Skinny Bitches are Popular

While thinking about topics to write for the NaBloPoMo it occured to me that I should look to my own blog entries for a bit of inspiration. With that in mind it was easy to leap right to the skinny. Skinny Bitch, that is.

The Skinny Bitch book review is never far away from the top of my most visited and read posts. If you don't believe me, take a look at the sidebar section that tells you what my visitors are reading right now. What makes this of interest to me is the fact that the posts relating to this book are over a year old now. It seems Skinny Bitches are not only popular, but they don't go out of fashion either.

I wondered just how popular they were so I did a quick check of the site statistics and find that being a Skinny Bitch is over four times more likely to get you a visit than your next nearest rival in the world of Oh Waily's musings.

What does it say about our world that a book with a provocative title about eating as a vegan should get that many visits on an ongoing basis?  Hmm, it is food for thought.

I loved this book. I gave it a 4 out of 5 on my rating scale. I thought it was a catchy, must-read-this-book title. I thought it was a great way to drag people into a topic they would not necessarily approach if it had been called something mundane like... "Become a vegan and get skinny" or "Stop eating all that processed food and you won't get fat".

It wasn't always a pleasant read. The section on slaughterhouses should increase the number of vegetarians in this world by no small amount. It presented what is probably viewed in regular society as something of an alternative lifestyle in a savvy, cosmopolitan way. The tree-hugging, hair-shirt wearing imagery of vegetarians and vegans gets a bit of a battering courtesy of these two ladies. The ladies in question being Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman.

If you want to read more from Rory Freedman you can take a look at her articles at The G-Living Network. Otherwise if you are willing to wait for me to get the next available copy, I will be reading and reviewing the second installment in the Skinny Bitch series - "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" when it is released this year. I'll let you know what I think of the recipes and ideas, and perhaps we can all be SBs together.

The Great Nappy Debate - Part Two

Welcome back to the Great Nappy Debate.

Thanks to Andie and her link to Snazzipants I was able to find some more interesting facts out about reusable vs disposable nappies.
In addition I also had a range of links from my browsing while pregnant, which I have posted at the bottom.

The quick answer to my personal debate is: Reusable
The reasons for my choice:

• no continuous exposure to gel crystals (they have been spotted on her already);


• comfort for the baby;


• the money to be saved;


• the environmental impact that I can help avoid;


• future proofing (e.g. reduced toilet training time).

Costs:

To get an idea of the costs involved you can take a look at this link about the costs of disposable nappies, and this link about the cost of washing cloth nappies. The costs involved are in Australian dollars, but you can get the general idea from the two lists. If you were really unsure, you could always do your own maths for yourself.

Trials:

After deciding that I wanted to use cloth nappies, the next step was to read the various (many) websites, and decide what I wanted to trial before committing to a large purchase. I cannot recommend this idea enough - do not buy nappies based on sight and touch or web viewing only.

I decided that what I really wanted was the convenience of disposable nappies, but in a reusable form. How "want it all" am I ? Very !! So that narrowed down my choices a bit more. I also didn't want to be buying one of every kind of "all-in-one" nappy available on the market, so I narrowed it down the old fashioned way.

Kushi Classic and Ultra Nappies became part of the trial as I was able to walk into a store and prod them with my own two hands.
Fuzzi Bunz Nappies became part of the trial through seeing them in action, and asking the opinion of the mother in our Mother and Baby class who was using them. They had been recommended to her by four other mothers also.

So, there were the triallists.

Results:

My results came within the first two days of use. The cotton nappies from Kushies just were never in the race really. They were definitely absorbant, but did not seem to move any of that away from the baby. She was not happy in them at all and was not getting her regulation 2 hour sleep. I figure that she was feeling like she was sitting in a soggy pair of pants. When they were washed and hung up it became apparent which nappy would feel good against a baby's bum.
The Fuzzi Bunz, while slightly more expensive, came out ahead in the comfort stakes with the fabric feeling like it truly was quick drying. Therefore Miss O was getting a reasonable sleep.

With regards to the idea that Miss O will need to feel wet in order to get the benefit of early toilet training, that is not a great concern as the Fuzzi Bunz definitely allow her to feel wet when only the insert is used. She just doesn't get that feeling as quickly or if she has a booster included.

