Monthly Archives: July 2010
National Junk Food Day
| July 21, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Something about this is not sitting right for me. I eat my fair share of junk food, just last night had some chocolate chip cookies and popcorn. I do have to say though I am a bit more careful about my choices when it comes to junk food. The cookies were homemade and organic and the popcorn was homemade as well and while they had a fair amount of butter there was less salt and at least it was real butter.
Also I rarely eat store bought junk food. If you have to make it yourself you have to think more about it. Also I pair my junk food with a good, well rounded, organic diet.
Anyway the point is in a nation where we have a footlong burger do we need a day for junk food? How about to “celebrate” this day we eat some healthy real food and top it off with a reasonable amount of a nice homemade dessert.
Product Review: Credo Mobile and Solio
| July 21, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Credo Mobile is a different kind of cell phone company. Credo Mobile has donated over $65 million to groups like Doctors Without Boarders and $10 million alone to environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace!
Credo Mobile also helps promote activism. The activists in their citizens’ lobby have been leading the way on important environmental causes such as:
* Reducing carbon emissions by 80% below 1990 levels before 2050, as called for by Nobel Prize-winning scientists
* Preventing big oil’s exploitation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
* Fighting the industry’s campaign to greenwash coal, build new coal plants and mine coal by removing mountaintops
* Organizing to better protect our vanishing wildlife by strengthening the Endangered Species Act
* Demanding a national standard on renewable energy and a timetable to achieve it
The money comes from members and the things they do everyday, such as talking on the phone. They automatically donate a portion of each member’s bill to groups that members help select, there is no extra charge.
Credo doesn’t stop there. They make sure everything down to your bills are done greener. Bills are printed with soy-based inks on 100% recycled paper. They also plant 100 trees per every ton of paper they use!
They have also partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset the estimated lifetime electricity usage and shipping of all of their mobile phones. They also offer solar-powered chargers and are leading the way in phone recycling.
Credo sent me one of the Solio Classic Solar Chargers they offer to their customers. I had been drooling over one for awhile but hadn’t gotten one yet. I have enjoyed using the charger for my phone and knowing I’m saving electricity every time I use it.
It’s simple to use, just stick it in the sun (a sunny window works), charge up the charger and it will save the power until you need to charge your phone.
Solio chargers can also charge mp3 players, GPS, cameras and more. They are great to take on trips, camping and anytime you may need to charge a device when away from a power source. I also use mine at home to save on electricity.
So if you are looking for new phone service be sure to check out Credo Mobile. Also even if you don’t have their service you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated on social and environmental issues.
Here ya go FTC: I was not paid for this review. I was given sample products for the review but these are my honest views.
Toxic Nails
| July 20, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
As someone with asthma and chemical sensitives I’m ill within seconds of being just near a nail salon. I always feel so terrible for the people working there and also have to wonder why the people that go there don’t seem to think anything of the fact that the workers have masks and they don’t.
I know women love their manicures and pedicures but are they worth your health and the health of the workers? There are other options. Honeybee Gardens makes a great water based nail polish that is free of the toxic trio talked about in the film.
Thankfully non-toxic nail salons are also popping up and hopefully will start to boom as people find out the nail salons are killing us.
Will you be switching to non-toxic nail products? Have you already?
Product Review: Sweet Leaf Tea
| July 19, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
When it comes to drinks I’m pretty picky; it has to have no high fructose corn syrup, has to be in glass, and of course has to taste good. Sweet Leaf Teas meet all these things and are even organic.
I’m not a big bottled tea drinker so when I was trying these out I didn’t think I would like them much but to my surprise they were much better than others I had tried. My favorite tea was the citrus green tea but my favorite overall is the lemonade! This stuff is awesome, just the right amount of sugar.
This summer Sweet Leaf Tea is a great choice for helping your family cool down. It’s healthier than soda and with so many favors to choose from I’m sure your family will be able to find one they love.
No one wants to hear this but school will be here before we know it and Sweet Leaf Tea can also be a wonderful drink choice for your kids lunch.
Check out their website to see all the great favors and find a bottle near you!
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.
Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela
| July 18, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Happy Birthday to a man that has helped the world to see past our differences.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
A Day of Baking
| July 16, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
My husband was out of town with his dad today so I decided to get caught up on filling our sad freezer. I spent most of the day in the kitchen baking, glad to have it done! Here is what I made (sorry the pictures suck, used my iphone because I didn’t want to get out my camera)-
Hamburger Buns - I made these once because I couldn’t find any without HFCS but even after finding some we just love these to much to go back. They are easy and WONDERFUL! These are now in the freezer ready for when we next plan to grill.
Pizza- I made four pizza crusts. We love homemade pizza around here and it’s a great thing to have in the freezer for a quick meal. We just got a new toaster oven so I made these the size that fits in it so we can make them in there and not have to heat up the whole house. We had one for dinner and I have the rest in the freezer.
Italian Bread- I made four loaves today. We LOVE garlic bread around here so I like to slice up a few loaves and have them in the freezer so I can pull out what I need for that meal. This time I used two for that reason and two to make French bread pizzas. I froze the pizzas and bread.
