There are many advantages to choosing cloth diapers over disposable diapers. Disposable diapers are the third largest component of landfill waste. All for an item that is using only for a super short period of time. On top of that, it takes hundreds of years for a disposable diaper takes to decompose. Plus, the production of disposable diapers is not environmentally friendly – not to mention the amount of chemicals found inside of diaper, the same diaper that will touching your baby’s body. With the growing enthusiasm for cloth diapers, more and more superior products are available every day. Read on for 4 other reasons you should definitely consider using cloth diapers, then give them a try!
1. They’re much better for the environment Reusable cloth diapers need never to see a landfill at all. They can be washed at home in your washing machine or sent out through a home delivery cloth diaper service.
2. They are just as effective as disposables Whether the diaper is cloth or disposable, it needs to be changed often. Dryness is the best way to prevent diaper rash, and most cases of diaper rash occur simply because the diaper wasn’t changed as often as necessary. If they are being used correctly and changed as often as needed, cloth diapers are just as absorbent and no more likely to cause diaper rash than disposables.
3. They are much more cost effective Once the initial cost of the cloth diapers is met, there is very little cost to cloth diapers. A few more loads of laundry a month may bump up the water bill a few dollars. However, compared to the cost of disposable diapers, which can range from $50 to $100 dollars a month depending on your area, that cost is negligible.
4. Organic options are available Organic cotton and bamboo cloth diapers are available on the market too. Each are made with strict organic principles and have excellent absorbent capabilities. Bamboo especially is excellent at wicking moisture away from the skin. So you can feel reassured that there are no harmful chemicals touching your baby at all!
(Note: Day 1 is with green cabbage, and Day 3 is with Red. Take a look at how the cabbage “breaks down” – it’s the same amount in each container!)
Homemade sauerkraut is incredibly easy to make, is inexpensive compared to buying it in a store, and is great for you! All cruciferous vegetables (radishes, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, etc.) naturally contain the beneficial bacteria lactobacillus, which is also found in yogurt and other fermented and cultured foods. Sauerkraut is then made by a process appropriately called lacto-fermentation, where the cabbage is submerged in a salt water solution, called brine. Then, as the sauerkraut sits, the bacteria begins to convert sugars in the cabbage into lactic acid, which is a natural preservative to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.
Over the course of a few days, the cabbage becomes less crunchy, and the probiotics start to flourish and multiply, thus creating an amazingly tasty fermented probiotic you can eat whenever your heart desires! Here’s my recipe:
Ingredients:
1 small head of red or green cabbage, about 8 cups
1.5 Tablespoons of sea salt (Make sure to get sea salt and not iodized salt!)
Between 2-3 cups of chemical free water (spring/distilled water should be ok) If you only have tap water, let it sit out in an open container for 6 hours, and the chlorine and other chemicals will escape. Then you can use it without any trouble!
Supplies:
Large knife, long enough to cut through the entire head of cabbage
Cutting Board
Large pitcher
Several smaller mason jars, or another similar glass container with a wide mouth
Cheesecloth(s) or microfiber washcloth(s) that air can easily pass through, but bugs can’t
Rubberband(s) or elastic(s)Â large enough to fit around the wide mouthed container(s)
Cup, plate, or other object that fits inside the wide mouth container to use as a press (optional, but makes life easier)
How To:
1. Clean your cutting board, knife, and containers thoroughly, then wash your hands. It is very important to make sure that the lactobacillus bacteria have as clean of an environment as possible in which to grow. If there is a bit of bacteria on your hands when you prepare the sauerkraut, it is possible that the batch will be bad, or may even grow mold. Yuck! The salt does help prevent this, but why not give the cabbage a little boost?
2. Chop up the cabbage into pieces about as large as the nail on your pinky finger. If they’re a bit larger, that’s ok, it just helps get all of the pieces into your containers more easily. I recommend cutting the head of cabbage into four, starting with your first cut directly through the center of the stalk. Then cut those pieces in half, and then slice in small slivers until you get the size you need. This can get messy!
3. Place the cut up cabbage in a large bowl or pot, preferably not plastic. Add enough water to cover about half of the cabbage, then add the salt. Massage the cabbage with clean hands for 5-10 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the texture of the cabbage starts to change. This is to start the fermenting process, and to dissolve the salt, so it can start it’s job of preventing the bad bacteria from flourishing.
