The Story of Stuff: Printed on Trash not Trees

Buy The Story of Stuff from IndieBound here!
I was excited to receive an email telling me that The Story of Stuff has been made into a book and is now on sale. However, I then faced the moral conundrum that I was going to be buying more stuff and killing more trees. I was so happy to read on and learn that the book was printed on trash instead of trees. Now I can buy the buy the book to share with friends and family who don’t use the internet (yes, I have several who have not yet joined the intertubes) and I don’t even have to feel guilty about it; super!  I’m thinking of buying a copy for my daughter’s school as well, so pick-up your very own guilt-free copy today and share the love.

Recessionista Beauty Secrets

For those of you who have read my blog before you have likely read that I have issues with my complexion; it’s combination and acne-prone (ie, expensive to take care of). Over the last two years I have been working to reduce the number of products I use and looking for inexpensive, natural options to replace the plethora of expensive chemicals that I have been slathering on my face. I tried olive oil to replace my face wash with mixed results. It was definately inexpensive and natural, but it was also messy and dulled my complexion. It did turn out to be the best eye make-up remover that I’ve ever tried, and outshined even the most expensive products that I relied on to remove my hard working MAC eye-liner for pennies on the dollar in comparison. I would definately recommend rubbing on a bit of olive oil to remove eye-makeup and then wiping dry with a cotton cloth, because it moisturizes while it cleans and leaves my eyes looking fresh and wrinkle-free. As for the rest of my face, I now use differin acne medication by prescription, which has allowed me to eliminate a number of beauty products that I relied on previously. I now use Aveno face wash because it is gentle and non-drying and an astringent. I had been purchasing Mario Badescu Special Cucumber Lotion for years, but it did nothing to control the oil production in my T-zone, which left me patting down my face several times a day and it doesn’t fall into the inexpensive category to be sure. Buying it in its largest 32 oz size brought the $/oz down to about $1.50 per oz. I began researching astringent/toner alternatives and decided to try Witch Hazel.

Also known as winterbloom, snapping hazel and spotted alder, Witch Hazel is indigenous to the woodland areas of the Northeastern United States. This unique plant bears delicate golden flowers and seed capsules in late autumn, after the leaves have fallen. The seed capsules mature one year later, at which time they burst open and scatter the seeds away from the mother plant to ensure propagation of the next generation. The twigs and bark contain the therapeutic and aromatic constituents that when distilled create the clear, fragrant, natural astringent Dickinson’s is famous for today.

Native Americans recognized Witch Hazel’s value, and would apply it topically to treat minor wounds, abrasions and skin irritations. Nineteenth century missionaries learned of the plant’s therapeutic qualities and produced the first commercial Witch Hazel Extracts as basic ingredients for a wide array of personal care products.

Today, the applications of Witch Hazel go beyond facial care where a mild but effective astringent is desired; other applications include cleansers, body washes, hair care, eye gels and personal hygiene products. Consumers and medical professionals alike recognize Witch Hazel as a naturally soothing and cost effective botanical extract.

Witch Hazel is recommended for:

• Excellent for sensitive skin
• Removes excess oil and sebum
• Controls oil production
• Reduces skin blemishes
• Cleanses and conditions skin
• Tones and tightens pores
• Soothes redness
• Refreshes and cools skin
• Does not over dry
• Hypoallergenic
• Dermatologist tested

I checked this information with “The Derm Doc” and he confirmed that it would be safe and effective as a toner for my face and I started using it nearly 3 weeks ago. I purchased the Up and Up brand from Target and have used it twice a day (morning and night) each day over the last three weeks. The oil production has greatly reduced down to normal levels, leaving my skin looking taught, dewy and fresh. I haven’t had any breakouts or irritation as a result of using it and I would recommend this product without hesitation as an inexpensive, natural toner/astringent. I do not exfoliate my skin because I am currently using the prescription acne treatment, but I’m certain that there are plenty of inexpensive, natural options out there.

What inexpensive, natural beauty secrets have you discovered?

