Although our skin should be self moisturizing and naturally contain sufficient oil and water to keep it in top condition, moisturizers have never been so popular. Let’s ask Mrs Everybody how people survived before moisturizer was invented? I’m sure that she will eventually get round to telling us.
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For most people moisturizers should be not be necessary because sufficient oil, secreted from the sebaceous glands in the form of sebum will attract water from within the body. These compounds then react with an emulsifier which we naturally produce in the skin, cholesterol, forming a protective film known as the hydrolipid mantle. Cholesterol isn’t all bad. This oily mantle in the upper layer of the skin, if you like, our own personally formulated and produced moisturizing film, works like a team of night club bouncers by allowing water, toxins and carbon dioxide to leave the body while keeping water and pathogens from entering the body and infecting the skin.

Cold press plant oils, such as argan oil, oilve and sesame oil have been the most precious of commodities since trade began.

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However in a person with a dry skin type, the hydrolipid mantle of the skin lacks sufficient oil to bind sufficient water to keep the skin moist. This may be worse in areas of the skin where there are no oil glands such as on the lips. Without the proper management dry skin can look dull flaky and cracked, and feel uncomfortable, itchy and tight. Dry skin is less able to perform its protective functions and as the structure deteriorates, the skin becomes more prone to sensitivity, allergic reactions, infections and premature aging. Like you wanted to hear that bit!
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Dietary factors almost certainly play a role in the quality of our skin, as the water and oil present in our skins should originally find its way in our body as food. Certain vitamins, minerals and oils are essential for healthy skin. The skin likes it when we eat Vitamins A, B5, C, E, F; the minerals zinc, copper, sulphur; essential fatty acids; and various other oily compounds from the plant kingdom.
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It is best if we can obtain the nutrients through our diet, but if no balance can be obtained between diet and any environmental factors which disturb the hydroliphic mantle of the skin – our frequent hand washing and use of oil stripping detergents, it is necessary to apply oil from the outside. The ancient civilizations in Egypt, Sumeria, Babylon, Crete, China, and later the Greeks and Romans always used cold pressed vegetable oils, but nowadays using oil seems to be the exception. Oil use continues across Arabia and India, well and pretty much where ever oil bearing plants and humans are found on the planet. Luckily, if the diet does not contain sufficient oil, cold pressed plant oil can supply the skin with crucial oil compounds, helping the skin to build its natural protective film.
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Moisturizers were only mass produced at the beginning of the last century after scientists had begun synthesizing oils with long names in laboratories, often using base ingredients we would not normally put on the skin such as petroleum oil, pig fat, lard, fish and whale oil. Scientists also had to get busy and synthesize emulsifiers and preservatives too, because most commercial moisturizers, besides containing synthetic oil and water, will have to contain these too. The emulsifiers enable the oil and water to bind together, and as soon as water is added to a cosmetic, preservatives become necessary.
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Cold pressed plant oils contain their own natural preservatives. Nearly all of the emulsifiers and preservatives used in commercial cosmetics are artificial. Moisturizers contain water in order to add water from the outside of the skin, but the hydolipid mantle while allowing water and water soluble toxins out of the body, will not let water in. I am glad about that, because if I went for a long soak in the bath, I might end up the shape and consistency of a water balloon. The water in moisturizer evaporates and doesn’t penetrate the skin. The skin uses water from the inside the body.
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After the widespread adoption of commercial soap and the more recently acquired habit of showering or bathing in hot chlorinated water everyday, the moisturizer industry took off. Many people have subsequently forgotten about the virtues of oil for reducing dry skin. Yet all across the world in rural areas, households are equipped with mill stones and women proudly make their own oil. I am currently keeping an eye on my olive tree, but it is only three feet tall!
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Tips for managing a dry skin
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1/ Exfoliate the layers of dead skin. It is impossible to moisturize dead, flaky skin. Use exfoliating soap such as savon noir to make the exfoliation more effective.
2/ Introduce strip washing as the primary washing method, showering or bathing once a week. The idea here is to retain your natural oils and to reduce your exposure to chlorine, known to dry skin.
3/ Reduce the temperature of the water used in washing. It is best to wash the face with cold water. Yes, I thought you’d like that one!
4/ Replace conventional soap with rhassoul clay. Spend longer massaging very dry areas of skin with clay while washing. This really does make a huge difference.
5/ Try using a cold pressed natural vegetable oil, also called a carrier or base oil rather than a moisturizer on the body. Experiment with different oils until you find one you like. Begin with oils that you would accept as food ingredients, i.e. ones which are still named after the plants they are made from. Oils rich in linoleic acid (a compound found in natural plant oils) are very beneficial for dry skins and they include safflower oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ oil or argan oil. A cold pressed plant oil is rich in vitamins, some of which act as powerful antioxidants. Then there are the essential fatty acids which we can not make in the body. The level of moisturization of the skin is directly proportional to the levels of essential fatty acids in the skin. Plant oils also contain unsaturated oils which are anti-microbial helping to prevent common skin infections and components called unsaponifiables, so called because these fats can not be used for making soap. These are the super antioxidants.
