4th Grade Class Speaks for the Trees
| January 25, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism |
After reading The Lorax some 4th graders were inspired to “speak for the trees” and started to challenge people to cancel their unwanted catalogs. You can imagine how happy they were to hear The Lorax was being made into a movie, but after visiting the movie website and finding no talk of the environment they were very upset.
The class decided to tell Universal to “green up their website” and they need your help. They started a petition and are trying to get 75,000 signatures, as of right now (1-25-12 at 11:25 a.m./CST) they have 52,307. Go sign the petition and pass it on so we can help these 4th grades “speak for the trees,” because as Dr. Seuss said “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
Obama on Energy, the Good and the Bad
| January 24, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Energy |
President Obama just gave his third State of the Union address and energy was a key issue. However, what he had to say left a bad taste in some environmentalists mouths. One of the first things he said about energy was that he wants to increase offshore drilling saying that he is “directing” his Administration to “open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” He went on to say oil isn’t enough and we need an “all-of-the-above strategy” when it comes to energy.
The President did say he is requiring all companies drilling for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. He also said “America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.” But many argue fracking can never be done without risking our health and safety.
He also talked about American having nearly one hundred years of natural gas but is this number true? This number comes from a report done by the Potential Gas Committee, an organization of petroleum engineers and geoscientist. The report was far from impartial, as contributors came from the industry-supported Colorado School of Mines.
“Its website consists of a single press release announcing the April report, with a link to a brief summary slide deck. A more detailed slide deck issued by the committee presents some optimistic estimates of potential resources, including a “future gas supply” estimate of 2,170 trillion cubic feet (tcf). At the 2010 rate of American consumption—about 24 tcf per year—that would be a 95-year supply of gas, which apparently has been rounded up to 100 years,” says Chris Nelder at Slate.com
Understanding how they got to this 95-year supply estimate is a post in of itself. Go to Nelder’s article on Slate.com for all the info. But once you get all the numbers and facts it boils down to really only an 11-year supply of natural gas is certain. The other 89 years’ worth, well it’s not been shown to even exist or to be recoverable. Some say even the 11-year supply is optimistic.
Okay so back to the State of the Union. There were great promises of real clean energy.
“I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.”
The President also called for an end on oil subsidies saying,
“We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.”
There was some other promising news,
“I’m directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes. And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history – with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.”
The President also called on businesses to reduce their consumption of energy, saying he will give “businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.” He also called for the power grid to be updated as it wastes to much energy. And here is my favorite quote of the night.
“…I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury pollution, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean.”
That quote should help us all breath a little easier. I have mixed feelings about the address as far as it concerns energy and the environment. I hope the President will push harder for clean energy and less for the dirty ones, but there were a lot of good things as well. If you missed the address you can read the transcript on Politico.
I would love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on this part of the address. Did you like it? Do you feel he is relying to much on dirty energy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outcry Over California Baby Reformulation
| January 23, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Living, Green Parenting |
California Baby is a product many parents have used and trusted for years. However, many parents were surprised to find their children are now sensitive to the products and some are reporting weird reactions. Since California Baby is a product that has been known for being good for sensitive babies and those with allergies this was pretty disturbing for some. It has caused a lot of drama on California Baby’s Facebook page.
People started flooding their Facebook page with complaints. Within the last day or so California Baby has deleted the comments, made it where only they can post comments (you can still comment on their posts but you can’t make new topics) and deleted the statement they made regarding the changes and complaints. Interestingly enough their “house rules” states “As a company policy we do not edit or remove any of these postings reflecting your opinions including those which are critical of us or depict us in a negative way.” Yet I’m unable to find any of the postings I saw before.
There is a statement about the issues on their website but as I hadn’t read the statement on Facebook yet I’m not sure if it’s the same statement. Below are some points made in the statement from California Baby, you can read the full statement on their website.
- The statement states they recently “tweaked” some of their ingredients. They state this makes the products safer, more eco-friendly and better.
- They state this move is bringing them closer to being a fully certified organic product.
- The change many are worried about is the adding of sodium benzoate. They say that the ingredient is certified as allowed in organic skin care products by Ecocert.
So are these statements true? It’s hard to say for sure, at least for me. The sodium benzoate seems to be what a lot of people are worried about and I couldn’t find anything about it on Ecocert but Skin Deep only gives it a 1 (with 0 being the safest), it does however say limited meaning research is limited.
As for the Ecocert certification here is what it says must take place for a product to be labeled as Ecocert organic.
“A minimum of 95% of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and a minimum of 10% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming.”
