Frankin Fish for Dinner?

I just read (in NY Times) about fish (salmon) being genetically modified for human consumption. Something's very fishy about that. May I ask the question, "Who wants to buy genetically modified fish (created in a lab folks) for human consumption?" Are there huge demographics pointing this is what Americans want? I think not! Plain and simple GM salmon is a stupid idea, and frankly I don't see why money is being wasted for this kind of scientific development (of frankinfish). Why, people? Why? Salmon and meat in general should NOT, I repeat NOT be created in a lab for human (or animal) consumption. Nothing food related should be genetically modified for human consumption.

I bet you if they started enforcing labeling of GMO foods ~ the public would go wild. People's eyes would be opened. More would start to ask questions. Now a pound of meet is a pound of meat (well kinda they're not all the same quality factory farmed vs grass-fed). What if the next time you were at the market, you reached for that pound of ground beef you thought came from a cow off some farm, when in all actually originated from a lab? Would you still want to eat it (or buy it)?

What if next time you question why these days meat is labeled "all natural". I mean if the people went to their local grocery butcher shop and asked for a pound of ground beef, need they make sure to tell the butcher they'd like only the "natural" kind? I did wonder some time ago why it became so popular for companies to market "all natural" meat. That "all natural" actually made me question what I was buying and eating. Had I not been eating natural meat? What is it I had been eating...? Now let's say they started to create GMO beef, there would be a "all natural" section and another section with no special label on it (just a pound of beef, with a price tag). Imagine GMO beef existed (lets face it we're not far off from it) and was sold in the market (due to FDA approval), would YOU buy a pound of that beef even if it had a sticker indicating that it had been genetically modified? Even if that package had an FDA approval sticker on it?

That's why they don't want to approve GMO labeling. Pure and simple it wouldn't sell. And profits would be lost and people would come to realize the truth about our modern foods. That's not a good story for the biotech companies. Genetic modification should not dominate our food sources, but it's trying to.

Look at produce for example, a tomato can be purchased in US year round. It's a seasonal item and sometimes comes from Mexico where the climate is warmer in early spring but December? December is not tomato growing season unless the crop has been genetically modified to be resistant to cold weather etc., etc. You see my point. Genetic modification is nothing short of cell invasion. Big biotech companies have recreated the tomato in a lab. I think cells from a flounder fish should not be in the cells of a tomato, but in GMO tomatoes that's the true story. Without food labeling in place the consumer has no idea. Does this bother you? It should.

Why do big biotech companies do it? $$$ Money$$$. It's big business. Well I'm not shy on the topic. I won't eat salmon ever again if this get's approved. FDA want's to approve this crazy idea. They've already found this GMO salmon safe for human consumption. FDA = Federal Drug Administration. Well FDA, I don't trust you! Your approvals have proven an all time low when it comes to caring for fellow American lives. Here's a way to cut out spending Mr. President; get rid of the FDA (yep I said it) and hire third party (non-partisan, ) companies to do the work. {that's job creation} Let fellow man, care for fellow man rather than big government hide what's really going on. FDA protecting biotech companies due to special interest groups is a sad truth in America today. Can you tell I'm annoyed? It's not directed to you my reader. I'm just venting here.

Let's face it the FDA slaps their approval of waaay to many things without sufficient research. That's why they have so many recalled medications, etc. Than once a problem arises due to lack of research prior to approval they say oh lets look like a hero and create a recall, and point the finger at it's manufacturer and smile at the public. Not working for this girl. When I see FDA approved it carries little weight if any at all. I don't put my life in my government's hands, I put it in Jesus'. I don't want the government to swaddle and coddle. I want it to get out of our pockets and govern sovereignty, with the people's best interest.

I'm excited that the house moved to ban this latest GMO "food" from taking off. It gives me hope that there will be a future with food, simple and pure the way God made it still available for my grand kids (some day). A real thumbs up but still, (and I'll quote from NY Times not trying to infringe on copyright),

"the amendment's ultimate fate is uncertain. The Senate is unlikely to approve the House spending bill unmodified, and it is unclear whether the amendment has the broad support to survive to final passage"

Read the article I'm referring to and find out more about GMO fish (salmon) NY Times article by clicking HERE

People we have a voice. Our vote DOES count. My family deserves the best, your family does too. I'm quite sure "the best" is not lab created foods. I say NO GMO!

All the best!

Food Irritation

90% Sprout Contamination Conventional, Not Organic (Linked to Factory Farm Livestock Production)

Did you see this headline?
Made this a note on my Facebook the other day. (Monday, June 6, 2011 at 5:54pm) Thought it be a good blog post too)

It's not just the US, this newest contamination news comes from Germany. I have to vent....

I grow tired of hearing about food contamination. It's a headline in the news to frequently. Never before in history, as in our modern agricultural days [when just about everything is genetically modified with such an agricultural emphasis of factory farms] have people gotten so sick from what they've eaten. It's starting to catch up with folks and thankfully the "system is starting to buckle". I think that corporate agribusiness has, worldwide, outgrown its ability to control the quality of its products. People are getting sick, even dieing, due men and women with deep pockets and wads of $$ trying to control the food industry at our expense. It's the new battle of this generation ~ who knew? They are not thinking of the consequences of the folks that are sick or even die from these outbreaks. Factory farming just doesn't work long term.

Monoculture-food crops don't work either. Yet such practices don't seem to be improving or changing. When a problem arises in the Agra-business their is no logical problem solving it's "how to make it bigger and better at the bottom dollar for profit sake". At our expense (fellow man). Not to mention they are abusing animals in the process. Wikipedia defines Monoculture like this,

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. It is also known as a way of farming practice of growing large stands of a single species. It is widely used in modern industrial agriculture and its implementation has allowed for large harvests from minimal labor. However, monocultures can lead to the quicker spread of diseases, where a uniform crop is susceptible to a pathogen. 'Crop monoculture' is the practice of growing the same crop year after year.

When a seed is GM to grow at humans demands due to scientific alteration and it's crop takes over what use to be standard farming practices it's Monoculture Farming.

