Eco-Sparkles!

I love sparkly things- have I ever mentioned that? I'm kinda like a crow, see somethign that sparkles and my attention goes "poof"! My favourite kind of sparkly things are far from diamonds, which are tarnished permenantly by their history of blood, slavery and war. Local and handmade is where it's at for fun unique sparkles. I love being able to say who made my earrings or necklace, vicariously living through their artistry (I WISH I could make pretty things...). (my favourite "tree" earrings)

Buying handmade helps support local artists and not sweatshops or pollution spewing factories. Also, instead of simply an accessory, you're wearing art.

The only problem with this is the price tag attached. Of course it makes

sense that you'd pay more, as you are paying a fair price for the hard work that goes into each piece (as opposed to a machine that stamps out copies).

However, since I love dangly things, one of the first things I began justifying paying more for when I got my "big girl job" was to purchase a pair of beautiful handmade "Tree" earrings. They were made by an Artist in New Brunswick and the stone is rose quartz. I heart them a lot.

Another fun "green" jewellery designer that I have discovered in Nova Scotia is 2ReVert's Jann and Jeff. They create fun, unique jewellery from old skateboards and are in LOVE. Awww. I found these fantastic earrings at P'Lovers! I feel like perhaps I have a bit of coolness "cred" from wearing parts of an old skateboard... delusional- yes. They have awesome necklaces, cute button earrings and rings! (my fun earrings!)

Finally, my last fav local designer is Rita at Seaglass Designs. She hand makes jewellery

from "mermaid tears" that she finds on the coast of Atlantic Nova Scotia. I adore my necklace and Andrew and I are beginning the process to have her design and create our wedding bands for us (with a mermaid tear in the middle of mine)! (mermaid tears necklace)

Having all these cute sparklies to choose from means I need a way to organize them. I really didn't want to buy something new, and I didn't want to put them away as I was tired of rummaging through stuff to get what I wanted for the day. A former colleague in BC had this cool cross-stitching board that she stuck all her jewellery on and displayed. As I don't cross-stitch this was kinda out.. BUT my dad had made cedar frames from left over wood for me a couple of years ago. A bit of superglue, some string... and voila! A display for my "eco" jewellery that can even be hung up on the wall like a picture!

Just because you're "green" doesn't mean you can have "eco" sparkles :)

Blessings and Happy Weekend! We're off to the parental unit's cottage for four lovely days!

Photos and article authored by EcoYogini: ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Savouring the Sacred Balance; Regardless of whether Climate Change Exists

Sometimes I notice that I've become so entrenched in this whole "eco"-ness that it surprises me when I notice other businesses or people doing something definitely non-green (like using a drive through). (the "dead zone" off of the gulf of Mexico- where no fish can live)

Another area where I find myself constantly surprised is climate change deniers. Colin (aka No Impact Man) recently wrote a post addressing the "what if climate change didn't exist?" question. It was a nice reminder that there exists an entire movement of intelligent, educated individuals who vehemently deny the existence of climate change.

My first experience with such a person was when my former colleague (an Audiologist) came to Halifax for a National Conference. As we were walking downtown I mentioned something about how warm it was this summer. B. asked why we didn't have an air conditionner, to which my reply was, of course, "Because they're bad for the environment". From there he, to my complete surprise, continued to question my answers as to why, leading to the ultimate- "Well Lisa, don't believe everything you read online, climate change doesn't exist."

Screeeeeech (cue sound effect for stopping, gaping open mouth, unsure how to respond look). This conversation spurred months of back and forth emailing, him sending me news articles, my ever increasing frustrated responses until finally I politely suggested we agree to disagree. As I've learned over these past six months, there are many degrees and versions of a climate change denier, ranging from denying that climate change exists at all to whether humans are the cause.

Now as someone who believes that climate change does exist and is caused by human activity, it is quite difficult to read accounts from very passionate deniers. However, I have come to realize that understanding the intricacies of the debate is important.