Pizza Sauce- I couldn’t find an organic pizza sauce in a glass jar so I decided to make my own. The only tomato product I can get in glass is tomato paste so I used that. It was very yummy and I love being able to make it just like we like it.
It’s super easy to make just take a jar of tomato paste (mine are 7 oz but doesn’t really matter) and slowly add water until it’s how thick you want it, then add a few tablespoons or so of olive oil (to taste, do this slowly as well the first time), and then season how you want to taste. I use basil, garlic, onion powder, rosemary, salt, oregano, and a bit of sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes then use on your pizzas. You can also freeze it to use later.
Cookie Dough- I like to keep some cookie dough ready to bake in the freezer. We don’t over eat the cookies when I make just a few at a time and it’s nice to have it on hand for a cookie emergency. To freeze them just make little balls, place on natural wax paper on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour and then place in a freezer safe container.
For my recipe I just use the one on the back of the Sunspire organic and fair trade chocolate chips. I do however add a bit of extra vanilla and I use 1 cup of brown sugar and a 1/2 cup of white sugar.
Now my freezer is full of yummy homemade food. Keeping these things in there keep us from slipping and eating junky packaged food when we need something quick. Do you make any make ahead food? Share some recipes. 
This is my post for Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, check out the other posts!
Rethinking Trash
| July 14, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
In this small town of mine our streets are often littered with usable household items waiting for the city to come by and pick them up (for free!) to be taken to the dump. The other day I saw a toilet, dryer, and sofa. A friend just posted on Facebook that across the street from her there is a sofa and loveseat on curb and they look to be in good shape. It’s about to rain so soon they won’t be worth much.
I have to ask why are these things on the curb. From the things I have overheard and people have told me these are my guesses:
- People don’t know what to do with the stuff.
- Many think if they don’t want it no one will.
- A lot of people don’t understand that there are people in so much need they would love anything that is usable.
- People are lazy.
I’m sure there are more reasons but none of them are very good reasons. So what can you do with those items? Here are a few places to check for that will take your usable items.
- Reuse Centers- You take your usable times to the center and then people can come and take items for free!
- Goodwill and other thrift stores- These are everywhere and can also help your community.
- Consignment Shops- You can earn a few bucks for your old clothes. Children’s clothes are more popular but adult sell sometimes as well.
- Entertainment Stores- Often you can sell back books, movies, and music and make a little cash or get a gift card.
- Freecycle- Freecycle is a great website where you post your used items for free and others claim them. It’s done locally so no shipping.
- Craigslist- Craigslist is where you can sell your used items to other people in your area. Just watch for scams!
- Garage Sales- Even if you don’t want to deal with one you could give your items to a friend that is having one.
With all these great options you shouldn’t find yourself needing to put items on the curb. We need to keep these things out of our landfills!
For me donating items makes me feel better about getting rid of items. The other day when dropping off a load of stuff at my local reuse center I saw a little girl that had found a little toy, she was so happy to have this new to her toy. It was just a small well loved toy but you could see on her face it was already very special to her. You have no idea how much joy your “trash” can bring to others.
Use Less Plastic
| July 11, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Use Less Plastic from TakePart on Vimeo.
Plastic is like it’s own different kind of oil spill. We can help stop this spill by reducing our use of plastic and recycling everything we can. Go to Save My Oceans and take the pledge to use less plastic.
Toxic Chemical Lobby: Exclusive Leaked Footage
| July 11, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Sadly this seems be pretty much the truth. We need to stop this from happening and push for safer chemicals so we can have safer families.
If you want to help with this go to Safer Chemicals Healthy Families to write congress and tell them you want safer chemicals.
My Birthday Weekend
| July 7, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
On my birthday we headed down to the Plano/Frisco Texas area. When we got down their we met up with my friend Stephenie to eat at Chipotle. After a nice lunch we checked in to our hotel. We hung out at the hotel for a little while then went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory at the mall, at this point I got my first piece of unwanted plastic haha. I asked for no straw but it came with one.
After dinner we went to drop off recycling, yes I take recycling with me on vacation. We go to Frisco a few times a year and the take more items than my town for recycling so I save anything I can recycle there.
After that we went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things and to get a birthday dessert. I got two mini vanilla cupcakes and some local chocolate milk. Yum! Got back to the room and had dessert and watched some tv.
Next day we watched the Netherlands beat Brazil and ate sandwiches in the room. After that we did some shopping. Went to Sprouts for the first time, it was neat but is no Whole Foods. We also went to the mall and watched a movie and dropped off my bottle caps for recycling at Aveda. At the movie instead of getting soda which is bad for you and bad for the environment, I filled up my Klean Kanteen insulated bottle at the water fountain. We also went to Whole Foods, REI and a few other places before heading back to the hotel.
The next morning we did a bit more shopping and I got something at Starbucks while dropping off recycling at Target. I asked for it in my Klean Kanteen insulated bottle but had to stop them from putting the extra in a plastic cup haha. On the way home we stopped at Chipotle for lunch.
It was a very nice trip and not to wasteful. We recycled what we could that we used in the room and ate mostly organic food.
Where has everyone else been going this summer?
