Quick Update on Table/Cubby!

Man, this recycling project just keeps going in new directions! My next project will be to turn the table into a rabbit hutch. Just collected some roofing material from chuck out day and have got the bird wire ready to nail on. I’ll post pictures when I get it finished.
Till then,
Jeddah

UPDATE. The rabbit hutch, incomplete. It still needs the bird wire and the roof on properly but it is getting there!!!

Old Bed Becomes Table and Cubby!

How an old bed frame become a woodwork class and playspace…

My eldest miss is one of those children who loves to climb and bounce off everything. This is how the bed broke and no matter how cross I was, nothing was going to repair it! So we dismantled it and set it aside, forgetting about it until today.

Today we were in a woodworking mood and we took another look at the broken bed. Apart from making a good ladder, the kids decided that it should become a playspace for children. So voila, a couple of screws and lots of hammering we are now the proud owners of a table and cubby for our back deck.

Playing with BPA at the Restaurant.

Hi all,

This story will show you how hard it is to avoid Bisphenol A…. and why it’s so important to avoid it when you can!

Finally, I made it out to a cafe with my friend and NO KIDS!! We sat down at the table and chatted as we waited to order. My hands began seeking out some work, as they always do,  and before I realised what I was doing I was folding up an old receipt into origami style shapes. Harmless you might think? Well I couldn’t believe that I was doing it, knowing what I do about receipts. Receipts usually have a plastic lining that is made primarily of Bisphenol A. Yuck.

This led my friend and I to talk about all the times we had handed our kids receipts to play with. I distinctly remember a time when my child seemed fascinated with collecting the receipts when I collected the money. I’m sure at least some of the plastic film must have made it’s way to her fingertips. But what about me? I collect receipts all the time and my previous work in retail had me changing those shiny little paper rolls often. Who knows how this has contributed to my BPA levels!

Suffice to say, I put the receipt down. Thankfully, the very next minute a coffee was served up to keep my hands occupied. For me this has inspired me to keep avoiding tinned food!

Jeddah.

Is There a Safe Sunscreen?

It has been a while since my last post, we have been away holidaying by the beach enjoying some of the last days of warm weather. We usually avoid the middle of the day, going to the beach either before the sun is at it’s fiercest, or after.

But on holidays the rules change and we were at the beach all day most days. We wore our swim suits and I lathered myself and the kids up with sunscreen, knowing it was all we could do to keep from burning to a crisp. But was I really doing my kids a favour?

The issue of sunscreen is really choosing between the better of two evils. On one hand, sunscreens have shown to prevent skin cancer and on the other, sunscreen contains many chemicals that come under fire from a growing body of evidence.

The current best advice put out by the Environmental Working Group is to use sunscreens that use zinc and titanium dioxide as their main sun protective ingredients. Sunscreens that do not rely on these ingredients are more likely to contain ingredients that are known carcinogens.

However, zinc and titanium dioxide are used in sunscreens mostly as nanoparticles. These particles are smaller than cells and theoretically have the potential to work their way from the surface of the skin into cells. Up until recently all research undertaken has concluded that zinc and titanium dioxide nanoparticles do not filter past the first couple of layers of skin. However, at the point of writing, the first research that suggests that nanoparticles of zinc can infiltrate the body is being conducted.

To make any suggestions about not using sunscreens at this stage would perhaps be a little alarmist because in Australia protection from the sun is a necessity and our skin cancer rates are a testament to this fact. Read the Environmental Working Groups entire discussion here. The issue of sunscreens is one to keep a close eye on as there will surely be developments in the near future (hopefully before next summer!).

• Cover up when possible and avoid the sun at peak times (yes, I completely went against this advice while on holidays!).
• Use a sunscreen with titanium dioxide or zinc as the main sun protective ingredient. We generally use a zinc based sunscreen that supplies a complete list of ingredients on the pack.
• Keep posted on sites such as “Skin Deep”Cosmetics Database and this blog for the latest developments.

In fact please use the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database to check behind the claims of all your skin products because often claims such as ‘natural’ and ‘non toxic’ are simply marketing tools. At Skin Deep you can check branded products or just individual ingredients to see if they are really as benign as the company makes out.

