Cloth Diaper weekend

Well, in spite of nasty weather and an even nastier cold thing running rampant, my mother and I attempted to host a sewing bee focused on cloth diapers this past weekend.
It was a small success. We only had one other lady show up. But she did sew cloth diapers and mom and I both got a lot done. And we enjoyed meeting someone new!
Diapers sewn:
6 small fitteds made out of bamboo velour, should fit from 9-20 lbs
2 large fitted made out of bamboo velour/cotton flannel, should fit from 15-30 lbs
2 prefolds smallish, not infant, but smallish, made out of bamboo velour/hemp terry

I'm probably not going to make any more until baby actually comes out and I can test some of the completed diapers on him. :-D I have enough made to do a good testing and then I can decide what to tweak and what to never do again...

I still need to finish up my waterproof covers. But, I'm getting close to ready for baby. :-D (As long as he doesn't want clothes.)

Homemade deodorant

So, I ran out of deodorant a couple weeks ago. And I thought to myself, "self, I should try to make homemade deodorant." Now some of you are probably thinking, "Is she so poor she can't afford a stick of Degree? Is she unconcerned with the potential for BO? What's the point?"
First, I have enough money for some deodorant, but I don't feel like spending it. I'd rather save it for food or thread or seeds. And, while I do understand the societal norm of BO avoidance, those that have lived with me for any amount of time will vouch that I am unafraid of my own smell, and rarely go out of my way to comply with this particular norm. As for the point of making my own? Well, why do I do any of the things I do? :-D I'm curious about whether it can be done, I've got the materials to do it, I think I can lessen my resource draw by doing it myself and I think my concoction will be healthier for me.

So, a few words on making your own deodorant, in case you feel like trying this for yourself.
First, sweat does not stink. Sweat itself is not much more than salt water with some trace fatty acids. The stink is from bacteria who like warm, dark and moist areas to live in. The things to remember about these bacteria are: you are never going to get rid of them, and they are more active at a certain pH. Now a human body's pH can differ widely from one person to another; that's why some people stink worse than others. If your pH is abnormal then you will attract more bacteria and they will excrete more stinkiness. Sugars and starches found in empty carbohydrates cause an individuals pH to be abnormal. In non-science terms, "You are what you eat." If you really want to avoid BO, eat healthier foods. Have you noticed all the "clinical strength" deodorants advertised? Have you ever wondered why you need clinical strength when it's quite likely that Grandpa grew up just fine on regular strength, or none at all? Those clinical strength deodorants are just increasingly acidic and fortified with antibacterial fighting agents, like propylene glycol and triclosan, to inhibit the growth of bacteria that are running amok because of the poor diet most American's consume.

If you're serious about making your own deodorant, you may want to think about changing your diet. I don't think my formula is going to be able to combat the underlying imbalances from a daily diet of take out and fast food. Even if you don't want to make your own, if you want to break the cycle of overactive bacteria and stink and the never ending search for a stronger deodorant, give veggies a try.

The other thing my homemade deodorant won't do is stop you from sweating. Most store bought sticks have a 1-2 punch of deodorizers (those acidic antibacterial agents) and antiperspirants. The active ingredient in antiperspirants is always aluminum based and works by plugging the sweat ducts, so no sweat can come out. Now, besides the fact that these aluminum compounds are linked to Alzheimer's and brain disorders and are a possible risk factor in breast cancer, why would you want to stop your body from doing something it's designed to do? Sweating is a part of the systems for temperature control and waste management. Seems important to me, why mess with it?

So, without further ado, here is what I made:

Jennie's deodorant
1 part Baking Soda
4 parts Corn Starch
1 part powdered Neem leaf and Lavender blossoms

The baking soda is my deodorizer. It's the same stuff you put in your fridge to soak up bad smells. The corn starch works to both dilute the baking soda and acts as a wetness absorber. Neem leaf is something I keep around, it smells nice and it's a natural anti fungal/antibacterial. The lavender blossoms are just added for a little bit of scent.
That's it! It took 5 minutes, and I have 2 jelly jars full of my new natural deodorant. It's a powder, so I apply it with a brush right now. (One of my old blush brushes) But I'm thinking about sewing up a little powder puff applicator out of some of my diaper making scraps. If it's not strong enough for you, reduce the corn starch. Some people do have reactions to straight baking soda though, so don't make it too strong.

After the first week of use I can say I'm pleased with the result. It survives a full day of work, baby heat waves and all and I go home unstinky. I might have to up the baking soda this summer when I'm doing lots of gardening, or reapply midafternoon, but, I'll wait and see.

