The Christmas Report

Yes,
our Christmas was a success! We had one of the most fun and exciting days together as a family, just hanging out, snacking on our favorite holiday foods and treats, talking, playing games, watching a movie and just being together.

I must admit after "Santa" got done with the wrapping and stuffing of the stockings and noticed how empty the stockings were she panicked a little bit, wondering if there was enough? Would the children be satisfied? Well, either way it was too late to change our minds and Santa and her helper both went to bed waiting for our kids to wake up on Christmas morning...

Christmas morning came and it was all good, in fact, better than good. Esp. watching the kids give each other their handmade presents, from purses to moccasins to homemade gift cards and seeing the joy and excitement in the faces of both the receiver and the giver.
Each person had a total of 12 gifts, including candies and treats, and not one electronic gadget or game was among them. There was just as much excitement over the gifts as usual, if not more, because there was less.
I wanted my children to learn about the important things in life and I think I was the one that finally learned that Christmas is not in the gifts but in the heart. I know it sounds a little corny - but is nonetheless true.
This year was for me, the best Christmas ever. For some reason the magic of Christmas seems more abundant than ever before.

Och ett Gott Nytt År till alla! And a Happy New Year to all!

December already!?!?!

Wow,
life has certainly kept me busy enough over the last almost 6 months. I can't believe I haven't written anything since June! Probably just as much because of my poor time-management skills.... as me truly being busy.

We have had both some fun times and some sad ones; lot's of vacation time spent on the river this summer, and also 3 weeks spent in Sweden, with my dad in the last week of his life and with friends and family in Göteborg. It was sad and happy and strange all at the same time, it was also comforting to talk about all the fun times we had with my dad during his life and the legacy that he left us, his children and relatives. Even though my belief is different than that of my siblings, there are still a lot of things that keep us together and we enjoy each others company. It is kind of fun that my sister and I, and esp. our daughters look so much alike that they could easily pass for each others siblings.

This year we are doing an experiment for Christmas, we are de-commercializing it and only doing a couple of presents, including stocking stuffers, and amazingly enough even the kids are excited about this, esp. after watching "the story of stuff" and talking about what we really want in life as opposed to just the next, new shiny it-thing that everyone HAS to have this year. Part of de-commercializing the Holidays for us means that we are choosing not to buy anything that is made in China... now that is harder than I thougth, almost everything plastic is made in China, most shoes are made in China, a lot of clothes are made in China and pretty much all electronics are made in China, and the list goes on......
The big deal that we really want, and that we are focusing on is spending real time together and having fun as a family - that is our big present from Santa this year. I will let you know how it all goes.

Now to check in on our other projects, things are going well, we still use and love our homemade laundry soap. The baking soda and apple cider vinegar for our hair is slipping a little bit, my husband is the only one that is using it faithfully, my oldest son still wont even try it and the rest of us are part-timers, we alternate with regular shampoo and soda. As far as my failure to find a good substitute for dish-washing machine soap, I still haven't found any, but we have stopped using the dish washer altogether and are only washing dishes by hand anymore so for us it is not a big deal. I know it sounds a little crazy - but we found that we keep the kitchen cleaner that way, we just wash the dishes right away instead of waiting for the dishwasher to run and/or waiting for someone else to fill it. To be honest we didn't try this on purpose, but our dishwasher broke and we couldn't get it fixed right away so we had to start doing the dishes by hand and after a few days of this, we decided not to replace the dish washer at all but rather stick with a plan that is both environmentally friendly and keeps our house cleaner! I call that a win-win!
I wish you all a very happy ending to another amazing year.

Summer is finally here!!!

Can you believe it's already June 25th and we are finally having summer weather!?

Three weeks ago, my husband and I came back from one of the most amazing vacations/adventures of our lives; we spent 16 days rowing a raft on the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. Which besides being a lot of fun also was very sustainable. We carried out all of our trash and waste, used only biodegradable soap and dish soap. Burned burnable trash, cleaned up every place we visited/camped in, to the point where almost all of the places we visited had very little evidence of any modern human having been there before or after us, except for the trails of course. The Colorado in the Grand Canyon has more than 18,000 visitors every year.
Now I know it takes gas to get there, the boats we use are either made of hypalon rubber or plastic, some of the food we take is packaged more than needed at home etc etc. But on the other hand, we took re-usable plates, mugs and utensils, made our own food, powered our own boats with true hand power(rowing/paddling).
And afterward we have a new appreciation for the Grand Canyon, the river and nature and got to know new and interesting people. Plus we have new inspiration for our "daily grind" and a renewed passion for our lives.