Does anyone remember what happened during the great potato famine? It wasn't a lack of great scientific knowledge, nor the lack of modern farming equipment, it was result of growing one breed of potato. It was the ONLY potato grown to feed the population (and this is happening again today). When that spud crop suffered and all the people relyed on it as food, they too suffered horrifically. The death toll was a huge devastation to the Irish. That's exactly where GMO crops are headed. Check your history, in other parts of the world at the same time the Irish were suffering from their blight, other people groups in Peru didn't suffer so much because they had multiple potato variety plantings. When one planting or variety went bad or suffered a blight the other supd varieties that carried the population's nutrition. Modern day farming concentrates on their one GM crops and sticks with certain varieties. The french fry demands from our cravings primarily drive this monoculture supud crop planting. It's not just supds/ potatoes it's almost everything. Corn is another huge example. Most of our land in USA is farmed for corn. This corn isn't harvested for human consumption, it's for feed lots. Ironically the modern corn farmer isn't growing a sustainable crop that can be eaten by the farmer who grows it. It will never go to their or their neighbor's table, it will go to feedlots and feed cattle, pig and even chickens.

My two cents, God made the food cells, so stop messing with them and let God grow what he made. Start "farming" again the traditional way before monoculture and GMO domination.

The heavy push to feed more people for less money has driven the factory farming business from corn that feeds animals (which were never designed to live on) to the meats we eat, in turn changing the whole broad way of modern agriculture. Our culture in a way is praising convenience on a high note and paying the consequences for fast food. People are not getting healthy from eating a burger with the works for a buck off some dollar meal, yet it's become a way of life for many. I'm not trashing anyone, hey I'm guilty of taking advantage of the dollar menu pleasure in my past. Now that I've got a bigger picture on these things I can't ever go back. The Mr. works midnights and has gotten an organic Newman's coffee from time to time but hates that his dollar is still supporting big arches.

I did just read that Monsanto and others in the seed genetic alteration business are tapping into as many seeds as possible from our Nations seed preservation bank (in Washington D.C.) . This way they can "own" the food we eat. Once genetically modified they pull a patent on the crop. Than when organic fields get contaminated from chaff blowing off the GMO crops, the GMO farmer seed owners can sue the pants off organic farmers and claim "check mate". Is anyone bothered by any of this?

The whole thing is quite political. Many politicians are business men and women who come from big food business companies who in turn protect their private interests. It's all connected and somehow not being written in our school history books, hmmm. Such a dirty thing. Oh yes, he or she will display themselves as a modest business man/women who's in touch with the middle class which is far from the truth. It's no wonder my letters to our politicians don't seem to have much of an impact. The Mr. gets quite angry about the political side of this food war. He's a very patriotic guy but has declared war on this debate. We are very particular what we eat and spend our dollar on (which is our way of voting no for GMO). Just think of the impact we could have, if in one hour, one million Americans in one single day, said NO to fast food and yes to organic. Than the next day it went to two million, than three, than four. I think than someone would stop and notice. They'd first notice a loss of profit but hopefully come to realize that the people are voting with their dollar for organic.

On a positive note the outcome of food contamination problems as well as folks like me who are outraged by modern GMO ~ Monoculture farming have led to exponential growth of local food by family-scale farmers and artisan food processors! There is strong surge in sales at member-owned food cooperatives, farmers markets, CSAs (community supported/subscription agriculture farms) and other farmer-direct marketing vehicles have exploded over the past five years. I'm thrilled to support small organic farming. My dollar in turn becomes my vote. It's my way of sticking it to the big food destroying business men and women.

I've written letters to our governing leaders and signed many petitions on the matter. All those things are important but nothing speaks louder than going to a farmer's market and buying locally grown organic foods and grass-fed meats. Word of mouth is still stronger than advertisement from deep pocketed chains like Mc Ds. They don't even entice my family anymore. Modern media saturates our society with huge persuasion of what American's should eat. Even in the super~mega marts, the persuasion is there. The idea is buy TP, tape and splurg on a rollback at the mega mart, while there pick up a package of ground beef for dinner. When you silence that part of media saturated life, and step onto a farm, listen to the cattle in the field moooing as the wind blows across your face and the sun warms your head; you'd get a HUGE sense of where our food should come from (a real good ole' fashioned farm). I've said it many times, but our kids really love going to the dairy farm and visiting the Jersey cows when we pick up our milk. My three year old says, "Mama they make my milk". I know it's not possible for everyone across America to have this opportunity but Farmer's Markets are branching out and popping up as the demand and interest increases. As customers we can ask butchers to carry grass-fed, we can make the request when dining out. They are suppose to be supplying us with what we want. If we make it know that we don't want genetically modified produce or, super rapidly fattened meats from a feed lot things are not to late to change. (I'm still hopeful)

Our CSA starts next week!!!!!! We are so thrilled, can you tell, lol.

A side note, don't waddle in fear. Pray and get as much information about what you're eating as possible. This day n' age seems only necessary to do so. There are lot's of frighting things on the internet one could read about how far these factory farms and monoculture crop farmers are willing to go. I've learned to take it in all in strides and to do my part. I don't meant to shame anyone. There are choices and until this past year I didn't even know they existed. I assumed if the butter I was buying had a picture of a farm it was indeed from a farm. If the meat's said all natural on the package that it was 'good' meat. Than one day I began to question as to why all natural was on the meat package I was buying. Were there packages of fake meat or natural meat on the market that I unknowingly purchased? Remember the beef recall? I started pealing back the layers and the more I dug, the more I became repulsed by the findings. I didn't want chicken dipped in ammonia (to kill bacteria) fed to my family. I had no idea. I think the consumer aught to have a right and know where food is coming from. It's strategically hidden from the public. Just think of the name, Hidden Vally Farm. Precisely my point. There is no farm in the mega mass producing of what the majority of Americans are eating these days. It's a giant mechanical factory moving meats and produce down conveyor belts or meat processing plants. I'm just the kinda girl that's got the passionate side to her, and once finding all that out ~ the flames kept burning. I'm outraged at the blind eyes I had for so many years. Thankfully due to modern media such as the internet and satellite imaging these factory farms can't "hide" anymore. My thing isn't to act out in anger, rather lets just grow good honest food and share with others. Everyone, despite demographics or income deserves good wholesome food. They deserve an honest option at the very least.

To read more on the newest sprout contamination news, get the facts, click:

http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/06/news-advisory-90-sprout-contamination-conventional-not-organic-linked-to-factory-farm-livestock-production/

OK that's a mouth full, LOL. Comments anyone?

Looking for Fresh Foods?

