One Sided Conversation

Blogs are strange, because I never know who's listening. Also, sometimes I read my friends' blogs and then forget to comment-I feel like we've talked because I know about their lives but they don't actually know I know. It's kind of sci-fi.
Anyhow thanks for reading! It's nice to know there are people who want to hear what I have to say. I still don't have much to say. I feel guilty every time I use something that I didn't need to-like last night. My friend Collette was visiting from Regina and we went to see a really awesome concert-the Grates from Australia and the Bar Mitzfa brothers. I was thirsty and got water in a plastic cup. Yes, they recycle them, but it's still such a waste, especially because I know at the Horseshoe (where we were) they will give me a glass glass if I ask. I was just feeling sheepish and shy and not up to being the wierdo. Sorry, earth. I'm building up emotional strength and resources to start the project again. If you are interested in joining me, please e-mail or comment. You don't have to make 0 garbage and may be it doesn't have to be for a whole month. We could do a week, perhaps. I'm also looking for a film crew. I do have some media interest and I will work on that side of things more once we have moved.
Today I started cycling again! It's wonderful. I far prefer it to public transit. Also a few days ago, when I tried to get dressed, I discovered my jeans no longer fit, so it's great being active again.

What you've all been waiting for

So from the get go, I had planned to post green household cleaning recipes. I don't follow exact recipes anymore, but I found this and it seems good-very similar to what I do (except that I'm too lazy to measure). I've also posted the link in the links section. Have fun cleaning!!! I once read a cosmo article ( I know, I shouldn't admit that-they really infuriate me) that talked about spicing up your sex life by cleaning with your partner. Go crazy!


Cleaning Recipes for a Healthy Home


All-Purpose Cleaner I
4 tablespoons baking soda
1 quart warm water

Dissolve baking soda in warm water. Apply with a sponge. Rinse with clear water.

All-Purpose Cleaner II
Apply baking soda to a damp sponge. Rinse with clear water.

All-Purpose Cleaner III
1 tablespoon ammonia
1 tablespoon liquid detergent
1 pint water (2 cups)

Mix ingredients and put in spray bottle. Spray on surface. Wipe. Rinse with clear water. Ammonia is a toxic ingredient. Handle it with care and store it safely.

Drain Cleaner
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
Boiling water

Pour baking soda down the drain. Add white vinegar and cover the drain, if possible. Let set for 5 minutes. Then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain. (The vinegar and baking soda break down fatty acids into soap and glycerine, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.) Do not use this method if you have used a commercial drain opener and it may still be present in the drain.

Drain Opener
Use a plunger (plumber's helper). It may take a number of plunges to unclog the drain. Do not use this method if you have used a commercial drain opener and it may still be present in the drain.

Drain Cleaner and Opener
Use a flexible metal snake. The mechanical snake may be purchased or rented. Thread it down the clogged drain, and you will be able to push the clog away.

Furniture Cleaner and Polish I
3 cups olive oil
1 cup vinegar

Mix together until well blended. Use a clean, soft cloth to apply to the furniture.

Furniture Cleaner and Polish II
Wet a washcloth. Wring out as much water as possible. Wipe furniture surface with damp washcloth. Dry immediately with a clean, soft, dry cloth. (You can remove sticky fingerprints and dust safely from wood surfaces, but furniture with an oil finish needs an oil-based cleaner.)

Lime and Mineral Deposit Remover
Soak paper towels in vinegar. Apply the paper towels to the lime deposits around the faucet. Leave them on for approximately one hour. The deposits will be softened and can be removed easily.

Aluminum Cleaner
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 quart water

To clean aluminum cookware, combine ingredients in cookware. Bring solution to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Wash and dry as usual.

Brass Cleaner
Lemon juice
Baking soda

Make a paste about the consistency of toothpaste. Rub onto brass with a soft cloth. Rinse with water and dry.

