Familia gratitude:  DIY

Your actions have spoken: we know that my Fibonacci blog post is accepted through the community, it has gotten 4 digits clicks/traffic! Bang! Puyaka!

Congratulations if you have created toothpaste & other DIY things, we welcome feedback (comments below all blog posts or email info@cafegratitude).

Here is another thing in life you should want to do yourself.  After you read this blog and make it your brain is going to excrete so much serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine/melatonin/insulin/prostaglandins that you will shine 2,000 light years of beauty & health; the laws of physics will bend for you.  Of course you will brag about making this household item, show off to your friends and be cocky, start a new business, enroll others, and be community. Becoming self sufficient is a step by step thing. You will be able to make your own laundry detergent.

This is another recipe/formula for an everyday item that big companies don’t want you to know.  How come I didn’t think of this before? How come you haven’t made this when it first clicked in your brain? If the left side of the brain thinks creativity I had ignored it every time, I would go to purchase the powder stuff thing & complain. "How come this is so expensive?" or "I don’t want to smell like petro-chemical-rose scent every time I dress" or "I don’t want my chones to cross-contaminate where I am more vulnerable!"

Of course I’m always about bulk buying; I know that greater quantities = less $. Buy that fancy soap, go for it.  Consider buying a whole gallon of body soap and then refilling it every time. For toothbrushes, buy the ones with changeable heads.  I have been using the same old toothbrush handle for as long as I have been working at Café Gratitude.  Now the time came for laundry soap so here it is for you and your community to try.

We've been getting a new wave of gorgeous new goodies to sell in our cafes and online store from local favorites with innovative designs.  Today I'd like to share about three products everyone in the Central Kitchen/Offices seems to wear and use again and again.

We've all been really digging this awesome design by Jon Marro called "Veggie-Wings".  Matched with the lightweight uber soft organic cotton and the perfect flattering fit all sizes, this shirt is a slam-dunk in my book.  I can tell that my friends agree, because  it's come to a point that we're often caught wearing the same thing on the same day.  Join the fan club for this gorgeous and comfortable apparel in blue or white here.

Rainbow Grocery is a worker-owned conscious business specializing in organic and natural foods, local independent businesses' products and diverse and rich bulk items.  I love Rainbow Grocery for their dependability on having that new small start up company's cool little cookie I found at the farmers market the other day, and for offering biodegradable produce bags.  Yesterday I had a potluck emergency and needed to grab little tiny bits of things to create my coleslaw at the last minute.  I was able to get everything raw and in bulk from honey to cashews to dates and I didn't even need to use any plastic.  They have a great jar selection and if you just weigh the container so that the cashier knows what weight to subtract from the weight of the produce, you are welcome to bring your own containers from home, or use their selection (as I did yesterday). I was able to put my 2 little dates in one jar, my honey in another and my cashews in another and zip through the checkout with the cashier's understanding and even promotion (they gift you 5 cents for every bag you don't use). 

We are proud to have our products at Rainbow Grocery. Local businesses know that it's a no-brainer to approach Rainbow first with your conscious products.

Do it yourself: What a combo of words!  In Spanish: "hazlo tu mismo".  Remember self is the only thing we are, now.

While I was travelling through Europe for three months, I was very present to my Klean Kantene who became my best and fast friend during the journey.  Everywhere I went, I drank water from fountains, from rivers, ancient springs and water taps.  My relationship to water totally changed and I discovered a deeper understanding of how precious water truly is. The best water was Rome's.  Even under the sweltering summer heat, the water from their 1,000 year old water fountains were cold, fresh and tasted like earth and history.  Was I truly drinking from the same source a mighty Roman had drunk from 500 A.D.? 

Before departing for the trip, I vowed I would not buy one single plastic bottle of water and I didn't - in three whole months, that is.  Then it got me thinking, how many plastic bottles could I have used and how much waste would it have caused?  Not only waste, but how many environmental resources did I save? To top it off:  How much money did I save?  After a quick calculation -  based on at least 1 bottle + €2 per day - I saved approximately  €180.00 which allowed me to eat more  delicious food, let me tell you; not to mention seeing more exquisite pieces of art in the myriad of museums!