UsedEverywhere.com

What the Heck are GMOs?

If you haven’t heard the term GMO or Genetically Modified Food – chances are you might this week with social and conventional media covering marches scheduled on May 25th all over North America to protest GMO creator Monsanto. But many people are still confused as to what GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) are. GMOs are plants and animals whos DNA has been altered with bacteria, viruses or other DNA from plants and animals in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic. They have existed fairly quietly in our environment over the last 20 years but have received lots of attention in North America over the last few years with pockets of U.S. trying to get their governments to include labeling on food that contain GMOs. Currently it is up to consumers in Canada and the U.S. to navigate grocery isles and read ingredients on fresh and packaged food to determine if it contains genetically modified ingredients or grown from genetically altered seeds.

With all of the controversy surrounding GMOs, you might wonder why they originally infiltrated our food system at all. Back in the 70s, a major biotechnology company manufactured a herbicide called Roundup but when it was used on farmer’s crops, both the weeds and the crops suffered. To solve this problem, the biotech company created genetically modified seeds that allowed the crop to survive when the herbicide was sprayed, marketed as a time saver for farmers to reduce or eliminate weeds. Fast forward into the 90s and genetically modified soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola were introduced. When Roundup was used, only the resistant (genetically modified) survived. This has resulted in a huge increase of chemical herbicide being used over the last ten years.

Foods that are labelled ‘organic’ or ‘made from organic ingredients’ cannot contain any GMO ingredients. According to the website Non GMO Project, high risk crops from the U.S. that are grown with GMO seed are:

• Alfalfa (first planting 2011)
• Canola (approx. 90% of U.S. crop)
• Corn (approx. 88% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Cotton (approx. 90% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Papaya (most of Hawaiian crop; approximately 988 acres)
• Soy (approx. 94% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Sugar Beets (approx. 95% of U.S. crop in 2010)
• Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash (approx. 25,000 acres)
• ALSO high-risk: animal products (milk, meat, eggs, honey, etc.) because of contamination in feed

Common Ingredients Derived from GMO Risk Crops:

Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Ethanol, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products.

Buying only organic food can get expensive but there are other ways to ensure food quality for your family. Get to know your local farmers! Ask questions and find trusted food sources by visiting small farms or Farmer’s Markets. You might also consider planting a garden this summer. I’ve always considered growing a food garden outside of my comfort zone thinking it’s too hard but we have planted over seven items this spring and the kids have loved every step of growing food. Visit local seed specialists that sell heirloom seed packets and enjoy the feeling of pride that comes with growing your own food.

This weekend on May 25th, millions of people will be marching to protest Monsanto’s dominance over the food industry. Hopefully after reading this article, you’ll know why GMO food is such an important topic and why GMO food labeling has so much energy as a grassroots movement in Canada and the U.S.

Community Angel Car Seat Recycling Project

Working as a community angel with UsedVancouver.com is very rewarding because environmental and human stewardship is the focus. My favourite project is the car seat recycling initiative that includes our amazing community partners Bellies to Babies Celebration and Gibsons Recycling Depot. On May 5th, UsedVancouver.com collected a total of 83 car seats and boosters and then transported them over to the recycling depot to be deconstructed and recycled. The plastic base and metal clips are the main pieces of the seats that are recycled.

The buzz for this car seat recycling project was amazing and parents within the Lower Mainland kept repeating the same comment: “Thank you for giving us a convenient way to dispose of this piece of baby gear that we’ve been saving to keep out of the landfill.” Even parents who learned about the initiative through social media loved the idea from afar.

For anyone interested in hosting a car seat recycling campaign or finding a place to dispose of a car seat, I recommend calling nearby recycling depots to start. Once you find a location that will recycle the plastic and metal from the seats, if a recycling depot receives enough interest from parents, it might see the value in testing several seats to find a common thread of plastic to continue the campaign. Our hope is for future campaigns to include more baby items once they’ve expired or been passed down many times, so they have a place to go and will be recycled. If you think of large baby items, they are usually comprised of several different materials, which makes things difficult for a recycling depot. Once common materials and types of plastics are defined, a broader scope of strollers, highchairs and saucers can be included.

