Wednesday, April 30, 2008

e-statements, plastic bags and the environment

I ran across an interesting factoid today:

"If the average American household (which receives 19 paper bills and statements, and mails seven payments a month) went paperless, it would save 6.6 pounds of paper, 63 gallons of water and 4.5 gallons of gasoline each year, as well as prevent the release of 170 pounds of harmful greenhouse gases, according to the Pay It Green Alliance, a coalition of financial services companies aimed at reducing paper use."

Reducing junk mail, switching to e-billing have been on my to do list for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to it. This is a motivator. Every little step helps!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Suburban yard farms? I knew I wasn't the only one!

I ran across this article/video in the Wall Street Journal about folks tearing up their lawns to plant veggies. Sigh. I wish I could get away with that here!

Yard veggies

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Finally got out in the yard today


Spring has sprung in central Ohio. Actually, it sprung 2 weeks ago, so of course all of the neighbors' yards were immaculate on the first warm day and like a bad seed, I had long grass and tons of leaves littering my front lawn. My neighbors are nice and won't admit to me that yes, we are the bad seeds in the hood when it comes to lawn care. We're simply too lacsidasical with our raking and mowing!

I admit it's true. But, despite lack of sleep and crying babes, I managed to mow the front and back yards today, dig out a dead rose bush, and put 6 bags of leaves and branches out on the curb (They are made into compost by the city...). Phew. Not too bad, even if I am a little late!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

New Year's Resolution no. 2: Start composting



Finally! I ordered the compost bin and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. It will allow me to get a start, albeit a late one, on my New Year's Resolution no. 2, which is to start composting all of our kitchen waste. We chose the Envirocycle composter, which sells for about $139. It's a decent size, holding 7 cubic feet of compost. It also stores compost tea on the bottom, which is a high-quality fertilizer for veggies and houseplants.

I can't wait to get composting!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Recycle your kitchen? Why not?

I ran across this interesting article in the NY Times. Apparently you can buy a recycled kitchen. when the uber rich move in to a new house they often tear out perfectly good top of the line kitchens just so they can replace it with something more to their liking. Now, a company is selling the old kitchen fixtures and donating the money to charity. A stroke of brilliance!

Recycled kitchens

Monday, April 7, 2008

The baby bean has arrived


Our new bean arrived Tuesday April 1, after 25 hours of labor. Trust me, there is a reason they call it labor and not tickle party. Phew. Hopefully we'll be able to keep on the green track while raising this little guy. So far so good: used baby clothes, sharing baby furniture and stuff with other couples with kids. But we'll see. There are still many more years to go!