Wildflowers

Other than our food plants, we have committed to fostering 100% native plants on our land, and we have been thrilled with the number and beauty of the wildflowers we already have, and the insects and birds that depend on them for food. The hillsides are covered with a variety of wildflowers, and in the summer native bees and hummingbirds can be heard happily buzzing from flower to flower.

One of our projects the first year we lived on the property was to document, by photographing and identifying, all the wildflower species. Each time we would notice a new variety, we would take a picture, noting the date they flowered.

When we spot invasive non-native plants, like salsify, we pull them on sight. It is sad to drive by untended hillsides that have been taken over by such plants, crowding out the diverse species that the ecosystem depends on.

We also started to learn some of the native insect and bird species and photograph them. We are carefully adding wildflower species that we enjoy and that live in the area already, to increase the diversity on our property, focusing on ones that provide food to insects and birds. As the climate changes, either because of global shifts or just the normal annual variation, different species are encouraged to take center stage. In our first year, we had more precipitation than usual in May and June, which resulted in a bumper crop of Sago lilies, but a dry August and September led to less showy displays from the late-season flowers. Increasing the diversity of the species helps this little portion of the ecosystem be more resilient in the face of changing conditions.

Wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity in the Western U.S., as the climate becomes warmer and drier, and burn areas do not necessarily regrow the same species that lived there before. But we are heartened to see the native grasses and pioneer species like fireweed coming back to the burned slopes after a few years. Whether or not the trees are able to repopulate these areas is more of an open question, but wildflowers are certainly able to grow in surprisingly little soil, even after the devastation of a forest fire.

Work from home

My partner and I work from home now, and we love it!

Engineering is a job that is 100% perfect for working from home. Every part of it is done remotely, and all the tasks are quantifiable. Meetings involve team members from all over the country, so they were held online before the pandemic. There was no reason to ask employees to come into the office. Once the pandemic forced my employer to try allowing remote work, they quickly realized it made their operations more efficient and authorized all of the PV designers and engineers to work from home indefinitely. They could let go of some of the office space they had rented downtown and save money. And the employees, including me, no longer had to commute.

Working from home has certainly saved carbon emissions for me. If I had been required to drive to the downtown Denver offices of my new employer, I'd be using more than a gallon of gasoline a day, even driving an efficient PHEV. That means I'm saving 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide each year by not commuting. The laptop and two external monitors I use at home are the same equipment I would have been using at the office, but at home, they are powered by off-grid PV, which saves carbon emissions. I don't need any lighting at home, while the office is artificially lit, so that's an advantage for telecommuting. And none of the other energy expenditures of my home changed at all.

Not only has working from home been a more climate-friendly lifestyle for me, but it has also allowed me to exercise more regularly. I've gained muscle mass and feel much sturdier mentally and physically. Being able to set my own hours instead of rushing every morning to arrive at school on time has dramatically reduced my life's stress.

Now if I travel by car, it is by choice. I consolidate my errands into one trip to town a weekend for supplies and use 100% electricity, hardly putting any gas in my car.

Reduced plastic packaging for household goods

We've taken a look at all the supplies we buy that come in plastic packaging, and are working to find non-toxic, zero-VOC, pleasant, effective alternatives that have reduced packaging. We have to use all petrochemical-free products because of Ota's chemical injury, and because our house is so airtight. A bonus is that most of these products are far cheaper than the advertised toxic petrochemical-based ones sold in plastic bottles! Here are the safe, climate-friendly personal care and cleaning supplies we have found so far (we get zero kickback from the vendors of these products):

Personal Care Products:

• Moisturizer - Ota makes her own moisturizer we call "Ota butter," which works better, is cheaper, and is more pleasant to use than any store-bought product we've tried. It is a combination of shea butter, avocado oil, and vitamin E. The recipe is super simple: Melt 8 oz of organic shea butter in a double-boiler, add 3 oz of organic avocado oil and 1/2 tsp vitamin E. You can add a few drops of essential oils if you'd like, or leave it unscented. Cool it in the refrigerator, and then whip it using the whip attachment in a stand mixer. Scoop it into recycled glass jars. This combination doesn't go rancid like some other homemade moisturizers that use almond oil do, and it doesn't dry out your skin like coconut oil does. Since all the ingredients are food-grade, it doubles as a safe and effective lip balm!

