Trash Update

There has been some issue in trying to reduce the trash down. Not everyone is willing to stop giving us things that require packaging. I know it will be hard to get rid of all of it but I think it is reasonable to say that we could do a lot better than we are doing now. We are doing better than we were when I first wrote about reducing our trash but I am not satisfied. We are still producing a bag about every 1/2 to 2 weeks and 1 container of recycling every week. I am now remembering our grocery and produce bags every time. We are also buying things with less or no packaging or in packaging that I want to reuse, like glass. My husbands mom still refuses to stop giving my children things made of plastic and candy. So I am not sure what I am going to do about that. Apparently I am not the only one with this problem, lol. It's not like I am going to give them this anyway, I don't see the point of her sending us this crap.

This is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. My husband still has to work on it as well. He is the skeptical type and this makes it hard for him to put his heart into it. I defiantly think the hardest part in convincing people in my life that it is possible and getting their full support. Most are laughing it off like it's not important and impossible.

"If you lived in America in 1960, you generated about 2.68 pounds of waste a day.

By 1970, we averaged 3.25 pounds perperson, and when the 21st Century started, we were on our way to 5 pounds per day. Each of us, on average, managed a 100% increase in 1/2 of a lifetime!

In spite of new recycling efforts, only 29% of waste was recycled in our earlier years.  By the year 2008, we were recycling about 46% of our waste.  Do the math and you’ll agree: yes, we’ve made progress since the baby boomers…BUT we have a long way to go because of the sheer increase in garbage that we generate these days." (http://thinkoutsidethebin.com/2011/06/18/landfill-statistics-and-zero-waste-america/, 2011)

Landfill are getting full and many items could have been recycled or even just not purchased. I feel like I have a responsibility to my children and my future grandchildren to help, so I am trying my hardest. I don't care what anyone has to say.  

Sustainable Food!

We picked up our first grass fed beef last Sunday, it was a really beautiful trip. The ranch was 2 hours from our house but was totally worth the trip! It was such a beautiful place. It was incredible! There was green grass everywhere, mountains and hills. Trees everywhere too! There was a cute little farm house and of course some farm kittens. They also had a donkey and a few chickens. Its pretty much what I envisioned a farm to be was when I was growing up but better. This is how it is supposed to be! The cows looked so happy. The little babies were butting heads playfully, wonderful! We bought 140lbs for 525. That ends up at 3.25 a lb. Not bad, when we were buying hormone free grain fed it was around 4.50 to 5 dollars a pound. Apparently healthy doesn't have to cost a fortune.

People have been asking us how sustainable our diet really is because we are doing the Paleo diet. Which isn't really just a diet, its a lifestyle. Do these pictures look like they are sustainable? Yes! This is how it was meant to be! The grazers need grass and the grass needs the grazers. When you own a heard you need them to move to different locations to give the land time to recover also this is what would happen in nature. Just like crops need to be mixed and rotated to keep the land fertile. In nature, land doesn't just have acres and acres of the same plant. Also to address the Methane that cows produce. Cows have less gas when they eat what they are supposed to eat. Just like when humans eat things that bother us (like milk) we have more gas. As the pictures show at the ranch where we got our grass fed beef nature can be beautiful! I believe we all need to get back to this. I don't mean live in the country. I mean that we need to get back to respecting nature!  No more pesticides, hormones, unnecessary antibiotics, fed lots and acres of unsustainable farming of corn, soy and others! We all need to lay off the artificial food PERIOD!

Oral Hygiene, I was wrong..

When it comes to oral hygiene, I have never really questioned any of my dentists, my mother, teachers or toothpaste companies. Apparently everything I thought I knew about tooth and mouth health is/was wrong. I have more than a dozen fillings and I got most of them when I was a child and when I was pregnant. I was always told that if I brushed my teeth twice a day and flossed once a day or more that I would have good oral hygiene.  They also warned me about eating and leaving sweets on my teeth. Although that wasn't the reason for my problems as I really have never had a sweet tooth.