6/ If you must use a formulated moisturizer, choose one which contains natural oils over synthetic oils. Synthetic oils have really long unpronounceable names and don’t sound very appetizing. Avoid skin products containing petroleum, mineral oil, liquid paraffin, Parafinnum liquidum, these are all the same thing. Petroleum oil is cheap ingredient, a by product of the petrol refining industry. The skin can not assimilate petroleum oil. This oil is widespread in baby products (baby oil), moisturizers, lip moisturizers and it is even fed to cats to help with fur ball problems. Brushing the cat is the kindest way to help it make fur balls. Petroleum oil produces a temporary moisturising effect, however prolonged contact is implicated in destroying the natural oily barrier of the skin, in destroying the vitamins needed by the skin, and guess what, in causing dryness and rashes. I think I had one once around my mouth. Petroleum oil can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which are potential human carcinogens. If you really can’t contemplate the switch from moisturizer to oil, then try making your own moisturizer with a plant oil! Keep anything oily in glass bottle or jar, as oils will leach plastic.
7/ Moisturize face, neck and hands with a well absorbing oil as often as necessary. Argan oil is the finest and fastest absorbing oil of which I know and the highest in antioxidants. Clicking here will give you a chance to read more about argan oil and to purchase some. New moisturizers are hitting the shops everyday, often with dubious, untraceable and partially tested ingredients. Humans have had thousands of years to work out which how best to hydrate the skin with oils. Among the Phoenicians, the sea traders from the Bronze Age, (active from about 3200 years ago) there was a booming trade through the Moroccan port of Essaouira in precious argan oil and urns of olive and sesame oil were rowed and sailed all over the Mediterranean.
8/ Investigate how dietary improvements such a Palaeolithic, raw food, macro-biotic, vegetarian, vegan or alkaline diets can provide nutrients essential for healthy skin. Or just eat your normal diet with oily fish twice a week, walnuts and other foods rich in healthy oils being sure to obtain the right balance of omega fats. Reducing exposure to alcohol, smoking, sugar and refined foods will help. It would help me too!
9/ Protect your hands from water, detergents and soaps. Once the natural sebum is stripped it takes the skin between 5 and 8 hours to naturally restore the hydrolipic balance. Luckily, the skin has the good sense to accept cold pressed plant oils when they are applied externally and put them to good use. Become an expert in using your chosen oil. Work out the minimum you need and when best to apply it. For example if you apply to much moisturizer or oil on the face at night, then the skin will have trouble getting rid of water and the skin under the eyes will appear puffy in the morning, inversely if you apply less than you need, then the skin will still feel taught in the morning. It’s a question of finding the right balance and only you can work it out. Most people prefer a fine (very free flowing oil) which can be rapidly absorbed by the skin and one which agrees well with the facial skin, whether using make up or not.
10/ Before putting anything on your skin or anyone else’s skin, get out your magnifying glass and read the label. If it contains a long list of chemical ingredients think twice before using it. Nearly one half of the emulsifiers used in conventional cosmetics have caused skin reactions, and many of the preservatives used in conventional moisturizers have been reported as carcinogens. Be aware that chemical products don’t just pollute the bodies of humans, but they also end up in the water sources and indirectly contaminate the planet. Vegetable oils will quite happily biodegrade.
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What is clear is that before the use of moisturizer, oil was used for skin care. Millstones, necessary for oil production appeared during the Neolithic period, when agriculture took off about 9000 years ago. Oil rich seeds might need milling for eight hours before a single litre of oil is expressed. Oil production, even involving a millstone is a very labour intensive. Hand milling was the in thing until machine presses were invented several hundred years ago, and still much oil production around the world is conducted at the household level using a stone mill. Oils could in theory be made with a more basic pestle and mortar type tool kit, but again, it would have been even more work, so if oils were produced before the Neolithic, then it must have been in very small quantities for more or less immediate use. Earlier than this, it would seem more likely that the whole of the oil bearing seed of the plant part would have been pulverized and used rubbed on the skin, but it could be a little inconvenient for some of us today if we do not have our own gathering range. Primates extract their own plant oils directly by rubbing their skin against the plant source. Certainly through much of the Ice Age, the population must also have made use of animal fat such as goose fat, as much as for insulation and water proofing as well as for keeping the skin supple. While this would impose difficulties for the majority of us city dwellers, we can be grateful that cold pressed plant oil also comes in bottles.
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Further resources
The Cosmetics Safety Data Base provides a search feature on the toxicity of common cosmetics ingredients.
Smeh, Nikolaus, 1994, Health Risks in Today’s Cosmetics: The handbook for a lifetime of healthy skin and hair, Alliance, VA

Tiny Gardens for Birds & Bees?

