sarah's sustainable life

some of you may be shocked to know that i have not always been environmentally conscious or concerned with healthy living. it’s true!! i grew up quite lazy, happy in front of the television most of the time, eating a steady diet of processed foods, white bread, and red meat. some of those habits changed when i got to high school and became concerned about my weight, but the REAL change came for me in college. caring very little about nutrition, i was simply on a quest to keep my pants size down when a friend introduced me to the shaklee company. i attended a party at a professor’s house and quickly unlearned everything i thought i knew about being “healthy”. this was the first exposure i had ever had to terms like “organic” and “natural”. i was intrigued by the idea of being concerned with health rather than appearance, and the thought that i could have a positive impact on the world. the more i learned, the more i liked, and thus the environmental conscious was awakened within me and sustainable sarah now stands before you (figuratively speaking of course). some people like to call this a pyramid scheme. though shaklee does use some old school techniques to recruit sales people, i believe you will find no pressure to sell if you decide to try some of their products. and no, i don’t currently sell shaklee, so i’m not trying to promote my home business. i just wanted to give praise where praise is due and send props to an old school company that had a futuristic vision.

the modern mom has so much pressure to be a super woman. we feel guilty for just about everything, and everyday there is a new commercial to make us feel even more that we are not doing the best that we can for our children. who has time to research the newest, most cost effective, and greenest ways to raise a child? ecomom does! this website was founded to “address the connection between the health of our environment & the health of our children…committed to making eco-conscious living easy, affordable, & rewarding with education, support, tools & products.” there is an online community, a blog, and a newsletter. not to mention easy online shopping for all products green, from organic foods and eco chic clothing to counter top composters and green party ideas for kids, this website is as complete as an environmentally conscious mother could want! check it out – you will NOT be disappointed!

i was on my way out of the supermarket last week when a small kiosk caught my eye. “E-cloth; perfect cleaning with just water”. here’s how it’s supposed to work: there are several kits or “packs”, each containing a specially formulated microfiber cloth designed specifically for that purpose (kitchen, bathroom, window, stainless steel, etc.) basically, you buy a “water atomizer”, which is a fancy spray bottle, spray whatever surface with the water and wipe with the special cloth. that’s it. brilliant! the cloths never wear out, so there is no disposable waste. the cleaning agent is water, so there is no harmful chemicals involved to hurt the environment or your family. i’m sold! i will be investing in an e-cloth kit in the very near future, and i will report back how it works in the real world. for more information on the science behind the microfiber, visit www.ecloth.com. check it out, i think you’ll be impressed. and if you have already used this system (or get to it before i do), please let me know how it worked out for you. as for me, i am excited about a cleaning product for the first time since the swiffer was introduced!!

as my son gets bigger and louder everyday, i am forced to deal with the fact that he is not a baby any more. worse than that, i am forced to deal with a whole lot of baby items that are of no use any more. if you find yourself in a similar situation, you have two options (as i see it):

1)find someone who has a baby to take your old stuff (if they even want it)
2)find a new use for it

as josiah has been pretty brutal on all his possessions, i have opted for the latter of these two. here are a few new uses i have come up with for old baby stuff.
*bath cushion: you know that foam-rubber kneeling pad you’ve been using to give your baby a bath? it works great under your knees when you are scrubbing tubs, toilets, and floors! and because it’s washable, it’s a great pad to rest on while you do gardening (if you are into that).
*cloth diapers: most moms i know have had cloth diapers around, even if only for burping cloths. these little absorbent monsters are spectacular for a myriad of cleaning projects, but my favorite has been to use them as a swiffer cover. slightly damp for dusting or hot and soapy for mopping, the texture of cloth diapers works great for cleaning! and they go right into the wash with some bleach or disinfectant to be used again.
*baby shampoo: i know i am not far from josiah wanting to pick out his own bubble gum scented shampoo in a monkey shaped bottle, so what can i do with these giant economy sized bottles of baby shampoo i have acquired? the best use i have found is as an eye makeup remover. no tears but plenty of suds to scrub away excess eye makeup at the end of the day.
*baby food containers: i may be the only one who wishes baby food still came in little jars with screw top lids, but even the plastic snapping lid container have been quite useful in our home. i use them to pack condiments and sauces in lunch boxes. just to warn you, not all baby food containers have leak proof lids, so be careful how you pack it. (if only they all came in jars with screw tight lids…)
*knit items: finding a little more time to knit and crochet as your baby learns to play more independently? any knit item can be unraveled and hooked into something more useful. i have my eye on a pair of knit socks that he outgrew months ago to become his first scarf this winter.

also, remember that most 2nd hand kid stores will take gently used clothing and toy donations as a credit toward newer stuff for your child!

just finished reading an interesting article on recycled oddities. as the first inspiring piece of literature i’ve come across in several weeks, i thought i would share with you some highlights:

HOTEL SOAPS – many large chain hotels and motels have starting recycling the old bits of soap you leave in the shower there by donating them to nonprofit groups like clean the world. using leftover soaps to help eliminate disease all over the world – what a great and long overdue idea!

