Commissary find

My husband sent this little nugget from the commissary on base while in Hawaii. A recycling bin sat beneath this advertisement for bags to be used again.
Kudos to the commissary!

Press ‘n seal substitute

Maybe someone out there has a  better idea. A lot of the products we are using are not green. Once we finish them, we try to find a greener, or more creative idea. Being frugal is part of being waste free, and I’m not going to throw something out if I still have some left.

For example—Press n’ seal. 

Ziploc bags

I haven’t bought Ziploc bags since 2008.  Know why?

Changing the oil in your car—a greener way

We change our own oil.

Homemade business cards

I thought business cards for the blog would be a great way to advertise and circulate these great, green ideas.  I watched a segment on the Sunday Morning show that business cards should give people an idea of who you are. They said a good one costs at least $7 a card.

I laughed.

Seven dollars? Really? In this economy?

I can do better than that.

Matt did the letters for me with the stamp.

Happy 4th of July

Today my man  was actually off work! Can you believe it? He’s NEVER off work. Ever, ever, ever. Ever.
Okay, he did have to go in from 5:00-7:30 a.m., but I was awake when he got home. (Which is a rarity, me up early,  eyes not propped open by toothpicks.) When he came in the door, I jumped at him, and he gave a little scream. Just kidding. But I did scare him.

“Let’s go to the beach! Right now before it gets muggy and sunny.” I’m not a big fan of sunny. I like it when it rains, and it’s cloudy. When it snows or storms blow through knocking over small trees. I didn’t eat breakfast or wash my face. I brushed my teeth and we flew out the door.

The water was perfect.

Gardens around the U.S.

In celebration of the response I received from my gardening post, I asked fellow gardeners to share their knowledge with me.  Wonderful, innovative, amateur and seasoned gardeners around the U.S. sent me pictures of their gardens along with gardening tips they’ve learned along the way.

Roma tomatoes in GA

Packaged food

Packaged food

I’m most surprised by how much packaging we use, especially with food. We compost almost all food waste and paper. We recycle everything else, but the small amount of trash we generate is plastic from packaged foods that cannot be recycled. Not in this area, anyway.

Trash for the week....granola wrapper, cereal liner, dental floss case, bacon packaging

Buying Organic

Buying Organic

Honestly, I have a difficult time buying fruits that are twice as expensive just because it says “organic” on the labeling. Is it really organic? How do I know? Is it an investment in my health or a marketing ploy to get my money?

Making your own food

Making your own food

What we recycle and how to reduce it.

Trying to rid ourselves of the glass jars and cans that we bring into the house, I’m attempting to make as much food as possible rather than purchase it. I’m now making my own peanut butter, bread, hummus, soups, juices, Greek yogurt, muffins, pesto, cappuccino, beans, nut mix, and salsa. I shall next attempt marinara sauce. If I could figure out how to make my own cheese, I would. I’d like to figure out how to make crackers! Besides cutting back on packaging, we’re getting less preservatives, sugar and other goop in our systems we don’t  need.

My man wants to learn how to brew his own beer. Think of the glass bottles we’d save! A friend of his gave us a tour of a self-brewery in his basement and showed us how it was done. The beer, however, hmmm…how could I say it in a nice way? It tasted like lukewarm yeast. But that was years ago. I’m sure he’s perfected it by now!