Recycling Artwork

This past weekend we went to birthday parties for 3 different kids. It was a very social and enjoyable weekend! Of course, before that I went shopping for presents and thought a lot about the wrapping of the presents. I used leftover wrapping paper. Then instead of ribbons and a card, I decided to take some of Jake's old artwork that was on pretty thick paper and use it for the present.
(Okay, so Jake had had a little help with this one... but I also used another one that was clearly only Jake's handiwork.) I took this one...
... and transformed it into this. It looked really cool on the present.

Potty Talk

My friend Sara sent the link to this article to me the other day...

Toilet Rebate Program

This program (only available in Portland, Oregon) gives you financial assistance to trade in traditional toilets that use 1.6+ gallons of water with each flush, to a newer, more water-efficient toilet that uses no more than 1.28 gallons per flush. You can replace up to 2 toilets in your house this way!

Luckily, when we built our house we installed dual-flush toilets in each bathroom. That means that the small button only uses 0.8 gallons per flush, which we use the majority of the time. The big button uses 1.6 gallons per flush and is only for desperate measures. I'm really glad we are already able to use less water .

If you're not able to replace your current toilets with more water-effecient ones, you can always do the old trick of filling plastic containers with rocks, sand, or water and placing them in your toilet tank. Click here for some tips.

Just what you wanted to think about today... :)

Green Goals for 2009

Another year! Another chance to make new habits or change old habits so that we reduce, reuse, and recycle better, and become better stewards and citizens of this planet Earth.

First, looking back on 2008. In January I posted here my 13 un-green habits. Surprisingly, some of them have changed for the better!!

1. Hot showers. Those have actually decreased in time slightly since Jake hasn't been interested in taking showers lately. And I learned a new green trick -- when taking baths, don't drain the bath water until the water has turned cold -- the heat will be used to help keep your house warm, instead of just (literally) going down the drain.

2. Facial tissues. We officially made the switch over to cloth hankies and I love it!! Of course, seems we never have enough, but that can be remedied.

3. Using the car. Umm... I haven't been using public transportation any more BUT I have gotten really good at combining trips. The other day I hit the lamp repair store, picked up my reel lawn mower, returned something at Target, and went grocery shopping, all in the same trip. Yeah!

4. Compost. Argh... well the very good news is that Portland rolled out new compost bins, meant to be used for yard/garden compost. In it I throw things that could have come out of my garden and haven't been cooked -- like the stems from kale leaves that we don't eat. Or tomatoes that we just didn't get to in time before they started to go bad. So that has definitely helped.

5. Cats eating meat. I don't think that one will change, and with the cats only being 6 years old and very healthy, it will stay that way for a long time.

6. Shoes. Humm... I think I brought just 2 pairs of shoes this past year. One pair I have used a LOT. So not bad :)

7. Automatic lawn sprinkler system. No change there. Pass.

8. Batteries. Something I still need to tackle for 2009.

9. Turning off electronics. I am really good about turning off lights, and we are awesome about unplugging the blackberry charger and toaster when not in use. I still need to get some smart strips and hook them up in my office. A goal for 2009.

10. Thermostat to be set lower. Still working on this one. After I saw this, I got up, turned down the heat, and put on a sweater. Sigh.

11. Clothes drying rack. I was awesome at using it this past summer. Harder to use in the colder months when it takes all day. I need to start trying again, just one load a week or something.

12. Using the vegetables. I think I've gotten a little bit better.

13. Reducing plastic bottle use. I have done really well on this one! I've actually been using baking soda to "wash" and apple cider vinegar to rinse my hair for 6 months now, and it is working really well. It also resulted in not buying all those plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles. I do buy Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, but have been refilling those bottles at the store.

So all in all I did really well this past year.

Some things I want to focus on for 2009:

1. Keep using cloth bags at the grocery store but more importantly, learn how to not accept bags or tissue paper at ANY store/market where I shop. Having two of these ultra-compact bags in my purse at all times has greatly helped with this goal. The other day when I did my multiple errands in one trip, I actually didn't know I was going to the grocery store at the end, so I didn't have my cloth grocery bags with me. Fortunately, all my groceries just barely fit into the 2 ultra-compact bags that I keep in my purse!

2. Get some smart strips and hook them up in the office to save on energy drain when things are not in use.

3. Be mindful of when we don't need the thermostat on and when we can at least turn it down. Kind of hard to have the heat down when you have a toddler who loves to run around naked!

That is it for now. We have other projects that will keep us busy this year, so want to keep it simple. What is YOUR green goal for 2009?

Bag Talk

I had a Zola party at my house the other day, and the best part about these gatherings is the discussions that we have regarding ideas on how to make our lives more eco-friendly. One of the talking points came up as we were discussing using cloth/reuseable bags for our purchases. Some people want to keep getting paper bags from the grocery store because they then reuse them for their dog's poo or their cat's litter. Having cats myself, I completely understand.

