Vote.

That's it. Just Vote.

It's a privilege many people don't have.

Make a difference.

Show your kids that it matters.

Do it for them, for their future.

*This week's Sustainable Saturday is a reminder that you can make a difference with your vote*

Sustainable Saturday - Shopping Bags

Happy Sustainable Saturday :) Welcome to my attempt to become more green!

First, I wanted to let you know that I have updated my "Eco-Me" Giveaway. Eco-Me graciously agreed to give the winner both an "Emily" Scrub Cleaner and also the "Suzy" Dish Soap. If you aren't into giveaways, you can also check out Eco-Me on-line - they are offering a 15% off coupon code through 11/1/12! The code is CC-15.

Second, my topic for this Saturday...plastic bags. The bane of my existence. I try so hard. So so hard to remember to use reusable bags, but more often than not I forget. We do use plastic bags to clean up after our dog, so at least them are used more than once :)

This past month I tried my hardest to remember to bring bags. We have more bags than I know what to do with and sometimes I still can't remember to bring them with to the store. But with concerted effort, I remembered to bring them 90% of the time this month.

As of August 2010, between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are being used EACH year. Approximately 100,000 sea turtles and other marine mammals (even in the Arctic Ocean) die each year because their either mistake the bag for food or get strangled in them. The garbage patch floating in the Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the continental US and is roughly 80% plastic. This is the information that scares me. So I try my best to use reusable bags - my favorite is the Chico bag, which stuffs down into my purse so I have No excuse!

My favorite, of course, is the one I got at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park...good for the environment and supporting your parks at the same time :)

If you have any suggestions on how else we can go green, please let me know!

For more ideas on sustainable or natural living - check out Simply Natural Saturdays at the Pistachio Project!

Eco-Me Review and ~Giveaway~

In my last Sustainable Saturday post, I promised to tell you more about "Emily." But first, let me tell you about Suzy :). About a month ago I got a free sample of a dish soap called "Suzy." It sat on my counter until I ran out of my current soap and then I remembered it was there - and opened it up. Wow, was I surprised! Not only does it have a nice, fresh smell, grapefruit and sage, it cleans better than any other dish soap that I have ever used - really!

I reached out to Eco-Me because I really wanted to offer one of thier products to you during my month of "Going Green." They were generous enough to send me a sample of both Emily and Dave. In addition they are going to give away one Emily Scrub Cleaner AND a Suzy Dish Soap to one of my readers. I am really excited for this opportunity.

Not only are Eco-Me cleaners 100% natural, family and pet safe, but they really work! They are:
- 100% natural food-grade ingredients
- NO chemicals, dyes, phosphates or animal tested ingredients.
- Made in the USA with non-BPA plastic

The products of the highest quality and very sustainable, but the company itself uses sustainable practices. Find out more about the inspiring story behind Eco-Me here.

I've been using Emily and Dave for the last two weeks and I am very impressed. It is very important to me to have a cleaner that I feel safe using around my son. No matter how hard we try there is chemical residue when cleaning with traditional cleaners, and particularly in the tub, that just doesn't sit well with me! Emily is great for use on sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, tile, grout, ovens, stove tops, cook and bake ware and more. It really worked for me and has simple ingredients: baking soda, cream of tartar and plant essential oils. In fact, Eco-Me encourages you to make cleaners yourself - they even have DIY kits to help you get started.

Not only are the products of the highest quality, I also appreciate the gender equality in it's names! You have to love "Dave" - he's mopping the floor while holding a toddler :)- and it worked really well on my hardwood floors. With a toddler and a shedding dog, our floors get a work out. I love that Dave is non-chemical and made the floors really clean...I can't wait to try out Bill, Phil, Kate, Matt, Emma, Jack...

Please head over to Eco-Me to see their full line of natural cleaning and pet products! If you want to purchase anything, please use the code CC-15 for 15% off through November 1st!

Use Rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway for your very own "Emily"....AND your very own Suzy! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! The winner will be picked randomly on 11/7/12 - 12:01 am EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclaimer: I was given this product to review, but all opinions are my own.

Sustainable Saturday - Let's Clean the House

I'm really excited about this week's Sustainable Saturday :) It's not that I love cleaning the house, (though sometimes if the mood strikes it can be very gratifying) but rather that I have recently found my all time favorite green cleaning brand - but more on that later!

I've always tried to buy "green" alternatives to household cleaners. You just know there has to be a better way than inhaling tons of strong chemicals. But I didn't seriously think about what it did to me or my home until I had a baby. I started rethinking everything I cleaned with. Tiny humans tolerance for chemicals is so much lower than ours. Pets are also greatly affected by chemicals. Did it make sense to put the dog outside while I used harsh chemicals - while still breathing them in myself? Um, no.

There are many many alternatives out there. Ones that are non-toxic, natural, environmentally friendly and even biodegradable. So whether you are trying to be sustainable or trying just to have a healthy home, it is important to find a good cleaning product. Most of the time indoor air quality in our homes is  3-7 more times more chemically polluted than outdoor air (off to open my windows...), and we can greatly change that my choosing which, if any, chemicals we use in our home. I know I have really made an effort and will continue to do so! Some resources here.