Ease of use was pretty even, and the pocket design of the Fuzzi Bunz doesn't provide that much of an issue for those who are not all that keen on dealing with the contents. You can take hold of one end and shake the inserts/boosters out into the washing machine without necessarily dealing directly with the fabric and its contents.

Cost ranged a bit (and the trial doesn't take into account the even cheaper old-fashioned cloth nappies), but was within NZ$5 to $10 per nappy, with accessories making the difference.

My Choice:

Fuzzi Bunz. With inserts and boosters.

We have been using these for about a month now and have had no problems with them at all. Mr O even mentioned how well they deal with the larger messes without it becoming an issue of washing the baby from head to toe. Containment is pretty much close to 100%. The odd little leak is purely down to how tight we close the snaps and whether we have included a booster as well as an insert.
The only thing slightly negative about them is the feeling of the inserts and boosters. You may find them a little rough on your hands - but I've found that moisturising my hands deals with this fairly quickly.

Caveat:

This result is my own personal experience with the three types of nappy trialled. You and your baby may find things to be quite different. That is why I have stated above: "Do Not buy nappies based on sight and touch or web viewing only." Reading about my experience would fall into the web viewing category. :)
Also, by choosing reusable nappies, I do not intend to say that disposables are bad, nasty or otherwise. I'm a bit too pragmatic for that. We still have a packet of disposables as an emergency back-up, but they are not in front-line use. ;)

In order to give you some idea of choice you have, I have listed a bunch of websites that you may want to visit. It is not exhaustive, so if you have a favourite that you feel I have missed, please feel free to leave a comment with a link to the website. (Note: I check all comments before allowing them to be posted, so please don't feel free to spam us with unrelated links.)

Websites and Online Stores:

• Fuzzi Bunz


• Honeychild Website - where I purchased my Fuzzi Bunz in NZ.


• Snazzipants


• Nature Baby Website


• BabyOnline Website


• Cutie Bums Website


• Eco Nappies New Zealand Website


• Ecobots Website


• Ecobubs Website


• Baby Bug Website

And a final FYI.

I bought 12 nappies (+ 1 trial nappy) and the inserts and boosters to go with them.
What I have learned: we probably could do with 18 nappies for washing purposes, and we don't need as many boosters as I bought. Stuffing the pocket is easy and quick - like folding regular laundry. They dry easily in a good breeze and don't take too long in a cool dryer.

All that remains to be said is: "Good luck with your decision. "
:)

The Great Nappy Debate - Part One

This is a topic sure to bring the flamers out of the woodwork.

Reusable nappies vs Disposable nappies

In my very brief experience people don't tend to be fence-sitters on this topic.

As I type this I am in the midst of my own assessment of what I think is the best option for the OhWaily family. Do I want the instant gratification of disposables or am I willing to put in the time with reusable nappies.
Hmm. There is quite a bit to consider in this debate.

• Am I too lazy to wash every other day?


• Will the weather be helpful or will I end up using the dryer all the time?


• Do I want to add a few extra tons of baby poop and chemical crystals to the local landfill?


• Will I have leakage issues if I choose reusables? Then again, disposables aren't 100% foolproof either.


• Are disposables more absorbant? Therefore should I use them on the longer overnight sleeps?


• Will reusables promote nappy rash because the moisture isn't "drawn away" from baby's skin?


• Will it be easier to toilet train a baby who wears reusable nappies?


• Will it be sensible to use them in a half-and-half system?

And last, but not least, in my considerations:

• What the hell are the chemicals in those magic crystals that absorb all those bodily fluids?
  
  
  
  • Where can I find out about them?
  
  
  • How do I know they are safe for long-term use? And just who would have let their kids be the experiment for proving they are safe?
  
  
  
  

Are you a parent who has made this choice?
Do you have an opinion? What is it? Why do you hold that opinion?
Do you have links to resources helping parents make this choice?

If so, please leave a comment with the details and then stick around as I work through making this choice for Miss OhWaily.

Hobbits and Modern Housing

I'm not 100% sure which way to view this take on eco-housing.
I StumbledUpon this last night and was quite taken with the similarity to a hobbit hole from Lord of the Rings.

I cannot truthfully say that this would be my choice of living accomodation, but I am impressed with the dedication and inspiration that this family has shown in deciding to build and live in this home.

