Chasing Chickens through a Sunny Pasture

Through trials and talks, I’ve discovered that Vitamin D is important – as a breast cancer survivor and as a human than can run a little low on energy.  I’ve felt a boost of energy after taking a multi-vitamin with a hefty amount of Vitamin D.  However, after a long winter, my blood work still shows a deficit, and I’ve been told to take an additional supplement.  I bought the bottle and I occasionally remember to take it. During a sugar detox at the Y a couple years ago, the nutritionist was over-the-top excited about the health benefits of eggs.  According to the National Institutes of Health, eggs are one of our few food sources with natural Vitamin D – ranking just after fatty fish (salmon, tuna, swordfish, etc.) and beef liver.  Most foods that rank high in Vitamin D have been fortified with this nutrient.  The nutritionist suggested eating chickens that had seen the light of day most of their lives, as well as eggs from the same sun-drenched hens.

In pursuit of Vitamin D, I now try to have eggs more frequently – including the yolk, where the Vitamin D lives.  And, reflecting on the nutritionist’s suggestion, I switched to eggs produced by happier chickens.  Free-range or even organic chickens sounded good.  Then I saw the word “pastured” to describe eggs.  Let’s just say there are chickens surviving the bad life, many living some version of the not-as-bad life, and finally, those that are wandering free on idyllic pastures pecking away at grass and bugs.

According to a study by Mother Earth News, chickens who graze on grass and eat bugs in a sunny pasture produce eggs with 4 to 6 times the amount of Vitamin D as the traditional eggs we find in the supermarket.  Given the science of how Vitamin D is produced -- I think of it as human photosynthesis: a touch of the sun’s ultraviolet rays sets off the creation of Vitamin D in our bodies -- it seems logical that these sun-bathed flocks would have more Vitamin D in their legs and their eggs.

On occasion, if my grocery run includes Whole Foods, I’m grabbing a dozen “pasture-raised” eggs.  “Cage-free organics” are $3.69 a dozen.  “Pasture-raised” from Vital Farm's  “girls on grass, free to forage” are $7.69.  I won’t buy the Vitamin D supplement any more.  And, perhaps less meat?  And, I will keep these pastured gals in mind...

(From National Geographic website. Photo of the Day:  Chicken Farm, Pennsylvania. Photograph by Peter Essick) 

Note that this is a photograph, not a painting.

 If only a chicken could smile.

Save an Albatross: Twist Caps Back onto Bottles

Living in colonies on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, adult Laysan Albatross skim the water to catch fish which they regurgitate to feed their young.  Floating on the surface, small items like bottle caps are scooped up and fed to fledgling albatross – who cannot live with plastic trapped in their stomachs.  An estimated five tons of plastic are fed to young albatross annually. The Midway Atoll is located nearly 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii; 3,400 miles from California; and 4,700 miles from Asia.  These albatross are feasting on bottle caps originating thousands of miles away.

Often I pause over the recycling bin with a bottle in one hand and a cap in the other: Are the caps recycled on or off the bottles?  We are making better choices with limiting plastics we consume and with recycling those that make their way into our home, but how can I keep caps from ending up on the Midway Atoll?

According to Hiltz Hauling & Recycling, the curbside hauler in Marblehead, MA, bottle caps can be recycled on or off the bottles.  Hiltz delivers recycled items to Casella Recycling in Boston and plastics are sorted by type using computerized optical sorters: cameras, lights, and air jets.

When the plastics are transferred to mills, where they will become new products, they are further sorted.  In a relatively new process, plastic is finely shredded, cleaned, and placed in float tanks where the materials are separated based on whether they sink or float.  Specifically, the cap material, polypropylene (PP), floats and  bottle material, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), sinks.

With this advanced sorting float/sink process, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) has set guidelines for recycling caps: twist them back onto the bottles.  However, the APR points out that this process is relatively new and that it may take a while for all communities to adapt to the “cap-on” guideline.

From earth’s perspective, if caps can’t be screwed onto bottles, then they shouldn't go into our recycling bins but rather in the trash.  Since the caps are so small, they are apt to become litter during transport.  And possibly breakfast for an albatross.

Source websites:

Earth 911, May 1, 2015

Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, May 1, 2015

Marblehead Recycling Guidelines, May 1, 2015

Hiltz Single Stream Recycling Guide, May 1, 2015

The Association of Post Consumer Plastic Recyclers, May 1, 2015

 

Beauty Tips

It may or may not surprise you that I do not read the “beauty tips” sections in magazines.  I’ve accepted the adjective ruddy to describe my natural complexion. I use a day moisturizing cream called “age-defying.”  Because I choose to believe the title.

Before I garden, I may or may not throw on some sunscreen.  My Vitamin D runs a little low nowadays, so sometimes I want an uninterrupted one to two hour hit.  I love seeing my freckles pop out from my ruddy complexion after a Vitamin D session.  I think I look a little feisty.  Beware a redhead with freckles.

When my eyelashes grew back after chemo, they stuck straight out, reminding me of a pointer dog.  After reading about this phenomenon in a blog post back then called Hair Moments, my neighbor appeared at my door extending an eyelash curler to me.  It has been one of the best beauty tips, most thoughtful gifts, and most hideous torture tools I've ever received.  And I think of her fondly for 16 seconds every morning as I give each set of eyelashes a firm upward 8-second grip.

In that same post, I referenced the re-appearance of my post-chemo eyebrows in a much lighter tone.  Five years later, they are still light, so I rely on an eyebrow pencil to give them color.  Some women won’t leave home without a splash of lipstick.  I won’t leave home without eyebrow color.  Every day.  And, because it’s every day, the application isn't always consistent.  Some days I see Grandma Murphy’s un-symmetrical brows appear.  The only recovery from this is to completely cleanse the brow palate and pull focus to re-apply.

Until our spring break trip, I varied the darkness of the eyebrow color application.  Perhaps a little lighter during the day, maybe adding more color for evening.  Or when I am fairly freckled, adding a bit more color thinking my face can hold it.  Getting ready to go out for dinner one night in St. Martin, Liam was nearby as I added color to my eyebrows.

“Do you do that so you look meaner, Mom?”

So in my effort to look striking, I look like I’m about to strike.  More eyebrow color must make the “Mom look” more intense.  Not my intent.

We added this to the list of "things-you-never-say-to-a-girl."  And, I go easier on the pressure of the pencil.

My beauty tips come from unconventional situations and memorable people.