Archive for the Category »organic living «

01
Aug 2010

Saturday’s Harvest

FrugalBabe

Everyday lately we’ve been harvesting a good chunk of our food from our backyard.  I’ve noticed that our grocery bill is less than half of our usual total, and the cart looks pretty empty when we get to the checkout stand. 

Here are a couple of pictures that show most of what we harvested yesterday:

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We got our first peppers yesterday, and our first broccoli.  We also found a few zucchinis that had been hiding… oops!  They are huge!  The pile of green beans in the top photo came from one plant, and we have about 50 plants out there, so we’ve been eating lots of beans lately. 

Nearly all of that food was gone by the end of the day – everything except the tomatoes and the four biggest zucchini.  We have the tomatoes in a bowl on the counter for snacking, and there are still a few left.  The big zucchini are all shredded and in the freezer – our first preserving of the summer! 

Now that we’re getting so much food from our garden, all the work that we put in early in the spring to dig beds, add compost, and tend to our little seedlings seems very much worth it. 

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Category: food, garden, organic living  17 Comments
22
Jul 2010

The Story Of Cosmetics

FrugalBabe

I just finished watching Annie Leonard’s new video, The Story of Cosmetics.  It is well worth the few minutes it takes to watch it, and the message it contains needs to be heard by all of us.

I’ve been on a mission to get rid of toxic crud in our home for several years now, which I’ve blogged about several times.  Some of the changes we’ve made include:

  • I no longer use bleached, synthetic tampons.
  • Our son never wears flame resistant pajamas.
  • He’s been in home-made cloth diapers since he was about three days old (almost all disposable diapers contain super absorbent gel beads (sodium polyacrylate) that soak up moisture, but their chemical content is suspect.  In addition, most disposables are bleached, which creates a highly toxic by-product called dioxin).
  • I went through our bathroom a few years ago and got rid of everything with suspect ingredients.  All my nail polishes, make up, lotions,  shampoos, conditioners, sunscreens…. I tossed all of it, because I knew that I was never again going to feel comfortable putting that junk on my body.
  • I started using soap nuts to wash our laundry about a year ago, and am completely satisfied with them.
  • We don’t have a dryer (by choice), so no need for dryer sheets – everything is line dried.
  • I clean with baking soda, vinegar, and water.
  • We don’t buy anything labeled “anti-microbial” or “anti-bacterial”.
  • I use baking soda as toothpaste, and food grade hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash.
  • We use Dr. Bronner’s soap all the time.  It’s at our sinks as hand soap, and in our shower.  It’s all our son has ever been bathed with.  The food co-op where we shop allows us to bring in our own empty bottle and refill it from their huge jug, which is less expensive than buying a new bottle, and also cuts down on packaging waste.
  • In the evenings, when mosquitoes are all over the place, I wear jeans, long socks, and a long sleeved shirt (so does our son).  No need for mosquito repellent.  I would much rather be a little warm than be covered in some sort of chemical spray.
  • I stopped wearing sunscreen about three years ago.  I have a big wide-brimmed hat that I wear pretty much anytime I’m outside (we live in a very sunny climate).  I also have a light weight linen zip-up jacket that I keep by the door, and throw on if I’m heading outside in a tank top or short-sleeved shirt.  It’s a lot faster than putting on sunscreen.

In case you’re wondering… I still manage to look pretty well put-together most days :)  My grooming tools include a brush for dry brushing, a pair of tweezers (I will admit that I am never without them… even when I was in Africa in the middle of nowhere with a 6 inch square mirror, I still had shaped eyebrows), a razor, a hair brush with wooden “bristles”, a comb, a jar of coconut oil that I use as wonderful-smelling lotion, a solid exercise routine, a great thrifted wardrobe, and a smile :)

In my attempts at de-toxifying our home, I have tried hard to avoid replacing products I used to use with high-priced “green” substitutes.  Instead of switching to safer make-up, for example, I just stopped wearing any.  I opted to have bare nails all the time, and just keep them clean and trimmed (and in all honesty, my nail painting days had ended long before I finally tossed my nail polishes).  I started buying big jugs of vinegar and big bags of baking soda at Costco rather than purchasing high-priced cleaning products at the health food store.  Don’t get me wrong… I’m glad that there are responsible companies who are trying to make safer products for us to use.  But I have found that I often don’t need the products in the first place, and it saves us a lot of money to realize that.

