Focus: food

A few gems recently arrived in my mailbox.


Never mind the sawdust – as I said; we’re renovating…

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life by Barbara Kingsolver. I first heard about Barbara Kingsolver through Therese’s blog earth and living. After checking Kingsolver ( I actually thought her name was KingsLOVER up until now… Wouldn’t that be more fun?) out on Amazon I just knew I had to read her books. And this one will be the first. I’ve just skimmed through the index and read a few sentences here and there… Have to finish the one (ehm …three…) books I’m already reading first. Oh my, I cannot wait to sink my teeth into this book… It’s mainly about when her family moved to a farm and decided to become locavores; eating only locally grown food and growing as much of it themselves as possible. The book even has recipes and facts about different issues regarding food and food production, although it is essentially the story of her family’s journey and thoughts. I even love the book itself; the paper was nice, the cover was beautiful and textured, it was perfectly bendy, the whole feel of the book, the paper, the print – it’s just perfect. Yes, I kind of have a book fetish.

The other book is Seed to Seed: seed saving and growing techniques for vegetable gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth. It’s a very straightforward and good book about saving seeds. Good winter reading, because next spring will be my first attempt to grow a larger amount of vegetables. And seed saving is so important, so fragile, so magical and for most of us: a lost art. Something that everyone had to know and learn in order to survive just a few hundred years (or maybe even decades) ago; - today it is a professionalized and institutionalized craft that just a few people know much about.

And the dvd is The Future of Food by Deborah Koons. The first time I saw this film was at a permaculture course in England in 2006. The film “offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.” And it seems that it’s maybe just a matter of time before these foods will quietly fill our shelves as well. Theoretically there are almost no GMO foods in Norwegian grocery stores. Rules are strict, and the chains generally don’t want to sell it and customers don’t want to buy it. Thank God(ess). But still; almost half the food samples being analyzed by the veterinary institute has GMO. And now our politicians wonder about allowing two types of GMO corn (link in Norwegian) after recommendations from scientists… This film is full of facts and numbers, and might feel a bit heavy from time to time, but it really is a mindblowing, shocking and eyeopening ride.

No poo?

When I first heard about no ’poo, I actually thought they were talking about poo as in… well – faeces. And the idea of people not pooing sounded kinda strange, not to say impossible and very unhealthy. Even if a person set out on a liquid, no fibre diet there had to be some kind of residue, right? And why would people want to do this anyway? Was it some kind of strange yoga routine or a religious discipline of some sort?

Yes, it’s ok to laugh now.

Hilarious isn’t it?



Ok then.

No ‘poo is not about having rather strange health issues/interests, or anxiety related to overconsumption of toilet paper. Luckily. No ‘poo is about shampoo, or rather about not using it. When you stumble upon a forum discussion titled no ‘poo, it’s usually about the use of baking soda and vinegar to wash your hair - as a substitute to the chemical mix-up that most of us use. Basically you rub your scalp and hair with baking soda to remove fat and dirt, and then you rinse in water with some apple cider vinegar added. And then, ideally, you can stop buying the paraben loaded, toxic, and environmentally hazardous, bad-for-you-and-the-planet stuff.

I haven’t tried it yet. And I don’t know if I will. But hair products are a big problem area for me when it comes to bein’ green. I have short hair and I intend to keep it this way. I need to feel clean, and I need some kind of hairspray, paste or something to feel reasonable – at least when I have to get out of the house. So there we have it. I need green haircare products that work.

Washing my hair with baking soda? Uhm… Not convinced. If I cannot manage to find a natural, eco friendly shampoo at the health food store that really does the job – well, then I don’t believe I can manage the bs/vinegar routine and feel fresh and clean. But please prove me wrong!

I’m still hunting for shampoo; my latest find is Dr. Hauschka with Macadamia and Orange. It looks delicious (!), it smells lovely, it feels great, but it’s not the perfect shampoo. It's ok - maybe even great - but not perfect. And it’s expensive. Although I understand that quality vs. quantity is something to take into consideration… My wallet is kind of slim.

The good news is that I have found a hairspray that works! – from Giovanni Organic Haircare. So I’m giving the shampoo and some other products a try as soon as I’ve saved up enough funds…

Wipes

I must admit that this feels kind of strange even to me. Posting a photo of our toilet was not a thing I thought of doing. Ever. But here goes. Let me introduce you to our toilet. It’s the composting kind without water. And the cake tin holds our cloth wipes. Maybe I’ll find something else later; I’m thinking of a box hanging on the wall.


