Why plant California native plants?

I used to pick out plants I wanted in our yard only on the basis of whether they were pretty or not. Now I am a little more aware of the benefits of planting plants that are native to our area. There are many reasons to plant Native plants.

-simplicity of care: once a native plant is established it doesn't need water or fertilization to care for it in any way if we choose not to.

-less need for pest control: native plants have developed a resistance to the insects and diseases common to the area and so will maintain health without our intervention.

-restoring ecological balance: lost food and habitat for native wildlife of all kinds are restored by planting those plants they depend on in the wild.

Here is a link to a list of some California native plants: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_native_plants

Green Cleaning - LAST of JEN'S 1 A DAY FOR 3 MONTHS!

Those 3 months when we had a house keeper were the happiest of my life...

Seriously though, I hate to clean. I know others out there are much better in this area than I am. The boys used those bath crayons to color the bath tub a few days back and tonight I got a burst of energy and got into one of those rare cleaning moods. I opened the cleaning cupboard, which has not been greened. I saw Simple Green. Usually I would use Clorox on the tub but that uses a lot of water and is pretty harsh so I thought I'd try the Simple Green. It worked great. I think out of my options, that was probably the best. I'm trying to decide if I should just replace my cleaning products as I use them up, or donate them to some place that would normally buy them and start from scratch.

This is the last post for my 3 months of one change a day! I'll do a post in the next week summarizing my experience. I will continue to post, I still have a lot of change I want to do. As I make changes I'll share them here, I'm just not going to hold myself to posting everyday.

I do hope we can keep the momentum going. Thanks Emily for the offer to do 1 or 2 weeks at a time. I look forward to seeing what develops. I think we have a fantastic little group and I will enjoy reading more about how this lifestyle change is affecting you and your families, and continuing to learn from everyone.

Veggie Booty Recall

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D8Q23CHO0.html

Walking

I'm still trying to cut back on driving. I walked to the Salvation Army the other day instead of driving. I figure every little bit helps. Whenever I can park once and do multiple erands, even if it means some walking- I do it. I also figure walking is my only form of exercise right now, so every bit helps me too!

I've only got a few more days to make it to my 3 month mark... who is going to take over starting in July???

Flowers

Here's a tip from Emily, she's unable to post at the moment...

organicbouquet.com

I just came upon this website via Amnesty Int'l.
For people who send flowers, its a way to send organic and a percentage of all the proceeds go to non profits.

Thanks for the tip Emily, and I just re-sent the invitation, hope it works. :)

Purchase Decison

We are planning on getting some large storage cabinets this weekend and I was doing some research on the dangers of particle board because I am concerned about the formaldehyde, a volatile organic compound (VOC) out gassing. On one hand I think the idea of pressed wood is great, it's using the waste from lumber. On the other, like I said, I'm concerned about all the chemicals used in the process. I came across The Green Guide, put out by National Geographic- it helped give me the answers I was looking for (the link is to the page dealing with particle board), and it looks like a useful site in general too.

Natural Sun Screen

I've been meaning to post on this for awhile. I switched to a natural sun screen that I like, so thought I'd pass it on. The brand is Aubrey Organics, it is recommended in that Living Green book I borrowed from Erica.

Let's Green This City!!!

I was at the Giants Baseball game last night. Giants beat the Padres! Yippie!
Dan's a Padres fan, but that's another story.
Anyway, PG&E has an advertisement link at the ball park to http://www.letsgreenthiscity.com/
I checked a little of it out. Kind of cool.

Who Killed the Electric Car

I know Sarah already did a post about this movie, but I just saw it this weekend- and I want to tell everyone I know to see it. It's a story everyone should know.

This website has a ton of information about the movie and electric cars. This is an issue I really want to stay on top of. I have high hopes that someday we will own an electric car. I think hybrids are paving the way for that to happen.

The movie was so well done, really, you should see it!

Pacific Market, Rohnert Park

It had been awhile since I'd been to Pacific Market and I went in today. I was impressed. I liked that they have tags on shelves so that you can easily pick out items that are 1)Organic and 2)Natural. I happened to notice the Manager stocking shelves and I told him I liked those tags, but would also like one denoting Local. He thanked me for the suggestion and said he'd bring it up. They have a suggestion board so if you shop there, might want to jot that down so they know there's interest. I also noticed that their plastic bags are made of 100% recycled plastic!

