baking soda! and other stuff

Okay, so this post will probably not be exclusively about good ol' bicarbonate of soda, but it will play a starring role.

I've been working for a very long time on gradually making more things at home that I might once have purchased ready-made. This coincided with becoming a bit quietly tree-hugger-ish/crunchy/whatever. This started when Pic was really a wee one. I was thinking about all of the things we used that might end up harming her: toilet cleaners, floor cleaners, surface cleaners, ecc.

A while after that, I also started thinking about the items that I use that might have a negative impact on my body and on the earth.

I started out very simply by stopping use of disposable cleaners (those toilet bowl scrubbers or whatever they were, disinfectant wipes, so on), plug-in air fresheners (we went through a weird phase of being somewhat obsessed with these...why?) and fabric softener sheets.

I switched from bottled window cleaners and surface cleaners to white vinegar and water solutions. Much later, I began adding baking soda in as a scrubbing agent. I switched us to "green" laundry detergent and dish detergent. I bought us some reusable bags (which I still forget to bring sometimes) and reusable water bottles. I started collecting canning jars and then buying glass storage containers for our food storage needs.

More recently, I've focused more on myself. 2009 seemed to be a year of change for me. I stopped using shampoo and I started using cloth pads. As for shampoo, I started using shampoo bars. In May of that year, I tried to go the no 'poo route (please note the placement of my apostrophe). The article I read indicated that it might take anywhere between two and eight weeks to adjust to that. I waited five before I got really tired of my hair being constantly greasy and gross and switched back to shampoo bars. At some point, I stopped worrying about buying specifically-marked shampoo bars and started using whatever bar of soap looked good to me.

I restarted my no 'poo affair in May of this year. I have a much better (for me) system now. I use one of Pic's old shampoo bottles (I still use Burt's Bees baby shampoo/body wash for her...when she deigns to bathe herself). I put some baking soda (really, this is how I measure...if I had to guess, I'd say I use about a tablespoon, maybe a bit more because I have a big head) in the bottle and then add warm water when I get in the shower (I don't enjoy mixing it beforehand and having it waiting because then it's too cold). I shake up the bottle, turn off the water and squirt the solution over my scalp. I rub the solution onto my head for a good while and let it sit until I'm finished washing and rinsing the rest of my body. After my shower, and after I get the excess water out of my hair, I spray an apple cider vinegar and water mixture onto my head in nice big puffs. (I tried using straight apple cider vinegar, but I'm pretty sure that ruined two spray bottles. Either that, or I bought really cheap bottles. Now, I use about two parts vinegar to one part water.) Then, I comb my hair and think about doing something with it. And, seriously, for the first time I can remember, I can wait a day (or maybe even two!) before I wash my hair again. This, coming from a person who used to sometimes use industrial cleaner on my hair. (Oy with the poodles. I really do try to block that out.) This, coming from a person who used to wash her hair twice a day because it was so greasy.

As for my cloth pads: I love them. I know the very idea freaks some people out, but, well, obviously not me. I bought twelve pads from an etsy shop two years ago and have been very happy with them ever since. I would like to have some cloth pantyliners also, but I keep telling myself I'll learn to sew and I'll make those myself. Recently, I bought a Diva Cup. I was very nervous about using it, but it worked for me. Seriously, though, for either of these, you have to not be squeamish about what your own body produces (and then rejects when it realizes there's nothing growing in your uterus). (Oh, and there're instructions for "women's cloth" in Handmade Home if you're interested in making your own.)

Last May, I also started using baking soda to wash my face. I keep a little jar of it in the shower and a jar of it on my bathroom counter. I just pour a little in my hand and add a teeny bit of water to form a paste and scrub that on. About a year ago, I started using witch hazel as an astringent, thanks to the recommendation of some friends. Recently, I started trying to use coconut oil on my face also, but I'm still undecided on whether that is doing any good. And, I can't use it during the day because, although it supposedly is absorbed into your skin in fifteen minutes, my skin refuses to absorb it in anything less than four thousand hours (or something).

