My chemical dependency

I'm a sucker for beauty products. You know all those commercials for products that promise shiny hair, bigger lips, smaller pores, mile-long eyelashes and basically a first-class ticket to the Miss America crown? Those commercials are made for people like me. I "ooh" and "aah" and instantly slink off to Target to get myself some pretty.

This habit of mine has created an enormous amount of clutter -- every available surface in my shower is taken up by various sizes, shapes and colors of plastic bottle. Do I use half of this crap? Uh, no. I'm a huge waster.

My beauty regimen needed some major greenification, so I consulted Treehugger's very thorough Women's Personal Care Guide. (Even if you're a dude you should still read it -- most of the info applies to both genders, and not to fear, the word "tampon" is only mentioned a couple of times.)

It's a really useful article, but their diatribe against certain chemicals sent me into freak-out mode. Number one and number two on their list of chemicals to avoid are sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and parabens: they link them to cancer and various other scary words. And they're in every. thing. I. own. Every single day I was rubbing evil, cancer-making devil juice all over my unsuspecting body.

Excited by the packaging-free offerings from Lush Cosmetics, including their awesome natural deodorant, I scoured the ingredients on their solid (no plastic needed!) shampoos. SLS was in eeeeverything. It made my heart hurt, because I'd really believed in their lofty declarations on using organic ingredients, making things by hand, not testing on animals, and being people- and earth-friendly. So I wrote them a letter (like the giant dork I am), expressing my concerns about their use of SLS and parabens. Completely restoring my faith in them as one of the "good guys," Lush wrote me back within a day. They assured me that the FDAs in both Canada and the U.S. have approved all of their ingredients, and that they perform their own independent tests for safety as well. Their stance on the use of parabens (preservatives) is endearing: "We understand that preservatives are designed to kill life, and are therefore unsavory, which is why we make so many of our products in solid form." (Liquid products require preservatives because of the potential for bacteria growth.)

But I was still wary of these chemicals, and decided to research them further. Snopes, the urban legend site, has a very informative article on the (largely unfounded) SLS scare. Yes, it can potentially irritate sensitive skin -- but it's not actually associated with cancer. What really convinced me was the American Cancer Society's article "Debunking The Myth." They also set the record straight on parabens. If the American Cancer Society isn't too worried, neither am I.

Lush is still the only cosmetic company I know of that offers so many packaging-free options. Even beyond their earth-friendliness, they're really quality products -- they make my hair and skin feel, well, lush-ous. So now I'm replacing all my plastic bottles with Lush's solid shampoo, conditioner, face wash, and body butter. (Links are to my personal picks!) Their solid shampoos were actually designed for backpackers -- they can be used for washing hair, body, dishes and clothes. AND, if you buy 2 solid shampoos at once, Lush will throw in a free shampoo tin that you can keep reusing instead of amassing the little plastic bags they try to give you. Added bonus to solid beauty care products -- you can take them in your carry-on luggage when you travel!

Smell good AND be plastic-free

A couple months ago, I reported on a Canadian chick who's going "plastic-free in 2007". She's finding ways to shop for groceries and other necessities without feeding our plastic addiction. I got inspired to follow in her footsteps and try to keep myself fresh and dry without the use of plastic.

She offered the tip that Lush peddles deodorant not cased in plastic, so like an addict, I headed to the closest Lush store with much anticipation. I was not disappointed--I had never been inside one of their stores, and was super-psyched to see that most of their products are sold with no packaging! Yes, these are the things that excite me these days, people. The soaps and various "moisturizing bars" are stacked on top of each other, which gives the store an amazing aroma--surprisingly, not in an overwhelming way. The salespeople wrap your purchases in a little paper or small plastic bag, which I tried to refuse, but they convinced me that some of the products would crumble in my bag if left free-floating. (Next time, I'll bring my own). The point is, for the last couple months, I've been using this product, (pictured above), which is not only plastic-free, but also actually works! The added bonus is that it's also a natural deodorant, not a creepy, aluminum-based antiperspirant. But unlike the experience I've had with other natural deodorants (think Toms of Maine) that I have buried deep in my bathroom after failed (smelly) usage attempts, I didn't find myself alarmed halfway through the day. Although, I have found that there has been a week here or there where it seemed to work not quite as well. According to my knowledgeable "skin care coach", Nina Curtis (email me if you're in LA and are want to have the most amazing facial of your life--I'll give you her info), as women, our body chemistry changes throughout our cycles, so it is likely that a natural deodorant will work less well the week before your period. Not sure if guys' chemistry ever changes. So, my plan is to use my Lush bar most of the time, then resort to the old standby antiperspirant at certain times in my cycle. It cost $7.60, but has been going strong for 2 months and looks like it's going to last for several more, so seems to be a good value. Check here to see if there's a Lush store near you. Or, check out your local natural foods store for similiar products that aren't cased in plastic --such as the well-known "Rock" deodorant.

