Get the color out (and more)

Week 5: get the color out and more

With Valentine’s day looming, it’s inevitable that my kids will be bringing home candy this week. Mostly I won’t let them eat it. It’s not the sugar, it’s the colors. At a minimum, even though too much is not a good thing, sugar is a substance the body recognizes. Artificial colors and flavors are foreign – the body doesn’t know what to do with them. Evidence points to artificial colors being a contributing factor in behavior and attention problems in children, and cancer. 

So where does that leave us? So many holidays revolve around candy, it’s hard to avoid. At home, I only stock the natural stuff. If the kids go to a party or whatnot, I usually let them have whatever is there. But, if they were to develop a more serious sensitivity or behavior problems, I would go strict. There are a lot of choices for natural candy: gummies, suckers, hard candy, chocolate. You can find a lot of it at the natural food co-ops, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods (and other stores around the country) – some in bulk like gummies. For even more choices, there’s naturalcandystore.com. It’s a bit of a splurge, but candy is just a treat, right? For the adults, I recommend the wine jelly candies.

Besides candy, watch out for these common foods with artificial dyes and flavors: any cheese flavored food (Doritos, Goldfish, Mac and Cheese), hotdogs and lunchmeat, birthday cake, marshmallows, frosting. These same products have natural alternatives, so you don’t have to give them up to get the dyes and flavors out.

How I can do better

Even though I could just not let the kids have candy at all, or forbid them to have it at parties, I am not quite ready to go there. They eat very little, and understand it’s a treat – they don’t get it everyday. We’re also only eating natural hotdogs, marshmallows, etc. so I give myself an A- already on this one.

Conserve Water

Week 4: Conserve water

In Minnesota, there are lakes everywhere, and right now, several inches of snow. It’s easy in a way to take water for granted. It comes into our homes with little effort, and is relatively cheap – hey we need water so who even looks at the water bill? Well, after seeing how farm land is drying up in California and Lake Mead in Las Vegas is about ½ as high as it was 20 years ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about our water usage.

One year ago, during the same billing period, we used 7,480 gallons of water; this year, we are down by ½: 3,740 gallons. Even though we had an extra person taking showers in 2009 (our au pair), our current usage is lower than it has ever been.

Here are some of the changes we’ve made in the last year or so:

Let the water purifier drip into the washing machine. We’ve had our reverse osmosis water purifier for close to 15 years, the waste water draining straight into the tub and out the drain. It still pains me to think about how much water we were wasting that could have been used to wash clothes. We also only wash clothes when the washer is full.

Only use “secondhand water” to water plants. Last summer, I only used the garden hose twice to water my trees. Otherwise, I hauled used dishwater in 5 gallon buckets to water my flowers, trees, tomatoes and new grass seed. I also put buckets out to catch rainwater. A formal rain barrel might make the task easier, but for now this works for me (and I don’t need the gym to work my arms). I got this idea from a friend who has some kind of system to drain the bathtub out to her garden. Please note that we only use all natural, low / no fragrance dish soap, laundry soap, etc. No phosphates, biodegradable (more on these products later). So, make sure your products won’t harm the Earth!

Shower less and reduce frequency. Since I don’t leave the house everyday, I can get away with skipping a shower once and a while. Also, my hair and skin actually prefer to not get dried out from all the washing. I also started collecting the cold water that comes out before it warms up and using that to clean the bathroom. I turn the water off during sudsing, and try to rinse fast.

Lastly, (sorry if a little TMI) we try to group flush when possible. You can save a lot of water by not flushing every time. The only downside is that the kids don’t always remember to flush when they should if you know what I mean.

How I can do better

The one thing that drives me crazy is dishes. We don’t have a dishwasher, which I heard uses less water. But, I also think we are pretty efficient with the hand washing, so I would like to be able to find out if a dishwasher would save us water or  not.

Ditch the single servings

Ditch the single servings – water, pop, snacks, etc.

 Plastic bottles

 There has been a lot of press about not buying bottled water, especially the single serving size. Most of the news centers around the fact that many bottled water products are little better than tap water, and the cost to the environment is mounting: even though the plastic is recyclable, most are still ending up in the garbage. About two years ago I bought my whole family stainless steel water bottles. Since then, we have only purchased water maybe four times (when we forgot our bottles). Water bottles are very inexpensive, and will really pay for themselves (think about not paying $2 or more for a bottle of water at the movies, mall or State Fair!). Stainless steel is probably the least toxic choice, and range in quality. An inexpensive model from Old Navy isn’t as heavy duty as some, but at $5 a good bargain. If you go with plastic, make sure it’s BPA free.

