The Dirty Dozen

See below link for David Suzuki's list on what chemicals that are important to avoid:

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/10/19/suzuki-dirty-dozen.html#ixzz12okaUn4i

Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and happy purchase

John Balguy

Natural Body Product Workshop

Amy and I (Andrea) held a workshop on making body products this past Saturday. Did you know we use about 10 body products a day (if you're me you use about 25!)? From brushing our teeth, washing the dishes, using shampoo, lotions, etc, we absorb everything we put onto our skin...the problem? Many of the products we buy are filled with nasty chemicals. As our body absorbs these it doesn't get a chance to be filtered by our livers, thus scientists have found preservatives (found in lotions, shampoos) in breast cancer tumours!

Our purpose was to create this awareness as well as to show others how easy & fun it can be to make your own products.

Lip balm ingredients: beeswax, cocoa butter, vitamen E, and essential oils.

Liz adding some essential oil to her almond face oil.

Three happy ladies making body spray.

Darlene giving her green foamy soap a shake.

Karin scenting her face oil.

The prices include the full price of product and container. The price in brackets is the container cost. Not bad considering you can use the containers over and over. Amy used to pay around $30 for her Clinique moisterizer and now she pays $3.70.

The finished products: Lip balm, foaming hand/body soap, dish soap, room/face/body spray, and face/body/bath oil

The following is a sheet that you can fold and put in your wallet as a guide of which ingredients to avoid when you are shopping for things such as baby wipes, cosmetics, of whathaveyou...

http://www.ewg.org/files/EWG_cosmeticsguide.pdf

Guest Speaker Con't

What an inspiring night! It was so encouraging to meet with others who are struggling to go against the flow of our culture. I feel as though I'm always looking for someone to tell me "buying 10 sweaters is too much but buying 5 is ok!" I want rigid solid rules! This night with the Hogues reminded me that such rigidity can steal joy and can become a religion. Mrs Hogue encouraged us by saying that as long as we are "asking the question" we will be on a better path than if we are not.

Mr. Hogue ended the night by reminding us that we have only been consumers for a short time (2-300 yrs?) compared to being producers-- which we have been for the majority of our existance. Being total consumers doesn't seem to be working well for people or our universe -- enough is never enough AND the earth is being totally stripped bare & polluted beyond repair. He reminded us to shift back to something that has worked & respected humanity and the earth. So perhaps a small challenge for some of us is to think of something we can make on our own rather than depending on someone else to do it.

Andrea

Guest Speaker Night

Hearing from the Hogues

We recently enjoyed spending an evening with the Hogues and their daughter Julia. It was inspiring to hear their story, and then to share how our stories intersect and relate to theirs. Thanks to Amy and Mark for hosting in their oh - so - cute and cozy abode.

Their honesty and their transparency allowed us to learn about the nuts and bolts of how they have lived out their values. I enjoyed hearing their relaxed and non-rigid approach to life. Here are a few tidbits that I will take away from the evening:

• anything can become your religion if you lose focus
• flexibility trumps rigidity
• delaying your gratification is good for you and your children - it provides that "wow" factor
• sometimes it's OK to "blow the wad" on things or experiences that you value
• some tools are very useful to have

Please, add your own tidbits....from the evening, or as my daughter Kaija would say, from your own coconut.

Connie

Food, Glorious Food.

A website for a local food initiative in Winnipeg... Is something like this possible in A-town? Let's talk pros and cons...

http://www.freshoption.ca/

And to my mentor: angrychicken.typepad.com

Recipes, crafts, body product goodness.

More to come.

Amy

Baby Steps

Hi there

This website has everything from A-Z on how to care for the earth & people holistically. Her main mantra is about taking baby steps. I've found it very helpful as a reference for things such as using vinegar in my dishwasher rather than the chemical-induced ones in our grocery stores.

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/