Monthly Archives: January 2010
Book Review: Smart Mama’s Green Guide
| January 31, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Smart Mama’s Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child’s Toxic Chemical Exposure by Jennifer Taggart is a valuable resource for parents and those just wanting to reduce the toxins in your life. While the topics are often scary, like learning there maybe lead in your kids toys, Jennifer does a good job not getting you too worried and giving you options to fix the problems. Jennifer knows we can’t do it all so she helps to let you know what is most important and cheaper ways to fix problems.
You can see the rest of the review over at The Blogging Bookworm.
Ice Storm 2010
| January 30, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
This has been a rather long week. I haven’t done the best job staying off my computer as my asthma has been really bad so I have spent a lot of time on the sofa and in bed. Plus breathing treatments are boring and take around 30 minutes so I have been watching movies and tv shows to make the time pass.
We also had an ice storm come in on Thursday. We were very lucky to not use power (at least yet). Many others have. The trees look terrible and many will likely have to be cut down due to the damage. We haven’t lost full trees but we will lose a lot of branches and maybe some rose bushes.
Last night my asthma go so bad I had to go to the ER to get two steroid shots. I’m feeling better now and have some oral steroid to take and still doing my breathing treatments. The steroids have me very sore but I will take that over not breathing lol.
All of this is why you haven’t seen me much. I wish it was because I was doing such an awesome job unplugging haha. Hope everyone else is safe and warm!
I Need To Unplug
| January 26, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I just watch No Impact Man (review will come later) and the thing that hit me the most is the crazy amount of time I spend on my laptop. I don’t think I even want to know how many hours I’m on this thing. My husband joked tonight that we should have gotten me a portable dvd player because I spend a lot of time using my laptop as a tv and dvd player.
I say I don’t have time to read, crochet, do paper crafts, etc.. but how much more time could I have if I just turned off my laptop. (yes I get that I’m using my laptop now and was when I had this light bulb moment) Tomorrow I’m going to start trying to get myself to use this less. I’m sure I will still end up checking e-mail on my iPhone which will likely end in checking facebook BUT I stay on way less if I check those things on there and not on my laptop.
The big thing is I need to limit my watching of tv shows and movies on here. I’m thinking an hour of tv or one movie is a good start. Seeing as watching something is how I make things like the doing dishes go by faster this could prove hard but I’m thinking of getting a book on tape to listen to instead. And when I eat lunch is another time I end up watching something on my laptop but I could read while I eat or listen to music or go outside.
I’m going to try and cut down my use tomorrow. I’m not going to set a limit outside of the tv limit because I’m not sure how much time I need for blogging and other business. I however am going to try and greatly limit things like Facebook. While Facebook is important for networking, there is no way I can say I really need THIS much time on it.
So I will check back with you tomorrow night or maybe Wednesday morning on how I do. Wish me luck, I’m going to need it. The computer is my drug!
No More Plastic Bags, What Now?
| January 26, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I was reading “Life Without Plastic Bags” at The Green Phone Booth and noticed people making the same comment I have heard many other times, what do you do after you have no more plastic bags? Some people use them as trash bags, and others use them for poop (I wonder if talking about poop will get me some weird search results?), both pet and baby.
Even if you use cloth bags now you can likely find some plastic bags around your house. Somethings you can use are bread bags, cereal bags, other food bags, and you can also ask family and friends that aren’t using cloth bags to save their bags for you.
The Mindful Merchant posted a great video from Ottawa’s Green Bin on how to make your own newspaper trash liner. I’m going to make some for my compost bucket so I can stop cleaning it as often.
Do you have any ideas for how to make up for no more plastic bags? This is a good problem to have though.
A Greener Valentine’s Day
| January 20, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Valentine’s Day can be full of waste. 55 million roses are given globally on Valentine’s Day. A lot of those roses are flown in from Holland (in the Netherlands), meaning a lot of C02 to get those roses to you. And sometimes those roses even come in crazy amounts of plastic.Then there are the cards, candy, dinners out, etc… That can make for a very wasteful holiday.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Last year I wrote about my Valentine’s Day trip to the zoo where my husband got me some Valentine’s gifts made from elephant poop. I also wrote last year about the waste from Valentine’s Day.
This months APLS Carnival is all about how to green Valentine’s Day, so here are some great tips to help you this year.
