I have to brag :)

$74.50! That's only about one tank of gas! Wahoo!
No hypermiling required. Well - Brent has admitted to trying to drive more conservatively.
Here's what we're doing:
- Only biking or walking to the grocery store. It's about a mile away, and last week I think I overdid Andrei so we might drive today, or maybe we'll have a rest in the park on the way home.
- Only taking the bus downtown. We go once a week to the library and save all of our other downtown errands for that one day. It's about the same price to drive and to bus, but Andrei has a cheap summer pass which makes it better to ride.
- Only run 'south-side' errands after work, or combine errands as much as possible.
- The big one here - I started biking to work! My hours changed and I got a route tip from a co-worker, so now I can bike in. :) It's only 3 miles each way and I really love it (coming from someone who complained last summer about biking to the video store less than a mile away). Actually this probably didn't affect our budget too much since I only started last week, but I'm looking forward to an even lower number at the end of July.

We are going out of town once in July and three times in August, but hopefully we can still keep the numbers low, or find alternative choices instead of driving.

So even though I gave Brent the evil eye for choosing to drive short distances, and sometimes we all run errands together that are somewhat unnecessary, we did great last month and I'm super proud of us!

Bike Ride today

What I learned today: The Kohler-Memorial bike path goes directly past Starbucks.

Add 4 miles to my tally - total of 38.4 so far. :)

Hypermiling to save gas

Hypermiling is a new term used for the practice of driving very conservatively to get as much MPG as possible.

Here are some tips I found on how to do this.

104 hypermiling / ecodriving tips

The website above has listings of people getting 80+ MPG on their non-hybrid cars.
I'm trying to beat 21 MPG on my way to work. Maybe we need a different car.

11 days now

Why Vegan? No single choice has a farther-reaching and more profoundly positive impact on our health, the environment, and all of life on Earth than choosing vegan.
- Alternative Baking Company, Inc

Local Food Fair

On Saturday morning, at Maywood Park there will be a Local Food Fair featuring local restaurants, farms, and food sellers from around Sheboygan. It is from 10 AM to 3 PM and it includes a cooking demonstration by Stefano Viglietti from Field to Fork - yummy! A few of the vendors I've heard of (including my fave egg lady!), but most of them I have not.

Local food is great for the environment and the local economy so I'm super excited to find new sources and places to get yummy foods!


I hope to see you all there!

Better World Shopper

I got myself a little Christmas present today and ordered the Better World Shopper. With so many different companies, and so much to research on who is better or worse or more ethical on what issues, it makes shopping difficult. Someone could never keep up with the research.
Now there's a book that has an easy, 5 second way to avoid the reseach and help you make shopping decisions. They have over 70 categories like coffee, cosmetics, dairy products, baby products, hair care, etc.
Here's what they rank on:

HUMAN RIGHTS: sweatshops, 3rd world community exploitation, international health issues, divestment, child labor, code of conduct.

THE ENVIRONMENT: global warming, rainforest destruction, pollution, recycling, renewable energy, greenwashing, toxic waste, eco-innovations, illegal dumping, sustainable farming.

ANIMAL PROTECTION: factory farming, animal testing, humane treatment, wild animal habitat.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: family farms, local business support, volunteer efforts, sustainable growth, philanthropic donations, nonprofit alliances, establishing foundations.

SOCIAL JUSTICE : fair wages, fatalities, union busting efforts, health & safety records, discrimination based on: race, gender, age, ability, religion, sexuality, ethnicity.

The book is pocket sized and only costs $10. They also have an abbreviated version (all the same categories, but less details) for $5 that works with iPhoto. I got that version and I can't wait to make use of it. :)

Saving money on cooling

Our curse is back - I complained about them last year, and I'll complain about them again. We have west facing picture windows in our living room. It can be all fine and good in our house around noon - hot but not unbearable. But come around 1-2 PM, and you think you're going to melt like the wicked witch of the west.