Rethinking the Cotton Round

Photo: Sproutzstore.blogspot.com

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the production of cotton uses a lot of water which is a valuable and dwindling resource. Shortages of fresh water worldwide lead to famine and starvation, war and terrorism, poverty and disease. In thinking about how I can do my part to help eliminate the unnecessary use of this precious resource globally I have been looking to reduce consumption of disposable products that I can replace with reuseable options. The first and easist switch for me was to stop purchasing new clothes and reuse fabric that I have available locally. Next, I began to investigate other household items that I could replace and while I was washing my face last night it dawned on me; cotton facial rounds! These little cotton pads are great for removing eye make-up and cleansing, but I use several of them each and every day. I thought,”surely, there must be some way to buy or make my own reuseable pads”. This morning I began to look for alternatives and was pleased to find that I can both buy and make my own easily and inexpensively. There are packs of Organic Reusable Cotton Face Rounds on Amazon and variety of homemade versions on Etsy like these cotton buds or facial scrubbies. There are literally hundreds in a variety of colors, textures and materials on etsy just type “facial cotton” into the search box and go. If you are of the DIY persuasion there are even patterns so that you can crochet your own and tutorials to tech you to reuse fabric you already have to sew a few. My takeaway from this is that I can keep pushing myself to reduce my consumption in ways that help my family and the world, with little inconvenience to our way of life. Each little change that I make helps and if we can each change a habit or two, perhaps we can begin to make some real change. So keep pushing new ideas and sharing them with everyone so that we can all walk the long road to reducing our impact and improving our way of life for everyone together.

The Coming Water Crisis

While listening to NPR on my way back to Baltimore yesterday I listened to a very interesting story about the coming Water Crisis. Essentially the guest speaker, Steven Solomon, was discussing how global water usage is increasing at a leve that cannot be sustained. In fact, some of the hardest hit regions who will be facing water shortages soon are areas in which terrorism has taken, or is beginning to take hold. The global consumption of our limited water resources may even spark the next major conflict. You can read the article on NPR here and listen to the broadcast for more information, “Will the Next War be Fought Over Water?“.

Immediately after hearing this story I was reminded of an article I read while back on Treehugger, where it lists the amount of water needed to produce a single new tshirt or pair of jeans. Fortunately I found that article here, “How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Make…”

Here are the facts straight from the article:

Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans. [2]

Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.

Now, if you think that just because you make your own clothes by knitting, crocheting, or buying fabric in the store that you are helping to reduce your water consumption, just look at what the article says about your raw materials:

One Pound of . . .
Wool: 101 gallons of water
Cotton: 101 gallons

In short, one great way to avoid consuming more than your fair share of water and starting on the slippery slope that will lead to famine, death, terrorism, and finally war is to stop buying new clothes! There are thousands of vintage stores, second hand and thrift shops available where you can purchase used, or as I like to call them, previously loved clothing. There are so many great resources online that can show you how to sew, refashion, and remake clothes, If you prefer to knit, but can’t find a sweater that you really like, buy a used one and recycle the yarn. If you can’t bear to take up sewing or knitting, but still want to do your part, but don’t want to dig through thrift stores, then buy online. Online sellers like Etsy have tons of shops selling recycled couture, so you can still look good and do your part to slow the damage to our Earth. I’ll include more links below to help you do additional research on the size of the issue at hand as well as places to purchase used clothes and links to groups of folks who have pledged not to buy any new clothes to help reduce their footprint on the Earth.

The Water Crisis:

The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil

Failing Wheat Crop Causes Afghan Food Crisis

Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen

We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Fooprints, Country by Country

Groups Embracing the Stop Shopping or Nused Clothing Movement to Recycle, Upcycle or Refashion Clothing:

Wardrobe Refashion

The Great American Apparel Diet

Great Places to Shop for Refashioned, Recycled, Vintage Clothing:

Etsy

ArtFire

Ebay

Goodwill

The Salvation Army

Rusty Zipper

Mod Cloth

Blu Vintage

So, maybe you can make one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 to stop buying new clothes? So go on, get shopping, just make sure it’s been previously loved. Maybe you can even check off two resolutions, by using all of the money you will save not buying new clothes to pay off debt…not a sermon, just a thought

Love Your Swiffer Mop but Hate the Waste?