And here they are. The recycled granny curtains from Goodwill. I made them 20 x 20 cm (ca. 8 x 8 inches), but I’m thinking that I want them a little bit larger. This fabric is quite thin, so I’ll have to hunt for some flannel. We’ll use the wipes for nr. 1 only. And that will really reduce the amount of paper in the compost loo – most of what’s left down there is paper. And of course – we can buy less paper altogether.


Since I’m having a baby at any moment now, we have this wetbag ready for cloth diapers and baby wipes anyway, so this is where our “family cloths” ends up as well. Nifty.

Garbage

According to the Norwegian newspaper VG; Norwegians ”produce” more garbage than anyone else in Europe. Statistics from Eurostat (statistics for the European Union) in 2007 shows that every Norwegian throws out 821 kg (1806.2 lbs) of garbage each year. Every European throws away an average of 500 kg each year. The countries in Western/Northern Europe – high income countries – throw out considerably more than countries in the South/East. (More money - more buying) In the Czech Republic for instance, people throw away an average of 294 kg pr. year.

Of course; this is statistics and must be read with that in mind. But 821 kg is an enormous amount of garbage. Try picturing having your very own landfill in your backyard, and let everyone in your family contribute with 821 kg each of garbage each year. What would you do with it? How would you manage it? How much time would you have to spend trying to get it to compost quicker, trying to minimize the health hazard, the environmental hazard and just sorting and piling things to get enough space so you didn’t have to move all together?

It’s so easy to just throw things away. Just toss it in a plastic bag and never see it or think of it again.

And it’s so easy to buy something new. So refreshing - kind of comforting; completely without thinking about how this item will end its life. But it will. Someday.

Buying is so natural. We buy things. That’s what we do. A considerable amount of our time is spent buying, or thinking about and planning on buying things. And many people use almost no time at all thinking about reducing our waste, recycling, reusing, reinventing and refusing more stuff. But some do, and for some people this has become a whole new way of life.

Where do you belong in this?

To our (the Norwegians) defence – we are among the countries that recycle most of our garbage. And that at least, is a good thing.

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I spent this evening sewing up some cloth wipes. I didn’t find any cotton flannel among my ridiculous amount of fabric, but I found some old, soft and flowery curtains from Goodwill. Photos tomorrow. I kept thinking of whoever owned those curtains before. Maybe an old lady – they feel kind of old lady like to me. What would she say if she new that her old curtains now will be reinvented and used as cloth wipes?

The things you don’t want to know

There are a vast amount of things and facts out there in the tryin’ to be green and ethical world that you really don’t want to know. The more you get to know, the worse it is to ignore. It’s difficult or impossible not to think about it. It might be (or should be) difficult not to act upon it.

But it can also be information overload. It can leave you in a state of passive stress – an overwhelming feeling of not knowing what to do, not believing that you can do a difference, or really just a feeling of getting lost in the immense jungle of facts (or is it always?) and stories.

The spring equinox has passed, Easter is coming. In our house this is kind of a merged celebration of spring. And for many people Easter means chocolate eggs and chocolate in general. And that’s one of those things that you might not want to think or know so much about.

Chocolate is – together with tea, coffee, cotton and quite a few other luxury goods – among the commodities that we here in the west, and in industrial countries, take for granted but (mostly) cannot or do not produce for ourselves. We’ve exploited other countries for centuries to get them and we keep on the same road today. I call these luxury goods because that’s really what they are. You can buy chocolate practically anywhere in this country, but I’ve never heard of anyone growing coco beans in their backyard... for obvious reasons.

According to www.etiskforbruk.no (Norwegian collaboration of organizations promoting ethical (“etisk”) consumption (“forbruk”) ) – most of our chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast. In many of the coco producing countries child labour and slavery is common. In resent years 15 000 children was sold to slavery in the Ivory Coast. One third of the children of coco farmers have never been to school. Almost 300 000 children are involved in producing chocolate for us... I can keep on searching out facts (in Norwegian) about this. But I think I’ll stop here. You get the picture. There is quite a few youtube videos related to this as well.

Go searching for Fair Trade organic chocolate. And really enjoy it. Awaken your senses and renew your respect for the people producing this delightful luxury for us to enjoy.

