Guest Blog: Composting

This is so exciting! In an effort to find the best, easiest and most innovative alterations we can make to our lives to be "greener" I am reaching out to a few people that I know who are super green to give their expert perspectives on what great things they are doing, in the hopes that we can incorporate their tips into our lives.

My first guest blog is from singer/songwriter/environmental lover, Sarah Elizabeth Foster. When she isn't writing and recording her first CD she's being green. Composting is one way that she's doing her part to save the planet.

What is composting you ask?

Composting is the aerobic decompostition of biodegradable organic matter, producing compost. It is the decaying of food, mostly vegetables or manure.

In a nutshell, composting is decomposing the organic matter that you produce in order to keep it out of landfills, while also producing the best nutrients to grow a garden. The product Sarah discusses below can be found on Gaiam's website. Here's Sarah's post:

Hello Advocate of Green readers,

My name's Sarah Elizabeth Foster and I'm Danielle's greenest friend! (I hope that's true! If it's on the internet, in a blog, it must be true!) Danielle saw my blog about my indoor composter and wanted me to guest blog about it for her. Here it goes...

Worms have invaded my apartment! Just kidding, I invited them in! I started taking notice of what was going in my trash can, and it was mostly vegetable scraps. I'm trying to eliminate all trash from my apartment, so the vegetable scraps had to be handled.

Here is a picture of the vegetables I juice each morning...

Here are the scraps that are left over...
Here is my indoor composter. You can see a banana peel and some carrot scraps. Can't see the worms? That's because they don't like light. Whenever you open the lid and lift back the moist newspaper they scurry under the surface. Dave and I hate this because we like to watch them eat.
The worms need this moist newspaper on top of them because their habitat must remain moist. After a while they eat the newspaper and then you just replace it.


You would never know there are worms in here. There is no bad smell!

I'm going to have to make this an ongoing blog topic because I'm thinking of tons of things I need to tell you guys about the worms. Stay tuned for more worm blogs!

Thanks Sarah!! I can't wait to hear more about your worms! Leave a comment about what you think of composting.

Beware: Killer Deodorant!

Does your deodorant have aluminum? Mine did until I recently switched brands. What's the big deal about aluminum in deodorant? Well, aluminum is a neurotoxin which means it has a chemical in it that attacks your brain... FUN! Check it out:

Aluminum chloride, an aluminum salt that is commonly used in antiperspirants, is also commonly used in studies on aluminum-induced neurotoxicity. Aluminum itself adversely affects the blood-brain barrier, it is capable of causing DNA damage, and has adverse epigenetic effects. Research has shown that the aluminum salts used in antiperspirants have detrimental effects to a number of species such as non-human primates, mice, dogs and others. An increased amount of aluminum is also present in the brains of many Alzheimer's patients, although this link does not seem to be causal. An experiment with mice found that applying an aqueous solution of aluminum chloride to the skin resulted in "a significant increase in urine, serum, and whole brain aluminum." Other experiments on pregnant mice showed transplacental passage of aluminum chloride

UMMMM...WHAT? How this is even allowed to even be sold in stores, is beyond me. We are in a sad state where we really have to check all labels to make sure that there are no ingredients that will attack our brains and give us weird diseases in the products we buy. Incredible!

So what do we do in order to not smell while also staying dry? Buy natural deodorant. Your body will adapt and you will sweat less. Also, sweat is natural so at the end of the day, who cares? I did an extensive deodorant testing and here are the results. The two best brands are:



Herbal Magic is great except sometimes it gave me an itchy armpit rash after I shaved (too much info?). Tom's of Maine doesn't give me said itchy rash and also actually works. I was a total skeptic. I didn't think natural deodorant would actually work, after all my ancestors wandered in the desert in the hot sun and we all know how stinky a cab in the summer time is...not good. But I gave my body a chance to adapt and now it works! Switching also means that I am protecting my brain from neurotoxins which is a-ok with me! Brains are good. I'd like to keep mine as long as possible.

What deodorant do you use? Give me a shout!

Technical Difficulties

Hello Fellow Greenies!!

You have probably noticed that Photobucket highjacked my blog for their advertising purposes so I had to switch to this less pretty, but equally green blog template (literally). I may switch back to the other template once I figure out what the issue was, but for now you can find all of the great "green" info from the other site right here in the right hand margin.

Sorry for any inconveniences & I will be back to posting green greatness this afternoon.

Green it up!
D

Neti Pot, How I Love Thee...