Hosting this initiatives show the importance of grassroots UsedEverywhere.com movements and it’s wonderful to work with a company that so environmentally focused to reduce landfill waste.

Highlights of the collection this year include: most unique drop-off transportation. Check out our favourite two drop-off people that we’ve been calling Scooter Guy and Bicycle Mama. Both were super cool to chat with and we had to take a picture of the unique ways these car seats ended up for collection at Bellies to Babies Celebration:

Scooter Guy

Bicycle Mama

The collection was very successful and we doubled our efforts from last September. The van that was used to transport the seats was packed from floor to roof once we made our way to Gibsons Recycling Depot the following day.

It was an amazing day to tour the Gibsons Recycling Depot (GRD). I highly recommend anyone with children to find a local recycling depot and arrange a tour or field trip. Every time I go to GRD I learn something new. The most amazing part of the depot is learning if personal waste actually reaches a depot, there isn’t much they can’t recycle. Items that prove tough for the depot always go back to mixed plastics, dirty or contaminated plastics and Styrofoam. An example of this is Styrofoam meat trays. Normally Styrofoam can be depleted of it’s air and packed down into small flats that is actually sold to be reused. But this can only be done with clean Styrofoam (from packing boxes of appliances, etc.). When GRD receives contaminated meat trays they can’t recycle them. So do you know what they do? Make planters (pictured below) for people to take/buy from the Depot. Amazing things can happen with waste if it just gets to the right place.

Other sources that are tough to dispose of are mixed plastics where a recycling code isn’t shared. Plastic pots from plants, mixed plastic shopping bags, baby items discussed at the beginning of this article, and many toys cause problems with waste management. The key message I always leave GRD with is to strengthen my resolve to manage my family’s personal waste. Biggest problem being plastic – buy it second hand! Plastic is such a durable material which is why it’s so difficult to recycle. Put that durability to use by listing and buying plastic online. Try hard to not bring new plastics into your life. When we do need to purchase plastic it would be great to have a clear vision of where these plastics will end up at the end of their life. If they are mixed, try to curb the original purchase unless buying used and encourage manufacturers to use a recyclable material. Hopefully car seat manufacturers will understand this problem and change policies to accept car seats back after they’ve expired to reuse the plastic and metal at their own manufacturing plants. But until this happens, UsedVancouver.com is proud to be offering this service to local parents. Grassroots efforts do make a difference and we thank all the people that brought us seats and our community partners for another great campaign!

Share your thoughts with us in the comments area below or visit our UsedVancouver.com Facebook page to chat with us and find out what we’re up to next in the Lower Mainland.

Expired Car Seat Recycling Program

It’s back! This Sunday, May 5, the UsedVancouver.com crew will be collecting expired car seats and boosters at Bellies to Babies Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. We hope to triple the collections from last September when we collected and recycled 44 car seats.

As many parents in the Lower Mainland will tell you, it’s very difficult to find a recycling depot that takes back expired seats without an organized initiative in place. It’s also unique for parents to be able to simply drop-off expired car seats without having to disassemble them first. This weekend disassembly is not necessary because Gibsons Recycling Depot is looking after this potentially toxic task and they will be taking apart the seats and then recycling the plastic and metal components. Gibsons Depot experts agree that when disassembling car seats, masks should be worn in a well ventilated area to avoid inhaling flame retardant chemicals found in the interior foam of all car seats. We thank them for looking after this for Lower Mainland parents!

Many of the newer car seats have longer expiration dates, but typically they still expire within six years. If your car seat has not expired but you have finished using it, before you think of passing it to a friend or selling it at a yard sale or online please call the manufacturer and check that the model number adheres to the new regulations set forth by Health Canada announced in January 2012. This removes liability from you if the car seat is involved in an accident.