I need dishcloths

Yes, yes I do. I have a few microfiber rags that I love, but most of them look awful and are starting to fringe. And although I think microfiber is a nice principle – I still don’t think it’s that fantastic. You’re supposed to clean without soap or detergents, but I seldom or never do. I always use a little dishwashing liquid (Ecover) or some home made formula (baking soda, vinegar, or a mix). Maybe I don’t need to, but I still do. Maybe the microfiber cuts through grease and germs and everything. I still like the feel of just a little soap or something.

And – the thought of cleaning with just water is a good one – but these rags are usually made of synthetic fibres and petroleum based stuff. So they are not biodegradable either. I have one knitted dishcloth. And I actually like it. I cannot see any difference in performance between them, so I decided to knit more dishcloths instead of buying. I bought some organic cotton, so I’m ready for some dishcloth knitting. I have to admit the thought of knitting dishcloths… Well, it’s a bit lame… isn’t it? Good training though, for a novice knitter. And although cotton is not the most sustainable material – it’s organic. I’m looking for some bamboo yarn as well. Bamboo is a much better choice environmentally speaking, it’s naturally anti-bacterial and it soaks up a lot more water than cotton. Great for cloth diapers and menstrual pads as well.



And… The diaper cover. I have more stuff nearly finished, but not photographed yet. And today we painted some eggs and soaked some sprouts. The spring equinox is just around the corner :)

Food Waste Reduction Challenge – part III

So, to the challenge wrap up.

What can you do to reduce food waste?

- Meal plan. If you don’t do it already; this will be your friend and a great tool in so many ways.
- Use a list when you go shopping. Use the meal plan and stick to your grocery list.
- Plan your shopping. Shop in bulk and not on impulse. And keep your trips to the grocers/mall to a minimum.
- Consider writing an inventory of your freezer and food storage/cupboard. Do an archaeological excavation and find out what you’ve got to work with.
- Consider keeping up with the inventory lists so that you can use everything before it’s past its due date.
- Involve the whole family in the meal planning. Let everyone have a say in what you buy and make. Get everyone involved.
- Use the opportunity to educate your kids about food, cooking, composting etc. Make food together. Make compost. Make art.
- When you throw food away – take a look at what gets thrown out. How can you reduce this, or how can you use it in different ways?
- Get into the world of composting.
- Get into cooking. Read food blogs. Get/stay inspired.
- Grow some of your own - it's so much fun and and it will make you appreciate food more and thus wanting to waste less.

So the key to wasting less? Make a plan and stick to it :)

Food Waste Reduction Challenge – part II

So – what have we learned from the challenge so far?

Meal planning! So easy and such a great tool both in terms of food waste reduction, eating healthier, more organic, locally, more vegetarian/vegan…. Generally seeing the whole picture and getting an overview of our diet. And of course it’s a good tool when it comes to budgets and grocery shopping as well.

Composting. I know this challenge is about reducing food waste as much as possible. But I have to say, although I agree on keeping it to a minimum, I don’t feel all that bad about the food waste we give our rabbits or even what ends up in the compost pile. Because what ends up in both those places finally comes back as food on our table. That’s what it’s all about - keeping the energy in the system as much and as long as possible. And it does not contribute much to CO2 emissions or keeping people starving someplace in Africa.

What kind of food gets thrown out in our house? Mostly its stuff that comes in big jars or packs. And mostly it’s stuff bought on impulse (big lesson there. Meal plan!). Big jars of fancy sauces, olives, pickles, dressings and “economy”/budget size packets of cooked meats and sandwich spreads. No one seems to fancy the five olives left in a slightly murky jar in the back of the fridge. This can be changed of course – I could use the five olives when I make pasta sauce or something. It just *almost* never happens. Speaking of pasta; it’s another thing that gets thrown out now and then. Somehow we can never manage to cook the right amount of pasta – it’s too little or way too much. And the last thing is mostly bread and vegetable scraps. The rabbits eat most of it.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is buying more locally produced food. With our climate this isn’t always easy, and definitely requires planning. We can produce quite a lot in this garden. Preserving; canning, drying, making jams etc. And storing; fresh potatoes, carrots, pumpkins etc. And there’s no problem getting local produce (or at least made in Norway) during the summer - buying in bulk and storing in a cold room in the basement. One of the most difficult things is fruits. We love fruit. And it’s so much better then feeding your child sweetened biscuits and candy. Locally produced fruit is difficult to find; it’s mostly apples and maybe some pears and berries. What to do if we’re going to stop buying bananas, oranges and grapes from faraway places? (Because we should – shouldn’t we really?)

