It’s amazing how many envelopes, boxes, and other miscellaneous packing materials get recycled at our house. Ted receives several boxed shipments and frequent FedEx and UPS envelopes each month, and I usually recycle the packing materials right away to avoid clutter in our entryway. I do try to save whatever can be reused, though, such as bubble mailers, small boxes, and whatever else can be easily stored in our office closets. Packing materials are costly, and they take energy to recycle. Reusing these is the way to go, just be sure to remove or cover up any old address information.

As for those pesky styrofoam peanuts, sure, you could reuse those, but there’s no guarantee that the person on the other end will pay it forward and either reuse them or recycle them properly. Chances are, most people will toss packing peanuts into the trash. Do the planet a favor and find the nearest peanut recycling facility and take them there. Use old newspapers or paper strips from your paper shredder as padding instead.

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I just updated the site to the newest release of WordPress today, so let me know if you experience anything that seems weird or unexpected. Thanks!

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As a couple with several computers and gadgets in our lives, Ted and I go through a lot of batteries. My digital camera uses AA batteries, and it runs through them like candy. Ted also loves his Wii, and those remotes eat up batteries constantly. We’ve experimented with rechargeable batteries before, thinking we’d be doing the environment a favor; but they sucked, and we ended up throwing them out. We do save our standard batteries for recycling, but we always thought there was something better out there.

One day last week Ted brought home a box of Eneloop batteries. These batteries are made by Sanyo, and they are supposed to last for 514 digital photo shots as opposed to 117 shots with standard batteries (in a Sanyo test, of course). I’m using the batteries for the first time today in my camera, so we’ll see if they live up to their expectations. I’ve read some of the reviews for Eneloop products on Amazon, and so far, everyone seems to be really satisfied with the battery life and performance.

Ted bought a multi-pack which included a charging base, eight rechargeable AA batteries, two AAAs, four C battery adapters, and four D adapters. The adapters are used by inserting the AA batteries into the adapter cases, which are then placed in whatever gadget you’re using. All in all, the pack is pretty complete, but I do wish that they’d included two more AAA batteries. With that small complaint aside, I’m excited to try these out and see how they work. I’ll be sure to try them out in various gadgets, and I’ll let you guys know how they work.

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This month marks the second anniversary of The Sustainable Scoop’s creation, which was two years and five days ago. I’m always one to celebrate with music, so in honor of the site’s two-year-old birthday, I’ve created a summer playlist for you guys to listen to. I tried to include a good cross-section of what I like to listen to in the summer: a mixture of classic & modern rock, a little electronic, and (of course) some good funk. I’ve also given away my late-80′s/mid-90′s adolescence by including songs from groups like the Chili Peppers and the Violent Femmes. Also: make sure you check out the drums on the Tower of Power song, David Garibaldi kicks some serious ass. (Ted noted that the song I used isn’t nearly as good of an example of Garibaldi’s drumming, and suggested I use “Squib Cakes” instead. While he had a point, I already own “Down to the Nightclub,” and I would have to pay to buy “Squib Cakes.” That’s an easy decision.)

You can check it out in iTunes if you’d like to buy any of the songs. I’ll update this post once I work it all out. Happy birthday, Scoop!

SCOOP MIX: iTunes

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As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been doing some intense gardening. At this point, it’s actually more like landscaping than gardening. I’ve been digging down to about twelve inches to reach the root systems for the mass of blackberries that have monopolized our side yard for some time, and now I’m tackling an old, rotten cherry tree stump as well. So, “gardening” feels like a misnomer at this stage.

I’ve been learning quite a bit from this experience, such as the proper way to double-dig a bed, and the difference between a border spade and a digging spade. Actually, it’s my knowledge of, and appreciation for, gardening tools that has expanded the most. For instance, I read in a book that I would need a spade and a fork to double-dig a garden bed, so I nabbed an old unwanted set from my brother-in-law’s house when he moved out. I figured that I was good to go, and I got started double-digging an old bed under our kitchen window as practice for the new big garden in our side yard. I quickly discovered that those tools were not going to work. the prongs of the fork were bending every which way when I tried to loosen soil, and the spade wasn’t strong enough to handle even the smallest of obstacles. In fact, the handle of the spade snapped in two about halfway through the job. I didn’t know where I had gone wrong, and I determined to find out. As I learned, I had unknowingly grabbed a border spade and a manure fork from my brother-in-law’s garage.

What does it matter, you say? I’ll use the fork as an example. A manure fork is used for mucking stalls and managing hay and compost. Those jobs require lighter prongs than digging does, so the fork I had been using was woefully unequipped for loosening soil that contained rocks, roots, and countless other things. A digging fork, in contrast, has strong square-edged prongs that are thick and heavy, appropriate for a digging job. A good fork will be made of heavy stainless steel, and it should have a good ash wood handle.

