One Small Change November

THE EARTH MACHINE

I am finally going to do it! I should have been doing this for a long time now. With 3 teenage boys in the house, we create a lot of kitchen waste. We no longer need to throw those scraps in the landfill. We are starting to compost.

This is a picture of the kitchen bucket that came with the composter. There are pretty clear directions on the side of what can and cant go into the bucket. I go by the saying, "If it came out of the dirt, it can go back in." The one exception to this rule - in my eyes - are egg shells.

This is the liner we are using in our bucket. I found the instructions from our Canadian friends in Ottawa who have started curbside composting!! Awesome! I threw a banana in here so you all could kind of see the size of the liner.

I went to the web site for this composter. They suggested a 1 to 25 ratio. Holy Moly. That 25 part is A LOT of leaves and grass clippings. We do not collect our grass clippings. I never heard of this until I moved to Suburbia. We mowed our lawns and left the grass clippings on the lawn where I grew up. So I am going to try to stock pile some leaves now to help the "cooking" process over the winter and early spring.

If you have a Small Change for the month of November, please share with the rest of us.

Do You.....

FREECYCLE???

This was my take today.

Simple needed items. Why buy, when I can get for free? 2 of my boys need to walk to bus stop from our house. It is soccer season. It is Hurricane Season. We need something to protect us from the rain. Three items that did not go into a landfill sight somewhere.

When I saw this post, I quickly responded. IMHO, it was worth the gas for these items. Win for me, Win for the Freecycle Poster as well. :-)

Check out your local Freecycle site as well! You just dont know what will come up!

Yarning - "Goldie Locks" Syndrome????

I know... you are probably all wondering what you are looking at, right? These are 2 dish clothes I have made in the last couple of months...One is TOO BIG and the other is TOO SMALL... *shaking head*

"Too Small"

This one is made from Tunisian Stitch... very tight stitching...used an elongated crochet hook. Wanted to practice stitch and saw a pattern for a dish cloth on line and thought it was a good idea - at the time - to give it a shot. This is too small and too tightly stitched which lead to being too stiff to be of practical use in our kitchen. Great stitch for an afghan...will keep one mighty warm cooler weather!

"Too Big"

Now this one is just a wee bit tooo big for use in our kitchen - AKA... washing dishes. I didn't really follow a pattern for this. I just like the Basket Weave knitting stitch. It is a mindless pattern and looks nice - IMHO. So I just cast on 50 or so stitches and knit away. This is the perfect sized WASH cloth (use in bathroom) - but not so much for washing dishes. It is just a bit tooo big to scrub our drinking ware properly.


So where is the MEDIUM sized (the perfect sized) dish cloth? I haven't made it!...LOL.... I am hoping 3rd time around *rolling eyes* is the Charm! Wish me luck!!!!

One Small Change -- September

http://1smallchangeblog.blogspot.com/p/how-it-works.html

I think this is the most underused, but possibly the most important of the 3 R's - Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.

But, before I get to Reuse, I have to play the role of an American Consumerist. I must admit American consumersim is quite disgusting to me these days. We Americans are so wasteful and buy so many things we do not truly NEED. ugggg...



Does this look wasteful? To some I am sure it does. But to me this purchase will help out our household for years to come. I bought 2 cases of canning jars earlier this summer. Cause I was gonna do a lot of canning when certain fruits and veggies came into" season". Well, let's see just how THOSE plans have worked out... Strawberry season has come and gone and there is no Strawberry Jam or Butter in freezer, cupboard or fridge for my family to enjoy to this winter. Same with salsa, green beans, corn, peas and plums. (loser!)

However, I recently read a post on FB about the many uses of mason jars. I will begin to use and REUSE them more from here on out.

Store leftovers in fridge - so we can SEE what is in the fridge.
Use as drinking glasses. Everything tastes colder in glass...IMHO.
Take leftovers to work for lunch in them.
Use as vases.
(BA & ME close your eyes) Storage for trinkets.
Make and store homemade salad dressings in them.
They can be put in freezer. (store soup, preserves, Christmas Gifts, etc.)


I know I will find many more uses for them as well.
Now I can upcycle all my plastic ware (that we used to store leftovers in) to Teracycle... http://www.terracycle.net/

What's your One Small Change? Please be kind and share.