The most frustrating point, though, is it feels a bit of a waste of time to argue over the why's, or even the existance of climate change. This is why I thought Colin's post was so timely and eloquent. Regardless of whether climate change exists, or who caused it, pumping thousands of tonnes of CO2 into an atmosphere that took millions of years to evolve in order to support life over a infitismally short period of time (100 years) is not advisable. Using energy that has an expiry date, dumping chemical toxins into our precious water systems and bodies, creating huge "dead" zones where fish can no longer live, destroying our forests who are our Earth's respiratory system... these are all catastrophic actions by a civilization that claims to "know" all there is to how our planet functions.

So trying to change my mind about whether climate change exists would never change my views on the importance our changes can bring to a planet we have been bent on destroying. Or the fact that I won't ever own an airconditionner, contributing to my city's smog (and subsequently increasing respiratory diseases in it's citizens) just ain't my thing. My favourite "I'm glad..." of his list: numbers 4, 5 and 12. :)

If you'd like more information on Canada's official position on climate change please check out their site. They also include a convenient link and summary of "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment (2007). Also, David Suzuki has an article addressing the debate on the existence and cause of climate change.

Brooks reminded me today (with her ever thoughtful posts!) on how strongly I do believe that, however naive I may seem, "Yes, together we can make a difference. That my choices, however small, are statements that my Earth matters to me. As a community, we can savour our world and help Her maintain Her Sacred Balance. That we all have potential for compassion, love and action."

Blessings!

Article authored by EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Mr. Waspy and the Adventures of the Urban Garden

I had dreams for my balcony urban oasis last Spring. It involved a space filled with edible greenery that would flourish and provide us with yummy treats all summer. It would also be the perfect space for my "guitar playing escapes" to occur, where I could strum, write songs and belt out to my little heart's content. I even caved and bought a little bistro table set for us to sit on (unfortunately the chairs were made with metal and PVC.... and smelled like "new car" and were made in China. I had several eco-guilt moments then thought- 'If I had to actually waited until the perfect second-hand table and chairs were found, it would be December and too cold to sit out there anyway'). (The crazy Lucifer plant taking over our balcony like a pretty parasite)

As it rained for the entire month of June (I kid you not), it's only been recently that we've actually attempted to sit out on the balcony.

Yesterday, as we moved the crazy monstrous Lucifer plant slightly to the left so we could actually sit without having plants molesting us I manuvoeured my guitar into position. I got through half of "La Corrida" by Francis Cabrel (Such an awesome song) when a wasp graced us with it's presence... did something to our bamboo trellis of our pea plants then left. "It was probably just collecting wood for it's nest in a tree out there" Andrew assured me (I have an irrational fear of anything that stings).

(Our garlic, kinda still alive- we checked the bulbs. Not too happy with the rain rain rain)

Start up the song again.... get to the second bridge, letting 'er rip.... AND the wasp is back. WITH wood. Hmm, so Waspy has decided to violate our trellis and has begun to build it's empire of stinging horror. After freezing until it left yet again, we rushed back into the apartment and slammed the door shut. "What are we going to do?? We can't let it build it's nest there! We should wreck it! With what??

With.... with... WAX! We'll cap it with wax".

Me blogging about SNIG earlier)

Our battle plan decided we watched until Waspy left yet again and opened the door... only to be confronted with ANOTHER, hovering guardian, challenging Andrew to even take ONE STEP over the threshold. Shut the door again. Slowly.

Ok. We can wait this out. We LIVE here. Thirty minutes go by and I see his Waspiness dart away again. The guardian must be on a stinging innocent people break so we managed to sneak out with

the BBQ lighter, ready to light a candle and prepare the wax. My plan was to document the Waspy in his construction of said stinging mansion, but I jumped so high when he started hovering again that Andrew whispered urgently- "Back up! You'll get stung!!!". I'm sorry readers, but photographic journalling just wasn't worth the risk.

