Confession: I'm A Documentary-a-Holic.

That's a thing, right?

The first documentary I remember watching was Super Size Me as a sophomore in college. I absolutely loved it and watched it several more times (Partly because I found it fascinating and partly to talk myself out of McDonald’s French fry cravings). I had never seen anything like it – equal parts entertaining and informative.

I was hooked on the non-fiction genre: films, books, and podcasts. I could learn  and gain new perspectives while hearing stories. Gain new perspectives while listening to individuals debate about health care reform or Planned Parenthood funding. Learn while reading about someone’s adventures in local eating. I. Love. It. (I'm well-aware this might make me a total dork, but I've embraced it.)

Since I’m always on the lookout for good documentaries, books, and podcasts, I wanted to share some documentaries that I’ve watched and enjoyed lately:

Food, Inc.

A super-popular film about food that I’m sure many of you have watched. There’s a good reason it’s so popular, though. It’s a fascinating (sometimes even damning) look at the food industry. Its tagline, “You’ll never look at dinner the same way” is accurate. Since food choices are deeply personal, this documentary is a great, albeit challenging, one.

Tapped

Do you drink bottled water? Want to learn some ridiculous facts about bottled water? How few plastic water bottles are actually recycled? How bottled water is less regulated than tap water? Watch this movie. Even if you’re a tap water aficionado, you’ll learn something from this. Or at least be motivated to speak out about issues of water and ponder whether drinking water is a right or a commodity to be purchased.

Run Granny Run

A beautiful, refreshing film about an endearing 94-year-old woman who inspired me in ways I can’t even explain. She walked across America at the age of 90 to raise awareness about the influence of big money in campaigning and politics. Then she entered the political arena for the first time by running for the U.S. Senate at the age of 94. She is a feisty, remarkable woman. A 94-year-old activist: you’re never too old to stand up for what you believe in.

Street Fight

Sigh. I cannot say enough about how excellent this film is. It follows the story of Cory Booker as he runs for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is straight-laced, Oxford-Harvard-Stanford-educated vegetarian good guy who runs against a longtime mayor who’s arguably corrupt - pitting police, businesses, and all resources against Cory. It’s an inspiring, frustrating, and captivating film.

King Corn

A food film that takes a look at how corn, a heavily subsidized crop, permeates almost every food we eat in America. Two rather entertaining guys plant an acre of corn in Iowa, then follow the corn as it is processed. It’s ridiculously funny and quite eye opening.

Inside Job

Another popular documentary, this film will probably make you a little bit mad (both in the 'angry' and 'crazy' sense). It’s about the bank bailouts, the economic fallout, and the people who got us there. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was very interesting (and maddening-slash-saddening), and won plenty of accolades, so you should probably check it out.

Let’s swap. Any documentary recommendations for me?

Ten Things about Cloth Diapers.

I've known since I was senior in high school that I would cloth diaper one day. That may seem a little crazy, but we had a debate in my Environmental Science class and I was convinced. The decision wasn't a big deal and figuring out what cloth diapering entailed was as easy as turning to my awesome cloth diapering aunts. By the way, cloth diapers are way, way different now than when we were babies. I don't claim to be an expert, as I've only been doing this for two months. This isn't as much of a how-to post as it is a how-and-why-I-do post. (For how-to guides, this is a great starting point, as is this.) I will try to answer any questions you have, though!

1. I don't have enough. But I don't have the money to buy more right now. Maybe we'll get some for Christmas? Our current stash is seven one-size and three smalls (mostly gifts). We do a load of diapers every or every other day, with some disposable supplementing thrown in.

2. Washing isn't gross at all. Since he only consumes breast milk, his poop is water-soluble and the diapers can just be thrown in the washing machine, no pre-rinsing required. If you can handle wiping a baby butt, you can handle dumping a bag of dirty cloth diapers in the machine. Promise. Our set-up involves this pail liner. You could probably just use the same trash bag over and over, too.

3. One-size FuzziBunz are my favorite. Now, I've only tried three types - FuzziBunz one-size, FuzziBunz perfect size and GroBaby one-size. My aunts have tried them all and found that FuzziBunz were the best for not leaking and have snaps instead of Velcro, and since I intend to use these diapers for future babies, I prefer snaps since they don't wear out like Velcro can. The GroBaby diaper inserts take longer to dry and tend to bunch up. Plus, FuzziBunz are soft fleece. I think I'll also try BumGenius 4.0, since they also have snaps.

4. Newborns CAN wear cloth diapers! Once he reached eight pounds - he was maybe 10 days old? He grows like a weed. A chubby weed. - I threw cloth diapers on him. We just made it work - adjusting the snaps as tight and small as possible.

5. He doesn't wear cloth overnight. In order to get our beauty sleep, I put a disposable diaper on him for 10-12 hours a night. Disposables hold more pee and wick the moisture away from his skin. (I think I've gone over the importance of sleep here before. When I was a rookie, I'd change his diaper and re-swaddle him and sit up to nurse him...now Gabe and I stay half-asleep while he nurses. Sleep is priceless!)

6. No more poop explosions or diaper rash. Period. (Though there is still some pee leakage now and then.)

7. We've saved money. Like, a lot. I've only had to buy two packs of diapers since he was born, which is sort of amazing since most people go through that much in a week. Saving money is the number one reason I cloth diaper (waste and keeping Gabe away from yucky chemicals are the other reasons).

8. So. Much. Less. Waste. I am amazed at how much waste we created when we used disposable diapers for a weekend while traveling. It's a little crazy, really. Babies create so much extra waste already (har har), no use in adding to it with disposable diapers!

