Written on
February 25, 2009 by
SusanC
Surprisingly, many of us don’t.
The tuna you had on the salad last night may have been from waters off the coast of India. Your farmed raised tilapia may have been raised on a farm in Indonesia. At the end of the day, what safe fish options do we actually have?
I know there are many of you that do not eat any kind flesh, including fish, but many of us enjoy the bounty of the seas.
So what is a greeny to do?
There are quite a few things we can easily do, the most obvious of which is reading labels.
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Written on
February 23, 2009 by
SusanC
Part of the reasoning behind economic stimuli (at least in the GWB school of thought) is that if you give people a little extra cash, they’ll run right out and buy a good or service, and that enough people doing this at once will act like a booster shot in the arm of a struggling economy. This reasoning does not, of course, ta
ke in to account that giving a family of 4 an extra $1,000 and telling them to buy a new TV doesn’t address the $10,000 of credit card debt, $500 of car repairs and $1,500 mortgage their still be facing next month.
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Written on
February 19, 2009 by
SusanC
Are you ready to install solar panels or a wind turbine at your house? How about adding insulation or installing more energy efficient windows? 2009 may just be the year to take the plunge, thanks to some new, extended and improved tax credits.
Details can vary depending on your project but energy efficient home improvements including replacement windows (capped at $200), insulation (10% of the cost, capped at $500), sealing cracks in the shell of your house and in the duct work, and energy efficient water heaters and furnaces (capped at $300) can get you some very helpful tax credits.
The existent tax credit for installing solar panels was extended for 2009 giving you a 30% credit against the cost of your equipment with the previous $2,000 cap removed.
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Written on
February 13, 2009 by
SusanC
Let’s face it, in this economy nearly everyone is having to cut corners and eliminate things from the budget. Sadly, it has come to my attention that one of the big things people are cutting back on are eco-friendly and organic products, in favor of cheaper, run of the mill alternatives.
Well, in this little post I would like to show you just some of the small ways that being green can save you those hard earned pennies to put toward the things that matter most!
Ditch the paper towels and paper plates (if you haven’t already)! By simply using dishcloths for your everyday messes and your actual dishes for dinner, you can not only contribute to a healthier environment with less garbage, but save a hefty little sum over a years’ time.
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Written on
February 12, 2009 by
SusanC
For the past few weeks, my family has been preparing for a big move. We are not moving down the street or to the next town, but instead across the country.
During our lives here in our current home, we fortunately did not accumulate a lot of “stuff,” but much of what we have will not be traveling with us. We have decided that the memories created with some of our personal belongings are not worth the expense and time of packing them up and hauling them across country. Don’t get me wrong, we are a sentimental family, but my days of holding onto my lost baby teeth (I kept them way into my college years), have been replaced with a more common sense mentality of only keeping what I am going to use eventually, preferably sometime this year.
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Did you know bleach has to sit on a surface for 30 minutes before it works? Did you also know bleach is a pesticide? And it doesn’t work if the surface is dirty.
Women that work at home have a much higher risk of cancer than those that work at home. And repeated exposure to cleaning products is a big factor in this. Pretty scary right?
So why eat organic food when you are cleaning your home with a pesticide? A pesticide that cause all kinds of health problems from asthma to hormone imbalances that can cause cancer. There are tons of products out there to get rid of your “need” to use bleach.
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Written on
February 6, 2009 by
SusanC
It’s the month of another holiday filled with paper, sugar and imported goodies, also known as: Valentine’s Day.
Personally, I’m of the mindset that the romance and sparkle of Valentine’s faded ago, but I’d be fibbing if I didn’t admit I’d be a smidge disappointed if I ended the day without a token of affection or three.
Then again, if someone shows me the love and doesn’t show Mother Nature the love too, I’ll be even more disappointed than if I’d left the holiday empty handed.
So, what’s a green Valentine to do?
- If you’ve got to go for flowers, go for local.
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When my husband and I moved in together in college, we were both going to school full time and working, and so we always ate at least one meal away from home each day. Eating out was getting too expensive, so we started packing our lunches each morning. That took care of a lot of the excess cost, but I was still unhappy with how much we were spending on plastic zipper baggies. I had recently become really involved with the environmental club on campus, and was examining our lifestyle for ways in which we could lessen our impact on the planet.
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Written on
January 28, 2009 by
SusanC
A few years ago I lived my life in 20 minute increments. Then I had to rest. Fibromyalgia and Asthma ruled my life. With 3 children, a husband and all the normal mess that life assures, my brain constantly told me that I wasn’t doing enough. But I simply did NOT have the energy to spare; it needed to go to things that HAD to be done, not things that I wanted to do like living a greener lifestyle.
I’ve since been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and eating a gluten-free diet has improved my quality of life massively. But I still remember the dreams I had, the ones that seemed so far away from my reality.
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in
Blog,
Conservation,
Eat to Live,
For The Home,
Frugal Living,
Got Energy?,
Great Green Finds,
Green Gardens,
Green Thoughts,
Reduce Reuse Recycle,
The Green Consumer
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Here in Western Michigan, it is cold. Real cold. My bet is that unless you live quite far south, this time of year it is cold for you as well.
It can be hugely frustrating to stay green while also staying warm. Not to mention the fact that we are all trying to be more frugal, and an enormous gas or electric bill is not something anyone is happy about. In my home, with a small toddler, I am more concerned about her comfort and warmth than my own.
So what is a cold, eco-friendly mama to do? Make a list, that’s what.
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