See ya,

Jeddah

BPA, It’s All Bad News

Bisphenol A is certainly getting some attention at the moment. It is banned in baby bottles in Canada and it’s use is under review in the USA. Why? It is an endocrine disruptor, which is a fancy term for messing with the bodies delicate hormone system. Anyone who has eaten tinned food in the last thirty years has ingested some and it is in many other plastics as well. The research has linked this chemical to poor behaviour in children, obesity, interferes with the brain chemistry that controls learning and moods, reproductive abnormalities and the list goes on…

The evidence against using this chemical is growing every day, literally! What does this mean for us? Well, it is easy enough to switch to a stainless steel water bottle, use proper crockery instead of plasticware, avoid plastic food containers (a bowl with a plate ‘lid’ goes well in the fridge) and give children glasses or stainless steel cups for drinking. These things are relatively simple just to make the switch and they are certainly the norm around my place.

But what if I was to recommend you NOT buy canned foods? “AAAhhhhh, too hard!” you say “I just bought the latest cookbook all about easy meals with easy to grab items from the pantry.” At the moment there is no viable alternative to BPA for tin linings and if you wish to avoid BPA then please avoid tinned foods. Some companies are able to switch for a BPA free lining for some of their products but not all. Highly acidic tinned goods – yes that means tinned tomatoes – are mostly packed with a BPA lining. It is also the more highly acidic products that readily absorb BPA. Ok, this is not great news, I love tinned tomatoes! They are so easy to throw in to make a pasta or curry dinner. But I have found one alternative, for pasta sauce at least:

Organic pasta sauce in a jar. “Yes,” you say, “that is obvious,” but I have hated these for years. I always thought my husband loved jarred pasta sauce because he was too lazy to add his own flavour! I’m now a new convert. Sure the lid probably has a dodgey plastic component but the product doesn’t touch it very much. I always get organic because this usually cuts out most of the chemical ingredients found in the other brands.

I really strive to avoid BPA. While I’m researching my book I come across a new study daily that says how awful it is to the small children who are most affected. Good news is, research in mice shows that by eating leafy greens they can actually avoid the ill effects of BPA! 

So I guess it’ld be a good idea to get up early on a Sunday and head to the farmers markets….

Bye bye sleep in.

Jeddah

Quiet Eco Christmas

Last year our small family had a beautiful quiet white Christmas. We hiked into the Canadian woods and collected a small pine tree which we decorated with a few ribbons and stars made from the girls own drawings. I sat up late into the snowy cosy nights hand stitching dolls made from cotton and wool, and finishing the wool jumper I had started knitting for my husband (talk about locally produced!). The December days consisted of searching for rabbit tracks in the snow and sliding down hills, a storybook life with the characters of just mum, dad and two little sisters. We were happy to have a quiet Christmas just the four of us, pleased not to be caught up in the Christmas consumerism and knowing that we were creating a Christmas with a smaller ecological footprint.

Enter Christmas 2008, back in Newcastle surrounded by shops, desires, family, friends, distractions…. Somehow there seems little time here. My children seem to have eaten nothing but lollies and thrown together meals. Here I am, an independant thinking woman with an eco concious and I can’t seem to get off this busy train that will have me spend money and lose the true meaning of Christmas. I’m not what you would call a Christian but I do believe that if you celebrate a religious holiday such as Christmas you need to do it in a way that supports the initial sentiment. In my mind this is a time to sit back and reflect, be amazed by the beauty of new life and be thankful for what we have, not asking for any more (I’m not sure where visiting Santa and asking for a gift fits in with this one).

Today I put my priorities for this time of year in order.

My Family: my kids really need as many home days as they can get supported by as many wholesome meals as I can make.

My Gift buying: needs to be locally produced, consumable or compostable and involve the kids with the joy of giving.

Christmas has been celebrated happily long before a consumer society existed. It is difficult to keep this in mind when the Christmas catalogues start streaming into our mailboxes. I’ll try to relax and realise there are many ways of showing people you care that don’t involve an expensive present. I can show my appreciation for others by giving the gift of myself, genuinely. And this gift doesn’t come at the expense of the environment around us. So maybe this years ‘Christmas in Newcastle’ can still capture the simple and ecologically friendly Christmas I enjoyed last year in the snowy wilderness of Canada.