Haramaki! - tummy warmer -

My sister sent this from Japan and I was very skeptical at first.
It's called Haramaki. It's basically underwear that you wrap around your waist. (sorry it's not explicit with this pic)

This was an old way to get yourself warm - when building heating system wasn't good. Back then, people used to put on anything they could to keep them warm.
Now that we are in the modern society, we thought we didn't need it any more because it's not sexy and we've got whole bunch of cool ways to warm ourselves.

But then, it's back! And it's back with whole new look. (see the website I linked below)

My sister said it was super warm.

And it is! I think it is back because people decided, after all, that this is much more efficient and comfortable than its modern version competitors!
....this is hard to explain. Can you imagine how much such a small piece of fabric can do to your body? It's pretty thin and fits your body, and when your tummy is kept warm, your whole body feels so much warmer!

If you are trying to minimize your expense, this small cloths can save your some dollars because you can lower the temperature of your home heater 2-3 degrees! And obivously it'll reduce your carbon footprint. I am serious.

Well, honestly, you can't wear your hip-hung jeans with this, but if you are done with that phase, it's for you. I found some interesting story on Haramaki: Check this out.

I won't compost biodegradable utensils

Very interesting story from one of the major composting operators.
He says he doesn't compost biodegradable plastics at the moment.
Here are some reasons:

1) Plastic utensils are contaminants that are needed to be removed from feedstock before composting. Removing is done manually. Currently there is no way to distinguish biodegradable utensils from plastic ones. To make the operations economically viable, they have to either take all the utensils out or leave them all. His facility takes all out because they can't leave plastic in.
2) It is uncertain how long and to what extent the polymers will biodegrade. I think it means there is no classification on "how biodegradable" the products are. (I need to research this further) Composting is extremely experience/knowledge/skill intensive operation. People working on composting site really know what is the proper temperature/moisture/aeration for what material. It seems like there is not enough information/experience accumulated for biodegradable plastic to make sure the final product is marketable and of good quality.

Well, then if biodegradable utensils end up in landfills, they will produce methane, GHG much more powerful than CO2. (composting produce some methane too, but much less compared to landfill)

There should be pros and cons for these arguments. But anyway, for now, I would need more information to determine that biodegradable plastic is really good for environment.

In the meantime, this solution is definitely environmentally-beneficial: BYOU (bring your own utensil).

Babies have these; why not adults? It shouldn't take much to market them.








Japan's version of BYOU - BYOC (chopstick!).

Soothing children's coughs while sleeping

My son coughs a lot. Probably his respiratory system is sensitive.

When he starts to cough at night, it drags on an on and he has trouble keep sleeping.

I came up with a simple solution.

Wet a towel (but not too much), and place it on the bed head. Add some water in his old baby bathtub and place it near the bed.

It seems like the towel hanging above him is close enough to give enough moisture to soothe coughs.

It doesn't require humidifier or electricity. No medicine if the coughing is not too bad and not accompanied by other symptoms.

It works great.

Furoshiki - wrap and go!

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese multi-purpose/collapsible/adjustable/foldable/reusable wrapping bag -- sounds very eco-friendly.

Actually, it is. By simply being a square cloth, it can be folded in various ways to accomodate your belongings. It eliminates the need for different kind of bags and bags in bags.

I said it's just a square cloth - but with a lot of art. You can enjoy different textile, color and motif. You can use different technique to wrap your belongings depending on the item/size. It has evolved a lot- Furoshiki can be used even as a tote bag or a baby sling! Such an entertaining cloth.

Because Furoshiki is an old style bag, it has been thought as an accessory for Kimono. Therefore people forgot about it for long time because we don't wear Kimono that often in modern society!

But the green consumers re-discovered it recently. New generation Furoshiki has wide variety in design and use.

I found a nice website in English. Ecoshikis, Portland, OR sells Furoshiki and introduces a lot of information about Furoshiki including how to wrap it.

This site is also interesting. It is by a Furoshiki-shop in Kyoto, Japan. Although it's all in Japanese, you can see a lot of graphics on how to wrap it and use it.

photo: Kakefuda

What is macrobiotic diet?

Madonna practises macrobiotic diet. (is her body a product of macrobiotic and yoga? ) Larry King asks her what macrobiotic diet is.

KING: Someone asked me to ask you are a -- do you eat a macrobiotic diet?

MADONNA: Yes, I do.

KING: Which of consists of what? A little rice? Some seeds?

MADONNA: That is not true. Do I look like I've missed any meals?

