Will Return Soon

We got engaged. We went to Brazil. We are soaking up unseasonally warm weather. As long as it’s pleasant outside, I won’t be on the computer.

this is good

“Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure.” – John McConnell, founder of International Earth Day

The Real Energy Crisis: We Use too Much

Fossil fuels will eventually run out.  And they contribute to global warming and pollution anyway.  So we need renewable energy sources.  We have some pretty fantastic ideas with solar power, wind power, alternative fuels, and more–they offer real and exciting potential.  But there are problems with all of them.  They are expensive.  They often take up a lot of space.  They aren’t without their own sustainability questions.

We’ve got to do something, though, and we have to do something quickly, because forecasts predict terrible forest fires, stronger storms, rising temperatures, disappearing islands, and more endangered species.  I don’t even understand this El Nino thing (it stands for “the nino” for those of you who don’t speak Spanish), but I know enough to be a bit worried about it.  It seems we are investing so much time and money into doing something drastic that we have forgotten about the smallest, easiest, and cheapest step we can take.  Use less energy.

If you’ve ever, as I think we all have, had that moment when you think “we’re screwed,” then you’ve also thought of changes you can make.  ”I can recycle,” you say, or “I can ride public transit” or “I can buy sustainably-produced and local food.”  Yes, you and I can do all of those things, and if only we had money we could replace our old appliances with energy-efficient appliances.  We could buy solar panels (maybe even enough to produce energy for one of our neighbors as well).  We could buy hybrid or electric cars.  Even the government is helping us with many of these.

But I wonder if the only real solution is not using electricity.  Think about that–I know it’s sounds uncomfortable, and it requires some serious life changes.  Is it the only solution, though?  I’m asking.  I’m thinking out loud.  Because with little effort and maybe a little money, I can light my house with olive oil lamps.  I can wash all of the dishes and clothes by hand.  I can heat my home and cook with a wood stove (okay, that might require a bit more money and effort), but these are legitimate thoughts, and they all seriously reduce my ecological footprint.  I’m very aware of the difficulty involved with these, as I’ve done zero of them, but I can’t shake these thoughts.

So for now, as I consider these things, I’m aware that I can always make more changes.  I’m also pretty sure that the production of electricity is always going to exact a toll on the environment (does that answer my question?), and if I don’t eliminate my use of it, I can certainly work towards that and reduce my use.

We need to make changes, and we need to consider serious changes.  Nearly all of us are taught from an early age to leave any space we occupy better than how we found it.  I do hope that I am able to leave this a better place.  So in order to pursue that goal, below are some practices we can adopt.  I encourage you to try these as well as contribute your own ideas to the effort.  Understand that none of these is a new idea (in fact, many are quite old), but they are all feasible.

Supplement lighting with olive oil lamps (visit Mother Earth News for guidance)
Hang dry clothes
Turn the thermstat down (and wear more clothing)
Walk to the store
Ride the bus

Please offer your ideas.  Again, these are things that have been done, so I realize I’m not starting any sort of revolution, but your old ideas might become my new ideas.

Preparing for Winter

Due to the beautiful weather and a need to accomplish house and yard tasks prior to winter, posts have been a bit lacking.  This is what we have done:

Planted blueberry bushes: I purchased 3 year-old bushes from Waters Blueberry Farm in Smithville.  They will offer us organic blueberries for up to 65 days each year, and since local, organic blueberries are hard to come by, we hope this will save us some money and trouble.  Plus, edible landscape is fun.

Amended clay soil: be very glad if you don’t have clay soil.  We have spent a lot of time mixing sand and leaves into the clay soil in hopes of creating a more friendly environment for plants.  We have also planted tulips and daffodils as we have amended, so come early spring, our front yard should offer a splendid view.

