Known Knowns

I’m on a roll with this environmental stuff, I think. I told Josh that I try desperately not to be a freak about it, but admittedly, it’s also presenting kind of a fun challenge to figure out where I can make the next environmentally-friendly change in my life (and one that is also an economically friendly alternative.)

The next change on my list: cat litter. Did you know that something like 8 billion pounds of cat litter are dumped into landfills every year? My reaction to that was the sound of my jaw slamming onto the floor. Damn. And the average gray, clay, clumping cat litter (like what I use now) doesn’t biodegrade, ever. (Not to mention all the chemicals that aren’t really all that good for your cat, but I’m not getting into that because I was raised with cats using clay litter and that was never the cause of their death.)

Just for the record, my focus is more in the environment, and less on harmful chemicals. In fact, I so don’t care about harmful chemicals right now that I :::gasp::: drink out of a plastic water bottle instead of the hip new aluminum ones (or whatever they are.) I don’t begrudge anyone their super swanky Sigg water bottles. Iin fact, I would buy one but I’m so unhip that it just doesn’t feel right. I need to wait until they’re slightly out of style like I do with everything else. However, I’m sure we’ll all hear in a few months how those things leech some kind of deadly, carcinogenic, earth-shattering chemical, too. We’re all going to die, I’m so sure.

So anyway. Back to responsible ways to dispose of your cat litter.

What about just flushing it down the toilet, you ask? I also thought that would be a good alternative, until I read that cat crap contains a bunch of toxins that can actually resist sewage cleaning and eventually wind up in oceans and other bodies of water, where otters and dolphins are especially susceptible and frequently die, as a result. Go google a picture of an otter and then come back here and tell me you don’t care.

I have a few requirements as I search for new cat litter.

1. It must be affordable. I am not paying exorbitant prices just for eco-friendly litter. One thing I really believe is that the environmental stuff will never, ever catch on until the average person can afford it. (In this case, the average person being a full-time student with no job.) So in the meantime, I will probably not pay more than a few bucks extra (max) unless it’s something I really, really believe in. In other words, I reserve the right to pay more but the point of all this is also to support the companies who realize that eco-friendly and cheap do not have to be mutually exclusive.

2. It must be clumping litter. I have in the past experimented with FelinePine, and while the smell is awesome, it’s not scoopable, which means you have to dump the litter each time, which means you have to buy a lot more. And generally I find that to be more of a pain in the ass. Yes, there are things I won’t do, even in the name of Mother Earth. (Hang on. I will willingly shove a large piece of plastic up my hoohah when I’m on the rag, but I will not dump cat litter. Don’t judge me.)

According to my research thus far, there are really only 2 kinds of biodegradable, clumping litter. One is “The World’s Best Cat Litter” and the other is “Swheat Step.” The former is made of corn and the latter of wheat. I have actually also experimented with World’s Best, and I wasn’t all that thrilled. It did a really poor job of controlling the smell of cat urine, or maybe I just needed to scoop it more often, I don’t know. But I’m going to try Swheat Step next, while at the same time also increasing the number of scoops I do per week, and see how it goes. I will report back here in a few weeks with results. If it doesn’t work well, I may try World’s Best with more scoops.

So that’s my mission for the next couple weeks. Anyone else want to play?

Yesterday, a woman stopped me at the grocery store and asked me how I remember to bring my own bags when I go shopping.

I wish I could say my answer was more interesting, but I simply told her that my bags are just so cute that I love to shop with them. It’s true. Me, the queen of Untrendy, actually has something so cute that it motivates me.  And you thought it would never happen.

Before I received my Envirosax for Christmas last year, I, too, constantly forgot to bring my own bags to the grocery store. My first idea was to just bring the old plastic bags with me each trip. That didn’t work. Then, I decided that I would start purchasing the $0.99 Store Brand bags; one per trip. Well, that didn’t work either. The bottom line is, those bags, while Earth-friendly, are ugly and boring. There is no incentive to bring them with you. Why would anyone remember to bring a boring, brown bag with them when they went shopping? Not me. Despite my best efforts, I never remembered to bring my own bags even once before I got my Christmas present. I would always remember sometime around the bananas that I forgot again.

Then I got my Envirosax for Christmas from my sister-in-law. And they are just so damn cute that I can’t help but want to show them off. I even admit that I feel slightly smug when I carry my groceries out, slung over my shoulder in super cute, trendy, re-usable bags. (All this trendiness pulled off by a person who goes shopping in her pajamas.) And really, besides feeling smug and better than the average grocery shopper, I really like my bags. They never break or get holes punched in them. They hold a lot of stuff. (For example, I have six bags, and only yesterday did I finally use all of them at the same time, but that was about $100 in groceries and there was still more room.) The strap is big enough that I can throw the bags over my shoulders, which allows me to carry a lot more at a time. I freakin’ love these things. I guess the only thing I dislike is that I can’t use them for cat poop, which is what I did with my plastic grocery bags. Oh well.

So, that’s how I remember to bring my bags with me when I go to the grocery store. I have bags that I love.

And on a side note but also sticking with the environmental theme, in case anyone is wondering…I have been, ahem, practicing with my diva cup and have finally gotten to the point where I can’t feel it at all. It was the stem that was bugging me; and I first cut a tiny piece off, then learned how to maneuver the thing without the stem at all. Yesterday I went balls out and cut the rest of the stem off, so all I basically have is the cup. I swear it’s like nothing is up there. I am also confident that I have the suction technique down, but only time will tell. If you’re planning on getting one of these things, I definitely recommend practicing for a few weeks before the mess begins. I’m almost a pro and feel pretty confident that I could remove and insert it with no problems in a public restroom.

Ok, so apparently I am the last person in the world to know about the damn Diva Cup. Here I was thinking I was being all progressive and this big trend setter, and it turns out that every person who’s brought it up to me (or vice versa) already has one! Women! We need to share these things with each other! :::pout:::

It doesn’t matter. I’m still checking my mailbox everyday, and seriously looking forward to my next ragtime, so I can try out my new toy.

Speaking of new toys, we got some workworking tools over the weekend. I’m a girl who loves tools, having been accostomed to using power tools since I was 13 years old. I went to a performing arts magnet school with a huge budget. I mean huge. We had a state-of-the-art recital hall, black box theatre, and a 1,300 seat auditorium. We put on three mainstage shows a year (Guys and Dolls, Little Shop of Horrors, Hello Dolly, etc), plus a bunch of little stuff in the black box and recital hall. It was intense. And I got involved in technical theatre pretty early on in the process. I continued in tech theatre until college. I admit that I look back on it and think it was insane that our teachers were letting teenagers use power tools. What were they thinking? It doesn’t matter now; I still love me some power tools and woodworking, so having a home “shop” is going to be lots of fun.

My true love is painting, though. I love scenic painting and did a lot of that in college. So, I’m really excited for Josh to crank out some nice furniture so that I can finish it. I have also been interested in re-finishing some older furniture for a while, so now maybe we’ll have the tools to do that. I’m also interested in working with a lathe and learning some segmented turning or pen making, so maybe in a few years I’ll get one. Add that to the freaking huge list of things I want to learn when I finish nursing school. (Pen making, segmented turning, stained glass, pottery, classical guitar, horseback riding, more advanced sewing…)

Our first project will probably be a couple of night stands and a bed frame from a book my parents sent me when they heard we were trying to do some fun projects together. I’ll post pictures when they’re done; it could easily be three years from now but hopefully not.

I’m serious about that…boys, you may want to bow out now. I’m going to be talking about periods, tampons, pads, and girly crap like that. So if you’re going to bitch and moan about it, then leave.

I was checking out one of my new favorite sites the other day (www.truegreenconfessions.com which is an offshoot of trueofficeconfessions.com, truemomconfessions.com, and truedadconfessions.com) when I read about reusable pads. My immediate thought was how disgusting that is. Filthy! Bloody pads are meant to be thrown away, not washed. “Hippie freaks!” thought I.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about all the trash that we ladies create with our monthly fun. Tons! Can you imagine all those nasty pads and tampons sitting around in a dumpster or floating in the ocean? How long do those things even take to biodegrade? I read somewhere that tampon applicators are some of the most common trash you find on a beach (although I, myself, have never run across one. ) And knowing how much my dog likes to get into the trash or lick my underwear (yes, it’s true), I can only imagine that the sea creatures must scream “Buffet!” when they see a tampon applicator.

So I tried to shove my bias about the disgusting idea of reusable pads into the back of my head while I looked into this further. Sure enough, Luna Pads are washable, equipped with a nylon layer to prevent leakage, and they even come in fun colors like leopard print. Ok, but I’m still not convinced. And besides, I don’t use pads. I gave them up because I didn’t like the sticky, grimy feeling I got after wearing one for approximately three minutes. I switched to tampons instead, and have been much happier, although not entirely. Hell, this is a period we’re talking about. Who could possibly be happy about it?

So I continued my research. Could there possibly be a reusable tampon out there, and if so, how disgusting would that be? Surely only the crunchiest of the crunchy, the likes of which don’t even shave their armpits, would use a resuable tampon. That’s when I read about the Diva Cup, and instead of paraphrasing, I’m just going to steal a few lines about it from their website:

Billions of tampons and pads are dumped into landfill and sewage systems each year in the U.S. alone. Because The DivaCup® is reusable, women save money while becoming part of the environmental solution!

Menstrual cups have been used by women worldwide since the 1930’s! The DivaCup® is:

• A modern menstrual cup
• Patent-pending, expertly engineered
• Perfect for women of all ages

It is made from soft and durable, high quality silicone which makes it latex-free and hypoallergenic. This unique material has been used in healthcare applications for over 50 years.

Well, honestly after I wrapped my brain around the fact that it’s actually not disgusting, that doesn’t sound too bad at all, now does it? Try not to jump to conclusions. It took me a good 24 hours of tossing this one around in my head to get myself to the point where I would even consider buying one. By the way, they cost about $35, which sounds pricey, but imagine never having to go out at midnight for supplies ever again? Maybe it’s worth considering…

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m not a crazy freaking hippie just because I am considering using a reusable tampon, although this does push me closer to the edge, doesn’t it? I admit that I feel very smug when I do something good for the environment. For Christmas last year, I received reusable grocery bags that are also very high fashion, and seriously, I now love to go grocery shopping. When I graduate from nursing school, I plan on buying a brand new Prius. We have managed to fill our house with those special eco-friendly light bulbs (whatever the hell they’re called) and we also recycle almost everything. Additionally, I go to school on a “paperless” system, meaning I take notes directly onto my laptop and print only when absolutely necessary. This kind of stuff makes me feel good…about myself, about the world I’m living in. Environmental issues have become very important to me in the past two years. Maybe some of that is the Boulder influence, I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter, does it?

Back to the Diva Cup. I started researching it more and more. I googled things like “I hate the Diva Cup” and “Diva Cup sucks” because when I am researching a product, I like to know why people hated it. I checked out all the reviews on Amazon.com, epinions.com and anywhere else I could think of, because I rarely trust the testimonials written on the company website. I have to be honest; I have had an very hard time finding people who didn’t like it. On top of that, the majority of the reviews I’ve read have said things like “this is the best product I’ve ever bought” or “I can’t believe I waited so long” or my favorite “I hardly notice I have a period anymore.” What the? I read lots of product reviews, and of all of them, the Diva Cup is probably getting the highest scores from its users. Women apparently love this thing, and these are some of the reasons why (I guess):

• It’s eco-friendly
• It’s cost effective (since 1 cup lasts up to 10 years, and you don’t need any other supplies during that time)
• It’s hypoallergenic and made of medical-grade silicone (the kind that’s used for heart valves, not boobs)
• You don’t have to change it as often as a tampon or a pad because it holds 1 oz and most women only bleed 2-3 oz the whole time
• You can’t feel it
• You can wear it swimming, running, doing yoga, kickboxing, or pretty much anything
• It’s entirely leak proof once you get it in right; no more bloody strings to deal with
• You can’t get toxic shock syndrome from it
• It doesn’t dry you out like a tampon does, because it doesn’t suck all the moisture out of your vagina
• It doesn’t get that disgusting “period” smell, and don’t lie, you all know what I’m talking about.

My understanding is that the main con to this thing is that you have to insert it correctly which involves putting your fingers into your vagina (some women are uncomfortable with this) and that it can be slightly tricky to install properly and then it does leak. It involves some kind of suction and you have to twist it once you get it in place, I think, and this might be what causes the problem for some women.

