Thank you to everyone whose comments on the blog inspired me and also gave me new ideas. For example, rjneeley suggested that I try to make homemade yoghurt in glass containers, as the plastic containers that hold the yoghurt I buy are my number one source of new plastic entering the house every week (apart from the annual anomaly of birthday party plastic that happens once a year in a 3 week span!). I have always wanted to try to make my own yoghurt since I prefer the unsweetened, tangy tartness of Nancy’s plain yoghurt and maybe that’s as close to the flavor of plain and simple homemade yoghurt? Hope so!

I have done a lot of thinking about the challenges of changing behavior among people like me who hear over and over again about the dangers of chemicals leaching from plastic, but who need some other trigger, or barrier removed, to actually change our long-standing, convenience-based habits.  Remembering to take your cloth bags to the store, so you don’t get a new plastic bag every time you shop is a classic one. The barrier to cloth for most people in Seattle, where you seem to get a complimentary cloth bag at every event you go to these days, is simply that you either forget to put it in your car, or if it’s in your car, you forget to bring it in to the store. Well, my neighborhood PCC natural foods store has signs in front of many of their parking stalls which read something like, “Don’t forget to bring in your cloth bag!” Simple and easy. I can’t say how many times I have stood in line there and the person in front of me wants me to hold their space as they dash out to their car to grab their bags, only remembering the bag when they are seeing people’s groceries get bagged.  All many people need is that visual reminder to take their bags when they pull into the parking space. 

I don’t have any easy answers, but one of my readers came up with a simple solution for those of us programmed to reusing plastic to store food because we hear the slogan in our head over and over again of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” For those just tuning in to the plastic debate: plastic can leach chemicals into the foods you store in these containers, especially if the containers are scratched, or your food is hot or oily. Just close your eyes and throw out (I mean, recycle!) that plastic and garage sale or thrift store your way to more glass containers. That is my barrier to change – why buy glass containers when I have so many free plastic containers in my house. Me, who can’t throw out anything that serves a “useful” purpose!

Thanks again, my friends at Rodale.com for coming up with the great idea of plastic-free February!  You’ve made my world a little bit better.  Now, I’m on to sugar-free March, but, don’t worry, I won’t be blogging about the torture of watching my friends serve Toll House cookies straight out of the oven, and taking a pass on them…

A bit of a digression off the story line here, in the event that anyone is interested in building a bottle rocket for a kids’ birthday party…Instructions: Fill each bottle with a little bit of water (rocket fuel), plug the bottle with a wine cork. The corks of the wine we drank didn’t quite fit the mouth of the 2 liter bottles, so presumably yours won’t either. We had to microwave the corks in a little bowl of water to expand them. Not to worry, this was real cork, not plastic corks that we were zapping! Cut the corks in half, and use just one half for each bottle. Fill the rocket ¼ full with fuel (water, that is). Stick a ball needle into the cork with the end of the needle sticking out inside the bottle. Attach to your standing bike pump and start pumping. If you can’t picture it, you are now filling your pop bottle full of air to the point of explosion, I mean, launch. Hopefully, none of your birthday guests will lose an eye in the process. At that maximum air capacity, the cork (facing down to the ground) will pop out of the bottle (staying attached to the bike pump via the ball needle) and your bottle will shoot straight up with rocket fuel coming out the bottom. Yowza, a boy’s dream come true! All that screaming and running around the park…it’s not just the sugar they pumped into their own systems from the cake and ice cream they inhaled just before walking to the park…

This was not a plastic-free day. My friend at Rodale.com is probably cringing that I signed up for plastic-free February and am reporting THIS! But, there is just no way around it: I drank the contents of exactly 13 plastic bottles of seltzer water in the 4 weeks ahead of the party (with no help from my beer-drinking husband) to make this party happen. Yes, I knew about plastic-free February, but when I asked other parents via the evite to let me know if they had 2 liter plastic bottles they could contribute to the party, did I get any response? Hardly! But, you could view that as a good thing as it means that I am surrounded by people who do not consume beverages out of plastic bottles (and possibly are also listening to Michelle Obama and not drinking sugary soda pop). Well, my Seattle earthquake preparedness “kit” of storing 3 days supplies of water is now drained. (Yep, if there is an earthquake, we will be drinking Talking Rain seltzer water, not bottles of stored tap water. No point suffering needlessly.)

