green crop circles

I “discovered” baking soda when I spilled something in the oven and made a huge burnt food mess. Sure, I’ve used baking soda forever but I never knew that it was more than just a baking agent. I tried to clean up the mess with a scraper but it seemed like it bonded with the bottom surface of the oven. Panic-stricken, I googled oven cleaning and found this wonderful tip of pouring baking soda paste (baking soda mixed with a little water) and leaving it for an hour then scraping it off. Well, I tried it and simply put, it worked. It didn’t just work but it made my oven shine, as in like brand new! I scraped the mess like I spilled it no more than a minute ago. Inspired by this “discovery”. I google other uses of baking soda and found some other uses. I now use it for most cleaning tasks and it works like a charm.

Bathrooms: I threw out the COMET which is toxic anyway and now use baking soda for the whole bathroom. Sink, shower, toilet, floor, everything can be cleaned safely with baking soda.

Kitchen: Food stuck in pans? Baking soda paste is the answer. It makes our sink shine and stays cleaner longer.

Deodorizer: I keep a small partially open box in the refrigerator to keep it smelling fresh.

Shampoo Additive: About once a month, I mix a little bit of baking soda on a teaspoon of shampoo (sulfate-free) on my palm to remove product residues on my hair.

Laundry: Add ½ cup to a load for brighter whites and stain removal.

According to Wikipedia:

“Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form is known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially.
Since it has long been known and is widely used, the salt has many related names such as baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda, bicarbonate of soda. Colloquially, its name is shortened to sodium bicarb, bicarb soda, or simply bicarb. The word saleratus, from Latin sal æratus meaning “aerated salt”, was widely used in the 19th century for both sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. The term has now fallen out of common usage.”

It also cites many other uses:

Vegetables: Used to remove pesticides. Not that I want to eat food with pesticides but it is not easy to be 100% all-natural so this is a good way to clean vegetables.

Insect Bites: Apply paste to remove sting. The poison is absorbed and therefore lessens the sting.

Medical: Used as an antacid.

As with anything, you have to do your own research and proceed with caution. Baking soda can strip a layer of material such as when it reacts with aluminum and could be very abrasive when used as toothpaste.

Forget Comet, Windex, and Bleach. I ♥ baking soda.

For further reading, check out:

About.com lists more uses for baking soda.
Care2 has several articles about non-toxic cleaning.
Arm & Hammer, the most common brand has a good website with tips and FAQs.

How about you? What do you use baking soda for?

People ask me all the time why I waste money on organic foods, or go through all the effort of my restrictive diet to abstain from beef and avoid eating foods with MSG, corn syrup, GMO’s, RBGH, and other items the FDA claims are GRAS (generally regarded as safe). The main reason is simply that I enjoy living a healthy lifestyle. The more I learn and research health and green topics the more adjustments I make. We all have the ability to adapt, and in this country almost always the means to adapt, just not always the will to change. Unfortunately some people have the attitude “who cares we are all gonna die anyway”. That is really just another way of saying “I don’t know any better and I’m too lazy to learn or change”. If that sounds familiar and you are just going through the motions in your life, then you are really missing out on good food and a lot of other things. It’s time to wake up and smell the organic coffee! 
 
The reason I bring all of this up is that I recently watched a very disturbing documentary called “The Future of Food”. It basically discusses corporate control over food and farming in America and GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) that are bioengineered. I have always loved watching documentaries because they are educational and usually expose facts and ideas that government and corporations would rather you not know about. “The Future of Food” was one of those documentaries that really open your eyes to a part of everyday life of food that affects everyone on earth. After watching this I felt like breaking out some protest signs and marching on Washington!

Many of the questions I had about food and GMO’s were answered in this film. Other topics such as growing your own food, buying organics, joining CSA’s were discussed and justified as part of the solution. My only complaint about the documentary is that I wish they had spent more time talking about solutions and less time making me mad about the details concerning the problem. I guess the point is that if people don’t fully understand the problem enough to get mad about it they won’t be motivated to change. Point taken! If you want to get mad about your food and government too then just watch the intro to this documentary from the link below, or better yet just watch the whole documentary and get really mad!

