clean is green

Hoo boy. Talk about a leave of absence. Bad me. 

Rest assured, I haven’t slipped off the wagon or anything. Life has thrown a few curveballs at me, and while I can’t swing for peanuts, I’m still injecting my green bean philosophy wherever I can.

On the docket today: recycling.

After spending a very long winter cooped up and helping my husband through chemotherapy (more on that later), my house was beginning to look like a tornado snuck in the window and swirled things up just a bit too much. We still had unpacked boxes in our basement, and the extra recycling I’d been taking home from work was piling up on the back porch. Yeah, I said recycling. That’s like the worst of the three R’s. I know. But I think we have to accept that it’s inevitable; unless you grow all of your own food and all that jazz, you’re bound to have some packaging in need of disposal. And I check and double-check when I think an item might be recyclable. 

My problem was that I had nothing in which to store the non-curbside stuff — the no-neck 1′s and 2′s, all 5′s, and plastic bags that I take to Whole Foods — until I could find time to drop it off. And the last straw was inadvertently grabbing a handful of cat pee as I tried to collect the plastic bags accumulating on the porch. (Our cats enjoy sunbathing out there in the warm months, and apparently they also enjoy creating new litter boxes among plastic items.) So I marched off to Target — with thoroughly cleaned hands —  in search of inexpensive recycling receptacles to sort and store the mounting recyclables – and to prevent future random pee fests. Yes, there are receptacles specifically for recycling, but why pay $40 for a tiny plastic bin with a big brand name when you can get a tall swing-lid trash can that does the trick for $12? I arrived home with 4 new bins for sorting and promptly labeled them:

• 1′s, 2′s and 5′s
• plastic bags
• 3′s, 4′s and 6′s
• hard Styrofoam  

What? Styrofoam? And all those other crazy numbers most Minnesota recyclers won’t take? Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but the Coon Rapids Public Works facility will take all plastics numbered 1 through 6, as well as hard Styrofoam, like to-go food containers that are labeled with a number. You do need to be a resident of Anoka county to drop off at the facility. That’s all I’m sayin’.

Memorial Day weekend became Cleaning Day weekend. I emptied every cardboard box and sorted through the miscellaneous crap in our basement, bought sturdy storage totes (that cats can’t pee in), and organized the entire unfinished space in the course of one evening. Tiring but rewarding work — I now have a designated recycling area in the basement, and there’s no place left for the cats to pee but the litter box.

kicking a head cold, days 3 & 4

I woke up Monday morning, pleasantly startled by the fact that I was breathing through my nose — and involuntarily! I’m going to credit the combination of nasal irrigation, vitamin supplements, red clover and Coldcalm — because I’m sure I wouldn’t have felt better so soon using just one of the options.

I did have some slight congestion while sitting most of the day at work, but at least I didn’t feel like someone had stuffed extra-thick cotton up my nose. Some air was able to pass through my sinuses, which is more than I can say for the four or five miserable days of congestion I experienced with my last cold. And not nearly as much gunk needed to escape from nose to tissue, thus my raw little nostrils healed faster.

The morning of day 4 (Tuesday) yielded even more relief, and with a few quick nose-blows and two irrigation sessions, I officially declared my cold over by the end of the day. Kaput.

Four days is a new record for me — as in shortest cold ever.

What did I do?

• At the first sign of sniffles, I irrigated with the neti pot, adding Neti Wash Zinc & Herbs to each rinse. On the days I felt the worst, I irrigated 5 to 6 times a day. I left the Neti Wash out of a few rinses so as not to overdo it with the zinc.
• I took the following vitamin supplements (dosage is per day, as close as possible to recommendations in Prescription for Nutritional Healing):
  • Vitamin A: 20,000 IU
  • Vitamin B complex: 300 mg
  • Vitamin C: 3,000 to 5,000 mg
  • Vitamin E: 400 IU
  • Zinc: 80 mg
• I added 800 mg of red clover blossom days 2 through 4, to help rid toxins that can cause inflammation and congestion.
• I took Boiron’s Coldcalm homeopathic cold relief — 1 dose every 15 minutes for the first 2 hours, then 1 dose every hour until the symptoms ceased.
• I sipped hot tea as much as possible and tried to eat as healthily as my appetite would allow.