If this is sounding nerdy to you, you’re right: I’m an official gardening geek, and I’m not quite sure how to feel about it yet. I will say, though, that my newfound love of gardening has fueled my design work in an unexpected way: I race through my work as reasonably quickly as I can in the hopes that I’ll have an hour or two at the end of the day for, say, digging out a stump, or building a manure stall or two. It’s sad, really, but at least I’m being productive.

I’ll keep you all updated on my progress, both through writing and photos. I’m currently stuck trying to hack out an old, rotten cherry stump, and it’s become my nemesis. It’s sitting out there right now, mocking me. Actually, I’m going to go work on it right now. Be back tomorrow!

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I wrote a post a while back about watching movies via download rather than on DVD because of the environmental impact. The one downfall to this, I noted, was that it sucks to watch amazing movies on a small laptop screen. Well, now this isn’t a problem for those of you with an Xbox 360 and a Netflix account: starting this fall, you can stream Netflix movies directly to your Xbox and watch them on your TV. Microsoft has also signed deals with TV studios to allow users to download TV episodes and seasons, which is awesome. So far, NBC, Disney, and Warner Bros. have signed on for television show deals. As someone who has both a Netflix account and an Xbox in the house, you’d think that I would be ecstatic. But I have mixed feelings about it, which is due to the fact that Ted and I recently decided to cancel our TV for the summer.

We have had a satellite TV subscription for a while now, and we decided to nix it for several reasons. It’s been hard, because I haven’t been able to watch my beloved So You Think You Can Dance, and the new season of Project Runway starts tomorrow. Not having access to TV left a time void in my life, and though it was hard to get past missing some of my favorite shows, I have been so much more productive in other areas. I’ve started to turn the side yard at our house into a garden, a yard that was previously inhabited by ivy and invasive blackberry plants. It’s been a lot of work, and I honestly think that I never would have taken it on had we not banished TV for the summer. Who wants to dig for four hours straight on a Sunday when you could be watching an ANTM marathon instead? And I have plans to take up playing piano again, especially now that Ted bought me a piano bench for our anniversary last month. And, the reading! I have read an average of two books a week for the last month. And they’re not small books, either.

Are any of you Simpsons fans? Remember when Barney and Homer were training with NASA to become astronauts, and Barney quit beer and became a super-human? That’s how I feel right now.

So, would I be doing all of these things if we still had TV service? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t. So the idea of being able to watch TV on our Xbox is a little scary, frankly. I’ve really been enjoying my new projects and pursuits, and the idea of giving them up to watch the idiot box seems, well, idiotic. Sure, my heart hurt when those first few weeks of So You Think You Can Dance came and went, but now I just don’t really care that much. Being committed to watching entire seasons of several shows, as those with a DVR are wont to be, takes a lot of time. Removing those time-sucking hours from my life has been really freeing. But, you know, TV is fun. Though I’m enjoying a TV-free summer, I am a little worried about missing out on the fall TV shows. I can feel myself getting sucked back in, mentally preparing myself for the new seasons of shows to begin. I’m not sure if that’s out of habit, or if I really will decide that TV is worth it. This is why I’m conflicted by the future ability to watch TV downloads on our Xbox, and I’m not sure what I will eventually choose.

What I’m NOT conflicted about, however, is the Netflix part of the deal. I love watching movies, but the excitement of receiving the next movie on my queue is always accompanied by a little pang of guilt. That little silver DVD and its paper packaging were mailed to me, which requires gasoline and other resources. And when I ship the DVD back, I feel the same guilty pang. That’s why this deal is so brilliant: I can download that movie instead, thereby saving the effort and expense of shipping me a DVD. And Lord knows how many CDs and DVDs end up in landfills every year. (Actually, the CD Recycling Center of America knows: it’s millions.) So, yay for Netflix. And, boo on behalf of the Netflix subscribers who don’t have an Xbox. I’d love to eventually see Netflix allow owners of other consoles the ability to watch movies, but I don’t think the licensing deals work that way. And, for what it’s worth, Netflix currently only has the download rights for a tenth of the movies they have to offer in the mail, so maybe those of you who want to watch a more obscure title like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari won’t be able to use the download service that often anyway.

Regardless of whether or not I use the coming Netflix deal to watch TV or not, and even if I can’t get all the titles I want to see via download, one thing is for sure: Being able to press a button and watch the Bourne movies any time I want is going to be AWESOME.

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While we were traveling in Mexico recently, I dreamed of the different kinds of food I could make for June’s Monthly Meal this year: chicken in mole sauce, fish tacos, or any number of dishes involving fresh corn tortillas. But, in case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t had very much free time lately. Catching up with work has taken nearly all my time since we returned, and slowly I’ve realized that my dream of a recipe for a wonderful Mexican meal is just a little too farfetched this month. Writing recipes takes time, people.

In stead of a Mexican meal (which I’m still hoping for next month), I’m going to share one of my favorite recipes with you all. It’s for a dish called massaged kale, sometimes known as CHUD amongst the millennial hippie set. Basically, you take a bunch of kale, add a bunch of stuff, and massage the whole lot until it’s finished. It’s a vegan raw dish, though I choose to serve it with quinoa on the side. If you’d prefer to go gung-ho and eat an entire raw meal, you can always soak the quinoa for a few days rather than cooking it. But this requires planning, which is why I haven’t tried it yet.

