Brooklyn Swaps!

Ready to let go of objects you don't need but not sure where or how to responsibly dispose of them? Want new stuff but don't want to contribute to industrial waste? Share and/or collect things that are in good condition with your neighbors at one or both of the upcoming Brooklyn community swaps listed below. Busy parents should check out the ongoing online swap service listed below.

Stop 'N' Swap: Fort Greene

Saturday, February 26th, 11am-2pm

M.S. 113 gymnasium, 300 Adelphi Street b/t DeKalb and Lafayette
Organized by GrowNYC. (More info here on their website.)
Cost: Free!

Bring clean, reusable, portable items to share; or just come see what's free for the taking. (No furniture or large items, please.)


Stop 'N' Swap - Brooklyn from GrowNYC on Vimeo.

Fabulous Females Free Fashion Swap

Saturday, March 19th, 2011, 12 Noon-3pm

@ LaunchPad, 721 Franklin Ave (btw Park and Sterling Ave), Crown Heights
Organized by Olivia Lane Housekeeping & Organizing
Cost: Free!
RSVP via Facebook

Looking for a good reason to clean out your closet?  How about sharing your stuff with your neighbors! Please bring clothes, shoes, jewelry, handbags, and other accessories that are in good condition to LaunchPad. Be prepared to find *new to you* stuff you will love too!

This is a free event and welcome to all. (You don't have to bring anything to share besides a smile!) Please remember to think green and bring your own bag. You are also encouraged to bring snacks to share too.

Please make sure everything is freshly washed or dry cleaned to make sure only love is shared, not bed bugs.

ThredUp.com

This swap service makes the idea of having kids seem much more palatable for an eco-minded gal like me who likes to save money. Parents select the box they like best from thousands containing "pre-loved" <3! clothes and toys. ThredUp then ships the box to the parents' home for only $16. In turn, parents add their own boxes of goodies to the lists and when it is selected they use the pre-paid boxes and shipping labels provided by ThredUp to mail it from their home. (No running to the post office; ThredUp arranges for a USPS pick-up!)
Watch a NBC news video about how it works.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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Workshops Galore! Green Housekeeping, D-I-Y Beauty, and Domestic Detox

Looking to detox your body and home this Spring? These Brooklyn community workshops will help you get started! I'm partnering with health consultant Liz Neves, my neighbor and new friend, to present a workshop that'll make housekeeping healthy and fun. I'm also leading a similar workshop on my own. Liz will be leading a workshop on how to mix your own body care products. But first, Prof. Jenna Spevak teaches us how to lessen our exposure to toxins in our home.

I wish I was here.

 Please share the info below with your neighbors and friends.

Domestic Detox: Pollution is Personal

Thursday, February 24th, 7-8pm

@ The Commons, 388 Atlantic Ave. (btw Hoyt & Bond), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

Cost: $6 suggested donation.

RSVP via The Commons.

From laundry detergent and toothpaste to non-stick pans and canned beans, unregulated, untested, and undisclosed synthetic chemicals are used in the production of countless household items. Many of these toxic ingredients are absorbed by our bodies and contribute to a dramatic increase in chronic health problems. Scientific estimates show that the average person carries at least 700 contaminants in his or her body.With the FDA and EPA powerless to regulate the chemical corporations and protect the populace, how do citizens navigate this minefield of domestic toxins? Where do we start?

Free Organic Wine and Fair Trade, Vegan Chocolate Tonight at Sustainable NYC

Come to Sustainable NYC (139 Avenue A btw 8th & 9th Streets, 6-8pm, Wed. Feb 9th) for free organic wine and fair trade, vegan chocolates from Divine. Divine Chocolates are made with certified fair-trade ingredients-- not just the Ghanaian cocoa butter, but the sugar and vanilla too! Plus, the company is 45% owned by the farmers. Join us tonight in saying "no to slavery" and "yes to getting fat and drunk!" Here's a link to the FB event invitation, if you're into that sort of thing. Tell your friends!