What to do with Fido's Poop WEEK

Of late, my nightmares are not made up of the usual, expected villains (you know--people chasing me, strange animals, old boyfriends, etc.), but rather are comprised of a chorus of voices asking one piercing question: "But what about my dog's poop?".
The question inevitably arrives at the end of a reusable bag pitch and is especially devastating because it's only asked after someone is totally on board with the reusable bag issue, but has one very real, smelly problem. Up until now, I've only been able to give lame, wishy-washy answers, like "Um, I'm still working on that one..." So I figured it was high-time to confront the issue straight on and do some serious research. And I'll just say it now: There is not one, easy, monolithic solution. But like many challenges we face, the answers are more like patchwork that take a bit more effort and thought what we've been used to (in this case, using the "free" plastic bags from the grocery store). Here are some ideas, with the goal of still reducing our overall disposable bag intake. They are listed in order from least to most radical...For those of you who aren't dog owners, please pass this info along to friends who are!

BECOME A BAG COLLECTOR
I'm learning that, like me, lots of well-intentioned people have been stashing plastic bags away in a drawer because it just didn't feel right to toss them. These already-in-circulation bags are a gold-mine for dog-owners! Tell everyone in your office that you're willing to take all those unwanted bags off their hands. If even a few people have a stash like mine, you'll be set for months...or who knows, years! And you're doing others a favor by making use of their saved bags, so that they can feel free to go reusable.

GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR PLASTIC

While many people are religious about reusing plastic grocery bags for various household purposes, we tend to overlook the other kinds of plastic bags that we end up with. Think newspaper bags, the plastic liners inside cereal boxes, the bags that wrap junk mail, bread loaf bags, toilet paper packaging. Lord knows we could probably heat our homes with all the packaging we end up with just after a trip to the drug store, so start salvaging those less-utilized nuggets of plastic gold. Reuse everything!

BIODEGRADABLE/COMPOSTABLE BAGS
There is an emerging industry of "bioplastics" attempting to address the petroleum-based (polyethylene) plastic problem. These bags are made out of various vegetable starches, oils, and soy. Their usefulness is that they biodegrade in a landfill, thus offering a solution to our more ubiquitous never-biodegrading plastic friend. The problem that "bioplastics" doesn't solve is the one of resource-intensive production. Like their polyethylene counterparts, they still seem to require large amounts of water and energy in their manufacturing. They might also increase mono-cropping and use of toxic fertilizers. And, just as we're seeing with the emerging bio-fuel trend, using food for non-food production purposes tends to drive up the prices of crops. Are the problems associated with them worse than with regular plastics? Probably not, but with all this in mind, I can't offer biodegradable bags as "the" solution for our poopy problem. But as a part of an overall "patchwork" strategy, they could ease your polyethylene burden. They are available at many natural food stores and can be bought here.

MOVE BEYOND THE BAG
Remember I said these ideas are moving toward most radical, so with that in mind, what about using non-bag pooper scoopers? This is especially for those of you with yards who don't have to tote the poop with you on a long hike. What about newspaper, old magazine pages, cereal boxes? If it's going straight from your backyard to an outdoor trashcan, there should be no problem utilizing some other piece of household garbage that was headed for the trash anyway, right?

COMPOST IT

This one if for those seriously committed to addressing the problem of animal waste. Yes, you can compost dog poop, but not with your food compost and not to be used on any plants you will actually be eating from your garden. Learn all about it here. On a side note, I need to point out that leaving poop on the ground wherever your baby happened to go is NOT an environmentally safe option. It will get absorbed into soil via rain or simply time, and we definitely don't want those microbes mixed into our water supply. Remember, this is just a local version of how e. coli gets spread by farm animals into our food and water supplies. But, composting it IS a good and simple solution, so let me know how that goes.

