11/06/2009
This morning, I craved a smoothie so I rode my bike to my neighborhood Jamba Juice. I looked at the menu…oh, so many choices, and decided on the Chunky Strawberry Smoothie (without peanut better). I HATE peanut butter.
When I received my smoothie, the first thing I thought was “Wow, the recession is affecting Jamba Juice too.” My 12 ounce smoothie looked more like an 8 ounce smoothie (child’s size right?). I was extremely disappointed. Next time I want a smoothie, I’ll probably make my own.
Here’s a picture of what they gave me:
Half glass of Chunky Strawberry Jamba Juice Smoothie
- Mama
11/06/2009
When I first started trying to live a little greener, I was overwhelmed by how much I thought I needed to do: From composting my trash to installing solar energy panels on the roof to replacing my green lawn with a sustainable garden, it was just plain too much. Just the thought of going green seemed way too complicated for a working mom to handle.
So I decided to try to do one green thing each week instead. It didn’t matter is it was something small like setting aside a separate trash bin for plastic recyclables or making my own laundry detergent or something bigger, like replacing our toilet with a low-flow model. I committed to changing one thing about my life for the greener every week and it worked. One change I could handle, and before I knew it, I’d turned into the eco-living Mama I’d wanted to become.
Here are some little changes that can make a big difference. Try one on your next supermarket run, and see if you don’t feel a little bit greener.
- Bring your own bags. Everybody from Kroger to Trader Joe’s sells their
own version of a canvas grocery tote, but the only way reusable bags work is if you actually use them. I keep a stash in the back of the car at all times so that I have no excuse to bring home a new bag.
- Don’t buy individually packaged items. Buy the biggest package or container you can, and divide it up into smaller portions at home using your own reusable containers. The reason? You want to avoid unnecessary packaging waste.
- Stop buying paper towels and paper napkins. Use the real thing
instead, and you can throw them in the wash instead of throwing them away.
- Start recycling. You can start with one thing ‹ say, aluminum cans or
glass jars. Set up a recycling bin, and make a point of recycling that particular item every time you use it. Once you’ve gotten in the habit of recycling one item, it¹s easier to get into the habit of recycling other things, too.
- Lucy
11/05/2009
I have two dogs. Timber is a 7 year old golden retriever mix. He is the most handsome, obedient, and independent dog I’ve ever seen. I also have a 1.5 year old purebred golden retriever. Bella is very sweet, disobedient, and very playful.
Timber and Bella get along very well. They chase each other in the yard, share toys, and play tug of war. They even drink from the same water bowl at the same time. Belle, my disobedient little girl is so cute, she likes to move her butt from side to side while drinking water. She also likes to leave a trail of water behind so everyone knows that she has quenched her thirst.
Every once in a while, Timber doesn’t want to play with Bella. When she tries to get him to play, he growls soflty and she leaves him alone.
I wished the ‘growl’ technique worked with other humans…
- Mama
11/04/2009
Right now, we have two cars parked in our garage: the 6-year-old SUV that we inherited from my in-laws and a 12-year-old Honda that’s a squeeze for all four of us to ride in but that still gets great gas mileage.
Every 6 months or so, we have a conversation about whether we should become a one-car family. Our town doesn’t have the world’s greatest public transportation, but we live in a fairly central area where it’s possible to bike or walk to at least some places. And we have fewer limits on our transportation options because of our work situations. My husband and I both work from home he’s a translator and I’m a writer so we’re lucky that commuting isn’t an issue for us. We do have the daily carpool run and a steady stream of errands the Tuesday and Friday farmers markets, my Monday night knitting group, Girl Scouts and Friday night bowling are always on the to-do list. There are definitely times when having two cars is convenient, but do we really need them?
Certainly we’re not the only people who have more than one car in the garage. A 2008 study conducted by Experian Automotive found that 35% of American households have three or more cars; the average household has 2.28 cars.
We all know cars are bad they make pollution, they make us lazy, they suck up resources. We also know that there’s no way to avoid them completely outside of major metropolitan areas with great public transportation systems. So for us, getting rid of a car completely isn’t even a question right now. But in our efforts to live a greener life, we wonder if having two cars is a little bit of consumerist overkill. (In addition to the potential eco benefits of giving up our second car, the American Automobile Association estimates that a second car costs an average of $8,100 a year, not exactly chump change.)
For now, our two cars sit together in the garage. For now, we’re a two-car family. But something about it nags me, and I find myself revisiting the question again and again.