(The burned evidence)

In any case, as soon as Waspy darted away I have to confess that I went a little bit bonkers. I just had this insight that wax was a little silly and I should just BURN the wasp-creation. So I did. While I wondered out loud if the bamboo would actually catch on fire... and Andrew assured me that it wouldn't... tiny flames erupted and it did. After blowing it out, we rushed back inside cackling like weird little children and waited expectantly at the window.

Mr. Waspy came back- tried to land on his abode, flew back, tried again, hovered angrily at the window facing us as if to say "I'll get you next time Gadget!!!" and flew away. AHA!

We totally won this one. I guess my little "zen garden" hasn't quite turned out the way I expected... However, I did pick TWO carrots, as I couldn`t wait any longer and they tasted SO YUMMY!

Blessings and Happy Sunday!

Article and pictures by EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Sleeping Naked Is Green: A Review!

I'm in a funny mood today. The sun came out in perfect timing for some recovery yoga in the park (Andrew is not as receptive to the amount of surya namaskars I like doing- "5?? really?? of EACH? OK." It was beautiful and thankfully the birdies outsang the cargo ship loaders and we didn't get yelled at by a park ranger for practicing on the "keep off!" ancient Fort.

I just finished Vanessa Farquharson's "Sleeping Naked Is Green" (or SNIG- hehe, she is so cool!) last night. She's part of the first "green" bloggy crew (such as Crunchy Chicken, Fake Plastic Fish and No Impact Man) over at Green as a Thistle and I actually was not aware that she had a 366 (leap year) challenge! Came into this a bit late, but no matter! I love her "post-challenge" blog, so I knew I'd like the book, and I wasn't disappointed.

I've just come off a "green-book" binge and feel a bit cynical and irritated with all the extreme-isms of greenability out there. My favourite part of Vanessa's book- the normality and sense of groundedness (with excellent adventures!) she managed to keep throughout her year. I also loved how she confessed to snippets of hyprocrisy when a green "rule" was broken. It gave me a sense of "you are not alone" (I still need to update you, my eco-yogi/ni's on how the Preserve shaving razors turned out... or rather didn't and now I switched back to Venus...: confession done in honour of SNIG).

It was fun reading about the background surrounding her posts, her struggle with justifying eating meat and flying and her references to other blogs that I read regularly. I also had no idea what "rennet" was. Trust me, it's gross.

The most essential aspect that I took away from her ridiculously entertaining book: Balance. If you are new to the green-y movement, love to read excellent books and feel a bit overwhelmed trying to live up to some media fabricated "eco-ideal" I highly recommend "Sleeping Naked Is Green". In fact, I will be lending this book (as soon as Andrew is done reading it) to my friend H. and participating in Crunchy's bookclub next month!

Blessings!

The Crafty Eco-Yogini- DIY Yoga Mat Bag!

My friend J. found a Lululemon "new to her" rubber yoga mat at Value Village for 2.99$. Because she's awesome like that. Seriously, I don't have the patience or luck with Frenchy's or Value Village so I was extremely impressed with her beautiful deep purple mat.

Unfortunately, her beautiful new "eco" mat doesn't fit in her yoga mat bag. J. being the crafty gal that she is, will most definitely make her own yoga mat bag. I'm a little jealous- what a fantastic idea! Since I don't own a sewing machine or know even how to sew a button (well, I kinda maybe do... we learned how in Girl Guides...lol) or hem my own pants.. (yes I am sad), this endeavour might not actually ever happen. The last time I tried to sew something was in home-ec where I sewed my short leg openings together.

In any case, I think creating your own beautiful yoga mat bag out of fun materials, or old clothing would be a fantastic idea! I would probably want to order some nice eco-hemp material (durable and sustainable). For all those crafty eco-yogi/ni's out there I have found two fun DIY's.

1. Cut Out+Keep: How To Make a Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial

This site looks fantastic and her pictures and step by step instructions are detailed and easy to read. Although all the sewing machine lingo intimidates the crap out of me, I'm sure to you sewing savvy peeps this makes complete sense :)

2. Yoga Journal's basic How-To

Now this seems a bit easier to follow through on first glance. I even cut out the page and kept it in my "yoga mag book" I've created from my favourite yoga articles (I had a period of time where I was addicted to yoga magazines... I've since kicked that habit).