There are a couple of things here... with some help from a friend, I found out that paper bags thrown into landfills are the #1 source of methane pollution. Yuck!! On the other hand, my Dad informed me that there is at least one landfill (in Corvallis, Oregon) that is using that methane to produce usable energy (so cool). However, since not all landfills are utilizing this yet, it is best to minimize the quantity of paper bags thrown into landfills.

Zola does sell biodegradable doggie doo bags made from corn. The good news is that they biodegrade fast and don't sit in the landfill for ages. The bad news is that this country relies on corn for too many things (food, ethanol, corn products, and the worst, HFCS (high frutcose corn syrup)).

So there is no easy solution but to do the best you can. My solution? Whenever I get small paper bags, like from buying bread, bringing home potatoes or other fruits and vegetables, etc., I save them to reuse for cleaning my cat's litter box. So yes, I am using paper which goes into the landfill, but these particular paper bags are MUCH smaller than using a big paper grocery bag. So I continue to use my awesome cloth bags for groceries and other purchases, and reuse the paper bags that end up coming home with me, anyway.


Psst... Zola parties are fun! We have lots of discussions of this type. Let me know if you want to have one... :)

This here is my FAVORITE bag. I keep 2 of these in my purse at all times and whip them out whenever I need a bag (shopping, library, instant diaper bag, place to put unwanted coats, hats, etc.) Since these have been in my purse, I don't think I have brought any plastic or paper bags home...

Nablopomo

First, it is Nablopomo! I am going to attempt it this year for the first time. Wish me luck :)

Secondly, it is the end of the Ditch the Disposables two-month challenge.
I am really pleased with how well my family met this challenge. We used up the last of our tissues, then started using the cloth handkerchiefs that I brought. Both Mike and Jake used them through a week of a runny nose, and neither of them got sore noses, hooray! Now that we've gotten into the habit of using them, I finally brought a couple boxes of tissues to keep around for guests since I think we'll now reach for the cloth first.

And lastly, more about our Halloween. Once we got home from trick-or-treating, Jake put his pumpkin full of candy in front of the fireplace for the Halloween ghost. Then while he was elsewhere, the ghost came and left this basket of goodies. I think next year I'll have him leave the candy overnight before it gets replaced, sort of a cross combination of Christmas and Easter.

Read here about Mama Nomad's Sugar Fairy... I just might have to change Halloween Ghost to Sugar Fairy for subsequent years, sounds much nicer and more plausible!
A small pumpkin (which, strangely, he was the most delighted with), a dinosaur coloring book, and a panda mug that had lollipops, chocolates, and honey sticks.

Okay, he doesn't look totally thrilled with his honey sticks in this picture, but he really does like them. He's been making that face for a lot of his photos lately. I'm hoping it is a (short-lived) phase.

The reason I have photos of him with his Halloween basket the next day is because after getting home from trick or treating in the Village and carving pumpkins, he was falling asleep in his dinner! And it wasn't even 7pm yet. I was looking forward to having him help me answer the door and also take him trick or treating at a few houses on our street. But it was not to be! He was in bed and asleep by 7pm, which is super early for him. And yes, he slept until almost 7am. Wow.

Water Bottle

Yesterday was my first time traveling for work in a long, long time 2 years. Since that time I have become more and more eco-conscious, so before I started traveling this time I thought about all the water bottles one purchases and uses during a business trip. On a trip with one overnight, that is about 5 bottles of water, and there usually are no recycling facilities for the bottles (although that is slowly improving) and I don't have enough room in my luggage for that many bottles especially now that some airlines are charging you for how many bags you check.

Not to mention... there are more reports about how most bottled water is just tap water anyway, and sometimes worse than that. I got this in my email today:

It's just what we've all suspected - pure, "straight from the mountains" bottled water is not so pure after all. Yesterday, EWG released an industry-rattling report that reveals the dirty truth about bottled water.

We tested 10 brands and found an alarming array of contaminants, including cancer-causing byproducts of chlorination, fertilizer residue, industrial solvents and even caffeine.

In light of these disturbing findings, here's what you can do:

• Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled or unfiltered tap water.
• Mix infant formula with filtered, non-fluoridated water.
• Carry water in safe, reusable containers.

For more information, click here http://www.ewg.org/bottledwater

So prior to my trip yesterday, I had purchased this bottle:


When you take it apart, it looks like this. You unscrew the cap, and the filter is attached. You fill the bottle with water and then squeeze some out the top and you are good to go.
You can find this bottle and others at this website http://www.purewater2go.com/
I just might order the smaller size, the one that looks like a regular disposable water bottle with just the filter because the one I have was just a little bigger than I wanted it to be for air travel.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I brought it with me. I had it empty when I went through airport security, then simply went to a drinking fountain inside the terminal and filled it up. Voila, clean, filtered drinking water that was free!

Recycle Caps

Everytime I throw something in the trash, I cringe at the thought that it is just going to go and sit in a landfill. I do the reduce, reuse, recycle option as often as I can, but there are times when that is not an option.

