Monthly Archives: December 2009
Green After Christmas
| December 31, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
My stack of wrapping supplies I saved from the trash.
So do you reuse gift wrap supplies? If so any tips to help make it easier?
White Christmas and Happy New Year!
| December 31, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
For the first time in many years we had a white Christmas in south eastern Oklahoma. On Christmas Eve we had a blizzard. The state of Oklahoma pretty much closed down. Here in the bible belt if church closes you know it’s bad! Many interstates were closed and at one point all state highways were closed. My town even told us over our fancy sirens that we should stay in our homes unless it was a life or death emergency.
While it wasn’t a huge amount of snow it was for us and we don’t have systems in place to handle snow. In my town even the road by the hospital wasn’t cleared!
My parents driveway and my brother and our cat.
We opened gifts with my family which is always fun and includes putting ribbons on our 14 year old cat who loves Christmas because he likes mess and as you can see in the picture he also loves being held like a baby.
We had a nice dinner with my in-laws and then relaxed all day. The next day we went to north Texas to try and find me a laptop which didn’t happen as the one I liked no one had (in north Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas!) so ended up ordering one from Amazon.
Normally I go to my grandparents house on Christmas day but no one could get to their house because of the snow so it got moved to Sunday. We opened more gifts, played with iphones (my mom got one for Christmas as did I and my brother already had one), ate, and had a nice relaxing day.
Today I went with my best friend (since we were 10 and 11) to Norman so we could do a bit of shopping. It’s funny as we first went clothes shopping and I got one shirt and she got nothing. We aren’t big clothes shoppers haha. We did get some stuff at the book store, we like books. We also had a nice lunch at what my mom and I call our hippie restaurant (The Pink Elephant Cafe). It was so much more fun that just getting each other gifts!
Tomorrow we will be spending New Years Eve with my family at a Flaming Lips concert. This was part of our Christmas gift. We will be staying at a hotel that is attached to where the concert is that night so it should be a lot of fun!
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas/holiday as well! Have a safe and fun New Years Eve!
Green Resolutions
| December 29, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
It’s almost a new year and time to make a fresh start and think about new goals. This past year I have changed so much about my life I can’t wait to see the changes I can make this coming year. Here are some of my goals.
1. Finish reading all the green books in my to read stack.
I’m almost done with Jennifer Taggart’s book “Smart Mama’s Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child’s Toxic Chemical Exposure” and then I need to read and review Micaela Preston’s book “Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making.” After those books and review I have another stack waiting for me.
2. Work on having a better garden.
My veggie garden did terribly this year so hopefully this year will go better. The bed has compost (which I made! yay!), cardboard and leaves in it right now so hopefully that will make the soil better.
3. Reduce my use of plastic and plastic lined cans.
This is an on going goal. I have greatly reduced both but I’m always looking for more ways to do so.
I’m not always the best at keeping my goals but these are rather simple and as Lisa on Condo Blues talked about it’s easier to make a few at a time and keep making them all year.
So do you just make goals each year or year around? Do you keep them? What are your tricks? And lastly what are your current goals?
Update
| December 25, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
We are snowed in, to the point the sirens just said to stay in your homes unless you have a life or death emergency! It’s pretty crazy here in Oklahoma.
After Christmas I will update more! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Lack of Blogging
| December 24, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I haven’t blogged in awhile because we went to Texas and now my laptop has a worm so I’m on my new iPhone right now and it’s hard to blog on here so it
may be awhile until I post a real blog.
My Green Journey
| December 16, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Fair warning I’m sick so there will be typos in this and who knows how good it will be lol. This is my post for the APLS Carnival this month.
What triggered you to start trying to live a sustainable life?
My green journey started young. My mom is a hippie at heart so she is a large reason for the way I live my life now. At 2, I believe, (if I’m wrong you will see a comment from my mom telling the right age) my dad went to throw away a glass baby food jar to which I said “no daddy we cycle.” I also have always love animals and helping others. At 7-9 years old (not sure) without telling my parents I got a paper bag and went to the neighbors asking for canned food to take to a local homeless shelter. I can’t remember why I did it but I remember doing it.
Bill Nye is yet another reason for my green-ness. My brother and I would watch him growing up for part of our science (we were homeschooled) and his show had a lot of eco things in it. At one point he talked about why it’s better to wash your car at the car wash and not at home so my brother and I told my parents that and being the good parents they are they stopped washing the cars at home.
