Saturday, March 31, 2007
Easter Time
Avery received an Easter basket in the mail today. The "grass" inside got me thinking. All that shredded plastic is such a waste (no matter how you look at it). Anyway, for any of you planning to create baskets this year, maybe rafia (sp?) would be a better alternative? It's natural, so I would imagine more biodegradable, too. It would also create a more realistic nest for all those eggs!
You Can Post Now!
Thanks to Nate and Sarah everyone can post now. I think we will be able to have even better conversations with us all being able to start a post. You should have received an email, if you did not or are having trouble, let me know. Thanks again Nate and Sarah for figuring out how to do this. :)
A Whole (Foods) New World
First I want to say thanks to Jennifer for allowing co-authors or contributors on this blog. It was awesome of you to start this and really sweet of you to share it.
Today, during the kids nap, I went and took a leisurely stroll around Whole Foods Market. It was my first time there! Now I don't know if it because I am new at this , or because parking was horrible, or because it was super busy there or what but I was so overwhelmed! OK, yes, I do get overwhelmed easily but still, I had no clue where to start. At Safeway, or even Target, there are regular brands and then there is usually one brand, of any product, that is "natural" or " organic". So the choices at those stores are easy.... But at Whole Foods... I literally have never heard of 99% of these brands. Whats a brand-spankin' new "greenie" to do?
Ill tell you what I did. I bought a trial size tube of Tom's Natural toothpaste in Strawberry flavor (2.99 for a trial size?!?). I bought it to see if Jonny would willingly trade in his "Superman", or "Cars" bubblegum flavored, sparkley toothpaste, for this greener alternative. I left with my sample size tube of greenness (no bag, thank you very much) and went home. I felt like a huge dork during check-out but hey.. .baby steps right?
So where do you all do the majority of your grocery shopping?
Today, during the kids nap, I went and took a leisurely stroll around Whole Foods Market. It was my first time there! Now I don't know if it because I am new at this , or because parking was horrible, or because it was super busy there or what but I was so overwhelmed! OK, yes, I do get overwhelmed easily but still, I had no clue where to start. At Safeway, or even Target, there are regular brands and then there is usually one brand, of any product, that is "natural" or " organic". So the choices at those stores are easy.... But at Whole Foods... I literally have never heard of 99% of these brands. Whats a brand-spankin' new "greenie" to do?
Ill tell you what I did. I bought a trial size tube of Tom's Natural toothpaste in Strawberry flavor (2.99 for a trial size?!?). I bought it to see if Jonny would willingly trade in his "Superman", or "Cars" bubblegum flavored, sparkley toothpaste, for this greener alternative. I left with my sample size tube of greenness (no bag, thank you very much) and went home. I felt like a huge dork during check-out but hey.. .baby steps right?
So where do you all do the majority of your grocery shopping?
1 a Day for 3 Months
From my HR experience I learned that for most jobs it takes about 3 months to become reasonably comfortable. I decided I want to tackle this commitment to live more earth friendly using that rule. So for the next 3 months I am going to strive to do 1 new green thing a day. I'm going to use this blog to document that. I'd love to hear new things you are trying too.
Today the new thing I did was go to a farmer's market. We went to the one in at the SR Vets Memorial Building parking lot. I would like to start buying more local produce. Local produce is better for the environment because it did not have to be transported from far away. To be honest the selection was a little disappointing. But I think that's because I have become accustom to the produce at the grocery store where it's really hard to tell what's local and in season and what has been shipped in. So I think it will take some time to learn to eat with the seasons. And we are lucky to have the option to get out of season produce. But I'm going to try to at least pay a little more attention to what's in season and buy more local produce for our family.
I found online the Time article I read that got me thinking more about where our produce comes from;
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101070312,00.html
(paste this into your browser, I forget the html code Calvin taught me to turn this into a link)
Also...
I really liked Sarah's idea of having a community blog. I think it would be neat if we could all post topics to start conversations. I was wondering if Nate might have any suggestions of a good way to do this. I looked at blogger but I did not see a way to do a "community blog". I'm fine sharing the password if that's the best way to go.
