This week I came across this article in the Chicago Reader about the garbage issues facing the city of Chicago. Honestly it was a little depressing. Mayor Daley is constantly up on his little pedestal saying how ‘green’ the city is and how he’s committed to making Chicago the greenest city in the country but we still don’t have a fully functional citywide recycling program. Granted he has implemented a few good ideas like having green roofs on some city buildings but overall he hasn’t done enough.

My neighborhood is one of the few that actually has the ‘Blue Bin‘ program but my building can’t get one because we have 13 units. We pay for our own recycling pick-up from an independent company. The problem is that we can’t recycle every thing that you can recycle using the city’s blue bin. We can only recycle #1 and #2 plastics in the shape of a bottle. No yogurt tubs, no margarine containers.. It’s not a huge deal but I think it’s silly that our neighbors who have 2 people living in their house get this huge cart to use and can recycle pretty much everything and we have to pay for a private company to come out to get our and we can only recycle a fraction of what they can.

And so I’m happy to have a little bit of power. I’m really happy my neighbors are excited about composting. I’m hoping it’s not too difficult to get people in the habit of doing it and doing it right.

I’ve been trying to get into a community garden here in the neighborhood and am looking forward to maybe next year being my year. The garden at 61st street has been kind of in limbo due to a pending construction project at the University of Chicago. Currently the garden is on University property and they are trying to find a new home for it or try to keep it where it is. I got an email update yesterday saying that they might try to expand the number of people who can have plots by breaking it up into several different locations throughout the neighborhood.

I’m a little bummed that I didn’t get into the garden this year but we did get to plant some tomatoes and chard at my parents’ place in WI. I’m going to check on the tomatoes on Thursday. Hopefully they’re ripe!

When you don’t have you’re own outdoor space you’re at the mercy of others to some extent. Ideally I’d just dig up the front or back yard and plant a garden there but I’m not sure my neighbors would be into it. Our yards are completely wasted space. Maybe next year I can talk them into letting me carve out some gardening space, or maybe they’d be more into having some hens in the yard. Eggs for everyone!

For the past year or two my allergies have been building and building. I was never allergic to anything as a child but things change as you get older. I definitely have some tree pollen allergies and wine. Red wine is worse but I’ve noticed white wine makes me have a sneezing fit too.

This spring they were pretty bad and I started taking an OTC allergy medication. It helped but I don’t really like taking medications unless I really have to. My allergies aren’t pleasant but it’s not like they interfere with being able to function and do daily activities. So I stopped taking the medication and I’m back to watery eyes and sneezing.

My husband keeps trying to get me to do something about it and heard from a co-worker that eating local honey can help with allergies. It’s a folk-remedy and it doesn’t work for everyone but I’m willing to try it and see if it helps.

The theory behind it is that the bees who live around you are collecting pollen from the local plants and flowers and bits of that pollen is in the honey.  The honey acts as an immune booster and can help reduce your reaction to those pollens over time. I’ve read a few different articles and people suggest taking a small amount at first, maybe starting with a half teaspoon a day and increasing it to 1 or 2 teaspoons. You should ideally start the process a couple months before the pollen season.

It seems like it would work. It’s kind of the same idea behind allergy shots. You expose your body to a small manageable dose of the allergen so when you are exposed to a large amount you are better equipped to dealing with it.

So the hunt began for local honey. I remember reading an article a while ago about the City Hall apiary and their famous ‘Roof Top Honey’. I also read that it’s really hard to track down and pretty pricey, though the proceeds do go to Gallery 37 which is a great organization.

I decided to just take a look at the grocery store yesterday and try to find some local honey there. They had some from Indiana, close but not close enough.

After a little more digging I found the Chicago Honey Co-Op! It’s located about 13 miles from my house. Can’t really get much closer than that. I’m going to buy some this week and start the experiment.

A little disclaimer here.. I’m not a doctor. There is no scientific evidence that this will work and if you have really severe allergies this might not be the right answer for you.

I will definitely post an update on my progress. If anyone else has tried this and has any opinions or tips please let me know!

What’s so bad about this, right? They’re cute, non-toxic, BPA-free and recyclable. Great! No, not really. Antimicrobial isn’t that great. It’s a nicer way of saying pesticide. This is one of my ongoing rants that my husband is suscepted to on a regular basis. It’s time to share that rant with the world.

I find myself on at least a weekly basis yelling at the TV during some cleaning product commercial. They seem to imply that you are a bad mother, or bad wife, or a bad person if your house has one surface that’s not  sanitized to hospital standards. We don’t need our houses to be like a microchip manufacturing clean room.

As a country I think we Americans are completely and totally OBSESSED with sanitation and making everything antibacterial. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You should be aware of food safety in your home kitchen and make sure you wash a cutting board that had raw chicken on it before you cut some fruit. Absolutely, 100% behind that.

What I have a problem with is all the wasteful sanitizing wipe stations set up at the grocery store. I have a problem with the big plastic carts at Target for kids, you know the ones that look like cars, covered in Microban. I have a problem with so many commercial cleaning products being antibacterial.

Not all bacteria is bad. We don’t want to kill it all.

The more we spray these antibacterial products around the more of a problem we’re making for ourselves. Remember a while ago when there was a lot of talk about the over use of prescription antibiotics?  These medications worked for a while but then the viruses changed and became resistant. Same theory here. Antibacterial soaps and cleaners work. Some say they will kill up to 99.9% of harmful bacteria. The bacteria that’s left are the stronger ones. It’s survival of the fittest. We easily kill off all the weaker bacteria and are only left with the nasty ones which will breed and multiply forcing us to use stronger and stronger pesticides in our homes.

