Green Living

Living in Southern California, I can’t help but feel concern for the water supply and how we use our water. Here are some facts about what we are using or wasting our water on.

1. Four to seven gallons of water are required to flush a toilet. Placing a brick in your toilet tank to serve as a dam can save one to two gallons of water with each flush.
2. About five gallons of water are used if you leave the tap running while brushing your teeth. Just wetting and rinsing your brush uses only a 1/2 gallon of water.
3. The average household uses about 245,000 gallons of water per year. The average person about 188 gallons daily.
4. On average, 20 gallons of water are used to hand wash dishes. An automatic dishwasher requires 12-20 gallons.
5. Only one percent of the earth’s water is suitable for drinking water. The rest is salt water (97%) and glacier ice (2%).
6. The earth’s surface is 80 percent water, equaling 362 trillion gallons. Water is the most common substance found on earth.
7. The human body is made up of 70% water. A person must consume about 2 1/2 quarts of water per day (including water, food, etc.) to maintain health.
8. A pineapple is made up of 80% water. Many of the foods we eat contain water, including a tomato (95%), and an ear of corn (80%).
9. Watering the lawn at 5 to 10 gallons per minute for a half hour equals 300 gallons! Automatic clothes washers use about 30 gallons, a tub bath requires 36 gallons, and a shower uses 35 to 50 gallons.

Anyhow, we started entertaining many ideas on how to conserve water and make sure we are using only what we need and not being wasteful. It has turned into a household challenge for us. We try to see who can use the least amount of water. Now, I still have a long way to go. I still need to completely remove my lawn since that seems to be our biggest water guzzler. I also started thinking about rainwater (which we hardly receive in So Cal), and grey water, which is usable water for gardening and so forth.

As you search you tube ANYTHING is possible. I figured how much water my household uses on flushing the toilet and it is close to 75,000 gallons of water a year. That water can go to better use. Here is one way to alleviate that water waste.

Ok, so my kids laughed at first, but then said it looks like a good idea. Hmmm… am I ready to go to this extent? It is environmentally friendly especially since we are on a raw food lifestyle and everything we eat is compostable, but still. My heart says this is smart, my mind says this is out of my element. I know I will eventually do this….just one green action at a time.

This clip answered more questions

I just placed an order for more seeds. Yes, in the middle of summer. Most people order before spring, but a new gardener like me hasn’t established a system yet. I am sooo excited because I bought things that I have never even seen before like a red and orange carrot, black tomaotes, cinnamon basil, I mean the list goes on. I love the fact that I will grow things that are not only organic and biodynamic, but they are rare and uncommon. Who wants to grow the same exact thing that you can pick up at the market? I find the uniques varieties far more alluring.

I have also finished building four more 4×4 raised beds. I will use them for my kids gardening experiments for school science.

My ultimate gardening goal is to have a beautiful organic edible landscape that provides food sustainability that is super nutrient dense. It just makes sense to grow food rather than work on a lawn that serves no major purpose, especially since I am in Southern California which is experiencing a water crisis. It makes no sense to see miles of lawns in a place where we are in need of water. If you are going to be watering something you might as well be growing food.

I have really been enjoying learning as much as I can about gardening this year. I have been exposed to gardening with sea agriculture, rock dust, ormus, compost tea, worms, bees, bio dynamic, bio intensive, square foot method, and so on. I can’t say that my garden is flourishing out of control like many gardeners are experiencing right now. I learned I was missing nitrogen from my soil and that stunts the growth of the plant. So, while researching online I found many sites talking about urine in their garden as a great source of nitrogen. WHAT?!?! Ok, this immediately repulsed me….NO WAY am I going to PEE in my garden. Well, then it started making a bit of sense. I mean, I would go to the garden shop and put chicken and bat poop in the garden. So that’s just as gross, right? I started thinking about my diet and the fact that I eat raw foods. I eat sprouts, seaweeds, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, superfoods, and so forth. All of which would go into a compost bin safely. I don’t consume any animal products. Anyhow, I started to apply it to my garden…go figure… I am seeing peppers that are finally producing rather than the flowers just falling off. My teeny tiny canteloupe has tripled in size. I know it sounds disgusting, but proof is in the ….PEE…LOL.

Meetup.com has been a wonderful resource for me to connect with like minded people. This is a link of the buying club I am helping to reinstate.

http://organic.meetup.com/100/about/

This is a clip of the organic produce buying club that I support. I am the first one chatting away. I get a bit nervous on camera, but I truly feel that services like this should continue and flourish in all communities.