There are other recipes out there for everything from spray/mist on liquids, to creams made with Shea butter. For the gentlemen out there, my darling Dave hasn't used store bought deodorant for a few months now. He's equally uninterested in my powder though, he uses a Thai stone. From what I can tell it just coats the underarms with a fine layer of salt, making it uninviting for bacteria. Do a little research and come up with something that fits your lifestyle. No need to buy a stick of aluminum!

Small victories

Sometimes I can overwhelm myself with thoughts of everything I don't know, everything that I didn't get done, everything that I mess up, etc. :-) So, this post is celebration of things that did go right, and the small victories I noticed this week.


My orchid is blooming. Nothing show stopping or award winning, but I have 2 blossoms open and another 4 budding. Probably my favorite flower, and not something you can buy at a grocery store flower shop. And in our climate, it takes some babying to get blossoms. So, V for victory on this one.
We only have one onion left down in the basement. True, we didn't last till the next onion harvest, but we lasted a little over 7 months. That's not bad at all for a first attempt. Plus, they were uber tasty. So, I'm counting it a victory.
The spinach in the cold frame is putting on real leaves. I honestly thought the entire frame would freeze solid last month. There were days when I left it buried in snow just to insulate it a little. :-D I must have done something right though, so it's going in the victory category. We have a handful of 50degree days coming up this week, I'm excited to see how much they grow. I might set a new personal best for earliest harvest. We'll see.
Cragslist yielded a used stroller and car seat combo in excellent condition for 80$. Almost half the price of the new version, so we saved money and the environment in one swell foop. And, unless I'm mistaken, that's the LAST piece of baby equipment we "need" for our little one's arrival. Although, I desperately want one of these, as I find them much more to my taste than the stroller.

A local gal, Sarah, makes custom handmade slings. You can see all her selection here. To me they just make so much more sense than strollers. They are cheaper, lighter, easier to transport, easier to clean, they keep baby closer and leave both your hands free even going up and down stairs. Can you even imagine how much quicker airport security would go if more women wore their babies instead of hauling them around in gigantic strollers? Strollers can't be used when I want to do chores with baby in tow, or when I want to sit with baby and type with two hands. :-P
Anyway, I've steered off topic. Where was I? Oh, the stroller. Yup, we now have all the gear, all the furniture, blankets, bags and diapers and nothing was bought new. That's definitely a victory. Course, I'm dragging my feet about clothing. Do I really have to? Can't he just wear a diaper and a swaddling blanket for the first few months? Seems more logical than newborn clothing.

Anyway, I'll stop before I veer off again. Small victories, but each one makes me happy. And that's not a small thing at all.
I'm off to enjoy some sunlight and warmth. (Yes, 50 is warm.)

Imbolc

This weekend marked the pagan celebration of Imbolc. Ever wondered where the tradition of spring cleaning came from? This is one of it's roots.
Now, being city-dwelling pagans in our rental house, we did nothing with fire. I know, sad, but true. :-) I did get 3 loaves of yummy bread baked, a whole bunch of cookies baked and the house cleaned. Not that Dave didn't help with the cleaning, he did, but his version of "All done" and my version are still a little different. And, after I had wore myself out with cleaning, he was good enough to make the cassarole planned for dinner.
I had my friend Claire over to split the seed order we went together on, and we pigged out on pizza and homemade cookies while we dreamed of garden bounty.
I did make it out to my community plot for a little bit. I was hoping to be able to poke the garlic bulbs into the ground, but it was still frozen solid. Dave laughed at me for hoping such a thing, but hey, a girl's got to have dreams right?
The signs of spring were definitely in the air this weekend though. It got up to the 40's on Saturday and Dave and I went out for an hour long walk in our local park. The spinach in the cold frame are galantly putting on real leaves, and my orchid has blossomed.
It was a lovely weekend, even without any fire. :-)
My mother tells me our relatives in Louisianna were planting their gardens this weekend. I am not jealous.. I am not jealous.. I am not jealous... :-D

HFCS

Ah.. High Fructose Corn Syrup. The "natural" additive everyone loves to hate. Myself included.

I've systematically cut out (almost) all the HFCS from my diet. I started a few years ago, I converted Dave shortly after we started dating and I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not, but my parents are more alert now to the HFCS lurking in the grocery store. And lurk it certainly does. When I started my no-HFCS diet, I was surprised at how many places it was lurking. Sodas were no surprise, but what about cereals, breads and pasta sauces? What was it doing in there? I've even found it in lunch meats, cheese products, yogurt, fruit juice, soups, canned fruit and salsa. The US Department of Agriculture reports that on average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, accounting for approximately 1 in 10 calories. With certain populations, including teenagers and college aged African Americans easily consuming as much as 500-700 calories a day of HFCS.