Local initiatives like this are what set UsedEverywhere.com apart – with its strong community involvement and commitment to the core mission of keeping our landfill clear of items that can be reused or disposed of with a recycling focus. Also partnering with an amazing trade show like Bellies to Babies Celebration and Gibsons Recycling Depot makes all the difference with offering the education piece of why it’s important to be aware off the personal waste we bring into our lives and pushing to find solutions on how to dispose of them responsibly.

Gibsons Recycling Depot is a great place to visit because their message of holding people accountable for waste is important. Most things brought to the depot can be recycled, anything else that isn’t broken goes into a walk-in locker to be sold. For the campaign on May 5th they determined there are enough similarities between booster seat materials and car seats to now include booster seats in the recycling program this year (last September they were only able to accept car seats). Hooray for progress!

After receiving feedback from green-minded parents still holding onto broken high chairs and strollers, knowing they will go to the landfill when disposed, we are also working with Gibsons to find a common thread to these items so in future campaigns they can be recycled too. Wouldn’t it be great to have these campaigns include a broader scope of baby items that after being reused multiple times, can be disassembled and disposed of by recycling the components instead of sitting in a landfill forever?

We are inviting a small group of parents to bring broken baby items comprised of metal and plastic (highchairs, strollers, saucers, etc.) to the trade show on May 5th and we’ll include these in our delivery to Gibsons Recycling Depot so they can analyze the components to see if any of these products can be included in our next campaign. **Important** if you are planning on bringing any other baby items besides car seats for disposal on May 5th, please comment on this article and let us know the number and type of items so we can be prepared. And remember, if you have baby items that are not broken and safe to be handed down to another family, please create a listing on UsedVancouver.com - let’s also reduce our consumption.

To checkout Bellies to Babies Celebration vendors that will be at the show this Sunday, access the full list here.

To read more about the great work Gibsons Recycling Depot does for the Province of B.C., click here.

To read more about how to tell if your car seat has expired, click here.

All Lower Mainland parents are encouraged to share the image included in this article so their friends and family are aware of this excellent service being offered. Free up some room in your garage, Spring Clean, and feel proud to be taking responsibility for managing your personal waste!

Find UsedVancouver.com on Facebook now to join the conversation.

Top 5 Uses for Coconut Oil in Your Bathroom

Coconut oil is one of the most talked about oils to cook with but did you know it’s benefits for your skin, hair and teeth?  If this is the first time you’re hearing about coconut oil health benefits – it’s because of the fatty acid composition; the oil contains a high concentration of medium-chain saturated fatty acids like lauric acid. These are easily digested and fight bacteria, viruses, etc. To fully reap the benefits of coconut oil, select unrefined oil to bypass chemicals in the processing. Unrefined oil is processed by mechanically pressing the coconut meat soon after picking so it retains the compounds naturally present. Once you have selected an unrefined coconut oil – here are my favourite five uses for personal care:

Makeup Remover

Coconut oil magically melts away stubborn mascara and makeup. Add coconut oil to a dry cloth or Q-tip and remove makeup.

Facial Wash

When I ran out of store bought face wash last month I decided to try coconut oil to wash my face. I mix my coconut oil with a bit of baking soda to give it some abrasion then I apply with dry hands to my face and wash clean with water. I’m completely hooked and love how soft my face and lips feel after using! All store bought facial cleaners contain water and therefore require preservatives to ensure shelf life. Avoid these chemical preservatives with using this technique to wash and moisturize your face.

Tooth Polish

Have you heard of oil pulling? It sounds complicated – don’t let that stop you. All you need is a spoon and coconut oil. Think of it as oil swishing! You put approx. 1 tablespoon of coconut oil on a spoon, put inside your mouth, wait for the oil to melt into liquid form, then swish through your mouth (mixed with saliva) for 20 minutes. Don’t swallow the oil, swish for 20 minutes and then spit into the toilet. I promise you’ll feel like you just got home from the dentist. I’ve incorporated oil pulling into my morning routine and love how it whitens my teeth and removes plaque. Other benefits with dental care is coconut oil facilitates absorption of calcium by the body, so it helps in getting strong teeth. Coconut oil also stops tooth decay and whitens teeth.

