I came across this article from our good friends Todd and Julie. (thanks Todd)
Regular people are out there doing what we aspire to do... they are normal mainstreamers - meaning they aren't over the top living off the grid, they could be your neighbors! You can check out this Seattle Times article to learn more about what this Seattle family is doing to decrease their footprint.
We give you lists and talk about what you can do, but I think 'seeing' another family do it makes it seem that much more attainable. As they state in the article choose one thing you can do and once it becomes a habit either go further with that goal or establish another one.
If you want a starting point you can check your carbon emissions w/ the EPA Personal Carbon Emissions footprint calculator. Make adjustments to see what a big impact little things make.
My big struggle these days is paper towels. We never used to use them, but when the kids started eating it was just SO much easier to grab a paper towel to clean them up. I did start making some rags to use specifically for this purpose, but fell off the wagon. I need to get back to that. On a positive note I purchased some cloth napkins - now I need to find a place to store them and get to using them.
We all have our struggles, but families like the Seattle couple featured in the article give me inspiration to try a little harder! If gas gets to $4/gallon it should make it a bit easier to strap on the sneakers and hoof it to wherever I need to get.
Showing posts with label getting started. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting started. Show all posts
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
recycle then compost
I was over at my friend Marie's and had a "DUH" moment. I walked by her crock pot and saw a bunch of frozen veggie scraps and a chicken carcass cooking away. I asked her what it was and she said that whenever they make a salad or any dish w/ veggie scraps instead of throwing them out they put them in the freezer then when they have a chicken carcass they put it all in the crock pot to make stock! Wow... DUH! How easy! I could make veggie stock instead of buying it from the store and having to throw away the container... and all from SCRAPS that I would either throw away or compost!
After you use the scraps you can compost them (veggie stuff only, unless you have a GREEN CONE... then you can toss that bird in there too!).
Thanks for the GREAT idea Marie!
After you use the scraps you can compost them (veggie stuff only, unless you have a GREEN CONE... then you can toss that bird in there too!).
Thanks for the GREAT idea Marie!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Green Home items
Here are some things you can do around the house to "green up" the place.
1. Switch from your plastic food storage containers to glass (as the plastic wears out of course - don't just throw perfectly good Tupperware in the garbage - creating unneeded waste - b/c you want to replace it.) Here are some resources for glass food storage containers: Crate and Barrel, Cooking.com, Kitchen Etc., and Wisementrading.
BECAUSE: Not only does glass not leach harmful toxins into your food it is made with out the use of petroleum and can be recycled easily into more glass again and again and again.
2. Use cast iron (the original non-stick) instead of non-stick coated pots and pans. You can get cast iron pots and pans at any good retailer. Check out Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel. And for those of us that are a bit more thrifty - JC Penney also carries some really nice looking cast iron. The good news is that when cast iron is cared for properly it lasts forever. My mom has plenty of cast iron that is much older than I!
BECAUSE: The use of non stick coated pots and pans has not yet been proven to cause problems for humans, but the development and application of these coatings does create perfluoroocrtanoic acid which has been shown to cause developmental problems in lab animals. Cooking in cast iron can increase the amount of iron in a food by around 80% - good news for all of us veggies out there. Plus it cooks things very evenly and can go from stove top to oven.
3. Purchase some reusable bags. Karen and I have used the following bags and REALLY like them: Envirosax, good size w/ nice handles that fit over your shoulder. They come in awesome prints (b/c you want to look good carrying your bags) and roll up nice and small. And the lady that developed them is SUPER COOL. Chico Bags, almost exactly the size of a shopping bag, hold about 20lbs, come in fun colors, stuff (I'm better at stuffing than folding) into an attached little bag for easy storage and have a hook to hook them on about anything. Cafe Press, you can get one w/ your Green Girl splashed all over it! This one is large w/ long handles that will go over your shoulder as well. It doesn't fold up as small, but it says GREEN GIRL on it! Come on! :)
BECAUSE: Decrease the amount of bags hitting the land fill by using yours over and over again!
4. Switch to non-toxic dish washing detergents such as Shaklee or Seventh Generation.
BECAUSE: Conventional detergents pollute the water supply with chlorine and phosphates.
