Organics in 2009

Yesterday I went to Target. I hadn't been there in a couple of weeks when I needed to buy Christmas necessities. I was very surprised to see BATHING SUITS! What is wrong with that picture? Since when did we go from Christmas to bathing suits? Last year I was surprised and almost offended to see Valentine's items at this time of year but, come on, bathing suits. What is the reasoning behind this? Did they not make any money over the holidays so they bring out the bikini? "Hey, people don't have money to spend on the holidays so let's depress them even more and bring out the bathing suits!" "Let's remind all those women that they gained weight in the last couple of weeks." This almost offended me. WHATEVER! Commercialism feels no empathy.

If that was not enough, prices rose. My deodorant cost me $5.39! It's a natural deodorant. At that price nobody is going to buy it and then Target will stop carrying it and then I won't have my favorite deodorant. Oh, my pits will have poison!

And did anyone notice your ice cream container got smaller but stayed the same price? Cereal boxes are shrinking. And don't get me started on eggs.

The year 2009 will definitely be a monetary struggle for so many. Organic food, which is usually a slightly higher price than it's non-organic counterpart, is going to take a negative hit in sales. I can even admit that I have been choosing regular vegetables and fruits over organic. This is so disturbing to me because natural and organic were just starting to go main stream. Now it seems they will take a few steps back. People are not going to care if something is organic when the family struggles to put eggs and milk on their table. So many will choose inexpensive over quality and safety.

I was honestly thinking of not growing a garden again this year and just supporting the local farmers all spring and summer. But now I may change my mind. But ultimately it is my husband's decision, he's the green thumb.

I hope I didn't depress anyone. I just feel this is my wake up call. I need to make sure I make the most of my money and time this year.

But we greenies know that being green actually saves you money in the long run. What we need is someone with popularity to teach that concept. I wonder how green President Obama will be?

Tough Year Ahead For Organic Farmer

Have a green day.

Green Holiday Guilt

(Our crabapples withering away in the cold.)

I feel so guilty this morning. Every post I read on my favorite green blogs is about how they are greening the holidays. I have not. Well, I have made an effort to buy less, recycle and upcycle anything I can but when I have been buying gifts I haven't been buying green. I take that back I bought recycle cotton socks at Target, yes Target. I bought some great palm oil candles from my mom. She is a seller for Aloha Bay Candles and these candles and salt products are great! Some of their items are organic and/or fair trade. The scent coming from the candles is far superior than petroleum based candles and they last 3 times as long. And I am going to try and find some java logs to burn in our fireplace.

Other than that not much greeny going on with me. So you see my green guilt. I can admit much of the non greening going on is from my husband the light and fire guy. He bought all new lights for the house and loves to have a fire every night. I don't blame him, he loves this time of the year and so do I but I should have found greener alternatives for him.

I can say I tried some. I did look for recycled wrapping paper and found it more expensive. I am cold right now because of the thermostat being turned down. I do walk around in the dark to save energy. But I feel I have strayed from my green goals.

Next year: bake mostly organic cookies, find organic turkey and trimmings, and replace broken and burnt out lights with LED lights.

I am going to start in spring and look for greener alternatives to our favorite holiday traditions. I will set a date on my calendar so I can remember. (That's how I remember most of my life, ha ha.)

Big Flying Thingy

The other night I went to retire for the night. My dog, Maggy, was outside where she can chase evening bugs on the cool grass. (She LOVES to chase bugs and birds.) I proceed to open the sliding door to let her in and I heard something hitting the top of our patio cover, over and over. Dummy me turns on the porch light, which is about 15 inches from my head, to see what the commotion was. This hug flying creature comes barreling toward the light and me! I quickly turned off the light, closed the door and tried to watch it using the light from inside. I couldn't figure out if it was a really small bat or a big moth! It was the size of a humming bird. You see, here in California I am not accustom to large bugs. And this one freaked me out! Finally I came to the conclusion it was a big moth. Then I thought, we have tomato worms and I know they get big, about 4 inches. This has to be a moth from one of those worms. YUCK! Normally my husband picks off the tomato worms and kills them but our gargantuan tomato plant hides these creatures too well.

