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Gentle Goal Towards Making Myself as Sustainable as Possible

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For the past few years I’ve made it a gentle goal to gradually make myself as sustainable as possible, most specifically with my purchases, or abstention from purchases: Choices I have enjoyed in order to make incremental sustainable shifts in my lifestyle. Of course the main contributors to the climate crisis are big corporations. (We’ve got to tackle that too.) But for me, making these shifts has been a good feeling, not just an alleviation of guilt for being a contributor to our planet’s CO2 levels as a car-driving (and car-loving) American, but as a passion project that has brought me joy.

  1. My favorite purchase: THIS ^ shampoo bar is lovely! No plastic bottle, no plastic wrapping. And it makes my bathroom smell fresh. (I still am using a conditioner in a bottle. Yeah, I’m not perfect.)
  2. I abstain from using Q-tips.
  3. Always bring a water bottle to work and a mug to my local coffee shop.
  4. I take my empty soap bottles once and a while to a place called Off the Bottle, a store with bulk cleaning products that I can use to refill my soap containers.
  5. I just recently bought the refillable LEAF razor. I just used it today to shave my legs and I LOVE it! A little pricy, but it’s high quality and the idea is it’ll last forever. No plastic.

5. I bought a scooter! It was relatively affordable ($399) and hopefully it’ll save me some gas money in the long run. And, it is HELLA fun. I use that to scoot scoot to the climbing gym I like to frequent. I call it my motorcycle, which it clearly is not, so it cracks me up. I’m hoping to take it to work soon too, at least once and a while. After doing research, my brand-of-choice was HiBoy.

6. Instead of paper towels or tissues, I have these recycled fabric cloths I bought from a local shop in Denver. Some people find it super hippy, I find it super soft and a nice, money-saving option over time! Some of these I fold up into tissue boxes, and others I leave out as paper towels. You can find something similar on Etsy. Or I use rags for cleaning from old clothes that I can then toss in the wash later.

7. Instead of plastic trash bags, I use the paper bags I get at the grocery store. (This makes for the need to wash out my trashcan more frequently, but eh, it’s worth it.) Yes, I could use those compostable trash bags, but… paper bags are free, and I usually forget my reusable ones for the grocery store anyway.

8. Powdered dishwasher detergent that is encased in cardboard, instead of plastic and laundry detergent encased in cardboard.

9. Thrift shopping, baby!

10.Trader Joe’s expandable sponges made from natural vegetable cellulose, not plastic. There’s 12 in one small little package.

My big goal which perhaps is the biggest one, (and hardest one) is to take my money out of the Big Banks, which are enormous corporate investors in fossil fuels, and to put it into a better bank. But this has proven tough and scary! Hard to make the leap, I don’t know why. SO, maybe, the goal will be to write a letter to the bank to push them to divest from fossil fuels? I don’t know, again, I’m not perfect.

So there you have it! A not-so-giant list of things I have enjoyed in making myself a little more sustainable.

One of the Solar Punk social media people I follow on Instagram, who is an environmental engineer, mentioned there is one major psychological phenomena that behavioral psychology has shown us is one of the biggest ways to influence change towards environmental well-being: Want to take a guess? It’s not more education, or feeling bad about climate change, or throwing more money at it (although those are good things too) but actually SELF EFFICACY: The feeling that you as a person matter, and can make a difference. This leads to personal changes and well-being and conversations between peers. Which can also affect policy. Who’da thought huh?

Also, if you don’t know about the Solar Punk movement, check it out. Google it. It’s inspiring. In order to create a better world, we need creatives to show us ideas and images of what is possible as an outcome, and then we can all devise road maps to get there.

Which one is your favorite sustainable option? Anything not on this list you love to use?

Happy Earth Day: Comparing humanity to the lifespan of a human

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I sometimes compare humanity to the lifespan of the human: Right now we’re in our rebellious teenager stage. We’re dysfunctional and hormonal, starting fights between countries, thinking we know everything but have so much to learn. We fail to recognize that the habits we have now will impact our future health and well-being of our body/planet. We need to kick that addictive oil habit. But we’ve started now and can’t stop. We have so much potential but we’re squandering it on the moment, the quick fun fix instead of paying attention to the signals of our planet, telling us: Rest, recharge and change you’re unhealthy consuming habits.

You know that phrase live fast and die young? When the young die early because they’re living a rock and roll lifestyle doing drugs and making bad habits cause they’re fun. That’s the stage of humanity we’re in, and we might die at the peak of our potential.

We are the most advanced global civilization we have ever been. We have so much potential to become a unified, peaceful planet that thrives in coexistence with our planet/body but we’re blowing it now when it matters most: When we face the point of no return with the climate crisis. We could be the Janis Joplin’s who lived fast and died young as a civilization. We need to kick that oil habit and utilize our full potential to create a healthy happy lifestyle within our planetary organism that is earth: That is ourselves. Or we’ll wipe ourselves off this planet.

Happy Earth Day everyone. C’mon humans, let’s grow up.

Ode to the pelvis

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It curves, it supports it blossoms out from the core of the frame. The heart of the center. The butterfly of the body.

Art by Julia Jan 1st 2023

The female pelvis serves many purposes. The male, mostly one. The female pelvis undulates and circulates, it dances and runs and pushes life optimally through it.

Not only do these female bones support and propel the body to motion they also support and propel life into being. All beings.

If you were to ask the authors of medicine though, it would say:

These female bones support the human frame for bipedal locomotion just like male bones, AND they succeed in purpose and responsibility to push humans to life. We are not constrained by it. We merely have more ability.

Photo credit: Wombenwellness

We can do just as much as male bodies, under the pressure of a body built for multiple purposes. It’s like running a race and still winning when you have hurtles to jump while your racing someone with a clear path.

We’re so used to female bodies being presented as less capable when in reality we are more capable ie have multiple capabilities. We’re all different, not better or worse than another. The female pelvis is optimized for bipedal locomotion AND for propelling life to being. Be proud of your pelvis.

I’m often amazed that doctors and chiropractors have images of the human form and skeleton, but rarely, if ever, is it a female body or skeleton on the wall. As if male is the default. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth anyway. (All humans start as female in the womb. Why do you think men have nipples?)

Regardless, it’s important to take into consideration the beautiful and vital differences in anatomy in medicine and everyday life, even, and especially, down to the pelvis.

This is perhaps the most important thing in the abortion debate

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The misinformation that has spread about what a pregnancy looks like at the beginning weeks, is astounding. (The misinformation has been intentional by forced birthers.) it’s important to know what it really like. See below for what a pregnancy actually looks like before ten weeks. And, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s a beautiful thing if you want to grow those cells into a life but it’s also perfectly fine to avoid the growth of those cells too.

Excerpt from the Guardian’s Instagram post from 10/21/22
Excerpt from The Guardian’s caption to their Instagram post 10/21/22

To read the Guardians full article, go to https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/18/pregnancy-weeks-abortion-tissue

To learn more about the MYA Network, check out their site. https://myanetwork.org

Punk Show Raises Over $2,000 for National Network for Abortion Funds

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This. Show. Was. Amazing. Female fronted music matters. Taking up space, speaking our truth, and creating a community of women and men, and all people, gathered together supporting a cause as basic and important as bodily autonomy, is profound and needed.

Flyer for the show

The show opened up with Spongecake, an all male-ally, high energy band. The singer lashed around the stage and into the crowd. After his first song or two he said a few meaningful words about how he was so glad to be a part of this important show raising money for the Abortion Network. He mentioned how f***ed up it is that this basic right has been corroded. Allies are so important.

The next band was an indie rock band called Waiting Room. Stunning harmonies between women vocalists and haunting, moving vibe. The guitarist utilized some rad pedals and the bassist was spot on.

The next band was a rockin’ twangy grunge-vibe band from Utah called Mowth. They. Were. Dope.

And last but not least was the Denver feminist band, Cheap Perfume with hits like “It’s OK to Punch Nazis” and “Burn it Down” and “Slut Game Strong” a song about being you, wearing what you want, and screw the patriarchy.

The show raised $2,000 dollars for the National Network for Abortion Funds https://abortionfunds.org

You can feel the vibe from these photos. We demand our basic rights. Enough is enough. Having music and community around that is powerful.

Lead vocalist of Cheap Perfume.
Photo by Victor Rollins
Guitarist and vocalist for Cheap Perfume.
Photo by Victor Rollins
Lead vocalist of Cheap Perfume.
Photo by Victor Rollins
Lead vocalist and bassist for Mowth.
Photo by Victor Rollins
Lead vocalist for Cheap Perfume and lead vocalist from Sponge Cake.
Photo by Victor Rollins
Vocalist/guitarist and lead guitarist with her rad pedals from Waiting Room. (This photo was not from the Abort the Court show, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include a photo of this band.) Photo by: Unclear

Why I use the phrase Climate Crisis, not Climate Change

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It’s a crisis, not just a change of the weather. Language matters. People are more inclined to take something serious when it is described as a crisis.