• Deodorant - Magnesium hydroxide works wonderfully, is cheap and incredibly easy to use.

  • To make your own roll-on,

    • You'll need liquid magnesium hydroxide. Either buy a bottle of the store brand of liquid magnesium hydroxide sold as a laxative and make sure it doesn't have bleach(!) in it like the name brand "Milk of Magnesia" does. One of the bottles of magnesium hydroxide goes a long way as deodorant. If you can't find the pre-mixed magnesium hydroxide laxative, you can buy magnesium hydroxide powder online and mix it with water or aloe vera juice (my favorite non-irritating base). I use 1 Tb per 1/2 cup roll-on bottle.

    • You can make your own roll-on by simply refilling a screw-top roll-on bottle with the magnesium oxide solution. Et voila! A deodorant that works better than store-bought for 12 hours.

    • Add essential oils, or leave it unscented. I like a woodsy scent -- a couple drops of cedar, a drop of rosemary, and a drop of clary sage. My kid likes 2-3 drops of lavender for a floral scent. The essential oils I listed all help control the bacteria that cause BO as well as smelling amazing.

  • For a paste deodorant, simply add magnesium hydroxide powder to your favorite moisturizer. This is my moisturizer-based recipe -- 2 Tb of moisturizer mixed with a half teaspoon of powdered magnesium hydroxide, 3 drops of cedar essential oil, 3 drops of rosemary, and 3 drops of clary sage. It works so much better than store-bought and doesn't irritate my very sensitive skin! Just a dab on a finger rubbed into my pits moisturizes this delicate area and what's left on my fingers can be rubbed into my hands for extra moisturizing.

• Soap - we make our own goats-milk castille soap, and it is easy to do once you've bought a few supplies (including PPE for the chemistry step). Our recipe came from a farmer's market vendor in LA named Rosa who published it with complete instructions (here's a link). Like the deodorant, you can have fun adding essential oil scents, or leave it unscented. We like to add activated charcoal and a few drops of lavender oil to make swirly black and white bars that our young adult children get a kick out of. Soap needs to cure for a while, so plan ahead when making another batch. For face-washing, Dr Bronner's liquid castille soap is great, especially for acne-prone teens with oily skin.

• Shampoo and Conditioner bars - Both of us (fine hair that needs body and curly hair that needs conditioning) like the shampoo and conditioner bars from "The Earthling Co" The unscented shampoo lathers well and rinses clean, and the unscented conditioner leaves hair smooth, soft, and fluffy. Both smell pleasantly creamy, kind of like Bailey's Irish Cream. They come in cardboard boxes.

• Toothpaste - Honestly, now that I've tried toothpaste bits, I have no idea why we have been struggling with toothpaste in a tube for so long. The tablets are so easy, effective, and convenient! They do the job of cleaning teeth and preventing morning breath better than any natural toothpaste in a tube I've found, and you don't aspirate them, like the powders. The brand we like best of the ones we've tried ("Hello") is available online or at Whole Foods and comes in a small metal can (reusable as an attractive container for who-knows-what). They are expensive, but if you're on a budget you can use a pill-cutter to cut them in two. We find half a tablet is plenty for a tooth-brushing.

• Toothbrush and Dental Floss - Bamboo toothbrushes work perfectly fine and can be disinfected easily with hydrogen peroxide, so there's no need to replace them often. We use "Dr Tung's Smart Floss" dental floss. It comes in a paper package and tastes nice, and it is convenient to have the little metal cutting tool attached. We avoid the kind that has toxic non-stick coatings because ewww who wants forever chemical with their dental floss?

• Reef-safe Mineral Sunscreen - "All Good" works best of the brands we've tried, and comes in a convenient stick.

Bottled water alternative:

• "Berkey" water filter or similar ceramic under-the-counter water filter, and reusable stainless steel or glass water bottles. Water filtered through a carbon drinking water filter tastes better than bottled water and because they don't remove beneficial minerals like calcium, they don't cause the negative health effects of reverse-osmosis purified water, which (as the WHO discovered) leaches minerals from your body. You can take your Berkey filter with you while camping. It also provides a clean drinking water supply if your water is ever temporarily cut off. For travel, we use LifeStraw metal water bottles to filter tap water and remove chlorine and pathogens (they let calcium and magnesium through).

