The Human Oil Spill

There are some big movements happening in the West Virginia area of the Appalachian mountains where activists are blockading upon a road where coal trucks travel mined fossil fuels out of the sources in the mountains that no longer have tops, thanks to the extraction of coal in this area...

You can read more about it on the FaceBook event page here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/401472223224622/

And also more about the entire ongoing project here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/242102679236134/

It was something I wanted to be a part of, but now, looking at my funds, I am finding it difficult to commit to.

FORTUNATELY,

there is something happening in my home state of Vermont that is much more feasible for me to be a part of, and just as important: A Human Oil Spill!

The basic gist of this is there will be a conference going on regarding crude oil pipelines and the like, that the public isn't invited to - so, we're gonna make a scene (nonviolently, of course) by wearing black and literally "spilling" into view of the parties we're intending to influence...then upon leaving, take off the black layer of clothing and reveal earth colors to symbolize that we can clean up this Oil Spill.

Here's a quote from the event page:

"The first protest will be held at noon on the 29th, followed by a human oil spill -hosted by 350 Vermont- at 2:00. The Regional Gathering will be held at 4:00 to keep up momentum. We'll be planning nonviolent resistence against the Trailbreaker pipeline, Northern Pass and Vermont Yankee, as well as the future of occupation in the New England region.

So join your neighbors from across New England and Eastern Canada in kicking off two days of resistance against the Trailbreaker pipeline, Northern Pass, Vermont Yankee and all the issues that affect the people across our regions!

Bring pots, pans and camping gear... this is going to be the ONE event you CAN'T miss!"

You can read more about the Burlington, VT Human Oil Spill, as well as find out about how to get involved, here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/167350296731186/

Hope to see you there!

Home-made Upcycled Toolbox

Once upon a time, when we lived in Vermont, we frequented a tiny little thrift shop located in the back of a restaurant in South Royalton ("Chelsea Station" - a typical old school diner that has your typical American fare: burgers, fries, and the like).

This little gem of a bargain shop also has a basement, but not just any basement - this basement is filled with all kinds of second-hand goods and donated items that just barely didn't make the cut to be placed among the more quality items for sale upstairs. The basement also boasts a motivational factor, which makes it all the more worthy for hours-on-end treasure hunting: each bag you fill is only $1.00, and if you fill three bags, it'll only cost you $2.00!

You'll find anything and everything you could ever wish for in that glorious basement, from candles to crock-pots, toys to tents, puzzles to picture frames...and of course clothing: jeans, sweatshirts, vintage blouses, even name brand three-piece suits. It all depends on how often you go, how long you look, and hitting it at just the right time (usually when the college students, from the nearby VT Law School, are leaving for the summer).

This post is meant to be about a toolbox I made out of a wooden shelf that I had I found in that very basement, but, I figured I'd share the magical little store that spawned the following creation with you first. :)

And now, the toolbox:

Here's the completed project. It was by no means difficult, and anyone with even the slightest of carpentry skills and a power drill could build something like this with just a wooden box and some extra pieces of scrap wood. The one here just happened to have dividers already.

There are no "during" or "before" images because it was such an easy task and is pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain how I did it anyway just in case.

I had an old bed frame that had seen better days...I used the wood pieces from taking it apart a few months ago, measured and sawed off the right lengths for the long top part of the handle and the two shorter side pieces that would attach to the box sides and the longer piece.

Here's a close up of the one of the shorter two pieces attached to the box. I first had to drill holes through the pieces and the box sides that lined up perfectly, then I just attached the Phillips screwdriver head to my beloved power tool, and sunk them noisily into the drilled holes.

And this is a close up of the top end of one of the shorter pieces, screwed into holes that I had to drill as well, which lined up to drilled holes in the long top part of the handle.

Side view: you can see here how it all comes together, and of course I just repeated the process on the other side with the second short piece, attaching it in the same way (drilling holes first, and then power-twisting in the screws to attach to the box side and other end of the long handle.

