toothpaste

I have a possibly somewhat weird recommendation: dry toothpaste. Which I guess isn’t a paste at all. I’ve tried a couple of DIY toothpastes and hated them, but then settled on an even-more-simple version of my friend’s simple salty toothpaste recipe.

Basically, I left out all the liquids, mushed up some anise seed & used that instead of minty oil to flavor the stuff. It’s like brushing your teeth with Indian dessert mixed with ocean (I think that’s pretty awesome, but it may be an acquired taste), and it leaves them squeaky clean. For home, I may try tossing some peroxide into this recipe, thereby restoring the whole paste concept, but I like the solid for travel.

no (or, well – less) impact

In another… hrm, six weeks… I’ll be starting a job that means I’ll travel constantly. That’s an impact on the environment I’m not used to having – though I do drive a 20 mile commute to and from work most days now, so it’s not like my business travel is zero impact to begin with. Anyhow. Air travel is generally considered supremely lousy for the environment, in case you haven’t heard.

I suppose I could buy carbon offsets, but do those actually work? I have no idea. Their main selling point seems to be education, and I already know that flying around isn’t great for the environment. And of course, I’ve ruled out the things that are unreasonable for me (that is, not taking the job or selling my house and moving to each place I work).

So. I’ve been reading about ways to reduce my footprint further (beyond the small things I’ve talked about here before). The No Impact Project has some interesting ideas. And some major liberal guilt. It’s pretty cool, though, to see people suggesting – and then going and enacting – changes that sound pretty extreme to me. I like shampoo, okay! Hair washing is awesome. Let’s do it all the time. [Sidenote: I continue to debate with myself whether it's better to have shampoo in bar form shipped to me or to buy it in plastic bottles closer to home. Currently the shipping solution is winning, because the volume of plastic in my life disturbs me.]

My thought here is that, in exchange for the travel, I need to step it up from what I do now (which, honestly, is what all caring people with money should be doing – none of my habits inconvenience me). Use my shampoo thing as an example: make bars of the stuff myself. I’ll try some of this stuff out and see what sticks. I figure the concern at least is a step in the right direction.

at least they’re trying

On a lighter note: big box stores are not quite ready for the bring-your-own-bag phenomenon. At least not in Virginia. Target, for instance, sells reusable shopping bags, but the cashiers eye me suspiciously when I bag my stuff without their plastic.

Plus, there seems to be a rote physical behavior of scan, then stick in plastic bag. It’s becoming a game: can I interrupt the routine without getting the person flustered? Harder than it looks.

a tiny efficiency

It is too easy, when making big change, to totally reject what you’ve built before. It is for me, at least. The astounding breadth of what I’m considering work-wise got me thinking that the work I built and the house I bought were all wrong. Too settled and unchallenging.

Yeah. Because owning a nearly 100 year old house and making art are totally boring and complacent.

I’m counteracting the “everything sucks” backlash of big change with small refinements. This weekend I spent $40 and redid my bed in a way that lets me keep the temperature no colder than 78F. I imagine that’ll save a little bit of power & money, and it came along with more color. And orange.

The household economies are going well without throwing life out of whack (I wrote a post on my FB-connected LJ about my kanban board as a means of life balance, too). My garden is feeding me quite well, though food is still a thing I spend more on than needed. Most everything else is down, spendy-wise. I feel safe.

i made dirt.

This weekend I tried to make a semi-secluded corner in the yard by putting up trellissy stuff and planting mandevilla (it’s the first step of many, I imagine) and a couple of zinnias. The soil back in that corner looked like it had been in some sort of war zone, so the approach that usually works in this yard – dig a hole, put something in it, wait for that something to grow into a monstrosity – seemed a bad idea. [As a side note: one of the added features of a house that stays uncared for over a few years is that the dirt gets amazing, full of dead stuff and nutrients. I think this is why everything grows huge and ungainly here. It's like growth hormone for plants.]

I have, however, been quietly and lazily composting yard and ungross kitchen waste since this winter. I dug into my compost pile, and? I? HAVE MADE DIRT. The bottom of the pile is dark, rich, you-can’t-buy-this soil, complete with helpful creatures.

That is awesome. I have made some art that really moved me. I have done work that felt like it mattered. And now? I have made dirt, the most fundamental thing you can make outside yourself.

Yay.

resistance?

I put out a bag for recycling at the beach house my family rented for vacation last week. We ended up filling 3 bags! People can make so much trash; it’s amazing.

My parents started regularly recycling well before I did, but they aren’t attentive to it now when it’s not convenient. I never figured out where to take recyclables when I lived in apartments. At the house, I just had to call and ask for a bin; now I recycle or reuse more than I trash. My practice may be better now, but I understand not doing this small service to the earth when it’s inconvenient.

And when I set out a bag to collect the stuff, we all immediately started using it. [Side note: is there a way to recycle plastic bags in Richmond? I try to just never get them, as they're specifically called out as not acceptable in my curbside service. Wonder if there's a way to do something with them other than reuse.]

Another surprising thing that’s encountering no resistance from others, or really myself anymore: fishytarianism. I’ve figured out how to eat at normal places, and no one even comments on it. I remember it being so hard to be vegetarian when I was younger. The world has changed, though. And the people around me are way more chill. I would struggle with veganism, or even real vegetarianism, but conscientious seafood and dairy is pretty easy. Cheap, too – I had a cafeteria lunch today that cost me $4.

Neither of these practices is that far from normal (they’re more the norm that otherwise in some contexts), so I’m not sure why I expected resistance. It’s good to not get what I expect here.

hard habit to break

Earlier this week, I started looking around the house at things I leave plugged in, with a mind to reducing energy consumption. I’ve trained myself to turn off lights, so presumably unplugging laptops and phones and stuff when they’re not in use should be easy.

Strangely, it’s not. I’m not even going hard core with this – I mean, the microwave and the teevee are still plugged in, and those are sucking down power, too. [Now that I think of it, why isn't the teevee unplugged? I only turn it on every few days.] Detaching phone from charger and putting in in purse is an almost-unconscious gesture. Apparently the second gesture (“yank plug from wall”) just needs to be learned.