Define “green”?

Boycotting Gas? The Great American Gas Out Sham.

11 March 2013
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Just like every Spring, emails and Facebook feeds are lighting up with news of this year’s Great American Gas Out.

For the small price of refusing to buy gas on this one arbitrarily chosen day (or sometimes chosen weekend), you effectively decrease the profits of oil companies.

Actually, you inflate your own sense of eco-righteousness.  That is about all that you will accomplish.

Gas prices will stay the same (despite the false claims of previous years causing gas prices to fall $.30 overnight).  This “event” is a total sham.

20130311GasOutSham

I have never played along with the gas out, even during my years writing this blog as “Green Grounded” when I yearned to be the most environmentally-friendly gal in town.

Why did I avoid this annual boycott?

Think about it.  Who are we joking to think we are changing anything with this method?

Even the originators of this email suggest fueling up on the 14th, or on the 16th.   Fuel away!  Fill your car overflowing with glorious liquid gold (not the cheese) with abandon!  The oil companies will feel our wrath on the 15th, however, when suddenly their sales are all dried up!

Gandhi said something about being the change, right?  Not staging a one-day protest where you simply put off doing a chore you will happily oblige to the day after.

I feel the same way about Earth Hour, realizing Read more »

To Kill, Or Not to Kill… What’s Greener?

12 February 2013
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This blog was once a true joy to me – an ability to express things I was learning and passion I felt about helping our environment through everyday living.

Slowly, it became a way of what the internet is – preaching to the choir.  Rambling to a crowd of people who perfectly agree with me used to see productive… and then I grew up.

Then it became an awakening that so many people want to do what they can, but get really tired of the condescension they feel from the “green” gurus who tell them they are still failing to do their part.

“American Pickle”, which has also been “Green Grounded” (and something else, I am sure), served to let me vent anger toward advertising and mindlessness in our society.

It has allowed me to show gratitude for new ideas and products and eco-advocates in our world.

My sad, sad absence of consistency since 2010, however, has shown more about my flailing desire to find my “voice” with this blog.

I have stressed whether or not to kill this blog off, and always find reasons to keep it up.  Is using energy on it greener, or killing it?  Death to American Pickle would certainly be greener to my wallet.  Hehae.  Still, I know clearly that it is not death to this, my first voice, my first blog, my extension from my time at WNCN NBC 17, which gave me a platform and understanding of social media back in 2007 when my amazing boss, Maryann Balbo, and a social media expert, Terry Heaton, encouraged me to create this part of myself online.

If it were not for this gift, I would have missed out on a very rewarding experience and personal growths through Facebook, Twitter, and other blogs that I have since created and nurtured.

I just felt the need to address that.  I am more than aware, painfully so, that I have been lackluster in keeping this once successful blog up.  For the three of you that stumble across these last posts and those to come…

Thank you.

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue

A Life Without Poo… But I Actually Prefer It, I See.

22 October 2012
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For years, ever since I stepped into the fast lane of wanting to live as natural and organic and peaceful as possible (all while being on the fast track to a corporate job in media), I realized that most of our beauty and hygiene products are seriously whack when it comes to the ingredients list.  (Yeah, I said that.)

Being vegan back in the early 2000s exposed me to the toxic ingredients (or at least controversial ones) in our everyday beauty regiment.

As I delved into a “greener” lifestyle for work and passion back in 2007, I saw clearer than ever how stuffy some people are about their natural choices.  A lot of people chirping about how they use clay for toothpaste and boasting arrogantly of how they do not use soap or shampoo is a large reason some people turn away from “green”.  Besides, who wants to smell like a hippy?

In walks Ashley (not me), who is anything but grungy, stinky, dirty.  No, this chic glows.  She is beautiful, she is elegant, she is lovely.  She is modest, she is meek, and she is graceful.  Not pretentious, not boastful, not an annoying hippy.

She is also one of the very first blogs I ever followed, as I was captivated to learn how she and her beau were learning to build a life together, as environmentally and healthfully as possible, in a tiny space.  I watched her explore being newly married, feeling like an adult, having her own baby, and explore her career.

Ashley inspired me when she stopped using shampoo.  In fact, not only did she stop using shampoo, but she enjoyed the experience so much, she shared her experience and tips over several posts.

I committed myself.  I bought a jumbo bag of Arm & Hammer from Costco, and a big jug of apple cider vinegar.