I know this seems like a lot of work, but it was worth the extra effort to shorten the symptoms and be back to normal in less than a week. Now the trick is to keep my immune system in good shape to prevent another nasty virus from invading again, with the combination of a healthy diet and nutritional supplements.

Disclaimer: This regimen is what worked for me, and I was willing to take the risk in experimenting with vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements. It is not suited for everyone, and pregnant women and others with compromised health conditions should absolutely exercise caution and consult a doctor before adding any kind of supplement to their diets. Always check with a medical professional prior to choosing a remedy if you’re concerned about reactions.

kicking a head cold, day 2

I had a hard time falling asleep last night — even after using the neti pot, my sinuses were still inflamed and I could feel the pressure in my teeth. It was about 2 a.m. and I still hadn’t fallen asleep, so I got up and nettied again, took some melatonin and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Today I’m trying to use the neti pot every few hours, and a few snuffs of eucalyptus oil definitely helps open up my sinuses — although both options only provide temporary relief. (Since a euchalyptus steam doesn’t help much, I just hold the bottle of oil up to my nose and sniff.) I will say that the biggest help is staying mobile and upright. If I sit on the couch too long, my sinuses close up. If I walk around and do a few things around the house, the congestion eases. I made a quick trip to Whole Foods, and my sinuses were open the entire time, and I didn’t have the urge to blow my nose every minute.

A friend of mine recommended the book Prescription for Nutritional Healing, and I sat with it examining the options for cold relief yesterday afternoon. The book suggests taking vitamins A, C and E, as well as zinc to help boost immune function and promote healing. The recommended doses for A and E are the same that I already take, so I’ve only upped my C intake. I also picked up some red clover blossom at Whole Foods, which, according to the book, helps eliminate toxins in the lymphatic system that can cause congestion and inflammation. While at the store, I spotted Boiron’s ColdCalm homeopathic cold relief — I’m giving that a shot to see if it helps alleviate the runny nose and congestion.

I think I’m feeling better. I’m off to netty and sniff some more euchalyptus.

kicking a head cold, old school

Generally I’m a healthy person. I get one or two head colds every winter, and that’s about it. I had a terrible cold back in December, and absolutely nothing could ease the misery; I’ve never experienced such awful sinus congestion in my life. Friends and family kept telling me to try a neti pot, and I squirmed at the thought of flushing warm water through my sinuses. I can barely tolerate getting water up my nose at the lake. But the congestion was so persistent and nothing would relieve it — over-the-counter decongestant, nasal spray, I tried all the usual stuff. So I bit the bullet and bought a neti pot. And after the very first use, the congestion eased. It took a few days for my sinuses to completely open up, but as they did, the mucus was able to escape and carry the germs with it, helping to end the cold and the misery faster.

So when I started to feel the slightest sniffle last night, I dug out the neti pot again. (My guess is I picked up some germs while sitting in a movie theater filled with kids last night.) I “nettied” before bed and again when I got up this morning. My sinuses felt relatively open and clear afterward, but I figured I wasn’t out of the woods yet. So after brunch, Doug and I stopped at the co-op to look for a neti wash my neighbor told me about: the Zinc & Herbs neti wash, which helps firm up the nasal passages and reduce excess mucus. I tried it when we got home and my sinuses do feel better.

Now obviously, a cold has to run its course and I don’t have the patience to just feel miserable until it’s gone. But my goal is to kick this cold completely naturally — no OTC suppressants or synthetic decongestants, which rarely help anyway — and with minimal suffering. The neti pot will ease my sinus issues, and I’m loading up on vitamin C and zinc supplements (along with my usual regimen of multivitamins and vitamins A, B and E) to help my body fight off the virus until it’s gone. And orange juice, tea and water will help me stay hydrated and flush the germs.

Today is day one of the cold, and I don’t feel completely blah yet. Sinus congestion is the main problem, but other than that, I’m OK. Fortunately, it’s Saturday and I have two days to rest at home before returning to work on Monday. I guess we’ll see how I feel tomorrow, eh?

a good night’s sleep: priceless

Ask my husband, and he’ll tell you what it’s like to encounter me first thing in the morning. Most days, it’s not pretty. I’ve become an incredibly light sleeper over the last eight or so years, and just one restless night’s sleep is enough to send me reeling into crabby oblivion until lunchtime. (My deepest apologies to those of you who put up with my morning monster on a daily basis.) I wake up at the slightest movement or noise, and most nights even ear plugs aren’t enough to help me sleep through the night.

It was maybe six months ago that I decided I’d had enough of waking up tired and crabby, feeling like I hadn’t gotten enough sleep — even though I get 7 to 8 hours every night. I set out on a quest to find a natural sleep aid that would help me get more-restful sleep. In the past, melatonin had helped me fall asleep, but not stay asleep, so I was hoping something else out there would do the trick.

{Side note: I mistakenly tried Sominex on a family trip to Wisconsin Dells this summer (for lack of other options available at the gas station) – in an attempt to sleep through snoring the equivalent of a howitzer — and boy, did I feel absolutely horrible the next morning. Crabby, groggy and more crabby.}

I looked in the product guide on EcoHuddle.com and found a whopping two suggestions. But thankfully I went on a whim and tried one of the recommendations: Nature’s Inventory Sleep Aid Wellness Oil. Now, this isn’t the typical sleep aid that you ingest — because essential oil isn’t intended to be consumed — but one that you apply topically. I slather a little on my neck and shoulders just before bedtime, the idea being to inhale the aroma of the essential oils that relieve your symptoms. The Sleep Aid Wellness Oil contains essential oils of lavender, jasmine and sandalwood, which promote a faster, more-relaxed journey to sleepdom, as well as deep sleep. A carrier oil (in this product, jojoba oil) balances out the mixture so it’s safe to apply to skin.

I can say from my experience that it works. The first few nights I used it, I slept better than I had in years. I slept all night and woke up refreshed, feeling like I’d had enough sleep — even waking before the alarm and ready to get up. That, my friends, has never happened in my 32 years on this planet. I thought perhaps that this amazing change was a result of a few factors combined, so I’ve tested a few options to single out the effective source of my happy sleep experiment. I stopped using the oil for awhile; I used the oil and melatonin together; I used only melatonin; then I went back to using only the oil. And without the oil, I woke up tired and feeling like I needed more sleep, every time. I’m back to using the oil regularly, and I feel immediately in the morning, each morning, that I’ve slept well.  I even recommended it to a co-worker who was having trouble sleeping — waking up at 4 a.m. on the dot, every morning. She tried it and slept until her alarm went off at a more reasonable hour.

I will say that if you’re not used to jojoba oil, know that it doesn’t absorb immediately. Yes, it feels oily. But it has moisturizing properties, so don’t be scared of it. Plus, several of Nature’s Inventory products are certified organic, including the Sleep Aid Wellness Oil, which I must add smells heavenly.

Now ask my husband what it’s like to encounter me first thing in the morning. He might just tell you that Medusa has retreated and it’s safe to initiate a conversation before 9 a.m.!

to trash or not to trash

Yikes. Dormancy is not just for the squirrels, apparently. Let’s just say that life has thrown me some loop-de-loops these last few months, and something had to take a back seat for awhile. Nevertheless, the new year is always a good reason to make a fresh start; so for 2010 I’ll set a goal to write more often.

And what better way to start the new year than with a de-cluttered, reorganized kitchen? Granted, cleaning and downsizing is certainly not a new concept, but I found myself reusing some items I had intended to recycle, thus saving energy (for the recycling company) and space (in my kitchen). 

Yesterday started out as most Sunday mornings do in our house, with me scrounging up something for breakfast while the coffee pot does what it does best. I remembered the yummy English muffins my aunt sent us for Christmas, stowed in the vegetable crisper since there was no other place in the fridge. Yes, the refrigerator was on overload from the holiday leftovers and whatever else I stuffed in there and forgot about. As I grabbed the English muffins, I caught a glimpse of something brown underneath the crisper. Not in the crisper, but on the very bottom of the fridge. Yeah, ew. One of those “whatever else” items had thawed and expanded, depositing a very sticky brown mess of soup broth from the top shelf to the bottom. My lucky day, right?

