Going Off

I've got stuff to share, but haven't had time or energy to say it of late. I'll get back to it shortly, but for now, we're switching off for one day a week. Not completely off, just computers, television, game systems and the like. A sort of low-tech family day. We decided we've been spending too much time staring at separate little glowing screens. So off we go. See you in a bit... and join us if you like.

--

A new challenge

Well, after the rousing success(?) of my Easiest Challenge Ever, I'm raising the stakes. In the words of frequent Presidential candidate Pat Paulsen, "I've upped my standards. Now, up yours!"

But instead of posting it here, I'm using a more credible platform. And so, my wise and brilliant readers, please click on this link and join the fun. Spring is coming up fast. Well, unless you're in the southern hemisphere. In that case, I guess you'll need to come up with your own challenge....


--

Easiest Challenge Ever follow-up

Well, between a couple side projects, a real job I'd like to keep, and children almost constantly tugging at my clothes, I've become a slacker blogger. Or at least an intermittently slacking blogger.

A while ago I issued the Easiest Challenge Ever, and then never said another word about it. Well, all you intrepid participants... wait, did anybody actually do this?

Here's my report:

- Shampoo: Very dependent on whether I kept the water softener salt topped off. Our naturally hard water requires more soap, shampoo, etc. If you've never dealt with hard & soft water differences, this may sound strange. But it's a huge difference. Anyway, when the water was good and soft, I could get by with very little. I haven't been keeping up with my colloidal silver "shampoo" experiment, because, well, my mad-scientist rig to make the stuff is solar powered and we don't get many days in winter. Wow, I sounded a bit like a lunatic just then.

- Soap: I've been trying to use only bar soap for hand washing and the like, and I've come to find I prefer it. That glistening goo out of the dispenser is just unappealing at this point. And way too lathery.

- Dishwasher detergent: I'm cheating on this one, because we experimented with this last summer. I filled a coffee can with washing soda, calcium citrate, and um... some other stuff. I can't find the exact recipe now. Anyway, it worked pretty well, but then the humidity or something got to it and it hardened into a brick. I literally had to use a drill to break it into chunks. I'd like to try this again at some point, but for now it's back to the store-bought stuff.

- Shaving cream: Well...

I guess I need to digress on the whole shaving topic for a sec. I used to use an electric razor. Then I lost it after a business trip. At least I thought I did. It's one of the supposedly rechargeable ones (aren't they all now?) and as often happens, the non-replaceable rechargeable battery is shot. It still works when plugged in, more or less.

But since I thought I had lost it, I dug out the old razor. How old? This thing only has two blades! Think of it! Anyway, I found I liked shaving with a blade better and it didn't take any less time. No electricity needed. Of course there are the disposable heads, still. So I got a fairly cheap Zeepk straight razor off eBay. I haven't mastered it yet. It's harder than it looks, at least for me. So most of the time I shave with one of those disposable-head razors. But I make 'em last.

End digression. Shaving cream. A squirt from an aerosol can is hard to control, but I found that about a quarter-sized dollop, or slightly larger, is plenty. Less than that gets a little skimpy. HOWEVER.... A shaving brush, a porcelain cup, and a little disk of bar soap is even better. I don't know why, but I really like this method. The amount of soap used is negligible. In fact, now I know what to do with all those scraps of bar soap that are too small to wash up with. Just throw them in the bottom of the shaving mug!

I do want to mention, for anybody thinking of going this route, that if you get a "genuine boar's hair" brush, which most of them are - even the cheap one I got at Walmart when my non-Walmart one inexplicably fell apart - soak the bristles in water for a day before use. Otherwise you'll start every day smelling like the south end of a northbound boar.

Aftershave - Well, I've never really used it in the first place. But when shaving with a blade - especially the straight razor - cold water does wonders.

Toothpaste - It's confirmed - A little dab'll do ya.

Laundry detergent - That's Lori's department, so I can't say. I mean, laundry's women's wor-OW!OW!OW!OW! Kidding! .... We did get one of those high-efficiency washers a while back, so I'm sure we're using less. But I don't know if that really counts.

Deodorant - I used one of those crystal deodorant dealies for a while. But then I dropped it. And it broke into jagged shards. Not the best for rubbing on yer pits. I used up the gel stuff and I'm using the old-fashioned stick kind. I've found there's a definite limit to skimping on this one though.

I can't think of any other cleaning & hygiene areas I've experimented with.

