Hooray, a Bidet

I finally broke down and bought my bidet. I am so excited I have to pee and then clean myself with my new bidet! Ha ha ha! It's come to my realization that when I say bidet people think of a massive toilet-esque bidet in my bathroom. Not at all. Please, people I am all about practical. A picture of my bidet can be seen here at Wildflower's website. It is a handheld sprayer that is attached to your toilet or nearby wall. It will be great for cleaning diapers, wetting bums, and personal hygiene during my ladies' days and postpartum days. The cool thing about it is that it will eliminate toilet paper use in our master bath. I hate buying toilet paper. It's so expensive and you just wipe your butt with it and then it goes on to ruin our water supply. Great investment. We will have cloth wipes and a bin for those obviously to wash on a regular basis. And since you will be rinsing yourself before wiping they shouldn't be too gruesome (since I know that's what you all are thinking). Hooray...a bidet!

My Skin

Why is it that for years I've used chemical ridden product after chemical ridden product with not one single problem? Literally smearing it all over my skin without any breakouts whatsoever. But now, now that I am completey kosher, my skin is like, "Ahhhh! help?!" Perhaps my skin is reacting to these natural products in such an adverse way because my body is still full of toxins. And toxins, much like misery, love company. Maybe, just an idea. Alright back to my peeling eyes. Sigh.

Green and Green

One of the hardest parts of being environmentally friendly is watching the dollars disappear from your wallet faster than you can say global warming. It's amazing to me how expensive items can be just because they aren't popular and the demand is not as high as the average American product.

I've been wanting to replace my cosmetics and facial creams for sometime now, but have been waiting for them to run out (I'm cheap and I hate to throw things away). Anyway, my cosmetics stores are nearing the end so I've begun my research. The main ingredients that your cosmetics should not have are sodium laurel sulfate, Pthalates, parabens and fragrance/parfum. It has been difficult to find cosmetics that are a good price and healthy for you. I feel lucky that I've found a few items at Target, of all places. I've discovered Physicians Formula Organic Wear. I've purchased their pressed powder and blush. Hopefully they are just as good as my chemically ridden products that I smear all over my face that I buy at such high end stores as Walgreens while on clearance.

Today at Whole Foods I was in search of face wash, eye makeup remover and face lotion/sunblock. I could not believe that prices. Some of these items are over $40.00. It's amazing! I found a Kiss My Face facial line that was on the lower end. Face soap 12.99 and lotion 18.99. The lotion was in a one ounce bottle if you can believe that. I know! I also purchased Earth Science makeup remover for 6.49. It's so hard to buy these items at these prices. I'm just not used to it. But I suppose if I really want to be healthy and green I've got to give a little more green than I'm used to. Now is the time to put my money where my mouth is...and maybe I can look pretty while doing it too.

Rooster Runs and Leaf Leaves

LeAnn's family lives in a rural area, well, it used to be more rural. Anyway, a few years ago Darrin was telling us that he had gone on a rooster run that morning. We all looked confused at him and he began to explain. Roosters are mean. They peck and spit at you and are generally grumpus, so when you have one as a baby you keep it while it's cute and then you get rid of it. First, you choose as neighbor that you don't like, or would like to bother. Second you enlist a get away driver. Lastly, you drive by the back fence, throw the rooster overboard, and speed away in your getaway truck...this is a rooster run. Hilarious I think.

Last week, we had someone pull a Leaf Leave on us while we weren't watching. Ryan came running inside to inform me that someone had left two large bags of leaves for our compost pile. Apparently we are so geek-greened out that we are getting compost drive-by's. But, whatever, the more the merrier I guess. What's next people will leave bidets and rain barrels on our doorstep? That would be nice. Then we could scratch those two to-do's off our list.

I blockbustered Living with Ed from HGTV. It's six episodes of Ed Begley's life as an environmentalist with his wife, who does not want to be all of the time. If anyone wants to see a day in the life at the Sauer Home watch this show. I have never laughed so hard at a television show. It hit so close to home. Some of my favorite quotes so far:

"I'm making toast." grins Ed as he rides his bike to supply energy to his toaster to heat it up.

"I can never leave this man alone. Each time I come home there's a new contraption in my house."

"There's always some new monstrosity in my backyard."

"I'm all for the environment but why does everything have to be so ugly!"

"I'm surprised you haven't used a magic marker to put the numbers back on the knob." Rachelle
"That's a great idea, I'm gonna' get a marker." replies Ed.

Ed's wife Rachelle is hilarious. They fight over each new green idea Ed has. It totally reminds me of Ryan and his first attempt at a TPT greenhouse, or his many jimmy rigged contraptions that are hideous but he is so proud of. Plus, he has some good ideas we'd like to implement.

