Knocked Up and Vegan

On this Meatless Monday, Chloe Jo Davis has stopped by to share her pregnancy tips and the ups, downs and total bliss of being a eco-glam, vegan mama-to-be!

By Chloe Jo

I always knew I wanted to be a Mommazon. So when I became a vegan activist some moons ago, I knew that being a vegan and choosing to live an entirely cruelty-free and green lifestyle (well, as green as you can get in NYC) would be a huge part of my pregnancy. I’ve got a few weeks to go before I pop out my little vetus (vegan fetus) and I couldn’t be a happier expectant Mommy.

I wish more people had given me the straight, sister-to-sister facts before getting pregnant, so I’ll be that person for you, pretty childbearing possum. Remember the tips, stories, and experiences below are my own. This does not mean you will necessarily experience everything as I did; still, I hope these tips make your journey into Mommyhood easier, if possible.

Get Through the First Trimester

If you knew how bad it could be, you might not get pregnant. Prepare to be nauseous all the time, tired most of the time, and agitated frequently for the first three months. Drink bubbly water, chew on ginger, or drink ginger tea for nausea and upset tummy. I also found drinking a tiny bit of kombucha helped ease my nausea. Please research this on your own as some books advise against fermented foods, of which kombucha is one.

The first trimester is also a spiritually intensive time. Get prenatal massages, meditate, and know your body is freaking out getting used to all these new hormones and changes. Roll with the changes and be as loving to yourself as you can. Let yourself cry when and if you need to. And be sure to have a husband (or partner or BFF) who is available for midnight applesauce runs, massages, dog walks, or tax help. You’ll probably need it.

Enjoy the Second Trimester

By the fourth month you will be tiptoeing through the tulips. You will feel like a powerful Mother Earth Goddess and won’t understand how anyone could possibly not feel amazing all the time. Relish this time. You will be done with the nausea and exhaustion, and hopefully any anxiety.

Don’t be surprised if you, formerly a salad queen, can consume nothing but empty carbs for the first trimester. Don’t freak if all you want are bagels for two months; you’ll be fine and so will PeeWee. It happens to most of us. Enjoy it, and know your baby is getting what they need; your body will tell you what to eat. I couldn’t stand the sight of raw greens for the first trimester, so I made sure to get my vitamins in other ways. By the second trimester I was back to my healthy livin’ ways. The amazing thing is, as a vegan, I’ve had no cravings other than “Hmm, I’d love a grapefruit right now,” or “I really want some brown rice tonight.” When you are eating a totally balanced, healthy diet, you won’t have cravings because your body is getting everything it needs!

So what if you eat raw and do yoga every day? You may still opt for pain relief during your birth, and I’m certainly not going to judge you for it. You may choose to go totally natural in the bathtub with a doula or midwife, or choose to have the option of drugs in a classic hospital birth. Either way, trust that you know yourself and what is best for your body.

If you are having a boy, decide in advance if you want to circumcise. Stick to your guns, no matter what anyone else has to say. This is your baby, not the world’s. Whatever you decide, I highly recommend a documentary called, “The Business of Being Born” to empower yourself with knowledge. Here’s more on the journey I’m personally taking with the circumcision decision.

Your partner or husband will be going through the pregnancy too. Be considerate of that. Just because they don’t have the midnight hunger pangs, barfing days, or shocking growth spurts of hair in odd places doesn’t mean they aren’t also feeling fear, anxiety, and worry. That’s par for the course. Of course, some people feel totally ready from the start. My husband, who was always an angel, has sprouted wings of silken diamonds during the last 8 months. He is totally confident and overjoyed. All we talk about is our Son and we are more in love than ever. When you both first feel that baby kick (or in my case, mosh pit dance), the tears will flow and it will be magical. Nothing is more beautiful than creating a family with the person you love most in the world. It is sheer poetry and to be relished like a perfect strain of kombucha.

Third Trimester—School Is Almost Out!

Invest in a hot water bottle for backaches, buy your nursing bras now (regular bras will not be comfy), and be sure you are all signed up for a highly recommended birthing class. Try your best to enjoy the last few weeks of life with just yourself and your partner. Enjoy the wonderful solidarity of other moms on the street who come right up and start chatting, giving tips and advice; but take all tips with a grain of salt. This really is the greatest time of your life, even if you feel like crap some days. Pregnant women are as close to goddesses as possible—you hold the source of life and magical power inside, and you’ll feel it! Allow yourself to be treated as such. This is going to be one perfectly unique adventure!