I know this recipe sounds a little but strange, but I promise to you guys that it’s amazing. AMAZING. Chud is what I like to eat when I’m feeling run down and tired, or when I really want a detoxifying and filling meal. Plus, chud keeps well and is great for a packed lunch situation. Once I carried some with me in a To-Go Ware tiffin box. I put the chud in the top shelf and some quinoa salad on the bottom shelf along with some avocado, and it worked really well. But I can’t imagine a further departure from the American brown-bagged PB&J than toting some massaged kale and an ancient grain around in a tiffin, can you?

I hope you guys enjoy chud as much as I do. Keep in mind that making chud is very flexible; every single ingredient is to taste. Some people make it with just salt and oil, and some add things like brewer’s yeast or feta cheese. Try it and experiment, and you’ll be sure to find a mixture that suits your tastes. Enjoy!

MAIN DISH

Massaged Kale (a.k.a. “chud”)

INGREDIENTS
-1 or 2 bunches kale (I’ve used both red kale and dino kale, and I liked them both)
-coconut oil
-red palm oil
-lemon juice
-Celtic sea salt
-chopped parsley
-minced garlic
-apple cider vinegar
-turmeric*
-crushed raw cashews*
-chopped avocado*
-chopped tomato*

*The ingredients you add after the chud has been massaged are up to you; try a few things and see what you like.

DIRECTIONS
Tear kale leaves from stems, saving the hard center stems for your compost pile. In a large bowl add coconut and palm oils, lemon juice, Celtic sea salt, parsley, chopped garlic, and apple cider vinegar. Tear and massage until leaves are translucent-ish. The chud will be ready when it looks sort of like it’s been cooked. Add spices and goodies (turmeric, brewer’s yeast, chopped raw cashews, etc), mix a little more, and let stand in the bowl covered with a clean towel for 20 minutes.

Top with avocado and chopped tomato, and serve with a whole grain. Yum!

SIDE DISH

Quinoa

Quinoa is sometimes called an “ancient grain” because it originated in the Andes 6,000 years ago. The Incas considered quinoa to be sacred, calling it the “mother of all grains.” It’s incredibly high in protein for a grain, and it has an unusually complete set of amino acids, which makes it an ideal food for vegetarians. It has a lot of dietary fiber and minerals, and it’s gluten-free. And it has a nutty flavor and a light, fluffy texture. See why I love it?

Bring one cup of water and two cups of quinoa to a boil in a pot. Once it’s boiling, cover it and let simmer for about fifteen minutes or until done (it’s done when the germ separates from the grain). Serve hot.

DESSERT

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

I’ve included a recipe for Coconut Milk Ice Cream here before, so this month I’m going to share an amazing product with you guys: Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice Cream. This ice cream deserves its own post, which I’ll eventually get around to, but for now suffice it to say that this ice cream has earned a permanent place in our freezer. It’s contains no soy or dairy, and because of the coconut milk it’s really rich and creamy. The mouthfeel makes it seem like it’s full of cream, but it’s just coconut milk and oil. Even better, it’s sweetened with agave nectar rather than sugar. I LOVE THIS ICE CREAM. The coconut flavor is coconutty and yummy, but my favorite so far is the Mint Chip. You can’t even tell it’s made with coconut milk, it tastes just like the richest, guiltiest mint chip ice cream you’ve ever had. Suffice it to say that I’m looking forward to trying out their Vanilla and Cookie Dough flavors.

MUSIC

Album: Toots and the Maytals, 20th Century Masters (Best of)

I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of reggae music, which has never endeared me to the hippie crowd. I never had Bob Marley posters in my college dorm room, and I don’t share my brother-in-law’s die-hard love of Steel Pulse. With that said, Toots and they Maytals is one of my favorite groups. Their particular brand of reggae music is so… well, musical. My biggest complaint about most reggae is that it’s just the same thing, over and over again, without ever really going anywhere. But with Toots, the music is good, the lyrics are good, and the songs actually go somewhere. I listen to this album all summer long, it’s like my personal hot-weather soundtrack.

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Hi everyone, I’m back! I had a great time in Mexico, where my lovely sister-in-law married her new husband in a beautiful ceremony. I’m still catching up with work and housekeeping stuff, but hopefully I’ll be able to post the (insanely belated) Monthly Meal for June sometime today. I have a lot of other good stuff to share with you all, this should be a good week!

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Thanks to everybody who gave me such great support in the comments of my “Return to Simplicity” post. It really meant a lot to me, I’ll be thinking about what you guys said for a while.

I’m not intentionally ignoring The Scoop, lest you think I’ve given up entirely. I’m traveling to a wedding in Mexico tomorrow morning, so these past couple of weeks have been dedicated to finishing up some work before I go. I’ll return to posting regularly sometime next week, once I’m home safe and sound.

