A Barrel of Fun

We have a rain barrel just like the one pictured here. When we first saw our new house, there was a green plastic rain barrel here, but the previous owners took it with them. One day Cory came home with this one, and it is beautiful. Plants love the soft, warm water from the rain barrel much more than the hard, freezing cold water from our house. I even read that you can make a compost "tea" with an old pillowcase, a shovel full of compost, and hang it inside your rain barrel for an added whack of nutrients!
I love our barrel! I can keep our flowers alive and not feeling guilty about wasting water. I have vague childhood memories of my grandfather washing his hair with the rain water from his barrel. Maybe I'll give that a whirl one day...

Check This Out!

A town in Manitoba has banned plastic bags! Read more here.

End of Week Nine

So almost nine weeks so far. Last Saturday I actually remembered to bring my shopping bins (although I had to turn around after I had already left the house). My stash o' bags is greatly reduced, and soon I am going to have to get very creative with packaging up stinky diapers and kitty litter. Maybe I will send the diapers home with the day care kids for their parents to throw out!

I am finding myself to be so much more aware of what I am throwing in the trash and what our city does not collect for recycling. Things like plastic film and bags. Certain hard plastics. Our city only takes #1, 2, 4 and 5, so things like a coffee cup lid is not recyclable here. Hubby and I both have stainless steel travel mugs that we use for drinks from home, but we've never tried to get one filled at a coffee shop. I remember hearing that Tim Horton's won't fill them. I should try and see what happens.

So I have been thinking about things that we do in our household already to live a little more lightly. We keep in cool at night and I like it cool in the day. We turned up our air conditioning a few degrees last summer. We turn out light bulbs. We use compact fluorescent bulbs. We reuse most plastic bags and containers.

Some things we don't do that I know we should... let the car idle. Unplug things when not in use like the stereo and tv and computer and coffee maker and phone chargers and on and on and on.
One thing I recently did was purchase a giant package of paper Dixie cups for the day care kids to use. I got so sick and tired of washing cups a zillion times a day. The Dixie cups are the perfect size for little drinks, and although I feel terribly guilty about using them and throwing them out... the sanity saving factor far outweighs the guilt. I have been thinking forward to garden and yard work. Pesticides will be banned in our city in 2008. We could get a push mower.

There is a Ray of Hope in Ontario's budget. Included are rebates for home energy audits (here is a link to Ontario's new ecoEnergy Retrofit program) and a campaign of people going to door to door to install energy efficient light bulbs in your front porch light! This article also includes a link to a breakdown on the $125 million in environmental commitments in the budget.

End of Week Seven

The Year Without Toilet Paper : This is a really interesting article from the NY Times.

No Impact Man : This is the blog from the family in the above article. Good reading!

Here is an update about my weekly changes and how well or not well I have been keeping them.

Week #1 - at least one meatless meal a week - I have had this dang manicotti recipe on my menu week after week, and I never get around to making it. It is good, but fussy and time seems to have been at a premium around here lately. So I haven't been doing well with this one really. My day care kids have meatless lunches quite regularly, but the goal was really for my own family meals.

Week #2 - not to buy paper napkins - This has been easy because I have a big bag of napkins here to use up. I have purchased a beautiful set of cloth napkins at the thrift store that I will use for company. I am still on the look out for the perfect every day cloth napkins. I think I want them to be black... to hide stains. I found some new black ones but would much prefer to buy used.

Week #3 - wash out and reuse milk bags - This is going very well. I have found that stuffing a dish towel inside the bag and just letting it sit is the fastest way to dry the bag. It will dry in a few hours that way. I have also found myself washing out ziplock bags, something I was too lazy to do before.

Week #4 - no more plastic bags from stores - Dummy that I am... I now am the owner of six lovely bins that fit in my shopping cart. Shop, place items in bins. Get to check out, pack items back into bins. Put bins in car. Take bins from car to house. Empty bins. It really is very easy.
But I FORGOT to bring them with me last week. Furthermore, I am still not in the habit of asking for no bag from other stores. I really need to work on this one.

Week #5 - I didn't choose a new goal this week... just worked on previous ones.

Week #6 - trash walk around the neighbourhood. I have not done this yet.

