I was told by more than one reader that it was nice to see that, sometimes (usually?), DIY projects don’t turn out as planned and I had a special request to give my “fail” picture the headline treatment, so here it is. As the old saying goes, “if you can laugh at yourself you’ll never cease to be amused.”
This project came together (more or less) eventually and you can read about how I did it here, or you can go to the site of the original tutorial and actually follow the instructions.
Hope this brought you a mid-week smile!
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
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If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
I have an almost-2-year-old who LOVES to swing. I have often thought of how nice it would be to have a swing for him in our yard but I’ve just never gotten around to getting one for him.
Then I saw this post on Pinterest:
Click the picture to go to their great tutorial for this totally recycled swing.
And, just a day or two later I saw this commercially made swing that costs over $100:
Click the picture to go to the manufacturer’s site.
These two swings morphed inside my brain.
I uttered the words that daily test my husband’s patience. “I could make that!”
I went rummaging for supplies.
I knew I had an old pair of jeans with a poorly located tear that I’d been saving for just such a moment as this.
I remembered the wooden ladder in the garage. Those rungs would be perfect!
I could get a bit of rope at Dollar General for less than $3.
I was off and running.
Below is everything I learned.
Be sure to read all the way through to the end BEFORE you start the actual construction process for yourself. This is VERY IMPORTANT!
Step one:
Find an old wooden ladder. If you have a saw, cut 4 rungs out of it. If you don’t have a saw use the claw end of a hammer, a screw driver, a power drill and the heel of your shoe to break 4 rungs out. Or just go buy a saw. The other way can be difficult. Not that I did it that way. I’m just guessing. *ahem*
Step two:
Drill 2 holes in each rung. Make sure that they line up to the width and length that you want them or else you’ll end up with 2 sticks that have extra holes in them. Not that I did that either. I’m just sayin’….
Step three:
Cut the legs off your old jeans.
Step four:
Thread the front and back dowels through the belt loops of the jeans.
Step five:
Lay your side dowels on top of the front and back dowels and thread your rope over, under, round and round the FRONT BAR ONLY.
Pay no attention to the extra hole. Just… you know… measure twice, drill once.
Fling your rope over a tree branch and repeat step five with the back holes of your dowels and VOILA! You have a new swing for your little toddler that cost less than $3 and kept an old ladder and a pair of jeans out of the landfill.
Step six:
Put the baby in and watch him fall in love with the new toy you hand-crafted with love.
Uhm.
Wait.
Aw, crap.
He doesn’t look very happy at all. Although, honestly, at this point I was laughing so hard I thought I might wet myself. I can’t even imagine what my neighbors must have been thinking!
OK… that didn’t work out.
Back up.
Step seven:
Find smaller pants.
Step eight:
Take your swing down and repeat steps 4-6. With the smaller pants I found I had to cut slits to fit the dowels through because the loops weren’t big enough. Be strategic about this to be sure the remaining fabric/seams are strong enough to support your little one’s weight.
Step nine:
Chase your now VERY reluctant child through the yard, catch him and jam him, totally unwilling, into the new toy you have lovingly hand-crafted for him. Twice.
Step ten:
Wait for a moment until he realizes that things have improved.
Much better! I wondered if sitting on the seam of the jeans would be uncomfortable for him but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He wanted to swing for a very long time. I did trim the rope and straighten it out after the trial run. The pictures from “step eight” are actually the finished product.
Enjoy!
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.
If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
I am totally exhausted and burnt out over this debate so let’s stop fighting about it.
Maybe people are causing the earth to get hotter.
image from wikipedia
The folks in the white lab coats are pretty united. More than 90% of scientists are in agreement.
Could they be wrong?
Well, sure. At one point 90% of scientists though the best way to cure a sick person was by draining the dirty blood out of their body. Today we realize that may not be the best plan. Science is organic and ever-changing so…. maybe they’re wrong.
About half of Americans think they are.
Let’s go with that. The scientists are wrong. Global climate change is just a myth. Or… on the off chance that it is really happening, it’s just part of the natural cycle of things. The earth’s climate changes. Such is the nature of our planet.
If we are to work from that premise, then it doesn’t matter how much CO2 your big ol’ gas-guzzler emits or how many gasses are released during the mining of tar sands because so-called “greenhouse gasses” have no significant impact on our planet.
Does that mean that we can just throw all caution to the wind?
Let’s get rid of any consideration of “environmental protection” and think of what the world might look like in the future – even if it stays exactly the same temperature it is today.
We can all keep using plastic bottles and never give a thought to recycling, but then the ocean could end up looking like this.
image from thewellnessenterprise.com
We could all continue to drive our big gas-guzzling cars but then the roads might look like this:
image from sfexaminer.com
The rain forests might look like this:
image from understory.ran.org
Food will be raised like this:
Image from greenanswers.com
Rates of serious chronic childhood illness could look like this:
image from organicvalley.coop
Children could find themselves playing in places that look like this:
image from hungeree.com
Or this:
image from jamminmole.blogspot.com
Or this:
image from umweltverschmutzutzung.wordpress.com
Oh, no! Wait! That’s not what WILL happen in the future.
Those are pictures of the world we live in RIGHT NOW. (Click the pictures to see exactly what each one is all about.) This is what all of our glorious progress has led to. How much worse could it get? I shudder to imagine.
On the other hand, what if we listen to those crazy tree-hugging hippies?
I’m not saying we should cast aside all science and progress. I love technology. I’m typing on a device that was the stuff of science fiction when I was born. It’s very cool! But…
What if we started putting more thought into the efficiency of our buildings?
image from gilmourbiology.wikispaces.com
What if we started growing our food closer to home?
image from urbanhomestead.org
What if we started using less gas-powered motors and more of our own strength to get around?
image from koonceportland.blogspot.com
We might even start to look less like this:
image from werenotfunny.com
And a little more like this:
My friend Stephanie; A tree hugging, nature loving, dog walking kind of girl.