This May, I also finally got around to making my own deodorant. I stopped using antiperspirant a little more than three years ago because I got all paranoid about its ingredients. I was mainly using Tom's of Maine's deodorant, sometimes Trader Joe's. However, with both, I still had to carry deodorant around with me because I was seriously stinky. The homemade deodorant? I freaking love. So much. Definitely. It is not antiperspirant, but I'm already used to my sweat. But, oh. my. gracious. I don't smell. The first few days I used the deodorant, I kept sniffing my underarms, constantly reminding myself of Otto.

A couple of notes on this deodorant: while I didn't smell unpleasant, I did smell chocolately; it's weird to smell chocolately from my underarms. Here's a big duh statement: have a short jar or container handy. I didn't have one the first time I made this and ended up putting it in a jar that was too tall for me to easily get to my deodorant. Pain in my butt. Cardo made his first deodorant recently and he poured the liquid into his old deodorant container and that's worked for him. I use two little jars now. I divide the liquid into the jars and keep one in the bathroom and one in the refrigerator until I need it. (My deodorant has tangerine essential oil and Cardo's has lavender essential oil.)

The deodorant has baking soda, among five other ingredients.

I also make our laundry detergent. It's been something close to two years since I started that. I am happy with the results. I would like, however, to make a small amount of liquid detergent for when I handwash (which, um, I kind of never get around to). I also occasionally make air freshener. I just started doing that because we already have the essential oils for the deodorant. I pour a bit of baking soda on a saucer and add a few drops of whichever essential oil (the lavender is stronger).

I also use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning just about everything in our home: toilets, counters, the oven. I occasionally get around to using vinegar as a fabric softener, but I can almost never remember to add it to the rinse cycle. I use vinegar and water to clean mirrors and the non-carpeted floors. Oh, I have also used baking soda on the carpet if it smells (sprinkle on before vacuuming).

So, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned baking soda about a lot of times here. (Oh, yeah, I've also used baking soda paste to soothe sunburn. And, I've used it to brush my teeth, although it tastes awful and I'm still not sure if I need fluoride so I haven't yet moved to making my own toothpaste.) So, yes, when Cardo asks if I really need that much baking soda, I do. I even use it to bake once in a while.

All of this seems like a lot, but really, I started making these changes almost seven years ago. I'm all about gradual change, letting myself ease into new things. And, there's so much more I'd like to do, so much more I'd like to make here and so many different ways I'd like to use less new and/or disposable stuff.

In my dreams, I cook and bake much more and I make our clothes (sometimes out of the clothes and other materials we already have on hand). Maybe I'll work on that over the next seven years.

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A couple of notes: I have been meaning to post on some of this for quite some time, so I crammed it all here in one post because otherwise I'll never get to it. But, geez, this post is long and took me forever to slog through. Also, can you tell who does most of the cleaning around here? At some point, I hope to be able to replace a lot of those "I"s with "we"s.

surfin' the crimson wave

I just ordered my first set of cloth pads from a seller on etsy. Poke* sent me a couple of links and I finally decided to just order them already. I've been wanting to, but the price thing always holds me up. I know that this reason is completely illogical because, really, the price of regular pads adds up much more quickly. If I like them, I'll share the name of the seller here. (If I don't, I'm sure it'll probably just be a me issue, so I won't go blaming other people.)

So, why cloth pads? Several reasons, in no particular order:
- I'm not a big fan of tampons, but I'm not sure that I really want to try any of the various menstrual cups out there. Maybe one day.
- I would really like to have something reusable. I hate throwing away that much plastic. One of my biggest guilt issues in raising Pic (there aren't many of these issues) is not cloth diapering. Cardo refused to go along with it no matter the reassurances that no, we wouldn't be using something akin to giant cloth napkins affixed with giant safety pins. I tried to get him to agree to cloth diapers, but I still feel I could have done more. Ah, well. She's long out of diapers now, so I should just let it go, right? Anyhow, I plan on having my period for the next several decades at least, so I can at least stop using disposable products.
- I loathe regular disposable pads. I hate feeling like I'm wearing a diaper.
- My living/money situation is most likely soon to change and I'd like to save money where I can. It's funny how so often doing something that is (at least supposed to be) good for the environment can seem so expensive at first until I look a little further. I don't want to buy expensive cleaning products, for instance, so I use vinegar and baking soda. I don't have the money to buy any of the organic cotton or bamboo clothing I've so far found (I really can't get over that sticker shock), so we buy used clothes. I'm hoping that I'll soon get it through my head that buying a set of reusable pads will very quickly prove to be less costly than monthly buying disposable ones.

