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November 26, 2005
Lighter online?
I'm hunting for statistics comparing the energy and natural resources used by a purchase online (which many people I meet think, incorrectly, is better for the environment) in a shop. So far, I haven't found any numbers, but this report highlights the problems: "Online Shopping and the Environment". I was amused to be reminded that Santa Claus's transportation is renewable and non-polluting (at least in terms of the air, and global warming).
Posted by Karen Christensen at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)
Black Friday to Green Christmas
I had a call this week from a reporter at the Daily Mail in London who wants to interview me about having an ethical, green Christmas. I laughed at the irony of calling the day after Thanksgiving, usually the last Friday in November, Black Friday. It's the day Christmas shopping supposedly begins, and there are sales to attract people to the big box stores at 5am (in the UK, this kind of thing takes place during the January sales, I think). "US shoppers rush to Black Friday"
The simplest way to have a green Christmas is not to go shopping, but that's hardly useful advice for most of us. We may loathe the commercialism and excess but still love the festivity, the scents and sounds of the season. Over the next week, as I travel, I'll be blogging up some suggestions, and recipes, for having a joyous time without overwhelming expense or pressure--on yourself or on the planet.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:38 AM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2005
Catalogue season
This is the time of year when catalogues pile up on the table in our front hall, ironic really because it's a Shaker table--"It's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free." But the Shakers were shrewd marketers themselves, and now that I co-own a publishing company, I have much more sympathy for the challenges of direct mail marketing to people like me.
The kind of catalogue that really irriates me is the one that is full of solutions to invented problems. I picked up one called "Solutions, Products that make life easier" the other day, ready to slam it here on the blog for being totally unnecessary and lacking in environmental awareness.
And it's true that most of the things in it are ridiculous. Caddies to hold silverware on the buffet. Special dishes and candles for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for New Year's, for every event imaginable. Then I noticed the hand-cranked Ice-O-Mat Ice Crusher, a functional reproduction of a solid old-fashioned kitchen tool. This, if you actually need or have a burning desire to crush ice on a regular basis, is actually a great thing.
While electrical appliances aren't a huge energy drain, compared to cars and houses, they are the epitome of modern excess. So if you can use something simple and durable to do the same job, that's definitely a green choice. (Keep in mind, though, that ice can be wrapped in a clean linen teatowel and crushed with a hammer.)
There are two things to look for, environmentally speaking, as you flip through kitchen catalogues:
1. Items that keep things warm or cool without using electricity.
2. Items that can be reused indefinitely instead of disposal products.
3. Hand-operated equipment.
And, yes, I'll tell you how to find the Ice-O-Mat: it's at SolutionsCatalog.com.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:39 AM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2005
Cold weather skincare
I adore certain of the more expensive natural skin care products. Like many people who do yoga and shop at whole food markets, I use Dr. Hauschka’s--in spite of not believing in the whole biodynamic crystals-in-a-cowhorn thing. Whatever I think about the packaging claims, I find their scent irresistable and soothing. And empirical evidence suggests they’re doing me good: even during the last two very cold winters, I haven’t had the tiny eczema patches that plagued me after I moved to New England from London.
But I’m also frugal, and offer these personally tested, natural alternatives to pricey purchased products:
Rose body oil
Buy a bottle of almond oil from the whole foods store. It'll be about $10, and will last a long time in the fridge. Pour some out into a pretty bottle you can keep in the bathroom, and add drops of rose essential oil to scent it. This is a lovely body oil and can also be used on your face as a moisturizer--just a few drops patted in gently. I keep this in an old Dr. Hauschka "normalizing day oil" bottle so it's easy to get a few drops. Rose oil is soothing, but only when very much diluted. A friend of mine once rubbed it directly on her face and was in agony. You can add any fragrance you like to that plain almond oil: an inexpensive and fun way to experiment with aromatherapy, if you're so inclined.
Almond or red bean face scrub
Exfoliation is especially important in cold weather. You can buy prepared facial scrubs but if you look at the ingredients on, for exammple, the Body Shop red bean scrub you'll see that it is nothing but red beans. Save a ton of money by grinding a few ounces of azuki beans in the blender. For drier skin, use whole almonds and again just grind very fine. In fact, the easiest and perhaps best facial scrub is plain old baking soda. Cheap, available anywhere, and no machinery required.
Super lip salve
Baby jelly from the whole food store is a natural, vegetable oil alternative to “petroleum jelly” (trade name Vaseline, and made, of course from petroleum--same as the gasoline in your car) and makes a brilliant lip gloss and lip protector, every bit as good as the Dr. Hauschka salve and about 1/100th the price. Not much of a scent, but what there is is pleasant. (I keep the jar in the fridge, by the way, because it's enough for a year or two; I just put a blob into a small pot to keep in the bathroom, and by my bed.)
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2005
Organic Style is dead, long live organic gardening
Who would have thought? I certainly thought Organic Style was healthy enough (though a little garish, like a slightly over-the-top potted plant). But Rodale's cancelled it, and if you click to subscribe you got straight to the old-time standard bearer, Organic Gardening. People ask me about magazines quite often, because they want something frequent and fresh to supplement The Armchair Environmentalist. I have toyed with the idea of a magazine or newsletter, especially something that could be developed internationally. But that's an expensive business, and risky it would seem. So I'm thinking instead of how to make this website and blog function more like an online magazine.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:43 AM | Comments (0)