In a Nutshell

Parents sometimes wonder how to approach the subject of menstruation with their kids. Here is an example of a starting point for this discussion. More or less information will be required depending on the childs level of understanding.

We all come from the womb. You see women walking around with babies in their bellies. Those babies didn't just appear. Similar to baby chickens - they grew from a fertilized egg.
Girls are born with lots of little little eggs in their womb. These eggs are called ovum, and they live in the ovaries. (draw a picture) Every month some of the eggs prepare to leave the ovaries. At the same time a nutrient rich lining forms in the uterus. The body sends a signal to an ovary to release and ovum. The ovum travels through the fallopian tubes into the uterus. (refer to picture) If the ovum is fertilized this lining in the uterus will feed the baby that grows. If it is not the body sends a signal to the uterus to release the unfertilized ovum and the lining. The lining is the red stuff that looks like blood when we menstruate!



It is important to consider the taboos that surround menstruation. Advertising has influenced negative cultural attitudes about menstruation - presenting it as something dirty, or something to hide.
Menarche and menstruation is something to celebrate. It is a time to take care of ourselves. It is death and rebirth. Be sure to share an encouraging and empowering attitude, especially with those newly experiencing menses.
Also discuss reusable options, and their benefits, as well as disposable options and the health risks they pose as well as environmental damage.

Feel free to ask questions. Follow this blog for more interesting articles about menstruation!

Blessings!

9 months later

It's been 9 months since my last blog post.
It's been 9 months since I conceived my first child.
I gave birth to that child 7 months ago, and mourned it's death.

Miscarriage is quite common. Statistics say that 1 in 4 women who get pregnant will experience miscarriage. When I was talking to other women about my experience, I was quite shocked to find out how many of them had experienced miscarriage(s).

I was very lucky that one of my friends had taken me aside while I was still pregnant, and shared her experience with me. When I was in the throws of miscarriage I knew who to turn to for support.

Miscarriage, in my experience, is quite the trip.
It started with some brown spotting. I started to panic, and looked online for some other reason that I might be spotting (some women experience spotting throughout their pregnancy). I found some information that said that stretching of the uterus may cause spotting, and I rested my worries with that.

A few days later the brown turned pink and I started to panic, but still I pressed on, thinking that everything would be fine.

On mother's day my partner took me out for breakfast to celebrate. I could feel my womb starting to contract, and felt exhausted. I couldn't deny it any longer. I expressed my feelings to my partner, and we shared and comforted eachother.

The next morning I was awoken by intense contractions or cramping. I was bleeding. I was in tears. We held eachother, crying for the little dream leaving our lives. Our roommate helped us get to the hospital. Once I sat down in the van my vision started to brighten to almost white, while my hearing became distorted, I felt weak. I wondered if I was dying. I said something like, "I can see how this could be a very beautiful experience if it were a joyous living birth." Walking into the hospital, I was unable to interpret much beyond what was happening with my body I remember saying "Here it comes" as I felt another rush release from my womb.

I now know that if I ever need to have a hospital birth I will have no problem expressing myself and doing what I need to do. I spent the hours in the waiting room squating, toning, and moaning through contractions, crying, sitting on the floor, doing partner yoga with Dave, and loudly complaining that the tea vending machine did not offer any herbal teas.

The next few days were spent bleeding on the Earth in our backyard, drinking wine, (Ciao seemed to be an appropriate choice), reflecting, rebirthing, ritualizing, and finding comfort in the loving people that surrounded me. This process was very healing, and I was able to come out with some valuable insights. I know that everything happens for a reason, and I can see that it just wasn't the right time. I also know that that journey needed to happen I have learned so much in the past 9 months. There have been many changes in my life, and much transformation. I am taking care of myself, and being conscious of my body, mind, and spirit. I still work hard, but I make sure that I am feeling balanced

Freedom-Sage will always be part of our family, and has had a deep impact on who we are and how we've changed.

Dave and I hope to bring a child to this world one day, and share our lives with them in a way that is nurturing and sustainable.

I plan on incorporating miscarriage into my activities with Sustainable Cycles (www.sustainablecycles.ca). I feel like I have a lot to offer with support and healing. I feel that writing and talking about my experience is healing, not only for me but for others who has or will experience rite of passage.

Update!

I started blogging to help promote what I do, and what projects I am involved in with others, but it seems as if keeping up on those things in the physical, locally, and on facebook, is enough of a task in itself. This is my first blog posting in over a month!

So what have we been up to all this time? Well, there were 5 showings of the Vagina Monologues (at UW and WLU), our website, logo, and hang tags for the menstrual pads (www.sustainablecycles.ca) and organizing a workshop series we are in the midst of, called "Growing Up Sustainable".

We've had one workshop so far, and the next is comming up April 4 (1-4pm), called Reduce Reuse. We will be reworking old clothing on the sewing machines at The Working Center (43 Queen St. S.) and there will be craft activities for kids too! We will hear about the programs The Working Center runs, and discuss, and share tips for reducing and reusing every day. If you'd like to come RSVP at info@sustainablecycles.ca.

Stay tuned to find out more!