And Climate Crisis is a more accurate depiction of what we face. Just think of the recent catastrophes taking place due to human impact, particularly fossil fuels, on the planet. And these catastrophes will only increase… particularly if we do nothing.

Climate scientists and many news outlets are changing their phrasing to climate crisis for this reason.

The Guardian changed their phrasing several years ago. Here’s why they made the switch:

“We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue,” said the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. “The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity.”

Quote source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/17/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment

The Prodigal Uterus

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With the amount of misinformation that is spread about the female body and with forced birthers in the Supreme Court gearing up to get rid of Roe v Wade, I’d like to share some excerpts from the book “Woman: An Intimate Geography.” By Natalie Angier the Pulitzer Prize winning writer and science journalist.

For centuries, the female body has been (often intentionally) clouded in mystery. Hippocrates’ fundamental mistakes in understanding of the female body dictated scientific and medical (mis)understanding of it for years and years. But now, much more is understood. Just for the sake of it, let’s delve into some fun facts and explorations of the female body’s unique internal features, particularly the uterus.

The non-pregnant uterus is about the size of a child’s fist. The ovaries are the size of a strawberry. The clitoris is a complex network, and is like an iceberg in the sense that there is much more below the surface than you can see. (The full anatomy of the clitoris was only “discovered” in 1998.)

In her chapter titled “the Prodigal Uterus” Angier writes, “The war of the womb continues to this day. One of our most bellicose and indefatigable of issues, the abortion debate, distilled to a question of who owns the uterus, woman or fetus (or fetal proxy such as the church or state.)”

“The womb does not define a woman, philosophically, biologically, or even etymologically. A woman does not need to be born with a uterus to be a woman, nor does she have to keep her uterus to remain a woman. We don’t want to fall into the trap of womb-worship, or hope that men suffer from womb envy…Having said all of that, I argue that the uterus was and is a magnificent invention, a revolution in physiology…”

“More recently, the uterus has emerged as a maker as well as a taker. Yes, it responds to steroid hormones from ovaries and other organs, but it also expresses hormones and releases them into the global marketplace of the body. It makes proteins, sugars, and fats… the uterus also fabricates drugs that in other contexts would be illegal. It synthesizes and secretes beta-endorphins and dynorphins, two of the body’s natural opiates and chemical cousins to morphine and heroin.”

“[The uterus] makes anandamide, a molecule almost identical to the active ingredients in marijuana. Until recently, these compounds were thought to be exclusive property of the central nervous system- the brain and spinal cord…The uterus produces at least as much opiate material as neural tissue does, and makes ten times more of the cannabis equivalent than any other organ of the body does.”

In other words, the uterus secretes feel good chemicals and hormones, just like the brain does. How amazing is that?

I haven’t entirely decided what my purpose or my argument in this blog post is other than to exemplify the incredible nature of the female body and to state unequivocally that woman/person with the womb, owns the womb. There is still so much that is unknown about the female body, but at its very simplistic form, woman/ person with the womb, owns the womb. The uterus serves a purpose beyond growing life. It secretes chemicals that are necessary to the well-being of the woman/person with it. We own our wombs. We own our reproduction AND our decision to avoid it. It is a nature-given gift and burden. Let it continue to be our decision to make.

Leaked Supreme Court Opinion Shows They Plan to overturn Roe V Wade: So We Will Protest Nationwide

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(I rewrote this post to clarify that they are planning on overturning Roe v Wade, not making abortion illegal across the country. This decision would make it legal to make abortion illegal in states where local legislatures would like to do so, effectively making abortion illegal for millions of people.)

The news first broke with Politico, the evening of May 2nd, 2022 and was quickly shared by other news outlets

News of protests spread rapidly too. The Women’s March posted this ^ to their social media at 11pm, May 2nd 2022
The Denver branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation posted this to their page

We’ve got to show up and protest!

Forced pregnancies and forcing people to procreate affects millions and devastates the planet. Extreme conservative politicians and Supreme Court members like this with uninformed opinions who don’t even represent the people, should not be allowed to serve our country and effect millions of people.

Sister Song shared the immediate impact this would have

Biden needs to sign an executive order codifying Roe V Wade into national and untouchable law. Or, just like Bernie mentioned in his post, democrats must act fast to pass legislation codifying Roe v Wade into law now! They must fight with everything they’ve got! And we must hold them accountable to do so!