So yesterday we got some of this - Heat Control Window Film. It was $45 for 90 sq feet at Home Depot. I can tell that it's working already - it was definitely darker after we put it up. But then it cooled off outside so we won't really know how well it works until it heats up again.

On installation - it's hard. It's a two person job, and then it's still hard. Don't install it when the sun is shining in at the hottest part of the day. It's incredibly difficult to get the wrinkles out and our windows look kind of crappy now. But I'm trying to ignore it.

Another bonus is that you can get a tax credit under the Energy Policy Act. Just save your receipt and fill out IRS form 5695 when you do your taxes next year. Here's more information about the Energy Policy Act

Yes!

Christianity in America did itself a grave disservice when it relegated its concept of "moral values" toward issues of sex and drugs and away from issues of food, community, and economy. Among other things, this focus has made it easy for many of us, for a long time, to turn a blind eye on our own sins while pointing with laser sharpness at everyone else's. By turning morality into a set of simple rules--don't smoke, drink, curse, do drugs, or have sex--we have made it easy for ourselves to think we are righteous while actually living exactly the same as everyone around us.

Anyway by The Christian Environmentalist

May challenge: Line dry all of our clothes

Now that the temeperature is above 50 degrees, I can hang our clothes outside again. I used to hang our clothes out exclusively when we were on a super tight budget, but got away from that because of laziness.

If it rains, we have lines in our basement. Also, these will be used for the few pieces of clothing that I don't want seen blowing in our backyard.

So here's what I hope to accomplish:
-Spend more time outside
-Save money
-Use less energy
-Think ahead and keep on top of laundry, instead of waiting until we have run out of clothes.

I even taped our dryer shut as a helpful reminder. :)

Why you should care about the environment even if you don't give a crap about global warming

I'm going to admit it here, folks - I'm still on the fence about global warming. Yeah, I've seen Inconvenient Truth, I've heard arguments from both sides - but I still don't know if it's really as big as some people think it is. I guess I'm a global warming agnostic. But, I'm still a hippie tree-loving freak, and here's why.

1. Saves us money. Most of the time anyway. Some things are more expensive, yes - like fair trade coffee or non toxic paint. But, most of the eco-friendly things that we do daily save us money also. Some examples - use the heat and air conditioning sparingly, line dry our clothes, use cloth napkins, combine our errands into one trip, buy things used, reduce, reuse, recycle. There are many more examples.

2. Better for our health. We try our best to eat organic because we don't want all those icky pesticides in our body. I use a reel lawn mower becasue I don't want to breathe exhaust (not to mention damage my ears) from a gas mower. We cook our food from scratch because High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenized Vegetable Oil can't possibly be good for you. The less toxins the better. It's true the FDA is changing their story about what is good for you and what isn't so I go by this rule - the closer it is to how God made it, the better.

3. I like animals. I don't want to eat them. I think that eating Bessie the cow is just as bad as eating my neighbor's dog. Eating meat has massive effects on the environment but I'm not going to go into that here. You and your google-skills can find them for yourself.

4. Better for the global population. The whole world doesn't have cushy office jobs, or 3 weeks of paid vacation. Much of the world's population works their butts off in terrible conditions so we can be selfish and have whatever we want. I saw a picture once of a kid carrying water home in a barrel that had a huge skull and crossbones on it. It was from the pesticides that were used in the apple farms where he worked (yes, the kid). Would you let your kid drink from that barrel? I would hope not. Our choices do not only effect us.

5. Better for the local economy. Conservatives should especially like this one. Buying local and not from big box stores (*cough*Walmart*cough*) will help your city. Less unemployment, more money being spent within the community, happier people, more visitors, less taxes. Why would you not want to help and support the very place that you live.