Beauty and Balance

On the eve of the full moon, t'was a sunny day in Kitchener/Waterloo. During a long cold winter, the snow began to melt, and the rise in temperature could surely be felt. So what did we do? We climbed to the top of the parkade, where among other things, hacky sack was played. I spent a good long time experiencing the sunlight reflecting off of the pools of water that were once snow. Observing the liveliehood that we share as winter goes.

And when I thought that this day was as beautiful as can be, another marvelous thing was pointed out to me! Straight ahead of our view the full moon rising in the sky, and the sun slowly setting, equally balanced in the sky.

How to build a home that doesn't need heat

From http://www.homedesignfind.com/diy/how-to-build-a-home-that-needs-no-heat/#more-3990
How To Build a Home That Needs No Heat
This house itself acts as a heat pump because an air flow and access channel, or envelope, runs around the building, just inside the walls - creating a miniature biosphere. Solar heated air circulates boosting geothermal energy from beneath the house, storing it in the massive wood walls.
There are 4 principles to make this work:
1. BUILD WITH SOLID WOOD FOR THERMAL INERTIA
Buildings made of solid wood are the most energy efficient. This is attributed to “thermal inertia,” a phenomenon where the solid wood walls store energy during the day, and release it during the night. Thermal inertia causes these houses to time shift heat between the cycles of night and day, and even between the seasons.
2. CIRCULATE AIR WITHIN AN ENVELOPE
The house is designed to float inside an envelope within the outer skin, which is a buffer zone to noise, wind, and outside pollution. The air path, or envelope, just inside the structure’s solid wood skin acts as a continuously recharging convection loop.
The air envelope creates a miniature biosphere, oxygenated by plants, acting as a fresh air-to-air exchanger with walls that breathe.
In summer, the envelope is opened to the outside for summer cooling - basement windows for intake, rooftop windows for exhaust. Natural ventilation carries off internal heat captured by the massive walls during the day.
3. MAKE THE HOUSE ACT LIKE A GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP
The house itself acts as a heat pump, using the natural energy of rising solar-heated air to extract and enhance the pool of geothermal energy just beneath the building’s floor.
The geothermal loop connection with the earth gives the benefits of an underground house in an above-ground structure. Just below the surface, within reach of the average basement, is an infinite reservoir of heat that never drops below 50 degrees F.Underground Stability.
4. TIME SHIFT TEMPERATURES FOR EVEN WARMTH
The house works because the walls have the ability to gain, hold, and release heat. Their thermal mass and thermal lag causes them to be able to time shift temperatures; where stored daytime energy cancels out night-time need.
That’s it.
Some of these ideas are not new. Some medieval Scandinavian wooden houses built using these principles still warm their twenty-first century occupants sustainably six centuries after those trees were first cut down to build them.
Via Enertia® Homes

In the face of misconception

I wrote this to post on someones blog, who didn't understand reusable menstrual pads, and was slamming them with insults. I almost posted this on their blog, but didn't feel comfortable, since I am a bit paranoid, and she did agree with a certain someone who was running for v.p. that if the new leaders south of the boarder didn't drill for oil they were risking high energy costs. Get with the times folks, stop driving so much! Here's my rant:
Washing reusable menstrual pads wastes a lot less water than the process of making disposables, or flushing tampons that end up on coast lines. Contrary to assumptions it doesn't take much energy to wash a pad. Soak it in some cold water to loosen the endometrium, and then you can either hand wash it, and hang to dry, or throw it in the laundry with your other coloured wash. Reusable pads have many positive attributes. They are not bleached like disposables (bleach in my cunt, no thanks - bleach contributes to the production of dioxin, a known carcinogen), by the way, cunt translates to anatomical jewel, in case there are any common misconceptions judging that. They last for years, saving women tons of money. Anyone can make them. You can make them out of whatever you choose. Recycled flannel bed sheets, hemp, bamboo. There are tons of resources out there, feel free to do some research. (I've even come accross a figure that assesses water and energy use from washing).

Urgent Action - Waterloo Region Official Plan

Please read the following message. If you support it please email it to mcolleen@region.waterloo.on.ca before January 31. Please tell your friends!The Region's Official

