Catalina Sunrise

It's my fourth day back on Catalina after having been in NJ for seven weeks.  This morning's sunrise reminded me of why I love it here so much.  It feels good to be home.

Another Frigid Day in the North East

I'm counting down the days till I return to sunny, (relatively) warm Southern California.  This was taken this morning at around 9am.  The temperature was around 17 degrees and windy.  I don't know what the actual wind-chill factor was but I'm guessing in the single digits.  Suffice it to say it was REALLY cold!

Tree-Hugger Idea #2 - Recycling New Jersey Style

I was born and raised in NJ and admittedly it's not my favorite place.  I come back here once a year for a week or two during the holidays to see my family and that's about the extent of my connection with the North East anymore.  I was reminded, though, of one great thing about NJ when I was out for my walk the other morning.  Residents here really know how to recycle and they've been doing it like this for twenty-four years (in Somerset County at least). 

My father is in charge of recycling in their household and he says it takes him about a half hour every other week, or one hour a month to prepare their disposed items for recycling.  This includes, rinsing glass, plastic & aluminum cans and jars (minus the lids) and placing them in blue recycling barrels, breaking down all cardboard boxes (tissue, cereal, pizza, frozen dinner, etc), stacking and tying them with twine, stacking all newsprint paper and tying it with twine, stacking all "other" paper and tying it with twine, placing used batteries in a ziplock bag and more I'm probably missing.  My dad says it's become second nature after all these years and he thinks it's time well spent.

Recycling Day in Somerset County, NJ
(check the end of this post for links to great info about their award-winning program)

What's so encouraging, is how well people seem to follow the recycling rules.  When you look up and down the street on recycling day, everyone's items are stacked neatly at the curb and in the proper manner to be picked up by the recycling truck.  I think there's a fine system in place that serves as the motivation for this conformity, but it seems to work really well.
The state of California, where I live, is often known for it's progressiveness where environmental policy is concerned but they sure could take a lesson from NJ when it comes to effective and manditory, residential recycling programs.

I gave this a 3 on the Tree-Hugger Severity scale because it takes no financial investment at all and a resonably small amount of effort is required.  Of course, if your town doesn't have this type of program in place, the only thing you can do is vote for it when the issue shows up on the ballot and write letters to your local representatives letting them know that you think this is important.

Somerset County, NJ's Award Winning Recycling Program
Somerset County's Residential Recycling Rules - Check this out as a resource for starting a local residential recycling program in your area.

No More Nature Babycare at Babies R Us...



Nature Babycare Diapers


OK, I know I'm a little bit more committed to the environment than the average person, but I'm also not living on a wind farm somewhere, heating my water with the sun or cooking all my own meals with local crops.  Of course, many of the aforementioned activities require a major commitment both in effort and money, two things I am rather low on, but I know there are many things I could and should be doing for the environment that I'm not.

That being said, when I found out I was pregnant more than two and a half years ago, most of the choices I made gave some consideration to their environmental impact.  Some of those choices had negligible effects I'm sure, but the one idea that plagued me for months before my daughter was born were diapers - cloth or disposable?. 

Many different sources pretty much agree that:
- The average baby will use 5000 - 7000 diapers before becoming potty trained.
- Plastic disposable diapers take hundreds of years to decompose. 
- During decomposition, plastic diapers treated with bleach emit dioxins which are considered one of the most toxic substances out there.  These toxins are also absorbed into your baby's body which is no small matter.
- 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year.

So, diapers, either disposable or cloth, have a HUGE environmental impact, especially when you multiply by the number of babies out there.  So, I researched the topic tirelessly and finally made a reluctant decision based on my situation.  Since I live on an island where it only rains on average eleven inches a year and about thirty percent of our fresh water is desalinated from the ocean, cloth diapers were pretty much out of the question due to the huge amount of water needed to wash them.

Next, I researched hybrid cloth/disposable diapers but the cost was prohibitive.  My only remaining option was "earth friendly" disposables.  I continued my research and read tons of online reviews.  Finally I whittled and whittled till I came down to one brand.  Angels trumpeted and a beam of heavenly light fell on my computer keyboard!  Well, at least that's what it felt like - relief!  I'd found it!

Nature Babycare!  The reviews were great and the product was made using the most environmentally ethical practices I could find.  Even the packaging was made from a form of chalk that easily decomposes and biodegrades.  The only drawback I saw was that they were made in Sweden, which meant lots of fuel burned to get them to California.  I put that element aside though and made my commitment to Nature Babycare.  I bought the diapers, wipes and rash creme and waited for baby to arrive.

I've been using Nature Babycare products exclusively for the almost two years since my daughter's birth and I couldn't be happier!  They simply don't leak, fit perfectly and don't have any chemical smell like big brand diapers.  We had to buy Pampers or Huggies (I don't remember which) once when we ran out of Nature Babycare and my husband and I agreed that the smell was repulsive! 

One day when I was picking my daughter up from pre-school, her teacher, who has many years of experience with diapers, pulled me aside. "Where do you get those diapers?  They're the best diapers I've ever used!  I want to tell my daughter about them so she can buy some for my grand-daughter."

I will admit that Nature Babycare diapers cost about $.09 more per diaper that the big name brands, but the same amount as the big name brand's "natural" version.  I don't think twice about spending this small extra amount.  It's a no-brainer!