Here are the highlights from my two months with no ‘poo in my ‘do:

  • Hanging out with friends and realizing I had a large, dried clump of baking soda inside my ear.
  • I told my girl Sara about my attempt.  Her reply was something like she tried it too, but gave up after a week or something.  It was not working for her.
  • Realizing while I was shopping I Read more »

My Good Friend, Cleaning my House

10 October 2012
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For years we have heard plenty about not using harsh chemical cleansers in our home.  Vinegar and baking soda are supposed to be the magic cleaning agent in order to disinfect your home and keep your family healthy – and away from toxic fumes, carcinogens, and questionable ingredients.

Then Clorox paved the mainstream way of trying to convince us the make a truly “green” cleaning line, and names like Seventh Generation became everyday brands.

Living that middle ground as I do, I took several years and bought only Shaklee, Seventh Generation, Ecover, and the like.  I spent bundles of Marc’s and my money toward these products, and often to find myself itchy, my dishes still dirty, and my bathtub still grimy.

This past with pricey alternative cleaners explains why I was at Wal-Mart (yes) this week buying Comet.  Gimme that bleachy teal powder that would turn tar snowy white!

I grabbed the 2x Comet (twice the white and half the elbow grease!) when I saw it:

The cutest little bird, letting me know it was my “Good Friend”, or in french, “Bon Ami”.  A powder cleanser, just like coment, but “America’s Original Natural Home Cleaner”.

“Cleans your home without dye, perfume or chlorine”.
“Sprinkle Scrub Rinse!”
“Before cleaning turned ‘chemical,’ there was Bon Ami.”

They say they have a simple purpose, “to return your home to a natural state of clean.”

Biodegradable, hypo-allergenic (and those commercial cleaners you buy are NOT), Bon Ami is made of “five simple ingredients”:

  • Limestone
  • Feldspar
  • Biodegradable Cleaning Agents (from coconut and corn)
  • Soda Ash
  • Baking Soda

Technically, would “biodegradable cleaning agents” not count as more than one ingredient?  That reminds me of idiots on Pinterest who say their cake is only three ingredients… but one of them is a box of cake mix which has eight ingredients and multiple preservatives itself.

Anyhow, Bon Ami is still far less harsh and far more natural than what I showed up to buy.  Plus, for less than a dollar, what do I have to lose?

I got both.  No better way to test something out, right, than to have the tried-and-true on standby to make everything pearly if the natural product fails.  I likely would have bought Bar Keepers Friend, which was between the two products, but it was sold out.  I hear it is fantastic, too, though.

Any experience with this cute little chickadee?

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue

PS.  No, we still have no fridge.  The old one is sitting in the middle of our kitchen floor, and we should have one by tomorrow night.  Oh, I hope, because the random coolers and tote bins of food sitting on our porch is a little janky.

The Fine Line of Green Worship

6 October 2012
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How do we live our lives, live as Christians, and live sustainable “green” lives simultaneously?

I know not everyone who will read this subscribes to Christianity, but as someone who does, I realized long ago that “living green” so often becomes it’s own version of worship.

The pride and arrogance over all I do to make the world greener, all I know that others seem to be figuring out, all that I teach other and judge them for not doing, and all the things I realized I still did not know that I had to gobble up to reach the pinnacle of green zen…

My search for “Green Grounded” was anything but grounded.  I had made an idol of being green.

So where is the balance?

Another writer deals with this, too, as her family lives “on the crunchier side” as well as has a child that is allergic to plastic:

It’s avoiding all the baggage that comes along with it. It’s avoiding the dogma. The theology of the earth as giver and creator. The “save the earth!” slogans. The idea that more than one child per family is unduly burdening our ecosystem. The explicit understanding that we’re all part of one big cosmic happy place, and that anyone who subscribes to the idea that there’s one true way is just bringing everyone down.

How do we make our difference, live our truth, support the ecosystem and community, all while keeping our eyes and hearts focused on the bigger-yet picture?

Any thoughts on living a balance?

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue

Fluoride Rots Your Brain and Kills.

5 October 2012
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OK, I had no idea how to make a headline about fluoride seem important, so I used a cheap tactic.  One of the oldest out there.  Sorry.*

All the same, fluoride is something we Americans are taught to revere.  And we cannot escape it.

