happy friday dear ones!  today i want to introduce to you one of favorite people around the web, tonia of itty bitty impacts! her blog is about taking care of the environment and how itty bitty things ready do add up and make a huge difference.  she takes such a fun approach to sharing with us how to minimize our impact, you’ll have fun learning as you flip through all the pretty pages of advice, tips and how to’s.

i wanted to share with you this video on how to make your own laundry detergent (isn’t tonia cute?)!  store bought laundry detergent is full of harmful ingredients such as quaternary ammonium sodium carbonate, sodium alkyl benzene sulfonate, sodium silicate, bleach, and some phosphates (just to name a few), and i don’t want to be wearing those or dumping them in the earth.  since ec0-friendly detergent is so expensive, this is an easy, very effective and affordable way to make your own laundry detergent at home that won’t harm your family or the earth.

if you haven’t already, enjoy perusing the pages of itty bitty impact where you’ll find advice on diy facial’s, green weddings, preserving herbs and so much more!

have a lovely weekend, see you here on monday! xo, bonnie

wrap up: {cleaner} {diy} {earth} {eco friendly} {laundry detergent} {simple living} {sustainable}

they call them locavores- people who choose to eat seasonal, local produce.  today i’m kicking off a new series about eating local produce, where i’ll share with you a weekly recipe using local yummies!  first you may ask, why eat local? well, there are tons of reasons, the simplest of which is that it just makes sense.  the average mileage of your food, (we’ll call this farm to fork mileage) is 1500 to 3000 miles, and that’s a lot of fossil fuel! when produce has to travel so far, much of it is picked while still unripe then gassed to ‘ripen’ it after transport, or it is processed in factories with preservatives and the like.  scientists are even experimenting with genetic modification to produce less perishable produce.

by purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. buying seasonal produce also provides an exciting opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes.

the good news is, local produce is usually easy to find and it simply tastes better because it’s fresher!

above is a list of the veggies you’ll find at your spring farmers market. remember that certain crops and harvest dates depend on the climate and your region, so this is just a rough outline (check out this regional seasonality guide for your area).  as you can see, spring is almost over, but i’m going to post a recipe next week anyways and then introduce to you your summer guide! i’ve also made this list in pdf format, so you can print it out and keep with you while your shopping or scouring for recipes.

download the seasonal spring vegetable guide

 
 
recommended reading

read my favorite book and get incredibly inspired to eat locally with animal, vegetable, miracle.

find local, organic and sustainable food in your area with the eat well guide search.

learn about eating more sustainably and find recipes at the sustainable table.

join the eat more local food initiative at eat local, america!

{resources: the sustainable table, cuesa sustainability}

wrap up: {eating local} {locavore} {seasonal vegetables} {spring} {sustainable}

top row :: felted wool 1 :: yellow roses :: lime stylized rose ::

bottom row :: silk/cotton ikat cover :: printed butterflies ::  felted wool 2 ::

fabricadabra is an online store full of adorable (and affordable) organic pillows.  with fabrics such as ikat, suzani, batik and african mud cloth- these pillows are truly one of a kind!  all of them are made using natural dyes and only the purist ingredients.  there is such a wide range of designs, textures and feels- i just can’t decide which ones i like the most!

wrap up: {covers} {dyes} {natural} {organic gardening} {pillow} {sustainable}

milk straight from the cow.  you mean…?  yup. i mean straight from the cow and into your glass…well maybe to the fridge first..  i recently started reading about the benefits of raw milk and finally took my first sip this past week!  i’ll admit, i was a bit worried- i’m not much of a milk drinker to begin with.  but, with an open mind i gently poured my first glass of raw milk, gave it a sniff, and then took a gulp.  and, guess what?  it was delicious!  it taste just like milk- but so much better!  ‘wow’, i thought, ‘this is what i’ve been missing out on all these years?’

think about it- we were really intended to drink milk raw.  since mankind began, we’ve been drinking raw milk!  in fact, raw milk is such a whole food, that you could literally live on it alone for the rest of your life. someone in the 1930′s figured out that if they pasteurized milk, it would increase it’s shelf life- and therefore increase their profits.

pasteurization destroys healthy enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, osteoporosis, heart disease and more.

most commercial milk comes from cows living in unsanitary conditions being fed special food with antibiotics in it to keep her healthy and hormones in it to push her to her ultimate limits of milk production.  and, guess what? all that stuff ends up in your glass of milk and right into your system.

ready to try it? start asking around- you most likely have a healthy dairy farm near you.  you can also check out real milk’s website for more info on how to find it.  all raw milk is not the same- so ask questions.  the cows should be grass fed (not grain) and have no hormones or antibiotics added to their food source.  the more organic, the better! for more great info visit raw-milk-facts.  now get to searching and find some real milk- and then, let us know about it!

here’s a delicious raw milk smoothie recipe!
-2 cups raw milk
-1 tsp organic vanilla
-3 tbls raw honey
-your choice of fruit: strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, blackberries
blend until smooth and enjoy!

wrap up: {gladening} {organic life} {raw milk} {recipe} {sustainable}