Today I went to Babies R Us to purchase more Nature Babycare diapers and to my extreme disappointment, there were only three packages on the shelf and none were the size I needed.  I grabbed a package of Earth's Best diapers and headed for the check-out.  I asked the manager if they meant to discontinue carrying Nature Babycare.  When he confirmed my fear I asked him "why?".  He explained that they just didn't sell enough to justify carrying them anymore.  I communicated my disappointment, although I realize it's no fault of the store, purchased the Earth's Best diapers and left.

SOAP BOX TIME!

I can hardly explain the disappointment I felt as I left the store.  After all, it hadn't only been the Nature Babycare diapers that were on "clearance".   Many of the other brands I had considered two years ago looked like they too were being phased out.  I'm so astonished that consumers can be that short-sighted and selfish!  Not only are disposable diapers made with plastics and bleach that are harmful to our environment but they're harmful to our babies!  When are we as a species going to start thinking about the choices we make and consider the consequences of those choices no matter how small they may seem?  I can hardly believe that a single person can throw thousands of disposable diapers into a trash can and not think once, or care, about what will become of them.  I'm not sure what the motivation is for buying disposable diapers made with plastics and chemicals because I can't be in another person's head, but I cannot think of one thing more important than my baby's health and the health of the planet I call home.

I recently discovered that Nature Babycare diapers are no longer carried in Target either.  I enthusiastically recommend these diapers and they can be purchased at Diapers.com which has free shipping for orders over $49. 

Nature Babycare at Diapers.com

By the way, this is a totally personal endorsement.  I have not been and will not be compensated in any way by anyone for stating my opinion here.  I just wanted to share a product I truly believe in.

Tree Hugger Idea #1 - Sodastream

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was a Sodastream, which is a device that transforms regular tap water into carbonated soda.  If you usually drink soda pop, you can add flavorings (samples of which come with the machine), which reportedly approximate the tastes of Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sprite and others (although I've read mixed reviews about the flavors).

I've tried everything from lemon and lime wedges to concentrated sugar-free herbal tea drops but I just can't get into "still water" and I know I should drink lots of it for my health.  The only way I really enjoy water is cold, carbonated and with a slice of lime.  Well, I don't drink any alcohol (reached my quota many years back) and I can't even do caffeine anymore, so I allow myself this small indulgence.  I've always felt a bit guilty, though, about the extra expense and very guilty about the excess trash produced.

Anyway, the Sodastream is great.  It's so easy to make a liter of really bubbly water (or less bubbly if you choose) and the liter bottle it comes with (BPA-free plastic with stainless steel cap and base) has a tight-fitting gasketed lid that really holds in the carbonation.  I'm drinking more water, which I really needed to do, while saving money and my back from having to lug liter bottles home from the market.  Best of all, I've cut way back on my trash output which is where the tree-hugger part comes in.  I can't comment on the Sodastrem flavors unfortunately (it came with twelve samples) because the only flavor I add to my water is a slice of lime.

I rated this idea with "Tree-Hugger severity level is 5" because the whole machine costs in the neighborhood of $100 (depending where you buy it and what it comes with) and I believe the CO2 refills are around $15 at Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples and a few other retailers (which is pretty exorbitant, I think, considering we make our own every time we exhale).  This is still a savings if you usually buy liter bottles of club soda, which I do, since larger bottles loose their fiz before they're half empty.  I think the machine pays for itself within six months or so and liters of bubbly water cost around $.25 each including the cost of CO2 bottle refills. 

By the way, this is a personal endorsement.  I own and use this product.

Winter in New Jersey

Ok, this morning during my walk it was 28 degrees and really windy.  Apparently, with the wind chill, it's supposed to feel like 10 degrees.  If ten degrees feels like my face will crack if I smile and my legs, ears and nose become numb then I can attest to it.  I must admit though that the ice does make for really interesting photograhs and the light this time of year and the long deep shadows it creates are beautiful.

California Dreamin'

I do live on Catalina Island and have for the last eight years but I'm very sorry to say that I haven't been "in residence" for the last month or so.  I've been in New Jersey with my daughter since early December to spend the holidays with my family, which I try to do every year.  As I'm sure you can imagine, New Jersey is not my first choice of places to spend time but if I want to see my family, and I really do, it's something I must endure.  I'm here for a bit longer than usual this year because I'm seeing a specialist about a mysterious autoimmune disease I apparently have, but I won't go into all the mundane details about that here.  I have another blog that serves as my outlet for that very uplifting subject.

I really miss Catalina.  Especially when I glance over at my desktop weather app which reads 72F in Avalon and the temperature where I am is 30F.  The weather here in the North-East, simply put, sucks!  I was raised here and lived on the east coast into my twenties.  The weather was, in my opinion, uncomfortable most of the time:  too hot and humid in the summer and too cold and icy in the winter. If I never see another flake of snow in my lifetime, it would be fine with me.  Being here reminds me of all the winter mornings I spent scraping ice off my windshield, heating my car key with a lighter to get it in the icy lock or standing on the train platform, my still slightly damp hair, freezing into solid chunks, while my clouded breath swirled around my head.  I know many people live in relative happiness here, after all NJ is the most densely populated state in the US, but I guess I'm just a wimp.  I can't wait to get back home to Catalina.  I'll be leaving the gloves and scarf behind for sure. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!