Hobbit Hole or Way of The Future - you decide.

Then again, after my apparent need to hog 8 global hectares worth of space just to exist, perhaps I shouldn't view it as something only a '60s hippy would aspire to.

Actually, I think not, but I also think that there are better ways of living that don't involve burrowing into a local hillside and living under a roof of grass. There are many sources of inspiration for adapting and improving existing buildings, and for creating new buildings that don't necessarily sacrifice comfort and design for the greater cause.

So, while I was thinking about this lovely little British Hobbit Hole, I did a bit of Googling and came across some interesting / scary statistics.

According to the Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Authority (EECA) :

• Home heating, water heating and running appliances takes 12% of New Zealand's total energy use. That's NZ$ 1.1 billion.


• Heating, due to lack of insulation (regulations only came into effect in 1978, and how many of us live in 1909 villas!?), costs 20-30% of household energy bills.


• 60-70% of our energy comes from our Hydro-electric schemes, but 23-30% comes from gas or coal.

According to the Worldwatch Institute website:

• 55% of the wood cut for non-fuel uses is for construction


• 40% of the world's materials and energy is used by buildings


• 30% of newly-built or -renovated buildings suffer from "sick building syndrome," exposing occupants to stale or mold- and chemical-laden air

On the whole, not so encouraging. But there are positive stories, and positive actions that cost little (or nothing) to implement. I'll bring you a few of those over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I wouldn't want you to go away thinking that my 8 global hectares was any indication of my non-greeny-ness. Here are a few things that we have done, or do, to reduce our footprint:

• When we purchase a new appliance we balance the functionality with the energy efficiency rating it has.


• We recycle glass, plastic and paper waste (the council is about to change their collection scheme - not too sure if the 240 lt wheelie bins are going to work, but at least things can be stored cleanly outside rather than in our kitchen.)


• We replaced all of our old lightbulbs with the compact fluorescent lightbulb equivalents years ago now. (When they weren't 5 for $10 !! Aargh.)


• We often eat meatless meals. See the Gastronomy section of this blog for ideas.
  (I know. For carnivores who enjoy their steaks, this can seem like a sacrifice too far.)


• We installed a heat exchange unit as our primary heating device just before last winter - so no more gas or wood fires in this house.


• When we outgrow our clothes and shoes, but they are still in reasonable condition, they are bagged up and sent to the local St Vincent de Paul shop down the road.


• And I have, in the past, used the Freecycle network to pass on unwanted items. Although in recent times, our front verge seems to do an excellent impersonation of the Freecycle network. A broken heater, a set of drawers, and from up our driveway - our old washing machine, have all been claimed by random people. It's almost like having our own personal rubbish collection agency. Truly one man's garbage is another man's treasure.

So what are you doing? If you have ideas to share, feel free to leave a comment.

Technology and Climate Change

I stumbled upon a rather nifty website last night and thought that it was worth sharing.

It is called Breathing Earth and it displays graphically and with statistics the carbon dioxide emissions made by each country. Thereby indicating who has, theoretically, the most impact on climate change. And just to round it out, the statistics also show the birth and death rates for each country too.

I thought it made for interesting viewing and reading. The statistics are naturally not 100% current, but it gives you an indication of what is going on in the world. It makes for interesting reading that there is a child born in China every 1.8 seconds. How many new humans have arrived on the planet in that country in the time it has taken you to read this blog entry?!

After you have visited Breathing Earth, take the time to do the quiz that the designer suggests at Ecofoot.org. It may be most enlightening.
According to my result I hog the following resources:

Food - 2.2 hectares
Mobility - 1.6 hectares
Shelter - 1.7 hectares
Goods/Services - 2.5 hectares

And my total footprint is 8 hectares. And according to the website:

In comparison, the average ecological footprint in your country is 8.7 Global Hectares per person.
Worldwide, there exist 1.8 biologically productive global hectares per person.
If everyone lived like you, we would need 4.4 planets.