I'd love to hear how your crafty-ness went or has gone in the past! :)

Blessings!

article authored by EcoYogini at Ecoyogini.blogspot.com (ouu crafty eco-yoga blog!)

Ecover Clarifications :)

The best part of this space is the dialog and change that can happen when people and organizations communicate. I love hearing about all you eco-yogi/ni's and your green and/or yoga experiences! I also love hearing directly from the companies that we talk about here for clarification or further information.

Such an opportunity as occured today and I thought I'd share it with you!

I had mentioned a few posts ago about how frustrated I was getting with all the greenwashing occuring with these traditionally "non-green" companies jumping on the eco-bandwagon (cough-Clorox). I also mentioned that Ecover had some pretty sketchy ingredients on their website, which was very disappointing. If Ecover has unclear ingredients, then how the heck are we supposed to know what's truly "green" or just the wash?

In an attempt to figure it out, I looked up to the best of my internet, non-chemistry degree self, the ingredients listed for Ecover's dishwasher tablets... and didn't really feel like it was all that clean to begin with.

However, Ecover has responded to that post with a nice informative comment of their own. Feel free to go over and give the post and comment section a read, but I'll post their explanations of ingredients here (slightly abridged, as they left my comments and responded, so it's a little long):

Kipling here, from Ecover. I saw your post and thought I might correct a few misinterpretations of our ingredients for you and your readers:

• Sodium citrate (salt), Not entirely correct; “salt” is commonly used to indicate sodium chloride (i.e. table salt) and although sodium citrate is a kind of salt, writing “a salt” instead of “salt” would be more technically correct
• Sodium Carbonate Peroxide - also commonly known as Sodium Percarbonate
• Sodium Carbonate- Sodium ash
• Disodium Disilicate: yes, it can cause serious harm to the eyes (just the same as the sodium silicate in the Attitude brand listed further down in the post) because it is quite alkaline and it is this alkalinity which helps dissolve residual fats
• Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
• Sodium Poly Asparaginate (wha?? can't find what that is) It’s actually a fully biodegradable alternative to commonly used ingredients which prevent the formation of scale crystals and which are not at all biodegradable
• Tetra Acetyl Ethylene Diamine- like vinegar, but with an extra atom of oxygen which is responsible for the bleaching action - due to the reaction between the hydrogen peroxide contained within the sodium percarbonate and this ingredient; Tetra Acetyl Ethylene Diamine is a bleach activator and does not have any oxidizing properties of itself
• Iso-Octyl Glucoside (ummm..) This is actually a sugar-based wetting agent which prevents water settling on the dishes as droplets which, after they’ve dried, would leave stains.
• D-glucitol (Sorbitan Tristearate...) not exactly - it’s a sort of sugar which helps in pressing the tablet and makes it dissolve quickly when being used
• Hydrogenated Rapeseed Oil-It’s actually used as a kind of natural solvent which helps dissolve fatty residues; it also functions to keep the tablet’s structural integrity during transport (solid at room temperature, but liquid when used in a dishwasher)
• Parfum-All the molecules used in our perfumes are the same as found in nature (min. 90% from natural sources, max. 10% from synthetic sources
• Glycerin - A by-product of turning vegetable oils into natural soap and is used both as natural solvent and to keep the tablet whole during transport
• Amylase- It’s an enzyme which brakes down starch. It is classified as such because people can develop sensitivities or allergies to the product when it’s inhaled - which is highly unlikely in the case of the tablets
• Subtilisin- Same as above, but this enzyme breaks down proteins
• Limonene- It is also the main component of the zest of citrus fruits, so no risk of long term exposure there… Limonene is a known allergen, which is why it’s explicitly mentioned on the box
• Sodium Gluconate - This is the sodium salt of a common amino acid and it is used to bind calcium which otherwise would turn into scale

I would also like to mention that, the ingredients disclosed by Ecover are the actual ingredients rather than the generic terms often given for cleaning products. While this is not required by law, it is an extra step we take to maintain transparency.

