Spread the Word!
Click here to check out unique and beautiful gift-wrap! OK, you guys know I don’t “advertise” much on my sustainability blog, but you have got to check out the new arrivals we have for the holidays! They are awesome, and as usual, 1% of all sales go to environmental non-profits.
Use the back of a closet door to organize your chargers!
I know you have one too… that “junk drawer” that barely closes, the place you put everything in your house that does not have a permanent home.
We are electronic junkies and lately I realized that half of our junk drawer was full of chargers. All of our devices seem to come with a cord or battery re-charger… the cell phones, the camera, the portable DVD, the video recorder, the GPS, the ipod… you get the picture.
I went on-line to find a solution (yes, I know most people get these organizational urges in January but I am procrastinating on real work!). All of the solutions I found alarmed me because they keep the cords plugged in ALL THE TIME. Have you seen these boxes for your chargers? The cord is hidden, plugged in, and whenever you need it, it is ready. Sounds great, but many cords still pull energy when plugged in, even if they are not attached to the device.
So, the picture above is my solution, and an inexpensive one too! These organizers can be found at any retail giant or organizer store. They are normally used for shoes or accessories, and they hang on the back of any closet door. We keep ours in a closet near the kitchen where all of our chargers are convenient to the whole family. I labeled all of the slots (OK, I am revealing my geek nature, I do own a label maker). We love it!
Tags: battery chargers, organizers, saving energy, Sustainable Living
Top Five Reasons to Give Up Bottled Water from www.newdream.org
My material is usually original, but I think this is important enough to duplicate! New American Dream is the non-profit that we (www.fabricwrapper.com) support as members of 1% For The Planet.
1. Disposable plastic water bottles are not meant for multiple uses.The #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is fine for a single use, but reuse can lead to bacterial growth and leaching of dangerous chemicals.
2. Bottled water is full of oil. Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 cars for a year. To put it another way, the entire energy costs of the lifecycle of a bottle of water is equivalent, on average, to filling up a quarter of each bottle with oil. (Pacific Institute)
3. Bottled water is expensive! Drinking the recommended daily amount of water using bottled water can cost an average of $1,400 per year; drinking the same amount from the tap costs around 49 cents for the year. (NY Times)
4. Your tap water is fine to drink. Tap water is more highly regulated than bottled water and over 90 percent of water systems meet EPA’s standards for tap water quality. (If the taste or color is a little off from your tap, your pipes are probably at fault—a simple filtration system should do the trick to take both aesthetic problems away.)
5. At least 40 percent of bottled water is tap water anyway. That’s right: you are paying a huge premium on water that you could have just gotten from your tap in the first place. (Natural Resources Defense Council) You probably like tap water more than bottled water, too!
Tags: bottled water, new dream
It is time for the kids to say goodbye to lazy days at the pool, and prepare for back to school!
Just a couple of tips for preparations:
(1) School Shopping: Re-use anything you have in your house to save time, money and resources. We all have pencils in every “junk” drawer… don’t buy what you already have! When it is time to buy new, though, The Ideal Bite has some great tips on eco-friendly school supplies. And for waste-free lunches, try the great selection at reusablebags.com
(2) Green Space: Does your school need a free garden? Apply at the The Children’s Nature Institute for a grant!
(3) Biking and Walking: For those of you that saw my new year’s eve entry in January, you know that I got the kids to school on their bikes 50% of the time last year. This year I am moving my goal to 75% of the time. This means I will be rolling to the school in gloves and hats as soon as December arrives, so wish me luck! Join me in walking and biking to school when possible.
Add your own tips in the comments section. Wishing everyone a wonderful school year!
Tags: back to school, bike to school, green grants, green school supplies, waste-free lunches
Last week I hosted a bookclub on Michael Pollan’s In Defense Of Food. Many of us had seen the movie Food, Inc and we had a great discussion debating the merits of various points from both the movie and book. I thought the best one was Pollan’s advice to stick to foods that have 5 ingredients or less. Simple advice and yet so hard to do in today’s grocery stores. So, Pollan adds, get out of the grocery store. That is more difficult than it seems. For instance, In my household we get our CSA box only 10 weeks out of the year, our cow-pooling is great but we don’t like a lot of red meat to begin with, and our garden plot is tiny due to our small yard at the beach. The nearest farmer’s market is a 45 minute drive. Small changes do help, but to totally change our western diet we need big changes at the grocery store too.
One of the most interesting comments came from one of the moms in the group who had led the conversation from healthy food to healthy household cleaners and said a friend emailed her about the dangers of today’s sunscreens right after she just replaced all of her plastic with BPA-free bottles. Whew, take a breath, right? That’s exactly how she felt… she needed a break. She said, “I could not even open the email because I just could not take any more”. A lot of people agreed. The changes many of us are making to lead a more healthy and sustainable lifestyle feel good. But they can also be expensive and exhausting!
The fact is that we do make choices every day that affect our health and the planet. But overhauling your lifestyle in one day may not be possible. Make good sustainable choices. Buy reusable rather than disposable items. Read what the experts have to say and then use your own instincts. I try to remember, as Pollan points out, that “the experts” have been very wrong in the past. But our instincts are usually right.
Tags: cow-pooling, food Inc, green backlash, Pollan, Sustainable Living
As many of you know, this blog is not just about sustainability… on a related note, we are also linked to www.fabricwrapper.com, which offers beautiful reusable gift wrapping products! We are about to celebrate one year in business, and we are looking for feedback. Please help, we would love your opinion! Take a short 8 question survey and receive a coupon code for 10% off our products to be used any time before August 1st. Sign up for our mailing list on the website and you can get more great offers and sustainability tips from our newsletter.
