Cloth bum!

where has my head been? haven't posted on here in an age!

But the answer to the question is I have been preparing for the baby growing in my belly and due to arrive in the material world in October. Wondering whether I will cope with pregnancy, labour, and a baby. That bit has come more recently when I started to wonder, "what does a baby do?"

I have also been contemplating the environmental impact of having a baby and how to minimise this. As a cloth pad user, who doesn't use wipes or cotton wool but rather muslins and reusable fleece pads it is natural that I would want to use cloth nappies and reusable wipes.

I have no idea which nappies I should use yet, although i am veering towards some sort of pre-fold/muslin or terry with a wrap of some sort for the first couple of months, and then some one-sized nappies for the rest of the way to potty I think. However, I already know as a cloth pad user that purchasing pretty cloth is addictive, and the desire to have new and fancy prints is a difficult one to fight. So I think i will end up with a few of a lot of different types.

Anyone have any experience of cloth bumming they would like to share?

In the meantime I am perusing as many sites and looking at as many different types as I can.

This is one site that has been recommended to me by lots of people, so will be looking to get some stuff from them:
http://cheeksandcherries.blogspot.com/

the power of advertising

I feel compelled to blog by some adverts I have seen recently.

The first tells us how our clothes are covered in bacteria, and how washing at low temperatures does not kill this bacteria. So now that we are being green and washing at lower temperatures our clothes may look just as clean, and we may be wondering why on earth it is that we ever washed at such high temperatures. But, oh no! Wait! We are leaving bacteria on our clothes. Not to mention of course that there is bacteria on everything including inside our bodies. What sort of deadly bacteria precisely are infecting our clothes I wonder? But anyway, we now NEED a product to put in the washing machine to kill this bacteria even at low temperatures. Presumably this product is not made of natural plant oils, but probably androgenising chemicals that kill good stuff and infect waterways. Even if it doesn't do that it makes us spend money that could be spent on something better and makes us feel that by doing good we are doing bad. I have no idea whether there are bacteria on my clothes or not, and frankly I don't care. I have been washing at 30 for nearly 10 years, using only soap nuts for about 4 years and I don't seem to be dying of bacteria infestation.

The next advert to get my goat is one that I heard without seeing. Lots of people talking about all the green things they do, making dinner from scraps, turning off lights, quite a range of things. I didn't see it and it didn't say what it was advertising it just said it was "thanking the people greening Britain". Later I saw the advert and it was for EDF. What more do I need to say? I am not surprised they are thanking people for greening Britain it takes the heat off them and means people are less likely to notice that they are blackening Britain. Harumph.

vegan skill share event leads to thoughts about home schooling

I went to a local social/community centre yesterday to do a "skill share workshop", led by my friend. We learned how to make vegie burgers, and then had a little competition type thing to try changing the recipe and see who made the best burgers. I have been vegetarian for 13 years and never once made a vegie burger (*blush*). However I have also been cooking for 12 years and so general principles of cooking make sense to me.

At the start we were asked who had made vegie burgers before and almost everybody else said yes (there were a couple of other adults, and three 14-16 year olds). At one point I found myself being lectured to by a 16 year old about how ridiculous it was that I did not cook for myself until I went to university. I am not quite sure how my mum would have felt if I had started cooking and not eating her food, nor how she would have felt about paying for the extra ingredients (everything was budgeted very carefully, we had a calculator to add up what was going into the trolley and only things on the list went in). I don't suppose a 16 year old has had much cause to consider these things though. This however is another blog entirely! Anyway, despite my never having cooked for myself til i was 18, and never having made a burger til i was 30 it seems I was OK at it! I think general cookery skills were more important in the long run than having made a burger before.

Later I was asked about my organic veg box, which comes from Abel and Cole, however I was unable to say where my distributor was located. I don't think this matters as I have selected them for being ethical and for the range of products they stock which stops me from having to go to supermarkets so frequently. However, I did feel a little looked down on for not knowing this answer. Don't get me wrong everyone was lovely, but they were all far more "knit your own porridge" as Mr Green-Eyes would say (and he would barely tolerate such people as he can barely tolerate me!). Then the 16 year old tells me that there is a local box provider (the provider's name escapes her too), I explain that I am quite happy with my own. Then she suggests I do my shopping at farmers markets. Aside from the added petrol used to get to these farmer's markets I don't especially have the time. Now, I have questioned myself about whether I am being defensive. Lots of people have poor excuses why they can't do things, and generally they could do them if they really wanted, the reason they don't do them is because they don't want to. Maybe I just don't want to?

