Green Bag Lady: Beach Freebie!

Last fall, Teresa aka Green Bag Lady was kind enough to make a few of us-- including myself and Sara-- that do consistent beach clean ups some very special beach bags for our beach clean ups!  The bags are super AWESOME because they're designed with mesh bottoms that allow the sand to fall through... no longer do I bring home the beach!  ;)

... AND, now Teresa wants others to have these bags too!!  On her blog Green Bag Lady, she's giving away 3 mesh bottomed beach bags like Sara and I have plus 9 beach themed bags!

Want to win a bag?  It's easy!  

To enter: Hop on over to 

Green Bag Lady: Beach FREEBIE!! 

Don't miss out! The giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 28 at 10PM CST

Volunteering with Reverb for Jason Mraz

On August 19, my husband and I headed up to Raleigh with our new friend Alisa to volunteer with Reverb for the Jason Mraz concert.  I was super excited about volunteering because not only am I a fan of Jason's music... but I also dig his environmentality.  One of my favorite things that Mr. Mraz does is not allow bottled water on his tours-- not for himself and not for anyone on the tour.  In fact, the venue is notified in advance to not provide bottled water (in dressing rooms/catering/on stage/etc) because they come prepared with their own reusable (glass) water bottles. AWESOME.

Reverb is a non-profit that was formed to help artists tour more environmentally friendly.  They educate and engage musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future. Some of the things they do to make tour more sustainable are: B-20 in the tour buses, compostable products when reusables aren't possible, recycling, sourcing local foods while on the road, composting, ride share, Brita FilterForGood hydration stations to fill your own reusable water bottle and more...

As volunteers for Reverb, we spent a couple of hours chatting up concert goers and letting them know about the greening efforts of the tour.  We also helped raise funds for a local tree non-profit-- Trees Across Raleigh-- through the "Tree is a Four Letter Word" campaign.  And, yeah... we had a lot of fun too!

After our volunteer duties were over, we got our seats (thanks Reverb!!) and spent 2 hours listening and  dancing to Jason Mraz.  Here's a bit of the concert I found on YouTube... but like a great work of art... it just isn't the same when you're not there to see it in person..

 Then just as soon as it began it was over... and one by one and group by group... people filed out of the venue with their things in hand.  Well, not everything.  Now, I don't want to take away from the fun we had or how good the concert was... but I have to switch gears here... When I saw this "after" photo of the concert we volunteered for and attended, I knew that it was something that needed to be shared because we can't ever hope to change anything by pretending it didn't happen...

Photo: Jason Mraz Journal

Movie theater mentality is what I say when people leave their trash because they know/think/believe that someone will (or is paid to) clean up after them.  Now maybe that is the case at a movie theater or concert venue... but when I look at that photo... I can't help but think of the beach especially after a holiday weekend.  And let me keep it real...  A good amount of people think that someone is paid to clean up the beach when they leave. (... and that's not usually the case)  Here's what I think: In order to change people leaving their trash on the beach/park/roadside/etc...  the mentality of thinking it's ok to leave our stuff for someone else to clean up... needs to change.  We all need to take responsibility for our own actions/inactions.

Everything we do or don't do impacts the world we live in...

I've thought about this particular instance of "movie theater mentality" quite a bit, because since I volunteered with Reverb, I can't help but think that we as volunteers had a perfect opportunity to talk to concert goers about keeping it clean.  And really, with all of the greening efforts being implemented on this tour (and other "green" tours-- like Jack Johnson-- where I've seen the exact same mess) this is one major-- yet simple-- thing that WE can be directly involved in. So maybe you're not going to see Jason in concert (you should)... that's ok, because being a good steward of the Earth can start anywhere.

No one likes a trashy beach, park, playground, movie theater, concert venue...

If all the world is a playground, then I shall treat all the world as my backyard.

Backyard Benefit Jam for Ocean Cure

After going to a benefit concert back in early 2010, I came home from California excited to get involved with the local non-profit Ocean Cure.  I didn't know it then, but after volunteering with Ocean Cure for Life Rolls On I would find myself connecting and forming friendships over our common bonds-- a love and respect for the ocean.  We've watched over the past 2 years, as Ocean Cure consistently gives back to our community through charity surf camps, community events and beach/waterway cleanups.  Not only do they help people stand up (on surfboards), they also stand up for our environment... and since their work is inexplicably tied to the ocean... they stand up for the health and safety of our oceans, waves and beaches.  So on Saturday, we wanted to give back for all that Ocean Cure does for our community by throwing a Backyard Benefit Jam (aka fundraiser) for Ocean Cure.