I couldn’t will the brown goo to disappear, so I set to work finding the source and dismantling the entire fridge in the process. After an hour and a half of sleuthing and scrubbing, I had a sparkling-clean refrigerator and quite a few expired food-like items in need of disposing. (Unfortunately holiday food and condiments are rarely compostable, and most of mine had to be thrown. Ugh.) I was left with a legion of glass jars that I usually recycle, but I soaked them for a bit in hopes that I’d find a use for them eventually.

Little did I know that my cleanin’ jones would carry through to an overhaul of the kitchen pantry later in the evening. But it did! And within the same day, those empty jars found themselves employed once again. My pantry is typically a melange of produce bags stuffed with bulk items and open packages stuffed in Ziploc bags – peanuts, navy beans, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, you name it — and half the time I don’t know I have something and end up buying more of what I already have. 

Well, no more. I consolidated and stored the orphaned items in the glass jars, then labeled those that could be easily confused with another item (such as baking soda, which looks exactly like baking powder). Of course, I know what walnuts and almonds look like, so the clear glass jars are perfect for storing bulk items; I can easily see what I have on hand. Plus, it’ll be easy and green when it comes time to buy more: Just take the jar to the co-op and refill it. Voila! No more plastic bag or package to bring home. 

Now I have a well-organized pantry to go with the clean refrigerator, and I found a new use for something I ordinarily would have tossed in the recycling. Granted, my conscience is nagging at me for having thrown old food away, but my lesson learned is stay organized to encourage buying fewer items — don’t buy more than I need or more of what I already have.

So this little soup-blop mishap yielded a lofty, yet attainable goal for the year: Create less trash. That includes reducing the amount of food we throw away and reusing items that could be tossed in the trash or recycling. 

And now for some good old-fashioned product placement
Speaking of staying organized and reducing waste, I’m totally gung-ho for the Grocery IQ app for iPhone. Before I found this nifty little tool, I was a perpetual forgetter of grocery list items. I no longer write out a list on paper, since I can just grab my phone when we’re out of something and the list is already made when I’m ready to shop. I’ve already noticed I don’t buy as many unnecessary items or forget ones we ran out of weeks before the shopping trip. And no more paper lists. Put a check in the column for “Makes my life easier”!

hiatus? what hiatus?

Woah. It seems like ages since I wrote last. Let me tell you, the two months before your wedding will suck up a lot of the extra time you thought you had. I wasn’t running around like a maniac, but the the last-minute lists and preparations for the family visit consumed an awful lot of my brain capacity. But I’m back with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and plenty of ideas to share. I plan to write a recap of the eco-conscious aspects of our wedding and mini-honeymoon, as soon as I’ve compiled some photos to accompany the words.

But in the meantime, my goal is to post more often and report on the little things I aim to accomplish in the “reuse” and “reduce” categories.

A few unrelated acts of note:

• I’ve made the switch to bulk shopping at Mississippi Market, and I totally love it. Granted, it isn’t as though I’ve never bought anything in bulk, but I’m referring to household items, such as dish soap, laundry detergent and household cleaner, in addition to food. I really don’t know why I didn’t start sooner. The one bulk item that I’m psyched to refill? Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap. Seriously.
• I’m still making my own peanut butter. I buy peanuts (in bulk!), toss them in the food processor with a little cane sugar and a teeny drizzle of canola oil, and voila. I love that the flavor is just a tad different every time I make it.
• I’m done buying jarred tomato sauce. The first batch of sauce I made last week has convinced me that homemade is the way to go. Plus, a big batch in the crockpot yields at least six full servings for the two of us, and it cost me less than buying two jars of the off-the-shelf stuff.
• We finally (finally!) started composting. I went to Home Depot and bought a Rubbermaid trash barrel, and drilled some small holes in the bottom, sides and top. Bingo. Homemade compost bin. Done, and done.
• We mulched our front and back yards to keep our native landscaping happy and healthy. We don’t water on a regular basis during the summer, mostly for energy- and water-usage reasons, so the mulch will help keep the precious moisture in the ground. Next spring’s project is a rain barrel.

