GREEN on the poor scene

addiction

2008-12-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

It may just be my seasonal depression talking, but New Year's resolutions make me feel like a cold, lame, wet duck. Why do I make them every year when the cynic that I am knows they will be forgotten by month's end? Probably because that which holds my cynical heart together is optimist's thread.
Here is the year's end--my twenty-eighth New Year--and only now am I giving enough thought to my bleak resolution history to realize that what I lack is not attainable resolutions, but success in equipping my self with the tools to make good ideas into habits. (I really should have read more Steven Covey.)
So, after eating my way through much of the last forty days, I revisited an article on the curses of my favorite tooth's treat: sugar. It's a good, short, top-ten-ways kind of piece that many friends have borrowed and copied so I've found it here, online, for your sad pleasure. Hearing the long list of reasons (which I already know but choose to ignore) why I should limit (or cut entirely) my refined sugar intake makes me sad and ever so guilty. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? Damn it. I know the answer.
The article helped turn my gloom into motivation, as the part about how to break cravings and avoid unnecessary sugars is much longer than the refined-sugar-is-killing-you part. Combining list numbers '5. Add protein and fiber' and '6. Spice it up' I made up a super quick, no bake, low sugar, energy bar thing, but let's call it the Keep Me Off the Smack Bar. Apparently, "craving sugar...can be a sign that your body needs more protein," and cooking with cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves may help regulate blood sugar. (I recognize all of the "can be" and "may" in these statements and accept the placebo affect will at least be of some assistance in my quest to break the addiction.)

Keep Me Off the Smack Bar
(Truthfully I just made this up today so feel free to adulterate the quantities and ingredients to suit your self.)

Pile on a cutting board and coarsely chop:
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries
a couple walnut pieces

Put into a bowl and combine with:
2 tbsp flax seeds
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
(shredded coconut would be super good, but I forgot)

Add:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp honey (yeah, I know, sugar)

Mix it all up then get a couple pieces of wax paper. Scoop about a 1/2 cup's worth onto each paper and mold it into bars, using the paper to press it. After that I sprinkled them with black sesame seeds. I put them in the refrigerator to stiffen them up. They are really filling, thanks to all that fat and protein from the nuts and germ. I'm still working on my first one and my sweet craving is satisfied.

wrapped up in the wax paper

shifting signifiers: solutions without spending (though a little late, now that my Christmas shopping is done)

2008-12-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

Eighteen days after "Buy Nothing Day" and seventeen days through the season of spending that makes people hate Christmas, I finally bottomed out today on gift-giving excitement, confidence, and money. When I named this blog, the "poor" part was because I had initially thought of my approach toward household management as based upon my very limited budget, but that isn't entirely true. What may be more difficult for me to admit than being 'limited' in the budget category is that I am actually quite frugal (though I am 100% sure my partner would disagree now that we've just had the "I'm out of money early" discussion). The budget part is a fluid, ever-changing condition, but the frugality is probably permanent. Even when the budget was not so limited I always searched for a bargain, from shoes to food to housing. It's not just that I was raised that way, but I like it.
Publicly, I feel a sense of discomfiture in being what I'd like to call a "frugalite". It may be my generation and all the credit that was (until of late) thrown at us with reckless abandon (why they hell wouldn't you buy what you can "afford"?). But as Americans I believe we have--by and large--lost the ability to solve problems without spending money. We seem to assume that making positive changes necessarily means difficulty, discomfort and more money. Strangely enough, it usually doesn't, and even more strangely, when many decide to make a change they make the most expensive one.
From an environmental standpoint, this can mean buying yourself a Prius or a flex-fuel car, purchasing carbon-offsets, or--for hell's sake--a plastic bag drying rack. There is surprisingly little encouragement in this time of 'green living' being so hip, to focus our efforts on reducing our consumption rather than just consuming 'better'. So, for example, instead of boosting our economy with a new car loan for that friendly hybrid, we could further consider taking part in a local ride-share program or investing in a public transport pass. Instead of buying carbon-offsets, figure out what your actual carbon footprint is and start by making simple choices to cut away at the excess.
The age of disposability in which we live has made it cheaper (question, though, in what sense of the word) to buy a new cell phone, computer or car than fix the one we own when problems arise. I realize that things break down and eventually do need replacing, but as consumers we are urged and encouraged to dispose of and replace, without consideration of repair. Unlike the distant production lines where most of our products now come from, local small businesses support much of our repair needs. When the car, computer or t.v. does die, find the best means of disposal--be it donation or recycling.
It's kind of a fun, un-cool place to live, turning old doors into needed desks, soup cans into kid's art containers, wasted fruit into leather, garbage to compost. I'm by no means the Queen of Recycling. In fact, I'd rather be the Queen of Reusing. But the fun is in realizing that the solution to a need may not be connected by your bank account.
p.s. Please don't take this post to mean that I think one shouldn't donate to charities.

