Veganlicious 101

For about 2 months, I’ve been washing my hair with Baking Soda & conditioning it with Apple Cider Vinegar. 

This is awesome & eco friendly because:

• My hair looks awesome. Just getting this one out of the way. If you’ve been following me since February, you know that I deserve some awesome hair). It has great texture & volume, so
• I’m not using any additional products loaded w/ toxic chemicals.
• I only need to wash my hair every 4-5 days =  less time in the shower = less h2o, less energy used (I do give it a rinse every time I shower)
• I’m not filling up landfills w/ plastic containers (I just reuse the bottles I have over & over again).
• I have no use for a hairdryer (to be fair, I never really did, I’ve been conserving that energy for years!), and
• I have no use for additional haircare products. (Seriously, my hair air dries awesome. And you already know it looks awesome.)
• I’m also saving money because of the previous 5 items.

Awesome Post-Scooter-Ride Hair

Recipe/Instructions:

1. Ratio for both mixtures is 1 tbsp to 1 c h2o.
2. After I’ve wet my hair, I squirt the baking soda mixture all over my head, focusing on the scalp. Then I kind of give the scalp a nice rub/scrub and work the baking soda more into the rest of the hair. Rinse.
3. I squirt the apple cider vinegar mixture mostly on the ends, then give it a rinse. A little goes a long way. You may need to experiment, but you’ll figure out what works for you. (My best friend, for example, has hair that is much coarser & thicker than mine…she uses more AC vinegar mixture than I do.)

And while we’re on the subject of good oral hygiene…

I floss every day. You should too. I love the Eco-Dent brand because it comes in a cardboard container instead of a usually-not-recyclable-plastic AND because it’s vegan. Highly recommend.

And seriously. Daily flossing. Super important.

1. Buy a toothbrush made from recycled materials from an awesome company like Preserve.
2. Use said toothbrush on your teeth (soft bristles best, twice a day…I care about dental hygiene too!) for about three months.
3. When you’re ready for a new toothbrush on your teeth, use the old one to scrub mildew (with baking soda and vinegar, of course).
4. Return the toothbrush to the awesome company you bought it from in the mailer it came in so they can recycle it!

Every few months, friends of mine host a SWAP. We clean out our closets, take bags full of stuff to their house, and people find new free stuff that they need. Whatever is left after the swaptasticness gets donated. And ANYTHING is swappable (clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, toys (my best friend’s 2-year old SCORED this swap), housewares, books…people even took my half-full bottles of shampoo, conditioner, & lotion!).

It’s fun because it’s huge & social and it’s eco conscious because nothing ends up in a landfill. With the swap, everybody wins.

A whole lotta clothes to dig through…

…can lead to a major awesome swap score!

So get your group of friends together, host a swap!

See this pile of magazines in my closet? They’re not even the ones that I even subscribe to! (I only subscribe to VegNews. Duh.) I’ve collected them from friends who were going to throw them away. 

Why would I do such a thing, you ask?

• Vision Boards
• Collages
• Decoupage
• Scrapbooking
• Paper Beads
• Giftwrap
• Ransom Notes ;)
• The list goes on and on….

This pile has been through a whole group of us making vision boards, another vision board I did on my own, and is now part of my wedding gift to my brother & his fiancee…and there are still pages & pages of words & images & colors for more uses. 

I bet I missed a bunch of uses. Any suggestions?

Duct Tape. If you’re not using it, you should be. I feel like Duct Tape should forever be known as The King of DIY. Seriously. I can’t even begin to know how many things I’ve rescued from the landfill fate by using a little creativity & a little duct tape.

Check out my little teapot (I drop things):

And my headset (which I actually only use for the microphone):

How many people would have just tossed each of these items & bought new ones? I’m using my stuff until it can’t be used anymore!

What have you created or saved using duct tape?

If I have no other option but to travel somewhere by car, I will carpool every chance I get. If it’s local, I have no choice because I’m generally getting a ride somewhere with a friend. ;) But I also need to travel for work a few times a year. If I have to be the one driving, I rent a car & always request a hybrid. If one of my friends/colleagues is driving, I encourage them to do the same. 

When I went to Staff Conference last year, I took the tri-rail to Lake Worth where I met up with my friends Charlotte & Sharon, & together, we rode on up to Orlando. Much less pollution than if we had ridden separately…AND much more fun because we were together!

C’mon now, really? Use your own two feet. Fresh air, a little exercise, you’re not causing any pollution, you get a different perspective of your city, you don’t really need any special equipment, and it’s FREE.

Need I say more?

If you live in a city with public transportation, you should check it out.