Today’s good deed at work: I offered to take home the office’s household-cleaner spray bottles and refill them with Restore multipurpose cleaner in bulk at Mississippi Market. I grabbed a bottle of the stuff to clean my desk this morning and noticed it was almost empty. And the light bulb went off. There’s no sense in tossing the spray nozzle and recycling the bottle when I can refill them on one of my regular shopping trips.

an inspiration for the office worker bees

I came across this article on The Heavy Table, about a Minneapolis company that created its own company-sponsored and -harvested CSA in Delano, Minn. What a fantastic, productive team-building concept! Since extracurricular budgets are being slashed and eliminated, a CSA is a great way to socialize and work together with your co-workers, outside of work. It’s a lot of work and needs funding, but perhaps employees would be more willing to contribute financially and physically since there’s a return on investment (in the form of fresh, hand-picked fruits and vegetables). It beats roaming aimlessly around Mall of America on a “treasure hunt” that’s supposed to teach you the importance of communication, right?

Now I wonder if I can wrangle a few co-workers to try something like this next season.

invitesite’s green weddings blog

When we received our tree-free Carmine wedding invitations from InviteSite.com a few months back, I absolutely loved them. I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. We paid the extra dough to have InviteSite print the invitations, and they came out just beautifully. We’ve gotten several compliments on them from guests, as well — Doug’s mother’s cousin waited a week to open the wrapper because she thought the presentation was so gorgeous!

I was on the site to download the ceremony program template today and came across their new “Green Weddings” blog, which is chock full of eco-friendly wedding planning advice. One of the authors, Helen Driscoll, took my invitation order over the phone – she was so helpful and accommodating. The partner blog to Green Weddings is the new InviteSite blog, dedicated to all things wedding-related, from personalizing elements of the big day to organizing RSVP’s. 

Now that I’m nearly done with my planning, I wish I’d found these blogs sooner! My next project is ordering the matching Carmine ceremony programs, putting the finishing touches on the text and attempting to print the programs myself. Onward, ho.

spoiled (but not rotten)

So, the talk of the town in St. Paul lately is the new Trader Joe’s at Randolph & Lexington. On our way home from a Craigslist jaunt yesterday, we decided to stop in to see what the hub-bub is all about. Call me a co-op snob, but I was pretty disappointed. I know the Trader Joe’s mission is good food at good prices, but does that have to include shrinkwrapping all of the produce? I needed a sweet pepper and a tomato, and I left without buying either one. The tomatoes are plastic-wrapped on styrofoam trays, and I can’t justify throwing away that much trash just to pay less for produce. I watched the shoppers aimlessly toss these prepackaged veggies and fruit into their carts, and I wanted so badly to yell, “Don’t do it!” But far be it for me to ruin someone else’s shopping experience; I’m not comfortable jumping on my soapbox in front of strangers just yet.

I will, however, give Trader Joe’s one credit for reasonably priced organic fruit, available in packaging similar to that at the co-op or any other store. But I still cringe at bringing home those plastic fruit containers that aren’t recyclable in Minnesota, no matter where they’re sold. The variety of organic TJ-branded snack chips is good, but I’m trying really hard to eliminate as many processed foods as possible from my diet, so buying a bag of organic tortilla chips isn’t high on my grocery list. I guess Trader Joe’s works for some shoppers, but I knew within 5 minutes of perusing that I probably won’t return too often. Most of the staples I buy were absent, including the Silk and Organic Valley chocolate soymilk I can find even at Target.

My co-op, my CSA and the St. Paul Farmer’s Market have spoiled me, but in a good way, I think. There’s a novelty to stores like Trader Joe’s — for shoppers who haven’t had any other experience but at a big-box supermarket, it’s a veritable wonderland of quirky, kitschy snacks and beverages they’ve never seen before. Not to mention the unusual samples: crackers with melted goat-cheese mozzarella and apple juice? But I saw through the novelty quickly and know now I’d rather stick to my regular shopping outlets. An uppity reaction, I suppose, but I know there are more sustainable options out there, and I’d rather spend my money locally whenever possible.

I am excited, though, to check out the newest Mississippi Market location on West 7th Street. I shop at the Selby & Dale location, which I love (shout-out to the awesomely helpful employees there), but I’d like to see how the new place turned out, plus use the 10%-off coupon MM so nicely sent me. Yes, I am still hooked by some direct mail these days — I’m not completely jaded yet!