Selling Yoga; The Trends that Define our Culture

Body Image issues. It's an old story really. Lately there's been a lot of talk about how women are used by the media to sell yoga (svasti's awesome post and Roseanne's discussion). A post over at "Eat the damn cake" reminded me that this is so much more than warping a spiritual practice into something marketable. It's an example of a media and social epidemic that yoga is definitely not immune.


As Kate reminded me over at "Eat the damn cake", brides are hyper targeted when it comes to the beauty industry. Most images of brides online are perfectly shaped, proportioned and flawlessly beautiful. There's unending talk of "being a princess on your special day", makeup choices, hair choices, facials and such bullsh*t. I have been feeling the pressure. Usually I never agonize about makeup, but lately I've been considering paying for a trial makeup run. You know, for my perfect day. gag.

This discussion around Tara Stiles and the Toesox ad really is indicative of a very important and relevant societal norm that has been chipping away at 50% of the North American population since the advent of popular advertising. Instead of focusing on the narrow category of Yoga, we should be looking at why the use of women as objects in the media is effective.


The advertising industry is a billion dollar industry for a reason; it works. By showing us images of a unrealistic beauty ideal, the media helps support a population of women and young girls who are not happy with how they look. This ideal has changed over the past 100 years, from the flat chested flappers in the 30's, to the voluptuous size 15 Marilyn Monroe to shift from Twiggy thin to Barbie boob-waste ratio. The point is that there really isn't all that much research out there supporting the current beauty "ideal" as some genetic driving force. (most evolutionary psychology studies are shaky at best when it comes to supporting the big boobs-small waste= cave man natural selection theory).

 Although I don't shop at Body Shop (ew chemicals) I love this ad.

The majority, if not all, of female oriented activities and hobbies are inundated with media manipulation and beauty ideal messages. This includes currently perceived physical activities such as ballet and gymnastics. You don't see a lot of thin, waif-like female hockey player messages... because hockey still fits in the acceptable "male" sport.

The fact that yoga is now being co-opted by large advertising corporations and used in such a disgusting manner is just another piece of the media and body image culture of malcontent that all women in North America experience. Because Yoga is, for the most part, a female dominated activity here in Canada and the US, and the advertising industry knows it.


You don't think you're influenced by ads, you say? Well, lets just assume that a billion dollar industry really has invested poorly. We see on average hundreds of ads in our day, with a large proportion having messages on beauty. My generation has grown up on television ads and have had clear messages on what girls and women should and shouldn't look like from an extremely young age.

According to the National Eating Disorders Information Centre (NEDIC), 37% of grade 9 and 40% of grade 10 girls considered themselves too fat, this during a time when most girls are going through puberty with their bodies changing naturally and in a healthy manner (Boyce, King, Roy 2008). More than 50% of girls and 33% of boys engaged in unhealthy weight control behaviour (binge eating, laxatives, skipping meals, vomiting etc) as found in a national study of 5000 teens (Project EAT).

This ad not only comments on trying to stave off aging... a natural beautiful part of life, but shows a thin, obviously young to start with model. Which we can't see her head. But wait, is it really a human being??? or..... a mannequin. Not even human at all. So besides the unrealistic ideal, cutting off the head, we have a plastic, fake ideal to live up to. Awesome.

10 women to every man is diagnosed with an eating disorder. Eating disorders have the highest rate of mortality (10%) of all psychiatric disorders. Body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight management have been found to predict later physical and mental health difficulties including both weight gain and/or eating disorders (La Grange & Loeb 2007). (please check out NEDIC for more information).

American Apparel ad... not only using body parts to sell clothing (that we can barely see I might add), but these girls look young. Most American Apparel models are sexualized and extremely young looking.

 

What Tara Stiles ad for "Slim Calm Sexy Yoga" follows is a basic trend in the media to propagate a feeling of unease and unhealth towards our bodies and our eating habits. Have you noticed an increase in "yoga enhancing vitamins" lately? Like a synthetic boost for our physical practice is really the point of yoga. Tara's book, like other damaging media advertising, has a basic message:

- Everyone can be thin if you just try hard enough (which is genetically false)
- Only thin female bodies are beautiful and attractive (so not true)
- If you're thin you'll be happy, confident, successful and healthy (I know a lot of thin and unhealthy, unhappy women and a lot of confident, voluptuous healthy happy women... how about you? Are only the thin women you know happy and healthy?).
- You can't and *shouldn't* be happy with yourself until you physically externally meet the ideal.


Instead of an assault towards Yoga itself, we can use it as a wake up call to say "enough!".

How can we support a more healthy and positive approach to how women are used in the media?

• Instead of commenting on how great someone looks now that they've lost weight, comment on something permanent about their appearance. Like their beautiful eyes, hair, etc.
• Don't ignore negative comments with regards to body shape or size. It's just not cool.
• Support companies that promote healthy body image ideals... and let other companies know that you're not supporting their product due to their marketing. Write a letter. This includes writing a letter to Lululemon asking why they don't use models of "regular" women.
• Write Women's Health denouncing their support of an obviously unhealthy product.

Finally, take a step back and critically look at how women are used to sell objects in the media. What message does a female headless torso send to young girls about their growing body as an object? Celebrate your beauty and your yoga practice. Without competition and with self-love.

I'm taking a cue from Eat the damn cake and finishing with an "unroast":

I love how practicing yoga makes me feel calm and grounded. Regardless of what I'm wearing or how "well" I practiced.

What's your Yoga unroast?

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Yogic Jewelery

I heart pretty things. Which means I have a weakness for sparkles and jewelery. In the past four years I've actually been extremely cautious with what jewelery pieces I buy. I really want to make sure it's something I'll wear, love and treasure for a long time. I also would much rather put a few extra dollars if the jewelery is made locally, sustainably or is spiritually meaningful (or all of the above).

I have a few Goddess pendants which are very special to me. Although I believe that spirituality comes from within, mantras, symbols and ritual (such as a yoga sequence) all hold power. I also am a firm believer that objects, like people, hold energy. I try to cleanse my spiritual jewelery often... but have left this to the wayside recently. The act of "cleansing" actually only requires my own inner grounding and connection to the energy, the breath, which surrounds me. 

If you ever have doubted how our energies can affect another, just be around someone who is negative or unhappy for a period of time. The nervous and negative "energy", which is characteristic of their breathing patterns, muscle tension and language used, will influence your state of mind and emotion. I say will, because breathing patterns and muscle tension has been documented to translate from conversational partners.

Yesterday Andrew, A. & D. and I went over to Bhavana Yoga Lifestyle on Quinpool. Such a treasure for local yogi(ni)s I highly recommend a visit should you be in Halifax.

Krista, the owner, has recently expanded her yoga book resource. It was wonderful to peruse through and she was able to direct me to a wonderful book by Michael Stone: Yoga for a World out of Balance. Of course it was the perfect book for me, a bonus to having Krista right there to help guide me.

My new bracelet amidst my faded "corn-based" go green bracelets

I also treated myself to a new Mantra beaded bracelet. I have been wearing my non-plastic "go green" bracelets that I had purchased while living in B.C. recently and fell in love with the cherry coloured "ahimsa" bracelets by Sonja Picard.

Sonja Picard is a Canadian jeweler who creates gorgeous yogic adornments. Each piece has a mantra, yogic symbol or yama. Although much of her jewelery is out of my price range, they are so meaningful and special. Sonja uses Canadian conflict-free diamonds as well as trying to work with local and sustainable resources. She has a set of pieces where 100% of the net profit is donated to one of five charities called the "Karma Collection".

 look closely, you can see "non injury" on this side

 

Krista informed me that the bracelet was unique in that the beads were prayer beads and the bracelets were one-offs she picked up while visiting Sonja in her studio in B.C.  Checking out the prices online, Krista really has comparable price levels and some beautiful pieces I don't see available online. My favourite is a beautiful long thin silver pendant with "Om namo shivaya" inscribed.

I wore the bracelet while practicing yoga outside today with friends. Although I usually keep jewelery to a minimum during physical practice, seeing the bracelet helped remind me to stay grounded, stay connected and take my sense of connection from the mat into my Life. This week I'll try to find a few moments to center, and cleanse my few spiritual pendants. As Autumn is a time for endings and thus new beginnings, it just feels like the right time.