Check out Adbusters Buy Nothing Day campaign:

"Suddenly, we ran out of money and, to avoid collapse, we quickly pumped liquidity back into the system. But behind our financial crisis a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature… fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low?

There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

It will take a massive mindshift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th. Then celebrate Christmas differently this year, and make a New Year’s resolution to change your lifestyle in 2009."

"I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic, I want to be plastic." -Andy Warhol

2008-12-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

Most of us are aware of the mind boggling numbers of plastic bags that are consumed each year (in the ballpark of 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags, worldwide) and there has been great focus recently on not just recycling, but re-using. After all, recycling is still waste. That is to say, without eliminating the need for something (in this case, choosing reusable, cloth bags for all shopping instead of coming up with more uses for the plastic ones) one continues the production-consumption cycle. For the sake of sanity, let's assume the reusable cloth bag discussion is a done deal. So, beyond cleaning up after your dog and more grocery shopping, what more reuse can you get from that lovely pile of polymers at home?
Real Simple mag has a listing of great uses that I recommend checking out, some of which include plastic bags as knee pads for cleaning or gardening, over-the-hand for handling raw meats, and making parachutes for action figures.
For the crafty ones who might like to fashion their own bag-dress, check out Plastic bag crafts post on the Craftzine.com blog.
Resealable bags can be washed and reused (if you can get your family to bring them home). They even sell a handy dandy bag drying rack:
But my cheap-self constructed the poor-girl version (which is pretty sad since the gizmo runs about $15) made of a mug filled with rice or beans and a dozen chop sticks:
I reuse most tortilla bags, bread and deli bags for all our weekly lunch packing. Plastics are one of the most sturdy man-made materials, which makes it a shame to not consider alternative uses for more than just bags.
When cleaned and stored properly, your plastic (or glass) peanut butter bottle has a lifetime of uses. Mine live in the pantry and garage, storing bulk foods and loose nails and screws.
I found a post on thriftyfun.com for alternative uses for laundry detergent bottles, but they were a little too much for even me. My favorite use, locally, is to take the old bottle on down to Earth Goods General Store and re-fill it.
For information on the safety of specific plastics, reuse, and storage, I suggest checking plasticsinfo.org, then backchecking it with The Environmental Working Group (search: 'plastic safety') who, independently, researches claims of safety made by the FDA, EPA, and other regulatory agencies. Get the facts and make the best decision for you.
here is a list of some other websites with extensive lists for plastic bag uses:
Rustic Girls have some chic ideas
61 uses for Wal-Mart bags

Making pet pillows out of bags, etc (plastic bags as wrapping paper)

shifting signifiers.

2008-11-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

In my memory, the signifier came into itself when I was a teen and sitting in the passenger's seat of a boys car.
It is late, or curfew, and the night is ending--almost. If he let the car idle I knew that meant a quick "Bye!" and it's my signal to jump out and head to my front door. But, if he kills the engine, that's a clear sign to stay clear of the door handle because, well, we could be there awhile.
Though I haven't been in the passenger's seat of teen dating in a very long time, the signifier of an engine turning off is no less relevant today. Dropping a friend off after girl's night and killing the engine just to finish the thirty seconds of conversation that remain might make her feel a little strange and curious, as though I'm trying to extend the night beyond conversations end.
Here is where I want a change.
As I hope you already know, ten seconds of idling consumes more gasoline than turning off and starting your engine does. With this fact, killing the engine to avoid idling over ten seconds becomes beneficial in two ways. One, you are conserving gasoline and two, curbing unnecessary emissions.
How many moments of unnecessary idling do I go through in a week? This thought sprang on me recently and I have seen the answer clearly, since. Many.
Dropping off/picking up my dry cleaning, drive through coffee, stopping to drop something off at a friend's house, the occasions are often. Sitting at stop lights is the most obvious offender, as pedestrian crossing meters count the seconds down in my peripheral.
The potential down side of getting a new starter in my car slightly sooner than later is nothing as I look over the blanket of pollution covering my beautiful city and filling my child's lungs. Let's quit calling it 'haze' and 'smog' and call it what it is: toxic pollution, and the number one contributor in the Salt Lake Valley is OUR CARS.
So, the next time your dropping a friend off after a night out, consider turning the key while you wrap up the conversation. At worst, you might accidentally get some action.
Check out Idle Free Utah for more info.

