Current blog update

New note about comments: Comments are moderated (so are only posted if I give them permission to be posted) and only open to registered users. Any post with links in it will be deleted (sorry I had to do this a while back but I was getting so much spam by companies who just want to advertise on my blog). Thanks for understanding :)

If you are not a registered user and have comments/questions, or if you have questions on environmental issues or crafting, please e-mail me at solarkatsecoblog@yahoo.com. Please note it may take several days to answer (I only check my eco blog account every few days, because of time constraints).

Please note (edited to add more information): I am no longer accepting emails from companies selling (emailing about their own) products, because of the amount of spam, ads, demands (a lot of companies demanded that I post 'good' reviews about their products or about their company), multiple emails from companies (usually asking for 'good' reviews), etc. Just thought I should mention that I have never accepted (and never will accept) free goods in exchange for 'good' reviews (or free goods for ANY review). Solarkat's Eco Blog is my personal blog, a place for my own thoughts about a variety of mostly green related topics (I only review and plug about companies that I am a customer of).

In the past several years I have received a few very nice emails from business owners who did not push their products or ask for 'good' reviews, but just wanted to let me know they liked my blog (they are readers of my blog, who are also business owners. Some of them even plugged Solarkat's Eco Blog on their own blogs, and I am a customer of a few of these businesses too). I did not mean those business owners in the paragraph above. I don't mind business owners who email me to comment on blog posts, but the majority of emails I am now getting from companies are trying to push their products and also spam multiple times. A few companies emailed me to let me know about their lines, but they were very professional and not pushy/demanding etc. The paragraph above was not directed at them either, but because the spam etc I get from the majority of companies who email me, I am sorry but I am no longer accepting emails from any companies emailing about their own lines. Thanks for understanding!

Emails from non-profit environmental organizations are still welcome :) I may or may not post or respond to all the environmental organizations who email me, but I still read those emails and appreciate organizations who let me know about eco-related topics. Thank you to all the non-profits who have emailed me!

Also A LOT of the old entries are not in the links section yet. There are over 200 entries on this blog, so most links to old posts are not posted on the right side of this blog. If you can't find what you need either read the archives by month, do a search in the search engine box at the top of the blog, or you may ask me a question through the comments or email. :)

What's new:

July 14, 2010New post on eco living. Also a post on a solar energy video with Larry Hagman. I need to post a lots of other things too.


May 10, 2010post about newest eco living article.

May 9, 2010Answered some comments on brown sugar scrub shelf life, freezing aloe, and testing cosmetics for bacteria and fungi.
I am working on an entry on climate change, and will post some info on the recent oil spill too.





Cheers!
Li

Larry Hagman solar energy video

I have a lot of things to blog about (it's been a super busy summer, especially crafting for myself and also my business). But I just thought I'd post this link since I thought it was awesome.

I don't know much about the background of this solar company (Solarworld) aside from what I've read on their own website (they are supposed to be one of the biggest solar energy businesses). But they have an ad with Larry Hagman (I used to watch Dallas with my mom when I was a kid, and also loved watching reruns of I dream of Jeannie too).

Here is the link to Hagman's video on solarworld's website. I thought it was clever getting him to do their ad (because of Dallas and the character he played) to inform the public about solar energy.

I think that 'Shine baby shine' is much better than 'drill baby drill' ;P

I'm not a home owner yet, but I want to get solar panels on my house when I buy one in a few years so need to research about them more (not really about the basics of solar energy and how it works--I've studied that in school--but I need to eventually research more on best options on buying solar panels for houses etc).

New eco living post

My newest eco living article is up on anb mall's site. This month my article is on summer skin care tips for sun burn, sun protection and hydration.

Last month's eco living article was on laundry and also paper tips.

Hope you enjoy! :)

Eco Living Papaya Mask (All Natural Cosmetics/Make it yourself)

My newest Eco Living article was posted a few days ago! It is a recipe for a papaya mask (I was talking to S on garden of wisdom's forum about papayas recently, so decided to do this month's eco living article on a papaya mask). This mask will leave the skin soft and smooth! I hope you enjoy the recipe :)

Comments on brown sugar scrub shelf life; freezing aloe; and testing cosmetics for bacteria/fungi (All Natural Cosmetics/Make it yourself)

So it's been a long time since I've answered comments. (I have about 80 comments to sort through, most of which are spam, though there are a few real comments in there). Below I have answered the most recent (if I have time I will sort through the really old ones, but some of them are many months old, so not sure if I post the answer if the original poster will see it, though it may be of interest to new posters). If you previously posted a comment and I did not answer it, thank you and I am sorry.


