Fifty-Three - Clothing Swap

Last weekend I attended a clothing swap that some of my friends put on. It was a wonderful event! One that occurs every fall and spring and is growing in participation. I attended a few years back, but it is a much bigger event.

What is a clothing swap? It is a day where people (in this case, women) bring all of their unwanted, but in still good condition, clothes to a house where it is sorted by type (pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, accessories, shirts, sweaters, etc) and then everyone is free to "shop!". There are mirrors and places to try things on, and everyone can take what they want. It is very open, you don't have to take as much as your bring, or take turns, it's very diplomatic. People bring snacks to share and once everyone is done swapping, the rest of the clothes are bagged up and delivered to goodwill. The group has donated over 50 bags of clothes so far.

I was excited because I was able to find pants, a dress, sweaters, and good clothes for work. I was also able to invite some classmates and hope this event continues to expand. The more people the come, the better selection of styles and sizes. The main lady in charge of the event is moving to California, and I hoping to help organize it with two of the other leading ladies of the event. Interested in being a part of the next one? Contact me and I'll get you on the invite list!

Peace!

Fifty-Two - Powderhorn Park Sustainability Committee

It's one thing to change how you live your life and interact with others within your home, but to act sustainably in all things you do within your neighborhood is a whole different ballgame. Laura and I have made 51 changes that invariably have an effect on how we relate to and interact with the outside world, but, ultimately, the end results are seen within the home.

Laura and I recently joined the newly-formed Powderhorn Park sustainability committee as a way to make sustainable changes that affect the entire neighborhood. We recently attended the first committee meeting where we laid out a hanful of ideas as to what we envision the community transitioning into with our help. The first meeting was spent discussing the recent Earth Day Clean-Up event that was sponsored by the group, so upcoming meetings will allow for more brain-storming related to our mission, goals and tasks.

On April 9th Laura, along with many of the committee members and other neighbors, atteneded the 6th Annual Sustainable Communities Conference. The conference touched on the work of the Transistion Towns program and what local transition groups are doing. Other topics included bike and pedestrian safety, rain gardens, how to start and grow community gardens, info on how to join local Food Resource Hubs, environmental justice, housing, water quality and a lot more. There was even a geographical breakout session to meet up with other neighbors to share ideas on how to make your community more sustainable.

Our goal is to take our views on how to minimally impact the enviroment for the worse and how to greatly impact it for the better, create and maintain safe and thriving local economies and to do so in a manner that includes everyone's participation to the entire neighborhood. We hope we can pool our thoughts and resources with those of the rest of the committee and the neighborhood to live lives that benefit ourselves, our neighbors and our Earth. Moving beyond the sheetrocked walls of our home to the greater home.

Shout Out - Harriet Brewing Company

Since we had to post Sunday's blog early in time for the deadline, I thought I would write up something quick for this Sunday. Continuing our commitment to local brew, we would like to shout out the Harriet Brewing Co.! (and a shout out to my dad for standing in line for an hour and a half on a Saturday awhile back to purchase our growler for us).

They are located on Minnehaha Ave just south of Lake Street and the Hub in South Mpls and are open Wednesdays and Fridays 4-7 and Saturdays 1-6 with live music and fun. I highly recommend the Divine Oculust Belgain-Style Golden Strong (and it is at 8% abv!) but yummy!

Fifty-One - Bulk Buying Paper through Eureka Recycling

Over the last couple of years in grad school, even with printing double sided and reading articles online when possible, we have used a lot of paper. Eureka Recycling has a biannual bulk buy of 100% post consumer recycled paper that is process chlorine-free available for discount from what you would pay anywhere else. You buy by the case (10 reams) and can split with households or keep it all yourself. We'll be splitting with a friend. This is posted early because you need to order by Thursday, April 7. There is also colored paper and paper with three-holed punched, and cardstock.

Fifty - Greener Menstruation

Yup. I said it. I did birth control and now I'm going to green up my periods. I have been working at this for a while now, but I'm going to take it a step further. I will go step by step through my journey. Beyond green, think about these products, what they are made of, and where we put them. Don't we want the safest, most chemical-free products?

1. Greener tampons and pads
The first switch happened when I ran out of tampons in college after moving near the Wedge. I didn't want to make the trek to Target for just that one thing so I looked in the Personal Care isle and was amazed. I found Natracare products, read the box, bought some liners and tampons (applicator free) I started to learn more.

2. Party in Pants / GladRags
Still, I was using tampons that needed to be thrown away. Though difficult to go back to pads, I was startled by these figures from Tree Hugger: "73,000,000 women in the US use tampons. The average woman uses 16,800 tampons in a lifetime; 24,360 tampons for women on estrogen-replacement therapy. Assuming a 40-year period of fertility, that is over 30 billiontampons per year which must be handled by special sanitary disposal systems."
Yuck. I started with GladRags. Honestly, too bulky. Party in my Pants, if you can get over the stupid name, is actually really nice. The slogan's better -- Cloth Pads for the Princess on her Period. For only the cost of shipping, you can try out a liner for free. Marie Claire even has an article review of them. You could also make your own or even, if you can't do the pads, try Sea Sponge reuseable tampons. They last a few months, making them better that the disposable kind.

3. Diva Cup / The Keeper
I talked to my doctor and made the switch. I've practiced a bit, but all went smoothly and I am looking forward to my first real test coming up soon. (wow, usually not excited for these... :) )

It simply folds, is inserted like a tampon, and you remove and rinse as needed. You can wear it overnight, for extended periods of time, and don't have to worry about TSS. This is also going to save me a TON of money! One product for $35-40 does it all--and with no TRASH! Again, many have already written a lot about this topic and this product, so check out this brief posting from Tree Hugger for more details.

Still not convinced? Try this. Take a box of tampons. Divide the cost by then number in them. Decide how many you use in a month. A year? See how much it's costing you. Then, add in what it's costing Mother Nature. I think it's time to switch to something greener.

Peace!