 Not sure if your tap water is safe to drink?? I know a lot of people that drink tap water, and there is a certain amount of purification that happens at the macro level. If you are concerned, there are probably home testing kits at a home supply store. You are guaranteed the following in your tap water if you don’t purify at your own tap:  chlorine and fluoride. Also note that probably most municipal water treatment plants only test for “known substances.” Meaning, there are probably hundreds of different pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. that aren’t considered or “known” to be harmful, so the city doesn’t purify for those. At any rate, it’s probably a good idea to have it tested so at least you are making an educated decision about whether or not to purify.

 Purification can be as simple as a Brita pitcher or as complex as a whole house system. We use a reverse osmosis filter that leads to a separate tap in the kitchen. We typically fill our bottles from here before we go out. However, we will fill our bottles at the drinking fountain if they run out rather than buy a bottled water. Note: reverse osmosis uses a lot of water (5 gallons to make one gallon), which I will go into more when I write about conserving water. We have the waste water go directly into the washing machine and use it to wash clothes.

A few years ago, we were hauling bags of plastic bottles back from our lake place (we aren’t up there enough to install a water purifier and the well water is not safe to drink due to farm runoff). We were bringing them home to recycle, but it still aggravated me. One day we were at the Midtown Global Market (Minneapolis, MN) “water store” – a place to fill up your 2 or 5 gallon jug with purified water or buy other supplies like water bottles and water dispensers. We bought a ceramic water dispenser, and now we use 2 gallon water bottles when we go up to the lake and just fill our own bottles. These ceramic dispensers are nice, and actually keep the water cool.

 Even though water bottles have been getting the press, I think just as much attention if not more, should be given to plastic pop (soda)  bottles (more on health issues with pop in a later article). Americans drink more pop than water, and pop tends to use water that’s even more purified than bottled water (it’s more regulated I’ve heard…) – using a lot more energy to produce. Just like with water, people are not recycling their pop bottles. Since pop has no nutritional value, it should be consumed as a treat, not daily. There are some very nice, natural sodas in glass bottles to use as a treat. If you’re worried about calories – there’s always water! Caffeine addict??  Try making your own iced tea and bringing in your stainless container. Green tea with antioxidants can add a health boost!

Snack bags

I know it’s convenient to pack kids lunches (or your own) using single serving snacks. However, keep in mind that these not only cost more per ounce to purchase, they create a lot more waste. Just purchase a big bag of snacks – now is a good time to look at the ingredients – do your kids really need artificially colored Hot Cheetos? Try Barbara’s Jalapeño cheese curls. Invest in a few good REUSABLE containers or cloth bags (this tip falls short if you use and throw away “baggies”). Better yet, make snack bags out of fabric you already have around the house – you can find patterns online. There’s also a pattern in the book practically green, by Micaela Preston.

Juice and milk boxes

 If you really need to pack a non-water beverage, invest in a BPA free plastic bottle or stainless steel bottle just for the non-water beverages (just makes it easier to always have a water bottle free to grab and go). I don’t even send a beverage with the kids – they sometimes have their water bottle, but mostly just drink from the fountain. Since we drink purified water at home, I am not as concerned about the little bit they get from school. Also, they drink juice and “milk” (usually rice) at home, and aren’t at risk for not getting their nutrients. If the kids eat school lunch, it’s an unfortunate parade of individually packaged foods (if they attend a Minneapolis Public school that uses the central food manufacturing center).

How I can do better

I am going to find out who still makes beverages in returnable bottles. Reusing is better than recycling, but unfortunately Minnesota isn’t a bottle deposit state. I am already buying milk in returnable glass – but last I checked there wasn’t any pop or other (beer) beverages in returnables. The other bummer about beverage bottles and cans is that the cartons they come in are not recyclable. So, I will look for some better packaging/no packaging options. There are soda making and beer making kits out there, but the ingredients on the pop maker are not all natural. I don’t think I will be trying that anytime soon.

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Pop refers to typical brands manufactured by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc.

Buy in Bulk

Week 2: Buy in bulk AND use your own containers

Buying in bulk reduces so much trash – but only if you reuse glass jars or other containers. Of course, if you are already following my Week 1 tip (use your own bags), you won’t be tempted by the bags in the bulk department.

Benefits

In addition to the environmental savings, when you buy in bulk you can just get a small amount of something if that’s all you need. You don’t have to buy a big package of something that will just go to waste. Conversely, if you need a lot of something, you can get what you need without buying multiple bags/boxes/packages. Most of the time (but unfortunately not always) bulk is less expensive. I have found that spices, tea and coffee are usually less expensive in bulk.

What

You can buy a lot of things in bulk. Some foods include: coffee, tea, spices, flour, oats, rice, granola, nuts, chocolate chips (a staple!), gummy candy, dried fruit, nut butters, to just name a few. Specialty items include maple syrup, seaweed, sprouting seeds/beans, gluten free pasta, “alternative” grains, and so much more.

