Thursday, August 30, 2007

Dinegreen.com

The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) began in 1990 to help restaurants convert their establishments into eco - friendly and sustainable businesses. Members must agree to follow a set of environmental guidelines including the use of green power, sustainable food, chlorine free paper products and recycling and composting programs. Although there are only about 200 members right now, I thought it was a neat idea. There aren't any GRA approved restaurants in our area (Santa Rosa) yet but there may be in the future. If you are ever traveling out of the area, it may be fun to see if one of these eco - restaurants is near your vacation destination and try it out.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Green Plateau


I'm noticing I've hit kind of a green plateau. I've found new places to shop. I've made some lifestyle changes I feel good about. I guess now I'm kind of feeling like I have 2 options.

1. I could decide that the changes I've made are what I set out for and move on.
2. I could decide to push myself to learn more and to continue to make more difficult changes.

I'm going to choose the later. I'm seeing that for me the green lifestyle is not a destination, but rather, a journey.

By the way, I just looked at the date of my first post and It was exactly 6 months ago from today! Thanks everyone for keeping the momentum going for this long. I hope that as each of us reach our green plateau at different points, we can encourage each other to keep going.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Community Market's Summer Celebration- SATURDAY




Santa Rosa Community Market's Summer Celebration is tomorrow, Saturday August 25, 2007 from 12-3. There will be free samples, info on biodiesel, recycling, and local non-profits.

Wither you already love the market, or have been wanting to check it out, this sounds like a fun event.

1899 Mendocino Ave.
www.srcommunitymarket.com

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Green Book

Some tips to share from The Green Book (www.readthegreenbook.com):

Pump up: Properly inflated tires improve gas mileage by up to 3%. (Avg of 16 gallons/year)

Forget the receipt: Don't take ATM receipts (or any other you don't really need). ATM receipts are one of the top sources of litter on the planet. If everyone did this, is would save a roll of paper more than 2 BILLION feet long - enough to cricle the equator 15 times!!!

Stop junk mail: Go to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist. This will save 1.5 trees of junk mail annually.

Don't wash your own car: Commercial car washes use up to 100 gallons LESS to wash a car. They also often recycle and reuse rinse water. If everyone did it just once, up to 8.7 billlion gallons of water could be saved and some 12 billion gallons of soapy, polluted water could be diverted from rivers, lakes and streams. Driving through these has become a favorits pasttime of Avery's.

Loose the phone book: They are figuring on using on-line directories. I like thumbing through one, so this is hard for me to give up. I do recycle mine though. The reason this is on the list is that many people don't recycle them and therefore they create 10 percent of the waste at dump sites. Yikes.

Bar soap: You use less soap, therefore less into the water system, with a bar versus liquid pump. I like my liquid shower soaps, but this is another I can easily switch.

Counterbalance Pollution

An article in Woman's Day featured the website www.drivinggreen.com. It talked about how many of us cannot afford to go out and buy the latest in eco-friendly cars, and offers a way we can offset our emissions. Their calculator helps you to figure out what you emit annually, and gives a dollar amount you can donate. This amount is used to fund projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in farms around the world.

We have two Toyotas and my dad-in-law has a Chevy Cavalier. In total, we donated $152 for our vehicles to offset.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Why Organic?

Kids ask good questions. When our God Son was here a couple weeks ago he noticed all the organic food. It was cute, I'd bring something out, and he'd go, "and let me guess, Jenny, it's O-R-G-A-N-I-C right?!" He finally asked, why all the organic food? Well it forced me to try to come up with a good reason.

Here's what I told him:

I belive in organic for 3 reasons...

1. Better for the family- I like reducing the amount of chemicals we are eating.
2. Better for the farm workers- Farm workers, especailly in other countries, become very sick and from ongoing exposure to pesticides.
3. Better for the environment- when pesticides are used they find their way into waterways and can harm wildlife as well.

Slowfoodusa.org

I have been learning a lot about the personal, environmental, communal benefits of buying and eating local and seasonal foods through reading Barbara Kingsolver's book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". She often refers to the Slow Food Movement which I had always heard about but never really had checked into. It looks like there is a Sonoma County Chapter......

