Guilt-Free Sex

You may feel guilty about sleeping with so-and-so last night for reasons out of my control but I can suggest something that will leave you with one less thing worry about after your romp under the covers.

Who woulda thunk it! Fair trade condoms by the folks at French Letter

These condoms benefit workers on rubber plantations. You get your jollies on responsibly...the workers receive fair wages and proper health care benefits...everybody wins! Read more about and purchase your French Letter Condoms here

Where Were You?

How did you spend your Earth Hour?

Luckily for me my friends were in town and happened to stop by before Earth Hour began. Once 8 o'clock struck the lights went out, candles were lit, and conversation carried on in our romantic setting. It was actually really fun.

I even scolded my neighbour for having their lights on the whole time. He was having a party. How awesome if it switched into a candlelit party!


I tried...

Lights Out

Tomorrow (March 29th) @ 8pm (your local time), everyone is encouraged to join in on Earth Hour and turn off your lights and non-essential appliances for ONE HOUR in solidarity for electricity conservation (households and businesses alike)!

Last year's Earth Hour (created by the World Wildlife Fund) was held in Sydney, Australia where more than 2 million people flipped the switch. They even got 48,000 cars off the road for that hour. Can you believe it? Hooray for lower carbon emissions!

Need to light the way during Earth Hour? Light up some beeswax candles (they swell oh-so-sweet) and make shadow puppets, read a cook by candlelight like in the olden days, have conversation...or just have a makeout session...you know, whatever floats your boat.

Spring Cleaning Tip #4: Safe Sopping

Yes, you are conscious about your cleaning and using rags and sponges instead of paper towels. But are you using the right sponges? Be sure you're using pure cellulose sponges sans synthetic disinfectants. You'll know if has disinfectants if the packaging says is "kills germs" or "resists odors". Yes, you want to be germ-free but you'll have to embrace the fact that sponges naturally harbour bacteria anyway. It's a wet product and obvious breeding ground for bacteria.

But stop to consider that these odor/germ killing disinfectants are pretty much pesticides. No bueno, man. And do you really want to contribute to the evolution of super germs that are resistant to anything and everything we throw their way? Extra no bueno!

Be sure to arm yourself with pure cellulose sponges without the added chemicals (find them at your hardware store) the next time you buy a new pack of sponges. Keep them germ-free by boiling it in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes or microwaving it on high for 1 minute. Weird, I know, but it works.

We're melting!

Noticed this headline on the Yahoo! front page. "A piece of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan collapses."

Ahhhh!

Put Your Undies Where?

To continue with the Spring Cleaning theme, I'm getting dressed and digging through my underwear drawer realizing that I should start getting rid of some and replenishing my supply with new skivvies. But I've been putting it off because you don't exactly want to add undies to your Goodwill pile because who wants to wear used underwear. So what to do? The trashcan is not going to be an option, that's for sure.

Lucky for me (and you) Patagonia has an underwear recycling program as part of their "Common Threads Garment Recycling" program.

The promo video featuring Agent Timmy is cute and gives you the jist of how this whole thing works. Rather than cramming our landfills with our old underwear factories take your undies, throw them into a machine, melt them into pellets, and turn the polyester pellets into new underwear! Neat right?

How To Recycle:

• Wash your undies (obvs)
  
• Drop them off at the Patagonia store near you
  
• OR you can mail them to the Patagonia Service Center at:

• Patagonia Service Center
  ATTN: Common Threads Recycling Program
  8550 White Fir Street
  Reno, NV 89523-8939

Spare your underwear from a boring and harmful existence in a landfill or an incinerator and help provide Patagonia with reusable garments rather than virgin ones to keep their products alive!

global exchange store

I want to give a little shout-out to the online store/non profit my sister works with! Global Exchange is a Fair Trade Program that works to successfully market fairly traded products in order to provide a fair price and improve the quality of life for producers and artisans, and to build a more sustainable system of trading goods all around the world! Check out the different products they have on the site. There's alot of cute stuff from different co-ops around the world.