The current situation with agriculture reminds me of when oil prices doubled last year driving up inflation and helping to fuel the fire of the bad economic state we are in now. The reality of just how dependant we are on oil and the foreign countries that produce it became glaringly apparent. People became more conscious of the record profiting oil companies and lobbyist that have their hands in the pockets of government officials, auto industries, and just about everything else.

Now just imagine instead of an oil crisis there is a worldwide food shortage. Drought and overpopulation cause people even in this country to scramble for food and stockpile items like rice and beans just so they can be assured of their own future of food. In reality this is already happening in many parts of the world, but if another factor was added to that list you would have the perfect storm that could starve the world. Do you think when a loaf of bread suddenly costs 10 dollars people would wake up in a hurry and get educated about what we are eating, where it is coming from, and who are the corporations pulling all the strings? You bet!

“The Future of Food” talks at length about a handful of corporations that have been making and patenting genetically modified seeds since the 70’s. These modified seeds are designed to grow crops that withstand pesticides which are specially formulated to kill everything else except those crops. How convenient! If this all sounds like a racket, well it is. These corporations are all in bed with each other along with the FDA and lobbyists. The scary thing is that these seed and insecticide corporations are so greedy they continue to modify and patent new GMO’s such as suicide seeds that will sprout crops that produce sterile seeds that won’t sprout when replanted. This is all to make big money. Farmers will have to buy seeds every year from these corporations instead of saving their own seeds like they have done since the dawn of agriculture. These seed corporations have already put many small farmers out of business by suing them for having the GMO pesticide resistant seeds/crops mixed in with their own crops, which happens naturally from birds/bees/wind/etc. Here’s the real kicker- imagine what happens when these new GMO suicide seeds get mixed in with natural crops! The seed companies will rule the world, or what’s left of it.

The best thing we as consumers can do before it gets to this inevitable point is to get smart about food, and use the one influential power we have (besides our voice and vote) which is our buying power. What we buy dictates what is sold. It’s simple economics- supply and demand. So when you read food labels, buy organic foods, shop at farmers markets, join CSA’s, and grow your own food you are not only becoming what we call in Portland a “foodie”, but you are fighting corporate control. You can grow your own food, plant organic veggies, and use organic seeds instead of genetically modified ones. Local nurseries are better bets to find natural and organic plants than big corporate chain stores. For our own garden we have used mostly organic seeds and plants with no pesticides or unnatural fertilizers. We have found a really good seed company locally  in Oregon called Territorial Seed that uses only natural organic seeds. Next year we plan to buy all of our seeds from them and make sure everything in our garden is completely organic.

One additional thing we can do is demand that products containing GMO’s are labeled like they are in Europe. If you go into your local organic grocery store you will see many products that say “no GMO’s”, but you will be hard pressed to find a product in the U.S. that says “contains GMO’s”. Americans lead the way on many different fronts, but when it comes to food we could learn a thing or two from our neighbors across the pond.

Europeans are years behind America in food technology, and that’s a good thing. Instead of fast food restaurants and chain grocery stores on every corner you have local bakeries and farmers markets. That is the way it has been done for ages, and it’s how the people in Europe like it. Having firsthand experience with food in Europe and America I can tell you- there is no comparison. Americans want easy, fast, and cheap food; basically anything that comes in a box, bag, or can. Even most American restaurants shamefully serve what amounts to upgraded tv dinners at a premium price. When you go to a conventional grocery store the only natural looking food is in the produce and meat department, but alas even that is bioengineered in this country. Imagine if Americans decided to get smart about their food and used thier loud voices to demand change. It would change the Future of Food in this country, and maybe the world. Personally I’m all for new technology and lifestyle improvements, but when it comes to food I’ll take it the way nature intended it to be, not the way man has made it to be.

