sarah's sustainable life

you don’t have to know me very well to know that i am not a fashionista. (my husband still has to tell me whether or not my clothing “matches” before i leave the house.) but there’s one thing i do know about fashion: like food, it is a multi-billion dollar industry that manipulates and exploits its workers, its resources, and its patrons. how refreshing to find companies that manage to do good with necessary products (like clothing) without charging outrageous amounts of money or looking ridiculous. enter mata traders. fair trade and vegan are just the beginning! in its own words, “Mata Traders’ clothing and accessories are original designs handmade in India by women’s co-ops and artisan groups. Our producers are paid a livable wage and do their work at home or in small workshops rather than factories. Mata fabrics contain a history and preserve an art. Most are hand block printed with eco-friendly vegetable dyes, supporting an artisan based textile tradition existing in India for centuries.” check out the website! i think you’ll be as excited as i was to see so many choices of beautiful clothing at very reasonable prices!!

it has been almost two and a half years since josiah was born. i remember the sweet, wonderful moments we spent together in the hospital those first few days. i also remember the first time i encountered a dirty baby and a clean diaper and had to figure out how to put them together. those were some challenging times, and i was surprised that i could even figure out how to fold and pin the darn things, let alone worry about there being a more “green” way of doing it! but as it turns out, there are some very easy ways of greening the diaper experience that i had to learn for myself over time. today, as i am facing the end of diapering (YEAH!), i will share with you the tips i picked up along the way that could have made my journey a little easier and a little greener.

if you choose disposables:
*look for diapers that have not been processed with chlorine. this is easier on your baby’s sensitive skin and helps avoid chlorine seepage in landfills.
*empty the diapers just as you would a cloth one – all solid waste into the toilet!
*look for reusable covers with a disposable liner; most of these liners are biodegradable, flushable, and/or compostable.
*DO research ahead of time. if you are expecting your first, don’t do what i did and wait until you are in the hospital to figure it out. there are many great websites and online forums.

if you choose cloth:
*talk with other moms who use cloth. until i moved to texas, i didn’t know anyone else who used cloth, but it is becoming more popular these days and it is good to have advice from those who practice cloth diapering on a regular basis.
*go for the goods! research the web, ask around, get the best diapering system you can find. i know it seems expensive, but it will still be much cheaper than disposables! (fyi, i’m still using the diapers, pins, and covers on josiah that i got at my showers.)
*you actually don’t need to soak, rinse, or flush a diaper. just shake solids into the toilet and drop the diaper into a plastic-lined pail after a change. when full, pour into the washer and run a cycle with a dye free detergent, reset washer, add more detergent, and wash again on hot. this eliminates the need for use of bleach.
*if cloth diapering is simply a money saving issue for you, you must check out the diapering hyena. her website has lots of frugal tips for raising children, including lots of insight on cloth diapers.

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 have posted in the past about the company “tom’s shoes” and their business model. basically, for every pair of shoes you buy, they send a pair to a child in a third world country who cannot afford shoes. april 8, 2010 will mark the third annual tom’s shoes campaign “one day without shoes”. people are encouraged to spend one day shoeless to raise awareness and to experience what a difference a pair of shoes might make in a person’s life. i plan to participate in this experiment myself; now if i could just figure out where to go so that people might notice and learn…

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!

isn’t all resale green? yes, in a way, but today i saw what can happen when an environmentally conscience individual decides to kick it up a notch.
as anyone with children knows, kid’s clothing, toys, and accessories are outgrown on almost a daily basis. with that in mind, it is easy to see how so many children’s resale shops stay in business around the city (my last count was five in san antonio, each with several locations). in the spirit of discovery, my buddy beth and i ventured to the green baby resale boutique on bandera rd in north west san antonio this morning. i was so thrilled with what i found! this boutique has a wide variety of clothing and toys, most of them made from organic or sustainable materials, all at extremely reasonable prices! the owner was friendly and helpful, and they accept consignment for cash or store credit.
if you are a parent and live in the san antonio area, you should definitely give this store a visit. when you get there, ask about the other green business practices they use (oh yes, there are many more)! and write a comment to let me know you visited – i’m excited to hear your impressions!

i’ve recently run into some great ideas for getting free stuff. some of them you may already know about, but hopefully there will be some new to you, too.

*freecycle.com:
freecycle is a social networking group where people can offer and receive unwanted used items. just sign up under your zip code to receive daily updates of folks in your area, what they are looking for, and what they need.
*http://www.totallyfreestuff.com:
unlike freecycle, this website is an online guide to freebies on the internet. arranged by category, this website keeps a detailed list of all the places on the internet where you can get free samples of your favorite products. definitely worth checking out!
*garage sale leftovers:
i’m sure you know someone who has had a garage sale this summer; ask if you can pick through the leftovers. browse through items before they go on to the thrift store. most people are happy to give away things that didn’t sell, and there is usually a treasure or two that went undetected.
*just ask!
i accidentally found out this week that our apartment development replaces air conditioning filters. that means we have been paying to replace those for 12months when we didn’t need to. if you rent, don’t be shy about asking what the owner/managers cover. it could save you lots of money!

some other ideas:
*if you have a group of friends that you trust, try sharing movies rather than renting. keep an online accessible list of your movies for friends to browse through, and have them do the same for you.
*have a swap meet – fun times! without the hassle of a garage sale, you and your friends bring all your unwanted clothing and trinkets to a common place and go crazy! (foot note: i LOVE swap meets!!)
*some people consider this cheating, but if you go super marketing on saturdays, most stores have LOTS of free samples. since saturday is my regular marketing day, we often make a lunch of it.

september first will be the official one year anniversary of our moving to san antonio. upon moving here, we got rid of pretty much everything we owned, including our washer and dryer. at first i thought, “i’ll just go to the laundromat so that we don’t have to buy a new washer and dryer”, but that didn’t last long. as soon as our son joined us and i got back into the cloth diaper routine, i realized i needed a washing machine to keep up with this practice. my wonderful husband surprised me with a new washer one night, but no dryer. we purchased a clothesline to stretch across the back porch until we could “afford” the dryer (cost under $2). I didn’t think this would be a very practical method of doing laundry, but i had no choice at the time. one year has come and gone, and we have somehow never had the extra money to put down on a new dryer. i have to say, under most circumstances i don’t miss it. i can equate air drying to cooking from scratch; with a little bit of planning, it’s really no trouble at all. just like anything else, if you can go a year without using it, you probably don’t need it.

i realize that not all areas of the country are as conducive to outdoor drying as south central texas, but let me encourage you to take some time on warm sunny days to hang your laundry outside. instead of throwing clothes into the dryer and bustling on with your day, it forces you to spend a little time out in the fresh air and sunshine. it will save you some money on your electric bill, and your clothing will last longer. we do go through LOTS of fabric softener, though.

sometimes being environmentally conscious is as basic as the shoes on your feet. for some reason, yesterday at church i talked with at least three people about the subject of shoes. most people “have to have a pair to match every outfit” – really? we are definitely a wasteful society, but that paints a whole new picture of unnecessary decadence to me. try having just one or two pair of shoes for awhile and see how it suits you. if you are a person who can find a pair at a thrift shop that fits and is comfortable, that is the way to go; not only reusing, but saving you TONS of money! if not, let me recommend a few companies with great “green” business philosophies and product to match:

**my favorite: simple shoes

anyone who knows me remembers that i found simple shoes online by accident about four years ago and had been pining away for a pair of the brown paisley “green toes” ever since. the company uses all sustainable or recycled materials (the soles are made of recycled tire treads – tell me that doesn’t sound durable!!). the main problem? the price! it is still very expensive to produce shoes of this caliber, so the average pair costs between $80 and $90 (hence i had been pining for them for four years before obtaining a pair). how did i get around this barrier? when we moved to san antonio, i found a local store that specializes in “green” apparel (whole earth provisions), and they happened to carry simple shoes – YEAH! because they have a constant stream of stock coming in, they also have a sizable clearance section for their green apparel – WOO HOO!! i was able to buy a pair of simple shoes on sale for $39!! that’s still more than i have ever spent on any pair of shoes in my life, and they were not the exact style i had so admired online, but for a completely sustainable/recycled shoe, i was willing to make a little sacrifice. after having had them as my main shoes for about 6months (i keep also an old pair of tennis shoes to wear to work so that i don’t get coffee & bleach stains on my simple shoes), i still give them two thumbs up. they are comfortable, stylish, and i still feel good about the purchase. how many of you can say that about a pair of shoes you bought 6 months ago?

*1st runner up: toms shoes

toms shoes has enjoyed a sudden burst of fame due to their being sold at whole foods in recent months. a great humanitarian concept, tom’s makes very VERY basic shoes using as little material as possible. they give the workers a fair wage (something rare in manufacturing), and for every pair you purchase, a pair is given to a child in a country where shoes are considered a luxury. the average price is about $44, but you are actually purchasing two pair, and i think that makes them quite reasonable. i believe my next pair of shoes (whenever my simple shoes finally give out) will be toms.

Note: many cities still have a “shoe hospital”. there was one in the small town where i grew up (cumberland, md), and i believe we have one here in san antonio. look online or in the yellow pages to see if you’ve one in your town. their prices are usually quite reasonable, and maybe you like your old shoes too much to say goodbye.

taken by Deborah Ziegler

anybody else know of any shoe companies worth mentioning?
have any suggestions for prolonging the life of your shoes?

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(the following was added on july 20)

as a side note, some shoes can be recycled. runtheplanet.com maintains a list of shoe recycling programs. check it out!