Now, I will shamelessly plug the amazing store I am happy to be a part of: If you're looking for a unique gift for Valentine's Day or any other occasion, you can feel good about buying it at Sustainable NYC. It's not only great because I work there :-), it's also awesome because all the items in the shop have to comply with certain ethical standards. They are either made of organic, repurposed, or recycled materials. They make it easier for consumers to use less resources like energy and water. They're made by local NYC artists or international artisans earning a fair wage-- many of them by practicing a traditional handicraft that is in danger of lost.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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Going Grandma, Days 3 through 8: Socks, Soaks, and Naps

For Day Three of Going Grandma, I darned every holey sock I own--all 3 of them!-- using embroidery thread and the aid of a potato. It feels good to know I can now whip off my shoes at a friend's house without fear of one of my gross toes making a surprise appearance. Since old ladies love their cats, I also tried to cradle cranky little Lucy in my arms for five minutes. Yikes! Next time I'm just going to donate $5 to the Humane Society of NY or something.

Days Four through Seven of Going Grandma, things took a morbid twist. I was so so so so sick. I went from being that cool grandma who is living the dream retirement to being the the sickly little grandma in a nursing home. I took lots of soaks in Epsom salts & eucalyptus oil. (I mixed it myself: 15 drops essential oil + 1 cup drug store salt = 1 decent bath.)  I also took lots of naps and put myself to sleep by contemplating when "my time" would come. Seriously, I felt like I would DIE before I ever got better because by Day 4, I had already been sick with the same damned cold for over a week and things were only getting worse.

Today is Day Eight of Going Grandma. I finally started to feel better today, but I kept my appointment with my doctor. I did not have the energy or the nerve to get dressed up to go, as my Momma would have done and like lot of the old ladies I saw in the waiting room. I was so happy to be outside and not feel awful, I walked home from the clinic. It was a pretty good walk-- 2 train stops plus some. Walking is an old-school exercise that's good for your pockets, your mind, and your butt!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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Going Grandma, Day Two: Evening Bath & Dessert Prunes

Yesterday was the second day of Going Grandma. It wasn't anywhere near as exciting as the inaugural day, but it did cause a minor fun change in my routine.

Instead of taking a shower this morning, I took a bath last night. I'm not sure if this is an official old-lady thing, but my great-grandmother Momma sure preferred an relaxing evening bath to a hurried morning shower. She claimed it was best to take a bath at night and let your body warm up overnight than to chill your body with a shower and rush out the house, thus putting yourself at risk for catching a cold. I'm not sure how much of that is an old-wives' tale vs scientific fact, but I don't argue with old wives' tales that implore me to have fun! Having some time alone with my thoughts, a Way-Out-Wax eucalyptus scented candle, and Lee-Lai Herbal Bathing Tea (Get Well Soon) was such a treat! I think I slept more soundly as a result too.

Before bathing and after dinner, I enjoyed some prunes for dessert. Prunes are one of my favorite ways to get my daily requirement of fruit but I rarely eat them because I hate the toots. Fortunately, eating them after dinner meant I was able to sleep through all the, er, music.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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Going Grandma, Day One: Oatmeal, Meal Planning, and Corn Bread

I'm participating in the 2nd Annual NYC Fun-A-Day! The premise of Fun-A-Day is you pick a project to do everyday for the month of February, do it, document it in some way, then share your work the following month in a big group show. I'm choosing to "Go Grandma". Everyday this month I'll be either: doing one thing in a way a little more old-fashioned than I'd normally do it, doing something that sassy senior ladies are known to do these days, and/ or doing something particular to one of my own grandmas. I'll be garnering lots of inspiration from Erin Bried's superfun book, How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew, as well as memories of my maternal great-grandmother Irene (a.k.a. Momma) and conversations with my paternal grandma Madeline (a.k.a. Grandma Lane), who I wish to spend more time with.

