paper towels: a Thanksgiving challenge.

In honor of Thanksgiving and all the insanity that will potentially take place in the kitchen, I felt compelled to find at least one way to minimize the amount of waste involved in cooking, cleaning, and general turkey-day preparations.  As a person who is thankful for nature (it's the hippie in me), I will no longer be using paper towels on a daily basis.  It’s a total waste of paper; we could easily use regular towels, old rags, or destroyed T-shirts to do the dirty work.  I probably use way too many paper towels myself, so I am giving all of us a fun little test.  I challenge you, on whatever day you read this (if you are feeling particularly adventurous, try it on Thanksgiving!), to use ONLY 1 PAPER TOWEL today.  Think of how much paper you will save if you only use 1 as opposed to multiple.  It's mind boggling.

 If you just can't part from your beloved paper towels, try replacing the regular ones with recycled products.  According to the National Resources Defense Council, “If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.”  That’s a ton of trees.  Some products even have chlorine in them to make them brighter – who wants to wipe their mouth on a chemical infused napkin?  Not I.  

 

So remember - when you buy paper towels, TP, or napkins, go for the eco-friendly brands like Seventh Generation or Green Forest.  They are slightly more expensive, but get over it, because I’m sure we could all spare an extra dollar to help the environment.  Have a heart.  And have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Here’s a link to the NRDC website with some great info on recycled paper products - http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

one exception where plastic makes it possible: Plastiki

You have got to check out this website and read about the amazing San Francisco-based project called Plastiki.  I discovered Plastiki on ecofabulous.com and was so inspired I had to spread the word to my fellow (though very few!) readers.  There are so many wonderfully innovative people out there that are making a positive impact on environmental awareness, and this guy is definitely one of them.

The brains behind Plastiki, David de Rothschild, is building a catamaran out of about 12,000 reclaimed plastic soda bottles (one of the ocean’s biggest pollutant), which will eventually be sailed across the Pacific.  They will be using energy bikes to produce electricity for the ship, as well as solar panels to help power the ship and its communications system.  They’ll also have a little fruit and veggie garden and a solar/pump powered water purifier on board, no big deal.  Their mission is “to beat waste by inspiring sustainable solutions and to highlight the ecological damage being done to the world’s oceans.”  That’s my kind of mission.  One of the coolest parts about this project is that their 100 day journey from SF to Sydney, Australia will be filmed; I will absolutely be watching this adventure, and so should you.  Or at least take a look at the website, it has fun graphics.

http://www.theplastiki.com/

Read more about Mr. de Rothschild here, he’s ridiculously accomplished:

http://www.theplastiki.com/content/david/

the wonder that is tea tree oil

I recently bought some tea tree oil after reading about it in Gorgeously Green.  Being the space cadet that I am, I completely forgot what it was used for and how to use it, so I did un peu de research (God bless the internet) and discovered some fun facts.  One of the more fantastic qualities of this oil is its disinfectant ability - add some to water for a miraculous, home-made cleaning solution or bug repellent (no need to buy harmful, chemical-happy crap anymore to scrub your bathroom, among other things).  I have never been so excited to clean!  I wanted to share with you the wonder that is tea tree oil, so here are some uses I found on care2.com:

For Health

1. Use a dab to treat acne.
2. An anti-fungal for treating Athlete’s Foot, eczema, various yeast infections, etc.
3. An antiseptic to be used on cuts and burns.
4. An anti-viral: it may lessen the symptoms of colds and flu. Try using a few drops in the bath.
5. Add to a vaporizer to loosen chest congestion.
6. Add a small amount to shampoo to destroy head lice.
7. A small amount added to your bath can help with persistent body odor.
8. Treating sinus infection.
9. For dandruff and dry scalp.
10. In the form of aromatherapy, tea tree oil is used to treat colds, persistent coughs, acne, toothaches, and sunburn.

For Cleaning

11. To create an all-purpose cleaner, combine 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in 2 cups of water in a spray bottle.
12. Another version would be 14 ounces of water with 1 ounce of Murphy’s oil soap and 10 drops of tea tree oil.
13. Mix the above solution with kosher salt to scrub bathtub and bathroom tiles.
14. Add a few drops to dishwasher dispenser, then fill with a green dishwashing soap.
15. A few drops added to each load of laundry leave your clothes smelling cleaner.
16. Control mold with a tea tree oil/water spray.
17. Remove mustiness with that same tea tree oil/water spray.
18. To keep germs at bay, spray it on high chairs, car seats, and other high traffic spots.
19. 15 drops in a quart of water can be an effective insect repellent.
20. Be sure to take some with you when hiking and camping to put directly on insect bites or blisters.

Info taken from:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/20-great-uses-for-tea-tree-oil.html#

bi-rite creamery: everything ice cream should be, and more.

A few weekends ago I went to Bi-Rite Creamery with my fellow dessert-loving, recycling-happy friend, Katy.  She prepared me for something amazing, and it definitely lived up to my expectations.  Delicious, crazy flavors like honey lavender, cinnamon snickerdoodle, and malted vanilla with peanut brittle will make your taste buds do cartwheels of joy.  Bi-Rite rocks because they use local organic ingredients; their organic milk, cream, and eggs come from Straus Family Farm, 45 miles away from San Francisco.  They provide a list of ingredients on their website, of which there are rarely more than 5 in their unique flavors.  Their utensils are biodegradable, they source their ingredients as locally as possible, and even their sugar cones are made from organic ingredients.

Bi-Rite also has popsicles, sundaes, sorbet, ice cream sandwiches, cakes, pies, fresh hot chocolate, and baked goods.  I want it all NOW.

Check out their website and their SF location on 18^th St at Dolores.  Get excited.

http://biritecreamery.com/