2008-11-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

My buddy English sent me a great article examining the Ad Council's "Keep America Beautiful" campaign as it shifted American's focus away from the question of whether disposable packaging should exist, to simply how to 'properly' dispose of it, thus ushering in the age of disposable everything.
here's the gist:

"The packaging industry justifies disposables as a response to consumer
demand: buyers wanted convenience; packagers simply provided it. But
that’s not exactly true. Consumers had to be trained to be wasteful.
Part of this re-education involved forestalling any debate over the
wisdom of creating disposables in the first place, replacing it with an
emphasis on “proper” disposal. Keep America Beautiful led this
refocusing on the symptoms rather than the system....At the same time,
the container industry lobbied hard behind the scenes. In 1957, with
little fanfare, Vermont’s senate caved to the pressure and declined to
renew its reusable bottle law. In 1960, the year Keep America Beautiful
teamed up with the Ad Council, disposables delivered just 3 percent of
the soft-drink market. By 1966, it was 12 percent, and growing fast. As
was the Ad Council. By then it was the world’s biggest advertiser."

not-so-doomed fate of dated electronics

2008-11-14T14:03:00.001-08:00

A recent article in Newsweek, titled "Don't Toss Out That Old Gadget", had some cool info on the state of consumption/waste regarding small-electronics recycling.

Old electronics can't be tossed out with watermelon rinds because they contain toxic elements, and most of them needn't be tossed anyway because they aren't waste.
Batteries will leak nickel and cadmium--carcinogens for humans--if left to fester in a landfill...computers, TVs and cell phones add further doses of mercury, beryllium, lead and arsenic, among other toxins.
Nevertheless, the United States sends between 300 million and 400 million electronics to the dump every year.
What if the waste problem could be solved with a design innovation? Advocates propose a cradle-to-cradle model for manufacturing. This means that with the right design, a manufactured good can be broken down into a number of universal, toxin-free components, which can back in to the production cycle in a closed loop. For example, a cradle-to-cradle computer might consist of just one or two types of plastics, easily taken apart and put back into streams of production. Nothing's thrown out because nothing's waste.
Even without the dramatic redesign called for, up to 80 percent of a cell phone is already recyclable.
What's really wonderful is that more and more the waste question is being addressed by the manufacturers themselves. Nokia and Dell lead the way. Dell picks up the shipping and recycling fees for its own products. (See HERE!)
One cradle-to-cradle certification was given to the United States Postal Service for offering special envelopes that let you send old Palm Pilots, BlackBerrys, digital cameras and the like free of charge to the Clover Technologies Group, an electronics-recycling company that has a "zero waste to landfill" policy.

Did you know – the BBC recently reported the following:

teenagers get new a cell phone every 11 mos.
adults get a new cell phone every 18 mos.
average life of computer has fallen from 4-6 years in 1997 to 2 years in 2005

HOW UTAHNS CAN RECYCLE ELECTRONICS, From the Recycling Coalition of Utah:

Recently, the state of Utah has contracted with a reputable e-waste recycler GRX, to manage e-waste under state contract. Feel free to contact GRX at 1-866-GRX-4920 (1-866-479-4920 to arrange a pickup or get more information. This service is open to the private sector as well.

If you have suggestions or information on what others are doing to strengthen e-waste recycling in Utah, we want to hear about it. Please e-mail us at e-waste@utahrecycles.org.

Other businesses that can help with Electronic Recycling:

Executive Recycling
www.executiverecycle.com
877-791-0808

TAMSolutions

www.tamsolutions.com
801-796-1696

Stone Castle Recycling

www.stonecastlerecycling.com
1-801-731-9444

cheap, green cleaning

2008-11-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes all we need is that little link to ease us into something we've meant to do, but haven't made the time for. My cleaning cupboard is one of those areas. After some internet and book searching, here are few suggestions for creating your own cleaning agents that really work.
Check out Clean and Green for many more ideas for everything from oven cleaning to toilet scrub and non-abrasive soft scrubbers.

Air Fresheners:

Add a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil to the inside of the cardboard toilet tissue roll. With each turn, fragrance is released into the room.

Combine 2 tbsp. baking soda with 2 cups hot water, and stir until dissolved. Add fresh lemon juice or any essential oils. Store in a spray bottle and mist into the air to freshen it.