Thanks again for all of your support, I’ll be back soon!

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I don’t know about all of you, but I thought Kerry’s last post about the green noise was excellent and something we all have to keep in our minds. The line in the NY Times article that really struck me was from Paul Hawken, when he said, “even people inside the movement have the same feeling — burnout.” I think there is some truth to this – especially as we notice more and more stuff coming into the marketplace that really seems to push the envelope of actually being green. For those of us who have been trying our best to really do the right thing, it can get annoying to see so many conflicting messages that are really just a new marketing spin. One blog I read described it as “the same old crap sold with a thin layer of green paint”. Perfect. Example in point – the 5800 pound GM Hybrid Tahoe that gets a “revolutionary” 21 MPG and is a steal at $50k. I can get a 1991 Honda Accord for $750 and get 38 MPG – I guess some of us see progress a little differently.

While I agree with Kerry that getting back to basics is the most important thing right now, I also think it is important to keep yourself tuned in. Sometimes that takes doing something you wouldn’t normally do – you know – splurging a little. For me, the overall outlook in our country right now is making everyone feel pretty heavy. The economy, energy prices, and politicians only loyal to money and power – make us all feel a little helpless. Sometimes it can feel like all of the efforts you make are for naught, and why bother. When I get like this, I need something to snap me out of it, and remember why we are so committed to actually greening our planet.

Normally for me I will read an article, watch a movie, etc and reconnect to that deep feeling inside of living the values I know to be best for our family and our planet. This month, however, that wasn’t the case. I decided to swim against the greenwash and do something really bad. Something so unsustainable, I would force myself to think about my actions. Here is my story:

A few weeks ago I was in New York City and I had a bagel at H&H Bagels, which if you haven’t had one is almost worth getting on a plane right this second and flying there to have one. While I didn’t do this – I hate humidity – I did the next best thing and ordered a package via overnight shipping so that Kerry and I could have one with our morning Mate. Now, normally I would not approve of this kind of thing – sort of insane to think of all the resources it takes to fly me a bagel all the way across the country – but in this instance, I didn’t care. It was time, and I have been thinking about that bagel ever since I left. The local bagels just aren’t the same. Let me tell you folks, it was fantastic! I even used conventional cream cheese. What a gloriously sinful morning it was. The only bummer was UPS was late – nothing new there – so we had an 11am bagel and an extra cup of maté.

While I was sitting there enjoying my roughly hand sized ring of dough, I reconnected with the feeling of why we NEED to be sustainable, not just why we should. Everyday, all over the world, we do stuff like this and don’t even think about it. There is no sustainability police – I think Berkeley might be working on – or even anyone to question our actions. As long as you can pay, you can do it. This is how the world goes around. As long as the economics work out, there really isn’t any other factor one needs to consider.

Don’t get me wrong, much good has come out of the green movement. In many ways, I think the feelings that live in many of us are actually promoting some of the best change the world has ever seen. Just think about it, a few years ago you would have been laughed out of the Walmart for even asking for an organic product. We just have to keep going – keep living those ideals – and really, actually trying to make a difference even when it doesn’t feel like it matters.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to have your own little moment to reconnect with all of this. I am not saying you have to do something bad – that’s just how I found myself – but in whatever way is appropriate for you.

Now if you excuse me, I am going to eat my sandwich that Kerry just brought me — ON A BAGEL FLOWN IN FROM EFFIN NEW YORK CITY!!!!

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I’ve been finding it difficult lately to write here on The Scoop. It’s partly due to my somewhat broken keyboard, and partly because of the weird hand cramp that makes my right hand spasm whenever I type. But mostly, it’s because I recently started wondering if what I’m writing here is really making any ind of difference. Sometimes it feels like there are so many “green” products on the market now, but nobody’s offering a real solution. And, rather unhelpfully, there is so much conflicting advice out there about how to live sustainably. Take this post about short hair versus long hair. I wrote it as sort of a silly Friday post, but it got a serious response from you guys. I think it shows how many different opinions there are about how to be “sustainable” in your everyday life, and how strongly people react to those opinions.

Yesterday the NY Times had an article about what’s being called “green noise.” The article points out the landslide of information that consumers have to weed through in order to make the best decision, which may not actually be the best move for the environment. One good example from the article is, should you buy a used car, or get a new Prius? While the hybrid would have been seen as the correct choice a few years ago, information is now being passed around that says that the energy and carbon dioxide required to create the hybrid battery cancel out its gas-saving qualities. So, do you buy a used car instead? Or are the facts about battery manufacturing coming from dubious sources, such as large American car companies who can’t (or won’t) make cars that compete with Japanese imports in terms of fuel efficiency?