5. As your incandescent bulbs burn out replace them with compact fluorescents - CFLs.
BECAUSE: They last longer - about 10x longer - and will cost about $30 less over the life of the bulb. Yeah, less energy therefore less money leaving your pocket! One CFL can save 450 pounds of emissions from a power plant over its lifetime.
6. Use recycled toilet paper!
BECAUSE: According to the Natural Resource Defense Council we are destroying valuable habitat to make our disposable paper products - "But if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of 70-sheet virgin-fiber paper towels with 100 percent recycled towels, 544,000 trees could be saved."
7. Change all of your household cleansers from conventional cleaners to either natural "around the house" cleaners (see below) or to a non-toxic environmental variety like Shaklee (have I beat that horse enough yet? Can't help it ... it's what I use and I believe in their products.) Some natural cleaners you could use around the house include vinegar, baking soda and good old fashioned elbow grease.
BECAUSE: Conventional cleaners contain many harmful chemicals that are not only introduced to our water system, but are released into the air in YOUR HOME while you use them.
8. Install a rain barrel to collect run off water. Here are some options: The Rain Saver: Quite a pretty option as rain barrels are concerned. Clean Air Gardening: This site has ALL KINDS of barrels.
BECAUSE: m The more water you can conserve from rain water the less fresh water you use on your lawn and the less water that has to be processed in a water treatment plant!
1. Switch from your plastic food storage containers to glass (as the plastic wears out of course - don't just throw perfectly good Tupperware in the garbage - creating unneeded waste - b/c you want to replace it.) Here are some resources for glass food storage containers: Crate and Barrel, Cooking.com, Kitchen Etc., and Wisementrading.
BECAUSE: Not only does glass not leach harmful toxins into your food it is made with out the use of petroleum and can be recycled easily into more glass again and again and again.
2. Use cast iron (the original non-stick) instead of non-stick coated pots and pans. You can get cast iron pots and pans at any good retailer. Check out Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel. And for those of us that are a bit more thrifty - JC Penney also carries some really nice looking cast iron. The good news is that when cast iron is cared for properly it lasts forever. My mom has plenty of cast iron that is much older than I!
BECAUSE: The use of non stick coated pots and pans has not yet been proven to cause problems for humans, but the development and application of these coatings does create perfluoroocrtanoic acid which has been shown to cause developmental problems in lab animals. Cooking in cast iron can increase the amount of iron in a food by around 80% - good news for all of us veggies out there. Plus it cooks things very evenly and can go from stove top to oven.
3. Purchase some reusable bags. Karen and I have used the following bags and REALLY like them: Envirosax, good size w/ nice handles that fit over your shoulder. They come in awesome prints (b/c you want to look good carrying your bags) and roll up nice and small. And the lady that developed them is SUPER COOL. Chico Bags, almost exactly the size of a shopping bag, hold about 20lbs, come in fun colors, stuff (I'm better at stuffing than folding) into an attached little bag for easy storage and have a hook to hook them on about anything. Cafe Press, you can get one w/ your Green Girl splashed all over it! This one is large w/ long handles that will go over your shoulder as well. It doesn't fold up as small, but it says GREEN GIRL on it! Come on! :)
BECAUSE: Decrease the amount of bags hitting the land fill by using yours over and over again!
4. Switch to non-toxic dish washing detergents such as Shaklee or Seventh Generation.
BECAUSE: Conventional detergents pollute the water supply with chlorine and phosphates.
5. As your incandescent bulbs burn out replace them with compact fluorescents - CFLs.
BECAUSE: They last longer - about 10x longer - and will cost about $30 less over the life of the bulb. Yeah, less energy therefore less money leaving your pocket! One CFL can save 450 pounds of emissions from a power plant over its lifetime.
6. Use recycled toilet paper!
BECAUSE: According to the Natural Resource Defense Council we are destroying valuable habitat to make our disposable paper products - "But if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of 70-sheet virgin-fiber paper towels with 100 percent recycled towels, 544,000 trees could be saved."
7. Change all of your household cleansers from conventional cleaners to either natural "around the house" cleaners (see below) or to a non-toxic environmental variety like Shaklee (have I beat that horse enough yet? Can't help it ... it's what I use and I believe in their products.) Some natural cleaners you could use around the house include vinegar, baking soda and good old fashioned elbow grease.