The good news for all you readers looking for plastic-free living tips is that, despite the high volume of 2 liter plastic bottles at this party (that were not technically recycled, since I was only drinking the seltzer to get the plastic bottles for the party, as opposed to having drunk them for some higher purpose like a fancy dinner party and giving them a second use for this birthday party), I did do a few things to cut down on the typical amount of plastic at a birthday party. Cake and ice cream was consumed at our house. Everyone ate off of our usual ceramic plates and used our regular metal utensils, drank from our cups, and  no plastic straws. There were no paper plates and plastic forks and spoons and cups. We just did an extra run of the dishwasher, no problem. This is what I have determined gives me the Get Out of Jail Free card for this day of my plastic-free month! And, there was no extra plastic in the goody bags as each kid took home their bottle rocket as their party favor. So, there.

Well, it’s time to put up my feet. The kids are happy. Aaron says it was the best birthday party he’s ever had and that makes me feel downright satisfied as well.

All the reasons to avoid plastic in the kitchen, in the kids’ bedrooms, in my life have been nicely laid out for me. It’s easy to find information about why you should not microwave food in plastic containers (nasty chemicals will leach out and into your food), reuse old plastic water bottles with scratches (chemicals leach out and into your water), etc.

But, wow, just being more conscious about plastics ‘cuz it’s Plastic-free February made me realize plastics are EVERYWHERE in my life. That alone was startling. The inventory is tooooo long to list here. I’m telling you, I felt really good about all those old plastic yoghurt containers that I was saving to reuse to store foods in until I got on the Internet and started doing research. That Corningware that is as old as I am (inherited from my mom) is much better for food storage than plastic, my friends. Most particularly, if the leftovers you are storing have oil. Oily foods gets that chemical leaching that I mentioned earlier going, going, going. However, my goal in February is for incremental change, so that I can still be feeling good at the end of the month! So, the cookies I baked this morning – well, they are stored in an old yoghurt container. But, the pasta with olive oil sauce, you can find that in the Corningware. 

I have no expectation that by listing all the reasons why and how plastics leach chemicals I will actually change the behavior of readers of this blog. Lately at work, I have been doing a lot of reading and analyzing of how one changes behavior. It is definitely not through a lecture or a brochure. Just providing people with information is usually not enough for anyone but the greenest of the green. For the average person, changing behavior requires a little more. For those trying to get changes in behavior in others, it requires knowing who your audience is, and what both the barriers to changing their behavior are and what they would perceive as the benefits to changing their own behavior. Then, easy as apple pie, you eliminate the barriers and put the benefits on a silver platter in front of them.

For me, the switch in storing my food was easy in some respects – I had an alternative to plastic readily available in my kitchen. That fabulous Corningware – lickety split, it went from drawer to fridge, full of yummy leftovers. But, the cookies? It seemed kind of strange to stick them in Corningware. That old fashioned cookie jar? I didn’t own one. And, it was hard for frugal old me to just run to a store and buy one when I have all these plastic containers lying around. And, that is the problem with plastics as I see it at this bleary hour. Replacement cost. Motivation.

I would love to hear from others how you are changing behaviors, one good act at a time, or how you have seen others do so. I bet I’ll get some inspiration on Rodale.com from all those others blogging on Plastic-free February! 

Stay tuned for more fun tomorrow when my child’s 8th birthday party commences…complete with plastic bottle rockets. Uh oh!

I met Dana Blinder of Rodale.com at BlogHer’10 last August (and I am a big fan of Maria Rodale’s column in Organic Gardening). We flocked together at the Birds of a Feather lunch table for green devotees and hit it off. So, here I am on February 1 thinking a) this is a great excuse to get me blogging again (last post was…don’t look), and b) this is probably really good for me and the family because it’s my 8 year old’s birthday in the middle of the month. Drum roll, please, we have bottle (yes, plastic) rockets planned for the party! 