Food Waste Reduction Challenge – part I

We’re on. One month of food waste reduction.

This whole challenge made me think about food in many ways, not just about how to waste less, but also about how it’s made, where it comes from, who gets paid for it, where it travels, the footprint it makes, where it ends up and many other things.

Crunchy has a few good tips on how to start off – I’m getting to that. Our fridge seriously needs to get cleaned out and I bet I’ll find remnants from Christmas and other stuff in there that will probably walk out by its own soon.

Today I have made a two week meal plan for the first time in my life. Based on what’s in the fridge and freezer at the moment. To me this challenge is not only about food waste reduction, but also about saving money, eating healthier and more locally produced/organic/environmentally friendly. A meal plan is an obvious step in the right direction. We also went grocery shopping and bought a lot less than usually because of the meal plan. Yey! We still have a lot of potential when it comes to grocery shopping though. Too much stuff that is unnecessary and unhealthy gets in to this house.

Since food waste is the main theme in this challenge, I’m going to start composting again. As of tomorrow the compost bucket is going back in. I had a compost pile in the garden last summer, but this winter most of our food waste goes straight in with miscellaneous garbage. And we even have rabbits…. SO – Two boxes/buckets are going up on the wall in the stairway down to our basement. One for rabbit food and one for food waste/compost. So at lest it is used in a much better way than just throwing it in plastic bags and waiting for the garbage truck to transport it someplace else…

The 11th Hour

I bought this documentary recently. “The 11th hour” – produced and narrated by Hollywood wonderboy Leonardo DeCaprio. It’s ok. It’s good. Some might even say it’s great. I don’t know. I’ve seen a few of these documentaries over the past few years. It’s definitely been a trend for quite a while now to make films about the environment and how we are all going to hell. Mother Earth is swallowing us, punishing us for our sins. This very well might be true of course. If it’s not a punishment, it’s definitely a natural consequence for our actions over the past decades.

Along with “The 11th hour”, I also have the movie “The Inconvenient Truth” and the mini series “The Planet” in my collection. They’re all pondering the same theme, but in different ways. And I guess these movies speak to different people. “The Inconvenient Truth” is a good source of cold, hard facts. This is how it is. Deal with it. “The Planet” is my absolute favourite. Visually stunning and it really shows how good documentaries are an artform. You should check it out.

These three movies have something in common. They focus (mostly) on the bad stuff. They focus on pollution, soil erosion, species going extinct, greenhouse gases, vast landfills, peak oil, contaminated waters, melting glaciers, toxins in food and everything else that tells us we’re going downhill. Fast. And these are the stories we have been fed for a while now. The media are full of it. Most people with access to any kind of media gets these kinds of messages every day. Most people know these stories. Most people know the facts (or at least enough to make a decision or make up their mind about it). I don’t think that is the main problem anymore.

People know what’s happening. And they know why. I think the main problem is that many don’t know what to do about it. Of course – some couldn’t care less no matter how much they learn. Some just don’t care. But the problem with these movies and with media in general, is the massive single focus on the bad stuff. We’ve been bad and now we have to face the consequences. Experts, researchers, governments, activists and organisations are smacking our hands; putting us in the naughty corner.

Smacking hands, spanking or putting kids in the naughty corner doesn’t work. It does not change behaviour or attitudes. It does not make them learn anything of value to use further in life. It. Does. Not. Make. A. Difference. At all. Making us feel guilty, ashamed, frightened and bedazzled by shitloads of scary photos, facts and numbers does nothing but that. Make us feel guilty and scared and small and unable to take action and change. Consequence is good, but punishment and fear is not.

All of these movies play on strong emotions. As all good movies and art do. And strong emotions can lead to changes and actions. That is great. But it can also make you feel like a spectator; passive. Like there is nothing you can do about it. And that is my point.

Many people really don’t know what to do, or they believe that whatever they do doesn’t make a difference. Because we get bombarded with the “you’ve been naughty” message, and no one sits down and talk with (not to) us about it, or tells us how to make a change for the better and do something. We remain spectators. And strong forces work every day to keep us in this state.