One Small Change -- June

Lettuce we have been harvesting the past few days from our Container Garden

My One Small Change for the month of May was to NOT to use disposable dishes, cups and plastic ware at work. I did very very well. I did have to go back to my desk a couple of times to get my silverware. A little inconvenient but nothing that I couldn't tolerate. =). All in all I have to give myself an "A" for the month. I even managed to rinse out my coffee cup each day :-).

One half of our Container Garden

Spinach, Broccoli and Tomatoes

For the month of June, my One Small Change will be to nurture my Container Garden. I planted only veggies we enjoy eating. Carrots are the only thing I did not attempt that we enjoy. I have been faithfully watering everyday...sometimes twice a day. People tell me Container Gardens need lots of water. I have already had to "weed" some of the containers as well. They were the "good" kind of weeds. *nodding*


The plants are looking good so far. I harvested lettuce for sandwiches already. It tasted so fresh...yummy. I did not "start" those lettuce seeds....they were given to me. Thanks, BA and David! I planted my own lettuce and spinach seeds this weekend and will plant more in 2 weeks and again 2 weeks later. Hopefully, we will have lettuce and spinach throughout the summer.

The other half of the Container Garden

Green Peppers, Leaf Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Spinach and Tomatoes

All these veggies were started from seed by myself or by my friend, with the exception of the tomato plants.

Once again, to some this may not be much of a "Challenge", - it is a small amount of produce to keep track of - but for me, it will be challenging to keep everything alive, weeded and harvested.


Do you have One Small Change you've been doing? Why not share?

Cat Away; Mice Will Play

For years now, I have been going away to my Mom's for a few days at a time, leaving Mr. G alone at the house. My neighbors always tell me he uses this time to do "Projects". He always has a plan and shares with them. One time it was a Perennial Garden, another was a GI Joe Camp Site, another was a quilt. You get the picture...I NEVER know what I am going to come home to find. I do know that whatever it is, it is always delicious!!! *nodding*

The picture shown above is what he did this time while I was gone. It is FANTASTIC!! raw material cost $62.00. The girls just LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!! I do, too!

Thanks, Hun, for yet another amazing "Project" the entire family can enjoy! You The Best!

Hair

Hair...
We all have it. Some of us..... have too much of it. Excess hair can be put to good uses these days. My youngest donated his excess hair to the "Locks For Love" Program last year; a program that makes wigs for those who are undergoing chemotherapy. Well done, son!

And there is another use for our hair and our fellow lovable animals hair. Human and animal hair collect oil. We all know this if we don't wash our hair for a couple of days, it tends to get "oily" or "greasy". Our hair collects oil from the air and our own body secretions.
Right now, there is a huge demand for hair. People are creating "Booms" out of hair and nylons, pantyhose or stockings (whichever term you may use) to soak up oil in the ocean from the devastating oil spill if the Gulf.
Check out www.matteroftrust.org for further details. RIGHT now they are taking donations of hair and nylons to create "booms" that will help soak up the present oil spill.
I found 100 salons and pet groomers in NJ that are sending their "waste products" to this cause! FANTASTIC!!! (permed hair & dyed hair is acceptable)

I know of two friends in town that cut hair. I am going to buy prepaid postal boxes from USPS and hand them to my 2 friends to see if they will fill them up and ship them off. Shipping address will already be on box when I hand it to them. One will probably have the box filled in less than one day of "work".
Maybe some of you reading this, wouldn't mind reaching out to your Groomers and Salons to see if they would like to participate? (OK, as I am proof reading this I see I spelled Salons with 2 o's - I wouldn't suggest getting your hair cut or your pet groomed at a Saloon - we might want to let them keep doing what they do best --- serving pints =) ) They have to register on the site to become involved. It's easy and takes but a minute or 2.

Come on, now, give it a shot.

What happens with the "used booms"? One idea involves mushrooms. Very cool....it is further explained on the web site. I am not going into the explanation here, but it is a very interesting and easy to follow read.

Check Check Check it out.