All that being said, I’m going to buy one. I have got to see for myself how this product works, because if it’s as amazing as everyone says it is, then I sure as hell don’t want to miss out. Oh, did I mention that some women have actually written that they don’t cramp as badly as they do with pads and tampons? Not sure how that one works, but I’m willing to try anything. As of now, I’ve come full circle from finding the mere idea of this absolutely repulsive, to being excited to have my freakin’ period again so I can try it out. How sick is that? Hopefully this thing lives up to the hype. If not, guess what? There’s a one-year, money back guarantee. (I can only hope the returns go straight to a trash bin.)

My blog posts on this blog have gotten farther and father apart. Wow.

I think I was putting too much pressure on myself to write wonderful, thought-provoking, witty things all the time. Clearly I can’t handle it right now, because instead of writing anything at all and risking that it wouldn’t be Pulitzer material, I chose to write nothing. I miss writing. I miss the constant effect it has on the way I view the world around me. Although to be fair, I haven’t been completely neglecting my blogs. I’ve been writing in my nursing school blog a lot more; long, flowing, rambling posts about school, which is such a huge part of my life right now. I think it might have been a mistake to seperate my “Life” blog and my “Nursing School” blog…because the two are getting closer and closer together.

Anyway, tonight I’m just going to talk about my life, and I’m not going to worry about being metaphoric.

Roland is doing really well. He is back to his spirited, spunky self, and has even gained a little bit of weight. His coat is shiny and his eyes are bright; it’s good to have our happy-go-lucky German Shepherd back. However, our backyard is so full of poop that I can barely stand to walk out there. So, due to the size of our yard (fairly large for this area) and my propensity for picking up frozen slabs of doggy diarrhea, I am hiring someone to clean it up for us. Yeah, I know, it’s a total cop out, but I just hate it, and I let it go so long that it’s no longer manageable. I really want to be able to enjoy my (formerly) beautiful lawn again, so I’m just going to cave and pay up. It was my fault. So there.

The cats are good, too. I came home today and Cicero greeted me with that nasty sounding hack that generally implies a hairball is on its way. Lovely way to come home, I assure you. I put him in the bathroom so he could barf on the tile instead of the carpet. Last night I slept on the couch due to my own tossing and turning, and both of my kitties were sleeping on me within about 10 seconds of laying down. I love it when they snuggle with me. As much as I talk about Squeaky Wheel Roland on this blog, I am just crazy about my cats and they are constantly providing me with entertainment.

School is good, and if you want to read more about it, you can go to my nursing school blog. I’m finishing my OB rotation next week, and I have to say that it has not been nearly as bad as I thought. I’ve been fortunate to work with some great nurses, and I’ve actually been able to do some work independently, which always gives me a boost. I feel very rewarded when I work with patients and thier families, and not a day has gone by that I haven’t been thankful for the life I live. I love the underserved population because of the perspective they provide (among other things.) I have been working with a lot of Spanish-speaking-only Hispanics, and aside from loving their culture, I have decided that I will need to be at least conversational in Spanish in a few years. A translator phone is okay, but being able to speak directly to the patient is much better, I think. I made one stupid mistake that everyone loved. We were talking about how big this baby was, and I meant to say “He has a huge head!” (Cabeza mas grande!) Instead, I said “Cerverza mas grande!” which translates to “He has a huge beer!” Doh. However everyone laughed and it ended up working in my favor. I might even make the same mistake again, because it really helped the family trust me, believe it or not. They thought I was a cute little gringo.

I have been keeping up at least one of my New Year’s Resolutions by exercising regularly. I have found a great kick boxing class at the rec center that I really enjoy, and it’s twice a week. In between that, I do CrossFit workouts. I have noticed that I’m a little more toned than a few months ago, and a lot stronger. I like seeing immediate results although I’m in a bit of a slump this week, for whatever reason. I have found that I can hardly stand working out in the evening due to the thousands of unattended toddlers that seem to run the place. If I get to the gym by 8:00am, it’s much more tolerable, and frequently I have the hot tub to myself.

Josh and I have been trying to think of projects that we can do together. Instead of taking a trip during my Spring Break, we are going to build some furniture. This involves buying power tools, which is something both of us enjoy, and it also appeals to each of our strengths. We are making night stands first, and if everything turns out nicely and we both survive, we will make a bed frame later on. I am actually pretty good at wood working, having had lots of experience when I was in technical theatre. It is something I really enjoy, but my forte is really painting and staining, so that will be my big job, although I hope to get my hands on some saws, too.

There. I blogged without being witting. So there.