If you have any questions about anything in this project, I welcome any of them in the comments section, and will happily answer as soon as I can. It would have been easier if I didn't have to pre-drill holes, and I think that if I used the proper wood screws, I might've been able to skip that step (which was the longest one and still only totaled about 15-20 minutes). All in all, the project was about an hour long for me. For someone with more experience, this could be a 1/2 hour quickie. For someone just beginning, maybe an hour and a half? Either way, it's something you can do within an afternoon, for sure!

And it beats the heck out of my old "toolbox" - which was literally a beaten-up cardboard box with everything thrown in. Searching for one particular tool or a small sized nail or a certain Allen wrench would usually throw me into an anxiety attack, add onto that a cut from some random hacksaw blade or tack...ugh! I am WAY happy with this new one, and WAY happy that I can tote all of my fix-em-up paraphernalia together at the same time! YAY!

Just make sure you remember the Golden Rule of Carpentry: measure twice (if you're REALLY a beginner, three times), and drill/saw only once. Trust me, this might sound tedious, but it'll save you time in the long run, plus materials, should you make an *oopsie*.


Hope I've inspired you to up-cycle something you have no use for into something UBER-useful! That's always better than creating more trash, right? Right!


Ta-ta for now :)

Bike trip in the near future...

I'm planning a bike trip.

I've found that if we save up, plan, and train by next summer, my son and I can travel by bike to a multitude of destinations.

My son doesn't know this yet...

He will be 13 years of age when we take this trip, hopefully south to Mexico. I have all sorts of destinations to consider before settling on south of the border, though...

Some of these include:

-All over the U.S. to see Yellowstone, the Grand Canyons, and Big Sur
-Making it all the way to Argentina
-The Canadian Rockies
-Making a route across the U.S. to see friends and family! This would include Maine, practically all of Vermont, Western New York State, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon, and even Vancouver, British Columbia



But, before I go, there will likely be some interim bike trips, training, and serious preparation. If anyone has experience on a long-distance bike trip, the right bike to take for the journey (including the right bike for a 12-13 year old boy), things not to miss, snacks that are a must, and health precautions, please share!

Thanks in advance and I look forward to your comments!

♥
-Diana

Health and Beauty: Lightening your hair naturally UPDATE

So here's the before...

And here's the after...

Mostly I've been using the vitamin C and dandruff shampoo method on a daily basis for about a week...I did try the peroxide/honey/baking soda method today and decided the results were weaker than the prior method, and the stench was just too much too handle. I never noticed the smell of hydrogen peroxide before today, but it definitely smelled of bleach...and it was a most uncomfortable feeling: stinging, burning...that applies not only to my scalp, but my nostrils as well!

So, I'm continuing with the Vitamin C/Dandruff shampoo method until I achieve my desired hair color. I'll post as I get closer and closer to the goal with images, so stay tuned!

Health and Beauty: Lightening your hair naturally

Trying to stick with current fashion trends, yet still remaining earth-friendly, can be QUITE the challenge!

-source

As a woman, I know the pressures of keeping my appearance up-to-par with society's standards. Keep in mind, this doesn't mean I agree with them all, but there are definitely still parts of me that like to represent myself through my appearance, as it's the first thing people notice.

Obviously, an intelligent mindset, respectfulness, and a non-judgmental, positive attitude go a much farther way once the visual "first impression" is made, but I know that this is the way society currently works, and attractiveness is a way to ensure that others take the time to get to know you beyond your appearance. Not only does self-care show self-respect, but it also shows your concern for health, confidence, and how those things reflect on others and your relationships.

That being said, I don't wear much makeup (if ever), I wear a lot of used clothing or articles I've made myself, and I hypocritically do judge people who cake on the foundation, wear only designer clothing, and don ridiculously uncomfortable shoes, just so their "derrière" looks better...

Yup, I'm human. I am not perfect, and I will clearly admit that.

Now, on to the hair-lightening...