Many are these days. Still there are some who don't have time to make their thumbs green. Don't garden but still want fresh foods? All is not lost, there is a place to start your search. You can visit LocalHarvest and search by your zip code to find local Farmer's Markets, CSA (Community Shared Agriculture), blogs, forums etc. The search is country wide and continues to grow. I've found most of the farms we visit for our grass-fed milk, meat and CSA via talking with folks I know, and meeting new people who share this interest. Most farmers talk and love sharing with their customers so when you stumble upon a farm that you like, chances are the farmer will point you to another in the area. They are big on word of mouth marketing (still the most effective and honest marketing in my opinion).

Having spoken with a few friends who've asked how I've gotten in the know ~ well now ya know. Homesteading, farms, CSA programs and farmer's markets bring communities together! For us, it's a family affair. A note though, you could find yourself on a rabbit trail.... it can be fun!

We love talking with the farmers and learning about where our food comes from (and what to do with it). I'm convinced it's the best way to obtain the freshest foods! The kids love seeing where their food comes from even at the age of 3. My daughter is quite taken with the cows we visit when Tuesday comes around. We buy our milk on Tuesdays because they milk on Monday and those who know waiting the rest of the week out will not lend itself to obtaining some whole milk. We were just up there yesterday and the cows were in the field grazing but a few stay near the fence for a good cheek scratch. I made our first batch of homemade ice cream (American or Philly style). My gosh I'm sold there's no going back. The dairy farm we visit breeds Jersey cows on site. Their milk is more full of protein than Holstein breeds. It's also more full bodied so naturally our ice cream is creamier (without additional fat). I think I'll attempt making butter from the heavy cream they sell as well.

Fresh foods! Visiting these local venues is the best way to get back in touch with our foods and purge our lives from boxed items loaded with un-natural ingredients woven with preservatives. If you didn't want to tread on a farm or there isn't one in your town, try hitting up a farmer's market {they're popping up everywhere these days}. Chances are the prices will be more friendly to the wallet. With no middle man farmers are also able to pocket something like 90% profit for their labor of love verses 20-30% profit. Dont' be discouraged, I just watched a local PBS special on a park in the Bronx that was transformed into a local community garden. It was amazing to see the farmer's market right in the inner-city hosting a wide variety of merchants with items from all over New York state. Folks living in the city of all income and race had the same access to fresh foods! The program blessed my heart. I hope this concept starts sweeping the nation.

With the greater awareness of genetically modified foods growing in the public sect, combined with the growing number of foods that are being genetically modified (without most of the public's knowledge) folks simply want to know where their food comes from. And honestly I think we have a right to know. I think we should be able to feast on food that not only taste fresh, is fresh, and do so at any income level in society.

Granted I know this post is not for everyone. I have friends who simply find it fits their lifestyle to have a love hate interdependent relationship with mega supermarkets. Target and Walmart have food along with everything else so it's an easy one stop shop. I'm not pointing any fingers here if you are such person. Each of us do the best we can for our families and in the end food will never replace love. We all love our families. We all want the best for them and aim to cultivate good eating habits in our kids. I realize access is a factor in obtaining local foods and that the word "local" can be stretched. After-all I'll admit we drive some 50 miles to get our meat. With gas prices you could think I'm out of my mind. I go once a week and see it as an educational field-trip for my family. They interact with the animals and talk to the farming community. They might not eat the foods they do today if not for this experience? Hard to tell, a picky toddler will often say no to anything he he. For me it's a priceless education each time we go to one of the many farms we visit and buy from. Our kids are not taught in school where their food comes from and every thing is commercialized. As a parent I take up that responsibility. I know mom's who run to 4 different stores to hit up all the various sales to match up coupons and buy only a few things at each store to complete their grocery shopping. That could be considered running all over creation for a few meals. It's perspective and what's best for you and your family. I like personally having the peace of not having to worry about the coupon. I go to the farm, buy the cuts of meat I want and that's it. I go to our CSA pick up our lot of in season vegetables and we're done. No more price matching here for this gal. Yes we live on a budget and we also know where our whole dollars are being spent though. I'm loving the idea of not being dependent on the supermarket for our groceries. It's a life style change and I realize though it's for me and my family all this talk about farms might be making your head spin.

Our kid's education about food couldn't be any more real to them if they were not going to the farm and seeing where their food comes from. I think all kids should know. If I was not an AG (agriculture) student in high school I'd have no idea either. My childhood schooling didn't consider the farm as a notable learning environment worthy of a field trip. I hope things have changed. We eat together as a family and thank God at each meal for the bounty and access to fresh foods. We thank the Lord for his provision as we eat more and more fresh foods of the seasons. Our pallets have yet to know such variety. It's coming, spring seedlings are growing and a harvest will be gathered. We're praying over our CSA and invested in it's production aside from our financial investment which brings things full circle for us as Christians. We do desire to be good stewards of the earth and preserving what God created and made available to sustain our bodies. Eating genetically modified foods not only has a flavor loss it makes my stomach churn at the very though. I don't believe humans can create sustainable foods that surpass what God already created. I'm just sayin'... I realize there are some who don't share my viewpoint on this though I can't disconnect my faith from this part of our lives. This could be considered rambling and be that as it may, at the very least I wanted to share the link for Local Harvest with you. Cheers to eating fresh! Love your comments.

New Sprout!

Well, it's time. We are starting a container garden in the back yard. I started some cilantro from seed and this morning I saw little sprouts! I'm with great hope that my thumb will turn from brown (killing plants) to green.

Organic Potting Soil, Check!

Containers (cedar barrels) Check!

Now off to get some organic seedlings. I think the kids will love watching the plants grow.

I'm really excited. It's past the freezing period and we've hit temps in the 70s already!

Looking forward to getting my hands dirty. My basil in the kitchen needs a bigger pot so it's time to transplant it outside.

Hope to grow, peppers, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, salad mix lettuces!

Happy Growing!! Our CSA could start in June!!

Earth Day / Good Friday

Hi blog friends!

Well this is going to be a combo post.

Good Friday

Mean anything to you? Well as a christian it means a lot to me and my family.

Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many Christians spend this day fasting and praying and meditation of the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross. (yes and here I am blogging, but with purpose)

The biblical account of Jesus' death on the cross, his burial and his resurrection may be found in the following passages of Scripture: Matthew 27:27-28:8; Mark 15:16-16:19; Luke 23:26-24:35; and John 19:16-20:30.