By now just about everyone knows about the new swirly looking CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) and just how big an advancement they are in energy conservation. What people don’t know is that they need to be recycled properly to maximize the benefit they provide to the environment. The main reason for this is that there is a small amount of mercury in the bulb that needs to be disposed of properly so it doesn’t end up back in our water table or on our dinner table in the form of a fish. Don’t let this scare you off from using CFLs though. Even when they aren’t recycled properly they still let less mercury into the environment than a standard old school incandescent, and much less greenhouse gases when you consider the electricity savings. Ironically most electricity is produced from coal burning factories which happen to be where most of the mercury pollution currently comes from. If you want to double-do your part by using and recycling CFLs just drop them off at your local Home depot where they will recycle the expired CFL bulbs for free. If you don’t live near one of those stores just check these links from the EPA and energystar more info.

EPA CFL recylcing page
EnergyStar FAQ about CFLs

According to this Energystar Webpage a CFL light bulb uses approximately 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb, and produces 75% less heat which makes them safer. Additionally the CFLs can last up to 10 times longer than incandescents. Overall it is estimated that you will save at least 30 dollars in electricity costs per bulb. The CFLs do cost a little more initially but if you shop places like Costco you’ll find them very cheap compared to your typical hardware or superstores.

Something to be aware of before you outfit your entire house with CFLs is the different color variations. Some CFLs appear to be yellowish in color while others emit a whiter brighter and more natural color, which I personally prefer. This webpage gives more detail about that and which specs to look for according to your needs.

I encountered another quirk when I bought some CFLs for recessed lighting in our kitchen, which was basically a small CFL bulb inside a larger dome bulb to fit the recessed light area. I thought this was a genius idea when I bought them until they all burned out a few months later. These lights normally last for years so I figured it had to be because of the bulb inside a bulb inside of a recessed area built up too much heat and caused the burnout. Recently I’ve found out that you need specific types of CFLs to handle dimmer switches which our kitchen lights are on, so this could’ve been a problem. Since then I’ve replaced them with regular CFL bulbs and haven’t had any problems. Most people don’t look up at the ceiling to see what a bright glowing light bulb looks like so the cosmetic difference is really nil.

Just one other thing I wanted to mention about lights is how awesome outdoor solar lights are. We bought some to put around our front yard to light up the area and deter break-ins. Even in Oregon we get enough light to charge them up every day. They turn on automatically at night and really do an outstanding job of lighting up the yard at no additional energy cost. If you haven’t switched over CFLs and solar yet it’s time to wake up and smell the pollution!

The "Small" Bin

Recently we attended the Everything Green Oregon event at the Oregon Convention Center. There were a wide variety of businesses and organizations there promoting their business or cause. Some of the more interesting booths included water filtration products, electric car exhibit, and solar energy companies.

Being foodies we were most interested in the CSAs (community supported agriculture) and organic food. As Marcel talked about in the last post, we’ve already signed up for one local CSA that will last us throughout the summer. At the convention we found another option that compliments that seasonal CSA.  Organics To You was offering a 50% discount to try their service of a home delivered box of fruits and veggies. The delivery is free and the box is normally $33, but at the show we signed up for the first time special for $16.50. What a bargain! We did pay full price ($4.25) for the eggs (farm fresh from Banks, OR) which were not included.

The best thing about this service is that it is year round and you can sign up for a delivery whenever you want, rather than paying for a whole season up front and getting it every week. During the winter months there isn’t as much available locally so only about half of the items are local but it’s still all organic. We thought we would try it for a one-time delivery, and then if we like it maybe get this box once a month or so in the winter when the regular CSA’s are not available.

Wednesday night a typical crazy Portlander who looked like Hyde from That 70’s Show (but with even bigger hair) showed up on our doorstep with the box of goodies. As you can see from the picture above, it is a very good variety of fruits and veggies along with our farm fresh eggs. Last night I made some potato leek soup. Yummy…this has motivated us to eat more fruits and vegetables. Between the CSA, Organics To You, and our own garden goodies, I’m looking forward to good wholesome eating all year long :-) 

Agriculture is one of the most important developments in human history. About 10,000 years ago humans figured out how to obtain food from cultivated plants and herded livestock enabling us to put our roots down (so to speak). This incredible advancement in human history allowed humankind to make the leap from hunter-gatherers to civilized society. Someday the advent of the Internet may be looked at in history as the key advancement that made globalization possible, much like agriculture made local societies and culture possible. So I figure why not grow our own and blog about it so we can be part of history and the future too.