Here is an excerpt from their website:
"Slow Food USA envisions a future food system that is based on the principles of high quality and taste, environmental sustainability, and social justice – in essence, a food system that is good, clean and fair. We seek to catalyze a broad cultural shift away from the destructive effects of an industrial food system and fast life; toward the regenerative cultural, social and economic benefits of a sustainable food system, regional food traditions, the pleasures of the table, and a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life"

Vinegar


I made pickles last weekend with my sister and mom in law (I am really getting into the idea of canning after having read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal Vegetable, Miracle"...HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT)
Anyway, I accidentally bought the white vinegar at Costco for the canning project instead of brown and was about to return it when I read the box and learned how many uses it actually has.
Some of the hundreds of uses for vinegar are:
-Kill unwanted grass and weeds by pouring undiluted vinegar on them
-Deter ant invasions by countertops and floors with vinegar
-Clean and deodorize toilet bowl by pouring undiluted vinegar into bowl, wait 5 minutes, scrub if needed and flush.
-Remove film buildup in bathtub by wiping down with vinegar and baking soda.
-Add tsp of vinegar to water when making rice to make it fluffier.
-Keep cheese moist and fresh by wrapping it in a cloth that has been dampened with vinegar and sealed in an air tight wrap.

Using vinegar instead of chemicals is not only environmentally friendly but is also economical. I bought 2 gallons at Costco for less than $3.50.

Monday, August 20, 2007

re: wasting water (post from Aug.5th)

I am happy to report that after sending my letter about water conservation to the YMCA, they now have signs posted in the showering areas that state: Please keep water usage to a minimum in order to conserve water.
It was very satisfying to see that and I admire the YMCA's prompt response to my request.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

First night away & Green


Taylor's Refresher has these Green Cups. We went there for lunch as part of our first night away from Victoria. The cup says "This cup is made from corn, environmentally sustainable, and 100% compostable." Greenware is the company, I guess and has a website at the bottom as "f-k.com". I thought I would post a picture to show you what the cup looked like after sitting in a hot car for 3 days. It's like it melted, where as other "plastic cups" have not melted in the hot car.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

My One for the Month

On Tuesday, Dan and I gave a whole bunch of our clothes to the Salvation Army.
We also went to the Computer recycle center in Santa Rosa and dropped off some old printers.
We did send a few computer monitors to the dump in Petaluma. They take them for free and recycle them to. We still have a few more monitors left. On our next trip we will take them to the Computer recycle place. I also donated a few pots and pans too.
We both feel happy to help out other people who need clothes more than us. Plus, it created space in our garage.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

push mower

I mowed our lawn today with our push mower which we got as a hand me down from friends last summer.
I really like it for many reasons:
1) No exhaust in your face while mowing
2) Quiet (can mow while kids are sleeping)
3) Good exercise
4) No need to worry if there's enough fuel in mower
5) No need to empty grass clippings (they spread onto the lawn and act as mulch which is good for the lawn)

If you ever see one at a garage sale or even want to buy one new (or you can borrow ours), I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

turning off computer at night

I read today that leaving on a computer overnight can waste enough energy to laser - print 800 8 1/2 x 11 pages which adds up to 2600 kWh of energy per year producing up to 1.9 tons of CO2...YIKES!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Bum Genius


If the Green Mommies were to do product endorsements, I'm pretty sure this would be our first one.

At this point 4 of us (that I know of) have switched to using Bum Genius wash-at-home cloth diapers. And we all love them, right?! I was using a diaper service and thought it was great, but the Bum Genius diaper is SO much better, it totally makes up for any inconvenience of washing them at home. What I love most is how well they fit. With the service I used disposables at night because theres no way he would make it thorough the night without leaking. Now, the only time I use disposables is on vacation if we won't have access to a washer and dryer.

I thought washing diapers at home would be a pain, but it's really not that big of a deal. It's also nice not having to worry about running out to the store to buy more diapers. I dry them on a drying rack. I do recommend the one-size (fits 8lbs. to 35lbs. and is adjustable to "grow" with the baby) as opposed to the all-in-one. I've tried both. The all-in-one takes forever to dry, which is why I don't like it as much.

I thought using cloth diapers when going out would be a pain, but again, turns out to be no big deal. I use the wet bag to put the dirty ones in, and when I get home dump them in the diaper pail.

So is everyone still loving them as much as I am?

Friday, August 10, 2007

CFL's Again

Back in May I posted a site from snopes.com about the cfl's.
Here are 2 more sites I found.
http://earth911.org/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268747,00.html
The snopes site says it doesn't cost $2000 to clean up a broken cfl like the article from foxnews says it does.
We just bought a pack of 8 cfl's at Costco today. They were normally $10 I think, but got them for $2 something, instant rebate.
What's your opinion of CFL's?

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Stocking the freezer

I found out today that it takes more energy to chill a freezer that has empty space than a freezer that is full so an eco-friendly tip is to stock the freezer full.
We usually have the opposite problem (not having enough freezer space) but for anyone who keeps an near empty freezer, I read that just filling it with empty cardboard boxes conserves energy.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

My First Trip Back to Target!

Today I had my first trip to Target in over 3 months. I had banned myself from shopping at Target for 3 months because I wanted to create new buying habits. It's not that I think Target is bad, I just think that there are a lot of better options out there.

