Mother's going GREEN - Day 65 to Day 76 - On Vacation

VACATION To all my blog readers - I am now on vacation. Started a little earlier than expected as there was a very large "rock slide" blocking our quick way out to the airport. We now have to take a 10 hour detour to get to the city and our trip. With 3 kids we will probably need to make several stops on the way so we will be leaving a day earlier to compensate for this. An unexpected road trip (not great for the environment and not at all good for my one tank of gas a month challenge - to my friends at Our Green Year - does this constitute as an emergency?)

The rockslide has closed the road for approximately 5 days they (the news) is saying. It is believed that no one has been injured or killed - thank goodness. It did happen late at night.

I will blog as soon as I return (Sunday August 10, 2008) with some more tips on green travelling and to report on how we 'greened' our vacation.....

Mother's going GREEN Day 64 - Cloth Diapers and Vacation

As those of you already know from reading my blog on a regular basis, I use cloth diapers on my baby and love them. Deciding to go on vacation brought on a challenge of keeping the cloth diapers clean. Although I probably could find a laundromat near the hotel I am staying in - did I really want to spend every second evening washing diapers after a fun filled day which would probably leave me exhausted? What about the film of 'bad' detergent left behind in those washers and driers? And I do not think I could trust the hotel laundry service to use a natural detergent. You see one of the things with cloth diapers is you do need to wash them with care and with a natural detergent in order for them to retain their absorbency...

Hence, for our vacation I opted to go with a disposable diaper. Now not any disposable diaper would do. My babies bum has been chemical free for sometime now and I hated the thought of placing a 'disposable diaper' on her bottom. My search began for a 'natural disposable' diaper. I did find a few out there Seventh Generation and Nature Babycare to name a couple. I choose to go with Nature Babycare. The packaging is 100% biodegradable. The diaper is too. Now I know that is not 100% accurate of anything as it still finds its way into a landfill where the conditions are not quite right for it to degrade as it should, but at least it is a possibility and made from all natural ingredients and is cholrine free.

To read more on this diaper and the company behind it, visit: http://www.naty.com/.

Okay, so I am cheating on my cloth diapers but only for a few days..... I will be back to them as soon as I get home.

Mother's going GREEN Day 63 - Green your Hotel Stay

As with your air travel when going on vacation you can look for hotels you are doing something for the environment and state as much in their policy. For us though we chose a hotel that would offer us a good rate - since my husband is in the industry we got a really good rate. However, although they have an environmental policy on their corporate web page - in my opinion it does not add up to much.

Having said that there are ways you can still "green" your stay at the hotel and it is similar to what you are already doing at home. (just thought of something funny....call ahead and ask what type of light bulbs are in the rooms - if it is not the environmentally friendly kind - perhaps we can pack a few and replace what is in our room anyway - an environmental token) Anyway back to how you can green your stay....

-- On entering your room unplug some of the many lamps (there always seem to be so many lamps in hotel rooms) as we already know that even if it is plugged in it still uses energy. Turn the air conditioning down or off or heating down.

-- Conserve water as you would at home (not running the tap while you clean your teeth; maintaining your 3 to 5 minute shower)

-- Ensure that you turn off all lights when leaving the room - if you get a turn down service ask that they do not turn on any lights or radio. (My pre-mother life was also in the hotel industry and I remember that when our VIP hotel guests would check in we would have the room set in a 'welcoming atmosphere': some gentle lighting (light turned on) their favourite music playing on the radio (radio turned on) etc. Looking back I can see how wasteful this is as guests never show up when expected and that energy just wasted perhaps for hours).

-- Reuse your towels for at least a week. That is what we do at home - so why should it change when on vacation. Most hotels offer you the choice - that if you hang your towel up - you do not require new ones. Although this is not always followed by the housekeeping staff I found a cool little sign from Go Green Travel which is what I will be using to ensure we reuse our towels and elimanate the energy used to wash them after we have only used it once.

-- Don't use the little packages of soap, shampoo and body wash. It is probably full of chemicals. Instead bring and use your own tried and trusted products which are environmentally friendly and you will not waste all the 'small' packages.

-- Use the little recycle bin that most hotels offer in the room and recycle all that you possibly can.

Enjoy your stay and make it GREEN.

Mother's going GREEN Day 62 - Air Travel

Well it is almost time for our family vacation. This is not an annual activity for us - the last time we travelled as a family was 2 years ago and was to visit family out east.

On Saturday August 2, 2008 we head off to Disneyland.... The kids are so excited...so am I (neither my husband nor myself have ever been).

A family vacation comes with many green challenges and the first one is: How to get there? I took this one quite seriously... I did the research on a train but when I learned it would take us 35 hours to get to where we wanted to go - there was no way. It came down to the environment or my sanity. Call me selfish but I chose my sanity. For those who would choose the environment - well I doubt you have ever traveled with 3 children under 5 and a husband.

The research then began on airlines. Some airlines like Air Canada have environmental policies and as stated in their policy they have ongoing commitment to finding and implementing innovative solutions for protecting the environment ......And are well on their way towards their ambitious goal of improving fuel efficiency by an additional 25% between 2006 and 2020. Needless to say we booked with Air Canada. So check out the airlines environmental policy before you fly.

