by Psyche on Friday May 22, 2009
in green
Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! This year’s theme is Invasive Alien Species.
I confess when I read that, I had a totally Men in Black flashback and was visualizing giant alien bugs. [twitches]
Invasive alien species include animals, plants and other organisms that are not native to an ecosystem, which have the potential to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. So I guess space aliens would fall under that category.
We have been avoiding dealing with our own alien invasion. The neighbors planted ivy and let it spread all over their backyard and this past year it finally crossed over the fence onto our side. Joy.
Don’t blame us for the vines on this side of the fence – it’s 2 feet in on their property and they are supposed to be maintaining this side of it, but they don’t.
With the rise in copperhead (snake) sightings already this year, the ivy is a danger to us and to the already existing ecosystem.
One of the internal conflicts I have had is the use of herbicides. I would love to be able to get rid of the ivy without having to use chemicals but I am finally realizing that may not be possible. [light bulb flips on] It had not occurred to me that sometimes using the big guns is justified when saving an ecosystem from an invasive alien species. It is sort of shocking to me that the green thing to do could be to actually poison something, you know?
Beginning today, we will do whatever it takes to prevent the ivy from further invading and taking over our own personal ecosystem.
by Psyche on Thursday May 21, 2009
in green
The Rogue loves me! He really loves me!
The present he teased me with arrived today – it is both green and green. I am now the proud owner of a worm composter!
Vermicompost is really quite cool. The worms will eat your basic kitchen compost (now I know where to dump Audrey II’s contents), leaves, cardboard, newspapers and even some junk mail! The worm casings are great for improving soil and fertilizing plants. Mix some casings with water and it is considered liquid gold.
Some might consider this an odd choice for a gift but I have been making googly eyes at one of these for quite some time. Being miserly, I could not justify the purchase, so the Rogue did it for me. He knows me so well.
I was going to make one but the Worm Factory will look so much nicer than what I would have come up with. Perhaps at a later date, if I decide I want to expand, I will make my own. But for now, I am good to go.
Except now I need worms. (With the long weekend coming up, we will wait and order some Monday. )
Stay tuned for more adventures of Psyche, Worm Wrangler!
Tagged as:
compost,
vermicompost,
Worm Factory,
worms
by Psyche on Wednesday May 20, 2009
in green
We took a giant leap today and became a one vehicle family. [gulps]
The Caravan is 15 years old and really feeling her age (not to mention being a gasoholic) so we decided the most eco-friendly solution would be to retire her permanently. We sold her to someone who will reuse what he can – auto organ donation – and recycle the rest. I did not get verklempt about it until the Toddler insisted on hugging her goodbye – we brought him home in that van. [sniffles]
I was car-less for many years and it worked for me but with a having family and living in an area seriously lacking in public transportation and taxis – no way in Hades could we do it now. Emergencies happen and I refuse to wait an hour or more for a taxi to take my children to the Emergency Room. The Rogue traded his truck in for a new Honda Odyssey (our Earth-bound space ship) last November and that really improved our gas consumption. We plan on driving it to the ground, like we did the Caravan. We had talked about going smaller but with 3 children and the possibility of more, a larger vehicle is a necessary evil.
It was not an easy decision but we will make it work with a lot of advanced planning. I cannot promise we will remain a one vehicle family forever – children become teenagers – but when the time comes, we will endeavor to make green choices.
* Potty training = semi-naked Toddler. Less laundry is greener, right?
Tagged as:
vehicles
by Psyche on Tuesday May 19, 2009
in green
Instead of getting delivery or frozen pizza, we made our own. It was really good, though it will take a few more tried to get the stuffed-crust perfected. I am sure there will be no complaints from the taste-testers.
My hair has gotten more wavy as I have gotten older (we will not discuss the silver invasion). Letting it air dry gives it an interesting bounce and makes it look a lot more full. The Rogue has to make sure he washes his hair in plenty of time to let it dry, or it is an unruly mess in the morning. And the Toddler? Well, many cows licked him so his hair does what it wants to, wet or dry.
Sadly, we will not be buying any more meat from the vendor at the first farmers’ market. The pork chops were mainly bone and fat with very little usable meat. We have not yet opened the beef but I am not keeping my hopes up. We are really disappointed but are not giving up. We will find a source for organic meet locally.
I love our new cast iron pans. LOVE THEM! They are taking some getting used to but I am so happy we made the switch. I really want to make a pineapple upside down cake in the big skillet like I had when I was a little girl. Yum!
Making foaming hand soap with Dr. Bronner’s soap worked better than I expected. It mixed easily and foams really nicely. It is not as conditioning as other foaming soaps are but it rinses easier and my hands feel cleaner. I am going to make some and add a couple drops of lemon essential oil to use in the kitchen for getting those strong food prep smells off my hands.
I am proud to say that after an afternoon of prepping produce for the week, Audrey II is now full. Since we plan on using the compost for our garden, I need to decide on a bigger composter to dump the contents into.