Until I am growing ALL my own food this is something I rely upon. Recently, the club that I belong to has been in jeopardy due to various elements. However, it grew from a handful of people to over one hundred in a matter or months. Obviously, this is something that needs to continue.

Please search out your local farmers, give them your business, get a group together on meetup.com. What better way to go green, support local business and care for your health at the same time?

I was looking up more natural beauty remedies and came across some interesting information on teeth whitening. I currently whiten my teeth with a little food grade H2o2 ( hydrogen peroxide). Sometimes, I have added baking soda (aluminum free) and made a paste. It works fine and I also rinse my mouth out with diluted H2o2 pretty regularly. I still haven’t started putting coconut oil and neem on my gums as David Wolfe has mentioned he has done. That will be next.

I found out that I can take my whitening regime to a whole new level and apply the H2o2 paste to my teeth and put a black light up to my teeth. Apparently, the UVA rays from the light increase the effect by 33%.

Here is a simple blog from one person on their in office “ZOOM” treatment that I found online.
http://www.san-diego-plastic-surgery-cosmetic-surgery-doctors.us/san-diego-teeth-whitening-article.htm

Now here is another site. However, after I watched the video The hydrogen peroxide was not food grade, nor was the baking soda aluminum free. Why was it all over the gums? I make sure to keep it OFF my gums if I am keeping it on my teeth. However, they mention using a black light to heighten the results.Remove Years Of Coffee Stains From Teeth-suss Sassy – Watch the best video clips here

Now, to bring it all into perspective…watch this hilarious clip :

Problems with a red or ruddy complexion? How about a dull, sallow, or grey cast to your skin?

Well, I found that we can correct this through the food we eat in our diet. I have heard many people complain that vegan people do not look healthy, that they look pale. Most meat eaters use this as a way of proving that we must eat meat to be healthy. I found some of what they said to be true and some of what they said to be false.

I followed a vegan diet last year and noticed much of my diet consisted of beans, rice, steel cut oats, quinoa, etc. Lots of grains, beans, and lentils. I noticed that I over indulged in these foods rather than focusing on the veggies. The starch was the main course. Anyhow, if you look at the color of these foods they are a bland, dull, pale color for the most part. So it makes sense that if we leave out the veggies we are going to take on the color of the starches in our complexion.

So an experiment took place. I began consuming major amounts of carrot juice, eating butternut squash, and yams. I also was taking iodine to correct a thyroid imbalance. Sure enough after a month or so I was receiving comments on my skin. Asking my ethnic background or how I had a very warm glow. I noticed my foundation was looking very pink on my skin. It didn’t match like it once did. I went on for months and the color of my skin became more “golden”.

It makes sense if you look at a color wheel. You can self correct by eating foods that are on the opposite side of the color wheel.

I know it sounds weird, but I found out that I can change my skin tone. This really happened to me by accident. Once I noticed what was happening I became more deliberate and I have been having fun with it. I decided to go raw from being vegan and it has made the process more obvious.

I stopped with the orange foods and went on a very green diet. My complexion looked balanced.

Then in just the past month or so I began eating beets, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, etc… like crazy. Again, I noticed my skin has become “pinker” or rosier. This is crazy, but it makes total sense.

So I ‘ve come to a simple conclusion:

If you have a red skin tone…go to the opposite side and you’ll find green. If you consume major amounts of green food and juices, in a short time your red will soothe out. It reminded me of when I would look at the makeup section in stores and see a pot of green concealer to apply to red areas of the skin to neutralize the color. This is the same concept only healthier. It is possible to self correct your skin tone without the use of make up.

If your skin is pasty and dull, bring back the rosy cheeks and try eating lots of reds like in berries, red bell peppers, cherries, beets, etc. After a month or so you will notice a rosy flush to your face.

And if you are wanting a golden look then knock yourself out with orange foods like I did. Just make sure you are getting enough of that color in your diet.

Notice the palms of your hands, the inner portion of your forearms, and the bottom of your feet, because those areas show the color change as well. The veins showing in my forearms went from a blue cast to a green cast to a purple cast. It was the skin over the veins that was affecting it. When I would get a massage, my therapist would always mention the color change.

If you have any similar stories…please share them with me. I am curious if I am the only one who has noticed this.

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Your home should be your own private wellness retreat, your favorite vacation spot that inspires you. A place you look forward to and not a place you avoid or feel you need to get away from it all. Afterall, what you are really doing is running away from yourself.

Your home is a reflection of your life. Fill it with things you love and enjoy, eliminate anything that is not worthy of your highest self. Ask yourself, “Is this the best reflection of me?” We all deserve to live in our own private sanctuary or temple and experience heaven on earth, paradise in the Garden of Eden.

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.- Confucius