This wholesome mama's journey to discovering a greener life

Teflon anyone?

hibiscusbaby — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:53:53 +0000

I’m not on for long, I’ve got a mountain of sewing to catch up on, but I just read a couple of articles, and I wanted to post about them before I forget. How many of you knew that many food containers and fast food wraps are lined with teflon type material? gah!

Anyhoo, go read this article regarding the EWG’s guide to perfluorochemicals.

Now I have to add this chemical to the loooong list of chemicals to avoid. It’s mind boggling, phthalates, BPAs, lead, mercury, nitrates, flame retardants, benzene, 1,4 dioxane, and now PFCs

The moral of the story? Avoid packaged/processed foods/fast foods, and basically all chemicals!

SIDE NOTE: Did you know the north pole is likely to melt completely this year? go read this article . Apparently, the area surrounding the north pole is a full 4 degrees warmer than the average over the previous 25 years!

Use those jars

hibiscusbaby — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:15:52 +0000

So, I have to admit that back at the beginning of the year, when we really began our campaign to become a Made in China, Walmart, and plastic free household, one of the hardest things for me to get over was trying to no longer use our plastic storage containers, plastic zip bags, and plastic wrap. I mean, what do you do with your left overs? How do you cope, without spending a fortune on high end glass containers?

At first, we purchased little Frigoverre glass dishes made by Bormioli and these are cute, and work great, but, $$$$. So, we only had a few of them, and I never had enough STORAGE. Then I started using “wax” paper, until it occurred to me that these are made with petroleum products as well. But, even the “natural” wax papers I was using wasn’t keeping my food fresh for very long..

sooo, nearly 6 months into this whole process, and I have finally arrived at an amazing discovery. Leftover jars, of all sizes. They’re amazing! I had previously only thought to use them for liquids. For instance, except for the rare occurrence, I no longer serve my children liquids in plastic drink cups. I purchased these half pint canning jars you find in grocery stores, and they drink from those. It’s been about 2 months, and surprisingly, we’ve had one break.

But, about a month ago, something happened. I really started to focus on how much we actually throw away, and I tried to find ways to reduce what is thrown away. Which led me to start saving those leftover glass jars you have after finishing a jar of pickles or jelly, or roasted peppers and artichoke hearts. Then, out of necessity, I started using those left over jars more creatively. Bulk cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc. needed a home, into the smaller salvaged salsa jars they went! I use them for leftovers, and ooooohhh man, I LOVE these things now. Adrift at sea I am no more!

I use the little jars to store cheese I’ve removed from the wraps, opened packages of hot dogs, leftover pasta sauce, the list goes on and on. And, the best part, these jars are effectively FREE. I would normally have thrown these bad boys away. Why, oh why did I ever spend GOOD money on “disposable” plastic storage contianers? These are just as “disposable”, but these get recycled when you’re done And no need to cry over them if they break.

While we had already ridden our household of all of our phthalate laden plastics (soft plastics), we had assumed polycarbonate (hard plastic) was safe. But with the recent BPA scare, we’ve also ridden ourselves of all of our polycarbonate plastics (which includes our nalgene bottles!). Oy! So, what to do when away from the home? We try not to buy our drinks while out and about, because then we’re consuming more packaging (plastic bottles, paper cups, straws, etc.)/makeing more waste. So we’ve been taking beverages out with us in our “trusty” nalgene bottles. The solution? The Oragnic Juice we’ve been buying fits perfectly in the insulated cover for our nalgene bottles, yay!

hahhhhh, I can sleep in peace, knowing my food is well preserved and not wasting away in the fridge

Of course, now this has me thinking about canning! LOL, the list of skills/hobbies is endless, is it not?

Father’s Day

hibiscusbaby — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:15:25 +0000

Okay, I’m so excited about Father’s Day this year. Recently, there was a post on Hyena Cart about these cupcakes in a jar. The idea sounds so so so fun, and I’ve decided to make these for father’s day, and mail them out. Basically, you take the 1/2 pint wide mouth canning jars, place your cake mix of choice into the jar as you would normally into a cupcake tin, bake, sterilize the lids, and seal soon after removing them from the oven. As they cool, it should create a seal that should keep the cupcakes fairly shelf stable. These bad little boys will be mailed this Thursday for delivery by Saturday (hopefully!). yay! how fun

Use less TP

hibiscusbaby — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:55:54 +0000

In our attempt to waste less, we’ve switched to 100% recycled toilet paper found at our local Costco. That’s all well and good, but recently I’ve noticed that we’re flying through the rolls! Not good when you’re a household on a fairly tight budget. I realized two things, 1) recycled TP doesn’t come with the DOUBLE rolls, which is apparently what we were getting, aaand, as the only female in the house that uses TP (E doesn’t count, she’s only 16 months), I must be the biggest offender of TP waste. So, I started paying attention to my TP habit (do you have a TP problem?). I am using waaaaayyyy more TP then necessary. I could actually use half the amount I currently use, and not notice a difference in (this is embarrassing to say) how dry I am afterward. Just another one of things we do mindlessly, without thought, to consume, and waste. So, I am going to TRY very hard to be cognizant about my TP usage.

On another note, we don’t use wipes on E when changing her CLOTH diaper, I’ve got a really handy stash of re-usable cloth wipes! Soo handy to have, I also use them when on the go to wipe down sticky hands, etc.

My First Post

hibiscusbaby — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:57:51 +0000

I’m sitting here, feeling that I should type something, even though I have a mountain of sewing waiting for me to complete Do you ever feel like you’re a ship teetering on the edge of a whirlpool, frantically trying to navigate your way around total disaster? hehe

Anyhoo, I’ll mention my other sites now:

My WAHM business: Hibiscus Baby

My WAHM blog