If you're going to buy things, why not purchase socially conscious items?
My sis is one of the people modeling the wares. Figure out which one is her...

Shop now!

Read their blog, too!

Green Sleeves

Lookie Lookie! The next time you stroll over to your coffee shop of choice why not slip these babies on for size! These reusable coffee cup sleeves are a perfect substitute to the cardboard sleeves we're used to seeing and getting.

The best part is that they are made of 100% recycled clothing (I love product reincarnation) and individually sewn with love.

Make other coffee patrons envious of your green ways and get your sleeves from the people at GreenHome

Spring Cleaning Tip #2

Spring cleaning is probably one of the rare times I tackle my tub, toilet, and sink. Not my favourite cleaning moments but its gotta be done, right?

Instead of using cleansers like Comet and the like try making your own scour cleanser from scratch.

What you will need:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/8 cup of borax
• 1/4 cup of citrus zest of your choice
  
• Mix well and scrub surfaces with a damp sponge or coarse brush (for the loo)

Wood furniture need dusting?

What you will need:

• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 pint of veg or mineral oil
• mix well and apply a small amount to your reusable cloth or rag to wipe wooden furniture

Happy green cleaning, folks!

Spring Cleaning Tip #1

Spring is in the air! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping (and butting heads? Yeah, I totally saw 2 birds going at it like it was a mini cockfight in mid-air...with 2 spectator birds fluttering close by), and you may already be thinking about your spring cleaning endeavors!

Rather than exposing your home and yourself to harmful chemicals galore why not get your spic-and-span on with some non-toxic cleaning solutions!



Make your own glass cleaner by using the following ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup of vinegar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 8-10 drops of citrus essential oil or citrus juice (optional but great to add in)
• Combine into a spray bottle. Shake. Spray on glass and wipe off with a clean, dry rag of sorts (which can be washed and reused)

Read more this week for other useful spring cleaning tips

Easter frills

Sad but true, come this Sunday evening and on there is a high chance of finding that fake plastic green grass from Easter baskets thrown out into the garbage. If you are still working on decorating Easter baskets why not reuse the paper you already have lying about your homes and make your own shredded grass strips! Take newspapers, magazines, or yellow phone books (do people still have those anymore) and line your baskets that way. It could actually be fun to start shredding paper (by hand - no machine shredders, it defeats the purpose) with your kids.

Once you're done with Easter fun just recycle your paper or reuse for other projects!

Dye of Natural Causes

Yes, Easter is upon us. Before you buy your egg dyeing kit consider dyeing your eggs naturally with spices and fruit & vegetable juices!

Thanks to the help of this site I was able to see what natural ingredients make perfect natural dyes.

Blue: use blueberries
Brown: use coffee or tea
Green: use spinach, liquid chlorophyll, or chlorell
Orange: use chili powder, cayenne, paprika,yellow onion skins, or carrots
Pink: use beet juice, cranberries, or raspberries
Purple: use red wine, red cabbage leaves, grape juice
Red: annatto, pomegranate juice, or red onion skin
Yellow: use turmeric, saffron, orange or lemon peels, or ground cumin

You will also need:
- hardboiled eggs
- egg carton or cooling rack
- spoon, fork, or tongs
- saucepan
- veggie/olive oil
- white vinegar, water
- possibly a strainer of sorts if you are dealing with spinach, coffee grounds, tea leaves, etc. but not necessary

In a saucepan, add a couple of tablespoons of your spice of choice to about 2 cups of water. If you are using veggies, add about 3 or 4 handfuls (chopped up). If you’re going the juice route just skip the water all together. Simmer your concoction for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you’re happy with the colour. Keep in mind that the eggs will not be as dark as the mixture.