Yahoo! The cloth diapers just arrived at the door. Off to go open the package. :)

Not Buying It

I've started reading the book Not Buying It and it inspired me yesterday. I had some time to kill and went into Rite Aide really only looking for one thing, which they did not have. Since I had plenty of time I went down every isle, I probably picked up about 5 different things that I really did not need and after putting them through my new filters I would put them back. I walked out of the store empty handed. And it felt really good. Six months ago I would have walked out of that store buying about $15 of junk and feeling proud of the bargains I'd found, but having a nagging feeling of guilt in the back of my mind. I'm noticing a real shift in my spending habits and it feels so good.

Line Drying Clothes

Today I finally line dried my first complete load of clothes. All along I've been line drying (draped over the shower rod) some clothes here and there, but today I managed to keep the whole load (and it was a big one) out of the dryer. Maybe I'll post a picture tomorrow. I got one of those fold up wooden clothes drying racks. Got it at Friedman's (local) and it's made in the USA. I also took all the shirts that would get put on hangers and let them dry in the bathroom on the rod- then they can go straight to the closet, that's easy. It took quite awhile to get all the clothes to fit on the rack, but hopefully I'll get faster at that. I'm sure I won't line dry everything, but if I can cut my dryer use by 50% for now, I'd say that's pretty good.

On-line Activism

I have never thought of myself as an Activist... until very recently. Lately (thank you Emily) I have been getting a lot of emails with calls for action. I have made it a goal to do some sort of on-line activism (send a letter, sign a petition, etc.) at least once a week. There is so much out there, it's almost too easy not to!

Here is a great place to start (thanks Emily):

www.newdream.org/

After you do just about any kind of on-line activism, the group asks if you would like to send an email to your friends, asking them to do the same. I may begin to send out invitations for action now and then. If you ever get something from me you would rather not, please let me know right away.

Fluoride

Man! Another thing to have to figure out. Sometimes ignorance is bliss...

I watched a documentary on that documentary junkie my space page I mentioned awhile back. I was also looking at www.fluorideaction.net

This is another one of those cases where doing what's right for your body might also be best for the environment. The documentary junkie site explains the environmental impact more clearly than the Fox news clip on the other site. I don't want to get facts wrong. If this is an issue you are curious about, check out the two above links and tell me what you think.

For a long time I've had this nagging feeling that fluoride supplementation was not right. I've been delaying refiling David's prescription and I've never filled the one for Brian. I switched to using Tom's of Maine non-fluoride toothpaste. After watching the documentary with Calvin we agreed for now to continue not to give the boys fluoride. I still want to do more research though.

I'm interested to know other's thoughts.

Small green thing

We got us a blow up pool this weekend. It says to empty it daily due to health reasons and mosquitoes. We have decided to do it every few days, depending on how dirty it gets. We are going to get a tarp to cover it with since we have all those trees dropping cones and needles. That will hopefully allow us to empty it even less often. But, my little green idea when I emptied it today was to scoop the water out and use it to water all my plants! Now I don't feel so guilty about the pool.

Diva Cup

I've tried it. And I'm giving myself a chocolate bar. My offer sill stands.

So far all I have to report is: I was scared to put it in, putting it in was easy, turning it (as the directions say to) was tricky, it's not bothering me once it's in, and I'm scared to take it out.

Green gift giving

My family draws names at Christmas to cut costs and chaos. The adults draw and the kids draw. Even though I will participate in that this year, I am planning to break the rules a bit. I want to get each family (4) a grean living starter kit (of sorts). So, over the next several months, I will be picking up the $0.99 shoppinng bags, order some more produce bags, and possibly get them copies of a shopping guide (I want to check out that other one I read about to see which will best suit them). I am trying to think of other (cheap - or free!) things I can include to help get them started. I had thought of product samples... but not sure how cheap that will end up being. A few recipients may be very reluctant, and others may have just needed this little push. They all live in TX, so whatever I can do to help.... well, you know.