These have become big shot mainstream movies. They mostly follow standard dramatization and cause-effect narratives as foundations. And what unfolds on screen is unquestionably one of the greatest dramas possible. Superior to any Hollywood produced sfx loaded blockbuster action movie.

But still. I wish that the focus had shifted a little. That movies and media in general would focus on what to do. How to do it. In “The 11th Hour” this is mostly left out of the movie. Some of it has made its way to the extra material on the DVD. Probably because the drama is what sells. The how-to-solve-it doesn’t.

Solutions are out there. They are manageable and ready to use for anyone. You just have to dig a little deeper, see through the “end of times” scenarios and take action. The solutions don’t make money for big production companies and newspapers and they don’t make us consume more. Maybe that’s the “problem”.

A challenge

We so need to do this. Head over to The Crunchy Chicken to learn why and join in.

Diaper stash

My recently arrived diapering stash. We used the plastic disposable stuff when T was a baby, but hopefully we’ll get a hang on some of these cloth diapers this time around. I don’t know what’s happened in-between, but cloth diapers didn’t even occur to me the last time I was pregnant. Or after she was born for that matter. I guess I was into bein’ green and everything back then also, but (thankfully) a lot has happened since then – I’ve changed, learned more about being green, thinking more about our choices and how it affects us and the planet. So – we’re definitely moving forward.

I have kind of mixed feelings about the diapering right now. First of all – the more I think of and read about the disposables; the enormous amount of mostly plastic landfill – literally a ton of diapers pr. child – that takes about 500 years to decompose... The thought of wrapping your kids reproductive organs in non breathable plastic for 2-3-4-5 years, all the chemicals involved to make the diapers feel “dry” even after hours and hours… Well, the list goes on. Right now I cannot believe that this didn’t hit me with T. Or with myself a little earlier (I’ve used cloth pads for a few years now, and I love it).

But I have no idea if it is going to work for us. Is it going to be a lot more work? Are they going to leak all over the place? Can we adjust to the thought of doing laundry on a more regular basis instead of collecting huge amounts and then having to wear different coloured socks because nothing else is clean? (Get the idea?) Yes, we’re that kind of people. But I guess it has to change now or else this cloth diaper idea will be a very short lived and smelly business. I’ve bought three bamboo (so much better than cotton in so many ways) fitted diapers, one all-in-one organic cotton, twenty organic cotton flat fold diapers and some other “stash” to try out. And I just love the wetbags from Planet Wise. Pretty pretty. I’ll have to knit and buy some wool soakers as well.

And to take this even a little bit further (some say a little bit too far), I’m thinking of trying “family cloth”. Yes, that’s apparently what it’s called and I don’t know why. Let me explain. Basically it is wiping your behind with cloth instead of paper after doing your business. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but now seem like a good time to try it out, since we have to wash diapers anyway. The main thing about using cloth instead of toilet paper is of course to use less paper – less disposables. And it is better for our skin. Another good thing for us is significantly reducing the amount of paper in our compost toilet. Most of the stuff in there is actually paper, and it takes quite a while to decompose. And it makes the process slower… Well, nuf’ details about that. We’re doing cloth for pee and paper for poo. And paper for guests of course.

Ideally I’d make the wipes myself (cutting old t-shirts or cotton flannel into squares and hemming…). Ideally I’d even make the diapers myself, but I’m not quite there at the moment. Maybe one day…

Or maybe I’ll make those wipes anyway. I mean, seriously…

Toys and "stuff" - part I

When you have children, you get a whole new perspective on “stuff” and how it comes into your home. Maybe you were already into simple living, decluttering, organizing and living green before you had children, or maybe having children awakened this “interest” or need to do so. One thing is for sure – the amount and flow of stuff changes when you have children, whether you want it to or not.

The toys. Oh, the toys. And the baby stuff. The baby “toys”, the automatic rocking chairs with the animal sounds and annoying, repetitive music, the flashing and beeping and moving toys with batteries, the walking chairs, the baby carriages with all kinds of “entertainment” installed, the potty that plays a tune when you go pee pee, the small computers made for pre-toddlers, every kind of pedagogically correct toy and gadget that you just got to have if your baby is to develop properly and fast enough. Or the kind of stuff you just got to have because “everyone” else got it or tells you that you simply cannot live without. Your family will give you all kinds of “good” advice, your friends will tell you, and the producers and manufacturers will undoubtedly tell you. It's good for the baby they say. You need this to be a good parent. Or you need this to be hot and trendy. And lets not forget – it makes your life so much easier. What a treat.