Cleaners:

• Bathroom cleaner - "Sal suds" from Dr. Bronner's - concentrated biodegradable cleaner that does a great job on the bathtub, and, combined with baking soda, the toilet. It won't damage the ceramic finish like harsher cleaners can. To remove stains from the toilet, sprinkle in powdered hydrogen peroxide ("Oxyclean" oxygen bleach).

• Disinfectant for surfaces and hands - Ethanol (Vodka or Grain Alcohol) is a scientifically proven non-toxic disinfectant that doesn't stink! And is available in glass bottles. We refill small glass spray bottles and keep them in the car for spritzing hands after shopping. Adding a little aloe helps moisturize hands, but even straight vodka doesn't dry our hands or stink like commercial disinfectants.

• Disinfecting cleaner - Hydrogen Peroxide is an inexpensive, non-toxic, unscented disinfectant. It is great for cleaning the nasty scum around the rim of the bathroom sink drain, and for pouring down laundry sink and floor drains to kill odor. It can also be misted into the air to sanitize rooms, ventilation, etc.

• Glass cleaner - Good old hydrogen peroxide is also a wonderful glass cleaner! Wipe it on with rags made from worn-out sheets, or other lint-free cloth. It doesn't streak and smells like nothing!

• Scouring cleanser - "Bon ami" - mild scouring cleanser for cleaning stainless steel pans, kitchen sink, and anything ground into a tile floor. It is non-toxic (unlike Barkeeper's Fiend), doesn't stink, and comes in a cardboard can.

• Odor absorbing - Baking soda. You can sprinkle it into kitty litter or on stains on the garage floor. To remove petrochemical fragrance residue from hard surfaces, make a baking soda and water paste, slather it on, let it dry, and then scrape it off. We did this to remove the fragrance from a stove we got secondhand. (Don't do this on wood -- it will work, but it can dry out the wood and remove the finish).

• Degreaser - "Citrasolv" concentrated orange oil cleaner - works great on greasy residue like the layer that deposits on the vent hood above the stove. Dr Bronner's castille soap works pretty well, too.

• Dish soap - Solid dish soap - our favorite is hand made and available on Ebay. It's non-toxic, has a subtle orange scent, doesn't leave a soapy smell in your mugs or on your hands, and takes grease off pans like nobody's business. The seller also sells a set with a stiff bamboo dish brush that is very comfortable and effective and fits with the soap in a ceramic dish. Since your hands aren't in the dishwater, there's no need for gloves!

• Dishwasher detergent - "Seventh Generation" or "Biokleen" powdered unscented dishwasher detergent -- both come in cardboard boxes. I use 2/3 Oxiclean and 1/3 dishwasher detergent for real sparkle. If you run out of dishwasher detergent, a mixture of half-and-half Oxiclean and Borax makes a good substitute.

• Cleaning hard water deposits out of the bottom of the dishwasher - run a cycle with no dishes and citric acid instead of soap. (Citric acid is sold in the grocery store with canning supplies.)

• Laundry detergent - "Meliora" unscented laundry powder is our favorite. It comes in a cardboard box and works great in our high-efficiency washer. We do not use fabric "softeners" (they are a big source of air pollution and we like our towels crispy and absorbent, rather than covered with wax, thank you!). We stopped dry cleaning anything decades ago. We wash our wool sweaters and other delicates in cold water with the other clothing, zipped into mesh bags to keep them from getting snagged.

• Kitty litter - We've dispensed with the plastic box liner in favor of clumping litter. Tidy Cat lightweight unscented clay litter works well and comes in a cardboard box. If your cat will tolerate it, pine pellets are great (available for next to nothing in 50# bags at the hardware store). The corn and wheat litters are sprayed with herbicide and are contaminated with mites that can cause allergic reactions in cats.

• Pet stains - "Anti-Icky Poo" unscented enzymatic cleaner comes in large reusable bottles and doesn't stink.

• Cleaning tools - instead of paper towels, we use torn-up old sheets and towels, and wash them. We use long-lasting natural brushes instead of sponges and gloves. And we have an old-fashioned broom that has lasted decades. We use a mop with a dash of apple cider vinegar in filtered water or a steam cleaner with distilled water to clean our tile floors. A damp cloth or steam cleaner freshens upholstery. A nylon scraper is great for scraping food off dishes. A single-sided razor blade will remove adhesive from glass. A metal "TubShroom" collects hair before it can clog up the shower drain.