When I saw this commercial I just had to post it. It is quite disgusting but really funny. I hope you enjoy!
Archive for going green
Eco Plumbing Solution
Last month we encountered some plumbing problems. All of a sudden the shower & bath water was not going down and to top that the toilets didn’t want to flush. Yes, your worst nightmare, toilets not flushing. So, we called our friendly plumber and he came out to see what was in our line. You’ve probably already guessed it, ROOTS. Lots of roots. He seemed impressed by himself with how many he pulled out of the line.
When he was all done and packed up I asked him if this was common problem or just something that randomly happens. He said he pulls roots out everyday, it’s very common. Then I asked him, if there was anything we could do to prevent this from happening again. He told me that if I put a spoonful of ice cream salt in my toilet every night that it would keep the roots out of the line. Apparently roots do not like salt and they will sense the salty water in the line and not stay. Who knew? So there’s a simple and easy solution to preventing roots to grow in the plumbing lines.
Lipstick is my 3 in 1.
I still haven’t found environmentally friendly makeup that I like. I don’t think the mineral makeup is for me. But I have reduced the number of makeup items in my cosmetic bag. I know have three items in my cosmetics bag. I have a compact foundation, lipstick and mascara. That’s all I need. Why is that all I need? Because my lipstick is a 3 in 1. I use my lipstick as eye shadow, blush and lipstick. It’s great, and extremely quick and easy to apply. So even though I’m using regular makeup at least I’m cutting back on how many products I’m using. Every little bit helps.
Local Sorbet and Compost Education?
A couple Saturday’s ago I was at the Dallas Farmer’s Market and I began talking to a lady who was selling local homemade sorbet. All of the flavors were from herbs in her garden. They were delicious! During our talk I discovered that this lady teaches the city classes on composting in Irving where we live. Who’d a thought!
And yes, I am checking into those composting classes. The April classes are all filled up but there are some spots available in the May classes.
Homemade Deodorizer
I love using Tea Tree Oil to deodorize my home. I only use it when it’s needed, but it really does a great job. First off, you can find TTO in your local Wal-Mart on the vitamin aisle. It’s in a small container like Vitamin E Oil. Here are my favorite uses for it:
- Trash Can Odor? Put 3-5 drops of TTO on a cotton ball and put it in the bottom of the trash can.
- Need a way to freshen up the room? Put 3-5 drops of TTO in a 2 ounce spray bottle and you’re ready to go. It’s a very light fragrance that works wonderfully.
- Have a blemish? Put a touch of TTO on it and it works as a natural antiseptic.
- If you are cloth diapering you can add a few drops to your wash water to deodorize and rid the diapers of yeast if your child is infected.
These are just a few uses that I have tried. I love it. I use it on our dog’s bed all the time. And if Taylor has any spills and I think any odor might be left behind after I clean the spill up with vinegar, then I spray a little of the TTO spray over the area. I love it, natural, easy, and cheap!
Maggie
Two summers ago we decided as a family that we wanted a dog. We went to our local animal shelter and found a beautiful white (yellow) lab. Taylor and I asked to meet her and she was very good with Taylor. The next day, we adopted her. During that first night she began continually coughing up mucus. I panicked since I know nothing about dogs and decided to take her to the vet first thing the next morning. She had a few problems: kennel cough, worms, and a skin condition. I babied her and nursed her back to health. We called her Zoe. Then after being on the medication for a full week, she was herself again, only much more hyper than she was at the shelter. That was fine, we were expecting hyper from a one year old lab and I thought that was fun UNTIL she began to get aggressive. This dog would not allow me to hold my daughter without growling and snarling at me. (Not a typical lab quality.) Since at the time, I had a new 14 month old, I decided it was best to remove the dog from our home. I called the local lab rescue but they would not take her since she was showing signs of aggressive behavior. I called the Humane Society, but they never returned my call. I began being afraid of the dog and decided to take her back to the animal shelter. I didn’t know what else to do.