Week #7 - start composting again - I finally emptied out our coffee can and it now lives on the counter top. There are a few things inside. Yesterday I had to pick out a banana peel from the garbage can and put it in the compost can. It takes a while to change habits!

This week's new habit? I think I will just work on the previous ones... especially the no bag thing.

Reusable Bags

A & P stores (Food Basics, Loeb, Dominion, Ultra Mart) has a fabulous reusable bag. Someone gave me one this weekend, and it is so durable and strong! They are made from 100% recyled stuff and are machine washable. They are 99 cents! What a bargain! Go get some and never use a plastic bag again!

Week Six - Composting

Composting is my new green goal for next week. I want one of these. I have just used a coffee can or ice cream bucket previously. We have a composter in the back yard, and I used to take all my compost items out there, and then last spring we put in a new shed and a new fence... the composter got tucked away in a not so easy to get to spot, and I got out of the habit! So now that the snow is melted, I want to get back into this habit. It makes such great stuff to add to the garden.

You can check out the Composting Council of Canada for more information.

Week Five

This has been a much better green week. I got back on track with washing out the milk bags, and now have quite a stash of them. They are perfect for those large bars of cheese, and because they are so thick they are great for freezing stuff.

I bought two grocery bins. I will have to take a photo of them as I can't find any on the web. I know they are made out of plastic, but I did some research and they say the plastic is at least recyclable. Did you know that the blue boxes you buy for curb pick up of your recyclables are not recyclable? D'oh! I will buy two more this week, and I have one around the house somewhere, so that makes five. That should be plenty. Last Saturday, I shopped for one week with my two bins, and I only had four plastic bags. So the five will be plenty for one week shops, and hopefully, if I pack carefully, they will be enough for two week shops.

What else? Oh, I am getting my daughter to find and save Kool-Aid Jammer packages from school lunches. My sister has the most awesome tote bag made from these packages, and I am going to make one for myself, as a library bag. I get fifteen or more kids books from the library each week, and I can never fit them in the bag I have. I can't wait to make that Kool-Aid bag! Maybe I'll make a bunch for gifts.

We didn't get the attic insulated yet. The work men came and installed the needed vents in the roof, and then came in and said there was a problem. Part of our bedroom ceiling has come away from the trusses, so we have to have that fixed before they will put in more insulation. They also said that they will remove one layer of old insulation (it looks like it has been done once before, poorly) in order to make lots of room for the new insulation.

My daily newspaper subscription ran out last week and I did not renew it. Less paper in my blue box!

My new green goal this week is to go for a "trash walk" at least once a week in my neighbourhood and pick up trash that people have thrown on the ground. I will benefit. My dogs will benefit. The neighbourhood will benefit. And I am hoping that the weather will get nicer!

End of Week Four

It hasn't been a great green week.

#1 - at least one meatless meal per week - well, I planned on it... bought the ingredients, but haven't prepared it yet.

#2 - no more paper napkins - I DID find some cloth napkins, but they are not for everyday use. But at least they are on hand now for guests coming over kind of meals. I will keep searching for exactly what I am looking for.

#3 - wash out milk bags and reuse - oh, there was a leak in one of the bags and it leaked into the main bag and things got stinky and gross and I just threw them out. Yuck.

#4 - no more plastic shopping bags - I did not do this at all this week. I didn't find any cloth bags at the thrift store, didn't get to the grocery store to look at the bins, and when we did buy stuff... the item was in a plastic bag before I even realized it!

So in light of all the difficulites this week, I am not choosing a new thing for the coming week. I will just stay with these first four and try to do better. I did bring up the idea of green power to my sweetheart... something to think about. On Monday, we are getting our attic insulated so that will probably make a big dent in the heating bill.

End of Week #3

Week #1 - at least one meatless meal a week - check

Week #2 - don't buy anymore paper napkins - check

Week #3 -wash out and reuse milk bags - check

Week #4 - This week I am on the hunt for fabric grocery bags at very reasonable prices (and I am still looking for cloth napkins). Also, I am going to check out how much those green shopping cart bins are... I have at least one already... there may be more lurking around the basement. So my goal is no more plastic grocery bags or any store bags. I have tried this before and the hardest part is remembering to always have a cloth bag with me.

