Category Archives: Green

The Market NYC Here We Come!

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Mama EarthWe would love to share with you this fantabulous Mushpa y Mensa Earth Day extravaganza!!! It is happening this very weekend!!! What? Yes!

La Mushpa y La Mensa will be selling wares in the flesh at The Market NYC (159 Bleecker Street) all weekend long (Friday – April 19th 12pm-9pm,  Sat – April 20th 11am-9pm, and  Sun – April 21st 12pm-8pm).

Please, if you live in the city or are visiting, make sure to stop by and show us some love. We are unveiling our much awaited 100% organic cotton shirt designs (“Put a Bird on It” designed by Mushpa and “Mama Earth” by Mensa). These shirts are printed using water-based eco-friendly inks (301 ECO-Series by Matsui), free of PVC, phthalate, heavy metals, azo compounds, nonylphenol and formaldehyde. We clean up after ourselves using mostly water. When necessary, we may use a citrus and soy based eco-cleaner from Chemical Consultants Incorporated. We also do everything by hand from the design, to printing transparencies, exposing the screens and lastly, printing them on the shirts.

Put a Bird on ItIt’s exhausting, but we are making art!

-La Mushpa

p.s. – We also have an official web url, www.mushpamensa.com. So official, check it out!

So Much Junk!

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkbsEoPDjCw&feature=share&list=UUZm-e0TGAWtNSV-S8UjO80g]

I did a bunch of Spring cleaning this weekend and what I noticed was Mensa and I receive tons of catalogs and junk mail. A large portion of what I recycled this weekend and every week is spam snail mail and personally I am tired of it.

Once again I am taking my personal life drama and using it in our blog. Let’s trash this junk! First place I started this morning with was Catalog Choice, which is free and took less than a minute to sign up and remove my first catalog.

Junk Be Gone

The second option I went with was www.dmachoice.org, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) website.  They help you manage the catalogs you receive, mail from magazine publishers, such as subscription offers, newsletters, periodicals and other promotional mailings, various mailings, such as donation requests, retail promotions, cable and phone offers, bank offers and mail addressed to “Current Resident” and last but not least to manage pre-screened credit offers. All the things I dread seeing in the mail, which then ends up in the recycle bin.

DMAThe DMA Choice website is nice as they give you the contact information you need all in one place to stop this waste.

Check out both sites and stop the madness!!! I liked to end this entry with some dramatic stats that I found here below.

Shocking Junk Mail Statistics & Environmental Damage

  1. Junk Mail Kills 2.6 Million Trees Every Year.  I assumed each piece of “standard mail” was junk mail (this is only about 50% of the total volume of US Mail) and assumed that junk mail uses 2 sheets of paper (1 envelope and 1 letter), found the number of sheets of paper per tree, and did some math.  Of course some junk mail is only a postcard, but some is a catalog.  And some does use recycled paper.  But I did not factor in any of the damage caused by all those trucks burning gas to deliver all the mail either.
  2. Every US Household Gets 6 Pieces of Junk Mail Each Day.  I took the total volume of junk mail and divided by the number of households and the number of mail delivery days and got the answer, which is 6.3.
  3. In 5 Days We Produce Enough Junk Mail to Reach the Moon.  I took the width of a business envelope (8-7/8 inches) and multiplied by the number of junk mail pieces and divided by the number of inches to the moon, and saw that we could reach the moon 61 times per year with our junk mail.  If you divide the number of mail delivery days by 61, you get 5, which means every 5 days we could reach the moon again with our junk mail.
  4. Junk Mail Produces 1 Billion Pounds of Landfill Each Year.  If you take the 2.6 million trees killed each year and convert that into pounds of paper, you get roughly 2 billion pounds.  Even if you assume half of that is recycled (I saw an estimate of 45% on Wikipedia) you still have 1 billion pounds of paper going into landfills
  5. Junk Mail Weighs Almost Double the US Military’s Tanks.  Our junk mail weighs nearly twice as much as all the US tanks in the world, combined.  If you take the average US tank at a weight of 67 tons (a ton is 2,000 pounds) and divide the total weight of paper from junk mail by that number, you find that junk mail produced each year weighs the same as over 15,000 tanks.  According to Wikipedia, the US military has about 8,000 tanks.  By the way, a tank weighs about 40 times more than a standard car.

Okay, so we here at Mushpa y Mensa make the commitment to be on top of every piece of junk mail we get. I also promise to out the corporations that will not let us opt out. I said it!!!

-Mushpa

Get your Pollock on! (Easy to Make Business Cards)

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Need a quick and cheap idea to make your own business cards?