6. God says so. This one is especially for my Christian readers. And, I think that even if you don't care about my other reasons, this one trumps them all anyway. Read Genesis 1. God gave us this earth to enjoy and protect, not to wreck. God created nature to work in perfect harmony with each other, and the humans have a little problem with coming in and disrupting it all. Also, what about the verse - Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. That one goes especially with #4 point. The lady sewing your jeans for pennies a day is your neighbor too.
And, the Pope says you should care about the environment too.

Alright, I'll stop my soapboxing for now. You don't have to become a hippie tree-hugging freak overnight. Make some baby steps, read an environmental blog (Green as a Thistle) or listen to an environmental podcast (More Hip Than Hippie). Take one habit at a time and you'll never notice the change.

And one more post for you to read to show you that babysteps aren't futile. The Butterfly Effect of Not Wearing Socks

Tracy - who was green before it was cool. :)

Energy Savings for the Lazy Mac Owner

On the MacCast, they gave a tip on how to schedule your Mac to turn itself on or off at certain times of the day. I usually turn mine off while I'm sleeping and at work but sometimes I forget, so I put this to use right away.

Go into your System Preferences, Energy Saver and click on the Schedule button. You can tell it to only auto-start (and shut off) only during the week, or only weekends, or both.

I have my computer plugged into a power strip also, so I can shut off the power strip and prevent all that phantom power usage, but this Mac tip will be great for those weekends when I stagger straight to bed at the late, late hour of 11 PM.

Does anyone know if Windows has something similar? probably not, since windows sucks.....

Sleep Green

Here is a website where you can look up Eco-friendly hotels. If you don’t stay in one, most hotels now give you the option of saving water by not having your sheets and/or your towels laundered every day. You don't do that at home do you? Look around the room for a little card that shows you what to do if you don't need fresh linens daily. If your hotel doesn’t do that, maybe you can suggest it.

Keep your arms, head, and stomach inside the plane

Don't like to fly? I get kind of queasy sometimes, so this time I brought along some candied ginger to chew on when we were taking off and landing. It worked great. Ginger will calm your stomach and it tastes pretty good too. If you're plain nervous about the whole ordeal, try Rescue Remedy. It is a blend of flower and herb essential oils that will calm your nerves for any situation.

Kohler develops Waterless Urinal

Article here - via BuildingGreen.com

Normally I wouldn't care much about a waterless urinal, as I have no personal use for them, however I am pretty closly tied with the company in mention, so I had to give it a shout-out.

I also never thought I would say that a urinal was beautiful.

I told Brent once that if we ever have a son - that is, if the males outnumber the females - we would install a urinal, and I will have to say that this may be the one.

Almost Zero-Waste Event

Well, our party was a success, except for the weather. We wanted to have an outdoor cookout, but it rained all day. So we moved it inside the church.

As for the zero-waste goal - we did really well. We used no disposable dishes, silverware, or napkins. We didn't have enough glasses for everyone (about 40 people) so we bought cans of soda which we took home to recycle. At the end there was less than a kitchen bag of trash - mostly non-compostable food scraps - and some of it was from the last event that was held there.

It really was not that much more work. It took a couple of dishwasher loads to get through all of it, and really that was about it. The only pain was loading the bin of dirty dishes in the car to take home, but that would have been prevented had the weather been nicer.

All in all, it was fun, the food was good, and it was eco-friendly. That's my kind of party!



ps, we didn't ever get around to brewing the rootbeer, so that will be a post for another day.

Have you Hugged a Tree Today?

Today is Arbor Day in Wisconsin!

Since I didn't plan enough ahead for Arbor Day, I don't have a tree to plant. I did, however join the National Arbor Day Foundation for $10, and they will send me 10 baby trees to plant. We don't have room for all 10 in our yard so we'll probably give some away to family and friends.


What can a tree do for you?
- Reduce your air conditioning cost in your home by providing shade
- Prevent erosion and soak up extra water in the event of heavy rainfall
- Sucks up Carbon Dioxide and sends out oxygen
- Reduce noise pollution by acting as a noise barrier around your home
- Looks pretty and gives you warm fuzzies inside

Of course it wil be a few years before my itty-bitty sapling will be able to do all that, but everybody has to start somewhere.

