How I Treated My UTI Without Antibiotics

Around 7pm last Thursday I felt a pain like one I'd never felt before- an intense burning ache shooting out of my vag right after I peed. I was so shocked I almost jumped off the toilet. Did I drink glass without noticing, I wondered. I started to plot what hospital I would have my boyfriend drive me to or maybe we'd take a taxi. I winced when I thought of the emergency room bill. Perhaps it'd just be better to die.

After peeing another two times with the same intensity of pain, but also without dying, I pulled myself together and hopped on the internet. A Google search of "burning when I pee" quickly uncovered that I had a urinary tract infection (UTI). Apparently this is a very common condition for women, one I managed to avoid for 30 plus years, but I guess my luck ran out. That and I probably reached the tipping point for the number of times you can absentmindedly wipe in the wrong direction without paying the proverbial piper.

Since Obamacare doesn't kick in until 2014, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Instead of taking antibiotics (which always give me a yeast infection anyway), I drank water. Lots of water. I drank 4 pints when I woke up and drank another pint every hour. I noticed that the pain felt less and less intense with each passing hour. By 7pm Friday I felt right as rain.

The only time I experienced any pain after that was the next day when I had to hold my bladder for about half an hour before we reached a public restroom while on a road trip. Still, I've been continuing to drink lots of water. I've even added some pure cranberry juice to my daily routine. It tastes horrible, but nowhere near as bad as a UTI feels.
 
Disclaimer: I'm have absolutely no medical or scientific training beyond 10th grade biology. Though I did get an A, the information in this post is not meant to replace the guidance of your physician. This post is purely to share my personal experience. If you experience UTI symptoms for more than 48 hours, I beg you to see a doctor.

Have you ever had a UTI? How did you treat it?

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7 Ideas for Organizing Jewelry

When I cleaned apartments professionally I noticed organizing jewelry was an issue many women struggle with. So many of us keep heaps of earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets thrown around on top of our dresser. It's great because everything is visible. However it also makes it hard to dust, it makes it very easy to loose pieces, and there is risk of scratching your furniture.

My sizable collection of jewelry and years of retail experience have provided me with lots of ideas for keeping jewelry visible, easily accessible, and organized.

Vintage dishes

I store my post earrings, earring backs, and rings in a dainty sectioned candy dish. I also store bracelets in a small bowl. Tea light candle holders and 4 oz mason jars also make sweet jewelry holders. You can find cute ones at your grandma's house or at an antique store.

Glove molds

These are wonderfully quirky way to store and display your favorite rings. I found a great glove mold in the clearance section at Fishs Eddy. I keep it in the kitchen to hold my ring and bracelet while I cook or do the dishes.

DIY Wall Jewelry Display

I made my own jewelry display for free. You can too! Here's how: 1. Grab a large piece of cardboard and a piece of fabric that is about 2 inches bigger squared than the board. // 2. Staple or glue the fabric to the board. // 3. Staple or pin a cute ribbon to one corner then another corner to create a hanger. // 4. Stick pushpins in the board. // 5. Hang earrings, light bracelets, and necklaces from the pins. // 6. Clip hair accessories to ribbon. // 7. Hang from a picture hook.

Another way to make a hanging display is to use a screen, picture frame, and a few pretty vintage knobs. Check out this DIY jewelry screen tutorial by Lauren Conrad.

Key Racks

I hang my chunkier necklaces from a little row of key hooks. I got mine at Anthropologie clearance section but you can probably find a cute one secondhand. I don't recommend storing anything too precious this way, as the strain of the weight of the beads does make the string more likely to break sooner.

Retail Display Racks
You can purchase retail grade acrylic and metal jewelry displays for pretty cheap on Amazon. For example, this slightly decorative metal earring rack can hold 78 pairs of earrings and is under $8. You can find inspiration for more beautiful and clever jewelry display by poking around well merchandised boutiques and booths at craft fairs.