4. Place water and cabbage into the containers, and position your press so that it pushes down the sauerkraut, and the water completely covers it. This can be a little tricky, depending on what you’re using, and may take a bit of maneuvering at first. It is very important that the water be covering the cabbage during the entire process, or the cabbage starts to rot, and you will see a moldy film appear! If you choose to not use the press, proceed with the directions, but check the containers every few hours for the first day or so and make sure that no cabbage is poking out of the water.
5. Cover with the breathable fabric, and place the elastic around the mouth of the container. Set in a room temperature spot (65-75 degrees F) for three days, and check the taste. This is when the cabbage is considered sauerkraut, and this is when you can start to jar it and put it in the fridge. If it’s not sour enough to your liking, let it sit for up to 3 weeks, and taste test along the way.
When it comes to sauerkraut, I am super impatient and eat it on day three. Maybe I’ll get my assembly line going so I can try some that has fermented longer!
Overall, my batches of sauerkraut probably cost around $1 per jar. Compare that to the pasteurized jars in the grocery stores, that’s a 75% discount, not to mention the amazing probiotic benefits! Compare it to the completely raw stuff you’ll find at your local health food store, it’s a steal!
If you’re still not set on making sauerkraut, or just don’t like the taste, I understand. We just started making water kefir, another type of probiotic drink, and I’ll show you how to make kefir soda once I have mastered it myself!
We are always looking for yummy snacks that are healthy – especially around the holiday season. We all have family and friends visiting for the holidays and it’s always nice to have healthy snacks in the pantry for those last minute get togethers too. Flackers and Seedsters are the perfect snack to keep on hand!
The Doctor in the Kitchen is a company bringing what many of us are looking for to the table, a healthy alternative to snacking – which is perfect for the holidays. Their motto, “Good Food is Wise Medicine”, makes complete sense when you glance at their ingredients lists – each product includes a healthy dose of omega-3’s and omega-6’s, which are great for such health benefits as lowering inflammation, alleviating depression, protection against Alzheimer’s disease, increased brain function, better bone health, and a higher metabolism.
The Doctor in the Kitchen currently has two organic product lines that will transform how you snack. The Flackers are raw, gluten free flax seed crackers, these are perfect for serving with dips. However, with five flavor options, Cinnamon & Currants, Sun Ripened Tomato & Basil, Rosemary, Savory, and Dill, these treats are so savory, you can eat them on their own too!
The second product line is Seedsters, which is a raw, gluten free sprouted organic flax seed snack and by far my favorite. You have four flavors to choose from: Sweet Onion & Garlic, Sea Salt & Black Pepper, Cinnamon & Currants, and Sweet & Smokey Barbecue. As snacks based on the flax seed, they are a great source of soluble and insoluble fiber which supports healthy cholesterol levels, as well as plant lignans, vitamins, and minerals. I like to throw these in our packs before hitting the biking trails or the water for a paddleboarding adventure. They are filling and delicious too – a win, win!
Full Disclosure: We received samples of Flackers and Seedsters and thought you would love them too!
NOTE: This post wasn’t written by me – thank you for supporting the companies that help keep Sweet Greens in business.
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The holidays are right around the corner! In fact, Thanksgiving is over a month away. If you are taking a vacation for Thanksgiving or the upcoming winter holidays, you should consider a green retreat. Green retreats are great alternatives to the usual vacation; whether they are at exclusive hotels, glamping yurts or whole permanent communities, there are so many benefits to this new and gentler way of life.
What are green retreats?
Green retreats are hotels and communities that take moral responsibility for their immediate environments, living off the land and the resources it provides without destroying its capabilities or reducing its ability to regenerate. Green retreats are lovely places to live and stay with facilities that emphasize the well-being of those who use them. Green retreats are beautiful communities that work together to reduce waste, reduce pollution and to allow living in the most eco-friendly way possible.
As you can see, one definition probably doesn’t fit all, but even with the diversity of many types of green retreats, both temporary and permanent, you can already see what they’re aiming for.
What are the benefits?
Obviously, there’s a huge environmental benefit, and while it might seem like a pointless effort against the crazy amount of pollution still being pumped into the atmosphere across the world, every little helps.