Our Dirty Secret

The contest winner is #5-Molly B! Please email us at info@crazysexylife.com so that we can send you a 50 load and 25 load bottle of Method’s new plant-based, 8X concentrated, vegan formula laundry detergent!

When I travel around the country and meet people, it’s funny how there are common complaints people share. When gas prices climbed past $2 for the first time, everybody wanted my inside tips on saving gas. As I’ve been trekking around the country to help my friends at Method promote a new laundry detergent, what I’m hearing more and more from people is this: why in this age, where everything can happen at the speed of light, are we devoting countless hours a week to the drudgery of laundry?

I couldn’t agree more. And I’ve tried to find a pleasant way to wash my sheets and clothes. I did the line-drying thing outdoors, thinking it would be like living on a farm with sunny fields and red barns; instead a bird pooped on my sheets. I tossed dried lavender in the dryer thinking it would infuse it with aromatherapy; it clogged the lint trap with what looked like rat droppings. What I really needed to figure out was a way to speed it up, so that I could use my newfound free time for myself.

TIP ONE: IF YOU NEED A NEW WASHER, NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY.

Brand new washers are designed to clean clothes faster, use less water and save money on energy use. The Department of Energy recently allocated $300 million to all fifty states as part of their “Cash for Appliances” rebate program. Each state has compiled different rules and regulations on when their program will start, what will qualify and how you can apply the rebate savings. The overall rule is that only Energy Star qualified appliances will be eligible, so for states that are offering rebates on washing machines, the same rebate will not apply to the matching dryer since no dryers currently qualify for the Energy Star mark. So, if your dryer is working fine, just buy the washing machine to take advantage of the rebate. All programs are starting at different times, from February to April, and will continue until all the funding is used up. Keep track of your state at energysavers.gov/rebates.

TIP TWO: STOP OVERDOSING

One dirty secret of the laundry business is that we’re all guilty of over-dosing. If you’ve ever filled a washing machine with clothes you felt could use an extra boost of cleaning power, you likely add more than the recommended amount of detergent. Believe it or not, this can actually make your clothes…dirtier.

Since washing machines are becoming more energy and water efficient, too much detergent can leave a film on your clothes. Since detergent is designed to attract dirt, wearing overdosed clothing can actually make them dirtier faster…causing you to wash your clothes more often. And residual detergent inside the machine can build up, causing it to work less efficiently and leave a mildew smell.

To “clean” your washing machine, pour two cups of white vinegar and run the machine as usual. This will remove all the residual soap and give you a clean palette.

TIP THREE: CHUCK THE DETERGENT JUG.

One of the drudgeries of laundry is hauling the heavy jug of detergent home from the grocery store. It was only in 2007 that Wal-Mart mandated detergent sold in their stores to be a minimum of 2X concentrated, which led to smaller bottles, a savings of 95 million pounds of plastic resin, and less watered-down formulas, saving 400 million gallons of water. Three years later, a new detergent bottle small enough to fit in your front pocket is debuting, which is 8X concentrated and features a patented precise pump that delivers the exact amount of detergent needed with no messy caps or drips on the side of the bottle. This is from my friends at Method (which is cradle-to-cradle certified) and features SmartClean technology, a 95% plant-based formula that inverts the cleaning molecules to clean clothes faster and better. But here’s the best part: For city-dwellers, busy moms, and anyone who dreads dragging a heavy bottle to the Laundromat or home from the store, this is a revolution in laundry. It’s itty bitty, and a little goes a very long way.

TIP FOUR: LET YOUR HAMPER SORT FOR YOU

Nothing can ruin a load of laundry like a red sock mixed with a load of whites. To speed up sorting through dirty clothes all over the floor or on the table at the Laundromat, invest in a 3-compartment hamper that sorts whites, colors and delicates for you. Each compartment is marked clearly with a sign so every member of your family knows what goes in each bin. For apartment dwellers, 3-compartment tote bags are also available for smaller washes.

TIP FIVE: SPEED UP THE DRYING PROCESS

While a clothesline may be the greenest option, it’s not the fastest or most practical one for most. To save time, try to dry one batch of clothes after another; the residual heat from the first batch will dry the next one faster. Add a DRY towel to a batch of wet clothes in the dryer; the towel will absorb moisture while the clothing dries and speed up the drying process. When drying towels and bedding, throw in two tennis balls saturated with fabric softener; the balls will help fluff towels and bedding to speed up drying and keep them softer and less wrinkly. It also saves money since you do not need to invest in fabric softener sheets.