If flying still makes you feel guilty you can purchase "carbon offsets" by buying carbon offsets lets you negate CO2 emissions that you would use in flying or just about any CO2 producing activity. Air Canada has also partnered with Zerofootprint and allows you to calculate your CO2 emissions and then purchase the required amount of offsets. So for a mere $25.00 I have offset our families air travel CO2 emissions.

While flying you can do other simple things: reuse those earphones from your previous flight and then just keep on using them; bring your own healthy snack in a food safe container to avoid the fast food and packaging that comes with it. Chose direct flights - it is the landing and taking off that produces the most CO2 emissions. Pack light - the less baggage you have the lighter the plane, the less energy required to fly.

Green your air travel provides the following air travel statistic: Flying to Europe and back from the US contributes 3 to 4 tons of CO2 per person. That’s more than what 20 people in Bangladesh produce per year and roughly half the CO2 produced by the average American annually via all other sources (home heating, lighting, driving a car, etc.).

Mother's going GREEN Day 61 - Signs of Change?

Sometime ago I watched the movie "An Inconvenient
Truth" with Al Gore, I did enjoy it but both my husband and I preferred the one called "The 11th Hour". narratted by Leonardo DiCaprio. One scene in the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" stands out for me and in my daily life I often recall it. It is at the end of the movie and Al Gore is walking through an airport terminal and the voice over is of him speaking: "I keep looking for signs of change..."

I too keep looking for signs of environmental change.... I live in a small community and as I go about my daily life I feel good about the choices I am making and can visualize the impact - but then I go into the larger city and I see sooo many people and I watch them with all their plastic shopping bags and I wonder.... is change happening.... it seems difficult to see amongst those plastic shopping bags - the too much plastic packaged merchandise - the rows and rows of toxic products in the big box stores - the many many cars on the road - and how people toss out their garbage without a care in the world.

I have - when I go out and need to grab a quick something to eat - bring my garbage home with me as I feel there are not enough option for me to properly dispose of my garbage. Sure there is a box for glass bottles and perhaps cans next to the garbage bin - but what about the plastics and the paper. Today I brought home the banana peel from my banana (food for my worms) The empty juice bottle and a paper napkin - just so I could dispose of it properly.

Then I return home to my smaller community, were life seems simpler and I feel I can make a difference. Do I see the signs in my own community - to be honest very little - but it is a smaller scale and I at least feel more hopeful....

Mother's going GREEN Day 60 - Children's Eco-Craft

Today's craft will add some sparkle to our summer nights on the deck.

Tin Decorative Candle Holders

You will need:

-- Tin Cans

-- Hammer

-- Nail

-- Tea Light Candle

-- Safety Glasses

Instructions (with an adults help if required):

-- It is best that you fill the cans with water and then freeze them - it just makes it easier.

-- Draw a design on the cans (after the water has frozen)

-- With a hammer and a nail punch out the design (this is when you may need the safety glasses)

-- Allow ice to melt. (I stuck mine in the garden where the sun melted the ice quickly and the water then went into the garden - rather than wasting it)

-- Insert the tea light candle

-- You may need to flatten out the bottom of the can especially if it pop out with the ice being in it.

And there you have it - A nice decorative candle holder.

Mother's going GREEN Day 59 - My Pet Peeve

It seems most green bloggers have a pet peeve. So I thought I would share mine. People who do not follow the water restrictions placed on their community.

A few weeks ago; I read in our local paper of what they are calling Phase 3 Water Conservation. It says that we need to conserve water by only watering our lawn twice a week. 1/2 an inch each time. Odd houses can water on Thursday and Sunday from 4:00pm to 9:00pm and even numbered houses can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Very simple straight forward instructions. For those who may not have picked up the paper or did not read it or can not read; it is announced on the local radio station.

WHY THEN ARE PEOPLE STILL WATERING THEIR LAWN on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and in the heat of the day????? It drives me crazy to see this.

If you are reading this and are one of the people who blatantly ignore your communities water restrictions - PLEASE ADHERE TO THEM NOW!!! - Thank you.

Mother's going GREEN Day 58 - Some Updates

I thought I would let you know what has been happening with our changes that we have made so far.

Our garbage is now a bag a week. Not a big bag, but 20" by 21" bag - so in a month we fill one garbage can for pick up. Which is great. I made the challenge of 1 can a month.

Our worms are eating a lot of our produce waste and already we are seeing the compost develop. They are so low maintenance it is unbelievable. No smell and very few fruit flies which is great.

Also, since our dryer broke awhile back we have been hanging our clothes out to dry. The drier has been fixed, hopefully it is working as I have not yet used it again. It still amazes me how the stains come out of the cloth diapers. I get all excited now when I have a badly stained diaper as I want to see if this stain is too tough for the sun. Haven't had one yet.

I am also very happy with our switch in body wash. With the old stuff (the chemical stuff) I would always break out in little blisters on my arms after being in the sun. This would happen every summer when I ventured out into the sun. Initially the doctor said it was an allergic reaction and to change soaps. I did but the same old thing. Then she said just wear sunscreen and you will be fine. Whatever.... that was about 3 years ago. Now having switched to the natural chemical free body wash - I have no side affects from the sun. Coincidence, I think not.