We opened our backyard to our awesome community to have fun and raise funds for Ocean Cure to purchase such things as beach wheel chairs, adapted surfboards, and shade tents.  To do this, we had a raffle with prizes from Tidal Creek Co-op, Glass Dharma, Carolina Paddleboard, Landshark Skateboards, Sweetwater Surf Shop, Freaker USA. ReCurrents, Re-Eco, La Gemma, Primp Salonbar, Mark Herbert/Art Wasteland, Big Strong Girl Designs, Tracy Kellogg-Brodeur Photography and Bushwalla.

But like I said, we wanted to have FUN too!  So, we had our backyard set up with a 22' waterslide, a dunk tank and LIVE music by Bushwalla & Todd Carey.



Of course, keeping with my own personal commitments we made sure to create no trash by composting, recycling and using reusables.  One thing that I set out to do with this party was to reuse glass jars that I had saved.  So in lieu of disposable "red SOLO" cups, I cleaned over 100 glass jars to be used for sweet tea, homemade lemonade, beer or wine.  When the fundraiser was over, I ran the jars through my dishwasher and they are currently tucked away in a closet to be used again!

So who exactly is Ocean Cure?  Ocean Cure is a 501c3 non-profit that is dedicated to giving free surf lessons to medically fragile and at risk youth and adults.  They believe in the powerful emotional and physical healing properties of the ocean and surfing. Having been on the sidelines watching their charity surf camps and volunteering for events such as Life Rolls On: They Will Surf Again... I can tell you that Ocean Cure changes lives.

And because we want to contribute to helping them change lives, we set out to have this fundraiser.  It was an event that couldn't have been pulled off by my husband and myself alone.  A community of people came together to help make it happen and we are extremely grateful to the outpouring of support received from our community-- near and far! Thanks to all of the support we received it was a huge success... not only were we able to raise over $1500 for Ocean Cure... we had loads of fun doing it!  Yup, our first fundraiser was a huge success... we're so thankful to be part of such a giving community! 

We can't wait to do it again next year!!

Left to right: Danielle, Kevin (Ocean Cure founder), Chris (Ocean Cure founding member), Todd Carey, my husband, Bushwalla, Brandon & me :)

Special thanks to the following businesses! 

Mellow Mushroom
Flaming Amy's
Surfhouse Café and Shop
Great Harvest Bread Co
Lovey's Natural Foods & Café
Edens Produce
Planet Logo
Odysea Surf & Kiteboard School

Bottled Water

Hurricane Irene is pounding the North Carolina coastline as type.  Just sitting here, I can hear the wind whistling and the heavy rains being whipped with every gust.  Since we're in the middle of "extreme weather" I thought I'd take a quick moment to share how I do "bottled" water!  Of course, you know that I've made the commitment to not buying bottled water, so I have to get creative in prepping emergency supplies just in case we lose power or don't have access to drinkable water.  This morning, my daughter and I filled glass juice bottles full of water from our very own tap!  Check it out.... 16 (32 oz) bottles of water ready in case of an emergency!

Curious what's happening here in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach?  Check out this short video I found on YouTube from earlier today.  (In case you're wondering... No, I didn't even attempt to make it out to the beach today!!)

It's going to be a windy night... wherever you are, be safe. 

Sippin' (the Plastic-Free Way)

"Here can you hold this for me?" I said, while handing my daughter my glass straw.  Then as I started to fill my bulk containers, I heard: Ping ping ping  It was the sound of my glass straw hitting the concrete floor (at Tidal Creek).  I cringed thinking the worst.  Ok, I wasn't panicking or anything...Glass Dharma has a lifetime guarantee... so no need to fret... but still I cringed just the same. Then as I leaned over to pick it up... I noticed that it was perfect... absolutely perfect.  No cracks, no chips... no nothing.  :)

If you've been following along, I have been saying "no thank you" to plastic straws for quite some time now... and it's been almost a year since I committed 100% to not accepting plastic straws (no ifs ands or buts)-- even in my smoothies.  Yup, from August to May I had at least one smoothie a week and not one of them was drank with a straw.  That is until I participated in the Glass Dharma Earth Day Letter Writing Initiative... and got me some glass straws.  When I first got my glass straws, I was super excited... my kids and I popped them into our waters and fun ensued.  Seriously, it had been so long since we drank from straws that we forgot how much fun it was to sip, sip, sip....

Now I'd like to tell you that I take our straws with us everywhere and use them all the time, but to be honest.... I'm really really bad at remembering to take them when we go out to eat....UNLESS, of course, I'm getting a smoothie.

Admission:  I have an addiction to smoothies.  Seriously. I sip and slurp up A LOT of smoothies with my glass straws!  

Just to let you in on my addiction.  For the past year, I've been going to yoga every Friday.  And every Friday after yoga, I get a smoothie at Tidal Creek.  I've now upped my yoga to 3 times a week... and you guessed it... that means more smoothies!!  Sometimes they're chocolate, sometimes they're fruity... but boy oh boy are they always super yummy!! :)  Of course, I used to go without a straw.... I was cool with going without....really I was... yes, even with a green smoothie mustache and a line across my nose.... I was fine.  But... you know what????!!!  Smoothies are SO much better with a straw.  A million times better!!  No doubt the smoothie tastes good no matter what... but it's honestly more pleasurable to drink using a straw.


....Says the girl who always says, "I don't need a straw." ;)


Now that I officially have a major thing for glass straws... thanks Glass Dharma!!  I feel this need to share them with everyone.  It's fun to say "glass straw" and see people get very intrigued.  BUT... even better than that is giving them to family and friends! They are definitely my new favorite thing to gift.  When my family came out to visit for my birthday, I ordered a bunch of glass straws and gifted them to my family.  Days after getting home (to Iowa), my aunt made my cousin a thick milkshake...  and sent me his response.  Thumbs up!  His favorite feature was something I hadn't even thought of:  The glass straw doesn't go flat like a plastic straw!  Woot!!

While Bushwalla was staying with us, he came home with a drink with a plastic straw...yikes!... I asked "what's up with the plastic straw??".  ...and then, being the person I am...I couldn't let him go around using plastic straws.  Friends don't let friends use single-use disposable plastics. ;)  Without hesitation, I said, "I have something for you" and gave him one of my glass straws.  He immediately started using it... and a month later is still using it!!!  Most recently during his live and online show at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf he talked about reducing the amount of plastic he uses and showed off his glass straw!  Yay Yay Yay!!  Go B!!!  (another ripple effect in progress) 

Ok... so it's been 3 months since I got my first glass straw.  I'm super grateful that Glass Dharma asked me to participate in their Earth Day letter writing initiative because thanks to the glass straw I'm back to sipping my drinks... slurping up the end of my smoothies... taking my kids to get fun things like root beer floats... all while still encouraging others to kick their plastic straw habit. :)

Hmmm... it's still early... I think I need to go make me a smoothie... ;)

Repurpose That Ribbon!!!

Last week, I collected all of our plastic waste for the week.... including plastics that came from Christmas gifts.  Our total for the week added up to 37 pieces of plastic.  (If you recall, back in September I collected ONLY our kitchen plastic waste for the week and we had 40 pieces of plastic.)

Most plastic that we accumulated during last week-- for the most part-- aren't things that we can reuse.  BUT.... there are a few things that we can repurpose... like a ribbon that was on a gift.  Sure we could save it and reuse it for when we gift something... but I'm not all into that whole wrapping gifts thing and I know that most likely the ribbon would find its way to the landfill (or worse... littered!!).

 Sooooo.... yesterday... I asked my daughter if she wanted to make her Christmas ornament for the year.  (of course, she said "Definitely!!")  She went outside to our side porch where we have flower pots filled with sea shells... yes, my kids pick up more than litter at the beach!!! ;)  She picked out seashells that had holes in them.... cut the ribbon.... and then she made this....

   

Better than any premade ornament that we could ever buy in a store :)

Real Maple Syrup

Several years ago, I decided that I was going to switch from Log Cabin Syrup to real maple syrup.

And...

 Let's just say that I TRIED to make the switch.... Over the course of about a year, I would buy maple syrup and mix it in with the HFCS pancake syrup and tried to slowly wean out the "fake" stuff... but for whatever reason I just couldn't let go of the sugared sweetness of the corn-syrup based "pancake" syrup.  Most times the maple syrup would get used for glazes (think Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon.. YUM!) and as a sweetener in baking.

THEN, just this year... I took the time to learn all about HFCS and started eliminating it from our household.  And thanks to Food Inc., I put the puzzle pieces together about the complete relationship between corn-syrup and GMOs.  I had always avoided GMO's, but never took the time to fully understand how much they are in our foods.  (GMOs are another post... in the mean time, if you don't know about why you should avoid them...  for your health, for the farmers, and for the planet...get googling).

I immediately made the decision that I was no longer going to buy Log Cabin (or any other "fake" syrup)... and started buying maple syrup in bulk from our local cooperative market...

We take a glass juice bottle and get A LOT of maple syrup :)

 Honestly, it took me a bit to get used to the natural earthy flavor of maple syrup...  but now I could never go back to the "fake" maple syrup.  No GMO's, no plastic bottles... and it's real... REAL is always better-- than any man made food product-- for us and for the environment. :)

A Recipe for Laundry

It's been 5 months since my laundry went detergent-free. YAY!! Before switching to the chemical-free laundry ball, I used to wash my laundry with liquid detergent that was free of perfumes and dyes. BUT, not free from a plastic bottle. :(


One of the main reasons that I made the switch in how I do my laundry is the packaging... especially with liquid detergent. So if you're wanting to make a change in what you use to wash your laundry and are a little hesitant about doing your laundry sans detergent...