I think this is a problem. Maybe I’m the only one..

So back to the dog bowls.. Please don’t feed your dog out of plastic. Especially if it’s treated with antimicrobial agents. Stick with the good ol’ tried and true stainless steel and wash them out a couple times a week.

The major challenges to keeping the place cool are
#1 We’re on the 3rd floor
#2 South facing windows
#3 No shade from other buildings to keep the sun from beating down on the brick all day

We did inherit a window ac unit with the place which is good but it’s not big enough to cool the whole place. And it’s in our dining room. We have a blow up mattress in there just in case we can’t take the heat and need to sleep in a cooler room. So far we haven’t had to use it.

So I’ve been doing some research to see if there’s anything I can do besides buying an additional ac unit to keep the place cooler. Of course just buying another unit would be the quick and easy fix but I don’t want to spend the money to buy and run it right now.

Here are some things I’ve done that have helped a little and a couple others that are on my to do list.

1. Fans Fans Fans – Fans are really cheap to run. We have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and have been setting up a standing oscillating fan as well as a box fan at night. It’s been in the mid-90′s and I have to say it helps but isn’t completely perfect. The circulating air feels much cooler than still air.
2. Close the Blinds or Curtains – The main objective has been to try to keep the heat out. Closing the blinds the ‘wrong’ way, with the blades facing up keeps more sun out. This has helped keep our South facing living room much cooler.
3. Use a Dehumidifier – My in-laws who live in Texas suggested this. Drier air feels much cooler.
4. Wear Natural Fabrics – Dress for the weather.  Seems like kind of a no-brainer but try to wear clothes that breathe and are loose fitting.
5. Shut Off Heat Generating Appliances – Keeps tabs on lights, appliances and computers. Shut off what you can.
6. Avoid Cooking,Laundry, and Showers at the Hottest Part of the Day – If you can’t avoid these then try to ventilate the room to get the excess heat and humidity out.
7. Drink Water – Stay hydrated! If you get really hot run cold water on or put ice on your wrists.

After many months of anticipation farmer’s market season is upon us! Yay!

I have my list of markets to check out and at the top of the list is the 61st Street Farmer’s Market. It’s one of the independently run markets in the city and I’m really hoping it’s good. My goal for the summer is to get as much food as I can from the farmer’s markets hopefully it’s as easy as I think it should be.

Here’s some more info on the market. The 61st Street Farmer’s Market open May 16th and will be happening every Saturday thru October 31st 9am-2pm. They have a lot of special guest speakers, cooking demonstrations and a variety of other events going on throughout the year so check out their website or become a fan on Facebook.

If you live in Chicago and are looking for a market near you, check out the Explore Chicago website.

If you live anywhere else Local Harvest has listings for most of the rest of the country.

This month has been really busy. I have been slacking on my duties here.

I have been a little preoccupied with the nice change in weather and taking a photography class. This winter was really long and lately I’ve been feeling a little bored. Business is good but after doing similar projects over and over for the past 2 1/2 years I needed to shake it up a bit. So I signed up for a photography class.

I’ve been wanting to get a nicer camera for a while but was a little intimidated about learning how to use manual settings. This was the perfect time to dive in since I have someone to ask when I get stuck. The ‘new’ camera is great, I love it. The class is a perfect outlet for me right now and gives me an excuse to take pictures.

In other exciting news, we’re going to Australia in September! Yay! I’m trying to focus on being excited about seeing Australia and not the 17 hours on a plane + 10 hour layover it will take to get there. So that’s exciting. I figure if I make it through the trip there without totally freaking out I can pretty much fly anywhere. My flying anxiety has been getting better over the past couple years and hopefully this trip will help.

The new house is still great. We’ve done some more decorating and painting. It’s coming together nicely. I’m absolutely in love with Hyde Park. I don’t think we could’ve found a more perfect place for us to live right now.

So things are good.

Now that I’ve finally starting recycling on a regular basis I’ve started thinking about composting. Though I’ve noticed a huge reduction in the amount of garbage we’re producing, it’s still not as good as it could be.

My husband and I cook quite a bit and I’d say probably about 60-70% of our garbage now is probably compostable.

I’m really interested in starting a compost bin but I have a couple reservations about it. The biggest one being the smell. I know if you do it properly it’s not supposed to smell at all, supposedly. My sense of smell is really sensitive and I find it really hard to believe that rotting organic matter in a closed bin isn’t going to have some sort of odor. Another reservation I have is attracting bugs.

One of my biggest issues previously with the idea of composting was what to do with the compost itself. I didn’t have a garden or a lawn, just a couple house plants. Now we do have a courtyard and some trees, it’s a shared outdoor space but at least I have a use for the compost.

I’ve started doing some research again on the subject and found this great website that talks about composting in the city. I wonder if there’s a similar program in Chicago…

The New York City Composting Project

The Chicago Recycling Coalition has some great info as well.

Another website with a lot of info on composting is MasterComposter.com

A link to some books on the subject

Every year Preservation Chicago publishes a list of the seven most endangered buildings in Chicago. One of the buildings on the list this year is St. Boniface Church in West Town.

For some reason I feel a special attachment to this building and am hoping that someone does something great with it. Nine of my eleven years in Chicago have been spent living within a few blocks on Saint Boniface and I always enjoyed looking at it.

The Saint Boniface website has a lot of pictures of the building in its current state and a few from its glory days as well as information on how you can help get this building landmarked.