Whoops, greedy old me. :(

~~~~~~~~~~
P.S.
I would really be interested in seeing what other people's results on this ecological footprint is. If you do take the test, can you drop back and let me know your results? Thanks.

Skinny Bitch - Follow-up

As a brief follow-up to my review of the book "Skinny Bitch" I thought I would find some links that you might want to take a look at.

E Numbers:

Can be found in most processed foods. In New Zealand the number doesn't have the 'E' in front, and this may be the case in other food safety jurisdictions.

• UK Food Guide's free guide to E Numbers can be found here.


• The Vegetarian Society's Guide to E Numbers can be found here.


• UK Food Standards Authority can be found here.

Allergies
Two of my young nephews have just been diagnosed as Coeliacs, so I thought that I would add information for those who may be interested in additives and food allergies. Take a look at the following links:

• UK Food Standards Authority website - Allergy & Intolerance page.


• Coeliac Society of New Zealand website.


• Coeliac Society of Australia website.


• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network website.


• Food Intolerance Network website.

In my own childhood I went through a long series of exclusion diets designed to identify what might have been causing bad hives, welts and eczema attacks, so I have every sympathy for those of you who might need any or all of the websites above.

Finally, on another note, "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser has now been turned into a movie and I happened to catch a short interview with him on Campbell Live tonight. He sounded like he had his feet on the ground, with no axe to grind. And I'm now in no doubt it is another book that I don't really want to read, but really need to read.
I'll let you know what it's like when I get to it. In the meantime, bon appetite. ;)

Skinny Bitch - Kim Barnouin & Rory Freedman

Before you wonder about the title of this post, be assured that I am still family friendly (this book title being an exception).

And as it turns out, this book intends to be family friendly too.
It's catch line is:

A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!

The language used in the book is blunt, often crude and probably offensive to many. I'm betting that this is a book that you get the point of the language choices of the authors or you don't. Personally I decided to get this book out of the library after coming across and reading the first chapter on the internet. I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face.

Despite it's name and the catch line angling for those looking to trim down and shape up, it is actually quite an interesting read from the perspective of what you feed yourself and your family. If I lived in the USA I would be very keen on following up on a number of the claims made throughout this book. And to be frank, I would be pretty worried about my food options.
I was particularly bemused and horrified about the section of the book that dealt with the FDA approval of aspartame.
As it is, I don't live in the USA, and I am now interested in looking into food safety issues here in NZ.

Please note that there is at least one chapter that will make your stomach turn, but I have to agree with the quote used from Linda McCartney in association with this section:

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians.

It is a mix of absolute common sense - soft drinks are "liquid Satan" and suggestions that will probably rub against the grain like ditching meat and dairy from our food choices.

I would recommend that you grit your teeth and read this book.
Even if you have no interest in losing weight, vegetarianism or veganism, you do eat food and therefore it doesn't hurt for you to be prodded out of your cosy reliance on "the government" to protect your health.

In my own business life I know not all products are created equal, and that "the government" we all rely on to keep us safe doesn't actually do what we would logically expect them to do on our behalf - that is, make sure that the highest standards possible are applied in our best interests. In fact, the opposite could be said. I often wonder if governments go for the lowest common denominator, the least cost and the bare minimum standard.

Cynical? You bet. As the ladies of Skinny Bitch say, "Trust no one."

My rating: 4 out of 5.
My reasons:

• I read this book in less than 4 hours (190 pages)


• It made me revisit my choice to revert to flesh eating.


• It made me realise that I take important things - like my food, and therefore my health - for granted.


• It provoked me. I love milk and cheese - how could they be bad for me?


• It lost a star because I think the language will alienate as many people as it attracts.

Spring Cleaning Time Again

Yes, it's that time of year again.
As of the Friday before last we are *officially* in Spring. The fine and slightly warm weather lasted a couple of days and then nose-dived straight back into winter wet. So much for the arrival of Spring.

Anyway, what this time of year always leads to is the cleaning and clearing out of a winter's worth of clutter and avoided housework.