To be honest, I nearly suggested she should try having a job to go to before telling people how to live their lives or making judgements on the choices they make. I did however decide that actually though at 16 nearly everyone thinks they know everything, and actually at least she had some strong opinions. I don't think I knew any vegans at 16 or people who would have been able to/had the inclination to discuss merits of various organic distributors.

I was kind of surprised though that some of the others were home schooled, and had a friend who is steiner school educated. One of the adults at the skill-share was actually talking to another (who I happen to know to be a maintained-school teacher, I guess maybe he doesn't know that) and almost making the assumption that any socially inclusive/vegan/whatever label fits/knit-your-own-porridgers would do anything but home school their children. Apparently they have a home school group at the centre. It got me thinking... I usually align with the green-anarchistic camp at least philosophically if not practically... should I be pro-home-schooling? Am I pro-home-schooling? Strange thing for a maintained teacher to be considering, should have some faith in the system I am part of (a wall I am a brick of?)

My gut is that I am not pro-home schooling, just like my gut is that I am not pro going round all the farmers markets in the area hoping I can get enough stuff to run my house. But then I wonder whether I am just displaying the classic defensive behaviour that people show when faced with people doing something "better" than them?

Oh and this is a link to my burgers! Mine are the ones in the main picture, the little girl is not mine however! I am on the left of the picture in the middle of the second round of small pictures (follow that? Well done!)

Burgers!!!!

Meat-free Mondays? For a Vegetarian?

Meat-free Mondays are a concept of which I am aware, I didn't really know who or how it started it, but I knew it was an environmental/ethical movement to try to reduce the amount of meat eaten, and therefore the inhumane conditions, waste products and general unenvironmentalness that meat-eating entails. I think it's a good idea in principle. Why people think that just because they "can" they therefore "should" or "need to" eat meat with every meal is beyond me. I mean, plenty of people only used to meat once a week less than 50 years ago, why is that we now think we won't make it past the end of the day without meat?

So anyway, I would like to get involved with meat-free mondays, but as I already have meat-free mondays, and tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays, fridays, saturdays and sundays I thought I would do animal-free mondays. I have a fairly animal free week already as I use soya milk and margarine and rarely eat honey. It's cheese, yoghurt and saturday morning boiled eggs that wreck it! As well as any ingredients in products made from these things.

Most of the time I think I should be vegan, and I ashamed to say the only reason I am not is because I can't be bothered, and I like eating out a lot. Not very moral or ethical reasons eh? Most of the time we are pretty much vegan at home, but as I say, things creep in.

So from tomorrow onwards I am doing animal-free mondays!

It was only after starting to write this post that I discovered the website for MFM:
http://www.supportmfm.org/index.cfm

And thus discovered they recommend animal free for vegetarians.

adventures

As regular readers will know I like to take my holidays without the use of an aeroplane. This is a somewhat recent occurrence. In December 2007 I flew to Amsterdam for a friend's 30th birthday having never properly considered the impact of flying (I know, late to the party). It was while we were there that another friend, who had also flown, said they were surprised that I had chosen to travel by plane. Apart from getting to france by ferry or chunnel I hadn't even considered the possibility you could get on holiday by anything other than a plane (d'oh! I would like to add thought that despite this I have not flown many times as a consenting adult). I was mortified to discover that we could have travelled to amsterdam by ferry or train for less money and only slightly more time than a plane.

Since them I have taken 2 holidays by ferry/chunnel and car to france, one holiday by train to russia, mongolia and china, and then on by ferry to japan, and one this year to brussels and amsterdam by train. This year I will be travelling to the south of france by train.

I am now starting to daydream about future holidays. I may have a baby by next summer so who knows how far in the future I am dreaming! My most desired holiday destination at present would be somewhere in southern africa, botswana probably. I have found a fantastic overland tour of south africa, botswana and zambi, starting and ending in johannesburg. I would love to do this, but how to get to Jo'burg? Freight ship appears to be the answer, but as the journey takes 30 days I am not likely to be having this particular holiday anytime soon.

I started to read more about travelling as a fare-paying passenger on a cargo ship. It sounds most adventurous! So, the next trip I have planned is in South America... Freight ship to mexico via new orleans and the bahamas! Once in South America I would like to see mexico, peru and chile (and visit my friend in Bolivia). But as the freight ship alone takes 22 days again, I don't think I'll be doing that for some time.

So maybe north africa then? Morocco is on a serious list of a holiday that I hopefully really will do in the near future. You can get to morocco via train and ferry with a day in Madrid along the way, in only 48 hours.