I wasn’t always this way.  A decade ago, I used things like self tanners (actually only tried that once and turned orange), lotions with sparkles in them, all sorts of make up and nail polish, perfume, hair spray, cleaners with bleach, etc.  But the more I’ve learned about toxic chemicals, the more I want to avoid them as much as humanly possible.  I hope that the ideas I’m sharing, and the Story of Cosmetics video, will help some of my readers to lessen their own exposure to toxins and reduce their personal care products budget.

Category: just my life, organic living  20 Comments
08
Jul 2010

The Luxury Of Frugal Thinking

FrugalBabe

I don’t know the exact demographics of our town, but it’s definitely a lower-income area than the city where we used to live.  There is only one grocery store in town, and it’s not stocked with organic produce and ten dollar jars of coconut butter.  Houses here are lot less expensive than they were in the city (which is the reason we were able to afford our 3/4 acre lot here, and for that we’re grateful).  We love the down-to-earth nature of the town, but we’re also aware that there are probably quite a few people here who are struggling financially.

We’ve moved beyond the days when frugality was absolutely necessary because of our low income.  But we continue to keep our expenses at pretty much the same level they were at when we were poor, because that allows us to move as quickly as possible towards our goals.  We want to add a window in our dining room, and even though I suppose we could technically afford to just have a window company put in a new one for us, we’re going to head over to the Habitat for Humanity thrift store and poke around in their enormous used window stash and see what we can find.  Frugality is so ingrained in us that we just prefer it that way.

But I wonder if it’s a luxury to be able to make decision like that?  Well, I know it’s a luxury to be able to ponder how to go about adding a window to a room… what I mean is whether it’s a luxury to be able to think in terms of buying things used, minimizing our ecological footprint, growing our own food, etc.?  The things we do are things that people a few generations ago did without even thinking about it.  But these days, it seems that people who are talking about things like environmental preservation, reusable shopping bags, thrift stores, and organic gardens are all relatively well educated and well off.

50 years ago, having a backyard garden was commonplace.  Now, it’s not as common, and I notice when I walk through town that the poorer neighborhoods don’t seem to have gardens at all.  A garden is a very frugal way to provide food for a family, but it does require a time investment, and people who are working two and three jobs probably don’t have the time.

It seems completely counter-intuitive, but I feel like frugality is more popular among people who don’t have to be frugal, but rather choose to be frugal.

Why is this?  Is it because middle class people have more time to ponder their choices?  Is it because we’re exposed to more choices in the first place?  I know that not having a TV is a very good influence on my family in terms of avoiding commercialism and advertising.  And I know other families have made the same choice.  But I wonder what the average income and education level is for TV-free households?

There are definitely people who are living below the poverty line and absolutely thinking outside the box in order to make ends meet without going into debt.  But I feel like many of us (at least those of us who are blogging about it) are living frugal lives in order to be able to save money for retirement, our children’s education, and various other goals, rather than to stretch a small paycheck to cover the bare necessities.

This has been bouncing around in my head for a few days now, and I’m still not sure if I’m doing a good job of explaining my thoughts.  Basically, I feel like more needs to be done to help people who could truly benefit the most from frugality gain a good understanding of the options that are available.  What do you think?  How can we make high quality organic food available to people who aren’t making a ton of money?  How can we encourage the dual benefits of avoiding consumerism and protecting the planet, when people are struggling just to make ends meet?

Category: food, garden, goals, organic living, other bloggers  Tags: , ,  36 Comments
04
Jul 2010

Avoiding Nestle Without Even Trying

FrugalBabe

I was aware from a very young age that my parents didn’t buy any Nestle products.  They explained the reasons for the boycott, and it made perfect sense to me.  After spending two years in Africa with the Peace Corps, those reasons made even more sense.  I don’t knowingly buy Nestle products, but the boycott is rarely something I think about.  It’s sort of like brushing my teeth – just something I do.

