Nearly Green Queen

The Lorax

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:17:41 -0500

Over the last couple of weeks of super cold weather in Colorado, I’ve had a few days of staying home in jammies and watching movies with my little boys. The favorite movie that was chosen from the library was The Lorax. What an amazing story! It is actually a Dr. Seuss story written over 40 years ago about factories contaminating our environment by cutting down the trees, creating smog and dumping pollutants. How is it that 40 years later, we are still doing the same thing in the name of growing business and making money? I love that we have these books and now movies to open up the awareness and conversation with our children. I highly recommend checking out The Lorax, both the movie and book, to start the conversation of how our actions affect our environment and the creatures (including humans) that live in this environment.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s Not.” - The Lorax

Choosing Beauty Products

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:19:00 -0400

I’ve spent many years going to what is cheapest on the beauty product aisle. As I age, I realize that there is more to a good product than its price tag. The thought that our skin is absorbing what we are putting on our skin seems like we should be paying just as much attention to what we put on our bodies as the food we put in them. There are definitely days that I put too much caffeine, sugar and alcohol in my system, but let’s not think about those days. Let’s look more at the all organic fruit & veggies days:) Which made look for “from the earth” ingredients instead of chemicals I can not pronounce.

I spent some time reading up about the feared parabens as well. As you can see by the article below, there is not definitely research saying they cause cancer, but why take the chance?! http://thegoodhuman.com/2007/06/21/what-are-parabens-and-why-should-you-avoid-them/

In my search, I remembered some products that were used at a holistic spa that I managed (Sensorielle) in downtown Boulder. They used the most amazing products, but I never thought I would be able to find them in a retail situation. The product are Eminence, which is made in Germany. I’m not pleased with the distance they need to travel, but I think the purity of the ingredients makes up for that impact. I actually found them on Amazon!! Now I don’t even need to drive around town to find them in a store, time saved!

I hope you all take just a few extra minutes to look at the products sitting on your bathroom counter.

Redefining Expectations Leads to Great Presents

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:21:43 -0400

I’ve been having a difficult time keeping up with my blog because I want to do everything 110% and I felt that I wasn’t keeping up my environmental expectations for myself. With both our businesses and our family growing, time is very limited so the time I had to make every dinner from scratch or mix my own cleaning supplies is more challenging to find. However, after some reflection and redefining of my expectations I realized that we are still doing things that make a positive impact on our environment that fit into our very busy life.

For example, our oldest son just turned 3. The expectations of kid’s birthday parties are overwhelming not to mention the presents! What do you get the kid that already has everything he needs and without adding more plastic toys to the madness? With this question looming over our heads, my husband and son were visiting some friends that had older boys. In the back of their garage, was a battery operated jeep. Divin feel in love with it. Our friends called the next day and offered the jeep to us because their boys had outgrown it and they didn’t want it to go to the dump. Elton washed it up, bought a rechargeable battery and we now had the best 3 year old present AND we saved it from the trash pile. What an incredible win-win! Our friends better watch out, you might find me digging in your garages for abandoned items before Christmas:)

Warmer weather = Clothes on the clothesline

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:57:13 -0400

We are having crazy warm weather for March, which is the perfect time to start hanging our clothes out to dry on the clothesline. I used to be uncomfortable with the thought of hanging my clothes outside for people to see. When did it become a bad thing for us to have the sun dry our clothes? Some of my friends live in developments that don’t allow them to hang out their clothes or they will be fined? What?!

My mind started to change when my in-laws from New Zealand would come visit and hang their clothes outside. I tried to explain to them that people don’t do that in the United States any more, but they thought I was the weird one and kept doing it. Once I put on a shirt that had been dried in the sun, I could FEEL the difference. It was as though I had sat in the sun absorbing the warmth, but it was somehow caught in my clothes.

Then I thought of all the energy we are wasting and how hard the dryer is on my clothes. When I hang them outside, they smell better, the color doesn’t fade as much and they don’t shrink. I will admit I’m not great at hanging up my clothes to dry during the winter, but once the warm weather starts, out go my clothes!

Day 31 - Plant a Tree

Mon, 02 May 2011 15:45:26 -0400

Did you know that one tree absorbs as much carbon in a year as an average car produces while driving 26,000 miles? Trees are amazing things. They are beautiful, create shade and filter 60 pounds of pollutants from the air in one year.

I’m lucky enough to have a Dad who is a conservationist, who has access to trees. He gave us a 100 seedlings to give out at the Green Frontier Fair this weekend. Eventhough the weather wasn’t great and the audience wasn’t huge we did have a good response from people wanting to plant trees. Some of them victims of the recent forest fires.

It is our responsiblity to replenish the earth and a perfect way of doing that is plant a tree.