This goal also changes other things around the house. We are so used to having this big cache of grocery bags that we will have to find solutions for those things we use them for... kitty litter, tying up day care diapers (ack... how am I going to contain the smell until garbage day?) Oh this one is actually going to be hard to change. I like all those bags! I use them! But they all do eventually end up in the garbage. Change hurts baby! Deal with it!

Week Two Under my Belt

#1. At least one meatless meal per week. Doing well so far.

#2. Not buying paper napkins ever again. I have not purchased paper napkins, but I didn't find any cloth ones that I wanted to buy, so the search continues. I asked my local fabric store if they carry any organic fabric and they do not. I have looked at earth friendly napkins online, but they are expensive. I have looked at cloth napkins in stores and they smelled so chemically! I didn't want to buy them. So the search continues.

#3. This week's new habit is to wash out and reuse milk bags. We did this when I was a kid at home. We used them as freezer bags for the veggies from our garden. I have done it from time to time, but always got out of the habit quickly. I washed one out this morning!

I have been doing a lot of reading online about eco/green/earth friendly/organic/local/etc. I am getting lots of ideas for future habit changes

Week One - Footprint Friday

This past week, week one of my green journey, was a little tough. Not following through with my first change... that was fine. The tough part was that since my "green radar" was on, grocery shopping was arduous! I looked at everything I put in my cart and thought, "How do people shop so that they get no packaging?" "How will I ever learn which choice is the best choice?" I am so ignorant about green choices that I don't even know where to begin. All week, I found I was consumed with changes I am going to have to make eventually... and worrying because I don't know what to do to actually make those changes. How do I know what has been sprayed with what? What am I buying that gives off toxic gases in my home? Where can I find this product in no packaging? What am I going to wear? How do I know if the clothes I buy are green? Where can a find green clothes? Blah blah blah on and on it went. I was really frustrated. It seems such a huge thing. Everything has got to change. Never mind that I am doing this just for me right now... I am not trying to convince my husband that he needs to sell his vehicle or anything... just things that I can do all by myself. Yesterday, I sat down and made a list of changes that I can make. It made me feel better to do that... to see that even without knowing all the ins and outs and right answers, I can still make changes that are positive. And I told myself that wisdom will surely come through experience. I was just getting too far ahead of myself. Isn't that what I always do?

My change for this week is to never buy paper napkins again. That means I have to find some cloth ones and hopefully I can find cloth ones that are a good green choice. (And hopefully, I will learn what exactly makes that a good green choice.) A secondary change this week is to stop feeling guilty for things I haven't changed yet! Good grief woman!

Footprint Friday

I have found myself to be more and more interested in making my lifestyle more green. I am a novice at this. I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about this subject, but I do know that there are many resources available to us. Just do some surfing...

I have a couple of green fantasy lives... one is my urban green dream. We live downtown in a funky loft. No car. Walk to work and shopping. Get food at the local farmers' market. Support local businesses. Make our clothes from thrift store finds. The second fantasy life is my rural green dream. We live way out in the woods in a cabin, grow our own food. That's about as far as I have been in that dream. Never mind that I hate gardening and mosquitoes. Our reality is that we live in the suburbs, drive everywhere, hubby's work is forty minutes away. We shop at giant box stores, eat some fast food, buy lots of prepackaged crap, and have way too many things in our home that plug in.

Your eco-footprint is a measure of how many resources you use and tells you whether you tread heavily or lightly upon the planet. You can find numerous footprint tests on the internet in order to find out how your lifestyle measures up. In my Footprint Friday posts, I am going to chronicle the small changes that I make to lighten up my own footprint. So tune in each Friday. If your are interested in joining me, leave a comment.

First change... at least one meatless supper each week. My sweetie will be asking, "Is there any meat in here?" He is a meat lover, that's for sure! Now some of you may be asking, "What harm to the planet is there in eating meat?" If you asked that, I encourage to do some research about meat production...the grain, the water, the pollution ... and I will join you in that research. I know a little, but not enough to give someone an intelligent answer. Then share your meatless recipes with me! Please.