Stop buying me plastic junk!

So today, after going through much of my house in preparation for a move, I really felt motivated to write a thought piece. A thought piece on all the junk I’ve been finding in my house, and my plan to avoid more of it in the future!

Let’s start with a list of all the utter junk and garbage I have been finding in my house:

1). Half used, expired, and unusable personal care products (largely leftover from my pre-DIY days).
2). Expired and half used medications.
3). Broken, random plastic items like toys & parts from toys, parts, lids, thingamajiggers that belong to nothing, that “I wonder what this is from?” kind of junk. The kind of stuff you keep for three years, throw out, and then discover what it belongs to three days later.
4). Tupperware containers without lids, and lids without containers. Poor lonely storage items without their romantic partner.
5). Random computer parts, accessories, and old broken cell phones.

The list DOES, unfortunately, go on. However, I am going to stop there, as I think you can get a sense of the kind of stuff I mean. The kind of stuff that really mostly cannot be recycled, up-cycled, or anything. Just garbage. Yes, a few of the containers from personal care products can be recycled, but things like lotion and toothpaste tubes, lip balm dispensers, and all of those lovely impossible to clean, random plastic items are just going to the LANDFILL. And that bothers me, a LOT.

What also bothers me a lot is that I have not been in control of how a lot of these items have entered my home. You know what a lot of people like to give as gifts? Bath and body products! I have never really figured this out. Most people have very personal tastes in these kinds of things to begin with, not to mention skin sensitivity issues, etc. But people seem to love to dish these things out come gifty time. And you smile and nod and say “Ooooh and ahhh, this smells yummy, yada yada…..” But I then am left thinking, great, another lotion to stick in my cupboard. And plastic packaging to eventually hit the landfill. (Ironically, I did give some of my homemade products to family members this year, but all in glass containers, and not wrapped, and with a “love it or lose it, at least you got a nice mason jar” kind of attitude).

Not to mention when you have a toddler, and people then find it entertaining to give your kid crappy little dollar store toys that break in a week, overpackaged big, silly electronic items that flash and are super annoying (and then eventually hit the landfill), and horrible books involving Elmo and other television characters that I have to then sit and read over, and over, and OVER to my very enthusiastic young son.

If you have noticed a pattern here, it’s that I am really, really tired of bringing stuff into my house that I don’t really care for or even use, and then have to shoulder the burden of eventually throwing it in the trash or try ridiculously hard to find an obscure recycling centre for it when it eventually breaks down.

What I am really trying to say is: STOP BUYING ME PLASTIC JUNK!

In fact, please do not buy me anything at ALL with any kind of plastic or non-recyclable material in it unless I have specifically expressed a personal interest in owning it, to you. Directly. I try very very hard to minimize my use of plastic in my house, but it makes its way in there anyway, and then I feel guilty for trashing it.

This is why I make my own personal care and home cleaning products. (Among other reasons, of course). This is why I buy wooden OR second hand toys for my kid. I buy food products in glass or paper packaging if at all possible, and I bring my own bags to the store. I research the products I bring into my home very carefully, considering all sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives before purchasing something. I cloth diapered my child. I use cloth menstrual pads. I compost all of my food waste and use biodegradable garbage bags for any waste that does make it to the trash bin. If I take a drive, I make sure to get everything done in that location all at once, to minimize my footprint. I use a regular vacuum, a regular broom, and regular cloths to clean up messes. No swiffers or paper towels here.

All of this takes some additional effort, and I would hope that people who know me would understand this, but it sometimes doesn’t seem to be the case. I find that many people just don’t think about things like this to this level of scrutiny. I don’t mean to be rude, I don’t mean to be unappreciative, (really, really I don’t) but I really need to stop this influx of plastic into my house, because I am drowning in it. So it is my plea to everyone to please help me with my goal of plastic reduction – this is the biggest gift to me you can give.