I hope this clears things up for everyone!

Thank you so much, Kipling, for clarifying for us non-chemistry people :) I do think it's fantastic that all ingredients (rather than the generic terms) are included as transparency and appreciate the time and effort it must have taken to give us this detailed and informative reply. I do think that in today's age of increasing consumer awareness, critical thinking and wariness, having this type of information directly on the website would be helpful.
As eco-people we spend so much time trying to wade through the greenwashing poop to figure out what is truly Earth friendly and what is just some wool and bull.
I am super pleased to see a quick and informative response! The critical thinker in me (oh university, you have forever warped my trust) keeps piping up this tiny voice- "third party, third party!"... lol, but I think that would be stepping up the paranoia un petit peu.
There you have it Eco-yogi/ni's! Rant, and you shall have clarifications :) Again, many thanks Kipling!

Article authored by Ecoyogini.blogspot.com... where all the green yoga happens!

Jammin'

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays hosted by Food Renegade! Go check out the fantastic posts on Real Food!

My goal these past few months has been to try to make as much as I can possibly from scratch or non-processed. Hence the urban garden, homemade sugar scrub and home made soap.

The plan: homemade strawberry jam. From scratch.

Ok, so after talking to my mom, I guess it's really not that hard to make (mom: "I just use the recipe on the Certo box"). For a normal person, but we're talking about baking-cooking challenged me here. So an event had to be planned. (making strawberry jam in our MINISCULE kitchen!)

The original plan: pick strawberries at a U-Pick ourselves and make jam. Unfortunately this did not happen (ok, so I'm not really THAT disappointed since the last time I picked strawberries I was 4 years old and the scary lady yelled at me... what? Since when is EATING the strawberries you were picking a crime?).

New plan: buy local strawberries and make jam. Do you know how much sugar goes into strawberry jam??? A lot. I have been cutting out refined sugar for months now, no way was I going back to that.

La troisieme "plan": figure out a way to make strawberry jam without pectin. There IS a way! But the stuff needs to be ordered... and strawberries are quickly going out of season. Check out Crunchy Domestic Goddess's post on using a citrus based pectin!

FINAL PLAN: buy strawberries (local preferred, at this point organic or non, we just want the berries) and use fair trade organic sugar. At least this way we may be damaging our bodies but at least no beautiful forests or slave labour was sacrificed/used. Jen, being the awesome baker that she is was all for the jam making adventure!

So- after a final call to mom, who assured us that hulling and crushing layer-by-layer was just to make it easier and in fact not crucial to the recipe (and yes, we were using the Certo recipe) AND that washing the jars would be fine for sterilization (woot germs! this one's for you Mel!) we were good to go!

4 1/2 cups of hulled squashed berries (so much fun!) and SEVEN cups of sugar. Yes. SEVEN. So. The bag of organic fair trade sugar wasn't exactly seven cups. Who knew? Sigh. So my jam, with it's potentially small footprint on the planet ended with half-half death and eco-sugar.

Also, as per usual Lisa-baking style, a huge mess was had, with shouting and a strawberry jam caused battle wound on my arm (I guess boiling strawberry sauce actually burns quite a bit!) along with the ginormous mess on our tiny apartment stove. Baking wouldn't be "real" without some sort of disaster in the Lisa household. (above- said mess)

Finally though, the sweet yummy smell of homemade jam filled the apartment and the jars (all four and a half!) and now I am left with two amazing jars filled with yummy strawberry jam! Supposedly, according to mom, overnight while they cool a popping noise will scare the crap out of my sleeping self and the vaccuum seal will have occured.

Since we don't eat a lot of jam, I would say that the next step is to making strawberry-hole cookies, you know the ones with the thumb holes filled with jam! YUM. And next year, hopefully the green-ability of my jam will be increased with local, non-sprayed strawberries (you know that they cover the plants with plastic sheets and the workers need to wear haz-mat suits due to the pesticides they spray??? ack), less sugar and no pectin :)

Blessings!