Looking for suggestions... thanks!

On a related note, I always thought my mom would be one of the reluctant. But while she visited I was reading the Better Shopping Guide while she read her magazine. She asked what it was, I told her, and she asked to see it when I was done. Then I noticed that on at least two other occasions during her visit, she was looking through it again. So, if she could find the products readily where she lives (yeah, right), then maybe she will shop "better". :-)

Bulk Peanut Butter

I am so in love with Community Market. I love just about everything about that little store. After the post Erica did awhile back about all the things that we think can be recycled but can't (but I still really want to do the tour with our local recycler to find out what the deal is locally) it got me wanting to reduce waste even more. I'm really enjoying shopping in the bulk section and I feel good about all the packaging that saves.

Today I brought in my empty unwashed peanut butter jar (that we had just finished) and had them weigh it, then filled it up with bulk peanut butter. Plus it was kind of fun to use that grind-up-the-peanuts-machine. Another bonus- natural peanut butter that you don't have to stir!!!

Pulling Weeds

After a long day with a sick kid, I'm not feeling real creative so I checked out the Green as a Thistle blog for some inspiration (I love her) and was reminded of something I've changed. Now we pull the little weeds that come up through the cracks in the patio. I'm ashamed to admit that our old method was to wait until you could hardly see the patio and then Calvin would go out and spray. I used to do almost anything to avoid pulling weeds, but now I actually enjoy it (a little). We are not good at yard work. I sometimes say we have black thumbs, but really we are just lazy. Keeping the little weeds out of the cracks is probably the first thing I feel like I've been really successful at in the back yard. I'm out with the kids anyway, and I'm starting to enjoy looking for the little things I can do while I'm out there to tend to things. Baby steps.

Fixed It

I typically buy fairly cheep sun glasses. Then after a year or so, they break. Then I throw them out, and get a new pair. Well last weekend my sun glasses broke and instead of throwing them out I thought I'd see if I could get them repaired. I took them to Lens Crafters and they happily fixed them for free. I hate to think of all the perfectly good sun glasses I've thrown away!

I'm going to try to get in the habit of asking myself, "can this be fixed?" before I throw it away.

Grey Hair

I was just watching a recorded Oprah and the topic was secrets to aging gracefully and they were going on and on about how it is a MUST to dye your hair.

Well I'm not.

I have always thought women like in the photo above with natural grey hair are very attractive. I'm 31. I'm getting more grey hair every year. You know what I say? Bring it on!

Our culture is so youth obsessed. Maybe we should learn to respect what grey hair represents, age. Older people have grey hair. It's part of life.

I am becoming more mindful of all of my actions. I used to color my hair without much thought to it. Now I want to appreciate my hair for what it is, and make it look the best I can without chemicals, and all the waste that comes with it.

Calvin has always been kind of proud of his little grey hairs, and I'm starting to see the wisdom in that.

GREY IS OK!!!

Gift bags/Tissue

I have alot of tissue paper, and gift bags.
Anyone is more than welcome to reuse these.
I have alot of baby themed gift bags, along with some wedding, flowers, and Christmas.
The tissue is mainly white. I also have pink, some blue, and some other odd neat designs.
Now, when I get someone a gift, I can save money and not buy the wrapping stuff.
But, Like I said, you are all more than welcome to it.

Galimoto

I went to my favorite store, Kindred, again today. I just love them for gifts. I found some perfect gifts.

I also couldn't resist getting a galimoto for David. Galimoto's are toys that children in Africa make out of scraps of metal and different things they find. When the store owner saw me looking at the toy he came over and explained to me how popular they are in parts of Africa. They also had a children's book called Galimoto which I also picked up. David loves his new toy and was very interested in the book when I read it to him tonight. I think he may be able to talk his Daddy into making a galimoto of his own!

I feel so good about 1) supporting an artisan in Africa, 2) supporting Kindred, and 3) teaching David to think about how children play in other parts of the world. I think helping him to have compassion for the people of the world will help him want to do his part to help take care of the earth.