This should be interesting…can I make up my own rules?! Recycling plastic bottles counts, right?!

Stay tuned. Weigh in. Get a good laugh. Be inspired.

Now, I have two boys who are fashion-unaware and quite content with hand-me-downs from friends. So, I can pretty much practice my low-impact clothes shopping lifestyle on them. Need something not in the closet at home? Check out the church rummage sale and bingo, there it is. Some people have parking karma. I have garage sale karma.

Slight tangent, but just to prove myself in this department: once, many years ago, my son and I biked around Green Lake with a friend and her son. My son’s bike was clearly too small for him. At the end of the ride, he said, “Mommy, I need a new bike. Can we stop at a garage sale and get one?” I said, of course (it was Saturday morning – prime time for garage sales, I had high hopes). We stopped at the first garage sale and, whaddyaknow, there was a bike for $5 just his size! Really, I can do no wrong!

Well, I am a realist and I know there will come a time when the neighbors aren’t selling what I need and my hand me down clothes pipeline will dry up…and, oh dear, my kids might get all fashionable on me. In comes the knight in shining armor at the BlogHer ’10 conference I recently attended.

At BlogHer, I stumbled on a booth hosted by a business called thredUP. If you saw my last post on the crazy amount of swag at BlogHer, I am pleased to say these folks’ eco-credentials are most excellent. Their “swag” was to ask people to sign a Green School Year pledge and check off any number of the ten ideas they offered for lowering your environmental impact when preparing your kids to go back to school (like using lunchboxes with reusable sandwich containers, so there is not so much plastic baggy disposal on a daily basis, etc.). They, in turn, would make a donation to a charity offering supplies to kids in need for every pledge they received.

Here’s the scoop on thredUP and how they make back to school shopping super eco-friendly – and easy and cheap, key for you parents out there. In a nutshell, you can exchange all those outgrown kids clothes, for back-to-school gear that fits – all online, without leaving the house.

Here’s the scoop straight from the source:

“thredUP connects thousands of families across the country and coordinates trades. We do all the work that has made traditional exchanges so hard – there’s no bartering, no bidding, no rifling through consignment racks and no trips to the post office. 

thredUP manages quality control, monitors the review process and takes care of all the details to ensure you get a high quality exchange.

Not only do we help busy parents save time and money, but with over 20 billion pounds of clothing and textiles tossed into landfills each year, thredUP helps families cut down on waste and consumption. 

As for quality, the team at thredUP vigilantly enforces the Golden thredUP Rule: send only what you’re willing to receive.

Let thredUP help make this back-to-school season the best yet – join our kid’s clothing revolution today!

Easy as 1-2-3

1. PICK – Browse boxes of kids clothing by size, season and gender & pick one you’d like to receive – all you pay is shipping;

2. LIST – Prepare a box of gently loved outgrown kids clothes (free USPS boxes are sent to you at registratio) and list it;

3. SEND – When your box is picked, send it on request – we even schedule the home pick-up & delivery!”

And, I’m always one for an extra bargain: Visit thredUP.com and use the code “swapspree” to get 20% OFF all swaps through Sept 15.

I had the pleasure of connecting with many a green blogger, as well as many bloggers who say they occasionally blog on issues of the green variety. While many rightfully accuse the environmental movement of preaching too much gloom and doom, I found these green bloggers to have an across the board great sense of humor, great energy, and an infectious zest for life. These are people who I know can engage and inspire others to make simple changes in their lives and communities to leave a better planet for the next generation.

Just as many people commented that green blogs are proliferating like crazy, the BlogHer conferences, too, are greening with the times. They have done a remarkable job at looking at many of the details of running a big conference in an eco-friendly way. This is largely due, from what I understand, to the great input from green bloggers who have made a committee out of the whole subject and instituted good changes to lower the conference’s impact on the environment.

I ate food with forks and spoons made of biodegradable materials – corn, the wonder plant, of course.  Extra food was donated to NYC food banks.

Every conference participant was given a bisphenol A-free water bottle and there were filling stations everywhere, to eliminate the need for bottled water.