Our walking everyday is great I have lost about 5 pounds of my post pregnancy weight in the last week and probably saved that in gas too.

Our vegetable garden is great - we are already eating lettuce and Swiss chard from it. I can hardly wait for the tomatoes to come. It looks like we will also have an amazingly large pumpkin for our jack-o-lantern come Halloween. The strawberries and blueberries get eaten by the children as soon as they are ripe. So nice for them to pick a fresh snack in the garden while they play.

Going green is not difficult - in fact rather simple - you should try it too

Mother's going GREEN Day 57 - Stair Climbing

Today's post is something simple. Something we can all start to do NOW. Climbing Stairs!

Whenever the opportunity presents itself, you can take the stairs. It will not kill you - only make you fitter, healthier and stronger.

I personally opt to take the stairs. My kids love to push all the buttons in the elevator or fight about who will get to push the button - so to avoid this we take the stairs. Okay if we have to go up 30 flights I would probably take the elevator - or if I have a stroller.

If you work/live on a high floor perhaps you could start by taking the stairs on the way down and maybe once a week take them up and work your way to taking the stairs 80% of the time. You could then cancel your gym membership. Saving you money.

Using an elevator requires energy (electricity). But then you say - It is using the energy whether I am on it or not. But if you are the only one on it - then the energy is just for you. And if you take the stairs it may inspire others to do the same.

Mother's going GREEN Day 56 - Deodorant

This topic is one I have personally been trying to avoid. Deodorant... But my chemical laden, aluminum one has all been used up. As I am going 'green' I have to now face the 'green' facts and switch my deodorant.

It took me forever to find the "poison" one that I just used. It worked well for me, but as it turns out not for the environment and I guess not for my health either. But masking the body odour and perspiration it was great.

I guess now a new search begins: The search for the right "Green" deodorant for me. Since everybody's body chemistry is different we all react differently to deodorants. I might have to try a few before I find one that works for me. When I asked my husband on Saturday to pick up some deodorant for me I said: "Please get me a 'green' deodorant and my regular one, in case the 'green' one just does not work." He in all his 'greenness' responded: "I am not buying 2 - you're going green so the 'green' one it will have to be." So I have it and am trying it. Hopefully it will work.

I have tried the crystal rock kind and it never worked for me - If anyone has any suggestions I will be quite open to hearing them. The one I am to start trying is: "Tom's of Maine" - It says: Naturally, it works" - well we will wait and see.

I have read too that if you need a quick refresh all you need do is wipe your underarms with rubbing alcohol and then reapply. I will try this trick too if need be. All I can say is thank goodness I am married already - as I am not sure I would be trying this if I was still single.

Mother's going GREEN Day 55 - Breastfeeding

Today's post will be rather brief. Our family has had a rather busy 'family' day with a picnic at a local natural lake with a barbecue and swimming. I was glad to see many families and families with infants and their mothers breastfeeding. We all have our own style some cover up discreetly, some find a very private and secluded spot and some (like me) well whatever.... My motto is: anywhere, anytime. And as I recently found out as a Canadian it is my right and is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Breastfeeding is the way to go both the health benefits for the child and mother, plus all the positives for the environment. No energy consumed (warming bottles, producing bottles and formula.) No water used in the preparation of formula. It is all ready and set to go.

Now I understand the personal choice here. But I am also certain that one should take into account all the benefits when making that choice and they far out way the benefits of bottle feeding. Some mothers cannot breastfeed. My first child was a natural and I breastfed for 22 months. My second child was a little more difficult. It was very challenging at first just to get started any much of my support suggested just switching to formula. That was not an option for me so we continued and struggled and persevered until she was about 41/2 months and then I started to supplement with formula. The thing is I never gave up and even with supplementing I continued to breastfeed her until she was 18 months old. My newest arrival has taken to feeding quite well and I look forward to another 22 months of breastfeeding her.

The point is breastfeeding is the "green" way to go. It is good for mother earth. The mother and the child.

Mother's going GREEN Day 54 - Green Ribbon Pledge and Shopping

Some days when it comes to writing my blog, I have so much to write on it can be tough to decide.. My husband suggested I write about the wonderful organic and local meal he prepared for dinner, I was going to write on deodorant; but after I read one of my fellow green bloggers post - I got side tracked into shopping (not for deodorant but for cool cool green stuff.)

Jollygoodandgreen wrote of the Green Ribbon Pledge - I decided to check it out and have joined her in her pledge. This is my pledge: Over the course of a year, the energy saved as part of your green ribbon pledge is 6810 kWh/year and 200 gallons of gasoline.

But while taking the Green Ribbon Pledge I clicked on to the store: The Rain Forest Site and here you can buy gifts for anyone and everyone and the great thing is you give back to the people who created your item, you give back to the environment. For the most part their products are organic, recycled, fairly traded and ethnic. You can purchase gifts to help others or animals. I purchased a pair of school shoes for a girl in Africa. South Africa is where I was born and raised it is my home so I chose to help those less fortunate on the continent Africa.