Charcoal placed in a bowl rids rooms--or refrigerators--of odors. Also, 2-3 slices of white bread absorbs refrigerator odors. Remove either and throw away after a few days.
Drop some essential oil on a clean cloth and swab wooden surfaces: kitchen tables, coffee tables, doors, cabinets, etc. (thank you fresh-smelling-home-owner, Riley)

All-Purpose Cleaners

Vinegar and Salt. Mix together for a good surface cleaner.

Baking Soda. Dissolve 4 tablespoons baking soda in 1 quart warm water for a general cleaner.

Baking soda on a damp sponge. Baking soda cleans and deodorizes all kitchen and bathroom surfaces. That same grit in your baking soda tooth paste works wonders for kitchen and bathroom sinks.

For a general, all-purpose cleaner, try a paste made from baking soda and water or mix salt and water with a little vinegar.

Disinfectants

2 tablespoons borax, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 cups hot water. Combine the borax and lemon juice with the water in a spray bottle. Use as you would any commercial all-purpose cleaner.

Borax has long been recognized for its disinfectant and deodorizing properties. Mix 1/2 cup Borax into 1 gallon hot water or undiluted vinegar and clean with this solution.

Glass Cleaners:

No-Streak Glass Cleaner: 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 quart warm water
Mix the ingredients and apply with a sponge or pour into spray bottle and spray on. Wipe dry with crumpled newspaper, buff to a shine. (Use crumpled newspaper instead of paper towels for lint-free results.

Use undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle or
Equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle or
1/2 lemon juice and 2 cups water in a spray bottle or
1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice, 2 cups water, 1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil based soap (such as Murphy's Oil Soap)

Some great tips from Clean and Green site:

To save time and money, make your cleaners in advance and buy the ingredients in bulk for cost savings and to avoid excess packaging..

Make large batches of the recipes and store them in reusable airtight plastic containers and spray bottles. Using a pretty spray bottle or container makes cleaning days more fun and pleasant.

Label all of your ingredients and keep them out of reach of children. While most of these all natural cleaners are not poisonous, some can be harmful or even fatal if swallowed by children or pets. See specific safety precautions at the bottom of this page.

Add your favorite essential oils or herbs to any of these formulas for fragrance

short notice, free play (in Moab. don't you only need one excuse to go there? )

2008-11-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

EXPOSED Wednesday 11/12/2008	7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Plan-B Theatre Company's award-winning production of Mary Dickson's play EXPOSED will tour Utah as a free staged reading to mark the one-year anniversary of its world premiere, sold-out run. Featuring the original cast. Readings in Ogden (11/6), Logan (11/7), Salt Lake City (11/11), St. George (11/10) and Moab (11/14). All readings are non-ticketed, free events with doors opening at 6:30pm, readings at 7pm.
Various venues in Logan, Ogden, Salt Lak
http://planbtheatre.org/exposedtour	801-201-9791

f.y.i.

2008-11-08T13:53:00.001-08:00

November Group Meeting

What: Utah Moms for Clean Air Monthly Group Meeting
When: Friday, November 14th, 11 a.m.
Where: Sprague Library (2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City)

Utah Moms for Clean Air needs more (wo)manpower. We are looking for volunteers to help us with the upcoming legislative session as well as other ongoing projects. Our monthly group meetings are a social and low-key way to find out how to help. Kids are always welcome at these meetings.

"Please don't tell me a pre-polluted baby is just fine."

2008-11-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

The nation's current toxic chemical regulatory law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, is in drastic need of reform. Passed in 1976 and never amended since, TSCA is widely regarded as the weakest of all major environmental laws on the books today. 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered in under TSCA and only 200 have been tested be the EPA. Since then another 20,000 chemicals have been added to the books with little or no testing to support their safety.
I try to offer digestible bits of information, things you can read in a few short minutes or implement without too much stress. Here, I am asking a little more. I encourage you to watch a 22 minute video of a presentation by the Environmental Working Group on the sources of toxic chemicals found in our bodies. Please, put your babies to bed and save a few minutes in your evening to watch this.
The Environmental Working Group has proposed the Kids-Safe Chemicals Act to the United States Congress in order to reduce the exposure of children, workers, and consumers to toxic chemical substances.
Start now with the EWG's Everday Pollution Solutions tip sheet.