Folks were encouraged to ask housekeeping not to clean their rooms every day to save on water, chemicals and all the other stuff they use (washing your still clean towels, rinsing your still clean tub, sink and toilets, etc.) when cleaning a room that you’ve hardly been in. Check. Easily accomplished by putting a “do not disturb” sign on my door.

And, this year, the conference organizers set up a Swag Exchange suite. To which, I, as a conference newbie, said, “Huh? What swag?”  You see, the only conferences I have been to have been nonprofit conferences and we don’t get swag at those conferences!  Two reasons: 1) nonprofits don’t have oodles of money to spend on swag like the corporations sponsoring BlogHer do (and would be criticized if they did waste it on swag) and, 2) it’s not exactly green to be giving out swag at all and, if someone did that at an environmental conference they would probably get chewed out.

But, back to the conference at hand. BlogHer attendees’ conference rates are very reasonable largely because BlogHer’s organizers have been successful at getting corporations to sponsor the conference. These corporations want to reach this really important audience of marketers to women – women bloggers. One way to get our attention is through giving out swag with their corporate name on it.

The “greening the conference” answer to this giving of swag that many people may not actually want was to create a Swag Exchange where you could drop off unwanted swag and pick up wanted swag. But, in my humble opinion, this only somewhat addresses the environmental impact of all of this stuff. Watch The Story of Stuff if you don’t get what I’m sayin’. Trading and exchanging swag in a room at a conference does not eliminate the fact that you are still dealing with little products that the recipient didn’t necessarily want or need in the first place and that are now in the waste stream. Someone somewhere will eventually throw this &%$# away at some point – a waste of raw materials and chemicals at the start and filler for a landfill at the end.

If BlogHer really wants to commit itself to greening next year’s conference, they should truly tackle the issue of swag. Yes, this is a big deal. We are talking about volumes and volumes of stuff foisted on each and every one of the 2,400 participants. Lots of these inane trinkets were being offered by corporate sponsors at their exhibition booths to get you to stop in and talk to them about their product or service. I’m cool with a fancy bar of soap that I will actually use anyway or the Scotch Brite scrub sponge made of natural fibers, but, really, do we need to get a little stuffed dog on a key chain…really? Now, I know when I’m asking for an unrealistic change in mindset, so I’m not going to say let’s ban swag at BlogHer overnight because I doubt that’s winnable and I like to pick my battles carefully. Corporations will scream, and they are providing the funding to BlogHer that makes it affordable for so many incredible bloggers.  And certainly a lot of bloggers will scream because they looooove free stuff. Who doesn’t? Myself included, let’s get real. But, what about challenging the corporations – they are full of smart people – to only give out environmentally-friendly (or friendlier) swag, if they absolutely must give out swag for us to actually stop and listen to their spiel. Or, is there a way to survey participants to find out what swag they loved and hated and to give that feedback to corporations? The Jimmy Dean alarm clocks – judging by the number that were dumped in the swag exchange room – were definitely not a hit!

The definition of environmentally friendly could be challenging here. I’ll put out that a bar of soap – something everyone uses anyway – is a useful item that I wouldn’t consider “waste.” A flash drive, another item that was given out, was also very useful to bloggers…except that 20 different places seemed to be giving them out. Food is not waste, since people generally don’t pick up food that they wouldn’t want to eat. And, I loved the booths, like the Healthy Choice booth, that simply gave out paper coupons to get one of their entrees for free. Any other ideas? I will forward your thoughts on to the friendly folks at BlogHer !

Before I got that fabulous iphone on the weekdays that I was home with the kids I would have to hit the PC a couple of times a day to check email, etc. to do whatever needed doing at my job. Now, I can be at a park, at the beach, just about anywhere with the kids and still be able to do whatever needed doing “this instant” on my phone.  Is this green living?

Oh, I am a conflicted, tortured soul. Maybe it’s that work-life balance. Maybe it’s that “trying to be everything to everybody” thing some of us have going on. When I’m with my kids I want to be fully present. But, it is HARD to be unplugged with my job and to feel that I am still being a good manager to my team and responsive to my clients and living that green life.