The problem with a rack is it needs to sit on a dresser. That's fine if you don't have a cat or curious kids, but a hanging one might better suit the needs of those who like a clear dresser top.

Egg Cartons

Vintage Hen Egg Tray via Etsy seller Cynthia's Attic

If you have lots of little post or clip on earrings, egg cartons are an eco-friendly storage option. The carton is a little ghetto fabulous but it can be stored out of sight in a drawer or on a shelf in your closet. Vintage ceramic and glass egg trays and deviled egg plates are a classier, more displayable alternative that can be found on Etsy and eBay.

Jewelry Box
If the thought of tossing your jewelry in a dark abyss to never be seen again doesn't turn you off, go ahead and put it in a jewelry box. Just kidding. If you can keep your jewelry to a minimum, putting it in a jewelry box, especially one with little slots for rings, is fine.

How do you store your jewelry?

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Meatless Monday: What's Your Favorite Veggie Dog?

Last week I mentioned that I am taking the October Unprocessed 2013 challenge. Hosted by Eating Rules, the annual event encourages folks to eat real food made without funky ingredients.

While most of my meals don't come out of a box, bag, or jar, I do have my vices. I can't resist a good veggie dog. I actually don't like veggie dogs very much, but I love the condiments: a fat zigzag of ketchup and mustard over kraut or kimchi, pickles on the side. Don't even get me started on the soft, pillowy buns smeared with Vegenaise... My mouth is watering at the thought!

Image via Field Roast

I also love the ritual of veggie dogs. We usually have them for lunch on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. I take the buns and dogs out of the freezer. My boyfriend grills the dogs. I prep the toppings. We eat them together in front of the television while watching whatever sport is on.

Why resist something that feels so amazing? Well, I assumed veggie dogs were made of something terrible. But when I looked at the label of our Field Roast Frankfurters, I was pleasantly surprised. I noticed the ingredients weren't so bad after all: water, vital wheat gluten, wheat flour, liquid smoke, some veggies and spices.

Don't get me wrong; I am not claiming Field Roast Frankfurters are healthy. There is an alarming amount of sodium (690 mg!) these dogs. Think of the sodium in the toppings and we're looking at something close to 1K for the meal. The frankfurters contain 8g of fat per link (yikes!). There's also not much in the way of vitamins and micro-nutrients. I'm not a huge eater, so when I eat hot dogs I'm wasting tummy space that could've been used to hold more nourishing foods like veggies and whole grains, and healthier fats like avocado or nuts.

Who knows, maybe this Friday night I'll get my act together and marinate some carrots so we can enjoy vegan carrot hot dogs over the weekend. For now, I kinda wanna celebrate this sometime food for not being as processed as I thought it was.

What's your favorite veggie dog? What do you think of the ingredients and "nutritional value" of it? Would you eat a carrot hot dog?

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4 Ways to Keep a Litter Box Smelling Fresh

I get lots of questions on how to clean a kitty litter box and how to keep it smelling fresh. Here are my tips.

Use a clumping kitty litter.
I've been using World's Best Cat Litter for years. It's made from corn and doesn't contain any fragrance or scent. I try to stay on top of smells by scooping out poop and clumps at least once a day. The nice thing about World's Best is you can flush solids down the toilet. I once had a total of six cats and kittens and my apartment didn't smell at all. (They have a multiple cat formula too.) I swear by World's Best, but there are other natural clumping brands out there, including Beth Anne's Finest.

Add baking soda.
Cover the bottom of a kitty litter box with an entire small box of baking soda. Cover that with a layer of kitty litter about three inches deep. This should keep things pHresher and extend the amount of time in between full litter box cleanings. When we moved we had a kitty litter emergency and had to buy a bag of the clay kind from the corner store. This helped keep things from getting too funky. You can also keep an open box of baking soda near the litter box to help absorb odors.