Overall many are upset with how this was dealt with. Some felt comments made by California Baby on their Facebook were cold and that they didn’t take these reactions seriously. Many also said their comments were deleted and now it seems all have been. In the world of social media this is not the best way to deal with your customers. I hope California Baby will right this part of the issue.
It seems the reactions to the products may be due to allergies. If your child has a reaction you should stop using the product and look for a product free of essential oils as some children are sensitive to some or all essential oils. If you are concerned about the products and want to use something else below are some choices to look into, of course with allergies not all products are safe for all children.
Motherlove has some great baby products like diaper rash cream, baby oil and my favorite Green Salve. The Green Salve is used on everything in our house, it’s great for bites, dry skin, etc…
Another wonderful line comes from Earth Mama Angel Baby. They have a wide range of products and are very trusted.
How do you feel about the drama and changes from California Baby? If you use the products are you going to switch? If so why?
*Disclaimer: I’m an affiliate for Earth Mama Angel Baby and earn a small percent if you buy from the link on my page. This doesn’t effect my view on the products.
Photo Credit: D Sharon Pruit
WhoNu Cookies, Healthy Snack or Marketing Tricks
| January 22, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Real Food |
I don’t watch much TV so thankfully I miss out on most commercials so I’m just hearing about these new cookies that make lots of healthy sounding promises. A family member was reading these promises and thought this sounded great. Sure a cookie offering as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal, as much vitamin c as a cup of blueberries, and so on, sounds to good to be true right? Well it is.
While I’m sure they really do offer all of these vitamins and minerals, they also contain some pretty un-healthy ingredients.
Here are the ingredients for the WhoNu chocolate cream filled cookies:
Sugar, Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oils (Canola, Palm, Palm Kernel Oil, Soybean Oil And Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed And Coconut Oil), Cocoa, Dextrose, Polydextrose, Yellow Corn Flour, Corn Syrup, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Monoglycerides, Vanilla Extract.
Vitamins & Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (Asorbic Acid), Iron Orthophosphate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Oxide, Manganese Gluconate, Iodine, Chromium Chloride, Vitamin E (Tocopherol Acetate), Vitamin A (Palmitate), Biotin, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid), Vitamin D3, Vitamin K (Phytonadione), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid.
And here are the ingredients from a leading chocolate cream filled cookie:
Sugar, Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid), High Oleic Canola Oil And/or Palm Oil And/or Canola Oil, And/or Soybean Oil, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Leavening (Baking Soda And/or Calcium Phosphate), Salt, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Vanillin – An Artificial Flavor, Chocolate.
So at least the WhoNu cookies don’t have HFCS but sugar is the first ingredient and third is vegetable oils including partially hydrogenated oils! And I believe a good multivitamin is a good idea because it’s hard to get all the vitamins we need in a day, but it’s best to try and get vitamins from natural, food based sources. Foods that naturally contain those items, not ones where they are added and the sources are unknown.
So how can we get these vitamins and things that these new cookies offer? One great way that even kids will enjoy is a green smoothie. Continue with healthy meals throughout the day and you can easily get all the things these cookies offer without all the sugar and unhealthy fats. And if you want a cookie, make a good homemade cookie and eat them in moderation.
Do you fall for this kind of marketing or are you always skeptical?
Review + Giveaway: ChicoBag
| January 21, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Giveaway, Review |
I have several ChicoBag reusable bags, since they are stuffed in an attached pouch they are compact and great for purses and cars. They come in all kinds of colors and styles so you are sure to find one you like. The bags are machine washable and are free of lead, unlike some cheap bags. They are also very durable and will last you for years. ChicoBag also has some great produce bags. Which are also very compact.
And guess what? ChicoBag is offering one of their bags from the DesignByHuman, an online artist community, collection to one lucky reader. Just read the directions below to enter.
And now for the rules-
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address. (If it’s on your profile that counts, just make sure I can find it)
2. Go to ChicoBag and tell me which of the DesignByHumans bag you would choose.
3. Enter by January 29th at 11:59 p.m.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
- Blog about the giveaway, post link.
- Post on Twitter, post link.
- Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
- Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
- Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
- Subscribe to the Retro Housewife Goes Green newsletter.
- Like Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
- Add Retro Housewife Goes Green to your Google+ Circles.
- Like ChicoBag on Facebook.
- Follow @ChicoBag on Twitter.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate. Each extra entry only counts once.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents, 18+ only. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winner will be selected January 30th and will have 7 days to respond or a new winner will be picked.
*This giveaway is sponsored by ChicoBag, the prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post, I did receive some samples but this doesn’t effect my views.