Then you definitely need to say "Hello!" to my friend Joey... this is her fairytale ;)

"Once upon a time ago, I married the cheapest man in the world. No complaints! His cheapness allows me to be a Domestic Engineer staying home with our three children. It also has me constantly looking for ways to spend less money on the items we all need daily. Cleaning products and laundry soaps are something we all must use and when you purchase them you end up with their containers. The city in which we live has a recycling program, however, it's very limited. Before I began making my own cleaning products, I had numerous containers collected waiting to be driven to another city for recycling. After a while it became overwhelming. So many plastic bottles, so much waste! Finally, I had enough.

Enough of the spending, enough of the waste!

I asked my dad to bring me a bucket as he is the "King of Used Buckets." (I'm not sure what ours was previously used for, but we're using it now!!) When the bucket isn't being used for mopping floors, I make this:

Laundry Soap:
This recipe makes 5 gallons

Ingredients:
Hot Water (will total 5 gallons)
1/2 cup Washing Soda (can be found in the laundry aisle of any grocery store)
1/4 cup Borax
1 bar soap (if you buy bar soap in bulk--to keep it from drying out-- be sure to store in air tight container)
1 to 2 cup(s) Baking Soda (acts as a softener)
Fragrance oil, such as: lavender, linen, rosemary, tea tree, or any fragrance oil you desire! (optional)

• Grate bar of soap into a large sauce pan with hot water. Stir over medium heat until soap dissolves and melts completely.
• Fill 5 gallon pail half full of HOT water. Add melted soap, Borax & washing soda. Stir until all powder is dissolved.
• Top pail off with more hot water to a total of 5 gallons.
• Add 10-15 drops fragrance oil if you'd like!

To use:

• One cup* per load, stirring/shaking before each use. (*for standard washing machine)

For storing the laundry soap and homemade cleaners, we reuse gallon milk jugs** with "Mr. Yuck" stickers that the doctor's office gives out. Safety first!!

This is one of the websites I refer to when making homemade cleaners: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm

Remember just like any other recipe, you can adjust the ingredients to your liking!"

**If you're finishing up a bottle of liquid laundry detergent... save it and reuse it for homemade laundry detergent!

Oh yes, and if you haven't already... check out: Hangin' Out

A Journey from Disposable to Cloth Diapering

When I was in 7th grade, I remember my science teacher teaching a lesson that had to do with the amount of waste associated with different convenience products.  And while I don't remember specifics... I do remember her telling us how the amount of disposable diapers used in just one year could be stacked one on top of the other and stretch from the Earth to the moon and back again 9 times!!  I remember thinking, "I'll never use disposable diapers.  That's such a waste."  And when I had my first child, I remembered that science lesson... but my fears of being a new parent and listening to what other people told me about their experiences with disposable vs. reusable diapers took over and as much as I hate to say it... I used disposable diapers.  Ugh.  Now, I'm not usually the type of person to say that I wish I could turn back the hands of time... but when it comes to how I diapered my children...THAT... I wish I could change.

 SO... since I can't change what I did... I can only tell people how much I wish I would've done differently:  for the environment and for the money that we threw away to the landfill.  

SO... on that note... meet my sister-in-law Lindsay.  This is her story:

"When I became pregnant with my first child there were suddenly a lot of decisions to make.  Should we find out the sex of the baby or let it be a surprise?  Formula feed or breastfeed?  Pacifier or no pacifier?  A biggie for me was disposable diapers or cloth diapers?  The answers to most of these questions came surprisingly easy to me as I navigated my way through the early days of parenting.  Upon my husband's wish we knew we were having a girl, were committed to giving breastfeeding a determined try and did not use a pacifier.  Actually our daughter decided this last one herself...she prefers to suck two fingers of her right hand.  :)

As for the diapering question I thought about the things I had heard my mom say about cloth diapering my older brother and myself.  The folding, laundering, and safety pins not to mention the mess and smell.  I knew cloth diapering would be better for my baby's skin and the environment so I did some research online.  I decided a cloth diapering service was the way to go.  After all, we just used the diapers and they came weekly and picked up the soiled diapers and left a new batch for the coming week.  Kind of like trash service.  The way I saw it it was the best of both worlds...until I found out that there was only 1 company in all of St. Louis that does this service...and they didn't service my area as of yet and didn't know when they would be. :(  After this disappointment I pretty much resigned to the fact that we were going to be using disposable diapers after all and we received many packs of disposables at our showers.

For 11 months we used disposable diapers on our daughter and then one day in December I was looking through a parenting magazine when a cloth diapering system caught my eye.  I instantly went online to find out more about it and from there began researching all the different forms of cloth diapering that are out there.  Why didn't I do this over a year before when I was expecting you might ask?  Well, to be completely honest I'm not sure.  I think maybe I lacked the confidence that I could do it when I was only an expectant mother and already feeling the normal jitters of becoming a parent for the first time.  By the time my daughter was approaching her first birthday I had gone through the hazing that is the newborn period, first fever, teething, crawling and even walking and inevitably falling.  In essence, the task of cloth diapering wasn't as daunting as I thought and as I read about the cloth diapering systems out there I thought to myself, "why didn't anyone tell me they had cloth diapers like this nowadays?" and "hey I can do this!"