so long in distraction

2008-11-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

I have been lost in the flurry for a great long while. Election, mostly, but the rest of life, too. Things that take energy and time and my motivation to get online for recreation sake. I'm feeling the draw back, as the season changes to inside things and I feel a re-connection to the fact that I am an animal, a mammal, not much different from those outside beginning to burrow and sleep and rest on their stores, cached away.
I have put up my food in mason jars and gallon freezer bags. The work outside in the yard and in my home I enjoy, but the emotional preparation for winter I stumble through. Here I look at darkness out my window. It's five p.m.
My crutches through this are:

new, warm, waterproof winter shoes
a stockpile of tea
seasons of TV series on DVD
chocolate
holidays and the vacation time Jared is forced to use-or-lose here at the end of the year
exercise

Keep Fire Retardants Out of Your Kids

2008-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Environmental Working Group just finished the first investigation of toxic fire retardants (called Deca) in parents and their children, and "found toddlers had 3 times the levels of Deca in their blood as their mothers. That means young children in the U.S. bear the heaviest burden of flame retardant pollution in the world. Deca is a neurological and hormone distrupter, and children are more susceptible to its effects than adults." Read the report here.

What's a parent to do? Take these steps to protect your family:

Inspect foam items and replace any with ripped covers or mishapen/breaking down foam.
Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
Don't reupholster foam furniture.
Carefully remove old carpet because the padding may contain PBDEs.
Have small children wash their hands frequently so they put clean hands in their mouths!

consider the wealth of your worms

2008-09-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Tis' the season for taking your yard apart. Here is a post from my old blog that seems relevant now.Queen Midge, guarding the beloved compost cage

In my itty bitty yard, I feared a pile of decomposing food matter stinking up my little bit of heaven and avoided a compost pile, until this year. My motivation was three -fold. I was tired of paying big bucks for bagged compost for my flower beds and garden, I realized the amount of food scrap waste I was sending off to the landfill was unnecessary, and I read Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.Doesn't he look happy about his geometrically arranged flower bed? He is a real do-it-yourselfer when it comes to gardening and has some strong opinions, so naturally I liked his book.

About compost, Mel says: "No home should be without a compost pile--even those without gardens. In fact, I feel that if every family had a mulch pile and used it to recycle their kitchen scraps (except meat and bones) and all their leaves and grass clippings, local taxes would be reduced, the price of oil would drop because we wouldn't use so much, and the balance of nature would be greatly restored."

Well, I'm not going to test Mel's economic theories, but being too cheap to spend more than ten bucks on a compost container I tested one of Mel's great d.i.y. ideas with a few feet of chicken wire and three metal stakes (all of which I pilfered off of my mom's farm. Thanks mom!). Jared and I made a cylinder of the fencing and secured it with wire then hammered the stakes in the ground to form a triangle within the new compost cage to support it. It took us about ten minutes.
So, in goes all my kitchen scraps except meat, bones, citrus and seeds. In goes extra dirt, a little hose water to keep it moist and any other worm food that we produce around here. For the first couple months we transfered any worms, centipedes, potato bugs and other dirt dwellers we would find elsewhere in our yard to the compost cage. Since then, they have upped their numbers all on their own and I am on my way to some delicious "hummus" for my garden, come fall!
Does it stink? NO! Is is a pain in the butt? NO! Do I forget to add to it for weeks at a time and still it continues on? YES! This is my kind of do-good project.
Check out the following link to Mel's page for more tips on how to build and care for a compost heap:
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

let's eat

2008-09-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

The following is one of my family's favorite meals we make. It comes from the Simply In Season cookbook with a few modifications. I have had some requests from friends for the recipe and offer it to all of you. I serve it with a good corn salad, whose recipe is below.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos
from Simply In Season cookbook
yields 8

3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 onion, chopped
Saute in a large frying pan in 1 tbsp oil just until tender. Add water or apple juice as needed to prevent sticking.

2 cups cooked black beans
1 tsp each ground cumin and ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Add and cook until heated through.

8 flour tortillas, each fried briefly in vegetable oil on both sides to soften
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded or Mexican cheese
Divide bean mixture and cheese among the tortillas and roll up. Place in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Separate those burritos you do not want smothered in enchilada sauce by cupping them in tin foil. Smother the rest with prepared enchilada sauce (see below). Cover pan with foil and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Garnish with sour cream, salsa, avocado and/or fresh cilantro.

