5020 Ciggie Butts that I did not Contribute!

So... here I am. Smoking my ecig. I smoke it at least 15 times a day. I have gotten down to a combination of no nicotine and low nicotine, smoking mostly no nicotine all day and then smoking low nicotine at night, with a beverage or two (wink wink). It is wonderful that I am still smoking, but not really.

I feel awesome. Just this past weekend we went to the park and I ran about a half mile from where we were to the bus to get the camera, and I didn't stop at all! No pain, no wheezing. No lung burning. When I got to the bus I realized I had run the whole way and thought back to the last time that had happened... it was my last year of track, 8th grade year... just before I became a smoker.

I love the smell... the taste... all of it. I love that I can smell and taste! I love that I have not contributed one cigarette butt since when? Oh I can't remember and I don't even care. But just for calculation purposes, I left the tobacco behind on January 18th. This means that I haven't smoked in 116 days. At a pack a day that's 2320 cigarette butts. For six months before that, I only had 5-6 cigs a day so for estimation purposes, that would be 2700 cigarette butts. So, over the past 296 days I have eliminated 5020 cigarette butts from the earth's litter problem!


Oh my... and think of all of the toxins in my smoke I haven't contributed either!?! How do I even calculate that? Anyone?

Yeah for me! Yeah for the Earth!

The Electronic Cigarette Association takes Action

Well. I have been a busy girl lately. The ecig has taken off and many may or may not have heard that there has been a call by the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Tobacco Free Kids, and Senator Lautenburg, to have the FDA ban the electronic cigarette.

It has all been very interesting. Over 20 suppliers have gotten together to form the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA). It was the intention to fight fire with fire... force the propaganda from the other side to stand up and defend it's untruthful position.

And so... with great pleasure, I would like to introduce Former Congressman and President of the Electronic Cigarette Association, Matt Salmon, who will help keep people like me, smoking our ecigs and not smoking tobacco!



YEAH!!! The greener way to smoke will truly get it's day and hopefully, all smokers who are out there, still fumbling with their lighters, ashes, and deadly carcinogens and tar... will be able to make the brand switch forever!

Oh and PS: I am still going strong. I haven't smoked tobacco since Jan! That's the longest I have gone without tobacco since I was 15 years old. Heck yeah! And the best part... I am still a smoker! I can enjoy my smoke along side my tobacco smoker friends... I don't feel weird, I feel myself... It's liberating!

An Eco-Friendly Cigarette

In my online forum regarding the electronic cigarette, we are having a debate on whether the electronic cigarette is better for the environment than a tobacco cigarette. I have to side with the e-cig as being better for the environment. Yes, it is probably true that the manufacturing plants of ecigs produce unwanted items into the environment, but the same can be said for tobacco cigarette manufacturing as well. So in this respect, until there is a study that compares the waste from both, I see them as equal contributors.

As far as the waste from the actual ecig. We do have the lithium ion batteries, but if disposed of properly, they can be recycled. Do we have recycling for lithium ion batteries? Sure! Battery Disposal Guide for Households - Where to Safely Recycle Used Batteries. Are you going to have to make an effort? Yes you are. But good greenies will do it no matter what. Recycle!

As far as the plastic mouthpieces, it is my understanding they are made from #1 type plastic which means if you remove the fiber filling, you can throw them into the recycling bin at home. AND I should also mention that you can reuse them until they fall apart and even clean them with a light water and soap solution. Reuse!

As far as the e-cig as a whole, you can minimize the amount of cigarettes you smoke by reusing the same unit until it's death so there is the final R. Reduce!

Cigarette butts contain traces of all of the sh*t they put into them. So not only do you have a cigarette butt that will never break down, but you have all of these horrible things leaching into the ground. CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Facts. People assume that they are made of materials that will eventually break down because it feels kind of like cotton. A battery, is a battery and because it is metal, people automatically will not just throw it on the ground.

Second Hand Smoke (SHS) also contains a multitude of items including arsenic, benzene, and many more items Secondhand Smoke: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute. All of these not only are harmful to humans, but also harmful to the environment.