So with that mantra in the back of my mind, I located a wonderful cloth diapering store located only 10 miles from my house!  They offered a cloth diapering 101 class that would show the many different ways to cloth diaper your baby, let you get your hands on samples and asks as many questions as you have. While taking a class like this is unnecessary, it certainly helped boost my confidence.  The staff there takes phone calls and are very helpful.  One system gets you from birth to potty training for under $100!  Gone goes the myth that it is more expensive.  Did you know that on average it costs anywhere from $1600-$3000 to use disposable diapers from birth to potty training?  Cloth diapers pay for themselves within the first six months.  After that you only pay a minimal amount to launder them i.e. water, electric & detergent.  We found this expense to be so minimal we didn't even see an increase in our electric or water bills.  Plus we never have to make a midnight run to the store to get more diapers.  The worst thing that we might have to do is a load of laundry...and really when aren't you doing laundry anyway?

I bought a few second hand diapers that night so I could just "try it for a day" and see how I liked it.  Guess what?  I LOVED it!  It was every bit as easy as disposable diapers and my heart was finally content knowing that I was doing something that went along with my morals and views.  It just felt RIGHT.  The following day I bought a dozen brand new diapers off of Craigslist.  BumGenius 3.0 All-In-One diapers are very popular so it was easy to find someone who had gotten them as a gift and didn't want to use them.  This saved me $5 a diaper.  SCORE!  After a few months of cloth diapering I knew this was what I wanted to do from the very beginning with our next baby so I patiently perused Craigslist once again and within a few weeks found another dozen at a great price.  Double SCORE!  Now I have enough diapers for two days with a newborn (24-28) or three days with my toddler.  This has made laundering the diapers a synch.

As for the laundering...we use super soft liners to catch any poo and that gets flushed down the toilet so there's no poo in our diaper pail.  Every two or three days we do a cold wash cycle and then a hot wash cycle with an extra rinse.  As for drying them we often hang them over laundry baskets to dry over night or if we're in a hurry I dry the liners in the dryer.  The covers air dry very quickly on their own.  My favorite way to dry them however is outside on a clothes line.  I do this at least once a month because the sun acts as a natural bleach and restores the diapers and inserts to their pristine whiteness.  Plus they are deodorized by the air which is a scent that really you just can't bottle hard as some companies might try. :)

What could be cuter that a bunch of colorful diapers hanging from a clothesline?  

On that note, what could be cuter on your baby's bum than cloth diapers?  

All you need is some guidance and practice and the results and satisfaction in knowing you are giving your baby the very best will come."

Buckets of Water

Two years ago, I volunteered a lot of my time at my son's school with the PTA Environmental Committee (aka Green Team).  My first big volunteer opportunity was for the Fall Festival...it was then that I became a master at asking for and receiving donations.  During that time, I spent a lot of time with another volunteer-- Barbara-- that like me was always trying to make simple changes in the things that she did to lessen her (negative) impact on the environment.  One day, she went on about how "all the buckets of water" around her house drove her husband nuts.  I, honestly, didn't really know what she was talking about... buckets?  Really?!  And... I was too embarrassed to ask (why??  I'm not sure)... so I just shook my head in agreement like I got it.

This I knew:  The Earth is covered with water, but out of all that water only 1% is fresh usable water and every bit of water that is on the Earth today... has ALWAYS been here... 

I am humbled by water as it is the ultimate in reuse.

Needless to say, I spent a week trying to figure out what in the world she was talking about...

I was bound and determined to "get" it.  SO... every time I used water I thought... "Buckets??  Why would she have buckets??"  Of course, there's the shower thing... but we turn on the water when we get in (don't have to let it heat up... it's already heated :) ).  SO... I thought and I thought.  Then the simplest of thoughts came to me, 

"Where can I save water?  What water doesn't have to go down the drain?  How do *I* use water more wisely??"

And with those thoughts... all of these ideas rushed to me about being a conscious water user and moving beyond just turning off the tap while brushing my teeth or washing dishes.

Every bit of water that goes down the drain goes to a water facility where it's treated and cleaned for reuse.  (On that note, everything we put down the drain by flushing or garbage disposal that can be removed is done so at the water treatment facility and sent to the landfill... save a step and quit flushing stuff or using the garbage disposal.)   

SO...The first thing that I did was stop pouring water from boiling pasta, steaming or shocking veggies down the drain.  It's no secret that nutrients find their way into the water... why not water plants with it or just pour it outside? So I use a sieve or strain my pasta/veggies into a colander set over a bowl... when the water cools... I dump it outside in our bushes, yard, etc. :)  I do the same with drinking water that has sat around, extra coffee... you name it... it finds it's way outside and never down the drain.