When you’re happy with the shade, turn the heat off. Add white vinegar to the liquid (3-4 tablespoons to every cup of liquid). Dip your hardboiled egg into the dye and wait. The longer you wait, the deeper the colour will be.

Use a spoon, fork, or tongs to carefully lift out your egg and place on a wire rack or egg carton. Let dry. Add a little veggie/olive oil for luster. Let dry again. And voila! You’ve got yourself a naturally dyed egg!

I tried this out tonight to be able to add some personal visuals for you. Luckily I had some tumeric in my cupboard so my guinea egg was going to be yellow. To the right is my tumeric mixture. It looked like a gross protein shake! You can see the egg (kinda) at the bottom soaking up the juices.

And the end result! My naturally dyed egg! Yeah, I'm pretty proud.

The #6

I always try to be conscious of what I purchase and its packaging, if any. I'll admit, I'm not perfect so the occasional Styrofoam take-out package or salmon fish tray slips into my possession. I know, I know. I should be better and avoid these products all together but when I find that I falter I do my best to recycle these plastics.

Did you know that you can recycle your Styrofoam material? From your coffee cups to meat trays to packing peanuts (and any other #6 polystyrene plastics for that matter) all are widely accepted by curbside recycling programs all over so don't throw them into the garbage! They can be made into cassette tapes and insulation. Or you can always reuse your packing peanuts or give them (along with your other Styrofoam material) to your local post office or shipping store so they can reuse/recycle them.

Check out the Earth 911 Website to make sure your curbside program accepts #6 plastics. If I'm going to have trash then I gotta be responsible about it, right?

A Sight To Behold

I had some time to kill before dinner with my mother yesterday so instead of hanging around her house I decided to spend the next hour and a half of downtime finishing my book (Life of Pi). The local Starbucks was packed, the library was closed, and although the peace and quiet of a church would serve perfectly for finishing off my book I just couldn't bring myself to go in and lounge about in the pews. So I decided to drive around the neighbourhood I grew up in and find a nice quiet street. Right by my old Elementary School seemed like a fitting place to read about a boy and his tiger. I parked my car, watched some young girls skateboard around the schoolyard, and lo and behold, what one of many changes did I notice at my old alma mater? Blue recycling bins in front of every classroom!


My eyes widened and my heart sang to see that the school was making it easier for the kids to recycle (and at such an impressionable age, too!) And they were even utilizing the blue residential bins. What a sight to behold on a perfect Sunday afternoon.

Green Drinking

Want a festively green pint for your St. Paddy's day drinking? Dye your drink au naturelle by adding liquid chlorophyll (ask for it at your local health supplement store) to your pint or even try straining juiced spinach through cheese cloth (or reuse clean nylon stockings). Bottoms up!

Green Search Engine

Check it out! I've seen many specialized search engines in my time. Some were skinned for music artists (I saw one for Maroon 5) and there are others that allow you to donate to a charity. This one that I found is more niche and caters to green charities and organizations. It's called ClimateGift

You get to choose from 3 charities to donate to (The World Resources Institute, Reef Check, and The Earth Island Institute). You have to click around on the ads to funnel money into the organization's pockets and you can't miss the ads themselves! That homepage is pretty much packed. It is pretty cool, though, because along with ads, the homepage (like Google) has a little widget area for that organization, and links to other green sites. They even have a carbon calculator! You can also customize that landing page (like Google), add your own tabs and content.

It's worth checking out. I am so used to Google but I'll give this a try.

The Last Straw

Just say no to straws! Is it really necessary to sip your drink through a straw when it is perfectly fine to drink from the cup? Everytime I go to restaurants I see waiters and waitresses with apron pockets full of straws and I think of all those straws being used and then tossed into the garbage after every table is cleared. It's been easy so to refuse the straw altogether when my drink is brought over but it's tough when they already put the straw into the drink for you with the little bit of paper on the tip (you know what I'm talking about). So I think I just need to be better at letter them know right off the bat that I don't need straw once I give the waiter/waitress my drink order.