Find out here when Arbor Day is in your state.

Fuel Observation - Day Seven

Yesterday...

To work and back home - 8 miles
To the car wash (which was out of order) - 2.4 miles
To Brent's parent's house - 3.2 miles
To the Library - 1.2 miles
And home again - 3 miles

Today...
To the gas station - .8 miles

Total for the week - 80.4 miles

Well, that's a little less than our average has been. Probably because we didn't go out on Sunday. What did I learn this week?

1. Get a bike. Somehow do this. Even if it's just a $10 bike from Salvation Army, I really need to get one.

2. Figure out how to not run to the grocery store in the middle of the week. We did twice this week. That's really a waste of time and money. Maybe I'll make a deal with myself that if we do this, I have to take my (future) bike.

3. Never drive to the video rental place. That's just stupid - it's less than 2 miles away, and a quick walk. Now that it is not sub-zero outside, there's no excuse not to walk.

4. We should try to find someone to carpool with on Sundays to lunch. The only issue with this is that our nearby friends all have little kids, if we took a turn they would have to move their carseats to our car - a big pain. We'll have to talk to them about this. Also, maybe Brent should not always offer to drive on Taco Thursdays (out with the guys).


I filled up the car completely this morning, so this week I'll see what kind of gas mileage we've been getting. Hopefully it's not as low as I think it is....

The Five Points of Simple Living

When making the decision to live a more simple life, you have to have some criteria for the choices you make. There are simple 'Joneses' too, and one can get caught up in the competition to become more simple or more crunchy than their neighbor. You have to look at your life and what works for you. Guilt is not a part of simple living. Over my journey of moving towards voluntary simplicity, I've came up some questions mirror my values and help me keep my priorities straight when I make choices

A. Does it save money?
B. Does it save time?
C. Is it better for the environment?
D. Is it better for my health?
E. Is it something I enjoy doing?

These questions may have different priority for different people. For us right now, the money question is at the top, because we have such a tight budget. But, I have a lot of extra time, so that question is almost irrelevant. But those even are not set in stone. When I'm working extra hours, the time question moves to top priority. If I feel particularly 'green' one day, the environmental question may move to the top.

Let's look at some 'simple' choices you could make and how they fit in the criteria:

Should I hang my laundry outside instead of putting it in the dryer?
A. It saves money
B. It does not save time
C. It is better for the environment
D. Is not better or worse for my health
E. I personally enjoy it.

Should I buy organic food?
A. It does not save money
B. It may take more time if I have to go to a different grocery store.
C. It is better for the environment
D. It is better for my health
E. I do not enjoy it any more or less.

Should I walk to work instead of driving?
A. It does save money
B. It would really take a lot more time
C. It is better for the environment
D. It is better for my health
E. I would really not enjoy this.

The questions and the answers may be different for your life and your situation, but the point is to think about the choices you make. Just as you can go overboard with consumerism, you can also go overboard with simple living too. The point of simple living is to improve the quality of your life and others around you (locally and worldwide); not to go so far to the extreme that you are miserable.

Fuel Observation Day Six

We didn't drive anywhere today! Yay us! We usually go out with friends on Sundays but this week we skipped it. Everyone else went to Perkins, so we would have driven 8.9 miles. We also walked to Family Video to return some more movies so that would have been another 1.5 miles.