DIY Deodorant

Aluminum-based compounds are used as active ingredient in antiperspirants. So I set off to make my own deodorant many years ago expecting it to be difficult and expensive. I was wrong and have used this 3 part ingredient recipe every since.

Ingredients:

5-6 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/8 cup baking soda
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder. Then slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon until it maintains the substance you desire. I keep the ball of deodorant in a sealed jar, wrapped in parchment paper so I don’t get my hands sticky when applying. Store in a dark cool area of the bathroom so it won’t melt on hot, sunny days.

Hair Conditioner

Do you have dry ends or dry scalp? Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrition for hair. Adding coconut oil to the ends of dry hair produces a beautiful shiny effect. It is effective in reducing the protein loss for hair and it’s my favourite part of maintaining long hair. After my hair is washed and dry, I add a quarter sized amount to my hand, rub into liquid form and add to hair ends. It can also be used as a slicker for fly away pieces of hair.  Also when your scalp gets itchy from dry skin – rub coconut oil into your scalp before bed. It will sooth itching and heal dry skin.

The best part of starting to incorporate coconut oil into your personal care regime is you’ll keep finding more ways to use it. It’s also very empowering to replace store bought products with ones you can make yourself because it ensures you know the ingredients you are applying to your family’s skin and body. A high quality unrefined coconut oil is pricey, but one jar goes a long way so the cost savings long-term are significant.

Donor Breast Milk Needed In Vancouver

Sometimes you read a post that makes your own problems diminish – POOF! This happened when Vancouver’s Prenatal Coach, Crystal Di Domizio posted a plea to Vancouver moms asking for donor breast milk for a local mom starting chemo treatments to fight breast cancer. While mom undergoes treatments she wants her three-month-old baby Linnea to receive donated breast milk nourishment. The goal is to get baby to six months of age exclusively breast fed. Here is what the result of local hero moms donating their milk looks like (image belongs to Prenatal Coach):

After reading a plea like this, you experience tunnel vision because even without having breast milk to donate, anyone can help by reaching out via social media or to community partners. UsedEverywhere.com has smaller chapters in most Provinces of Canada and if you aren’t aware, has a wonderful Community Angel program. When people in the community need help, Community Angels are there to assist. I am lucky enough to help with the role of Vancouver Angel and write this article to ask for your help if you have breast milk to donate. I’m thrilled with the help already received from UsedVancouver and our partner in kindness SPUD Vancouver because these two companies are now supplying the family with eight weeks of organic food boxes. We have no doubt that trying to manage high quality nutrition while receiving treatments for cancer is important, not only for mom but the entire family. Dad responded to our news with “We are humbled by this generous gift by SPUD and Used Vancouver to make life easier during this challenging time. Thank you so much!!! ” We also wanted to bring attention to the issue of donor breast milk. The well-documented benefits of breast milk consumption in early life are present in all human milk but when a child is unable to thrive solely on the milk of their biological parent, human milk is available as an alternative. Crystal recommends checking out milk sharing groups like Human Milk for Human Babies for more information.

Checking in with Crystal today, she reports they have approximately one week of donor milk left in hand for the family to use for baby Linnea. It takes a lot of milk to give a baby continual support of donated milk. We ask if you live in the Vancouver area and can deliver donor milk to Crystal (drop-off downtown), please get in touch via email crystal@cultivateyourhealth dot com. Our community is lucky to have Crystal with her obvious devotion to prenatal wellness. When Crystal is not collecting milk for a special mama and baby in need, you can find her mentoring pregnant women through their journey to motherhood. She is passionate about helping women have easier and more comfortable birth experiences through Hypnobabies Childbirth classes.