How many times have you been on vacation to renew your spirit - only to come home more tired than before - needing a vacation from you vacation?

There are times when an "all-inclusive sit by the pool and drink pretty drinks" kind of a vacation is really what you need to rest up or a "spa go get a massage every day and learn to cook and grow your own food vacation" or maybe what you need and enjoy most is to experience a new culture during your vacation, like going to India or Spain, and then again maybe what you need more is a vacation to help somebody else, such as build a house for "habitat for humanity" or go build a water-well in South America, and finally there is always the option of staying at home - either to rest up or to work on the house/yard or maybe a little of both.
And then again there are times when if you only had the time or the money to take a vacation you'd be ecstatic.

We have actually had the good fortune to go on most of these different kinds of vacation at one time or another (including the not being able to afford one as well...).

The vacations that feed us the least are, surprisingly "the all-inclusive lay by the pool/on the beach and have somebody bring you drinks all day long" kind of vacations. Now, I admit I like laying on the beach doing nothing for a few days, but I don't like seeing food being thrown away every day when people are starving next door, or seeing the golf green being watered with cleaner water than the people get to drink, or the waste from the resort being dumped into the ocean and killing the fish and the coral. There is a reason that coral dies off quicker in the vicinity of large ocean side resorts.

Now before we even get serious about where we are going and what we are doing, we attempt to consider more than the fun-factor, we ask ourselves the following questions;
1. Will it change our lives when we come home?
2. What kind of impact do we have on the environment we are vacationing in?
3. How much energy does it take for us to get there(fuel wise)?
4. How much extra waste will I create by going on the vacation?
5. Can we do the same vacation with less waste?
6. Will we be more tired when we get home?
7. Will it be fun enough?
8. Can we afford it?
9. Can we do a different vacation that would inspire us more?
10. What is the real price for this vacation ( plus and minus)?

Of course then there are the spur of the moment mini-vacations that we like to do, for instance we all kidnap my husband and head out of town for the weekend, or we camp out over night in the yard, or just head up the canyon for a quick meal, or roast marshmallows over the fire pit for dessert.

So the bottom-line for me; is not what kind of vacation we choose (even though I wouldn't mind if I saved the world while on vacation) but that we educate ourself so that we know what we are choosing. Knowledge is power. On that note I hope we all have a great summer and summer vacation!!!

Green is Fun?!?

Aloha,
so one of my goals in writing this blog is Fun. I want this to be and sound like an exciting adventure, not some "doomsday everything is bad" sort of extreme religion. There is plenty of that sort of thing out there/here in the cyber world.
My basic belief is that our PLANET is a great place and it is in, maybe not perfect but decent shape. I believe our PLANET will "heal" itself. Especially if we do our best and help it out. Perhaps a little naive sounding to some people but I truly think "MOTHER EARTH" is capable of handling her own wastes.

I think our "greening" efforts are mostly for the benefit of us (the human race). If we ever want this, our EARTH, to be a balanced place that can take care of all of humanity, it will greatly benefit us to begin a more sustainable lifestyle and clean up our own messes, literally and figuratively. Dumping our wastes and garbage in somebody else's lap DOES NOT constitute cleaning up our own mess. IE sending it all to the dump. Watching the youtube "www.storyofstuff.com/" really brings it home for me why I make an effort to use less, reuse more and recycle.Plus it is also a great reminder that stuff is just stuff (even when it's brand-spanking-shiny-new). Imagine if we could all reuse more than we throw away. What a Victory that would be for the human race! And a step in the right direction.

Look at all the amazing things that are being developed right now, like Fossil-free fuels, that in probably just the next 10 years will become the norm and will improve air quality both by being produced less and by not being used in most engines anymore!

Another cool local thing going on in Park City, Utah is what is commonly known as the "RECYCLE CENTER" where not only do they accept all plastics, glass, metal, batteries etc, for recycling, but also building materials and appliances that you can then buy for pennies on the dollar and re-use in your own project and at the same time - it stays out of the landfill!! You save money and less thrash - what I call a WIN-WIN for everyone. The people at the re-cycle center do receive some donations, but I believe the huge success of the place is thanks to some amazing efforts above and beyond what they are paid to do.