DIAPERS – a british company called knowaste has started a movement (no pun intended) to recycle disposable diapers. how does it work? you’ll have to look at the company’s website to learn that!

DENTURES – not as gross as it sounds. apparently, many precious metals are used to manufacture a set of dentures. a japanese nonprofit group has recently been created to remove the precious metals from unwanted dentures and donate the profits to unicef.

making your own household cleaners seems like a lot of work for no reason. cleansers are relatively inexpensive and readily available, it’s true, but have you ever read the ingredient labels on those cheap cleaners? if so, you probably don’t use them anymore. maybe you’ve tried one of those “greener” cleaners on the market right now. if you are satisfied with those, you would be the first person i’ve heard from who felt that way. making anything from scratch (cleaners included) is really not difficult. i guarantee, if you try these recipes, you will save money and you will feel better about your indoor environment!
NOTE: most of these recipes came from a pamphlet i obtained while teaching for the ohio state university; they were published by the ohio environmental education fund.

window & mirror cleaner: 2T vinegar + 1quart warm water
sink & tub cleaner: sprinkle a damp sponge with baking soda and scrub
oven cleaner: vinegar on a sponge (for burnt on spots, soak the spots in vinegar first)
air freshener: 2oz of vanilla or lemon extract in a small bowl; refresh once a week
wood & furniture polish: 2tsp olive oil + 1tsp lemon juice
to unclog drains: 2 handfuls of salt down the drain chased with a pan of boiling water

anyone else have any formulas for homemade cleaners? tips on keeping your home environment safe and clean?

nothing special, just a working mom and wife trying to simplify life as much as possible with little time and even less money. it perplexes me that “green” items are often so expensive when, in fact, a truly green lifestyle should save you money. for no particular reason, i have decided to chronicle my everyday adventures (and misadventures) in “greening”, cleaning, cooking, and everything in between.

note: my husband is an omnivore, my son is an 18-month-old lacto-ovo vegetarian (which I catch heck from everyone for), and i am a health nut striving for a stricter vegan lifestyle.

friday, july 17, 2009:
my husband is technically “off” today, but for a minister that is never true. he has a lunch meeting with a youth volunteer (to which my son and i are cordially not invited), so i’m in a bit of a hurry to get some housework and cooking done, get off to whole foods, and get home in time for him to take the car to his meeting (we only have one car – how i’d love to live somewhere we could just walk or ride bikes anywhere we need to go!!).

*for dishes, i like the simplicity brand of dishwasher soap and lemishine to help with the hard water effects. i buy both of those at wal-mart (so sue me, i’m on a tight budget).

*for laundry, i have as of late been using the HEB version of gain laundry detergent. it’s phosphate free, and i get a discount. we don’t have a dryer, so we go through lots of fabric softener. i have been using whatever softener is the cheapest, and it doesn’t always work well. does anyone have a recipe for a homemade fabric softener that might be cheaper and a little less chemically?

i would rate whole foods number one on a list of stores where my son is most likely to act up and make a fool of himself. he didn’t do too badly today, but I was still embarrassed. we picked up some soy cheese, some new conditioner, some organic all-purpose soap for the kitchen (lemon scent), and a can of Zevia, a new stevia sweetened soda on the market. Zevia is tasty, but not very sweet; it’s good for me, maybe not so much for regular soda drinkers. has anyone else tried it?

notes for the day:
this long nasty drought we’ve had this summer puts me in mind of water conservation techniques i learned during my time in venezuela. if i’d had a rain barrel on the back porch last night, i probably could have caught some usable water, as it rained for the first time in months. i think the rain barrel is an excellent idea, if you have a porch for it and are diligent enough to keep it clean. just purchase and sterilize a large plastic garbage can and tight fitting lid. cut a small hole in the lid and fit it with a large funnel to catch as much of the rain as possible. this water is for any of the million tasks we run water for everyday except drinking and cooking.

we’ve had a difficult time keeping the apartment a livable temperature in this blazing heat. still, we try to stick to 75 degrees on the thermostat in the summer and 70 during the winter. it has certainly cut into my ability to make foods from scratch, as it’s out of the question to heat up the oven on most days. i’m always looking for no-cook dinner ideas (keeping in mind my family’s diverse taste) – does anyone have any tasty, nutritious summer dinner ideas? (we have no grill here in our apartment, and we already eat our fill of salads.)

a momentous occasion as our son has demolished his first pack of crayons. rather than throw the bits of crayon away, I’ve decided to make those little crayon cookies I used to play with at children’s church. this idea is as old as crayons, and definitely not mine, but worth passing along!

crayon cookies
with an old knife, chop the crayons into small bits and stir together in a medium bowl. pour into mini muffin tins lined with foil cups. melt in the oven at 350degrees (should take 10minutes or less). remove from the oven and cool completely before removing foil wrap. fun times!