Ah, the new year. I enjoyed celebrating the coming of 2010 with friends and family in my home with lots of snacks and libations. Unfortunately I now have to begin the dreaded clean-up. Fortunately, I purchased my Swiffer Wet Jet many moons ago and use it weekly. I love my Swiffer because it is easy to use and I don’t have to fill or empty buckets of water and cleaning solution to use it for spills, etc. For a really thorough cleaning I still go with the old school brush and bucket method, but for a quick kitchen clean-up and those high traffic areas of wood floor in my home you can’t beat it. However, the refills are both expensive and wasteful. They don’t make compostable Wet Jet pads and they are made mostly of plastic, which means that they will be sitting in a landfill sometime for just about ever. On Instructables they have great tutorials on how to remove that pesky cap on top of the solution bottle so that you can refill it with your own inexpensive and environmentally-friendly cleaning solution like this one:

Lemony Eco-Friendly Floor Cleaner Recipe
1 gallon water
3/4 cups olive oil
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup lemon juice

or if you would still prefer to pay more to purchase floor cleaner, but choose one that is environmentally-friendly you can go with any of the products listed at the end. The second tutorial from Instructables shows you how to make your own Wet Jet replacement pads from recycled tshirts.  Finally, at the end there are links to the Wet Jet starter kit, if you haven’t yet purchased one, as well as links to green cleaning products that you can buy to refill the solution bottle.  Happy Cleaning!

How to remove the cap on a Swiffer Wet-Jet cleaner bottle. – More DIY How To Projects

Swiffer Mop Pad (a reusable one!) – More DIY How To Projects

Products to Buy:

The Staple Free Stapler!?!

While cruising on the innertubes for random goodness I came across this little gem at ThinkGeek: The Staple Free Stapler. Imagine being able to staple away and never having to purchase staples again…the mind…it boggles.

*Update:  Made By Humans, Eco Staple Free Stapler, Desktop Stapler, Black (452)
is also available on Amazon with free super saver shipping and while the cost appears to be higher, it’s actually cheaper than paying for shipping at ThinkGeek.

WorldofGood.com

I occasionally pick up crafting items/fabric from Ebay because I can get a used tshirt with free shipping for less than at my local Goodwill (which can run in excess of $4.00).  Today, while perusing the site I came across a new section of Ebay called World of Good.  The “About” section says, “WorldofGood.com by eBay is the world’s first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values. Respected, independent organizations verify the positive impact every product has on people and the planet. Our goal is to ensure that every choice you make here is a good one”.

WorldofGood.com breaks products down into four categories: People Positive, Eco Positive, Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause. People Positive ensures that “producers get great new opportunities”, or fair-trade practices. Eco Positive, are “good products for the planet” or what you think of as “green” items (ie, recycled, refashioned, use conservation-based raw materials and/or production methods. Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause are pretty self-evident in their product descriptions.

This new method of buying and selling is intriguing and I’m going to look into becoming a seller and I hope that this categorization helps people to more easily make informed decisions about the products they buy and how they affect the world around them. 

Here is a link to the press release issued on September 3, 2008, “eBay Launches New Online Marketplace for Ethically Sourced and Eco-Friendly Products”.

Environmentally-Focused Christmas Shopping

Maybe you had planned to handmake your Christmas presents, but they didn’t turn out, or you just didn’t have the time to finish them (both of these have already happened to me).  Even more likely, you just don’t have the time, energy or urge to make your own gifts, but you still want to buy something cool for your loved ones, but want to buy something recycled or refashioned to cut down on your enivronmental impact.  With expedited shpping in most cases you can still purchase up to a few days before Christmas, but always check your estimated arrival dates and read the shipper’s policies before you purchase. If your items don’t arrive you can always print a photo and description of the item frome the website and give to your relatvies in a pretty card and let them know that they’ll receive it soon (again, I’ve had to do this more than once). I’ve scoured the innertubes (ie, the internet) and come up with a few really cool items and here they are in no particular order.