He reminds me so much of Ryan. Ed Begley was composting while in an apartment. He would save his scraps, walk to the RR tracks, dig a hole and dump them in. Doesn't this remind you of Ryan's shed full of recyclables that the City of Tempe didn't recycle at the time? Now, that's dedication, a bit crazy, but dedication none the less. He has a new book out now I'd like to get, but I'm cheap...we'll see.

Our next goal is to obtain a bidet for our master bath. We need a small diaper pail and liner and wash cloths. I think I can find all of these supplies at a cloth diaper store. We will simply use the bidet to wash, use wash cloths to dry and place in our pail to wash later. Voila! We will have the cleanest bums on the block and will not be polluting the environment with rolls and rolls of tp. Plus we won't have to buy nearly as much tp too - very cost effective, I think. I'm excited. And to irritate Helena, it will also be great for my ladies days, or post birth to keep the area clean and fresh!

The Best Reason to Buy Green

We buy green cleaning products. I'm paranoid about my kids licking the floor (it happens a lot), so I use vinegar or just water. I don't want to leave soap on my counters so I use essential oils, but it took me the longest time to get green bathroom cleaners. Several months ago I found a green toilet cleaner that I liked. No biggie, it just works. Come to find out, I'm really glad that I use non-toxic toilet cleaners. Apparently, when I am not looking Tyler lifts the lid, gently swishes the water around with his hand and then sucks the water off his fingers. Nice. Hooray for a non-toxic toilet cleaner. Now if that is not the best reason to buy green, then I don't know what is.

And while I'm on the subject...I've discovered green cleaning right under my nose at Target. Target carries a brand called Method. I knew they had hand soap but didn't realize that they had cleaning products. Turns out they have a washable floor mop (similar to a swiffer), a floor cleaner, and get this, my favorite, compostable cleaning wipes. I love these! they have more products but these were really the only ones I was really excited about.

I beat my record of 65.00 saved in one grocery shopping trip. This past week Fry's was having a rockin' sale and I used coupons, plus my cloth bags credit... I saved 74.73. I am truly a domestic goddess!

I failed to mention this tidbit, Ryan and I ran out of our green dishwasher detergent. We had some gel cascade that someone had given us. "Help! My eyes are burning!" I screamed to Ryan the first night we used it. My eyes got teary and were red from this toxic fumey cleaner. You really don't realize how gentle the green cleaners are until you go back and try a toxic filled one . Holy smokes what a difference it makes. And to top it off, the cleaner sucks. It has left this thick film on all of our dishes. We have to rinse them off and scrub them before using them. I should just pitch it and use my own non-eye burring cleaner that I bought from Sunflower during my sad Sunflower trip. Geez!

Did You Know

...that I am an environmental nerd?
...that I married an environmental nerd?
...that we are proud of our nerdiness?
...that the City of Tempe NOW recycles plastics coded 1-7!? Amazing right?! Here's the list.
...that you should watch Who Killed the Electric Car?
...that you should watch or read Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth?
...that I feel inspired to breathe environmentalism down everyone's throats in a nice and calm fashion when what I really want to do is scream, "What's wrong with you people? Jesus made this planet! Take care of it jerks!"
...that Helena now drives a clunker and Bill takes the bus occasionally (I'm so proud!)?
...that I'm jealous that we don't have an orbit bus in our neighborhood?
...that I LOVE this planet? Awe!

Tree Hugger

So it is no surprise that I am a bit of a tree hugger. My family is pretty green, but we are trying to be greener. I know I whine about Ryan's absurd tree hugging at times when it's annoying but we truly have the same goals, I'm just a bit lazier than he is. Anyway, I've been doing some research to make my home a little more earth friendly. Some of my future green endeavors are: 1. compost bathroom tissues, qtips and cotton balls 2. purchase and use a bidet in the master bath 3. use corn plastic bags 4. use corn or cane paper goods for get togethers. 5. Bring cloth bags with me at all shopping ventures. 6. purchase a hybrid vehicle. 7. purchase a low water usage toilet 8. figure out a way to use our grey water



Here are some things that our family does that are good for the planet if you are looking for some ideas:

Installed and use solar panels

reusable air filter (you vacuum and rinse it off)

compost kitchen scraps, lawn trimmings

give birds our hair (I know it sounds dumb but it'd just be sitting in a landfill somewhere)

use cloth diapers

use g diapers (these are biodegradable. you can compost them or flush them)

breastfeed (no bottles, no warming, no waste, no packaging)

recycle everything we can (even on a walk we pick up bottles and cans, although I hate this)

use earth friendly cleaning supplies (store bought or homemade)

Ryan rides a bike

Garden

use cloth bags for produce and groceries





I hope this list gets you excited about being green!