Some household products by Restore the Earth can be refilled at the Wedge and Whole Foods, and probably most of the other co-ops. I use their dish soap, laundry soap and gentle hand soap. A gallon lasts several months or longer.

Several different shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and oils are also available (brands vary by store).

Where

In Minneapolis, all of the co-ops and Whole Foods sell a large number of items in bulk. From what I remember, Cub and Rainbow have some snacks and cereals, but not a lot else (I haven’t shopped there for a while). I don’t have any experience with other stores, so shout out about a great store that sells bulk and let’s you use your own container (very important!). I pretty much only get bulk from the Wedge since I do most of my shopping there and I can plan it out more easily. Whole Foods is more difficult because they don’t provide a scale on which to weigh your container – since bulk items are weighed you don’t want to pay for the weight of your jar.

Jars

I have bought jars from the Wedge Co-op, Target, garage sales, thrift stores, etc. If you are just getting started and want to have “matching” jars, you will probably need to find a style you like and stock up on a few. If you aren’t picky, you can collect jars pretty quickly by reusing jars that other food comes in. It seems like my mom is giving me a jar every other week – nice glass ones with a hinged top and rubber seal.

How I can do better

I want to buy more tea in bulk. We drink a lot of tea (right now I have probably 15 different boxes on hand, including medicinal varieties like “Cold Care”), and although I recycle the boxes and wrappers and compost the tea bag, I feel like it’s still a huge waste. I already have some tea infusers, and have purchased bulk tea in the past – my favorite is Earl Grey with Lavender flowers.

Use your own bags for all your shopping!

Use your own bags for all your shopping – groceries, Menards, Target, Savers, etc.

Over the years I have acquired or purchased canvas, cloth or vinyl bags that I take with me to do all my shopping. Most stores now have their own bags, but there is a lot of difference in quality between bags. My favorite “store brand” bag so far is from Lund’s/Byerly’s. I don’t shop these two stores a lot, but last year they had a coupon in the Blue Sky Guide for a free shopping bag, so I stopped in to get one. Their bag is larger than many store versions, the fabric is a bit sturdier and it folds into a tidy package that snaps shut (folded size is flat, about 6 x 7 inches).

I also really like the nylon bags – I have one from The Produce Exchange – that fold into their own carrying bag (measuring about 3 x 4 inches. Nice and compact, I keep one of these in my purse just in case.

For this past Christmas, I gave my nephew (in college) and niece each a care package of food from Trader Joe’s, using one of their shopping bags as a gift bag. They win for most fun in terms of patterns and styles. They also have a few different sizes and one that’s insulated. I can’t report on sturdiness because I haven’t used them myself (I already have so many bags).

At the grocery store, I also reuse bread bags or the newspaper bag for produce or “bulk” bread products or packaged meat. I literally never get a new bag at the store. Sometimes the cashiers sneak your stuff into plastic bags, so be sure to let them know in advance that you have your own bags. Many stores now give you a credit for each bag when you use your own. It’s typically 5 cents, maybe 10, but in the end it can add up. Another bonus is that reusable bags are stronger, so you won’t rip a handle and drop groceries.

Need bags for your garbage or recycling (or cat litter)??

A lot of times folks want the bags from the store since they use them for their trash can, recycling or cat litter (as told to me by a cashier). I admit that I am forced to obtain the occasional paper bag for recycling (only the paper – I use bins for cans/glass/plastic). At least they recycle that paper bag. I hope someday I can use a bin instead. If you use a paper bag for garbage, it will end up getting buried or burned, resulting in a higher environmental impact. Some stores have biodegradable plastic bags now, which is an improvement, but still not ideal.

There is a lot of information regarding the use of paper and plastic bags. The consensus is that both kinds of bags are bad for the environment, but that paper isn’t necessarily better. To be safe, just say no to any and all brand new bags at the store!

52 weeks to a greener and healthier you

Each week this year I am going to share something that I think is a great way to help the environment and/or the health of you and your family. All of these things I am already doing all the time or at least trying! They will be simple to do, and without a lot of cost, if any. Hopefully many will even save you money. Some things might be more challenging, but nothing will be impossible!! 

It was hard to decide only to put one tip out a week – there are so many things I am passionate about when it comes to reducing waste (and spending less money). But, I think it’s easier to make changes one at a time, rather than a whole list of things. I will cover everything from my top reuse tips, foods to avoid, and more.

Let me know what you think, and post a comment. This was supposed to begin the first week of January, so I will be posting two per week this month.

Thanks and happy 2010!

Salt and Love

The other night, my eleven year-old daughter took some leftovers out of the fridge for a snack. She was so excited to see that there was some of the “chicken stuff” left. She sat down to eat it – cold even – and said “Mom, how do you make food taste so good?”

To which I promptly replied: “Salt.”  She shot me a look like I was crazy. So, then I said: “And love?”