BECAUSE: Conventional cleaners contain many harmful chemicals that are not only introduced to our water system, but are released into the air in YOUR HOME while you use them.
8. Install a rain barrel to collect run off water. Here are some options: The Rain Saver: Quite a pretty option as rain barrels are concerned. Clean Air Gardening: This site has ALL KINDS of barrels.
BECAUSE: m The more water you can conserve from rain water the less fresh water you use on your lawn and the less water that has to be processed in a water treatment plant!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
GET CLEAN
Okay… so I’m 31 now.. (ouch) and you know we are always supposed to listen to our mom b/c ‘mommy knows best’, but we also know that deep down inside we want to disagree w/ mom… just because. Well, MY mom has been selling Shaklee products for some time now and I’ve always kind of let it all go in one ear and out the other… 1. Not a big fan of cleaning so any cleaning talk was useless to me (ha) and 2. I’m my own woman and didn’t need my mom telling me how to do things…. Ha ha
Fast forward: I’m a wife, mom, home owner and let’s face it I’ve got to start cleaning this house!!! I’ll summarize the story as to how I got to using Shaklee products. Post birth of my babies my skin was a wreck… even more of a wreck than it had been previously… now in addition to my lovely acne I had I now had a not so attractive RIDUCULOUSLY dry patch on my face. Mom and I traveled together and she went on and on about Shaklee and finally I said, “okay.. I’ll try your stuff while we’re on this trip.” (in my mind thinking this SO isn’t going to work) Well, IT DID! The dry spot cleared up in less than a week and I was sold. Mom had talked about the environmental aspects of Shaklee all along, but I hadn’t done the research on my own. Now that I was going to order my own Enfuselle (another post to be done in the future RE: skin care, but if you are looking for info now click here to be directed to the website.) I was going to do my own research. WOW Shaklee is one environmentally conscious operation. This led me to look into their cleaning products.. Mom had sung their praises as well, but I was leary about the shipping cost. After what I read about Shaklee and their environmentally conscious business practices I felt it might be worth it. Not only is it worth it… it’s cost effective because the products are so concentrated. I’m not paying for them to ship a bunch of water. I don’t’ have to have a bunch of different cleaners. Basic H works on almost everything.
They have named their cleaning product campaign Get Clean – meaning not only get your house clean, but get our planet clean.
The products are safe for you to use.. no harmful chemicals and therefore no horrible odors… no more having to turn on the fan in the bathroom just to do the job. No more rubber gloves or worrying about your kids being close by or following behind and touching before everything has dried and gassed off.
Quoted from the Shaklee website: “Go to your cupboard right now. Pick a cleaner, any cleaner. Does it contain chlorine, phenol, ammonia, or formaldehyde? These—and more—may be toxic. Toxic as in dangerous, as in hurtful, as in not very clean at all.”
Shaklee cleaning products have:
* No napthalene
* No kerosene
* No formaldehyde
* No phenol
* No cresol
* No lye
* No hydrochloric acid
* No sulfuric acid
* No petroleum distillates
* No benzene
* No ammonia
* No paradichlorobenzene
* No sodium hydroxide
* No butyl cellosolve
* No phosphoric acid
There products are also good for the planet.
Quoted from the Shalkee website: “Get Clean™ products use biodegradable cleaning agents, which means they break down easily instead of hanging out in the ground for hundreds of years. They also have no phosphates, borates, nitrates, or other stuff the planet doesn't appreciate. And by making them superconcentrated, we leave you to add water so we can subtract waste. This has tons of implications. Literally. Less weight to ship. Less product to use. Less packaging to throw away. So you can get that clean feeling about your house, knowing you're keeping the planet clean, too.”
Shaklee cleaning products have:
* Sustainably sourced natural ingredients
* Biodegradable
* No chlorine
* No phosphates
* No nitrates
* No borates
* No animal testing
* Recyclable packaging
* Recyclable wipes
* Recyclable dryer sheets
Some statistics from the website convinced me that purchasing the products on line and paying to have them shipped was worth the cost – and was actually a wash – because it helped me to achieve some of my personal goals for 2007: decreasing the amount of waste the I send to the landfill and decrease my environmental footprint. Here are the statistics that I found astonishing:
“108lbs of packaging waste stays out of landfills when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional ready-to-use cleaners.”