I could spend hours perusing the site. Great selection and always an opportunity to help the environment with every purchase.

Guys and Gals - GO SHOPPING!!!!!!! (guilt free - yes there is such a thing).

Mother's going GREEN Day 53 - Children's Eco-Craft

When Fridays come along, I usually head to the recycling can and try figure out what we can create this week because we have an abundance of milk jugs I decided to put them to use. We also needed some sort of plant markers for our rooftop vegetable garden which is growing so well - so the idea of Vegetable Plant Markers came to mind.

Vegetable Plant Markers

You will need:

-- Empty Plastic Milk Jugs

-- Pictures of Vegetables

-- Glue Stick

Instruction (with adults help if required):

-- Cut long 'rain drop' shape from recycled milk jug (2 per marker)

-- Glue picture on the top of 'rain drop' shape cut out (I used printed pictures on the back side of an already used paper, but you can either draw your own or cut some from a magazine)

-- Glue on second 'rain drop' shape to cover picture - this will provide some waterproofing so our pictures do not get damaged.

-- Place markers in garden to identify your vegetable plants.

Mother's going GREEN Day 52 - The Car Wash

My car is probably one of the not so clean cars on the road. I honestly do not have time to wash it and quite honestly have better things to do. But when it gets really dirty and dusty - when it is tempting to write on it with your finger "please wash me" then I head of to the drive through car wash. (okay - so not as dirty as in this picture)

Today, was the day I headed for the car wash and as we were going through it the thought occurred to me that this might not be the best environmentally friendly way to wash my car. As soon as I had a spare moment I was going to investigate this and here is what I found:

What is the most environmentally friendly way I can wash my car: doing it myself or going to the local car wash?

I figured washing the car by hand would be the most environmentally friendly way to go - since most of the time to be 'green' one needs to go 'old school' but as it turns out that washing our cars in our driveways is one of the most environmentally un-friendly chores we can do around the house. Unlike household waste water that enters sewers or septic systems and undergoes treatment before it is discharged into the environment. Which means that the water from washing your car in the driveway goes right into storm drains -- and eventually into rivers, streams, creeks and wetlands where it poisons aquatic life and wreaks other ecosystem havoc.

The water from out washed car includes the following harmful ingredients: gasoline, oil and residues from exhaust fumes; not to mention the detergents used in wasting the car, unless of course you are using an environmentally friendly detergent but even so it has the other chemicals I have just listed.

However federal laws in both the U.S. and Canada require commercial carwash facilities to drain their wastewater into sewer systems, so it gets treated before it is discharged back into the great outdoors. And commercial car washes use computer controlled systems and high-pressure nozzles and pumps that minimize water usage. Many also recycle and re-use the rinse water.

The International Carwash Association, goes on to say that automatic car washes use less than half the water of even the most careful home car washer. According to one report, washing a car at home typically uses between 80 and 140 gallons of water, while a commercial car wash averages less than 45 gallons per car.

For more info on this topic you can visit the following sites: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/car-wash.html

http://www.imagesautospa.com/Environmental.html

Needless to say I was thrilled about my findings - taking my car to the commercial car wash was in deed the green thing to do.

Mother's going GREEN Day 51 - Strawberry Jam Forever

Strawberry Jam Forever and ever. You guessed it we made strawberry jam with all those Strawberries - 15 jars of it. Enough to last us at least 11/2 years to 2 years. That is if we do not give anyway as gifts. Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, teachers gifts. Homemade and it really tastes GOOD!!!!

One less thing to pick up from the store. Produced locally (I would like to say it required no energy - but it did to cook but I am sure not as much energy than those mass produced jars of jam.) The plus side is we can reuse the jars a thousand times over making other jams and pickling our veggie garden harvest.

Here is the recipe we used (we made a few adjustments to the original recipe) My husband who is a chef said this was okay to do - I on the other hand nervous to how it would turn out not following the exact instructions, but it worked out just great and delicious too. The anxious part for both of us was waiting for the lids to "pop" to ensure a good seal. But after the pop we breathed a huge sigh of relief. Our hard work was not in vain.

Strawberry Jam Recipe:

4 cups crushed strawberries

1/4 cup bottled lemon juice (we used fresh lemon juice)

1 teaspoon (5ml) of vanilla essence

4 cups of sugar

1 package (57grams) Fruit Pectin

-- Combine all ingredients except fruit into a large deep stainless steel saucepan and bring to boil on high heat

-- Add sugar

-- Stirring constantly, return mixture to a full rolling boil that can't be stirred down.

-- Boil hard for 1 minute.

-- Remove from heat and skim foam.

-- Ladle jam into hot sterilized jars within and 1/4 inch from the top rim.

-- Using a non metallic instrument remove air bubbles.

-- Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness

-- Put lid(s) on jars and screw tight firmly

-- Place jar in canner (we did not have one of these - instead we used a large pot of boiling water, enough water to cover the lid of jar by 1 inch.)

-- Boil jars for about 10 minutes.

-- Remove jars without tilting. (we used BBQ tongs for this task)

-- Cool upright and undisturbed for 24 hours (you may actually like we did hear the lids 'pop')

SEALED LIDS CURVE DOWNWARDS

-- Label and store in cool dry place

Mother's going Green Day 50 - The Big 50!!!