The Moral of this story to me is:
Do your best when it comes to living more sustainable ( every little thing counts - in a positive way).
Pat yourself on the back for the effort that you make whether large or small - IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Thank you for everything that you do to make this planet and your surroundings a better place!!!
Tack så mycket!
(thank you very much - in Swedish)

You win some. you loose some

So it has been a few days since my last entry. And I have had some time to really try some of these things.

The No-Pooh, really works so far, in the family 5 out of 6 are already converted. The only hold out haven't really given it a chance yet...pretty good results I think. Thumbs up.

The homemade laundry soap; 2 cups(1 bar) grated Dr. Bronners peppermint soap, 1 cup Borax, 1 cup super washing soda, 1 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup Oxy Clean, mixed well and add 2 T to each large load, 1/3- 1/2 of cup of white vinegar added to the rinse water. 1 Tennis ball with a couple of drops of essential oils added to the dryer and your load comes out almost as soft as with a dryer sheet and much friendlier to the environment and the clothes smell much nicer than with a dryer sheet or softener. The homemade laundry soap definetely thumbs up.

The homemade dish detergent; not so succesful. After trying 3 different recipes, 2 powdered and 1 liquid, I am back to my trusted and not so environmentally friendly Cascade. We have very hard water with lot's of minerals and for some reason not matter what else I have tried, nothing else gets my dishes clean...
The homemade dish detergent thumbs down.

Mixed reviews and not all sustainable.. So what do you do. Clean dishes or clean environment? My compromise is that I do more dishes by hand with my ECOVER dish soap that is good for the environment and do fewer dishwasher machine loads but with the "bad" but "good" Cascade soap...

So there you have the good, the bad and the ugly.

Hejdå tills nästa gång,

IKEA-MY GUILTY PLEASURE!

Ok, so I am a little bit of a hypocrite....But I can not to give up IKEA. Somehow that connection with Sweden is vital to me and I feel like I have a small piece of heaven when I walk in through the doors of IKEA, and see the Swedish furniture or smell the meatballs at their restaurant, even if some of their stuff isn't very friendly to our environment or if some of the food stuff is shipped way further than it shoud be, IKEA is still one of my guilty pleasures! And on the plus side they do carry a line of Organic sheets etc. and their packaging is often minimal so it's not so bad after all...right???

Hejdå,

P.S. The Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent works Great! The clothes come out just as clean or cleaner and smell far nicer than with any other soap I've ever tried.

Back to the Beginning...

Ok, so I realize that two of my blogs have been way too long - and I will make a bigger effort to keep my blogs more manageable, at least size wise!
Back to when I started this blog - if you still remember (I know it was only 10 days ago)- or if you can still find it(just joking). I made 5 major commitments about how and what to buy.

#1 - Buy local food & product as much as possible.
#2 - Buy proven organic/fare-trade items
#3 - Buy things that have 5 ingredients or less.
#4 - Only buy things I cannot reasonably make myself.
#5 - Only buy things that are toxin-free or harmless.

#1 - This one I fully anticipated would be harder in the winter - and it is, but I do my best and if I can't find Utah product I look for California and so on. Probably the hardest one for me is, to not buy food products etc from IKEA, since Sweden is home to me and I love most things Swedish. Oh, the sacrifices that one makes - Just Joking!!!


#2 - This is pretty self-explanatory, other than maybe there are times when proven organic may not be around or when labels aren't what they claim to be; like the Coffee/Tea issue. A group of Swedish researchers started traveling and visiting the different Coffee/Tea plantations around the world - they found that the Coffee that was labeled fare-trade/organic really was organic/fare-trade coffee. On the other hand when they went around to the tea plantations most teas that were labeled organic/fare-trade really was not, in fact in most instances there was not a difference between the "normally" grown tea or "organically" grown.
I do take this into account when I purchase things, is this really certified and/or under what standards is it certified? And then I make my best decision from there.

#3 - Is actually only meant to include food-items. And I do this from a nutritious stand-point only.

#4 - This is probably the most subjective of all of my commitments in that; What is reasonable for me may not be reasonable for somebody else, or even, What is reasonable for me today may not be tomorrow. IE Right now it is reasonable for me to make my own laundry detergent, but it is not reasonable for me to make my own clothes. It is really fun to use my own oatmeal face wash at home, but when I travel I buy both that and Shampoo.