Mrs Everybody has been in her tiny front garden. She is not the only visitor. Passing bees hum around the flowers and birds stop to lie down, eat or just stand around here… It is a green, flowery and fragrant oasis.  Sadly it is one of the very few little green refuges along a car lined,barren, treeless street, hemmed in by paving slabs and concreted front gardens. A neighbour tells me that she has seen just one bird on the street in the last seven years. She should visit Mrs Everybody’s tiny garden, a few houses down more often. At the moment the bees are enjoying the hyacinth flowers, and few days ago a pair of blackbirds came visiting at the same time.

Mrs Everybody has been getting lost in thoughts in her tiny front garden. Mrs Everybody what have you been thinking?
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Primrose and grape hyacinth These plants are looking a bit friendly. I hope that they don’t hybridize. The grape hyacinth grows wild in East Anglia, this region. They have the most gorgeous, intense scent.

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‘My front garden is just over 9m². That’s pretty tiny. Reduce it further by a path, space for two recycling boxes and a water butt. Make sure in your mental image you leave room to swing the garden gate and step inside. They you have it, a table-cloth-sized, oh, and north facing front garden. Yet this little patch of ground is always green in the winter, and in the spring, cottage flowers, some British natives, so beloved of the village gardens, hedgerows and verges of my childhood are encouraged to run amok. I want to breathe the scent of the flowers and shrink down to their size to be among them. When other creatures and people pass by, I am happy for them to enjoy it in their own way.’

Imagine if every front garden was planted with native species all up and down the terrace rows in cities and towns. Surely planting a wild garden for bees must help avert the immediate threat to their survival? I am sure this is not a new idea. With International Down Shifting Week 18^th-24^th April, why not get organised, take up those slabs, bring in some topsoil and compost and go native? Just think of all those packets of British wildlife seeds on shelves, and spring plants in pots waiting to live and be nurtured!

Tip: While gardening, Mrs Everybody protects her hands with gloves. She washes her hands in soothing rhassoul clay and applies argan oil to her hands and nails afterwards! You can view the offer the rhassoul clay and argan oil offer if you like.

Recommendations: Give life back to a front garden (may be yours) this Downshifting week!

Other ideas for joining in the fun (and seriousness) of International Downshifting Week can be found here. Mrs Everybody would like to show you some plants from her tiny garden, all of which are much loved by bees. You can get many more ideas for bee friendly plants from this link at the Royal Horticultural Society.

More images:

Coltsfoot The coltsfoot, a British native herb appeared in the garden on its own and has naturalised. It is a truly weird plant. The flowers look a bit uptight in this picture, but I will get some more flattering photos of them!

Bleeding Heart I spotted this plant growing up the road in a 97 year old man’s garden, then found it in a pound shop. This plant is also truly weird and beautiful. Even the name is peculiar when you think about it a bit. What will they think of next?

Hyacinth and Cyclamen The hyacinths reflect light so intensely that they appear over-exposed compared to the cyclamen. The pink hyacinth seems awfully brazen. No wonder they act as magnets for birds and bees.

Cowslip and Hyacinth The cowslips are just beginning to flower!

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Would you like visit Mrs Everybody’s tiny front garden later on in the year to see what the plants, birds and bees have been up to?

STOP PRESS: Just as Mrs Everybody was making the final preparations to the blog, Mr Everybody called Mrs Everybody into the front room. ‘Listen,’ he whispered, ‘listen to the birdsong’ Unbelievable. A blackbird sat on Mrs Everybodys tiny garden wall and sang through the twighlight. He resolutely remained on the wall and sang for the evening as people, cars and cyclists passed. We hope that he comes again soon.

The videos and photos of this beautiful blackbird are a bit shaky and don’t do it justice, and the sound recordings aren’t much good. Lucky the blackbird left some other evidence!

What on earth is Earth Hour?
26th March 2009

Mrs Everybody has made an unpredictable diversion to get involved in Earth Hour. What on earth is Earth Hour? Mrs Everybody please explain!
Well, in all honesty, I only found out about this event yesterday, and it was only because a very sorted lady, Kathryn sat next to me in an IT training session. Yes, I have a lot to learn – like how to get my comment boxes working! Kathryn and I had some rapid conversations when we got the chance (probably while the ins and outs of comment boxes was being presented) and she asked me how I was celebrating this Earth Hour?

Participate in Earth Hour by turning off you lights at 8.30pm Saturday March 28th 2009

On Saturday 28th March, this Saturday, it is hoped that at least billion people will turn off their lights for at least one hour at 8.30pm as a signal that across the world people want effective and unified political action on climate change. The Global Climate Change Conference of world leaders in December will determine official government policies against global warming, replacing the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard. The votes, whatever they reveal, will be taken to the world climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.