Repaired old windows: this is ongoing and may be for quite some time, but we currently have a hole in our house.  Our old windows have been nearly useless for the two years I have owned the house.  The glass is about to fall out, and most of them are painted shut.  So, I am trying to fix them.  I have removed one window and am working to reseal the glass.  I have to do this one window at a time, and I hope to finish two more before cold weather.

This is what we have left to do:

Plant a ton of daylilies: these things are everywhere in our yard, and between the spot where we planted the blueberry bushes to the front where we amended the soil, we removed quite a few.  We are going to plant them in the backyard in hopes of adding some color to our urban lawn.

Add insulation to the attic: before October ends, we plan to blow some additional insulation into our attic.  Old, leaky houses are expensive to heat, and I’d like to keep stress on the environment and on our pocket book (what is a pocket book, anyway?) to a minimum.

Lots to do.  Not a lot of time.  Far too soon, though, cold weather will discourage me from venturing outside and force me to dream of daffodils and spring planting.

The Blessed Ones

Many of us have been blessed with knowing how our goods are manufactured, how our every action affects our environment, how our decisions do eventually affect individuals across the globe, how certain chemicals damage our bodies.  And I hate, but also love, the stress that knowing causes.  It doesn’t just stress me mentally, but also physiologically and financially.

I am proud that I stress about every item I place in a trash bin.  I need to know that my trash has to go somewhere.  But I also have to deal with the mental anguish and do everything I can to divert that item from becoming trash next time.  That mental anguish causes me to pull out my eyebrows and sideburns–literally.

I hope Knowledge is Health, Courtney’s and my attempt at a blog, does simply offer knowledge that can positively affect our health and our world’s health.  I am passionate about this stuff, and I know some of our readers share that passion, but I also understand that we are all on unique journeys that take different, and very beautiful, turns.  My passion does not have to be your passion.

I hope that for our actions detrimental to our own health and our world’s we will feel sorrow.  And I hope that for the changes we make out of concern for ourselves and others we will feel bliss.  It’s just about impossible to know the consequences of all of our actions, but we owe it to ourselves, our neighbors, and our future neighbors to respond when we learn of those consequences.  And our response should be as unique as we are.  All I ask is that you respond.

Real Milk is Raw

We bought our first gallon of raw cow’s milk just over two weeks ago.  I had been calling around the city to find a place to buy it, but most of the farms I called didn’t deliver, so it would have involved driving at least 40 minutes to pick it up (Missouri law allows raw milk sales only when it is either purchased directly from the farm or delivered).  While at the Brookside Farmer’s Market, though, I happened to talk to a woman from whom I had been purchasing peppers, okra, and pecans.  She said her husband delivered raw cow’s and goat’s milk, so I scheduled to pick some up the following Saturday.

Raw milk has multiple benefits over pasteurized milk, so I’d like to outline a few of those benefits.

1.  Raw milk contains beneficial enzymes that are destroyed in the pasteurization process (by the way, you might ask, “but I thought pasteurization was necessary to prevent diseases.  Wasn’t that the genius of Louis Pasteur’s discovery?”  Well, yes, it was.  We know far more about the spread of diseases than we did previously, and contamination with such diseases is preventable through clean practices).  These enzymes assist the body in digesting the milk, so for those who are lactose intolerant, raw milk could be an alternative.

2.  Raw milk contains healthy bacteria that are destroyed in the pasteurization process.  These healthy bacteria populate the human digestive system, so that we have a balance of good and bad bacteria.  A common problem in an age of antibiotics is that our bodies are relatively low in good bacteria, because antibiotics kill all bacteria (not just the bad), so it is essential to our health and ability to fight illness that we have a balance of these bacteria.  Also, as an added bonus, since raw milk still possesses these good bacteria, the milk doesn’t go bad in the way pasteurized milk does.  Sure, it does sour, but it just becomes sour cream, buttermilk, and cream cheese.  Once raw milk goes sour, you could argue that it’s actually better for you, since it contains even more beneficial bacteria.  And you don’t have to throw it out.

