Cycling Through the City NOOOOWWWWW

Hello Friends, Family, and other Followers,

Today we visited our first classrooms! We split our team up into two groups: the first went to Claire Lilienthal School and the second group went to Episcopal Community Services Center.

The four workshops offered to the eighth graders at Claire Lilienthal were Biodiesel, Bike Maintenance, Urban Homesteading, and Aquaponics.

I worked with Lissa and Katie in the Urban Homesteading workshop this morning. Urban homesteading is defined as "transforming a city or suburban home into a property that produces its residents' own food and other subsistence needs." We made our own peppermint lip balm and peppermint mouthwash out of all natural materials and the students were able to take home their very own lip balm as well as a crafty Christmas gift idea!

Most of the kids were surprised to see how easy it is to make your own lip balm and mouthwash. The students compared the ingredients of a "Chapstick" brand lip balm with the ingredients of the homemade lip balm and engaged in a discussion about the pros and cons of urban homesteading. It was loads of fun!

**Check out the end of the blog for the recipe we used**

At the Episcopal Center, Group 2 made re-usable shopping bags out of discarded t-shirts with adult students!

After all the riders finished up with their programs, they went on their way via bicycle around the San Francisco Bay to Los Altos. It was a very fun ride, almost completely flat and through the city. It is so awesome that the Bay Area has a plethora of off-road bike paths to make the ride even more enjoyable :)

Fare thee well Friends, Family, and other Followers

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Make Your Own Lip Balm

You can purchase many of these ingredients at "http://www.organic-creations.com" www.organic-creations.com. Research the safety of your own bath and body products at HYPERLINK "http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com" www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. We purchased our 100% recycled chapstick tubes from the following website: "http://www.thesage.com/catalog/LipBalmContainers.html" http://www.thesage.com/catalog/LipBalmContainers.html

The following amounts should be measured out in weight. I use a small mail scale that measures ounces.

20% grated beeswax

30% solid at room temperature oil (Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Lanolin, etc.)

20% brittle at room temperature oil (Regular Cocoa Butter, Palm Kernel Oil, etc.)

30% liquid oil at room temperature (Sweet Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, etc.)

A few drops of vitamin E (preservative)

A few drops of peppermint essential oil

1. Melt every thing in a small jar set in a pan of boiling water (don't melt over direct heat, it could burn or the wax could catch on fire!) Stir frequently.
2. Next fill the tubes completely to the very top. It contracts when cooled and forms a little dip but you don't want to re-fill this, the layers might not adhere to each other and the top layer could slip off. It's also best not to re-melt the lip balm, it will get grainy.
3. Let sit without moving until completely set up.