A Tale of Two Farms

August 9, 2010 | Published in Eat to Live

I’ve recently had the chance to visit two very different dairy farms in my area. And thinking about the two farms has made me consider my views on agriculture and dairy cows.

The first farm that I visited was Little Qualicum Cheeseworks. It’s a small farm that produces cheese on-site, using the milk from its own herd of cows. The cows spend most of their time outdoors, grazing in the pasture. Their diet is supplemented in the winter with hay and silage, during the time they can’t be outdoors. The farm has an SPCA certification that means its animals are well cared for.

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Travel Green to BlogHer ’10

July 23, 2010 | Published in Conservation, Frugal Living, Green Thoughts, Green Travel, Reduce Reuse Recycle, The Green Consumer

In less than two weeks more than one-thousand bloggers of all ages, races and yes, sexes will descend on New York City. Ushered in on a cloud of anticipation, excitement and social media they will spend two days learning, connecting and yes, partying.

This year, as in years past, BlogHer is working to implement important green initiatives conference wide — an exciting development in and of itself — and paired with the cooperation of individual attendees and the coordinated efforts of every blogger who travels to the conference we can have an even greater impact on the environment for the better!

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Swaddle Those Bums!

July 23, 2010 | Published in Blog, For The Kids

Cloth diapering is one of my favorite ways to be green. For as many fears as people have about getting started with cloth, it is honestly much easier than you think it is. I always tell everyone that even my husband is a huge fan of them. (Seriously, isn’t it always the guys who are the most squeamish?!)

Well, for those of you who are ready to get going, or have a few and want to stock up on a few more, my favorite site has a huge clearance sale going on right now! Swaddlebees puts items in their clearance store a few times a year and I almost always grab up a good pile.

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Summer Green Isn’t Easy

July 13, 2010 | Published in Blog

Sandman on Flickr Commons

You know that old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? It’s inspiring in theory, but let’s be honest here; sometimes, when the going gets tough, even the tough get overwhelmed, frustrated and feel at least a little bit guilty when their actions fall short of their ideals. Summer is one of those tough times for me. It’s a season that has been full to the brim with commitments from work to recreation since… well, since humans have had leisure time anyway.

In fact, I don’t know who coined the phrase “the lazy days of summer” but around here when the sun gets hot and the days long, they’re anything but lazy.

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Oil Spills and Oil Dependence

July 12, 2010 | Published in Got Energy?, Green Safety, Green Science, Green Thoughts

As you no doubt know, unless you have been living under a rock for the past several months, an oil rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The explosion destroyed the rig, causing oil to spill from the wellhead into the Gulf. At this point oil has been spilling out for more than 2 months, defying all efforts at containment. The current plan is to drill two relief wells and then permanently close the existing well. The relief wells are expected to be completed in August.

Meanwhile, the largest offshore oil spill in US history continues.

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Both/And

July 6, 2010 | Published in Got Energy?, Green Gardens, Green Thoughts, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Water Conservation

Can I just say that I think it is both harder and easier to be green in the summer?!

I can hang my clothes outside on the line to dry, but I am taking more showers due to being outside and sticky/dirty. Also? My hair is not nearly as fabulous post-baby and needs more washes. Boo.

I can keep more lights off inside since the sun shines brighter for longer, but I have all the fans going to try to circulate as much cool air as possible.

I can keep the doors and windows closed on the hottest days to keep the hot out and the cool in, but I’ll be darned if I’m turning off the AC!

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Washing the Dishes

July 5, 2010 | Published in For The Home, Water Conservation

We all have that chore that we hate around the house, don’t we? The one that we leave until the last possible moment? The one that we would gladly never do again in this lifetime? I have such a chore, anyways. The household task that I loathe above all others is washing dishes.

When I was young and single and still in university I did not have a dishwasher. I often resorted to tactics such as washing a single bowl because I wanted some cereal and all of the other bowls were dirty. It was not pretty. So when I got married and moved in with my husband, one of the requirements that we had for our first apartment was that it must have a dishwasher.

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A Greener Vacation

July 2, 2010 | Published in Green Travel

Our family just returned from a vacation. We really enjoyed the chance to get away from home for a while. We traveled from our home in suburban Vancouver to Vancouver Island, which involved a 45-minute drive to the ferry terminal, just under 2 hours on the ferry, and then a 45-minute drive to our destination. While we were there, we stayed in a townhouse that had its own kitchen, and prepared most of our own meals.

We made most of our travel choices for economic and practical reasons. Staying closer to home, and avoiding restaurants, is cheaper and easier when you’re traveling with a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old.

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Do You Need a Reason to Go Barefoot?

June 3, 2010 | Published in Blog, Eco-Friends, For The Kids, Green Outreach

going barefoot

Soles4Souls announced that National Barefoot Week is stomping ground again next month, June 1-7, 2010. I have been a fan of Soles4Souls and their efforts for a few years now. Disasters don’t stop happening and people always need help even if it is just receiving a pair of shoes to wear on their feet.

A little closer to home in Nashville where Soles4Souls is based, they have already started responding to the needs of their immediate community by providing shoes and other items of necessity to help people who are still trying to recover from the storms they were hit with earlier this month.

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Plastic in the Dishwasher

May 27, 2010 | Published in For The Home

In my last post for 5 Minutes for Going Green I explored the environmental impact of using the dishwasher vs. washing dishes by hand. You may recall that there was not a clear winner, but as someone who hates washing dishes, I declared that I would continue using the dishwasher myself. When the answer isn’t clear, I tend to make the decision based on personal convenience.

After that post went up, one of my friends got in touch and asked me about washing plastics in the dishwasher. She has been debating the topic with her husband. I didn’t know anything about the safety of plastic in the dishwasher myself, so I decided to look into it.

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