Why is it in so many things? Well it's cheap, it's sweet and according the FDA it's GRAS. (generally recognized as safe) The first two are perennial favorites of American manufacturers. The last means it doesn't have strenuous testing or reporting requirements.

The GRAS designation basically says that although a food ingredient hasn’t been completely studied or tested for safety, the FDA a priori considers it to be safe, putting the onus instead on the public to somehow marshal evidence after the fact that consumers have been harmed by it.
The FDA’s regulations provide that GRAS ingredients must be reexamined in light of new scientific information. The FDA has been petitioned with no response to reconsider HFCS status as GRAS, given the building evidence of its health impacts. source

One of the more recent findings includes a peer reviewed scientific study published in the Environmental Health journal that finds HFCS to be routinely contaminated with mercury. In order to separate the corn starch from the corn kernel, there's a substance called caustic soda applied to the HFCS and that caustic soda is derived from mercury cells and can be contaminated by them. (I think caustic soda is lye, but I'm not sure) The Environmental Health report lists mercury levels up to 0.570 micrograms (ug) mercury per gram of high fructose corn syrup. If you combine that upper limit with the USDA's reported average American intake of 50g of corn syrup a day, a rough estimate puts total mercury ingestion via HFCS of up to 28.5ug total mercury/day. Now, stay with me here. :-) The EPA has only established guidelines for methylmercury. This is the form found in large fish, who live in contaminated waters. (Contaminated in no small part by the caustic soda manufacturers mentioned above.) There are NO guidelines for intake of straight Mercury. I think we can safely assume it's not very high though. The methylmercury guidelines recommend no more than 0.1 ug/kg/day for women and children. That's less than 5.5 ug/day, FAR lower than the possible intake of 28.5ug with contaminated HFCS.

So, if you've followed me this far, a few caveats. First, not ALL HFCS is contaminated. There are manufacturers of caustic soda who don't use the mercury cell method. That caustic soda also gets used in HFCS creation. HFCS made with that caustic soda will not be contaminate with mercury. Also, the Corn Refiners Association, (the ones with all the nifty "Sweet Surprise" commercials touting the benefits of HFCS) had this to say about the study.

This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance. Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years. These mercury-free re-agents perform important functions, including adjusting pH balances. -- Audrae Erickson, President, Corn Refiners Association.

Now the tricky thing about what Erickson just said, is he DIDN'T say they ONLY used the mercury free versions. He only said that those version had been used. He also DIDN'T dispute that versions exist which are contaminated. Now, maybe I'm being too analytical about what he says. But, even if you take it at face value, and assume they are using entirely mercury free methods now, he doesn't dispute that at one time they used the mercury contaminated versions, and that the contamination was something they didn't feel like sharing with consumers. It makes you wonder what else they aren't sharing.

I know I'm not going to risk it by switching back to foods sweetened with HFCS. I'll take my sucrose in the form of cane sugar or powdered Stevia. Minimal processing is, in my opinion, the key for healthy foods. Once you start processing, you start to run into things like mercury-grade caustic soda.

I highly recommend you read the entire article, Not So Sweet, Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup. The end of the article has an appendix with all 55 tested, name brand, items and their mercury content.

Some more Riot numbers

For those of you who have missed it, we are Rioting for Austerity. A little explanation in case you are still confused as to what we are trying to accomplish.
In his book _Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning_ George Monbiot observes that we lack the political will to make change happen, and says, "no one has ever rioted for austerity." So, there exists a group of people, connected through online blogs like this one who are attempting to do just that. We are attempting to do what the politicians tell us is impossible and unwanted. Our thinking is if we can get a thousand people to 10% of the American average for resource consumption without any help from the government, imagine what we can do with a little help. And as front runners we can help answer the questions that are going to crop up. So, in a sense we are the guinea pigs for the most important question my generation will ever face, "Can we live and be happy with less?" I think the doing with less is going to happen whether we want it or not; the being happy part is a bit more tricky. The great thing about being one of the guinea pigs is I can take my time about it and do some trial and error. I hope to find out that we are still decreasing in all the categories, but I'm guessing it won't be that easy. So, here's the progress report.

Since I'm in my third trimester I'm starting to count the baby as part of the household. Is this cheating? *shrug* I don't know. :-) I feel like there are so many things right now that he is already influencing, that the numbers would be inaccurate without counting him. So, there's the full disclosure for this Riot update.
If you are new to this Riot thing and curious about where I'm getting my percentages, I recommend you check out the calculator that I'm using.