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Tags: coupon, reusable gift wrap, survey
“Where do I find a recipe for Tatsoi?”, “Will my kids eat white radishes?” These are some questions I’ve had while opening my weekly CSA box.
CSA, or “Community Supported Agriculture” is a rapidly spreading phenomenon where people are skipping the middle man and getting their produce right from the farmer. Pretty exciting stuff… you can actually know where your food is coming from, and it is likely from a source within 20 miles from your doorstep. In a CSA, a group of families (ours has 150) pay the farmer a fee up front for 10-12 weeks of weekly boxes of produce. Ours has veggies and fruit, some include options of grass-fed meat and hormone and antibiotic-free eggs. Being in the CSA has definitely expanded our vegetable repertoire… collards are actually okay! And I have spoken to “my farmer” several times and enjoy supporting someone I like and trust. I have posted his CSA on http://www.localharvest.org/ and hope if you are interested in finding a CSA in your area you will check it out!
It is true that you can do more for the environment by changing the way you eat (eating locally as much as possible, eating lower on the food chain) than if you dropped your SUV for a Prius. And, you could find out, like my family, that the changes make you healthier and happier. Who can argue with that?
Tags: cooking vegetables, CSA, gardens, healthy eating, local eating
Give mom a gift within a gift!
Mother’s Day is coming up fast! Since becoming a mother I appreciate my own mother’s sacrifices and words of wisdom more than ever.
Moms today want to save a dollar (reusing is hip!), and the environment, at the same time. When wrapping your Mother’s Day gift this year, www.fabricwrapper.com products provide a way to make both things possible for your mom! But even if your mom is not the eco-conscious type, she will still appreciate that reusable gift wrap is unique, thoughtful and boutique chic.
Our recommendations for wrapping mom’s gift?
Pink Dot Medium fabric gift bag :wrap anything in this versatile bag: A shirt, framed photo, books.
Aqua Dots Wine fabric gift bag :best if your mom is a wine lover or to wrap a beautiful candle!
Daisy Dreams Large fabricwrapper for boxes :wraps the big items such as robes, towels, or sweaters.
Tags: fabric gift bags, green gift wrap, mother's day, reusable gift bags
Cloth napkins are functional and look great!
Simple Tips… Please add more in the comments section!
(1) Use cloth napkins. Not just for holiday dinners anymore! These are so easy to pick up at estate sales, but if you have to buy new there are cheap options at every big box store. Once you get in the habit, you will feel funny about ever using a paper napkin or paper towel in your home. Easy to throw in the laundry with your normal loads, cloth napkins are great for cleaning, better for constant kid spills and super durable.
(2) Buy Used. Good for your budget and the planet… most things can be bought used. We buy/ trade used almost all of our kid’s clothing and some of our own. Big ticket items are much less expensive pre-owned and unless you want the latest and greatest (insert hybrid cars here), there is always a great selection.
(3) Grow some veggies! If you saw my previous composting and Spring garden posts, you know this is a new and exciting adventure for our family, but I know there are many of you out there that are already pros. If you don’t have the land or leisure time for a garden, try to buy local produce whenever possible. www.localharvest.org can help you search for your nearest farmer’s market.
(4) Get a whiteboard. Dry erase or chalk boards are great ways to cut down on paper for household communication, grocery lists, etc. If you are a “list” person and need something to carry, use the back of junk mail and envelopes. This tip is especially important if you have kids. My kids LOVE to do crafts and draw. We are trying to differentiate for them when is is OK to use real paper (crafts, things they want to give to grandma) and when they should use the white board (all daily doodles!)
(5) Use Reusable gift wrap! You didn’t think I would forget this one, did you? check out www.fabricwrapper.com for wrapping for every occasion. So much waste is generated by disposable wrapping… please make this change!
Tags: cloth napkins, farmer's markets, gardening, resuable gift wrap, reuse, sustainability
We will never live this car down...
I thought about calling this the “don’t be afraid” article, for I am finding more and more people who seem intimidated to make minor changes in their lives to help the environment (and therefore themselves). There is a certain “all or nothing” mentality. We all need to go easier on one another and allow the baby steps… because they do lead to greater good.
One holiday I was standing in the kitchen ranting over an environmental issue to my Dad, and he says, (half jokingly, I like to think), “Didn’t you own a suburban a few years back?”. Now, immediately I felt completely exposed as an eco-hypocrite. After all, how could one who owned a massive SUV for a family of 4 and 2 dogs just 5 years ago really have any voice regarding making changes? I am confessing this because I can relate to the fear that being seen as “green” opens one’s choices to judgement. But we all need to care for our planet…and everyone can make a difference. If we feed the notion that any steps beyond recycling are crunchy or elitist, we will never touch the mainstream public to bring about major change. And major (and quick!) change is what our plant needs right now.
Fabricwrapper Note: Even though http://www.fabricwrapper.com products are very affordable (an individual could not duplicate our products on their home sewing machine for less), it would be hard for someone to afford to completely change over to reusable gift wrapping all at once. Over the years one can see the financial benefit, as swapping with friends and family reduces your gift wrap expenses to zero. Until then, however, the Sierra Club points out that if every family wrapped just THREE gifts in reusable gift wrap, we would all save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields in a year. Amazing.
Tags: green baby steps, lite green, SUV backlash
