Monthly Archives: September 2009

Is Taxing Soda the Answer… or Even an Answer?

Checking out some news stories today, and I saw that the idea of taxing soda is coming up again. The idea is to combat obesity.

I’ll quite readily agree that too much soda isn’t good for you. I’ll even agree that obesity is an issue. But I don’t think this is a good solution at all.

There’s a lot more to people gaining weight than drinking soda. Lack of access to healthy foods, for example. There are many neighborhoods where fresh produce is simply not accessible. It’s awfully hard to eat healthy if the majority of foods available are processed, high sugar junk.

Then there are the farm subsidies for corn. Most popular sodas use high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), in part because it’s so cheap due to the subsidies. Might it make more sense to cut back on the subsidies? There are a lot of less healthy foods that use HFCS. Why focus only on soda?

For that matter, why raise a tax if cutting a subsidy could have a similar impact?

Yes, not a popular notion for farmers, but if they could be encouraged to grow something else, maybe not so bad. It’s not a topic I know that much about, so I’m not going to make precise suggestions.

This is just a proposal by health experts, not legislation pending right now. But when I see something like this that strikes me as a bunch of foolishness, I like to respond.

By all means, let’s take a look at what causes obesity and what can be done about it. But I’d rather see work done toward making healthier foods more available in places they aren’t than a tax on sodas and similar things.

Trying to Figure Out the Green in My Daughter’s School Fundraiser

You know it’s really back to school when the kids start bringing home the fundraiser packets. Time to try to get relatives to buy overpriced stuff in the name of helping our schools.

This school is selling Sally Foster stuff. Wrapping paper, all the usual stuff. And cookie dough, which I will admit to a weakness for. The banner and book talk about offering green items, so I decided to take a look.

It’s hard to tell just exactly how green some offerings are. There’s gift wrap printed on recycled, recyclable and biodegradable paper. Not bad, but kind of meh.

The reusable shopping bags are much better. I can’t tell what they’re made of, but still it’s a good, green idea.

Of course, the prizes the kids get for selling are still pretty horrible, but it’s hard to keep them from getting excited about prizes.

The problem with school fundraisers isn’t just whether or not they offer recycled paper or anything environmentally friendly at all. The big problem is that we deal with them every year, sometimes more than once. That part’s a bit of a pain. It’s really hard to ignore the pressure to sell, as the kids are so excited about it all.

I don’t know that there are any easy green solutions for the problem either. There are affordable, environmentally friendly things you can buy, but soon enough you don’t need more of them, at least not unless they’re really practical things like cleansers.

I’m glad even so to see that even a semblance of environmental awareness is creeping into school fundraising. It’s not much, but it is something.

Cloth Diapering Continues to Go Well

It’s been a few months since I last talked about cloth diapering. My daughter is 7 months old now, and it’s still going well.

We’ve encountered some challenges. The home we’re in now has a Homeowner’s Association, which unsurprisingly has rules against clotheslines. That makes it a bit of a pain to dry the diapers outside, where the sun can bleach any stains out naturally.

However, the rule is that it cannot be visible to the other houses. We’re fortunate enough to be a corner house, with a hill and a high brick wall off to that side. That gives me a place to put the diapers out to dry, provided I get them out early enough in the day that the sun still hits them.

They’d dry in the shade of course, especially with the 100 degree weather we’ve been having. But the direct sunlight is better.

There’s no convenient way to put up a clothesline, however. I’ve been making do with some lawn chairs and a baby gate we aren’t yet using indoors, laying the diapers out flat on those. The gate allows air to flow around both sides of the diapers.

The trouble is that they don’t dry as nicely. Everything’s just a little on the crunchy side when they dry like that. I’m thinking it’s the lack of movement from the wind.

I’m planning on ordering a folding indoor/outdoor clothes rack soon to take care (hopefully) of that problem. Going to be needing that gate indoors soon anyhow. Selene’s getting pretty mobile and I don’t think she’s going to accepting her current limitations on her play area forever or even much longer.