Some ideas for gifts to give to us plastic free folks who may challenge your gift giving creativity once in a while:

1). Experiences – Buy us a membership at a place we regularly visit. Movie tickets and a babysitting offer for a night out. A night at the symphony. Something we would probably love to do, but likely wouldn’t buy ourselves, or would appreciate not having to budget for.
2). Bake or cook for me – I would love some of your home baking or cooking! One less meal I have to cook is a big blessing.
3). Buy me a plant for my garden – Please make it one that is easy to care for, and buy it in a compostable or biodegradable pot.
4). Buy me a gift certificate to my favourite Natural foods store, book store, or soap making store. And iTunes. Good ol’ iTunes bucks, we loves us some good new tunes to drown out the children’s songs constantly twirling our brains. Oh, and can you see if they sell gift certificates in paper or electronic format? I don’t know why they started making all gift certificates look like debit cards, but it is extremely unfortunate for our planet.
5). Offer to watch my kid for a bit – Mommy and Daddy don’t get much alone time that doesn’t involve household chores or being too exhausted to do anything at all. We would love for our kid to spend time with you so we can rest our weary minds and return to parenting with our creativity and patience topped up!

Oh, and if you buy me flowers, PLEASE do not bring them to me wrapped in three layers of plastic! Egads! It breaks my heart to have these wonderful, natural, fragrant lovelies brought in my house, only to be shrouded in something that is destroying the good earth they were grown in.

Want to buy something for my kid?

1). Buy him a class or an experience – Yeah, I know it’s more fun for YOU when you give him something flashy that he oogles at immediately after you give it to him. But in all likelihood, he will get more enjoyment (and intellectual benefit) from participating in an activity or event that he enjoys. And we won’t have to factor it into our budget!
2). Buy him wooden, educational toys – Okay, so you want him to have something physical. First of all, you might want to check with me about what he is into lately, as his interests do vary from time to time. Then find him something made sustainably and out of natural materials. Healthier for him, too!
3). Buy him a quality book – By quality, I am hoping it doesn’t involve a cheap storyline with hashed out TV characters. I really don’t want to hear what Elmo has to say for the 100th time.
3). If it’s gotta be plastic, and I have ASKED YOU for it (remember, I have to have asked you for it if it involves plastic) buy it on craigslist – Please, if I have asked for something that involves plastic, can you try your best to find it second hand for me, and then brag to me about the wicked deal you got? I would love that, and my kid can’t tell the difference between new and used toys anyway.

Oh, and please, no more tea. My tea cupboard is ridiculous. Yes, I have a tea cupboard. An entire shelf devoted to tea. I could open my own tea shop here.

Hopefully, if you feel the same way, you can share this article with your friends and family. I am saying it for you, so maybe they won’t take it as hard 😉

Bay leaves in your pantry – More than just a seasoning!

Thanks to my mother in law, I now have a new tip to pass on to you! While cleaning an older lady’s kitchen, my mother in law kept finding bay leaves here and there. When asking her client what she wanted her to do with all the bay leaves, she reportedly asked her right back – “Don’t you know about bay leaves? They’re for the bugs!” After some quick research, it seems that this “old wives tale” checks out – bay leaves actually do seem to keep pests out of your kitchen, and there’s an actual scientific explanation behind it.

Bay leaves contain – according to my sister in law, an entomologist, many natural insect repellents like alpha pinene, beta pinene and lauric acid. Who knew? Clearly not me, or I would definitely have some in my cupboards by now! By adding some bay leaves to your containers of flour, oats, rice, and other grains that you are storing long term, you may be able to avoid the dreaded pantry moth. And avoid the immense hassle and expense of throwing out contaminated food. It’s been suggested to use FRESH bay leaves if you can, and to replace them a few times a year. The older and dryer the leaves are, the more broken down the active repellents will be.

And there you have it! I hope this quick little trick saves you some possible future hairpulling that may have come from any unfortunate infestations!

Apple Pie Oatmeal With Quinoa

Here’s a tasty, easy, hearty winter breakfast recipe for you – even I, a not-so-big-oatmeal-fan, LOVE this one. And so does my “selective” toddler! It’s super yummy, packed with nutrients (blackstrap molasses adds a lot of great vitamins & minerals to the dish), and will keep you full while you tackle your morning!

Instructions in the photo! Hope you enjoy!

Get those leafy greens!

We all know dark leafy greens like kale, chard, spinach, collards, and the like are super good for you. Packed with vitamins and minerals (although it varies with soil quality and method of farming – choose organic), they should be a staple in your diet, right?

Not necessarily! A lot of us do not find them very palatable, especially our little ones! And like any vegetable, sometimes the preparation time gets us down. So today I’ve prepared some quick tips for you to save yourself some time, and sneak those greens into unsuspecting places!

TRICK ONE: STEAM ON TOP OF CARBS

If you are steaming your leafy greens, it’s known that a bit of nutrients are lost in the water. This is not to say you shouldn’t steam them, a lot of leafy green vegetables contain “anti nutrients”, or compounds that interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients, especially when raw. Cooking them reduces these in most cases. After LIGHT cooking (your veggies should still be green when you have done cooking them – they shouldn’t be that yucky brown green tinge), the great vitamins and minerals in these green veggies will be more available to you.

But some of the nutrients may also have been lost in the water! My solution for this? Cook your greens on top of your pot of pasta, rice, noodles, quinoa, or the like – the carbs will suck in the lost nutrients as they absorb the reservoir water.

TRICK 2: PUREE & SAVE

As I don’t find a limp steamed leaf of kale or chard very appetizing (and neither does my two year old), I usually do something else with it after I’ve steamed it. I will steam a whole head of whichever green (sometimes a few), and then puree and freeze serving size portions. When I want to add them to something, I take a serving out of the freezer and thaw in the sink in warm water (I would advise you against microwaving for many reasons, but primarily because you will then cook your already precooked greens further and remove more nutrients).

Some examples of how I use my pureed greens are:
1) In pasta sauces / curries
2) Mixed with beans in a burrito
3) As a spread on a sandwich
5) Mixed in with guacamole or salsa
6) Mixed in with apple sauce for a snack (my son gobbles down his “green apple sauce” like a champ).

In this form, the greens really don’t contribute a ton of flavour to whatever you are adding them to, so they can be nicely disguised!

TRICK 3: FREEZE A HEAD OF KALE

The third trick I have for your leafy greens is simply to freeze an entire (washed & prepped) raw head of kale in a bag with something to absorb the moisture like a cloth. You can then later rip off a handful and crumble in into whatever you are cooking – this is a great option if you want some uncooked kale to add to your dish but you don’t have the time to chop or shred it up. I haven’t tried this with other leafy greens, but I’ve been told kale is this best for this.

Next up: My recipe for kale chips: my personal favorite recipe for greens! Forthcoming in the next few days 🙂

De-greasing spray cleaner

Have a tough, greasy mess that your all purpose vinegar cleaner can’t handle? STOP! Don’t turn to those harsh, toxic chemicals like CLR! Your mess is no match for this simple recipe. First, mix together in a glass or metal bowl:

10 parts boiling water AND
1/3 part washing soda

Next, add:

2 parts liquid castille soap (I prefer Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree for this recipe) AND
10 more parts boiling water

Mix everything thoroughly, in that order only, or you will have some interesting effects come up :). Suggested measures: 1 tsp for 1/3 part, 1 tbsp for a part. A 1/2 cup measure can be used as 8 parts – useful for your water so you don’t have to measure as much out. For ten parts of water that would be 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp.

Let your water cool down for about 30 minutes before funnelling into a plastic bottle – you don’t want the plastic melting into your spray mix. If you are using a glass or metal bottle, you can pour it in right away!

After use, you may find it helpful to spray down and “rinse” the surface with your all purpose vinegar spray cleaner. Sodas and soaps are tough de-greasers, but they can leave a slippery residue if not neutralized with vinegar afterwards!

If you find your mixture gets gelatinous over time, squeeze it back out of your container and add a few more parts boiling water. Adjust this amount of water into your recipe for your next new batch!

Let me know how this cleaner helps you with your icky sticky kitchen messes!