Kids and especially babies don’t need all this stuff. It’s all bogus. As first time mothers most of us bought and got loads of things and toys that we didn’t need. And the baby certainly didn’t need it! But we end up with lots of it no matter what. And many of us have rooms and even houses full of it years after the baby is born. There it lies forgotten or just put away so we don’t have to look at it and deal with it. Gathering dust in the basement or in the garage, or piling up with the vast (and always growing) amount of toys in the kids’ playroom.

No wonder some people say it’s expensive, loud and exhausting to have kids.

It really isn’t. Children don’t need to learn how to play. They don’t even need toys to do so. Toys (and especially baby gadgets) are usually something made up by adults to keep children busy when we’re off to do other things. These days it’s mostly made of plastic, many of them contain harmful chemicals, most of them are made in China by underpaid workers in dangerous environments, many of them are made to do one thing and don’t really stimulate fantasy, creativity or playfulness at all, but might keep your child busy for a couple of hours before they lose interest. And – most of them ends up as toxic, non-recyclable items in the landfill, or if they’re lucky – at Goodwill.

I’m painting a black picture here. Many (more and more) parents are fully aware of this, and buy safe products for their children; focusing on quality, safety and the environment - not quantity. Many parents quickly realise that having lots of fancy stuff has nothing to do with being a good parent, or having a happy childhood or developing properly. I’m not saying we should stop buying toys altogether. I’m not saying you should not buy anything for your new baby. I’m saying you don’t need to buy all this stuff.

Our four year old has quite an “impressive” amount of toys. And yes, she has some of the above mentioned plastic from China. But this is an ongoing (never ending?) process of refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle for us. The refuse part is definitely one of the hardest ones. The reduce part is not always easy, but she’s in on it from time to time. Even she can see the need to reduce the amount because it doesn’t get played with and ends up as clutter and even more stuff to clean up. And the things she loves and plays with the most - is the simple, creative, open ended toys and everyday items and art supplies. Who would know? ;)


So – what do babies need then? And how to recognize what is a good and high quality toy? More on that later.

A very, very long post about the ups and downs of being green

It's not always easy being green... OR is it? We're trying to convert to "greener" solutions in every aspect of our lives. One of the major contributors to our co2 footprint is chemicals. Our lives are full of different kinds of toxins and stuff that's really not good for us or the environment. Its in our cleaning supplies, detergents, in our makeup, all kinds of hair and body products, in our furniture, in the paint on our walls and even in our food. Its not an easy job to avoid it, to educate oneself about it or even to reduce our use of harmful chemicals.

Let's begin with the cleaning supplies. I used to clean with both chlorine ("Klor") and sal ammoniac ("Salmiakk"). I actually used to love the smell of chlorine in the bathroom (ehm... no - not the smell of napalm in the morning, but not far from it actually :D) - it didn't feel clean until it smelled like the community swimming pool. And of course I used to buy the ready made chemical mixes - "allround" bathroom cleansers, kitchen-, window-, toilet and all kinds of sprays. Not to mention the anti-bacterial stuff, and the dish soap... Well, we're much better off now. No chlorine or ready made anti-bacterial sprays comes into this house any more.

So this is how I clean now; I use mainly two ingredients in all kinds of cleaning around the house. And it is the wonderful, magical vinegar and baking soda.

And believe me - I wish that I discovered this years ago. It's so easy, useful and effective. I really wonder why people bother using all this time, energy and lots of money on the store bought stuff! I'm not writing a long post about the wonders of vinegar and baking soda right now - but I really, really encourage you to check it out. Google it, buy a book about it or check the library.

Except the vinegar and baking soda, I also use washing soda, pure, natural soap and a couple of essential oils. For dishes I use Ecover dish soap. But this is where our problem areas starts showing up. We have a dishwasher. Yep. We have. And I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. We've used Ecover dishwasher tablets earlier, but after a while the machine doesn't clean very well, and soap and other "stuff" builds up in the machine and on the dishes. Rinsing with vinegar helps, but not enough in the long run. So we've bought mainstream dishwashing powder now and then (labelled by the swan/Nordic ecolabel - but still).