Last year, a friend gave me a neti pot for my birthday. Her disclaimer was "I know you get lots of allergies and I heard that this can help, and maybe you won't have to take medicine anymore." Here is a picture of a neti pot, in case you don't know what it is:

We are gonna get a little personal here ( I don't normally discuss the state of my boogies with strangers). I have to be honest, I was a little skeptical at first. What the neti pot is, is a sinus irrigation technique that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for years and years as a way to maintain sinus health. Since I am extremely prone to sinus infections and pouring warm salt water up your nose HAS to be better for you than taking antibiotics twice a year, I decided to have faith and give it a shot.

I have been using my neti pot for over a year now. I use it once or twice a day, depending on my allergies or exposure to pollution. Since I started using it, I can actually breath out of my nose! Who would have thought?!?! I went from taking allergy medicine year round to just a few weeks in the Spring and a few weeks in the Fall when allergies are at their peak. But best of all, I went from having at least 2 severe sinus infections a year to maybe getting one mild one (and NO antibiotics!).

Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I become fastidious about using my neti pot and within a day or 2 my cold clears up and I never reach the maximum level of sickness. After reading this NY Times article on it, which basically says that people didn't get well any faster taking antibiotics vs. using a neti pot, I am convinced.

It turns out this tiny nasal tea pot was one of the best, most useful and most memorable birthday presents I've ever gotten. Here are a few tips: use a tablespoon of NON iodized salt for each nostril, make sure to tilt your head to the side instead of backwards and use water that is luke warm (not hot...you don't want to burn the inside of your face).

Please let me know if you have any questions about the neti pot. I find it a great and green way to keep my sinuses clean.

The Story Of Stuff

I saw this 20 minute on-line video and was completely awoken. I am guilty of going shopping and buying things just because they are on sale, never to be worn and eternally to hang in my closet, until one day I do a clean out and it ends up at the Salvation Army or Goodwill or sometimes even the garbage depending on the state of it.

"The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard is an incredible video which takes you through what is called our "materials economy" which tracks things that we get at the store back to its creation and also explains what happens to it after we dispose of it. It's pretty shocking! It explains how in the US today, our corporations have become bigger than the government, and why we have 5% of the world's population but use 30% of its resources.

Some interesting facts from the video are:

• The most toxic food in our society today is breast milk!
  
• 99% of the things we buy will be trashed with in 6 months of purchase
  
• Planned obsolescence and Perceived obsolescence and why when you don't have the "newest" "coolest " or most "fashionable" we are made to feel like big losers
• After WWII the government and economists got together and decided that the only way America would remain on top was if the citizens were constantly consuming...this was implemented just as our national happiness began to decline which is currently at an all time low!

Watch this clip and see what you can do to be a part of the solution. I am trying to really be mindful of the purchases I make and ask myself "is this something I NEED?". Let me know your thoughts and if this video struck a chord with you too!

Cycling in the City

The most common reaction I get when I tell people that I cycle in Manhattan is "Are you crazy?" to which my reply is "No, I just hate going to the gym and cycling is the only form of exercise that gives me any enjoyment." Trust me, I have tried everything: Yoga, Pilates, Hip Hop, Ballet, Tai Chi, Karate, Running on the treadmill. I even have all the outfits to prove it. Duncan still laughs at me because I feel like I should keep my Karate Gee "just in case". The "just in case" in this instance should be interpreted as: Just in case I decide to be Ralph Macchio, of Karate Kid fame, for Halloween, because we all know I'm never doing Karate again.

I decided the best way for me to exercise and stick with it would be to multi-task my exercise. I use biking as my (greenest) means of transportation and can usually ride about 15-20 miles a day, 3 days a week. I started cycling in late May and took a break to watch the Tour de France in July (because if you watch cycling on TV you can't also cycle?!?! I dunno, it made sense to me at the time). I started up again this week and I am dedicated to riding 3 times a week (don't worry, I wear a helmet and I am very careful). Depending on the level of effort, you can burn anywhere from 500-800 calories an hour biking!

There is something about riding my bike around the city that rules. It is faster than the subway, I never have to deal with stinky armpits in my face or people falling asleep on my shoulder (I swear this has happened to me), and mostly the best part is, I am in total control of my journey. I ride along the Hudson River and it is completely peaceful. I get to work, energized (and kinda sweaty) and ready to take on the day. I love it.

Duncan and I are even contemplating doing a 100 mile ride in September with Transportation Alternatives to raise awareness for cycling in the city. We will ride with the purpose of raising money for 2 charities: The Chrons and Colitis Foundation of America and Captain Charles Moore from The Algalita Marine Research Foundation the scientist who discovered the Plastic Ocean.
I will be in touch with further details in case you want to donate money. Both organizations are non-profit so you will be able to get a tax deduction.

Here's a picture of my sweet, sweet ride: