SortaCrunchy

WFMW: Take the Pledge!

That's right, gentle readers! I did it. After months and months of knowing I should want to stop the plastic bottled water madness in the SortaCrunchy hacienda but not really wanting to, I've finally come to my senses and surrendered to a life less plastic-y.  And I've taken the pledge. 

And can I tell you this?  It's so liberating.  I cannot tell you how irritated I would get with the plastic bottle congregations that somehow colonized around the house.  The nightstands in our room were particularly popular breeding grounds.  A few weeks ago, we decided it was enough, that it was time.  It has definitely been one of those things I didn't realize I was so deeply in bondage to until the plastic shackles were removed.

So we've been just keeping pitchers of water in the fridge to meet our cold water needs - pouring it into glass tumblers (gasp) the old-fashioned way!  I still need to figure out our out-of-the-house solutions.  I'm leaning towards Kleen Kanteens but haven't yet pulled the trigger on those; I'm seriously considering the Foogo cups for the girls, or do I want to go with Born Free, which I can buy locally?

In the meantime, Debra of Days of Grace shared a great glass water bottle solution last week - reuse and re-purpose glass juice bottles!  I grabbed some at the grocery deli this week and they are working wonderfully for our transition phase.  Even The Coach is on board with this change and he is really digging the Nantucket Nectar bottles (thanks again for that, Debra!).

The Think Outside the Bottle site has some good information on why you might find it works for you to step away from the bottled water; additionally, check out The Green Guide's "Tapped Out: The True Cost of Bottled Water" and the Nutrition Issues in Gastroenterology article "Bottled Water Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction."

Make sure you stop by Shannon's place for more Works For Me Wednesday goodness!

WFMW: Facial Cleansing

I haven't done a Works For Me Wednesday in a long time!  But last week's Shampoo Free post which mentioned my success with the Oil Cleansing Method spawned some questions and comments that I wanted to address all in one sitting.  Incidentally, Shannon's theme for WFMW this week is what doesn't work for me, so I'll play a little fast and loose with the theme by saying . . .

what doesn't work for me are traditional facial cleansers.  They remove my make-up okay, but they also tend to remove lots of healthy, beneficial facial oils, too.  Sorta like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, only we do not throw babies around here.  (Although Big Sister has been known to throw things at the Baby as of late, but that's a whole 'nother post.)

Anyway, as I mentioned last week, it was actually my husband who persuaded me to try this method of facial cleansing.  I'll bet you didn't know that football coaches can also be into natural living and good skin care, huh?  Well, there's a lot about football coaches that might surprise you!  Anyway, he came across this method and thought it made sense - the idea being that most facial cleansers create two damaging situations for your skin: 1) they remove the body's natural oils from the skin causing it to overproduce oil to compensate for the oil that was washed away, and 2) many include ingredients like fragrances that irritate the now vulnerable skin.

I'll let you read the article to learn more, but for now I want to address some specific questions that were posed to me:

1) How often should you use OCM?

Personally, I do an OCM treatment on my face every other or night, maybe every two nights.  It's important to note that I use bareMinerals make-up and feel no need to wash this off my face at night.  Maybe I should, but I don't, and I don't have any problems with break-outs or build-up.  The Coach does a treatment about three times a week or so. 

My sister has begun to use OCM to cleanse her face, too, and she does it about five nights a week.  She wears traditional (non-mineral) make-up and on the nights she doesn't do OCM, she uses her trusty Clinique face wash.

2) What kind of skin types can use the OCM?

I would guess any skin type.  I have combination dry/oily in the T-zone skin and it works great for me.  My sister's skin tends to be more oily than dry, and she has found great success with this method, too.

3) My skin feels dry after I use the OCM.  Why?

It's possible you are using too much castor oil.  The castor oil is the part of the system that actually carries dirt, make-up, impurities, etc., away from your skin.  Too much can be drying.  If you find your skin is too dry, try changing up the proportions in your oil mixture.  Instead of one part CO to three parts of your nourishing oil (we use EVOO), try one part CO to four parts or five parts nourishing oil.

4) Do you still use moisturizer?

I think you'll find if you do an OCM treatment at night, you don't need to put on a moisturizer before bed.  I still put on just a tad in the mornings after I shower if I have dry patches on my face.

5) Have you had any break-outs since you started the OCM?

Actually, no.  When my hormone levels fluctuate with PMS, I might have a blemish or two pop up (blemish . . . I'm terribly proper, aren't I?), but other than that, my skin is really quite clear.  And sometimes even glowy.  (Or maybe that's the minerals talking.)

If you want to read more, here's a few articles I can suggest in addition to the one I linked to above:

Cleaning Up With Oil: The Oil Cleansing Method
Suite 101.com: The Oil Cleansing Method
Aisha Wood: OCM - The Oil Cleansing Method

Don't forget to go by Shannon's to read all the What DOESN'T Work For Me Wednesday posts!

Another Way - Shampoo Free

I cannot even believe I am considering this.

It's all Keeper of the Home's fault.  On Wednesday, her Works for Me tip was about going shampoo-free.  (Referred to mostly as going "no 'poo" but I just can't make myself call it that.  Yet.)  So, I've been around the natural living world long enough to have heard of this plenty of times.  And plenty of times it's landed on my glad-it-works-for-you-but-I-will-not-be-trying-it list. 

But then late last year, The Coach talked me into trying the Oil Cleansing Method, which sounded totally insane to me, but has actually been one of the best and healthiest things I have ever done for my skin.

In fact, I started thinking back, and I can't think of one single crunchy change I've made in the past two and a half years that has been a total flop; in fact, most have been pretty positive, rewarding changes overall.  Cloth diapering, wearing babies, more whole foods, mama cloth, less toxic and more natural home cleaning and clothing care, the above mentioned OCM . . . these have all been good, healthy changes for me. 

And so Stephanie's post got me thinking, ya'll.  What if this could work for my oily scalp and dried out damaged hair?

But it sounds so . . . crazy.

Here are some links (most all courtesy of Stephanie/Keeper of the Home's post):
Info: Shampoo Free
Clothesline Alley's Caring for L-O-N-G Hair Tips
The Herbwife's Kitchen's Shampoo?  What Shampoo?  Simple Herbal Hair Care (read the comments, too)

There's more to be found, I'm sure. 

What do you guys think?  Should I give it a try?  Raise your hand Let me know in the comments if you want me to try it and if you would like to see a pictures of the process.  Is there anything I won't do for ya'll?

(For those who only know me online, I'm not the most high-maintance, fixy-uppy gal around town.  I wear a bare minimum of make-up, bareMinerals only these days, and 99.9% of the time, my shoulder-length hair is up in a clip or ponytail.  So there's that insight as you weigh in your thoughts.)

Inspiration

I started reading Sara's blog at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly long before Jen ever introduced me to The Story of Stuff.  Sara is definitely my real-life inspiration in my own battle against stuff.  I mean, check out her post from last summer as they were about to load up the RV to go on their Live Lightly Tour.  I hadn't discovered her yet when she first made the compact . . . and I am not sure if I am brave enough to take up the challenge myself.  Or maybe I am? 

Whether or not I am as brave as she is, I can definitely identify with her reflections on life after swearing off stuff.    

Get anyone else to thinking?

Another Way Wednesday - what to do about Easter stuff?

I haven't posted on this in a while, but I am most definitely still working through my issues with stuff. 

In my first Another Way Wednesday, I shared my commitment to buy only (well, mostly only) secondhand/gently used clothes for the girls.  I did take the girls and the birthday money to The Children's Orchard and pretty much finished out their summer wardrobes.

(All of this - some even NWT - for $80!)

But then the onslaught of Easter marketing came early this year, and I started to debate with myself about what to do about the girls' Easter dresses.  Being a mom to girls . . . it's fun, right?  Playing dress up is one of the perks that makes it easier to handle the constant drama.  But I had made this commitment to myself not to buy any new clothes for them. 

(Particularly challenging is the fact that we live a stone's throw from some of the best outlet shopping in the US.  I can actually buy some brand new clearance items for less than I spent on some of those dresses at The Children's Orchard.  But for me, this challenge isn't about being thrifty.  It's about doing my teeny little part to counter the consumption aspect of the Story of Stuff.)

(Um, if you haven't already, go watch at least the consumption chapter.  Seriously.  It's like seven  minutes long and so important.)

Annie Leonard quotes Victor LeBeau's statement that in order for the consumerist model to work, as we "make consumption a way of life," we must "convert the buying and selling of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction in consumption . . ."

I thought about that a lot.  About how so many of my fondest childhood memories of Easter are rooted in the stuff of Easter.  The new flouncy dresses and matching little white purses.  New white patent leather shoes and new brilliant white gloves.  Baskets brimming with plastic grass and chocolate eggs. 

. . . the buying and selling of goods into rituals . . .

It's been a real quandary for me.  Do I give in and buy them brand new dresses and all the trimmings?  Or do I dress them in brand-new-to-them dresses I scored at The Children's Orchard?  Do we do the Easter basket and the egg hunts or just read stories about them to the girls?  And why did I feel so bad about not buying them brand new dresses for Easter? 

Part of the quandary for me goes beyond the distancing myself from consumption.  To me, Easter is the most significant observance in the Christian faith.  The tomb was empty!  If it weren't, wouldn't Christianity just be another of the world's religions?  And so how do I convey the duality of Easter to my children?  The solemnity and the celebration of how the worst day in the history of man led to the best morning for the future of man . . .

If this sounds all disjointed and rambly, it's because that's where I am with this Easter stuff thing.  How do you handle it at your house?  What are your thoughts on the link between consumption and ritual in the western world?

(Footnote: The girls are getting brand new Easter dresses courtesy of the generosity of family members who like to buy pretty, flouncy dresses for little girls.  And they really did need new white shoes.  Really, they did!)

Q&A: What's the deal with gluten free?

If you are anything like me and have been known to stalk and shop your local health food store and the "healthy living" aisle at your local grocery, then perhaps you've come across a variety of foods labeled "gluten free." I know I was sorta puzzled when I first happened upon this category of foods, knowing neither what gluten was nor why anyone would need foods that were free of it.

Eventually, I was introduced to the world of gluten free cooking and eating through my sweet friend Melissa. She and her sister Melanie have chosen gluten free lifestyles as a way to counteract the effects of Celiac Disease. Melanie was gracious enough to do this Q&A with me as a way to explain more about her family's experience with Celiac Disease and how to make the switch to gluten free living:

What is Celiac Disease?

About Celiac Disease:

Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disease, is an inability to break down the protein gluten which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. Oats are off limits for the most part as well, since they are almost always processed right alongside wheat. When a person with Celiac eats gluten, it destroys the villi lining the small intestine, and causes microscopic tears in the lining of the intestine. Typical symptoms are gastrointestinal - constipation, diarrhea, but because the gluten leaks out of the gut, it can manifest in MANY different ways - other common symptoms are headaches, fatigue, mental fogginess, restlessness, chronic congestion, skin irritations (in fact dermtitis herpatiformis is an itchy rash that is caused by Celiac disease). Celiac is highly associated with ALL auto immune diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc. In many cases, a person struggling with one autoimmune disease will benefit greatly, or be cured by eliminating gluten from their diet. Many autistic kids are either much improved or completely healed by going on a gluten free diet. About 1 in 100 people have celiac - some never know it because the symptoms may be tolerable, and so it is never investigated. Ireland is the Celiac capitol of the world at about 1 in 75 people. All children in some European countries are tested for it prior to entering the public school system. Celiac is most common in those of European descent. It is also genetic.

Describe your family's experience with Celiac.

Cooper, my middle son, began having chronic headaches about 5 years ago. They worsened over the course of a year, and instead of just having them every night at bedtime, he began having them all day, and even waking up at night in pain. He also complained of stomach aches quite a bit, developed a few nervous tics, and began to just have a sort of grey appearance, circles under the eyes, and a constant complaint of "Mom, I don't feel good." He underwent an MRI (horrific experience!) to see if there was a tumor, as he was also complaining of fuzzy vision. No tumor and the pediatric neurologist (with a very big ego!) diagnosed him with migraines and tourettes! I just knew that wasn't it, but we tried the migraine diet of no nuts, chocolate, strawberries, cheese, etc. Nothing changed. A friend mentioned Celiac, because her son was in the process of being diagnosed and our boys had a lot of similar symptoms. I got online and did the research, then asked my pediatrician to do the blood test. (They test for certain elevated antibodies) He said he doubted this was the problem, but didn't mind testing. Cooper's results were inconclusive as we discovered that he lacks an antibody which throws the results off, but one antibody was elevated enough to convince me to try the diet. (Cooper also had an endoscopy where they take a biopsy of your small intestine to look for damaged villi under the microscope - his results were negative, but a lot of people have a false negative reading because of the length of the intestine and the patchiness of the damage. This test remains the gold standard, and you cannot be truly diagnosed as Celiac without it - oh well - no more tests for us, thank you!) Two weeks gluten free and an almost complete removal of all symptoms! I was totally convinced!

As I researched on behalf of Cooper, I realized that I had all the common symptoms - things I just thought were "normal for me." I was tested by a doctor in Dallas (all through the mail - and a stool sample this time!) and found that I had very elevated antibodies indicating a gluten intolerance and was malabsorbing fats with off the charts numbers - I had been loosing weight pretty steadily as well. Not long after this, my daughter started complaining of stomach aches and having daily diarrhea, so we tested her and she was positive. My oldest son had a blood test just to rule it out - no symptoms really except for chronic congestion and a need for ear tubes because of it at age ten! His blood work was negative, but about two years later, we did the stool test and it came back positive. So, my husband is the only family member that eats gluten, although not much of it since I hardly have it in the house!

How did you did you make the adjustment to gluten-free living?

At first it seemed very challenging to think of things to eat, but when your child's health is in jeopardy, you just don't look back. I joined a support group in my town, collected recipes, read books, found cookbooks and just forged ahead. Honestly, we eat much healthier - fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, beef, eggs, nuts, rice, and potatoes! Anything highly processed is usually off limits because it has wheat in it - cookies, prepared foods, breadstuffs. And anything with a long list of ingredients is usually off limits as well - canned soups, salad dressings, sauces, etc. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but often I'm thankful that some things are just not an option in our house! (I've made us corn syrup, msg, and food dye free as well!) I do use some alternative flours for baked goods - mostly rice, tapioca, potato, bean, and nut flours. Almost everything is from scratch, but we do indulge in ready made frozen waffles and pancakes from Trader Joe's (small quirky chain - sorta resembling Whole Foods), brown rice wraps, and Gluten Free Bakehouse sandwich bread and pizza crusts from Whole Foods. Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are on the same street as me and less than a half mile from my house! HUGE BLESSING - except for the temptation to go to Whole Foods every single day and deplete the checking account!

Tell a little about the book you've written.

I wrote and self-published a book for kids about Celiac Disease. There was nothing out there to read to kids when we were being diagnosed, and I always look for a book to help explain things! It's called Bagels, Buddy, and Me, came out in September, and can be purchased through the website bagelsbuddyandme.com. In it Cooper tells his story of being diagnosed and making the transition to eating gluten free. The story idea came after the first three of us had been diagnosed, and our new golden retriever was needing to go out several times a night because of diarrhea. A friend told us their retriever could not tolerate wheat, and we should try switching food. We switched from a wheat based food to a rice based food and he was never sick again! We could not believe it - how weird is that? The WHOLE family except for dad!

Thank you so much, Melanie, for taking the time to share this insight into Celiac Disease and the benefits of gluten free living! Both Melanie and Melissa have more gluten free links in their blog sidebars. If you are interested in learning more, I know either of these wonderful women would be happy to share more with you!

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And now, if you really want to be blessed today, I highly encourage you to click here to listen to "Music From Another Room" - an amazing, inspiring, thought-provoking treasure of a song, written and performed by Melissa. (Melissa didn't know I was going to do this. Hope she isn't mad! I just can't NOT share it!)

More on the stand against Stuff

I haven't quite had time to talk more on my continuing struggles with Stuff. 

(I did nearly finish the girls' spring/summer clothes shopping with one quick trip to a resale shop and want to talk more on that - eventually.) 

But this is hard, ya'll.  Well, parts of it are easy.  It's easy to sit here at my computer and be inspired and motivated and confident that I don't need or want Stuff as much as I think I do.  But outside the walls of this house, the seductive lure of Stuff greets me at every turn.  Bright, shiny New Stuff winks at me from the aisles of Target.  Unsolicited catalogs tumble from the stack of mail and coyly suggest that I'm not quite as satiated as I thought I was with the Stuff I already have, even as the same stack of mail turns up credit card bills that speak to me of unrestrained transgressions (some long past, some shamefully present) committed in the name of Stuff.

Missy emailed this to me - a sobering reflection on what it means to be impoverished which questions who on this planet is truly poor.  Read and think on it.  I know I am still digesting the message: Crying for My Poverty.

Another Way Wednesday - a different way to do Valentine's Day

There was a whole 'nother post planned for today. And then there was a doctor's visit (just well-child, no one's sick . . . for now) in which each sweet thing got a mean shot. And my hands have been busy ever since.

This morning, however, I came across this great post from Crunchy Chicken on how to Have a Green Valentine's Day. I actually sorta don't like Valentine's Day (issues), but if you are going to celebrate it, I wonder if you could find another way to do it this year?

Labels: Another Way, general natural family living, link love, mothering

Another Way Wednesday

(First of all, thank you all so much for your feedback on my Negative post. I debated on whether or not to post it, mostly because it reveals that as much as I struggle against it, I still wrestle with fear. Sharing that goes against my natural tendency to package myself up a lot more neatly than that, but my ever-growing desire to be real and unpackaged won out. For those who have asked, I may test again, but it could really all just be me misreading my body's signs.)

So, going back to my problem with Stuff. And how God is dealing with me about Stuff. And how I want to be free from my bondage to Stuff.