Of course, owning jewelery with sanskrit inscribed does not make you "more" yogic or "more" of a yogi(ni). I feel I need to state this as there has been quite a bit of discussion in the blogsphere of late regarding the marketing of yoga. At the same time, as my spirituality certainly allows for symbols and tools to help make that connection between the Divine and the Earth, investing in a Canadian, sustainably conscious artist doesn't feel like buying an "Om" water bottle from Lulu.

Blessings!

article and photograph copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Eco-Wedding Invitations

Countdown to Eco-Wedding: 6 weeks. It is crunch time and my checklist has caused some stressful moments. In the middle of these 6 weeks Andrew and I will be going on a 'pre-wedding honeymoon' to New York City!! I'll definitely try to check out 'Yoga To The People'- after all the chatting over at 'its all yoga, baby' I'm definitely curious to see what it's about!

Our invitations were created, cut and sent a few weeks ago and I can now share them with you!

Although there's pressure to have fancy, letter pressed invitations, I just couldn't wrap my head around spending that much money on a piece of paper that was just going to get recycled (hopefully!). So, for two years we searched for our perfect wedding graphic. We had a tree with our letters carved in, followed by a tree with a heart in the middle... 

And then I found a tandem bicycle graphic- free download. Andrew fell in love with this invitation. A few hours of playing around with the wording, fonts and colours and voila! A Tandem Bicycle invitation to represent our brand new Life Journey together.

It was essential that I find a sustainable paper solution. Fortunately there are a lot of post consumer recycled cardstock options out there now and I easily found beautiful ivory sheets for not too much money. I would have preferred forest stewardship certified paper.... but I didn't really give myself enough planning time. We sort of needed invitations to be made and mailed in two days time (haha, yep we were *that* organized).

The actual sizing and cutting of the invitations involved much more swearing, beer and frustration. We used box cutters, glass picture frames and a ruler. Several hours of intense staring, measuring and frantic cutting later and we were good to start addressing. Note to self; borders are extremely helpful when printing two invitations per page.

Full invitation and rsvp card

I was so proud of those invitations and of course we received minimal feedback (or even email rsvps.... but then our wedding is small enough we knew mostly who was coming anyways). We even made ten special rsvp cards for those people we knew weren't computer savvy. Why anyone would spend a fortune and ridiculous amount of hours for such a minimally noticed aspect of the wedding is beyond me.

Close up of the invite! :)

 

Next up; the weekend program of events. After spending a chaotic weekend at a friends wedding (which was lovely), I realized the importance of letting your guests know just what the 'plan' is for the affair. Since we'll have many guests staying two nights, a short Weekend Program will help guide expectations and decrease the need for constant timeline with bride-groom verification. 


It's fine when the bride and groom are super laid back about details and events, but guests really do need to know what the deal is in order to figure out timing and weekend expectations. 


As a result, our wedding website has tourist resources for our out of town guests, accommodation options, thoughts on what to wear (i.e. October can be chilly, the ceremony will take place outside so shoes should be able to handle grass etc). As most of the family have so nicely reported that 'why no, we didn't look at the website yet!' my paper-saving plan has gone down the composting toilet.

Wedding programs test-print

 

Alright, a printed 'program' it will be. I found another funky bicycle graphic and spent an hour typing up the basic weekend events. I sourced a paper supply that was back ordered and not being used (so reclaimed paper? lol) and will print two programs per page to maximize paper use. 


Done and done.

Wine-in' it up; Sustainable and local bubbly!

In a few weeks some tiara wearing bachelorette times are going to be had. Although I firmly outlined the minimal waste ground rules (i.e. no paper penis plates, plastic penis candy containers or forever plastic man-part balloons), I conceded on a tiara and some nice wine.

Living in Montréal I was introduced to the fine art of drinking wine. Everyone drinks wine in Montréal (ok, it seems that way). My two years living in the Okanagan Valley in BC entrenched an appreciation for yummy local wine. With so many wineries a few minutes away, why would anyone buy wines from California, Chile or Australia?