Total for the week - still 61.8 miles

Total that we didn't drive for the week - 11.9 miles

Fuel Observation - Day Five

Came home from work - 4 miles
Brent went to Pick 'n Save and came back home - 1.4 miles

Total for the day - 5.4 miles
Total for the week - 61.8 miles

Fuel Observation - Day four

To work - 3.9 miles
Home from work - 4 miles
Brent had some errands...
Barbershop - 2 miles
Pick 'n Save - 1.8 miles
Visit a sick friend - 1.9 miles
To Walmart - 2.9 miles
And Burger King? - 2.1 miles
Home again - 2.5 miles
Me to work again (grrr - stupid third shift weekends) - 4 miles

Total for the day - 25.1 miles
And for the week - 56.4 miles

According to this website, the average car costs about $0.55 per mile to drive. Also according to that website, it costs me over $1000 to commute every year. It is so great that we live right next to Brent's workplace. It has allowed us to be a one-car family for most of our marriage.

It is cheaper for me to take the bus downtown than it is to drive. Of course the best would be to ride a bike, which I don't have. Booo. I really need to get one.

Fuel Obeservation - Day three

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go - 4 miles
From work to coffee place (mmmm latte) - 3 miles
Coffee place to home - 3.2 miles


Total for the day - 10.2 miles
Total for the week - 31.3 miles

Fuel Observation - Day Two

Drove to work - 3.9 miles
Drove home - 4 miles
Brent went our for lunch with the guys - 4 miles


Total for the day - 11.9 miles
Total for the week - 21.1 miles

I did walk to return the video game today, and was very lucky that it was a gorgeous 40 degrees out.

Feul Observation - Day One

After work I went to the gas station and put $15 of gas in the car. Price was $2.62 per gallon, so I got 5.729 gallons.
Here's where we went today and how many miles for this week....

From Gas Station to Aldi - 1.0 miles
From Aldi to home - 2.3 miles
Brent went to a friend's house to fix their computer, and came back home - 4.4 miles
Brent went to Family Video and came back home - 1.5 miles


Total for the day - 9.2 miles


I know, I know, I said just a few hours ago that I would for sure walk to Family Video instead of driving, and I didn't. I have excuses though! First, it's below freezing out there. Brrr. Second, Alias ended on a HUGE cliffhanger (y'know where they find her picture on that page? Yeah, that one. Gotta know what happens next) and we really wanted to watch it before we went to bed. If we would have walked there would have been no time for that.

But I promise I will walk there to return them. Scout's honor.

Cutting back on gas

Our system is failing. For a while now, we've just been putting $15 of gas in the car every Tuesday, and it was enough to keep us going - and usually above the half-tank mark. But today we're in the red. We've been driving much more than usual, and combined with the increase in gas prices, our gas is slowly going down down down each week.

Where are we driving that ends up being 100 miles in a week? I have no idea. Driving to work for six days would be 48 miles, but we're driving double that each week. We go out to eat once on the weekends, but surely that cannot add 50 miles.

This week I present myself with a challenge - log on here every place we go and all the miles driven. And of course try to make that number as low as possible by walking and carpooling. I already know I'm going to be walking to return those movies to Family Video instead of driving.

Meatout 2006 - March 20th

"Meatout is an international observance helping individuals evolve to a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains. The purpose is to expose the public to the joys and benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability and selection of meat and dairy alternatives in mainstream grocery stores, restaurants, and catering operations."


Meatout this year just happens to fall on Monday, March 20th - My birthday! Yay! I've been a vegetarian for over two years now, so I will of course be participating in this year's veggie festivities. You may not be a vegetarian, but maybe just for one day you could choose salad instead of steak. Pretty please? For me? It would be the best birthday present in the world! :)

Meatout.org

Organic Soy Milk at Aldi

Aldi now carries Organic Soy Milk (vanilla and chocolate) in their Fit & Healthy Line. The cost is $1.29 per quart. It was very yummy on my cereal this morning.

Hi Dori and Val!

I sent an email to the More Hip Than Hippie Podcast, and they read it on the air! Woohoo!

I have to say again how much I love this podcast. It is so informative about so many ecological issues. It really shows how you can care about the earth, but still lead a relatively normal life. I have been listening to the back issues non stop for 2 weeks now and I am almost caught up.

If you can't/don't listen to podcasts, their website has very extensive show notes with lots of links and information. I highly recommend it.