Currently, we know that the resulting vapor of the electronic cigarette includes nicotine, propylene glycol and water. Nicotine and water are obviously natural to the earth and propylene glycol is an organic compound mostly composed of carbon, which I do believe is naturally occurring in the environment as well (someone might want to yeah or nay this.)

So my final verdict: The electronic cigarette is definitely far more eco-friendly than the tobacco cigarette.

An Organic Recipe for You

Ok... I am not sure where I got this one, but it is great for granola bars.

3c granola
1/2 c honey
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c chocolate chips, nuts whatever...

Heat honey and peanut butter together to boil. Then mix with the granola. add the chocolate chips and pop in a pan. Push flat into pan. Let cool.

Voila! Homemade granola bars and they are Organic if you used all organic ingredients!

The Big Quit - Day Six

Wow. I am happy as a clam. I cannot tell you how much easier this time around has been... and I owe it all to my electronic cigarette.

Since I am in the electronic cigarette world, I know how absolutely terrible it is to even put electronic cigarette and quit smoking in the same sentence. It is a smoking alternative. However, I have quit tobacco cigarettes so technically, it might not be clinically proven as a quit smoking device, but dammit! It works!

So for those of you who have found my meager little blog here are some helpful tips to truly utilize your electronic cigarette.

Days one through five I was feeling a bit odd. Stomach felt "empty" and I was totally unfocused. Since I am still getting nicotine, I did not even assume this was nicotine withdraw. After some exploring in my favorite places that have to do with electronic cigarettes, others have experienced the same symptoms. My deduction: By withdrawing the over 4000 toxins that my body has become so reliant on, my body is reacting to the lack of these horrible little beasts. Now at day six, all of those symptoms are completely gone.

I find that I still want to sit down and smoke. Unlike tobacco cigarettes, or analogs as they are called in the e-cig world, you can puff on your e-ciggy all day long, anywhere you want. I still do this in between. But when I want "a smoke", I get my e-liquid, place 3 drops in my cartridge's nicotine pad and then huff hard to get the thick vapor. After 7 or so puffs, I feel like I have smoked my cigarette and I am off to my next task.

For the morning, I have it ready to go on the night stand, charged battery and full of liquid nic. I know. It sounds like I am an addict, but the fact is, I am. Addicted to nicotine! (Which is no worse than being addicted to caffeine as far as I am concerned.) I take a couple of puffs and then off to have my muffin and coffee. No need for a smoke with the coffee.

This thing is really amazing. For the first time in any of my attempts to eliminate tobacco from my life, I have real confidence that my life is changing and I accept that change. Even the hubby has cut down substantially and can see himself as a non-tobacco smoker eventually. And another note on living with a smoker when you are trying to quit: He has been around for three of the attempts and openly admits to me that those three attempts almost led to our demise as I, was unbearable. This time, he thinks he will keep me, non-smoker and all. :)

I admit that I may be smoking the e-cig for a long, long time. However, I can also see myself smoking the e-cig and then eventually one day just not smoking it at all either. I could never see myself like that with the patch, the gum, or cold turkey.

So... shamelessly... another link to my favorite site about all things Electronic Cigarette.

The Big Quit - Day One

Today, I woke up and worked on perspective. Rarely, do I ever lie in bed until 10:30 and ignore EVERYTHING going on around me. By the end, my conclusion was I would put the tobacco cigarettes for the last time.

I have been spending an obscene amount of time online. Utilizing every aspect for research of smoking bans, smoking, smoking's impact on the environment and so on. This has also led me to discussions on quitting, cancer, and what's in a cigarette. I know too much.

So. How am I going to do this? As this is quit number six, (studies have been done where they do find that it can take a person up to eight times before they finally quit) I am using from a wealth of failures, my knowledge about my habit and why I fail. So we are going to make a little witch's brew and see what happens.

First, I have tried the patch and it worked well on the nicotine. I do notice that I have very vivid dreams while I use it and for me, I prefer a night of silence. So. I am going to use the patch (week 2 medium nicotine) for three days.

I am also going to puff on my electronic cigarette with a medium nicotine cartridge. So far, this beauty has gotten me from a pack to 2-4 per day and I feel great. I am not having the food festivals I had with any other quits. If I want to smoke, I can. I like the action. I like the puffing. I enjoy it.