We made it to 50 days of going green and living green.

I became a member of Alltop - all the top stories covered all the time. So my blog appears as one of the top green blogs - Way to go me. What is Alltop; in their words: "We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections — “aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, Muslim, celebrity gossip, military, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs."

Today also on day 50 I passed the 500 mark on "hits". Word is getting out and people are visiting my blog. I feel the purpose of me writing this blog is being realised - spreading the "green" word.

Happy 50th blog day to me.... Hip Hip Hooray!!

Mother's going GREEN Day 49 - Strawberry Fields Forever

Today was strawberry picking day. The whole family set out to a local farm to pick strawberries. The children ate as they picked, hubby picked a great deal and I picked off and on while I looked after the baby.

It was nice to be out in the sun and surrounded by beautiful mountains. We picked a total of 20 pounds of strawberries.

Going out to pick strawberries taught the children that the food we eat is not just purchased in a store - but there are farmers who plant them and grow them. It was fun for our children to be out on the farm - "look mom a real barnyard and look horses"

The strawberries are grown without pesticides (good) but they do use fertilizer which was not organic. But we buy local organic first and if that is not available local. So we are supporting our local farmer.

In our excitement to get going and picking we forgot to bring our own container to bring the berries home so unfortunately we had to purchase some cardboard boxes - but at least we can recycle them.

Stay tuned to this blog to find out what we do with our 20 pounds of strawberries!!!

Mental Note: Next time we pick strawberries we will bring our own container.

Mother's going GREEN Day 48 - What we can do to combat Light Pollution

Yesterday, I spoke of the environmental and human health concerns that light pollution poses. Today, I will suggest ways in which we can help combat light pollution.

First off I joined the International Dark-Sky Association for $30.00. by doing this the money generated through membership and donations will help reduce light pollution; conserve energy
and enhance human health & the environment.

Other options I can personally implement are: Using light sources of with a minimum intensity required to accomplish the light's purpose; Turning lights off using a timer to turn off light when they are not needed and Improving lighting fixtures, so that they direct their light more accurately towards where it is needed, and with less side effects.

As opportunity presents itself I will also attempt to be an activist in lessening light pollution in my community, hopefully as time goes on I can attend community planning meetings where I can raise the issue of light pollution and suggest alternatives.

Mother's going GREEN Day 47 - Light Pollution

(note the amount of light produced at night blocking our view of the stars)

I just adore the stars. Looking up and seeing the millions of stars on a quiet evening - or not!

I will say having lived in the cities in Canada, I lost my appreciation for them. If you were lucky you could see maybe 10 stars on a clear summer evening. But, I also had the luxury of living in the Rocky Mountains (Lake Louise) in Banff National Park for a year and my goodness the stars - the night sky was lit by trillions of stars - so beautiful. My new home in a small town in Southern British Columbia offers a night sky full of stars and my love for them again has been renewed. The old saying stands true "Out of sight out of mind".

The another night I had some trouble sleeping - when this happens I usually sit in the darkness on our deck and just enjoy the peace - that night it was a clear and calm night and the stars were visible in the sky which got me to thinking about what they call light pollution.

Light pollution has several consequences: Energy Waste, Disrupts Eco-systems and can have a detrimental effect on ones Health, not mention city dwellers and astronomers can not see the stars clearly.

The energy waste is quite clear - the more we light up the city the more energy we are wasting.

Within Eco- systems, life exists with natural patterns of light and dark, and disruption to this can disrupt the animal behaviour. Migrating birds are often confused by light coming from building structures and die needlessly when they collide with them. Light pollution also affects nocturnal insects, animals and plants continuous light pollution may lead to night species decline. The sea turtle who hatches on the beach needs to find its way to the ocean by moving away from the dark silhouette of dunes and their vegetation, light pollution interferes with this process by creating different shadows and silhouettes which confuse the turtles and the list of other nocturnal animals affected goes on...

Studies have also shown that light pollution can have health risks too. Humans need day and night patterns too. Light pollution can cause premature reproductive system ageing, and increase the risk of breast cancer and large intestine cancer in women.

For more information on the consequences of light pollution visit:
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/medicine_health/report-77725.html; http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/light_pollution.php and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution#Consequences_of_light_pollution.

On tomorrows post I will explore what we can do to help reduce some of the light pollution.

Mother's going GREEN Day 46 - Children's Eco-Craft

Today's Eco-craft was crafted without my children . Their dad had the day off so they spent some quality time with him, and I according to my husband I was "sticking garbage together to hang on our door." Today I made a wreath out of recyclables.

Go Green Wreath

You will need:

-- Twigs (flexible ones) We collected ours the other day from the woods near our house

-- Recyclable items. (It can be anything) I used: Cardboard egg carton, pop bottle caps, milk jug lids, plastic bag from fruits, large yoghurt container lid, milk jug & the shower scrubby.

-- Paint and paint brush

-- Glue

-- String

Instructions: (with adults help if required)

-- Bend twigs into circular shape to create a wreath (tie as required)

-- Using the glue (glue gun works best) decorate wreath with recycled materials.