Line Drying

I want to start line drying clothes and want to put it up in the garage but Calvin's not real crazy about that idea, just wondering if anyone has any tips?

One of the reasons I like living in SF:

Oddly enough I just heard about it.

This is an old article, but the ordinance just went into effect June 1st.

San Francisco Styrofoam Ban

So maybe if this comes to Santa Rosa, you guys won't have to worry so much
about the take out/leftovers dilemma...

Have a great weekend everyone!

UPDATE: As I finished posting, the food we ordered got delivered--mostly in styrofoam containers!
Apparently some restaurants haven't heard about the ban either...

Greening Our Vacation

This was the first vacation that I intentionally thought about how we could be more eco-conscious in our travels.

The first leg of our trip was a family reunion in San Luis Obispo, it was all planned out by the organizers and everyone was staying at the same hotel. We decided to lengthen our trip past the weekend, so I gave myself the challenge of seeing how green I could make it.

I found Asilomar. I found it by searching the Green Hotels Association web site. There may be better resources out there, but I stopped looking after I found Asilomar.

The things I liked about Asilomar:
* Actually part of the state park system (who knew the had hotels?!)
* Member of Green Path
* Had mounted soap and shampoo dispensers in rooms
* NO TV's!
* In room recycling program
* BEAUTIFUL grounds
* Served organic food (some)
* Served fair trade coffee
* Organic bath products
* Unpretentious down-to-earth staff and guests

We also brought our bikes and used the car a little less, plus they provided some exercise and entertainment.

We had a good time and enjoyed being on a vacation that was in-line with our values.

Okay, I give in...

I'm switching to cloth diapers :)

I definitely took the easy route though. I did become interested in them after awhile, but didn't have the time or energy (read: too lazy) to decide what to do. So I waited... And Sarah did all the work for me! J/K :) I had intended on looking into it more eventually, but Sarah researched enough to write an encyclopedia, so I just basically picked her brain and ended up copying her. I bought the same brand and the same accessories and should be getting them in the next couple weeks!

I really hope I don't regret this since I didn't really try cloth before making the huge purchase, but I think it will be fine. Matt is on board too so that's good.

I'll let you know how I like it :)

Avoided the Styrofoam

Hi all- We're back from vacation, I missed you guys, glad to see you were posting while I was gone :). Tomorrow I'll do a post on the green aspects of our vacation, but for now...

Tonight we went out to Old Chicago Pizza and asked to have our left-overs wrapped in tin foil. They were very nice about it and I felt great avoiding the Styrofoam. We're going to try to make it a habit to at least ask.

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Ill keep this a lot shorter than my last 2 posts :) I just saw this documentary, it was recommended by Netflix when I put The WalMart Documentary on my queue. I had also heard about it in some of the reading I have done. It was SO good, seriously so well done. I enjoyed it even more that the WalMart one because I actually learned a lot more from it.

It chronicled the life and untimely death of the EV1, GM's electric car that was released in the mid-90's. I vaguely remember when these Electric vehicles were on the roads (other companies released there own versions of an electric car), but was to young to even drive then.

Anyway, check it out if you can, I HIGHLY recommend it!

My Cloth Diaper Update (Long)

So I just wanted to do an update on my cloth diapering situation. About 7-8 weeks ago I started cloth diapering and was using the Tidee Didee Diaper Service. For those who may not know what thats all about, they supply the prefolds (the diaper part of the er...diaper) and then you use a cover over those to make them waterproof. This was working out well for awhile, I never had any leaks or anything. I could never get them tight enough to use over night so I was still using a disposable at night, one for each of my kids. I started doing some research and quickly became obsessed with all things cloth diaper related. There was SO much to learn and know. So after relentlessly researching (and making a super dorky, extensive pros and cons list), I decided to quit the diaper service and start washing them on my own at home.

I ordered some different styles to try out and settled on one called a BumGenius! 2.0 One Size Pocket Diaper. BG! for short :) These diapers come with inserts that you put in the diaper to make it absorbent. You can customize the absorbency, making them easy to use at night time. No more disposables for her! The 'one size' part is the coolest, and what will save me the most money in the long run. The diaper fits weight ranges 8-35 lbs, so it will easily take us up to potty training. They also fit Jonny no problem at 38lbs, I think cause hes a string bean, so he wears them at night also. No more disposables for him!