#5 - Read the Label, read the label and read the label in other words this is all about knowing the ingredients and also if possible how it was produced so that it didn't produce toxic by-products for the environment or the workers.

Anyway these are my own personal guidelines in a nutshell. If they inspire or help somebody else, Great, if they don't - I have really had fun myself and an amazing adventure along the way and a reason to write more - which is what I love to do!

Hejdå,

The New Shampoo...

Ok, so today I tried the "no-poo" baking soda shampoo and apple cider vinegar rinse - it worked great! I have very thick hair that tends to get really tangled sometimes, and hard to brush out after I wash it.
While in the shower I had my doubts because my hair felt kind of fuzzy and dry, but once I got out it was actually very soft and easier to brush, than it had been with my Redken "all-soft" shampoo and conditioner and an additional leave in product that I use to make it less fuzzy. My only complaint is that for the first 1/2 hour I felt like a salad bowl(the apple cider vinegar) because of the smell, but then the smell evaporated and now I'm fine.
I love the feeling of washing with the oatmeal bag, it exfoliates and cleans very gently and leaves your skins ph-level where it is supposed to be. My skin loves the coconut oil and so does one of our cats! So no leaving it out...
A word about coconut oil; It is usually solid at room temperature so put a small amount in your hands and let it melt before you put it on your skin. It also goes rancid relatively fast -so I usually buy a large can -put it in the fridge and take out a small amount that I put in a smaller recycled glass jar, such as a baby food one, and keep it in the bathroom so that it isn't as hard, that way it seems to last better and if it goes rancid I don't have to throw the whole big jar out but just the small one in the bathroom. It is very easy to tell if it is rancid - just smell it - and if it smells kind of sour or bad -it is. Also watch the date on the jar when you buy it - it is often a year out or more, which is what you want, and not the coconut jar that has the due date yesterday or tomorrow.

Later today I am going to make my own laundry soap and wash my clothes in it - I will let you know how it goes!

Hejdå till imorgon.

Green, Green, Green

Aloha again,

yes I realize it has been a few days - mostly because my adventure is taking me in a more radical direction than I had planned and partly because life got busier than I had anticipated(doesn't it always though?).

When I started looking into the "natural" health care items I found that most of them contained almost as many chemicals as the "regular" stuff. As evidenced by a website called skin deep(www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index) where you can look up almost any cosmetics company in the health care industry and their products, besides looking at the ingredient list yourself.
The same thing happened when I looked into what's in our laundry detergents, except it is much harder to find out what is in our laundry soap and detergents, because most laundry detergents do not list their ingredients on the box/container, neither do the containers of dish washer detergents or dish soaps etc. 

As I was looking for healthy, reasonable and local alternatives I found that most companies/products were not really what they were promoting themselves to be, and it started to almost get depressing esp. as I have studied what some of these toxins and chemicals can do to our bodies, systems and nature. 

I started noticing that there were homemade recipes out there of shampoos, lotions, detergents etc. that were simpler, more nature friendly and definitely more sustainable for our planet.

 I must confess that some of these I had already tried in the past with more or less success and I have kept up on some, and given up on others. 

I decided to give it a go again, on a bigger scale this time - all of it at once - and writing a report of it here on this blog and telling you not just if it works but if it is sustainable in our 20ieth century society.

Here is my new regimen that I have decided on;

Laundry -                                                                     I have made my own stuff with natural soap,        mixed with washing soda and Borax. Once I                                                                                             figure it out and if it is any good I will give you                                                                                       the exact recipe.

All-Purpose, anti-bacterial cleaner -       I've made my own with baking soda, vinegar, pure castile soap & essential oils.

Floor Cleaner - Same as above but I've added a small amount of washing soda.

Window/Mirror Cleaner - I mix white vinegar, water & lemon juice.

When it comes to personal health care I have always been more of a "wash & wear" kind of a person than a "have-to-have-make-up-on-every-second" kind of a person, but I still wear make up, do my hair and, shave my legs.