After many hours of research I have read many different opinions about oral health and have come to the conclusion that I have to come to my own conclusion, lol.  I have learned a lot and now believe that we are more in control of our teeth than we are taught that we do. I have learned that there are some bad things in commercial tooth paste, Fluoride, Glycerin, Sodium Laurel Sulfate and Saccharin. So I have started making my own tooth paste. We are also starting to change our diet to help remineralize our teeth. Yes, that is right! You can actually put minerals back into your teeth to make the enamel strong again and heel and prevent decay with your diet. No more sugar, soda, grains or dairy. These all have carbs and sugar that helps the growth of tooth decay.  smartealtahealth.com says;

"There are several steps you will need to take the reverse the enamel loss. First you need to ensure the teeth are clean on the surface. The saliva coats the teeth and adds minerals from the trace minerals in your saliva. Avoid anything that leads to a dry mouth - smoking, alcohol etc. or reduces the amount of saliva, won't help. You want to encourage your salivary glands, and keep your teeth very clean. Throw away your Fluoride based toothpaste and make your own. Important to get saliva to release the minerals back into the enamel. You have to add minerals back into your diet." (http://www.smartahealth.com/remineralization.html)

We also have made our teeth care more environmentally friendly. We now have tooth brushes where only the head is replaceable and recyclable! You snap in new bristles, it's so easy just! I think these are so cool. You can find these at your local natural food stores. I got the toothpaste recipe from http://www.keeperofthehome.org . She has done a lot of research on this. This post is the reason I started looking into oral hygiene and diet. There were many different recipes, I like this one the most because it has more than just cleaning the teeth, there are minerals in this recipe. Also it taste good! The only change I made is I added orange essential oil so I have peppermint orange flavor.

Easter is a Challenge

I am finding that Easter is not that easy to be green if you are making Easter baskets. I don't want to give my children tons of candy and want them to still have tons of fun so I did decide to do themed baskets after reading another blogger's article about doing this. I love this idea as it's still easy but get to put your own personal creativity to it. #2 is getting a monkey themed basket. the only thing that I had to throw away was the tags off of the stuffies. The soft book was #1's but it has been put away for some time now as she was no longer interested in it. I made a tag blanket, which is hard to see. I did put baby yogurt melts in here which will be the biggest trash item. I could not think of any other treats for her that would be less wasteful.

 For #2 I went with a music themed basket which will produce very little trash. All of the musical items here came in a drum that she can also play with. You can't see it here as the drum part is too big to fit in the basket. All of the instruments are made of wood and was purchased at World Market. They have many wood and old fashioned toys. The only candy is an old fashioned taffy that I think she will love. It will be the only candy that she will get. I do what to add a few more treats. I am making her her own little bag with lady bugs and will be putting yogurt covered pretzels in it. She loves those and I can get them at Sunflower Market in the bulk bins. I was also considering putting some oranges since she loves them. 

   

These baskets have straw as filling instead of plastic or paper. I  think they look elegant and organic then with the other fillings. I am not wrapping them in any type of plastic. It really doesn't need to be wrapped as there is not many loose items and I like the way they look anyway. I feel like wrapping them is just more waste.

Our Easter eggs (which I will post a picture of later) we will be using leftover Easter dye that we used last year. When that is all gone I will be using more natural ways of dying eggs. I like the idea of using fruit to make dyes. It seems like that is the ultimate way to go. There will be no trash left behind and no chemicals on our eggs! I don't believe that we have to be wasteful to have a great Easter! I think that I can still do better with the baskets but I am giving myself a little slack as I am still learning. I hope these ideas help others moms who are looking to make their Easters less wasteful!

In The Garden Part 2

So as talked about in my previous post that I planted some lettuce and a few sunflowers for #1. I was super excited yesterday when I went to water and saw that they are coming up. I have never been so proud. I do not have a green thumb what so ever. I have killed just about every plant to come my way. I was told by my older sister that if a frost is coming that I will need to cover them with sheets or they will dye because the baby plant are pretty fragile. I think that is easy enough and will be able to do. SO EXCITED!

  

 Sunflowers

Lettuce 

Recipes #2 Baby Care

This is the recipe that I found the most often when doing research on this. I liked this one the most when using my reusable cloth wipes. My sister used to just wash her babies booty's in the sink when changing her babies. I do this when they have been really sick and got that nasty booty rash. Also you can just use water but I like the idea of having something a little extra. Tea Tree oil has many benefits such as antiseptic and antifungal properties. Also is used as a preservative. 