But, the one thing that I have determined this morning is that I don’t need one more guilty feeling weighing me down, especially when I’m on vacation! I had been wondering whether you can be completely plugged in and still be leading a green lifestyle and, I am giving this an emphatic yes.

Absolutely, there are lots of kids who spend their time indoors playing video games and surfing the Internet instead of playing outside, exploring in the woods, and all those other good ol’ fashioned, wholesome activities. 

But, overall, my current theory is that being plugged in has also tremendously helped the sustainability movement. Think of all of the information people get online for how to raise backyard chickens, grow a certain new type of veggie, get hike recommendations, find out where to recycle their computer, invite a friend to a conservation event and so on. And those people who I see calling their friends phones from the summit of whatever mountain they happen to be on…hopefully, they are motivating another friend to get outside!

So, plug in, share information, and inspire others to go green!

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– Trains!  The kids will agree that the high speed rail was an absolutely relaxing and efficient way for us to get from one place to another. We didn’t rent a car (admittedly, my relatives ferried us around in their cars when we were in a particular city), but traveled from city to city by train. The hardest work – which was not hard at all – was figuring out where to stand on the platform to enter the right wagon to get to our reserved seats. It being summer, the trains were full, so reservations took all the stress out of it. It was great to see the scenery while someone else “navigated” us to our destination. We could walk around inside the rail cars, if the kids were tired of sitting still. It was picture perfect with the exception of the hour when one of the rail cars we were traveling in lost its air conditioning and we all thought we were going to pass out from heat stroke (on the ICE, or express trains, you can’t open the windows, so you are reliant on AC). During the heat wave in Germany, they had a couple of incidents of “overtaxed” trains. The train staff came through our cabin offering everyone free bottled water, which we subsequently poured over the heads of our hot children and soaked their t-shirts. I wanted to as well, but with my white t-shirt on, modesty prevailed. On the upside, the kids didn’t have to pay for tickets. In Germany kids travel free on the trains, too – bonus!

– Bicycle paths everywhere! I commute by bike here in Seattle and have figured out the safest route from work to home, but I must admit that downtown Seattle is still a danger zone and I always fear getting “doored” on Dexter Avenue. In Germany and Switzerland, the multitude of bike lanes completely separate from the car streets (separated by a grassy or other meridian or strip usually) is amazing. It’s incredible. It’s too die for. Here in the U.S., Seattle and Portland, Oregon are considered biking capitals, but we just look PITIFUL compared to the small towns and big cities I visited. Hmmm…does this explain why everyone in Europe looks so skinny and fit despite all seeming to be consuming vast quantities of European pastries, ice cream and chocolate? Dozens of theories on that topic, including the lack of burger joints, etc., but that is not the focus of this post. Anyway, inspired by my cousins who go on bike trips in Europe with their kids every summer, we are planning to do a one week bike camping trip the next time we go there. How many 4 year olds do you know who bike 20km (12 miles) on a bike without training wheels PER DAY on a bike trip between Prague and Dresden? Well, clearly you don’t know my cousin’s son Mattis. My only complaint is that most of the folks (not including my dear family, of course) were not wearing helmets. But, one of my cousin’s kids said that has been changing over the past few years, where it is now becoming more de rigeur. Kind of like the proliferation of helmet wearing snowboarders and skiers today, compared to when I grew up.

– Outdoor laundry lines. Electricity is much more expensive in Europe than in the United States, so it is very common for people in Europe to hang their laundry outside on laundry lines. I do that, too, but it is very seasonal for me here in Seattle. Within my family in Europe everyone does it – hanging clothes outside in the summer, inside in the winter. We rode our bikes (of course) past a row of apartment buildings which had grassy lawns separating each large building housing 20 or so apartments. What took up the grassy space? Permanently posted laundry lines. Meanwhile, some communities in the U.S. ban hanging laundry outside for aesthetic reasons. Wow.

–Solar cells on roofs are everywhere in Germany. From what I read in the paper over there, the German government heavily subsidizes this effort. Most people have a backup source for the winter, etc., but when the sun is shining they are putting energy back in the grid and seeing money come their way. I’m no solar expert like some of my work colleagues, but it seems to be working out well for my cousin Ulla!