Recently there has been quite a bit of chatter in the blog world about the fact that BlogHer 10 is being sponsored in part by a couple of Nestle subsidiaries.  Several bloggers have decided to opt out of the conference, and others have been quite torn by the decision.  Attending conferences isn’t very high on my list of things I like to do, so this isn’t an issue for me.  But I know that it’s been painful for several bloggers who are actively involved in promoting breastfeeding.  (I’ve had BlogHer ads running on my site for a few years now, although I’ve manually opted out of having any ads for baby formula/bottles/nipples, etc.)

Boycotting Nestle takes more than just avoiding candybars and cocoa with their logo on it.  They own a tremendous number of other companies, and produce everything from bottled water and pet food to Lean Cuisine and Hot Pockets.  Actively boycotting them might require taking a list of the brands with you to the grocery store.

Unless you’re into frugal homemade food, and simple, whole, organic foods.

I will admit that even though I never knowingly purchase Nestle products, I hadn’t seen an updated list of their companies in years.  When I sat down to write this post, I checked out the list that I linked to above, and was happy to see that I’ve been avoiding Nestle without even trying.

I do my grocery shopping at the local co-op and at a small, regional chain health food store.  95% of what I buy is organic.  I do not buy prepared meals or processed food, which eliminates most of the companies owned by Nestle (and helps to keep my grocery bill down).  I make our own desserts, often inspired by something from Kristen’s Raw (I tend to make things that aren’t particularly fancy and take very little time to prepare).  We drink mostly water, but we don’t buy bottled water.  I don’t wear make-up, and we don’t buy candy or ice cream.  When I grocery shop, the cart is filled mostly with produce (not as much anymore since our garden is producing more – yay!) and stuff from the bulk bins like nuts, seeds, flour, coconut, etc.

Shopping at farmer’s markets, co-ops, and small health food stores has a lot of hidden benefits.  If I have to spend money on food, I like knowing that I’m supporting small local businesses as well as farms and companies that have similar values to my own.  Nestle is pretty bad, but let’s face it, so are a lot of other big corporations.  Buying food from small local companies makes it easier to have at least a bit of an idea where your money is going.

Going to thrift stores for non-food items is another great way to direct our dollars somewhere besides the pockets of big companies.  The thrift stores where I shop are non-profits devoted to helping the needy, the homeless, people with epilepsy, and people with developmental disabilities.  I know that there are some for-profit thrift stores out there, but most of the others are set up to raise money for various charitable causes, which is one more reason to shop there.

Shopping the way we do, for both food and everything else, makes our money go further and keeps us healthy and happy.  It works for us, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  And it has the added benefit of not contributing profits to companies that I find reprehensible.

Category: food, health, just my life, organic living, other bloggers  Tags: , , , ,  19 Comments
30
Jun 2010

Vinegar As An Herbicide

FrugalBabe

In addition to our awesome backyard, we also have a really big front yard.  We started getting rid of some of the grass last summer, putting down weed blocking fabric and using a wheelbarrow to spread out existing areas of gravel (happily, the former owners had ordered more than they needed when they put in gravel, and it was 18 inches deep in some areas).  This year, we planted a bunch of tiny trees out front, and we’re babying them along right now.  Hopefully one day we’ll just have a little forest out there, which will provide shade, wind protection, and minimize the amount of watering and mowing that needs to be done.

There is a vast amount of gravel in front of our house (don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have the gravel than grass, since it doesn’t need to be watered or mowed).  It doesn’t seem as vast until you start trying to pull all the weeds out of it.  Over the years, dust has blown into the gravel and made it a great spot for weeds to sprout, and the former owners were pretty much oblivious to them.  We have been pulling weeds all summer out there (our son knows that whenever we go out to get them mail, we have to pull 20 weeds first, and he says “weeds, first” whenever we go out front).  I spent two hours doing nothing but weeding a couple days ago, and I made it through about 1/10 of the gravel.

So I went searching for another solution.  I refuse to buy any sort of commercial herbicide – our property is strictly organic and staying that way.  But I found several articles about vinegar working as an herbicide.  I use vinegar to clean our whole house, so I buy it in gallon jugs at Costco and always have several on hand.  It’s inexpensive, but most importantly, I don’t have to worry about harmful effects – to us or the environment – from using it.  Our son went out with me to help me spray it, which definitely wouldn’t have been possible if we’d been using something created in a lab at Monsanto.