Therein lies the problem. While many people from within the “green movement,” myself included, have the best intentions in the recommendations they make, everything gets so clouded when Big Business comes into the picture. I’m a big believer in the power of business to do great things for both people and the environment; I started this site for the very purpose of pointing out the businesses that really do make a difference. So, there are no anti-business sentiments here. But what can’t be ignored are the thousands upon thousands of companies who are trying to capitalize on the so-called “green movement,” rushing to develop and release products that take advantage of consumers’ good intentions without really making much of a difference. I receive countless press releases every month about these products: books about how which celebrities drive a Prius, organic products for dogs and babies, recyclable clothes hangers, green home listings, and tons of natural and organic drinks… You name it, there’s a PR company pushing it. Some of these products are good, it’s true, and I try my best to write about all of the products and companies that I thin you guys will be interested in. But there are SO MANY crappy products out there! Everyone’s got a “green” product for sale these days, and consumers are burdened with the task of figuring out which ones are legit and which ones aren’t. Where the problem a few decades ago was that there weren’t enough alternatives, today’s problem is that there are too many of dubious quality obscuring the viable alternatives. Add to that the hundreds of causes and non-profits out there, and you’ve got that “green noise” the NY Times was talking about.

In this kind of world, I question whether what I’m doing is actually helping, or if I’m just adding to that noise. When The Sustainable Scoop began two years ago, I was so excited to write about things like organic toaster pastries and hair products. But now, when it’s become obvious to me that those kinds of products are just stop-gap measures, band-aids on the wounds of a seriously sick system, that enthusiasm has waned. Organic products are surely a step in the right direction, and I don’t intend to discount their value. But in order to buy those organic products, you still have to buy into a system that involves manufacturing, pacing, shipping, distributing, and consuming. Our consumption hasn’t waned, it’s just shifted.

In response to these thoughts and emotions about our future, I’ve responded by having my own little backlash of sorts. I’ve been trying to stay away from packaged goods when it’s possible, though this has made me realize just how reliant upon packaged goods I am. One recent example from my life is the fruit on our loquat tree. (If you don’t know what a loquat is, just roll with it.) The tree is bursting with fruit, which is delicious raw, spiced, or in preserves. I recently had the idea that we would preserve our loquats so we could enjoy them throughout the year, so I set out to find some canning supplies. But I realized that someone had to manufacture the jar lifters, pan insert, and lidded jars that I was going to buy. The wax that would seal my loquat preserves was made somewhere, and it was distributed to the store where I was going to purchase it. So, making my own preserves suddenly felt a whole lot less “sustainable” than I originally thought.

But I can’t just revert to living in a yurt and growing my own food. Well, I certainly could, but I’m not at all prepared to do that. I make a living by being a graphic designer, creating digital and printed media for my clients. That involves manufactured electronics and software, processed paper goods, and lots of electricity. I’m not willing to give up my profession, so I’m reliant upon modern manufacturing and power systems for my livelihood. I’m also not yet willing to give up other manufactured products I love, and I’m certainly not willing to give up my modern life.

I recently too a trip to Ecology Action, a fantastic biointensive garden and research organization in Northern California. The day involved a basic tour of the garden and several short but intense mini-classes on things like compost building, seed propagation, and double-digging. We also got a brief synopsis of garden planning, and I loved the mini-class where we got to listen to John Jeavons talk about crop “personalities,” or the properties of what to grow where and when and how based on his own hard-won experience. But the part of the experience that affected me the most was the first hour of the day. Seated in a small classroom where the walls are covered in things like posters about the caloric outputs of various crops, our small group sat along with the Ecology Action interns and listened to Mr. Jeavons relate several scientific facts about where our world is headed. He didn’t do so to scare us, or to shock us into action. Rather, he presented the information in a calm and assured way, more like a scientist than an activist. I took copious notes while he spoke, and here are a handful of the information presented that morning.

In the United States, only 15% of the chemical nitrogen fertilizer applied to commercial farm fields is absorbed by crops; the rest goes into the air or down into the groundwater.

Per pound of conventionally farmed food consume din the U.S., six pounds of topsoil is lost due to erosion and wind. In California, it’s 24 pounds; and in organic farming, it’s still somewhere between 3.5 and 5 pounds of topsoil lost per pound of food eaten (This is mostly due to the importation of good soil from another site, thus depleting that site.) Topsoil takes 500 years to create in nature.

In just a handful of years, American farmers will be literally farming for nothing, unable to make any money using the current methods.

Across the world, 80% of water use goes toward agriculture. In America, most of our agricultural land is used to grow food for animal feed.

There is an estimated 32 to 56 years left of farmable soil in the world.

These predominantly agricultural facts may not seem connected to the products in your pantry, but they are in fact inextricably connected. Those organic toaster pastries I once loved are made from refined flour, sugar, and fruit, which, though raised organically and without pesticides, still contribute to the loss of topsoil. And, when you take into account the fuel needed to produce those crops and process them into toaster pastries, plus the materials required for the packaging, not to mention the shipping and distribution of those toaster pastries… Suddenly the reality of those organic toaster pastries becomes all too real. We tend to think of being “sustainable” in American terms, meaning that we limit our thinking to include only those things that we can change while still allowing us to live our big, costly American lives. I know I’m guilty of this. So, the question I’ve been asking myself is, how do I respond?