Plan (ROP) is an important local planning document. It will govern development in this Region of the Grand River Watershed until 2029. It will directly impact the quality of life of current and future generations. The core values expressed in the draft ROP need to protect sensitive source water (surface and subsurface) areas, natural heritage areas, threatened species habitats, and agricultural lands. A new Official Plan is needed to combat urban sprawl resulting from bad planning throughout the Region (i.e. Hidden Valley, Doon South, Strasburg Creek, Wards Pond, Forbes Wetlands, the northwest corner of Waterloo, and the West Montrose Kissing Bridge) to ensure sustainable development. Waterlooians.ca supports initiatives in the draft plan that preserve the Waterloo Moraine, local groundwater recharge areas, natural heritage areas, threatened species habitats, and agricultural lands. The Region's Environmentally Sensitive Landscape (ESL) designations and the protected country side line concept attempt to address these matters. Waterlooians.ca strongly encourages the Region to include the McNally lands in Waterloo in the ESL as it has recently been rezoned Green 1. Furthermore, Waterlooians.ca still believes that a Provincial Greenbelt appears to be a better policy instrument than ESLs as it provides greater protection from aggregate extraction. In order to address forced population growth Waterlooians.ca supports greater intensification of build up areas and urban cores. Please note that Waterlooians.ca objects, at this time, to the forced provincial and federal growth as data regarding the carrying capacity of the Grand River do not appear to support the growth (State of the Resource Report for the Grand River 2005). Waterlooians.ca is encouraging the Region of Waterloo to complete the process regarding the new official plan update on our own time and not to be beholden to the Provincial time line. Furthermore, we encourage the Region to not be beholden to the forced Provincial growth targets.Unfortunately the draft plan does not appear to go far enough in ensuring resource security for future generations of Waterlooians. It continues to promote urban sprawl, in the form of greenfield development, throughout the entire Region, both urban areas and rural. To review some current planning problems in Waterloo Region please review the educational videos at: http://ca.youtube.com/user/GeneralPeaceIn order to protect future generations Waterlooians.ca is calling upon the Region of Waterloo to amend their draft official plan by:- include the entire McNally Lands in the ESL as per the wishes of the late Doug McNally- removing the Lake Erie Pipeline concept from the Long Term Water Supply Strategy- focus the majority of new growth in existing build up areas and cores- drastically reducing the amount of urban sprawl greenfield development in rural and urban areas- not supporting any urban reserve concepts past 2029 and reducing the size of greenfield urban reserves to 2029 - focus on brownfield remediation and address the legacy of industrial pollutionThese suggestions will strengthen the draft ROP in order to protect sensitive source water (surface and subsurface) areas, natural heritage areas, threatened species habitats, and agricultural lands for future generations.Save it, don't pave it, the Waterloo Moraine!!Respectfully yours,

Kitchener Growth Management Strategy (KGMS) - My letter to council

Hello Council,
It's curious that a time for the meeting is not listed on the website. Regardless I cannot make it today.
I am writing to share with you my thoughts on the KGMS.
I don't have a lot of time to review your extensive document, but I have a rough idea.
I applaud city's efforts to build up in the core. If we are going to see population growth we want to accomodate people who work in the city, and not have people driving into the core from the suburbs.
As for the suburbs. Watch what you're doing, please. If you expect people to raise their children in this community, don't compromise our drinking water. Society has created an illusion that water comes from bottles. We know, however that water comes from rivers, lakes, streams, aquifers, and springs. If we continue working under the illusion that water comes from bottles, and that it is okay to build suburbs on aquifers, and watersheds, than we are in big trouble. I know it is easy to buy, but it is sustainable to care.
Speaking of sustainablility, and caring, is this plan addressing the nutritional needs of a growing Kitchener? In order to grow sustainably, without increasing our carbon footprint by a bazillion, we need to consider food systems and food security. Thanks to the 100 Mile Diet, I believe that Kitchener is becomming more of a conscious community. This means that they will be receptive to urban agriculture programs. We want to see green roofs, and an organic focus. No one wants to eat pesticide layden food, but that is what has been made affordable. If we want a healthy community than we need to look at what kinds of food we are providing them with, and how much we are polluting in the process.
One last thought about suburbs. Community gardens in the suburbs. I know we have them in the core, but the people on the edge of town need to eat too. The less they drive, the healthier we are. The more we grow diverse plant life, the healthier we are. Also, I urge city to look into alternative housing options. Structures made of cob, and straw bale are so affordable to build, and they last for years. Look at the history of cob, there are some structures still standing in Europe built hundreds of years ago. Revolutionizing the way we build is important if we want to be sustainable.
Change is necessary. The way things have been done for the past century is outdated. Trends are fading, and new ones are emerging. Lets ride the wave of change towards a more sustainable future.
Thank you for your consideration,
Lauren Stallard

To send your own, contact these folks, and check out these links.
http://www.kitchener.ca/city_hall/departments/devtech_services/planning/growth_management_strategy.html
http://www.kitchener.ca/city_hall/mayor_council/council.html

Cliterature KW

Wow,
What an event. I feel liberated, and empowered. These are women I would love to work with in the future. Saturday night was Cliterature, an evening of poetry, short stories, photography and burlesque at it's finest and funniest! It was so inspiring to see so many people get up to the microphone and share with us their liberation. The joy and laughter that spread through the audience made my heart dance. I am proud that the community in Kitchener is creating events such as this, and bringing in talent from as far away as Montreal!
Much love to everyone who put that show together.
Bravo!

Welcome to the world wide web

This blog space will get interesting.
For now it is enough to know that I have an account.
Now I need to make some menstrual pads, so that our organization can provide women with the alternative options that they deserve, and fund our projects to educate and empower women. We have a choice, though some may not know it yet.
For the love of Earth, educate.
http://www.scarleteen.com/article/body/on_the_rag_a_guide_to_menstruation
http://www.scarleteen.com/article/pink/eight_myths_about_washable_menstrual_pads_dispelled
http://www.mum.org/