Which world would you rather live in? The world where the economy is deemed more important than the environment? Or the world where we live in harmony with our world to the benefit of all?
Global warming is not the only issue!
When you say, “Oil creates jobs! Mining closer to home means cheaper gas at the pump! It’s my RIGHT to drive a big car/spray chemicals on my lawn/toss my plastic bottle in the landfill!” What you are really saying is “I don’t care what kind of mess I’m creating for people in the future. I only care about myself and my comfort and my convenience right at this moment.”
I get it.
Really! I do.
I cringe at the cost of gas, too. There are times we can’t go to our favorite mall or our favorite zoo or even to visit family because we just can’t afford it.
I love convenience! LAZY hippie mama. Remember?
But I’m trying to do my little part in all the little ways I can. My children and their children deserve that much, at least.
And if you are one of those people that think it doesn’t matter because you “know who made the environment and he’s coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV,” (Yes, this is a real comment from a prominent Christian pastor. Read more about it, here.) I have an analogy for you.
What if you built a beautiful playroom for your child, knowing they would only use it for the brief years of their childhood, and you filled it with the best toys there are to be found. Then you put your child in that room and they proceeded to intentionally break every toy, color on the walls and pee all over the floor. Perhaps they kicked holes in the walls or ripped every page out of every book or smashed the windows out.
Would you be angry? Or would you lovingly say, “Oh, that’s OK. The toy room was only temporary, anyway.”
I am a Christian. The Bible I read pretty clearly tells me that God gave us every good thing in our lives as a precious gift. That includes this planet that He created and filled with every thing we would ever need to grow and develop as individuals and as a species. If He comes again during your lifetime are you going to stand in the middle of the destruction, hands on your hips and defiance on your face and say, “Yes! I did this. Who cares? It was only temporary anyway!”
If you do, I have a feeling you may be facing one very angry Father.
I’ll say it once more. It doesn’t really matter if climate change is real. Either way, our planet has been wounded and we must – each of us – do our part in healing her again. The time for debate has long passed. It is time to take action. You don’t need to overhaul your whole life and move to a hippie commune in the forest. You can start making a difference today.
It requires no cooking and creates minimal dirty dishes.
It’s so much healthier than the stuff from the store it’s ridiculous.
OK… it’s got honey, which is a form of sugar, but it’s not processed and it’s dessert. And we all need a little sweetness in our lives, for goodness sake! And the main ingredient is a vegetable! Or is it a fruit? Either way it’s not poly-sorbate-mono-unsaturated-lord-only-knows-what. And it’s not high fructose corn syrup, either.
It’s so chocolaty-delicious you will want to stick your face in the bowl and lick it clean.
Yes. It really is that good.
If you are skeptical, here are my food-judging qualifications: I really love to eat. I totally acknowledge the value of “real” food (no artificial or refined ingredients) and I fully believe that organic, local food is best. That said, I find both Doritos and those little chocolate donnettes in a wax bag from the gas station to be nearly irresistable.
Long story short, I’m making strides toward eating healthier but I am not the standard by which you should model your diet plan.
BUT…
This recipe is a meeting of the worlds. It is junk food…. made from fresh vegetables (fruits?). Which makes it not really junk, right? That has got to be what heaven is like.
The original can be found at Mind, Body, Green. This is a great site that I’ve only just recently discovered but have thoroughly enjoyed.
I made a few changes, because I’m not a huge fan of maple syrup and I found their version a bit heavy-handed on the cinnamon (though Handsome Hippie Hubby liked it that way). The recipe says it’s for 3 people. Make extra. You’re going to want it!
Let me know how you like it!
CHOCOMOLE
* 1 avocado
* 3 TBSP cocoa powder
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1/4 cup of honey
* 3/4 tsp cinnamon
* 2 TBSP soy or almond milk
Toss it all in a blender or food processor and run it until it’s smooth.
Enjoy it plain or use it as a dip for strawberries or other fresh fruit.
*UPDATE*
The original post called the pudding “vegan.” It occurred to me, in the middle of the day while I was folding laundry (why do thoughts pop up at such random times?) that, since I used honey instead of maple syrup it wasn’t really vegan any more. But it’s still yummy! If you’re a purist, stick to the original. Sorry about that!
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.
If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
It includes resources for pastors and a chance to sign up for my quarterly newsletter. Please do not subscribe on this page but at The Messy Middle. I didn't realize this page was still active :) ...
I know I haven’t written much lately. The Hippie Household has been seized with a very serious case of spring fever. It’s not unusual in this area. In Michigan you go out into the warmth of the sunshine at every opportunity, as the opportunities can be few and far between some years.
We’ve spent a lot of time wrestling areas like this:
Into something that looks like this:
This is a different corner of the house, but you get the idea. Now, hopefully, the stuff we planted will grow and we won’t just have a dirt patch!
Ivy is lovely but, good grief, the stuff gives a whole new meaning to “invasive!”
I truly believe that working in the garden is a great lesson all by itself:
image from etsy.com
But we have done some other school work as well.
Lest I be accused of “fakebooking” let me say it has not all been sunshine and roses. There were days when I thought we must be out of our minds to have taken on the task of homeschooling our child. It is some times difficult. Some days we struggle from sun-up to bedtime to get anything done. Overall, though, it has been a great decision for our family.
Here’s the low-down on what we’ve been doing lately.