Your contribution is only counted when you register on the http://www.earthhour.org/home/ website and when you cast your online vote and of course follow this up with your own action:

Leave lights on for no political action
Turn lights off as a call for political action

The Earth Hour movement started in Sydney in just 2007 with 2.2.million voters. Last year it went global with 50 million participants and the movement has possibly reached the point of critical momentum. It is hoped that more than 1 billion people will vote this year to take action on climate change. Ban Ki-Moon, the UN General Secretary has invited everybody in the world to participate. Please vote before Saturday March 28th!

The Earth Hour website gives suggestions for what you might do in the dark with your friends or alone and a chance launch a report, blog, video etc. Please e-mail your friends and let them know.

Notes: Book in for the IT seminar again to find out about comment boxes!
Thank Kathryn.
Get ready for 8.30pm this Saturday.

Strip washing with Rhassoul Clay in one of the World Tiniest Spaces (without turning it into a mud wrestlers changing room).

Mrs Everybodys new blog is all about reducing the environmental impact of living.

Strip washing, using a flannel and a basin of water to wash just the parts which need routine washing: face, neck, armpits, the nether regions and feet is one of the greenest ways of washing, saving litres of water and the huge energy costs in heating the water. When Mrs Everybody was a child, growing up in the sixties and seventies, strip washing at a sink was the way she washed every day. She had a bath once a week whether she needed it or not! Only the newly built houses had showers.

The other day Mrs Green, an avid clay user asked Mrs Everybody how she managed to strip wash with clay without creating a huge mess in the bathroom. Hmmm! She hadn’t actually had a strip wash since she had left home. Over to Mrs Everybody:

I had memories of luke warm water, soggy flannels, damp towels, a soggy carpet, a cold bathroom, and tepid water dripping up my arms. However this is 2009 and I had just brought my tiny downstairs shower room into commission. It is a warm room with hot water, a large mirror and good lighting. So location sorted. The tiny shower room with basin and loo was built on one side of my former galley kitchen where the hob had been located. So think small. Think aircraft loo and basin!

Well Mrs Green, this is exactly how I did it. I made up some rhassoul clay in a bowl, with a wooden spoon and hot water. While it was hydrating, I changed into my dressing gown in my bedroom and I brought the following things into the little room:
I took my watch and dressing gown off and noted the time. I had given myself 15 minutes for my first strip wash in about 25 years. I filled the sink (the size of a dinner plate) with hot water and hesitated. How indeed was I going to avoid making a huge mess?

Mrs Everybodys strip wash kit, towel, flannel, rhassoul clay, wooden spoon, pot, and alum crystal.

A towel, flannel, headband, hair clip (to keep long hair out of the way), my alum crystal, argan oil, and a mat to stand on, oh, and a fruit smoothy.

With my hair out of the way, I smoothed a fine layer of clay on my face and neck, some under my arms and then my nether regions. Rinsed my hands, and then massaged the clay on the face, underarms, and the other parts in that order, keeping the clay moist.

The clay started to dry around my eyes – the clay should always remain wet on the body, so I wetted the flannel in the hot water, wrung it well and placed it on my face. It gave me the loveliest feeling and somehow made me want to take up a yoga pose. I begun to consider how I could get into the tree pose, about the only pose possible in this space, while keeping the flannel on my face – then I remembered the time, plus strip washing is associated with austerity, not pleasure!

No mess so far, but now for the rinse. The sink was too small to fit my face anywhere near it and perhaps this is the key – I couldn’t rinse by the ’splashing technique’ but needed to use the flannel. So I stretched the flannel all across the face and with both hands drew it down, removing almost all the clay in one go. I rinsed the flannel and continued, removed the clay from the neck, remembering to clean behind my ears! By this time the water in the sink looked like a puddle which a tank had just driven through. I let the water out and refilled the sink, rinsing the under arms and all the other parts. On finishing, I let the water out of the basin, and wiped the basin out with the flannel (destined straight for the washing machine). The sink was cleaner than it had been in the first place, no splashes on the mirror. Zero mess.

I completed the wash by applying, some alum deodorant under the arms, argan oil on my face and nails, combed my hair and brushed my teeth. Time check: 15 minutes. However I realised that I forgot to do my feet. I will have to work on that!

In the meantime, with World Water Week coming up on March 22nd and with everyone wondering how we are going to save the planet from the carbon crisis – Why don’t you give it a go? Or, if you are already using clay and alum already in this way then share your insights here!

Tips: The Everybodys make the clay into the yoghurt like consistency, but some people may prefer it a little bit thinner, especially those with very hairy skin! Sometimes the Everybodys make up the clay for several days in advance, which is really helpful when they are in a hurry.

Technical Info: Mrs Everybody’s shower (not a power shower) releases 12 litres of water per minute, so that’s 120 litres of hot water for a 10 minute shower. For her strip wash she used just two small basins of water, total of 4 litres, that is 30 times less hot water than used in showering. Switching to strip washing will decrease her energy bills and carbon footprint. You will find a table showing you how to calculate your water flow on the Rhassoul and Alum Crystal page. For this water flow experiment you will need a bucket, a measuring jug and a watch or mobile as a timer. There will also be more about measuring water flow in the next blog.