Cloth diapering is an adventure. They leak more than the disposables did and we are changing the Toddler more often. Six disposables are not quite enough to last us for a day, so either we need to buy more, let him run around naked more and hope he figures out the potty or resort to disposables on occasion. So far we have avoided the disposables – but we ended up with an unexpected piddle puddle when we made a run to the bank. My kid, the Super Soaker! The Rogue now knows not to put a dryer sheet or fabric softener in with the cloth diapers. I did not know we even had any left, it has been that long since I have used them. Ah well, lesson learned. I will be honest – I prefer disposables, but we will stick with it.
My present has not arrived yet. I am told it should be here tomorrow.
Tagged as:
In Review,
Weekly
by Psyche on Tuesday May 19, 2009
in green
I confess… I am a slacker. We bought this ceramic compost crock a month ago today and it has been sitting, woefully neglected. Boo! Hiss!
I made the mistake of thinking that storing it under the sink would be the best place for it. Wrong. Apparently I am an “out of sight, out of mind” type of girl. Without even thinking about it, I would just chuck in the garbage things that could easily be composted. [hangs head in shame]
I swear to proudly keep my compost crock on the counter where it will nag at me, until it becomes second nature. I will call him Audrey II.
Feed me, Seymour!
by Psyche on Monday May 18, 2009
in green
I admit it – I have a thing for foaming hand soap. Last month I purchased a dispenser on a lark and I will never willingly go back to regular pump soap. Foaming hand soap is more fun and it is also greener! We are using less soap, plus it rinses off our hands easier, saving a lot of water. The Toddler loves it and does not complain about washing his hands anymore. It’s a miracle!
We just ran out and instead of buying refills, I decided to make my own.
Foaming Hand Soap Recipe
1 foaming soap dispenser
Add 3 tablespoons soap*
Slowly add 3/4 cup water
Put on lid and lightly shake
Bada bing! That’s it.
* I used Dr. Bronner’s – it’s made to dilute and eco-friendly.
Tagged as:
cheap,
foaming soap,
frugal,
reuse
by Psyche on Sunday May 17, 2009
in green
Due to health concerns about polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), we have decided to stop using our non-stick Teflon cookware. Who wants to cook with something that might cause cancer or does bad things to the environment?
For months we have been researching and no cookware set satisfied us 100%. We finally came to the conclusion that we did not want a non-organic coating on the inside of the pans. Why take chances? We finally decided to go with stainless steel with copper bottoms for our main set. I grew up with it and loved it for cooking most things – except frying. For that I decided on the old standard, cast iron. It is sturdy and if treated well, will last us a lifetime, unlike many other sets. Plus there is the added benefit of the pans leaching small amounts of iron into the food – always a positive for anemics.
We bought some cast iron pieces today and so far are very happy. The Rogue really needs to learn the proper feeding and caring of cast iron – the big skillet already needs to be reseasoned. Oy!
She who wields the cast iron skillet rules the house! Bwahahahahaha!
by Psyche on Saturday May 16, 2009
in green
Did you know that from field to fork, the average meal travels 1,500 miles? My food travels more than I do!
The less the food has to travel, the less impact on Mother Earth. In an attempt to eat more locally produced foods, we checked out two of the local farmers’ markets this morning. The Atlanta area has a large number and one of our goals is to check out at least 2 new ones per month.
The first farmers’ market we went to was quite small, less than 10 booths. The available produce was gorgeous and we bought two kinds of lettuce, some tomatoes and two bunches of carrots from one vendor. I cannot wait to try them. The prices were comparable to organics in many grocery stores.
We bought some pork chops and steaks from another vendor and admit we were shocked at the price. We could go to Whole Paycheck Foods and buy twice as much organic meat for the price we paid at the farmers’ market. Perhaps the prices were so high because it is in a more upscale neighborhood. All I know is the chops and steak had better be the best we have every eaten for that price – otherwise we cannot justify making a second purchase. I was going to say the meat had best do tricks, but I would freak if it did that. Zombie beef is not my thing.
A picture of the bounty! Yes, I put it on the floor. It had just been mopped, so there. Those things that look like dirt were carrot top bits.
We decided to try a second farmers’ market which ended up being more of an international mega-store. It was huge! Not much was locally produced but the prices, quality and selection were outstanding. I found produce I have not seen since I left Hawaii and I bought some new vegetables for us to try out. I was thrilled to see signs saying where things were grown, which will help us find foods grown more locally. We will definitely be returning often – if nothing else for things I cannot find elsewhere. Like Russian wine.
Originally we had hoped to eat primarily local foods but after seeing the prices, that is just not in our budget (unless we win the lottery). What we will do is commit to eating local one day per week. We will look for foods that are grown in the United States versus internationally. Along with Meatless Mondays, these should lesson our carbon footprint by a bit.