Last week we studied the reactions that occur when a base meets an acid. One very cool experiment was soaking a raw egg (egg shells are primarily calcium – a base) in vinegar, which is an acid. In a day or two the shell will have “fizzed” completely away, leaving only the tough membrane beneath.
That led to “what will happen if we put the egg in water?”
Osmosis happens! Water passes through the membrane and causes the egg to grow.
Our experiment egg was the same size as the purple Easter egg when we started.
Music lessons continue for a few more weeks and then there is a break until summer band camp starts. Sweet Hippie Daughter LOVES to play music. She will sit at the piano for hours, working out how to play a song and has taught herself more than I ever realized an 8-year-old could. She has a natural talent. However, with natural talent (and being 8) comes a great deal of frustration. She wants to play ALL of the instruments and she wants to be a master of everything but she gets SO ANGRY with herself if she can’t play perfectly right away.
Lessons and being in a band have taught her a lot about the value of practice and patience and endurance. She is learning that, even if you already know the scale, playing it again and again makes you better able to play Pachelbel’s Cannon in D. Next year she thinks she’d like to continue into the advanced class with her trombone and also start over with the beginners on French horn. We’ll see what happens.
I admit it. I have fully climbed on the “you can’t have too much music in school” bandwagon. ”Bandwagon.” ”Music.” hahaha We struggled through the multiplication tables ALL. YEAR. LONG.
It was awful. She would cry. I would yell. It was the worst part of our homeschool experience.
FINALLY, she mastered them…. or… well… maybe MASTERED is a stretch. But she can multiply with consistent accuracy.
Once we got past that I, with great dread, moved on to long-form multiplication and division.
As it turns out, a kid that knows their times tables can breeze right through that other stuff. Huh. I guess there’s a method to the madness after all!
One thing I was told about homeschooling before I ever started was that you have to be flexible and willing to adapt and seek out what works best for your situation.
We started the year with Saxon Math. It REALLY wasn’t working for us. So we ditched it and went with these two workbooks I picked up for about $10.
For whatever reason these books just “clicked” better with my girl. She understood the instructions better and resisted the work less. Then, around February or March, we added a membership to Scholastic’s Mathblaster.com and she made great leaps and bounds. Math Blaster is a very well-done 1st person space alien video game. She can interact with other children and do several fun activities like raising alien pets and competing in pod races. However, if she wants to advance, she has to do ever-more-difficult math. All of a sudden she WANTED to know how to solve the equations. Thank you, Scholastic!
***A little side note:
We discovered two separate book series’ that were both really great. We didn’t get all the way through either series, so I plan on using them again next year.
These books are challenging enough to push SHD as a reader and fun enough to hold her interest. The “ValueTales” she can usually finish in one sitting. The others are chapter books and usually take her 3-4 days. They are a great tool for teaching history, character traits, civic responsibility reading, writing, illustrating and more. We have used them as a “launch” for lessons on local history (Henry Ford), politics (Abraham Lincoln), science (Louis Pasteur) and more.
Now we are heading into our last few weeks of 3rd grade which will be, for the most part, one giant review project. SHD is going to make a portfolio of what she learned this year, including some of her favorite lessons, most memorable moments and things she had to work the hardest to finish. I am helping her sort through the year’s records and setting some parameters but she will make the final decisions as to what should be included and how to best present it.
I can’t wait to see what she comes up with!
Then we are on to summer. Hooray for the big kids coming back, days in the swimming pool, festivals, gardens, and sunshine!
I’m not sure she’s going to be able to finish that piece of watermelon!
On Earth Day we hear a lot about recycling so I decided to recycle this post from last year… with a few updates, to keep things interesting.
When I look at my WordPress stats the one that consistently floors me is the little world map. My humble little blog has been viewed by people in NINETY FIVE different countries! That just completely stuns me. What a world we live in!
Just a generation or two ago, being so effortlessly in communication with, literally, every part of the globe was unheard of! Every day it is becoming increasingly easy to see how inter-connected the entire planet is. My grandparents didn’t worry about pollution in China or over population in India or oil spills in Nigeria. Modern technology has made us more aware that those things do affect us, just as our actions have an effect on everyone else. We cannot pretend to live in an isolated bubble.
That said…
I don’t know if my international readers have noticed this problem; I would love it if you would take a moment to share. Americans are killing the Earth because we just don’t eat enough!
So today, on Earth Day, I’m asking you to please eat more.
OK. So maybe we Americans, chubby people that we are (as a nation. I know that many of you are perfectly fit and you should hold your healthy heads high!), get plenty to eat. But we WASTE SO MUCH!!! Did you know that, in 2004, researchers at the University of Arizona determined that 50% of the “ready to eat” food in the United States is thrown away? Think about that! HALF of the food produced in this nation is thrown in the garbage!
Kinda makes you want to go dumpster diving, eh? Oh. Right. Yeah. Me either. Gross.
My friend, Paul, will be mentally climbing into his pulpit to preach right now about the injustice of people starving in a nation that THROWS AWAY HALF of its food and he is absolutely positively for-ever-and-sure right to do so! I am standing strong with him on this one.
BUT that’s not what I’m getting at today.
Nor am I intending this to be a push for people to eat more “real” food, grow their own and buy local though I am 100% in support of all those things.
Today is Earth Day. The day we randomly selected to pay respects to that big round ball (oblate spheroid – I’m a nerd. I admit it) that God gave us dominion over. And here’s what I’m thinking….
