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Online academic resource JSTOR has announced it is making its database accessible to the public, amid the widespread closure of universities across the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The database, frequently used by university students for research and essay work, announced on Twitter today that it has made over 6,000 ebooks and over 150 journals accessible without the need for an online login.

Previously, students needed a university login to access these resources.

This is the first time that the database has been openly accessible to non-subscribers.

The database is also working to expand on the amount of free content available online to students accessing the database through their subscribed universities.

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📓 🔅

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“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering… these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love… these are what we stay alive for.”

— Walt Whitman

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In the last two years, I have spent $0 on menstrual products, and produced <1 lb of menstrual waste.

Yes, you read that right.

So, how did I do it?

I present to you: the Menstrual Cup and the Reusable Pad

The Menstrual Cup

The menstrual cup is, arguably, one of the most just and unifying products out there. In all reality, there is no reason to oppose a menstrual cup aside from the brief training period (which often involves the “I think it’s stuck” phase and quite a lot of hands-on activity in the shower) and its original cost (which is roughly $39.99 for the Diva Cup brand). So maybe in the past 2 years I have spent $40 for a menstrual cup, but overall I’m not counting that into my total. ;) All in all, this product reduces waste, doesn’t involve putting treated cotton or other strange/harsh chemicals in your precious va-jay-jay, and lasts a long time.

While this has definitely been the ‘talk around town’ in terms of empowering environmentalism and ecofeminism, the menstrual cup definitely is a bang for the buck. Not only is it reusable for up to 10 years, but they can be used for up to 12 hours (with no risk of TSS!) 

(Source)

So, how do I wash and take care of mine?

1. Evening showers I will put my diva cup in in the morning and remove it during an evening shower, where I can easily dump all of its lovely contents down the drain. Huzzah <3 If you are trying to reduce your showers, or have varying shower times, you can easily take it out and empty it over a toilet, but it is much messier and involves having to actively run to a sink with diva cup in hand. I have done this multiple times, but still will opt for the evening shower. Then, I wash it with some Castile soap or whatever I have on-hand and hang/rest it to dry until morning. <3 In the meantime (i.e. overnight) I will use a reusable pad, which I will discuss more below. 

Diva cups are also a fantastic option for overnight use, so do not hesitate to put it right back in after emptying it in the evening! However, regardless of how often you empty and reinsert, make sure to wash it once daily, and with a gentle/non-fragrance cleanser.

On that note, it can be recognized that we are all different shapes and sizes, and this product may not have the best fit for everyone. I am one of those people, and my diva cup is regularly leaking on me. I have been using them for 2 years, and I have purchased almost all of the sizes, and it still leaks here and there. Luckily, I have found a zero-waste and low-budget solution for that too!

The Reusable Pad

Reusable bamboo pads have to be one of my favorite products as well. Not only are they super comfy and often come in cute designs, they are also much better for you and the environment (lasting up to 5 years!). These bad boys are able to absorb a hefty amount of fluids, while also locking away moisture and bacteria unlike anything a one-time use pad could do because they are made higher quality and with no plastic! However, these products are trickier for women to get the hang of, so here are tips and tricks for how I have done it for the past few years.

How do you wash it? Isn’t that pretty gross?

While the idea of wringing blood out of a pad sounds pretty gnarly, it is actually not bad at all (and something most women in the world still do today!) Of course, if you take it off and tuck it away in some bathroom cabinet, then it won’t be a surprise if it gets a little gnarly. However, this is my step-by-step guide to maintaining yours in the easiest way possible

1. Wear it when you need it! - I’m the type of person who leaks form my menstrual cup typically on day 1 and day 2, but after that I’m gucci! Sometimes, I’ll just wear black underwear and call it good (lol!) I also wear a reusable pad at night instead of a diva cup. Because of this, I tend to use about 4-6 in the first few days of my period, and I’m lucky enough to have fairly light and short periods. I would suggest purchasing a pack of 7 or more reusable pads, since we tend to push the laundry until the end of the week.

2. Wear for no longer than a few hours This is going to depend woman to woman and on flow/day of the week, but if it starts getting uncomfortable or odd-smelling, then it’s time to wash! Often times, if you simply do not have time to wash them right away, you can place them in a sealed bag (and folded) until you’re ready to wash them. Be warned though - you don’t want to leave them in there for too long because I can promise you, things will grow!!! Right after use (or if you want to wait until the evening when you’re all settled) you will want to rinse and wash all of them. So, how do you wash them?

3. Washing!

You will want to submerge them in water and wring the blood out, until the sink bowl water starts to run clear. Then, you can take soup (literally any soap -- I use Castile soap sometimes or literally just hang soap sitting by the sink) and rub it into the pad. Sometimes, I scrub in circular motions with my fingernails or finger pads, and it helps to pull out anything left in there. 

Afterward, you can submerge it a few times again, and push soap and water out from one end to the other (down the length of the pad). This helps ensure you are running water through it. 