To help a Crazy Sexy Life reader speed up their routine, I’m giving away a 50 load and 25 load bottle of the new Method Laundry detergent. All you have to do is a leave a comment and we’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner! Good luck!

Michelle’s Lessons from No Impact

No Impact Man, the film, opens today! Check here to find a theater near you. Today, Michelle Conlin shares some of her experiences during the No Impact Year…

My author husband, Colin Beavan, decided in late 2006 that he wanted to stop writing about history and start writing about global warming. He was so excited about his idea—attempting to live for one year in the middle of New York City without making any negative environmental impact—that when he asked me to join him, I immediately went all wifely and lobbed back an effusive yes.

When my best friend from childhood, filmmaker Laura Gabbert, later heard about No Impact, she begged Colin to let her and her partners film us. After they promised Colin to make as low-carbon a movie as possible, he agreed. His sustainably produced book—made from postconsumer recycled paper and chlorine-free cardboard, with energy supplied by biogas—is titled No Impact Man. It hit stores Sept. 1. The documentary of the same name begins opening nationwide on Sept. 11.

Truthfully, when I said yes to this Woody Allen-meets-Walden affair, I didn’t fully think through what it would mean to live with a toddler and a dog in a one-bedroom, ninth-floor Manhattan apartment using no elevators, no electricity, no disposable diapers, no food grown more than 250 miles from home, no TV, no takeout, no beauty products, and no washing machine. Oh yes, and no buying anything; for the next year I would shop my own closet.

Little did I know that a year after the project’s completion the global financial system would implode, or that the era of high-impact living—using one’s house as an ATM, jetting off on a lark—would come to a spectacular and cataclysmic end. And here’s the strange and unpredictable twist: Going No Impact for a year turned out to be sublime preparation for the post-subprime life.

In our 10 years together, Colin has bought himself three things: a second-hand cell phone, a used PC, and a folding bike. He bought me a diamond ring from a flea market. So no spending problems there. I, however, was an inveterate credit dipper. (As a last-chance binge before the project began, I indulged in a $900-plus pair of stiletto, knee-high Chloe boots. Then I had a moment of silence for my Sample Sale self.)

At first, the call of the stores was strong. Life on the hedonic treadmill is a habit—and I had to break it. Soon I started coming up with end-runs that gave me an even bigger high. Not buying anything new didn’t mean I couldn’t partake of Jane’s Exchange, a children’s consignment depot. We took our daughter, Isabella, there for her birthday, and I told her she could pick out anything she wanted. She chose a hardly-worn pair of princess slippers. Cost: $1.

We cut most other expenses, too. The Con Edison bill dropped to zero. Restaurants were out. But we did partake of the freegan lifestyle, eating bakery leftovers. Coffee was also verboten. There is no such thing as locally grown coffee—tragic for a girl who before going off the bean was averaging 20 shots of potent, iced espresso deliciousness every beautiful day. On my last run, I blew through a $25 Starbucks gift card in a single workday. Withdrawal was ugly.

But thanks in part to cutting out all my bad habits, within a month, my debt was gone. We ended up cutting our discretionary expenses by at least 50%—often more. Honestly, when my paycheck started loitering around in my checking account, it actually felt uncomfortable. From my journal: “I CANNOT get my bank balance down for the life of me. I spend Nothing. As in NOTHING.” Without knowing it, we were early adopters of what would become the new frugality. We even started giving away 10% of our money to charity.

The No Impact project also provided an opportunity to do a lifestyle redesign. In a nation of extreme commuters, mine was a micro-jaunt: Greenwich Village to Midtown Manhattan, 20 minutes door to door via subway. But Colin and I foreswore all modes of carbon-based transportation (except for BusinessWeek reporting trips). Not because we are against mass transit. But because the point of the project was to be radical: to go completely off the grid, drop out of the culture, and see what would emerge.

At first I walked the 40 blocks to and from my 750-square-foot nanoplex. But this was taking too much time away from my then 2-year-old. So I started to use a push scooter. The scooter itself became a workplace objet fixe. It was irresistible to my colleagues, who swiped it to vroom up and down the halls à la Romper Room. I had long been too tired—from not working out—to get to the gym to work out. But by exchanging my time on the subway for a self-propelled commute, I dropped 10 pounds; my new locavore diet didn’t hurt either. I had the energy of a supermom in my slacker mom’s body. My insomnia evaporated—the scooter was No Impact Ambien. My palate also began changing. The local food, though heavy on the parsnips, began to taste delicious. Three months in, I started getting through the day without the usual afternoon Dunkin’ Donuts high followed by the crash. The pastry mania and shame hangovers were gone. My pre-diabetic condition vanished.

