Category Archives: Sustainability

Looking at the importance of being green, with a focus on how it intersects with style.

Book Review: Made from Scratch

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Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

This book is lovely memoir written by 20-something web designer Jenna Woginrich.  Working as a web designer, Jenna longed to have a homestead and become self-sufficent.  With the help of farming friend, Jenna chronicles her journey of trying to create an urban homestead.  Her honest accounts are humorous, entertaining and at times, poignant.  She contiues to work a full time job while bee-keeping, raising angora rabbits for fiber to spin and egg-laying chickens, planting a vegetable garden and sewing clothes from scratch.  Each chapter looks at a different aspect of homesteading, and offers Jenna’s personal account, as well as some advice on how to get started yourself.  There’s tons of fantastic resources listed in the back for those who get the urge to homestead themselves.

Jenna now has her own farm in New York state, and a blog about it: Cold Antler Farm.  Personally, I still love city life, but I can live out in the country vicariously through this book and her blog.  While I’ll probably never adapt all the aspects of homesteading she discusses in my life (sled dogs in Florida anyone?)  I found great inspiration through reading about Jenna’s journey, and I even got inspired to bake my first ever loaves of bread from scratch:

Even if you can only incorporate a few aspects of the handmade life into your own life, it really, truly is so deeply satisfying.

Note: I was not compensated in any way for this review.  I borrowed the book from my local library and loved it, thus I’m reviewing it here.

Review: Maggie Soap Nuts

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Okay, I know that some people are going to think that I’ve turned into an insane neo-hippie when they read this post.  When I first read about these bizarre soap nuts that some people were using instead of laundry detergent, I was really skeptical too.  Nuts, that you throw in a little cotton sack, that somehow magically clean your clothes?  It sounded ridiculous.  But I did some research online, and found that many people swear by them.  I was worried that they wouldn’t work with my HE washer, but the fact that they are low-sudsing is supposed to make them perfect for High Efficiency systems.

I didn’t feel ready to fully commit to this method of washing clothes at first, so I ordered a sample size that was good for five loads.  After reading some various websites about how to use the nuts, I decided to use the tea-steeping method.  I throw three nuts into a cotton sack (they smell really weird, but the smell doesn’t rub off on your clothes).  I fill a small mug with some warm water, and let the bag of nuts steep in it while I load my washing machine.  Soaking the nuts in warm water helps them to get ready; this step can be skipped if you’re washing with warm water, but I almost always use cold in the machine.  I then throw the bag in with the clothes, add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the water (to make everything smell pretty), and add the water to the laundry detergent slot.

I re-use the same bag two to three times, and then add the nuts to my compost pile.  I’ve read that you can re-use them more times than that, but that’s what I feel comfortable with.  If you use too many nuts, your clothes may come out a bit stiff, but the stiffness will go away with the next wash.

So what’s my verdict?  They work great for lightly soiled garments.  Once, the soap nuts left a small stain on white garments, but it came out with the next wash.  The nuts don’t seem to work as well with heavily soiled garments, but it could just be that I’m still learning how to use them.

Why are they awesome?  When you buy them in bulk, the overall cost is a lot less than traditional detergent.  The packaging is minimal, and the nuts are biodegradable; unlike most plastic-contained traditional detergents.  They’re hypoallergenic – there’s no perfumes, dyes, or nasty chemicals to seep into the water supply.  And they’re kind of quirky and fun.  If you still find the thought of washing with nuts really weird, they make a liquid soap from the nuts as well.

So if you’re up for a bit of neo-hippieness, try out a sample size.  You may just find yourself loving how these little soap nuts clean your clothes.

*Note:  I was not compensated in any way for this review.  I wrote it of my own free will and was not asked by any company to do so.*

Book Review: Talking Dirt

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Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva’s Down-to-Earth Guide to Organic Gardening

If you’re interested in learning about organic gardening, this is the book for you.  Annie Spiegelman speaks in a modern, humorous tone as she explains everything from starting a compost pile to native plants to vegetable gardens to English roses.  This is a fantastic guide for both experienced gardeners and novices.  The book is neatly divided up into sections on sustainable gardening basics, garden maintenance, flower gardens, edible gardens, and a seasonal guide to help you know when to do what.  This book was such a fun an enjoyable read that I finished it in about two days, and I’m planning on re-reading it as I get ready to plant a butterfly garden and vegetable garden in my backyard.  Annie gives fantastic suggestions for easy, low-maintenance plants to grow as well as what seed catalogs are good, and what other gardening books you should be reading.  She can inspire even the most un-green thumb to try their hand at planting.  And really, even if you have no plans to ever plant a garden, this book would still be a fun read.