Photos and article copyright of ecoyogini.blogspot.com.

Mission De-Monsterfy Skin: Eco-Style

No one told me that at the age of 25 I'd be inducted into the acne after school club. I had endured an undergrad, IBS riddled honours and a two year intensive, crazy-living in Montreal Masters without a single little red bump peep. In the spirit of oversharing, here is a quick picture of the culprit...there is way way more on the rest of my face... but truly only these tiny bumps were what I could endure to share so publicly. Dramatic? Yes.

Cue insane move across the country to desert, moisture sucking Okanagan-land and my newest acquaintance: Le Acne. I suppose this was also around the time that I finally weaned myself off of those crazy oxy-wipes... Hey less chemicals is supposed to be BETTER for your skin right? After checking out the scary chemicals I slathered all over my face twice a day (cleanser, toner, exfoliant, moisturizer) I vowed I would no longer be exposing myself or my precious skin to phtalates, parabins, formeldahyde... etc etc.

Over the past three years I have moved from Aveda (ack- not even a baby step) to finally cutting out all synthetic face-stuff from my daily regime. Where has that left me??? With a scary, monstrous, attack of the "trying to keep you in your teens!" acne. Here's a quick rundown of the products I've tried over the past three years (and trust me, I used them until the bottles were empty... I'm too broke to not... oh and it's pretty darn wasteful too...)

- Aveda (ok, we're not kidding anyone here on this one, so much synthetics this was kinda a lame half-a** joke on my part)

- Green Beaver: I've used the Grapefruit cleanser, the bamboo exfoliant (ack my poor, scraped skin!) and the acne foam. To no avail.

- Miessence: This was my desperate "I will pay anything!!!" moment in BC where my skin had eczema it hated me so much. Although beautiful, it came from Australia on a plane/ship (hello carbon footprint) and I couldn't recycle the bottle. Oh ya, and it cost a zillion dollars. And I still got acne.

- Druide: no dice

- Carrot Complexion soap from Birch Bark Soap: Although I ADORE Sherry's soaps (every single one so far!) this one didn't help my complexion at all. Other than to mock me with it's non-acne fighting. Didn't make it worse but didn't make it better- an ambiguous soap really. Despite this- check out her awesome soaps on Etsy- she even donates a portion to her proceeds to Kiva- very zen :)

Ok, maybe I've been approaching this whole endeavour from the wrong perspective. Perhaps I need to stop buying cleansers and just cut out chemicals completely. So many wonderful people use oil to "wash" their faces and are so completely happy with the outcome! Like Yoga Witch over at Greenspell (check out these posts for her fantastic advice and comments along her journey!). Alli over at Oceans Treasures also posted a link to a "as clean as you can get" face scrub recipe. Unfortunately, it would seem that the key acne fighting ingredient in these cleansers is... tea tree oil.

As we speak I have submitted my wrist/arm skin to a "in-denial" allergy swab test. Just in case I was hallucinating when my hands and face swelled up to crazy bloated hands the last time I washed my mat with two drops per 750ml water of tea tree oil. Just in case you know?

For the past three weeks I have been "washing" my face with the following concoction:

1/4 cup of sweet almond oil

3/4 cup of sugar

1 organic herbal lemon-rooibus tea packet (I didn't have any dry herbs... LOL)

annnnnd.... nothing. In fact, I think it's worse. I am on the verge my eco-friends... of putting on some sunglasses, a scarf, a hoodie and running across the street to the Sobeys and buying... gasp... clearasil face wipes. I know. It's bad. I've been dreaming about using them.

Last night, on our walk over to watch the new Harry Potter (eh, it was ok) I dashed into Planet Organic, marched myself over the beauty section and when I normally would have said "No thank you" to the "Can I help you?"... I gasped: "YES".