Transportation:
My goal to figure out the bus system did happen. I even get a free ride on the bus since I'm a state employee right now. Bonus! Dave and I still car pool most days, but sometimes I'll bus home if I get off early. We try and combine errands so we rarely go out driving just to go to one place. We pick up groceries at the store once a week on our way home from work. I am also trying to teach Dave how to hypermile with our manual transmission Civic.
So, we are down a tiny bit to 8 gallons per person per week. It's still pretty high at 83% of the American average, but we are still going down.

Electricity:
We used 541 kWh in November, which puts us at 60% of the American average. As I suspected, the darkness of winter caused an increase in our electricity usage. We have to turn on more lights in the morning and more lights in the evening to get the meals cooked and to quietly entertain ourselves. I've also got my grow light hooked up in the basement, and we run an electric heater for 20 minutes a day during our showers. *shrug* I know it'll go down again in the summer when there's more light. I'm just a little stumped as to how I can get it any lower at this point. I have a few friends who are interested in a group purchase of a Kill-a-Watt meter. Maybe that will shed some light on the issue. I have thought about shutting off the fridge, it's old and huge and ridiculously inefficient. Sadly though, we live in a rental house and I have no way to modify a space into a cold room. The food would have to go outside, and while it might save us some money, we'd lose money to heat costs because I'd have to unseal the back door. We'd also run the chance of losing food to the dog-sized raccoons that patrol the neighborhood. I'll try and find solutions to these problems this summer and talk the husband into turning off the fridge next winter. Maybe I can find some of the 2L bottles I was using for heat sinks in the garden, freeze them at night by the front door, and toss them in the fridge for the day. That might be an easy way to offset the magnitude of inefficiency I have to deal with.

Natural Gas:
We used 62 therms in November. O_O eek! That's 75% of the American Average. I was really hoping we were doing better than that. We keep the back entryway and basement closed off and unheated. The windows are double paned and pretty new, The house thermostat is set at 63. Sadly, we don't have a programmable thermostat, but again it's the problem of renting. The landlady said they had recently re-insulated the attic space, but maybe I should get Dave to stick his head up there and do a quick measure. I don't think I'll be able to talk him into turning down the thermostat any more, he already complains it's too cold. This one I'm totally stumped on.

Trash:
Not much change here. We send our veggie scraps through the worm bin since the compost outside is frozen. We recycle everything. We throw away kitty litter, a small bit of plastic packaging and food that goes bad before we get to it. I'm getting better about that last one, but it's just something that takes practice. Plus, I'm a young cook. There are still occasional meals that are not to my husband's taste. (That's his nice way of saying something was a disaster) For instance the meatloaf saga of two weeks ago. :-D :-D This category went down a tiny bit, the weight of output was about the same, but since we are 3 now instead of 2 our percentage is better. 4 pounds per person per week. 13% of the average American.

Water:
*Sigh* Our usage for the past two months has been consistent at 600CF per month. That works out to 1496 gallons per person. Which is lower than at my last check in. But, it still puts us at 50% of the American average. I'm almost positive our slow progress in this area is my showers. I would bet money on it. I take boiling hot showers every morning and they last at least 10 minutes, some 15. My excuse is it's the only reason I'm able to move since it feels like every joint in my body is expanding. (They probably are.) Hopefully, after baby comes I can use stretching exercises instead of hot water to relax my muscles and cut my showers down to 3-5 minutes. But, right now I can't even see my toes, much less touch them and my hot showers are the only thing I got. Perhaps a more modest goal is in order. I'll time my showers for a few days and try and reduce them 25%.

Goods:
Surprisingly I think we are down in this category. Although if you look at the numbers for 4th quarter retail sales, we are clearly not the only people spending less. Unless I'm forgetting something, we spent 200$ last month between presents for nieces/nephews and spending some of our received money on things like shoes. And I spent 200$ this month on cloth for the cloth diapers. That puts us down at 24%, a very modest 3% drop from the last check in. Hopefully we can get the car seat and stroller used next month and drop a little more.

Food:
This one has suffered from our current reliance on WIC checks. WIC checks require me to buy milk, eggs and cheese with "no special claims" i.e. no Rbgh free milk, no local brown egges, no organic cheeses. And I get to buy juice on the WIC check, but not fruit. *roll eyes* We are still eating off the onions and garlic in the basement and the preserved veggies in the freezer and cabinet. But we are eating way too much meat, and it's definitely not local. Our diet has changed so drastically with these checks I'm not even sure I can do a good estimate. So lets just call it bad.

