Evolution the way I see it...

Is going from...

by Scott Ableman's

To...

by adactio

To...

(Recycled paper notes)

by Jeff Werner

To...

Learning how to use your Outlook email :)

by awhite

THE END

Henke Winery, Prize Winning Riesling, Low Carbon Footprint Buy

Flickr pic by bgautrea

I came across an article on WCPO about this Cheviot winery being the winner of the Ohio Wine Competition.

So even though I am not big fan of Rieslings, I so want to give this place a try. I really do LOVE local flavors.

Other local choices for good wine...

Burnet Ridge in North College Hill, OH 45224

Valley Vineyards in Morrow, OH
I really liked their Champagne, and I am very curious about their Vintage Port. I wonder why they stopped having their bonfire-camping-festivals...

I'm thinking about any other places....

Best Cheapest Most Efficient Reusable Bag

All the local grocers caught up with the reusable bag trend, and that's good, but personally... I dont know how I feel about carrying 6 of those mini bags out of my car and then all the way to my kitchen, and you still need to take the cart out of the store and then put the cart back in the assigned area (which you should ALWAYS do) bla bla bla

So if you're as lazy as I am, and not self couscious (because they are UGLY) you will LOVE the IKEA blue reusable bags. These things carry te equivalent to 5-6 regular plastic bags, and even a small weak person like me can support the weight. They are -I think- $.5 OR $.10 or something like that. I have like 2 of them and that's all I really need. And if any spills occur you can always just wipe them.

Cincinnati Green-ish

Flickr picture by wallyg

So yes, I've been procrastinating, but a lot has happened since last December...

Cincinnati is slowly becoming more aware of the changes that we need to make in order to use our city for a little longer. Groups like Green Drinks Mason, UC pushing its green energy seminars, walking into Bigg's and finding lots of their store brand items with a USDA Organic seal, seeing silver Prius and hybrid vehicles everywhere, and people just being more environmentally conscious is just soo inspiring...



So, if someone can drive their kids around in a Vesta, I can find sometime to blog about the stuff I learn from wonderful people everyday ....

Why the Skyline picture? because nothing identifies Cincinnati better than a three way with fattening cheese and oyster crackers....

Repurposing Proyect: Gift Wrapping

I know this is the week when most of us run to the store for some last minute wrapping paper, before you do that...look around your place. I found some very useful stuff.

Cardboard that came from my furniture...

Tulle from some flowers...

Postal Paper Wrapping

So... I will make it a point to save ribbons, unharmed gift wrapping, gift bags, bubble wrap, and things like that after we open our presents next week. You'll be surprised how many gift bags I did-not have to buy this year and honestly... they do look a lot better than regular gift wrapping, and sticky tags.

Repurposing Idea!

Plain Toothpaste/Toothbrush holder almost gone to the garbage... I mean landfill...

New life as: Small Flower Pot!

A curly hair story with a happy ending

This post is specially personal. I don't know how many of you out there have curly-frizzy-impossible hair but I do!! and I used to think that conditioner was one of the things were I couldn't trade to natural, organic, green or anything like that. My concept of green products was a spongy hair with a patchouli smell.

I love Paul Mitchell and their flat irons but their conditioner was giving me a bad time with snowy flakes and bad hair days. I am not a person that can style a head every morning so I needed a practical fix. I went to my local store and looked around, checked ingredients, compared prices, bla bla bla.... and finally picked Nature's Gate Herbal Daily Conditioning (Mostly because it was on sale) and also what caught my attention was all the natural ingredients: yucca extract, wild cherry bark extract, and the fact that parabens were at their ingredient list.

Ok...so Nature's Gate worked great. I literally feel like every cuticle in every strand of hair was closed (like those promising commercials) and my hair just feels nourished, moist without the grease, so no more blah blah...it really worked for me so that's a won battle for people with curly frizzy hair out there.

Ouchs:
I still kinda use Dr. Bronner's soap or Selsum Blue (guilty) or cold water plus vinegar or something like that once a week just in case the oil comes back.
The conditioner kinda has a hippie smell but it goes away with the water.
They have not managed to live without the hated parabens.
Alcohol is the 3rd ingredient on this product .... but I guess alcohol is not that bad? any experts out there?

My experience with other conditioners:

Pantene = greasy...great ads though!
Infusion23= good but not a lot of moisture
Paul Mitchel=Promised to Fix Damage...didn't
Garnier Fructis=very reasonable price $3.99... ish, great option if you're broke... it does not help with damaged hair but a decent temporary option
Neutrogena Triple Moisture=well....Triple Moisture!, use once a week as a mask only

Again this is a personal subject... some conditioners may work on you some may not...just thought this is a great greener option for all coarse, thick, curly hair people out there. The picture up there is an actual picture of my hair today.... I didn't realize it was that healthy!





Evolving update...5 months after this post was written... I now turned to Dr. Bronner's unscented soap diluted in water with a couple of drops of tea tree oil. No flakes, no dry scalp. Conditioner on ends only.

Soap Talk

So it makes sense to start with the soap that you use everyday.


Thanks to my partner who -was- addicted to the great smelling bright blue Dial Antibacterial Body Wash, and is very skeptical of the whole green stuff... I used Dial for long years but we know now that Triclosan is no friend to humans so that was one of my very firsts quests...to find a good soap, nothing complicated just soap.

Tom's of Maine: No triclosan (yay,) No artificial fragances, No hippie smell, No harsh on MY skin, mild enough for my face (and I got very sensitive - rosacea prone skin,) affordable ($4.54-ish). Ouchs: You may go through a bottle in less than a couple of weeks if you don't move it to one with a pump. No coupons on website.



Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps 18-in-1 Hemp Unscented Baby Mild Pure Castile Soap Made with Organic Oils: I diluted the bottle into 4 of the same size so it was like 4 bottles, I can use it on my hair, hand soap, dishes... It really cleans! It makes a nice foam for those used to other foamy products, no weird smells, very affordable $5.99-ish for 8oz. Ouchs: The weird yet noble writtings all over the bottle. Dilute in water as the bottle indicates because otherwise it will overdry your skin. No coupons on website.

My Veredict: Start with Tom's Stuff, graduate to Dr. Bronner's, it replaces a bunch stuff (dog shampoo, dish soap, hand soap, body soap, bla bla bla.) May be keep Tom's soap for the guest bathroom.