July 15, 2009
I hope I don’t get lynched for this post, but I want to talk about the positive effects of the city strike-the garbage strike in particular. The strike does affect me adversely as well (I work for the city and need the money I’m not getting right now).The idea of this blog in general is to stay positive and think about what I can change in my own life and this post is no exception.
So here is my list of good things about this bad situation.
1. I don’t have to worry about nap being interrupted once a week by the cacophony that is garbage day.
2. There are no big recycling bins and garbage bins all over the sidewalk in the way of the stroller.
3. It makes us all take a real look about the garbage we are creating-my family included. It was a good wake up call. We have not yet had to take the garbage out and before the strike we were back to a small grocery bag every 2-3 weeks and the same amount in recycling almost daily.
4.It’s summer so it’s farmer’s market season! This means it’s much easier to buy your groceries without any packaging. Tomorrow at 3-7pm is Dufferin Grove Market. You can bring your own container for Olive oil and chocolate. You can bring your own plate and get a delicious supper. You can bring all your own bags and return berry containers and egg cartons to vendors.
Now here’s a list of ways to reduce:
1. Buy less. This is not going to go on forever and it is a good time to just halt the new purchases therefore receiving less packaging
2. Compost-either set up a backyard compost or Verma composter (you can buy worms at Grassroots)or ask to use a friend’s.
3. Carry cloth grocery bags with you for shopping and small ones for produce (veggies keep better in cotton spritzed with water than plastic anyhow)
4. Carry a reuseable coffee mug if you are a coffee or tea drinker
5. If you can’t make and pack your own lunch, carry a plate and cutlery
6.Use second hand stores or internet venues like Craig’s List or SwapSity to get rid of old items and obtain new ones.
7. Try to plan ahead. We found that most packaging and waste comes from convenience items.
If you want to see me say these things in person, with a cute toddler in the background, tune into CBC TV tomorrow at 6pm. I think I will be on the news.
July 6, 2009
It’s been way too long and I”m sorry for that.
I have quite a bit to say so stay tuned in the next week or so as there should be frequent posts.
I was just on CBC radio 1, with Matt Galloway, because of the garbage strike in Toronto. The city strike has affected me because I work for the city but the fact that the garbage workers are on strike hasn’t affected us too badly yet, as we still make very little. Our recycling content had gone way up though so now is a great time to get that in check again!
Lynn, From Green Me Up Scotty has created a google map for Trashless Toronto, so check back tomorrow or the next day and there should be a user friendly guide to buying garbage free stuff in the city. Yaaay.
One of the topics I’ve been meaning to post about for a while is ants. WE had an infestation last month. Aurora would drop an O on the floor and suddenly there would be a 2 inch square pile up of squirming blackness. Woah! We went to the trusty old internet and discovered that ants don’t like the following things: cucumber, pepper, vinegar, and cinnamon. I said “no way” to the cucumber because we have had issues with fruit flies, so we sprayed vinegar and sprinkled pepper around all the ant entrances, and now we only see a lone ant now and then. I’m very impressed with ants but I just don’t want to share my space with them-it’s too small. I feel great joy when I see a cookie walk across the floor and realize it is a tiny little ant carrying it home. That’s power!
May 29, 2009
The title is a quote from some “English” stationary I got in Korea. I do have a reason for being in happy though- free chocolate and peaches!
I get Mama Earth Organic delivery and have been really happy with them. They try really hard to avoid packaging and the service (and food) is great. I always tip the driver and if I can’t, I leave baking in the box for her. I also use reused envelopes or Aurora’s drawings to put the money in and sometimes I include little notes or pamphlets about projects I’m working on.
This week, along with our delivery was a complimentary (compostable) bag of peaches and apricots and an amazing organic chocolate bar. They left a little note saying thanks for being a good customer and for doing this blog and for the goodies and tips. Awwww. I actually cried. Aurora immediately grabbed and ate one of the peaches.I loooove chocolate-in fact most of you probably know I am totally addicted to it. It was such a nice touch. I also love peaches and wish they were in season for longer.
PS If you are in the Toronto area and decide to sign up with Mama Earth, drop my name and I will get a discount.
May 20, 2009
Have you ever noticed that most interviews of famous women (especially if they are sex symbols) include this question? Sometimes they say “What is the one thing you can’t like without” and I always think “air”, but the answers are things like “My #12 red Mac lipstick” or “My Prada stilettos”.
If I was asked that question (not that I am claiming to be a sex symbol;), I would have to answer baking soda!
We use it in baking, wash the house with it*, brush our teeth with it, put it under our arms, and now I’m washing my face with it. I tried it on my hair but that experiment failed.
I do, however, highly recommend it as a facial cleanser. I was having a hard time with finding or making a good cleanser that didn’t leave my skin dry and pimply at the same time. Yes I am a thirty something with pimples-what of it? Finally I broke down and started washing with Dr.Bronners mild baby soap, which I can buy in bulk at Grass Roots, Big Carrot or Eco-Existence. It works great! Just wet your face and rub the baking soda on until it looks like a mask. Then rinse it off,with hot water, then cold. If I need to moisturize I use a little coconut oil, and if I want to exfoliate I use baking soda. It kind of tingles and leaves my face feeling clean and soft.
* Since we have had a child we use baking soda way more than borax because borax is a little caustic. We use baking soda and vinegar for the toilet, sinks, bathtub, walls, and diaper pail. We also use baking soda on pots and pans that have had food burnt onto them. Just dump a bunch in with a bit of water and let it sit overnight before scrubbing ( a scrunched up and knotted onion bag makes a great scrubber).
May 11, 2009
When I started this blog, I had high hopes for the Trashless Toronto section. What I really want is an interactive map that people can click on to see where to go to buy what they need without packaging. The problem is that I don’t have the skills or time to do it.
Do you? If so, please contact me. I would love that page to be easier to navigate, more helpful, bigger, and better!
I just added Khmer Thai and the Nutrutionista to the page as it is, as well as a few more farmers market. There are a few more places I need to add as well but it makes me a little sad to look at the page because it is so far from what I want it to be. sniff sniff.
May 3, 2009
Despite the fact that someone has asked me why I already talked about deoderant more than once, I am going to mention it again.
We have been using home-made deoderant which works really well, cuts out trash and is simple and easy to make. It’s coconut oil, baking soda and tea tree oil and or patcholi. We discovered it irritated Kyle’s skin, but fixed that by making an oilier version. The problem is the oilier version is staining our clothes. So far using baby powder to soak it up and then dish soap has seemed to work. I thought of getting mainstream stain remover or even grease fighting dishsoap, but that seems to sort of defeat the purpose of having all natural deoderant.
Hmmm what to do, what to do.
I finally tried the Thyme to wash cleanser that I mentioned in the DIY hygiene post. I don’t like it. I have way more pimples then before and I have to keep it in the fridge, which I find terribly inconvenient. Really, I want to be able to just leave it in the bathroom so it’s there when I need it. It’s not pure laziness- once I am in the bathroom for a shower, I can’t leave again because Aurora will see me and freak out “mommm-MEEE!” I have to sort of sneak away.
I think I’ll try the ginger one next and tell you how it goes.
April 24, 2009
If you read my post about what I do in the bathroom, you’ll know that up until now I used Fuch’s toothbrushes because they were biodegradable. I tired the brand with Aurora and she refused to brush her teeth altogether until I figured out the toothbrush was the problem and switched her to a softer brush.
About a month ago a friend asked me how I liked Fuch’s. I hadn’t really thought about it at all, I just used them because it seemed the right thing to do. Upon ponderance ( I made up that word but I’m going to use it any way), in the three years I’ve used them I’ve never seen one break down in the compost and I’m not sure how long it takes. When I stopped to think about how I liked them, I had to truthfully answer, not very much. They are very stiff and boxy and the bristles fall out in my mouth. Fuch Fuch’s!
Said friend told me she used Preserve, so I bought one yesterday and Oh I have happy teeth! It is so soft and sleek and my teeth feel so clean. I just want to brush all the time. They are also made out of recycled plastic and you can mail it back to the company (free of charge) to be recycled when you are finished.
I’m hoping they make a child’s one because I think Aurora would like it. I think I can convert the whole family-this toothbrush is amazing.
March 26, 2009
Yummy
I’ve been working on the recipes section of my book. It’s been quite fun having to actually measure things out and once I have the quantities I can make the same dish exactly the same, 2 or more times in a row. Wow!
Tonight I made an amazing salad. I didn’t measure anything out so I’ll have to tinker with it, but I’ll pass it on as is for now.
Ingredients
-left over fried veggies (broccoli, carrots, zucchini, onions and garlic)
-pesto (basil, olive oil, sunflower seeds, pine nuts)
-the juice of half a lemon
-salt and pepper
-orzo
Mix together and eat!
I had left over orzo and veggies so it was quick and easy, and very delicious.
Yucky
We live in a house that has been split into apartments. The people upstairs have had visitors for the past 6 months who finally left today. They threw several bags of clothes in the garbage. Aurora and I watched the man of the house go through the bags, take what he wanted and put the rest back in! I’m not upset that he took some-that;s great. I just can’t believe he put the rest back in. Clothes do not need to be in the landfill. The Diabetes Association and Sick Kids come by at least once every few months to collect clothes. I am going to dig them out of the garbage again to donate- even though they are no longer neatly bagged. I may have to launder them now too. I just can’t believe someone would throw good clothes away. I kind of can understand his guests were in a hurry to catch a plane back home and had too much to bring, and may be they didn’t know clothes don’t go in the garbage. But then the upstairs tenant took things out of the neatly packed bags and back into the garbage bin. Why not take the bags out completely and take them somewhere, or leave them on the porch fro pickup? I am baffled. I almost went out to say something, but every time I try to talk to him, he doesn’t speak English anymore, so I didn’t bother.
I’m off to eat some pie and then go dumpster diving in my own backyard!
March 2, 2009
I had just about given up buying from the internet all together, due to hidden fees and crazy amounts of packaging. I ordered a percussion instrument in the shape of a banana and it came in a box about a foot by a foot filled with plastic and bubble wrap. UUUGH. I ordered an organic t-shirt from OH BUGGY and it came in an envelope padded with recycled paper. Yaaaay! No bubble wrap, no Styrofoam, no tape, no plastic!!! Also the shirts they make are awesome, and organic and the service was fantastic. So I will be ordering from the internet again after all.
February 18, 2009
There’s a line in a Modest Mouse song that is something like ” I sound the same when I’m happy and I’m sad” that’s always really resonated with me. I just watched Home Grown Revolution and cried with joy. I would love to meet this family. The one thing I noticed was that they do wrap their veggies in plastic, but it’s not a criticism at all because they are doing so many amazing things. I can’t express my excitement. Just watch or go to the website. Oh I love these people! WHEEEEEEE!
