded meat eater - Most of my best of friends are open-minded meat eaters. I, to be fair, am an open-minded vegetarian. I ate animals meat for 16 years so most of my life thus far has consisted of digesting the flesh of animals meat. I remember death meat, I just don't miss it. I believe everyone should be open to making their own decisions in life and won't push my beliefs on you provided you respect the same. Of course I get the vegetarian jokes placed on me and I return the favor. So how I interact with open-minded meat eaters is to kid. For instance, my fiancée once ordered a meat lover pizza. When it arrived I asked what was on it with a scrunched up nose. Bacon, hamburger, chicken, pepperoni. I proclaimed, "You have the entire farm on there! E.I.E.I.O" Other times I might let out a "moo" when he bites into a burger or ask my friend if they want a side of carcass with their fries. I only do this with friends though as they will know I'm making light of something. The elephant in the room must not go ignored but I don't want to be rude either.
• Close-minded meat eater - I don't often become close with these people. They are close-minded and thus whenever you are around them they are going to be pushing their beliefs on you. Justly I will do the same back and neither of us will budge. I might be open-minded to them having their own reasons but as for my diet and morals are concerned, the topic is not up for debate. So when a complete stranger tells me my daughter needs to eat her "meat and potatoes" I will of course give them the years of research that says otherwise. I always insist that she will make her own mind up when she's older as it is her decision. When an acquaintance suggests they will sneak her meat in private, I take direct offence to their outward questioning of my parenting and nevermore is she allowed alone with them. So in short, I close off the close-minded.
• Jealous meat eater - It's hard to properly respond to these conversations of wanting to not eat meat but not being able to not eat meat. Mostly because the concept is difficult for me to understand as for me it was as simple as just not doing it. I don't know if there is a proper response. These are people who are on the fence and a big part of you wants to pull them over to your side (naturally as it's what you believe in) but the rest of you wants it to be 100% their decision. So you basically sit on the other side and let them know if they ever wanted to be a vegetarian you would show them lots of recipes and promise them it's not as hard as they may think it is. Talk with them about why they do/don't want to be a vegetarian and see if there is any worries that you can calm. I also tell them that if they ever did become vegetarian and then went back I wouldn't think less of them at all. 
• Offended meat eater - similar to the close-minded meat eater but more volatile. The offended meat eater is the paint slinging activists for the other team. You've all seen the movies where an activists slings paint on a fur wearing patron and screams "FUR IS MURDER!" Well, not all vegetarians are like that and not all meat eaters are like this one. The offended meat eater will try to sneak meat in your food. If you manage to take a bite before discovering they declare what you're eating to be meat as if it proves something. This type of meat eater waves a burger under your nose after just meating meeting you and says, "Mmmm smell the blood". Essentially this type of meat eater takes a joke and pushes it too far, with a serious undertones. I may moo when my friends bite into a hamburger but I'd never slam down a picture of a cows head, tongue hanging out, on their plate! Nor would I ever throw their expensive turkey dinner in the kitty litter and do a victory dance. I won't throw paint on your fur if you don't throw meat in my salad! 
• "Practically a vegetarian" meat eater - as a true vegetarian it's hard to swallow the statement, "I'm practically a vegetarian." This one is nothing like the jealous meat eater. The jealous meat eater is at least accepting of the fact that they are not a vegetarian. The "practically a vegetarian" meat eater comes off as a poser and makes me want to say, "So you don't eat the cute animals? Do you want a cookie?! Oh, you cut back on your red meat? Want a gold star?" To me these are nearly as bad as the "I'm a vegetarian, I only eat fish and chicken." People who call themselves vegetarian but are eating flesh.....who are you kidding?! So to the "Practically a vegetarian" meat eater I say, "I'm practically a male, except I don't have a penis.... and I have boobs...and a vagina....and I'm nothing like a male...oh I have nipples like a male.....yeah...so I'm practically male!" 
• Former vegetarian meat eater - I'm always secretly curious why the were vegetarian and why they went back. That's pretty much the extent of my concern here. They aren't typically pushy in either way, it's like the best of both worlds. They've seen both sides. Sure they picked the enemy's other side of the fence but at least they ventured into my side for a bit. I guess it makes them more accepting of my choices and leaves me able to be more accepting of them. I don't know how to explain it any further. Sure I'd wish they were still vegetarian but I like that they gave it a shot, I guess that's what I'm trying to say. It's not for everyone but if they gave it a solid try then how could I ask for any more from a meat eater ;) 
• Compensating meat eater - This is actually the type of meat-eater that sparked this series of posts (there will be at least 2 if not 3) This is the kind of person who is open-minded as well as one of two things (if not both) 1) Unsure of what vegetarians eat or 2) want to feed their vegetarian friends a vegetarian meal. To this day I am met by people who worry that they don't have tofu in their kitchen when I come over. It's hard not to laugh at this as honestly I haven't had tofu in nearly 3 years. But they are also one of the more curious meat eaters. Whether it be because they can't wrap their head around your "limited" diet or because they want to treat you as they would their other guests and make you something special. In most cases it's the inability to wrap their heads around it. But occasionally I do get a letter asking what I eat as a vegetarian so they can make it for myself or their other vegetarian friends.

Tomorrow I will continue with a letter from a compensating meat eater.

For now I have said enough about meat and vegetables and must go make a late supper.
Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.