Take a moment and consider the carbon footprint of your wine. 

In order to grow the grapes, non-organic or non-sustainable methods require quite a bit of water, land space and use chemical pesticides to grow. These pesticides erode the soil, run off into local waterways and make their way into the foods that we eat. In a time when energy and resources are precious, using them in a non-sustainable manner for a non-essential food item is ridiculous.

Follow that up with the actual fermentation process that use huge metal containers that require energy and cooling systems to run. Depending on how it's aged, the wood used for the barrels (oak for example) doesn't necessarily come from reclaimed or responsibly harvested forest.

Then we have the bottling, using glass (which is easily recyclable) and increasingly synthetic cork or twist caps. Synthetic stoppers are made from plastic, whereas cork stoppers come from a renewable resource and are compostable.


Finally, just how far was your wine shipped on a carbon spewing boat-plane-train-truck to get to your glass? One continent? Two? A couple oceans maybe?


A lot of us don't even consider that there may be fantastic vineyards just outside our neighbourhood. Take Nova Scotia for an example.


I knew there was one local vineyard- Jost. From my bartending days I was never really a fan of Jost wines and like many didn't really consider 'Nova Scotia' wines to be of especially tasty grapes. Surprisingly, Nova Scotia has a burgeoning vineyard community and a pretty decent climate for specific types of tasty varieties.


Nova Scotia has 14 vineyards currently in the province. Yep, 14. I also was flabbergasted at that number. Many of them produce great tasting red and white wines and are run from small family owned vineyards. Also not yet part of VQA wines, they do have a 'Nova Scotia Wine' label indicating province grown grapes only included.


Although some vineyards are featured in the provincial liquor store (NSLC), many still remain a farmer's market find or on-site vineyard purchase. From tasty Muscats to  deliciously decadent Maréchal Foch, you really should be able to find a local wine to your fancy.


Last winter a group of friends went down to the Ice Wine festival outside of Wolfville. One non-surprise is that because of our frosty and temperate climate Nova Scotia makes award winning Ice Wine . The sweetest of desert wines, grapes are picked in the wee hours of the mornings and crushed while frozen. It was amazing to be able to visit the many small vineyards scattered across the Valley in the middle of February.

Now, these vineyards may have won on the 'least amount of carbon-footprint' level, but what about the sustainable methods?

L'Acadie Vineyards, a few short hours away from Halifax, has certified organically grown grapes and is a leader in sustainable wine making in Nova Scotia. The owner of the vineyard is actually from Vernon BC and we chatted for a few minutes while visiting his winery last winter. It was inspiring to see his wines show up in the local NSLC, as he had mentioned how challenging it was to negotiate accessibility at a provincial level.

Here are a few of my favourite Nova Scotia vineyards and wines:

1. L'Acadie Vineyards: I adore their 'L'Acadie' white wine. L'Acadie grape is a special Nova Scotian variety that grows very well on Nova Scotian soil. It's not too dry, nor too sweet... and this one is grown sustainably. Sustainable AND local- perfect.

2. Gaspereau Vineyards. I adore their Muscat and Seyval Blanc. Not as sweet as a Gewurtzraminer but not super dry. A yummy sipping wine. They also have some tasty reds...


3. Grand Pré Wines make quite a few fabulous red wines. Although I prefer the Gaspereau and L'Acadie whites, Grand Pré makes some darn good Foch's. Plus, their vineyard is gorgeous and Le Caveau, the winery restaurant serves delicious yummy food. Definitely worth a visit.


Other wineries in Nova Scotia:
Sainte Famille Wines (still on my list to try, available at the farmer's market)
Jost Vineyards  
Annapolis Highland Vineyards
Bear River Vineyards (has green energy methods, green energy workshops!)
Benjamin Bridge Vineyards (sparkling wines)
Blomidon Winery (sustainable methods used!)
Lunenburg County Vineyards (awesome blueberry wines-mmmm)
Muir Murray Estate Winery
Petite Rivière Vineyards


Coming up- the Fall Wine Festival (September 16-October 17th), which Andrew and I will make an effort to take a short drive and enjoy!