Feed your cat good food.
Ever eat something bad and your poop just didn't smell right? Well, the same thing happens to our pets. Most canned critter food is down right terrible. Invest in high quality food for your cat. Her poop will smell less offensive and she'll be healthier. Lucy loves Wellness canned food. Remember every cat is different. Try a variety of healthy foods until you discover what your cat likes. A good natural pet supply store will have many choices. (Whiskers in NYC East Village is my favorite!)

Wash the litter box.
This is kind of obvious, but yeah, you need to dump all the litter out and wash the box occasionally. Exactly how often depends on what kind of litter you use and how many cats share the box. Every other week works for one and two cat families.
1. Dump everything. // 2. Rinse and dump water into toilet. // 3. Put 1/2 cup baking soda to the box. Fill with warm water. Add a few drops of fragrance-free dish detergent. (I like Seventh Generation.) // 4. Soak for 15 minutes. // 5. Scrub // 6. Empty and rinse. // 7. Dry and add litter.

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7 Ways to Get Whites White without Bleach

Bleach sucks, but so do dingy clothes. Here are a few eco-friendly ways to keep white clothes white without chlorine bleach.

(original image via)

Properly Sort
The main reason whites get dingy is the dye from other colored fabrics get on them. If keeping whites white is important to you, do not wash whites and colors together, ever. Also, do not wash heavily soiled white items with not-so-dirty whites.

Hot Water
Martha Stewart recommends washing whites in the hottest water the fabric will tolerate. This isn't especially green, but it works.

Sunlight
Hang your white laundry out to dry in direct sunlight, making sure every item gets direct sun. As a bonus, it will also kill any germs. Stephanie at Keeper of the Home uses sunlight to keep even cloth diapers white. Read her post to see all her wonderful tips on sun bleaching laundry.

Lemon Juice
Soak dingy whites in a basin filled with very hot water and a generous amount of lemon juice overnight. Remove from the basin and wash as usual the next day. Another option is to add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of lemon juice to washer during the rinse cycle. (Tip via SmartKlean.)

Oxygen Bleach
Oxygen bleach does not contain chlorine so it's safe for you and the environment. I just add some to my washing machine as it fills. If something is really grungy or I just want it really white, like my shower curtain, I pre-soak it in oxygen bleach overnight. I mostly use Whole Foods Market store brand powdered oxygen bleach in my laundry, but Seventh Generation bleach is an example of liquid oxygen bleach and it works fine too.

Borax
Borax is a laundry detergent booster that can soften hard water. Just add 1/2 cup of borax to every load along with your detergent. Laundry boosters won't bleach your clothes but they do will help the detergent work better. (I'd be remiss if I didn't note that there are some safety concerns for Borax.)

Washing Soda
Washing soda is another natural laundry detergent booster. Add 1/2 cup of it to every load. You don't need booth borax and washing soda, so just pick one. If you can't find washing soda in your area, you can make your own with baking soda.

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Kindle vs Books: A Green Perspective

Today the newest Kindle Fire was released. I can't help but wonder if and how this device, and other e-readers, fits into my eco-friendly lifestyle.

Disclosure: I'm an Amazon associate. The opinions in this article are my own, but I do earn commission on Amazon purchases made via this site. I you decide to buy a Kindle, please use my special link for karmic e-huggles! 

My gut instinct is that the shift to e-books is awesome for the environment. I think of all the paper that will be saved by not printing books for consumers, or even during publishing to preview lay out. I think of all the fuel that won't be used to run warehouses to store books or to ship books from printer to warehouse to bookstore to used bookstore. Maybe libraries can become smaller and save energy on light and air conditioning as they begin to focus on trafficking e-books.

It's not just my gut that says e-readers are green. A 2009 study by CleanTech Group analyzed the carbon footprint of the Kindle DX. It revealed if a person reads 22.5 ebooks instead of printed books, they would offset the carbon emissions associated with creating the device. (I have no idea how the Kindle Fire HDX measured up against this.) You can take your e-reader the green distance by using a solar charger, reselling it when you upgrade, and being sure to recycle your Kindle when it dies.

