Environmental Enlightenment #9 (Natural Deodorant)

I realized after I wrote my last blog that someone out there may be asking themselves why I didn't mention grocery shopping at Whole Foods. I have a confession, I've only been inside of a Whole Foods once. That store is so huge and overwhelming (and I am pretty easily distracted). I ventured into Whole Foods with a purpose, to purchase a Diva Cup, which I will write about in a future blog in as lady-like a way as possible. But of course I got distracted and ending up buying a natural deodorant also. I had been looking for a good natural deodorant for a while. Burt's Bees makes a spray natural deodorant, but I couldn't find it in stores anywhere and I couldn't bring myself to have it shipped. I tried Lush's solid bar natural deodorant, which smelled fantastic and worked well, but it wasn't very easy to apply. It was powdery and broke into chunks. So when I found myself at Whole Foods in the Personal Hygiene aisle, I took a sideways glance towards the natural deodorants and came across this little guy...

Environmental Enlightenment #8 (Fair Trade Tea)

Food has always been the hardest thing for me to change when it comes to being the most environmentally friendly as possible. Since I love to cook it is personally very hard for me to go without avocados, butternut squash, mangoes and other food items that come from outside of the United States. The indoor garden will be (I hope) a small step towards alleviating my reliance on non-local produce. My trips to the grocery store are becoming more and more time consuming because I have been spending more time reading labels and scanning for organically made products. I normally get my fresh produce from a store called Fresh Farms, but for other food purchases I head on over to Jewel. I've noticed that recently they've been stocking their shelves with a brand called Wild Harvest Organic. So I bought some of their organic tea which is certified fair trade.

Basil and Cilantro Planted

A couple days ago I planted the first two plants that will be a part of the indoor garden: basil and cilantro. I've grown basil before, but not cilantro so I'm pretty excited about that. I've also been reading up on how to save seeds from these plants so that I can possibly grow other plants from my own seeds. The main reason that I wanted to write about the basil and cilantro was to share a couple of crafty ideas on how to label your pots so you don't forget which plant is which before it sprouts. The first idea came from Gayla Trail's book Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces. She writes that an inexpensive way to make plant tags is to spray tongue depressors with chalkboard spray and then write in chalk which plant is in that pot and you can always erase the chalk and reuse them! At Christmas time I was given a chalkboard wall decal which I didn't have a purpose for, but I remembered Gayla's idea and came up with my own version. I cut up the wall decal into smaller pieces and stuck them to the pots (labeling what plant was in there and the date that it was planted).

Environmental Enlightenment #7 (Freecycle)

I've always been a fan of hunting through thrift stores. When I was little my mom used to take me on countless journeys to either thrift stores or antique stores. I always thoroughly enjoyed finding some treasure with the 25 cents that I had in my change purse (which I had also found at an antique store for 25 cents!) As I got older my love for second-hand clothing faded. I started wanting the "new" and "in-style" looks. That's when I became aware of Plato's Closet. It's like a thrift store, but they only take in labels and looks that match the current trends. I can't remember the last time that I bought new clothing or shoes, because every time I need something (say a new pair of jeans) I can find it at Plato's Closet.

Impossibly Easy Cheesecake

I found this recipe in a Costco cookbook and it really is impossibly easy! This is my favorite cheesecake recipe that I've come across because it doesn't have a crust. I've never really been a fan of the graham cracker crust. Also, the outer edge of this cheesecake will cook a little bit more than the rest of it giving it the appearance of a crust anyways.

The Beginning of the Indoor Garden

I determined that the best place for my plants would be near the front window. The next step was to find a table for the plants. My mom helped me out and found a sofa table that is the perfect height for the front window and that matches my current coffee table and side tables. (Yay mom!) The table arrived yesterday and I put it together today... all by myself!

Environmental Enlightenment #6 (Picking up litter)

Since my parents scolded a drive-by-littering I have become increasingly aware of all the trash in the streets. Add to this the fact that the snow recently melted revealing a nice coating of trash (mainly plastic bottles.) In all seriousness it makes me feel gross. It saddens me to imagine plastic bottles being tossed out of cars with the thought of...? I know that people care about their homes and personal space and it makes me very sad to think that those feelings don't extend any further than their front doors. Also, the recycling drop-off center for my neighborhood is at the end of the block. Come on people! Combining all these factors creates a perfect storm of annoyances for me. So instead of complaining, I decided to do something about it. I'm going to set aside some time each day to go for a walk (exercise, yay!) and pick up trash along the way. I'll end my walk at the recycling drop-off center and return home with any un-recyclables. Of course picking up trash involves some precautions for health reasons so I will be wearing plastic gloves. I did some research and discovered that latex is in fact biodegradable, but landfills don't necessarily create the best environment for decomposition. On the other hand (pun intended) there is a synthetic latex glove made from Nitrile which most recycling facilities are now able to recycle. I haven't decided which glove is the lesser of two evils yet, but I'm hoping to make that decision by tomorrow in order to get this show on the road!