ADOPT ANOTHER DISPOSABLE ISSUE
As we've seen, there are definitely viable alternatives to using plastic bags for our poopy problem. But for most people, there will inevitably be some plastic bag usage involved. So while dog owners may not be able to go totally reusable on the bag front, all the more reason to get reusable in other areas. You could have a strict "no plastic water bottles" rule or be religious about always getting coffee in your refillable mug...Offset your plastic bag usage by reducing your eco-footprint in other ways, like drive 10 fewer miles a week. The possibilities are endless! (Check my archives for other ideas!). Let me know how these ideas work, and if you are taking other measures to address the poo problem.

Want to know more about "greening" your pet? Read Treehugger's ideas. There's info for you cat people too.

UPDATE: Here's what my dad has to say about his solution (that's his pup Ruthie, above--adorable, ain't she?): "What I do---in case you want to know---is on my runs, I am on the lookout for bags, and believe it or not, I always find some that are blowing around, stuck in fences, trees, ands so on. I therefore pick up Ruth's poop and take a tacky bag out of circulation at the same time." Go, Papa! Also, just read on No Impact Man's site that he picks up something off the top of a trashcan and uses that to do the business. If he can be "No Impact Man" and still have a dog, we can all find alternatives ways to scoop the poop!

Worth the trip?

A couple weeks ago we learned that, not only is there no guarantee that bottled water is any safer than tap water, but also that its production (and disposal, of course) are extremely problematic. Well, a guy who knows what he's talking about, Pablo Päster, a Sustainability Engineer and MBA, has calculated just how problematic the whole enterprise is, specifically by estimating what it takes to produce one liter of Fiji water and get it to the U.S. Taking into account production of the plastic bottle and transportation "just" from China to Fiji to San Francisco (not including additional transportation to Anywhere, USA), the results are mind-blowing. I'm a little rusty on my metric to standard conversions, but luckily Treehugger did that work. Producing that one liter bottle uses up 26 times the amount of water it provides you with--7.1 gallons to be precise, and .26 gallons of oil, and 1.2 pounds of greenhouse gases. Read about it on triplepundit (via Treehugger). Another reason to refill your own bottle.

Could you go plastic-free?

Just as I was starting to feel perhaps a teeny-weeny bit smug about my disposable bag/bottle-free months, I came across a chick in Vancouver who is going completely plastic-free in 2007. This is hardcore: Nothing that contains even a plastic wrapper can make the cut. Think about that! Most packaged food is out, as are most toiletries, toilet paper and other essentials. And no, she's not going to starve or not wash her hair all year...she's seeking alternatives, which, thankfully, do seem to be out there. One of my next steps is going to be buying cereals, pasta, rice, snacks, etc from the bulk bin of my local nature mart (Whole Foods has them too), with my cloth produce bags, of course. Now I'm going to follow her lead and seek out plastic-free products like deoderant from Lush. Very inspiring! Check it out and follow her journey.

Disposable water bottles blow WEEK

As many of you know, the impetus for this blog was the discovery of an obscene amount of plastic water bottles in my car. I had been grabbing one at work almost every morning, even though there was a 5-gallon dispenser right next to the personal plastic bottles. And, I had a mug on my desk. Yikes! I knew I should be just filling up my mug--I really did feel a pang of guilt every time I got a bottle. But for some reason, grabbing my own personal bottle always just seemed like a much nicer, fresh, pure start to each day. Know what I'm talking about? It was all mine, bottled just for me at the source of some font of pure mountain water, right? Not exactly, but the good news first: I'm happy to report that since that day, almost 3 months ago, nary a disposable water bottle have I consumed. And only 1 disposable cup, for that matter. It has been really easy to get in the habit of bringing my own bottle wherever I go. People, we are proving little by little that bad habits can be reversed, and quickly, for that matter!

