Homemade natural air freshener?

Help me. I've got a little boy recovering from a stomach flu and a big boy recovering from knee surgery. Let's just say that two of our bedrooms could use a little, er, air freshening. Opening the windows on this cold, rainy day is not my first choice (or theirs), and I don't think my usual remedy of boiling ground cinnamon and cloves on the stovetop will reach these rooms.

How do you freshen up bedrooms naturally? A little citrus action? Essential oils? Thanks for any tips you can offer! 

Cleaning leather car upholstery with castile soap and coconut oil

I don't know WHAT we were smoking when we bought a family car with tan leather upholstery five years ago, but it will probably never look good again. Muddy boots and smudgy fingers have really taken their toll. (Possibly compounded by the fact that I am a failure in the car maintenance department.) I am also loathe to spend the money to have the car professionally detailed (though I have to believe there are eco-friendly options out there now). So finally this past weekend I tackled the stains, with pretty good results.

I last cleaned the upholstery (gulp) three years ago and used a concoction of 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup white vinegar in a squirt bottle, which worked really well. You just squirt it on the upholstery and rub it in really good. But then I went and cleaned the windows with lemon juice, which combined with the odors of the olive oil and vinegar left the car smelling like a Caesar salad. Turns out the only time I like this smell is when I'm about to be served a Caesar salad. This time around (thanks to a quick Google search) I simply used a touch of Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap and warm water. While it doesn't completely remove all stains, the upholstery looks so much better. Very gently using the rough side of a kitchen sponge also helps. After I cleaned the upholstery I rubbed in some coconut oil with a rag to condition it (apparently an important step to maintaining leather). And, nope, there was no lingering coconutty aroma.

Have you had success using non-toxic cleaners on upholstery?

Baby step: reduce plastic bags (the newspaper delivery kind)

We've been reading aloud some of the Beverly Cleary books about Henry Huggins and Scooter McCarthy. I think they're sweet. In case you don't remember, Scooter has a paper route. Henry gets to sub for him while Scooter's on vacation. While I never had a paper route, these books remind me of when I was a kid and the paper always got delivered by some neighborhood kid on a bike and it was rolled up with a rubber band.

Here's where I go all Andy Rooney on you… Now it's these darned plastic bags! And it's not a neighborhood kid. It's someone with a drivers' license who speeds down your street at about 40 miles per hour tossing the paper in a plastic bag onto your driveway (if you're lucky), and you never see them because it's too dark and they're going too fast. The plastic bags are so worthless and thin that they usually rip on impact and land in a big puddle getting the paper all wet. I put them in my reuse/recycle center where they breed like rabbits (They do! I swear!), threatening to take over my house. I'm not making this up.

I figured I had a few options to reduce the amount of plastic bags coming into my life. I could quit subscribing to the paper and read it online, but refuse to do that:
1) Because I have a degree in journalism and I like reading this paper in paper-form, and I know people who work there, and I want to keep this newspaper in business. Well, I guess I don't need a #2. That's the gist of it. (Did I really just say I majored in journalism and can't make a numbered list with two coherent points? Oy.)

The other option would be to get one of those boxes on my mailbox post so the delivery person could put it in there and then not need the plastic bag. Genius! I contacted the paper's customer service, and they said they'd have one installed right away. That was last June. Still nothing. So I chatted with a neighbor who just happened to have one of those paper boxes in his garage that he was not using and gave to me. I've dragged and dragged and dragged my heels, but finally put the thing up over the past weekend. The delivery person of course has not used or noticed it yet since he/she is too busy flying down our street like an Olympic bobsled competitor. So the last step in this crazy 'reduce plastic bag scheme' is the well-worded letter:

Dear Newspaper Delivery Person,

I am on your route. I get the daily paper. I now have one of those bright yellow newspaper boxes on my mailbox post. It's so very bright yellow, I can't see how you've missed it. But you have. For several days now. Please start delivering my paper in that box and please do not include the plastic bag. I wouldn't mind a rubber band, if necessary.

Yours sincerely,
Renee

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't know why I have such low expectations on this front. I think I better reword that letter a bit.

Alternative transportation: skipping

WHY hasn't this caught on in the US yet?

C'mon Portland, make some room in those new $600 million bikes lanes for the latest in green transportation!

Looking for the down and dirty on diapers

Heather and I were chatting with a fellow Portlander who heads a One Can A Month household. Since he doesn't have kids, he wanted our input on diapers. And of course, we were a bit chagrined because neither of our families were in any way green when it came to diapers. Yes, we did not drink the green Koolaid until our AFTER our kids were out of their Pampers and Huggies. We sure have a heck of a lot of nerve calling ourselves EnviroMom after that admission, no??