DIY: Kitchen Cloths from Scraps

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Since I sew a lot, I end up with lots of fabric scraps.  I especially end up with lots of t-shirt and jersey scraps and sometimes I’m not sure what to do with them.  This week, I found the perfect solution.  I wanted some reusable washcloths for cleaning my kitchen so I can kick the paper towel habit, but I didn’t want to spend money.  I took my jersey scraps and my terry-cloth scraps and combined them to make some awesome, patchwork kitchen cloths.

I sewed all my scraps together into two giant “blankets”, one of jersey and one of terry cloth, cut out 10 by 10 squares, and serged them together.  Then I took scraps of ribbon and bias tape, and stitched them to a corner so that I can hang the clothes on hooks.

Now I’ve got them hanging up near my paper towels, and I’m actually finding myself cleaning my kitchen more, because I love using these!  I keep my kitchen clean with a homemade mixture of white vinegar, water, dish soap and essential oils.  Being green is fun!

Being Green: Use Shaving Soap

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Rosemary Mist Soap and Shaving Brush from Sacred Waters Soap

I’ll be honest – I really don’t like shaving my legs.  I like how smooth they feel once they’re shaved, but I hate the process of shaving, the time it takes, the waste that shaving cream containers create.  A few months ago, my boyfriend switched from shaving gel to using shaving soap and a brush.  I loved how little waste it produced, and decided that it’s not something that should be reserved exclusively for men  I did some searching for shaving soap on Etsy, found a soap that wasn’t too “masculine” and bought a shaving brush.  I’ve been using that instead of shaving gel for a few weeks now, and I’m actually kind of enjoying shaving now.  It’s nice to not be creating a lot of extra packaging that has to be thrown away.  It’s nice to have something that smells natural and not like a bunch of artificial chemicals.  And I find that I’m getting a closer shave too.

My basic process for shaving with shaving soap is this: I pour some water in my bathroom sink for rinsing my razor.  I wet the shaving brush and then work up a lather with the soap.  I spread on the later, working one area at a time. I usually start with one calf, then the thigh, and the switch to the other leg.  I then rinse off the remaining soap at the end.  This ends up taking about the same amount of time that shaving cream took, but it’s much better for the environment, and it’s more fun too!  At least, as fun as shaving can be.

(Note: I recognize that buying one bar of soap at a time and having it shipped to me it creating additional packaging that has to be dealt with.  But many Etsy soap sellers offer deals if you buy their soap in bulk or buy multiple bars at a time.  This saves money and packaging.)

What I’m lovin’: No Miss Nail Polish

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Manalapan Melon

After reading about how many chemicals commonly found in nail polish (formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl-pthalate (dbp), and camphor) I decided to look around for some alternatives.  One brand I stumbled upon is No Miss.  I’ll admit, their website is not the most exciting or high tech thing ever.  But all of their nail polishes are free of the above mentioned chemicals, and they have a gorgeous range of over 150 colors.

As I was looking through their colors to decide which one I wanted to try, I started to notice that most of the polish names were familiar.  Then I realized that every single polish is named after a Florida city!  Turns out that the company is based out of Boca Raton, FL.  I love how they include big cities (Tampa Teal anyone?) and small towns (anyone ever been to the city that Palatka Poppy is named after?)  Hey No Miss, if you name a polish after my hometown (Lutz Lavender maybe?)  I would totally wear it.

I finally decided on Manalapan Melon.  I decided to get their Manicure in a Bag kit as well, so that I would have some base coat and top coat sans chemicals.  I painted my toenails and my fingernails and the polish was fully dry after about 10 – 15 minutes (I waited longer, but I’m always paranoid about not letting my nail polish dry enough).  The color goes on nice and opaque, and it seems to last pretty well.  My fingernails started to chip after two days, but that happens no matter what nail polish I use, so it’s not unusual.  My toenails have stayed nice for two weeks now, and they’re just barely starting to chip.

They also carry a nail polish remover that is acetone and ethyl acetate free.  I bought some and tried it out and it works just fine on their polish as well as other brands.  I wish they didn’t add the vanilla scent to it, but it still smells better than traditional polish remover.

So, if you’re looking for some great nail polish that doesn’t have nasty chemicals in it, give No Miss a try.  I’ll definitely be going back for more.

What I’m Lovin’: Yes to Carrots Sunscreen

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Yes to Carrots Hydrating Body Lotion with SPF 30, $13.99 at Walgreens

(yes, my boyfriend likes to randomly show up in the background of my pictures)

I’ve been reading up on the dangers of many chemicals used in beauty products, and sometimes the research can be quite scary.  What’s even more scary is the fact that many chemical ingredients have not had sufficient studies done on them for us to really know whether or not they are safe for us to use.  For some useful reading on this subject, check out Skin Deep’s Cosmetic database.