So, I don't have buckets of water all around my house, but I do understand why she did.  By not pouring water down the drain... I reuse water to reduce buckets of waste and so much more  :)

A Cup of Tea

This evening, I finished off my last box of Yogi Green Tea. (I have to admit that I'm a little sad... I'm gonna miss those little "fortunes" on the tea tag.)  A few weeks ago, I decided that I was done buying individually wrapped tea bags (even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Yogi teas SO much).  One thing I'm not going to miss is the  plastic lined paper.... 

I compost the tea bags and wrappers that they come in... and the above is what the "paper" wrapper looks like and then when it's finished composting... paper gone... plastic virtually unchanged.

The main reason I decided to stop buying the prepackaged teas came to me almost by mistake.  I had always thought that tea had to come in tea bags AND individually wrapped.  Then, one day while my kids were at the park (with their Dad), I went to my local co-op sans crazy monkeys... it was then that I had the opportunity to take my time and look around (without having my kiddos asking and reaching for everything on the shelves).  Enjoying the peacefulness of the shopping trip, a thought occurred to me to ask about some twig tea that I had gotten samples of the month prior.  They didn't have any... BUT... then I was told, "We do have it in bulk."  

BULK?!?  *Tea* in bulk!?!  Who knew??  He then went on to show me the different teas (told me how I could make my own combinations!) and reusable bags/infusers.  I bought my infuser that day, but waited to get some tea until I had a container that I could reuse...

Ok... so I'm going to slightly miss my favorite "Green Tea with Kombucha"... but I'm not going to miss the waste associated with buying a box filled with individually wrapped tea bags.  

 Besides... with the bulk tea selection... I'm sure to find a new favorite :)

My last Yogi tea tag fortune:

"Strength lies not in what you have, but in what you can give."

Repurpose and Reuse Cereal Bags

A month ago, I was reading My Garden Green and she had a fabulous idea to "Repurpose those Cereal Bags!"  Here's what she says:

"What to do with those plastic bags that house your cereals & crackers? Use them as ziploc bags! I have not bought a box of plastic storage baggies since November - yay me! I've been saving the plastics bags from inside our cereal & cracker boxes.  I just turn them inside out and wash them and let them dry.  So far I've been able to use them for taking my lunch to work, holding my washed/cut up fruit and veggies, storing leftovers in the fridge and even in the freezer.  I even stored a min-watermelon in one the other day.  Who needs plastic wrap?!  While I'm not sure what number plastic they are made from - yet - it sure beats tossing them in the trash. (I've emailed a couple of the companies and have not received any answers yet, but googling the bags points to a #2) How to seal it with no "ziploc"?  Reuse rubberbands or simple tie a ribbon around the opening!

Goodbye plastic bags and plastic wrap! May you never set foot in my house again!"

Of course, it's been years since I've purchased zip-lock bags... I used to reuse deli meat/cheese bags (but I don't buy meats anymore) and I've had the same roll of plastic wrap for the past few years (seriously, mentally it's hard for me to use the stuff and when I do use it, I save it for later to reuse as many times as I can... Grandma would be SO proud ;) ).  So after reading the blogpost on My Garden Green, I was super excited... so excited that I almost posted moments after reading it.  Then I thought... hmmm... I need to try this out!!!  It's taken me awhile for two reasons: #1.  I tend to always use containers with lids and #2. My kids don't eat that much cereal.  So last night, when I realized that all of my large containers were full and I had a whole cut up pineapple and some leftovers from dinner to store...

I pulled out 2 cereal bags and a couple of rubber bands (saved from produce).  My bowls were too big to fit inside the cereal bag, so I opened them up at the seam... used he biggest rubberband that I could find... and Voila! instant storage!!

YAY! for My Three Green Girls for coming up with such a creative way to repurpose an item that would normally end up in the trash!!! :)

Use Less Plastic Video

Use Less Plastic from TakePart on Vimeo.

Rethinking Party Favors

The other day I got a text from my friend that read:

"Unless u can help me come up with a cool party favor, I'm just NOT doin it!!! I'm not givin JUNK!!!"


I immediately called her and said, "Take a stand!! Don't give party favors!" I said that because I really hate party favors. I always find it kind of ridiculous that kids expect a gift for going to a birthday party and giving a gift to their friend. I certainly don't remember party favors when I was a kid. The only time we ever walked away from a party with something (other than bellies full of cake and ice cream) was when we did a craft activity such as decorating shirts with puffy paint.

At our house, we don't usually give out party favors for our kids birthdays and when we don't I am always left feeling like a cheapskate. SO... for my friend... I decided to think about it... BECAUSE some people just feel better giving party favors... and if they're gonna give them... the least that I can do is put some thought into it and help them come up with something besides a bag of plastic junk that will most likely end up in the trash can/landfill/oceans.