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest region in 2006, we have significantly changed the way we eat and buy food. With an abundance of farmers markets, produce stands, and great weather, we are eating more and more fresh fruit and vegetables. Additional local items like honey, breads, pickles, seafood, wine, beer, and many others are readily available as well. What’s even better than buying locally is growing locally, in your own yard! Consider that commercial produce and other products are full of pesticides, preservatives, artificial flavorings, among other mystery ingredients. The choice is clear, for healthy food and peace of mind- grow your own.

Having your own garden can be rewarding in many other ways than just having super fresh food on the table. It brings out your nurturing abilities, much like taking care of a pet or child. In return you are rewarded with delectable gifts that taste oh so much better than anything bought at the store. Speaking of that, most store-bought produce is picked early so they ripen on the way to the store, and then sit on the shelf for a while before going rotten. In your own garden you can pick your food ripe on the vine so it is fully developed and ready for consumption on the spot. There is a rewarding sense of accomplishment that comes with gardening. It is a natural way of getting back to basics and tuning into the way things used to be, instead of being like so many people today who just tune into the TV while eating a TV dinner.

Another green benefit to having a green thumb is there is practically zero emissions associated with the food you grow, and very little with locally bought produce or CSA’s. Think of all the transportation that is involved with commercial bought produce that travels an average of 1500 miles to your table. Last summer I almost bought a bag of oranges. They looked so good and I was really craving some citrus, but being from South Florida I knew something just wasn’t right with fresh oranges in July. I checked the label and sure enough they were from South Africa, which explains the high price and why they were ripe in the summer instead of the usual winter season. Nothing against South Africa, but I thought to myself do I really want to support buying produce that is shipped half way around the world when I can just buy something else that is local and in season for much cheaper? I put the oranges back and decided that I would buy locally grown or at least domestically grown whenever possible.

In addition to gardening and buying at farmers markets we are subscribing to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The CSA share is a big movement in Oregon that we just learned about last year. This season we have paid upfront for a summer full of fresh CSA fruits and veggies from SunGoldFarm. Starting in June we will pick up a basket of fresh fruit and veggies every week. The baskets are surprisingly cheap for the large quantities you get. Each week the basket contents will be a little different since various fruits and veggies ripen at different times. With the CSA it’s up to us to be creative and find a way to use the items we get, or give away the ones we don’t use. I’m looking forward to some culinary creativity in the kitchen. Who knows we may just go vegan for the summer!

A small harvest from our garden.

Why does anyone really even drink soda anymore? It’s kind of like asking why does anyone still smoke? Back in the 60’s it was cool to smoke and everyone did it without really realizing the health hazards. They were blinded by all the cigarette toting TV commercials and TV shows that fully displayed the smoking culture as part of normal society. Everybody was doing it, or should I say smoking it! Nowadays everyone knows the real deal about smoking. Smoking ads are banned on TV, warning labels are put on cigarette packages, and as a result most people do not smoke.

Unfortunately this same enlightenment about soda hasn’t dawned on most folks yet, and nobody seems to be lining up to protest the ill effects of soda. Sure there is no one real culprit to link to soda like there was when people figured out lung cancer was a direct result of smoking. Instead drinking soda is just bad for your health all the way around. In health terms soda is usually referred to as empty calories. It’s even worse now that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has been added to replace sugar, and act as a preservative. I guess you can now say that soda is genetically modified empty calories!

I could be wrong about this but it seemed like the height of soda popularity was in the 80’s. Right about the same time that Coke and Pepsi did the bait and switch on us by changing their star ingredient to HFCS over sugar. Most people today still drink soda, but many other drinks are coming to the forefront such as bottled water, energy drinks, and fruit juice ( the latter two usually mixed with HFCS). I have issues with all of these which I will address in later posts, but at least people are trying different things, however misguided they may be. Just as it took a couple of decades for people to really get the message about smoking I think the same will be the case for soda. Eventually drinking soda should be viewed by society as an occasional splurge, or if used frequently a self destructive behavior much like smoking is.