Anywhoo. His question was this: is it possible to be a One Can A Month family if you do have kids in diapers? Most likely, if you use cloth diapers, it shouldn't be a problem right? If you opt for disposable diapers, is One Can A Month out of the question? Is wanting to go to One Can A Month ample enough reason to switch from disposables? It'd be cool to get your input. So please. If you will… Calling all diaper families! Is One Can A Month possible for the diaper set? And for those of you who do cloth diaper, is it a whole ton of work, or not as burdensome as you thought it might be?

(The photo is my second daughter at about a week old (she's 5 now). Her thought bubble is screaming: MOM! Are you kidding me with these disposable Pampers? Really??!)

Solarize Portland, and maybe your town too…

There's an excellent thing happening in Portland with solar power. Neighborhoods are getting together, and making residential solar happen via bulk purchasing and workshops to explain all the tax credits, incentives and other hoo-ha blah-blah-blah that makes the rest of us tune out and get distracted. And ultimately not go solar because we tell ourselves it all seems too complicated. Or maybe that's just me.

So far, the Solarize Portland mission has been about how to 'let the sunshine in' in SE Portland. Now it's getting underway in NE and SW Portland. Our family is signed up to learn more. Who knows how it will all turn out? But it's exciting stuff, and sounding like a much more real possibility for our family than it ever has before.

Now sing it with me: 'Let the sunshine in! Let the sunshine in! The sun! Shine! In!'

(Ooooh. I was going to post a funny picture of my south-facing roof with text that says: 'Imagine solar panels here...', only I don't have fancy photo editing software anymore, so you'll just have to enjoy this gorgeous picture of the sun shining down on Mount Hood today).

Reuse: lessons from a lifetime

I have spent the past several weeks helping a friend empty the 4,000 square foot home of her in-laws, both of whom passed away last year. I didn't know this couple who were married for 50-plus years and raised four children together, but I feel connected to them. I've been through their closets and cupboards and nooks and crannies, and I've listened to my friend tell stories about their happy life together. From this, I've learned some valuable lessons.

1. Fill your home with quality, durable furniture and household goods.

Now, a 4,000 square foot home is quite a footprint. But it wasn't filled with stuff pulled off the shelves at a discount store. It was filled with timeless, quality items acquired over a lifetime. I know this because a lot of the furniture, decor and other items were taken by the four children for use in their own lives. Some things were given to close friends. But there was plenty of good stuff left over, and that's where I came in. Rather than hire a couple of guys to haul everything to the dump (which, sadly, is what often happens to the 'leftovers' of an estate), my friend and I spent days going room by room and boxing up books, kitchen items, clothing, ornaments, tools (an endless, exhaustive list) and categorizing them for various non-profit organizations. Community Warehouse and Volunteers of America filled their trucks with furniture and goods. Dress for Success received several gorgeous Pendleton Woolen Mills jackets and some lovely clothing. The list goes on.

2. Clear out the clutter.

This couple's generation was well-versed in reuse and holding onto every last item 'just in case' you need it again. I think this mentality is great...to a point. Saving too much can lead to a lot of clutter, so you need to be realistic and relentless about clearing out what you don't need (and preferably not acquiring it in the first place!). We sorted bags of non-reusable plastics for recycling at Far West Fibers. We combed through files, waded through 50 years of receipts, emptied old seed packets and filled the curbside rollcart with paper. We filled numerous metal coffee cans with scrap metal and boxes with hazardous waste. We recycled and reused absolutely everything we could, until all that was left were items destined for the dump. One dumpster load from 4,000 square feet of house. Pretty amazing.

3. Chances are you have everything you need.

I had every opportunity to take whatever items I wanted for my own use, but I ended up with just a handful of things. Some books, an embroidery hoop, a wool blanket. My friend and I discovered that wading through all of this stuff, despite its cool-factor, made us reflect on what we already had and not add to it (more clutter)! So whenever we came upon a cool vintage item (so dang tempting!) we'd hold it up and proclaim, "Someone is going to be so happy to find this at the thrift store!" For very useful items we'd say, "I don't really need this, but someone else really does." It kind of become our mantra.

After spending a day de-cluttering the big house with my friend, we'd both go home and start emptying drawers and cupboards at our own homes. It is so liberating when you know exactly what lives in your house! We both found that neither one of us wants to add any unnecessary stuff to our lives. This whole experience has been such a powerful lesson in stepping back and reevaluating what we have and what we need. A rather morbid question I've been asking myself is, "What do I want to leave behind for my children? What can I do now to make the task of clearing out our home a joyful task for my kids?" (Hopefully I'll have many more years to work on this.) It's an ongoing process, because it's pretty hard not to not ever acquire stuff over a lifetime (particularly with kids). But it helps to step back and make acquiring stuff a more thoughtful process. I'm sending out a lot of love to the K family for teaching me this valuable lesson!