I usually read the Easter story from Luke. It's a good time for me to regroup and focus on what really matters most. I take it all to heart, it's very personal for me. Rather than focus mostly on death and destruction it's really a joyous day as we look forward to Easter and the celebration of our Lord's victory. This year I know Princess will grasp a little bit more of what we celebrate and why we do. I don't even begin to know how to scratch the surface at how deeply I am moved by the cross that Jesus bore. The Passion Of The Christ, by Mel Gibson is very moving, if you've not seen it now is a good time to give it a viewing.

Earth Day

I've never been big on green affairs until this past year. As a mother many of my "green" actions result from trying to save some $ green cash. I'd like to think I'm a good stewart of both our finances and the earth {both given by God}. As stated in my New Year post this year, "Less Is More". We've done fairly well sticking to that motto. I'm not going to bore you with statistical data on how global warming is causing our planet to die. I simply want to state all the things that we are doing to be a greener family. We feel it's part of our job to make sure the future generations get to enjoy how God displays his magnificent creativity, splendor and yes even humor through nature. Our stewardship and happy earth friendly habits will be passed on as we live out loving the earth God gave us. So think of this not so much as a brag list, rather a list of ideas. Maybe we share the same ideas, maybe not.

Our family's earth friendly lifestyle:

Recycle, recycle, recycle - beyond curb side, we reuse everything and anything. Use old applesauce glass jars for non-food storage, old shirts become rags, newsprint becomes compost material and wrapping paper etc, etc. I love up-cycling household junk for crafts as well. Kind of a new hobby I guess. Why not use an old jelly jar (minus label) as a bud vase. If you're crafty, come up with a jar decoration or keep it simple with a little ribbon. Not hoarding or becoming a pack rat, there is a way to hold off and ask the question, "what could I use this for?" before tossing it into the trash. Pssst, hey fellow moms, if you have a paper company who prints your local paper visit them and ask for an 'end roll'. They are usually free or just a few bucks. An end roll is usually trash to them, it's the end of their paper printing roll. To ensure they won't run out of paper on a roll during printing production they'll take off the 'left over' roll and put on a new roll and resume printing. It's huge & great for coloring, wrapping gifts (or both), crafts, projects etc. Will last years! Don't forget the saying, one man's junk is another person's treasure. Find local mom groups that will swap out dish sets, clothes, hangers or whatever. Visit a 2nd hand store rather than buying new. You'll save, promise. Lastly here, I must confess that I reuse garbage bags from time to time if they are not so nasty. I usually combine garbage to consolidate and if the bag has a bunch of tissues in it I'll dump the tissues into another full garbage bag and leave the liner.

Use glass for storage - We use mason Jars for dry air tight food storage, storing freezer items such as soup stock. It cut's down the need for all those plastic Glad plastic containers (which drive me crazy anyway). Less demand on plastic generation.

Buy open bulk. One of the reason's I love shopping at Whole Foods is that I can buy all my flour, rice, beans, etc. in bulk. I'm able to save a little carbon foot print here by putting the stuff in my mason jars. It saves on cardboard and plastic packages that end up in the trash. One plastic bag weighs a lot of stuff.

Glass milk deposit- we buy our milk from a local dairy farmer who uses glass bottles. It's a sustainable way to sell the milk. Each time we bring back the bottle we get the bottle deposit discount. No more plastic milk jugs. Though they can be re-purposed into many useful things.

Eco-stuffers- cloth "baggies for lunches, and use wax paper rather than plastic wrap whenever possible. Cloth lunch bags too, they are so much easier to run through the wash than conventional ones.

Eco napkins napkins that are tossed into the wash and used again {no more paper}

Un-Paper (paper towels but made from cloth) Click the link to see the cute storage counter towel house. We love ours.

Produce bags- rather than use the plastic bags from the supermarket paper or plastic we bring our bags and reuse them over and over. They are really neat and I often get the $.5 reusable bag discount as well (more savings) click the link for a picture. Oh and I'll add in we use these great ziplock gallon sized bag replacements. They are wonderful! Water proof and food safe as well. No more plastic baggies!

Reusable shopping bags- which you can get everywhere these days. We have a variety of styles we use. And often use them beyond the super market. Target is also giving five cents back on reusable bag usage. (don't forget to wash them from time to time)

Dish cloths rather than sponges- (ours are crochet kind or rags that were not used to clean up motor oil or unsafe fabrics). These get rewashed and reused. I hate sponges, especially when they smell bad. It means they are full of bacteria ~ yuck.

Reusable mop pads- I have both microfiber and the ones for a Swiffer brand mop click the link to see a picture of the ones I prefer. Could not stand how Swiffer made my floor sticky and what's in that stuff anyway? So we mop and toss the mop head in the wash ~ easy breezy!

Make our own cleaning products- I can't stand buying 'green' cleaners. I make my own multi-purpose cleaner, window & glass cleaner, wood polish, toilet & tile cleaner, air freshener ~ you name it. I actually prefer using my home made cleaners over the conventional and find myself cleaning more because I kinda enjoy it just a tad bit better.

Use cloth baby / toddler wipes- Well let's just say I really like it since making the switch. I make the wipe solution too. Check out my most recent blog postings for more on this.

Fabric diaper bag- Well the most common diaper bags are made up of a great deal of plastic these days. I got mine mostly because I grew tired of all the little sticky stuff that collected in the crevices. So hard to clean. Your kid ever give you an 'icky something' from the ground you couldn't throw away right away due to limited access to a garbage container? Ever have a sippy cup or bottle leak? No well you're lucky. I've used my cloth diaper bags as handbags and purse on occasion (minus the diapers etc.) LOL. Stylish and yet practical too. Have I mentioned that I love how washable they are? Click on the link, the seller is super nice and fabulous. She even added snap closure and cell phone pocket :-) just for me.

Reusable eye make-up remover pads- I use organic cotton flannel round pads to wipe off my eye makeup with olive oil. Surprised at how much I was saving in buying mascara remover this stuck as a sure keeper. If you click the link the bamboo ones will come up but the shop owner was able to make a custom listing for me. Great to work with from Etsy.

Coasters. We have these great non-stone / earth eroding coasters we use. Great for folks with kids because they are easy to clean and won't damage your furniture when Jr. decides to bang it on your coffee table.

Ditch the fabric softener- We don't use fabric softener. Many of them pollute the water ways and so we use vinegar in our rinse cycle.

Air Dry- we use the clothes line whenever possible to save on electricity.

Combine errands by location resulting in less gas usage and better use of my time.

Don't buy plastic-ware or paper plates for picnics, we bring our own stuff from home and I have a few old mismatched dishes from the 2nd hand store we bring with us. Why not? lol.