So how is it going today? I am slightly unfocused. Something is different. I think I miss the smell of cigarette smoke. It's odd. Don't laugh. There are other people out there who like the smell and will admit it!

I took the kid to a local theater to see The Velveteen Rabbit. It was great. Acting was lively and sweet, great costumes, cool set, well written and great original music for a play. Overall: 4 thumbs up. (Mine and kids). Afterwords, pictures with each of the actors and autographs. Her first time to the theater was my saving grace on my first day (for the sixth time) without tobacco cigarettes.

Other than that, I feel good. I have noticed I do have the "sniffles" today.

So.

Organic Birth Control - Is there really such a thing?

About a year ago, I went on the hunt for a different option for the classic, doctor prescribed methods of birth control. After having a baby and three years of dispelling baby weight, changing eating habits and such, also subjecting myself to the shot, the patch and the pill, I decided it was time to take a leap off of the bridge and go solo. No birth control.

This is definitely a strange decision for someone who is quite happy with one child and one, maybe two dogs. Being young enough, I haven't started pressing my husband with the vasectomy idea because well, it is his choice. And getting my tubes tied is not an option. I watched my mother SUFFER after making such a decision and I am firm believer that we do, follow our maternal bloodlines when it comes to health. So, after a little research, I ran across the book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler.

Aside from the fact I couldn't put the book down, the entire time I read it, every page was an epiphany and I could not believe that our high school health class did not provide this book as required reading to all females. It would have provided me with answers to about 100% of the questions I have had over the years.

There are two ways to use this book: Determining when is the best time for you to conceive, if you are trying, AND when not to have sex if you are not.

In full, simple details, TCOYF offers you the answers to why your body does certain things during certain times of the month and when you are most likely to get pregnant.

Now, after a year, I just "know" when it is not a good time and when it is. I just "know" why I am crabby and when it is coming, so I can make sure during that time, I take it a bit easier with stress. I just "know".

For those of you who are looking for organic birth control, this is an excellent option. Take the time to read the book. Do the charts for at least six months. This is very important because when you come off of any type of medicine, your body reacts and can shake up your cycle a little bit. For some it doesn't but for those of you with sensitive bodies like mine, it takes a bit for your body to go back to normal. When your charts show serious consistency, you are good to go.

If you are a little hesitant or need to be on a schedule, TCOYF offers an online software program that allows you to track your cycle.

I feel so much better. The first thing that my body showed me was not only am I not on a typical 28 cycle, but sometimes, I do ovulate twice. Betcha didn't know that was possible? Yep. And taking birth control for all of these years, has been forcing my body to keep to the medical industry's schedule. No wonder my highs were high and my lows were low. No wonder I started losing hair because my natural hormones were being bombarded with manufactured police officers telling me when to ovulate.

For those of you who are looking to get pregnant, I am confident that if I wanted to get pregnant, and I had no problems before (even while on the pill), I could pin the man down, attempt to over take him and produce either a boy or girl of my choice. (Now, this is not 100% as the time to conceive a boy is really small and also depends on the swimmers who will be participating at that time.)

Other things you might not know: Did you know that drinking orange juice increases your acidity levels which in turn, kills sperm? So if you are trying to get pregnant and can't, evaluate your acidic food intake. Now, obviously, there are other reasons you can't get pregnant BUT, if you are aware of your body, these things will become very obvious to you and this book will become your manual.

Do I recommend this for girls becoming women and will my daughter be privy to her very own copy when she gets her first visit from Auntie Flo? Absolutely! As suggested in the book, there are those who believe that teaching young girls about their bodies only suggests to them that they can have sex all they want. Um. Ok. Maybe in the 1700's.

But if your daughters are going to be sexually active, which many will be no matter what we tell them, isn't it better they understand their cycles and when it is definitely not safe to have sex? Isn't it better to send our young women out into the world with an idea of why they might be showing certain signs during the month and that they in fact are not suffering from a yeast infection or something else? Wouldn't it be better to allow our daughters to develop healthy bodies without the intervention of a medicine?

We arm our sons with condoms... let's arm our daughters with knowledge!

Good luck to those of you who wish to get pregnant and happy organic birth control to those of you who wish to keep it the way it is!