I scoured the web trying to find the most natural way to lighten my hair from the dark color it was (very dark brown, almost black), and came across a few videos on YouTube.



The video above was what initially led me to start this endeavor to lighten my hair without harsh chemicals...

From there, I followed a link to the one below, which had another method which shows the end result as well:



And finally, I came across THIS video that goes through 6 different methods; I have yet to try the raw honey/distilled water or conditioner/cinnamon/E.V.O.O. method, but from what the vlogger says, it did work for her (and I will not use the sixth method she explains, as it uses bleach powder (EEK!):



So far, I've been using the anti-dandruff shampoo and crushed vitamin C tablet mix each day for the last week. My hair has gone from a considerable dark color to a lighter, more auburn shade. I'm looking forward to trying the the raw honey mix, as well as the hydrogen peroxide & Baking soda method...so stay tuned for images when my final results have been reached!

Thanks for reading! And please share any natural alternatives for beauty regimens in the comments, as I'd be more than happy to do further research and make a blog about it!

♥

Oak Knoll Audubon Center

WOW! What a couple of weeks it's been here in Attleboro, MA! We started the week off with unending lighting and thunderstorms, and then realized how lucky we were to have the rain, instead of what's going on in Colorado right now.

A few of my friends are in Boulder, and as I watched more and more news footage of the fires entering neighborhoods in their area, I became more and more worried. A quick Facebook message to them revealed that they were still in the clear, yet they could see the fires along the mountains...can you imagine? I can't.

So, in the midst of being worried about my Colorado-residing loved ones, I am also very grateful for the beautiful mellow summer weather we've had here, preceding the thundershowers and lightning storms. As soon as the the sun came out, my son, Tobi, and I headed straight to the local Audubon center here in Attleboro; the Oak Knoll Nature center. Not only is he partaking in a creative writing class which incorporates many of the natural habitat at the center, but he's also opened my eyes to a sacred place to enjoy for the both of us.

Today we took another bike ride out to the center, to walk the trails, enjoy a brief picnic, take some pictures, and eat fresh ripe wild black raspberries!

We got carried away upon entering the "meadow"...and while I was taking photos of grass-dwelling creatures...

...Tobi laid back and listened to birdsong for a little while.

That was before we hiked most of the trails and came across a frog who seemed to be "pond"-ering...

All in all, it was a great day to spend in this place...and we will soon return, because, as you can see, Tobi loved it.

Meet my Campaign!

21 Days left to reach my goal!!



Thanks for all your support!!

Poverty? ...meh.

-I wish I could give you all a source for this, but I found it on Facebook and it was the perfect accompaniment to this post!



My son and I are in the abyss of financial poverty:



~We carefully tear apart our incoming mail envelopes and re-fold them inside out, securing them by a glue stick or some tape, so we don't have to purchase new ones



~I make our own salsa from canned tomato sauce a la food shelf, one chopped up Roma tomato, 1/2 an onion diced, and add hot sauce. Tortilla chips are a luxury around here (even though we know the issues with corn)

~I'm teaching my son how to do laundry in the tub with shampoo samples from hotel stays as detergent, and white vinegar as fabric softener



~Meals are invented - tonight was the last of the mayo, with the last half of spinach dip seasoning, a thawed bag of frozen spinach, and our coveted organic vegetable twirly pasta. A chunk of diced onion and another Roma tomato chopped up along with some shredded carrots made an interesting pasta salad



~We are literally growing as much of our food as possible, even drying our own herbs, and planning to can for the winter months with any bounty that we are unable to eat before it goes bad.

~Pasta water (salt- and oil-free) fertilizes our plants



~When we cook, we put aside enough for our pet to feed on, as well, minus any ingredients that may harm him (such as onions or tomatoes, garlic and raisins)

~We also cook in a way that will use the least amount of energy, yet feed us as long as possible: More pasta than usual at one time, making the leftovers into something new for the next day's meal, soaking beans overnight instead of using energy for a long amount of time to cook them faster, and things like pancakes or bread are made in huge batches, so that the freezer will provide us with a fresh loaf when needed, and pancakes can just be popped into the toaster instead of using the electric stove to make new ones



I could go on and on, but what I'd rather focus on, after emphasizing how money-poor we are, is that we have become rich in resourcefulness.

