When Ulrika moved out she gave me a bunch of really nice things that she didn’t wanna bring with her… (Thank you!!) Among them were Urtekram’s aloe vera tooth paste. I’ve only used it for two days but I think it works really good and I am glad it doesn’t have flouride in it. It feels a bit strange at first to use a tooth paste that doesn’t make your mouth taste like menthol but the teeth feels clean and all good. The price for it is ca 37 kronor according to my google search and I am totally going to switch over to this full time once I’ve used up my old one.
Urtekram (click here to go to their website) is a danish company that has been making ecological & organic products since 1972. Their products are not tested on animals which is a big plus aswell. And the factories are run with no use of oil, and only wind power! And so on… they are pretty great.
The other week, before I got the tooth paste, I also decided it was time for me to try a new shampoo brand. I bought this one at a Life Store (Life is a health store chain in Sweden) because it was the only Urtekram shampoo available and I’ve heard much good about them before. And it’s been really really good to my hair! Not that the hair was bad before but it stays clean & not greasy for at least one day longer with this shampoo. Which I love since my hair takes a long long time to dry, looks shit if blow dried and I don’t wanna leave the house with it wet. I think it also curls a bit more now but that could be my imagnation. The shampoo was like 70 kronor if I remember correctly which is ca 700% more expensive than my last shampoo, the Coop X-tra… but that’s ok.
Head scarf - from my mom Bow scarf thing – is actually the shirt I wore underneat that has a bow collar 40s winter coat - second hand Vintage leather bag - second hand Boots – second hand
At the thrift store I found the books I mentioned wanting to read in my last book post and was very pleased with that. (though it’s no big surprise since she’s a fairly big writer in Sweden so her books are pretty much always at thrift stores here) They were 5 kr each.
Then Suss & I went into town so that I could force myself to do something I really dislike doing; buy underwear. I was cleaning out my underwear drawer this morning and realised I only had four pairs left that didn’t have holes in them, haha! Before I have had a vague plan that when I had run out of underwear I would have learned to sew my own but when I did try a few months ago the result was terribly crappy and now my sewing machine won’t sew for some reason. So I made my first thought through exception from the buy nothing plan. Though underwear and pantyhose have always been on the maybe allowed-list. Haven’t run out of either before though so I haven’t had to do it.
Anyway it was quite a pain underwear shopping. But now I have enough to last me a couple of years I’d say. (A few of the ones I sorted out today I remember buying at least six years ago, damn!)
This was also the first time I was really “shopping” in Göteborg, like going from one store to another actually looking for things and I strongly disliked it. I got stressed and annoyed and everyone else was annoyed but Suss was my hero for coming along with me! Otherwise I would have fled before entering the first damn Lindex. If you don’t go to stores in a while you do get really surprised at the intensity of the bad stressed mood people are in! Hopefully it will be another six years before I have to buy underwear again!! Though I doubt it, considering the quality. But maybe I will learn to sew nice underwear that don’t look like a cotton sack on my ass at some point.
My friend Mattias has started a little vintage shop on the blog THINGTAUR! If you like crazy photoshop and cute vintage/retro/nostalgia accessories I think you’ll love it! Everything is sold on Tradera which is like swedish eBay. Click the picture to go to the blog!
Here I am with a very uncomfortable camera smile trying to show how happy I was to find one of my favourite books at the thrift store for 10 kr. Boris Vian’s Autumn in Peking. I always look for his books when I go thrifting but this is the first time I got a hold of one! Before I only read my dad’s copies and it’s been like six or seven years since I read this book now. Happy!
Also got that hand knit collar thingie and a matching beret that will keep me warm through the winter. Didn’t take any good pictures of the collar though…
After taking these pictures I ate great food! A mushroom and lentil stew that Frej has made, sprouted beans & tzay. And lingonsaft.
Tzay is one of the best inventions ever. And bean sprouting is so easy! I will make a post on it some day when I get back from Copenhagen and can document the process.
Being in the audience of Debatt yesterday was fairly interesting though I wish I had been braver and said things when I actually had the chance… I have so much to say on this subject. Like: Why angle a program on consumption & climate to mainly putting blame on female shopping of small things when we all know that energy, cars & agriculture are the main things that make an impact on the environment. (Not saying that I want to excuse excessive consumption of things, I am not a consumer of new things myself and that is really a big relief for me to not have to be) Why make women into mindless shoppers & let the men debate the issues of carbon storage & rationing of carbon dioxide. Why reduce people to consumers and make them believe that their consumption power is more important than their very humanity & solidarity and the opportunity we have in the western world to actually get involved, and mainly: why even think about technical future solutions as the only option while we can watch the people of sub-saharan Africa, Haiti etc die right now before our very eyes due to man made catastrophes. I am sure they would not, if they ever had the chance to speak out on the matter, tell me that it was sinful of me to not be an excessive consumer since the money I’d bring society would have “inspired economical growth” and lead to the “technical advancements” (that the opposite side of the debate says already exists… if it did, isn’t this the proof that this system will not use technology to help people if they can not at the same time make a profit out of it) that would have been worth the cost of lives that could right now at this moment have been prevented if only it wasn’t for our greed and disgusting narrowmindedness.