So here's what I told her:

• Pencil Holders: Last year, for my son's 7th Birthday party... I wasn't going to give out party favors. Then I had some Smencils from our fundraiser... so I bought some to support the initiatives of the non-profits that I'm directly involved in. THEN... I looked under my kitchen sink and there were SO many steel cans. I decided that I was going to reuse repurpose the cans and make pencil holders for the kids. Here's how: I ran the cans through my dishwasher to make sure they were free of all gunk, let them dry thoroughly, then I spray painted them. (I did purchase acrylic markers for the kids to decorate their "pencil holders.")

• "Sponge Balls." These are great in place of water balloons :) My mom and I made them for my daughter's pool party last year. We had a total of 4 friends invited plus a few brothers...so it wasn't too much work. The kids had a blast playing with the sponge balls in the pool, however, they didn't really hold up well to the older kids throws.

• Cloth Napkins-- Put the kids names on their own reusable cloth napkin. Use fabric paint to let the kids decorate their napkin with their handprints.

• A Growable Favor-- Get small peat (or terracotta) pots, fill with dirt, plant a seed (flowers, vegies, etc) and if you want to make it fancy: tie a ribbon around it.

My friend and her 6 year old daughter decided on giving a planted sunflower seed in a peat pot :) I am SO grateful that my friend asked me my advice AND took it... woo hoo!! Now there are 23 kids (and their parents) who have seen a different kind of party favor!!

By the way, my kids are super excited to add the sunflowers to our flower garden!!

Here's some bumble bees enjoying one of our sunflowers from last year :)

(Un)Consumption

The other day, I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs: Fake Plastic Fish . If you've never heard of it... lets just say, "Now you know." :) If you've ever wanted to lessen your plastic consumption... and leave a lighter footprint....this is definitely a blog that you should check out!

Last week, she wrote a blog about "Buying Green vs. Being Green." The blog post is long... but she makes many valid points that I completely agree with. **STOP here and read her blog post:)** It's easy to get caught up in purchasing something new because it's touted as being "green" when we either don't really need it because our "non-green" item works just fine or we could and should be purchasing used anyway. OR maybe something we hadn't even thought of: NOT purchasing at all. Think about what she says,

"What we don't buy and consume is probably more important than what we do."

A point that is made in "The Story of Stuff." Overconsumption whether "green" or not... is overconsumption. In order to move past overconsumption, we have to rethink what we buy, why we buy it, and HOW we buy it. Wow... that's a mouthful.

I know the things that I used to buy a lot of and thinking back.... I had to ask myself:

How many pairs of black pants does a girl really need?? How many times am I really going to watch that movie that I just had to buy?? How many toys do my kids really need??

I do this often and I always find that when I rethink (and rethought) things... I don't need 10 different pairs of pants, I don't need to buy movies because I could rent them, and my kids don't need all of the toys that they want (yes, we've even put a limit--it's 1-- on how many gifts family can buy for each of our kids for birthdays and Christmas).

Before we make a purchase we ALWAYS first see if we can buy the item used. Some places that we check are Ebay, Craig's List, consignment shops, and I'd really like to say we go to garage sales... but I just don't move that early in the morning ;) Another one of our favorite resources is Freecycle. Ok... it's not buying... it's better... it's FREE!!) Last year, my husband built a brick patio and walkway with used bricks he gathered from other "Freecyclers":)

Want to go full-fledged into Unconsumption?? Try one of "No Impact Man's" suggestions and don't buy anything new (besides food) for one month. Here's an idea to help "fill the craving to shop."

"Only when we rethink how and what we value — so that we no longer base well-being and quality of life on excess production, consumption, and wasting — will we truly be able to address global warming and other forms of ecological ruin." -- Green Gone Wrong by Heather Rogers (go check it out at your local library ;))

Library & Dinner

Today, we met a friend and her son at the library. It's the second week we've been...and before last week, it had been years since I had been to a library... college to be exact. Yes... for the past 10 years, I was a book store junkie. I was a sucker for the book store "experience." About 6 months ago, I decided that I was going to start going to the library... but didn't until now because I was nervous about taking my kids. All I could imagine was the librarian going "sshhhhhhhh" and then getting kicked out. Luckily, that isn't the case. As my son grabs book after book off the shelves and yells, "Mom! Look at this dinosaur book!!"... I never hear a word from the librarian and have been quickly reminded of how great libraries are... I'm amazed and impressed at the abounding variety of (shared) books and media. Last week, we checked out 3 books. Today, we checked out 8 books!! Of course, all free (for 3 weeks!). Libraries ROCK!!

SO... while we were at the library my friend and I were talking about me recipe testing for The Blissful Chef and what I eat... or rather what I don't eat. She asked, "You don't eat meat... what do you eat for dinner??" A valid question. Of course, I explained... but pictures are SO much better:

For dinner tonight, we ate Orange Seitan (yes, like the famed Orange Chicken from the mall!), Vegetable Lo Mein, and Asian Green Bean Stir-Fry (the green beans are a test recipe for The Blissful Chef... which by the way... were so darn yummy!).