I'm happy to see my son following this trend, too. He was outside the other day, and learned that there was a nearby basement clean-out going on, where everything was free for the taking. He dashed to it and brought home dishes, a couple used Star-Wars toys (also a luxury), a book he thought I should read, and even a new stuffed animal for our dog, Dutch.



So, in being less of consumers, we have found ways to live within a "societal standard" (clean clothing, nutritious food consumption, entertainment for family and pets) that are relatively easy changes to make, and also save us quite a bit of money, not to mention fossil-fuel energy consumption.

I hope to awaken people with our shameless ways of doing things, the "broke" way, as it seems that it is an enormously effective way to help ourselves, as well as the earth's issues, by making simple sacrifices such as convenient purchases, expensive services, and the notion that "having more means having a higher social status".

Hard to swallow? Maybe...but, easy to make the changes? For sure. :)

DIY-er: Up-cycled Hanging Wire Basket

Here's another DIY project that's been making it's rounds in our household frequently as of late. We have two hanging wire baskets, both of which were either found at the dump or at a thrift shop for under a dollar.

No, I have no shame in going to a dump and finding things to re-use - I actually am happy, and even a little proud, to say that I'm putting it back to use instead of filling up the landfill with it.

Anyway, the bigger one of the two we use near the door as a space-saving catch-all. It's purpose changes throughout the seasons: in the summer, we keep sunglasses, bike helmets, re-usable grocery bags, bike gloves, and sunblock in it; during winter, gloves, hats, toe-warmers, and ear muffs tend to take up most of the space in it, although sunglasses still remain (and goggles!). During the in-between months, all kinds of stuff can be tucked away in there, like take-out menus (we even eat take out? Yup...sometimes...we're human, after all), mail that needs to be sent out, magazine clippings, and recipes we haven't found a home for yet.

But the smaller one doesn't seem to have much room for that type of stuff. It really doesn't provide room for much at all, even if we were to use it traditionally as a fruit or vegetable holder...which we never would because keeping our produce out for more than a day in a city dwelling can bring in many unwanted houseguests...cockroaches, ants, the ever-horrifying SPIDER...*shiver*...besides, I was lucky to have won a beautiful handblown glass bowl recently that has become our fruit bowl, and since we go through fruit so fast, we've been lucky enough to keep the bugs at bay!

So, question: what do we do with this little one? Answer: we put on our thinking caps and put it to use somehow!

Up-cycled Use for a Hanging Wire Basket:

Yup, that's it, there's no rocket science here. Just some old miss-matched bowls and maybe a cleaned out glass jar from shrimp cocktail sauce, or even a tuna can filled with water.

But, what's growing in there?

~The ends on a bunch of celery, growing NEW celery!

~The ends of Romaine lettuce bunches, growing NEW lettuce!

~The end of a red cabbage head, GROWING NEW CABBAGE!

~Rootlings, or clippings, of baby spider plants, English Ivy, and other houseplants destined to be bigger one day!

The smaller hanging basket works perfectly because it lets the light reach all three tiers/compartments/baskets, yet is just the right size to start these little growing friends until they are bigger and have started a root system in order to be planted in soil. The bigger basket may have held them, but one wrong nudge and the jars or bowls would have spilled water everywhere. The smaller size works best, as it supports and stabilizes the smaller containers.

I'm thinking there's definitely promise of using this as a permanent tiered garden, by lining the sides of each basket with Spanish moss or some other absorbent organic material...but my only concern is that it may drip, and we have hardwood floors...

So there you have it! Enjoy and use the idea, or share how you've used YOUR hanging wire basket non-traditionally! Thanks for reading!