Living in rural Michigan I am surrounded by farms. It’s easy for me to witness what it takes to make food. There are trucks that haul seeds to a giant silo. There are trucks that haul seeds to the farm. There are tractors to til the earth and plant the seeds and spray pesticides & fertilizer on the plants and harvest the ripe food. There are trucks and trains that haul stuff to factories where it is produced into various pre-made dinners or sauces or juices or whatever or to the market where it needs to be sprayed with water or refrigerated or frozen. Then we buy it and DRIVE it home in our cars and more refrigeration or freezing is required before we cook it and eat it. And that’s not even considering the animals and their water and food and milking machines and fans for summer and heaters for winter……. you get the idea.
BUT we only eat HALF!!!! So all that gasoline, the poison sprays going into the ground, the electricity for storage and preparation is FOR NOTHING! AAAARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!
Have you ever seen your child wasting food that you paid hard-earned money for? Didn’t it make you crazy? It drives me up the wall! It is a serious, MAJOR pet peeve of mine. But the truth is, I do it too. I buy too much produce and throw it away when it spoils. I don’t feel like eating the tiny bit of leftover pot roast so I toss it in the trash.
Apparently, as a nation, we are ridiculously, sinfully guilty of this.
So today I’m simply asking you to take care of the Earth by doing what I ask my children to do. Take all you want. But eat all you take!
And for goodness sake, ENJOY IT!
Chubby Hippie Baby (AKA: Captain Spaghetti Beard) is the poster child for enjoying your food. He eats with GREAT enthusiasm.
I have never owned a power tool of any sort. Not ever… not growing up (I’m sure my father must have owned some but I lived with my mom and 2 older sisters. We were rock stars with a hammer and duct tape but that’s pretty much where our skills ended) or in the young and single post-college days or… ever.
A few weeks ago I went to the ReStore in search of something fabulous to upcycle into shelves for Sweet Hippie Daughter’s hoarder’s warehouse of junk room full of cherished belongings.
First, I must say that if you’ve never been to The ReStore you really must go at least once. It’s this amazing trove of anything that has ever been/could ever be used to build/decorate/furnish a home. It’s kind of like the Hope Depot version of the Salvation Army Thrift Store and the proceeds go toward helping Habitat for Humanity so you get to feel good about coming home with that super-cute screen door vintage 1962 that you just KNOW you are going to find the perfect place for.
Anyway, the shelves were a bust. Nothing was calling my name…. until….
I heard it from across the room.
“Elizabeth! I’m over here!” I wandered toward the televisions. I didn’t need a TV. We already have 2 extras stashed in the attic. ”No! Behind the TVs. Don’t leave me here! I want to go home with you!”
And there it was!
A tad rusty (no worries. I’m up to date on my tetanus shots.) and blanketed under a layer of dust. It was beautiful!
With this I could build an entire shelter for my family! Well… you know… if someone else cut all the wood up for me first and I didn’t have to work too far away from the electrical outlet.
I convinced Handsome Hippie Hubby that he really wanted to spend $5 on this Craftsman beauty and we brought it home.
Then, because God knew that I was now equipped to be a true craftsman (Hey! It says so right there on the side of my new drill!) He gave me a veritable treasure trove of wood pallets.
Do you know how many things you can build with wood pallets?
We composted with such incredible efficiency that our box itself became compost and rotted down to nothing. So, not having a proper bin, we have been chucking all of our kitchen scraps and yard clippings into a hidden corner of the yard. That’s all well and good but… you know… it’s garbage. And it’s rotting. And the squirrels occasionally spread pieces of it around. And… it’s garbage.
So I drove the Hippie Van to my friend’s house and loaded up with 5 lovely wooden pallets.
I came home and carefully read the meticulous instructions on this website to build a very sturdy, level compost bin with a hinged accessibility panel. It was beautiful!
Then I pretty much forgot all of the instructions and, with great enthusiasm, grabbed up my 90 pound drill (why are they so heavy?! If hair dryers weighed that much women everywhere would have arms like Madonna) and box of shiny screws and headed outside to build something with my power tool.
I stood my pallets on end and screwed them together, skipping the “L” brackets from the instructions but adding 478 extra screws just because I could.
Then, standing there in the one spot in my yard that is ALWAYS mucky and muddy and dank, I was inspired!
I knew that one of my pallets was slightly smaller than the other 4 so I lay the last big one down like a bridge over the muck, supporting it with a few old bricks and I set my smaller pallet on top. This way, the hinged gate would be kept up out of the muddy earth and so would my shoes. Genius!
Know what’s not genius?
Starting a project without making sure you have everything you need.
So I loaded my children into the Hippie Mobile and we went to the local Hardware store.
This place is great! It is everything good that people remember from the old days of “ma and pa” stores. It’s locally owned and the staff truly knows their customers and they are genuinely helpful and knowledgeable.
That’s why I’m quite certain, when they see me coming, they quickly have an argument over who is going to have to deal with me…. the over enthusiastic Hippie Mama with 2 kids in tow who knows the name or intended purpose of NOTHING that is sold in the hardware store.
So, today, the sweet older lady drew the short straw and approached me with a cautious smile. ”Can I help you find something today?” She asked, with a slight fearful quivering in her voice.
“Yes, thank you.” I said, removing the screw from Chubby Hippie Baby’s fist before he actually got it all the way to his mouth and snatching Sweet Hippie Daughters hand back from the display bins of decorative rocks. ”I need some… uhm…. you know the fasteners that move… like on doors….”
“Hinges?”
“Yes! Hinges!” (One would think that a person who writes for several hours each week would have such a word right on the tip of her tongue but one would be wrong. I’m telling you I get stupid in the hardware store. Perhaps it’s the paint fumes.)
She nodded, sagely. ”They are on the back wall. Do you need help finding a specific size?”
Oh crap! They come in different sizes?!
I smiled. ”No, thank you. I think I’ll just take a look and see what will work best for me.”