Here is a comment from my old brown sugar scrub post

Question on brown sugar scrubs:

I've made a body scrub and have used dried herbs and vanilla extract and peppermint extract (food grade). Do you know what the shelf life would be for these? Thx.

All the ingredients used are:

1) Raw Sugar
2) Grapeseed Oil
3) Olive Oil
4) Aloe Vera Gelly
5) Maple Syrup
6) Fresh Rosemary (dried)
7) Chamomile Flowers (dried)
8) Peppermint Extract (food grade)
9) Vanilla Extract (food grade)

My answer

Hi NH, thanks for posting :) Shelf life would only be a few days (maybe a couple weeks if you are careful, though it could go bad in days) since you added aloe gel and maple syrup. The food extracts contain a little alcohol (which is a natural preservative) but you'd have to use A LOT of alcohol (much too much for a scrub) to preserve it, so the amount of alcohol in the extracts (used in low concentrations) would not be enough to preserve it. Please be sure to use a spoon or spatula to scoop it out of the container to keep it fresher longer. In addition, do not store in the bathroom or a humid area (which will decrease shelf life even faster). For a good shelf life, you may want to add a broad spectrum preservative (like Geogard Ultra, which is an eco cert approved preservative). Or just omit the aloe gel and maple syrup next time. If you still wanted to use aloe in a future scrub, try aloe oil (which is aloe that has been infused in an oil). Hope that helps!

Question on freezing aloe vera:

This comment was posted under the Herb info: Aloe vera (Natural Skin Care)" entry.

I would like to know how freezing aloe leaves affects the plant and its properties. Can they be thawed out and used topically with the same results?
Thanking you.

My answer:

Hi WF

Thanks for posting :)

I am not sure, I have never frozen an aloe leaf before. I think it would be best to take the gel out of the aloe leaf and then refrigerate the gel or freeze it to prolong shelf life. You can add potassium sorbate to it, but that is only a good anti-fungal and a poor anti-bacterial, so it is not a broad spectrum preservative (most companies add this to packaged aloe. Personally I would add geogard ultra or another preservative (geogard is a broad spectrum preservative so would protect against a wide range of bacteria and fungi, and shelf life would be at least a few months or longer)). Aloe (when you buy it from a company) is packaged in clean sanitized conditions and for several weeks/month can sit on the shelf unopened, but once the consumer opens the bottle and handles the aloe, the potassium sorbate won't be able to preserve it for long. So if you prepare/process the aloe yourself, and add potassium sorbate to aloe, it may or may not be able to keep it fresh for a long time (and it would only protect against fungi and not bacteria).

Question on testing cosmetics:

This comment was posted under the current blog update.

I've been a long-time reader of your blog, and I've gained so much from it, not least discovering AV-AT (and their amazing essential oils) and Monave - thank you for your wonderful blog!

Congratulations on starting up your business!! So exciting! I'm de-lurking because I'd love to know more about something you mentioned... in your post on the Earth Alchemie blog about Geogard, you wrote that you do your own simple bacteria and fungus tests at home - I'd love to know more about how to do this myself! Can you point me to a reference? I was wondering, do you just use the Chek-It tests from Snowdrift? I come from a science background too (though not a lab science), and I understand it's not as good as a challenge test in the lab - but I'd love to be able to collect a bit more data myself before forking out the $ to send a batch to a lab!

My answer:

Hi P

Thanks! You're very welcome :)

I do not use Snowdrift Farm's check it kit, I buy the supplies from a biology supply company (less expensive), but their kit is a good way to start out with (gives you everything you need, with instructions). These tests would only indicate if there is bacteria or fungi in a batch. It would not tell you what kinds of bacteria or fungi, or how much is in it. Also I'd imagine there may be some kinds of bacteria and fungi that may not grow very well on the plates, though a wide range of bacteria or fungi will grow on agar plates (depending on the types of agar used). So it not as good as what a lab can do, but I still do them anyways because it is still a good indicator if an ingredient or product has gone bad. Many small companies do not even conduct basic tests). If you didn't want to do the tests yourself, Cindy Jones from Sage script does them for a reasonable fee.

Recycling information (Environmental Issues)

Someone asked about recycling on my forum, so I thought I would post the information I wrote there on my blog too (slightly edited).