We started with a small patch to see how well it would work.  That was yesterday morning, and when I checked this morning, all the weeds in that area are completely dead.  The weather here has been really hot (nearly 100), sunny, and dry, which is supposed to be the best weather for using vinegar to kill weeds.  Obviously I’m very happy with the results, and will be spraying all the gravel with vinegar over the next few days.  I’ll pull out the bigger weeds that are easy to grab, and spray the small ones.  Hopefully my vinegar herbicide will continue to be successful!

Category: home improvement, organic living, the simple life  Tags:  17 Comments
29
Jun 2010

Reducing Our Impact In Whatever Way We Can

FrugalBabe

My post about all of us being responsible for the oil spill generated quite a bit of discussion over the last few days.  Any time this issue comes up (on my site and every other one I’ve visited), there are always people who are quick to point out why their particular situation makes it impossible to drive less.  Cars are so much a part of the American way of life that it makes sense that people will become defensive if they have to start questioning their dependence on cars.  But rather than dwell on the situations where being car-free is impossible, I much prefer to focus on solutions.  Cortney pointed out that cities aren’t going to start creating ways to make alternative transportation safer and more convenient unless they see a genuine need.  If your area isn’t safe for biking or walking, are you going to every town meeting, writing letters to council members, canvassing the neighborhood to find like-minded people who can stand with you in asking for better bike lanes, sidewalks, etc.?  The things that we complain about are things we could be changing…  In addition, we should be focusing on what we CAN do to lessen our dependence on oil (and our overall ecological impact) rather than the things we CAN’T do.  If you can’t give up your car, you can slow down on the highway in order to improve your gas mileage.  You can commit to giving up disposable items in favor of reusable ones (diapers, napkins, food storage containers, cleaning rags, even personal hygiene products).  You can slowly start eliminating meat and dairy from your diet.  Even if you have to drive to work everyday, you can focus on making your weekends car-free and based around activities that lessen your impact on the earth (planting a little garden to reduce your need for trucked-in food, for example) rather than going to the mall to buy more stuff.  The point I’m making is that we can all make a difference.  We don’t all have to follow the same path to make a difference, but we have to be aware that we need to make a difference before we will start making changes.

I mentioned driving slower as a way to conserve gasoline, and I want to expand on that just a bit in case you’re curious.  Basically, gas mileage drops off significantly once you go faster than about 55 mph.  I drive about 60 mph on the interstate, and I try to avoid rapid speed changes in town (coasting slowly to a stop at traffic lights, and accelerating slowly from a stop).  I also do some mental math every time I fill up my gas tank, and my average mpg is always in the 32 – 35 range (for the entire tank, including both city and highway).  That’s not bad for a 19 year old station wagon.  It helps that my car is a 4 cylinder stick shift, but if I were to go 80 mph on the interstate and not be as conscious of avoiding rapid speed changes in town, I’m sure my mileage would drop into the mid 20s.  I recognize that there are valid reasons for needing to drive sometimes, but there’s no valid reason why we can’t all slow down a bit and focus on getting as many miles as we can from a tank of gas.  Don’t leave your car running when you’re parked (that’s zero mpg), don’t keep your foot on the gas right up until you have to hit the brakes at a red light, don’t try to get everywhere as fast as you can.  And start calculating your actual gas mileage every time you fill up your tank (zero out the trip meter when you fill up, and then see what it’s at the next time you fill up.  Divide that number by the number of gallons it takes to fill your tank and you’ll have the average mpg you got from the last tank).  Make it a game to see if you can beat your last average – trust me, it becomes fun, and it will help you to remember to drive with maximum gas mileage in mind.

About 1000 people are reading this blog everyday.  And if I can inspire ten or twenty or a hundred of you to start making some small changes to conserve resources, I’ll feel successful.  An added bonus is that most of the things you can can do to conserve resources will also help you to save money, which is probably the reason you’re interested in my blog in the first place.  So I challenge you to think of something you can do today to reduce your use of oil, water, paper products, disposable items, etc.  If you come up with an idea that you think other people could do too, share it here or in whatever forum you choose to get the message out.  Most importantly, have fun with it!  And thank you for taking the time to think about it.