Okay, there was also a little pepper, olive oil and ground ginger powder involved. It did taste pretty good. Now you can try it yourself (please note, when I cook, I don’t actually measure, so this is a best guess and you might need to modify a little):

Chicken Stuff

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ C. rice flour

1 – 2 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. ground ginger powder

1 C. olive oil

½ onion

1 package frozen mixed veggies (green beans, yellow beans, carrots) – use fresh if you got them (and the time).

Instructions

Mix flour, salt and pepper into large bowl.

Cut chicken into one-inch pieces.

Heat ½ the olive oil in large, heavy bottomed, skillet. Careful not to let it get too hot.

Place chicken in flour mixture and coat thoroughly. Add as much as will fit into the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes or so, turn and cook another 5 minutes – maybe longer. Make sure chicken is cooked thoroughly and lightly brown on the outside.

Remove and set on plate with a paper towel on it. Add a little more oil to the skillet and add more chicken. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked. Sprinkle cooked, hot chicken with a little salt on all sides.

After all chicken is removed, add the onion to the olive oil and cook for a couple minutes. Add the veggies and ginger powder. Stir thoroughly. Cover and cook until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add chicken back into pan and cook until warm. Serve with rice or noodles.



The Rise and Fall of My Christmas Letter

The Rise 

As a kid, I used to hand make my Christmas cards, complete with my own logo. I didn’t have too many people on my list: grandmas, aunts/uncles, and friends. Each one had a personal note, also written by hand.

At some point, I think during college, I switched to purchased cards, but still included a handwritten note. Those years are somewhat foggy, but I am pretty sure my list was really small and that I probably didn’t send cards every year (except to the grandmas).

The next clear memory of holiday cards is December 1996 – after our wedding in August of that year. I know we sent a photo from the wedding, but not sure if there was a letter. Also around this time we were on probably our 3^rd or 4^th computer, and that was before external hard drives or jump drives or probably even CD writers. So, if there was a letter, it’s sitting somewhere on a crashed computer hard drive.

For our first card with our oldest daughter – just before she turned one – I had the technology to print the photo right on the inside of the card. I just found one that printed kind of crooked, so that’s how I know we did that. Was there a letter? Anyone out there that kept every Christmas card or letter – now would be the time to step forward! 

I know for sure I used some nice “watermark” Christmas tree paper a couple times to print a letter – one year it was actually a poem of sorts. There was a letter probably several years in a row, and then we skipped a year and decided ever other year would do for a letter, but we still sent the family photo.

Then…

The Fall         

December 2007: our third child is about three weeks old and we get a nice holiday snapshot using the timer on the camera. We were all dressed up ready to go to a party, so it was a good time for a photo. Thankfully I am a bit smarter now with the digital photos, making several backups in multiple locations. That photo sat safe and sound right through Christmas, the oldest daughter’s 9^th birthday (Dec. 26) and the New Year.

I decided a New Year card/letter would suit my life a little better; gives me time to get through Thanksgiving, the Nov. 26 birthday (third child), Christmas and the Dec. 26 birthday (first child). New Year 2009 came and went without a card or letter. Now it’s 2010, the year still more new than old, and I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do for the holiday greeting.

I’ve had the photo since the day before Thanksgiving when we went downtown to Santa’s Workshop. But, for the life of me, that photo could not, would not get printed (internet connection and a non-napping/sleeping child top the list of reasons). After much soul searching, I’ve decided an electronic greeting would be the wave of my future.  

I anguish over the decision as I pack away all the beautiful photos sent to us from friends and relatives. They decorated my mantel – and I have kept them over the years. On the other hand, I think many will turn to digital in the years to come, and we’re all connected online and see updates of the kids on a frequent basis.

I respect (and envy!) all of the friends and family that are able to pull off the great photo cards. Here’s to a great 2010!

The first snow

October 12. A few inches of snow. Very wet snow. Children everywhere excited. Loving it. Singing Christmas songs at recess. Adults, not so much.

On the plus side, it is truly beautiful. It’s so clean and white now, a nice contrast with the still green trees. The downside is that the trees are still green and fall hasn’t really arrived. It’s just plain too early to have snow. It’s making some yell out “see, I told you there’s no such thing as global warming.” For some, “see, I told you global climate change is real.”

When was the last time we had snow this early? Well, I can remember snow in September, so it isn’t completely abnormal. According to the Minnesota Climatology Working Group, there was a recorded snowfall on Aug. 31, 1949 in Duluth, MN. Having all the Christmas displays up and running at Menards and Home Depot doesn’t help, but I am still holding out for fall.

Butterfly bagel

Have you ever gazed at the clouds to find a whale or a castle? Looked at tea leaves in search of a prophecy? Seen a face in a chunk of wood – just begging to be carved? Has food ever appeared as anything but food?

Take a humble half bagel – the other half torn off and eaten previously. Sliced almost all the way through and toasted.