Delight in another is only a reflection of what you have suddenly remembered in yourself.
Rumi
Hello and welcome to the sixth issue of the CloverNews, the monthly newsletter of theCloverPages.com.Another month passes and thanks to you, lovely readers, theClover is growing stronger every day!
Jesse and I are happy to welcome three new contributors to theCloverPages ~
Mike Lieberman aka CanarsieBK shares with us his vast knowledge in the areas of organic gardening and sustainable living and in particular growing food in small spaces. His fire escape and balcony gardens will inspire everyone to grow something of their own, even folks who always thought they didn't have enough space.
Peita Gardiman, the founder of Ethikl, a community based online marketplace bring to us her passion for organic, fair trade and recycled products.
And Kristen Morrison author of the book, Naturally Better Kids, which was reviewed here at theCloverPages last month also joins us.
There is a thread running through this edition of theCloverNews and I have to say when I recognised it, I was thrilled.
Jesse and I have yet to intentionally have a theme, this little one just came to me as I lay in bed thinking about what to write about here in this intro. Several of our articles, favourite sites and even advertisers are helping Clover readers come up with solutions.
As followers of media that focus on sustainable environmental practices and alternative health care options we are constantly bombarded with what should or should not be done. Reduce your food miles, use less plastic, the chemicals in your beauty products are giving your family cancer, conventional medicine doesn't have all the answers... The list of the things to consider is long and new things come to us on TV, radio, in print and on our conputer screens every day. Sometimes it's more than a person can take in and we haven't even begun to think about what is right for us to take proper care of ourselves, our families and the planet. Whew!
So what to do?
Want to reduce your food miles, maybe try to grow a little food but you've never been much of a gardener and you live in an apartment or only have a small yard to grow your veggies or herbs in? No problem. You can do it! We've got the article for you, aptly titled Grow Your Own Food: It's Simple. And the great part about this is - it is easy. Even I manage all the herbs I need and a few veggies outside my back door.
Watching the video clip The Story of Cosmetics will probably send you to your bathroom to check all your beauty products and if you haven't already done so you are probably going to want to chuck a few things in the bin. How to make the switch from commercial cosmetics to things that are better for your family? Mel, our Healthy Beauty writer has often provided us with things we can make at home and there are great ideas for skin toners this month. Fortunately there are now lots of options for organic beauty hand health care products and they are getting more affordable as demand for them grows.
What I love about Peita's article Communities of the Future is that she reminds us of the positive things our global connectedness brings us. Rather than being overwhelmed with the constant barrage of information that comes at us each day, Peita invites us to engage with the faces behind the world wide web. She encourages us to use the latest possibilities the internet brings to bring meaning to our lives.
This month Kristen Morrison shares with us her reaction to the recent media coverage of two families in Victoria, Australia who are suing the hospitals where their babies were born for not adequately informing them of their child's Down syndrome. Although I don't think the word 'solutions' applies to Kristen's story, she does go on a quest to do all she can for her son and ensure he lives a happy and healthy life and that he can live to his fullest potential. This journey takes Kristen and her family off the beaten path, trying things that some doctors wouldn't have even thought about much less recommended.
In Art of Parenting I also got thinking about a story that was in the press this month. No solutions there, other than loving the life you are living. Mine is one surrounded by boys and everything that this brings to my life, the good, the bad and the smelly!
The review this month is Indelible Ink by Fiona McGregor, which is such a great book, I suggest you go get it and lose yourself in the lives of the King family. Finding the time to read is something some people struggle with, however treating yourself to a fantastic novel is small treat everyone can do. The characters in Indelible Ink face several of the big issues and challenges faced by families in our times.
Please take the time to check out our favourite sites this month, Life Without Plastic and Ethikl, a handmade, ethical and fair trade marketplace.
Jesse and I would also like you to take advantage of two special offers available to Clover readers. RealChai is giving each Clover reader a free tea scoop to anyone who spends $20 or more on the first order of their delicious chai. And as always, all Clover readers will receive 10% off any purchase from Bare Naked Beauty.
Thanks for joining us 'in the clover'!
Michele & Jesse
theCloverPages.com
a sustainable and ethical life made easy
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Community & Global Awareness
Grow Your Own Food: It's Simple
The Spring of 2009 was when I first started and growing my own food.  I didn't have any experience, not much land.