Lastly, wring it and hang it in a breathable place! While they can be used again after they are dry, I personally only wash them to prevent any smell or bacteria until laundry day, and will throw them into my hamper when they’re dry. Sometimes, I will also wash all of them right before doing laundry. They are washer and dryer machine safe!

Over time, you get the hang of washing them, and of knowing when to wash them too!

Okay, I’m convinced. Where do I buy them?

While I personally got mine from Amazon and spent about $20 on them, I would encourage everyone to locally source their products if possible. Another friendly service which empowers small entrepreneurs is Etsy. These are some of the amazing products they provide in terms of reusable pads!:

Reusable bamboo panty liners if you spot (like I do!) and want something thin and discreet, 3 for only $8 (and they come in increments from 3-24) by creator TheRainbowEucalyptus

Overnight organic bamboo/hemp/cotton pads for $8.50, including a variety of customizable lengths! by creator sacredspiralcreation

Organic bamboo charcoal fleece variety pads, by creator MamaBearBabyWear. There’s so many options!!

Conclusion

Hopefully this information provides insight into my zero-waste menstruation process, and inspires you to make that shift as well! While sometimes people ask “why wash pads so often?” or are reluctant to use products like menstrual cups and reusable pads because of the direct nature of them, I believe it gets us in touch with our body, our bodily autonomy, and staying attuned to our bodily processes. Yes, it’s easy to just throw a tampon in and call it good (and not even have to get your hands dirty!) but then it is much more difficult to see flow cues and even cues your body may be telling you. If the environmentally-friendly, empowerment, and cost-friendly aspects aren’t enough to convince you, imagine being able to constantly brag about not having spent a penny on menstrual products for years to come! Score!

Overall, I would recommend these products, and I am always available through messages or delciasustains@gmail.com if anyone has any questions or would like to talk about it. Good luck on your sustainability journey!!

xx

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Switching to a safety razor seemed like a scary thing to do, but I’m so happy I did and I would never go back to a plastic one. It may seem intimidating to use at first, but overtime you will become accustom to it. If you’re thinking about trying one, just make sure you use it slowly. You also have to find the right angle in order for it to work best, but once you do you will fall in love.

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I’ve had mine for over a year. I recently cleaned it with 0.5 cup water, 0.5 cup vinegar, and 4 tbsp baking soda, and let it sit for an hour in a bowl. Now it looks brand new. I’ll have this thing forever, and don’t have to worry about polluting our earth with plastic razors.

Instagram: vibing.vegan

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Please like or reblog this is you’re into:

- minimalism

- low waste/zero waste

- sustainability

- veganism/vegetarianism

- being eco friendly

This is a new blog and I will follow you from my main blog! @greenwitchmom

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Mmmmm……. root veggies…. mulch….. worms…… parsnips….. sustainable permaculture……..

that’s sexy stuff

[delciasustains]

frankly? ban all plastics. require all public buildings to be solar powered. public community gardens in every neighborhood. ban all pesticides. ban fossil fuels. put wind turbines on every sky scraper. gardens on every rooftop. tax cars and fund public transportation. build bike lanes across every city. train/railroad infrastructure across the country (tear down highways). every state mandated to have a certain percentage of land be a wildlife preserve. local/organic farms get huge tax breaks. raise the minimum wage. aquaponics farms in every city. every family has chickens in their backyard. community composting. jeff bezos’s body for fertilizer. i have a clear idea of what i want the world to look like and i want it now. hire me

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[09.02.20] ✧ 1 day of sustainability

ft. the sound walk taken up through isla vista - we made it to the beach :)

Welcome to my first day of 100 days of sustainability!! Even though I feel like I’ve been living a sustainable lifestyle for some time, this will the my first journey documenting some of my daily activities. I’m going to keep it short and sweet for today, and hopefully as the days go along I’ll find more ways to organize 100 days of sustainability!!!

Today’s sustainable accomplishments: ✧ A new indoor compost bin-- I really struggled with this one because no one around me really wants to compost but I am proud of myself.. ✧ Cooked all of my veggies that were about to go bad and made an amazing vegan spaghetti pasta sauce from it 😍 ✧ Went grocery shopping at trader joes w my reusable bag, and only spend $23 on a week’s worth of groceries! Normally though, I would prefer to go to the Isla Vista Food Co-op, but I happened to be driving-- ✧ Recently learned a new vegan 4-ingredient thick hot cocoa recipe!! Go checkout @simpleveganblog​ for more of their amazing recipes!! ✧ Hoping to soon replace some of my generic kitchen cleaning products with Meyer’s, and hopefully soon working to make my own DIY cleaning supplies :)

Future ideas: ✧ Convince apartments around you to start composting ✧ Work with housing to get reusable plates and silverware ✧ Install a basket on the back of your bike with AS Bike Shop

If you haven’t already, make sure to set Ecosia as your default browser on your laptop (and your phone!). It’s super simple, and roughly 45 searches plants a tree!!