As a kid I can still remember my parents occasionally stopping at 7/11 to buy the small bottles of coke that was the “original formula” because it tasted better. That was the coke that still had real sugar in it. You can still find it today in Mexican grocery stores where it is imported as “Mexican Coca Cola” also made with real sugar. Other than the occasional original coke (when it was still available), soda was never a part of our household diet. It wasn’t stocked in our refrigerator or cupboards, and in those days kids couldn’t buy soda or other junk food in vending machines at school like they can now. Basically it just wasn’t readily available for me so I never really developed an addiction to it like so many other Americans have. I have found however, that soda (especially coke) is very useful for dissolving caked up battery acid on your car battery. Aside from that utilitarian use I can honestly say as an adult soda has never been a regular item on my grocery list; it only makes an appearance when other people who are visiting might want it. This is a direct result of my environment while growing up which just gives proof that the choices parents make are often the same choices children will make when they grow up. Food for thought…

At times when we do get a hankering to drink soda in our household, for example on Superbowl Sunday, then we will typically get a local root beer or ginger ale made with cane sugar which you can normally find at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or other organic grocers. Speaking of the Superbowl, advertising is the biggest pusher of soda. We are bombarded with ads basically telling us try it, it’s cool and everyone’s doing it. Advertising plays a huge part in the American society. It tells us how we are supposed to live, persuades our brains into thinking what is and isn’t right for us. It especially tells us what to eat and drink. In the 70’s there was Pittsburgh Steeler Mean Joe Green downing a full bottle of coke that a little kid gave him, then he says “here kid catch” when he throws him his terrible towel. While this commercial is a cultural classic, it is still pure influential advertising at its best. Give Mean Joe credit though; at least his coke probably was made with real sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup. Back in the 80’s Michael Jackson caught his hair on fire for a new generation of Pepsi drinkers. Then in the 90’s Prime Time Deion Sanders ran like the roadrunner from Wylie coyote for a Pepsi Superbowl commercial. This year we’ve gone full circle with Pittsburg Steeler Troy Palamalu doing his imitation of the original coke commercial from Mean Joe Green, albeit with the new HFCS version of Coca Cornla. See the original below.

You have to wonder do these athletes and celebrities even know what they are promoting, or are they just blinded by the extra millions they are making? Some of these millions are probably coming from the money saved by Coke and Pepsi when they switched over to HFCS. It’s a vicious cycle. The bottom line is while the public that drinks this carbonated corn syrup gets fatter, the celebrities who promote this and the executives who push it are getting fatter with cash.

If you really want to know the difference between the coke that Mean Joe drank in the 70’s, and the Coca Cornla that Troy Palamalu drank in 2009 then try an imported Mexican coke made with real sugar, and then drink one with made with High Fructose Corn Syrup (found everywhere). You might notice the filmy bad breath taste left in your mouth by the new version, not that the old version full of sugar is much better. What would be better is to forget the soda and drink a good old fashioned glass of ice water. Its free, calorie free, and your body is already made up of about 70% water anyway. If I was going to make a commercial I’d say “Drink water for that great refreshing natural taste”!

Local government has proposed plans to replace an outdated bridge on Interstate 5 that connects Washington and Oregon over the Columbia River. The interesting thing about this proposal is that the plans include wind turbines on the bridge itself that would create enough energy to power the bridge and all its operations. The area where the bridge resides is already very windy so this could be very promising. Even more exciting is that this could be a worthy shovel-ready project creating hundreds of new jobs using the new stimulus package proposed by the new president- if it passes.

After reading the comments posted on the article by readers it’s clear that some locals are opposed to the new bridge proposal; but that is not surprising. Outside of the Portland metro area Oregon and Southern Washington become ultra conservative very fast. Most of these folks are more concerned about potential tolls or tax costs that might be put on the residents of Oregon and Washington than they are with alternative energy or other progressive measures. In any case here is a link to more information about this development followed by the comments from local readers of The Oregonian newspaper.