Brass Cleaner
Lemon juice
Cream of tartar

Make a paste about the consistency of toothpaste. Apply to surface, leave on for 5 minutes. Wash with warm water. Dry with a soft cloth.

Chrome and Stainless Steel Cleaner
Dip soft cloth in undiluted white vinegar. Wipe surface.

Oven Cleaner
Baking soda
Very fine steel wool

Sprinkle water on oven surface. Apply baking soda. Rub using very fine steel wool. Wipe off scum with a damp sponge. Rinse well and dry.

Oven Cleaner
While oven is still warm, sprinkle water on the spill, then sprinkle salt on it. When the oven cools down, scrape the spill away and wash the area.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Borax
Lemon juice

Mix lemon juice and borax to make a paste about the consistency of toothpaste. Flush toilet to wet sides. Rub paste on toilet bowl ring. Let sit for 2 hours and then scrub thoroughly. Borax is a toxic ingredient. Handle it with care and store it safely.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Baking soda
Vinegar
Sprinkle baking soda into the toilet bowl. Add vinegar. Scour with a toilet brush

OK! I'll take the garbage out!!!!!

So, apparently my Mom and Dad went to see Paul Hann recently and told him that he massively screwed up my life by singing about Sarah Cynthia SiIvia Stout who would not take the garbage out! He didn't actually write the poem though-Shel Silverstien did- Paul Hann just made it into a song. I sure liked it when I was little-almost as much as I liked "I'm being swallowed by a Boah Constrictor".
Anyhow we are moving and we decided we didn't want to move the garbage. We had two and a half black garbage bags full that we had collected in 19 months of trying not to make any garbage. Last night, we poured it all out onto the living room floor. I took some pictures, then we sorted through it. Gris Gris was quite interested in what we were doing and she stars in many of the photos. We had a small grocery bag full of recyclables . We had never intended to actually throw the garbage out-we were going to make it into collages, so we had also collected some things that wouldn't have to go to landfill. We also each kept a grocery bag of garbage that we liked and wanted to make into paintings (although my bag is decidedly fuller that Kyle's-I just can't part with it!!!) After that we were left with 2 black garbage bags full. I video taped Kyle taking it outside the the garbage area. Bye Bye Birdie. Actually there were no birdies in there-just broken things and plastic wrappers. Appparently some households throw out 2 big bags or more per week! I can't even imagine! I know we had to work really hard to reduce that much, but I think I'd have to work harder to try and produce that much each week.
It's kind of wierd for that part of the project to be over. I still plan to make a book and video about it and also to try another garbage free month, with support, in the near future. Stay tuned. May be you can be a part of it too!

The beat goes on

So life is continuing at it's usual pace. I can feel myself getting ripe to start the garbage project again. In our down time ( just over 2 months), we have likely thrown out approximatly as much as we made in 6 months when we were trying not to make any. So obviously trying did make a difference..
I've noticed lots of other people around me doing little things to make a difference and that encourages me. Even today at work, I witnessed a coworker cutting up used paper and making little note pads. Yaaaaay!
I don't want to start being hard core again until:
we finish moving (we gave our notice on Feb 1st)
I create more of a network-other people in it with me
I write some letters and hopefully make create small changes so that not making any garbage is a slightly easier task
I get some "sponsers"-small companies willing to sell me products unpackaged, for the project (and may be they will continue on.....)

We are hoping to get a place with a yard that we can keep our composter in. Hurrah! Although, really I liked the sense of community I felt from having our composter in a nieghbours yard.
In case you are wondering about the photo, I just really like that ad and it also reminded me of an incident I wanted to write about. Recently my friend Jenn (from Regina) and her boyfirned Claude came to visit us from Australia. Jenn hadn't been living in Canada for a few years, so she didn't have an appropriate winter jacket. She borrowed one of her mother's-in fact her mother's first purchase from her first pay check. It was a very well preserved short, tailored fur coat. I hadn't really noted that it was real fur until we were walking in Kensignton Market. I wanted to take them to one of my favorite restaurant, the Urban Herbivore (mmmmm), but there was a big sign on the door saying "Furs are cruel and not welcome here".. Jenn stopped and said she couldn't go in. Even though I wouldn't buy a fur coat and I consider myself somewhat of an animal rights activist, I didn't like their sign and I lost some respect for the Urban Herbivore. It just left no room for exceptions or dialogue. What if the person didn't have money for a coat and someone gave them one with fur on it, or what if they were Native Canadian and hunted their own animal for fur?