Recommendations for a high quality kitchen knife

I don't think of myself as a materialistic person, but I do get rather attached to various 'favorite' things since we ascribe to the 'use it up. wear it out. make it do. or do without.' mantra. Thus, I was devastated yesterday when my favorite knife bit the dust after being with me since I went off to college, back, oh, a million and 25 years ago.

I was not present when the knife became destined for the great recycling bin in the sky. Apparently the knife was cutting a slice of cheese and the blade broke. It was not a hard cheese. Nor a soft cheese. More of a medium cheese. I'm guessing it might have been more of a cheese stabbing given how the blade broke. But all that is irrelevant, because it is firmly crying time since I don't have my favorite knife anymore. Waaaaaaahhh!!

The funny thing is that it wasn't even a high quality knife to start with. It was part of a knife and cutting board set. From Sweden. Probably IKEA-ish quality before IKEA existed. It's amazing the knife lasted this long.

I know I need to just deal and stop reminiscing about all the apples that knife peeled, and all the broccoli it sliced. I need to move on. Farewell, my beloved. I need a new knife.

I want quality. I want another knife that will fit in my hand like a glove. Perfectly weighted. An extension of my person. What do you recommend? What is your favorite knife?

Clean energy, visual pollution

I don't know much about energy policy, nor have I spent my waning brain cell power trying to understand whether 'clean energy' is truly clean. I want to believe it. My family pays a premium to get clean energy through PGE's Green Source program. Wind energy sounds about as clean as they come, and I've always bought into this type of bucolic scene that wind energy proponents like to toss around:

via windrevolution.com

Seems so peaceful. Tranquil.

A couple of months ago during a first-time visit to Palm Springs, my husband and I drove through a wind farm.

Truly one of the eeriest things we've ever seen, like we were on another planet. I'm sure that at one time this was a lovely landscape, but not any more. I get that places like Palm Springs (built in the middle of the desert for pete's sake) are probably looking at a grim future -- a day when our natural resources can no longer support the intense energy usage by this massive sprawl. But I fear this turbine trend will ultimately destroy some of the most beautiful, natural American landscapes. Here in Oregon it looks like the pristine Steens Mountain area will soon host a wind farm on private land leased by a struggling cattle rancher, and more sites are being actively solicited.

Is it worth the trade-off? Do we have a choice?

I have no answers or deep insights here. We have an energy problem. We need solutions. I like to imagine this impossible scenario: every energy user / household / business is given a monthly allotment of kilowatt hours, and once they're used up, no more energy! It would force people, businesses and industries to change their consuming ways and invest in better systems, make better choices. Instead of destroying natural habitats and marring the landscape in an effort to provide more energy, we would all be forced to live within our energy means. Feel free to shoot a million holes into this crazy, naive fantasy. An EnviroMom can dream.

More homemade valentine goodness

Renee posted her stinkin' cute heart stamps made from cardboard the other day, and we've got a few more crafty-reuse projects to share today. I know it's really easy to go out and buy a box of Valentine cards for a classroom party, but I figure as long as my kids are enthusiastic about sharing homemade cards with their class, then let's keep down this path. There will probably come a day when they'll be horrified at passing out something they've drawn. (Sniff.) Plus we already had a hardy supply of cardstock, so might as well use it instead of bringing more paper into our lives. This year, instead of making each individual valentine (which, for us, often turns into a chore half-way through), they drew one picture and through the magic of scanning and printing, we ended up with lots:

They drew their pictures in black ink, and I scanned and mocked them up six to a page in Microsoft Publisher. After the cards were printed the kids colored in the red hearts and addressed them. Easy project, happy kids. Happy mom!

But it's not to say that more involved projects can't be just as fun and rewarding. Emily of Industrious Emily and her kids made little Valentine-themed coloring books and homemade crayons for a small group of children. The crayons were made from bits of old crayons, and the books were stitched up the middle with a sewing machine. Just brilliant! Check out her site for detailed instructions.

 
Photo credits: IndustriousEmily.com

I don't typically spend much time making Valentine's for my kids -- a quick cut-out heart usually does the trick. But yesterday I spied a project in the Oregonian's Home & Garden section that looked fun and manageable and involved colorful images ripped from an old magazine and whatever patterned paper I could dredge up from the craft stash. For each card I traced and cut out six hearts from the magazine and six from the paper. Place one magazine heart back-to-back with one paper heart and then stack them all up and stitch them up the middle on the machine using a heavy needle. Gluestick the back-to-back sections of the hearts together (I haven't done this yet in the photo) and fold them along the middle so they 3-Dify. (Far more elegant instructions can be found at that link above.)

My kids are in the next room, forcing me to photograph these in the worst.light.possible. Anyhoodle, it's a fun project and I think they'll look cute dangling from a chandelier. Best part of these projects? I didn't need to leave the house.

Happy sweet weekend to all of you!