I gotta say, if Nova Scotia can produce some tasty wines, than it's extremely likely there is a local wine near you. If not (if you live in... well... Yellowknife), at least try to stay within your country. If we can't find yummy Nova Scotian wines, we stick to Canadian wines, Ontario or BC. The closer the better.

There's nothing like tasty, sustainable wine enjoyed with friends.

Much Light!


article and photograph copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com
 

How to be Alone... the Significance of Cemeteries

I really like cemeteries. I know, not something you like to announce on the wide web. But I do. Not the newer, shinier cemeteries, the really old ones that have crumbly tombstones and trees.


This definitely predates my vampire-werewolf fantasy novel obsession or my True Blood addiction.

Until a few weeks ago, it was just a weird thought as I'd glance by cemeteries as we walked or drove past. Walking around alone was really beyond my comfort zone. One weekend I managed to convince Andrew to humour me as we toured through one of Halifax's 200-300 year old cemetery on Barrington Street. It wasn't unquestioned though and I found myself having to articulate just how 'uncreepy' my reasons for liking these old crumbly cemeteries were.


I love walking through and feeling like there is a piece of history surrounding me. Seeing the names and dates of people who lived hundreds of years ago. Their families and grandchildren most likely passed along to the next life with no one to visit or to remember them.

The older the tombstone, the more beautiful the hand-carved artwork that graces the front. These tombstones that we erect in order to be remembered in a few short hundred years crumble and the names wear away. It reminds me just how temporary my existence will be. No matter my ability to erect a large, expensive stone shrine to my life in a few short generations you won't even be able to read my name. This element of humanness makes my impermanence that much more real than an old building or statue.


These older cemeteries are quiet, usually on uneven ground with trees and shrubbery. It feels hidden and peaceful. Like a secret sanctuary in the middle of a bustling, noisy, smelly city. Combined with a feeling of insignificance I have moments of reflection. Of re-evaluating what is stressing me out lately, as it no longer seems that catastrophic. If people wouldn't have me committed, I would love to practice yoga in a history cemetery. But they'd probably call a padded vehicle...


This video was filmed in Halifax by local artists. I love her voice, the art and her poetry. Weirdly enough it exactly inhibits the feeling I get in an old, beautiful cemetery. Maybe you don't share this connection, but I hope you enjoy the video... because sometimes we all need to just *be*. Without external distraction. Just with ourselves.


Many Blessings!


article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

 

The Revenge of Gaia

Sounds pretty scary eh?
 
It's actually the name of a book by James Lovelock; a British inventor, independent scientist, environmentalist (to put it lightly) and futurologist.

I honestly bought the book for the ridiculously awesome title, the look (what can I say, I'm a superficial book snob) and an extra bonus- the theoretical premise. Ah, ok, the premise was kinda essential.

Sadly the writing is not that fantastic- it's wordy, very defensive and a bit over the top with analogies. It really feels like I'm reading a spoken transcription of some random conversation-monologue he may have had. I can actually *hear* his British accent while reading. It's a bit creepy to have an old British man in my head.

Besides that, the actual 'Gaia Theory' is mind boggling and perfect. If that makes sense.

James Lovelock, with the support of the IPCC, has formulated a theory of how our Earth works. Essentially, instead of viewing our planet as a non-reactive, material based object in which living things use in a one-way relationship, the Earth is a reactive, dynamic 'organism' which influences the carbon based life forms just as they influence it.

The Earth has a system and essentially self-regulates for optimal living environment and has been keeping it this way specifically for billions of years. He even goes on to postulate that an Earth System completes a Darwinian approach to evolution: Life forms are selected not only for their ability to survive, but interact directly with their material world and are influenced in an evolutionary sense by it.

If that sounds confusing, it's because I still haven't quite wrapped my brain around it.

Despite my personal mental space for this theory, viewing our world as a system that influences each part dynamically as a whole has always been commonsensical. Our world is filled with so many unknowns. Why would we even begin to think that by understanding one portion in isolation of it's climate, it's resources, it's surroundings and the way they influence each other would accurately reflect natural functioning is ludicrous.

In one of his recent books, A Sacred Balance, David Suzuki discusses how everything is interconnected (not quite at the macro level as the Gaia Theory) in a much more eloquent manner. Examples ranging how our Red Wood forests actually depend on salmon spawnings each year to survive... how our ocean algae affects our land animals and crops. 


James Lovelock, with the Gaia Theory, takes it a step further to draw connections between geology, climate and atmosphere with the living organisms. Although we know that climate affects living things, I never thought about how an animal or plant may be essential for our Planet.


Mr. Lovelock actually believes that it is too late to save our planet from becoming devoid of life in any form. Those limits that are thrown around by the IPCC, the carbon limits in the atmosphere? Yep, he believes that we've surpassed the point of no return. The book, if nothing else, is a strong message that we need to do something extreme and immediately.

Now if only I can get past the fourth chapter....

Blessings

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com




 

Exploring other towns & their Yoga; Complete with a Secret Garden

This week I had the opportunity to travel down to Wolfville Nova Scotia for work. Although 'parachuting' my services to another clinic can be hectic, there is also lots of fun in checking out a new town... and it's yoga studio!

Wolfville truly is special. Above all the regular Nova Scotia greenness (recycling and composting in every single establishment, including my B&B), the town is a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities-Partners for Climate Protection Program. This means that over five milestones (the first being a greenhouse gas emissions inventory) the town of Wolfville has committed to reducing it's carbon footprint, regardless of provincial goals. 

This town is tiny, but filled with big ideas and creativity. Signs decorated eco-friendly yards asking us to 'Save our Farms' and most houses had wildly growing gardens and flowers. People bring their own mugs here and garbage bags are all clear in order to assure proper recycling and composting.

Despite it being a tiny town, I had no troubles at all finding yoga. The Inner Sun Yoga Centre is a cute studio with beautiful flooring, cork and wooden yoga blocks, jade yoga mats and wonderful teachers. What I love about visiting other non-Haligonian yoga studios is the open and friendly feel. I may be jaded, but sadly Halifax is much more yoga-competitive and less about just practicing yoga.

The class was taught by an open, friendly former Aussie and was very different from anything I had done before. It was filled with all levels of students from all walks of life. Not everyone was decked out in Lulu and the teacher wasn't there to 'sell' her studio or products. She taught Vira I (Warrior I) much differently with a very short stance. I left that class feeling fantastic.

On my walk home with the sun setting over the Minas Basin, I could see all the beautiful, wildly tangled gardens. It was almost as if the author of 'The Secret Garden' had spent her childhood in Wolfville. I wouldn't have been surprised if faeries were hiding behind a giant mushroom or jungle of wildflower stems.

This weekend I'll be bringing my yoga mat to my parents cottage so we can practice on the dock, overlooking the lake. I cannot wait.

Blessings


article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Eco-Wedding; Wish Lanterns and Greenwashing

Recently a reader emailed me about something called 'Wish Lanterns'. She had been considering them for her small wedding and was wondering about their 'eco-cred'; were they safe to deploy over water?

This is a fantastic example of greenwashing and the complexity of choosing 'green'.


For those of you non-wedding obsessed like moi, Wish Lanterns are cylindrical dealies made of some kind of paper with a hot air balloon like bit in the middle. You light it up, make a wish and send it floating away in the night. Very cool and after taking a peak at the pictures I also had a 'wow, that would be fun for our wedding' moment.

 image taken from Wish Lanterns website

On the official site, Wish Lanterns claim to be 99% biodegradable, will not harm the environment and will 'float gently to the ground' once the wick has burned out.


Although there was some information on the website as to what materials are used in a wish lantern, I really was looking for specifics on what they consider '99% biodegradable'. So I sent them a quick email requesting specifics on materials and treatments used. My response:


'Materials used are rice paper, bamboo and a thin piece of metal wire. The fuel cell is made up of cotton, paper and wax'


Nothing regarding exactly how they get the rice-bamboo paper to be flame-retardant. I responded by requesting specifics regarding chemical paper treatment a week ago. No response.


I considered the possibility that rice-bamboo paper was somehow magically naturally flame-retardant. A quick wiki search confirmed my doubts- no magical rice oil flame stopper. 