Never Stop Questioning

“If you don't ask the right questions, every answer feels wrong”-Ani Difranco
I have three days in my day planner that don't have stickers on them precisely because I didn't ask the right questions. I knew right away, though because my stomach told me.
I'm starting to think that my food sensitivities are a blessing because they make me keep questioning and force me to be hyper aware of what I put into my body. If I accidentally get something I don't want, I get a tactile, visible signal-a belly that aches and swells.
I wish the same thing would happen to consumers with other products too.
I'm once again frustrated and saddened by corporations lack of responsibility for distributing information. Everybody seems to be content to live in a “what we won't know what hurt us” world.
I went shopping for bath and beauty products today (yes, including solid form patcholi deodorant-i am a hippy). I needed deodorant, conditioner and moisturizer and I was hoping for some bubble bath too-can I say I NEED bubble bath? Anyhow I went to Lush (ca.lush.com) and promptly picked up the deodorant and solid shampoo that are staples for us. They will wrap it in paper for you but I always ask them not to and come equipped with my own baggies. Anyhow, I discovered I have now tried all of their solid conditioners and none are up for the task of taming my long wispy tangly, straight but frizzy hair that is convinced it was born to be wild. They don't refill their containers and I asked them about that. The cashier was very helpful and said she has been pushing for that too. She told me that I should e-mail the company because they have a policy of listening to their costumers. I will. In the meantime I decided to go the Body Shop for conditioner. Since the solid moisurizer was a bit expensive I decided to get that at the Body Shop too. I got to the Body Shop, which was very busy, and chose some lotion. The staff couldn't tell me whether or not it was vegan. I was just explaining to the supervisor that I'm sure they had a list in the back that they could check, because other Body Shop stores have checked for me. She looked confused until I said “ it's a list of which products have animal products in them” at which point all three staff members that were trying to help, said “OH! NO -this one is fine!” Apparently no one knew the word vegan. After poking around for while, choosing different smells and trying to decide if I wanted to spend $17 on bubble bath, I started checking out conditioners. The staff helped me find one that should be good for my hair type and then, just to check I asked “You still refill the containers, right?” To which I got a big fat NO! They stopped doing that when there was a SARS scare. That was quite while ago-why didn't I know that? I hate when companies just quietly change their policy when they know very well that policy is why they have most of their customers. Like converse for example, the shoe for those with conscience-they were stealthily bought out by Nike at least three years ago. That's right hippy, activist friends, you are supporting Nike now!
Perhaps I'm going to have to start making my own conditioner and lotion now. Sigh then I'll be even more of a hippy than Yoko Ono. Oh and by the way, Kyle did the quiz and he is more of a hippy than me! I received 100 and he, 105! So I'm not the biggest hippy on earth. I am perhaps the most frustrated though! Here's another question, why doesn't my spell check recognize the word "hippy"?No I don't mean "nippy" or "pippy"! UGGGGH!

How Hippy Are You?

Awhile ago now (too long really- I mean to post this immediately and time got away on me), I was at Amira and Fava's house. Amira made me a lovely dinner and we were chatting. Somehow the term hippy came up and I said:,“ Hippy like Fava”. Fava said “ How can YOU call ME a hippy when you make your own rice milk?” I thought because she was wearing wrap around pants and performing shiatsu on a friend, she was more of a hippy, but she and Amira pointed out that my eco -fanatacism perhaps makes me more of a hippy. I've devised a quiz to help us differentiate. I did it with my friend Blair and came out way more of a hippy, but we'll see how I fare against other people. For some reason, I don't want to win-like hippy is a dirty word for me, although when I call others hippies, it's not in disgust but in admiration. Anyhow hopefully it's fun to do. Warning: this is tongue in cheek and meant to be funny. If you take offense easily, may be this test is not for you.
Choose each answer that is true for you. If a question doesn't have any choices appropriate for you, then just don't choose any. You can chose more than one per question, as well. Just keep track of the ones you pick. Don't forget to post your scores in the comments section. May be some one will get a prize!

