Filed under: Conservation, environment, re use | Tags: environment, green
I think we are all ready for that wonderful time of year…S-P-R-I-N-G!!!!!!
We really have been hit hard by mother nature this past winter, but hold on, before you know it the birds will be singing, the buds will be budding and the sun will be shinning.
Besides shedding our winter layers, there is another part of Spring that is not so fun, but a tradition most of us adhere to. Spring CLEANING!! Not something that I look forward to, but if cleaner windows mean the sun can shine brighter into my little speck on the world, then here we go.
1 cup Washing soda (different from baking soda) you can find it in the laundry aisle.
1 cup Borax
4 Gallons Water
Chop, or grate the soap into small parts. On the stove-top bring 1 gallon of water to a boil. Once it boils add the soap flakes. Stir until all is melted.
While waiting for the water to come to a boil, add 3 gallons of water to a large bucket. Add the washing soda and borax.
Once the soap has melted carefully pour into the bucket with the other mixture. Stir to mix completely. Add essential oils
Let set overnight. Your detergent will become gel like. Mix once in a while before using.
Fabric Softener Option:
Vinegar is a natural fabric softener. Use 1/2 cup in the wash cycle. (But don’t use bleach at the same time—mixing vinegar and bleach may create toxic fumes.)
Filed under: Conservation
More and more we are hearing the slogan “Buy Local.” As a hometown girl, and as an ex local “Mom & Pop” business owner, I try very hard to find what I need in my local community. Not only does this help the local economy, the little guy, but also the personal connection makes me feel wonderful. For instance, I was sitting in a café in a nearby town having lunch with my son and his girlfriend, the place wasn’t extremely crowded, but I thought I heard someone say my name, of course I realized there are other Joann’s in the world, so I paid no attention. Then once again, I hear my name as if I was called upon. Low and behold, this was my pharmacist, my local, Mom & Pop guy, not some big ole chain. After our little conversation, I turned my head, began eating my (locally grown) salad, and smiled at my son and said “I love this,” and his response, “I know you do Mom.” I love, I cherish the personalization supporting local businesses give me.
A few weeks before Christmas, I went to drop off some gifts I had purchased at the Salvation Army for the toy drive. I have an elderly Aunt & Uncle, both born and raised right here in this little town, every day from Thanksgiving until Christmas, they are at the Salvation Army counting the monies that were collected from the kettles. Of course I can never reach these two at home during this time, and of course there is no answering machine, cell phone or email that either of them will take part in, so I figured I would stop, help count some money and visit. So I did. Afterwards I walked to the public Library, picked up a book, then made it over to my pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions. We had a nice conversation about how the café was that we both visited that day, and about some local stuff and whatever else came up. Another local lady came in, dropped off some goodies for the staff, and kidded around. When I left, it was not the normal distant, “Have a nice day,” It was that personal “Good bye, see you soon.” What a great feeling. When I got home, I stopped for a moment and realized how, yes how great this makes me feel.
Later on that day, I went to a rather small grocery store, a national chain. The entire time the cashier did not say one word to me, she was talking to another employee. After I took my receipt, I said to the girl, “Do you realize you did not say one word to me through the entire transaction.” Her response was, “Yes but I looked at you.”
. Buying locally gets you so much more than the product you set out to purchase. It gives you the feeling of being more than just a consumer. The feeling of knowing that people can be personal and friendly and even if it is just a simple smile and a hello, that eye-to-eye contact means so much. For some part of that day, I felt warm and fuzzy inside. And I would like to thank those people who make it personal. Not just some cold transaction. But for giving me that warm fuzzy feeling, that I believe we all need once in a while, and if you can get that every time you go out to purchase something, consider yourself one of the luckiest people around.
We had a family BBQ, and I am happy to report that we came very close to zero waste. How?? Instead of paper plates and cups we used REAL dishes!! I actually pulled out the china that I got as a wedding gift; we used it once in the past 27 years. When my 25 year old son saw it on the counter top and asked “Where did this come from?” I was convinced that even though this is not a fancy schmancy event, (which is when the special china comes out right?) this was perfect, so what if one piece breaks? Make mosiacs!!! Better to use it now, then some day dig it out of the box, barely used and give it away.
How did we do it? For the plates, we added the china to our everyday dishes. Since we had steak, I broke out the steak knives. For cold drinks, anything that came in a bottle like beer, gets recycled, we had some home brewed beer, so that is an even better way to recycle the bottles. For all the other drinks, iced tea, soda etc ,I pulled out the mason, pickle, salsa, and peanut butter jars, which we use as our daily glasses. Straws….bamboo of course. For hot drinks, the coffee cups from the kitchen cabinet, added to the china coffee cups. Since I only have a 12 cup coffee maker, I used some old thermos’ I had (either family hand me downs or tag sale finds) to serve the coffee out of.
