I come from a family that uses a lot of paper towels. Anything remotely messy was tackled with a roll of Bounty. You don't have a napkin? Grab a paper towel. No clean plates? Use a paper towel. Now I have a 30+ year paper towel habit that I quite honestly would like to quit. … [Read more...]
I can still remember when some friends and I were picked from our 5th grade science class to talk to younger students about Earth Day. We were given the task of telling the kids things you could do to be kinder to the Earth. We talked about throwing away your trash instead of littering. We talked about recycling (even though our school wasn't really doing much of it then). We talked about turning off the water when you brush your teeth and shutting off lights when you leave a room. And … [Read more...]
Essential oils are very popular right now. They can also be expensive, but if you can find find multiple ways to use them, they are actually a great value. These five DIY natural health and beauty products using essential oils will help you ditch the store bought products with harsh chemicals in favor of these greener alternatives. … [Read more...]
I now have the opportunity to do gardening in an area with a lot of deer presence. We've seen the deer and as my son has said, "There is a lot of deer dung in the yard." (I just love his choice of words because it's obvious how much reading about dinosaurs we do.) There are already a lot of trees and perennials planted, so I have not done as much research on that as I have done on what kind of edibles I can plant. I wanted to share the information I obtained from my research with you and see … [Read more...]
I absolutely hate cleaning my oven. I think part of the reason is that I always wait so long between cleanings that it becomes a real chore. The other reason is that I hate using stinky, toxic chemicals to clean it. So I've come up with a homemade oven cleaner that does a good job without all the harsh smells and chemicals. … [Read more...]
Do you consider yourself a thrifty person? You may or may not even realize that many of your thrifty habits are actually "green" and good for the environment. Or perhaps, you are interested in becoming more green and thrifty at the same time and are looking for a place to start, well, here is how green thrifty types do it: … [Read more...]
So I announced with a bit of fanfare and flourish that my theme for this year was to live greener. I recognize that I already do some things that are considered "green" like recycling and composting, but I know that if I stepped up my game in this area, I would be doing the world a solid and I'd probably save some money while I'm at it. So here it is, the middle of the first month of the new year, and I haven't really attempted anything new. Humph. … [Read more...]