So, anyhow, I'll let you know.

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* Poke will very soon be (might already be) cloth diapering Baby B. (Baby B has to be big enough to fit into the diapers, but then they'll last throughout her diapered days.)

saying goodbye

I am no longer a car owner. It is weird. I'm still processing, perhaps, as I just sold my car today. I thought I'd be more...sad, or something, but I'm not really. I'm sure there will be times when I'd rather be more independently mobile (or whatever), but for now, I'm okay with it. (As I said, I just sold my car today, though.)

So, for now, we are a one-car family. I wonder how long this will last?

saying goodye...to all of my junk

Okay, at least some of my junk. So, just what am I getting rid of?

-- paychecks from 2003. $87.01 a week. Whoo-hoo!

-- a credit card that was issued to me in 2003 and that expired in 2006. I never actually activated it, or even opened the envelope...oops.

-- History of the Language quizzes from Spring 2004

-- a move-out receipt from December 2002

-- whoa! my W-2s from 1999 and 2000

More to come in the following weeks. Oh so much more.

in which i whine...and the earth weeps

[It was really hard for me to kill the alliteration there, but I really didn't want to use 'world.']

To appropriate some wonderfully famous words: It’s not easy being green.

I’m trying to cut down on the amount of paper I use, I am trying to do more and more on my computer (which uses power…ah, dilemmas, fun stuff). However, I have a hard time reading things on the computer screen, so I have printed about about a billion pages worth of reading this semester. I like pages to turn and margins to scribble in. I like the materiality of paper. I love paper, in fact. And books. And I have many, many books and much paper. I’m only somewhat decent at this game.

This aside, we are continually making strides here at La Casa B to be a bit more friendly to our little rock. And, you know what, Costco is our friend.

Recently, I have been whining (ah, with this whining) to Cardo that I want glass storage bowls instead of plastic. Costco delivered. The lids are still plastic, but the bowls are nice, thick glass. Costco also sells in bulk, of course, which is nice. We've been using Method soap since I decided to take us off antibacterial soap here and Dooce so nicely provided me with an alternative when she featured a container of Method on her 'Daily Style' feature. Costco so nicely offers huge refill containers of Method so we still have the original small containers which we periodically refill (when I get around to it). We also have Kirkland Signature (Costco's brand) environmentally-friendly laundry detergent and their environmentally-friendly dishwashing liquid. And, tonight, we bought Pic some more reusable cups (yeah!). Fifteen dollars for four and they are BPA-free.





I still have the little plastic containers to put Pic's lunch in (the glass containers are a bit on the big side for our lunch bags and I have to include a freezer-pack in her bag for school) and most of our travelmug things are plastic, but other than that, the plastic has largely been banished from our kitchen. I send Pic to school with actual metal and wood flatware. We both still have our Mimi the Sardine lunchbags and I've switched us over to cloth napkins (except Cardo, who kind of refuses to use the cloth napkins).

Oh, and I use things like Trader Joe's Citrus Shampoo and their Tea Tree Oil Face Wash, but until recently I've just been using Johnson and Johnson's regular yellow baby wash/shampoo for Pic. We bought this at Costco and it takes us about a freaking year to use up a whole bottle. I've wanted to get Pic something a bit friendlier, so I finally just went and bought her some Method baby wash.



[The babywash is Rice Milk + Mallow (as in marshmallow...as it says on the container). Pic smells yummy, but every time I see 'mallow,' I think 'tallow,' and I wonder why I would want my child to smell like rendered animal fat.]

These are small steps, I know, but I'm making an effort here. The nice thing is that Cardo goes along with me in most of this. At the beginning of our relationship, I was afraid that he would think I was some kind of total freak for doing all of this, but he's pretty supportive.