Reducing your waste: a great article link and more.

This is a GREAT article on how the Johnson's produced only a handful of waste in the last six months.

(click here to read the story)

There are some great links within the article, too, so take the time to read through them or bookmark them for later reading if you can.

We find right now that our kitchen wastebasket, an 8 Qt. Rectangular Wastebasket (first instituted due to the fact that our dog, Dutch, was constantly getting into the garbage, and we needed to keep it under the sink which is a smaller space than traditional larger kitchen wastebaskets would contain), gets filled up about two to three times a month. Although that comes nowhere near the Johnson's low-waste footprint, we still feel we are making a big difference by reducing our garbage amount.

The shame with this, is that in our city, we are required by law to contain the garbage in a white plastic bag, which creates more garbage.

We would have significantly less waste if we had a bulk food store near us (but we have no car and are only able to make it such a store when the chance arrives and the funds are available), as well as if we composted. We did start the year off composting, until we realized that our landwoman (definitely NOT a lady) wouldn't allow us a space to compost outside, and we have found it difficult to keep fruit flies to a minimum by doing it inside. We do appreciate any suggestions you have to keep composting completely within our home, as it would benefit our porch garden as well as reduce our waste!

How do you keep your waste to a minimum beyond just recycling?

DIY-er: Up-cycled Toilet Paper Roll Holder

Alrighty, let's get things started on here! I've been gaining some momentum on my donation site at indiegogo.com (here's my campaign), and I'd like to start giving some of my contributors a little sumn' sumn' to feed off of until I get started on the BIG projects that are upcoming and will require the use of said donations.

So, today I'm going to give you all a DIY-er project that has made a small, but big in an experiential way, impact on my little family's desire to gain more of a self-sufficient lifestyle and lose some of those media-fueled consumerist habits.

We have been pretty tight on money after moving twice in a month's time, paying for storage units, renting a car in order to find a new apartment, staying in hotels, and coming up with a significant increase in rent plus the initial deposit. We're still catching up, and we moved into our current apartment on March 1st of this year...

That being said, while we have always been a creative family, this DIY project was spawned out of being utterly poor. It's when you find yourself in a place without extra money to play with, though, that you find what you are capable of creating instead of buying! Stay tuned, because I've got a TON of these things to share in the future of this blog :)

Up-cycled Toilet Paper Roll Holder:

Toilet paper holders in the stores are made mostly from plastic...a by-product of petroleum...or, from some type of metal and/or wood. My son and I really appreciate natural textiles like metal and wood, but we were not about to pay upwards of $20.00 for something that was going to be used to hold...well, butt-wiping material.

So, I took a wire hanger and clipped off the bottom, leaving about an inch on each side to "hook" into a wooden dowel that was leftover from another project. I drilled a hole on each end of the dowel for the inch of metal on each side to be pushed into and also to be easily removed to refill the toilet paper. The hook at the top of the hanger was just bent in more to create a loop, which is simply hung on a nail. It doesn't make any noise, as some toilet roll holders do (squeak, rattle), and because it rests against the wall, we can't pull off as much toilet paper as if it were hanging free. This leads us to use less than we used to, and makes the rolls last longer!

It holds three rolls at a time, and we find it quite aesthetically pleasing; it adds a rustic feel to our bathroom. I suppose someone who wanted a little more finished look could paint this, but we're happy with it the way it is.

The kick-off!

Here's my current campaign on Indiegogo.com - Please help me help the earth?



About Me

My name is Diana April, I'm 33 years old and a single mother of a 12 year old son. Both my son and I have been part of numerous campaigns...including, but not limited to, the iMatter March, Green-Up Day Vermont (multiple times!), 350VT & 350.org movements, as well as Vermont Workers' Rights campaigns.

Beyond the spotlighted events, we live a lifestyle that most would bawk at (feel free to use some of these ideas if you wish!):

~we do our laundry in the tub and hang it to dry in the kitchen, saving gallons of water, and kilowatts of electricity, not to mention money...