Recommendations: Find out how Mr Everybody copes with clay in his beard and hairy arms.
Challenge others to strip wash and gather feedback and tips Take part in your own Strip Wash Challenge, buy Rhassoul Clay and Alum for £6.00
Check on how the journalists are getting on with their strip wash challenges. See the Very Lowest carbon Footprint Strip Washing Challenge to Journalists

Notes: Let’s find out how Mrs Green is getting on now that she has been challenged back!
Boudi the cat has remarked, ‘No comment for this challenge.’
Get the comment box working!

Mr and Mrs Everybody laughing at something.

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Hello World, Welcome to the Everybody’s Blog.

Let me introduce you to the Everybody family. Mrs Everybody runs Natural Spa Supplies, a company which encourages people to take up Green, Prehistoric or Tribal washing (hence our pen name). Mrs Everybody believes that many of the world’s best Green Living solutions have already been invented thousands of years ago and she wants to help people to rediscover them. Mrs Everybody uses the Archaeology and Anthropology bits in her education as her excuse for continuous research into traditional living. If you subscribe to this blog you may one day find yourself washing in clay!

Mr Everybody is an architect and builds eco-friendly houses. At least this is what he does when he is not helping Mrs Everybody. Oh, I nearly forgot. There is also the cat, who only has a first name, Boudi. She likes to help with the packing, especially when string is involved. Boudi has also been helping test some of the horn combs and she is desperate to tell you about them. However she is asleep at the moment. In the meantime we will publish the next blog about a very eco-friendly personal washing technique. We think everybody should know about it.

We hope that you will enjoy reading the blog and that you will make comments, subscribe to the RSS feeds (please don’t ask me to explain how they work to you) and share the ideas and links with your friends.

My thanks to Mrs Green of http://myzerowaste.com/ for her inspiration!

Yours truely,

Mrs Everybody (and Mr Everybody)

Mr and Mrs Everybody's volcanic alum deodorant

Mrs and Mr Everybody have been busy doing research on alum, a common ingredient used through the ages in the wool, paper and leather trades as well as in food, water and medicines. Nowadays alum is best known by consumers as a deodorant ingredient and it is the subject of many sweaty discussions on the Internet. Some journalists proclaim its wonders and other implicate the aluminium contained in alum deodorants it in the development of Alzheimers disease and breast cancer. Mr and Mrs Everybody wish to add some new points to the debate. Go for it Mrs Everybody.

It all started about four years ago when I proudly presented the yet-to-be Mr Everybody with a crystal deodorant stick made from ‘ammonium alum’ which I’d bought in a health food shop. The deodorant was promoted as pure natural mineral salts. We both thought, ‘This is neat!’ as we rubbed this rock under our arms. However, after a few months they didn’t seem to work so well. Mr Everybody’s under arms started to become itchy and then he suddenly discovered raw patches of skin in his arm pits and a rash spreading across his chest.

We stopped using the deodorant and I searched for the traceability of the key ingredient, ammonium alum on the Internet, expecting to find the sources of the natural ammonium alum mines. No results appeared. I continued to try over the next few days using the most creative of search terms. Still no ammonium alum mines. Not accepting defeat, I switched to using French search terms and the artificial source of ammonium alum became clear on the French web domains, as did the sources of natural volcanic alum … So may I present you with:

A summary of research…
More detailed research…
I bet you didn’t know these facts about alum …
How to reduce your aluminium exposure through foods…
How to deodorize very sensitive skin with volcanic alum…
Where to buy natural volcanic deodorant…

You will be glad to know that we have managed to source volcanically formed alum and Mr Everybody has made a complete recovery. His sensitive (or should I say sensible skin) has not reacted since he has been using the volcanic alum.

Freshly frozen redcurrants, blackcurrants and tayberries from a local pick-your-own farm.

Having munched their way through the blackcurrants growing in their own tiny back garden, Mr and Mrs Everybody decided to go foraging at a local Pick-your-Own.  As usual, Mrs Everybody likes to relate our behaviour to our evolution.

For the last 2.5 million years human ancestors have collected plant foods, including seeds, flowers, leaves, roots, bark, algae, as well as animals and insects. Hunter-gatherers tend to feast on foods as they become ripe in the season, as well as to a limited extent collect food for preservation for the lean winter months. Since our ancestors began to use fire some 1.7 million years ago, low tech preservation techniques such as drying and smoking were undoubtedly practised. Food could also be sun dried or frozen where the climate allows, and these preservation techniques can also occur naturally as well. Berries and nuts have always remained an important winter food because they are easy to preserve and they are classed among the super foods.