New I-5 Bridge Proposal Article

Today I watched a coworker pull out a burrito wrapped in saran wrap from his lunch bag. He then proceeded to poke holes in it with a fork, sort of like you would do with a potato before you nuke it. Then he proceeded to microwave the burrito, still wrapped in the saran wrap! Blahyuk! Later the same day I watched another coworker nuke his leftover Mexican food in a Styrofoam take-away container. For good measure he also left the whole thing in a plastic grocery bag while heating it. Talk about double exposure!

There are basically two sides to the microwave debate. One side says dioxins, toxins, and all sorts of other things are released from plastics and styrofoams when heated in the microwave. This same principle applies to things such as hot coffee poured into a Styrofoam cup. While some of this might be overstated I tend to agree with this camp. Basic common sense tells you that food and artificially manufactured materials like styrofoam and plastic wrap should not be heated with your food. Something is bound to be released or melted into your food, even if you can’t see or taste it. Keep in mind that these products are not biodegradable, which is a good reason to avoid using them altogether. Aside from that imagine if they get into your body through cooking. It only makes sense that your body can not naturally dispose of them or break them down either.

The other side says as long as the container or covering (as in saran wrap) doesn’t melt then its ok. Additionally they say if the government (FDA) deems it “microwave safe” then go ahead and nuke it to the max. Well that’s just groovy. We can always count on the government to have the best intentions and completely ignore special interest groups and lobbyist that might otherwise persuade them to give consumers misleading information. Yeah right. Without getting too political here I think I can safely say that one should never “misunderestimate” the government to be more than one step behind when it comes to important and accurate information on health and technology. That is not even taking into consideration the politics of what is released, blocked, or covered up by the government. Just in case you are interested in what the USDA has to say on this matter you can visit this USDA site. They do at least recommend that plastic wrap used in the microwave should never come in contact with food, and containers such as butter bowls and plastic bags should never be microwaved in order to prevent harmful chemicals from getting into your food. So basically they are saying it is kind of safe. But if it is only kind of safe then why use these products at all?

Personally I think that if you are going to heat your food in a plastic bowl at the least make sure that it is deemed microwave safe. If at all possible just put your food in a solid container like ceramic or microwave safe glass. I have started using microwave safe glass containers purchased at The Container Store and Crate and Barrel which come in similar shapes and sizes as most Tupperware. They have removable plastic lids to keep your food fresh and sealed but you obviously remove those before heating. I’d also suggest using a lunch cooler everyday instead of lunch bags, along with a reusable stainless steel cup for drinking water,  tea, or coffee. This will help keep a lot of non-biodegradable packaging junk out of the landfills, and carcinogens out of your food and drink.

Welcome to greencropcircles.com! Our goal is to raise the general public’s (and our own) awareness for a multitude of subjects in the green universe. Some of these subjects include organic food and other products, alternative energy solutions, global warming, local sustainability, alternative medicines, recycling, pollution, animal habitat and species preservation, natural land and water conservation, and the list goes on. Right now the future for this web site, for the planet, and for all living species on earth is yet to be determined. What we know now is that somebody has to do something to raise awareness. No we are not earth worshipers or liberal freaks. We are just everyday people who happen to think the right thing to do as human beings is to be responsible in the way we live and try our best to leave this place in better condition for future generations than it was in when we arrived. With all the industry, modern living, population growth, among other things this is much more of a monumental task than it has been in the past.

Our self-imposed mission is to blog to the masses. We have ideas and many more questions that need to be asked and answered. There is no better place to do this than the web. Our first plan of action is to write blogs about these topics and hopefully get some feedback from readers posing more questions and answers. We may experiment with selling some organic products on our site as well. For now any proceeds or donations will go towards growing this website, environmental causes, and green initiatives in our own personal lives such as our hybrid car savings fund. If this site inspires one person to make a difference I will consider it a worthwhile project. We hope it will be much more than that but only time will tell.