My Green Resolutions
| January 19, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Mom's Carnival |
First off sorry for the lack of posts since Christmas. Being sick for a few weeks really put me behind in everything! I guess one of my resolutions this year needs to be to stay on top of things better.
It’s been 2012 for three weeks now and I still write 2011 for the date and have a hard time believing it’s a new year. When did time start going by so fast? I guess this means it’s time to set my goals for the year (I really like the word goals more than resolutions, not sure why). These are the goals I have thought of so far.
Waste Less Food- I feel like I do better at this than the average American family but I also feel I can still do better. This goal is not only great for the environment but it also saves money. Who wants to buy food only to throw it away because you forgot about it? So far I’ve been doing a little better. I haven’t done a major grocery shopping trip since early December and we are trying to eat what we have. One thing I’ve done this month that I haven’t done before is I saved the bacon fat after I cooked some bacon (organic and un-cured of course). I used it to make popcorn and cook up some onions. You don’t need much for either so it isn’t as bad as it seems. This may seem like something pretty small but small things add up. That was a couple of tablespoons of oil I didn’t have to use and organic olive oil and coconut oil are not cheap.
Buy Less Packaged Food- We already eat less packaged food than most. I bake all of our hamburger buns, rolls, pizza crusts, Italian bread, etc… I also bake our desserts for the most part and our dinners are almost always from scratch. I do however still buy organic sandwich bread, tortillas, canned spaghetti sauce (in glass!), some chips and crackers and things like that. I love to bake so I really should be making more things from scratch. I really want to learn to make crackers. I’m sure we will still buy some organic packaged food but I figure the less we buy the better. This will help on how much recycling and trash we have!
Better Promote Local Recycling- I’m a member of my local recycling coalition and we just helped get curbside recycling in my town. This is very new to this area so I want to work more on getting the word out about it and educating people about recycling. I know few people on my street are using their bins (I have two, because we recycle most of our trash), I want to change that. Not sure what that will mean but I want to start coming up with ideas. I would like to maybe even work with the trash company and city in getting the word out.
Continue to Bring Awareness to Cement Kiln Pollution- If you have read this blog very long you know this is a big issue for me. I live just over 2 miles away from a cement kiln that is on the high priority violator of the Clear Air Act list. This issue seems to be overlooked even by many environmental groups and I hope to change that. I’ve already had a phone call and several emails with one big environmental group and a local chapter of another group is going to talk to me about it. I hope to get this issue out there more as it’s even more important right now with the TRAIN Act and a few other deregulation acts that will effect cement kilns.
Those are my big goals this year. I also hope to keep up with blogging more and work more on the site I run, Green Oklahoma. I would love to hear about my readers goals/resolutions, please post them in the comments below or if you have blogged about it post your link in the comments below. Let’s make 2012 a greener year!
This is my post for the Green Mom’s Carnival. This month’s topic is ”Resolutions to Fight Climate Change.” It’s hosted by Amber at Strocel.com. Be sure to go to Strocel.com to check out the other great posts.
Interview with Author Deanna Duke
| January 5, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Interview, Toxins |
One of the first green blogs I started reading was Crunchy Chicken, the blog written by Deanna Duke. Her blog stands out because of her funny and very interesting style of writing. Over the last couple of years I have had the privilege of getting to know Deanna better through the group Green Mom’s Carnival, which we are both apart of. Needless to say, I was very excited when I heard she was writing a book. I was even more excited when she asked me to be apart of her book tour and agreed to do an interview. I will also be reviewing the book, The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don?t Know Can Hurt You
Lisa: What was the hardest thing for you to get rid of?
Deanna: The hardest thing to get rid of in terms of difficulty in replacing were a few items. The first was finding an alternative to deal with themold problems we have in our bathroom. They are legendary and all the non-toxic products and remedies I tried never quite did the job. So, because of health issues, we compromised and used a dilute bleach solution rather than the more hazardous product I was using before. The second was finding winter jackets that didn’t have some sort of waterproof coating on them. Since we live in Seattle where it’s almost a constant drizzle, having something waterproof is essential.
Lisa: Where there any major battles in your family when you wanted to get rid of items? If so which items caused the most issues?
Deanna: They were all pretty easy going about the changes I made and were only temporarily reluctant about a few things I switched out, particularly with the kids. The things I didn’t switch out were mostly in relation to my son who is very particular due to his developmental issues and it just wasn’t worth the colossal battle that would have ensued.
Lisa: What surprised you the most about your journey?