For us urban dwellers, who must for the most part content ourselves with foraging in shops, 90% of the fresh berries we buy are imported, although they easily grow in the UK through the summer and autumn. While the berries in supermarkets may look remarkably fresh after their several thousand mile air journey, they may have been treated with radiation, gasses and other undeclared mystery ingredients and packaging such as MAP – modified atmosphere packaging, to retain the appearance of freshness.

Once a fruit is picked it continues to respire as it still lives. The idea is that the tasty and wholesome fruit containing the living seed is eaten by a hungry animal. The little seeds pass through the intestinal tract more or less intact. The fruit eater effectively transports the seed in their body away from the parent plant, and eventually the still living seed may have a chance to grow into a new plant elsewhere. In this respect, fruit eaters and fruiting plants have evolved a symbiotic relationship. The fruits provide nutrition and the fruit eater helps the plant to spread through the habitat.

Seeds will not germinate easily nor grow well from irradiated foods, because many of the enzymes and vitamins are destroyed. Although irradiated food looks fresh, it has the impoverished nutritional value of cooked food. By eating irradiated foods we are breaking our deal with nature and robbing ourselves of nutrition.

Plants should be eaten while they are still truly fresh and alive and while they are in season, or naturally preserved. With so much information placed on food packaging, it is still surprising that fresh produce is not labelled with something useful – such as the date it was harvested and with the post harvest treatment processes. This would allow the consumer to make sensible choices about the real freshness and authenticity of that food.

When you pick-your-own, you know that the fruit is ripe, fresh and untreated, although I have not been able to locate an organic pick-your-own around here. By picking your own berries you can save about 75% on the cost of the supermarket prices, gathering enough fruit to enjoy straight away and some to store for later use. While berries are for most of us considered a luxury, in the past they were recognised as an essential food.

We have already frozen about 5kg of red currants, blackcurrant and tayberries, giving a 100g serving for 50 days. This will provide a real boon across the darkest winter months, when fortunately the oranges will also be in season. It was easy to freeze and bag 5 kilos of fruit on the same day as we picked them.

Fitting in with our evolution, berries should be part of our minimum 5-a-day. As fresh berries are available in the UK from June to October, we will need to store a lot more for the winter – raspberries, tayberries, blackberries and field strawberries will be available through August and we will definitely fulfil our foraging needs again next month. Unfortunately my freezer is pretty full already and I don’t own a chest freezer, so we won’t be able to store all the fresh fruit we would like. As I write, millions of berries are dangling on trees waiting to be picked and eaten.

Going to do pick-you-own for the first time? First find a local pick-your-own. This website is a good starting point. Go on click it! http://www.pickyourownfarms.org.uk/

•  Telephone the pick-your-own site beforehand to check what is in season, opening hours, regulations etc.
• Take your family, especially children and friends – in the past foraging was a collective activity.
• Wear sensible shoes because the ground is uneven and either old clothes, or dark clothes to prevent staining.
• At some pick-your-owns you can take your own containers, if not you will need to buy some empty punnets at the site. The containers should not be too deep or the delicate fruits will be squashed.
• While it is normally regarded as acceptable to taste one or two fruits while picking, please don’t feast in the fields. Pay for everything you pick first.
• Be prepared to process your fruit once you arrive home. Either eat the fruit straight away, or freeze it, sun dry it, or use it in recipes while the fruit is at its optimum freshness.
• Take some volcanically formed alum crystal with you. If you get bitten by an insect or scratched by thorns, wet the affected area with saliva and rub the crystal around and over the area for a minute or so to kill microbes and help the area to return to normal sooner. Click here to buy 3 alum crystals.
• Make plans to return later in the year as new produce becomes available.
• Be prepared for changes in the weather.
• Your tips for novice gatherers?

Mrs Everybody has finally got back to her blogging. She has been busy preparing her accounts. Now all her papers are in neat piles and Mrs Everybody is happy. Well quite happy. Mrs Everybody is a bit concerned about something…

‘On the return flight from the last research trip to Morocco, the air hostesses announced that they were spraying the cabin with insecticide. Then they did it. I sat flabbergasted in my seat holding my hands over my face, a rather futile gesture. Once the air hostess had performed her duty, I managed to read the ingredient on the empty bottle which it said had been approved by WHO, the World Health Organisation. The staff were concerned about using it and I promised the hostess with bloodshot eyes that I would look into it and if necessary publish something on it.’

Pesticides have been used inside plane cabins and holds for more than 45 years to help prevent the spread of yellow fever and malaria. Synthetic insecticides, mainly based on the pyrethroid family are the EU pesticides of choice although they are classed an irritant and dangerous for the environment. A typical aircraft cabin pyrethroid pesticide might contain something like, 2.9% pyrethroid by weight (pyrethroids masquerade under many different synonyms), 57.1% isoparaffinic solvent and 40% HFC R 134a propellant. In its most recent evaluation (2005) of the safety of pyrethroids used for aircraft ‘disinsection,’ that is the spraying of aircraft, WHO concluded, ‘paraesthesias and, in inhalation exposure, upper respiratory tract irritation, . . . may occur among aircraft passengers and crew after in-flight spraying and among crew after pre-flight spraying . . . [and] while they may cause transient discomfort, pyrethroids do not indicate or predict serious health effects.’ [Sutton et al., 2007, pg 346] Besides omitting many of the symptoms, the conclusion seems rather wishful.