1. Gather some card stock paper, a paintbrush and some water colors and prepare to make a little mess….and now make a mess!!! Splatter some water colors all over the place! Get you Pollock on : )

DIY home made business card ideas

2. Let it dry and cut into small rectangles. If you have a custom stamp (which we will be having soon) put it on the back, or just hand write your information down.

image-33

Easy Peasy!!!

-Mensa

Roses are for Framing

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So we recently acquired a small mirror that needed some up-dating. And what else to paint on it but pretty flowers!

DIY Rose Hand painted Frame

I forgot to take before pictures, but it was regular medium brown wood.

Here are some pictures of how it turned out!

image-30

I used acrylic paint. For the background I mixed a little black, some orange and white paint.

DIY Rose Hand painted Frame

I also used a palette knife to give texture to the flowers and the leafs.

I finalized with a paint marker for small details and highlights….y listo!

New frame for the studio!

DIY Rose Hand painted Frame

Happy Sunday painting until late hours of the night is always fun!!!

DIY Rose Hand painted Frame

-Mensa

 

Homemade Clay: An Inconvenient Truth…

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So you try to be conscious and it ends up you didn’t do much better than you originally thought you would.

I looked, and searched for home-made clay recipes all over the internet. I was looking for a clay that would be malleable yet durable enough to make beautiful things, cheap enough to produce and make over and over again, and a recipe that didn’t use nasty or toxic ingredients.

homemade polymer clay

And I found one! It was perfect….or so I thought.

The ingredients?

-1 cup of Non-Toxic Elmer’s glue

-3/4 to 1 cup of Corn Starch

-2 tbsp of mineral oil  Olive Oil

-1 tbsp of lemon juice

homemade polymer clay

Not so toxic, right?…. Well, I looked into what mineral oil really is, and essentially it is the “by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude-oil”. That same oil in the clear bottle and the pink cap that you put on a baby’s bum bum, that stuff (plus some fragrance), comes from an incredible unsustainable source. On top of that fun fact, the World Health Organization  “classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans.” (Source) Group 1 carcinogens = DEFINITELY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS. What?!?!

So since I am being all aware and into this, I decided to replace mineral oil with OLIVE OIL!

homemade polymer clay

Cool… That’s great. So I am happy I’ve done my research and I feel better about myself.
I go about following this recipe, which at first I was hating, because it did not come out like it said. After reading the comments from other people though, I cooked the dough longer and realized that the most crucial thing is to KNEAD the clay when it’s REALLY HOT. Then all the parts will blend.

ps. I also added turmeric to the recipe to give it some natural color.

homemade polymer clay

But then something else happened…another question that should’ve been obvious to ask, but I did not. Where the heck does Elmer’s glue come from???

Oh here we go again….. Elmer’s glue is made of polyvinyl acetate which, you guessed it, comes from petrochemical sources. Come on world!!! Really? Which really makes me think about all the “non-toxic” things we buy, that are actually quite toxic to our environment, our bodies, and our world! Of course elmer’s glue is toxic if it’s source and main ingredient when extracted from the ground  pollutes and kills everything around it!

Agrrr… I’m not so happy about this at all. I want to be able to make my own clay/dough at home, with decent ingredients that won’t harm you and me.

homemade polymer clay

I haven’t experimented again, but I will once I find the perfect ingredients.

In the mean time, I will try to use up all my “non-toxic” glue, and try some more natural glue recipes. And lesson learned. Check ALL ingredients and where they come from regardless of now “natural” and non-toxic they are.

-Mensa

 

Re-Vamp your Ikea Lamp!

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So yes, I admit it. I have been sucked in by the Ikea vortex plenty of times.

 I have bought several items at Ikea which I have been pretty happy with. Sheets, place mats, cups and a recycling bin, as well as other random things that we needed for the house.

orgel lamp ikea diy

It is affordable and they have a pretty decent mission and vision about how such a profitable and huge corporation should go about in doing decent business practices. I am sure that they are making their good $$$ with Ikea stores all over the world, and with such hype that comes with it. Unlike nasty Wal-Mart and other super stores though, they do try to promote a sustainable life at home, they are pretty conscious about their energy & resources, and they try to partner with organizations in order to help communities and people with their ongoing success. If all businesses had their same practices, we would be in a better place today. It doesn’t mean they are doing it perfectly, but it is a start.

BUUUUUUTTTT….. there’s an issue with buying from Ikea….many people shop there too. I even saw my sheets in a movie set once! Ah! Not MY sheets!!!