I used:

-- The shower scrubby for the 'ribbon' on the wreath

-- The yoghurt lid painted with the recycling sign

-- Colourful circular accents are the milk jug lids

-- The 'Go Green' sign was painted on a plastic piece cut from the milk jug

-- To make the 'pop top flowers' we cut 2 sections of a cardboard egg carton, painted the inside green. Glued a circular piece of clear fruit bag plastic to the centre to create a petal effect and then glued a bottle top in the centre as the flowers center.

Voila - we had our wreath. Be creative there are limitless possibilities to creating a wreath with a recycled theme.

Enjoy displaying your wreaths so everyone will know that you are 'Green'.

Mother's going GREEN Day 45 - Husband is showing signs of Green

More and more these days My husband is exhibiting hues of green, he is starting to think with the environment in mind.

He has switched from a electric edge cutter thing to a manual hand held edge cutter. He is also enjoying using it as he gets a more precise cut and avoids cutting the edges too short. The environment enjoys it as no resources are used.

My husband is a chef and works in a large corporate hotel in the city. Lately he is starting to introduce organic food items to the menu. Yesterday he brought home some samples of cookies and granola bars that he will be switching to and they are all organic. He is also looking into organic meats and poultry and looking more at local suppliers for in season produce.

While he still needs to conform to "corporate" standards he is trying to go a little greener wherever he has the power to do so. Too bad the 'corporate' mandate could not be 'greener'. But baby steps....

My husband has also not brought home a plastic bag for awhile either. Way to go Hubby!!!

Moral of today's post: If my husband can live greener, then so can you...give it a try and don't worry that it just small things to start eventually you will catch on and just keep going.

Mother's going GREEN Day 44 - Alternative Transportation

So we are back on track with our postings and today I post for well today... Wednesday July 9, 2008.

Take a look at our new set of wheels. Okay so it not a top of the line sports car with all the bells and whistles. It is a 'double stroller'. Following my green shopping suggestions I purchased it second hand from Craigslist. I am so happy with it.

I love to walk but have always found it a challenge with my 2 year old who likes to dawdle and then when she gets tired - sits down and refuses to move an inch and you land up carrying her, pushing a stroller with the infant in and rounding up the 5 year old - so long distance walks to run errands have been avoided.

But times are changing and changing quickly. With gas prices the way that they are - I need to do more walking. To save the environment but also my cash. Yesterday we went on a long walk, ran errands in our new set of wheels - we were gone for a good 3 hours and it felt great. My 2 year old loves the stroller too (finally a new thing not just for the baby but for her too). I plan to do so much more walking and that goes for the winter too. Walk to school, walk to the recreation centre, walk to the movies (which we did on Sunday) just walk and walk. Besides it will also help me get rid of some of the post-pregnancy weight.

So to my green friends at Our Green Year - I say: "I am, personally, up to taking your one tank challenge." This is were you take on the challenge of using only one tank of gas a month (lucky for those who have a big tank - ha ha). My husband unfortunately cannot join in the fun as he needs to drive a long distance to and from work. But there is no need for both of us to guzzle up the gas. Why don't you take up the challenge too!!!

Remember you do not have to walk, you can cycle, skateboard, Rollerblade or take public transportation like a bus.

Mother's going GREEN Day 43 - Drying our Clothes

Again, you may note that I am posting a day later for day 43. Internet is still intermittent - but I see crews in the neighbourhood working to get it fixed. Today I post for Tuesday July 8, 2007.

As I had noted in an earlier post on Day 29 - Greening your Laundry - sunshine is the best way to dry your clothes. I also mentioned that my husband probably would not be open to the idea of hanging our clothes outside to dry. How things change in a few days.

On Monday - the same day our power went out - well our dryer broke too... It is still under warranty thank goodness and we are waiting for a repair man to come and have a look at it. Until then those cloth diapers still need to be washed and dried - so by default my husband has no option than to have them drying outside. I set up a nice little area on our front deck (it gets the most sun) and it is not visible from the street - just a visual bonus. My husband was impressed by the set up and announced "Hey, why don't we dry all our clothes outside on a sunny day - they will smell so good and we can save energy. Now that's something for your blog" Sometimes we (wives & women) just have to let them think it was their idea while we are already 3 steps ahead. So it was decided drying our clothes outside - weather permitting. Victory for mother earth.

Now let me tell you how impressed I was with drying the diapers in the wonderful sunlight.... words just can't express my amazement. One of the blogs I read regularly: Jolly Good AND Green suggested that sunshine is probably the best natural bleach out there and she goes on to explain how the stains came out of her babies diapers by hanging in the sun. I had to try. Cloth diapers get stained - you wash them and they are clean but stained. Yes throw in some natural oxygen bleach - but they are still a little stained. Put them in the sun to dry and those stains that you thought would never come out are GONE. Yes gone completely gone - not a hint of a stain even on the badly stained diapers. Just gone. If you don't believe me just try it yourself. It is miraculous - IT IS THE POWER OF THE SUN.

