Rainforest Rags

before i moved to the rain forest, i sold the majority of my vintage clothes collection i had gathered for decades from thrift shops to friends and on eBay. just couldn't justify or imagine wearing a "marilyn monroe" wiggle dress from the 50's in the jungle. so off they went to new homes, while i had an extra 2000 dollars in my pocket from the proceeds of my life long collection!

i guess i'll blame it on "barbie"...but i have always been a clothes hound, specializing in fabulous thrift store finds. why pay retail? still, part of my intent, upon moving to the jungle was to "curb my consumerism"...so i was content to leave the thrift store/clothes habit behind me.

well, low and behold! i found FABULOUS thrift stores in La Ceiba. who would of guessed, that Honduras is the FOUNTAIN of really good brand "used" clothes from the states? i almost fell over backwards when i discovered a Vera Wang blouse hanging demurely at "Mangeys" on San Isidro Ave! (i bought it, $4!!!)

these clothes are sent here in huge bundles in crates and containers from Good Will and Close- Out stores from the states at a fraction of their original costs. Perry Ellis, St John's Bay, Gap. Aeropostale. Abercrombie and Fitch, Eddie Bauer...

and while the clothes are in great condition at great prices...just did not want to create another crammed closet of barely worn used apparel. but...i DO love fabrics, love the hunt and LOVE the find!!! what to do?

i got the inspiration to "re-purpose", "deconstruct" and "upcycle" these great clothes and made myself a "shirt-skirt". I bought a cool men's shirt XL...cut it up and made a skirt! im not a sewer mind you..but fancy myself as a designer...pinned it how i wanted and then brought all the pieces to a local Honduran woman who sews. TAA DAA...

well, it turned out adorable. now the cuffs are the half the waistband, the sleeves half the body of the skirt, the front of the shirt and buttons the other half and the collar the other half of the waistband. oh yeah....i cut out the yoke and placed it over the buttons. so you can wear this thing frontwards, backwards and sideways....versatile and cute cute!

i showed the skirt to my friends on FB, and local gringas...and received ORDERS! so now i'm on FIRE! Back i went into La Ceiba and fished around in many hot dark thrift stores, searching for the perfect used men shirts, to create shirt skirts.

It is estimated that more than 1 million tons of textiles are thrown away every year, with most of this coming from household sources. According to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, Americans throw away more than 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person per year, and clothing and other textiles represent about 4% of the municipal solid waste. But this figure is rapidly growing. At least 50% of the textiles we throw away are recyclable, however, the proportion of textile wastes reused or recycled annually is only around 25%.


(why go to a mall and buy something new when 70% of the world wears used clothes? the environmental impact from growing cotton and polyester (petroleum based) manufacturing is staggering. )

A BUSINESS is born. figure i help quite a few folks out with this project...the lowly thrift store sellers, the local ladies that sew, the happy receivers of their shirt skirts made with love, me of course and the PLANET. so i have decided on a name RAIN FOREST RAGS...will start an Esty Store, sell on Ebay and in Local tourist lodges. win/win/win/win!

let us make a "rainforest rags" shirt-skirt for you! send your measurements (i pick the shirts..i like/use STRIPES) and i will get on it right away!

HEAT in the Jungle

I moved to the Rain Forest for many reasons. One of the top 5 reasons was to lower my carbon footprint by using less energy, eating locally grown foods and not owning or driving a car.

For those of you in the North experiencing summer's heat, here's an Eco Tip we proudly practice: turn off your hot water heater ...save some money AND the planet.

Here in the Rain Forest, we only turn on the hot water heater in the coldest months, January and February when the temps can dip below 70 degrees. We wash all our clothes and dishes in cold water year round!

Did you know...hot water heaters use 11% of your total energy bill? Also, more and more evidence is coming out to support the historically-based anecdotal concept that starting the day with a cold shower is better for you. Cold water helps to keep your blood pressure stabilized.

One of the reasons that people have been known to survive for a long time while submerged in freezing water is because the body has a natural reaction known as the autonomic nervous system. This system controls such bodily functions as breathing and heart rate. Cold water works by triggering the autonomic nervous system, which raises blood pressure. The more you expose your body to cold water, the stronger the autonomic response gets. So by showering with cold water each day you may in fact be also stabilizing your circulatory system for the long run.

Cold water doesn’t just trigger the autonomic nervous system, it also causes cytokines and similar substances in the body to be released. Cytokines and those other substances are essentially like hormones, and their triggered release is thought to improve the body’s immune system. Several studies have found that patients who underwent cold water therapy actually experienced an increase in levels of white blood cells, which are used to stem off disease.

As if that weren’t enough, consider also that cold water stimulates the body to release endorphins. Endorphins are those hormones that not only give you that “runner’s high” after any kind of intense workout (including sex), but also are key in fighting off pain. In essence, endorphins are the body’s own natural pain relievers and, unlike certain pharmaceutical companies, the body doesn’t charge you an arm and a leg to use them.

Cold showers can also put you in a better mood, believe it or not. In addition to the stimulating qualities of the endorphins, the cold water also activates some of the nerves in your brain. The result is an exhilaration upon leaving the bathtub that you don’t feel after a warm or hot shower. How often have you stepped out of the shower in the morning and felt sluggish as you get dressed and ready to roll? Next time try a cold shower and see if you don’t feel more uplifted afterward.

