Tree Huggin' Tuesday

S'cuse me, I hab a cowd. *sniffle* *sniffle* *aaa-aaaa-chooooooo*

So I'm taking it easy today, carrying my dedicated hanky* wherever I go. Not a box of tissues to be found. And, sneezes loud enough to wake the baby. And the neighbor's baby.

*it's not an official hanky - it's a kitchen towel that no one else will be touching today, and it will be well washed before it dries another dish. :-)

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

TakeOutWithOut

This is something I need to work on (*ahem* sonic strawberry limeade). Because, really, there are only so many things you can do with those styrofoam containers in the name of re-use.

I've got a cabinet full of pyrex lidded containers, as well as tupperware, of course... I bet you do, too. ;-) Also, there's room in my purse for a couple of cloth napkins wrapped around my own silverware.

EnviroRambo said it better than I am.... so read this, if you have a minute.

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

dispose the disposables

easy as it sounds... try to reduce your use of disposables. you can bring your own travel mug to starbucks, buy a loose bunch of carrots to peel, cut and put in portion-size reusable containers (instead of buying individual serving size bags of baby carrots), give cloth diapers a try, keep a real plate and silverware at work for lunches.

pretty much any time you drop something in the trash, ask yourself if you needed it to begin with. kleenex? a hanky would work well in most cases. a paper towel to wipe up that drip of coffee? how 'bout a washcloth instead.

Happy Huggin'!
Rachel

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

So, even though you wrapped all your gifts in reusable grocery bags and the like, *wink, wink* I am sure some of the gifts you will be opening are in paper. Cute paper. So now you get to give that cute paper a second life and make winter decorations. Snowflakes, to be exact. Remember making them in school? I love making snowflakes. It's such a quick, easy, gratifying project. And I'm such a dork. We know that. We work with what we've got. :-)

Just cut square-ish pieces of paper from your pile of used wrapping paper. any size. Last year I made a snowflake that was ~2 feet in diameter. (That was virgin wrapping paper, never wrapped a present at all. In my green defense, it was the last bit on the roll, and I knew we were moving - I was not going to move 2 square feet of wrapping paper. Instead it decorated our glass door until Valentine's Day.) I also made really small ones, and all sizes in between (with the used wrapping paper, of course).

Fold up and cut like you do with normal, computer paper-white paper. Then tape in your windows (walls, mirrors, etc.) and enjoy. Last year our windows were adorned with such a mix-match of different papers, it turned out so cute. And Aubrey really enjoyed helping make them. Lauren helped as much as she could. Andy might've even made a few. I don't remember.

This year (we won't be home at Christmas time) I'll be folding up pieces of wrapping paper and stashing them in my suitcase, for a snowflake making extravaganza when we get home!

Okay, and this green tip is kind of a stretch. I know that. But it is really fun to make them, and, seriously, the patterned wrapping paper turns out such cute snowflakes. So much cuter than boring old white paper. I'll never go back.

Happy Flakin'!!!

Rachel

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

gift wrapping

some of the gifts we are giving this year are going in reusable grocery bags.

most stores seem to have their own logo on affordable bags, and there are also some cute, cute ones out there.

I got one with the UNM Lobos logo on it, for my mother-in-law's UNM sweatshirt. And I got a cute one from Petsmart for Andy's work gift exchange (no pets in that bag, but a popcorn bowl, bag of kettlecorn and board game).

Michael's has some cute ones. I know because I've walked past them each of the 3,642 times I've been to Michael's the past two weeks. :-)

The presentation is very different, and I won't be wrapping every gift in reusable bags, but if using gift bags is your M.O., then switching a few paper ones for cloth would be an easy switch. And, unless you have a basement full of old gift bags (reusing those is, of course, super green), the cost will be comparable - maybe even more affordable for the cloth bags!

Happy Wrappin',

Rachel

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

Cleaning Supplies

My favorite cleaning supplies are baking soda and vinegar. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you probably aren't suprised. :-) This started mostly because the chemical smell of commercial cleaning products induces headaches and drives me mad, but, coincidentally, it's the greener option, as well. Fewer chemicals being washed down the drain to mess with water-living creatures and plants = one happy Mama Earth.

A spray bottle with diluted vinegar does great work on windows, counters, bathtubs (any hard surface), baking soda is great for scrubbing grime and gook, as well as eliminating odors.

Happy Huggin'
Rachel

(ps - sorry I didn't post last week, I have no good excuse)

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

Did you know that lots of things that can decompose don't always get the chance, when tossed in the landfill? They end up just taking up space for way too long.

And, did you know that deer love apple cores and banana peels? Whenever I'm eating one of those in the car, I throw the core or peel out the window (umm, in areas where I know there's wildlife - not in downtown Albuquerque!) for some lucky critter to find. I always hope the lucky critter is on the correct side of the road to enjoy the treat, or that they attended Safety Town and know to look both ways. :-) I also always hope that no one sees me and thinks I'm littering.