As my dear friend Shaila would ask, What does that look like? Freedom from stuff? And how can I connect that to my desire to leave behind a more gentle impact on this planet?

Most of the time, I'm all about big ideas and little follow-through. I find big change to be more manageable in small steps. So I wanna break this down into something that is real and lasting. Each week, let's talk about some ways we can live Another Way. A way that is outside the consumerist paradigm. A way that speaks of financial integrity and resource responsibility. A way that make us, yes, a little uncomfortable, but perhaps also encouraged that if a lot of us make some little changes, something bigger than ourselves might take place.

My first Another Way Wednesday challenge to myself - *deep breath* Buying mostly (if not all?) gently used children's clothing.

This is huge for me, girls. Huge. Oh gosh, this is about to get ugly. You might wanna hide your eyes. But there is this awful, vain, shallow voice somewhere in my mind that has been known to say disdainfully, "But your girls deserve better than that!" Yuck. There is just no way to package that. It's as ugly as it is true.

To be given gently used clothes? Sure, I'll take 'em! (Seriously, if you're reading Ali, I'll take anything you clean out from your girls' closets!) But to intentionally buy used clothes? My pride . . . it wants to stand up and say NO!

But watching the Story of Stuff movie challenged me on that. I have shopped at Once Upon a Child and The Children's Orchard and there is really cute, nice, unstained and untattered clothing to be found. There really is no reason I have to keep feeding into this broken consumerist system by buying brand new clothing for the girls when I can buy clothing someone else's little girl has already broken in. And you know, this is the time to begin training my girls in a different way of looking at clothes shopping, one that might help to ward off future self-esteem problems caused by materialism. And maybe discourage any training I might unintentionally but inevitably be doing to cause them to have their own problems with Stuff.

The timing is right for me to take on this first challenge to myself because D really does need clothes as she woke up one morning having outgrown her 3Ts. The grandparents were generous with birthday money and mama needs to go shopping. Just not *gulp* at The Children's Place.

So, how about you? Anyone wanna start down Another Way path? If changing your clothes shopping ways isn't where you want to start, maybe you could check out this article my sweet reader Elizabeth emailed me about Green Grocery Shopping. Or check out Jen's list of her goals.Whatever small steps you are taking, I want to hear about it! Share in the comments or link me to your own Another Way post(s).

Labels: Another Way, general natural family living, stuff

He Speaks to me . . . about STUFF

Let it not ever be said that the voice of God is always hard to hear. Sometimes, I gotta get still and quiet to hear Him. And sometimes, He pulls up a chair next to mine, turns my eyes to meet His, and says, "Listen to Me."

In the past few weeks, I have been bombarded with subtle hints that He wants me to deal with my love of stuff. It started out simply enough with my sweet friend Jen (from The Things you Didn't Do) encouraging us to watch The Story of Stuff. She created a poweful and challenging list of ways she is responding to the message of the Story of Stuff movie, and I kept thinking, "Okay, okay . . . I know I have a problem with stuff. I can stop anytime though. Really."

The truth is I didn't wanna talk about my problem with stuff. Because I, um, love stuff. I can package it however I want . . .

(but AJ needs these new cloth diapers! just doin' my part to save the earth! D needs this sweet stuffed puppy dog! she's still suffering from displacement angst! I need new boots since my feet have expanded a whole size in the past three years and my beloved black dress boots have proven to be unwearable and what's a girl to do without a trusty pair of darling black boots?! 'Cause I get all dressed up to go to the library a lot these days!)

. . . but at the heart of it all is the fact that I just love stuff.

And I read Jeana's (Days to Come) But I WANT That, and I knew He wasn't going to leave me alone about this.

And then AJ woke up at 5:30 this morning and after she agreed with me that 5:30 is far too early to start the day and drifted back to sleep, I found myself wide awake and hankering for a good devotional. So I looked up one of my favorites - My Utmost for His Highest.

This would be when God pulled up a chair next to me.

"A warning which needs to be repeated is that 'the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,' and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22)."

Oh, and it gets better from there. Go read it yourself, if you're feeling brave. And if devotionals aren't your thing, take twenty minutes from your day to go watch The Story of Stuff. I did. It's very much worth the investment of your time.

So get ready 'cause Mama's been convicted, so you've not heard the last of my battle with stuff. Oh no, gentle readers - it's just beginning!

But first, I have to say that at this moment, precisely three years ago on this lovely January day, I went into labor with my sweet D. And you know I'm gonna have to write about that.

Labels: faith, general chatter, stuff