1.When choosing personal hygiene products I:
a) Don't. I won't waste water bathing and I like my natural odour.
b)look for those made with natural, biodegradable ingredients and scents.
c)choose those with no packaging
d)find the strongest smelling, best brand name.

2.I buy my groceries at:
a)Buy? I grow them myself on my organic farm.
b) The Supermarket's organic section
c) The farmer's or local market

3.When buying those groceries, I look for:
a) organic
b) not packaged
c) locally grown/made
d) Fair trade
e) the recycling symbol

4.My favorite thing to wear is:
a) my birthday suit!
b) anything from natural organic fibers (hemp/cotton etc.)
c) my poncho or wrap around pants
d) vintage
e) a fur coat
f)the fur coat I made from a free range animal I raised and killed myself

5. I would most likely eat at:
a) a fast food restaurant
b)a greasy spoon
c)an organic diner
d) a vegan restaurant
e) a locally grown raw food restaurant
f) a forest

6.My idea of a great vacation is:
a) camping or hiking
b) backpacking
c) a resort
d) a yoga/reiki/shiatsu/meditation retreat
e)volunteering for an aid organization in a third world country

7. Which of the following jobs have you had?
a) tree planter
b) yoga teacher
c) reiki or shiatsu practitioner or teacher
d) working for Green Peace or similar organizations
e)organic farm hand
f)building cob houses or converting to solar/wind power

8. I make my own:
a) Kraft dinner
b) cleaning supplies
c) clothing from recycled materials
d) soy/rice milk
e)soap or shampoo
f) granola

9.The best description of my relationship with the Grateful Dead is:
a) I'm in the band
b) I slept with the band
c)I've followed the band for more than a month
d) I listen to them
e) I've heard of them

10.My idea of a nice evening out is
a) A David Suzuki lecture
b)getting an alternative health treatment
c) giving an alternative health treatment
d) a drum circle
e) building a Cobb structure with other members of my community

11. My usual mode of transportation is
a) walking
b) cycling/skateboarding
c)a smart or hybrid car
d)public transit
e)a VW converted to bio fuel


12.What best describes your relationship to pot?
a) I have one that I use to cook in sometimes
b) Mary Jane is a good friend of mine
c) Medicinal purposes only
d)I use it only if it's organic
e) I grow it, do you need some?

13. Body Hair is:
a) a disgusting nuisance-when will genetics take care of that eye sore
b) beautiful and natural
c) for boys
d) OK in moderation

14.My favorite scent is: (pick as many as you like)
a) Nag Champa
b) Patcholi or sandalwood
c) Sweat
d) animals
e) Calvin Klein's “Obsession”

15.It is acceptable to kiss the following on the mouth:
a) friends
b)spouses
c)babies
d)animals
e) family
f) strangers

*Bonus Question: If you or any of your children are named after planets or natural phenomenon, or if you chose your own name, give yourself 10 extra points.

Answer Key

a / b / c / d / e / f
1. 10 / 3 / 3 / -5
2. 10 / 2 / 5 /
3. 4 / 4 / 4/ 4 / 1
4. 5 / 4 / 4 / 3 / -5 / 10
5. -5/ 0 / 2 / 2 / 4 / 5
6. 2 / 2 / -5 / 5 / 5
7. 4/ 4/ 4 / 4 / 4/ 4
8. -5 / 2 / 2 / 4/ 4/ 4
9. 10/ 5/ 4 / 3/ 2
10. 3 / 3 / 4 / 4 / 5
11. 5/ 5/ 2/ 3 / 4
12. -5 / 5 / 4/ 5 / 10
13. -5/ 5/ 0/ 2
14. 3/ 3/ 5/ 5/ -5
15. 4/ 0 / 2 / 5/ 5/ 5

90 points or more
Oh Yoko! Why did you take my quiz? Was it because I wished on the wish tree that I wanted you to notice me? There is no doubt that you are a hippy and you know it. Peace.