I've been reducing the number of plastic bottles I use, but everytime I do use one, I recycle the bottle but have to throw away the cap.

No more! Now Aveda has a bottle cap recycling program, check it out!

http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp

Tissue Queen No Longer

So how is everyone doing with the Ditch the Disposables challenge?

For my challenge, I decided to see what I could do about reducing the amazing amount of tissues we go through in this house. I mean, I am used to ordering tissue boxes by the case -- that 10% discount and not having to repeatedly buy tissues at the store are nice incentives. But that meant that I occasionally do have to get more tissues and it costs money.

So I ordered some beautiful handkerchiefs from Kasper Organics.

They arrived in the mail yesterday, just in time to test out on the runny nose that Jake has from a cold. So far they are working beautifully -- thin enough to use easily but thick enough so that there is no 'ick' factor when I am wiping his nose (or mine). Also, his nose isn't getting totally red from being wiped the way it does when using tissues. I got about 7 handkerchiefs, so I can use one or more a day and then throw them in the wash. I'll see if that is enough, and if not, I'll just order more as they aren't too expensive.

Growing up, my dad always had a cloth handkerchief in his back pocket. I remember using it to wipe my nose many, many times as a little girl. They were really nice handkerchiefs, too, but I'm not sure they were much fun for my mom to iron. Maybe that's why he stopped using them?

Now if only I could teach Jake to blow his nose.


Oh -- an update. Apparently my dad DOES still use cloth handkerchiefs. I guess I'm just old enough not to need to use daddy's handkerchiefs anymore :)

I Love Reusable Products!

Here's a green challenge for the months of September and October. This is from Crunchy Domestic Goddess and I think this is a great idea!

We are a throw-away society, which is really harming our earth and generating huge landfills as well as floating garbage in the ocean.

But it doesn't need to be like that. There are great alternative products out there which can help us make the switch from disposable products to reusable products. My friend Ellie made a great blog post about this so hop on over there to check out alternatives to disposables.

Here are some ideas to get you started… pick one or two things you can do and go for it!

You can make the switch from:

• Paper napkins to cloth napkins
• Paper towels to cloth towels
• Tissues to handkerchiefs
• Paper, plastic or Styrofoam plates to your kitchen plates
• Inexpensive plastic “Take & Toss” sippy cups to Sigg or Camelbak bottles or the Kleen Kanteen
• Disposable water bottles to (again) reusable bottles like Sigg or Camelbak
• Paper coffee cups to reusable coffee mugs like Sigg
  
• Plastic sandwich bags or paper lunch bags to reusable containers/bags
• Paper lunch bags to cloth or neoprene reusable bags.
  
• Swiffers (or similar products) to a broom and dustpan or mop (or use reusable cloths like cloth diapers/terry inserts in your Swiffer)
• Disposable dust rags to cloth rags
• Disposable diapers to cloth diapers
• Disposable wipes to cloth wipes (inexpensive plain washcloths work really well)
• Disposable feminine products (tampons, pads) to reusables like DivaCup, MoonCup, Glad Rags, Luna Pads, Pretty Pads, or New Moon Pads, among others
• Grocery store bags to reusable bags

Or, for the really adventurous:

• Toilet paper to cloth wipes/washcloths (for #1 or #2 too if you are really, really adventurous)

Zola Goods, for which I am an Independent Coordinator, has quite a few of these alternatives, especially the reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, cloth paper towels, Wrap N Mats for sandwiches, reusable bags for shopping, etc.

Go check it out and start making a difference today. Leave me a comment and let me know what you have chosen for your ditch the disposables challenge!

The Yellow Pages are Not Green

Last month I wrote about Do Not Mail -- a way to encourage the end of junk mail in your mailbox.

Today I read about a movement to end the distribution of phone books.

When was the last time you reached for a phone book? My point, exactly. I don't think I've opened one in at least 2 years, and probably looked through one maybe 4 times in the last 10 years. The internet has everything I need.

In the meantime, millions of phone books are still being printed, using tons of resources (trees, water, gas for delivery). There are half a million households in this country, so a white phone book plus a yellow phone book for each household equals 1 million phone books. And that is not counting all the phone books that go to businesses! Not only that, but I get phone books from 2-3 different companies, and every year they go and sit on a shelf, untouched, then get tossed in the recycling bin when I get my annual delivery.

I, for one, would love to stop receiving phone books. So I signed up for that here. Go to that website and click on the "Sign Up" button if you prefer not to receive phone books. Trees, not phone books!

Update: I have been informed that the Yellow Pages does not use any virgin trees for their phone books. That is very good news! They use 40% recycled material (from what we recycle curbside -- newspapers and magazines, etc.) and 60% wood chips/waste materials from the wood industry (which is a better use for those products than going to the landfill). So the environmental impact is not as bad as one would think. That is good news for those that like using phone books.

However, since I don't use phone books I would still love to stop getting them and see that material being used for other paper products. I think it would make a huge impact if all businesses used recycled white paper for their copy machines/printers, etc.