From a young age, we get fluoride treatments from the dentist and hear all of these commercials about how great this toothpaste brand and that mouthwash is because of the cavity-fighting fluoride.  Heck, the CDC hails fluoridation of water as one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.

Fluoride, however, is linked to cancer, bone fractures and weakness, low sperm count, endocrinology issues, and more.  According to FluorideAlert.org,

While the health impact of these exposures remains poorly understood, research shows that comparable doses cause serious health conditions in areas of the world with widespread fluoride poisoning…

…In terms of acute toxicity (i.e., the dose that can cause immediate toxic consequences), fluoride is more toxic than lead, but slightly less toxic than arsenic. This is why Read more »

Back with a Bang, and Steve Trash Kicks the Green Fun Off!

1 October 2012
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American Pickle has taken a long hiatus.

In fact, I have spent the last three years figuring out the focus of this blog.  What exactly am I trying to say?  Who exactly am I talking to?  Where did all my Green Grounded goodness and mojo from 2008 go?

Well, friends, I figured it out, and the truth will emerge in time, but I have focus.  Like a missile.  But for today, I only have one message.

Watch Steve Trash.

The man is amazing.  Mysterious.  Significant.  Substance.

Magical.

I posted about him in 2009 after I met him at the N.C. State Fair.  Sadly my post fails to capture any of the magic that this man is.

Three years later, and I still feel a shiver up my spine, a giggle in my throat, and a pounding in my heart every time I think about our encounter.

That little girl still lives deep inside me that wishes she could live inside a glittery snowglobe, and the beauty and mystery that Steve Jobs brought to me that night gave me Read more »

The Local Co-op is NOT a Guarantee of Quality. Beware.

11 January 2012
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Amidst a search for a variety of supplements to aid in boosting my health to new boundaries, I have become a frequent visitor of the area health food shops and vitamin stores.

Granted, I get in the aisle and feel completely overwhelmed with the layers upon layers and stacked, 15 feet long and 6 feet high towers of redundant options.

I become paralyzed, staring at the bottles.

I pick up bottles and read the backs.

The herb name is the same on four Read more »

“No Such Thing As Organic Apples. I Wouldn’t Want to Eat Them!”

9 January 2012
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I could subtitle this piece, “Don’t You Know Local Is More Important Than Organic?”

That was my experience looking for organic apples at the North Carolina Farmer’s Market here in Raleigh.

You see, Marc and I have gotten into making apple butter from scratch.  It is so so good.  He and Mama Bull are big fans of apple butter, as is my sister, but increasingly over the years, we have realized that finding apple butter without high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it is nearly impossible.

In fact, finding apple butter in stores at all is nearly impossible.

Apples have it rough in my world. Let me explain a bit:

  • I once enjoyed their crunch, but never could eat an actual apple again after having my braces removed nearly 15 years ago.  I only drink their juice and eat them fully cooked now.
  • A college professor pushed how important it is that we buy organic apples anytime we buy apple products – the degradation of both our environments and our personal health otherwise is unforgivable.
  • Somewhere along the way, I have learned that apples are one of the most pesticide and fungicide sprayed crops in our country.

Needless to say, when I got to the Farmer’s Market, I noticed that only one booth was listed as “organic” produce.  They had no apples, and they were not open.

Sigh.

A lady at the nearest booth asked if she could help me.

“Actually, could you tell me if you know anything about the pest management and treatment of the apples here?  I am looking for organic apples.”

She boldly belted out, “Haven’t you heard, local is more important than organic!”

I smiled and said yes, but that naturally I am concerned over what I have heard of pesticides in apples.

She yelled, “No such thing as organic apples!  At least, I wouldn’t want to eat them! … They’d be crawling with worms!”

Another booth attendant chimed in, “Without pesticides, Read more »

Incandescent Lighting… It’s So Hard, To Say Goodbye…

8 August 2011
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The current-day war and growing federal regulations between the incandescent, CFL and LED lighting industries only seem to illuminate frustrations of American consumers.

Thomas Edison created one of the most brilliant inventions of modern time.

Right now, literally as I type this, geniuses continue working to make the light bulb more brilliant than ever.  Look at CREE, who truly sets a standard of excellence and technological advances in everything they do.  The market is rapidly changing, and largely due to their efforts, or from similar companies.

How can a consumer possibly know how to decipher the inconsistent verbiage and terminology of the lighting industries when we buy our replacement bulbs?

Yes, that was a serious question, not Read more »