We do use cfl and eco / green light-bulbs etc throughout the house but I'm thinking twice about this. Many of them don't really last 7 - 11 years. There is some talk that government might make it mandatory. I'm not thrilled at what actually makes up those eco-light-bulbs. As a mom it kinda scares me a tad bit.

Ditched bottled water. We use glass always unless we really can't. Camelbacks are good for hikes in the woods. We don't spend money on bottled water and have a water filtration system that we use and store our 'bottled water' in a glass pitcher. My water bottle is made of glass. I love it. Dropped it a few times and didn't shatter. Saves on water as well because if you are like me and you didn't finish the bottled water from yesterday and still have a bit left chances are it is less appealing to finish the next day if left in a plastic container. I'ts the plastic leaching into the water that makes it taste funny. I put the lid on my glass container and pop in the fridge for the next day ~ out comes flavor free water.

Shred- We use the paper from our shredder to package and send gifts. Most of it goes into the recycle bin but come Christmas birthday or holiday time we use it as backing rather than peanuts.

Ditch the wrapping paper- last Christmas we used fabric remnants from the frabric store and old blankets from yard sales etc. as gift wrapping. We tied the gifts up with yarn so every thing can be used year after year. I'ts not hard given that we instated the three gifts rule. (see our Christmas post for more info on the three gifts) I have a ton of gift bags left over from when folks have given us gifts. I keep a stash of them and us next time we need to bring a gift. Rather than tissue paper, in goes the shredded paper. Makes a mess but saves a ton. Tissue paper is an expensive toss away. Feels like throwing money away. I tie up the packages real nice and usually make the cards. You can re-purpose cereal boxes for puzzles. or cardboard boxes as doll houses or kids cars or ships with things around your house (just as mentioned in the first listing).

Well that's some list we've built up last year. This year we are adding to the list with some more recent initiatives. Some we just started and some we have planned for future dates. Such as,

Adding a faucet aerator to conserve water in our kitchen. We got a great one from Earth Easy. It not only conserves water like the ones you see in home centers but it has this great little switch to turn the water off while washing. This means I don't have to re-work the hot and cold water combo.

No more drier sheets- (we have not used drier sheets in years) but we are giving these wool drier balls a whirl. They are said to cut down dryer usage time by 25 min. Also they won't be putting toxins in your wash. Good thing to have on a rainy day when we can't use the line to dry. I do also have a small line in our basement for little things that shouldn't go in the drier. It's just not big enough for loads of laundry.

Compost- self explanatory. We'll be putting out less compost-able (if that's even a word) garbage in the landfill and using it to fertilize our garden. Yes I'm going to try to give my brown thumb a try at gardening.

CSA / Community Supported Agriculture- They say supporting local is the best thing you can do. Less petroleum trucking around all the food and local growers want to please their customers so they are most often than not willing to be transparent in their farming methods. In addition to our CSA (beginning this June) we've been buying our meat from a local farmer who raises animals on a grass-fed diet. Better for us and better for the planet. We also recycle our egg containers. When we go out to the farm for our meat or milk both sell local eggs where we can bring the containers back when we buy new dozen. This way we don't have to throw the egg containers away to the landfills.

Cooking on cast iron- which is a new thing. It's considered the original non-stick and takes us away from the Teflon market. Teflon is fairly toxic to make and not very earth friendly. Greenware is all the rage but I still think there is something to my non-stick 90 year old cast iron pan. Teflon pans have been replaced as early as 3-6 years in our home. The non-stick starts to flake off (which is toxic for humans) and yet than it makes you run out to the store for another non-stick Teflon pan. Great for the producers and marketers of Teflon. Bad for our wallet and planet.

Rain barrels- This is a new project for the spring/summer. We're getting old 50 gal barrels that use to hold laundry soap. Good way to re-purpose because they'd be fast on their way to the landfill. Hey we're happy to be taking two out of the equation. We'll be using the water collected from the rooftop. For this reason our rain-barrels won't be used to water our garden/food plants. I've read that it's really not a good idea for many reasons. But it will make great water to clean the car with and water the lawn and flower beds.

I'm sure our list will grow further. For now thanks for reading. I hope you got some ideas. I'm a mom and it's totally do-able. Might be a tad bit more work but I know that these green changes in our family also lend themselves to more green in our pockets. This means we have more of the extra by not spending on throw-aways. Get inspired, go a little greener! Happy Earth Day and many blessings to you on this holy Good Friday!

PS I'd also love to hear how you've gone a little green or what Good Friday means to you. Comments welcome {I've been very transparent here so please, nice comments only}!

Cloth Wipe (easy)

Well not that the w.w.w. needs to know how things have been going with potty training and our family transition to cloth wipes for the kids but, I have a few things I learned in the past week that I would share. I think it's good to pass along those little nuggets that I've found resourceful. I know not everyone uses cloth wipes nor would they consider it. I've actually found it to be a growing trend. Still as disgusting as it can be I use cloth wipes on my kids with pride. If they didn't have that constant rash and I didn't have such a problem with those "disposable" toddler wipes, I probably never would have found myself here. So here I am.

This video shows how to fold cloth wipes so you can get pop-up action like disposable. Very helpful in my opinion. I've been using this folding method and found it works best with Huggies brand wipe container. The clip below gives a nice demo.

I never made it to my seamstress to sew the flannel receiving blankets into cloth wipes, and the diaper rash for both kids was not getting any better. The T.P. was not doing a great job cleaning our little potty trainer and toddler wipes were out of the question. Not to mention I ran out of disposable wipes. I'd swear their little tushies were rejecting one or some of whatever is in disposable wipes. I tried a variety of wipes before opting cloth wipes and am to tired of comparing the ingredients list trying to figure out what might be the irritant. Anyway, I purchased some {single layer} flannel cloth wipes (which work out fine for me) from Etsy HERE

Yes I purchased but they will pay for themselves in no time. I got 24 cloth wipes for about the price of two 2, 72 qty ea pack wipes! The seller from Etsy that I used was very nice! She suggested I use a pitcher with a lid and change the water daily (help keep the stink down). I also add in a little vinegar and tea tree oil so the cloth wipes get a good soak prior to their washing. So far that method is working out the best. I use a cereal keeper container that I originally purchased thinking it was air tight. It's not but works well for the wipes after use.

