Archive for June, 2009
The Lohasian
June 30th, 2009
What this is
The Lohasian is an informative website focused on Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, delivering "information and opinion on the news and style of conscious culture worldwide." It covers a broad range of topics from concerns through brilliant new ideas that will transform the world as we know it to a greener, healthier place to be.
Addressing all areas of life
With stories and topics like How To Know If You Are Settling For A Mediocre Life, Mindful Parenting in Times of Crises, Physician & Researcher Stuart Brown Asks, "Can PLAY Save the Human Race?", and my own personal favorite body + mind + spirit, you know it will be a definite stop for you on the information highway.
I didn’t know that was a problem
Check in to see just what they’ve uncovered that might not have seemed like an issue to you: The Environmental Price of Smoking Bans, West Virgina Coal Association Markets Dirty Little Tones (Environmentally That Is).
Giving hope
United Nations & "The Billion Tree Campaign": 7 Billion New Trees Inspire Global Climate Change, Curing Asthma Naturally… and Other Lessons in Breathing.
Raising awareness
The Climate Project Summit Opens Uniting Al Gore With World’s Experts On Climate Change.
And making us say, "Really?!"
Coke Creates Eco-Friendly Bottle Made of Plants…Targeting LOHAS Consumer, Eco-Friendly Chocolate Powered Racecar …(Yes, You Read It Right).
Conclusions
If you are into living a healthy lifestyle (and you must be, since you’re here), moving toward what you want and moving away from what you don’t want, put The Lohasian on your reading list. Make it easy by signing up for The Lohasian’s newsletter.
Beyond Recycling – Reuse those plastic utensils
June 23rd, 2009
Reuse plasticware that you use
Bring home those plastic forks, knives, spoons and sporks to reuse before you recycle them. Just keep a plastic container in the car to store the dirty ones until you get home to wash them.
Being proactive
I got the Recycline recycled, recyclable plasticware and keep them in my car to use when I’m eating out at a place where they only have plasticware. I just go into the back of my car, where I keep my canvas grocery bags, and get out my container of plasticware to bring with me into the restaurant.
Putting it all together
Despite the fact that I keep some in my car, I do wind up accumulating more, sometimes because we took my husband’s car and he doesn’t have any. So, I just bring them home, wash then and put them in with the ones I bought. Also, sometimes the ones I bought get lost or left somewhere or someone throws them away so it’s a good idea to bring home the ones we used because it keeps the supply going without trying to.
Hair Care
June 16th, 2009
Many people ask me how I keep my hair so nice. To be honest, I don’t do much at all. Here’s my whole routine with the tools I use.
1 – Brush to get the tangles out
I use a pin brush like this one to get the tangles out of my hair before I move on to the more intense activities. (This is Missy’s favorite hair brush.)
2 – Scraping my scalp 
I start with a wooden comb (I tried one of the combs made from corn and the teeth broke off pretty easily) and scrape my scalp by scraping the comb over my scalp several times going in different directions. The last direction I go is down the middle so I have a part in the middle before I move on to the next step of brushing the oil to the ends.
3 – Brushing the oil to the ends
Our head naturally creates oil (or wax, if you prefer to call it that). If you’ve ever used lanolin, it’s the oil from animals that grow wool. It’s gathered and sold to nourish the skin. So humans also secrete an oil from our heads. This oil needs to be distributed all the way to the ends of our hair. This is supposed to provide our hair with all the natural conditioning it needs.
After I have scraped my scalp and parted my hair down the middle, I use a boar bristle brush to brush each side of my head, from scalp to ends, 50 times for a total of 100 times. Now you know where the "brush your hair 100 strokes each day" comes from. It’s to get the oil down to the ends of your hair. I also get the bristles down to the scalp to brush off any dead skin that was loosened by the comb. It feels quite good, actually.
4 – Washing my hair
I wash it with water when I’m in the shower and scrub it like most people do when they are using shampoo but I don’t use any products. When I’m washing it I make sure I get water to the areas that I notice have gotten a little oily since the last time I showered. For me that’s the crown of my head and the tops of my bangs.
5 – Drying
After I’m done in the shower I wrap the towel around my head and leave it on for a few minutes to get the excess water off that would otherwise drip off. I don’t think I leave it on for more than 5 minutes before unwrapping it from my head and letting my hair air dry.
6 – Styling
I don’t style my hair. It has a natural wave and body to it. Since I don’t use shampoo I don’t need to use any products. When I was shampooing my hair every day I needed to use conditioner, mousse or gel and hair spray. Even doing all that, my hair would usually flop by the end of the day. Natural is better.
Comments
When we wash our hair with shampoo we are taking those natural oils off our hair so the head has to make more than we actually need. Once I stopped using shampoo my hair would look greasy between washings until my scalp learned that I wasn’t going to wash it all off every day. Then it didn’t make as much oil.
Weaning off shampoo
I weaned myself off of shampoo, I didn’t quit cold-turkey. First I cut my shampoo by making it half water and half shampoo. After I noticed a difference I cut down the amount of shampoo to 25%. I also tried using other things, like baking soda, to get the dead skin and excess oil off my scalp but they didn’t work well and didn’t make my hair look better. Once I realized the scraping and brushing worked so well, I didn’t have to worry about the dead skin so much.
So that’s my secret for beautiful hair, oh, that and a healthy diet.
Posted in Healthy Body
The Alligetter
June 9th, 2009
What this is
Have you ever dropped something down the garbage disposal or wondered what was making that rattling noise inside it? Well, this ingenious little invention, the Alligetter, conceived by the husband of a friend of mine, is just the thing to get it out. Not only will it get it out but it will also light the way for you. It has a little LED light mounted on the tip (light is removable) so you can see just what’s down there.
What it’s good for
It’s not just for garbage disposals, although you’ll love it just for that. You can also use it in many tight places to reach things you, or your toddler have dropped out of reach.
My experience
The friend I mentioned, Laura, (the face of the person using the Alligetter on their website) showed it to me and demonstrated how it worked.
How does it work?
The LED light brightens your way (we love things that brighten our way); the trigger activates the alligator clip "grasper" and allows you to grasp whatever it is you’re reaching for. It will save your hands because who wants to stick their hands down the garbage disposal? Not me. You can even see the Alligetter in action on their website.
"Anywhere you need a light and a grabber all in one!"
View product details at Amazon: Alligetter
Posted in Healthy Body