I think I heard a happy little sigh from her as I made my way back to the shiny brass odds and ends aisle. She’d gotten off much easier than they guy that was there the day I first tried to figure out how to glue plastic water bottles together.
I found some hinges that seemed pretty reasonably priced and said that they could support a door that weighed up to 100 pounds. I don’t have a clue how much my pallet weighed but, as I could lift it, I was pretty sure it weighed less than 100 pounds.
After taking a moment to pretend to be a pirate with a giant iron hook for a hand in the chain aisle and spending a few minutes with Sweet Hippie Daughter cataloging ”Things in a Hardware Store That Should Not be Touched by Babies” (there are several, to be certain) we paid and came back home where I attached the door in the wrong spot.
That didn’t matter, though! With my beautiful new/old drill it was a simple matter to reverse the screws back out and do it over. The second time was just right. (If you know anything about carpentry and it’s not right, please don’t tell me. I really don’t want to know.)
I finished up by adding a hook and eye latch to hold the door closed and a cinder-block step for short helpers.
Voila! My beautiful new compost bin!
Isn’t it lovely? A little crooked, perhaps, but quite sturdy and a big improvement over a pile of garbage in the yard.
Being vertically challenged is no excuse for not taking the compost out now.
The face says it all.
I’m just like Steve and Blue. I can do anything I wanna do!
I was promised full support on project #2 as soon as I got project #1 finished. Now I just have to decide… the swing? The lawn chair?
Maybe I should swing by The ReStore tomorrow and see if they have a saw. Just think what I could do then!
* Photo credit goes to awesomehippiegirl. Thanks, Sweet Pea! :)
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.
If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
Well… 8,251 other moms plus their babies and I broke it. In April, 2012 parents and caregivers at 256 locations in 15 countries simultaneously changed all their babies out of cloth diapers and into cloth diapers.
Why?
To show how easy it is to use cloth diapers! It’s also environmentally friendly, super healthy for babies and oh-so-stylish.
You just can’t be this awesome in paper pants!
Tomorrow we’re going to do it again! This time there is a brand new FABULOUS cloth diaper store (They’re online if you need the hook up. Check them out!) just a mere 5 minute walk from my house that is a certified host location so there’s no 50 minute trek to the big city. This means I don’t have to burn fuel to promote sustainability. That’s a good thing!
I thought about using this post to wax poetic about all the reasons I love cloth diapers. I thought about sharing tips if you are thinking of switching but, in the end, I realized that I just wanted to brag that I’m in the Guinness Book of World Records. Also, that I’ve had my best (busiest/most positive response) blog week ever. If you’re reading now, thanks for making it even better!
Hope your weekend is full of fun and laughter and joy. Don’t forget to watch for miracles, they are all around you if you just make the effort to notice.
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
Why not follow LazyHippieMama on WordPress, by email or Facebook to get all the updates.
If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
**Please don’t let the length of this post deter you! This is a very big topic. If you just want the highlights I lit them up for you. If you want the details, I tried my best to provide those too.
This is me, enjoying an especially wonderful meal grown right here on earth.
I am not a farmer, scientist or businessperson. I am a consumer. I am a mother. I am a citizen of earth. As such, I believe I (we all) have a right to know what’s going on in agriculture and to have a voice for or against certain practices. That’s why it concerned me when I began to see quotes like this from the Institue for Responsible Technology:
“It appears there is a direct correlation between GMOs and autism.” –Arden Anderson, MD, PhD, MPH
We know that GMO consumption has been linked to a host of serious conditions…
I was reading one such article (honestly I can’t even remember, specifically, what it was about or how I came across it) recently that used the word, “obviously.” As in, “Obviously GMOs are going to be the death of us all.” (That’s not what it said, I’m sure, but that was the gist.) It was if a little bubble burst in my mind. I snapped a little.
IF IT’S SO FREAKING OBVIOUS WHY IS ANYONE USING IT?!
I really want to understand!
Because my family tends to lean toward the “natural living” side of the aisle I follow a lot of blogs and Facebook pages that cover topics like herbal medicine, organic farming and sustainable energy. The people and groups that put these pages out have been, pretty much across the board, VERY outspoken against GMOs and biotech in general. But I want to look at both sides of the issue. So I went in search of farmers. This is a picture of the county in which I live:
image from airphotona.com
It is not very hard to find farmers around here. The major crops near me are corn, soybeans and tomatoes. Since 93% of soy and 88% of all corn grown in the US is GMO (source) I’m guessing I know quite a few folks that use biotech. I sent out a plea. In addition to posting my questions on this blog, I sent out emails and a Facebook request to my friends.
I eventually received input from 8 “conventional” farmers, 1 “homesteader” who grows her food naturally, though she is not certified organic, and 1 Monsanto employee.
One response I got said, “Why not just do a Google search?”
I have done dozens of searches. The problem I’ve run into is that the majority of the results that come up are posted by those with a vested interest/political agenda that runs toward one side or the other and they don’t seem objective in the least. Many (not all, but several) of these use terms like, “evil, ignorant, intolerant, backward, controlling and greedy” when describing the other side.
I thought of the farmers I know. Unlike people in most professions, many of them have been working in their current profession since they were toddlers. They have grown up with their fingers in the earth. They are college educated in the science and art of agriculture. The farm is not just where they work. It is where they are born, live and die. It is their home. They pour countless hours into caring for their fields and their animals. Their personal wealth is deeply invested in the equipment and tools of their trade. These are not men and women who are going to read a flashy advertisement and say, “Oh, look! We can buy these new-fangled seeds that cost 4x more than the old ones and we’ll never have to weed again and now we can all just sit around eating bonbons and watching Toddlers and Tiaras!” Are farmers looking to make money and make life a little easier? Sure. Aren’t you? But if 8 out of 10 farmers are using any given product you can bet that there is a very good reason!