Day 30(ish) - Green Garage

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 07:59:46 -0400

Good morning everyone, so sorry for not blogging for a few weeks. It has been so crazy lately that even though I’ve continued my environmental committment, I haven’t had the energy to come home & write about it. Now I’ve decided to write in the morning instead.

Since I live, work and most of my friends live in the city limits of Boulder, I don’t drive a ton. However, I have chosen the most fuel efficient vehicle. I have an Xterra for the fact that I need to haul kids, dogs and many items for work, a smart car just wouldn’t work in this situation. So, I’ve decided to do everything I can to make my current car as environmental as possible. I make a point to not wash it very often so I’m not wasting water (or maybe that is just laziness), but I know there is more I can do than that!

Yesterday, I took my car into the Green Garage. I got a “green” oil change where they use soy based oil, recycle the current oil and because of their process, I don’t need to get another oil change for 10,000 miles. I only have 40,000 miles on my 5 year old car! Yahoo!! Check them out: http://www.greengarage.com/we-dont-suck/responsible/

Day 29 - One less appliance

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:25:28 -0400

Have you ever noticed when you walk in most people’s kitchens that the counters are lined with small kitchen appliances all plugged in constantly? Do we really need every appliance every day? I decided to start using a french press for my morning coffee and “unplug” my coffee maker. I still have to heat my water, but it only takes a few minutes versus my coffee maker being plugged in all day sucking energy. Is there an appliance that you can unplug and put away? Do you really make toast every day? Every small thing adds up!

Day 28 - Stale Bread

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:44:31 -0400

In my attempt to reduce wastefulness, I found myself wondering what to do with a loaf of bread that had seen better days. It wasn’t moldy, but definitely stale and not tasty. So, Divin & I decided to make bread crumbs with our food processor. Divin was VERY excited about pushing the button and then became even more excited when we made meatballs out of them. Another great tip from my mother for the heals of the loaf is to put them in the brown sugar bag when it starts to get hard. The brown sugar will take the moisture from the bread and soften up. I also feel great when I don’t add to the ridiculous amount of food, we as Americans throw out every day.

Day 27 - Snack & Sandwich Bags

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:24:51 -0400

I’m not sure about other families, but we often take our lunch, pack snacks in our bags and through random items in plastic sandwich bags to keep track of them. We were throwing away 2-5 plastic bags a day, which adds up fast. Looking for an alternative, I found lunchskins. They are fabulous! They are super durable, dishwasher safe and the velcro is tight enough to keep closed, but my toddler can still open his own snack. They were created by a fellow mom looking for an alternative to all the little plastic bags being thrown out. Check out their website: www.lunchskins.com. They come is very cute patterns, I went with more subdued patterns so my husband wouldn’t mind having them in his lunch box.

Day 26 - Towels, Sheets, Jeans, etc.

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:13:45 -0400

As I was recently visiting a family member and watched immediately put their towel in the dirty laundry to be washed after just one use, I realized that there are many people washing items after every use unnecessarily. How many things do you wear or use more than once before washing them? In our house our towels & sheets are washed once a week, jeans are worn until they no longer conform to my body, but I think I can do more. I’ve decided to wash my pajamas after a few wears. I’m going to bed, how dirty can I get? I think we often throw clothes in the laundry without even thinking if they are truly dirty. Elton thinks we should all wear our underwear at least twice before washing, but he is just kidding … I think!

Day 25 - Spring Seeds

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:22:18 -0400

Today was a glorious spring sunny day which was inspiring to start thinking about our garden. We both truly enjoy cooking and exploring flavors, so we are big herb people. We usually buy small plants of herbs and plant them, but this year we decided to start our own seedlings and see how it went. We bought a mini green house that has little pods that you put your seeds in, water them and then put the cover over them to create a mini countertop green house. Soon we will only have to take a few steps outdoors to pick basil for our salad or to make pesto or cilantro to throw on our tacos or chives to toss onto our potatoes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Day 24 - Green Eggs

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:41:29 -0400

I never understood the story title “Green Eggs & Ham” until our neighbors starting raising chicken in their backyard. I was very excited to see their coop go in and their sign go up that they were selling fresh chicken eggs. As great as I think it would be to raise chickens and be able to go get eggs out of my own backyard, I’m not quite ready for that. However, I’m thinking walking two doors down to get our eggs is pretty “local”. So, you are probably still wondering about green eggs. When I opened my recycled egg carton, it was full of white, brown and GREEN eggs. How cool is that?!