Today the new thing I did was go to a farmer's market. We went to the one in at the SR Vets Memorial Building parking lot. I would like to start buying more local produce. Local produce is better for the environment because it did not have to be transported from far away. To be honest the selection was a little disappointing. But I think that's because I have become accustom to the produce at the grocery store where it's really hard to tell what's local and in season and what has been shipped in. So I think it will take some time to learn to eat with the seasons. And we are lucky to have the option to get out of season produce. But I'm going to try to at least pay a little more attention to what's in season and buy more local produce for our family.
I found online the Time article I read that got me thinking more about where our produce comes from;
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101070312,00.html
(paste this into your browser, I forget the html code Calvin taught me to turn this into a link)
Also...
I really liked Sarah's idea of having a community blog. I think it would be neat if we could all post topics to start conversations. I was wondering if Nate might have any suggestions of a good way to do this. I looked at blogger but I did not see a way to do a "community blog". I'm fine sharing the password if that's the best way to go.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Great Diaper Challenge
Well I mean this in 2 ways...
1) What a challenge it is to decide on what cloth diaper system to try! You can check out the links I added, whenever I got a free moment today I've been seeing what's out there.
2) I was thinking, maybe, we could each (me, Erica, Sarah, and anyone else who wants to join in) try something new for a month and then report back. I've decided to try a diaper service.
Anyone up for the challenge? :)
1) What a challenge it is to decide on what cloth diaper system to try! You can check out the links I added, whenever I got a free moment today I've been seeing what's out there.
2) I was thinking, maybe, we could each (me, Erica, Sarah, and anyone else who wants to join in) try something new for a month and then report back. I've decided to try a diaper service.
Anyone up for the challenge? :)
G Diapers
Sarah! Erica! Look for the Starbucks reference in this link...
www.gdiapers.com/outandabout
If that doesn't make you want to switch, I don't know what will!
www.gdiapers.com/outandabout
If that doesn't make you want to switch, I don't know what will!
Composting
So going off of Emily's tip I'd like to start putting food waste in the compost bin. I found a nice counter top bin at Gaiam (I'll add their website, they have tons of cool products) and Bio Bags. It looks like you can just throw the biodegradable bag into the compost. It says they decompose in about 30 days. I'm going to check with the wase co. to see if that would be ok, but I just through I'd throw it out there to see if any of you know. Also I'll be looking for a list of what can and can't go in the compost, so if you know that please share too.
One at a Time
I'm enjoying the process of looking at my buying habits in a new light. Like Erica, I'm going slowly. Using up what I have. But future purchases will go through a new filter. I know these changes will take time, but I know I can be too focused on the future sometimes, so I'm trying to enjoy the process.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Make-up to Diapers
As I try new green products I thought I'd pass on my opinions and I love to hear about new products that you discover.
I've been reading more about how unregulated the cosmetics industry is and I was almost out of powder so I decided to see if I could find something more natural. I've been a MAC girl for about 7 years. I kept hearing things about mineral make-up so I decided to give it a try. I the found Mineral Fusion line at Whole Foods and the gal there helped me find a color and said if I got it home and didn't like it, it's returnable. I like it. It goes on about the same as the stuff I was used to, cost about the same, and I feel a lot better about the more natural ingredients. There are a lot of mineral lines out there, so you might find something better, but I thought I'd pass on my 2 cents.
Also wanted to pass on how happy I am that Seventh Generation improved their diapers. I tried them with David and was not impressed. It did take a couple days to get used to the different feel and smell of them, but now I like them much better than Huggies. They fit Brian great and we have only had 1 (user error) leek.
Found anything cool lately?
I've been reading more about how unregulated the cosmetics industry is and I was almost out of powder so I decided to see if I could find something more natural. I've been a MAC girl for about 7 years. I kept hearing things about mineral make-up so I decided to give it a try. I the found Mineral Fusion line at Whole Foods and the gal there helped me find a color and said if I got it home and didn't like it, it's returnable. I like it. It goes on about the same as the stuff I was used to, cost about the same, and I feel a lot better about the more natural ingredients. There are a lot of mineral lines out there, so you might find something better, but I thought I'd pass on my 2 cents.