I've been doing pretty well on the one-day weekends we've been having over the last two months. So far I've managed the bathroom, the bedroom, part of the kitchen, and the hallway. In some respects it's been a bit pointless doing the kitchen and bathroom, since in theory they won't be in existence after summer. But what the heck, when the mood takes you... don't fight it.

What all this cleaning talk is leading to is my green streak.
Yes, I have a green streak and it's starting to get a bit wider. So, in the spirit of the cleaning season I thought I would share some green cleaning snippets from one of our local council's environmental "Big Clean Up" mailers.

In the Bathroom

Mirrors - Apply eucalyptus oil with a wad of newspaper to stop mirrors fogging up.
Toilets - Make a paste from borax and lemon juice to clean toilet bowls.
Grout & Mildew - Dip an old toothbrush in vinegar and scrub the tile grout to remove mildew and mould, and to prevent new growth. (A toothbrush? Sounds like a lot of work - an old nailbrush sounds like a better idea.)
All-purpose cleaner - Clean tiles, sinks, toilets and baths with baking soda applied with a damp cloth. (This applies in the kitchen too.)

In the Living Room

Window cleaner - Add half litre of white vinegar to a litre of warm water and wipe windows with a damp cloth. Use wads of newspaper to dry and polish.
Carpet cleaner - Sprinkle baking soda on carpet before vacuuming to deodorise. To remove stains, make a spray from quarter cup of borax and 2 cups water, spray on and wipe off with a damp sponge. Alternatively, try lemon juice or undiluted white vinegar, or immediately rub with soda water, or sprinkle salt or cornflour on the stain and vacuum after 30 minutes.
Air Freshener - Simmer vinegar or herb mixtures in water or try cinnamon and cloves.

In the Laundry

Bleach - Use a cup of lemon juice in half a bucket of water and soak overnight.
Stain remover - Use eucalyptus oil to remove stains before washing. Simply apply a few drops and let it evaporate.

Now, before you rush off to try out any and/or all of these little hints and tips...
Remember, we're all grown-ups here. Test these hints out before you go whole-hog. I don't want to see angry comments about beautiful silk scarves totally ruined by the application of eucalyptus oil to remove a tiny invisible-to-the-naked-eye stain. Okay ?!?

And of course it goes without saying that if you choose to try out the soda water cure for carpet stains in plain view of your children, I really don't want to hear about the subsequent Coca-Cola-ising of Grandma's handwoven, heirloom rug.

Are we all agreed on this? Good.

I have some more snippets for the garage, but that can wait until next week when I finally get around to cleaning out our dog wagon. I'll be giving the baking soda a run for it's money then, I can tell you.

And finally, in the spirit of spring de-cluttering you might want to have a quick read of this from my last spring cleaning drive.

Merry Spring to all of you Southerners, and Happy Autumn to all of you Northerners. Enjoy the new season !

Water, water everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

It's a rather appropriate piece of poetry. Only 1% of the Earth's water is fresh water that we can utilise. Another 2.5% is frozen over in the polar ice caps. The remainder is salt water.

Even in the midst of a very cold and wet few weeks of winter, it is important to bear in mind that our water is a precious commodity. In this country we generate about half of our electricity through our hydroelectric power stations so what the weather delivers is pretty important to Kiwis, both feathered and two-legged.

On the subject of water available for us to use personally, there is a lot of talk about conservation and taking greater care of our natural waterways.
I am the recipient of the ARCs "BIG CLEAN UPdate" newsletter and this issue is all about protecting our waterways, so I thought I would share a few bits of information that this includes. It doesn't really matter where in the world you live, the advice and information is probably still relevant.

Some statistics:
"In most households water consumption is fairly evenly split between the toilet, bathroom, kitchen/laundry and outdoors."

• Outside: 20%


• Bathroom: 25%


• Kitchen/Laundry: 25%


• Toilet: 30%

Obviously if you have a swimming pool, irrigation system or take regular baths rather than showers, your usage may vary.

So, where is all that water going then? Try here:

• Cleaning teeth: 5 litres


• Shower (8 minutes) with a normal shower head: 120 litres


• Shower (8 minutes) with a water efficient shower head: 80 litres


• Bath (full): 200 litres


• Toilet (half flush): 6 litres


• Toilet (full flush): 11 litres


• Garden hose (on full): 250 litres per 5 minutes


• Dish washer: Up to 25 litres per wash


• Washing machine (model dependent) Top loading: 100 - 200 litres


• Washing machine (model dependent) Front loading: 70 - 85 litres

If you live in a country/city/town/rural area where your water is charged for by your usage rate, then maybe the advice on the BIG CLEAN UPdate page might be of interest to you.

Don't forget to check out your local government websites, they may have specific advice for your area.