Particularly important for me is dish soap, detergent, dishwashing liquid, anything that ends up in our water stream or come in contact with our skin frequently. So when I randomly came across "Eco-me" dish soap a few weeks ago, I was amazed. It is seriously one of the best dish cleaners I have come across (functionality wise). I so loved this soap (sort of embarrassing to be so excited about soap), that I contacted them right away to see if I could do a giveaway of some of their amazing cleaners for you!

~So make sure and come back Tuesday for a chance to receive your own Eco-me "Emily" :) (What does that mean? I'll explain, I promise!)~

Today is World Food Day

Today is World Food Day. Not everyone will have enough to eat today, in fact:

• Our planet produces enough food for everyone, yet nearly one billion of us (1 in every 7 people) still go to bed hungry.
• About a third of the food produced for our plates ends up lost or wasted between the farm and our plates.
• One pound of ground beef for a family uses more than 28,000 cups of water to produce - that's enough to fill 20 bathtubs, and then some!

So is there any hope? Is there anything that you and I can do? While this may seem overwhelming, there are many ways that we, as individuals, can make simple changes in the way we grow, cook, eat and store our food to be more sustainable. Oxfam America has some great materials on their website to give you ideas on what you can do to make a difference - it's called the GROW Method.

 

The GROW METHOD is reducing food waste, so we’re making the most of the resources that go into making food. It’s buying products and brands that ensure small-scale food producers in developing countries get a fair deal. It’s cooking smart, to cut down on wasted water and energy. It’s buying food that’s in season, which cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions. It’s eating less meat and dairy to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and water use.

*I'm going to try and do my part. Maybe even a little bit can make a difference. Join me? *

Sustainable Saturday ~ LED Lights!

This week I want to highlight a project that my wonderful husband did in our kitchen. Of course, I also have to point out that today is his birthday! ~Happy Birthday to my smart, talented, dedicated, funny, handsome, amazing husband~ Not only is he all those things, but also creative and handy in terms of "greening" our home!

The story of our kitchen lights isn't a short one :) When we moved in I was amazed at how DARK the kitchen was. How can one successfully cut things with a sharp knife without light?

Before: Very Very dark kitchen

After - Amazing Lights!

The first step in fixing the lighting issue was adding more light. My awesome husband added track lighting to one side of the kitchen...amazing! I really had no idea he knew how to do such handy things. I thought this solved my kitchen issues, but then, the recessed lighting became an issue.

There are three strangely placed lights in the kitchen. First one, then another, then the first again would go out. It never occurred to me that we (ok, my husband) could replace them himself. I also had no idea that that was something that could be done without hiring someone! It did take some time to figure it out, so installation of the first one took longer, but by the third he had it down :) We bought retrofit lights and also installed new "cans." (I'm learning so much!

So my husband did lots of research and decided not only to replace the lights but to put in energy efficient LED lights. The result - we use 12 watts per light instead of 65 watts. As a great bonus, not only are the new lights much more efficient - less energy and less money - they are much brighter and more attractive. The photos below show the kitchen with the first LED light installed. You can definitely tell which one it is!

Success! We now have new energy efficient lights in the kitchen - which means I can see when I cook and it costs less to use them. Win ~Win.  I am so impressed with my husband - thank you dear!

Sustainable Saturdays!

Happy Saturday! I've decided that Saturdays will be my day to "go green." You probably don't want to hear about it every day, but once a week will keep me (and maybe someone else?) inspired. Weekends is when I spend my time at home, "greening" my casa, so to speak. so I figure it's a good time to really think about how to make a better, greener, more sustainable life.

I wanted to start out with the positive...take stock on where we are, what great things that we are already doing and then move forward. Then I hope you'll joining me in doing a bit at a time to make a big difference...

My top 10 list of our sustainable choices:

10. We compost! Through a program in our city, we got a great deal on a composter that we installed in the backyard. We've already used it in our garden.

9. Speaking of a garden...we grow ~some~ of our own fruits and vegetables. Right now we have squash, corn, tomatoes, pepper, basil, mint, green beans and strawberries! I love when my salad is mostly vegetables right from my backyard!

 8. We use solar lights for our front yard to light our pathway.

7. Anything we paint in the house we use low VOC paint.

6. We put all new energy efficient windows on our new house ~ saving lots of energy and keeping out noise!

Notice the new windows behind the cute baby!

5. 90% of the lights in our house are either CFL or LED.

4. We changed the garden outside our front yard to all drought tolerant plants, and continue to add low water plants whenever we can.





My succulent garden



3. When we bought our new house we purchased all Energy Star appliances

2. We use "green" household cleaners, including laundry detergent

   

1. We own a hybrid vehicle ~ I really do love our Prius!



Even the dog loves the prius!

 What are you doing? What should be our next goal? Check back next Saturday to see if we've made any progress...and to share any good tips of your own!