It was really interesting to see how my perspective has changed, but how the temptation to over buy is still there. I went in for one thing- sunglasses. The sunglasses I posted about awhile back got lost over the weekend. I picked out my sunglasses (ok 2 pairs). Right next to them were the kids sunglasses. I picked out a pair for David. Then I thought, "ok, I should really leave the store now." But, I didn't. I wondered how much I have really changed. Would I be tempted as I walked through the red and white halls of Target?

Yes. I picked up a travel jewelry organizer. Here's my conversation with myself...

"Oh, look, it has a tolitery bag you can buy that the jewelry organizer fits perfectly in, we're going on a trip soon, it sure would be nice. It is made in China. But I've never seen something like this. I wonder if I could find it online, fair trade? Maybe second hand. Oh, I'd never find something like this at a thrift store. I have been wanting a nice toiletry bag for a long time. Maybe I should just get it. But I really only came in here for the sunglasses. No, I'm not buying it... I can always come back though..."

Did I leave? No. I knew better than to go into the toy section (I had the boys), but a few isles over a Cars toddler sleeping bag and air mattress set jumped out at me. So as David was asking if he could hold everything on the nearby shelf, I had a similar conversation, as before, with myself. This time I caved. Yes we have a mat and and adult sleeping bag he could use when we travel. But this one will be fun for him, I think. Or, will he really care? I don't want to become so uptight that the boys feel deprived, like they never get anything new. But I don't want to over indulge them either.

Do I have some guilt over the sleeping bag? Yes. I'm still trying to find a balance in this new way of buying. I used to be so focused on the money part of shopping, now that is secondary. But with shopping this way I do find that I am being more respectful of the impact that my spending has, and in turn more respectful of money in general. It's a work in progress, that's for sure.

wasting water

Yesterday I was showering in the group showering stalls at the YMCA after a swim, doing my usual routine of turning on and off the water for rinsing, shaving, sudsing, etc. While showering I realized that the woman on the other side of the stall had two showers going. One for her and one for her swim suit (to rinse it out). I tried to ignore it but couldn't. I kept thinking ...okay NOW shes going to turn it off..no...ok NOW she will (pause pause pause) NO.... After about 4 minutes of 2 showers running I finally got up the courage to say "Do you mind if I turn this shower off? Its really wasting a lot of water and we are having a water shortage this summer..." She took a moment to look at me like I was an alien from outer space and then just laughed at me, turned her swim suit over (I guess the other side needed a 5 minute rinse too) and then went back to showering. It was so frustrating and embarrassing but I am glad I did it. I knew if I didn't that I would be kicking myself all day wishing I had said something.
I thought, "Well, that was fruitless!" But maybe not....maybe ,not likely, but maybe she will think about what I said the next time she takes a DOUBLE shower.

What I decided I CAN do that may have some impact is write a letter to the head of the SR YMCA explaining all the water wasting I see in the bathrooms (This is not the first incident like this I have witnessed at the Y) and ask that they post signs about water conservation in their bathrooms. It would be to their benefit financially and everyones benefit environmentally.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Less Mail


Now we won't be getting any more of those "IMPORTANT" proxy materials for investments. Who really votes on those things anyway?! I was happy to see the option to sign up for receiving them via email.

And just another plug for Green Dimes, we get hardly any junk mail anymore. I love it. Of course you can do it yourself too, but the service sure is nice. (Thanks again Emily!)

Friday, August 3, 2007

Rode My Bike

I finally did it. I rode my bike for an errand instead of driving! I was a little scared, but it was fine. I enjoyed it. Now I feel more confidant to ride in the future. It was just a 5 minute ride to the bead shop but I felt really good to avoid using the car.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

safecosmetics.org

I was listening to an interview "Beauty Behind the Scenes" on NPR a few days ago with the beauty editor of Town and Country magazine. It was interesting to hear that the callers geared almost all of their questions toward environmental / health related topics. (A good sign about how people are starting to think these days : )

Safecosmetics.org was a website she recommended for people to look up the safety and environmental impacts of their beauty products.

If you want to listen to the interview, you can go to npr.org and type in "Beauty Behind the Scenes" in to their search.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Biodiesel

Did you know that Santa Rosa Community Market now sells biodiesel? I think thats pretty cool.

If you're interested in finding out more about bio fuels check out www.socobio.org.

Welcome Visitors!

If you're reading for the first time, it may feel a bit like you've just walked into a conversation that has been going on for awhile.

So to catch you up...

Jennifer started this blog because she was going through the process of becoming more conscious of her lifestyle choices and had decided to "go green". As she talked to her friends she quickly realized that she was not the only one interested in making changes. The blog was born. We used this as a place to discuss things we've tried and to support each other in the journey.