Now I get to brag on my girl. Potty training is going so well. Princess now asks to sit on the potty and does a great job of going both (pee pee and BM). I thought it would never happen but we ended up getting a new potty seat that she really likes. The old one we were using is now our travel potty seat. Yep, we've even made a few pit stops out and about successfully. She only wears a pull-up when we are dropping her off in say the nursery at church for a while, and at night. Aside from that she's in undies. Still a few accidents but happy to say, we're well on our way!!

As for the cloth wipes, being that we ran out of the disposable ones I opted to just stick with the cloth and never go back to disposable. The Mr. thinks it's super icky but we use them as both toddler wipes (because TP just doesn't always do the job well) and as baby wipes. Now we will never run out of wipes and this means I no longer need to scramble for coupons to buy wipes. I can't stand spending money on items that will ultimately end up in the trash. Some good things I remind myself when cleaning a BM, the cloth wipes will never expire, they won't dry out (I use dry method), I no longer need to hunt for coupons for wipes (this is a huge money saving method), nor do I need to worry about ingredient lists. That's well worth it for this Mama!

I never thought I'd find myself between disposable diapers and cloth wipes, but here I am. I'm pretty stocked up on diapers for the baby being that I had mega coupons and hit a few sales a while ago so the little guy should be good for a while. So as you probably guessed I've pretty much got my hands in poop most of the day, lol! Cheers to loving our kids and being the best moms we can be ladies!

Fresh Air!

It's spring and I'm itching to open all the windows! I want to get some fresh air into the house! This past winter my nose became quite sensitive to most commercial air fresheners (Glade, Air Wick and other commercial products) To the point I started not to feel so well. It was a real problem when the smell of bathroom was covered by a spritz in the air of 'fragrance'. The diaper pail didn't really snuff out the stinkies, so more freshener was used.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you know I'm a big fan of natural and going green while saving green. I realized my headaches were not going to go away if we kept using the store bought air fresheners, so I decided to research if there be a way I could make my own, and perhaps figure out why the sensitive nose all of a sudden.

Toxic air fresheners? Unfortunately, yes. Scientists have discovered that chemicals commonly found in most household air fresheners. Many synthetic fragrances also cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and sinuses, difficulty breathing, asthmatic reactions and changes in nervous system function. Beware of any ingredient called "fragrance" because you could be getting much more than a nice scent. So that's what THEY say. It spiked an interest to dig a little deeper into those ingredients on the back of labels I can promise you I have no idea how to pronounce.

Read below what I found from Home-Air Guide dot com

So, if you have eye irritation or headache or any other strange symptoms, check if you can trace those to any chemical air fresheners, either solid or liquid sprays, you use in your home or car. Just stop using air fresheners for some time and observe how you feel.

A common harmful ingredient of air fresheners is limonene. Limonene irritates eyes, mouth, skin. It can also cause incoordination and dizziness. You may also be breathing petroleum distillates, which can irritate or damage your lungs. You may feel fatigue and confusion when your air freshener contains tolune. Some air freshener chemicals show themselves more in long term, like cancerogenic benzene compounds, or phthalates interfering with hormone production. You can also find such toxic chemicals as methylformamide, terpinolene, methoxybenzaldehyde, and butanoic acid.

Eek! not good at all. Not only am I concerned for myself but my kids and family as a whole. Wait a minute aren't these common air fresheners marketed to folks like me. Mom's with smelly homes and kids? Needless to say my research keep digging up more bad news about the air fresheners I'd been using.

Than I stumbled upon a recipe to make my own air freshers using only three ingredients, vodka, water and essential oil. Yep that's it. I've been so thrilled with the result I wanted to share on my blog. A note of advise is make sure you buy essential oils not fragrance oil they are not the same. Also you should check and test sniff the essential oil prior to purchasing if at all possible. There could be a slight chance you could be allergic to say Chamomile or any other essential oil. If you are pregnant or nursing you should also read up on the effects on some essential oils.

I stuck with lavender which is naturally calming. The Mr. doesn't mind it either ~ which is a good thing.

So here is what you'll need to make your own, HOMEMADE AIR FRESHENER:

• 4 oz glass bottle with spritz cap, mine was blue from Whole Foods {Must be glass b/c essential oils don't react well to plastics long-term}
• (1) nipper of cheep vodka like Smirnoff {unflavored, color free}
• Plain ole' water / H2o

Instructions:
Open and remove cap from glass bottle, pour entire contents of nipper vodka into glass bottle, drop aprox 18-20 drops of essential oil of your choice {more you add the stronger the scent}, fill the remaining glass bottle with water. Replace the spritz cap and give it a quick shake. You are done!

I learned that essential oils don't mix well with water so that's why vodka is important. You never want to substatute rubbing alcohol in place of the vodka. The vodka also helps the freshener to quickly dissolve in the air once sprayed. We have a small bathroom and use only two squirts when needed. In case you are wondering, the 4 oz bottle has lasted well into 60 days {we're still using it bottle is more than half full}. Which I love, especially since most air fresheners indicate only a 30 day product life.

In the kitchen I've been boiling a pot of fresh micro-planed cinnamon stick, clove or lemon juice.

In addition to the air freshener switch, I've rid our house from paraffin wax candles such as Yankee Candles. I love the look and smell of a vanilla candle in the winter so I went out and got a soy candle. To make sure there were no "stuff" added I went and did a lot of research here too. It is possible to get a good soy waxed candle with a 100 % cotton wick. The one I chose is sensed with essential oils not fragrance. You can learn more about paraffin wax candles and their bad reputation HERE.

I don't share to scare. These are my opinions and I'm entitled to them. Oh and one more thing, since we've made the switch I feel much better. No more headaches. Feel free to use and share the homemade air freshener recipe with everyone and anyone. The glass bottle sits back of our toilet with a homemade label. I wanted guests to know it was available for use if need be. On the back I also noted the three ingredients and {shake well, spray away from face and clothing, face & fabrics}.
I love how much essential oil I have left. I know I'll be able to make my own air freshener for a long time and it's just one more way we are going green and $aving green! When the snow has finished melting and I'm able to open the windows, fresh air will be blowing through the house.
Cheers to happy, healthy fresh air!

Who knew?

Quick post... LADIES A GREAT FIND HERE!

I ran out of my facial scrub (which is rather expensive) and wondered if there be some way I can make one myself and save a little cash. I did a search on the internet for DIY facial scrub and it turns out that I can use baking soda. Who knew? It's great for all skin types.