If anyone has any easy college-student vegan recipes, please send them my way!! I’ll have to showcase this vegan ‘depression cake’ recipe I learned recently, and it’s so simple-- stay tuned!!

xx

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Environmental Anxiety

I spend a lot of time focusing on all of the things that I’m not doing to save the earth. I look at the one plastic bag I got at Target because I forgot my reusable bag that day. I look at the plastic on my veggies that I purchased in a rush because I didn’t have time to go to multiple stores to find all of the unpackaged items I discovered during my 40 day plastic challenge. I agonize over the gift bag I bought for my nephews birthday present because I didn’t have a homemade fabric bag the right size for it. I’ve been falling deeper and deeper into a pool of environmental anxiety over this as I see articles saying we have so few years, so few months, until we are beyond the point of return and we set ourselves on a path of destruction that we cannot reverse.

So, now that I’ve also depressed you, I will tell you how I’ve been combatting the problem. I remind myself of the things I do every day, the things that have become so routine I forget that I made that change to do my part to save the world. I may not be doing everything, but I’m doing something. And that counts.

1. Reusable grocery bags for every grocery store visit

2. Loose leaf tea - no tea bags or boxes or packets

3. Washing my hair less - saving water, saving energy from water filtration, using less hair product overall

4. Turning off lights - My sister is so good at this and I’m fairly terrible at this, so I’ve been making more of an effort lately to only have lights on in the room I’m currently using

5. Glass Tupperware - I own only two plastic pieces of Tupperware. The rest are glass with plastic reusable lids

6. Less ziploc bags - I refuse to use ziplocs for daily things. Only for oddly shaped vegetable storage as needed. I use a slasher bag and a lunch sac for daily lunch items

7. Replaced plastic wrap with beeswax wraps. I haven’t used plastic wrap in two months

8. Washing and reusing aluminum foil, then recycling it. The only time I don’t try washing it is when I cook bacon. And lately I’ve stopped using it to make bacon, I’m just scrubbing the pan a little more.

9. Mason jars. Mason jars for everything. I brew my loose leaf tea in them, so I’m not buying plastic bottles of tea anymore, either.

10. Reusing packaging - every time I receive a package that contains stuffing/bubble wrap I bring that packaging to work so it gets a second life and gets used again when I ship items at work, rather than instantly throwing it away.

11. Composting. All vegetable/fruit/loose leaf tea goes into a bag in the freezer. That bag gets deposited into my friend’s compost pile.

12. Glass jars. I have found glass options for most items I use, including mayo, which is notoriously stored in plastic. Thank you, Trader Joes!

13. Using silpat mats instead of parchment paper

15. Refusing to use plastic vegetable bags in the store. I carry my own reusable bags and if I don’t have enough bags I just dump stuff into my cart.

16. Responsible recycling. I clean everything to ensure that it does not contaminate the recycling system. I also research what can and cannot be recycled

17. I donate to environmental projects

18. I pick up trash everywhere and make sure it finds a home in a trash can

19. I add notes to online food orders saying “no silverware” and I refuse straws when I can. I also have reusable straws at home

20. I have eliminated plastic from my dish washing routine. I use Swedish dishcloths, walnut scrubbies, and a compostable brush head and vegetable scrubber

21. I consume less meat than ever. And do my best to only purchase sustainably sourced, healthy meat. Or eat meat that I procure myself

22. Bar soap. I do not use body wash

23. Education. I educate myself and I do my best to educate others

24. I buy some items in bulk: cashews, popcorn kernels, seeds, spices, rice, noodles

And that’s all I can think of right now! But, I do feel better!

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We can all do at least something to help reduce our carbon footprint!

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reblog this green heart if you care about the dang environment

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[06.02.20] ✧ Welcome to my sustainability blog!! ft the iconic baby yoga sharing in his discontent for climate change

Hi everyone! My name is delcia and I’m starting up a side blog for sustainability. I am 22 and I attend the University of California, Santa Barbara, and I live in the lovely community of Isla Vista <3

Some of the environmental things I have taken up this past year or so was switching to a vegetarian lifestyle, and now trying this new ‘raw vegan’ trend, so stay tuned. I am part of an organization called Eco Vista, which you can learn more about here. My main projects focus on food insecurity, but also changing everyday practices. I’m looking at starting a youtube channel of some sort to encourage daily lifestyle changes that take care of health, the self, the environment, the community, and the planet. uwu

I am also part of the Cool Block Program, which works neighborhood by neighborhood to understand how we can grow closer to our community, meet and get to know our neighbors, and in the process develop plans for reducing carbon emissions, establishing community and empowerment, and disaster resiliency plans.

I’m happy to be starting up this initiative and sharing a bunch of things I’ve learned on my journey to be a little more sustainable. (:

I think a lot of what I will be posting will be little things that everyday people can do and nothing too out of reach -- and you’re hearing this from a broke college student taking 21 units (aka the max course load) so I can promise they are doable and fun. (:

I am also looking at starting up a website from this, but for now tumblr is the perfect platform and one that I deeply cherish. thank you for coming along this ride with me, and if you have any suggestions please message me <3

xx