There are some caveats, of course. Aren’t there always? If you are particularly thin or in poor health, your ability to tolerate the cold water may not be advanced enough to experience the benefits. It’s also a good idea to check with your doctor if you suffer from back pain, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure or other circulatory problems. This is especially true if you suffer from hypertension and aren’t being treated for it.

Cold showers have the following positive effects: * Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body. * Cleans the circulatory system. * Reduces blood pressure on internal organs. * Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood. * Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. * Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes. * Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs.

So turning off your hot water saves money, lowers your carbon footprint AND keeps you healthy. Sounds like a win/win/win to me!

So while it's hot, BE COOL/STAY COOL

TRASH in the Jungle

Living in the jungle does lack certain modern conveniences those in the first world take for granted. WHAT would you do if there was no garbage pickup?

i have always been an ardent reducer of waste and enthusiastic recycler, but....

There is no recycling in Honduras (!!!) and garbage pickup has been spotty at best. We no longer have the luxury of recycling glass, plastic, paper or cans. We refuse to add these to the local landfill.

Most locals either toss their garbage along the side of a rural road or burn it…neither one a good option for us. We are always very vigilant about the amount of garbage we create in the first place.

Since our diet consists mainly of fresh fruits and veggies that come un-packaged from farms and markets, we compost all our kitchen scraps; reducing a fair amount of garbage right there.

We receive no mail or read newspapers or magazines, and add whatever paper or cardboard that comes into the house to the compost pile.

We avoid buying things in plastic bottles, but the inevitable errant plastic container gets washed and re-used a million ways…for our home made cleaning products, cut off and used to grow seedlings in, hold paint or varnish, the top becomes a funnel, etc.

We hold on to wide mouthed glass bottles that olives come in, using them as sprouting jars or to hold grains, seeds, herbs. For the others like olive oil and vinegar bottles, we bought a glass bottle cutter in the states and intend to make drinking glasses, hurricane lamps for candles, vases and give them to folks in the area.

To reduce daily accumulation of dog-food cans we are transitioning our pets to a diet of rice, raw meat and eggs to better their health and “weaving” the large heavy plastic bags the dry food comes in to make shopping bags and rugs. take a look at the photo above. the little change purse was made from snack wrappers found on the roadside.

We leave any rare “packaging” like blister packs at the store.

So this lack of “convenience” has morphed into a militant green solution to reduce our “garbage” to just one or two kitchen sized bags a month…which we bring into the “city” on our motorcycle and put into dumpsters.

Sometimes an inconvenience turns into a blessing.

REDUCE and REUSE….

Viva la Simple Deep Green Revolution!

done with cars.

garth and i visited 3 states in 16 days. nj, pa and iowa, visiting friends, and family. all went smooth enough and really can't express how happy i am to be back in the rainforest, with the pets, the plants, the river, the forest.

one thing i have discovered while in the states, is how DONE i feel with CARS. sure, i can appreciate the convenience of traveling from this place to that rather easily, but i dont like them. big hot stinky hunks of metal rolling on synthetic rubber, propelled by oil/gas, across paved nature, past meccas of commerce. sheesh. i'm done with the noise they make as well. the throaty growl and thrum of the motor, the twangy woosh and whine of tires on macadam...irritating as a throng of buzzing mosquitoes. don't even get me started about car alarms or horns....upsets my birth right to peace and quiet.

but stateside living is ALL about cars. fancy new cars, SUV's, huge shiny pickups that could haul cattle (in suburban NJ? sheesh)...car culture in the inth degree! we have become enslaved to metal and oil. the fumes are changing our atmosphere, we are sucking all the oil out of the earth, and it only took 60 years! look what we have done :(

we are sad, angry and depressed over this incredibly nasty, life changing , nature killing oil spill in the gulf. but truly,we are all responsible BECAUSE, everyone drives cars!

it's been 5 years since i sold my car. it was a really nice one...my LAST car. i spent a small fortune on it used. it was a fancy sporty german made thing..heavy as a whale, red convertible, heated seats, bose speakers, even in the headrest...guess i had to leave in style...get all my "car" thrill played out. DONE.

i am pretty much finished driving at this point. garth takes care of that. i'm a happy passenger. we bought a 125cc honda motorcycle that takes us from this place to that. it's tiny as "motos" go. we have called her "rosalita".

we strapped a milk crate unto the back of her...this we use to transport our groceries. you would be amazed by how much we can carry. what doesn't fit in the crate we strap to the gas tank or stuff into our back packs. often my hands are holding pipes, brooms, gutters...what ever we might need finds a way back down the long rutted, jungle road, to our home on rosalita.

when it rains, we wear rain gear. otherwise the sun shines on our faces, the wind blows thru our clothes, i can smell my surroundings (rainforest) and even tho it is motorized...feels much more natural. and i love the fact that we use only $5 of gas a month...A MONTH!

i certainly save on gas but i also save on my carbon footprint. this is of the utmost importance.

so this is part of our green simplicity plan. no car, we walk to places near by, use the moto for local trips over a few miles (no bicycles, dirt road too rocky and steep) and buses for places farther away and planes (sheesh) for longer journeys. maybe one day i will be done with planes. until then, we can all offset our carbon pollution by supporting www.carbonfund.org.

we must make changes to protect the future generations of all sentient beings. amen and om.