~without a lawn to plant a garden, we've collected upcycled containers to plant our own lush garden in on our three-season porch, including using cleaned out containers from food purchases, such as soup and coffee cans, strawberry containers, old wooden crates, and even hummus containers.

~we buy our (as much as we can) non-GMO organic food in bulk, bake our own bread, and store the bulk food in old glass containers - such as pickle and baby food jars.

~almost every peice of furniture in our home has been a used item before we acquired them. Each peice was either gifted to us in exchange for labor, found via thrift stores, or things we've put together ourselves with a little elbow grease and some screws.

~we both ride bicycles in exchange for having a car. This does cause us many challenges regarding visiting relatives and friends, but we decided that renting or borrowing a friend's car and visiting far less often not only saves carbon emissions and money, but also makes the time we do spend with our loved ones that much more incredible.

~we no longer purchase plastic products and are slowly seeding them out of our lifestyle (which is no way easy and is taking a LOT of time!), but what we do already have in house, such as plastic baggies, we wash and re-use when we need to -which really isn't that often...

~we've switched to cleaning products that are either environmentally friendly (such as Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid) or made from staples in our kitchen - baking soda as toothpaste, although it can be abrasive so we only use it every other day, as a facial and hair cleanser, and vinegar as a hair rinse, household cleaner, and fruit fly attractant.

~instead of purchasing many household items, we scour the internet for inspiration on how to create our own, instead of feeding the consumerism. Some examples? -We needed a toilet paper holder, and didn't want to buy a plastic one (which was the most affordable version), so we upcycled a wire clothing hanger into a holder that holds up to three rolls at a time! -We were at odds with how to hold our spice containers without a rack, but found an old CD holder at a thrift shop and refashioned it to hold the bottles of spices. Many more examples, but I won't bore you!

~we make all of our gifts. They may not be the flat screen TV my son wanted for Christmas, nor were they brand-name clothes, but in making our gifts, we find the real meaning of gifting, we save the stress of holiday crowds, recycle paper goods, and find that the recipients find them ever more precious than the impersonal gift certificate.

~we've even opted for green shipping - we reuse any scrap paper as packing material, pack our mailings in re-used junk mail envelopes and cardboard cereal or tea boxes, and any wrapping is done with paper bags from the supermarket.

~some nights, the two of us unplug everything, shut off all the lights, and play board games by candle light (unfortunately, our conversations usually end up involving hunger, though, so we do make some stovetop popcorn for those nights beforehand ;P)

~we also have kept to the standard "CFLs, recycling, keeping the heat lower, unplugging unused electronics, adjusting the temperature in the fridge to use less power, etc etc"

A Little More Personal

I grew up knowing that something wasn't panning out right with the earth; that one day we were going to have to deal with things that we'd been turning the other cheek to for a long long time. I doubt that I was ever "educated" formally on the topic of climate change; a lot of it I learned through lectures, reading, and speaking with others who shared the same ideas that the earth was in trouble. I reached my twenties that I began looking into nutrition and the engineering of food and pesticide use...I went to the market one day to find an apple as big as a grapefruit and it clicked with me that, "Oh, my...this just isn't right!" The issues with fruits and vegetables led me to the knowledge of factory farming and what animals were being subjected to within them. Once I had a grasp on that, the repercussions of the altered food chain led me to the environmental issues. I researched on my own, absorbing so much information I literally made myself sick. I remember crying over it all...feeling hopeless, helpless, incapable and also part of the problem. I'd express these feelings to my loved ones who would look at me and say, "You can't take this on your shoulders, Diana, you are just one person! This is just the way it is."

But I had a son. A very young son at the time, and I was determined to make sure he was aware of the world he was going to be faced with if we all just sat back and said, "this is just the way it is." And in no way was I going to prepare him for these problems without setting an example for him on how to take small steps to fixing, or at least slowing down the acceleration of, climate change.