– Parking garages. What? Huh? No, nothing environmental about a concrete parking garage, but I thought it was very cool that in Nurnberg and Luebeck there were electronic signs posted on major arterials indicating how many parking spaces were available at an upcoming major parking garage, so that a driver could conceivably keep driving if a garage was full, rather than driving up 5 stories and up and down aisles looking for an empty space. And, of course, experiencing parking rage if someone snatched the space that was rightfully theirs.

– Rain gardens. I’m hot on solving the stormwater problem right now. Stormwater, or polluted runoff, is the leading cause of pollution of Puget Sound, the incredible water body around Seattle. One of the many green building solutions offered up to get rain to seep into the ground right where it falls, rather than flowing into drains and then going into Puget Sound, carrying all the dirty pollutants from the street and into fishes’ mouths, is the “rain garden”. Whew, that was a long sentence…must have something to do with me having just come back from the land of really long words (Germany). Some people use  bioswales, others create rain gardens. In the neighborhood around my cousin Ulla’s house in a small town outside of Ravensburg, all of the streets drained into the sidewalk strips. There were grooved pavers at 3 foot intervals that drained water into these beautifully landscaped sidewalk strips. Any dreck from the cars (like copper on brake pads, which is toxic to salmon in Puget Sound, for example) would wash right off the street into the sidewalk strip with its hardy plants, rather than into a nearby waterbody, with chemicals affecting the marine life. A picture of the sidewalk strip rain garden in Ulla’s neighborhood is below.

Here's a beautiful and functional rain garden for capturing street runoff

Here’s to hoping all of you dear readers can take time off this summer to travel to a new place, be it another neighborhood, town or country, and be inspired by the green ideas in play there. And, here’s to me getting a good night of sleep tonight!

This is the first report examining the health effects of fragrance chemicals in cleaning products; yes, those fresh smelling and top-selling detergents, air fresheners and spray cleaners that might be in your closet at home. These products contain secret fragrance chemicals that are not required to be listed on the label, which may cause health problems that impact women and children in particular: reduced fertility, birth defects and increased risk of breast cancer, asthma and allergies. I know, I know, the bad news on toxic chemicals in products is never-ending. The good news is that there are excellent, safe alternatives to these products, so there is nothing to cry about if you scroll all the way down to the end of this post!

The report points to a number of scientific studies that cast doubt on the safety of these fragrance chemicals. The presence of these chemicals in everyday cleaners, which impact almost all Americans, shows that chemicals remain largely unregulated due to weak laws governing their use and safety.

Key findings:

Estimates indicate that fragrance usage in the United States has more than doubled since 1990.

• The report found that the highest level of synthetic musks were found in laundry detergent, furniture polish and fabric softener.
• The report points to a study that found that 75% of patients diagnosed with fragrance allergies were women, most of whom developed skin rashes when exposed to fragrances. Women still do 70 percent of the housework in the average home, according to WVE, and according to my very unscientific poll of friends.

This report comes at a time when the industry is facing unprecedented changes at the federal legislative level, with Congress considering Senator Franken’s Household Product Labeling Act and the Safe Chemicals Act, which would require that chemicals be evaluated for safety before being included in products. The current law governing chemicals used in the marketplace is over 30 years old. Thousands of chemicals have been introduced to market since then without independent safety testing. Join WVE and the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition in advocating for a strong version of the Safe Chemicals Act to be passed.

Tips for reducing odors around the home:
Open the window and let in some fresh air! Good ventilation (when the weather allows, which in Seattle can be somewhat sporadic, as you locals know) is one of the best ways to remove odors from your home. It can also help reduce levels of indoor air pollutants that commonly build up in our homes. 

Bathroom: Open the window in the bathroom to decrease humidity after a shower, reducing the potential for growth of mildew and mold.

Keep it clean!  Even just a regular swish of your toilet with a brush can prevent toilet rings and reduce odors.

Sprinkle baking soda or coffee grounds in your trash can to mask odors.

Grind up a half lemon (you can use one you’ve just squeezed for juice) in your sink garbage disposal for a fresh lemony scent.