Reading a little more about these pests I realized they are not worms (I knew that from Biology class long ago) but caterpillars for the Five Spotted Hawk Moth. "Hawk Moth". Does that say something about this creature? Here is a great, organic reference to maintain the Tomato Hornworm.

Well, I went to bed and knew I would not see this "Hawk Moth" again, hopefully. But when I go out to pick my tomatoes I wonder if more on on their way...

Organic Salsa

Look what I have discovered! Pace Organic Salsa! When I can't have homemade I grab Pace. I love it with chips or on eggs. Yummy! And on top of that, I love that it still comes in a glass container. I am able to reuse the jar to freeze single servings of soups I make at home. Thanks Pace.

Leapin' Lemurs! That was good!

I entered a contest on A Little Greener Everyday to win 2 boxes of cereal from Envirokids on July 23rd. And I won! I just received my boxes of Leapin' Lemurs and Penguin Puffs, just about 20 minutes ago! I scarfed down a small bowl of Leapin' Lemurs and it was yummy! I liked that it was just sweet enough, but not too sweet, for me and the kids to like. (I like sweet cereal, many adults may not.) I rarely eat the kids' cereal but I wanted to know if the cereal was tasty. The kids of course immediately grabbed bowls. My son ate Leapin' Lemurs and my daughter ate Penguin Puffs. I asked if they wanted me to buy these again and they "YAH!"

Thanks Robin. And Nature's Path.

Update on My Green Life

Today in my neck of the woods it should only reach 90 degrees. At that temperature I don't need to turn on the A/C. I am glad for that. My husband makes fun of me because I like the heat and have acclimated to it over the years so in the Spring and Fall when we get 75-80 degrees outside I put my sweater on. (He's from Michigan and I am from Southern California, HUGE difference in weather.) He makes fun of me that I can't handle the "cold" weather. But I still wear my sweaters. So today I will wear my tank top and shorts and maybe get my butt up for a bike ride.

I may not be there yet...but I'm closer than I was yesterday.

As for the rest of my life, I am truckin' along, not achieving the green state I wanted to be in at this time but still working on it. As things run out I replace them with more earth friendly counterparts. Like my dish soap, dish sponge, or fabric sheets (many people use vinegar, I like baking soda in the rinse). I use Trader Joe's dish soap (pictured above), my dish sponges are natural vegetable fiber and no more fabric sheets. As for other household cleaning I use vinegar and baking soda as I run out of Comet, Windex and Fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if these products have had a negative effect on my health through the years. What's done is done and now I can make better choices for my family.

My dryer is lonely. I haven't used it for weeks. In my last post about hang drying I mentioned I don't hang socks, underwear or heavy jeans. Well, that stopped. Everything gets hung now. The socks are not crunchy but underwear are (that didn't sound good, "crunchy underwear", I'm washing them). The clothes almost dry as fast as a dryer would do it when it is 100 degrees outside.

My baby cantaloupe.

In other news, I had to tell my children no apples yesterday at Trader Joes, even organic. Those little gems were coming all the way from New Zealand and Chile! Talk about a huge carbon footprint on something I can substitute with our own fresh cantaloupe (from the backyard, woo hoo!) or make a smoothie from the fresh fruit I picked earlier in the season. I have, for the most part, cut out bananas too, they all come from way down south like Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against those countries, as a matter of fact I envy Costa Rica, they can eat bananas carbon free!

This last week I went to get my haircut with my hairdresser I have used for years. She has always made comments that I need to deep condition my hair. This time she made comments about how soft my hair was. She asked me what was I doing. I told her I wash it every 2-4 days depending on my activity level and rinsed with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water. And combined that with better eating habits. She was impressed. We always discuss more natural ways of managing your hair. She is a hairdresser at a nice salon so she has to sell the products there but she has learned over the years I don't buy them.

And last, but not least. Call it a small victory, but my husband agreed to no more buying individual water bottles. He drives more than I do and would easily grab one on his way out but he agreed to use a Sigg bottle or anything we have in the cupboard with a top.