Permethrin (a pyrethroid insecticide), the pesticide sprayed on the Everybodys while they were strapped in their seats, is a neurotoxin, and yes, it does kill insects but it is also highly toxic to bees, fish and aquatic systems. It is also used in dog flea treatments, insecticidal room sprays, timber treatments, in human medications as well as on stored grain. Permethrin and several other similar insecticides are highly toxic to cats and there is no antidote. Cats are often accidentally poisoned when pet owners use dog flea compounds on their cat, or when the freshly medicated family dog, or the dog’s bedding contaminates the cat. Pesticides such as Permethrin are sticky and traces will remain on clothes even when they are laundered with normal frequency over two weeks. After one spraying, traces have been found in a test room after two years. [Howell, J., 2006] As well as, or instead of regular in flight spraying, the whole of the cabin is sprayed at saturation levels about every eight weeks to give high residual levels. [Riley, B, 2002] About 90 countries allow the use of disinsection – whether they do it in front of you or before you board the airplane. Anyone who reads the label of any pesticide for indoor use can read the safety precautions to open the windows and vacate the room after spraying – however don’t try to take these precautions while flying.

It wouldn’t be surprising if many travellers or air hostesses experience reactions after the spraying – numbness, itching, tingling, burning eyes, memory loss, confusion, skin rashes, dizziness, diarrhoea and vomiting but do not identify the cause, because the poison becomes more effective in the body in the hours or days following exposure. Pesticides have also been linked to Parkinson’s disease, cancer and they have effects on the endocrine, reproductive and digestive systems. Permethrin can cause sever reactions in asthmatics and people with allergies and heart conditions. Permethrin has been found in breast milk, and flights will carry many nursing mothers and people of child bearing age and it takes about 12 days for the human body to eliminate this toxin. There seemed to be no necessity for the flight operators to openly inform the ticket holders that chemical sprays will be used, so they are allowed to mass medicate without out the travellers express permission or even prior knowledge. Most airlines will let you know about their mandatory and voluntary pesticide spraying practises if you ask them in advance, but there is little you can do to stop the spraying even if you carry a doctor’s certificate saying that you are likely to have an adverse reaction. I would avoid any discussion with the aircrew immediately before take off, because you will probably be removed from the plane. In the USA several airline staff have won claims after their health has been ruined through repeated spraying.

What are the alternatives?

The routine spraying of pesticides in airplanes has been banned in America in 1994 following reports of illness among air hostesses, and studies have subsequently shown that since the ban, rates of malaria and yellow fever caused by vector transfer (insect stowaways) has not increased. [Riley, B, 2002, pg 2] However a WHO report does provide some evidence from 1984 and earlier of ‘airport malaria.’ [Gratz et al. 2000, 997] DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food, Rural Affairs) has announced that Permethrin is due to be phased out and has been testing other pesticides. However it would be better if we could find a way to control insect stowaways without simply replacing it with another new chemical.

‘Air curtains,’ strong flows of air directed at doorways are effective at preventing insects entering airplanes [Sutton et al., 2007, pg 10] are present one of the most promising solutions, but there doesn’t seem to be any in current commercial use. I hope I am wrong! In tests, air curtains are more effective than pesticides in controlling insects stowaways.

In the meantime, wear a mask and head covering through the exposure, or bring a blanket to cover yourself with. Wash hands, exposed skin, and children’s toys after leaving the airplane. Get your clay out and wash you hair and body thoroughly once you get home. Wash all the clothes and blankets taken on the journey and the luggage.

Make a careful note of the product used, with the principle ingredient, the concentration and manufacturer details in case you do have a reaction to it after you have left the airplane. Permethrin, like all of the pyrethroids parades under several different names. There are about 70 synonyms for Permethrin running right through the alphabet, well A to W to be exact.

If you do have any reactions which you think may be linked to in cabin insecticide exposure, report it to you doctor, complain to the airline asking them to take action. Complain also to the manufacturer and make sure that it is logged and actioned. Photograph your reaction and keep a record of the flight number, flight times etc, all correspondence and communications. An international organisation call PAN UK or PANNA in the USA (Pesticide Action Network) provides briefings for victims of pesticide exposure. There are also lots of other organisations which run campaigns against pesticide use.

If you work on an airplane and think that you may be affected, keep a precise diary of your symptoms see your doctor, and keep seeing your doctor if there is no improvement.

Travel by train.