I like to see how little we throw away, so I try to put as few food scraps into the trash as possible. Right now I don't have a compost pile, but I have a dog and loads of deer. Combined, they like most of our food scraps. Egg shells, onion skins and bell peppers don't fare well, but almost everything else disappears if given the opportunity.

What I really want is a 'wormery' - a bin of worms to eat my scraps. They are even cooler than the deer - much less picky! (I've heard they like junk mail) Plus, worm poop is like gold in the gardening world. I'm trying to talk myself up to trying it. And trying to talk Andy into letting me try it. In the meantime, we've got lots of happy deer. Really happy.

Happy Chuckin' (your apple core out the window, that is!)
Rachel

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

Mellow Yellow

Have you heard, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." ? :-) We try to practice this. Lauren does really well if she's the first, but if some one is already letting it mellow she freaks out, "Mice pee! Mice pee! Flush the toilet, I have to peeeeeeee!!!" I have no explanation for the whole mice pee thing, except to say that Lauren is crazy.

I also brush my teeth while showering. I know folks who pee in the shower, and others who save bath water and dish water to water their plants. Wait to do a load of laundry until it's a big load. Bathe only on the 5th Sunday of every month. Just kidding about that part. I think.

What other ways can we conserve water?

Happy Huggin',
Rachel

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

Yup, I'm late. I'm not surprised, you shouldn't be either. :-)

Andy jokes with me that I think plastic is the devil. Think The Waterboy with Adam Sandler, his mama calling everything the devil. That's the tone he uses and everything. Sometimes he even calls me Bobby Bousher. "Plastic is the devil, Bobby Bousher!"

Anyway, one of the things I try to do is avoid plastic. (beyond produce bags) When given the choice of the mayonaise in the plastic tub, or the mayonaise in the glass jar, I choose the glass jar. I try not to look at the price when doing this (doesn't mean glass is more expensive - just that I don't let the monetary cost weigh in to my decision ~ usually).

This applies across the store. I buy the frozen concentrate juices that are in the cardboard packages instead of plastic. The brick of cream cheese in a block, instead of a tub. Sticks of butter wrapped in paper and packaged in cardboard, instead of a tub of margarine. Maxi-pads that are not individually wrapped. Big glass jar of apple sauce instead of 6 little plastic containers (we have specimen cups that seal tightly that we use for apple sauce in lunches - still plastic, but kid-friendly and reusable!). 24 cans of Coca Cola instead of 2 liter bottles. I've even taken my own container to the butcher (at the local meat market, haven't done it at Wal-Mart yet), and he's happily put my steaks in for me (after weigh-in).

Just being a bit more mindful about how everything is packaged has been really eye-opening for me. Buying used toys saves TONS of plastic (tried getting Barbie out of her package recently?) ~ this takes serious garage-saling skill, which I severely lack. But my friend Kim, back in Wisconsin, she's a freakin' garage saling pro. Crazy how many treasures she finds. This is an area of my 'greenitude' that I am trying to work on.

So, just notice how the things you buy are packaged, I bet you could make a handful of changes that you really wouldn't notice. And a handful of changes that would take some adjusting, if you're so inclined. ;-)

Happy huggin'!

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

Power Sources

Your ability to choose your power company depends on where you live, and is, therefore, much easier for some than for others.

In Wisconsin, as far as I ever knew, there was THE power company. It was kind of a monopoly. I wasn't aware of having an option as to where my power camew from.

In Texas, though, there's lots of power companies, competing for my business. So, I was able to search for renewable energy sources, along with comparing rates, contract terms, etc. Our home is completely powered by wind. Not just any wind, either, but real, authentic Texas Wind (I like to keep it local, you know). The companies told me how much of their energy was 'green' - it varied from 0% to 100%. And the rates were definitely comparable to the less green options.

I don't know what it's like where you live. But if you are able to choose, once you've made the decision (and the switch, if it involves switching power companies), there's really no follow-up. Except paying your power bill, but you'd probably be doing that anyway. ;-)

Happy Huggin'
R

Tree Huggin' Tuesday

April gave me the idea to talk more about what I do to be 'green,' so here you go...

Produce Bags

I have cloth produce bags. These, along with some random little cotton bags that I've ended up with. (but did you see these? or these? or this? aw crap, I need more bags!) I love my produce bags, but I could definitely be green without them... the plastic produce bags from the store can be used again and again (if you use twist-ties or don't tie the bag at all). Also, if I'm buying 3 or fewer of something, I rarely use a bag.

I also try to avoid buying produce already packaged in plastic. This is very hard to do with strawberries and grapes, but very easy to do with potatoes, tomatoes, onoins, apples, oranges... you get the idea.

Baby steps... if you only have one produce bag, that's okay. Use it, along with whatever else. You'll acquire more, bit by bit. Don't wait to start. And, don't worry about what others might think. You just might inspire someone else to give it a try!

My littlest tree hugger appreciates your efforts!