Marti Stanley’s Web Log

From a previous post discussing ways to cut down on the number of razor blades going into our landfills, I decided to try one of the options discussed. I went for the easiest and cheapest method, rubbing alcohol. All you do is pour some rubbing alcohol in a cup and when you are done shaving, place the clean razor blade into the alcohol. When you need it next, take it out of the cup, rinse it off, and you are ready to go. Simple enough. Yet after doing this for a month or so, I really have not been wowed.

The first day I reached for the razor blade with eager anticipation thinking of all the money I would be saving by not having to buy razor blades very often. And then my thoughts turned quickly to the fact that I needed to rinse the razor off more. There was still alcohol on it and it was stinging my legs. The razor was fine, but it was the first day, (so it should have been). The next couple of times the same thing happened, even after a good rinse. I learned that you REALLY have to rinse the blade off well in order to get all the alcohol off the blade. Burning legs aren’t exactly fun.

As time has gone by I am convinced that the alcohol method does not work. Yes, it has kept my razor blade from developing rust, but it has not prevented it from having build up. I don’t know if it’s from deodorant that doesn’t get washed off well enough? If so, this might work for men since they don’t shave under their arms.

Overall, I do not think I will continue using this method. My legs are telling me that the razor blade is definitely not as sharp as it should be. Plus, if you have any kind of aloe strip on your razor, it’s pretty useless. I might go back to my old method of using a razor until it rusts. (Which can take a while!)

Anyone else try out one of the methods?

Just thought everyone would like to watch this…..It’s progress!!!

Happy Earth Day Everyone! What kind of green blogger would I be if I didn’t mention Earth Day? Today is the day when everyone….wait a minute….I know this one….. What happens on Earth Day again? Does anybody know? (Hmmm, I wonder what point I’m trying to make here????)

I’ll give you a little history behind the day now officially called, Earth Day. Earth Day was begun by a US politician, Senator Gaylord Nelson. In the 60’s he had great concerns over the fact that very few people, especially our government, did not “care” about the environment. It was not high on the agenda. He began approaching those who were protesting the war and found a crowd that would also embrace the environment. After he found people who were interested in his cause, word spread quickly and a date had been set for Earth Day, April 22, 1970. He held the first Earth Day as an environmental “teach-in” for anyone who wanted to learn more about awareness and appreciation of the environment. The idea took off and from that point on, April 22 became known as Earth Day, a day to raise environmental awareness and appreciation.

Now I want to know what teach-in is available for us today? Yes, some of our stores place ads for their green products, but is that really raising awareness? To some extent yes. It allows the public to know what products are available, but it doesn’t teach anyone why they need to use these products. I did happen to find an EnviroLink Resource that has an Earth Day 2008 calendar. This calendar allows you to see if there are any Earth Day activities located in your area. To be honest, I don’t think many of us will find our cities on this list, but there might be something local going on. I would look at your city’s website or call your local City Hall. Our city of Irving, TX is having a free composting class. It’s not much, but it’s something. I encourage you all to look into what is available in your community. Who knows, you might find something really great.

Maybe next year I will encourage you all (myself included) to do something in your community for Earth Day???? Now that’s an idea….

Have a great Earth Day everyone!

I am coming to the realization that I am indeed becoming crunchy. You might use a different term; granola, hippy, tree hugger, etc. I am becoming all of those things and I give the credit to cloth diapering. Before I began cloth diapering, I did nothing extra around our home. I made no extra efforts besides replacing a handful of light bulbs. I was too cheap and didn’t do enough research to “know” any better. Knowledge is a powerful thing and it is true, ignorance is bliss at times. I still do some completely un-crunchy things, we might stop off at Taco Bell for a meal or hit breakfast at a local restaurant. But overall, I see myself years from now as one of those old ladies who wears her hair long and braided sitting on the front porch enjoying the breeze and the world she’s trying to save.

Are you crunchy?

Today I decided that I would walk to the grocery store instead of drive to the grocery store. The grocery store is less than a mile from our home, so why waste the gas? I put my daughter in her stroller with a sippy cup and some crackers, threw a diaper, wallet and reusable grocery bags in the bottom of the stroller and set off to the store. Amazingly enough, walking fast it only took me 15 minutes to get there. That was much shorter than I was anticipating. Now deciding how to do my grocery shopping was a challenge. I thought at first I would just push the stroller and carry one of the stores’ baskets. But after looking at the basket I knew that everything would not fit. So I decided it would be easier to push the stroller with one hand and pull a cart with the other. That takes a little coordination, but it worked out fine and I finished our shopping. Then of course, I had to remember to pull my shopping bags out from under the stroller. (I usually see them immediately since they are typically in the cart already). And once everything was in bags, I had to find room in the stroller basket for everything, but we made it. Not a single egg was broken and the bread was not squished. And in the 15 minutes it took to get home, nothing spoiled. It was a good experience. All in all, total time spent walking there, shopping, and walking back was less than an hour! Not bad. I figure if we keep this up we will only buy what we need (because there won’t be room in the stroller for anything else) and we will make less trips since we’d have to actually walk there ourselves! Next time we go, my husband plans on joining us, so the stroller and cart issue will not be an issue. We will each have to push one. And now that I know how easy that was, who knows, we might just start walking to other places as well.

