Category Archives: Sustainability

Non-Toxic, Homemade Sun Screen

This showed up on my Facebook page and I don’t know who to credit. But it looks like a good recipe:

4 oz. coconut oil
4 Tbsp olive oil
Essential Oil (whichever one you like…a few drops should do it)

Heat the above over very low heat until melted. Then add:
2 Tbsp powdered zinc oxide (“no-nano”, whatever that means

Mix well, pour into container and allow to cool.

American Politics

Talk about a new frontier!  America (and the world) is there.

If you are a woman reading this, all I have to say is stay awake and alert to the changes that are likely to come at you, from attitudes to new laws. Gather together with others and get busy.

As Robert Reich says, “There is no cruising altitude anymore.”

The time is now.  Take action. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

 

Party Candy Assortment, 60 oz …A Sweet Affair!

Here is a candy assortment that delivers approximately 240 pieces of the most popular candy  – Jelly Bellys, Skittles, Laffy Taffy, Sour Patch, Twizzlers, Atomic Fireballs, Jolly Ranchers, Jawbreakers, Tootsie Pops and more. Packed in asturdy gift box that’s just right for any sweet occasion. Celebrating a birthday or a fiesta? Buying for the holidays, a birthday or some occasion?  Maybe you’re sending a nostalgic gift to someone in the military or away at college? Whatever the occasion, if you want to make it a really sweet one, this assortment is sure to please. Candy varieties were especially selected by sweet-loving, voting members of our small family business. Guaranteed to make candy lovers of all ages smile! Items may vary slightly depending on availability of stock.

 

Gardening Gifts Set – 1 Pr Women’s Bamboo Gardening Gloves, 1 Kneeling Pad & 1 Essential Tips Growing Vegetables Booklet

Protection, comfortable gardening and success in growing vegetables is the 3-item goal of this excellent quality gardening gift set for women. The gloves, made from spun bamboo fiber, are naturally silky soft, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and odor-inhibiting because they actually wick away moisture. The glove’s palms are coated with natural foam latex that provides extra grip. The gloves come in VERY stretchy medium size, equivalent to a Size 7 or 8 women’s glove. The foam garden kneeling pad is firm but offers comfortable support and excellent protection for your knees, where cushioning really matters! This pad is larger than standard. It is lightweight, water resistant, is designed with a built-in foam handle. It will protect your knees from gravel, concrete, sod and other hard surfaces. The final item in this bundle is a 72-page, detailed and colorfully illustrated booklet chock full of useful, easy-to-read information on garden techniques that insure your success as a gardener. It includes info on garden site preparation, inter-planting, succession planting, tool choice, cultivation, freezing, drying, curing and more; and how-to tips for growing over 42 common vegetables, annual and perennial herbs. Comes shrink wrapped as one unit and is a terrific gift for anyone interested in gardening.

Wise Deluxe Survival Kit

Here’s a version of a survival kit that includes freeze-dried food, not simply high calorie bars.

It supplies 1 person for 2 weeks or 2 people for 1 week  and is packed in a rolling duffel. Contains: Tissues (6 pkgs), 4-in-1 dynamo flashlight, playing cards, waterproof matches, waste bags (2), 50 ft. nylon rope, note pad and pencil, mylar sleeping bags (2), work gloves, 36 piece bandage kit, water filtration bottle, stove w/16 fuel tablets, fork, knife and spoon, sierra cup, water purification tablets (20), duffle bag on wheels, water 8.5 oz (9), Swiss army knife, multi-function shovel, 5-in-1 survival whistle, emergency ponchos (2), hygiene kits (2), dust masks (2), hand warmers (2), tube tent, 1st aid kit, 12 hr bright stick, 30 hr emergency candle.

Meals include: Stroganoff, chili macaroni, creamy a la king and rice, pasta alfredo, creamy pasta and veg rotini, teriyaki and rice, creamy tomato basil soup, hearty tortilla soup, apple cinnamon cereal, brown sugar and maple cereal and crunchy granola.

In the Great Stuff section of this website, you’ll find a link to Mountain House, which also has a wide variety of excellent freeze dried foods. Remember these kits are for short-term emergencies.  If there are more people in your family or you expect to be out of your home base for longer than a few days, you need to get serious about creating a kit that will keep you healthy and strong for at least month.

All survival kits should include cash, a copy of your insurance policies, home mortgage information, medical info and medicines,  copies of birth certificates, your banking info and your credit card numbers. In case you have to really put your life back together, these items will go a long way toward making that a little easier.

 

Ready America 70385 Deluxe Emergency Kit 4 Person Backpack

I have a pack very similar to this one.  I’m posting this one so you can see what should go into a ‘grab and go’ survival pack…bare minimum.  This pack (available on Amazon) includes sufficient lifesaving supplies  for four people for 3 days, which is what the Red Cross recommends. It includes:

Water boxes, food supply, emergency ponchos,  survival blankets, 4 12-hour lightsticks, 4 pair nitrile gloves,4 NIOSH N-95 dust masks, pocket tissues, emergency whistle, leather gloves, Multi-Tool, 10 yards of duct tape, 4 pair goggles, 3 bio-hazard bags, premoistened towlettes, emergency communication plan/contacts, first aid kit that has 107 pieces, Emergency power station 4-function (flashlight, AM/FM radio, siren, cell phone charger) and a backpack.

 

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition

There are patterns to human behavior, societal change and catastrophes.  In Jared Diamond’s book Collapse  (a follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel), he explores how climate change, the population explosion and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization as we know it.

These elements were factors in the collapse  of past societies around the world. Some found solutions and continued to survive.  Others did not. Diamond traces these patterns through a number of global societies  and draws attention to similar problems we’re facing today.

A brilliant book. A must read

Price: $19.00

Home Remedies for Fungus

Herbs dryingSometimes I wonder if any of us who live in moist climates can avoid getting some kind of fungus. My dermatologist, Dr. Langei in Mt. Vernon, Washington, tells me that we are hosts to many.  I found this recipe for a natural antifungal salve in Rosemary Gladstar’s ‘Herbs for the Home Medicine Chest,’ a book I just love. Here it is:

Antifungal Salve

2 parts chaparral

2 parts black walnut hulls

1 part organically grown goldenseal (make sure it’s organically grown)

1 part myrr

1 part echinacea

a few drops of tea tree or cajeput oil

Method:

To each cup of oil, add 1/4 cup beeswax.  Heat until the beeswax is completely melted.  To check for firmness, place 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the freezer for just a minute.  If it’s too soft, add more beeswax.  If too hard, add more of the oil mix.  Remove from heat immediately and pour into small glass jars or tins.  Store extra in a cool, dark place.  Salves will last for months, even years, if stored properly.  If you want to add a natural preservative, add vitamin E or tincture of benzoin.

You can buy the oils as essential oils or you can infuse them yourself using solar.  Place dried herbs and oil in a glass jar and cover tightly (I like to use olive, almond or avacado oil). Place the jar in a warm sunny spot and let the mixture infuse for 2 weeks.  Strain through muslin or cheesecloth, add a fresh batch of hers and infuse for two more weeks.  This will give a very potent medicinal oil.  Strain well, squeezing out the herbs with your hands.

Many thanks to Rosemary Gladstar!