Community connections keep the light in our steps as we navigate through darker journeys. It is very reassuring as a Vancouver resident to know that UsedEverywhere Community Angels, SPUD Vancouver, and Crystal are keeping a watchful eye out. Sometimes feeling the warmth on our backs from unexpected acts of kindness makes all the difference in times of need. We hope this article gives the topic of community support and donor breast milk more light.

Related Articles:

Our own Used blogger Erin wrote about her personal experience with milk sharing; read her article here.

3 Ways To Make Your Community Beautiful

Have you heard the quote “Magic is everywhere…you just need to look for it”? Discovering magic can happen in your own neighbourhood when a person spies something unique and unexpected nestled in nature. Memories are created and a sense of community pride is increased. The following three projects will not only make your neighbourhood more beautiful, but the lasting effects on how the community felt will remain for years. The projects are also low budget and mostly created from upcycled materials making them great for families to plan this spring.

Fairy Doors

Have you ever seen a tree knob created by nature on the outside of tree bark and instantly checked twice to see if it was real? That feeling of wonder can easily be handcrafted by a child and placed at the bottom of a special tree by making your own fairy door. It doesn’t matter if the cut around the door is made by a first-timer with a jig saw or the polished design of someone more professional – fairy doors evoke a strong emotion and always bring a squeal of delight when discovered. And when I say there is a little Peter Pan syndrome inside all of us, this video that was shared via George Stroumboulopoulos, will prove even grown-ups and teens see the magic.

This spring, select a few lucky trees along your favourite trail or yard and create fairy doors to live at the bottom. Measure out a perfect size that can be secured without too much difficulty in the nook of a tree, have your family decorate the door with weather resistant paint, and add a doorknob for the perfect finishing touch. Unless the fairy doors are going into a person’s yard, don’t invest too much money in the project because the chance of vandalism is high. But when a child wonders where the door has gone – you can reassure them that the magic of the fairy or gnome moved the door to a new home. Notes can be left for the fairies inside the tree or if the door doesn’t open, offerings from nature can be left outside for fairies to find; pinecones, flowers, feathers, acorns, etc.

Yarn Bombing

This activity is for the inner grandma in all of us; unless of course you know that knitting and crochet has become hip this year thanks to Pinterest inspiration and handmade love! Knitting is also a great activity to teach children and what could be more magical than making a sleeve for a tree in your yard, fence post, or pole. Yarn bombing is extremely beautiful – something about the bright, knit colours resting against nature that is very memorable. This photo and yarn bomb project was completed by Knitta.

Working with your city’s Art Council or Museum is a great idea if you want to expand yarn bombing into the community with kids. It will help ensure your project lasts since a pair of scissors can quickly bring this project down – but that is the key reason why it’s considered to be a harmless method of graffiti. A breathtaking example of yarn bombing actually happened in Vancouver March 2011 when the cherry tree behind Joy Kogawa’s (Vancouver author and poet) childhood home no longer blossomed. 50 crafters gathered together to change that and yarn bombed her tree with stunning knit bark and garlands of knit blossoms. The effect was stunning and I encourage you to read the entire article shared via Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Blog. Below is a picture from that article – notice how beautiful the knit blossoms look in nature?

Little Free Library

With so many parents trying to detach their children from electronics and re-introduce them to the love of reading, the time to build or use a Little Free Library is now. And with the growth of thousands more of these libraries popping up around the world, their popularity is easily understood. The concept is to approach a Girl and Boy Scout troop, carpenter, or artists and see if they would be willing to build some Libraries as a community service project. Ask neighbours and friends to contribute books. Keep them informed about what they can bring by leaving a note in your Library asking for a certain type of books. Real people sharing their love for special books is the best part of building a Free Library and I love this quote from the Little Free Library site “These aren’t just any old books, this is a carefully curated collection and the Library itself is a piece of neighborhood art!”

Check out the examples of finished community libraries from the Little Free Library Facebook page and you’ll see why they are so special and would really enhance community spirit!

