0 waste life

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North of house area

The area to the North of the house is 80” (almost 7 ft) x 36 feet. It’s pretty big.

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Kirks soap

Kirks, like Bronner’s is a castille soap, but it seems milder. Not sure if that has anything to do with the fact that it’s made of coconut oil.  The WF soap was glycerin. All of them seem too drying (Im used to Cetaphil). A bit of a stumbling block.

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Soap!

The glycerin soap from Whole Foods and the Bronners bar soap seem to dry my skin making it itchy. Now taking a break before experimenting with the Kirks.

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Scoop for water. New problem: I found out that the Bronner’s soap makes me itch. Time to try the next soap bar. 

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Greywatering of the plants

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Next steps

Next step is to test-water some plants with the Bronners graywater to make sure it’s healthful. C's suggestions--

Water early morning, not at night. Night time watering invites pests slime slugs to nibble. Take before and after pics to see any changes. Don’t overwater.

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Cup to gallons

There are 16 cups in a gallon.

About 8 cups of water flow out of the showerhead before the hot water starts= 1/2 gallon

When taking a quick shower I captured roughly 45 cup of water= about 2.5+ gallons of water.

Tried the Bronners soap today. It was good. Following the approach recommended by my doctor and others, I washed mostly face and private areas and rinsed everything else off. This prevents the excessive loss of skin oils.

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I guess in my mind, Trader Joes is a neighborhood store while Whole Foods is expensive. I created this map showing TJ locations (red) and WF locations (blue). In reality, both chains seem to serve similar customers, creating a ring around a TJ/WF desert.

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Here’s what Trader Joe’s is looking for in a new location, and why it’s not (yet) in the Lehigh Valley

For years, the Lehigh Valley has yearned for a Trader Joe's store. Brokers have called the chain. Enthusiasts have sent emails. Petitions have been signed. So why aren't they here? And will they ever answer the area's call?

Article on how TJ chooses store locations: income, density and education level.

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I created this map showing the location of Whole Foods (red dots) superimposed over an income map of LA (higher percentage of expensive homes shown in purple). You can see that Whole Foods creates a ring around LA’s lower income center. Being able to easily buy single bars of soap for experimentation is a matter of equity. Trader Joes is not dissimilar (shown in blue).

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I thought I’d just pick up some specialty soaps on Amazon. But the Dr. Bronner’s soap I was looking for is sold only in large quantities and buying a single bar means going through the Amazon Whole Foods or Amazon Bristol Farms stores, both of which have $35 minimum orders. So I went down to the nearby Whole Foods and got these to try out

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Dimensions

The area to the North of the house is 80” (almost 7 ft) x 36 feet. It’s pretty big.

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Time makes a difference

I took a shower in the afternoon but it was hot outside so there was no pre-warm water to collect. It never occurred to me before that the time of day makes a difference in collecting water.

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So what does one appropriately, or not so appropriately, post on Black Friday?? Well, if you are striving to be sustainable, you avoid the whole consumption model and make do with what you have. Pause and reflect. So, in the spirit of my post-cloth-diapering baby days, tonight I finished making this set of feminine hygiene cloth pads. Oh-so-comfy and reusable, too. Sorry for any discomfort this post causes. Still, don’t you agree that the switch away from ugly single use items begs for greater conversations and options? I kinda think some of these are a tad pretty, don’t you think? Oh, well... May the spirit of the season reign higher along with taking care of our sweet and wonderfully giving planet.

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We finished this yesterday. 4″ strips of cardboard cut out of old boxes taped together with painter’s tape. Cat scratching post! They love these things. Hope they love it more than our new sofa and chair!

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I turned a vintage avocado green tablecloth into this top. Perfect for messy work! And yes, the fringe comes from the tablecloth.

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This spoon. So well crafted and handmade. I use it all the time. Musa bought it for me years ago. I think of her every time I use it. I can feel the smooth grooves whittled into it by the maker and the wood both holds it own and yields.

It is the best spoon. I once tried to replace all my wooden handled cooking utensils with fancy stainless ones. The metal ones got so hot! The wood handled ones don’t conduct the heat. The wood changes color over time, like a patina. I like it. One day it will be gone and so will I. It is as it should be.