KING: No, no. No, but you don't look like you're not -- you're not voftig either, you know. What's the number one treat in the macrobiotic diet?

MADONNA: Toast.

KING: Boy, we can't wait for this one!

MADONNA: No, you're not allowed -- well, it's not good to eat toast because it's...

KING: Oh, it's not good to eat toast.

MADONNA: No, that's why when I'm sneaking and I'm having a moment of decadence I eat toast with strawberry jam...

KING: That's decadence. What's a typical quick...

MADONNA: Well, macrobiotic means big life and it means getting the most of life -- most life out of your food. So...

KING: A sample dinner?

MADONNA: Fish. Grains, some kind of grains. Some kind of cooked vegetable. Salad. Simple, but tasty.

KING: Not part of Kabbalah though is it?

MADONNA: No.

KING: No, it's not part of its teaching.

MADONNA: No.

Eeeeerrrrhhhh, so, what is macrobiotic????

It is a diet based on whole cereal grains. Brown rice is most widely available, but macrobiotics is rediscovering many ancient-old grains that modern Japanese cooking forgot. Along with grains, macrobiotic rigorously incorporates vegetable, beans and some fish.

Macrobiotics is increasingly attracting Japanese people, probably because it is considered major component of LOHAS. This is just my perception but macrobiotics really focus on the art of cooking, taste and presentation of the finished meal along with the overall lifestyle that macrobiotic pursue.

Macrobiotics needs some instruction/training to start, but quite some books are available in English. There are many "sects"... some are very strict and authentic, some are more relaxed and easy going. Find your own macrobiotic style!

photo by mac-vegetarian

Charcoal as an alternative for detergent

Charcoal + salt + vinegar can be used as detergent/softener. It completely eliminates the chemical input into laundry system.

I have a friend of mine who uses them for washihg cloths, and she sees no disadvantages in using charcoal compared to using conventional chemical detergents.

I'd like to try.......but I would guess it won't work with "black charcoal". The kind of charcoal that the people in Japan usually use for laundry is called Bincho-tan or white charcoal. High-quality Bincho-tan is steamed at high temperatures therefore pretty solid and hard.

So, even soaked in washing machine, it doesn't crumble. It can be repeatedly used for about three months.

When planting trees become strategical tool to sequester CO2, strategical method to manage/control forest would be needed ever than before.

Producing charcoal detergent from those forests would be one way to close the loop.

(caviat: high quality white charcoal can only be produced from specific kind of trees...)

Reducing plastic bottles.

Slowly but steadily, "Paper or plastic?" at the grocery stores is being replaced by "BYOB. (bring your own bag).

Plastic bag is being worked on, so now it's turn for plastic bottles to be looked at.


Rather than trying to collect/recycle used bottles, I have an easy solution to reduce the number of End-of-Life plastic bottles that is generated on a daily basis: Replace soda/water in a plastic bottle with a tea in a cup.

I won't go over the health benefits of drinking tea, because you can browse a lot of information on the Internet. As to me, I grew up drinking tea; I am just used to it. I like taking warm fluid in my body. Once you are used to it, it is relaxing and soothing. Of course, you could eliminate the intake of excess sugar!

So, I drink tea more often than soda.....but it's primarily because I prefer tea to soda. But tea seems to be much greener than bottled bevarages. Imagine how much we have to invest to buy bottles of water or sodas and then keep them cool. Liquid is pretty heavy and not compactable. It takes space/energy/labor to ship, transport, sell and buy. Then, it takes a lot of room in your fridge to cool, especially if you have multiple kids! Last but not least, at the end of the day, we have to do something with piles and piles of plactic bottles.

Tea can eliminate all of them! All you need is tap water, a kettle, a cup and bags of tea. Indeed, tea revives tap water. When it's purified and boiled, it's not bad at all (at least my tap water is good for tea).

photo by: Al- Fassam

Charcoal+Salt+Vinegar???

We are not cooking here, we are doing laundry.


Charcoal is probably the ultimate green alternative to the detergent.

Preparation:
1) Get charcoal. (~3"x2"~)
2) Wash the surface of charcoal. (you don't have to use soap; just scrub the surface off)
3) Put the charcoal in a bag (such as an old sock) along with something that makes the bag afloat in the washing machine (foams would work). Close it with rubber band.
4) Put in the washing machine.

Easy as 1-2-3.

Salt (1-2 tbs) works as bleach, deodorant.
Vinegar (wood vinegar, not balsamic vinegar please) works as softner/finisher (use when rinsing).


photo by hosiubo