Beth at Fake Plastic Fish talks more about all the plastic crap made just for Valentine’s Day. It’s shocking to me that people buy this stuff. Oh and by the way you can make your own message dice. Not that I would know this or anything.
Mrs. Green over at Little Green Blog shares great tips on greening everything from cards to chocolate. Don’t worry if elephant poop gifts aren’t for you, this list doesn’t have any poop on it.
Robbie at Going Green Mama gives great ideas for ideas that are full of love and not waste! She puts it so well “But acts of love don’t have to be costly or conventional, and they don’t have to come shrink-wrapped in a box of chocolates, fuzzed-up in a teddy bear or trimmed down in a tiny nightie. Everyday moments can show the love for one another.”
Deanna at Crunchy Chicken gives more great ideas and even gives you some tips to help green the end of the night. *wink wink*
Jenn at The Green Parent “Around the world, approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent out each year.” That’s a lot of cards but she has great ways to help cut that number down and other ways to green your Valentine’s Day.
Anna at Green Talk gives a great list of ten ways to green your Valentine’s day. She also helps you with some green tips for your end of the night fun. *more winking*
Over at The Green Phone Booth the Greenhabilitator gives some great DYI gift ideas for everyone on your list!
Over at Citizen Green you will find some great ideas for thinking outside the box this Valentine’s day.
Abbie at The Farmer’s Daughter shares wonderful recipes that use frozen strawberries or jam so you don’t have to use strawberries that have been shipped long distances to have a yummy Valentine’s Day dessert.
Mrs. Green gives us even more great tips over at My Zero Waste. These great tips will make your Valentine’s Day special without all the waste!
Lisa at Condo Blues shares a wonderful recipe for this Valentine’s Day.
Thanks to everyone that joined it. Hope everyone has a wonderful and very green Valentine’s Day. Remember the day is about love so show the planet some love as well! Also be sure to join in on the APLS Carnival next month!
Product Review: Earthzone
| January 17, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Forests the size of 90 tennis courts are cut down every minute to make traditional pencils! The pencils are then made in factories that produce a lot of pollution.
Earthzone is helping by making high quality pencils, colored pencils, and artist pencils. The pencils are made from recycled newspaper, are non toxic, and the leads sharpen easily and doesn’t break, so they last up to 3 times longer than wooden pencils. No raw materials or toxic chemicals are used to make Earthzone’s pencils. The shavings from the pencils can even be recycled.
I tried out some of the Earthzone pencils and they are higher quality than other pencils I have used. I really liked the artist pencils and colored. All write very smoothly and sharpen quite easily.
Kids will like the look of the Special Edition pencils, which are unpainted, so no two are the same. Earthzone is available online and throughout the US and Canada.
Here ya go FTC: I was not paid for this review. I was given sample products or the review but these are my honest views.
Stop Wasting, While Out
| January 16, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Well I have talked about how to reduce your waste while home but what about when you are away from home? Eating out often means plastic straws, paper napkins, take out containers and more. So what can you do about this waste?
Thankfully many products are available to help. I already talked about bring your own water bottle which can reduce cup waste but what about hot drinks?
There are many options to choose from stainless steel, porcelain, and bpa-free plastic. A lot of coffee shops (including Starbucks) will give you a discount for using your own mug. I find they stay hot longer too. I also use my mug to get shakes at ice cream shops sometimes.
You may also end up eating out somewhere that uses disposable utensils in which case you can bring your own To-Go Ware. To-Go Ware sets are made from bamboo and can easily fit in your purse.
Most restaurants give you a disposable straw no, learning to refuse the straw and use your own glass straw and add up to a lot of saved waste. Glass Dharma is the maker of my favorite glass straws, I use them at home and away. I always have at least one in my purse in a case to keep it safe. You can also put your straw in the To-Go Ware set.
Cloth napkins are not always common in our favorite restaurants so I like to keep a small one in my purse. Etsy.com can be a good place to look for napkins.
I know I hate to waste food when I eat out but also hate to take home plastic and styrofoam. Taking your own container to bring leftovers home in can save you from wasting the food or a container. LunchBots are a great choice for leftovers.