3.  Raw milk that comes from pastured, not to be confused with pasteurized, cows is much higher in healthy fats, since the cows are consuming what they are meant to consume–grass.  Cows stomachs do not tolerate the corn that CAFOs have forced them to consume (or the cow lard, or the chicken droppings).  They are animals destined for grazing fields of grass, and when they are able to do this, their flesh and milk (and in turn, butter, cheese, etc.) are actually better for us.  Even full fat milk is more healthful when it comes from pastured cows.  On top of the healthy fats, the milk is also higher in many essential nutrients when the cows are allowed to graze the fields.

4.  Raw milk is just so creamy.  And tasty.

I am making cream cheese with raw milk right now, and I intend to make butter with the next gallon.  Court and I also plan to try the raw goat’s milk, which is another alternative for those who are lactose intolerant.  I encourage you to try it (they also sell half gallons).  If you’d like more information, comment, and I’d be happy to discuss with you.

For more information, visit www.raw-milk-facts.com.

Cosmonauts are Cool

“Only when I saw the Earth from space, in all its ineffable beauty and fragility, did I realize that humankind’s most urgent task is to cherish and preserve it for future generations.” – Sigmund Jahn, German cosmonaut

Flea Battle Aftermath

As many of you know, we have been fighting fleas in our home and on our cat.  We were determined to do so without chemicals, and we are nearing an end.  For an account of the brutal fight and our perceived solution, visit the original post here.

I say perceived solution, because we weren’t as done as we thought we were at the time.  So I will add this to the solution (which, in the end, did work): you must be patient and persistent.  I had a conversation just the other day with a former employee of an unnamed pest control company, and he said that ridding your home of fleas without chemicals is impossible.  Not true!

I think the first key to beating fleas is this: catch them early.  We began washing Greta at first itch, but we stopped there.  It’s likely they were reproducing at riciculous rates (remember, fleas lay as many as 20 eggs a day) for a week or more before we addressed fleas in our home.  So we had spotted the fleas an early lead.  When you first see an itch, bathe your animal and vacuum your home often for at least a week.  After the week, you will have an idea of how bad the problem is.  As I said in our solution, it helped to isolate Greta while we worked to control the flea population in our home.  Because the fleas need a meal to reproduce, we were able to combine picking them off our ankles with vacuuming, and they have slowly declined.

We were catching 20-40 fleas a day for quite a while, but yesterday we only saw three, and this morning (when the fleas are usually eager to find a juicy ankle), we didn’t see any.

Fleas can be defeated without chemicals, and though Courtney and I nearly drove ourselves mad in the process, I firmly believe that it was worth it.  Neither Greta nor we breathed or absorbed toxic substances, and our home is nearly flea free.

We are determined to keep the fleas under control, so we are prepared to bathe Greta once or twice a month, and we are prepared to vacuum more regularly, which our guests will probably appreciate anyway.  Now we know that chemical-free flea control is about patience and persistence.

And knowing is half the battle.

I’m a Sucker for Green Beer

I like the taste of beer.  A lot.  And I really like beer that has a small carbon footprint.  For Kansas Citians, that beer is anything from Boulevard Brewing Company, since it’s just so close (and they have a relatively new, state of the art, energy efficient brewhouse).  But I also like to switch it up occasionally, so it’s nice to know there are eco-friendly beer producers throughout the US.  One of those is Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. 

At Sierra Nevada, they have covered every inch of roof with solar panels.  They also grow their own hops, filter their own water, and pay farmers to grow organic grains.  The only reason their beer isn’t organic is this: beer is about 90% water, and water can’t be certified organic.  Pretty cool.  If you’d like to know more about Sierra Nevada’s environmental stewardship, visit their website.

And visit your local Gomer’s for a nice selection of Sierra Nevada brews.

Food Budget

“Americans spend just 10 percent of their disposable income on food, compared with 22 percent in 1932.”

Think about it.