So, yes, we're making strides, but I still drive way more often than I should. Often I have four or more lights burning here because I have to dispel the gloom at twilight. We've got countless electronic gadgets that need to be plugged in (okay, so not really 'countless,' I'm sure I could count them if I tried, but I don't want to). We buy way too much crap that we don't need. I use Google. I sometimes still get plastic bags and paper to-go cups. And, have I mentioned my little book obsession? I'd take some pictures of our bookshelves but it's a freaking wreck in my apartment right now and I can't subject you to that. And, for the rest of my life, I'll be buying more books, printing out more articles, making more copies, ecc. Also, I'll have to be writing some articles, traveling for work, publishing at least one book, ecc. I'm surprised there are trees left. Perhaps I should look into a tree-planting program to start replacing some of these. (Are there such programs?)

So, I'm interested in hearing what other suggestions you all have, please, for keeping us alive and cancer-free for at least a little while. (I haven't mentioned lately, but I'm pretty sure that at some point in my life, I'll be told I have cancer and I am beyond terrified of this moment.)

For instance, Poke and Mr Poke are looking into cloth diapers. This is something I wish I would have been more forceful about. Cardo said that if we used cloth diapers, he'd never change a diaper, but, geez, we threw away a lot of plasticky-badness full of baby surprises.

What else have you all to offer me in the way of suggestions?

as moving day approaches

I'm trying to decide, "Which things can we live without for the next five or more days?" I mean, do we really need the canisters of flour, sugar, coffee and baking soda (yes, baking soda...hi non-toxic cleaning supplies)? Probably not. Do we need paper towels or nine-tenths of our dishes. Nyeh. Do we need our underwear? Okay, so maybe I'm going a bit too far there.

So, I'm off to pack our "fancy dishes" (we got a set of four dinner plates, mugs, saucers and dessert plates at Goodwill for just under $20). Fun, fun stuff.


And, just for 'scuz. I like this song and I'm listening to Celtic Woman on PBS right now.

undeserving of a title

I went to fill my gas tank today. I filled it for less than $16 and I'd had less than a quarter of a tank. I am dreading the day when I wake up and gas has jumped from just below $2/gallon to $5/gallon. I do not trust this ebb in the prices.

After I filled the tank, Pic and I went to check my mailbox at work but what I was hoping was there wasn't. [weary sigh]

We stopped at Hollywood Video, returned Baby Mama, Together Again for the Very First Time and a Strawberry Shortcake movie (I may never really have to grow up, because my childhood is following me into my thirties). We rented Wall-E (for free!) and yet another Strawberry Shortcake movie. I have yet to see Wall-E, because, y'know, I'm so into the whole going to the theatre and spending too much money on tickets, popcorn and iced tea. (Okay, that and when do we have time to actually go to the cinema?)

So, speaking of gas prices and of Wall-E (which I understand to have a bit -- or a lot -- of an environmental message), there was a teenager driving her SUV in perpetual circles in the parking lot. She had apparently already been circling before we arrived and continued to do so after we left, I suppose. The clerks inside the store were getting a laugh from this, but all I could think was, "What a waste of gas. Goodbye ozone, it's been nice." (And, yes, as I mentioned, I was driving my own car, not walking/biking/taking public transportation.)

So, yeah, Pic and I will probably be watching Wall-E on Thursday (I'm assuming it's an okay movie for her to watch and I'm hoping that it isn't anywhere near as saccharine as Care Bears and My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake).

lucas wants money, lots of money, joe's money

On Friday, before I watched What Not To Wear, I caught some of Say Yes To the Dress. I’ve seen this show once before so I don’t know why I watched it again. I become so annoyed with these people that I end up having full-on conversations with these women (okay, to the conversations are one-sided, but I do talk to them a lot). Also, the family members and friends who come along for the dress-shopping trip make me crazy.

Most of the time, though, it wasn’t actually the shoppers who made me crazy but the prices that made me crazy. Some of these people were spending more on a wedding dress, a dress that will be worn for a few hours for one day, than I spent on my car. My car that I’ve used for the last seven years. On the most recent episode I watched, there was a woman who was having a Muslim ceremony one day and a Christian ceremony the next. She had a dress for her Muslim ceremony and was buying one for her Christian one. That dress cost $11,000 (more than my car, people). Later, she came back for yet another dress because she needed a dress to put on when she changed out of her wedding dress. So, she bought another wedding dress. It doesn’t really matter how much the second (ahem, third) one cost because the other one was $11.000!