So an overview:
Progress made in the categories of goods, water, trash and transportation.
Problems with food,natural gas and electricity.
Goals are to cut my showers down 25%, try freezing bottles to help the fridge, reduce our meat intake, check attic insulation and do a household evaluation with a Kill-a-watt meter.

Breasts

America seems to be in a state of denial about the purpose of breasts. Biologically speaking they exist to produce milk for our young. A full 50% of the population has them. Significantly more of the population has used them. But, when it comes time to actually put those babies to the test, we are quietly told it would be best if we could limit ourselves to 2 months of "that". And if we must continue, perhaps we could do it in a nice closet or bathroom, with a safe, quiet, electrical device.

Study after study has shown the benefits of extended breastfeeding. Breastfeeding reduces your risk of metabolic syndrome, and reduces your risk of rheumatoid arthritis by half. Breastfeeding protects babies from breast cancer as adults, improves intelligence scores, reduces the risk of childhood obesity and reduces asthma risk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mother and baby desire. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. SOURCE

Sadly, American women have to deal with the least amount of maternity leave of any industrial nation. In fact, the U.S is one of only 4 countries that doesn't offer paid leave to new mothers -- the others are Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho. (http://www.momsrising.org/maternity) Really nice guys. Super. This of course leads to the wrenching decision that faces most women in the US, stay at home to breastfeed and deal with the lost wages and probably lost job, or go back to work mere weeks after delivery. Not surprisingly, this leads to the CDC's reporting that among American children born in 2005, less than a third were breastfed to 3 months and only 11% are breastfed to 6 months.

Now, I can already hear my father voice in my head, "Yes, but Jennie, those other countries have MUCH higher taxes to bear the burden of all that maternity leave." True. But here in the US, childbirth is a leading cause of "poverty spells" in the U.S. -- when income dips below what's needed for basic living expenses. And can anyone tell me what happens when income dips below living expenses? Mommy and baby get on WIC, they get on food stamps, they get on Medicare, sometimes all three at the same time. Those services most definitely get paid for through taxes. And they have the added "benefit" of being horribly inefficient and usually overwhelmed. In my opinion, taxes are part of what it means to belong to a society. You all pitch in as a group to help out those who need it. And yea, sure if you are a working, healthy man, you'll likely get less of that help. But, it's quite possible the reason you are healthy is that your mother had enough support to breastfeed you. Not to mention your offspring are more likely to be healthy if your partner has adequate support and can stay home and breast feed.

This is more than a women's dilemma, this is a public health dilemma. I would argue that the savings with less doctor visits for sick children would almost make up for the "cost" of supporting the women so they can stay home and nurse.

Again I hear an argument, perhaps not my father this time, but a voice piping up with, "But Jennie, noone is saying women have to stop feeding their babies breastmilk, they can pump!" Yes, we can pump. That voice must belong to a man, because really, how can anything that plugs into the wall be compared to breastfeeding? Most women have to do their pumping in bathrooms. Eeew. Most employers will not pay for pump breaks. So women who have to take 3 pump breaks of 20 minutes have to work an hour later every evening, keeping them away from their babies even longer. If said baby is in daycare, that extra hour can be costly. Not to mention the ecological impact of the extra electricity to run both the pump and the fridge at work to keep the milk cold, the manufacture and disposal of plastic milk bags, etc. Is it any wonder women give up the fight?

So, what's the solution? What's an ecologically minded, caring mother to do? I don't know.

There are options, none of them are great, but options exist. If you are lucky, you can scrounge together all your paid sick leave and vacation time and tack it on to the FMLA 6 weeks unpaid and skate through 3 months.

Maybe you can stay home and use old fashioned home economics to make the household work off one check. i.e. cloth diapers, cook from scratch, bake, preserve garden produce, etc. Sometimes those things can be enough when combined with no daycare costs and reduced commuting costs.

Maybe you can work at home. I've not looked in depth into this yet, but supposedly there are transcription jobs you can do from home. There are mothers who sew childrens clothing and cloth diapers and sell them online. There are mothers who make soaps and lotions at home and sell them at local natural stores.

I'm going to try and do the latter two and skate through 3 or 4 months with baby. I'm not sure if we'll make it or not, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do after those 3 or 4 months. I imagine it partially depends on how the economy does. But, at least I'll feel better knowing I tried. I'll feel better knowing my baby had at least 3 months of breastfeeding and I know my ecological footpring will be smaller because of it.

I'm just a little angered that the wealthiest nation in the world can't figure out a more elegant solution.