From being involved in community projects with my family, I know the people creating projects get just as much fun and joy out of the planning, building, and crafting. Harness your own imagination and bring together a team of people committed to creating magic this spring.

Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something Green: How to Plan a Beautiful Eco-Friendly Wedding

The average cost of a Canadian wedding today is $24,000. $24,000! No wonder so many fathers are angry when their daughters announce they’re getting married. Even though most couples actually pay for their own weddings these days, that is still a huge bill to begin a new marriage with. But if you don’t want to start your honeymoon in debt, what are the options? Well, since this is the UsedEverywhere blog, of course you can throw a beautiful, eco-friendly wedding for a fraction of the usual cost!

My fiance and I had a tiny wedding budget thanks to two years of ongoing renovations on our fixer-upper. Over a year and a half of wedding planning, we found out that when you go green, you save green, even in weddings. We learned where to save big money and where to go green … and that the two usually went hand-in-hand. Elegant does not have to mean expensive, and neither does eco-friendly. We planned a gorgeous, “green” wedding for all our family and friends, and saving the planet was just a bonus.

In planning the wedding, Rolf and I turned to the same resources as we had been using in our ongoing renovations: the knowledge and help of our friends and family; online classified websites such as UsedOttawa.com for cheap and free materials; and Google. For 1/8th the cost of a standard wedding, $3,000, we got married last summer in a sweet, vintage wedding with one hundred of our closest friends. And partied our asses off.

In upcoming posts in this blog series on throwing a low-budget but beautiful wedding, I’ll go over all the aspects of planning a wedding, showing you where we saved money, what the green options are, and what not to DIY! Over the coming weeks I’ll cover all the wedding planning essentials:

The venue.

The invitations.

The rings.

The flowers.

Photography.

The dress! And other wedding clothes.

The food.

Centrepieces and wedding favours.

Wedding cakes and cake toppers.

If you’re out west this weekend, UsedVancouver.com is proudly sponsoring The Original Bridal Swap. Bridal Swap connects past brides and brides-to-be in a fun atmosphere so they can buy and sell gently used wedding items.

Canadian Voices Rise Up to the Sky

National news can be learned directly from children, which was the case in my household regarding a new song my kids are learning at school. The song I.S.S. Is Somebody Singing was collaborated together by Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson and with how interactive Hadfield has been from space – the kids rate this partnership as something very cool! Officially commissioned by CBC Music, the goal is to bring attention to the importance of music education in Canada. The debut of the song Is Somebody Singing happened in February with the glee choir of Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts and not only is it a great song (and Chris Hadfield can really sing!) but it’s a coalition spreading a great message of unification through music across Canada. Music history was made when the song was recorded both on Earth and Space while Hadfield is in orbit on the International Space Station. Have a listen below!

Astronaut Hadfield helped co-write the song and I love the line “You can’t make out borders from up here.” Ed Robertson from Bare Naked Ladies has a wonderful quote about how we can all feel connected, even the wonder of what Chris Hadfield experiences in Space. Robertson’s quote is here:

“I wanted it to be a celebration not about the remoteness of space, but about the connectedness of a human being on the I.S.S. who looks down and sees the whole planet in a way that, from our perspective, we don’t have the opportunity to.”

I love listening to music that my kids enjoy and the goal for May 6 is to have the entire country united in song across the different time zones and have Hadfield hear the voices while still in space. It is the official song for Music Monday to promote and celebrate music education in schools. Share this message so that children that are home schooled, school music departments, and music makers of all backgrounds learn the song together and lend their voice in May.

Access free downloads and lyrics through the Coalition’s Music Monday website, and join the coalition to fill the skies with music. There are some great Music Monday ideas for getting started:

• Music Monday in a field
• Joint School Event – organized with multiple schools
• Community Wide Event – community partner with a senior music group, local choir, etc.