I’m sure that these amounts of money seem like nothing to some people, but I can barely comprehend being able to do that. In fact, I can’t comprehend it.

Often, Cardo and I muse about the possibility of being stinking rich one day (this isn’t one of our goals and neither of us are on the path of getting us there, but we sometimes wonder about it anyway). We wonder, “How much will we change if one day we are rich?” (And, our ideas of what rich is, is tremendously different. Cardo has much loftier ideas about what rich is than I do.)

Will we still buy our big furniture items from Craigslist and Goodwill? Will we still clothes shop at Savers? Will we continue to mainly only buy used books? Will we still buy store-brand (Kirkland Signature) toilet paper at Costco?

I think that we will. This kind of second-hand and bulk buying is just a part of how I live.

I think that what would change the most is our current lack of travel. I would love to travel to so many places and that’s just not all that possible for us right now. Oh, and I’d like to be able to pay for all of Pic’s college (if she goes and as long as she’s putting in the effort). I, possibly somewhat hugely naively, believe that our everyday lives would be pretty much the same.

Oh, I almost forgot, though…I’d finally get my hybrid (or other alternatively-fueled car).

What would change for you guys if you were suddenly stinking rich?

happiness is...

This book is now mine. Thank you Costco. I got it for $19.something on an impulse when I went to buy tampons today. (Yes, I still have yet to try this alternative to traditional feminine hygiene products...what's so feminine about pads and tampons anyway?)

impromptu trip

We were moping around the good ol' apartment this morning when I suggested we head over to Roseville. I have this wanderlust or something and I want to hit the freaking road already. Soon enough, it'll be snowy and it'll take us seven hours to make a three-hour trip (ah, the joys of our spur-of-the-moment trip last winter break).

I was hoping to pick up a pair of Keens at the Nordstrom at the Galleria at Roseville (there's more to the name, but we're not that acquainted and I can't remember the rest), but, well, no kicks. We did stroll a bit in the crowded mall. Then, we headed over to Mimi's (where I ate good pasta that I could easily make at home and, I hope, I soon will and some not so great dessert that I had high hopes for...ah, well) and finally to REI where we bought nothing.

On the drive home, as we neared the border, I kind of yelled out, "We're getting closer to home!" (sometimes I'm unnecessarily loud) and the following song popped into my head. I tried to buy the album recently at Recycled Records, but no tunes.




When I got home, sweet coupons, I saw that Nubius Organics is having a sale on reusable water bottles and I found some really groovy ones (hey, why not groovy, what with GFR and all?).

all's been quiet on the western front

I apologize for having been so silent here. (I've only been silent in the blogosphere, let me assure you.) I have both plenty to say and nothing to say. For now, I'll just post pictures of some of our most recent purchases that in Project Greening of La Casa B.









This is my new yoga mat. It's cute. I ordered it from Barefoot Yoga. It's made from PER. Here's the description from the site. (This isn't the ideal material, I know, but at about $20, it's the most I can afford.)

For those who want a more eco-friendly mat, this new environmentally friendly Yoga mat is made of “PER” (Polymer Environmental Resin), a material that is considerably more sensitive to the environment and your health than most Yoga mats made of PVC. This mat does not contain phthalates or heavy metals and its method of production is completely non-toxic.

These are our new stainless steel water bottles. So much less expensive than Klean Kanteens. I hope they're great. We just got them in the mail today. The emerald one is mine, the sapphire is Cardo's and the silver is Pic's. They are by New Wave Enviro...I ordered them here, from Nubius Organics.


















Costco finally started selling environmentally-friendly dishwashing liquid. Believe you me, I've been looking. We've been buying the ECOS laundry detergent for quite some time now. (And, I no longer use dryer sheets...less waste!) Because I like to buy in bulk, we are still using up the rest of the dishwashing soap I bought from Costco quite some time ago. I had just about given up on them, and was going to buy some at Trader Joe's, but I prefer to buy in bulk.








