sarah's sustainable life

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 more time josiah spends around other children, the more often he seems to come home sick. what can i do? i don’t want him to live in a plastic bubble, but i HATE feeding him medication. while searching the shelves of the drug store for homeopathic solutions, i have come to realize that most of them are nothing but bottled home remedies that our families have been using for years. today i am going to share with you some of my most trusted home remedies that are safe for children! maybe your family has used these, too…

for a cough: boil a cup of water. add a few spoonfuls of honey* and a good squeeze of fresh lemon. honey coats the throat, relieving coughs, while the lemon cuts through with a good dose of vitamin C (which helps reduce histamines).
for constipation: cut leaves from organic strawberries. wash them well, then boil them in some good, clean water. strain out leaves and drink liquid. you may need to add a little sugar to get your child to drink this; it’s a very effective, natural laxative, but it does not taste great.
for a sty: any piece of real gold jewelry should be sterilized, then rubbed on the sty. there is a chemical reaction that will kill the sty very quickly.
for bug bites: make a paste of baking soda and water and smear a small patch on the bug bite. this dries out, keeps the itch away, and pulls out any poison.
for indigestion, heartburn, or nausea: grate 1tsp fresh ginger into one cup boiling water. allow to steep for 10 minutes, then strain out the ginger and drink the “tea”. though research for thousands of years has proven ginger as an effective treatment for these ailments, scientists still aren’t sure quite why.

does your family have some “folk” remedies? feel free to share them with all of us – we’d love to know!!
*a regular dose of raw, local honey has proven effective to treat pollen allergies, but be cautious giving your children raw animal products!

summer in texas means just one thing to me – my daily cuppa will be poured over ice (american style)! in fact, in my new home state i have a hard time taking in anything other than iced tea all summer long, and so this mini-revelation i had is highly applicable to me.
i have always been skeptical of “cold brew” teas. how does one tea leaf require heat to distribute its properties into the water and another does not? i’m not buying it!! it turns out the folks at sun harvest know how to overcome my doubt – with a BIG sale! i bought a large box of cold brew blueberry green tea and was impressed with the flavor. and as i was sipping through my first pitcher it occurred to me, “hey! if i could cold brew all my iced tea all summer long, imagine how much energy i could save!” this thought led me to another, that perhaps heating water in an old-fashioned kettle on the stove during the winter might not be such a great idea, either. so after some research, here is my definite answer on the best way to get your elixir of life: cold brew iced tea in the summer (or whenever you like to drink it cold) and the only energy wasted is your own, pulling out the tea bags. the rest of the year, use an electric kettle to heat water quickly, cheaply, and efficiently.

from dimi's photostream on flickr

i can’t tell you how many people have asked me, “how does going veg effect the environment?” thankfully for me, the people at turtle island (makers of the beloved thanksgiving tofurky feast) have done the research and put quite a nice, informative page together! so, if you are one of those who is curious, check out the link and find out why “vegetarianism IS environmentalism”, as my favorite bumper sticker reads;)

here is a few related comments from our friends at mercy for animals (please visit the site to see citations on the information referenced):
* a recent UN report concluded that animal agribusiness causes more global warming than all forms of transportation combined…through greenhouse gases contained in manure and intestinal gas of farmed animals, deforestation to grow feed crops exclusively for animals, and the massive amounts of energy used to produce the feed crops, heat and cool animal housing, and transport, process, and refrigerate meat.
*a recent study done by cornell university found that the US alone could feed 800 million people with the grain we feed our livestock. on average, 6lbs of plant protein are required to produce only 1lb of animal protein.
*factory farms produce 1.4billion tons of manure every year, which emit methane and ammonia into the air and water (through manure runoff).

a rather disappointing dinner out turned upward for me at the checkout. as my husband paid for our not-so-great tamales, i noticed on the counter a “green map” of san antonio. i was intrigued! the brochure held a list of restaurants, services, organizations, and properties all aimed at keeping life local, sustainable, and “green.” a visit to the website revealed an open-source social network, links to local “green” discounts, and a list of independent, sustainable businesses that grows every day (no pun intended). echotown has done a great service putting all this information in one place. the next time you are in need of a dry cleaner, organic pest control, haircut, auto glass repair, or are even just looking for a more “green” restaurant for your date night, check out echotown.net – i know i will! as their slogan states, “go local, go green, tell everyone!”

as i come upon the two year anniversary of our moving to texas, i have something much more significant weighing on my mind – my hair! most of you who know me know that i only cut my hair once every two years. there are several reasons for this:
1) i know that it takes two years to grow my hair long enough to donate to “locks of love“, as i have several times in the past.
2) i appreciate having longer hair while i am “young”, knowing that as i grow older i will need to keep it short; however, i like short hair better (on everyone, if you’d like to know)!
3) i don’t do anything with my hair. most women i know style, color, curl, or do something with their mop. the best i can manage is to pull it back in a pony tail for work.

but as i approach my shearing, i have learned that there is another worthy cause in which my hair could serve a purpose. the massive oil spill on the east coast this year has spawned a need for innovative (all be it low tech) solutions. the company matter of trust has set up a donation system so that people can send hair, fur, used nylons, and many other types of materials to help with the oil spill cleanup. (for more details on how that works, please see the website. i am a vegan, environmentally concscious mom, not a scientist.) i am curious to know what you all think – where should my hair go, to the oil spill, or to locks of love?

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!

in october of 2009, the batlimore public schools adopted a movement to reduce food costs and carbon footprint while improving the health of its students. the movement: meatless monday! that’s right, over 80,000 students going one whole day a week without meat! the movement has been so successful over the past few months that celebrities are starting to jump on board, most recently (and surprisingly) mario batali! what does a school district in baltimore have to do with a veggie mom in texas? well, as this movement grows in strength, i think we will see it spread across the country; however, i believe (following the catholic tradition that is so strong in this portion of the country), the meatless day will most likely be friday. any way you do it, the time has come for us all to introduce at least one meatless day a week into our businesses and homes. the environment will benefit, and you will benefit (in your waistline and wallet)! anyone willing to give this a try?

food equity. what does that phrase mean to you? currently, food equity is a social justice movement aimed at evening out the amount of food and money spent on food that is in such extremes around the world. a social justice activist, high school teacher, and vegan named christopher greenslate, together with his other half kerri leonard, recently published a book entitled, “on a dollar a day: one couple’s unlikely adventures in eating in america”. the premise for the experiment was this: tired of the cost of groceries rising, and wanting to become more aware of the hardships of others around the world, kerri and christopher undertake a month of eating at less than $1 per day per person. sound impossible? want to know what they ate, how it worked, and what, if any, good has come out of it? buy the book, read the blog, or get the synopsis interview in the current issue of vegnews magazine. i found this intriguing! and it has inspired me to look closer at what i consider “essential”.

*just a little note – this is being posted EARLY for father’s day because it takes some time to order, so read on and find just what dad’s been wanting for years*

ah, indie crafting. i have certainly seen some very creative upcycling on etsy and such, but nothing ever like the company “hello rewind” and their laptop sleeves! here is the concept: you send your favorite old tee shirt with an order for your size laptop and in 4-8weeks you have a unique and sentimentally valuable laptop cover. but that’s not the best part! based out of new york city, hello rewind is a company with a mission to rescue people from the slavery of sex trafficking. when you order their goods, you are providing work and skills training for those trying to escape that slavery. win win situation? i think this is the definition!