Play the video, learn the lyrics and help bring awareness for music education in your communities with this special song. Champion children to believe that anything is possible – whether it be travelling to space or hearing a song there.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Have you heard the good news? If baked goods and desserts are made from scratch in your kitchen they are not considered unhealthy. It’s actually a great rule to follow when trying to eat a clean food diet; eliminating store bought baked goods is a great step in that direction. Here is an awesome recipe that kids and adults love that includes chocolate chips and cocoa but the secret ingredient to the moist muffins is zucchini. And this green veggie is undetectable so anyone with fussy eaters – just don’t mention the fact they contain zucchini and it’s a win/win for the entire family!

Ingredients:

Tip – Canadian company Camino keeps baking organic, fair trade and tasty! I use their cocoa powder and whole brown sugar in my recipes.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I use whole sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (*tip* Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk to make your own buttermilk)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves

2 cups fine grated zucchini
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat together butter, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine dry ingredients and then add to creamed mix. Add zucchini and chocolate chips and stir into mix. Add to muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

These muffins are our household favourite. The zucchini keeps the muffins moist and I like hiding veggies in my baking especially to balance the chocolate chips added. We made chocolate cupcakes last month for a birthday and the kids all commented they liked these muffins better than the cupcakes, so they’ll be a birthday party treat for future celebrations. Easy, homemade, and clean ingredients!

Spring Clean Your Vehicle Without Chemicals

It’s March and with West Coasters getting a taste of sunshine, planning begins for Spring cleaning and purging projects. One part of Spring cleaning that typically gets forgotten is deep cleaning a vehicle. Vans that transport kids to school, activities, and fun outings are normally covered in sticky foreign substances (sometimes it’s better not to know), dust, crumbs, and hidden banana peels that have slipped through the cracks of the seat. Although hanging a vehicle deodorizer and using traditional armor guard for the dashboard interior might be convenient, this is another area of our lives that we can switch to organic options. Especially when we realize that a vehicle doesn’t have much space to dissipate chemicals that carry fragrance to mask car odor. Plus, wouldn’t it be extra convenient if you could clean your vehicle interior with items from your pantry?

Here are tips to cleaning your vehicle without chemicals and keeping it budget friendly and convenient from your kitchen:

1) Pull out car seats and put them in the sunlight for a few hours. This is a natural disinfectant that kills germs and bacteria. Don’t forget fuzzy dice or angry bird stuffies in this step.

2) Sprinkle baking soda on rugs and upholstered seats that will be vacuumed. Baking soda is an organic compound that removes odor.

3) Fill a warm bucket of water and add Castile liquid soap (I use Dr. Bronners) and with a cloth, squeeze out excess water and remove dust from any hard plastic surfaces.

4) Replace Windex to clean interior windows with water and a microfiber window cloth.

5) When the dashboard is dry, pour olive oil onto a dry cloth or napkin and polish the dashboard. This will keep your dash naturally repellent of dust for weeks.  I’ve only tested the olive oil polish on a plastic dash board, if your dashboard is a different material, first test in a small corner of the dash to ensure it doesn’t stain or discolor.

6) If there is a lot of debris on the carpet, take your car to a service station with an industrial vacuum to use. Afterwards, use your home vacuum if it has a HEPA filter to minimize more dust.

7) If family members have asthma or allergies, don’t go back to using synthetic air freshener in your vehicle. If you like to ‘spray’ a mixture to mask odor, dilute your favourite essential oil in a spray bottle to use.

8) You can also add the Castile soap to a bucket of warm water to wash the exterior of the car. Rinse with a hose of cold water.

When you avoid using traditional synthetic sprays, air fresheners, and dashboard polish, you are saving your family from absorbing phthalates (hidden behind the term fragrance on labelled products), formaldehyde, and lead that can be carried via dust. Air fresheners really only mask odor, so simply opening your vehicle window will actually ‘freshen’ the air inside your car.  And by removing dust, you are also removing other toxins like lead and VOCs which is smart to do before turning on vehicle air conditioning in the summer!