Like I said, I’m not quite ready to give up my modern American life. We live in a house within city limits and use city water, electricity, and gas. We go to the market to buy products and produce shipped using a vast system of trains and trucks, and our trash is removed every week by whichever refuse company has won the contract with our city at any given time. Our life is thoroughly modern, in the broad sense of the word. We do buy recycled paper goods, and organic food, and local produce, and shower with products that don’t contain chemicals that are polluting and damaging our waterways. But, it’s hard to just stop at those measures when I know we could be doing so much more.

I find myself in this conundrum, and my quandary is certainly not being helped by all that “green noise” buzzing in my ears everywhere I go. To alleviate this building pressure, and since I’m not willing to live in a yurt yet, I think my best answer is to consume less and live more simply. We’re canceling our cable TV. I’m going to take up playing the piano again. I’m adding additional square footage to our current garden. I’m waling as much as I possibly can, and simply driving less. I’ve been reading more. We’ve been eating more whole grains, things like pearl barley and amaranth. And we’ve significantly cut back on the amount of meat we consume, which in turn reduces the amount of represented topsoil lost every time we eat. None of these things will change the world, it’s true. One compost pile will not solve the growing water crisis or empty the world’s landfills. But these actions will at least allow me to live a modern life while being less of a hypocrite. Until I’m willing (or forced by necessity) to go live in a yurt and grow all my own food, this is really the best I can do.

I think a return to simplicity is what we really need. Doesn’t sound fun, does it? But the real question is, how happy have our modern lives really made us? I’m much more satisfied after spending a few hours in the garden than I am after watching a few hours of television. I can’t tell if I’m just having a knee-jerk reaction to my experience at Ecology Action, or if I’m starting down the path to something more meaningful. I really don’t know. But I’ll keep you updated on how I progress or regress, because even though I’m not sure what the future will hold, I’m pretty sure that most of you are feeling what I’m feeling. So let’s get started.

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I know I haven’t posted yet this week, it’s mainly because my keyboard is on strike. The “o” button barely works, and the comma key is failing too. I need to get it fixed, but I have so much design work to do that I just can’t take it in at the moment… So, for now, I’ll have to use my iPhone, which isn’t exactly the fastest way to write. Problems!

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After last week’s skin care and beauty routines, I received a lot of great feedback. Most of you wanted to share which products you use, and some of you asked questions about products we’d listed or for recommendations. But one piece of feedback got me thinking, and it was about the lack of consideration for so-called “mature” skin. Mature skin is thinner and more sensitive than younger skin, so it requires special consideration. At twenty-eight years old, I don’t yet have mature skin, though I will someday. So, with this lack of experience, here’s my best attempt to give recommendations for sustainable skin care for those of you with mature skin. (As always, please feel free to leave a comment if you think I missed something, or if you have something to add.)

The number one thing I’d recommend is coconut oil. While younger people use it on their skin because of its anti-microbial and anti-viral properties (to fight acne), my favorite thing about coconut oil is how incredibly hydrating it is. To get scientific for a minute, coconut oil is absorbed deeply by your skin, beneath the subcutaneous layer of skin tissue (read: really deep). Most moisturizers and lotions are only absorbed into the top layers of skin, which is why they make your skin sticky when you sweat in the summer. Coconut oil may take longer to absorb because, well, it’s oil. But you can be assured that once it’s absorbed, it’s really absorbed. It’s also very gentle, and it has a nice, light smell. If you’d like to add a little scent, you can add essential oils to your coconut oil, though my favorite way to spruce up a jar of coconut oil is to add flowers or herbs directly to the oil. Let it sit in the sun for a day or two, and then remove the plant bits. Try things like rosemary, cinnamon sticks, or hibiscus flowers.

For tender skin in the eye area, Suki makes a great eye tissue repair product. The company also recommends using it around the lips, where wrinkles may exist. I’ve started using a mixture of shea butter and red palm oil under my eyes and at the corners of my mouth. Shea butter is very high in Vitamin E, and red palm oil is high in both Vitamin E and Vitamin A, the latter of which gives the oil its vibrant red hue. This oil mixture is slightly yellowish when it goes on, but it absorbs well and the color will go away.

For cleansing mature, dry skin, it’s important to avoid any harsh cleansers with abrasive ingredients. My favorite gentle cleansers are Suki’s cleansing lotion and Pangea’s facial cleanser. Both products have a creamy consistency, and they remove makeup while cleansing. They both leave my face feeling moisturized and soft, which would be good for mature skin.

I have a couple of recommendations for masks and other treatments. Pangea has a face mask that contains extracts of green tea, goji berries, and acai, which are all known for their antioxidant (and anti-aging) properties. But this product has its downfalls, one of which is the $35 price tag. While some of the products I’ve recommended here and elsewhere are also pricey, the problem with this mask is that it just doesn’t last that long. It’s gone after a few applications, which makes it seem hardly worth the price. Plus, if I’m being honest, it stinks. Literally. This mask smells like rotting leaves in mud. Who wants to pay big bucks for that? It’s worth a shot, though, if you don’t kind the price (or the smell).