Recycling not only saves energy but it reduces waste. Though recycling takes some energy and water use (to melt the plastic or glass down etc; everything has an impact), less energy etc is used when recycling compared to making new materials from scratch. In addition, less waste goes into the landfill (many landfills do not have much room left, and there isn't much place to put things).

Everything makes an impact, but the goal of recycling and being 'eco-friendly' is to create less of an impact.

Here are some links from governmental, school, and organization websites.

The EPA's (Environmental Protection Agencies) information on recycling

Recycling information from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Energy Quest is a site for kids but there is a lot of good information, eco living tips, and also some stats on this site. Also contains good links to many other sites. It is by the California Energy Commission.


A bit of info about recycling from Stanford university. Contains information on how much energy is saved.

This was from a magazine. I am not sure how accurate some of the stats are (not sure who wrote it) but it was interesting since it showed how much energy is saved. Super interesting is that it's from Popular mechanics magazine

Eco Living article updates (Environmental Information, Green Living)

I haven't posted about my Eco Living articles in a while!

My last Eco Living article was posted on anb mall's website earlier this month. It is on a few quick eco living tips (just in time for Earth Day!). I love the concept of Earth Day but I think that everyday should be Earth Day ;P so these tips are good steps to live a more green lifestyle every single day :)

My february article was on simple ways to donate. I wrote it after the aftermath of Haiti.

My March article was a recipe for a simple apple mask. I love apples in skin care, they mildly exfoliate and provide the skin with lots of nutrients!

Enjoy!

Happy Chinese New Years! (Chinese astrology information)

Happy Valentine's Day! Also Happy Chinese New Years! Xinnian kuai le!

Today is the start of Chinese New Year, and this year it falls on Valentine's Day :) This year is the start of the year of the metal tiger!

One of my interests is chinese astrology (I am an amateur when it comes to Chinese astrology. My sister is very advanced in western astrology though). I think it is very interesting and I am getting better at guessing what year people are born. Though astrology is about potential and not set in stone, it amazes me how eerily accurate it can be at describing the personality traits of people. Here are the websites of some of my favorite Chinese astrology authors.

Shelly Wu's is a chinese american astrologer. She just updated her site, so has many horoscopes for the year of the metal tiger :) She also has a new book out called 'The definite book on chinese astrology", which I need to get!


Sabrino Liao also writes Chinese astrology books (but as of this writing, she hasn't updated her website for the new year yet. Hopefully she will update it soon).

I also like Suzanne White. She has chinese astrology and western astrology books; and she has a book where she has combines both Chinese and western astrology(to me it makes sense in combining them). Her site is updated for the new year too! :)

Man-ho Kwok's book 'Chinese Astrology: Forecast Your Future from Your Chinese Horoscope' goes a little more in depth than most other astrologers. I don't know if he has a website or not.

Theodora Lau's book Handbook of Chinese horoscopes is one of the first books on Chinese astrology I read. I only have the older editions of her books though so may get the updated version soon but some people on amazon mentioned the older editions are more in depth. Not sure if she has a chinese astrology site or not (I found a website that I think is hers, but it is only an index page and mentions that her book is in the newest print).

My store: Earth Alkemie!

I am so excited!

My skin care and mineral makeup company is finally open! :) Please check it out!

I have named my company Earth Alkemie, which I think is accurately describes my philosophy and how I feel about plants!

I won't be posting about my cosmetic line on this blog (since Solarkat's Eco Blog is my personal blog, and I am keeping my business and personal hats separately ;P), but I just created a blog for Earth Alkemie, where I will be posting sales and news etc. (I am having a sale right now so read EA's blog for more details!) :)

Last EA link: Earth Alkemie also has a forum

Hope you like my aromatherapy & herbal based skin and hair care, and mineral makeup!

Cheers!

Li

Edited: April 18th, cut and paste from my 'current blog update': I got a couple of comments on the entry about my skin care business; thank you for the comments :) I am sorry :( but I can't make product suggestions for my line on Solarkat's Eco blog (that is also why I did not allow those comments to be posted), because I don't want blogger to close down this blog (a few crafters on a forum mentioned that blogger closed down their personal blogs with no notice, when they plugged their own store and had a lot of pictures to their lines on their blog). I do not want this to happen to my Eco blog (I love blogger and want to keep using it!). If you have questions please post on Earth Alkemie's forum or email me (using my business email, which is listed on my website). Thank you for understanding!