Enchilada Sauce: My favorite is found at Whole Foods and looks like this:
I mix it with a little oil and a lot of water, per package instructions. What isn't used for this round of enchiladas I store in a jar in the fridge for the next batch.
Corn Salad
from Mexican Family Favorites Cookbook
serves 6

12 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt/ pepper to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
3 tbsp white vinegar
In a bowl, mix all ingredients and chill for 30 minutes. Garnish with avocado slices.

good morning, sunshine

2008-09-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

getting clothes lined

2008-09-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

In response to: "I really want to start drying my clothes on a line... I don't have a clothesline already in my backyard and need some tips on the best way to do this. Can you help?" (from this post)I'll say that all I did was go Ace Hardware and buy this Sunline retractable clothes line, which comes with everything you need but two screws and is 40 feet long. Here is a good online hardware store with lots of options so you can at least see what kind of clothes line might work for your yard. Yeah for crunchy, good smelling, zero-emission clothes drying!

baby steps

2008-09-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

maybe every now and then I can submit a change, just a little prod of gentle encouragement.
Let's talk soap. You probably use it. Bodies, dishes, hands, clothes, it's all over us.
If you look on the label of most any commercially available soap today, you'll see "Sodium Tallowate" listed as an ingredient. Sodium Tallowate is the byproduct of mixing lye with tallow or beef fat. (Technically, tallow is fat (beef or other) that has been rendered.)Yup...the #1 ingredient used in most soaps is beef fat.
Yikes! It's true. I just checked my stock of body bars. Now I'm smelling beef on me...
So here's my submission for you to consider. Try a soap made without animal by-products and while you're at it, made without animal testing. While your on a roll, go for organic and fair trade, too.
Here are my top pics (though there are literally thousands of good options out there):
Dr. Bronners Magic All In One Soap This stuff is the best. Offers organic and fair trade. The label is pretty heavy-handed with scripture, but magical it is. It comes in a liquid concentrate, so a big bottle lasts forever and costs about $8. I use it, diluted, in our hand soap bottle, to wash my baby, to wash delicate clothes, I have washed my car with it, the floor, everything. I give the unscented kind as baby shower gifts. Peppermint is yummy. It's even at Smith's grocery store (in the health foods section).
Kiss My Face for body/face. They use olive oil for their fat, have some good scents, and comes in a nice, big bar soap.
Ecover or Seventh Generation for all household needs: floor soap/cleaner, dishwasher, liquid dish soap, laundry detergent, etc. These brands are big enough that most all grocers carry them and they are good, eco-responsible companies and products.
p.s. Here is a great post on the 7-Gen blog

OR visit your local farmer's market and buy soap from a local soap maker. You can ask them what fat they use in their soap!

tomato sandwich time

2008-09-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Whether or not you grew your own tomatoes this year, you can't beat the free, heirloom tomato sandwiches at the Wasatch Community Garden party! Bring your families and taste the best while you stroll through this cool, urban neighborhood garden. Address 800 South 600 East, SLC.
Also, see below--a class on drying, canning, freezing and storing foods! Probably free...

9/6: 15^th Annual Tomato Sandwich Party!

Wasatch Community Gardens presents the 15th annual TSP, with live music, kids’ activities, and delicious tomato & basil-pesto sandwiches, on bread donated by Crumb Brothers.
VOLUNTEERS are needed for the party: 10:30am – 12:40pm, 12:20 – 2:45pm shifts are available, e-mail Britt at volunteer@wasatchgardens.org ASAP to sign up.
The party is free – it starts at 11:30am and runs until 2pm at the Tomato Garden, 800 S. 600 E. Come join the fun!

9/13: Beginning Preservation Workshop with Tree Utah

Enjoy delicious produce during the deep winter, and year-round, by preserving your bounteous harvest. Come learn the basics of drying, canning, freezing, and storing. RSVP for details to community@wasathgardens.org or 359.2658 ext 13.

quit idling around

2008-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Did you know that more than 10 seconds of idling consumes more fuel than restarting your engine or that modern engines need less than 30 seconds of idling before driving on winter days? Utah Moms For Clean Air taught me that!
Utah Moms for Clean Air is a nonprofit group of, well, moms who are tired of our state's poor air quality and are working to improve it while raising public awareness and working with out state government. (You'll be hearing more from me about this group in the future).
Their website boasts an impressive amount of information from scientific research to current legislation, a plethora of links, including one for the current air conditions, and best of all, MANY ways for individual citizens to make a difference.
Wonder just how serious the situation is? Consider this:

Medical research in the last ten years indicates air pollution is a more serious public health problem than previously thought.

Salt Lake, Provo and Logan consistently rank in the top ten U.S. citites for worst acut spikes in air pollution.

Air pollution causes many serious illnesses, aggravates many others, and shortens the life span of Wasatch Front residents about 2 years.

Air pollution’s effects are analogous to tobacco’s effects, causing a systemic inflammatory response in the arterial system that affects all organs and accelerates atherosclerosis.

