News

As a child the holiday season didn't start until after Thanksgiving.  Now Halloween stuff starts appearing in stores in Aug and the holiday season begins sometime in Sept.  As a small business the purchases made for family and friends keep us in business.  I know you've heard this message before but please shop small, indie, women owned.....  Support the businesses that work hard with passion.

And celebrate sustainability.  What does this mean?  The first step is to think about what you value during the holiday season.   What memories do you want to hold dear?  Work from there.   

In order to add sustainability to your holiday you need to plan ahead and be organized.  Giving is not as simple as rushing to the mall and buying a bunch of stuff.  Which means I don't feel guilty writing this blog before Thanksgiving.

Planning ahead is crucial if you want to make gifts.  Gift making is a holiday memory I hold dear.  Often this memory involves only me- it's an activity I do by myself.  I put on the music and craft away.  Think about organizing a crafty/gift making party especially for kids- this is a gift for kids and their busy parents.  Take the time to gather all your materials needed for your project.  It's so frustrating to wander around the house looking for one item or not doing your project because you don't want to go shopping. 

A great idea is to stuff a sock with more lonely full of holes socks to make into a dog ball.  Here's the link from one of my favorite sites for sustainably 1 Million Women- Easy Dog Toys

A shopping bag made from an old T-shirt is another easy project and the version from mommypotamus is no sew.  You do need to be able to tie knots.

Both projects are easy, fun and sustainable.  

A really great gift is the gift of experience.  An experience is simply an activity.  So many to choose from including movie tickets, dinner out, a day trip to a museum, a concert, ski pass.  The list goes on and on.

I like to add reusable containers to my gift giving list.  Each year I pick one type of item and purchase for my loved ones.  One year travel mugs, another year reusable bags.  This year I'm hoping to make beeswax wraps for everyone.

Give love.  Call your parents, sister or brother that you haven't talked to in awhile.

Give plants.  One of my favorite gifts is to fill a bowl with pebbles and pop in some paper whites. The gift of green. 

I hope this blog inspires you to think about how you want to celebrate the dark days with cheer and create less waste in the process.

Read more

I read a recent social media post from the Zero Waste Chef about the joy of making fresh pasta.  It's easy and fun to make, creates less waste and obviously taste so much better than pasta in a cardboard box.  Her popular post encouraged everyone to think like Julia Child.  All you need is "basic skills, a bit of confidence and a "what-the-hell attitude in the kitchen."  She also mentioned GOOGLE as a resource for finding recipes and information.  We dwell in the Age of Information perhaps at times the Age of Too Much Information.  It can be easy to think we can do it all.

In the comments some folks posted about time.  I'd love to make fresh pasta but with a small business, a house that needs to get ready for winter and the need to occasionally get to yoga class I feel stressed for time.  A phenomena a lot of us struggle with is WE CAN DO IT.  Yes, we can do it but we can't do it all.  We can't do it all at one time, we can't do it all alone and we can't do everything.  Pick your battles.  Do what nourishes you.  When it comes to going zero waste and plastic free pick an easy life style and habit change to get you going on your journey.

An easy way to get started is to check out Zero Waste Chef Ann Marie's blogs especially her Start Here section.  One of my favorite blogs is But When You Do Shop, Shop Small.  I've ranted a few times about the lack of customer service from the "Big Boys".  Twice recently, I've said to large companies "If I treated my customers the way you've treated me I'd be out of business."  And gotten a shrug and sorry as the reply.  Ann Marie points out, "Small businesses will more likely do whatever it takes to retain their customers. The big guys, not so much."  I totally agree.

Do what nourishes you and make your actions nourish others.  Spend your hard earned dollars at small, local and indie businesses.  It's good for you, your community and our planet. 

"We all have a Super Hero inside us" but sometimes that hero needs a bit of self care.

What exactly is self care?  It's taking care of yourself.  I find when I'm juggling home, family, job and now the fate of our country that "me" is the daily loser.  When I get busy my yoga class and my daily recharge by the ocean dog walk are the first things to go.  Next is eating good and good for me food.

I also have a low but constant level of anxiety that's hard to shake.  Sh*t just keeps happening and it's hard to unplug.  So much has happened in the past months that I forget about events, comments and laws that outraged me.  Some new crisis overtakes the news, freaks me out and makes it hard for me to balance myself.

Here are some easy tips to help you take care of yourself so you can care for others and our country.

Sleep- routines can help, unplug electronics, try a few yoga stretches, brew a pot of herbal tea, read a bit of a book.  One routine I love at night is massaging our Bring on the Z balm to the bottom of my feet once I'm in bed for good.  It helps the essential oils get into your bloodstream and everyone's feet need a bit of love.

Unplug from the news- it's hard I know but try your best.  Find a series on Netflix for some bing watching to help get some news relief.

Cook and tidy the house- making good healthy food and clearing away the clutter can help calm your mind and use up some of that nervous energy.

Get outside- this is so important, we need sunshine and nature to stay grounded.

Exercise- getting your body moving helps clear out the mental cobwebs.

Talk to folks and smile and strangers.  We all need to feel connected.

We put together a "Self Care in the Age of Anxiety" kit filled with good for you products to help you de-stress and recharge.  We have a special price for purchasing two, one for you and one for a fellow sister.

  The kit contains-

"Girl Hold My Earrings" sticker

Sample Pack of Shower Shots- aromatherapy right in the shower and a scent for every mood.

#resist creme- #racism, #resist sexism, #resist wrinkles.

Be Kind Lip Treatment- because our words matter.

Too Much Botanical Oils- a bit of calm in our hectic world.

Hot and Healing Balm- after hitting the streets give your feet a treat.

Halloween is coming.  I actually love this holiday especially when I was teaching.  It's an opportunity to celebrate the season, indulge in goodies and a chance to dress up and pretend. 

The problem with all holidays is our enjoyment creates mountains of trash- bags of candy, plastic decorations and tiny toys make a lot of trash.

Here are some ideas to help you put the green into trick or treat bags.  

Plastic free candy is a challenge, look for candy wrapped in foil or paper or cardboard boxes.  They will be bulk packed in plastic but it is better than handing out plastic wrapped candy.

It's easier to skip the candy and pass out other sorts of treats.  My favorite idea is a bowl of nature items including shells, sea glass, acorns and stones.  If you live in the city this would be a real novelty for some kids.

Paper straws are a great treat to help raise awareness about the problems of plastic.  Amazon sells boxes of 150-300 and depending on your street a single box could last a few years.  

Sidewalk chalk, tiny cookie cutters, pencils, erasers, bandages, magnets, coloring books or printed coloring sheets, remelted crayons all are lower waste treats and last quite a bit longer than candy.

You can also buy an activity card set and hand out one card per child.  Your local bookstore or toy shop will have a selection.  Expect to pay around $10-12 for a deck of 50 cards.

The website Teachers Pay Teachers has some different printables including Halloween Yoga cards and Halloween PE.   Download to make cute books, printable bookmarks are another option.  The downloads cost between $3-5 making these a fun and cheap treat.

The materials to make a craft are also nice treats.  Friendship bracelets made from embroidery thread are a calming way to end the Halloween frenzy.  You can make a kit for each trick or treater and include directions.  Here is a link-DIY Printable Friendship Bracelet .

I hope this blogs helps you think about ways to celebrate without making lots of extra trash.  Handing out an eco item can help raise awareness about our planet.  Let's all work to make Halloween more green.