Early Morning Productivity

Woke up at 5:30 a.m. this morning (before the neighbor’s rooster started crowing!) to get cooking for Thanksgiving.  Cooking commenced on Monday with all of the cold relishes and this morning it was time to finish off the onion pie, prep & cook 3 lbs. of kale.  Phew, that is a lot of kale!  The house smells fantastic right now.  One guest is already here and more are on their way tonight.  We are all meeting up at a German restaurant for E’s birthday celebration.  Can’t wait to zoom through the work day and get to the fun stuff of tonight and tomorrow.

Yesterday I experimented with my hair color again and went back to light ash brown.  I was ready to let go of the red for now.  Yeah, I know it is not the most environmentally friendly thing but it is one habit that I haven’t been able to drop.  I tried the whole henna thing a couple years back and it wasn’t working out.  So I stick with the Garnier Nutrisse which has never let me down.  As a veritable hair dye addict I can safely say that I have gone through every brand and this one is the hands down winner for me.  Since I had a little extra time on my hands this morning while the onion pie was baking I went the extra mile and styled it into a nice fauxhawk.

Nothing much else going on here, wishing all a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Balancing Budget, Enviro-Friendliness & Sanity

Another week has gone by and I made it to my one-day weekend!  With more hours devoted to work, I find that things like keeping up with the laundry tend to fall behind.  On my day off, I am faced with a backlog of dirty clothes waiting to be sorted and washed, dried, folded and hung.  To add extra obstacles, I don’t feel comfortable with chucking stuff in the dryer all of the time (which seems like the easiest, most slacker-friendly option).  What to do, what to do…

I guess the challenge with laundry (and with everything else) is that I would like to balance being environmentally friendly with being frugal… all while still keeping my sanity.  Is it impossible?  Let’s hope not.  As soon as this post is submitted I am going to head in there and face the problem head on!

There is some good news on the conservation front, power bill this month was EVEN LOWER than last month.  Seeing that low two-digit number made it all worth it, and encourages me even more in my efforts to turn the lights out when we leave a room, use the A/C less and unplug appliances that aren’t being used (oh yeah, and not using the dryer as much)!  An extra bonus was realizing that the power company is giving everyone a rebate on fuel costs in January.  Should be around 30 extra buckaroos.  Score!  I am still motivated by one of my cousins– his typical power bill is around $12, but I think he is living such an austere lifestyle that he could give Henry David Thoreau a run for his money.  Anything in the two-digit range and I will be satisfied!

Thanksgiving shopping has been accomplished, the bulk of which came to a grand total of $71.  Not bad, since we are aiming for feeding about 10 people.  Just because the shopping is done doesn’t mean that I haven’t stopped panicking yet though– I am second guessing whether we will have enough food or not and think an additional trip is in order just to get a few more things (for instance, I am going to double the stuffing and mashed potatoes recipes).  There is that nagging thought in the back of my head that things could still turn out disastrously– drier than dry turkey, not enough oven space, people not liking the food, etc.

I guess we will just have to do our best and let the rest go.  Have a great holiday week!

Simple living = Bountiful living

Hand-knit Treasure

Today an Aunt took me to a “top secret” thrift store location to go for a little shopping.  I found this beautiful hand-knit sweater there (fits perfectly) for only 3.00.  I really appreciate handmade items, and I was needed a couple more sweaters for winter.  I couldn’t be more thrilled!  Someone spent a lot of time making this.  I feel lucky to have it, wear it, and enjoy it.  Target ain’t gonna have something like this, people!

In other news, here is a photo of the finished loaf of French bread.  It was delicious, and I can’t WAIT (!) until my next day off when I can make some more.  This time I am definitely making two loaves.  Cheap, fun, and delicious.

Finished Loaf o' French Bread

Perspective

The one thing that ties us all together is the fact that we are all here at the same time… and, well… that in and of its self is pretty darn amazing.

Today’s Reason to Cut Back on Plastic

Yesterday we were engaging in the relaxing Sunday ritual of enjoying some time walking around outdoors when we happened upon more than several pieces of plastic wind-strewn across the sand.  Every time I see a piece of plastic litter it encourages me to stay away from plastic goods as much as possible and to recycle and buy recycled as much as possible!

Slowing down the pace

Today has been a slow, sunny Friday.  After the freezer fiasco of yesterday which resulted in a lot of unfortunate food waste (and no food left in the house) I decided to go and get some yeast from the grocery store and try my hand at an easy French bread recipe I found while browsing over on The Non-Consumer Advocate blog.  Right now the loaf is in its final half-hour of rising before being baked in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  I am not sure I have ever been so excited to taste bread before.

This loaf is easy, and not much kneading is needed (haha).  Even so, I immensely enjoyed my 3 minutes of kneading and punching.  The dough felt so good between my fingers.  The overall effect was one of stress relief.  Plus, the yeasty smell of the bread is yum-o.

I have also managed to get some laundry done.  I am striving to use the dryer less, however right now that is a bit difficult owing to the fact that I have no clothesline or drying rack.  What I have come up with is to put stuff in the dryer for an initial 5 minutes and then I kind of just drape everything wherever I can find space in the garage.  Between my efforts with the dryer, new more efficient light bulbs, and less A/C usage the electricity bill has been steadily dropping.  Last month was lower than we have ever gone before!  Hooray for small victories.

Link to printable version of recipe

Update:  Wow, the bread really tastes good with a little butter or olive oil and salt.  It was significantly easier to make than I had anticipated.  This may turn into a staple.

How is your tap water quality?

Since I have quit drinking bottled water I have been drinking and cooking with tap water pretty much exclusively.  So I started to wonder about the quality of my local tap water.  And it turns out there is a site put out by the Environmental Working Group that lets you search through a National (U.S.) Tap Water Quality Database.  Pretty cool, huh?

Also a little bit scary, once I found out the results.  Nevertheless, I am not going to be deterred.  Thank goodness for the Brita filter, which hopefully can get some of the nasties out (like cadmium).  Here is the list of the 3 contaminants/pollutants above “healthy” limits found in my local tap water:

Contaminants found above health based limits: 3

Contaminants listed may not have exceeded legal limits, which are set to balance cost and benefits and are often higher than health-based limits.

Contaminant Name	Average Result	Maximum Result	Health Limit Exceeded	Has Legal Limit	Legal Limit Exceeded
Arsenic (total)	0.2 ppb	0.4 ppb	Yes	Yes	No
	Metal that enters water by erosion of natural deposits, runoff from glass and electronics processing
Cadmium (total)	0.15 ppb	0.3 ppb	Yes	Yes	No
	Metal from corrosion of galvanized pipes; runoff from metal refineries, waste batteries and paints; erosion of natural deposits
Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)	133.63 ppb	254 ppb	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Measure of four disinfection by-products

If I start to sound too crazy I guess you will know why!  Okay, so all joking aside, dang we need to be careful about what we are putting into a water supply.  Talk about poisoning the well!

I have posted this database as a link in my “Other links” section so you can find out your very own results.

National Tap Water Quality Database

Step 2: Addressing the Problem

After straddling the fence for years, the realization came that no person is going to succeed at something that they are feeling forced into doing.  Part of what has kept me from fully committing to a more minimalist, less-plastic lifestyle in the past was the idea that I would be depriving myself of certain things– certain foods, certain conveniences.  I mean, aren’t most of us scared to step outside of that social mainstream anyways?  If we are going to succeed at living with a lighter footprint we are going to have to do it with a positive attitude and a spring in our step.

So… instead of making this about deprivation and negatives I think it is important to focus on what the positives are that we can gain from a minimalist lifestyle.  Instead of thinking about what we are not going to have, let’s focus on what we are going to have.  Most of all, let us never forget opportunity cost (or what we are giving up when we make one decision).  In the case of minimalist living it is the real cost of keeping our stuff.  How weighted down we can feel and storage costs, for instance.  While I admit this will take a certain re-training of the brain, hopefully in the end we can take home a better sense of well-being for it.  In the case of plastics, what comes to mind now (after seeing Chris Jordan’s video) is that when I choose the convenience of plastic, I am giving up one small part of a healthier planet (in this case albatross chicks, but we know it is a lot more than just this one case study).  And granted, it is just one small part but at least in my case, I know that the small decisions do add up to weigh on my conscience.

Heather Levin over at The Greenest Dollar has written an excellent introductory article on how to start living sans-plastic. I would urge you to pop on in over there and check it out.

How to Stop Using Plastic

Here a few of my own favorite plastic-free alternatives.  With these, you won’t feel like you are giving anything up.  It’s an upgrade, really.

Courtesy drbronner.com

 

Bodywash:  Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Bar Soap (splurge), Kirk’s Coco Castile Bar Soap (save)

 

Home Cleaning:  Bon Ami (splurge), Baking Soda (save)

 

Plastic Bags:  BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag!)

 

Laundry:  Ecover Laundry Powder (splurge), Fels Naptha+Washing Soda+Borax (save)

 

Courtesy bonami.com

Step 1: Realizing the Problem

I have always loved albatrosses, ever since seeing the animated Orville from The Rescuers as a child.  Today I popped on over to Fake Plastic Fish, a blog by Beth Terry that I like to follow periodically and saw a horrifying photographic slide show by Chris Jordan featuring dead albatrosses, their stomachs filled with pieces and shards of discarded plastic.

What a wake up call.  I feel the urge to spread the news wide and far.  Yes, it is painful to look at.  I mean come on– we all have consumed at least some plastic during our lifetime.  Most of us have consumed more than “some.”  And look where it is ending up.  It is devastating.  Yet I think that at the same time, we have to realize that the period of ignorance has got to end.  Our actions do have consequences.

The good news is that we can use that to our benefit.  Instead of being complacent with the way things are now, we can change.  I am personally challenging myself to drastically lower the amount of plastic waste that I have coming out of my household.  What can you do today, to make a difference?

If you don’t at first succeed, try, try again!  (Excerpt from the Rescuers)

Modern Minimalists

One of the best documentaries on modern music, hosted by Björk.  Contains an interview with Arvo Pärt, a composer whose works I personally immensely enjoy.  A highly recommended view, especially the first five minutes or so of part two, where music is compared to architecture (structures, rhythms, space).  (Two parts)