Baby Wash Recipe (the twos, is how I remember this recipe, I don't remember where I got this)
2 TBSP baby wash (castile liquid soap, non-scented)
2 TBSP olive oil 
2 drops Tea Tree oil
2 cups water
Mix well in a spray bottle or your wipes box. Mist on wipe before using if in spray bottle. Shake solution around wipes if using a wipes box. I just used a recycled body spray bottle. 

Homemade Recipe for Diaper Rash Cream 4oz  (My own Recipe)
1 1/2 ounces cocoa butter or coconut oil
2 ounces olive oil
1/4 ounce beeswax or approx. 2 tablespoons, grated
1 capsule Vitamin E , squeezed out 
small jar or container
double boiler
wire whisk or electric mixer
rubber spatula

On low-medium heat, in the double boiler add bees wax and cocoa butter. When it is completely melted add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together well. Check the consistency by putting some on a spoon and let it sit in the refrigerator for 3 min. If it’s too hard, add more oil, if it’s too soft, add more beeswax. When you've reached your desired consistency give it a good mix until creamy, then add it to your container and let it cool to room temperature.


You can use this on your own rash or just use it as a lotion, works great! You can also infuse the olive oil with herbs (like Lavender) a couple of weeks prior to making this. DO NOT USE WATER, WATER WILL MAKE IT GROW BACTERIA QUICKLY!


Baby Shampoo (eHow)

12 oz. of distilled water

4 tablespoons Castile soap flakes (or shavings from a Castile bar)
1 to 2 drops of pure essential lavender oil

Boil the distilled water and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Pour the water into a glass bowl and add the soap flakes, allow them to dissolve while stirring. Next add the lavender oil and keep stir until completely blended. You only need a dime size amount to wash your baby. Store your shampoo in a cool, dry place and shake the bottle gently before every use. You can also adding camomile tea to the boiled water while it is cooling.

Important Reminders

• All of the ingredients are gentle enough even for a newborn, but it is always best to do a skin patch test in case your baby has very sensitive skin. Rub a bit of the finished shampoo on the inside of your baby's arm and wait at least 48 hours to see if there is a reaction.
  Your homemade baby shampoo will not feel or look like a commercial shampoo. It will be a thinner consistency and will not lather up or be sudsy. Sudsing agents are used in commercial shampoo and are not necessary. This shampoo will clean hair just as well as any of the high-priced shampoos, but is made especially for your baby by you with no chemicals that are not needed or that may be harmful.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5199663_homemade-baby-shampoo-recipe.html

Stuck on Where Our Food Comes From

I'm stuck on trying to find out everything I can about where our food comes from. The more I research the more I figure out that there are still so many people that have no idea. In a documentary that I saw (I can't recall which exactly as I have seen many on food) there was a scene that was quite disturbing to me. They went to fifth graders and showed them pictures of different things and the kids could not recognize a tomato but knew who Ronald McDonald was, made me sick to see this. For the record my kids are never allowed to eat there and we are fazing out many restaurants basically any who are not "green" or trying to be more sustainable. Chipotle is one that we love and will continue eating at. Anyway, I was reminded about the children we saw yesterday when we where in a different city and went to eat at a BBQ Place (Love this place, can't remember the name, all take out containers are compostable and the food we soooo good!) there was a family sitting next to us and they had two little girls probably 4 and 2. It was around lunch time. The two girls only had french fries, that's it. The mom had a salmon wrap I think and I didn't even look and the dad's. Anyway I couldn't believe my eyes and I almost said something to them but I didn't know what to say. Why are we doing this to our children? I just can't believe it! My daughters eat what we eat! We eat pretty healthy most of the time lots and lots of veggies! It got me thinking that I need to do better and I can! So I started looking up different all natural local farms and found that there a number of grass-feed meat farms that only graze their animals! Most of them had very reasonable prices even better than the grocery stores! Also I found a wonderful blog about local food and found a list of many local farms and ranches. This is a wonderful resource. http://www.ediblecommunities.com If you look at the bottom of their page you will see a list of links of areas in the US. This is how I found my local farm and ranch guide. Anyway we are going to make weekend trips to some of these ranches and get good healthy food. I think that my daughter will love going to these as she loves animals and I will love that she will learn where her food comes from.