4-8% of all deaths are attributable to air pollution (about 1000 premature deaths along the Wasatch Front annually).

Air pollution limits the growth of lung capacity in children, thus permanently reducing lung function as an adult.

Air pollution exacerbates existing asthma in adults and children and causes asthma / respiratory infections in those who are not otherwise predisposed.

Air pollution increases the incidence of SIDS, low birth weight syndrome, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Air pollution increases the incendence of the most common forms of childhood cancers, especially leukemia.

Air pollution increases genetic damage in newborns, probably leading to increased morbidities as an adult including heart disease, diabetes and cancers. These genetic aberrancies can be passed on to subsequent generations.

Mercury, a contaminent of coal combustion, is the chief suspect in the alarming epidemic of neurobehavioral disorders, including autism. Coal power plants are the largest source of enviromental mercury. No power plants in the country are currently using available mercury capture technology.

Coal power plants are the largest source of nuclear radiation into the environment far exceeding properly functioning nuclear power plants.

Air pollution is not evenly distributed throught the community. Hot spots persist along traffic corridors and near industrial sites. The interior of school buses may have four times as much diesel exhaust as the atmostphere outside.

Prepared by the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE)

numbers into perspective

2008-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

The following is the work of artist chris jones, from Seattle, and was shown to me by my friend Jacob Court. Fantastic representation. See his website for all the pieces and up close images of these huge works of art.

"Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming."

-chris jordan, seattle Plastic Bags, 2007
60x72"

Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds.

Energizer, 2007
60x99"

Depicts 170,000 disposable Energizer batteries, equal to fifteen minutes of Energizer battery production.

blog-lifting

2008-08-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

check out this post on my friend's site re: clotheslines and blog exhibitionism. English, you're a beauty of a blogger.

consider eating seasonally, while the getting is still good

2008-08-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Bare with me through this one.
The end of summer is near; I feel it on the air. Two emotions kick in for me: squirrel instincts and dread of winter. I begin to build my nest up for the cold: freezer jam, canning tomatoes, apple pie filling, grape juice, and, later, cleaning house and garden from front to back--it's autumn fever for me, not spring.
When the dread of five p.m. darkness lurks into my thoughts, I remind myself that we are not so distant from our bear cousins. Winter is a good time for turning the furniture toward the fireplace, baking that stored-up apple pie filling, and consuming all the seasons of Northern Exposure (or whatever your fix may be). It's also okay to lay around for four months and gain ten pounds, as long as I come out of my cave running next spring.
ANYWAY, I want to make a huge plug here for canning, freezing, drying, or whatever method you can use to take year-round advantage of home or nearby grown produce. (Check out the ever-helpful and resourceful Utah State Extension for instruction on how to can/dry/freeze/store any foods). Eating in season is one of the greatest dietary decisions we can make to lessen our carbon footprint on the earth. Living in Utah and eating in season can mean a hell-of-a-lot of winter squash, beans and potatoes unless you have:

done a little (or a lot) of preparation in the fall, and/or,
purchased the greatest cookbook for eating seasonally and really liking it--Simply In Season

It is available online (click the title) or at Ten Thousand Villages in Sugar House. Not only does it have the most sure-fire delicious recipes for all the seasonal foods, but it has the best (I'm not exaggerating) brownie recipe ever. The cookbook comes from the Mennonite Central Community.

"Through stories and simple “whole foods” recipes, Simply in Season...explores how the food we put on our tables impacts our local and global neighbors. It shows the importance of eating local, seasonal food — and fairly traded food — inviting readers to make choices that offer security and health for our communities, for the land, for body and spirit."

green, open space, downtown

2008-08-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

September 19th, 2008 is Park(ing) Day, which happens to be the coolest piece of organized, visible, friendly, open-space activism. "PARK(ing) Day is a one-day, global event centered in San Francisco where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks."

Last year was the first year that Salt Lake City had it's own participants and there will certainly be many more this year.
It is uncomplicated, yet takes some preparation, which is stylishly laid out in this how-to guide.
Watch a video of past Park(ing) Days for some serious inspiration.
I am working on putting together a Park(ing) spot and have been really encouraged by the offers of donation from local businesses to cover costs of sod, trees, etc. The great, second step of the textiles process is donating them the following day to a space/organization in need. Might your friends or place of work like to put a spot together?
So, mark it on your calendar, all you downtown goers, and visit as many beautiful, fleeting open spaces as you can find. Or, better yet, make one of your own.

milk, potatoes, apples, ketchup, and peanut butter

2008-08-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Not ready to go all Organic? I recently found an article by Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene that gives the five organic foods which make the greatest impact on the family diet. Lasting changes are always made gradually. Start with these five little items in your grocery cart.
p.s. Costco is now carrying Kirkland brand organic peanut butter--2 jars for @ $8, organic milk and organic apples, too.