For our cutlery I had purchased forks and spoons made out of potato starch, which you can throw in the compost, but you can also run them through the dishwasher, so you can re use them plenty of times, and then when you can’t any more….to the worms! Napkins-cloth, I use old t shirts and cut them with pinking shears.
When it was time for dessert I had to stop and think for a second, the cookies we made, easy to serve, but the fruit salad, hmmmm…then I opened up my cabinet and AH HA!!…yogurt cups!!! I was wondering what I was going to do with them 
The food waste gets composted, the chicken bones I froze and will make stock out of. So the only thing we had to throw out was the packaging from the meats, which included styrofroam, which really gets my goat. I am mad at myself for even buying it, but what are you going to do?
As far as clean up, when we have a gathering, we usually end up in the kitchen, so clean up really isn’t so bad. Everyone helps, and cleaning is hardly noticed with all the socializing.
Almost Zero waste!! Ahh someday maybe….
ZERO!!
I have wanted a tumbling compost bin for some time now. John had planned on building one for me awhile ago, but too many things have gotten in the way. So while he was at work, and all of my (4) sons where off to wherever 20 something’s go off to, I decided I was going build this thing…now!! After scouting the internet and getting a few ideas from different composters, I had a plan in this little mind of mine, and set off on my mission. Now, of course in my Just Jo fashion, I had to use stuff that was around the house, I’ll be gosh darned if I am going to go buy something when I have so many resources right here.
I gathered up my material:
- An old garbage can
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Some 2 by 4’s
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A metal pipe
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Clamps
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Bungee cords
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Screws
So…..I dug the holes….the ground of course is extremely wet because of all the freaking rain……I slipped on my BIG BUTT, fell into the mud and IN the hole. So after I picked myself up and brushed myself off, I dug the holes, buried in the 2×4’s, got out John’s power tools…(I have never used any power tools before) ..I used some big kind of saw, proceeded to saw the 2×4’s down, because of course they were too high…I know I should have done this before I buried them…but I never do anything the right way……anyway…I screwed on the clamps for the pole……..drilled holes in the can for drainage and also to put the pole through and
TA DA!!!!!
…we now have a tumbling compost bin!!!!!
I use the bungee cords to hold the top on when we turn it.
Who knows how long this will last, I know it’s primitive, but I did it by myself and am darn proud of it!
We are all aware of the 3 R’s “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” But what impact do these three really have on our planet. Now I am certainly no expert on anything, I just try to use some common sense to get through life. So when Friday comes and the recycling truck arrives in my neighborhood, most of the time they fly right passed my house. Why? Does she NOT recycle? No, that is not the case at all. The thing is, we rarely have a full bin to put out to the curb.
Why you may ask? Because of the first two “R”’s Yup, REDUCE & REUSE! I am not going to lie to you and tell you that it’s easy, it’s not. Every purchase, every choice just needs to be thought out. Yes, it can be time consuming, but for me, the benefits for all of us are worth my time. When you really think about it, the amount of waste that goes into packaging some products is ridiculous.
Once in the supermarket I saw A potato, YES A SINGLE POTATO 
wrapped in plastic, with directions on how to cook in a microwave.
How crazy is that? ….OR… What a brilliant idea?
What a profit the store must be making and think of the convenience for the consumer. Now, think of the packaging, for that one little spud, why? Why does there have to be unnecessary waste created? Where is it going to go? Into the landfill? Or maybe like my municipality and incinerated and the toxins released into the atmosphere for all of us to breath in…all that energy for a convenient meal.
This is just one example of why reducing and reusing is so important to me. Can’t we buy that potato without the plastic wrapped around it? Better yet, let’s buy that potato from our local farmer! Then we save the fuel it may have taken to be transported, perhaps from a different state or country to get to the market, and the fuel it took to make the packaging to wrap the potato, and the satisfaction of knowing who grew it and how it was grown.
More and more people are using re usable grocery bags…YEAH!!!! But let’s do more.
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Let’s find a way to refill our containers.
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Let’s buy only what we need. How many times do we throw out something because it’s gone bad, we most likely bought it on sale, so it was worth it right?
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Let’s designate a cup
at the office for coffee or tea instead of using Styrofoam or paper. Mmmm think of how much better it will taste.
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Let’s use both sides of the paper, & use email for communications and especially for office memos and only print when absolutely necessary.
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Let’s purchase items that will be used more than one time.
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Let’s use refillable containers for water.
”But I recycle my plastic water bottles!” Yes I am sure you do, but recycling uses resources that we could be saving as well.
I am not saying recycling is bad. But if we cut down on the amount of packaging, and we buy things in re usable containers and actually re use them, we will save precious water, fuel, land, and our planet for future generations.
