Behind the Curtain

Words + Image

"Mel Chin directs his creative energy toward urgent problems that must be resolved if life on earth is to survive. His artist medium is the land that has become so laden with toxins that it is incapable of sustaining life or generating edible vegetation...Chin revives the polluted field by growing and harvesting special plants that thrive n the heavy metals in the soil. These leaching plants are called 'hyperaccumulators.' At the end of each growth cycle they are incinerated so that the cadmium, zinc, and lead they absorbed can be extracted from their ashes and recycled. With each harvest, more and more toxic metals are removed from the soil, bringing Chin closer to his goal – creating purified earth."

Words: Linda Weintraub, Art on the Edge and Over
Image: Mel Chin, Revival Field

Green on Etsy

Here are some keen green things I've found on Etsy recently:
Eco Friendly Flatware Set from ponyup (many more styles on there too).
Reusable & washable facial pads (for make-up removal, etc.) from antoinette.
Reusable cup cozy (with rolling action to clip to your keychain) from Cup Kozy

The Simplification of Life

"For I myself confess to a great pleasure in witnessing the Economics of Life – and how seemingly nothing need be wasted; how the very stones that offend the spade in the garden become invaluable when footpaths have to be laid out or drains made. Hats that are past wear get cut up into strips for nailing creepers on the wall; the upper leathers of old shoes are useful for the same purpose. The undergarment that is too far gone for mending is used for patching another less decrepit of its kind, then it is torn up into strips for bandages or what not; and when it has served its time thus it descends to floor washing, and is scrubbed out of life – useful to the end. When my coat has worn itself into an affectionate intimacy with my body, when it has served for Sunday best, and for weekdays, and weather-stained out in the fields with the sun and rain – then faithful, it does not part from me, but getting itself cut up into shreds and patches descends to form a hearthrug for my feet. After that, when worn through, it goes into the kennel and keeps my dog warm, and so after a lapse of years, retiring to the manure-heaps and passing out on to the land, returns to me in the form of potatoes for my dinner; or being pastured by my sheep, reappears upon their backs as the material of new clothing. Thus it remains a friend to all time, grateful to me for not having despised and thrown it away when it first got behind the fashions."

Excerpt from Edward Carpenter's "The Simplification of Life," from England's Ideal, 1887.

Green Under Glass

I've been wanting to create a terrarium for a few years now. Now that we have a new apartment that I will finally be moving into in March, I've been thinking about all the plant life I am going to fill it with. Because of the kitty (and her munching habits) the plants that will be indoors will have to be in terrariums, but I'm planning on a nice container garden on our front landing.

Here are some links for terrarium making:
Flickr terrarium group, great for inspiration
Oktiva's step-by-step instructions on making a terrarium
Smith & Hawken, terrariums & terrarium plants
Helloyarn's terrarium collection

Some plants I've been eying for my soon-to-be stairway garden:
Meyer Lemon Container Plant, my favorite lemon
Strawberry Mesabi
Blueberry Sunshine Blue
Swiss Chard Bright Lights
Tumbling Tom Tomato, this one I may put in the apartment since it's a hanging plant
Lavender, I plan on putting this on the back patio to cancel out the cigarette smell from our neighbors.

My Hippie Cat

I've been meaning to write this post for a while. I got Sadie, my cat, after the pet food recalls and promised myself I would have her on the best diet I could have her on and organic when possible. I did some research as to which type of food was better, wet or dry, and found that both have their benefits. Wet food is good because cats can't tell when they are thirsty, so wet fod gives them the extra H2O they need. Dry food is good because it make cats chomp on something, strengthening their teeth and it helps get rid of plaque.

