Filed under: About Us
I’ve just returned from the Harvest Festival at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah and spent some time on the way back thinking about how proud I am of Natural Living Des Moines. I started this site a number of years ago after being inspired by the ReDirect Guide I saw in Salt Lake City. I wanted Des Moines to have its own listing of resources for natural living.
Originally, I had wanted to turn the site into a print guide, like the ReDirect Guide. It would have turned the free listing site into, eventually, a paid-listing site. But the goal and focus have changed. It doesn’t make sense, really, to have a print guide. I mean, particularly for Eco-Living, right? Waste of paper, and energy, and everything. And I don’t think it’s right to charge anybody for the privilege of being listed here. I mean, what does it cost me but a few minutes of my time?
The publicity comes from those who are listed, in addition to my own efforts. I’ve been amazed at how much traffic the site gets, and more than pleased at the positive emails I get on a nearly daily basis. Natural Living Des Moines has grown so much since its inception.
Yes, now there are other copy-cat listings. Most of those are either pay (and quite expensive at that) or are sponsored by big-name media. But Natural Living Des Moines was here first, and remains – and will always be – free.
We’re getting ready to proceed with a few exciting plans that we’ve put off for far too long around here. I think you’ll be excited about the new developments, too. I look forward to sharing them with you as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, if you know someone who should be listed, have an event we should put on our calendar, or have a topic you think we should blog about, or – better yet – want to write something for the blog, just shoot us an email!!
Iowans for Informed Consent seems to be a relatively new organization in Iowa. They are focused on informed consent relative to vaccines, and particularly the H1N1 vaccine.
Filed under: Home and Garden
Last fall, we took down our vinyl shower curtain and hung up a green canvas one. We had bought it at Target, after they put their back to school stuff on 75% clearance, for about $4. We weren’t entirely sure that an all-fabric shower curtain would work – would it keep the water in? Would it get soaked? Would it drip on the floor?
Well, I’m happy to report that it DID work, it did keep the water in. It got soaked, but it did not drip on the floor.
It did, however, start to break down and tear apart. We think the problem was combined soap scum and mildew. And once it started to go, it really deteriorated quickly.
So, this fall, I bought myself some Hemp and Organic Cotton plainweave and made us a new one. It was not hard to make (I mean, it’s just a big square – 72 inches by 72 inches – with holes for the rings at the top). Hemp is a bit more rot-resistant than cheap cotton is, and we’ll also take it down to wash it more often. Hopefully, this one will last us a good many years.
I like the natural color better than the green, as well. (hey, when you’re buying on clearance, you can’ t be too picky!) If we ever fix up the bathroom, I’ll stencil the shower curtain with historically-appropriate designs.
What I love most of all is that it’s not vinyl. It doesn’t fill our bathroom with noxious fumes. It’s renewable and biodegradable.
Cross-posted at Boulevard Designs.
Filed under: Events
I’m so excited about this! Natural Living Des Moines will be hosting the first annual Des Moines Green Gifts Fair in November!
The fair will be November 15, 10-4, at the Des Moines Social Club downtown. It should be an excellent opportunity to purchase eco-friendly gifts for the holidays – or for any event – or just for yourself!
We are currently accepting vendors for this awesome, unique event.
We are looking for vendors to sell items that are eco-friendly and that would make good gifts. We will be choosing vendors based on the items they plan to sell at the fair. Obviously, items should be eco-friendly in some way. Additionally, we will have a bias towards localism – items made from locally-sourced materials, items made locally, etc – but are not excluding non-local items/materials. Items do NOT need to be handmade, as this is not necessarily a craft fair. Additionally, food and wine vendors are welcome, as long as no alcohol is sold to be consumed onsite. Green service providers would also be a welcome addition, if there is some sort of “gift” component to what you do (even if it’s just gift certificates – who wouldn’t love a gift certificate for a massage for Christmas?).