What about you? Have you given up the second car? Would your life work with just one car? Any advice about making things work with one car?
- Lucy
11/03/2009
Every Tuesday Mama shares a personal story.
This week’s story was written by an Anonymous person
*********************************************************************************************
live life out loud
unless you’re just shy
and even if you are just shy
find a way to live out loud
like
pissing your name in the snow
or
driving topless
on a road trip with your nips to the wind
because life is good that way
and people will assume and judge
because we are all imperfect
and imperfect and good
go together
like on dates and stuff
and they hook up
and do wild things
and regret is always there
like a somber judge
listen intently
then go back to being
imperfect and good
and hook up and booze
and fall in love and get up
live out loud
and let those
that assume and judge
do their thing
unless you are a politician
or a corporate muckety muck
or you have to tap dance
in bathroom stalls for sex
write with your
imperfect hand
paint with
your crooked teeth
or sing
you one note wonder!
dance without ever
stepping on
the beat
blog your wonderful
sorry life
just because you can
and when you do this
you will notice
even more imperfection
and that some of us
are butt-holes
and greedy
and maybe this is the part
that I am
describing you
and when you honestly
write, sing, dance,
paint,
you will notice
even more goodness
and imperfection
and that people care
about you
and it is your job
to be imperfect and good
and to love
even the butt-holes and
greedy people
and some folk
have made this exceptionally
challenging
So permission granted
to live out loud
even though
we think no one
will get us
or love us
like we are
imperfect
and good
- Anonymous
11/02/2009
I love The Eco Collection™. The plates are made primarily from bamboo fibers. One of the things I like most about The Eco Collection plates is that they are elegant enough for formal occasions yet resilient enough for everyday use. Also, after a long functional life, the plates can be used as a plant pot and saucer or simply composted back to the earth.
- Mama
11/01/2009
MamasHealth.com would like to give a very special thanks to our friends at Stonyfield for their support of our ongoing contests.
Winners will receive an organic gift bag of Stonyfield goodies:
- Baseball hat
- Organic cotton t-shirt
- Reusable shopping bag
- “Why Eat Organic?” DVD
- Recipe cards and wood handled spatula
- A copy of the “Going Greener Guide” from Body + Soul Magazine
- Coupons for FREE Stonyfield food
Enter to win your goodie bag
10/30/2009
“My mom’s a clean freak,” my daughter tells her friend. They’re working on a science fair project in the playroom when I pop in to borrow back my measuring cup.
Anyone looking around that room would probably disagree with her assessment I am not sure I can actually remember what the floor of our playroom looks like but my daughter’s friend is fascinated by the fact that I need the measuring cup so I can mix up my own laundry detergent.
“Don’t you buy that at the store?” she asks.
“It has stuff in it,” my daughter Annie says. “My mom hates when there’s stuff in stuff that doesn’t have to be there.”
She’s right. Ever since Annie was born, I’ve been obsessed with the ingredients labels on cleaning products, and what I often see there just plain freaks me out. If I can’t pronounce it, I’m not sure I want it in my house. Inevitably, I discovered that it’s totally possible and actually cheaper, for us to make your own laundry detergent, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
“Want to help?” I ask.
Annie pretends to roll her eyes she’s 8, so she’s way cooler than I am these days but she follows her friend and me into the basement, where I toss them each a grater and a chunk of Fels-Naptha soap. (You can order it online at www.SoapsGoneBuy.com) It takes about one bar of soap to equal 1 cup of grated soap, which is what our recipe calls for.
Grating soap is surprisingly fun. The girls are giggling as they scrape the soap across the grater, making a soft white pile of flakes in the bowl beneath them.
“It’s just like cheese,” Annie’s friend says.
When they’ve finished grating, I stir in 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda. The only laborious part of making laundry soap is that you have to stir the ingredients together for about 5 minutes to be sure that they are completely combined, but Annie and her friend took over, and I had to tell them it was time to stop when they’d been at it for about 15 minutes.
We transferred the soap mixture to an empty spaghetti jar from our recycle pile. We’ll use about a tablespoon of soap for most regular loads and a scoop for the big messes, and a batch this size will see us through around 50 loads of laundry.
“That’s so cool that your mom does that,” my daughter’s friend says as she and Annie head back to the playroom and their science project. “I’m totally going to make my own laundry cleaner when I grow up.”
Sometimes, it really is easy being green.
–Lucy