My inaugural Going Grandma breakfast was oatmeal. Momma had oatmeal for breakfast at least five days a week, if not six. And visiting her meant you had to eat oatmeal too. As a child, I hated oatmeal. It was always so simultaneously gelatinous and lumpy, not to mention cold by the time I finally stopped whining and started eating. Fast-forward 20 years and I love oatmeal! No offense to Momma, but I think I prepare mine better. Instead of plain Quaker Old-Fashioned with a light dusting of white sugar and a spot of skim milk, I made a bowl of steel cut oats tricked out with dried cranberries, pecans, walnuts, chopped apples, maple syrup, and a splash of soy milk. Although my oatmeal wasn't as modest as my great-grand's, I think she'd appreciate the similar spirit of health and thrift.

Not photogenic, but still tasty.

Today I also took a cue from Erin Bried and planned my meals for the week according to the instructions in her book. (You can read this section on Google Books.) Planning meals for the week is nothing new for me, but this was the first time I took a sheet of paper, made a column for each day, and plotted what dishes I would be making each day. This made it easy for me to open my weekly-planner and plan meals based on Richard's and my activities. I'm pretty sure I saved some money and reduced waste because I almost scheduled a fourth entree until I saw we have a dinner invitation on Monday and realized Richard's birthday is Saturday so we'll probably dine out.  As a visual person, I'm not sure I would have considered those things if I hadn't seen it mapped out like that.

My final grandma activity was making skillet corn bread. I followed a recipe from The Real Food Daily Cookbook. I can't use my family recipe because I don't eat dairy, but who would miss it? The vegan recipe didn't stray far from the traditional one and resulted in fluffy, moist Southern-style savory (and slightly sweet) deliciousness that would make my Momma proud. As an aside, this bread was at least thrice as good as my first attempt making the same recipe a month ago. I think a great deal of this was due to my swapping out our flour. If you don't remember when you purchased your flour, it's probably not worth baking with. I'm sure your grandma would tell you the same thing.

I served the cornbread with Spicy Sweet Potato Black Bean Stew (recipe from ReadyMade) and sauteed broccoli. This has nothing to do with grandmas. I'm just braggin'.

 

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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I'm Leading a Workshop for the Domestically Challenged!

I'm leading a workshop!
Why Can't the Laundry Do Itself? Housekeeping for the Domestically Challenged 
Saturday, February 12th, 1:00-2:30pm
Brooklyn Free School, 372 Clinton Avenue (btw Lafayette & Greene Aves), Brooklyn, NY 11238

With the right attitude, housekeeping can be a magical experience!

Let’s face it: You’re busy and you like to have fun. Housework is time-consuming and you have 10 million things you’d rather be doing, that is, if you could stop tripping over the same pile of stuff on your way to do them.

Attend my workshop and learn not only how to fit housekeeping into your busy, fabulous, fun life, but learn how adopting a happy housekeeping practice can make your life even better. I’ll offer practical, personalized advice on how you can say goodbye to clutter and hello to all the good stuff you really need, want, and deserve. I’ll also share my secrets for making cleaning and organizing a sacred, self-healing and renewing ritual you’ll actually look forward to!

Participants will leave with an original, handmade mini-guide to eco-friendly housecleaning and a fresh perspective on life, love, and dust bunnies!
Investment: $7 for The Good Life Members; $12 Non-members/$15 at the door
RSVP and buy advance tickets via Meetup

This event is part of a series of workshops hosted by The Good Life, a Brooklyn-based personal growth resource that believes everyone deserves to experience a happy, healthy, and purposeful life. The Good Life encourages you to identify and explore the tools and resources to help you reach your goals. The Good Life members receive a discount on this workshop, as well as on other events and services. For more info on The Good Life visit: http://www.meetup.com/thegoodlifenyc/

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

 

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