My favorite overall mask is made by Aubrey Organics. Their Green Tea & Green Clay Rejuvenating Mask is great for gently purifying pores. It has a light scent to it, and the green clay is incredibly gentle. It never really dries completely, so you don’t get that stinging, tight sensation that some other clay masks can give you. Plus, it warms slightly over time, which is really relaxing. Of course, you can always make your own masks and treatments and home. Mix some yogurt with raw honey, or some mushed avocado with green tea powder, and voila! You’ve got an organic, hydrating mask. For red skin, add some aloe vera gel, or grow your own aloe vera in a pot (I do).

My best advice for those of you with mature skin is to avoid products with long ingredient lists full of unpronounceable chemical names. For example, Alba has a new product line called Alba Ceranade coming out soon. These products have all sorts of claims, such as their intense hydrating properties or the ability to repair deep damage. I can’t speak to whether these claims are true, but I can say that their ingredients aren’t clean. They are free of parabens and petrochemicals, though, so it’s up to you. Other product lines, such as Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless line, are a mixed bag. Their repair serum looks basically decent, but the other three products in the line contain a few chemicals here and there.

There is a school of thinking in the beauty industry that skin with special needs (mature, dry, sensitive, etc.) needs products with special chemicals. Many of these chemicals are made in labs, and some of them have been extracted from natural ingredients in the same labs. We are constantly inundated with ads in magazines and on TV that make us feel inadequate, and the only cure is to buy the products these companies are selling (and at a ridiculously high profit margin, I might add). To me, it sounds like they’re trying to create a market for the products they want to sell, not the other way around. I’ve always been a big believer in nature, and skin care is no different. When it comes to dry mature skin, slathering your face with “scientific” products full of chemicals just doesn’t feel right. It furthers the idea that we have to “fight” nature in order to be beautiful, but I think that we can work with the natural world to be even more beautiful.

Nature has been so kind as to provide us with healing and soothing ingredients that already exist; why pay hundreds of dollars to buy a product that attempts to recreate those properties out of their natural context, which only serves to further line the pockets of chemical companies? The best thing you can do, besides using healthy products and making your own at home, is to start from the inside out. If you eat well, it will show on your skin. Drink lots of water, eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, cook with life-giving healthy fats, and try to reduce stress in your life. These practices will show in your skin, and you’ll be healthier and happier for it.

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*Note: I wrote this Monthly Meal over the weekend, and for some reason I thought that I’d scheduled it to post on Tuesday. But, ha ha, I accidentally didn’t. Whoops! So here is May’s Monthly Meal, in all its glory. This is one of my favorite meals, I’m giving away serious family secrets here. I hope you enjoy it!

My mother-in-law’s spaghetti is practically legendary. I first tried her spaghetti eight years ago, and it was insanely delicious. I’ve added a few things here and there, but the credit goes to her. (Thanks, Emily!) It’s important to use grass-fed beef, if you can find it. Grass-fed beef is higher in Omega-3 fats and lower in saturated fats than corn-fed beef. And it’s delicious. Grass-fed beef is a little more expensive than corn-fed beef, so we reserve it for special occasions. Isn’t that how meat should be best enjoyed, anyway?

This recipe is easily converted into a vegetarian meal by omitting the beef and replacing it with one zucchini, sliced lengthwise and chopped, and 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms. Add the mushrooms at the point where beef is added in the recipe below, and reserve the chopped zucchini for the last five minutes or so of cooking.

This recipe serves four, or two with leftovers.

MAIN DISH

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

INGREDIENTS
-2 Tbsp. red palm oil
-1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped (about a half of a cup’s worth)
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 Tbsp. fresh herbs, chopped
-pinch of sea salt
-1/3 c. dry red wine
-1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
-1/2 tsp. sea salt
-1 24-oz. jar of marinara sauce (I like Amy’s Family Style Marinara)
-1 16-oz. package of spaghetti (I use Whole Foods’ 365 Organic Spaghetti)
-1/4 – 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and heat for a few minutes until hot; add onions and cook for about eight minutes, until almost clear. Add chopped garlic, herbs, and sea salt and cook for a few more minutes. When onions are clear and the herbs have released their oils, add the beef and red wine. Sprinkle with sea salt and use a wooden spoon to “chop” the beef, mushing it into smaller and smaller chunks as it cooks.

When the beef is finished cooking and all the wine has been absorbed, add the marinara sauce. Pour a little water into the jar, swish it around, and then add it to the sauce; this will keep it from drying out while it cooks down. Heat until bubbling, then reduce heat until sauce is simmering.

I’m always starting the sauce late, so I use about 1/4 cup of water because we’re all hungry and don’t want to wait. On these nights, I only cook the sauce for about half an hour. But pasta sauce is best when it’s been allowed to simmer for a while, when it’s “old.” If you can plan ahead and allow time for the sauce to cook for a while, add about 1/2 cup of water and simmer over very low heat for an hour or two.