9. We cloth diaper on the go. Usually. It's easy to throw used cloth diapers in a wet bag like this, and just bring along a few extra cloth diapers. If I'm leaving him with my mom, I bring disposables.

10. Big baby booty. The cloth diapers add some bulk to Gabe's behind, which means he tends to grow out of onesies more quickly.  No loss, really, since I get impatient for him to wear his cute clothes in the next size!

So Fresh and So Clean Clean.

Laundry is one of my favorite chores to do. Weird? Maybe. Here are six tips to make laundry day a tad more eco-friendly.

1. Line dry | I stopped doing this for a while, because, well I am lazy and we had free laundry. I am so happy I've started this again in the recent months. It takes very little effort and makes me so very happy. For more on how I line dry inside check out this post.

2. Soap nuts | OH EM GEE. Get some of these and get them NOW. I am amazed that something this natural could actually work, but, they so DO. Soap nuts grow on trees and you toss them in your laundry in a little linen bag. After a few loads of laundry, the soap nuts break down and you can compost them. How awesome is that? Check out their website for more info!

3. Dry cleaning shmy cleaning | I wash EVERYTHING in the washer - including my wool winter coat, dress pants, and bras. As long as I use cold water and line dry, it works great! Wool is a natural fiber, so it can be wet. Dry cleaning processes use TONS of nasty chemicals, anyway. Yuck.

4. Wash full loads | If you wash smaller loads, you waste water. And we don't like wasting water.

5. Don't wash clothes unless they're dirty | Wear your clothes as many times as you can before you throw them in the washer. Simple, right?

6. Wash with cold water | Most clothes can be washed in cold water, which uses way less energy.

The best part about all of these? They'll save you money, as well!

The Way I See It

Apparently, no one has listened to me!

C'mon Mitt, Hil, John, and Barack - lead by example. I have nothing against drinking water and coffee, don't get me wrong! (yumm...coffee.) It's just that I know that y'all are better than that. (Well, most of you anyway. :) )

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In other news, this blog is slowly making it to the top of Google when searching for that Atomic Kitten song. WTF? At least lots of people are unknowingly learning about the benefits of soy candles as they search for those lyrics. :)

Remember the One Where Rachel Was Laundry Virgin?

Let’s talk for a moment about laundry. I’ve already told you that I’m cheap and lazy.

But! I do spend a little more money on detergent because, like, did you know how nasty the chemicals are in regular detergent?

At my job, I’ve recently been learning about water pollutants with the middle schoolers (taught by the local college students). When they mentioned laundry detergent causes a main source of phosphates in the river, I was shocked. Too much phosphate means plants and creatures in the river are killed, and biodiversity affects everyone. (I know it’s hard to really care about river health when you can’t imagine how it could ever affect you.) Anywho, it shocked me that something so very common could be polluting the water. Shouldn’t there be more of an effort to encourage the public to NOT use the synthetic chemically laden laundry detergents?

Besides keeping chemicals out of the water stream, we’re also consuming less petroleum. Most laundry detergents are petroleum based, so using vegetable based saves tons of oil (Whhhhy didn’t anyone tell me these things?). As a bonus, our detergent is fragrance, chlorine, and dye-free, so it will never irritate our skin, is gentler for our clothes, and the planet. ☺ That’s a pretty great deal for a little more change. (As an added measure, we also get powder instead of liquid detergent to avoid non-biodegradable and possibly non-recyclable plastic.)

PS: I think I (might) overuse (parentheses). Maybe I should, use commas for the (clauses) and asides; more often. ☺

An Excuse for Laziness

this shirt is dry clean only. which means it's dirty. - mitch hedberg

I’m dirty for the sake of our planet.

No really! I only shower a few times a week and I wear my jeans for a week or two. (I’m lucky; my hair doesn’t get greasy for a very long time.) Less showering means less water is used. Wearing jeans and sweaters until they’re visibly (or olfactory-ly) dirty means less water is used (and they get less worn out, so I have to replace them less!) Plus, we have to do less laundry (and we PAY for our laundry, so we save money!) We also use our towels forever before we throw them in the wash.

It’s simple, it saves us time and money, and it furthers our cause for laziness. Score.

Simple Enough.

We started doing something with our toilet that may gross you out. I promise you, it's really not that bad.

If it's yellow - let it mellow.

If it's brown, flush it down.

Seriously. It's so simple and doesn't bother either of us. (However, if it's been sitting for a few hours, we definitely flush it. We want to save water, but not completely sacrifice our noses.) We save TONS of water and now when I go to my parents house, it feels weird to constantly flush after myself.

Wow. I can't believe I just wrote publicly about our toilet usage.

potty humor :)

Bucket + Shower = FUN!

The topic of today’s blog? H2O conservation. There are many ways to conserve water from turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth to “if it’s yellow let it mellow” toilet etiquette (but we’ll cover that in another post.) The tip for today is the bucket shower. This doesn’t mean using a bucket of water and a cup to shower. Instead the idea is to use a bucket to gather all unused water. This idea started when I lived a house with only one water heater that had to pump hot water up three stories. Instead of letting the cold water run down the drain as I waited, I placed a small bucket in the shower to collect the cold water. You can also catch runoff during the shower and when ringing out your hair. This “gray water” can then be used to flush your toilet.

There are two options to do this:
1) Turn off the water supply valve at the bottom of the toilet and fill the tank with your bucket water, flushing the toilet as normal.
2) If you have a lower volume tank it might be easier (since it takes less water) to just pour the water directly into the toilet bowl and the pressure will flush the toilet.

Either way, you are saving gallons of water every time you shower and every time you flush!