Miami Dade Transit is great for going farther than scooter distance. Here are some of my thoughts:

• They have a good mobile app that provides schedules, trip planner, & train tracker.
• The buses don’t seem to always run exactly on the published schedule, but they’re close enough. Miami traffic is unpredictable.
• The routes are expanding. There’s a new bus route from South Beach straight to the airport! 
• They have hybrid buses now. They’re twice the size of regular buses & they bend in the middle on turns. I love them.
• There’s a tri-rail system, which means that living in Ft. Lauderdale isn’t a deal breaker if there happened to be a cute vegan OkCupid guy there I can easily see my friends in Broward & Palm Beach counties!

Taking the bus/train is not only greener, but it saves a ton of money & it’s a great time to catch up on your reading.

Does your city have a public transportation system? Have you ever used it?

Pictured above is my scooter, Pinky Tuscadero (I call her Pinky T for short). Last summer, I started getting involved in a lot of social activism & community building in the Miami area, and I found that I needed to (gasp!) leave Sobe more & more. I pondered the idea of getting a car again, but that thought was devastating, expensive, & not so green, so I started looking into scooters.

Pinky T is perfect for getting to Wynwood Green, Artwalk, Sweat Records, & a few more places that are just a little too far for me to get to on bike (& still look pretty as opposed to a hot mess).

Oh, & I should mention, she gets between 100-120 miles per gallon!

In June, it will be three years since I became car-free. Living in South Beach and working from home, I found that I had no longer had any real use for a car. I was already biking most of the time anyway, so I sold the car, & for 2 years, I relied solely on   bicycle & occasionally public transportation.

Do I really need to get into the benefits of bikes over cars? Better for the environment. Better for your health. And best of all, REALLY FUN!

When was the last time you rode a bike? Ride one today, you’ll see…it’s just like riding a bike! ;)

P.S. That’s my beloved Pink Beach Cruiser in the picture. Her name is Princess Jr. She was stolen a few years ago, then found her way back to me a month & a half later. She’s very special.

If I had a house with a yard in a climate a little less humid, I’d be all over having a clothesline.

But I live in a condo in the tropics. I have a small drying rack in my bedroom. So, I’m forced to put sheets & towels in the dryer (otherwise they’d be hanging all over my house taking days to dry), but clothes all hang dry on the rack.

Not only am I spending less energy & less money on the dryer, but it also makes my clothes last longer. (What DO you think all that dryer lint is anyway? It’s bits of your clothes being eaten by the dryer! See? And you thought the sock-eating monster was a myth!)

Oh, & in case you’re wondering, yes my clothes are soft enough without having been through the dryer. That’s what the vinegar is for (see previous post).

I haven’t used conventional laundry detergent in YEARS. I’ve experimented with some brands I’ve found at Whole Foods, but I prefer to use less plastic packaging, use less chemicals, and save some money.

This will be the first mention in this 101 Series of certain products that serve a lot of purposes in my world.

LJ’s Laundry Detergent (I don’t pre-mix, this is per load)

• 1/4 c Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (scent of your choice)
• 1/4 c baking soda
• 1/4 c white vinegar (takes the place of fabric softener)

That’s it. All of those can be bought bulk. And it saves energy to use cold water too.

If you follow my tumblr consistently, you might have gathered that I prefer to live my life clothes free. I live alone, so I’ve kind of always been this way, but I only recently became conscious of nudism or naturism as a lifestyle.

I feel like my #1 argument for nudism is that it’s helped me to know & like my body better. I hope that the more I can project how comfortable I am in my own skin, the more I can help others feel more comfortable in their own skin. 

But that’s not the point of this post.

The eco-conscious bonus of nudism? Less laundry.

I work from home, this eliminates work clothes. When I do leave the house, it’s only briefly, so I can wear my outfits a few times before washing them (better for the clothes, too!).

I do one load of laundry per week. This is mostly workout clothes and includes sheets & towels.

Nudism. Saves water. Saves energy. Saves quarters.

Despite the headache I have right now & the big zit on my chin, I was actually really looking forward to my moon this month. It’s my first time using Lunapads, washable, reusable pads! I just couldn’t go another month adding used feminine products to a landfill. I ordered the starter kit in the “midnight mushroom” print, super cute! 

They’re cotton, they’re comfortable, and they hold up under pressure (today is my heavy flow day and I worked out with my trainer, no leaks, no mess).

I think that at my age & with the length of my cycle, I may not have to buy any more at all ever (which doesn’t mean I won’t, because, you know, CUTE!). Added bonus of doing what’s right for the environment =  saving money!