60-89
When someone leans out of their window to yell “dirty hippy”, you smile and say "thank you". You pride yourself on being an eco warrior and riding the wave of consciousness, but you can still fit into society and hold a “real job” if necessary.

30-59
You are getting there. You want to make a difference, but sometimes it all seems a little trite. Keep hanging with your hippy friends and one day you'll discover you don't find using a handkerchief gross anymore.

0-30
You are one mainstream dude. You are as hippy as is hip.

Less than 0
O.K George Bush, why did you take my quiz? It's time to go play some more golf.

Menstral Squash

Here's a funny story about living in a "reuse everything" household. Yesterday, I came home from modelling to find that Kyle had made me a lovely dinner of squash, tofu stir up and coconut lentils-mmmm mmmmm. When we finished I thought it only fair that I clean up. When I went to do the dishes ,I noticed what bowl the sqash was in and said "OH MY!" Kyle came into the kitchen and asked what I was oh mying. I laughed and said it was just the bowl he had served the squash in. He said excitedly that he hadn't seen that bowl in a long time and when he did dishes today, it appeared in the pile. Then he realized why I had said "Oh my" and said" ewww why was it in the kitchen?" The bowl is usually in the bathroom because I use it to soak my reusable menstral pads in. When it's not in use for that I use it to mix cleaning solutions (borax, lemon, baking soda, vinegar). That morning I had woken up early and cleaned the bathroom- I thought I might also clean the kitchen so I left the bowl with the cleaning paste by the sink, but then it was time for band practice and right after band practice I had to go to work, so I forgot all about it. Kyle came home and cleaned up my mess and made a lovely meal-with squash served in a very special bowl. I'm glad we didn't have dinner guests. Kyle didn't want any more squash and he let me bring it to work for lunch today. It was very good. I feel like it is extra special now. I remember reading that menstral blood is good for plants' growth and I wondered if it would be good for people too, but I'm sure I didn't any because the bowl was well cleaned with natural products. Too bad because I was looking forward to growing some more!

Oh No Lady bug!

For those of you who don't know, I've been rewarding myself for eating right by giving myself a lady bug sticker in my day book for each day I avaoid the things I am allergic too. It works so well that I actually have nightmares about accidentallye ating something bad and not getting my sticker.
Yesterday, I was hungry so I stopped at a health food store on my way home from work. I wanted a particular kind of wheat free, sugar free cookie that they were out of, so I looked at the New Moon Kitchen cookies. New Moon uses organic ingredients and no dairy or wheat, but I don't often get them because of the packaging and also many of their products have chocolate (which is also on my "stay away from" list). I picked some ginger snappers after quickly scanning the ingredients list for chocolate. After eating one, my belly hurt, so I ate another then checked the ingredients. The third ingredient was Molasses which I should not have. I cried out "Oh no, lady bug" and then walked away quickly pretending I hadn't. Yesterday the nightmare came true. I would have had my 19th sticker in a row, but because i didn't read the ingredients well, I have to start over. At least I didn't chose consiously to indulge-it was an honest mistake, but still no sticker for me! I did draw a little bug and write why I didn't get one, just so I'd remeber it wasn't lack of self control (this time), just poor reading skills.
Some people have expressed interest in the no garbage project and I may start trying to be hard core again. It's going to be really hard to have a garbage free, wheat free, dairy free, sugar free lifestyle. It means no fake cheeze for fake pizza and no fake cookies on the go-i have to make them and save them for myself. Perhaps one of the fake cheese companies can somehow sell to me without the package-if they don't think I'm a complete loon. Perhaps it will be easier if other people are in it with me.

