Smells Like Green Spirit

I still wear leather shoes and leather purses, but since I indulge my shoe obsession through thrift stores, vintage stores and ebay, I don’t feel any guilt.

Besides, I’ve long lamented the fact that it seems like most places who market themselves as makers and sellers of vegan shoes had too hippie of a look. I love the idea of total sustainability in shoes, and yes, maybe that makes me a bad person that I just can’t hang with  many of the ugly shoes that are the best for the earth.

There is hope. Here are some websites where you don’t have to sacrifice style for ideals 

Vegetarian Shoes and Bags: www.vegetarianshoesandbags.com

Moo Shoes: www.mooshoes.com

Alternative Outiftters: www.alternativeoutfitters.com

And then, PETA’s list of Vegan Clothing Companies  

Share This

I recently purchased the book Green This! Volume One: Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus. It’s filled with information about the harmful chemicals in our cleaning products and natural alternatives.

Cleaning Your Toilet Naturally

Imus says all you need to use for a disinfected toilet is white vinegar. Simply pour one cup in the back of the toilet, and let it sit for thirty minutes before flushing.

Pour vinegar into the bowl and scrub around too.

Be Sure to Clean Your Toilet Brush!

Think of all the nastiness that collects on your toilet brush…gross, right? Although she recommends replacing your toilet brush every six months, I think if you just follow her instructions to clean the brush with hot water, soap and vinegar, it will be fine, and be less wasteful too.

Share This

My roommate and I must be hairball factories, because our shower drain is constantly slow or clogged. We’d been buying Draino to keep it running smoothly, but Draino is a cocktail of noxious chemicals, not good for our household health, and horrific for our water supply!

Here’s a natural remedy for unclogging drains:

Down the drain, pour
1 cup baking soda
1 cup hot distilled vinegar
Let stand for five minutes then flush with hot water

Do this and Simultaneously Clean Your Coffee Maker

As vinegar is a great way to clean automatic coffee makers, you can run the cup of vinegar through the coffee maker to clean it, and then recycle the vinegar by pouring it down your stubborn drain. Then, run a full pot of water through the coffee maker, and pour that hot water down the tub drain.

It’s recommended to pour vinegar down your tub drain proactively to prevent drains, so you can get in the habit of cleaning keeping your coffee pot cleaned and your tub drain unclogged!

Share This

I finally got around to purchasing a stainless steel water bottle, after learning more about the dangers of Nalgene bottles.

I got mine at Whole Foods for around $25. The reason I chose this particular one over others was because the mouth on this one is big enough that I can stick a scrub brush down in there (whereas the mouth on other bottles was too small). It even comes with green cleaning instructions - one need only use baking soda or vinegar. You can get one like mine at www.enviroproductsinc.com.

My coworker recommends buying a steel bottle from the company Klean Kanteen, as they donate a portion of their profits towards conservation.

Another brand of metal water bottles I found at an outdoorsy store as well as Whole Foods was the brand Sigg. The Sigg bottles came in the most exciting designs, like classy flowers, Spongebob, pirates, and cheesy tribal tattoos. A little something for everyone!

Share This

I’ve been giving lots of thought to plastics.

I wondered…if I tried to go one day without coming into contact with any plastics, would I be able to?

These are some of the things I wouldn’t be able to use:

* My fridge
* My hairdryer
* The seats on the bus or train
* My cell phone
* My computer
* My chairs at work
* Any cosmetics or bath products
* Most foods in stores, as most are wrapped in some form of plastic

The more I thought about it, the more the list goes on and on!

Plastic is so ever-present in our lives, and only a small fraction of that plastic is ever recycled. In other words, pretty much all of the plastic that has ever been created still exists! Isn’t that a scary thought?

If no matter is ever destroyed or created, will our earth just become more and more plasticized?

I just found this blog that I think is really interesting called Fake Plastic Fish. In it, the author Beth Terry keeps track of all the plastic products she disposes of.

What if we all had to do the same??

Share This

All this reading about toxic chemicals in makeups and body products has got me on a quest..for the best, healthiest natural homemade lotions, cosmetics, and home products.

This recipe was the first homemade lotion I’ve made.