Does any of this make a big difference in the world? I doubt it. But it doesn't hurt. And as I mentioned before, I'm thinking of it as a gateway drug to mindfulness.

Anybody else?

--

Another easy one...

Here's a secret: The Easiest Challenge Ever is a gateway drug. By paying attention to these little everyday things, you might start to become aware of other stuff you can change.

But even so, easy stuff is easy. And I don't know about you, but just everyday life has been challenging at my house lately, so easy is all I can handle at the moment.

*** UPDATED ***

Never mind about the rest of this post. Mr. Obama chose Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture, despite the grassroots efforts to prevent it. We may now return to our cynicism and toothpaste. :-(

--

Sometimes even the easy stuff can still make a difference. Occasionally slacktivism actually works. I don't know for certain that this next item can make a difference, but this is from an email I got this morning from one of my favorite mailing lists:

Michael Dimock, president of Roots of Change, just called me and said "how do we get more people to sign this petition! I just talked with Michael Pollan and a member of Obama's transition team, and if we get 50K people to sign this in the next few days, Obama will take it into account when appointing the next Secretary of Agriculture!"

These people have put a lot of time into trying to find the right candidate(s) for Secretary of Agriculture. They've been kicking around names for a while, adding people, crossing them off. etc. They've done a lot of homework.

So here's the petition: http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/

And while you're in the neighborhood, here's another: http://fooddeclaration.org/

Okay, next time I'll try to come up with something more challenging.

--

All lathered up

Okay, I know you're excited to hear about my first ever blogger challenge.

I hardly ever participate in other people's challenges - at least not officially - because my life is generally too chaotic to check in regularly, post detailed results, copy & paste badges, and so on. So I'm not going to ask you to do any of these things either.

We'll call it The Easiest Challenge Ever. See how I put it in bold? That makes it more official.

So here's the thing: Our whole culture is built around constant growth. Your company has to get bigger. Your stock price has to keep going up. Your next house has to be bigger than your last. More, more, more.

The problem with growth, briefly, is that it can't go on forever. It appears we're starting to collectively realize this fairly obvious fact. But companies, being what they are, keep looking for clever ways to get us consuming more of their products.

Case in point: How much toothpaste do you put on your brush? Does it look like this?
That's what the toothbrushes on TV ads always look like. That's what they look like in print ads, and on packaging. But really, you only need about a pea-sized dab of toothpaste to get your teeth clean. Or just try baking soda.

The same goes for shaving cream. When you picture somebody shaving with a blade, the guy always looks more like he's been in a classic movie pie fight than getting ready to scrape stubble off his face. You only need enough to give the blade a little lubrication.

The bathroom is full of examples.

Soft Soap: I mean how many times more soap do you use with a full pump from one of those dispensers than you would with an old-fashioned bar of soap? Are your hands really any cleaner?

Gel deodorants: Again, even the tiniest twist on the dial gets you ten times as much deodorant as a traditional stick. And those so-called "crystal" mineral salt deodorants last literally for years.

Shampoo: Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Yeah, wash that hair twice in a row. How about trying just a little dab of shampoo. Or there's always the no-poo approach.

So that's the challenge. See if you can get just as clean with the least amount of (fill-in-the-blank) possible. You're not restricted to the bathroom. You can try it with laundry soap, dishwashing soap, glass cleaner, floor cleaner... you tell me.

So that's it. That's the challenge. Be more mindful of those hygiene and cleaning products you use. Use less. If you think of it, let us know how it went.

For bonus points, consider some of the homemade versions of these products. It seems you can clean almost anything with either baking soda or apple cider vinegar. Check The Google for recipes.

If you think of more examples of this "encouragement to overuse" in other areas, let me know.

(I know, I know. Growth capitalism will crash without growth. What can I say? I'm becoming subversive. Besides, it kinda seems to be in progress already. Let the Revolution begin at the end of your toothbrush.)

--

Okay, okay, twist my arm. I'll fool around with Photoshop for a little while.

Here's a badge:

And here's how to add it (hopefully):

<a href="http://greenbluebrown.blogspot.com/2008/12/all-lathered-up.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qqM0xcv9FMa8gqTHYhnAVIDjWSy0EASiTgDeB2DCPDU6fVkzBxMmcU8nD6uvEBI2eLyfvirOIzEsQ9Uq_Q1taKfl0VxJZUtGOLn3D52DWQjCReo4OwNDJ8qYgLMUe3hl6-tDiw/s1600-h/easiest-challenge-ever.jpg" border=1 alt="Easiest Challenge Ever"></a>

--