Then I thought about the folks working for the biotech companies. These people have a true passion for solving some of the most serious problems facing the human race. When I was a young girl I can remember everyone making a big deal about the world population reaching 3 billion. We are now right at the threshold of 7 billion with the UN forcasting a population in excess of 10 billion by the end of this century. That is a whole big world to feed! Especially when you consider that the climate is changing, creating new problems to be solved. Is there corporate greed? Well, sure. That seems to be a given that no one disputes. But I think there are thousands of scientists and businessmen working in biotech who are truly dedicated to using science to make life better and more sustainable for us all.
It is not fair for either side to dismiss the other.
Keep in mind that they are all eating these foods and feeding them to their families as well.
Nor is it fair for either side to dismiss the concerns of the citizens of this nation. Yes, people can be terrified easily as this great illustration shows. However, individuals are justified in questioning how new technologies will affect their health and environment. History has proven time and again that big business will NOT offer up full disclosure or pull a harmful product from the market at a cost to themselves.
I’ve tried very hard to cut through the hype and the propaganda and the political posturing and find the solid ground beneath. Here is the good, the bad and the big gray in between that I found that seem important for consumers to understand:
THE GOOD STUFF ABOUT GMO
Farmers use GMOs because they are concerned about the environment and want to have the lowest possible impact.
Farmers must make a certain number of “passes” through their field each year. The ground must be tilled, fertilized, planted, weeded, sprayed for insect and disease control, harvested, etc. An average diesel powered tractor gets about 3 MPG. That is a whole lot of fuel being burned. How many resources go into creating that fuel? Shipping it? How much greenhouse gas is released from using it? Biotech seeds are engineered to have the insecticides and herbicides that are crucial to the best possible plant development already tucked inside their genetic makeup. This means that there are less passes of the tractor and fewer toxic chemicals being dumped onto the earth.
While some argue that herbicide use will be increased in the overall population (lawn care, gardeners, etc) because of the evolution of “super weeds” all of the “conventional” farmers that I spoke with first hand said that GMOs significantly reduce their chemical usage and they LOVE not exposing themselves, their workers, and the consumers of their food to these poisonous chemicals. It also means that farmers don’t have to keep tilling up the earth (or at least they don’t have to as often) to get the unwanted stuff out and put the needed stuff in. By tilling less farmers are reducing top soil erosion. Erosion and nutrient depletion are serious concerns and the farmers I heard from see GMO as a possible solution to these problems – or at least a step in the right direction.
Farmers use GMOs because they are cheaper.
Again, based entirely on the farmers I heard from, engineered seeds are a cost savings. The seeds themselves are significantly more expensive and it is illegal to save them from one crop to be replanted the next year. In some cases that can’t be done anyway but, despite these facts, farmers feel that the overall amount of money saved in other resources such as insecticides and labor costs, make them a good financial choice.
Remember, farmers are in business too. They need to remain profitable just like any other business. They use all of the same modern profit and loss tracking tools that other businesses use and they make choices accordingly.
Farmers have more choices than ever before.
Some of the anti-GMO folks out there would have you believe that the average American farmer has been reduced to nothing more than a serf by the big biotech companies. The farmers I spoke with strongly disagree. It is NOT true that farmers are being forced to use products made by Monsanto or any other particular company. Nor are they under contract to use any particular chemical (ie. RoundUp) on their GMO crops.
Biotech manufacturers do design their seed to be most effective used with certain chemicals that they produce and so they will “highly recommend” their own products. If you read the back of your shampoo bottle you will likely see that hair care companies do the same thing. ”For best results with this shampoo we recommend you also use our conditioner and styling products.”
Several of the farmers I heard from used the phrase, “I have more tools in my toolbelt than ever before.” 100 years ago if you had harmful insects you went out and picked them off, one at a time. 50 years ago you could pick them off or spray them. Today you can pick them or spray them or use engineered seeds that chemically resist them. That’s over-simplified, but it’s the general idea. The more choices that are available the more empowered farmers are to achieve maximum efficiency. None of them thought that “designer seed” was the great magic solution to every farming problem. They simply view it as one of many ways to solve certain problems that are inevitable.
GMOs produce higher yields.
I have seen some anti-GMO blogs that say this isn’t so and they have very impressive and complicated-looking charts explaining why but every single farmer I spoke with (including those that expressed some concern about using biotech for various reasons which I will get to) said that they had a higher yield with GMOs.
Higher yield isn’t all about more money in the pockets of farmers. This video does a great job of explaining how much land is available for growing all the food for all the people on earth.
THE BAD & THE BIG GRAY IN-BETWEEN
GMOs may be linked to a variety of health problems in animals and people.
When new technology that sounds “sci-fi” comes out people are always a little leary. We’ve all seen “I am Legend,” and “Jurassic Park.” We recognize that these movies are fiction but what makes them frightening is the very true reality that things can go wrong. There is a law of unintended consequences. You can’t make, “one little change” in nature. It just isn’t possible.
Keeping that in mind, people have questioned the wisdom of genetic manipulation since the days when it was just a dream of the future. When it became reality there was serious concern despite over a decade of research regarding the safety of GMOs. But something unpleasant truly hit the fan in early 2011.
Dr. Don Huber has long been considered one of the nation’s leading experts in plant pathology with more than 50 years of experience and over 100 scientific papers published. He has held prestigious posts within academia and the US government and he wrote a letter to the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture warning of some very serious concerns he had about “the discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings.”
