February 13, 2009 at 12:09 am (money savings)
Tags: energy, food, green, money, recession, waste, water
For all of us green geeks there is a green lining to the recession. It’s not that we would wish anyone bad fortune, but for many years we have been trying to convince others that this country wastes a lot of stuff. Finally, mostly because of the current recession we are being heard and even listened to.
So why now? It’s pretty simple, wasted stuff equals wasted money.
And people in the country waste an incredible amount of resources and stuff every day. Don’t believe me, just check your trash can, closets and cabinets.
It is estimated that 35 to 50 percent of all the food bought is later thrown out. Spoiled food before it was used and uneaten left overs are the two biggest categories of waste.
Look in your closet and drawers, do you wear everything on a regular basis? I know women that buy clothes and never wear them. They give things away with the tags still on them.
What about water and energy. If your home isn’t air tight your wasting energy. How much stuff is plugged in right now that’s not in actual use? You’ve got to know by now that your wasting energy. Water is wasted in alarming amounts. Do you brush your teeth with the water running? If you do your wasting water. And don’t even get me started on lawns, they are one of the biggest wastes suburban America ever came up with.
So yes, green geeks are finally happy that others are at least listening to us and even joining our band wagon. Were not real happy that it took a recession to do it, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.
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January 26, 2009 at 11:40 pm (money savings)
Tags: eating, economy, food, freezer, garden, green, saving money
No matter how bad the economy is we all need to eat. But most people could cut their food bills considerably and save some green.
This week I’ve come across some interesting stats that point to the fact that people are rethinking how they eat. While restaurant revenues are down, cookware and cookbook sales are up. And people aren’t spending as much money on high end flashy appliances, but they are buying more freezers.
Here are some other good ideas for saving money on food.
First, watch the waste. Your not saving if your over buying and throwing food out. If the vegetables are at the end of their shelf live and you can’t eat them all now then freeze them. You can still use them later in soups and stews.
Second, go to the source. I buy all our bread at the Rainbow store. I can buy Sara Lee multi grain bread for $1.25 a loaf.
Third, if you have a freezer buy in bulk. We are getting ready to buy half a side of beef from the butcher. It’s cheaper than even buying in bulk from the store. If thats way to much meat for your family then split it with friends.
Fourth, grow your own food. Anybody can grow a few vegetables and herbs. I usually grow a large garden and enjoy the produce all year.
Everywhere you look today there are hints on saving on your food bill. It’s really not hard to do if you put a little bit of thought into “what’s for dinner tonight.”
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January 26, 2009 at 2:51 am (money savings)
Tags: bad exonomy, economy, green, save money, spend money
I have purposely avoided the subject of the economy for the last several months. There are more than enough blogs that are discussing the subject. However, it is a bit like ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
So I’ve decided to talk some about the current state of the American economy and how it can effect the efforts of people to be more green.
Actually a bad economy can be a good thing for the green movement. If people have less money to spend, they try a little harder to make sure that they are getting their moneys worth.
Over the next several posts I’ll try and break down some very specific ways that you can go green and save money. Basically if you are paying money for something now, there is probably a greener and less expensive option.
So instead of ignoring the big gorilla, because I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon, we might as well make friends with it.
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January 13, 2009 at 11:45 am (good things, money savings)
Tags: books, cheap, green, library
When I buy books it is usually from Amazon.com. They have the best deals out there. Last year I started buying used books from them. A cheaper and greener option.
Last week I needed to buy a book on stamp collecting. I picked the book I wanted and was picking which used dealer to buy from when I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Used dealers selling old library copies. According to the sealers comments they then share the money made with different library programs like story telling.
What a great idea. So I got a book I needed at a very cheap price and the library gets funds it needs.
I’ll look for this dealer when I need a book.
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November 30, 2008 at 11:57 pm (Mother Nature)
Tags: alternative religion, environment, fitness, food, green, nature
With my last post I kind of put the cart before the horse. I’ve been thinking about adding a page about Mother Nature and my belief in this amazing being (goddess if you would).
It was actually my studies into alternative religions that led me to being a more green person. It was not a straight shot from one to the other for me, but more like a twisted road. A journey I’d like to share in part.