I've been using baking soda in the shower after washing my face for a few weeks now. I gotta say it's actually really nice! I love how inexpensive it is. Scrubs just enough without irritating my skin. Great way to rejuvenate the skin and freshen up :-)

More going green and saving green posts to follow. I'm on a mission to save more and live a little simpler.

Call me crazy but you have to give it a try! See for yourself and save moola!

Clean?

So I've been fortunate enough to have been receiving Parenting magazine for free the past six months. Crazy right? I honestly don't know where it's coming from. Must have been one of those promotion sites that offer free trial products?? Who cares so long as it's free. I never gave out my payment info to receive it so lucky me! I don't exactly have time to read much these days but every so often I flip the pages of the mag in search of fun product finds while in the bathroom. (LOL like I said time to sit and read is not really there these days) In the June issue I found a little segment on Eat Cleaner. I'm not endorsing their products here but I think they've really got something to offer.

I went online and checked out Eat Cleaner as I suggest you also do for yourself, and looked into the food cleaner product line they offer. I'm not super crazy about eating only the best but I do want the best for my family. I will admit to buying organic when it comes to certain things. Upon looking further into Eat Cleaner I will admit they did cause me to rethink the rinse and eat method when it comes to fresh produce. Personally though I love eating grapes I hate the film that are on grapes from the market. In fact I hate it so much so I've been abstaining from eating grapes all together. Even the organic ones still have the film. Uhh! This Eat Cleaner advertises their product will rid such produce of that film. I'm not exactly sold on all that they offer but they sell these little disposable wipe that I think are ingenious! Clean on the go. Perfect for camping or day trips! I think I'm willing to make the investment so I can eat grapes again. I think I'm willing to purchase a few of the disposable and biodegradable produce wipes. Click on the link above to read more about this product and see for yourself what I'm talking about. If you have used the product I'd love to hear from you!! Just a fun find I thought I'd share :-)

Here is a YouTube video about the product,

Market Fresh

Image via Wikipedia

Going Green has been a topic I've blogged about in the past. I have a ton of good reads you can look through over in my blog topical cloud, labeled "Going Green". It's not just about environmental stuff, it's mostly about saving some good ole' green cash, while being green/eco-friendly.

Ahh It's spring and I just have to say, I love the local farmer's market!! It's great to get fresh produce all the while saving some cash. Mostly I've found the farmer's market to be more wallet friendly on average for produce than the grocery store. Fresh tomatoes are my favorite finds. It's a win, win for every one! Sellers offer fresh locally grown foods & flowers, consumers (like me) support local agriculture. I think there is a real taste difference in the locally grown foods. They are more flavorful. I also like the fact I can ask the grower questions. Do they grow organically or did they use pesticides etc. Some sellers even have cooking tips ~ which I like. All depends on how friendly you get with the locals, lol.

I've yet to pull off a garden of my own. Mostly because I'm so busy 'growing' up my kids. I'm sure I'll give a big hurray the day I get to do both.

If there's a Farmers Markt by you it just might be worth while to stop by! If you grow, it just might pay to sell.

Farmer's Markets! You'll find me there!

Snack Bags With Style

Take a snack in style! Have a look at our sandwich and snack baggies. These replace the plastic kind. I purchased a "family bundle" of bags find from SediluGreen. They have a wide variety of styles, and typically sell in bundles of three. Each bundle comes with a :

•Large EcoStuffer– measures 7” x 7” (sandwich bag size)
•Medium EcoStuffer– measures 7” x 5” (large sized snack bag for larger snack like chips)
•Small– measures 7” x 3.5” (perfect for smaller snacks like seeds or goldfish crackers)

Alternatively they can be purchased by size rather than in a bundle.

I asked the seller for a custom listing because I wanted a 'family pack' rather than order several bundles. The seller was wonderful to work with. She even let me select my fabrics from her inventory. SediluGreen calls these EcoStuffers. Have a look at these food safe EcoStuffer snack bags! These are the exact bags I purchased.

I selected the construction for the little guy, blue dots for The Mr., spotted owl for Princess and the blue, green and yellow for myself.

Here's the thing, I did a lot of research on food safe fabric and contacted this seller multiple times just to be sure I was buying a food safe product for my family. The seller states in her shop's narrative, that every single food storage bag is made of led, Phthlate, BPA and toxin free material deemed food safe by the FDA. No PUL in any EcoStuffer. I actually asked quite a bit of sellers who couldn't confirm their products were food safe by FDA's standards. This was the only seller that said she went the extra step and contacted the FDA to find first hand herself before placing her products on the market. Food safe and stylish!


They seal with velcro and carry just about any snack that you'd use a plastic baggie for. The inside fabric wipes out very easy. And yes if need be they can be washed as needed and hung up to dry. Not having to buy sandwich bags will $ave us quite a bit over time. The SediluGreen, says, "The estimated savings of an average sized family of 4 is about $2500 or more PER YEAR by switching from plastic baggies". Whoot, Whoot! I'm glad I don't need to buy Glad or Ziplock snack and sandwich baggies anymore - he he.
For fun here is SediluGreen's blog address: http://sedilugreen.blogspot.com

We went to the park as a family of 4 and had a picnic outside to enjoy some sunshine. We used these bags and I noticed a few curious eyes checking them out. If it's not your kind of thing - no worries. I feel that it's my obligation to share these good finds with other so they too can reap the benefits!!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions. Cheers!

Sponging up $avings

Image by Genevive_Too via Flickr

We stopped buying and using sponges in the kitchen. I replaced them all with inexpensive washcloths. My grandmother use to crochet her own dishcloths. If I had that talent I'd probably do the same. I know you can purchase crochet type of dishcloths from sellers at Etsy. I have a friend that crochets so I've asked her to make me a few dishcloths. I love them!
Sponges always got stinky and smelly - which meant they were filled with bacteria. Ewww! I like the fact that I can toss my dishcloth in the washing machine with like items and pull another clean one out of the linen closet. I know it's made of natural cotton fibers, not filled with chemicals, and cleans just as well. What about the scrubby side of the sponge you ask? Well I have a solution for that.

Nylon Scrapers! I love them, in fact they work better than sponge scrubbers or Brillo style pads. If there is a hard pan to clean I let it soak in warm water and than I use these scrapers with a sprinkle of baking soda. Works every time. When dirty I can toss them in the dishwasher with a load of dirty dishes and, they're as good as new. Alternatively they can be hand washed.
You can probably find scrapers from any store such as Target or any grocery store. I got mine from The Pampered Chef
If you want The Pampered Chef type but don't know a consultant here is a link you can shop from my friend and consultant Megan

So things are getting a little greener around here. Hopefully some of that green is staying in our pockets too! :-)
To read other green blog posts, click on the blog category Going Green.

