Friday, May 18, 2012

Didja know? Day 1: Batteries

My son, the hippie tree hugger. He loves to hug trees. Kinda hard to take walks and actually get anywhere, but it's darn rootin' tootin' cutin'!
Each day I think of my son and the earth that has been passed onto him. Each day I engulf the trees and the sun, the breeze and the sky. I am part of it, and so are you. I'm disappointed in us, as humans, and our blind eye to our mass addiction to consumption. Did you know that we are consuming 50% faster than the earth can replenish? How long will it take for the earth to consume us back? Not long, at the rate we are going and rising each year. Did you know that each item created takes five times, FIVE TIMES, that item's size in waste, to create? And it's all toxic byproduct that gets dumped into our landfills and eventually seeps into our water supply and soil. Do you really need that new pair of shoes? Are you willing to drink them? Are you willing to allow the toxic chemicals to become your new cells and shut down your organs one by one? Probably not. So, let's all work together to solve this global epidemic. Want to? Sweet. So do I. Let's rock. EcoSteph is here, ready to share a few tidbits. I'll share one every day or so and they'll be titled "Didja know?". They're just little facts and pointers about how you can live a greener life without much effort.

But how, you say? Well, for instance (Fact of the day) ...
I used to live next to a friend who was throwing out 9 D batteries. This friend didn't recycle his batteries. So, I took them and threw them into a box. That was 4 years ago. Over those years I just kept throwing dead batteries in that box. I just (finally) took them to be recycled yesterday. We use rechargeable and don't have that many to discard. But the thirty or so I took in made me happy that they weren't going into a landfill somewhere.

I recently had a Zyto scan. Zyto is basically a machine that sends signals into your body and finds out what body parts are malfunctioning and what your levels are in your body. My aluminum, cadmium and mercury levels were at crazy highs. I don't use deodorant. I don't cook in aluminum. I don't drink/eat things out of cans. So, my levels were probably low compared to most Americans, which I thought was crazy and let me to do some digging on google. What I found was sick. Heavy metals in the body are responsible for a bagillion cases of autoimmune disorders, autism, Alzheimer's, hormonal imbalances, cancer, thyroid problems, neurological disturbances, learning problems, depression, yadda yadda. Getting high levels is easy....simply drink our water, get silver fillings and get vaccinated (this is not a vaccination discussion so please don't take this as me saying not to get vacc'd. That's your choice). Bam, you're infested with heavy metals ... so much so that our body's immune system spends all of it's time trying to get rid of them (which it can't without herbal and sea veggie support), which leaves you prone to getting sick and with compromised organ function as you deteriorate. Sounds scary, right? I know. It put some fire under my britches to get my fillings removed and to start a heavy metal detox, but they are not easy to get rid of. They don't just come out of you like other toxins do. They embed in your cells and into your brain. Little bastards.

Anyhoo, what better way to start cleaning up our water supply but by recycling batteries? Home Depot has a little battery recycle box by the entrance. Usually it's right next to the eco-friendly lighting recycle box ... which is also an IMPERATIVE thing to recycle properly, because it is also full of heavy metals (mercury, which is the scary one!).

I bet you're saying, "But Steph, I am clear on how to recycle batteries, but how do I get this garbage out of my cells?". I googled that too. There are many ways to detox from heavy metals. Spirulina & chlorella are great at binding and sweeping it out of you. Cilantro freshly juiced is tasty stuff and awesome at grabbing those rats out of you. Folate, vitamins B12 & B6 and eating foods such as broccoli, collards, kale, daikon radish, garlic, onions (sulfur-containing). Infrared sauna treatments can reach up to 2" into your skin and pull those buggers out through your sweat (shower immediately after so they don't get reabsorbed). Healthy oils (3,6 & 9s!) help keep your liver in tip top shape. Basically, eat a diet high in raw veggies, sweat a lot and take your sea veggies. Sound doable? I thought so.

Just thought you'd like to know ... you know ... in case you didn't. Forward motion, ya'll! Are ya with me?

Friday, May 4, 2012

Coming into himself

Finn at my Grandparent's farmhouse. Finn named these "bubble flowers".
Watching your child grow into himself is one of the most amazing things a human can witness. I'm aware that my son chose me, and that he is not mine. He is his own. I'm just lucky enough to have been chosen as his guardian. Our little love nugget is really blossoming this spring. The flowers, the trees and Finn ... flowering to perfection.

He's now 20 months, and he's just a tiny little peanut still. At 19 months, he learned all of his letters. He knows upper and lowercase and can even count to 13. He knows his colors too. I caught him on camera after I put groceries away. He saw "wetters" on the bag and I grabbed the camera. Check him out.

His favorite thing right now is drawing. It's all he wants to do ... draw and spell. Here's my little Gustav Klimt in action.

Apart from being smart, he's darn tootin' cute. His eyes are outerworldly ... for good reason.
Sleepy blue eyed crystal ...
Peace and happiness,
Steph