With this information, disregarding claims, let's look at the eco-scale of a wish lantern:


- 99% biodegradable really has no meaning. Everything has the potential to degrade into smaller versions or portions of the whole. Some pretty scary pesticides and chemicals can 'biodegrade' into smaller and more toxic chemical versions. Without any sort of follow up, this label is useless.


- Creating rice-bamboo paper actually involves resources, chemicals, water and energy. There is no guarantee or information regarding where the paper is sourced, whether the bamboo or rice was taken from destroyed rainforest land (sadly, the spike in bamboo interest has resulted in some pretty scary deforestation for bamboo plantations...)


- Paper+fire=combustion. In order to stop this from happening they would need a flame retardant treatment. As their website states, wish lanterns are 'non-flammable' which logically means they've been treated by flame retardant chemicals. Unless they are using funky new treatments (which would jack up the price, so probably not) commonly used flame retardants are considered extremely harmful to the environment and human health: not exactly something I'd like to leave out to break down into our soil.

- Finally, metal may be considered a natural substance, but it definitely isn't something that would break down quickly. Depending on what kind of metal, it may not even be safe to leave in soil. Recyclability is unknown as well, certain areas only take some types of metal to recycle (like aluminum). 


Final verdict- Wish Lanterns are not, in fact, a good environmental choice, but a pseudo-green choice. Which is kinda sad, cuz I think they would have looked uber cool at our wedding..... 


Ah well, we can always write up small 'wishes' on scrap pieces of paper (we'll have enough recycled-paper cardstock bits lefts over from our invitations!) and 'send them off' via bonfire that night :)


Blessings!


article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Replacing Ziploc with Glass: Oil Independence Steps

Plastic. It's so ubiquitous and such a horrendously large part of our lives. We're surrounded by petroleum in the form of plastic, from our nylon clothing to our plastic containers.

Quick stats as to why you should care (beyond the ridiculous oil gushing into our precious ocean):

• plastic products last forever.... or minimum 1000 years. At least.
• plastic is made from toxic petroleum, which we destroy our oceans and earth in order to extract followed by spewing out tons of chemicals to refine.
• We had a nice big Pacific Garbage Patch the size of Texas hanging out in our ocean.
• food kept and heated in plastic containers have been shown to take on chemical properties of said petroleum plastic. 
• According to CBC documentary 'The Disappearing Male', research is starting to point to plastic (toys, containers, shower curtains) as the culprit for a decrease in sperm numbers and ultimately number of male births.

Another step in our 'Oil Independence Plan' was to decrease plastic food storage in our lives. Which was deceptively difficult.


Long Term Goal: Eliminate ziploc bags as food storage.
Short Term Steps: 

1. Get used to storing cheese in a ziploc container instead of a bag. This took some time, but we finally figured out the perfect size container- score! 
2. Buy glass storage containers. We started with three glass anchor containers. Eventually, as I realized we would use them, we slowly bought more glass containers, some of different sizes. 
3. Start storing veggies in glass containers. This actually was easier than I thought. I always cut the center away from peppers and such so squeezing them in was no problem. Just had to figure out how to fit them in the fridge. 
4. Stop buying ziploc bags... when we run out, we run out. I don't even remember it being an event when it happened! I only realized when a guest asked for one that we were out!).

Canadian peppers in a glass container

 

Current Status: We no longer use ziploc bags for storage! We're still phasing out the plastic containers and are reusing non-recyclable yogurt containers though. Surprisingly, glass containers are WAY easier to clean. Even for those icky non-identifiable substances that have populated new furry cities can become squeaky clean with no residue smell. Unlike the plastic containers that small scratches and nicks result in icky gross food smell and discolouration.

Our cluttered container cupboard

 

The downside? Lunch. I have my nifty stainless steel lunchbox, but should I want to bring something extra it needs to go in a glass container. Which is heavy to walk with to work... even though I can microwave the food once at work sans plastic ick seeping into my lunch. Which is nice. Also, the blue hard plastic tops of the anchor containers have mostly all cracked... which sucks. I still use them, but had to buy the flexible plastic tops- and they're more expensive.

Do you have some ideas to help you go ziploc, plastic food storage free?


article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com