Linda Gerber

I'm looking into how to put a filter on my washing machine to trap plastic microfibers before they end up in our waterways.  

A study of Oregon rivers found that plastic pollution is almost everywhere — and almost all of us are to blame. Want to kick your plastic habit? OPB says putting a filter on your washing machine, avoiding plastic bags at the grocery store, and pressuring your favorite brands to go greener are good ways to start. (OPB)  

Using up the leftovers from the huge Christensen plastic free family reunion. Just finished the first and hardest step of what I hope is an amazing buttermilk ice cream.  (12 egg yolks!)  Buttermilk left over from Aebleskivers, which are round Danish pancakes.  But now I have leftover egg whites to deal with.  A girl can't get a break.  Any suggestions for what to make with the egg whites?

I'm trying my hand at sauerkraut making today.  I've got 8 heads of cabbage, harvested from my garden, and a little free time.  Wish me luck. We'll see how this works out.  Also, time to make another batch of homemade ice cream. I've got 1/2 gallon of buttermilk leftover from the family reunion breakfast and hope to find an ice cream recipe that calls for that ingredient.

Several people asked for the nontoxic mosquito repellant for kids recipe.  Here it is.
Mix together and shake virgorously 
3 drops each of these essential oils: eucalyptus (radiate or smith species), cedarwood, rosemary, lemongrass, thyme (linalool chemotype)
1/2 tsp neem base oil
1/2 tsp castile soap (peppermint scented optional)
1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin
1/2 cup unflavored vodka
1/2 cup purified water
8 oz spritzer bottle
Reapply frequently, may be sprayed on clothing, store for up to one year.

Here's what my brilliant friend Theresa said she learned from this challenge:  "My consciousness and guilt have been raised to a very high level about packaging—it seems that plastic is used in non-food items as an unnecessary wrapper and theft deterrent. On the positive side, I appreciate that some restaurants have converted to paper straws and most have stopped automatically putting an unwrapped straw in drinks. There is no need for plastics to be near veggies. Boise has an orange bag recycling program that collects flimsy plastics and straws and then it gets turned into fuel in SLC.  I also learned that there needs to be hard core legislation about the use of single use plastics in the marketplace. 

Thanks for including me. "

Here's the recipe  8 ounces.

Fresh as a daisy challenge to make my own personal care products:  Today I'm making Salt Spray for Hair. I've been purchasing this stuff and love what it does for my hair.  Found a recipe for it on the Mt. Rose Herbs website and found I had all the ingredients, plus the spray bottle for the commercial stuff this will be replacing.  It doesn't get any easier than that.  

The family reunion was a smashing reduced-plastic success!! Thanks to our wonderful family for joining the effort. We all learned there are many small, easy ways to do a 30 and at times 50 person gathering with almost no plastic. 

Today is a big challenge.  Deb Christensen and I are shopping for the gigantic Christensen Family Reunion.  Our challenge is to seriously reduce our use of single use plastic as we hold this event.  Many homemade potluck dishes will eliminate amount of plastic; all are bringing their personal water bottles and coffee mugs.  We're not buying plastic utensils, plates or cups.  Recycling is a tradition at this event so if we keep plastic to minimum we won't be sending much to the landfill.