Over to the laundry. Same problem here. "Stuff" or residue builds up in the machine and on clothes after awhile and the clothes are not as clean as I would like. We've used Ecover here as well (insanely expensive - we cannot afford to buy it continually). I recently switched to Ecover liquid instead of powder - and so far so good. Rinsing with vinegar instead of fabric softener - works wonders.

So - to the real problem areas. Hair and body products. Products for our daughter are OK environmentally speaking. She uses Urtekram Calendula shampoo (also for bodywash) and Urtekram toothpaste. I love the shampoo, but it's expensive (in my opinion). If the both of us are to use this - I guess we'll have to buy three or four bottles a month or something. Shampoo and hairproducts are a big problem area for me. I've tried many different "green" and organic/natural shampoos, but most of them are disappointing - or they don't do it for me. Even other Urtekram shampoos does not work for my hair. I don't feel clean, or I have to wash it twice or thrice and use a lot of shampoo to get it clean. My husband doesn't need shampoo :)

I have short hair. (I've tried long many many times - it just does not look god on me). And that's definitely not the smartest thing when it comes to being green. I need some kind of styling product. OR at least I feel that I need it, and I cannot see myself without it. So I need to find the right one(s). Right now I'm using a stylingpaste from the hairdresser. And cheap hairspray from the grocery shop... I know - bad. But to my defense I do not "do" my hair every day. But I need this. Help? Any ideas? I've bought hairspray at the healthfood store once, but they don't have it anymore. And it was expensive. Again - my opinion, but I guess it's OK to pay more to be green and to get a high quality product. But when you don't have much money to spend - you don't.

And then to the coloring. Another one of my not-so-green luxuries. I'm 28 and I have grays. Lots of'em. Yep. Not really a problem, but I like to color it once in a while. I have not been brave enough to try henna, and the local healthfood store has one brand of "natural" hair color. I must admit I don't know much about it, but I guess it's not very good environmentally speaking - not matter how you do it. It's a luxury with a cost. Like most luxuries...

Bodywash. We use Jäson. I don't know how "green" it is, but I'm hoping it's better than the cheap stuff from the grocery store. At least it's not tested on animals, has no animal byproducts, no parabens or other known nasties. It's also at least partially organic. We also use Jäson body lotion and we love both. (I have the shampoo as well, but still thinks the Urtekram childrens shampoo is better. For me anyway.)

I've tried different kinds of bar soaps in the past (are they greener or not? I wonder), but can't seem to get used to it. I don't know why, but there is something with bar soap that groses me out... :/

For my face I use baking soda mixed with honey to cleanse in the shower once in a while. It's really great and my skin loves this. Just don't do it every day - it's very exfoliating. To moisturize I use Dr. Hauschka Day Cream and I'm quite happy with it. Especially in the winter when my skin is quite dry.

We both use Kingfisher Natural toothpaste and are very happy with it.

And then there's the deodorants. Right now I'm going back and forth between the mainstream antiperspirant (yuk...!) and the Thai Crystal deodorant stone - sometimes mixed with some baking soda patted on afterwords. Some days it works perfectly and some days.... Well, I smell. I guess it takes some time getting used to as well. We're so used to perfuming away all that reminds us of natural body odor. Many people starts perfuming their babies almost from birth. No wonder we think it's strange and unhygienic not to smell like blossoms all the time! I've tried different kinds of natural/organic deodorants and this is the best one. Most of the other ones I've tried... I ended up smelling really bad - it would be better not to use anything.

Shaving cream. Well, I'm not the expert here. There was an article in Norwegian media recently on the health and environmental risks of commercial shaving cream. It was not good. But what to use instead? I've heard of oil (olive, almond etc.), but my husband was not very keen on the idea. He hasn't tried it yet though. Bar soap? This is something we have to check out.

And then.... What's left. Oh. Makeup. I don't use much makeup, but one of the things I need is mascara. I sometimes use more, but this is the one I need to find a greener alternative to. I've just tried one brand when it comes to organic/natural mascara, and it was not... well, lets say as good as I'd hoped. It smudged, left my lashes sticky, short and never dried. But maybe I'll give it a another try.

This is just some of the chemicals we use in our daily lives. What about you? What do you use and why? I'd love to hear your experiences - good and bad :)