These containers can be used when eating out or taking your own lunch with you. Today I went to watch my friend’s sister in a talent show for 4-H and knew everyone else would be getting fast food so I brought my lunch in my lunch box with some containers I froze full of water last night to keep it cool. I put my food in my LunchBot, packed a cloth napkin, real utensils, and I almost always carry my Klean Kanteen bottle with me. Only took me a few minutes to pack it and I didn’t have to spend money on terrible fast food (bad for your and not good tasting).
There is even a new campaign to get restaurants to be more willing to work with people that bring there own and help reduce waste. The campaign is called TakeOutWithOut. Be sure and check it out and sign up!
Here ya go FTC: Glass Dharma is one of my advertisers, however these options are my own, I’m not paid to write about them. I have also reviewed some of these products in the past but have no current ties with them and I’ve never been paid by them.
Stop Wasting And Save
| January 15, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
We have become a throw away society. We use disposable napkins, towels, dishes, water bottles, bags, food storage, straws, and on and on. There are now even one time use tooth brushes!
If we saw those items as money would we be as quick to throw them away? Let’s say you use one roll of paper towels, a pack of napkins, a 12 pack of water, and a pack of plastic sandwich bags once a month. That would be around $21 a month and I’m guessing that is WAY less disposable items than most people use. That would work out to $252 a year.
Now often people say it costs to much to use reusable items, let’s do the math. You can get four Klean Kanteen water bottles, eight Lunchbots, a large set of cloth napkins, and a set of dish cloths for $220 easily (you could do cheaper!).In less than a year you would make back your money.
Now I bet if you are still using disposables you would save even more because you likely have many more disposables than I listed. I challenge you to add up your monthly cost of disposables and add up the cost to get reusables to replace them. If you aren’t sure what you would replace them with or where to find the item here is a list of some of my favorites.
Paper Towels:
Cut up old t-shirts in to rags.
Use dish rags and towels you already have.
Check out thrift stores for cheap dish towel and cloth sets.
Buy more dish cloths and towels.
One of my favorite items for cleaning up spills is a Skoy Cloth.
Paper Napkins:
You may already have some cloth napkins, if so use them.
You can find cloth napkins at thrift stores and your local home stores.
If you can sew you can make your own.
You can buy them on Etsy.com (and other online stores).
Disposable Dishes:
I’m sure you have real dishes so use them.
Water Bottles:
If your towns water doesn’t taste very good to you or is not good quality get a filter. I recommend Brita because you can recycle the filters.
Klean Kanteen and Earth Lust are my favorite stainless steel bottles. The easiest is a plain (non-painter) Klean Kanteen because they can be put in the dishwasher.
Plastic Straws:
Go without
Get a set of glass straws. They go in your dishwasher and are very strong.
Plastic Sandwich Bags:
LunchBots are my favorite. They come in different sizes, are dishwasher safe and easy to use.
Wrap-N-Mats are another good option.
You will find tons of options on ReusableBags.com and Etsy.com.
Disposable Food Storage:
Pyrex is my number one pick. You can find good deals on Amazon.com. (Anchor is another glass brand I like that is made in the US)
If you go with reusable plastic be sure to look for #5 plastic or even better containers that say BPA-Free and still don’t microwave them.
You can also get stainless steel food storage, check out ReusableBags.com for some options.
Plastic Wrap:
Use a container with a lid (like Pyrex or Anchor).
Cover a bowl with a plate and a plate with a bowl.
Grocery Bags/Produce Bags:
Bring your own. Etsy.com and ReusableBags.com are great options to find all kinds of reusable bags.
My favorite produce bags are these hemp bags and my favorite reusable bags for keeping with me are Chico Bags or Envirosax. My favorite for grocery shopping are Acme Bags and my organic Whole Foods bag.
I’m sure I missed some disposable items so be sure to ask if you want to know what I use and where to find other items. And if you have some favorites be sure to share! I will leave you with this video.
Here ya go FTC: Glass Dharma is one of my advertisers, however these options are my own, I’m not paid to write about them. I have also reviewed some of these products in the past but have no current ties with them and I’ve never been paid by them.
Happy 101 Award
| January 13, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
The very sweet La Mama Naturale’ from Recycle Your Day has awarded me the Happy 101 Award. If you haven’t checked out her blog before go do it now, I’ll wait.
Thank you so much La Mama Naturale’!!
First: Copy the award image in your post.
Then, list 10 things that make you happy, try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.
For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you must link back to my blog!….the last part..only if you want too…lol!!!