References:

Norman G. Gratz,1 Robert Steffen,2 & William Cocksedge, 2000, Why aircraft disinsection? Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2000, 78 (8)

Howell, J., after 2006, A tale of two cities – Safety testing in Britain and Germany, PAN International

Riley, B., December 1998 (updated June 2002), Flyers Beware: Pesticide Use on International and U.S. Domestic Aircraft and Flights, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.

Sutton, P.M., Vergara, X., Beckman, J., Nicas, M. Das, R, Pesticide Illness Among Flight Attendants Due to Aircraft Disinsection, American Journal of Industrial Medicne, 50:345-356 (2007),

In an earlier blog, Mrs Everybody mentioned how much hot water she could save making strip washing her primary washing method. She got quite excited at the prospect of reducing her energy bills, and remained somewhat stunned by the amount of water she had been wasting by showering or bathing each day. In this blog, Mrs Everybody is going to tell you some pretty easy, easy and even easier ways to calculate your current hot water usage according to your present washing system, and she’d also like you to read some info about water access across the world and watch a video of one very charming solution.

Mrs Everybody is trying to lift the water pot on her head. It's a struggle. Just as well this pot is empty because it would have gone all over the place!!

You will need a bucket with graduations, (or a measuring jug), a timer, calculator, pen and paper.

Method A: Easy with a calculator

1/ Place the bucket under the shower head or bath tap.

2/ Turn on the faucet for 20 seconds

3/ Measure the amount of water collected in litres

4/Multiply by x 3, to turn the litres into litres per minute.

5/ Multiply by the number of minutes it takes to shower, run a bath, or a basin of water.

This is your consumption of water (normally heated) in litres per minute.

6/ Multiply this by the number of showers or baths you take each week, month or year.

7/ Multiply by the number of people in you household to obtain the amount of hot water you currently heat for washing purposes each year. Sit down for this one! Try to imagine how much water this really is in weight, or how much storage space this amount of water might take up!

8/ Compare the amount of water used in the normal washing methods to the amount of hot water needed when strip washing is the primary washing system.

Method B for the mathematical whizz, pretty easy.

1/ If your hot water is produced by gas read the gas meter, or if by electric, your electricity meter

2/ Wash for 2 days using you normal method of showering or bathing and re-read the meter.

3/ Then wash for 2 days (get everybody in the house strip washing for 2 days) and re-read your meter.

4/ Compare the number of units used between using the normal and the strip washing method.

5/ It is possible with the energy bill in hand, a pen and calculator to work out the potential financial saving.

Method C – no calculation, even easier!

1/ Just introduce strip washing as you primary strip washing method and trust that you are reducing your carbon footprint and water heating costs!

Mrs Everybody’s shower releases 120 litres of hot water during a 10 minute shower. Imagine if Mrs Everybody had to actually fetch all the water used in her household? If her only water source was a stand pipe one kilometre from my home, and she could carry 25kg for this distance, (she can lift 25kg, but I’m not sure how far Mrs Everybody would manage to stagger with it) then for her ten minute shower Mrs Everybody would have to make this 2 kilometre roundtrip about 5 times a day. That’s only for her – imagine if Mr Everybody wanted a shower as well? Then off again, Mrs Everybody would then have to get more water for drinking, cooking, household cleaning, pets and livestock (just joking – she lives in a terraced house) and more water for gardening and maybe to help a neighbour. Thank goodness she only has a cat, a small garden and her neighbours have water.

Well this really is the point of United Nations World Water Day which comes to the fore on March 22^nd each year. While this date has just passed, still everyday, millions of people across the world do not have piped water in or even near their homes. It falls to women and children to make a journey, often several times a day, to buy water at a functioning water source and then carry, drag or wheel the water home. The cost of the water can amount to 1/10^th of the household income. When they do arrive at a stand pipe, it may not work and if the water is running there is bound to be a wait.

Some of the water can be collected from rivers if they are flowing, but then certainly in Africa, women and children are exposed to crocodile attacks and really nasty waterborne parasites. The importance of bringing water to the household means that young girls miss school, women spend their time collecting water rather than engaging in other more productive tasks. With all of the difficulties involved women tend to collect little more than absolutely necessary. When households have reliable and relatively easy access to a little as 25-40 litres of water each day, then women can set up home businesses and can take better care of their family’s health and nutrition!

25 litres of water is a sort of minimum for a person per day and many people do with far less than this. Typically about 12 litres of this water is used per person per day for washing. It is good just to be aware of this to put our own water use into perspective.

Recommendations: Mrs Everybody and Boudi the cat watched this video together. They think that you’ll like it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMs_Z80JYls&NR=1 You will see that the energy of happy playing children can be harnessed to pump water from boreholes! We don’t think that this infringes any child labour laws!

Challenge: Can you be a stripper too? How much water can you save by introducing strip washing into your washing routine? Take up the challenge using low carbon footprint volcanically formed rhassoul clay and alum crystal for just £6.00.