Seventh Generation from Amazon

There is a special running on Amazon.com that if you buy $129 of selected Seventh Generation products, you will recieve a $40 promotional certificate to Amazon (which is as good as cash in this house).

Here is a lovely link.

Here is a link to Seventh Generation's website, which is a leader in producing non-toxic and natural household products.

Soapnuts revisited

Way back here I posted a link about Soapnuts and promised a review.

Two thumbs up.

I really really love them. They are so easy to use - just put a couple in a cute little cloth bag, toss them in your wash and that's it. They can even be reused two or three times. When they are used up, you can throw them in your compost pile and everyone is happy. I think they clean better than traditional detergent - even bringing out some set stains that I thought were hopeless. I asked Brent what he thought and he said he is less itchy then before.

I also found a US retailer here where you can buy a 1 kilogram bag. The cost is $30, but that is for 60 loads. The price is a bit higher than your regular generic laundry detergent, but the eco friendly aspect plus the no chemicals plus the less itchy skin all sells it for me.

More winterizing

Finally got the insulated curtains up in our living room (thanks dad!), and also put up two more sets of insulated curtains that I bought used online for a stellar price (thanks LadyTS!)

The house feels warmer already!

A Month of Reusing - Reuse Books

Reuse books. The library is obviously the best resource for this. But, if you simply must buy the book, you can always buy it used on Amazon, and then re-sell it at the same place when you're finished with it. Or, there are places like Bookcrossing.com (n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.) and Titletrader.com (a book swapping website) that you can send and receive books for the price of postage.

A Month of Reusing - Reuse Water

Reuse water. If you're anything like me, you go to clean the house and you will find eighteen different half-full glasses strewn about the house. Why dump that down the drain? It takes energy to recycle water, just like any other resourse. I have a pitcher that I keep by the sink that I dump 'old water' in - when I gets full, I use it for watering my plants or soaking the nastier pots and pans. There are so many different things to reuse the water from all your water-using appliances, but since we rent and don't own our house, we can't very well go around replacing and rewireing everything. But maybe you can.

A Month of Reusing - Reused Building Material

Reused building materials. Habitat for Humanity has stores where they sell used and surplus building materials for less than retail cost. The profits go toward building more houses. Win-win situation for all. Find out if there is a store near you here.

A Month of Reusing - Reuse your cell phone

Reuse your cell phone. There are dozens of different charities that will take your used cell phone and donate it to someone else to use again. There might even be a drop off location at your cell phone store. Otherwise you can go to wirelessrecycling.com to find a drop off point near you.

A Month of Reusing - Reuse your wedding dress

Reuse your wedding dress. Well, hopefully you're not reusing it your second wedding…. Remember how much you loved your wedding dress when you first saw it? Someone else will feel that way too. You can donate it to a few places that will resell it and also give some profits to chairty also.
The I Do Foundation This place will give 20% of the dress profit to a charity of your choice.
The Bridal Garden All the profits from the resale of your dress will go to supporting Sheltering Arms - a charity focused on helping disadvantaged children in NYC. This is where I sent mine.
Making Memories.org The profits from the sale of your dress will go toward breast cancer research.
These three places are only a few of many places that will use your treasured wedding dress for another cause.

A Month of Reusing - Reuse Christmas Cards

Reuse last year's Christmas cards. They make lovely gift tags, or you could cut them up and make your own original Christmas cards to send out this year.

A Month of Reusing - Reuse anything

Reuse anything. Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul - all are great thrift stores where you can give your old things, or buy things for yourself. You will be surprised at the things you can find at these stores - practically anything you need.

December - A Month of Reusing

If you can't reduce the stuff that comes into your home, you can always reuse it after you are finished with it, or maybe someone else can reuse it for another purpose. Send me your reusing tips and I'll post them up this month.