Deanna: How toxins exist is almost every consumer product and how neurotic I would get over it. When you actually sit down and analyze every fragrance you are exposed to, not just in your home but out in public and in stores, and every type of hand soap you use in public and at work, and every food packing and flavoring and coloring, it can get overwhelming. The list of exposures goes on and on.
Lisa: If you could suggest three things people should avoid, what would they be?
Deanna: 1. Bisphenol A (BPA) found in plastics, canned foods, canned beverages, store receipts and paper money
2. Triclosan found in anti-bacterial soaps, toothpaste and a huge number of consumer products (anything that claims it is bacteria resistant)
3. Parabens found as a preservative in body care products
Lisa: In the end of the book you talk about things you were still struggling with, like resorting to using petroleum based laundry soap on occasion, have you been able to resolve any of these?
Deanna: I’ve found solutions to most of the things I was struggling with at the end of the book, mostly in relation to finding decent products that work. But, we are still doing the occasional wash with petroleum-based detergent and still using diluted bleach on the mold problem.
Lisa: What is the most positive thing you feel you and/or your family have gained from this experience?
Deanna: Definitely that would be the peace of mind knowing that I’ve removed a large number of exposures to potentially toxic chemicals and awareness of what’s out there.
Lisa: Any new upcoming projects we should be watching for?
Deanna: My next book is on pioneer living skills in the modern age, loosely based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder series of Little House books. My 8-year-old daughter and I are reading through the books and re-enacting a lot of what they did in the books and she’s also working on the illustrations.
Be sure to check out Deanna’s great new book, The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don?t Know Can Hurt You
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com. If you buy from the links I earn a small percent, this doesn’t effect my views. I also received a copy of The Non-Toxic Avenger to review.
Lack of Posts
| December 30, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Thought I should let everyone that isn’t on the Facebook page know that I haven’t been posting because I got sick shortly before Christmas. Still fighting it and the lovely asthma that has come along with it. I’m not really sleeping so writing isn’t happening. Hopefully I will be better soon and will get back to posting. Hope everyone had a wonderful and healthy Christmas!
Green Gift Guide: Last Minute
| December 21, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under DIY, Green Holiday Guide, Green Holidays |
Christmas is only 3 days and a few hours away! If you still need a few more gifts don’t worry, here are a few last minute ideas.
This salt scrub is super easy to make and you likely already have everything you need around your home. You can also find out to make an easy peppermint sugar scrub on Going Green Mama’s blog or make this lavender sugar scrub which you can find on Condo Blues.
A subscription to Conscious Box is a great last minute gift for anyone on your list that is wanting to go green or already has started. They will get lots of great green products to try out delivered right to their door. Just put a note in a card saying when their first box will arrive and a little bit about it.
Eco Karen has tons of great ideas on her blog, like this beautiful scarf made from t-shirts!
This rag wreath is very easy and can be made using scraps of fabric you have laying around the house.
Someone on your list just move to a new home? Why not make them these cute Christmas placemats from Condo Blues.
Baked goods is another easy gift and great for people that already have everything or limited space. Here are some of my easy cookie recipes.
Sunflower Butter Cookies
Snickerdoodle
Hidden Mint Cookies
Iced Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Icing
You can make gift donations for people on your list, it’s like giving two gifts in one. You can find many donation options on Heifer International, Alternative Gift Market, and for the animal lovers World Wildlife Fund.
Have good last minute gift ideas? Share in the comments below.
Soft Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Icing
| December 20, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Holiday Guide, Green Holidays, Recipe |
I love sugar cookie dough because you can do so many things with it. I already have posted three different cookies you can make from this dough and this is a forth one I came up with this year. I took it to a Christmas party last week and it was a huge hit, everyone was raving about them.
Sugar Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375?
- In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and baking soda, set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth.
- Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Gradually add dry ingredients.
- Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until just starting to get golden. DO NOT OVER BAKE! These cookies are only soft if you don’t over bake them.
- Let the cookies cool before icing.
Peppermint Icing
This icing is as easy as it gets. Just mix some powdered sugar (the amount depends on how many cookies you are making, I always start with a bit less than I think I need, you can make more if you need to), just enough water to make it in to a thick icing, it doesn’t take much! Once you have that mixed up start adding the peppermint oil, for about a 1/2 cup of icing I started with 1/8 of a teaspoon of peppermint flavor and added more (just a drop at a time, it’s strong!) until I got the right amount of peppermint. I also added a little bit of natural food coloring but this is optional, you could also add sprinkles or crushed organic candy canes. Once it’s mixed just ice your cooled cookies, let them sit so the icing hardens and you are all done!
The picture in this post is of just a plain iced sugar cookie because I didn’t have time to take one of the peppermint cookies.