“Orange Lotion”

Pros: easy, all natural, common household/kitchen items, very moisturizing
Cons: weird texture, weirdly separates

I got this recipe from stretcher.com, a website chock full of tips about saving money doing the things we do, and the person who posted this said it came from a book called The Natural Forumla Book for Home and Yard by Rodale Press, edited by Dan Wallace.

Orange Lotion Recipe

1/2 oz Cocoa Butter, melted
1 oz Olive Oil, warmed
1 oz Orange Juice
2 drops essential oil (Orange Flower if possible)
Mix all ingredients together in blender until light and fluffy. (I used a hand mixer)

The recipe also included a vague reference to rose water and vegetable glycerine, both of which I added a half ounce for good measure.

I got all my ingredients from Whole Foods, but you could probably get them cheaper somewhere else.

My Review

While the ingredients were warmed, the consistency was a little thicker than orange juice, but once the ingredients cooled, everything separated, and it was pretty weird. It looked like scrambled eggs in orange juice (I eventually just poured the liquid out and kept the solid):

The lotion made my hands feel a tiny bit sticky at first, but on my body it feels great.
The wonderful thing about this lotion is that the ingredients were so natural and easy!

Day 2 of using the lotion:
Since I’m keeping the lotion in the fridge, the cocoa butter sort of hardened, but once you run it in your hand for a minute, it liquifies and spreads nicely.

Share This

Did you know that the phrase “mad hatter” comes from the fact that hats used to be made with mercury that caused the hatters to go insane?

Mercury poisoning causes tremors, brain damage, and slurred speech, and is easily absorbed by skin and accumulates in the body.

And yet, it’s legal to have mercury in makeup products. In fact, it commonly appears in mascaras.

Although it seems outrageous that people shampooed with petrol in the 19th century, causing hair to easily light aflame, and it’s horrifying to imagine vermin living in little washed hairdos and wigs styled with lard, the makeup industry seems not to have progressed as far as one might think.

Carbon tetrachloride was also used to wash hair, causing results similar to inhaling chloroform in the 19th century. This seems bizarre, and yet freakin’ formaldehyde is released by several products found in deodorants and makeups under such names as Imidazolidinyl urea and DMDM Hydantoin.

Victorian women suffered massive scalp injuries and health problems by dying their hair with mixtures containing sulphur, lead, ammonia, and gylercine, among other things. Sounds like the ingredients of a bomb!

And yet, chemicals equally as toxic still exist today in not only hair dyes, but products we smear on our mouths and faces every day! Sodium Laurel Sulphate is mixed with sulfur trioxide or chlorosulforic acid and then neutralized with aqueous sodium hydroxide, appearing in most toothpastes, deodorants, and cleansers.

It’s estimated that our bodies absorb around 5 pounds of chemicals per year from makeup and lotions and hair care products…products proven to cause birth defects, neurological damage, even depression and blindness!

Check out:
An interesting look at the wacky history of toxic hair care through the ages.
More on different chemicals in makeup.
Consumer Reports on phthalates.

Share This

This fall, I had the pleasure of spending time in Antwerp with some new friends who’d remodelled their adorable house in a green way. The Belgian government offers huge tax breaks for green homes, and hopefully Chicago will be offering more of this in the future. Currently, Chicago has around $1 million available for grants for solar heating, and waives the service fee of around $5,000 - $50,000 for developers installing green roofs.

What are some things you can do to build/remodel your home in a green way?

*Remodeling instead of starting from scratch is essential - think of all the bricks and lumber you’ll save when you use what’s already in place!

*Realize that some things might cost a little more up front, but in the long run the pay off will be huge!! This can range from small things like compact fluorescent lightbulbs to lots and lots of insulation to a more efficient water heater.

*Consider “lumber” made from materials other than wood (products made from recycled plastics exist, among others).

*Environmentally certified lumber can save forests as logging is done in a sustainable manner. For more info, visit the Forest Stewardship Council.

*Look for paint and adhesives that don’t release gases and organic materials for more breathable air around your domicile.

*Rooftop gardens insulate your home, saving on energy costs, add to your resale value, helps to reduce overall city warming, and reduces runoff that leads to water pollution. You can even grow herbs and vegetables on an accessible roof!

*Build a compost bin to reduce trash produced and generate fertilizer for your gardens.