So if I would have said anything there it would have been: do not make yourself less than a human by thinking that your consumption power is the only power you could ever really use because that is just embarassing… If you do believe that there will be a miraculous scientific revealation that will salvage us all and help, not only with the climate chaos but also with the soil shortage, the contamination by toxins, the energy crisis, the over fishing of the seas, the excessiveness of the life styles and the sprawl of the car dependant cities, the mass extintion of species which we yet do now have any idea of how the ecosystems manage without… then by all means be my guest to show me that you will implement those solutions that are possible to prevent all this right now, instead of hiding behind the possibility of a future when we’re on the brink of disaster also here in this part of the world and which would be when we’d all suddenly make everything right again (for us) Do not constantly cram it in to peoples’ heads that this is too advanced a question for them to deal with on a personal and political basis by getting informed & adapting their every day lives towards long term sustainability.
I would never want to look back on my life and say that what I did for the world was to chose climate-smart gasoline & ecological meat, or even that the only thing I ever did was to be a vegan who ran a vintage store & lived in a shared household instead of being the manager of a H&M, with a house of my own & a car. I am not mainly a consumer, I am an interested human being who want to get involved and learn things and I hope that people stop feeling like the consumer role is their main contribution because if we do think that then we’re all equally fucked.
Watch Debatt tonight on Climate Change and Consumption, 22.00 on SVT1. It’s going to be interesting (this is my favourite subject evar) and also I am in the audience along with Frej and my friend Linda so keep a lookout for us…!
I bought a 50s dress in dark green velvet and asian inspired silk bodice. It is my new love.
My flatmate Susanne is helping me with computer stuff now since my hands suck so hard and she’ll also help me update the site and such! I’ve gotten some support gear from the work therapist now, and also a hand specialist will look at it on tuesday so I’m glad something is finally done about this…
I’ve done my laundry with soap nuts instead of regular detergent in three or four rounds of laundry now and I think they are working fine. Just as fine as ordinary anyway, which is great – since they are a better environmental option in a lot of ways. (Though just as important is to not wash in warmer water than absolutely neccessary – often a garments biggest environmental impact is the energy needed to wash it throughout it’s lifetime)
IEverything I tried to wash out got clean, though I haven’t tried to get out any real bad staining yet so I can’t say how that’s working. Since they won’t give you allergies like chemical detergents, are better for the environment both in that they can be composted and that they are imported by boat by many of the people who sell them; while they do get things clean and good I’d recommend them warmly! Also they’re cheaper than regular detergent and really easy to use, you just put them in a little cotton bag or an old sock, in to the washing machine along with the laundry.
This is what they look like.
My mom had bought some from a different place and hers were harder and less soapy feeling. Hers also had instructions on how you could make your own shampoo with them.
I read up on the internet and some people seem to have a bit of trouble getting them to work and that it might be an issue when you’ve got hard water. They said that they had better experiences with something called EcoBalls.
Since we’re living in a society where it’s apparantly totally okay to produce goods that is hazardous to ourselves and our environment and not tell us about it, I think we have some sort of obligation to educate ourselves in what it is we are buying and what is in the products.
Sometimes it’s really hard to get the information but at least in the market of cosmetics and other so called beauty products there is The Cosmetic Database where you can easily research products before you decide on your purchase, or check the ones you are using to know if (how much…) they are hurting your body and surroundings. Make up and body products are, as well as clothes which you should also be careful with when it comes to chemicals, something you have in direct contact with your skin for long periods of time, often every day. So it’s worth taking your time to research what you are using and consider if it’s really worth it at all.
Quick example of searching for Max Factor which was the first I could think of. Then they will also list what chemicals is in each product produced by the company.
Ingredients used by this brand [are linked to]: Cancer
Developmental/reproductive toxicity
Violations, restrictions & warnings
Allergies/immunotoxicity Other concerns for ingredients used by this brand: Neurotoxicity
Endocrine disruption
Persistence and bioaccumulation
Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
Miscellaneous
Multiple, additive exposure sources
Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)
Enhanced skin absorption
Contamination concerns
Occupational hazards
Biochemical or cellular level changes
i'm Karin, I'm 23 & live in Göteborg in Sweden. I run a vintage shop called Lily of the Valley. I like antique things, I buy way too many books with the last cash I own, I like drinking tea though I recently quit caffeine, I am interested in body modification, art, knowledge and Frej. I am a vegan and pretty involved in environmental issues. I've studied human ecology and CSR, going on to environmental revisioning this fall.
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