One Small Change -- May '10

I happened upon this site www.1smallchangeblog.blogspot.com a few days after I posted my Earth Year Resolutions. This was a challenge for people to take from January 2010 to Earth Day - April 2010. People liked it so much they have decided to continue for the entire year. I like it!! I am going with the Baby Step Attitude. Things I hope I can accomplish with my present lifestyle, but are not my normal habits. This group is asking us to make One Small Change each month. Most who have blogged about their Small Change for that month have continued to keep that One Small Change Change in their everyday life. A good thing, for sure!
For the month of May, my One Small Change, will be not to use disposable goods while I am at work. Plastic spoons, knives, forks, coffee stirrers, coffee cups, paper plates, etc., will all be NO-NO's.
This pledge is addition to my Earth Year Resolutions.
Once again, the whole idea of making my pledge public will hopefully keep me accountable to my pledge. So, once again, when you see me, don't be shy! Ask me how I am doing!!!
Have to go now to get my "Work Place Mess Kit" in order.

Earth Year Resolutions

These lilacs came from a tree my Uncle and Aunt dug up from their property in Northern NY and gave to us when we moved into our house. Thanks Aunt Avis and Uncle Kermit.

I have been reading a lot about "Going Green" recently. I came across one posting that suggested one should treat Earth Day as one treats The New Year. Meaning make resolutions or promises you can manage to do for the ENTIRE YEAR.

I feel it's time for ME to do a little more than what I am already doing. We recycle, use cloth bags, (when we remember), buy products with less packaging when available, ride bikes or walk when convenient, etc.
I have always been told when one really wants to change something in ones personal life, they should tell lots of people publicly as those people will hold that one accountable. I believe that is true, hence this post. :-)

My Resolutions for the new Earth Day Year. (I feel the following are realistic and achievable goals for me with the present life style I am living.)

1. Plant a Garden.
I am not really planting a "garden" - I don't trust the soil in our yard =( - but I am trying to grow some of our own food. Green Peppers, tomatoes, lettuces, broccoli, a few herbs, Morning Glory's and Humming Bird Vine to cover our windows for the summer (keeping heat from sun out of house...therefore using less energy via fans and air conditioning). There are a few of us in town that have vegetable gardens and we will probably trade goods amongst ourselves and also share with other non gardener friends as well. =)

2. Institute "Meatless Mondays" in our household.
The kids may not be especially thrilled about this, but I am going to give it a shot anyway. Hubby and I will follow this. I am sure there will be some TERRIBLY HORRIBLE dinners in the next 52 weeks. But hopefully they will be far and few in between. *wink wink*

3. Use cloth bags MORE!!!
I have tied a long green piece of yarn on my rear view mirror in The Van. I am hoping this will serve as reminder to keep a dang cloth bag in the van at all times and use it at liquor store, drug store, etc etc. Stores other than just the grocery store!

4. Use alternate means of transportation to get to work at least 52 times this year.
I rode my bike twice this week! YEAH! But soon it will get too hot to ride and then too cold. So that leaves Public transportation. I have lived in NJ for 20 years now and still don't know how to read a bus schedule...MAYBE SOMEONE CAN HELP ME OUT? I doubt I am going to get 52 bike rides in to work between weather and the boys schedule.

5. Become a member of some "Green" Organization.
I have become a "Fan" of many green - well I'll call them "Clubs" for lack of a better term - on FaceBook. Anything any of them posts comes right to my Home Page and is easily seen and read by me. One group really caught my attention - Terracycle ( www.terracycle.net ). So much so, that I actually signed up to be a leader for 2 of their Brigades. I also took the idea to my boss at work yesterday. Holy Moly -- an email is going out tomorrow to all my co-workers regarding the 4 Brigades he thought will be fitting for our office personnel. (where is that "LIKE" button?)

6. Reuse.
a. See #5 above.
b. Use Freecycle more. Picked up my first stuff last night. I did good *nodding*
c. Use Thrift Shops. They aren't what they used to be. I picked up 7 dresses for work for $52.oo a couple of weeks ago. DEAL OF THE CENTURY!!!

I do ask the few who have taken the time to peek at this Blog Entry to reach out to me throughout the year and ask me how I am doing with my "Resolutions". Knowing people will ask me about my goals will help me to keep on target.

If any of you have "Resolutions" , why not be bold and share? You've nothing to lose, but lots to gain.