The coffee stirrers at work? I have my own spoon from home that I keep in my desk drawer that I use to stir in my sugars into my teas. Sometimes if I am in a bind I put my sugar into my ceramic cup first then I pour in the liquid. Instant mixing! Silly, I know, but hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, n'est pas?

I feel 'used'

I think I'm going to join a book club. I've been meaning to do it and now that I've found out a co-worker is part of one I may just hop on board. This month's book? Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I've got until April 27th to read the book so I better get on it! But before I can, I need to get a
copy!

I do my best to steer clear of big bookstores like Barnes & Noble and the like and make an effort to support local bookstores. Even better, they earn extra gold stars if they sell used books. If more people purchased used versions of books that have been around for many moons then it means less trees are turned into new books. Plus, I get to give my new-used book a new lease on its inanimate life. One can even find great deals on used reads (I find amazing books at thrift stores for a quarter!) Or I turn to BookMooch.com and swap out my old books (that I don't feel like keeping around) and get other used books in return for free (minus the cost of shipping). And then there is always the trusty library. It is definitely the best option except for the fact that I'm a bibliophile that loves building the ol' collection.

The next time you're fixin' to get a book, get it used. It will make me and the pound-puppy-esque book happy. Don't want them anymore? Donate them to the Goodwill, library, your local book program, give them as a gift, and even trade/Bookmooch them.

Trash, Recyclables, and "Other"

About a year ago I paused as I was about to toss my vegetable "trimmings". Wait a minute...green bin. It had been instilled in me since elementary school to separate my recyclables but why hadn't I been putting my fruits and veggie refuse into the green/yard trimmings bin? So when you enter my kitchen you will see 3 different receptacles: one for trash, a second for recyclables (it's the round one for those confused guests. Round...Recycle...Rrrrround....Rrrrecycle), and my lone blue bucket for, well, anything that is grown/compostable (veggies, fruits, tea leaves, coffee grounds, and the occasional eggshells). Every few days I just carry my bucket out to the green bin and toss everything in. The city of LA is going to turn the yard clippings and the like into compost and mulch anyway so why not re-route my rotting fruit and vegetables from the trash bin and turn it all into nutrients for someone's garden someday.

My bucket really is my more inexpensive (read: free) alternative to actually having a backyard composting bin (since I live in an apartment and have nowhere to put my it) or owning an indoor composter by Bokashi (for the urbanite who wants to keep a mini composter in their humble abode). I like it because I wouldn't have to deal with composting worms. It's funny how I've been ogling this item online lately instead of the usual cute dress or shoes. A green girl can dream...

In the meantime, I will continue to use my trusty bucket, eventually get a Bokashi, and ponder how to get my neighbours to join in on a communal backyard composting bin.

My bucket use is actually really fun for me because I like to monitor how much stuff I throw out in general. (I've got environmental impact guilt as powerful as my Catholic guilt!)
I feel good when I see my recycling bin and bucket overflow and I barely have any trash to take out ( find myself taking out my one trashbag every 2-3 weeks. This is good but not great). I would, however, like to get to a point where I have less waste all together and I only have to make bucket trips. Happy to report that I am getting there.

Friday Bar Hops

Yes, it's Friday. Can't complain. A few of my friends and I are going to hit up the Downtown LA bar scene tonight (my Japanese friends are playing a gig in Little Tokyo). Going out for drinks, too, tonight? Think before you drink! Along with making sure you're not driving home drunk (my friends and I opt for cabs when going Downtown) you should think about how you're going to take your drink. If you're ordering beers be sure to get one on tap. That's one beer bottle less to deal with, folks. It's all about workin' the pint glasses. (Better to reuse than to throw-out or recycle). And you may be more likely to try out different beers!

I'm a fan of Stella and thank goodness the Seven Grand serves it in pretty goblets!

Wind It Up!