I recently joined a free online group called Ideal Bite. When you sign up they agree to send you a daily tip about living green. These have been very informative and I just wanted to share one of them with you. I am copying them completely so I give them the credit, what you are about to read is from Ideal Bite, not from me.

“What’s eating away at your cash reserves without your knowledge?

The Bite
No, we’re not talkin’ couch cushions. A phantom load is the energy that’s sapped by appliances when they’re plugged in, but not on. Plug your devices into power strips that you switch off each night to achieve energy symbiosis.

The Benefits

• Less bank account-leeching. In the average home, 40% of all electricity is used to power electronics while they’re turned off.
• Less parasitic exploitation of the earth’s resources. If we averted phantom loads in all U.S. homes, we could shut down 17 power plants.
• It’s easier than contracting malaria. Power strips with surge protectors make it easy to “unplug” many appliances at once.

Personally Speaking
All of our offices use power strips, and we love clicking the off switch at night since it means that happy hour is right around the corner.”

Wow. I hope you all read that. 40% of the average households electricity is being used to run appliances that are “off”. That is a lot of energy being wasted. And that is why I think it is time to invest in power strips. Just remember that not everything should go on a power strip. But most things can and should. Just leave off your refrigerator, alarm clock and probably the dvr so it can continue to record your shows.

Have a good day everyone!

Yet another article from The Dallas Morning News intrigued me today. It appears that the state of Texas is leading the nation in switching over to wind powered electricity. To be honest, I am shocked. We have 100% wind powered electricity in our home and at the end of the year we received a statement from TXU Energy giving us their yearly statistics. Only 1% of all Texas TXU customers receive 100% wind powered electricity in their homes. ONE PERCENT! That is not a lot. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw that Texas was leading the nation. Turns out that due to many large businesses wanting to count themselves (their business) in on the “going green” band wagon, Texas is now leading the country.

Cities in the lone star state are also making the switch in efforts to bring in new businesses. Of course, the article seemed to start becoming a little biased at this point. Making sure to point out that one Dallas city council member never thought about switching over his own homes electricity. And pointing out that people complain that the city buildings have wind powered electricity that their tax dollars have to pay for. But come on, people are always upset when it comes to spending money. I was in the room when one of our neighbors signed up for their electricity and they didn’t care what the most environmentally friendly source was, they told the lady they wanted the cheapest one available. Which is exactly what the article hinted at: Texas residences are not switching over because of the increase in price.

To be honest, the more of this article I read, the more biased it became. I am glad the word is being spread about wind powered energy. I am not glad that this writer decided to point out all the negatives from this community. He might have been doing so to make people realize what they are doing. But I think it is hurting the cause more than helping. He has stated that people ask companies what they are doing to stop climate change but never do anything themselves to stop it. He adds that businesses are switching just to have green bragging rights. And that most residences that have switched live in the urban higher income housing. So what does all of that mean? We residences aren’t actively involved. We care more about our own personal finances than the planet. Business will pay extra to brag about their good deeds. And we can’t afford to help the environment unless we make a lot of money. That’s good. That’ll really help encourage people to make the switch. (sarcasm!)

In all seriousness, I am glad regardless of the reason that residences and businesses are making the switch to wind power. Also, I think one of Stephen Colbert’s words describe the ‘myths and facts’ section at the end very well. TRUTHINESS. Seriously people, who are you kidding? Wind power is a great source of energy, why hinder it from growing?

I was doing some research on razors today and discovered that 2 BILLION razor blades end up in American landfills each year. TWO BILLION!!! That’s A LOT. What can we do to make a difference? Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out too. I have run across some suggestions, but do not know which would work best.

Option 1: The Razor Saver. This devise sharpens disposable razors (not just the cheap disposables, but also the higher end disposables like the Mach systems). It claims to sharpen blades for an extra 130 shaves! The cost: $10-$12. (Lasts a lifetime.)

Option 2: Rubbing Alcohol. On every site I researched, there was at least one person who said you didn’t need a blade sharpener, all you needed was a cup of rubbing alcohol. The “theory” is that the cutting of hair doesn’t dull the blade as much as the water and salt from your skin causing it to oxidize faster. All you need is a cup filled with enough alcohol to cover the blades. Let the blades soak in the alcohol while not using. Rinse blades with water before shaving. The cost: ~$1

Option 3: Olive Oil. On one site, a reviewer stated that blades themselves get dull due to the lack of moisture they receive. Works the same way the rubbing alcohol works I guess. The cost: ~$8

I have no clue which option works best. I am considering trying option two since it’s so easy and requires little money being spent. I already use my razor blades as long as I can (shamefully until they rust) before I dispose of them. Hopefully I can find a way of preserving the blades I already have and will not contribute as often to the two billion blades per year that go into our landfills.

On a side note: Lengthening the use of each blade will save money over time!