Concentrating on a Garbage Free Body

Since I've been taking a break from the garabage project (please note, this doesn't mean that I've turned into a crazy syrofoam weilding consumer, but only that I am not quite as hard-core as before), I have been concentrating on keeping garbage out of my body. I have a very sensitive stomach and a pretty restrictive diet to follow- no meat, no wheat, no dairy, no processed sugar, no MSG, and according to my two latest migraines may be no nuts too (boohoo). During the month of November, I often chose something garbage free rather than dairy, sugar or wheat free (staying away from meat has never been a problem for me-I hated it as a child and once I learned that it actually came from animals, I wanted no part of it). Anyhow, this month I have been concentrating on my health and it's working. For about 7 years, I have been trying to follow this diet, but have been going through a cycle of binging, making myself really ill, being O.K for a while then doing it all over. It seems like it should be simple-just don't eat those things and feel good, but I like cookies and candy and cheese and I don't always have alternatives handy. Quite simply, I am addicted to food, but I found someting that works and unfortunatly it produces a teeny tiny bit of garbage. It's stickers. Every day that I eat right I get a lady bug sticker beside the date in my funky Edward Gory day planner. I want those stckers-sometimes I have nightmares that I accidentally eat a chocolate cookie and I can't have my sticker. It's amazing. I'll give you an example. On Friday night we went to see Geoff Berner and the Bar Mitzfa brothers at the Rivoli. They were both amazing. Anyhow I got thirsty and I ordered a cranberry juice-I forgot to specify that it should be in a glass and with no straw and I also forgot to ask if it was actually juice or a mix. Anyhow it was basically Kool-aid in a plastic cup with 2 straws! I knew it woul dmake me sick and in the past I would have drank it anyway, but I was thinking of my lovely lady bug sticker adn I took it back. I didn't get my money back and all they could give me was water. Unfortunatly when the bartender poured out the "juice" to refill my cup with water, he also poured out the straws and gave me new ones. UGGGGH! At least I didn't get sick and I still got my sticker. I now have 15 stickers. Yaaaay. I will try to make the sticker paper into a card or something so it doesn't go to waste.
Ahhh and kind of related to trash, my brother-in-law has finished his book, White Trash Land. Check it out on-line at www.fractual.com. It's really good.

Can I take a break from my morals?

So yesterday someone at work asked how the project was going and I told them that I was sort of taking a break from it. He asked what I meant and I explained that I am just not trying as hard. For example, just before, I spilt some red stew on the carpet at work and wiped it up with paper towel. Also, the night before, we needed a cable for the video projector, late at night at our show. Last month, I would have just done without it, but in this case, I bought one in a package from a convenient store (and overpackage safety pins to hang the screen too). He was aghast-not at the fact that I had made some garbage, but that I would have tried not to do those things before. He thought I was pretty sqeaky clean even now. People don't understand the conotations of "no garbage". It's hard to imagine all the waste we go through everyday. It's like when I explained my project to Front Door Organics and asked if anything in their delivery packaged-they laughed at me and said I wouldn't have a problem because they were environmentalists as well and that's why they got into organics. I would say 25 percent of the stuff I get from them comes in a package or with some kind of waste-they just didn't even realize.
Anyhow back to yesterday, my work mate asked why I had been doing the project and why I was taking a break. I said I was taking a break because it was starting to drive me crazy and I think something needed to change at a bigger level. He asked if it had been an experiment or a moral thing. I said it was a bit of both, but I felt that our society was in an environmental crisis and things needed to change. We're running out of space and resourses like trees-and then he said "and bananas" which made me laugh but he was serious. Apparently the world is running out of bananas. The gene won't replicate or something and in ten years we'll only have the small ones. So we are running out of bananas too. What can I say to that really? Think about the monkeys.