Historical Laundry Method

Ok I've really been a busy bee gearing up for the little spuds arrival (bambino #2). I realize that I've not been posting often but I couldn't miss Tip Tuesday. These last few weeks I'm trying to pace myself. This thing called pregnancy is more of a marathon than a sprint. I definitely feel as though these last few miles are kilometers. Hurray, we're almost there. I've done a ton of extra laundry as I prepare for this little guys arrival. Oh how I forgot how small newborn onsies are. In light of my laundering, I thought I'd reflect a helpful tip from my laundry room to yours :-)

The following is not a tip that I can take credit for, so I opted to credit another in this posting. In fact I don't know who's grandmother's grandmother used it first? Using vinegar in the wash has been around for many years. In our home we don't use fabric softener, rather vinegar in our laundry. [Yes we use soap too] It really works wonders in my opinion. It's actually said that vinegar has over 100 resourceful uses in a home. It's true that it's a natural anti-microbial cleaner. I'm guilty of buying it by the gallon. :-) It's a lot less expensive than fabric softener. Truth be told fabric softener leaves behind a flammable residue that can't be seen. Vinegar actually cleans this residue away. I always bath my towels with vinegar when washing them. A good splash in the rinse cycle and presto! They come out so soft and fluffy. This said, I'm not the fabric softener Nazi, to each their own :-) Like I said, it's been a great economical resourceful product in our home.

Today I have a web link from a resourceful blog about going greener. The blog is, Repurposeful.

Tip Tuesday:
Click HERE for the blog posting from Repurposeful about using vinegar in the wash.

You may not be the vinegar type and that's fine. Or perhaps you've already been using vinegar in your wash or around your home. Either way if you have a resourceful tip - please by all means share & post a comment :-) Thanks for reading and have a beautiful day!

Un-papertowel life's messes

So last week I wrote about our eco-napkins. This week I figured I'd share about our transition to eco-towels. Here's the scoop,
Gone are the paper towels in our home. We nixed them for much the same reason we stopped using many other disposable items. Yet another way our family is going green.

Made In The Red Barn sells Un-papertowels (or eco-towels) and, Towel Houses for the towels they sell.
What's an Un-papertowel you ask? They are cloth paper towels (same size as the paper kind) that can be used in the same manner as a roll paper towels. What I love about this Etsy seller is that they went so far as to create a Towel House. The house itself is beautiful (made of wood) and holds about 18-20 towels. The towel house acts as storage so there is no extra folding. Just think of it replacing the paper towel (roll) dispenser. Here's what I love about these products. First the towels are completely reusable and washable. Air dry or toss in for a quick dry cycle than simply stuff the towels in the top of the Towel House. When you need an eco-towel simply pull one or some out the bottom hole.
You will see in the pictures what it looks like in our kitchen. I've also placed a towel butler behind the Towel House to dry any Un-papertowels that might be a little wet (from hand drying) though usable. The towels dry VERY quickly.

By using these Un-papertowels we are $aving money by not spending it on paper towels; that would otherwise end up in the trash. Less wasteful spending makes this Momma happy! So life with these new Un-papertowels has been wonderful. It hardly creates more laundry. When dirty we toss them in a specially designated laundry hamper with the napkins. Alternatively I could toss them into a bucket under the sink.
They are made out of birdseye fabric (same as old style cloth diapers) The material is very absorbent for life's little (or big) messes.
Why? you ask. Well I found that we were wasting a lot of hardly used paper towels. I hate to spend money on items that go strait into the trash. Especially in this case, a paper towel with bread crumbs crumpled up inside. Something The Mr. is guilty of. I do let The Mr. keep a roll or two of regular paper towels in the garage for those outdoor needs. I will furthermore admit that I don't use these eco-towels to clean with. I use rags to clean so we don't need to worry about where the eco-towel has been. LOL we have had these in our home for more than a month now. I'll admit it's nice not to have to buy or think about paper towels. And the $avings are great!

Neat Napkins, Eco-style

Loving the Earth and our wallet!
No more paper napkins. We've made the switch to these wonderful eco-napkins. Not the fancy type you'd see at a restaurant, those would be silly to use with kiddos. These napkins are made from birdseye fabric (same as the old style cloth diapers). These eco-napkins were purchased from Love For Earth a wonderful seller to work with. They sell these napkins in various bundles and sizes.

We use them much the same way one would use a paper napkin though we don't throw them in the garbage; we toss them into the hamper for washing. They wash up real easy and dry incredibly fast. In fact they get softer with each washing. We use the napkins sized 8X8 inches (they are about the size of the square store bought napkin before you unfold the paper kind to the larger size). The perfect size for little hands too.
I found a great basket at the craft store for the dining room table to house our napkins, coasters and salt and pepper shakers.

It doesn't really amount up to much extra laundry. I have a separate hamper for these, dish clothes and our eco/un-papertowels. Once washed the napkins can air dry or tumble in the dryer for quick drying session. I just quickly roll them up and place them back in the basket. So EASY! For our family of three, I do a load once a week or when necessary. I feel good about the $avings each week. Not to mention there's less waste so there's less garbage. We love them because they are more absorbent than regular paper napkins. In addition to the $avings, we're doing our little part to prevent waste - an all around good thing.

Going green in the new year

Image via Wikipedia

Our family has decided to go a little greener for 2010. "Green" as in cash savings as well as being kinder to the environment.I have found it more and more irritating spending $GREEN$ cash on certain items, only for them to end up in the trash. For example paper towels, napkins, plastic baggies and plastic silverware seem literally a waste to buy. We are trying to spend less on disposable products this year. So I've already taken the first step in replacing some of these items. Though I will admit, we have a small stash of each of those mentioned disposable items "just in case" should happen. One just never knows.

Cloth diapers for the little guy you ask? No, unfortunately I still can't bring myself to this. My brother is about 10 years younger than I and he sported the cloth diaper as an infant. I'm still horrified from shaking his # 2s in the toilet for flushing. Ahhh! For those of you who do go the cloth diaper route - I applaud you.

I've decided to share a few "Going Green" blog postings with you going forward. Just a few ways in which we have gone a little greener in our house. Stay tuned:-)
Topical Tags will be: Going Green