Actually, I didn't have any land. See I lived on the fourth floor of a
NYC apartment. All I had was my 2x3 fire escape that I turned into an organic vegetable garden. In this tiny space, I was able to grow lettuces, kales, swiss chard, peppers, cherry tomatoes and a variety of herbs. I've since moved to Los Angeles, where I started a balcony garden that I'm growing more food on. In comparison to my fire escape, the 13x4 balcony seems like a farm ...more |
Healthy Beauty
Skin Toners
Toners are not a new innovation of modern cosmetic technology. In actual fact the ancient Mayan culture used a specific skin-conditioning recipe consisting of cucumber, which has the same pH level as the skin, and lemon juice, which contains alpha hydroxy acids to help n  ourish and soften the skin. I am a big fan of toners. They freshen you up. They help keep the skin hydrated. They assist in balancing the pH of your skin's mantle, which is often stripped during cleansing (the biggest offender being commercial cleansers with cheap chemical ingredients). Toners also help to remove the dead skin cells, make-up, and grime. The use of a natural skin toner will also help to remove cleanser residue, which is particularly helpful when using cream cleansers ...more |
Art of Parenting
You Can't Always Get What You Want
A story that got a lot of media cover age a few weeks ago has stuck with me for some reason. It was about IVF couples wanting to choose the sex of their child, with some women even traveling overseas to be able to do so. It hit a chord with me when I first read about it and my mind kept wandering back to it at the strangest of times.
While walking down the street with a pack of teenage boys, jostling each other and jumping off retaining walls, when I see mothers and daughters shopping together or when passing families with both boys and girls in the car. Perhaps when the self selection story was followed shortly after by the one about the families that were suing the hospitals over their inability to give them ample notice that their child being born had Down syndrome, my mind just kept returning to the idea that life is full of surprises when it comes to having babies and raising a family...more
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Clover Book Review
Indelible Ink
by Fiona McGregor
 Indelible Ink is a completely captivating novel. The book follows the lives of Marie King and her three children as they blunder their way through their life in the northern suburbs of Sydney.
Fiona McGregor's characters are so real and her ability to unwrap their personalities over several several chapters is a unique skill. Her writing style takes the you right into the minds of the characters, who are quite confused a lot of the time...more
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Events
The Clothing Exchange 2010
Imagine a giant fashion store where everything is free...
Since 2004, thousands of super-savvy ladies have made their way to our signature swaps with bags-full of fashions, fads and styles in tow. Our regular exchange events are a treasure trove of fabulous frocks, nice knits, slick suits and a colorful array of accessories. When the shop opens excited guests share histories of garments given and parade the one's they've got. Buttons are the only currency that counts to buy a whole 'new' wardrobe at the exchange! Swap to shop and save your pennies and the planet!...more
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Kids & Family
Down syndrome - there is hope!
I woke this morning to my son trying to 'bite mummy's nose' with
Dad's glasses case. I buried my nose in his delicious soft neck - ahh
the smell of your o wn child's skin! It's kind of irrelevant to me now
that as well as being cheeky and smelling divine, my son has Down
syndrome.
Then I read today's news. Two families from my home town are taking
their doctors to court because they had children with Down syndrome -
their diagnosis was not picked up during pregnancy...more
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Community & Global Awareness
Communities of the Future
There is so much complexity and excessive choice in today's society. The ethic of our modern way of living is that newer, bigger and faster is better. We live in a time of human rights abuse, animal cruelty, genetically modified foods and devastating impact of industry upon the environment.
These issues can all seem beyond our control and quite removed from our everyday life. It is the responsibility of each of us to realise our role in creating change. One of the most daunting things about the really 'big' issues is that they simply seem 'too big' for a single person to tackle. As individuals, we can feel powerless to make much of a difference....more |
The Story of CosmeticsWhat are all those chemicals in your shampoo? your lipstick? your aftershave? And what do they have to do with asthma, cancer and learning disabilities? Learn, share and help change this toxic mess: Watch The Story of Cosmetics, a 7-minute film exposing the ugly truth about personal care products-brought to you by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (a project of the Breast Cancer Fund), Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios. Let's make a huge splash with this new video: if we all share it with our friends and community, we can reach millions of people and really inspire change! ...watch it now. 
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Websites We Love
Life Without Plastic 
Life Without Plastic provides advice and real alternatives to plastics...more
Ethikl
handmade, ethical, fairtrade marketplace and community for the conscious consumer...more
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