“248 pounds of greenhouse gas are eliminated when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional ready-to-use cleaners.”
I ordered the starter kit and I’ve gotta say I LOVE IT! Not only is it well packaged – hey come on .. I know it’s just cleaning stuff, but the fact that it looks good makes me feel good.. I don’t know why – it gets the job done and only drops of it are needed to perform hard tasks. Basic H rocks my cleaning world. You mix it in different degrees to clean different things… like windows vs. bathroom (all-purpose cleaners). I got my stuff in mid October and am no where near going through the Laundry detergent, Basic H, dish soap, hand soap, Nature Bright, fabric softener or scour off paste (love this stuff for hard to clean stuff... the sink, caked on cooked on stuff on pots and pans) . I did order more dish detergent, but for some reason we run the dishwasher a lot.. how does a family of 2 (+ 2 9 month olds) go through so many dishes?
I will stop going on and just direct you to the place to go for all info about Getting Clean and staying Green!!!! It even comes w/ a cute little caddy and cleaning rags… LOVE IT! Click HERE.
So here I am saying it for the world to see... Mom, you were RIGHT! AGAIN!
Fast forward: I’m a wife, mom, home owner and let’s face it I’ve got to start cleaning this house!!! I’ll summarize the story as to how I got to using Shaklee products. Post birth of my babies my skin was a wreck… even more of a wreck than it had been previously… now in addition to my lovely acne I had I now had a not so attractive RIDUCULOUSLY dry patch on my face. Mom and I traveled together and she went on and on about Shaklee and finally I said, “okay.. I’ll try your stuff while we’re on this trip.” (in my mind thinking this SO isn’t going to work) Well, IT DID! The dry spot cleared up in less than a week and I was sold. Mom had talked about the environmental aspects of Shaklee all along, but I hadn’t done the research on my own. Now that I was going to order my own Enfuselle (another post to be done in the future RE: skin care, but if you are looking for info now click here to be directed to the website.) I was going to do my own research. WOW Shaklee is one environmentally conscious operation. This led me to look into their cleaning products.. Mom had sung their praises as well, but I was leary about the shipping cost. After what I read about Shaklee and their environmentally conscious business practices I felt it might be worth it. Not only is it worth it… it’s cost effective because the products are so concentrated. I’m not paying for them to ship a bunch of water. I don’t’ have to have a bunch of different cleaners. Basic H works on almost everything.
They have named their cleaning product campaign Get Clean – meaning not only get your house clean, but get our planet clean.
The products are safe for you to use.. no harmful chemicals and therefore no horrible odors… no more having to turn on the fan in the bathroom just to do the job. No more rubber gloves or worrying about your kids being close by or following behind and touching before everything has dried and gassed off.
Quoted from the Shaklee website: “Go to your cupboard right now. Pick a cleaner, any cleaner. Does it contain chlorine, phenol, ammonia, or formaldehyde? These—and more—may be toxic. Toxic as in dangerous, as in hurtful, as in not very clean at all.”
Shaklee cleaning products have:
* No napthalene
* No kerosene
* No formaldehyde
* No phenol
* No cresol
* No lye
* No hydrochloric acid
* No sulfuric acid
* No petroleum distillates
* No benzene
* No ammonia
* No paradichlorobenzene
* No sodium hydroxide
* No butyl cellosolve
* No phosphoric acid
There products are also good for the planet.
Quoted from the Shalkee website: “Get Clean™ products use biodegradable cleaning agents, which means they break down easily instead of hanging out in the ground for hundreds of years. They also have no phosphates, borates, nitrates, or other stuff the planet doesn't appreciate. And by making them superconcentrated, we leave you to add water so we can subtract waste. This has tons of implications. Literally. Less weight to ship. Less product to use. Less packaging to throw away. So you can get that clean feeling about your house, knowing you're keeping the planet clean, too.”