So now I am on day one of Ayu, a Canadian company who claims to take it's name from Ayurveda, Ayu meaning "life". The ingredients are ridiculously "clean", it was made in Canada and it's #1 plastic so can be recycled in HRM.

My other step on Mission: De-Monsterfy Skin, I have a facial booked. Now, before you judge me (I mean really, a facial??? LOL) I was totally talked into it (I am easily influenced at times, gotta catch me at the right moment, like when my face is a giant pimple) and was interested in the product: Eminence, an organic company. Supposedly this facial only includes the use of their organic line... so I will endure the stigma of actually getting something as frivolous as a facial. For the Mission DMS.

And if this allergy test works out I will be adding some tea tree fighting power to my night time routine.

I hope it's not just me that feels the "being green in the beauty department sucks" mode...

And on that note- Blessings and may acne disappear from the face of the planet. Forever. :)

The Wedding Blob

Try as I might, the Wedding Succubus is slowly taking over my thoughts... kinda like the blob, only fluffier. Trying to figure out what is necessary and what is wedding fluff and how can I make it more eco-friendly has been a bit, ridiculous.

One aspect I'm pumped about is total extra-non essential... drinking containers!! Since I really can't kid myself anymore, I'm just gonna cave and share with you all our fun collection of water recepticals: "My name is Lisa and I'm obsessed with my eco-friendly wedding...".

I got the idea to use clear wine bottles as water "jugs" at a local restaurant in Halifax, The Brooklyn Warehouse. They looked so fantastic with the water creating a frosted look. Although the restaurant most likely had them made special and were not actually upcycled, I thought why can't WE do this? We're getting married at a local vineyard... AND we drink WINE! Perfect.

As you see from our collection so far we have about 14 bottles... mostly from just our own wine-adventures over the past several months. So now when I go into the NSLC (liquor store) I look at white wine bottles that would LOOK cool when empty... which has resulted in some pretty gross white wine. Don't worry, none of the wine was sacrificed down the drain for this endeavour, plugging your nose for the first few glasses does the trick.

We have caved and bought red wines here and there... and continue to try to find sustainable wines. This actually is more complicated than simply asking the liquor store guy to show me their organic wines. We took wine totally for granted while living in the Okanagan Valley. Why would anyone buy wines that aren't local?? I began to question the level of "organic" with wines that had no certification symbols. Wines that were from countries that had different organic standards.

Nova Scotia actually has TEN vineyards (and if you check on the map, NS isn't exactly a huge province). Unfortunately only about 2 of the 10 are represented at the NSLC, so winery tours are in order (YES). On one such adventure we discovered l'Acadie Vineyards (near wolfville). They are a tiny vineyard that grow certified organic grapes!! YUM. So now I just have to convince a few friends to make another wine tour trip as my one bottle lasted, um, one night.

We also have a few friends who are joining in the wine-bottle collection upcycle to water-receptical adventure! J. even cleaned off the labels of her two donations!!

Now if I can just figure out the best way to sterilize them... any ideas? :)

Blessings!

Photos and article authored and copyright by Ecoyogini.blogspot.com (come join the ecoyogi-fun!)

Greenwashing and Cleaners... My Struggle for a Clean Healthy Home

Chemicals are everywhere, more so inside than outside. More and more people have sensitivities to chemicals and our inside environment... Andrew's mother being one of them. Two nights ago she called to ask about how she was going to reduce her exposure to chemicals in her home and was completely overwhelmed. I mean, we're practically a walking chemical these days, so where to start?

I suggested she start with an easy change: her cleaners. Those things are LOADED with nasty toxic ingredients (that little skull and cross bones isn't there for s**t's and giggles) and nowadays it can be as easy as going to the Superstore or, sigh, Wal-Mart to pick up something safer for you and the environment.