Each booth will be 10’ x 10’ and will cost just $20. Please just let me know if you’d like an application! (sarahtar1@gmail.com)
Filed under: Parenting
I’m embarassed that I didn’t think of this before…
I perused more than my fair share of school supply lists this past month. (the 12 glue sticks required by Ankeny for Kindergarteners was a bit shocking.) I couldn’t help but notice all the disposable and/or toxic “supplies” on these lists.
Now, obviously, disposable tissues (not Kleenix, as noted on most lists, which is a brand name) are the way to go for classrooms. I get that.
But Clorox wipes? Hm. Not sure there.
So… parents of children who attend school. What do you do? Do you just buy the single-use, toxic-ingredient Clorox wipes? Do you buy something else? Abstain? File a complaint with the school?
What are those wipes even used for? Do our schools not provide adequate cleaning supplies these days?
Filed under: News
KCCI had a story recently on the issue of alternative energy sources in towns.
“There’s not really wide acceptance of it in urban areas, with small lots,” said Sam Perry, planner with the City of Ames.City administrators are facing new pressure from residents who are interested in incorporating the technology in their homes. Currently, most Iowa cities limit the construction of wind and solar generation to lots that are at least one to two acres.”That really cuts out 80 to 90 percent of residential subdivision lots,” said Perry.
It’s State Fair time again, and I thought I’d trot out last year’s post on healthy eats at the fair.
Have you had a baby within the last 3 years? If so, please take The Birth Survey. It is an online survey meant to provide information and transparency about maternity care providers and birth locations. Click on the above link, then click on “Take our Survey.” It is a lengthy survey, so be sure to give yourself some time to take it and/or save it and come back to it when you can.
Lisa Houchins
Co-Leader, ICAN of Central Iowa
icaniowa@yahoo.com
Education Director, ICAN
education@ican-online.org
Filed under: Books
Of course, this book is available at your local branch of the Des Moines Public Library.
This book was fairly thorough, but shallow, and had a distinct lack of directing readers to resources for further reading.
This book gets bonus points for pointing out the omissions of the German dishwashing study – you know, the one that said that washing in a dishwasher uses so much fewer resources than washing in a sink? (Namely, they didn’t take into account the process of making the dishwasher, plus they didn’t encourage the hand washers to conserve resources, only to get the dishes clean.) Also, for pointing out that front load washing machines are not always the better way to go, environmentally speaking. Those two things won me over to the book.
Now, for a series of my random thoughts while I was reading.
The authors sometimes give good alternatives to traditional, not so great for the environment products. But too often, the suggestion was just “buy organic,” as if organic is automatically awesome. Sometimes, the authors didn’t suggest any alternatives, leaving the reader ready to change their ways, but uncertain of how to do that. Frustrating.
I of course read the diapering section with keen interest, and was disappointed. The authors overestimated the costs of doing laundry (and apparently didn’t actually do any research on the subject). They also didn’t bother to look up statistics on potty training, settling instead for saying that cloth diaper advocates “claim” that use of cloth diapers results in earlier potty training. And the book was written right after G diapers came out, but before they had much market use, and the authors were just in love with the Gdiaper concept. (and who isn’t? but the practical use seems to be where most parents I know have found difficulty.)
I also, of course, found it odd that the authors continually encouraged using reusable, washable items like rags, and of course clothes… but not diapers. Odd.
Moving on, the authors barely mentioned buying local or knowing your suppliers as a way to ensure not only that you’re buying good products that are good for you, but as a way of increasing your eco-friendliness. They mentioned farmer’s markets, but that’s the extent of local shopping they talked about.
All in all, while the authors mostly avoided hype, they also didn’t totally explore some topics (for example, there are apparently no downsides to hybrid cars). Obviously, completely discussing every topic in depth would make the book impossibly thick, but clearly some sections could have been a little more balanced.
That said, this has been my favorite Eco book that I’ve read so far.