But I'd like to dwell on the psychology behind that easy, breezy justification for grabbing a disposable water bottle every day. These handy little portables have been marketed as a symbol of health, and their ubiquity needs no explanation. They might have started out as a yuppie indulgence, spotting yoga classes and gyms initially, but now you can barely order water at a café or bar without having to pay for a bottle. Indeed, many people only drink out of disposable bottles. There is a perception that bottled water is healthier and pure, free of any scary toxins that may exist in tap water. We hear about arsenic, nitrates and other chemicals in tap water and turn fearfully to bottled water. The water bottling industry has capitalized on that apprehension and has grown exponentially in the last decade. We can now choose between an increasingly expanding number of brands, each cleverly named and packaged to evoke the image of purity and the peace of mind that accompanies it. Fuji, Arrowhead, Sparkletts, Dasani, Everest, Penta, and old-school Evian, which I blame for starting the water bottling craze and the accompanying cultural indicators that it evoked. (Wasn't it the first "designer" water brand that made the kind of water you drink a class indicator?) And of course they all must distinguish themselves from each other, so there's constantly a purity one-uping with each new brand that hits the market. Penta calls itself "ultra premium" and claims to be arsenic and chlorine-free, which ingeniously and instantly calls into question what you're getting in every other brand of bottled water, not to mention from the old-fashioned kind that flows through pipes. So we buy into it, and we pay heavily for that peace of mind. Americans ponied up an estimated $11 billion in 2006 for bottled water, a rate that seems to grow about 10% a year.

I'm starting to feel like Debbie Downer folks, but, alas, there is no guarantee that bottled water is any purer than tap water. The key issue here is regulation. It turns out that city (tap) water is regulated by the EPA, while bottled water is monitored by the FDA. For obvious reasons, the government has stringent guidelines that outline how often city water must be tested for various bacteria and chemicals. And across the board, these requirements are much more far-reaching and strict than those the FDA has for bottled water.

And the real kicker is that the FDA exempts water that is packaged and sold within the same state from their rules, so 60-70% of the water sold in the U.S. is NOT REGULATED by the federal government. States regulations vary. If that wasn't enough, anywhere between 25% and 40% of bottled water is just tap water that may or may not have received treatment or minerals that don't necessarily have additional health benefits. And there is nothing on the bottle that tells you where it's really from, so for example, according to U.S. News & World Report, "Aquafina is municipal water from spots like Wichita, Kansas...Coke's Dasani (with minerals added) is taken from the taps of Queens, New York, Jacksonville, Florida, and elsewhere." This is a complex issue but if you would like to know more of the details, check out NRDC's analysis of the water bottling industry. A few years ago they did a 4-year study on bottled water, testing over 100 brands, and concluded that bottled water is no safer than tap water.

Now that we know we're not necessarily getting any health benefit from bottled water, let's look at the enormous environmental footprint our little "healthy" habit is causing. Remember, the primary problem with plastic products is their production in the first place (i.e, it doesn't matter if every plastic bottle was recycled--the manufacturing of them uses up a ridiculous amount of resources and causes massive pollution). According to the World Wildlife Fund, 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to make the bottles every year, which is made from an equivalent 1.5 million barrels of oil. Funny, I thought we trying to decrease our dependency on oil...Apparently, with that amount of oil, we could power electricity in 250,000 homes for a year, or fuel 100,000 cars, also for a year. And, as in all manufacturing, an enormous amount of energy is used, releasing Co2 and other pollutants and toxins. All that happens even if we DO recycle our bottles, but mostly we don't--at least 85% of plastic bottles end up in the trash. And as we know, plastic doesn't really ever biodegrade--it just breaks down in tiny toxic particles that seep into the ground, ironically, polluting our water. Additionally, bottled water is often transported long distances by various forms of transportation that all burn lots of fossil fuels.


So, what's the solution? Drink out of real glasses when you're at home or at work. Fill up your reusable bottle before you go work out. Encourage the folks in your office/yoga class/kickball league to do the same. Take your bottle with you in the car so you don't have to pop into a store for a disposable one. A little planning goes a long way. I even take mine with me to lunch because some restaurants will still give you a disposable cup even if you're dining in…Grr! I've tried a few different reusable bottles, but the one I've settled on is the stainless steel one above. I am super-attached to this little thing! It really is just a glorified canteen disguised as a piece of art, but that makes me actually want to carry it around. I recommend metal canteens over plastic reusable bottles, because they stay cleaner, and are safer to drink out of than plastic. You can get this and other stainless steel canteens from reusablebags.com for $20--probably less than you spend on disposable bottles every month.