Shaklee cleaning products have:
* Sustainably sourced natural ingredients
* Biodegradable
* No chlorine
* No phosphates
* No nitrates
* No borates
* No animal testing
* Recyclable packaging
* Recyclable wipes
* Recyclable dryer sheets
Some statistics from the website convinced me that purchasing the products on line and paying to have them shipped was worth the cost – and was actually a wash – because it helped me to achieve some of my personal goals for 2007: decreasing the amount of waste the I send to the landfill and decrease my environmental footprint. Here are the statistics that I found astonishing:
“108lbs of packaging waste stays out of landfills when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional ready-to-use cleaners.”
“248 pounds of greenhouse gas are eliminated when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional ready-to-use cleaners.”
I ordered the starter kit and I’ve gotta say I LOVE IT! Not only is it well packaged – hey come on .. I know it’s just cleaning stuff, but the fact that it looks good makes me feel good.. I don’t know why – it gets the job done and only drops of it are needed to perform hard tasks. Basic H rocks my cleaning world. You mix it in different degrees to clean different things… like windows vs. bathroom (all-purpose cleaners). I got my stuff in mid October and am no where near going through the Laundry detergent, Basic H, dish soap, hand soap, Nature Bright, fabric softener or scour off paste (love this stuff for hard to clean stuff... the sink, caked on cooked on stuff on pots and pans) . I did order more dish detergent, but for some reason we run the dishwasher a lot.. how does a family of 2 (+ 2 9 month olds) go through so many dishes?
I will stop going on and just direct you to the place to go for all info about Getting Clean and staying Green!!!! It even comes w/ a cute little caddy and cleaning rags… LOVE IT! Click HERE.
So here I am saying it for the world to see... Mom, you were RIGHT! AGAIN!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Getting Started - Things you CAN do!
So for those of you just getting started on your road to green-dom here are some ideas to get you started. It can be such a daunting task and we realize that it can leave you stagnant and cause you to turn away from the idea or remain paralyzed and confused... we both lived that way for some time.
Let's get started! Choose a couple of these things to implement in your life and after they become habit you can go back and add more items or take that item to the next level. Every little bit counts and you CAN make a difference!
- Reuse those grocery bags - either at the store the next time or as garbage bags (at least you aren't buying new and throwing away a perfectly good bag)
The next level: Use reusable bags when you go to the store - like these: CHICO bags
- Getting just a few apples (potatoes, etc) skip the produce bag and just toss them loose into your cart
- Buy in bulk
- purchase local produce - look for a farmer's market near you with this handy GUIDE.
- Skip the bottled water. If your tap water isn't palpable get an under counter water softener. I have a Reverse Osmosis filter. Buy yourself a NON LEACHING water bottle to refill to your hearts content. Try either SIGG or Klean Kanteen
- Wear your jeans (or whatever) twice before washing
- Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot
- Turn lights out as you leave the room
- When your bulbs burn out replace them with the energy efficient variety
- Turn down your thermostat a few degrees
- Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater
- Unplug things when you aren't using them. Ex: phone charger, computer, etc.
- Sign up with Green Dimes to decrease the amount of junk mail you get (that goes right into your recycling or garbage) It's only $36/year!!!
More to come...
Let's get started! Choose a couple of these things to implement in your life and after they become habit you can go back and add more items or take that item to the next level. Every little bit counts and you CAN make a difference!
- Reuse those grocery bags - either at the store the next time or as garbage bags (at least you aren't buying new and throwing away a perfectly good bag)
The next level: Use reusable bags when you go to the store - like these: CHICO bags
- Getting just a few apples (potatoes, etc) skip the produce bag and just toss them loose into your cart
- Buy in bulk
- purchase local produce - look for a farmer's market near you with this handy GUIDE.
- Skip the bottled water. If your tap water isn't palpable get an under counter water softener. I have a Reverse Osmosis filter. Buy yourself a NON LEACHING water bottle to refill to your hearts content. Try either SIGG or Klean Kanteen
- Wear your jeans (or whatever) twice before washing
- Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot
- Turn lights out as you leave the room
- When your bulbs burn out replace them with the energy efficient variety
- Turn down your thermostat a few degrees
- Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater
- Unplug things when you aren't using them. Ex: phone charger, computer, etc.
- Sign up with Green Dimes to decrease the amount of junk mail you get (that goes right into your recycling or garbage) It's only $36/year!!!
More to come...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