We do occasionally have that extra bit of smell from the diapers, which just means that I have to strip the diapers, but that’s really not so hard. Just a regular wash followed by some extra washing with Dawn dish soap and lots and lots of rinsing. Takes care of the problem quite nicely.

And how I love not having to buy disposable diapers! Saves me a ton of driving, much more so than if we had remained in Poway where Target was about 5 miles away. Here it’s about 15 miles. Between the mileage saved on the car and the money saved by not buying disposable diapers, wow! Really and truly worth the extra laundry.

Making Homemade Baby Food

Now that Selene’s old enough, we’ve been feeding her some baby food. And we’re finally settled enough in the new house that I’m making homemade baby food for her as much as possible.

So much cheaper than buying jars and really not that hard!

I’ve been doing it the cheap way. We have a VitaMix and I’m just using the ice cube trays and containers we already own to freeze and store the food. I want to get some better baby food storage containers to avoid BPA and similar issues, but after the move that’s not yet in the budget.

Soon, hopefully.

It’s really, really easy to do, even in the early stages.

Peaches, for example. I cut them in half and put them face down in a pan, then add about an inch of water. Then they cook at 400 degrees F in the oven until tender. If the skin’s still a little tough I may peel it, but often peach skins aren’t much of a problem so long as I’ve washed them well. Pop them in the blender, and away they go! Maybe a touch of water, but not much, if they really aren’t smoothing out well.

The best part is that it all tastes pretty decent even to me. I was never able to stomach jarred baby foods. That stuff is nasty! Even a lot of the fruit ones aren’t that good.

Vegetables are pretty easy too. Steaming works well for most, and you can often use veggies in season. Carrots are a classic, as is squash of various sorts. Selene loves, loves, loves zucchini.

I haven’t tried fresh green beans yet as I haven’t found a good source. I gather they can be a bit challenging to puree well due to the skins. My VitaMix copes pretty well with that overall; it just takes a little extra time.

I’ve not worried too much about baby food recipes yet. I’ll face that more as I start mixing things up a little for her. But if I do as I did before, a lot of it will simply be making mild versions of what the rest of the family is eating.

We haven’t started meats yet either. Most sources don’t recommend that until 8 months anyhow, so I still have time.

This stuff is fun, though! Just a touch of extra work but so much benefit. Less waste for not throwing out or even recycling baby food jars. Cheaper because I’m not paying at least $0.50 per jar. Much better tasting for Selene. And a much better selection of flavors to offer, while still considering foods which may be allergens at this age.

Be an Eco-Consultant with Green Irene

I heard recently from a consultant with Green Irene about their home business opportunities. It sounds like a possible match for those who want to start a green home business, so I thought I’d share it here.

The concept is pretty simple. Lots of people want to go green, but not everyone really knows how. Green Irene Eco-Consultants help people learn how. You would go to people’s houses and help them learn about the changes they can make to save energy, conserve water, have cleaner indoor air, teach about possible tax credits, locally available green power sources and more.

Not a bad use of the knowledge you’ve been gaining to help your own family.

Of course, this takes a pretty outgoing personality. For the right person this is probably a lot of fun. There’s nothing like getting paid for doing something you love, and if it helps people be kinder to the environment, so much the better.

Wandering the shopping part of the site, I loved some of the ideas, such as the magnetic HVAC vent cover. My husband was just grumbling the other day that closing the vents really doesn’t do enough to cut off the air flow to the rooms that really don’t need it.

There’s quite a bit that Green Irene consultants can offer. They offer training for consultants also, so that you can be ready to really show your stuff.

It’s not the cheapest of opportunities to join. $150 for the initial training and business set up. $300 for your demo kit. $25 a quarter membership. Plus whatever costs you incur for advertising and such, but that goes through third parties, however you choose to handle it.

Remember that this is a home business, not a job, and expenses are to be expected. These really don’t sound all that unreasonable to me. Certainly cheaper than some other options. But it’s enough you will really want to think and be dedicated to making your business succeed. You get 80% commission on consulting services and 20% on product sales, which isn’t too bad. Having multiple ways to earn money is never a bad thing, no matter the opportunity.

Watch a 5 minute presentation on Green Irene Eco-Consulting