After taking her back I told myself I just wasn’t a dog person. Truth is I really still wanted a dog but was afraid the previous experience was too much for my hubby and daughter to handle. So I pushed that urge aside and secretly visited websites about adopting dogs, caring for dogs, learning about various breeds, etc. And then the time came….my daughter began asking us if we could have a dog in our house. BINGO! I began finding local pet mobiles from organizations that fostered the pets. (I figured that these people would know the dog since they lived in their house, right? No more surprises.) We would go and meet the dogs but none of them were dogs that Taylor wanted to take to her house and none of them were dogs that my husband liked. I was afraid we would never get a dog.
Then one Saturday while at a PetSmart pet mobile, we walked through looking at each dog as it lay in its cage. None of them seemed to be what we were looking for, until we reached the very last one. In a cage sitting on top of a really big cage with a really big dog in it named Tiger was a tiny little lady who was simply precious. We immediately began reading her profile and decided that we wanted to meet her. We took her over to the side and began to love on her. She immediately crawled into my lap and Travis looked at me and said, this is the one. Taylor then said, he’s so cute. (We corrected her that she was so cute.) And then came the true test, I asked Taylor if she wanted her to live at her house. She said, yeah! We went back to the lady and informed her that we wanted this dog. Travis filled out all the paperwork while I found her a harness and lead.
We walked out of the store as proud owners of a 7 pound, 3 year old Shih Tzu. The organization Lost Paws had rescued her from a puppy mill where she had been bread a few times. They had docked her tail and she was found heartworm positive. Lost Paws treated her for heart worms and had her spayed before she went up for adoption. She was very shy at first. She wouldn’t even walk on a leash. I had to carry her everywhere. We were told that she lacked human interaction and hadn’t really figured out what we were there for yet. She needed a loving home and that’s what we planned to give her.
Well that was on Dec. 13th. We’ve had her for a month and a half now. She is still a perfect angel. We had her for 8 days before we heard her bark. She doesn’t shed, which is great. Biggest issue has been finding her food that she would eat. Shih Tzu’s are very picky eaters. I can’t even find treats (other than her one greenie a day) that she will eat. She won’t eat cheese or meat (yes, the vegetarians purchased boiled chicken to feed their starving dog). Fortunately a friend told me about Wellness dog food. Our vet said Wellness is known for their quality and our picky eater loves it, two pluses in my book. She is almost up 9 pounds which is where the vet would like to see her. Last time we checked she was 8 pounds, 11 ounces. We’re almost there.
Overall we are in love. She is apart of the family. I find myself trying to find things for the family to do, all of us including Maggie. She’s a cute little thing and loves rawhide sticks and stuffed dog toys. She will also chew on wooden puzzle pieces, but only if a two year old gives them to her. But she hasn’t chewed on anything she’s not supposed to chew on and we’ve only had minor accidents. She has been very easy to train and she really aims to please. An ideal day for her is to lie in my arms all day long. She’s a total lap dog, but LOVES going outside. I don’t think she was able to spend much time outside before living here. She loves it. She’s fitting in very well and we’re very glad to welcome her into our home and to have had a better adoption experience this time.
And I must add that we are still working on teaching Taylor how to treat a dog. There are times I still catch her trying to pick Maggie up to carry her somewhere. And I sometimes catch her hugging Maggie a little too tight. She’s not trying to hurt her, she just doesn’t understand that dogs don’t care for lots of hugs, they’d rather be petted.
What have I learned from all of this? If you have a small child and don’t know much about dogs, it might be better to adopt from an organization that fosters the pets and knows the pets rather than a local shelter. (Not that all animals from shelters are bad or shouldn’t be considered. This just worked best for our family.)
If you are thinking about adopting a pet consider looking at Petfinder.com, a local shelters (including any no-kill shelters in your area), a rescue (some are for breed specific, others are not), or the Humane Society. And when it’s time to select a vet, the best advice is personal recommendation. Find someone who is happy with their vet and try it out.
Eating Locally
If any of you are still out there, I’m back! And I have SO much to write about that I have decided to break it into various posts. Here’s the first, enjoy!
Over the Christmas break we took a lengthy car trip to visit family and decided to check out a book on cd to entertain us along the way. Our first selection (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) wasn’t available so our substitute pick was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It’s a very enlightening look at a family who decided they would, for one year, eat only what they grew or raised themselves, or what they could find locally that others had grown or raised. I tell you what, that family was impressive. After listening to their story I was almost motivated to move to farm house and start a garden and build a chicken coop in the backyard and milk a cow! Now I didn’t really do any of those things, but it was very inspiring to hear what is possible. The only thing they were able to do that I am afraid I could not do is slaughter turkeys. I would rather someone else kill it or just go without the meat.