So what to do?

Last night I was waiting for Mushpa to get home, and I felt like I needed to work on something light and fun. And that’s when I remembered the Ikea lamp in our bedroom….

So generic, so cost effective, and so…….plain? So I decided to do a little Ikea DIY and update our lamp. Since the lamp shade is made of thick paper, I decided that I could use some water colors to give it a nicer look.

Some mustard-ish orange and a pretty pink. Ta-da! Not so generic anymore right?!

orgel lamp ikea diy

Now it looks like a tequila sunrise in our Mediterranean blue bedroom!

Fun times! : )

-Mensa

Tea Tree Oil: Magic Potion or Poison?

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tea tree oil

So the other day we noticed that we have in our home tea-tree oil infused goodies. Our shampoo, our conditioner and we use tea tree oil for unwanted, unhappy pimples. And it really does work! I had heard this little essential oil had many purposes, but who would have known it was crazy useful for everything! From pimples, to cleaning to Woohoo! Everything… Maybe I should ditch everything in my medicine cabinet and buy a lifetime supply of tea-tree oil!

So where does it come from? Australia. From the plant Melaleuca alternifolia.

tea tree oil

What can it be used for? A MILLION THINGS!

  • Analgesic
  • Antibacterial
  • Antifungal
  • Anti-infectious
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Antioxidant
  • Antiparasitic
  • Antiseptic
  • Antiviral
  • Decongestant
  • Digestive
  • Expectorant
  • Immune stimulant
  • Insecticidal
  • Neurotonic
  • Stimulant
  • Tissue regenerative

tea tree oil

Got Acne? dilute with water and use for an overall treatment, or dab a very small amount on acne breakouts.

Got Allergies? You can massage it into the chest, abdomen or “the reflex points of the feet”

Stinky Feet? A couple of drops and soak your feet in, or massage directly.

Canker soar? Apply a dab!

Clean Freak? Add a couple of drops  to your home-made everyday cleaner.

Stuffed nose and congestion? Boil some water and inhale steam infused with some oil. Minty smell will clear you up!

Cuts, Scrapes or Burns? Disinfect it with a slight diluted solution and cleanse infected areas with a one drop to one cup of water mixture.

Getting Pierced or a Tattoo? Use it undiluted to avoid infections.

Anything else? Yes! Also vaginal infections, warts, wounds, nail infections, dandruff sunburns and rashes!

BUT…I ran into this article that says that tea-tree oil might be potentially toxic for your cats and its bad bad bad…so I decided to look into it a bit more.

poison

Yes, if you swallow and ingest a slight amount of this oil, it could harm you.  The National Capital Poison Center says they get twice as many calls regarding tea-tree oil poisoning than any other oil. Yet, they are not specific about their statistics so its hard to compare.

There are two statements that they make that I think are significant and should be taken as precaution when using this mighty oil.

1.

“Tea tree oil and pets: Veterinary toxicologists have reported that large amounts of tea tree oil applied to the skin of cats and dogs caused poisoning. Symptoms have included muscle tremors, weakness, difficulty in walking, low body temperature, and excessive salivation. With pets, as with people, following label instructions is essential.”

2.

“Non-medicinal uses: …  “natural” does not necessarily mean “non-toxic” or “non-poisonous”; tea tree oil is irritating to some people and is poisonous to swallow….There is some scientific evidence that tea tree oil can be effective for certain skin conditions. It is poisonous if swallowed and so should not be used in or around the mouth at all.”

The second point should be taken with more consideration because when I did my research I ran into information regarding its use as a mouthwash, canker sore, cold sore and cavity prevention oil. Many people have used it around and within the mouth and promote such uses, so I don’t think that the likelihood that you will turn up dead will be high….BUT I would use it with precaution if you are allergic to any other oils, if you are pregnant and if you have other conditions which you already need to take extra care for.

So is it a super oil with multiple amazing uses? I’d say so!

Am I going to party hard with my cat and take shots like it’s peppermint schnapps?  Probably not….

fashionable cat

Does it smell very very good and is better than buying fifteen different products to cure many things? YES!

If you would like, you can check out some sources below to get more descriptive and detailed uses for this mighty essential oil as well as people’s concern with it.

Sustainable Baby Steps, Medicine Net, General Info, Toxic to Cats

What!? What!?

-Mensa

 

3 Ingredients: All Natural Every Day Cleaner

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We made our own all purpose house cleaner with 3 ingredients we have at home. It will save us some $$$ and it is super environmentally conscious, AND its as easy and cheesy as 1, 2, 3!