Also wanted to pass on how happy I am that Seventh Generation improved their diapers. I tried them with David and was not impressed. It did take a couple days to get used to the different feel and smell of them, but now I like them much better than Huggies. They fit Brian great and we have only had 1 (user error) leek.
Found anything cool lately?
Purchase Dilemma
I want to get some sort of shade cover for our backyard. I was thinking one of those gazebo things that Target is selling, but I would like to make the most green decision. Any ideas?
If you have a purchase dilemma, feel free to post it here and we can try to help each other out. I’m going to invite some more people to join the blog and anyone reading can feel free to do so too.
If you have a purchase dilemma, feel free to post it here and we can try to help each other out. I’m going to invite some more people to join the blog and anyone reading can feel free to do so too.
Shopping
Well Brian has decided it's time to be up and playing so I have a few minutes before the day really starts...
As I mentioned to Erica the other day, when I first decided to be more conscious about my shopping I pretty much froze up when it came to shopping for about a week. I really wanted to make the "right" decision but I didn't have much to go off of. I would think and rethink purchases until I talked myself out of buying anything at all! While this did show me that there is a lot that I really can do without, it also showed me that if I was going to commit to being a green consumer, I needed some new resources.
I found that the internet can be a great way to get green goods and that shopping on the net from providers who are as close to me as possible is better than getting in my car to go shopping. I'm learning that internet shopping is fun! Also the coopamerica website is great for looking up information on certain companies, and their green business guide which I picked up at Real Goods in Hopland (thanks Mary for the tip!) is a wealth of information.
So now I have some resources but I still feel like such a Green Greenie! Like yesterday, I went to pick out some more natural shampoo at Whole Foods and I noticed that they sell it in bulk. You can bring in your own container or get one there for around 65 cents. Then you just bring it in and fill it up when you're out. I thought this seemed like a great idea, but it took me like 15 minutes looking through all the gallon bottles to figure out which ones (inc. conditioner and shower soap) I wanted to try and figuring out the whole system. While I was there a lady came with her bottle from home, when straight to the one she wanted, made a label, and continued with her shopping. I'm sure I'll be like that next time too, but I just really noticed that doing something, even small for the first time can be a big deal. And in the beginning there will be a lot of these small things. I'm just going to take it one at a time.
As I mentioned to Erica the other day, when I first decided to be more conscious about my shopping I pretty much froze up when it came to shopping for about a week. I really wanted to make the "right" decision but I didn't have much to go off of. I would think and rethink purchases until I talked myself out of buying anything at all! While this did show me that there is a lot that I really can do without, it also showed me that if I was going to commit to being a green consumer, I needed some new resources.
I found that the internet can be a great way to get green goods and that shopping on the net from providers who are as close to me as possible is better than getting in my car to go shopping. I'm learning that internet shopping is fun! Also the coopamerica website is great for looking up information on certain companies, and their green business guide which I picked up at Real Goods in Hopland (thanks Mary for the tip!) is a wealth of information.
So now I have some resources but I still feel like such a Green Greenie! Like yesterday, I went to pick out some more natural shampoo at Whole Foods and I noticed that they sell it in bulk. You can bring in your own container or get one there for around 65 cents. Then you just bring it in and fill it up when you're out. I thought this seemed like a great idea, but it took me like 15 minutes looking through all the gallon bottles to figure out which ones (inc. conditioner and shower soap) I wanted to try and figuring out the whole system. While I was there a lady came with her bottle from home, when straight to the one she wanted, made a label, and continued with her shopping. I'm sure I'll be like that next time too, but I just really noticed that doing something, even small for the first time can be a big deal. And in the beginning there will be a lot of these small things. I'm just going to take it one at a time.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Wow my own blog
Thanks Erica and Sarah for your replies! I'm glad you guys are interested. I feel so "modern" having my own blog that 2 people read and everything! I think this will be fun. I have a little story to share but it's getting late so I'll post it tomorrow.
New Greenie
Ok, so I'm trying to be more Green and I know some of my friends are too. I thought we could use this as a place to share tips. What do you think?!
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