Instead of making one long post, I think it would be better if I broke it into categories. It will be easier for me to gather my thoughts that way and if anyone is reading the posts it won’t seem like a novel.
First I’ll write a little bit about my search of alternative religions.
Second will be my connection to nature. Interestingly many alternative religions are called earth based religions.
Third will be how the first two led me to being more environmentally friendly, or more green.
Fourth is food. Being more aware of the environment made me aware of some of the conditions in which our food is grown and raised.
Fifth and final will be fitness.
It’s really been a kind of interesting journey and one I’m glad I started and then continued to follow the twisting route. What started the journey? A simple question that many of us ask, many times. Why me?
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November 18, 2008 at 12:44 pm (good things)
Tags: green, reusable bags, shopping, Walmart
Finally attitude’s about reusable shopping bags is starting to change. I was at Walmart this weekend picking up a few things. I always put my bags, which I have from every store in our area, in front of my purchases so the clerk sees them right away. And I almost get attitude about it, but not this time. She actually seemed happy to bag my purchases in my bags. I guess she either figured out that people like me with their bags aren’t going to give up and stop bringing their bags with them, or she’s one of us, a green nerd.
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November 13, 2008 at 12:42 am (good things, money savings)
Tags: books, family, gifts, green, jewelry, vintage clothes
That sounds like a pretty good name for a thrift shop, I’ll have to remember it. Yes, this post is about “green” gifts. So how do you give “green” gifts?
Thrift stores of course, or ebay, or amazon.com. All good ways to buy used. My daughter just bought 7 used books from www.amazon.comfor just a few pennies a piece, yes she bought 7 books for one quarter. Way to go Moh. Most of the books have arrived and they are in excellent shape.
My favorite is the local thrift store. They are perfect for the “funky” person. They have some of the best “vintage” clothes. And don’t even get me started on the jewelry. You can find some great things at great buys.
Then there is the “hand made” options. Moms and grandma’s go crazy for these no matter the age of the kids that made them.
Yes, you can gift “green” and it can be a heck of a lot less expensive (but not cheap).
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October 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm (Cost of green)
Tags: energy, green, jobs, water
The cost of “green” will actually be a series of posts. I’m not sure how many there will be yet, because I am still doing research.
There are many simple things that we can do in our individual lives to be a little greener that actually saves us money.
But when we start to talk about big things like energy independence and water issues then yes there will be an up front costs, mostly to build the infrastructure. There will also be hundreds of jobs in all sorts of sectors, both short term and and for years to come.
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October 17, 2008 at 1:17 pm (general)
Tags: alternative energy, Colorado, green, Mother Nature, open prairie land, solar panels, sunshine, wind, wind mills
Blue skies and wind could make Colorado a lot of green. It seems like the State of Colorado is getting ready to become a world player in the alternative energy game. Some well know economists have said that in the next year or so some major green and alternative energy companies with be setting up not only wind mills and solar panels but also company headquarters here.
I certainly hope it happens. Anyone who has lived in Colorado for more than 30 days knows that we have a lot of sunshine and wind. We already have some large wind mill and solar panel “farms”, but there is certainly room for more. Yes we have mountains and snow, but we also have hundreds of miles of open prairie land that is just perfect for collecting the energy of Mother Nature.
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October 13, 2008 at 9:03 pm (money savings)
Tags: CFL, cleaning products, dishes, green, kitchen compost, paper plates, recycle
When I decided that we needed to be a little greener around our house I knew it would be a process. Switching to CFL was easy. Getting my husband and daughter to recycle the kitchen compost was not to hard. Since I do most of the cleaning it was easy to change all the cleaning products over.
This last week I decided that we would no longer be buying or using paper plates or bowl. Yes I got a few odd looks. We have chosen the convenience of paper over doing the dishes for a long time. But here is what my argument was.
First, I do the dishes at least 50% of the time, so why should you care so much.
Second, we are spending at least $7 per month on them. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s at least $84 a year.
Third, we have to do the dishes anyway.
We’re just one week into this but I think it will okay and I know it was the right decision.
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