*When buying appliances and items for the home, think about how long the items will last and how easy or difficult it would be to recycle and reuse the materials.

*Double pane windows help to insulate your home from the outside environment.

*Solar heating can be expensive, but government grants are available for them (Not sure how difficult it is to get one–more on this in a later post.)

*Disconnect your downspouts from the roof and garage to stop runoff into sewers.

For more info, click:

Energy Grants for Historic Chicago Bungalows

Energy Star

US Green Building Council

Landscape with Native Chicago Plants

Share This

I began Smells Like Green Spirit as part of an internship with Sarah Lewis from Blogging Expertise, but I had selfish reasons too. I wanted to have motivation to educate myself about living conscientiously. When I started this blog I didn’t even know what a carbon footprint was. I was hoping that along the way, some people might stumble upon this and learn something themselves, or teach me something, because heaven knows I have a long way to go! Here I’ve compiled a list of “green goals” I’m slowly working towards. The only one I’d been doing before starting this blog was breaking my dependency on cars by moving to Chicago, and using public transit, bikes and my two feet….here goes…

Stop driving gasoline powered cars, or drive infrequently and conscienciously.

Stop eating meat, or eat only meat from humanely, locally raised animals.

Stop eating any animal products, or eat only humanely, conscientiously derived animal products.

Ride bicycles whenever possible!

Help to make your community more bike friendly.

Walk somewhere whenever possible.

Buy locally made, locally grown products whenever possible.

Support companies with conscientious business practices.

Use as much green power as possible.

Work to spread awareness of green power.

Live your life to create as little a carbon footprint as possible.

Support public transit programs.

Register your address to stop receiving wasteful junk mail.

Purchase cleaning products that aren’t harmful to the environment.

Reuse products instead of recycling.

Take part in or help implement local recycling programs.

Purchase personal care products that aren’t harmful to the environment.

Stop buying bottled water.

Don’t be preachy!

Turn off lights and appliances when you leave the room.

Take shorter showers.

Use native plants in your landscaping and gardening, as they need less water to live.

Plant some trees!

Donate some money to a charity or non profit that is working towards these same goals (be sure they’re responsible, honest, and well-managed.)

Volunteer your time at a charity or non profit that is working towards these same goals.

Build a rooftop garden.

Start composting.

Use Energy Star Appliances.

Get a low-flush toilet.

Use natural or compact fluorescent lighting whenever possible.

Make sure your home is well insulated.

Buy products made from recycled materials.

Take care not to over-water plants.

Collect rain water to water your plants.

Recycle the water from your laundry for your yard.

Go to a green dry cleaner.

Buy clothes from thrift stores and vintage resale shops.

Use recycled materials when building or remodeling.

Request to be taken off catalog lists.

Share This

Air Dry? But…But…
The obvious way to dry your hair in an environmentally friendly way is to let it air dry. Nuff said.

But My Hair Sucks!
But…what if you have stupid wavy hair that looks really bad air dried? Hair like mine? I had cute ringlets when I was a wee one, but now that I’m an adult, with the fading of my cuteness have gone the ringlets, leaving a wavy ugly fest if I don’t blow dry. It might be vain, but I don’t always want to air dry my hair and have to wear a hat. I have a freakishly large head, ok??  And I haven’t been able to find information about this anywhere!

Off course you must thoroughly towel dry your hair, and you can use a lower energy setting on your hair dryer, but does this really save energy if it just means you have to blow dry longer?

I let my hair air dry for a while and then blow dry it to save energy. And time too.

If You Want to Look Crazy
Using the hand dryer in a public restroom will not save energy, but it would save you money on your electric bill. And lend credibility to your requests for change in the parking lot outside afterwards.

Is Infrared the Secret?
Infrared hair dryers say they use less energy than conventional hair dryers. They’re quite a bit quieter too. My mom has one, and it takes a little bit longer to dry my hair with it than a conventional hair dryer, but heck, it works, and it is supposedly gentler on one’s hair too, wreaking less havoc on those potentially split ends.

Instyle Magazine recommends Bio Ionic’s infrared hair dryers, but those run close to $175. Yikes! A company called Tourmaline supposedly has good infrared hair dryers too, but it seems like infrared is not infracheap. Sigh…

Any more product recommendations?

Share This