As far as deodorants/anti-perspirants go, I have found that it matters much more what I eat and if I work out regularly if I smell bad or not or perspire more or less, than what kind I wear - I have tried everything from Secret to Mitchum to Old Spice(yes I know it's a man's deodorant - but when you are desperate you try anything) to most brands that you find in the health food store including but not limited to the crystals. What seems to work better for me than anything else is  - ESSENTIAL OILS - plain(neat), (just make sure it is a high quality grade like "young living"). Geranium seems to work as well or better than most and it doesn't sting or hurt when you put it on and is very effective - smells a little bit more flowery than I prefer - but that still is much preferable to stinking.

For a face wash -                     I use oatmeal in a re-usable teabag with a little bit of witch hazel  and water and then I rinse with warm water.

   

For my hair -   I am starting what I have seen labeled "the no-poo" way(not as bad as it sounds), no shampoo, only 1T of baking soda mixed                                                        into a paste with water and a drop of  essential oil of my choosing, rubbing it into my scalp letting it sit for 1 minute rinsing with water and a final rinse of 1T of  organic apple cider vinegar in 1 C of water.

For the rest of my body -     either a natural, organic bar soap or castile soap - like "Dr    Bronners".

For shaving -     coconut oil.

For Lotion -    coconut oil, for face and body and even hair if it is really dry.    Or for my skin sometimes a natural lotion without    alcohol/ethanol in it. The alcohol/ethanol is added not only as a    preservative but mostly  to build in a dependence on the lotion - it   actually dries your skin out faster and makes it so you want to use   more lotion sooner than if it  wasn't added.

For Make Up Remover -   Coconut oil or I use a more liquid oil like almond oil and dip a

   q-tip in it and remove my eye-make-up.

I started this today and I have committed to stay with it for at least one month - not only to see the real benefits but also because sometimes it  takes 1 to 2 months to get over any residual effects from the much more  toxic substances we are used to using.

I will be reporting every couple of days to let you know how things are going. If it works - if my laundry stays clean, if I smell like a pig (-believe me my family will let me know if I stink or if their clothes stink or look ugly.) If it is a working option or just too complicated in today's society.

It got kind of long today - but I figure you will probably only read it if you want to anyway - but I promise it will be shorter next time!

Hejdå,

Green Links

Some of you might have noticed that I posted a new link(besides the Michael Pollan PBS interview). The new link takes you to a page full of fun and amazing green blogs. The ones that I have visited so far have been informative and/or entertaining and I highly recommend checking some of them out. 

Since I started writing this blog(I know it's been ONLY 3 days ago - but still), information and inspiration seem to come from everywhere and I am finding a lot more about how to go "green" both on the web and locally just chatting with friends and strangers. In the spirit of this sharing, learning and growing and helping our planet I will share any links that I come across that have information that would be helpful.

Yesterday was the first time that I have watched the whole inauguration ceremony, rather than just a small part. How very cool it was to see Obama become the new President of the United States of America! I think he is amazing. I don't think he is the solution to everything, but I think he is a giant step in the right direction, and such a breath of fresh air compared to most politicians.

Because I spent most my time on Politics yesterday, I have to make up for it today and get back to my "real" job, but I will return tomorrow with more on my green, sustainable adventures.

Until tomorrow - Hejdå

My very first blog

Aloha,

this is like some of you might suspect my very first blog. It has taken me way too long to get here. For some reason I was under the impression that it would be difficult, but so far, not to bad at all. Quite fun and easy actually!

This blog will follow most of my own and others research and findings for sustainable living and sustainable products. To Assist me with accomplishing this I have set some new goals.

Some of my resolutions for the new year are:

#1 - Buy local food & product as much as possible.
#2 - Buy proven organic/fare-trade items
#3 - Buy things that have 5 ingredients or less.
#4 - Only buy things I cannot reasonably make myself.
#5 - Only buy things that are toxin-free or harmless.

My foray into a more sustainable life promises to be an exciting and fun adventure.

 I found some of my determination to start this by listening to Michael Pollan on public radio as well as some of his YouTube speeches to the google company. Pretty much the rest of my inspiration came from watching my children and wanting to teach them and myself a better way to live and a cleaner planet for them to inhabit. 

I will write about our attempts at a sustainable lifestyle, the products I come across, do they work, do they not, are they truly green, do they have hidden problems or toxins, and our struggles and victories as far as this is concerned.

I am posting a link to a PBS Michael Pollan interview on "Bill Moyers Journal" for those of you that are interested. You can also look up his Google speach on You Tube.

Hejdå tills nästa gång/bye 'til next time (Swedish)