Mother's going GREEN Day 42 - Electrical Power

As some of you may note; my post for day 42 comes one day late... We had a power outage yesterday - for us it lasted a few minutes but for some of our town into the early evening. Because of this our Internet connection was affected and now was only operating intermittently - not sure how - but that is what the cable company told me after several calls begging them to see what they could do to get me up and running so I could do my post. To no avail - hence I post today for Monday July 7,2008.

It was really weird - early in the afternoon as I was researching our use of electrical power (my kids have TV time for an hour after lunch and I surf the net) and BOOM the power went out. how ironic...

Since going green I do not turn on any lights - it works well now that it is summer as when it gets dark it is almost time for bed and then I usually sit on our deck and enjoy some quite time by the light of the moon.....It is great. I have always been a fan of saving electricity as it it a savings you also see in your monthly bill. I have been known to sit and read in almost darkness before turning on a light (which by the way does not damage your eyes only outs strain on them).

You too can save electricity by following these simple steps:

-- Do not leave lights on in a room when you leave.

-- If you have a porch light and would like it stay on to welcome your night time visitors - invest in a motion detector light that goes on when some one approaches your house. We have one as my husband often only gets home after dark and I do not want to leave a light on so he can find his way in putting the key into the lock - now the light goes on as needed and turns off 5 minutes later.

-- Turn off electrical appliances when not in use. Even the ones that are just in sleep mode. If it still has some sort of light/clock running even when it is off - it is still drawing power and using electricity.

-- Cut down your TV watching time (this benefits you and the environment). Get out and enjoy the world or in the evening pick up a good book.

-- The hardest one for me is also cutting down on my computer time - and also making sure I turn it off when I get up and leave. That includes the monitor.

-- As mentioned before only run appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine with full loads. Also, decide what you want from the fridge before you open it. No need to stand with the fridge door open as you decide on what you need. You warm up the fridge, which then needs to use more energy to get it back to it's original temperature. Same thing with the oven when you are cooking. Use the oven light rather than opening the door to check.

-- Install energy efficient light bulbs - now that is an easy one.

For some numbers on how much electrical energy we use world wide look here. The United States ranks number 1; Canada number 8; United Kingdom number 13.

Electricity production requires the use of non renewable resources such as coal, oil, (natural) gas, uranium, of semi renewable resources such as biogas, wood, waste, or of renewable resources such as water, wind and solar energy. The non renewables form by far the most important resources for electricity production. Therefore there is an almost direct relation between electricity production and the use of fossil non-renewable resources. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the electricity generated in America in 2002 came from the following sources:
Coal 50%
Nuclear 20%
Natural Gas 18%
Hydro 07%
Other 05%

Here is some information on the relationship between oil and electricity and the impact on the environment.

Hence, you can see why it is important to conserve electrical energy or use a renewable form for producing electricity such as solar or wind power.

Mother's going GREEN Day 41 - A Day at the Movies

Taking a page out of Mom Goes Green blog, our family too decided to head for the theatres and watch the Disney Pixar movie WALL-E.

I seldom get out to the theatre what with an infant and all, but today the whole family went out. My son who is 5 loved the show and understands a little more on how our actions can impact the planet - the garbage and such. Since "going green" he has often asked me what the world may look like if we do not take care of it - I think this movie gave him a visual but also hope.

It definitely opens the door for discussions with children about the environment, which I think is very important considering the environmental crisis that the world is in. I too hope it can open the minds of the parents too and we can all live a little more environmentally conscious.

If you have children and even if you do not - this is a great movie to see and a movie with an environmental message.

Mother's going GREEN Day 40 - Recycled Toilet Paper

I remember back to my teenage years when we would joke about "recycled toilet paper" in the future. Well, that future is here and it is no joke.

But the day has come when we switched to recycled toilet paper. As I have mentioned before, my husband always buys in bulk, especially when things are on sale like toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towels. He often comes home from grocery shopping with large volumes of these products - it used to drive me crazy as we would then have to store all of this stuff.

But I am happy to say we have now used our last roll of the "virgin" toilet paper. And now it is okay for my husband to go out and buy in bulk as long as it is the 'good' stuff - like the stuff he recently purchased. Cascades 100% recycled. The label reads:

-- Recycled content(majority post consumer fibres): 100%

-- Virgin Fibre: 0%

-- Chlorine Bleaching: 0%

-- Water saved vs. paper industry manufacturing average: 80%

-- Added fragrances and colours: 0%

-- Environmental certifications: 2

-- Quality: 100%

A study shows that if every household in the United States just replaced 1 roll of the regular toilet paper with a roll of recycled toilet paper we could save 423 900 trees. Now that is a lot of trees.

For some fun facts on toilet paper and what has been used prior to 'toilet paper' visit: Toilet Paper World.

And in case you are wondering - Recycled toilet paper is not made from toilet paper but other recycled paper.

Make the change to recycled toilet paper.

Mother's going GREEN Day 39 - Childrens Eco-Craft

This weeks craft can be used to add some scent to your home. We hung one in the cupboard were our garbage can is and another in our laundry room above the dirty cloth diaper bucket.