Category: organic living, the simple life  Tags: , ,  35 Comments
26
Jun 2010

We’re All Responsible For The Oil Spill

FrugalBabe

I subscribe by email to my favorite blogs, and this morning, right beside each other in my inbox, were articles from two of my favorite bloggers, Everett Bogue and Tammy Strobel, both writing about essentially the same thing: we all have a moral obligation to drive less.  Both articles are excellent, and well worth reading.  The disaster in the Gulf happened shortly after I completely stopped reading the news, so I actually have very little knowledge of exactly what has gone on so far.  But I do hear bits and pieces from friends and family, and it makes me glad that I’m not reading about it on a daily basis… just thinking about it makes me feel sick.  And makes me even more committed to biking, walking, or just staying home.

One of my favorite free-time activities is hiking.  We’re lucky to live in a very beautiful area with lots of wilderness relatively nearby, and since I was a teenager I’ve loved heading into the hills for a day of wandering.  There was a time when we would either hike or mountain bike at least twice a week throughout the summer and fall.  But in 2008 we went twice, last summer we went once, and this year we haven’t been at all yet.  One of the primary reasons is my strong desire to drive less.  Although the wilderness areas are nearby, it’s still about a 45 minute drive to get to our favorite trails.  Getting there by bike isn’t really an option – riding there and back would be a full day all by itself, and the road to get there is a winding mountain highway with about a foot of shoulder and then a 50 foot drop into a river.  The only realistic way to go hiking is to drive to the trail head, and I’m just not comfortable with doing that on a regular basis anymore.  Don’t get me wrong – I still thoroughly enjoy the one or two times per year that we head out to the mountains for some wandering, but these days I am actively trying to structure most of my free time around things that don’t involve driving (or shopping, for that matter).

So I’ve started “hiking” around our town instead.  Our son rides in his little red wagon (it’s got awesome big knobby tires and will go over all sorts of terrain.  My parents found it at a thrift store for $8 and fixed it up for him; it’s his favorite form of transportation) and the dog walks along with us.  We usually go out for about an hour, and just go wherever we please.  Sometimes we run errands while we’re out, sometimes we just look at flowers and birds, sometimes we follow the trail that leads through the huge organic farm by our house.  No matter where we go, we have fun.  It’s relaxing to be out walking, away from phones and computers, enjoying the sunshine.  I’m not saying that the views around our town are quite as breath-taking as the ones in the wilderness areas, but the trade-off is completely worth it to me.  The great thing about hiking from your own back door is that it can be completely spontaneous.  All we have to do is put on shoes and sun hat, and we’re out the door.  No need to prepare for bad weather or bring back-up food or drive for an hour before and after the hike.  Also, since there’s no prep time or driving time, we can fit in a “hike” pretty much every day.  Another great bonus:  our “hiking” is completely free.  No gas money or special gear needed… going for a walk is about as frugal as it gets for entertainment.

The reason I’m sharing this is because I agree with Tammy and Everett that we have a moral obligation to drive less.   And sometimes that might mean giving up or cutting back on things we enjoy.  But it’s always possible to find alternatives, and you might just find that you start to enjoy the alternatives just as much after a while.  Whether your goal is to go completely car-free, car-minimalist, or just cut back your driving by 20%, I encourage you to check out the articles Tammy and Everett wrote today for a little inspiration.

Category: organic living, our frugal stories, the simple life  22 Comments
17
Jun 2010

Alicia Silverstone Likes Reusable Pads

FrugalBabe

This is so awesome that I had to share it with you.  Alicia Silverstone posted an article yesterday on her blog, The Kind Life, about the benefits of using cloth menstrual pads and reusable cups rather than disposable pads and tampons.  I love seeing such a popular figure endorsing such a frugal, environmentally friendly choice, especially since a lot of women might be freaked out by the idea at first.  Even if you go out and buy a supply of pre-made pads like Glad Rags, it will still be much less expensive in the long run than disposables.  Or you can do what I did, and make your own.  Either way, you’ll save money and do the earth a favor.  Thanks Alicia, for spreading the word!