Warning: Shamless self promotion plug – buy something from me You can always request a custom item as well from my Etsy shop.

Serendipit on Etsy

“SerendipiT sources fabrics from clothing purchased from thrift stores like Goodwill (and occasionally my own closet) and recycles the fabric into new, fun and practical items. Recycling these textiles ensures that they don’t end up in landfills and by purchasing repurposed, upcycled and refashioned goods you can reduce the harmful chemicals used in the production of new items. So reduce your carbon footprint, do something good for the Earth and your wallet by purcashing something fun or funky from SerendipiT.”

Here are some of my favorite Etsy items:

Upcycled Vinyl Record HEAVY Guitar Picks Free Shipping

Custom Vintage Silverware Garden Marker

Recycled DEF LEPPARD cassette wallet / iPod Nano case / business card holder

Antique Silver Spoon Ring, Avon Pattern.. Any Size… Free Shipping

UPCYCLED Blue Grey VINTAGE Train Case with RADIOHEAD Quote Black Star and Skeleton Keys

Try putting “recyled” in the search box and find thousands of goodies to suit your taste.

Amazon has lots of great recycled items too like:
terrasoles Women’s Tuckerman Clog,Charcoal,8 M
Nahui Ollin Itsy Bitsy Wristlet,Hearts,one size
terrasoles Men’s Snowmass Slip On,Charcoal,7 M
ROGUE Mingo Knee Boot,Honey,6 M
Nahui Ollin Large Cutie Pie Purse,Zig Zag,one size

There are so many online stores offering recycled and upcycled gifts that a simple search will reveal more websites than one can sift through in a day, but here are a few that caught my eye:

Eco-Artware.com

Eco Home Gear

Alchemy Goods

So hopefully, among your search for presents you’ll find something interesting, unique and sustainably crafted to give this year. Nothing says I love you like passing on a healthy planet to our future generations. Happy Shopping!

Recycled Fabric Rugs and Walmart Joins the Recycled Tshirt Product Party

I need bathroom and kitchen rugs. I’ve purchased some in the past and my loving husband has destroyed them (one suspects this may have been with purpose). I did poke through Goodwill yesterday and came up with one useable brown rug, but that was it so I’m planning to make my own this weekend. I was doing some research on recycling fabric into rugs and found these great tutorials: making braided rugs from recycled denim and the sewn denim rug. I also found some great inspiration for recyled tshirt rugs in Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt. These are all great ideas so I’ll get to work and see how it goes. However, what I found most interesting was that Walmart, usually the antithesis of my recycled DIY lifestyle sells recycled tshirt shag rugs! It’s not exactly DIY, but at least they are offering recycled cloth products. Perhaps this is a bit of greenwashing because it is made from the process of creating new tshirts, but it’s a start right? At $38.88 + tax I’ll still be doing it myself though. Oddly enough its a real bargain compared to L.L.Bean’s braided rug in “denim blue” (wow that’s expensive!).

Rich Hippie: Organic, wildcrafted perfume that sounds yummy

I love finding new earth-friendly products to try and review. The health and beauty industry is practically bursting with new, organic alternatives to mass-produced synthetics that can contain nasty things like petrochemicals and “hormone disruptors”; yikes! Today I found a very intriguing product online, Rich Hippie perfume. They make yummy perfumes from all natural ingredients extracted from flowers and plants combined with wine alcohol distilled from grapes with exciting names like “Brown Sugar”, “Maharishi”, “Rock Star”. While these are sold in a limited number of retail stores worldwide you can purchase their organic perfume right on the website. Best yet, you can order samples of each fragrance if you like to mix it up (like I do) or try it before you commit to just one. So take note friends and family, this is a bit out of my budget, but it would make a lovely gift.