On that point, I have encountered one little snag in what I thought was a perfect solution to our water imbibing problems. As you've probably heard, there are reports that certain types of plastic are not safe to drink from. I always thought this was a conspiracy from the water bottling companies to get you to buy more bottles, but it turns out there is truth to it. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the one kind of plastic you really want to stay away from is #7 made from polycarbonate. And disturbingly, this is the kind of plastic the 5- gallon Sparkletts bottles delivered to my house are made from. Before that discovery, I was going to brag about how easy it is to just refill your reusable bottle from the water cooler at work or at home. So, my next task is to figure out what I'm going to do about my personal water situation. For now, I'm still drinking practically all my water from those 5-gallon bottles, but I'm going to do some more research. If bottled water isn't even safer and it's being housed in the worst kind of plastic, maybe I'm better off drinking tap water and buying a filter. Any ideas?

One last thing. For me, the water bottle issue is emblematic of the major problem we are facing as a planet right now--the emphasis on the personal versus the collective. Our worldwide water supply is polluted. Billions of people do not have access to clean water, period. The water in this country is increasingly polluted, but buying bottled water is not a long-term solution. We need to figure out how to stop polluting our water supplies and focus on making clean, free water available to everyone. As the NRDC puts it, "The long-term solution to our water woes is to fix our tap water so it is safe for everyone, and tastes and smells good."

When I was a kid...

If anybody is actually reading this week, please help me out with my next post. I'm trying to remember what life was like before we drank out of plastic water bottles. Especially for you guys in the 30-plus crowd...can you recall what vessels you used to bring H2O to mouth? Give me specifics here...at work? At the gym, or were there gyms back then? On the run? I need help here, because for some of the kids these days, pre-plastic water bottle days are as hard to imagine as life without the internet. Anyway, please help me out with the water bottle question by postiing a comment!

We haven't even gotten to the water bottle week...

But my friend Heather couldn't wait to banish disposable bottles from her life! She got this reusable one at Target for $5.99 and is quite pleased with it so far. She says, "It doesn't retain odor or taste and is dishwasher/microwave safe." She plans on using it at work and at the gym. Yay! Thanks for the inspiration, Heather!! You, too, can exist in cyberspace...send me pics of yourself with your new reusable bottle, mug, bag...fill in the blank. Get excited, folks.

BYOB: Bring your own bag WEEK

Plastic bags are just bad news all around. And paper bags are even worse (but we'll get to that).

PLASTIC BAG FACTS:
Worldwide, we consume between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags annually.
Americans use and trash around 100 billion plastic bags a year, which are produced by an estimated 12 million barrels of oil.

Yes, plastic bags are made out of petroleum...that's right, oil! We all know the double-whammy problems with oil: Namely, the fact we are quickly running out of it, and that its usage emits CO2, which is a major cause of global warming. So, we can look at our unthinking use and disposal of plastic bags as just another manifestation of our addiction to oil. Get this: The manufacturing of just 14 plastic bags uses the same amount of oil as it takes to drive one mile!!! And with that come the same problems--global warming emissions and more dependency on the countries that control the dwindling amounts of oil left in the world (the exact countries we want to be extricating ourselves from).

That's just touching on the production of plastic bags. They also pollute our environment as trash, killing hundreds of thousands of sea animals who end up mistaking them for food. And, not only do they not biodegrade, they actually photodegrade into tinier toxic particles that get absorbed into soil and water. Bad, bad, bad...

PAPER BAG FACTS:
Have we forgotten that all paper products are made from trees? 15 million trees are cut down every year to supply our addiction to paper bags--around 10 billion a year. Again, there's a two-fold effect here: Trees help absorb greenhouse gases, but only if they are still alive! So by cutting so many trees down, we are simultaneously reducing our capacity to absorb CO2 and other greenhouse gases, then, of course, the elecricity used in the production of paper products emits more greenhouse gases!! On top of that, the production process of turning the tree pulp into paper (like all manufacturing) creates tons of toxic pollution that contaminates our air, land and water (which we end up breathing, eating, and drinking).

Not convinced yet? Yes, the manufacturing of practically every modern convenience is problematic in terms of resources used and pollution created in production. But what makes plastic and paper bags worse than say, a plastic telephone and a wooden table, is that we get so little usage out of them compared with all the problems involved in their production.