"We are not to throw away those things which can benefit our neighbor. Goods are called good because they can be used for good: they are instruments for good, in the hands of those who use them properly."
Clement of Alexandria

Socially Responsible Investing

Brent and I filled out paperwork for his 403(b) yesterday. A new benefit at his job, starting next year. Brent's employer chose AG Financial for their investment company. They chose that company because their investment strategies fall in line with what they believe in. From their website:

A/G Financial investment strategies screen out those companies that are predominately known for and/or derive significant revenues from abortion, alcohol, gambling, pornography, or tobacco. The MBA Fixed Income Fund provides the financing to plant, build, and grow churches.

Brent and I also started a Savings Account (through payroll deduction) with them. The Savings plan money goes to fund loans taken out by other Assembly of God churches and employees (maybe even our own church). Again, it's something we believe in.

Our business loan is through a bank that notorious for helping out small community businesses. Our checking account is in a credit union run by my employer. If you only ever drink Coke products, why would you want to invest in Pepsi Co.? If you're a vegan, why would you want to invest in the Texas Beef Council? Invest in what you know and love.

The bad news is, AG Financial's investments and savings plans are (as far as I know) only available for employees of the Assembly of God church. The good news is that there are hundreds of other socially responsible investment options. Here is a link to a list of some socially responsible investments. There are many more, if you just look for them.

Happy investing!

Earth Friendly Christmas

You have to buy stuff for your family and friends (and me) for Christmas anyway, why not make less of an impact on the environment this year?
Here are some stores to get you started.

Eco-Artware All products are made from recycled, reused, or natural products by independent artists. Not your grandma’s crafty crafts.
Green Earth Office Supply This site not only has 100% recycled office supplies, but also a few other things you might want in your office like furniture, lamps, and filing cabinets.
Good Humans A variety of products (over 600) for all parts of your life - lots of organic and hemp products.
Green Home There are many tips on this website on how to ‘green your home’ and products to help you do just that. An excellent one-stop-shop for anything you ever need to ‘green your life’
Viva Terra This site has more gifty stuff and less workaday stuff. Combine graceful and elegant with eco-friendly and you get this website.
Vulcana I have to add this one because I got a gift from this site last year. Vulcana makes products from recycled tires. They have purses, bags, wallets, and binders and portfolios. Excellent stuff, I can attest to that myself.
Green Karat And for that extra-special someone (me) - recycled fine jewelry. Very pretty pieces here.

A Month of Reducing - Reduce Meat

Reduce the meat you eat. And increase the vegetables. Not only is it cheaper, but it is more healthy too. One or two vegetarian meals a week is not as difficult as you think.

Okay, so I'm only a little bias on this one..... :)

Indoor Composter

Saw this on Treehugger.com

The NatureMill Indoor Composter

Ack!! I want one!!! I need one! *whine* It's $400! *cry*

A Month of Reducing - Reducing Miles

Reduce the miles you drive. Pay attention as you drive home from work - is there a grocery store or a gas station that’s not out of your way? Can you carpool to work? Can you combine your errands and order them for maximum efficiency? Call ahead if you are looking for a specific deal or product. See how many days you can go without driving - how few miles you can drive in one week. Our record is 70 miles.

A Month of Reducing - Reduce Plastic Bags

I thought I would have a different theme for each month and include a 'tip' for each day regarding the month's theme.

November is Reduce (from Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), so here is Day One...

Reduce the plastic bags that come into your home. Do you really need a bag for that one book or CD? What about groceries? Canvas bags are very durable and cheap too (thrift stores usually have a good collection of suitable totes). Some grocery stores have incentives when you bring your own bags. You can buy shopping bags, lunch bags, and even reusable produce bags at Reusable Bags.com

Feel free to send me your Reducing tips.

Link of the Day

PeakOil.com
Not sure if I agree with the concept of peak oil. I'm on the fence still I guess. But, I have spent numerous hours lurking in their forums, which are full of creative ideas on energy conservation and money savings. Interesting reads, even if you don't agree.