Now I can't give you the recipe for the Asian Green Bean Stir-Fry... BUT... I can give you my recipe for Orange Seitan!!

Orange Seitan

1 lb cubed seitan

flour

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (if you like it hot add more)

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

water, as needed

1 tsp sesame oil

grated orange zest

*Orange Sauce* (mix all ingredients and set aside)

1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1 1/2 TBSP orange juice

7 TBSP brown rice syrup or 5 TBSP brown sugar

5TBSP white vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

Heat 1-2 TBSP oil in large skillet. Dust the seitan lightly with flour. Add seitan and cook until nicely browned on all sides. Push seitan to the sides add a drop of oil to center of pan and add ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Sauté until fragrant. Add rice wine and stir. Add *Orange Sauce* and bring to a simmer, stirring until well mixed. (Add water if sauce becomes too thick). Stir in sesame oil and add grated orange zest. Serve immediately :)

Going Waste-Free Saves (Everything)

A little over a year ago, a reporter came to my home to interview me about our trash... or rather our lack of trash. :)  Everything that he asked me was pretty basic... until he asked me if "being well off made doing everything we do... 'easier'??"  I was completely baffled by the question because by saving resources we save another kind of resource... $$$$.

Think about it.  By reducing and reusing, it's impossible not to save money.

All those disposable products... all of those individually wrapped/boxed convenience products... some may seem cheap... but in the long run they end up being more expensive... not only for our wallets... but for the Earth as well.

Check out these facts that I found on the Kids Konserve website:

Crazy right?!  But here's the thing... that's just children's lunches.   What about the teachers... what about the people who pack a lunch for the office... what about picnics??

Hmmm...  I'm feeling like running some numbers.....

• Bottled water... one plastic single-use bottle of water per day for a year (365 days) at $1.50 per bottle = $547.50* per year!  (And we all know that nobody drinks one bottle of water a day.)
• Reusable water bottle costs anywhere from $12.50 to $22 ... fill that bottle with tap water and.... Shoot...Tap water is practically free it's so cheap. 

Want to see the math yourself?? Check out this Water Calculator :)

On to plastic baggies aka zip-locks or sandwich bags:

• A box of 50 basic zip-lock bags runs around $4 (of course depending on where they're purchased).  Let's say that you use 3 every day for a whole year.  That's 1,095 bags in one year!  And let's be honest... I remember when I used plastic baggies... I went through a lot because I used them for EVERYTHING!  Hmmm... so what does that add up to...well besides a whole lot of waste... around $90* per year for something that's thrown away!!
• Food Cozy 5 for $23.  Use, Wash, Reuse... Repeat.  

Some other common products to check prices are on single serve yogurts vs. tubs of yogurt, cups of fruit vs. fresh, Uncrustables vs. unpackaged made by you PB&J sandwich... the list can go on and on!!

Of course, I pack my kids waste-free lunches for school... but we also pack waste-free for picnics, work lunches, on-the-go snacks and... well, you get the picture.

As the 40th anniversary of Earth Day approaches... make the decision to go "Waste-Free."  There are SO many amazing products out there that make packing Waste-free lunches (and snacks) super easy.  If you're ready to go Waste-Free, check out Kids Konserve.

Reasons why I like Kids Konserve:

• Many of their products are made from recycled materials... including bags made from recycled plastic bottles and containers made from recycled stainless steel!!  (If you're recycling... and you should be... then you should also look for products made from recycled materials to complete the circle of Reduce Reuse Recyle... don't let it end with Recycle :))
• Their products come in convenient kits or products can be purchased separately to make your own personal waste-free kit!!
• Kids Konserve is a company who believes in giving back, their school Waste-Free Challenges give a percentage of every sale back to the school.  Check out their Waste-Free Lunch Challenge.  
• Clean Up Your Act This Earth Day! and Miss Earth Day
• With every order placed in April, you will receive a free 20oz. stainless steel Kids Konserve Bottle (of course, while supplies last ;) )

AND... if that's not enough... just because you've taken the time to read my blog (YAY! You!!)....they've offered a 15% discount code (earth15) valid until April 30 to use at their website!!  Thanks Kids Konserve!!!  

"As Americans we have come to depend on the many convenience products that are available to us, and nowhere is this more evident than in the school lunch room. Most parents pack lunch items in single-use plastic bags, aluminum foil, or wax paper, or they purchase single-serving items that come in their own disposable package. Admittedly, these products are extremely convenient, but what is the environmental cost to a country that relies so heavily on them?"  

-- www.wastefreelunches.org 

*I am not a mathematician ;)  If you see an error... please feel free to do the math :)