EDIT:  One more thing I forgot to mention… if you want to use cloth pads but don’t want to make your own, you could support someone’s small business via Etsy.com.  If you go to Etsy and type menstrual pads into the search bar, you’ll see all sorts of options, mostly around $7 – $9/pad.  But you can buy several for a discount, and one seller, MomTo3Qties, even has a set of eight pads for $24.50 right now.  If I’m going to buy something anyway, I always try to find a handmade version first, and Etsy is great for that.

Category: organic living  15 Comments
20
Apr 2010

A Shopping Bag That Used To Be A Shirt

FrugalBabe

A few weeks ago, I was shopping with a friend.  When she checked out, she pulled a tiny little bundle out of her purse, shook it out, and viola! she had a nice big tote bag for carrying her purchases.  I always use reusable bags, but none of them are small enough to fit in my purse, and I often forget them in the car.  When that happens, I end up pushing the cart out to my car, loading up the bags, and then pushing the cart back to the store.  Having a bag in my purse all the time would definitely be a convenient solution.

Last week, I was sorting though my closet, looking for things to give away.  I came across a shirt that I never wear, and added it to my donation stack.  Then I noticed how lightweight the material was, and how easy it would be to make it into a bag.  The project took me about six minutes.  I cut off the sleeves to make it into a tanktop (no need to hem anything, as the sleeves had been serged to the body of the shirt, and I just cut right next to the seam).  The shoulder straps end up being the handles of the bag.  Then I turned it inside-out and sewed back and forth several times across the bottom of the shirt, to close up the bottom of the bag.  Now I have a very lightweight bag that wads up into a tiny ball and fits in my purse.

The reason I never wore this shirt was because it was too baggy and shapeless.  Not such good qualities in a shirt, but perfect for a carry-all.

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It’s hard to tell from that picture (it just looks like a shirt!), but the bottom is sewn shut.  Here’s a side view, so that you can see how the shoulder straps of the shirt become handles for the bag:

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This was a very simple project that required almost nothing in terms of sewing skills.  If you don’t have a sewing machine, you could sew the bottom of the shirt closed by hand.  It would take a bit longer, but it’s still an easy task.  I had fun with this, and thought maybe some of you would too.  Have fun!

Category: hobbies, just my life, organic living  8 Comments
07
Apr 2010

Our Homemade Strawberry Hanger

FrugalBabe

After I wrote about the hanger my husband made to hold our upside-down strawberry planters, I got a request for a picture.  Here it is:

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The angle of the picture makes it look like the planter on the left is resting on the ground, but it isn’t.  They’re both about eight inches off the ground.  We were using a tree stake as the main support (it was about 5 or 6 feet long) and we wanted to pound it into the ground as far as possible.  We decided that a short but very sturdy hanger was better than one that was taller but not as stable.  This one is in the ground about three feet, so it’s not going anywhere.

Here’s a close up of the end, so you can see how he just welded a hook to the end of the rebar, which I thought was pretty clever:

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We have some spray paint left over from another project, and we’ll paint this little structure soon.  It was all made from scraps that we got for free, and took my husband about 20 minutes to put together.  I saw a metal stand for holding upside-down tomato planters the other day, and it was $100.  It looked a bit fancier than ours, but ours was free and is getting the job done.  We have it in a sunny spot next to our house that is protected from the wind, and we’re hoping to get a nice crop of strawberries this summer.  Fingers crossed!

Last night it got down into the 20s overnight, and I was concerned about the zucchini plants in one of our cold frames.  I wasn’t sure how well the cold frame would protect them, so I boiled a big pot of water and set it inside the cold frame (with a lid) just before we went to bed.  When we got up this morning, there was frost on the glass of the other cold frames (they have frost-hardy plants in them, so that’s ok) but the glass over the zucchini was nice and clear.  And the plants look great.  Hopefully I can continue to baby them for the next few weeks until we can take the glass off, and we’ll have a nice early zucchini crop this year.

Category: food, garden, organic living  10 Comments
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