Day 23 - The Dirty Dozen

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:38:00 -0400

I will admit when I go grocery shopping, I have a hard time spending double sometimes more on all my organic fruits & vegetables. We eat a lot of bell peppers and it is a big difference between spending $1.50 on a conventional pepper to $3.75 for an organic one. However, when you know the difference is because it is so difficult to grow bell peppers without a ton of pesticides, it becomes a question of health. Are you willing to spend an extra $2.25 for your health? I think so! I’m sure many of you are challenged by what to buy organic and what is alright conventional grown. Ideally we should all be buying everything organic or growing it ourselves, but that isn’t realistic for most of us. Here is the list that is referred to as the dirty dozen. These are the fruits & vegetables that contain the highest level of pesticides. Whenever possible at least buy these in the organic section.

1. Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes
11. Carrot
12. Pear

Day 22- Reuse take away containers

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:22:03 -0400

Elton and I love Thai & Indian food. We often get this as take away and they often use very durable plastic containers. So instead of throwing them straight into the recycling bin, we often give them another life, at least for a few weeks. Its great to reuse those yogurt containers or other durable containers as well. My mother taught to keep used grease in a glass container, like a peanut butter jar. Then when they have become a bit worn, they are thown in the recycling bin.

Day 21 - Compost

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:01:16 -0400

The word compost tends to bring bugs and stench to mind, however its an amazing thing to do on so many levels. I will admit that I have yet to try composting in our backyard, but we are lucky to live in a city that collects our compost for us. We have been using a big tuperware container on our kitchen counter which was not so attractive. So the moment I knew I had crossed the line into a true environmental crazy person when I did the happy dance for my very “cool” stainless steel compost container. It looks like Oscar the Grouches’ trash can … how fun is that?!:)

Day 20 - Boxed Wine

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:50:04 -0500

It’s Saturday night and Elton and I are here drinking a glass of wine discussing the meaning of life and I realize I haven’t blogged today. What is my environmental thing today? We looked down at our box of wine and see that it reduces our carbon footprint by 50% versus drinking the bottled wine. I didn’t even know I was being environmental! We decided to buy boxed wine tonight because Elton drinks red and I drink white, so we end up either getting ridulously drunk or throwing out wine that sits around too long. When I went to the liquor store tonight and asked the guy about boxed wine, it was very encouraging and recommened Black Box. I would second his recommendation. Cheers!

Day 19 - Recycle Printer Cartridges

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:18:32 -0500

There are those items that you don’t know what to do with or how to recycle them so they are tossed into the trash can. One of those is all those printer ink cartridges, one printer has 6 different cartridges! We do our best to keep printing to a minimum at our office, but there are times that are unavoidable and the ink runs out faster than I would ever expect. When I started looking at options, I found that Staples not only recycles the cartridges for you, but also pays you for it. They give you “reward” checks that work as gift certificates for Staples. Another win-win!

Day 18 - Donate Magazines

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:31:00 -0500

I love reading magazines, but it seems like such a waste to read them once and throw them in the recycling bin. I have discovered a few ways to allow others to enjoy the magazines before they are retired. One of which is at my local grocery store (for those of you in Boulder - its Safeway on Foothills & Baseline) has a magazine exchange for a charity. I drop my magazine into the pile and usually find one or two to take home for only $.25 a piece. It’s a win-win on many levels.

Day 17 - Repurpose old t-shirts

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:42:48 -0500

With a husband in construction and a toddler being a toddler, clothes that become no longer wearable begin to stack up. It seems quite pointless to just throw them away. Did you know that 5% of all landfill production is textile waste? There are so many things we can do with our clothes we no longer want or in this case, no one would be seen in public wearing. So, I sat down tonight with my sissors and starting cutting the once nice cotton t-shirts into very purposeful rags. I like to keep a stack of rags to use in place of paper towels.

Day 16 - Cancel those Catalogs

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:29:44 -0500

Every time we go to the mailbox more than 1/2 our mail is junk. Junk mail kills 2.6 million trees every year. Junk Mail! Mail that is Junk! This seems like a completely crazy statistic that we each have a way of stopping. I’ve subscribed to the stop junk mail sites which has significantly reduced the amount of junk mail. However, it usually picks up again after a month or so. I decided that catalogs are the worst due to the amount of glossy paper used for each one. Catalogs are also sent out to persuade you to spend unnecessary money by pointing out things that are “perfect for you” but you don’t need which leads to wastefulness! I received a Pottery Barn Kids and a Athleta catalog. I know I haven’t ordered anything from either catalog for over a year, so I’m not sure why that have now shown up in my mailbox. I decided to go straight to the source, the website of each company. I was very impressed to see as part of the change catalog mailing address on the Pottery Barn website that they have a “stop all mailings” option. Yea! Super easy. Then I went to Athleta, but did not find such an option. I emailed their customer service to take me off their mailing lists, hopefully that works. Now these catalogs are off to the recycling bin and I hope not to see any more show up in the mailbox.

Check out the http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/3741/5-Shocking-Statistics-How-Junk-Mail-Marketing-Damages-the-Environment.aspx for more shocking stats on junk mail!