I think I put pictures of our lunch bags up before, but here's mine again anyway. (Pic's is at school with her right now.) I also bought that from Nubius Organics, here. Both Pic's and my lunch bags are by Mimi the Sardine.




Of, course, I continue to love my Chico Bags.


All this being put together, typed out, pictures posted, I have to draw attention to the fact that I bought all of this online (excepting two of my Chico Bags and the dish soap). This means, all of this has been shipped. I'm hoping that the reusable factor will outweigh the shipping factor.

Okay, Cardo has to use the computer and I have to fold, wash, dry, put away laundry.

chico bags

I know the print is small, but when I click on the image, I get a larger image. This is what came with my Chico Bags (front and back of one piece of recycled (?) paper). Just thought I'd share.

reusable bags (and, of course, dinner)

I am somewhat in love with my reusable bags. I have the standard totes from Trader Joe's and Winco, but I also have some that are more fun. We have an insulated bag we bought at Costco (actually, we bought two of these...the first one was eaten by squirrels on our first family camping trip -- this year we'll keep a better watch on the thing). This one is great, but it's also a bit huge so we often forget to bring it with us.

My second favorite (penfavorite? like penultimate?) resubale bags are Pic's and my lunch bags. We got these from the mimi the sardine website. They are machine washable and super cute. I have the mouse design and Pic has the ladybug design. (I was hoping she'd pick the mouse one, considering it's pink and she loves pink. Then I could have the ladybug one, which is very red and green, two of my three favorite colors. They're both cute, though).

My very favorite reusable bags are the chico bags I just got. These bags are $5/bag, but you get one free after you order four (of course, you have to pay shipping, but shipping's less than $5). Each bag has an attached pouch, so you can just roll the bag up and stuff it back into the pouch. Also, each has a carabineer attached so I just hook my bags onto my purse and I don't forget to bring them with me. I've only had the bags for a couple of weeks, but I've already used them a bunch. Yea, less plastic bag use! These bags are, I'm pretty sure, the same size as plastic grocery bags (maybe a tiny bit bigger) and they hold up to 20 pounds. You can machine wash these bags also.

Speaking of all of this reusableness, tomorrow is Earth Day! We plan on attending the festivities at Idlewild tomorrow, if the whole of Reno isn't blown away in the middle of the night because of this crazy wind. Earth Day always makes me think of my grammie, who taught me to recycle and thrift shop (or 'vintage' shop as Stacy and Clinton were referring to it on What Not to Wear last night...although I'm sure the second-hand clothes the woman bought in New York were waaay more expensive than what I get at Goodwill and Savers). Also, my grammie's birthday was April 22nd and Earth Day occasionally falls on this day. Although I'm don't have the whole religion thing figured out, I do like the idea of guardian angels and I like to think that my grammie is watching over Pic. Happy Birthday/Earth Day Grammie!

Finally: dinner. Tonight I tried a recipe from one of my Cooking Light cookbooks (I am constantly searching Goodwill's shelves for these). I made something described as an english muffin sandwich in my cookbook, although it reminded me more of sopes than a sandwich and we used forks and knives to eat our 'sandwiches.' I added chopped spinach and I think that next time I'll make them with garlic instead of shallots. (By the way, can anyone use a bunch of shallots? Safeway only sold them by the bag and I doubt that I'll be able to use them all up.) I also used whole wheat (where the first ingredient is actually whole wheat) english muffins and reduced-fat provolone cheese.

We also had chopped spinach, apple and tomato salad. It sounds just like what it is. I made dressing, but I'm not sure that balsamic vinegar is ever supposed to be used when making a vinaigrette. If anyone knows how to make easy vinaigrettes, please share. I didn't put any dressing on my salad, but Cardo braved it and said he liked it (but he also often says that he'll eat anything).




P.S. I just added my links and the Chico Bag store just redesigned their site and added new bags. Is it lame that I really want to order new bags now? I want at least a red one and an Earth one. If anyone else (in Reno, Carson, Sparks) wants to order three, let me know and we can order all five at the same time. Otherwise, I'll just order five more and give my totes away.