I imagine a lot of social and cultural awesomeness resulting from the growth of e-books. More previously disempowered people and mainstream literature outsiders are finding voice and community as self publishing becomes easier. It's exciting to know that every entrepreneur can sell and send her self published book to someone across the world for nothing and in just a few minutes.

(I'm actually writing an e-book that will be free to my e-newsletter subscribers by November. Get on my list to get it!)

Then there's the annoyance of the physical presence of books themselves. Anyone who has every moved residence knows that packing books you've never read, or read once in college, and moving them from apartment to apartment is just sad. Also there's dust. Ugh! We have three bookcases in our home and sometimes I just want to turn them over into a dumpster!

Of course, there is something cold and anti-social about e-readers. Book swaps, curbside free book boxes, and leave one-take one cafe libraries warm my soul. Sadly, these acts of charity and community are impossible with e-books.

Real books help us find friends. When I see someone reading a book with a cover that interests me I am able to recognize a kindred spirit and am likely to start a conversation. (My parents actually met at a bus stop because my dad asked my mom about the book she was reading.) When I see someone starting into an electronic device my instinct is to assume they'd rather be left alone.

How will future 20 somethings judge if a person is worth a third date if she can't see what he's read? (Hopefully, Maxim will somehow stay in print if only to be a red flag.)

What do you think? Do you prefer e-readers or real books? Do you think there is room for both in a sustainable future? 

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Easy Container Gardening with Bokashi Compost

 

Last year, I blogged about bokashi, an ancient Japanese, two step method of composting. Today, I'll explain in greater detail exactly how you can incorporate bokashi into your container gardening.

Let's start with mealtime. We try our best to reduce waste when cooking and eating, but sometimes it's hard to use everything without a pet goat or pig. Fortunately with bokashi you can turn any organic matter into compost: vegetable scraps, dairy, meat, and bones. Put scraps into a container specifically made for bokashi. (It's airtight and has a spout.) Cover the scraps with a handful of a special bran / microbial starter. Repeat every time you have food scraps until the container is full.

(Here's a convenient link to buy a bokashi starter kit on Amazon if you need one.)

Once the container is full, leave it alone for 2 weeks. During this period, it will ferment. The only thing you have to do is drain the liquid that's created every day. We usually just pour the liquid into our garden. It's really nourishing for plants. It's also good for houseplants and cleaning drains but it smells disgusting, so I'd rather only use it outdoors.

When two weeks a have passed you can then add the bokashi to soil. The awesome thing about bokashi is it can transform any dirt into high quality soil. As long as you use dirt that doesn't contain lead or other toxic contaminants, you're good.

Begin by emptying the contents of the bokashi bucket into a container filled with dirt. Mix it all together. At this point you have two choices.

Option 1 is what I believe Bryan McGrath, a bokashi expert, recommended: Take another container that has holes drainage holes. (You can drill holes into the bottom of a bucket.) // Add two or three inches of dirt. // Add the bokashi soil mix, filling up with about 1/3 of the container. // Cover with two inches of dirt. // Cover that with newspaper or straw. // Leave everything alone to ferment for two weeks. // Once two weeks have passed you can add a little more dirt and plant directly into the container. // Watch Bryan's YouTube video to see this in action and hear it from his mouth.

Option 2 is what my boyfriend and I did because we didn't mutually agree on what the expert actually said: Just leave everything alone in the mixing container for two weeks. // Expect maggots (Ew!) // Sandwich enriched soil with potting soil in a plant container. // Plant some seeds or baby plants.

Both methods work to create quality soil for happy plants. You don't have to be a gardening wiz to make this work. Plants want to survive and grow. You just have to give them a hand by getting started!

Do you compost? What method do you use? If you use bokashi, does the smell bother you too? Got any bokashi tips to share?

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