Many sunscreens contain oxybenzone, which has been linked to developmental and reproductive toxicity.  Many also have “fragrance” listed as an ingredient.  This is a concern because companies do not have to disclose what chemicals make up “fragrance”, and it could include hundreds of different ingredients, including phalates, which disrupt the endocrine system and can cause developmental and reproductive problems as well.

Anyhow, after reading that research, I decided that maybe it was time to try out some new sunscreen.  I decided to try Yes to Carrots SPF body lotion, because I had read about it somewhere (Lucky magazine I think).  The price tag put me off a bit, but since I was going on vacation, I went for it.  It’s paraben-free, petroleum-free, sodium laurel sulfate-free, and cruelty-free.  It contains Dead Sea minerals, organic carrots, aloe, and zinc oxide, which is a natural sunscreen.  This lotion has a lovely (and nautral!) smell.  The consistency is a lot thicker than most traditional sunscreens, so I didn’t need to use as much.  It was a bit greasy feeling, but I have yet to find a sunscreen that isn’t, so it didn’t bother me too much.  I got a bit of a tan on my trip, because I forgot to re-apply after being in the ocean one day, but other than that, it worked just as well at protecting my skin as any other sunscreen I’ve used.  As an added bonus, when you wash off the lotion in the shower, you skin still feels soft and hydrated.

So this lotion has it’s pluses and minuses.  It definitely works fantastically, but that price tag makes it difficult to use it as an everyday sunscreen.

Being Green: Retractable Clotheslines

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I recently bought a a retractable clothesline on Amazon.   I wanted something that was easy to set up and take down, because I didn’t want to have a permanent clothesline in my backyard.  This Moerman one works very well.  It has two 49 foot lines, although so far, I’ve only needed one.  I attached it to the wall of my house, and then I attach the other end of the line to a chain link fence about 40 feet away.  I rigged up a line support about half way along the line, using a flower pot and a piece of plastic piping, but I’m going to try to find something more sturdy eventually.  Without the support in the middle, the line droops really low.  I’m really loving this so far, and it’s great to be able to dry my clothes naturally without using up any energy.  It’s been so hot lately (high 90s most days), that a load barely takes an hour to dry, which is how long I usually run the dryer anyhow.

I’m not one to romanticize the life that housewives of the past had, but it does give me a sort of domestic satisfaction to hang clothes out to dry.  Or maybe that’s not the right word.  I find it relaxing to be outside, in the sunshine.  I find it satisfying that I’m not wasting energy when the sun provides all the drying power I need.  And I feel a connection to the past, when people used to actually put a little physical effort into keeping their house clean, instead of letting machines do all the work for them.

The apron is a souvenir from when I lived in Nicaragua for six weeks back in 2005.  In the markets, the vendedoras always wore these aprons to keep change in.  They would be selling anything from Coca-Cola to gum to bananas to ice cream, but they all wore these beautiful, colorful, frilly aprons.  I feel in love with the look of these aprons, so I bought one for myself.  The inner pockets are huge, and there’s more than enough room for all the clothespins I need.

What I’m Lovin’: Zoya Nail Polish Exchange

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I realize that this may be old news to some of you, but I’ve only recently started learning about all the nasty chemicals that are in most traditional nail polishes.  Ingredients like Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor and Toluene are all frequently used in nail polishes, and can be very toxic to your health.

Zoya is one nail polish company that refuses to use any of those ingridients, and they have a gorgeous array of colors to choose from (they’re vegan too!).  To encourage you to give up your old nail polish, they have a Nail Polish Exchange promotion going on for the rest of this month.  If you send them six or more bottles of your old nail polish to recycle, they will match you bottle for bottle with their polish at half price ($3.50 a bottle), no shipping added.  I only have three bottles of old polish, so I’m going in on this with some friends.  I think that this is a really great deal, and it’s a great opportunity to make your beauty routine a little bit greener.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Wine Bottles as Boot Shapers

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This past winter, I acquired my first pairs of boots as an adult. It’s crazy, I know, but living in Florida my whole life, I just never had any.  As I started to acquire more boots, I began to realize that I needed a way to keep them in shape and upright when stored in my closet.  I looked up boot shapers on several websites, but I was disappointed with how expensive they were, and I was concerned that they were likely to eventually fall apart and end up in a landfill.  Then, I read somewhere about using wine bottles as boot shapers, so I saved up a few, and tried it out.  It works like a charm!  It’s works best with thinner, smaller wine bottles, which are what I usually buy anyhow.  The bottles are easy to take out when you wear the boots, and easy to put back in when you’re done.  Plus, I think it looks pretty cool.  Since wine bottles are glass, they’ll hold together for a long time, and if I feel that I don’t want to use them anymore, I can just recycle them.

One word of caution though: make sure that the wine bottle isn’t wider than your boot shaft, or it may stretch out your boots.  I have found this to be an issue with the ankles of some of my slimmer boots.

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