So needless to say I have always been this way at heart. It was watching An Inconvenient Truth (so stereotypical right?!) that really opened my eyes to what was happening and what I could do to stop it. Then I started reading everything I could get my hands on about the environment and the rest is history.
What are the biggest changes you’ve made to live sustainably?
I guess one of the biggest changes is the fact that we know eat almost 100% organic food (or local made without use of chemicals). Like most changes it was a slow one. First it was switching to all natural and more from scratch foods and over time we started buying more and more organic food. It’s been a big help to our health!
I have totally changed the way we shop for everything. Etsy.com has become a main source of shopping for me as handmade is important as is the fact that you can find lots of recycled and eco-friendly products. I also donate everything I can’t use and very little is trashed.
I also use a lot of reusable products like water bottles, food containers, napkins, towels, etc.. Basically I have changed the way I think about what I use and buy.
How far have you come since you started your green journey?
So far!! I can’t believe how far I have come. I still have a ways to go but I’m so happy with how far I have come in such a short time. Went from just recycling and picking up others trash to composting, eating organically, using almost all reusable, using recycled products, only natural beauty products, buying organic clothes, etc.. It’s amazing how small actions add up so fast!
And what do you feel you still need to work on?
I still use way to much plastic. I’m always looking for new ways to reduce my plastic use. I think that is my biggest issue.
Green Gift Guide: Everyone/Last Minute
| December 14, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Christmas is coming up fast and if you still have gifts to buy you are likely thinking of things you can get quickly. Here are some green ideas that don’t require shipping.
One of my favorite green items are the glass straws from Glass Dharma. They are classy, durable, and very green. These are great stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, teacher gifts and more. So you don’t have to worry about them being shipped in time Glass Dharma offers gift certificates which are sent through e-mail!
Another idea that is quick and can be sent through e-mail is a donation to Heifer International. It’s a great gift for everyone even those hard to buy people. There are many price ranges to choose from and Heifer International is a very well respected non-profit.
Baked goods are also a good last minute gift and yet another good gift for a hard to buy for person. Who doesn’t love food?!
Great Gift Idea!
| December 13, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
As most of you know I’m a big fan of buying fair trade, one great way to do that this year is with Equal Exchange. One of their products that is sure to be a hit is the Fair Trade Mixer Gift Basket.
It comes with:
• Organic French Roast Coffee – 10oz, drip grind
• Organic Hot Cocoa Mix – 12oz
• Organic Very Dark Chocolate – 3.5oz bar
• Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds – 3.5oz bar
• Organic Milk Chocolate with a Hint of Hazelnut – 3.5oz bar
• Organic Tamari Roasted Almonds – 5oz
• Roasted Salted Pecans – 5oz
It’s sure to be a hit for anyone on your list. Hurry and order to have it in time for Christmas! Also look at all the other awesome fair trade gifts on Equal Exchange.
Order online and get 10% off your order and receive free shipping on orders over $75. Use coupon code: giftme10 during checkout. Coupon expires 12/31/09.
*I was not paid to write this blog but I did receive a product sample to review and in exchange for posting. These are my honest views on this site and products!
Green Gift Guide: Pets
| December 13, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Even our pets deserve eco-friendly gifts this holiday season. Here are some of the great options out there for your furry friend.
These cute organic retro dog and cat stockings are great for both your pets and animal lovers.
These cute eco-friendly cat toys are filled with organic catnip and are made in the US.
Three Dog Bakery has gingerbread cookies just for your dog. They are made with human-grade ingredients and are sure to make your dog very happy this Christmas.
Giveaway: Klean Kanteen
| December 10, 2009 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
WaterCheck.biz is working to change our relationship with water. That includes sustainablity issues and one way to make drinking water better for us and more sustainable is using reusable bottles and one of the best out there is Klean Kanteen.
The nice people at WaterCheck.biz are helping you give this green (or green your own life) by giving away FOUR Klean Kanteens to one lucky winner.
The prize will include
One 27oz Klean Kanteen
Two 18oz Klean Kanteens
One 12oz Klean Kanteen
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address. (if you have a blogger account that has your e-mail that works as well, or if you fill it out in the info, just somewhere please!)
2. Go to WaterCheck.biz and tell me something you learned.
3. Enter by December 17th at 11:59 p.m.
It’s open to anyone in the continental US.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Become a fan of Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
7. Become a fan of WaterCheck.biz on Facebook.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
*This giveaway is sponsored by WaterCheck.biz. The prize comes from them. I was not paid for this post. These are my honest views on the product.