One:

Dont throw away your old cleaner’s spray bottle!

Keep it, and fill it half way with white vinegar.

vinegar

TWO:

Fill the rest of the bottle with all-natural tap water! ; )

water bubbles

THREE:

Add about 5-10 drops of essential oil. We used peppermint because it smells oh-so-fresh, but you can do anything from lavender to patchouli!

Peppermint essential oil

THAT’S IT!

You can use this anywhere and everywhere, and according to The New Homemaker there is dozens of combinations that you can use vinegar with to clean everything from your laundry to removing stains and odors!

So why bother buying “green” cleaners when we can make them at home!?

So do it now!

love,

-Mensa

Re-potting and Re-loving your Plants

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I must admit. I need to be better about taking care of our house plants. So today I got serious! I decided to re-pot them, mix the soil around, add new soil and a little home-made plant food.

The How To’s:

1.Making the Plant Food:

Since we recently started composting, I figured that instead of buying any plant food from the store, I had to put our compost to good use.

image(7)

In a blender I added some coffee grinds, a couple of eggshells, and some compost (which included apple cores, carrot peels and other goodies). I added a healthy amount of water and blended it.

A word about plant food:

Many home made recipes call for a mixture of  Epson Salts, baking powder, regular salt, and household ammonia. Whatever rocks your boat. Personally, adding ammonia, which is considered to be a toxic substance, to anything seems a little crazy to me. Its a natural and organic compound produced and used for growth of many plants, but having a jug of ammonia in the house does not seem like the best and most eco-friendly solution. (If it gets in our water ways it can be extremely harmful). So sticking with all-natural, non-toxic, home-made plant food seems like a better solution to me.

image(5)

2. Mixing the soil

I took old soil from plants that had died due to extreme heat in our kitchen (whoops) and mixed it with new soil in a bucket. I tossed it and added a bit of the juicy plant food (mostly the water part) to moisten the soil. I added more water to the mix in order to have the soil thoroughly moist.

3. Re-potting your plants

***The most important thing I did through out this whole process was talking to my plants! Call me crazy, but I really felt like they needed to know what was going on. Imagine being pulled out of your warm comfy home and abruptly placed in a new pot! So as I did this I explained the process, was really gentle, made them feel more at ease, and made ME feel like I knew what I was doing (even though it was my first real re-potting experience!)…So it helped us all : )

-Start by having everything ready and clean. I made a mess, so cleaning as you go is definitely recommended.

– Prep your flower pot with a little dirt at the bottom. If there is a hole you can cover it using a shard of an old broken pot making sure you don’t cover the hole completely. Add a bit of the plant food that you have prepared.

image(6)

-I took my first plant and flipped it gently until it loosened and came out of its pot. I dug a little around the edges and it helped to get it out. I untangled the roots a bit and watered them slightly and placed it on the pot.

-I covered and filled the pot with dirt and half way through I added a bit more of the plant food. Then I covered it completely, making sure I stayed at least half an inch from the rim (if not when you water it, it can overflow).

-Use a spray to clean the leaves of your plants if they have dirt on them, so they can breathe!

Tell your plants that they are awesome and that this is for their own good even if they hate you… ; ) Sun, water and love will make their day!

Now they will grow stronger than ever and produce beautiful blooms and strong green leaves!

-Mensa

The Case of the Tablet – Part 2

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Asus Glamorous

Mensa asked me the other day why what is inside our new tablet case is the best choice currently on the market. She also wanted to know if there was any ethical consciousness involved in my selection, which of course there was!!! :]

Here’s the breakdown on why my new Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is the best out there! Firstly, it has an android system, open source love, the best screen and processor, and it is lighter than an iPad. It’s also fast as lightning and reasonably priced.

Next, the company is Taiwan-based. Free China. Taiwan is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, and human development. I’m just saying. :]

Also the environment is another factor for me,

Asus even developed a special proprietary chip, the EPU (Energy Processing Unit), in order to coordinate and manage power usage in all of a computer’s major components. In fact, all Asus notebook computers are designed to be Energy-Star compliant. Furthermore, when it comes to the materials used to make Asus products, Asus has made a special effort to be green. There is a company directive that restricts the use of certain known hazardous materials in Asus products, and the list is actually more restrictive than that imposed on manufacturing by the European Union. In recent years, Asus has been developing hardware that can be more easily recycled, as well as offering its own take-back and recycling programs. (source: http://www.roc-taiwan-hn.com/asus.php)

The best part though is how cute it looks its new, glittery case!

Thank you Mensa!

<3

– Mushpa