However I have just found this great Egypt to Istanbul journey that I think I would like to take. You can get to egypt by eurostar to paris, and then train to venice, then ferry to cairo, arriving in cairo on day 3 (you can make the journey overland which sounds very exciting, but does involve a 19 hour bus ride and takes a total of 19 days and sounds like it has the potential to go a bit wrong!). Then I would spend 22 days travelling from egypt through syria and jordan to turkey. i would then like a couple of days and nights in istanbul, before taking the train home. Train home would take in Bucharest, Budapest and Vienna. I like the sound of this for my next "big" trip, whenever that may be.

I hope I never have to step foot on a plane again, overland travel is so much more fun. I just wish I had endless amounts of time.

it's a cat's life

You may recall I discussed my thoughts on the newspaper article about how your pet can be more environmentally un-friendly than a 4x4.

After careful consideration I am getting 2 cats. I still have some issues to work through. When they come to me they will still be kittens (i know i know, why not recycle a rescue cat? I was going to, and then these ones needed homes, so they are all cats aren't they, they all need homes? Maybe I should have left the kittens to someone who would never get a rescue cat? Well, I haven't. I am having kittens) so many of these questions don't need answering just yet.

The biggest question for me was should they be allowed outside? My dearest Mr Organik believes it is wrong to keep cats indoors. I believe it's OK especially if they have never been outside and you provide them with adequate facilities. My garden is very meadow like (where is this going? Hang on in there, I come back round to topic!) and attracts all sorts of wildlife. We had a "pet" fox one year, we have 2 squirrels regularly although I have only seen 1 recently, bees, birds, butterflies, and my favourite of all slugs, sometimes they even decide to join us in the house for a party. Had to nip that one in the bud! So anyway, we are a bit lazy and this is why the garden is as it is, but I am not a fan of the heavily manicured garden anyway, and a happy coincidence is the wildlife we support. So it seems a shame that my cats will lay that to rest. So I have decided they will be in at night, and certainly at dawn and dusk when cats do most of their killing. So, point one compromise with me and the mr reached, compromise with the environment reached.

Next point is cat litter... If I keep them in at night they have to have a litter tray. Most traditional cat litter is mined exclusively for the purpose of making cat litter. Hmmm. Not sure about this. So I looked into more environmentally friendly option, biodegradable pellets, shredded paper (my bills maybe?!!) but apparently they don't like this as much. There are complex environmentally friendly litter tray solutions, but these are all made of plastic, plus I am being given a litter tray and do not wish to create additional waste. I am considering training them to use the toilet. Everyone seems to think this is a crazy idea, but surely this is the most environmentally friendly option?

Next food... I am vegetarian. I do not intend to raise my cat as vegetarian. I think this is wrong. Everything I have read says cats, unlike dogs, need a meat based diet. But again, many cat food brands are either subsidiaries of evil companies, and/or they source meat as purely for cat food that would have been fit for human consumption, whereas there is meat left over from the human meat industry which could make cat food. I need to read more about this to decide.

I am trying to get natural cat toys and bedding and things too. Not things made of plastic and man-made materials. There is a brand at Pets at Home called Willow, where it all looks natural, but as it makes no claims to be organic or anything on it I am suspecting it is trying to cash in on the organic market without being that at all. Of course I can see it is made from sisal and hessian and things and not plastic so I can see with my own eyes it is less artificial than some of the toys.

So many questions, what are the answers?!

my poor neglected blog!

I ave neglected this a little. I haven't stopped the environmental cause though. I had a miscarriage, but while pregnant I was debating with myself the environmental impact of a child in a western, northern hemisphere country.

My considerations were - do I as a vegetearian eat fish to ensure my developing baby gets enough omega-3 for brain and eye development (I was eating a spoonful of flaxseed oil everyday anyway, bleurgh! But there are some question marks over whether this short chain omega 3 is useful even given the poor conversion rate to long chain omega such as that found in fish).

-what nappies will I use?
-will I use washable wipes?
-what about toys etc?

Then I had a miscarriage and had to wear pads (sanitary towels) while I was bleeding and spotting - 18 days. I normally use a mooncup and cloth pads at night, but I didn't have enough cloth pads, so I felt awful contributing to landfill. My wonderful husband points out that this is better for the environment than having a child! Hmm.

Anyway, we are getting cats so that throws up it's own issues. I have blogged on pets before, and my next post will either be about volcanoes and lack of planes in the sky (yay!) or about cats. I'm not sure yet, but let's hope it doesn't take so long as this post to happen!