On top of the very real, quantifiable benefits of environmental improvement, health and well-being, the community aspects of these places are really the cherry on top. There’s so much missing from life in the world, that a feeling of community is often the first thing to go. Living permanently in a green retreat when you have small children growing up is some kind of idyllic dream, because everyone is vested in ensuring that the recycling is sorted, the gardens are kept beautiful, energy and water are saved, and that the dream remains a real utopia. Think how it could change your children’s lives right into their futures.
Much of the value of green retreats lies in them being little oases of calm, with each one of them being a safe, secluded place where you can live or holiday without fear of the outside world ruining it. They’re naturally places that promote health and well-being, because looking after the earth goes hand-in-hand with looking after yourselves. And that’s where the facilities come into play.
Great facilities for everyone
Some of these places offer the finest in community health and wellness, from amazing gyms to outside yoga, and because they’re often in beautiful places, you can take advantage of the environment and keep fit by cycling and hiking through glorious countryside and rugged mountains.
Many green-stay places are geared up very well for the modern family, so often you’ll find fitness and well-being classes in yoga, Pilates, bocca, and other up-to-the-minute exercise classes.
If you’re not too fitness-orientated, but you still like to feel good about yourself, many communities have shared gardens, where they grow fresh and often organic vegetables; imagine being able to pick the veggies for dinner instead of just busting open a packet of indeterminate green leaves!
If you don’t even want to handle a gardening level of strenuous activity, why not check out the spa?
Of course, not every eco-hotel or green retreat will offer everything on this list, but there’s a strong chance they’ll offer many of them. Some places are aimed at families with young children, and they’ll have access to schools (if you’re looking at a permanent green community in which to live), toddler groups and hospitals, as well as child-oriented facilities from swimming pools to sports pitches and courts.
There’s often a strong emphasis on community as a way of life, not just as a convenience, so there are likely to be group activities to see and do, committees to join, and events to put on and to attend. The aim, of course, is to provide a fullness of life and a richness of community, of the type you just don’t see in the outside world.
Living in a green-oriented environment, you know that not even a single drop of water is wasted; where the sun’s rays provide one of several sustainable energies that can be used to heat and light your house; one where even your child’s kindergarten is run on eco-friendly diapers and solar panels; this is like some kind of special place. Even though you work hard to make everything you do as good for the earth as possible, knowing that for other people, this kind of thing is made easier, makes you feel good. The easier it is for people to be environmentally friendly, the more likely they are to do just that.
Before we left for our fall family trip to North Carolina, we made a list of all of the fun things that we wanted to do. The list encompassed all of our yearly must-do activities with a few new activities added in as well. I told the mister that the one thing I would like to do is visit a mountain apple orchard. He said to keep your eye out for one while on one of our many long drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Towards the end of our vacation, we still hadn’t come across an orchard, so I figured it just wasn’t going to happen. Then, one morning I thought we were headed towards another hiking adventure when the mister pulled off the main road down a very steep turn off. When I looked up I saw the Historic orchard at Altapass in front of us! Hooray! He was so excited to surprise me with this special treat and we ended up spending most of the day there. Read on to check it out.
After browsing around in the Altapass Orchard shop, and stopping to listen to a group performing mountain music we decided to venture out into the orchard. There are several different trails that you could take throughout the orchard, and of course we picked the longest one! We ended up so far into the orchard that all of the visitors (and there were a lot that day) seized to exist, we were completely alone. We were able to observe all of the beautiful butterflies floating throughout the orchard and even came upon a buck who was happily munching in the apple trees! He darted out of there too fast to catch him on camera.
There were so many different types of apples, small tart ones, and huge juicy ones that barely fit in the misters hand. It was really cool to visit an orchard that has been around for more than 100 years!
We walked so far that our trail eventually took us into a forest, it was still part of the orchard but so far removed that we didn’t even realize it was there until we were in it. We munched on apples as we walked (we paid for them later!), chatted and just had a wonderful time. By the time we made our way back to the apple-stand, almost everyone was gone except the employees. We bought a couple of root beer floats and sat on the deck relaxing after our 4 hour hike through the orchard. It was pretty amazing – I can’t wait to do it again next year!
+ The Historic Orchard at Altapass
Milepost 328.3 between Mt. Mitchell and Linville Falls.