FYI: Don't forget that we turn our clocks one-hour forward this weekend. Hooray! It will be lighter out when I leave work. Oh Springtime...

Next time you're in the market for a new clock why don't you opt for a wind-up one. You don't need to plug it in and it doesn't require batteries. Plus, they've got the cool old-timey feel! And the ticking can lull you to sleep.

Note to not forget to wind it up again (I would do it before bed) otherwise your clock slows down and you're timing will be off!

(Clock pictured is of the Ikea-ilk)

Run Responsibly

Spring is nipping on my heels and that means one thing: "Prep for Summer Body!"

I've been putting off/avoiding having to join a gym for a couple of reasons.
a.) I'd rather not spend X mount of dollars on a membership
b.) The amount of energy a gym uses is astronomical (powering equipment, keeping the A/C on, etc.)

So I opt for lifting weights and doing crunches at home, walking, taking the stairs, and I might even try to hula-hoop my way to fitness like this woman here.
Plus, running outdoors let's me enjoy the outdoors and I get to see my neighbours more often . And it's free and environmentally friendly!

Now I'm in need of new running shoes so I've been online trying to look for some made out of sustainable/recycled materials. It's easy to find sustainable sneakers but running shoes? So far I've come across "BioMoGo" from Brooks running shoes called Trance 8 shoes which feature a bioplastic midsole that will degrade in about 20 years (2% of the time traditional midsoles breakdown). The uppers will still feature traditional oil-based materials, though.
Unfortunately for me, the Trance 8 won't be out until July of this year! No instant gratification here.

Another cool shoe find that I've been ready alot about lately is from Nike and their Reuse-A-Shoe program. Nike doesn't have a sustainable shoe yet (I don't think) but they are taking in your old running shoes, turning them into "Nike Grind" and use this to make different parts of sport surfaces in communities around the world: cushion surfaces for basketball courts, synthetic soccer fields, tennis courts, running tracks, and even playgrounds for the little ones. Find a Reuse-A-Shoe recyling location near you here

If anyone knows about a sustainable/recycled material running shoe that's out now let me know. I'm on the hunt.

plastic-less produce

I've been really good about reusing my paper grocery bags and handy cotton and canvas bags when I go shopping. I get really happy when I see more people doing the same thing. People are starting to get it! But what's silly is seeing these reusable canvas bags filled with small plastic bags of produce!

Do what I do and refrain from produce plastic all together! I just pile my fruits and veggies into my cart and go my merry way. Everyone tosses these bags out anyway once they get home. No harm in placing your stuff on the conveyor belt. You're going to wash your food later on anyway. And the plastic bag isn't really saving your produce from getting squished during the ride home - it's a plastic bag not a metal box! Other shoppers see my produce go down the conveyor and hopefully they will follow in my footsteps.

But if you still want a bag of sorts you can re-use the plastic bags for your next grocery and/or farmer's market trip, reuse mesh bags that you get when you buy oranges or avocados, or you can buy these reusable mesh bags. They are quite cheap (10 for $1.95) from the grassroots store

You can also get these smaller reusable canvas bags from Moondrop Clothiers
They come in different sizes so peruse the site for the perfect fit.

for the pearly whites

The time is coming up for me to switch out my toothbrush. If you're in the same boat then you should opt for a recycled toothbrush! One of the popular brushes hail from Recycline. Their "Preserve" brushes are made from 100% recycled plastics, 25 percent of which comes from Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. How awesome are reincarnated yogurt cups? They are only $2.50 each or 4 for $13. Pas mal. They even throw in a come in a convenient little travel case with little vent holes to help keep your toothbrush ‘fresh’.

When it's time for a new brush just place your old one into a convenient postage-paid Recycline mailer and your old brush will be reincarnated into plastic lumber. Brings a smile to my face.

Get your own recycled toothbrush from Recycline
Or check out Vegan Essentials
Or your local Trader Joe's