Let’s get started, shall we…
1. My husband, he goes along with pretty much all my crazy eco ideas and funds many of them lol.
2. My family
3. My Great Pyrenees, Patience.
4. My Friends (both in real life and my blog friends)
5. Spelt flakes with raw honey (this is what I just finished for breakfast and I love it!)
6. Gardening- while my veggie garden sucked this past spring I’m going to try again and my flower gardens have at least done well.
7. Baking- I love baking! It’s a good thing I have learned to bake http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=2858253488969915338breads, if not I would bake way to many sweets!
8. Someone telling me that I’m the reason they are switching to a more eco-friendly lifestyle
9. Going to the zoo. I love zoos! So much I got engaged in one hehe.
10. And I’m copying La Mama Naturale’, blogging! Knowing people are reading what I have to say and reading your comments makes me very happy.
Next:
Tagging 10 other bloggers that make me happy, in no particular order: (I would have put many of La Mama Naturale’s list but I’m not going to since they already got this from her)
1. Beth at Fake Plastic Fish
2. Lena at Over Coffee
3. Deanna (my mom) at The Well-Groomed Hippie
4. Green Girl at Green Girl In Wisconsin
5. Erin at The Conscious Shopper
6. Amber at Strocel
7. Midwest Green
8. Carla at Green and Chic
9. Cherie at Renaissance Garden
It’s hard to stop there, I have so many other blogs I love! Again thanks to everyone that reads my blog and a special thanks to La Mama Naturale’ for giving me this award. 
A Green Mom Needs Your Help!
| January 13, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
This weekend Jennae, of Green Your Decor, sent a heart breaking e-mail to the Green Moms Carnival. Her four year old daughter was just diagnosed with leukemia.
This on it’s own is heart breaking and a very hard thing for any family to go through but to make it worse she is self employed and her husband was laid off, so they have no health insurance.
Jennae is seeking full-time employment to help cover the costs of her daughters health care. She is a talented writer, editor, and web designer living close to the Atlanta area. You can learn more about her on her blog Green Your Decor.
While we can’t know if her daughters leukemia was caused by chemicals, it has been shown that chemicals can increase our chances for illnesses like leukemia. This sad event is a reminder of why we must fight to pass the Kid-Safe Chemical Act. One way you can easily do this is by joining the Million Baby Crawl. Watch this video to learn more.
Here are somethings you can do to help Jennae and her family. (Copied from Green Talk)
- Check out Jennae’s linked-in site so you can learn more about her. Hire her or ask your colleagues for help. OMI, anyone who hires Jennae is darn lucky.
- Ask her to redesign your website. See her portfolio here. This is only a small smattering of what she can do. (She could use some help uploading her designs to her website. The gift of time is always appreciated.)
- Add the above widget to your site asking your followers to help. Just click on the “copy” button or “info” button to get directions on how to embed it in your site. I can be technically challenged, so if I can do it, so can you.
- Just in case the widget is not working, you can donate via her support page on her site. She accepts paypal.
- Consider contributing money via the widget or support page. Any amount will help.
- Advertise on Green Your Decor. She has a wonderful following with over 1700 followers. You got green. She will flaunt it.
- Help her husband become employed.
- Spread the word to help Jennae in any of the above ways.
- Offer to guest post on Green Your Decor to help keep her blog fresh and gain more followers. Contact her here.
- Also, please tweet this post or any post asking for help for Jeannae. Use the hashtags #HireJennae and #Atlanta.
- Please tweet: Need a great designer, writer, & social media maven? #HireJennae in #Atlanta See: http://ow.ly/VihP. You can use Hoot Suite to schedule periodic tweets and let it do the work.
- Stumble this post, share it on facebook, linked-in, or any other social network site. Just get the word out. (See at the bottom of my post the words, “Share This” with the funny looking symbol after the words? This is where you can share my post via email, facebook, etc. Just click on it and it will reveal several choices. As the Nike commercials say, “Just do it!”)
- Continue to support those groups such as the Environmental Working Group, who are trying to stop this chemical madness that has caused increased cancer rates, learning disabilities, JV diabetes, asthma, and a host of other illness.
- Pray for Jennae’s daughter “Mini Me” for a swift recovery. She is a little ray of sunshine that needs to help brighten our world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Pictures are the property of Jennae, please don’t use them unless in this context!!!