Initially I had Sadie on just dry, but when I saw her dunking the kibble into her water, I realized she was wanting something more to her food. (I mean, she was grabbing individual kibble with her paw and dragging it in her water bowl, It was insane.) I started mixing wet with dry and it was a hit with her. In my talks with vets I found that cats should be a low grain diet. In nature they are carnivores and  they don't eat grain. High grain diets have also been linked with urinary issues with cats, but it has yet to be proven. Right now I think we figured out the right combo of a grain-free dry food called Instinct from Nature's Variety and organic wet food from Evangers. She's loving both, her coat is super shiny and soft and she has oodles of energy.

With the research I did on her food I decided to keep going and look up info on cat littler. I found that the clay dust in normal litter is bad for cat's respiratory system. Cats kick up this dust when covering up their business and breath the clay dust in. Well, Sadie is a bit of a Rockette in the litter, so I have a covered littler box to reduce tracking, which really concerned me with this clay dust theory. I know, it may sound all crazy cat lady-ish, but if I can make a change that may not only be good for my cat, but also for the environment, then why not? So after some searching I found Swheat Scoop, which is a natural wheat litter. Sadie didn't mind the change and I found that it clumps the same, if not better than the normal clumping litter. In regard to other liter concerns - I don't use litter liners, but if you do there are ones that are biodegradable, which is nifty.

So there is my bit on having a healthy kitty. You can call me crazy, but it makes me happy to be doing these small things for my favorite gal. If you have any suggestions or other products for natural and organic pet care, please let me know!

Eco Office

With school starting again, I find myself once more purchasing supplies for my classes. This year though, I'm going to try to be more eco-friendly with my purchases. I've already found some recycled binders (also here, for a better price, me thinks) and I am purchasing writing pads made from 100% recycled materials. But the thing that has tickled my design bone to the core is this Staple-less Stapler from Greenlok.

For other office stuff, you can get 100% recycled items from almost any office supply place, but there are also super keen shops like Grassroots, Todae, Eco at Home, and The Green Office with really awesome sustainable & eco-conscious goods. For those out of the US, my favs are Todae's Biodegradable Pens, their keen envelopes and Eco at Home's paper pens. For those in the US, you can also find similar biodegratable corn pens and cute envelopes at Grassroots, without that pesky international shipping to worry about.

Between a Rock & a Hard Time

I promised to divulge my recent interest in the Great Depression and green living: Enter The Worst Hard Time (The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl). This book is composed of the experiences of several families and paints a picture of the reality of living in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. It spans from the late 1920s when the government was first enticing families to farm the prairie lands to the early 1940s when rain finally fell, ending the drought. The over-farming that occurred and the complete lack of environmental concern that led to mass slaughtering of animals and a 9 year drought...I can't help but be concerned of it all happening again. And what I really fear is that it will take another horrible catastrophe before people realize that they are harming our earth.

So with this I have made steps to lead a greener life. Personally, Donovan & I switched to printing 16 Sparrows items in soy ink on recycled paper last year - but I still would like to do more in that area. Some blogs I have been finding helpful in this avenue are Sew Green and Eco-Chick (please let me know of any others).

In terms of info on the dust bowl and the book itself...the book was a great read, albeit a little hard to read because of the emotion and human struggle behind it. I give it 4 out of 5. If you want to learn more about the dust bowl there is always wikipedia and PBS has a section for it on their website because of a show produced about it. But, if you are really interested in it, I highly recommend you pick up The Worst Hard Time.

Green Toes

image © Simple shoes

Green living has been something on my mind a lot lately. Some upcoming posts will be dedicated to this subject with an explanation of where my motivation came from, but for now, lets start with your toes:

• Recycling old flip flops into cute espradrills with a pair of knitting needles.
• How to make shoes from old tires
• Simple's line of sustainable shoes, Green Toe (GT Jane pictured above)

And why not take your green toes for stroll to a low impact Woodland home?

While we are talking about shoes made from old tires: Check out Miss Joeri's Flickr set of Fashion during WWII. The most interesting photo to me is the image showing how rubber used on the roads was stolen to resole shoes during the war, as well as the various other ways they tried to make durable soles.

(Shoe links via Eco Chick)