Dr. Huber’s letter spread like wildfire around the globe. He was not the only one expressing concern. There are a wide variety of scientists saying, if not the same thing, very similar things. Here is one link that gives the entire content of Dr. Huber’s original letter as well as information from others.
One part of Dr. Huber’s letter stated:
The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations…
Here is something I found very interesting. Around the time all this happened, about 2 years ago, these were some actual comments on blogs discussing Dr. Huber’s allegations.
“wouldn’t meat and dairy prices skyrocket if cows were dying and becoming infertile?”
From here in 2013 I can say, well… yes. We have seen that happen, as this link points out. Now, this link is old and there are dozens of factors ranging from weather to politics that can have an effect on food prices. I’m just saying… meat and dairy cost more now than they did then.
Another commentor said:
Debunking this is like debunking the rumors that were spread that food safety bill was going to ban seed saving and force farmers to use Monsanto seeds. (Feb. 28, 2011)
Said bill has been passed… sort of. Farmers aren’t being forced to use Monsanto seeds (see “choices,” above) but seed saving has been banned and biotech has, just in the past month, been granted power over the authority of the court that no business has ever had in the history of our nation.
So the crazy conspiracy theorists of 2 years ago were right, at least in part. It makes me think about the old saying, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”
But here’s where it gets gray:
Dr. Huber never put any evidence behind his study. At least, not the kind of evidence that makes it difficult for other scientists to disagree with his findings. As far as I can find, he continues to stand by his statements but he still hasn’t convinced the majority of his peers. In her post, “Extraordinary claims… Require Extraordinary Science,” Anastasia Bodnar discusses all of this and she concludes with this:
Why would a reasonably well published scientist suddenly throw away everything we know about the scientific method to make claims about biologically impossible organisms with no evidence? Why is so little evidence presented and why is the evidence that is presented given as anecdotes instead of hard science? Most importantly, why would he make claims without going through the peer review process to ensure that his claims would be at least vetted by his peers?
Feel free to slog through all that, if you like, but here’s the gist.
From OSU:
Based on the number of acres I’ve walked, the samples we have received, the talks and literature I have attended and read; and our own research here at the OARDC, this statement just isn’t true. I cannot document that there has been an increase in over 40 diseases in this state, nor in the north central region since 1998 when roundup ready soybeans were first widely planted in Ohio.
From Purdue:
…evidence to support these claims has neither been presented to nor evaluated by the scientific community. The claim that herbicides, such as glyphosate, can make plants more susceptible to disease is not entirely without merit. Research has indicated that plants sprayed with glyphosate or other herbicides are more susceptible to many biological and physiological disorders The claim that plant disease has “skyrocketed” due to glyphosate usage is also unfounded.
And I may as well take this moment to mention that Biotech got this endorsement from the head of the European Union’s Chief Scientific Adviser:
“There is no substantiated case of any adverse impact on human health, animal health or environmental health, so that’s pretty robust evidence, and I would be confident in saying that there is no more risk in eating GMO food than eating conventionally farmed food,”
So then, why, you may ask, is all this included under “bad?”
Well… because as this site, and this site, and this site, and this site, and this site, and this site,and this site, and this site, and hundreds of others (Admittedly a random sampling. Some I read very carefully. Some, not so much.) are expressing at least some level of concern over a growing body of anecdotal evidence that people and animals eating GMOs are experiencing a variety of health issues ranging from increased allergies to respiratory problems to infertility.
Anecdotal evidence is not good science and it is not proof of anything. But it should be enough to warrant serious ongoing investigation from the scientific community.
Two of the nine farmers I spoke with had anecdotal evidence that GMOs were causing negative issues on their farms.
We fed our hogs from our own GM crop and started seeing health problems we’d never seen before with spontaneous abortion and some major digestive problems. We switched feed and the problems cleared up. (I asked if the new feed was still GM, just a different brand, and did not receive a response at the time of writing this) We still grow GM on our farm but we have cut back.
When my father switched to Monsanto seed we thought it was great because it was less time intensive and yielded a higher profit. Within 2 years we had experienced 100% colony collapse in our honey bees. He blames it on the new plants and won’t grow them any more. Our new hives have been unaffected.
Confused yet?
It gets murkier.
Beekeeping.com says that so far there seems to be no indication that GMOs negatively affect honeybees. In fact, less use of insecticides may be helpful.
Insecticide-resistant GMOs is another situation Dr. Williams says. Plants may be modified to contain Bt toxin, proteinase inhibitors, and chitinases. The benefit of such plants is that they require little or no insecticide application, decreasing, or in some cases eliminating, chemical application altogether. In a similar argument paralleling that related to herbicides, it is suggested this is a potential benefit to honey bees because it minimizes their potential exposure to harmful chemicals. In addition, the materials mentioned above are generally far less toxic in general than so-called hard or synthetic insecticides.
But this article links the very effectiveness of GMOs in preventing milkweed to a decrease in habitat for pollinators (in this case, butterflies) which is causing them to die off.
According to this Ag Weekly article there are about 10 possible contributors to CCD, with the most likely scenario being that it is an interplay between several of them. GMOs, pesticides and monocultures are only 3 of the 10.
Likewise, there is hearty debate over the existence of “super weeds,” the long term effects of GM on the soil, the ways that GM crops change the non GM plants around them and more.
I put all this under “THE BAD AND THE GRAY” because it seems obvious that the jury is still out on the GM issue.
In the mean time, these crops are being grown all around the world.
Image from humanityinthemirror.com
We can not be CERTAIN that they aren’t harmful.
Crops have been naturally bred to enhance certain traits for a millennium or more but what we are doing in this generation – short-cutting the process – has never been done before in the whole history of the planet. Our understanding of genetics is vast and growing every day but there is still much to learn.
