Wysi Wipes Winner!
By admin | May 16, 2008
I am so excited - today I won my first blog contest! Over at www.theecochic.com, I entered a contest to win a sample of Wysi Wipes. These are small disks that you add any liquid to and they turn into a cloth you can reuse. The cloth is also biodegradable. I plan on trying them out on my family’s next camping trip.
Topics: Green Living | No Comments »
Water, Water Everywhere!
By admin | May 15, 2008
After posting yesterday and looking at the stats for water usage in my home, I took a look at our water bill. I think I overestimated the size of our lawn as our water bill says we used 30,110 gallons of water last month. Our LILI score included water usage that was far beyond that number. But even 30,000 gallons is an enormous amount of water! Most of this water is being used in our home because we don’t water the lawn all that much. So I am going this afternoon to take advantage of FREE water saving showerheads and sink aerators from our water company! I will have to see how good they are but every little bit helps!
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LILI Score
By admin | May 14, 2008
Yesterday I wrote about a site where you can determine your environmental impact. I went to www.lowimpactliving.com and filled out the questions to come up with my LILI number. My results were better than I thought with definite room for improvement. So, 100 is an average LILI score and my family in Tampa, Florida scored an 83. Lots of room to improve!
In some categories we did well or were at least slightly below average. Our house is 1500 sq ft. This alone makes us smaller than average and caused our ratings in the energy and carbon dioxide category to be below average. We also have two adults and a baby which caused below average marks in the trash category, plus I try to recycle as much as I can. As much as I dream of huge McMansion someday, maybe our little house is the place to be.
However, we live in the lovely Florida suburbs and our yard caused the biggest above average marks. (One time I don’t want to be above average!) I put in that we water our lawn on average one time a week. We have watering restrictions so that is all we are allowed but truth be told, we don’t even do it that often. However, from a yard approx. our size, this calculator said that the runoff from once per week watering could be up to 263, 200 gallons! Wow! I will have to check my water bill on that one!
Other ways we could lower our LILI score would be to get an energy star AC/Heat system and replace more of our indoor bulbs with CFL’s or LED’s. Drought tolerant landscaping was also suggested. I enjoyed looking at the recommendations and I will have to see if I can verify the water use claims. I am ashamed to admit I have no idea how much water we use….I usually just send a check and don’t look at the usage amounts.
Interesting to look at my life this way…I wonder how we compare with the average person around the world, not just the United States.
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What is your lili score?
By admin | May 13, 2008
Sometimes numbers help put abstract ideas like “saving the enivironment” in perspective. I found a website that helps you do just that. If you go to www.lowimpactliving.com you can calculate your environmental footprint. You get information on your wastewater, trash, and stormwater runoff along with your carbon footprint. Plus, you can see how your “lili score” compares to averages in your area. I remember doing a project like this with my science classes a few years ago based on calculations out of our textbook and my students and I were all surprised at what an impact our lifestyles had on the environment. I am curious what this calculator will say.
Check back tomorrow and I will post my results!
Topics: Green Living | No Comments »
Meatless Monday - Chickpea Love
By admin | May 12, 2008
We have enjoyed Meatless Monday so much that we actually eat veggie meals or snacks a few times a week. One of my current food obsessions is chickpeas. I love hummus and this chickpea salad. So today we had Chickpea Salad with tomatoes and cucumber along with couscous and green beans. The chickpea salad is super easy - Two cans of cooked chickpeas, one chopped cucumber, and 1 pint of grape tomatoes. Mix together with Italian dressing and top with some feta cheese - voila- yumminess!
I have a basic couscous recipe that you can mix anything into. I like it because it is lower sodium than the boxed mixes. Take 1 cup of dry couscous and prepare according to directions. While boiling water, add 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon coriander and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. I mix golden raisins and green onion in and both my husband and I love it.
Happy Meatless Monday!
Topics: Green Living, Organic Food, Vegetarian Ideas | No Comments »
Myakka River
By admin | May 9, 2008
View looking down from Myakka Tower.