Be Green.

Longs-Recycling

We went into Long's Drugs the other day to buy shoelaces. (Actually that doesn't matter.) Anyway, I noticed they had a battery and plastic bag recycle collection located just inside the doors. I thought I would just share this tidbit of knowledge. So if you live near a Long's Drug store you too can recycle those nasty batteries and plastic bags in one place.
I also noticed they had a huge section of organic beauty protucts like Kiss My Face and Burt's Bees. So when your not making it yourself, check out Long's.

Baking Soda Can Do What?

Sodium Bicarbinate. It almost sounds like a chemical we want to avoid. But if you are trying to be green and eco-friendly this is your best friend. It is baking soda. And with a little research, I mean barely any research, I found out that you can do everything but fuel your car with this stuff!
We all know you can deoderize your refrigerator and help bake your holiday cookies. But did you know it can also keep weeds out of cracks? Treat dandruff? Ward off diaper rash? Boost laundry power? Scrub away dead skin cells, even on your face?
Head over to the Arm and Hammer website to find out more and to signup for free e-newsletter and promotions. Reader's Digest has a list of things baking soda can do. And then I found a free web book that I have yet to explore more!
Oh, the things you can find in that little orange box!

Organic and Plastics

Why are organic foods put in plastic wrap? I know that plastic keeps it clean and germ free but that plastic might end up back in the soil as a toxin which is exactly what organic is avoiding.

The more I try to be a green, eco-friendly mom the harder it seems to be on my brain!!! Argh!

Aaaah, Spring!

My orange tree is starting to bloom!

We have the typical small California backyard, but we like to garden a little. Some of our veggies and fruits need to be kept in containers like our orange tree we just bought over the winter. We planted it in a large half barrel that in its past life was a wine storage container. (Maybe our oranges will have a "oak taste with a touch of plum". Ha ha.) I have been watching the tree and it has had buds for at least a week so I have been waiting for it to bloom. This morning I walked past the tree and the aroma was heavenly!! The tree is in bloom and it is right underneath my kitchen window! I am so excited! If you can I highly suggest having an orange tree, the fruit is great and the aroma from the flowers is even better! It is my favorite.

This will be my first attempt at any vegetable gardening. I grew up in Los Angeles with a tiny backyard. My mom had a very small garden of roses and random plants. But nothing edible. My husband grew up in Michigan on 2 acres and anticipated spring for more reason than I can list but I know he looked forward to the planting of veggies. He loved to plant cucumber, tomatoes, zuchini and peppers. I never had the interest. But this year is different, I decided to go green. So now after all these years my husband will be happy I am joining in on his quest for fresh and pesticide free veggies and fruit.

I am thinking of trying the organic fertilizer and composting. But I know almost nothing of growing plants except to water them. Wish me luck. I will need it.

Happy April Fools Day

My blog post today has nothing to do with April Fool's Day but I thought I would wish everyone Happy April Fools Day anyway. But today is my dog Maggy's birthday, she is 3 today! And she has pledged to go organic, ha ha. She eats organic food now too! She is trying out Natural Balance Organic. And actually I think she likes it more than her old dog food. She is actually better than I am. I still cheat and go to Starbuck's every so often.

I am starting to get frustrated, though. I am in the bathroom this morning and I want so desperately to get rid of the shampoo, lotions, make-up and cleansers I have there but so many are near full because I not only want to be organic but I want to be frugal. I can't just pour the shower cleaner down the drain. I guess I will wait and finish it off, which may take me a year, and then clean the bottle out really well and replace the cleanser with vinegar and water.

And the same goes for my personal hygiene products. The shampoo is new and full because I don't wash my hair everyday and I use a very small quantity. I am dying to try Burt's Bees or other organic brands but it will be a while. I wonder if I can convince my hairdresser to switch?

Oh! I just want to feel good about what I use and I can't yet! I can replace my feminine products (sorry for being so personal with this subject). That is one product I have no control over the quantity I use. I was reading Allie's Green Answers (not me) this morning and I am glad because that time will be approaching soon. Her subject was which tampons were the safest. I will try her suggestions.