Eating locally (aka a locavore) is something we really wanted to do as much as possible after listening to the reasoning explained in the book. For us, this means we hit our farmer’s market and make sure to buy from the certified “local” tent. (The Dallas Farmer’s Market is huge and sometimes vendors get their produce from other states.) So, we are purchasing local fruits, veggies, honey and eggs. [It has come to our attention that the nice brown cartons of FREE RANGE eggs at the grocery store are not all they are cracked up to be. In order to farmer's to mark their eggs FREE RANGE all they have to do is have one door in a large chicken house that is open during certain hours so the chickens have the opportunity to go outside. Research shows that chickens will try the door once and if it's not open they won't try it again. So they don't even try going out of the door during the few hours it's unlocked.] At our farmer’s market we have found a couple booths that sell pasture raise chickens. The chickens range freely on a pasture and the eggs are collected daily. They sell here for $4 a dozen. We also have six booths dedicated to pasteurized meat. These animals (cows, pigs, chickens, lambs, rabbits) are not treated with hormones or antibiotics and are fed grass, alfalfa, clover, etc. They eat what is on that land and are also given hay rations. The animals are not killed until they have lived out their life and have reproduced and so on…. These animals live a different life than most of the animals that now lay in your grocers’ freezer. *We haven’t’ ventured out into the world of meat yet. We are still vegetarian. The thought actually makes me a little queasy now. (It’s weird, I know!)
Another resource you might have in your area is the local co-op or CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In our local area, there is a 15 week CSA where you pay to the farmer a set amount of money up front (amount varies depending on the amount of food you need, i.e. individual or family). And for the next 15 weeks you receive fresh vegetables and breads from local farms and a local bakery. Directly from the farm to you. We haven’t tried this yet, but would love to give it a try.
Items we can’t find at our local farmer’s market we pick up at a local grocery store. If we had a true local grocery store then I would try shopping there, but we don’t (not that I know of at least), so I shop at our local neighborhood Kroger (plus, it’s in walking distance of the house). When purchasing dairy and produce items I now look at where the item came from. I now purchase milk based on which one was produced closest to our home. Hoping it is fresher and lacking extra preservatives, turns out that Borden’s is produced right here in Dallas.
We haven’t done this yet, but are considering making our own cheese. With a gallon of milk and two cheese making cultures we can make mozzarella in just 30 minutes. We weren’t able to find the cultures locally, but have found them online. There is a lady known as the Cheese Queen who has the 30 minute mozzarella recipe and sells the cultures along with other cheese making items. If we purchase this I will report back with our story, success or failure.
Some items we purchase are purchased simply because they are the only fair trade flour on the shelf or because they are the only organic option. When those options aren’t available and buying local isn’t an option, then best price usually wins. We’re still on a budget and counting every penny. But we have allowed ourselves more money for buying healthier food choices. We believe that eating healthier foods will serve our general health better and our attitudes better.
If you get the opportunity to read or listen to this book, it will make you think twice about what you are putting into your body and the effect it has on the world (especially the amount of American tax dollars spent to produce a cheaper product).
Are Garbage Disposals Eco-Friendly?
Here is a great argument over whether to use your garbage disposal or set your garbage out on the curb.
Staples
Why is it that our large chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target don’t carry them? Why is it that most of our local grocery stores, even the chains, don’t carry them? And why is it that Staples does carry them?
Those sound like weird questions when you don’t know what the topic is. Well, I have been thinking about this for, oh, a little over a year and a half now. Why is it that you can find several varieties of recycled garbage bags, paper towels, napkins, and toilet tissue at Staples but not at the grocery store? Now I know, there are a few grocery chains like Publix and Whole Foods that carry recycled brands, but even at those stores, you lack the variety of Staples. It just seems odd.
I appreciate knowing that people who purchase supplies for public and private buildings (such as myself) have the opportunity to purchase eco friendly products. But how come these same products aren’t in the stores that most of us shop at for our homes? Guess we should start making monthly or bimonthly trips to Staples.