SIDE DISH

Butter Lettuce Salad

I love a simple salad with spaghetti. Wash and dry some butter lettuce leaves, enough to serve all your guests, and tear into large bite-sized pieces. Using a carrot peeler, peel the outside skin from a carrot, then make short pieces of carrot about two inches long and add them to the salad. For dressing, do what you like, but I like a mixture of macadamia nut oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Italian herbs, and sea salt. Sometimes I leave out the lemon juice and instead use Dijon mustard. The basic rule is, two parts oil to one part vinegar, though I like a little less vinegar in my dressing. The rest is to taste.

SIDE DISH

Roasted Garlic

This will take about 20 minutes, so plan appropriately. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Choose a bulb of garlic with few flaws, so it will cook evenly. Slice the top off of the bulb, just enough to expose the tops of most of the cloves inside. Brush the garlic bulb lightly with red palm oil and sprinkle it with sea salt. Wrap the bulb in foil, keeping it upright.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve with bread and butter.

DESSERT

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

My friends know that I am obsessed with cupcakes. I was into cupcakes WAY before Magnolia Bakery made them hip. I affectionately call them “cuppycakes,” which is kind of juvenile, but that’s the joy of a personal-sized cake that comes in a crimped paper wrapper. I used to be obsessed with white cupcakes topped with pink frosting, but I’ve since moved on to my current love, yellow cuppycakes with chocolate frosting. Cupcakes are portable, so they’re good for when you want to give away some baked goods to friends and neighbors, and they’re adorable. Another great thing about cupcakes is that they’re already portion-sized, so you can have greater control over how much you eat. That is, of course, if you can keep yourself from eating more than one.

There are several good recipes out there for yellow cake, many of which are really involved and laborious, involving special flours and lots of sifting. These recipes may produce a better cake, but here I’m going for ease of preparation. The frosting recipe I’ve chosen is a little more work, so I figured I’d keep the cake part simple. Plus, it’s pretty darn good. And the frosting recipe below is nothing short of amazing; I can promise that it’s worth the effort.

This recipe makes between two and three dozen cupcakes. You’ll probably have some leftover frosting, which I’m sure you’ll appreciate.

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
-2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 c. sugar
-1/2 c. shortening (I use vegan shortening from Jungle Products, but you can use coconut oil or butter instead)
-1 1/4 c. milk
-3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. vanilla
-3 large eggs

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line muffin tins with baking cups (I like the waxed paper ones from If You Care — they work well and they’re environmentally friendly).

In a large bowl, beat all ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Pause mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl; then beat on high speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl a couple of times. To get the batter into the baking cups, here’s a tip I learned from Ina Garten, a.k.a. the Barefoot Contessa: use an ice cream scoop. It keeps things relatively tidy, and it ensures that your cupcakes will all be about the same size. Fill the cups until almost full, allowing some room for the cupcakes to rise while baking. I fill my baking cups about three quarters full.

Bake cupcakes for about 22 minutes, checking for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. When it comes out clean, they’re done. If you only have one muffin tin, keep the remaining better covered while you wait for the first batch to finish baking. When the cupcakes are done, remove the pan from the oven. You can pull the cupcakes out of the tin right away, but be careful not to burn your hands. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack, and frost when cool.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
-4 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I like Valhrona’s darkest chocolate, but that’s expensive; use another kind, if you’d like)
-2 Tbsp. butter
-2/3 c. milk (and more, if necessary)
-4 c. powdered sugar
-2 tsp. vanilla

FROSTING DIRECTIONS
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter, and milk together over slowly simmering water. (If you don’t have a double boiler, use a short saucepan in a taller saucepan with a little water in the bottom.) When melted, cool mixture to lukewarm, and then stir in the sugar and vanilla. Beat until it’s thick enough to spread. If you think the frosting is too thick, you can add a little milk, but add a tiny amount at a time. You can always add more, but if you add too much at once you’ll have chocolate soup instead of frosting.

I like a thicker frosting for cupcakes, so I make sure I frost them while the frosting is still slightly warm, but not soupy. The frosting hardens a little when it’s completely cool, which I like. But this requires patience while you’re waiting for the frosting to cool on top of the cupcakes, so this technique isn’t for everybody. Like, say, my husband. But since you probably have some extra frosting, you can placate the swarming masses with it while you wait.

MUSIC

Album: Feist, The Reminder

Yeah, yeah, I know, this album is played out. But the thing is, I’m not sick of it yet. The Reminder came out more than a year ago, but I can still listen to “1234″ over and over and over again. The song that’s getting the most rotation on my playlists right now is “I Feel it All,” which just feels right for this time of year. The weather is amazing, the crickets chirp all day, the ocean breeze is… breezing, and everything is right in the world. To me, this is the perfect album for a good late spring/early summer meal, especially one that involves cupcakes.

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