They are disposable products that are usually used no longer than 20 minutes from store to home. And, most importantly, a super-easy alternative exists....

TO DO:
1. BUY SEVERAL REUSABLE BAGS. My favorite site is www.reusablebags.com--lots of cheap and stylish choices--but there are many others out there, easily found. (Many grocery stores are also now selling their own reusable bags very inexpensively.) So far, my faves are the black acme totes because they are discreet and don't have that corny white tote-bag look. I've had mine for a week, and it's amazing how easy it's been to get in the habit of just keeping them with me, in case I need to stop by the store. If you already take your own bags every time you go to the store, there's always more you can do. My best find has been the produce bags on reusablebags.com. They're great, because those flimsy plastic produce bags have even fewer uses than the thicker ones given at checkout.

This week, I used the produce bags at the market and once I got home, transferred the produce into some plastic bags that I already had. I can just keep reusing the same plastic bags for refrigerator storage, and use the cloth produce bags for new produce, so I don't have to keep accumulating more plastic ones. Also, as the holidays are approaching, these bags make great gifts! I'm convinced that once people have them around, they will get in the habit of using them (especially after you inform them of the evils of paper and plastic bags). And to all the guys who have expressed to me that they will look, um, unmanly taking their cloth bags to the store, I guess all I have to say is...get over it. We are adults. Real men bring their own bags.


2. FOR SINGLE OR SMALL ITEMS, REFUSE A BAG. Ok, I understand that even after you get set up with your reusable bags, the time may come when you run into the store for a single item and find yourself without them. You're buying a salad at lunch or a bottle of shampoo on the way home...Do you really need a bag for one or two items? No! Part of our job is also training the baggers to not automatically give people a bag for 1 small item. We might have forgotten how to, but we ARE able to carry things that don't come with a handle, after all. Same goes for double bagging...if you find yourself without your reusable bags, don't let them double bag! Even at a supposedly socially-conscious store like Trader Joe's, they automatically double bag. I have worked in grocery stores and I know this habit came about because customers end up complaining because the bag broke and their eggs cracked. So the stores want to preempt any whiney customers. But it is unnecessary and is yet another reason to BYOB...because reusable bags are not going to break!

3. USE YOUR REUSABLE BAGS FOR NON-FOOD PURCHASES TOO. Ok, so this may seem extreme to some of you, but it's just the logical extension of using resuable bags for groceries. Start thinking about all the other places you are given plastic bags...well, in every other store, too. And given our level of consumption, we all end up with a ton of Best Buy, Target, Gap, etc. bags. Guess what? You can take your reusable bags to those places too. Yes, the cashiers will look at you like you're crazy...but who cares, we're starting a trend!

Last weekend, I did a little clothes shopping (at a totally un-socially conscious chain store that will go unnamed), and I put my purchases in my "shopping bag" (I do have a different one for non-grocery purchases, see pic at left), and I was good to go. It's funny, maybe this has happened to you: You're at a book store and you might have a purse or backpack with you anyway, and yet feel self-conscious about putting your purchase in your own bag...it is somehow more satisfying--perhaps the completion of the consumption process--to walk out with a fresh plastic bag advertising that, yes, you are a dutiful consumer. But I think it will be a lot more satisfying to to leave one plastic bag behind.


4. As for all those excess plastic and paper bags you have at home....REUSE, REUSE, REUSE...THEN RECYCLE. Some of us girls have a stash of beautiful, sturdy paper bags from department stores or boutiques. Yes, they are pretty...so reuse them until they fall apart. You can even take them back the next time you shop there...you'll be saving them money, which any locally-owned store will appreciate. Then recycle them. And next time, BYOB.

But you say: I use my plastic bags as trash liners, or to clean up dog poop. I'm sure you will occasionally forget to bring your reusable bag and have to get a plastic bag, and if you have a use for them, you will be in no short supply. But a quick search found this product. As they put it: "Stop mummifying your dog's poop in plastic bags that won't biodegrade...now there's truly no reason to use plastic". I'm sure there are many other products out there, maybe even available at Whole Foods. I need to investigate biodegradable trash bags, but I think we've learned enough for one day. Phew.

One last word on recycling bags: It's not the panacea we think it is. Read more here.

If you already BYOB, please post tips or experiences you've had. For those of you who start, let me know how it's going! Please post a comment!