Residential Solar Power

2008-08-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law asked me to look into the realities of residential solar power after her disgusting $360 power bill and I am grateful for the request. As with most hot, green topics, when you google it you get a bunch of advertising. Since you can find that on your own, I'll first point to something I trust, PBS.
Nova did a fantastic program on the viability of solar power on both residential and commercial scale. Here is the link to their website and at the bottom of the page on the right you can click a link to watch the show online (maybe you can get it at your local library?). They feature an older home in California that was retro-fit with solar panels and is truly inspiring. The upfront cost was substantial (they paid for it with a home equity loan) but the panels will pay for themselves in only seven years, after which their home electricity, as well as the electricity for their electric car, will be free. It is worth checking out their page to see the steps they took for installation.
The website solarhome.org has a listing of tax incentives by state as well as listings for online retailers of home solar kits, all of which seemed to be in the 10K region. They say, "These kits offer a great supplemental source of power, but not a primary source of power...some consumers report op to a 50 % decrease in their energy bills when using solar home kits to supplement their energy consumption."

Not net-zero, but 50% off of a $360 bill would be nice.
GE has a great FAQ site for residential solar power.
National Geographic published an article on the rapidly growing advancements in the field but sites that, "At a current cost of 25 to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour, solar power is significantly more expensive than conventional electrical power for residences. Average U.S. residential power prices are less than ten cents per kilowatt-hour, according to experts. But that could change with the new material."
The bottom line seems to be that the technology is advancing more than ever due to outrageous gas prices, but it is currently at a point where the upfront cost for installation is high. It is a long term commitment for residents to reap the pay-off several years down the road, though the pay-off can be great. In addition, there are state tax incentives for citizens who make the switch.

Getting the Pesticide Monkey Off My Back

2008-08-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

While I currently fall mostly into the camp of the conventionally grown cotton wearers, the site Hae Now has presented the most convincing and succinct argument against the carcinogenic tee-shirt I am currently wearing. Check out the bits I stole from the site, below, then see links to organic cotton companies at the bottom. The first step toward change is awareness.

What's wrong with conventional cotton?

Conventionally-grown cotton occupies only 3% of the world's farmland, but uses 25% of the world's chemical pesticides.
A year 2000 USDA study revealed that eighty-four million pounds of pesticides were sprayed on cotton in the U.S.A, ranking it second behind corn.
In fact, the EPA considers 7 of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton as "likely" or "known" human carcinogens.
Ironically, it is estimated that less than 10% of the chemicals applied to cotton accomplish their task, the rest are absorbed into the plant, air, soil, water and eventually, our bodies. Sprayed from the air, these highly toxic chemicals can drift into surrounding neighborhoods, poison farm workers, contaminate air, ground and surface water and cause major eco-system imbalances.
During processing, conventional cotton is subjected to chlorine bleach, heavy metal dyes and formaldehyde resins (the hidden hazard of 'easy care treatments').
Additionally, genetically modified cotton now accounts for 75% of cotton grown conventionally. It is no comfort that cotton is also a food crop: cottonseed oil is used in many processed and snack foods and cottonseed is used in cattle feed.

Why is Organic cotton better?

Manual farming and organic practices have a lower carbon footprint as the entire process consumes less fuel and energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases.
Not from genetically modified cottonseed.
Grown with natural rather than synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, no chemical defoliants used.
Eco-friendly processing that does not compromise workers' health and helps reduce water and electric use and toxic runoff, e.g. non-chlorine bleach, silicon-free softeners and low impact, azo-free dyes.
Strict testing ensures the absence of contaminants like nickel, lead, formaldehyde, amines, pesticides and heavy metals.
People with allergies and chemical sensitivity especially benefit from organic cotton clothing, as conventional cotton may retain harmful toxic residues. Even if you don't have sensitive skin, organic cotton will just feel better against your skin.

Where to shop for Organic clothing, etc (only the tip of a giant iceberg of online retailers)

Hae Now
Baby Wit (Cash has a President Poopy Pants shirt from here)
Patagonia
Eco-Mall list of even more retailers
Be Present active wear
Base Apparel fair trade, sweat shop free and Organic!
Dear Lil' Divas yoga clothing and mats, etc