Cinnamon and Spice Rope

You will need:

-- Plastic bag

-- 3 x Cinnamon Sticks

-- 2 x Coffee Filters

-- Spice/Herbs

-- String

-- Ring (optional - I used a ring from an old key chain)

Instructions: (with an adults help if required)

-- Cut the plastic bag into strips (at least 6 fairly long strips). Lay the bag flat and cut up from the bottom into strips.

-- Tie at least 6 strips of the plastic bag to the ring. If you do not have a ring you can use a piece of string with the ends tied together to create a loop.

-- Braid the plastic bags (2 strips for each part of the braid). Tie it off when you reach the end with string or an extra plastic strip.

-- Take the coffee filters and place about 2 teaspoons of herbs/ spice in the centre. Pinch together and tie - see picture to right

-- Finally tie the cinnamon sticks and spice pockets to the braided plastic and hang up.

Mother's going GREEN Day 38 - Washing Dishes

"Mom, I thought we aren't supposed to be using plastic" was my son's words as I served up apple juice in plastic cups today. The thing is I had no clean glassware. I have recently changed my dish washing habits. My routine was to turn on the dishwasher after breakfast. It would have lunch, dinner and breakfast dishes (sometimes it was full and sometimes not). But now my routine is no longer - I wait until I have a full load. I had to go out and purchase more cutlery as I kept running out of that now it looks as if a couple more kids glasses are in order.

The "Green" on Dish washing:

-- A study refered to in treehugger.com proves that the dishwasher uses only half the energy and one-sixth of the water, less soap too than hand washing. see more on this debate: hand vs. machine washing

-- Set your machine (if possible) on a low energy setting, low heat setting. My dishwasher has 3 options: Hi-Temp Wash (on or off); High-Temp Rinse (on or off); Heat Dry (on or off) - mine are all set to off thereby maximizing my energy efficiency.

-- Run your dishwasher only when you have a full load.

-- Use biodegradable soap with no chemicals

-- Don't use a commercial rinse agent (again full of chemicals) I use good old vinegar as my rinse agent. My dishes have never looked better.

Here's to the dishwasher - thank goodness it is a green choice, as I would not enjoy washing dishes by hand.

Mother's going GREEN Day 37 - Driving "Green"

We live about an hours drive outside Vancouver, British Columbia (60km or so) along a beautiful mountain road with lots of twists and turns. And sometimes I need to make that trip into the city.

There is a rail track that runs right next to the road but alas no passenger trains or I would by far prefer to take the train. It is a 'political' thing that their is no passenger train - I would say about 50% of our community commutes to the city on a daily bases for work (my husband included). Lots of CO2 !!!!!! Now if only the train could take you there that would cut down on some of that pollution. But I think that is going to take awhile for that to happen.

However, there are green ways to drive, and I use the book Green for Life by Gillian Deacon as reference to some of them:

• Drive the speed limit - cars engines will operate more efficiently at the speed limit, as they are designed for this. Plus it is safer too.


• Keep your cars tires at the correct pressure - Tires that are not inflated enough cause a drag on the road - hence using more energy, gas and creating more pollution. To know what pressure is right for your tires - look at the sticker that should be inside the door frame of the drivers side.


• Keep your oil clean - The cleaner your oil is the better the car will run - more efficiently. I prefer to have my oil changed 'professionally' this way the oil can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. If you choose to do it yourself, please ensure that you dispose of the oil correctly.


• Do not idle your car - not even to warm it up - Idling your car only wastes the gas and creates unnecessary CO2. It is best to drive a car to warm it up and if you live in a really cold place it is more energy efficient to buy a block heater that can keep your engine warm. Along our highway into the city - there is a lot of construction going on - in preparation for the 2010 winter Olympics, hence there are often times when cars are stopped for construction purposes. There are signs posted asking us to save the air and turn off our cars and I think this is just great - although some people do not and prefer to idle for the 10 - 20 minutes that they need to wait.

So even if you do not yet drive a 'green' car - at least drive green!!

Mother's Going GREEN Day 36 - Food Storage

With everything I have learned on plastics and food storage, I have had to re-look at my food storage.

I have had plastic containers for I do not know how long maybe 5 years that I store left over food in. I tended to heat the food in those same plastic containers and my favourite container for cooking rice in the microwave is plastic. All that has to go....

In its place I have opted for glass dishes - they do have plastic lids but are #4 lids so a 'safe' plastic. The glass containers are nice as I can clearly see what is in them when storing them in the fridge and now do not have to take it out and open it. A quick glance lets me know what it is. They are great for reheating too - I take of the plastic lid and cover with a plate and microwave as usual. My rice cooking dish has also been replaced and now it has a lid so if I do not use all the rice I can just put the lid on and save it for another meal - no need to dish it out into another container.

Food storage is an important part of our life. I do not relish the idea of cooking so usually cook more than required so I can just reheat for a future meal. Which turns out too to be energy efficient - since it takes the same amount of energy to cook 2 cups of pasta as it does 4 cups. Reheating in the microwave takes less energy than cooking it again. But I am now getting off topic about food storage.

I will soon be looking into some stainless steel food storage options too. Mostly for school lunches and snacks on the go. Glass can be pretty heavy to carry around and with kids there is always the chance of breaking it.