Gardening Season!

My husband and son building me a raised bed! 

I grew up helping my mom garden in her beautiful flower beds.  As of the last couple of years, I've tried my hand in vegetable gardening.  I don't know tons, but learn little bits at a time.  I moved my garden to a sunnier spot, so hopefully we'll see a big yield this year.  I'm planting lots of tomatoes, broccoli, and squash, among others.  Wish me luck!

Happy Earth Day, everyone! What did you do for the day?

Close the Loop

On recycling: A major part of recycling is a concept called "closing the loop". It basically involves creating a need for recycled objects by buying recycled objects. If consumers are buying products that contain recycled content, manufacturers will then produce more items that contain recycled content.

It's not necissarily enough to bring your recycling container to the curb every Tuesday...we've got to creat a market for recycled objects! This is where consumers ultimately have some power.

Happy Spring! This spring has been a very busy one. I've been enjoying the simplicity of hanging my clothes out on the line, and, lately, I've been getting the garden bed ready. I've wanted to this blog entry for a couple of weeks but haven't found the time!

How many of you recycle? I'm imagining the percentage of people is high (though I know that, even though our cities have made recycling VERY easy, not everyone does).

Here's another question. Of those of you that answered "yes" to the above question, how many of you recycle 100% of the recycleables in your home and/or daily living (that scratch paper at work, for example).

It's easy to recycle the basic stuff: aluminum,cereal boxes, etc. But what about the not so obvious. How all the cardboard in packaging? (I recently sent to the recycling bin the cardboard that my new mascara was attached to). Or the miscellaneous plastic, such as the empty Ibuprophen bottle.

The challenge is to get in the habit of recycling everything in your home that can be recycled. Feel free to post what "random" thing you found to recycle!

The real reason...

I've gotten a lot of feedback from this blog...I appreciate all of it! This past weekend I was talking with a friend about my blog, she was telling me she's now using cloth napkins in her home and that she really enjoyed the blog so far. Then it hit me, the real reason I live an enviromentally friendly life. Integrity. I explained to my friend that, yes, the main purpose of this blog is that I want to give other people ideas on "green" choices they can realistically implement into their home, based on my experience. But the real reason I make the choices I do is that I strive to live my life with integrity in all areas. I want to go through life knowing that I made my mark more on people, not the planet. I want to live each day in the most simple way possible, and for me, that means making choices that leave less of a footprint...I had never quite put the word integrity with environmental awareness/principles, but it make so much sense to me now that I have.

A Really Easy One...

I think this is maybe the easiest tip to save energy in your home.

Use the appropriate size burner on your stove for the size of pan you are using to cook.

The final in my series of the article review: "7 Resolutions for a Green New Year" taken from the Dec/Jan issue of Mary Janes Farm. Again, the article will be first, then I'll identify what I have to say. Enjoy!

6. Cut Catalog Clutter
"I will stop collecting catalogs (especially those I don't even want)."
Each year, 19 billion catalogs are mailed to consumers across America, gobbling more than 53 million trees and creating 56 billion gallons of wastewater in the process. Visit www.catalogchoice.org and opt out of unwanted catalogs. Within 10 weeks, your mailbox will be taking a lighter toll on the environment. Less waste, less pollution-it's just that easy.

Anna says: lately I've been really thinking about the effects of transporting the things I buy...and I guess, the things that get mailed to me too...

7. Buy Less
"Every time I enter a store, I will make conscious choices to buy less stuff."
Consider each item carefully. Do you really need it, or will it just end up at the bottom of a drawer? Packaging, waste, and pollution are the hidden costs behind nearly everything we purchase. Just think of how long all of those impulse items will linger in a landfill. Get inspired to make a difference by watching The Story of Stuff at www.storyofstuff.com.

Anna says: I totally agree.