As funny as it sounds for someone trying to do better for the environment, I am not too much of an outdoor person. Bugs scare me, mosquitos love me, and I hate the heat! But last weekend, my family took our first camping trip to Myakka State Park. Myakka is about an hour and a half south of Tampa and it was well worth the drive. The park is beautiful with lots of picnic spots, great views, and an interesting tower and canopy walkway through the trees. Although the actual campsites were small and our group thought this park was better suited for cooler weather because there was no swimming, we still had a great time. I am sure we will go back again when the weather is cooler. It also brought up some interesting problems with making camping environmentally friendly. I am on the lookout for a blog or info for environmentally friendly camping so look out for some info soon! Enjoy the pictures.
Looking down from the suspension bridge at the Grandma’s
Looking across the suspension bridge up on the Canopy Walk.
Topics: Green Living | No Comments »
Paperless Living
By admin | May 8, 2008
One really quick change I have made is taking the paperless option in my bill paying. I have done automatic bill pay with Tampa Electric, the YMCA, T Mobile and other bills. These companies send me an email to view my bill and then I pay online. For most accounts, I have automatic debit so I don’t have to do much but make sure bill money is in my account.
One company, Progressive Insurance , recently sweetened the deal to go paperless by planting a tree for every person that signed up for paperless bills and documents. I signed up for that offer fast! While I am as worried about identity theft as the next person, I monitor our accounts frequently and check our credit reports for anything suspicious. So for me, paperless billing and automatic bill pay are not only better for the environment but also helpful in my time and home organization.
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The BPA Controversy
By admin | May 7, 2008
I was first alerted to the chemical BPA while searching online for popular sippy cups. Imagine my surprise when the bottles I had been using and loving for the past year (Avent) were found to contain BPA. If you haven’t heard yet, BPA or bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor and is widely used in the manufacture of certain plastics. Check out wikipedia for a great overview of the chemical and the controversy surrounding it.
While I try not to be alarmist about these things, I figure if there is a substitute - use it. I no longer use the Avent bottles and will not keep them for future use. I also found a great, inexpensive sippy cup that my daughter loves by Nuby. The Soft Landing has a very helpful look at different BPA-free bottles and sippy cups. I also found out that Avent is bringing out a BPA free bottle this summer. I am glad that large companies are responding to concerned parents and manufacturing items that are as safe as possible for baby!
These Nuby sippy cups are BPA free.
Topics: Green Baby, Green Living, Toxic or Not? | No Comments »
Organic Panic
By admin | May 6, 2008
Anyone who is in charge of the household grocery shoppng has felt the squeeze of rising food prices. In the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t even buy organic milk for my family anymore - it’s too expensive unless there is a great sale. I know lots of blogs out there say they sacrifice everything to get organic food but $5.50 a gallon is where I draw the line.
The alternative I use is to find stores that clearly label their milk as hormone and antibiotic free. I am lucky to live near Publix (the best grocery store ever) and their store brand milk is hormone and antibiotic free. I believe Target also has this same milk. I am hoping that prices for organics will start to fall but I will have to really pick and chose until they do.
Keep an eye out for creative ways to buy organic and still save money!
Topics: Green Living, Organic Food | No Comments »
Meatless Monday - Cinco de Mayo edition
By admin | May 5, 2008
Okay…so in all honesty I only remembered that it was Cinco de Mayo half way through the day. Lucky me, todays meal kind of fits the theme. I love tacos, enchilladas, etc. and these are easy items to make vegetarian. Today we had Bean Enchiladas and they were tasty. I made them the quick and easy way…no real recipe but here is what I did. Heat two cans of kidney beans with two tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water. Here is a recipe for homemade taco seasoning with less salt and no MSG. Heat until beans are hot and bubbling. Spoon mixture into six tortilla shells, wrap up and lay side by side in baking dish. They should be right next to each other. Top with enchilada sauce ( jar or homemade), about a cup of cheese, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. So tasty that no pictures were taken this week! Serve with a side of steamed broccoli for a quick and easy meal.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Topics: Organic Food, Vegetarian Ideas | 1 Comment »