And we are throwing these modified seeds into an environment which is already toxic from a whole host of sources. It is very difficult to establish a clear link between GMO and… say… autism, for example. It is not difficult at all to see that the youngest generation is suffering from a myriad of health issues that were considered rare or even unheard of just 50 years ago. What has changed in 50 years? Our food has changed in a big way… but other things have changed, too. So where does the problem lie?
The greatest concern that I have, after researching more on this topic than I have any other topic in a very long time is that history repeats. If you look at the history of DDT, Thalidomide, tras-fats, and countless other examples new science is not always good science and by the time concerns are proven to be valid massive damage has already been done. Just because a product has been studied extensively doesn’t mean that we know everything there is to know about it – especially when people use that product over prolonged periods of time.
Further, the new legislation protecting Biotech from legal action gives these companies unprecedented authority to move forward with their business despite what scientists find in the future. This means that, assuming someone comes up with the millions (billions?) of dollars needed to host such a study and figures out a way to conduct it without interference from other environmental toxins and takes the several years needed to observe the test subjects and evaluate their findings and publish it and be reviewed by their peers and accepted by the scientific community and present those accepted findings to congress and let them debate about it and the US government deems there to be a problem… an entire generation or more will have been irrevocably affected. The process will take decades.
Why can’t we just trust Monsanto to provide a product that is safe? Here’s a quote from them:
A Monsanto official told the New York Times that the corporation should not have to take responsibility for the safety of its food products. “Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food,” said Phil Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications. “Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA’s job.” (source)
I don’t mean to put everything on Monsanto. They are a bit of a fall guy in all this. There is good reason. You can thank Monsanto for historical gems like PCBs and DDT which, while extremely effective in doing what they were created to do, were eventually deemed to be horrendously dangerous as well with the detriment far out-weighing the benefit. In both of these cases and others Monsanto knew the dangers and downplayed them for decades but didn’t want to pull their product because it would have hurt their bottom line.
That said, they haven’t stayed in business so long or become so big by creating crappy products. Nor are they the only game in town. Pioneer, Syngenta, Dow Chemical, Bayer (yes, the drug company), Aqua Bounty, Mendel Biotech and dozens of others around the world are working to develop new biotech products, using genetic modification on crops as well as animals.
It’s not unlike McDonald’s in the fast food industry or Wal-Mart in retail. If McDonald’s disappeared tomorrow we would still be a chubby nation and if Wal-Mart were to close its doors forever there would still be big retailers preventing the revival of the “mom and pop” store. Therefore, when you hear things like, “Monsanto protection act,” keep in mind that if Monsanto were to go out of business tomorrow GMOs would still be around.
SO WHAT THE HECK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?!
You, as a consumer, need to be informed.
Be aware of legislation that is in the works. Know why it is being proposed and don’t just fly off the handle in response to something that “seems” bad. Remember all that stuff in the beginning of the article? Farmers… the people who know the land the best… are widely in support of the use of biotech. Ag science must move forward to meet the demands of the world.
Know what labels mean. Big businesses of all types got big by doing several things well. One of those things is marketing. Clever advertisers know that people fear what they don’t understand and they will play on those fears. One example that was pointed out to me is that there is an expensive brand of popcorn being actively marketed as, “Non GMO.” What that label doesn’t mention is that, at this point, there is no GMO popcorn on the market in the USA. In that case you are paying extra for the label.
Understand that, if your choice is between a “conventional” piece of produce and a “GMO” piece of produce you are choosing between one set of potential risks and another. Most farmers would choose the GMO.
Organic is great and growing your own may be even better (all 9 farmers and the Monsanto employee I talked to agreed strongly on this point) but, when voting and putting forth your opinion, keep in mind that there are billions of people for whom that isn’t an option at this time. New technology in hydroponics, “vertical farming” and more is great but still new. Biotech is one aspect in the massive field of Ag Science. That said, if you have concerns, be empowered! Take your food destiny into your own hands! Our family is doing this more every day and we find it deeply satisfying to feast on food we’ve grown and prepared ourselves. There is more information available today than ever before about urban homesteading. Heirloom seeds are being circulated at a rate much higher than 20 years ago, thanks to the internet.
Be aware that the market is driven by consumers. If you cry about GMOs but you make no attempt to avoid purchasing them all that crying is just white noise. For better or worse your dollars count more than your words in this country.
When it all comes down to it, I can’t say it better than Mike Haley who emailed me this comment:
The simple act of farming impacts the environment we operate in, both in positive and negative ways. This is true for all types of farming large or small, conventional or organic. I think its important we are constantly monitoring the effects our practices have on our environment and work towards ways that we can minimize any negatives while working to satisfy the needs of our customers.
or Katie Pratt who said this:
The gold standard would be for people to develop an appreciation for the places and people who raise their food and an appreciation for food in general.
A few notes:
I would like to take a moment to send out my sincerest thanks to the men and women who took the time to answer my questions and help me sort through all of this information. It was clear in speaking/emailing with each of you that you have all given this subject a great amount of thought and want what is best for us all. I hope that I presented the information you shared fairly and accurately.
If you would like to know more about GMOs and, like me, find the mountains of rhetoric and propaganda online to be intimidating, here are a few links in addition to those already mentioned that were passed on to me by those closest to the debate. They were very helpful!
It is my most sincere hope that this post is helpful to someone and that it can generate a conversation that is productive. Along those lines, I would love it if you would comment, debate, agree, disagree, add, edit and question. I only ask that you be polite. As always, here in LHM land where I am queen, mean spirited name-calling and excessive foul language will result in your comments being deleted.
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
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If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