Work was my fast life. Home was my slow life. No lights, no cell phones, no TV. I know it sounds like deprivation. But the truth is that when I opened the door to the No Impact house at night, I felt like I was walking into a vacation. The days felt like they lasted forever. No Impact was a great ritual destroyer. What I realized was that so many of my rituals were so bad for me (my health), for us (our bank account and all the family time lost to my scurrying off to shop), and for the environment. What I learned from No Impact was that there is a steep cost to supporting all your stuff. To a life devoted to getting and having. In my days of high consumption, I’d been searching for something. It turned out that it was right in my own home.

This article was originally posted at the No Impact Man blog.

Traveling? Go Eco-Friendly Style!

Jean Kerr said; “I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on” and yet fly we do… and diets we partake in. Because once you get to your destination (or dream weight) all the agitation, fear, and anticipation become excitement, thrill, and a victorious feeling of pure possibility.

Whether you are the type who maps out your itinerary months in advance, or you like to just hop over to a Foreign country with nothing but a backpack and a stash of condoms, most choose to fly to get to their chosen destination. Do you usually just grab the cheapest flight and book it? With airlines suffering in a questionable economy, and highly competitive rates available left and right, you can now choose not just a cheap fare, but a greener fare! Green America’s new airline comparisons will help you make informed choices when you must spend your money with an airline.

This site is helpful for answering questions like:

1. Which airline was fined $7.1 million in August 2008 for violating drug- and alcohol-testing protocols for its pilots and for flying aircraft that were not properly maintained?

2. Which airline ejected six Muslim clerics from a Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight, subjecting them to handcuffing, detention, and questioning, after a fellow passenger told a flight attendant he was alarmed to have seen them praying before the flight?

3. Which airline was accused in 2007 by the AFL-CIO of distributing anti-union literature in an attempt to block 7,650 service employees at Newark Liberty International Airport from forming a union?

Of course, very little about the airline industry can be considered green in the first place.

Air travel is the worst way to get from here to there if you’re concerned about your carbon emissions, and the airlines are not stepping up to the plate to mitigate their impact. Each of the airlines rated at Responsible Shopper has been downgraded in the environmental category due to membership in the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has aggressively lobbied against plans for carbon emissions trading systems and other attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of global climate change.

With recycling, the results are just as bad. According National Resource Defense Council report, our country’s airlines throw away enough aluminum cans from in-flight beverages to build 58 Boeing 747 jets annually. Luckily each of Green America’s Responsible Shopper categories also include a “go green” link, with suggestions on how to take the greenest steps possible when you travel.

For example, Milwaukee-based Michael Bootzin, who manages the main stage at Green Festivals, has simply made the choice not to fly. Bootz has resolved to travel via Amtrak to each of Green America’s 2009 Green Festivals — in Chicago, Denver, and Seattle this past spring, plus San Francisco and Washington, DC coming up in the fall, and he couldn’t be happier about it. He uses the train trips to read, write, think, dream, and play guitar (with other passengers’ permission) in the dining car – a truly admirable travel style.

An Eco Option

“Train travel is usually cheaper and always more hassle-free than flying, plus the seats are roomier and you get the chance to see part of the country you might never otherwise have seen,” Bootz says. “That’s all before you even get to the massive difference in carbon footprint.”

When you choose to fly, consult Green America’s Responsible Shopper site for more on the airlines, and consider a carbon offset to mitigate the effects of flying. They published a guide to carbon offsets which can help you find the best ones.

Now, go ahead and check out where your favorite airline stands;
American Airlines »
British Airways »
Continental Airlines »
Delta »
Southwest Airlines »
United Airlines »
US Airways »
Virgin Atlantic Airways »

Green Down There

Heather O'Neill

As the editor-in-chief of Eco to the People, I am constantly thinking about ways that I can live a greener lifestyle. I had switched to clean makeup, started bringing my own bags to the grocery store and changed all of my lightbulbs to compact fluorescents but there was one, ahem, area that still needed some work.

One of the first truly staggering statistics I came across when I started researching green living concerned conventional cotton and how bad it is for the environment. According to the Organic Trade Association, traditionally grown cotton uses approximately 25 percent of the world’s insecticides and more than 10 percent of the pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants), more than any other crop.

After I read this, it dawned on me exactly how much cotton is in my home. My sheets, my clothing, hell, even my tampons are made out of cotton, all of which has been sprayed with chemicals and God-knows-what-else.