No Boys Allowed!!!

Ladies, I present to you - the The Diva Cup! It's not a tampon, it's not a pad. Finally, there's a better way! From their website:

Back in the 1930's the innovative menstrual cup was invented as a form of internal feminine protection. The DivaCup™ is a modern version of this proven concept that has been redesigned with the latest technology in moulding and materials.
The DivaCup™ is an approved by the FDA (USA) and Health Canada. It is made of soft medical grade silicone, which is latex-free, 100% hypoallergenic and odorless. For over 50 years, silicone has been safely and extensively used in products for the health care industry.
Since The DivaCup™ is reusable, it is very economical. As well, you can feel confident that you are doing your part in environmental conservation. Landfill and pollution problems are on the rise and continue to be a worldwide concern. In 1998, 7 billion tampons and 13 billion sanitary pads and their packaging made their way into landfills and sewage systems in the USA alone!

I have had my Diva Cup for two months now, and I love it. It's easy, clean, and Brent will never have to run to the store for tampons again. I would recommend it to anyone.

Winterizing Day Four

- Bought and installed (well, asked my dad to install) a programmable thermostat. Out of all the things you can do to save energy in the winter, this is one of the biggest money savers. Ours cost $40 from Wal-Mart.
- Put child proof outlet covers on all the electrical outlets. On a windy day I put my hand in front of one of the outlets and was surprised to feel a very strong breeze coming right through the wall! Hopefully this will put an end to that.
- Cut out more outlet insulation from styrofoam meat trays. Maybe I will get around to putting these in tomorrow

Finally Monday!

What a crazy busy weekend. Brent's and my weekends are busier than the weekdays. Monday is Brent's day off, so I take that for my resting day too. I think we are going to go "Christmas shopping" online today and figure out what to buy for everyone so we can spread out the expense and not buy everything the last week before Christmas and break our budget.

We went to a friend's house for dinner on Saturday. Previously we would go out for dinner with a big group of friends on Saturday night after church, and then go out with the same group on Sunday after church. So now we're making an effort to go to each other's houses instead to save us all some cash. It was a lot of fun. Next week Brent and I are hosting, and I think I will make lasagna.

Another friend told us that the canvas on his camping chair had ripped and he was going to throw it away, so I offered to sew it for him, but he said we could just keep it. Free stuff is cool.

The days are getting colder here. It has been in the mid-50s during the day and dropping to low 40s at night. There was frost on the ground the other morning. We only first turned on our heater last night and set it at 60F so it wouldn’t get too frigid. Then I turned it off in the morning. The days have been sunny, so we open the curtains on our big picture window and it lets a lot of heat in. Yesterday by the time the sun went down it was 70F in the living room - very comfortable. But when the sun finally disappeared, we could really feel the temperature drop.

Winterization Day Three
- Brought up winter clothes from the basement
- Changed our heater filter. Evidentally we should be doing this every 1-3 months - we haven't changed it the entire two years we have lived here! I had no idea that we were supposed to! The old filter was about an inch thick with dust and crap (not to mention the hole from when the cat fell down the heater vent and tried to chew his way out through the filter). It's no wonder that Brent's allergies acted up so violently when we turned the heater on.

Baby, it's cold outside!

First real day of fall here - the temps were in the high fortys all day. Nice and toasty here though with our living room curtains open and the sun shining in!


Winterization Day Two
- Turned all the fans to clockwise
- Put the storm door up (had to bribe a neighbor with a peanut butter sandwich to help me with this one)
- Washed the front picture window to let in the maximum of solary goodness
- Covered the air conditioner

Morning report

Inside temp before bed - 68F
Inside temp in the morning - 63F
Outside temp in the morning - 43F

Link o' the day:
http://www.hammerzone.com/index.html - Better Living through Handymanlyness
Nice site with instructions on home repair and renovations - some tips for increasing energy efficiency