I ordered 18 of them which ran me about 300 dollars. Sounds like a ton, but will even out with what I was paying Tidee Didee in about 5 months, (Tidee Didee was 55 a month.) I also feel like I could get by with less... maybe 14.

You might be wondering about poop :) It really is a non issue. Elliot still has lovely peanut butter poop most days and it has never stained or anything (she is even formula fed, which is not water soluble like BM poop). If there is something to dump in the toilet, I dump it. If nothing falls off, it goes into the pail till wash day(the pail has a liner, a reusable one instead of the plastic ones that Tidee Didee has to throw away each week). I wash every 2-3 days and I hang dry to save on energy and prolong the "life of the diapers". You can use the dryer if you want to though.

I love the diapers (I told you its a weird new obsession). They are so cute on her too. She has never leaked and they are as easy to put on as disposables, no folding or snappi-ing or covering. Also I have to mention that the resell value on these are great, even after I use them for a few years, I can easily get 2/3 of my purchase price back. There are websites all over selling used diapers. Sounds gross but I promise its not :)

I have also switched to cloth wipes, since I am washing the diapers anyway. So no more disposable wipes either! They are basically like washcloths that I use with water and a little wipes solution. Piece of cake. Then I throw them in the pail as well until wash day.

I know that I mentioned in a comment earlier that home laundering takes a lot more water than a commercial laundering service. This is true. BUT, I feel that I am evening out this extra water usage and impact by eliminating disposables diapers all together, switching to cloth wipes and line drying. Besides, I had to wash my covers with the old system which I did once a week, so I am only using 1-2 extra loads of water per week, and I use the low water setting on the washer. I also get to decide which (eco-friendly) detergent I use on her diapers which also means on her skin. I don't need the delivery truck anymore so that has to save a few emissions too! :)

The only down-side I have come across (with any cloth diapers) is that Elliot has bypassed size 9 months completely and went straight into 12 months to help compensate for her enormous bum. I think shes a bit of a giant baby anyway though...

Anyway, thanks for reading my post if you made it this far! I had fun writing about it :)

Watched the Wal Mart Documentary

I watched this last night and second the recommendation that Jennifer gave. Its pretty informative, although I was annoyed at how emotional they tried to make it. I like a little heartstring tugging, but I feel like they did it way to much.

There was some good info about China in there. That was probably my favorite part. They touched on Ma and Pa shops closing, the environment (mostly water quality), and then China and the factory workers there. That part was the most informative for me.

I was amazed at how hypocritical Wal-Marts advertisements and commercials were and are. And even more shocking than that is their relentless attempts at squandering union activity. They are ruthless.

I always "knew" that Wal-Mart was less than an ideal place to shop, but I guess I never really had a solid backing as to why it was so bad. You hear a lot about the employee treatment and low wages, but there is A LOT more too it that I was unaware of.

So, of course, I would like to refrain as much as possible (preferably completely) from shopping at WalMart. But heres my dilemma: Where do I stop? Wal-Mart is by far the "worst" of all giant retail stores, but other places use similar business practices, just on a smaller scale. I recently heard that Target, my beloved Target, contributes millions and millions of dollars to Republican campaigning, and were, and probably are, huge Bush supporters. These political ties don't align well at all with Nate and I's political beliefs (the few we have, lol), but do we stop shopping there because they support something that we don't? On the other hand, when that "something" that they financially support, is "something" that effects my children's life and future, then why should I continue to financially support them with my purchases? And like I said above, Where do I stop?

For now, Wal-Mart is out. Forever? I don't know. But for now, out. This is about baby steps anyway. I know a lot of you didn't really like Wal-Mart, I have heard most of you mention that, but I recommend seeing the documentary anyway.

PS. No offense to Bush supporters! He's just not my "cup of tea" :)

CleanWell

http://www.cleanwelltoday.com/#

Found a site with non-toxic hand cleaners.

http://www.thegreenzebra.org/

Try this one too.