Too easy in fact- companies are catching on that consumers don't exactly want to pickle themselves in a chemical soup, and greenwashing has been rampant. Take, for example, Clorox. "GreenWorks" is marketed as an "eco" option, but the little Clorox symbol at the bottom informs us that we are in fact supporting a company who's main money-maker pollutes our waterways and bodies with nasty chemicals. Also, the ingredient list is conveniently not located on the bottle... A quick check on their website (nicely separate from Clorox's) has a general ingredient list... but nothing specific.

When compared to other companies like Attitude and Seventh Generation that clearly states all their ingredients on their bottles and do not have any known affiliations with traditional, toxic cleaners, GreenWorks isn't my choice. Check out my post here for some details on a couple eco-cleaners :)

Ok, so no surprise that Clorox's "green" company isn't exactly on the up-and-up. But something that did make me pause, turn red and perhaps steam a bit, was Ecover. What's this you say?? But Ecover is supposed to be one of the good guys... right?

Here's my issue. I pay more for eco-products because I value my health and I don't like using vinegar for everything. So I expect to pay for something that is what it claims... non-toxic, no chemicals, actually truly DOES biodegrade and won't make the fish grow three heads. Ecover is a well known company that is viewed as truly "green". I've read their "ingredient" list on their cleaners, looks awesome. They smell nice, they clean fantastically well and have a fancy-pants website.

Speaking of their website, have you checked out the FULL ingredient listing there? Let's review one... like the dishwater tablets that has been popular in the blogosphere lately.

Ingredients:

Sodium citrate (salt),

Sodium Carbonate Peroxide (actually, on the Material Safety Data sheet it says Sodium Carbonate peroxyhydrate 15-30%, which when disolved in water releases hydrogen peroxide and sodium ash)

Sodium Carbonate

Disodium Disilicate (MSD says it's diodium disilicate- either way, difficult to find and according to this data sheet can cause serious harm to the eyes)

Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)

Sodium Poly Asparaginate (wha?? can't find what that is)

Tetra Acetyl Ethylene Diamine (active oxidizing agent that releases hydrogen peroxide during wash)

Iso-Octyl Glucoside (ummm..)

D-glucitol (Sorbitan Tristearate...)

Hydrogenated Rapeseed Oil (finally something I kind of recognize)

Parfum (ACK- Fragrance?? Skin Deep Cosmetic Database rates all ingredients listed as "fragrance" as being sketchy. This ingredient hides cancer causing chemicals among other scary stuff)

Glycerin

Amylase (according to skin deep, a low to moderate hazard)

Subtilisin (same as above for Skin Deep)

Limonene (classified under "fragrance" with Skin Deep (rated 8 for highly hazardous) and according to Wiki has been found to be a skin and respiratory irritant over long term exposure... like cleaning your dishes every day, and although classified as biodegradable due to it's low flashpoint must be treated as a hazardous waste for disposal)

Sodium Gluconate

Ok, but say the last bunch (disregarding the Sodium Carbo perox-whatever-hyde that creates peroxide when exposed to water, like in a dishwasher, and is 15-30% of the chemical makeup of the tablets) only constitues 0.1% of the product but they HAVE to list them. In case. Then why does the Material Data Safety Sheet for the tablets state that they are considered a hazardous material with recomendations of avoiding contact with eyes and skin?

That waste of this product is considered chemical waste (13 disposal considerations)??

To avoid release into the environment (6 accidental release measures)? (like draining the water into our water systems?)

I'm just saying... maybe I'm a little anal, but for a "green" product this seems a bit over the top. I happen to adore Attitude cleaners. They are Canadian (WOOT!), are certified EcoLogoM AND Global EcoLabelling Network and here is their ingredient list for their dishwasher powder:

water, xanthum gum, vegetable based surfactants, sodium citrate, sodium carbonate, sodium silicate and essential oils.

Nice. Now if they can keep it simple why can't Ecover?

Making the switch to natural cleaners was my first and most satisfying eco-change but sadly consumers have to wade through the green-poo to truly be informed about what they are buying. Do you have any favourite eco-cleaners that you find work very very well?

Happy weekend everyone! Now to convert Andrew's mom to my ECO WAYS.... (insert evil-ish laugh).