Our Green Life – Page 11 – The Creative Salad

Mondo Beyondo

My wildly outrageous, yet completely doable, list of dreams for the future (think ten year plan):

Visit New Zealand, own land, build a cob house, transition back to hard-core environmental science work, earn recognition for my photography, move to either Boulder or Sebastopol or someplace else that equally captures our hearts, run a (half)marathon, hear Imogen Heap in concert, own a hybrid vehicle, grow our own food, learn how to knit a poncho…

Of course, my two biggest mondo beyondos are in the bag: marry my soul mate (check!) and become a mama (hang in there a few more weeks, baby)!

What is on your mondo beyondo list?

Here we go!

The first box of baby layette has arrived! Thank you, Grandma!

As I started unpacking these beautiful organic prefold diapers, it started to really hit home: our little one is going to be here soon! I think it’s absolutely incredible that the baby will be so tiny that it will fit in these little diapers, while at the same time a bit shocked that I am going to give birth to a baby that will fit into these diapers. Do you know what I mean? Regardless, I am so excited and feel very blessed.

For those friends and family members who have been asking, we’ve finally put a baby wishlist online! Please check it out. Absolutely no pressure to buy anything! Please just enjoy looking.

As you can probably tell, we’re going mostly organic with the diapers, clothing, bedding, etc. After reading up on all the pesticides applied to cotton and the chemicals involved in wool processing, coupled with my history of chemical sensitivities and allergies, we decided that as organic as possible feels right for our family. Luckily, the green/organic baby movement is in full force and is easy to find (especially here in California — all the local children’s boutiques I’ve gone to have carried organic lines!). With the first batch of layette items here (and softer and of higher quality than I imagined!), we’re so pleased with our choice!

Ready, set, build!

Where have we been the past week? We’ve been covered in straw, clay, and sand up in Hopland where we took a fantastic class in natural building techniques. Now we are really excited about building a home with our own two hands.

After a week of being with like-minded folks, camping, using an outdoor shower, away from the computer and email, and being outside every day, we’ve been in culture shock since arriving at home. We want to go back! We miss our new friends!

View photos from the workshop here.

Lighten your chemical load

I wrote this back in July and forgot to post it… Whoops!

This summer I’ve stumbled on a number of articles and useful websites rating chemical additives in basic everyday products: make-up, cleaners, sunscreens, and even toothpaste. Even products that sound green can be unsafe. For example, Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner contains additives that are hazardous to women’s reproductive health.

One of my favorite sites is the The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, which scores and ranks personal care products based on a synthesis of known and suspected hazards from databases of scientific literature. Search for your toothpaste, moisturizer, contact lens solutions, shampoo, deodorant, mouthwash, make-up, sunscreen, and more to identify unsafe chemicals. (If your particular brand isn’t listed you can search by ingredient instead.) I’ve already switched our sunscreen and daily moisturizer to avoid known cancer causing agents from seeping into our skin. I find it terrifying reading about what we put in our cosmetic products.

The best part of the Skin Deep site is that they rank products, so it’s fairly easy finding alternatives to our household favorites. Of course, just because they are natural doesn’t mean they are affordable. I’ve found that has been the most trying aspect of this whole thing: finding affordable and safe cosmetic products. You’d think it would cost more to process all those chemicals, but evidently not so much.

Some people vacation in Mexico…

We choose to learn how to build a house.

This summer David and I are forgoing the typical luxury vacation to take a course in alternative building techniques. A six-day intensive, we pay them to get ourselves covered in mud, stuck with straw, and up to our knees in alternative foundations. And even though the workshop is just 45 minutes away, we intend to camp on site for the whole week.

Trust me, this is so us.

Anytime we get annoyed with the California housing market, we talk about buying a little bit of land and erecting a yurt until we can afford to build a little cob house.

Our shared dream is to build a green-friendly home out of sustainable materials, off the grid, and with no septic system (opting instead for greywater reuse and composting toilets). I want to eat from our garden and orchards. I am so ready.

So, to David and I, this workshop as an important step in achieving our life goals.
We can’t wait. It’s going to be so fun!

(Above are Siobhan, Amanda, and David inside the cob cottage at the Kenyon College Environmental Center taken on our trip to Ohio earlier this month.)