Tested recipes for unscented alternatives:

All purpose cleaner: Mix 1 part white distilled vinegar and 1 part water in a spray bottle.

Soft scrub cleanser: Mix 2 cups baking soda, ½ cup liquid castile soap, 4 teaspoons vegetable glycerin in a sealed glass jar.

Carpet deodorizer: Sprinkle baking soda on carpet.  Let sit for an hour or overnight.  Vacuum it up.

Laundry detergent: Mix 1 cup soap flakes (just finely grate a bar of unscented soap), ½ cup borax and ½ cup washing soda.  Use just 1-2 Tablespoons per load.

Fabric softener: Add ½ cup white distilled vinegar to rinse cycle of your washer.

Use wool dryer balls in your dryer to fluff up clothes and absorb static.

Dryer sheets: Hang your laundry out to dry in nice weather instead of using your dryer, for fresh smelling clothes and sheets.  You can also save loads on your electricity bill! In Europe, where electricity is far more expensive than in the U.S., this is a very common practice. I have a laundry line hanging across my back deck which I use on sunny days and the kids can help me…they are young enough to still think it is fun. And, I have fond (no, really!) memories of doing this as my chore at my grandma’s house in Germany when I was a girl. In the winter, I hang some of my laundry along the upstairs railing. Typically, I will try to do two loads of laundry on Saturday and run the dryer only once, and hanging up to air dry the clothes that don’t look so wrinkly if air dryed, or will last much longer if not spun around the dryer for an hour once a week.

Natural air fresheners:

If you want to add a particular scent to your home, here are some natural alternatives:

Fresh or dried flowers: Setting out a fresh bouquet of flowers, is not only pretty, but can add a lovely floral scent to your home.  A bowl of dried flowers (pot-pourri) can have a similar effect – and last even longer.

Cooking up some herbs or spices on the stove: Adding spices you like, like cinnamon, vanilla or even cut up fruit like lemon or apple to a pot of boiling water and letting it simmer on the stove can infuse a scent throughout your home.   Seasonal alternatives can also include flower petals, pine cones or pine needles.

So, go forth and smell good!

This year, I just learned about Environmental Working Group’s annual sunscreen guide. Why am I so excited, given that I have a bathroom closet full of sunscreen bottles, enough to protect every family in my neighborhood for the whole summer? Well, because as you, my loyal readers know, over the past year I have been learning about the incredible number of toxic chemicals found in consumer products and I had my suspicions that sunscreen probably has its share of stuff that does more harm than good.

Of course, I was hoping that my pick of sunscreens – yes, those I have already spent valuable greenbacks on – were going to be tops in EWG’s ranking of sunscreens, but such was not my luck. The bigger surprise was their findings, not just on harmful ingredients, but on the effectiveness of SPF ratings on the label. Let’s just say that this explains a lot of why I still get sunburned even after applying sunscreen liberally.

The EWG researchers tested 500 sunscreens and would only recommend 39 of them. Check it out to see if your bottle made the cut. Shelling out another $10 to replace that ineffective bottle is not a lot of money to save your skin and better protect yourself against skin cancer!

The reason so many of the sunscreens got low ratings was not at all what I expected. I assumed they were giving low ratings solely because of toxic ingredients. But, no, much worse than that if you have my fair skin. Exaggerated SPF ratings – yikes!! 

And, even if you buy a product with a high SPF rating, which protect against sunburn, they often provide very little protection against UVA radiation which, while not burning your skin, can still damage it and eventually lead to cancer in some people. I’m on the high risk list, if you haven’t figured it out yet.

Two other common ingredients were flagged by EWG researchers:  a vitamin A compound called retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone. The former can accelerate skin damage and raise your skin cancer risk and the latter can disrupt hormones inside your body once it penetrates the skin and enters your bloodstream. Beware! 

I got a nice sunhat from a friend recently which I decided was going to be my gardening hat. Now, it will be traveling with me farther than the confines of my yard and I will be even more conscious than before of limiting my sun exposure during the peak hours of the day (which used to be 12 to 3 and now I’m hearing is really from 10 to 4, oh my!). And, tomorrow, I think I’ll head to a consignment shop to find some floppy sunhats for the kids…