Wait a minute, I thought. My tampons have been sprayed with chemicals? And I am putting them in my hoo ha? Gross, right?

According to my research, even tampons that aren’t made of cotton (some are made of synthetics, like rayon, or blends of cotton and rayon) are chlorine-bleached. Dioxin, a toxic carcinogen, is a by-product of all chlorine bleaching methods and is also found throughout the environment in varying levels as a by-product of pesticide spraying and pollution from incinerators.

Dioxin has been found to collect in the fatty tissues of animals, including humans and should, therefore, be a real concern for women. I don’t know about you but I have plenty of fatty tissue for dioxin to camp out in and considering a woman may use as many as 11,000 tampons in her lifetime, she may be subjecting herself to additional dioxin exposure.

While everyone is walking around with some chemicals in their blood stream – known as a “body burden” – thanks to pollution and other sources, women are uniquely vulnerable. Certain substances, including environmental estrogens, can affect hormonal activity. Further, some toxic chemicals that are linked to birth defects are being found at alarming levels in women of childbearing age. I don’t know about you but if I am going to pollute my body it should be with something more fun than a tampon!

I am proud to say that my vagina is now completely eco-friendly. I switch from OB to Natracare tampons, which are made from 100 percent certified organic cotton and which claim to be the only fully certified organic cotton tampons available in the world today, though I can’t vouch for that. Seventh Generation, which may be more readily available, also makes a line of organic feminine hygiene products, as does Trader Joe’s. I picked Natracare up at my local health food store and they cost $3.39 for a box of 10, cheaper than the conventional tampons I used to buy.

Here are some other products I use on my eco-friendly lady parts. Making some or all of these changes will benefit your health. If it could talk, your vagina would thank you.

1. There’s nothing eco-friendly about most vibrators. The ideal vibrator is free of phthalates, a deadly chemical found in some plastics that can absorb into your skin upon contact. Although phthalates are banned in sex toys abroad, these play things aren’t regulated by the government here because vibrators are considered novelty items in the U.S.

Some gals with real common sense over at Good Vibrations made the decision to sell only plastic vibrators that are labeled phthalates-free and are safe for close contact with the body. Besides being harmful to the skin, these chemicals aren’t biodegradable, but then – while they may be a healthier, better buzz – neither are all the phthalates-free vibrators whose motors have conked out. Close your eyes and make a mental picture of how many vibrators are clogging up landfills right now simply because of a dead motor. The image would be funny if it weren’t so scary.

Jimmyjane solves that conundrum: its vibrators come with a replacement motor guarantee, making them one of the first eco-conscious sex toy companies. At $125, the Little Chroma is especially sweet. It is nearly silent when on but still strong, waterproof to up to five times the depth of your bathtub and – to top it all off – is dishwasher safe. A motor replacement costs about $35.

2. If part of your eco-friendly efforts include reducing the amount of trash you create, switching from tampons to the Diva Cup is a great alternative. The soft, latex-free cup is inserted into the vagina and to collect menstrual blood. The soft, latex-free cup is inserted into the vagina to collect menstrual blood. The cup is then emptied, rinsed and reinserted. It sounds gross but the product works really well, and since it only needs to be emptied twice a day, is very convenient. I like to use mine at night to prevent leaks.

3. On the same vein, I love the washable panty liners by Lunapad. The pads are designed for light to very heavy menstrual flow, as well as light or stress incontinence. The Liner-on-top design allows you to change liners quickly and easily throughout the day without having to change your entire pad. Toss them into the wash and you have a brand new set of pads and have created no new trash.

4. Diva Wash is made specially for cleaning the Diva Cup or it can be used as a body wash. The botanically-based, all natural formula is contained the essense of sweet orange and is naturally deodorizing. The wash is free from sulfates and harmful chemicals and it 100% vegetable-based.

5. Like with tampons, it dawned on me that using lubricant made with chemicals was probably not the best idea. Collective Wellbeing and Yes both make organic personal lubricants that work just as well as the chemical brands.

6. If you have the yeasties, which can happen from taking certain medications, try Boiron Homeopathic Yeastaway Suppositories, which will relieve symptoms of vaginal yeast infection, such as minor itching, burning and discomfort using all-natural ingredients.

7. When my kitty feels like getting fancy, I use Moom Classic Organic Hair Remover. The hair remover is chemical-free, wax-free and resin-free and conditions your skin with chamomile and healing tea tree oil.

Before founding Eco to the People, a blog dedicated to green living, Heather worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist. Most recently Heather served as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.