Girl’s Weekend (Recycling and Ammonia-Free Hair Dye)
Last weekend I had a girl’s weekend with one of my closest friends. I had a blast watching chick flicks, eating chewy chips ahoy cookies and just relaxing. We hit a few of the fun outside activities such as the Abilene Zoo, Fort Imagination, and two parks. One of the parks was built in 1979 and has a three foot brick wall that encases a natural prairie dog habitat. It was really neat! The other one has a bunch of ducks, geese, and one lone pelican you can try to feed.
During our girl’s weekend, we also made an outing to a local recycling drop-off spot. The city of Abilene does not have curb side recycling, so they have designated drop-off spots for people in the community to bring their recyclables. I was surprised by a couple things first off. When we pulled up (in the middle of the afternoon) we were not the only people there. There were a couple other vehicles dropping off their recyclables. I don’t know why that surprised me, but it did. The second was how easy the process was. The drop-off site had a few long depositing bins. Each door was labeled clearly so you knew what you were allowed to put inside it. It was easy and it didn’t take people long to drop-off their goods and be on their way. It was so simple and effective, it was impressive!
When we were leaving, my friend said something to me that has really stuck in my head. She said, “People really don’t have any excuse not to do this. This is so easy. And they certainly don’t have any excuse with curbside pick-up. If they don’t do it when that’s available they just don’t care.” That statement made me do three things. On Wednesday I looked at the streets in the neighborhood beside us. This neighborhood is made up of mostly upper class retired couples. There are a few “yuppies” but for the most part, they are upper class retiree’s. Almost every house had a recycling bag out on the curb. I was very impressed and very happy to see that. (If older people can squint their eyes enough to see the recyclable number on their food containers, so can we!) Then on Thursday, our neighborhood’s recycling day, I looked down the street to see how many bags were on the curb. There were several, but it did not look like the neighborhood next to us. (Please don’t take this the wrong way, I am not one for comparing people, I’m just stating what I saw this week.) There was a lot more trash and a lot less recycling on our street.
I don’t think that recycling has to do with how much money you earn, I don’t think it’s an economic issue. A whole roll of recycling bags only costs $7.70 after tax and even if you recycle most of the items you use, it will last you for months. I don’t know if it’s a lack of understanding and knowledge. Or if people really are so lazy they just don’t care. Our city has a very easy to learn system for recycling and it’s available in several forms, so I am unfortunately leaning toward people really not caring enough to make the effort. The third thing her words inspired me to do is start collecting the one recyclable number our community doesn’t collect at the curbside. In curbside recycling bags here in the city of Irving, you are allowed to put all paper recyclables, glass, aluminum, steel, aerosol cans, and all recyclable plastics #1-#7 (excluding #6) in one convenient bag. VERY CONVENIENT!!! So, I am now collecting my #6 plastic recyclables (Styrofoam) to take to a drop-off bin just down the street. Who knew there was one so close? Now I have no excuse not to recycle everything that is recyclable. Now if only the rest of the street would start increasing their recyclables and decreasing their trash.
Also during our girl’s weekend both my friend and I dyed our hair brown! Two blonde’s with brunette power, watch out world! Just kidding. She did it for fun, but I had other intentions in mind. After all this research on what goes into making hair dye I did not want to continue my platinum reign. But never dying my hair again would cause one problem I wasn’t okay with, two toned hair!!! Scary, I know. I am nearing the big 30 in another year and I really don’t feel that two toned hair is acceptable on someone my age. Mid to late teens, it’s expected. Early twenties, you’re pushing it. Past that, you really should know better. So I had to dye my hair one more time and dye it a more natural color. With the help of my friend, I discovered L’Oreal’s Natural Match hair dying system. It is an ammonia-free formula. (Yay, less of the bad stuff is always good.) We tried to find a shade that would match my roots and eyebrows. I think we did pretty good (shade 6C). I really like it and feel that if I do decide not to dye my hair again, I won’t go through any grow out phase. Whew, what a relief! And that was our girl’s weekend.
That’s all, recycling and ammonia-free hair dye. Have a great weekend everyone!
