Learn Every Day About Our Green Earth: A Review

I recently read, Learn Every Day About Our Green Earth 100 Best Ideas from Teachers to get some ideas for my son. Firstly, there are no pictures of the actual projects, which I find annoying. That being said, there are some good ideas for younger kids, ages 3 and up.

The benefit of the book really is the teaching tips more than the projects themselves. In that respect, I'd say the book was done well. There are a lot of reference materials given, things I intend to look into. I will post on them when I do.

I don't know that I'd recommend buying this book, but certainly pick it up at the library.

Movember: Mustaches Fundraiser For Cancer

This isn't really about going green, but it has everything to do with humanity and so I'm posting it on all my blogs.

My husband is taking part of Movember, where men grow their mustaches for the month of November in order to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG). My husband is part of Team Mo Bicless.

If you can't afford to give yourself, you can join the team to help support and to help raise money for the cause. You do not have to grow a mustache to be part of the team, so ladies you can join too as a MO Sista "A woman who loves a mustache".

After losing my father to cancer, I've heard so many people's stories that I don't believe there's anyone who hasn't been affected by cancer.

I am selling sets of mustache magnets and stickers here. A portion will go towards the charity.

Is Gordon Ramsay Killing The Planet?

Okay, here's the deal, I love Gordon Ramsay. I watch all his shows, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, The F Word, but there is something about all these shows that kills me. The amount of food wasted on these shows is crazy.

I mean I get that there's a certain level of quality expected from his kitchens. Still, I can't help, but hope that there's some poor families in the back digging into these 3 inch think cuts of prime beef that they throw out consistently because it has been waiting more than a few seconds.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a vegetarian, but animals have died here. What a shame it is that they should be discarded like that, especially when there are so many starving people out there.

Of course, it's not just Gordon Ramsay but I don't see behind the scenes at a lot of restaurants so I have to point out what I see, but it is a general message for all wasteful chefs.

Going Green with OCD

Okay, so I mentioned that I wanted to do some more serious topics and this is about as serious as I get. Few people know this about me, but I have OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While that can manifest in many different ways, for me, it is an obsession with personal hygiene. You may be asking what that has to do with going green, but it actually has a lot to do with it for me.

For one, I already wash my hands a ridiculous amount of times in a day. Trying to go green means washing out and handling things that are typically considered trash. For me, that goes against my natural urges. It makes me feel dirty and when I feel dirty, I wash.

Since I've started being more environmentally friendly, my hand washing and cleaning habits have shot through the roof. The more I wash, the more water I use, of course.

Then there's the matter of paper towels. I have to clean certain things in my house with paper towels because once they touch certain things, they are contaminated in my mind. I wouldn't be able to use a cloth because I would have to throw that away. Washing the cloth wouldn't be enough for me. If I were to clean the toilet, for instance, with a rag and washed that rag, the rag would contaminate everything else in the wash.

I know it sounds crazy, but it's what makes sense to me. Perhaps even more bazaar is the fact that since I've had my son, I cannot drink tap water. Before I got pregnant, I was strongly against bottled water, but while pregnant, I could not stand the smell of tap water. I am normally very sensitive to smell anyway, but when I was pregnant, forget about it... it was ridiculous the things that made me physically sick. Well, while I would like to say that changed back when I had my son, it did not. I still cannot stand the smell of tap water and so, I'm ashamed to say, I drink bottled water.

I also cannot stand the smell of pillow cases and wash rags. That, coupled with the fact that I have to wash my blankets if someone else touches them, means a lot of laundry, which means more water and more energy.

Then there's the more obvious things like sanitary wipes and ridiculous things I use. The funny thing is that I don't think of myself as being afraid of germs. I know, it doesn't make sense. It's far more complicated than I can describe in a single post. This is all just a taste of how OCD hinders my becoming a better environmentalist. How's that for serious?

"Green Guide for Artists" Book Review

Green Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist --I'm going to be honest, this is for a more "Eco-Conscious" person than I am. The majority of the book centers around making your own paints and adhesives. While I would like to be that person who would invest the amount of time it would take to mix my own paints, it's probably not going to happen.

Now, for those out there who have some time and maybe think this sounds like fun, then this book will tell you all you need to know.

The Green Crafter Book Review

I recently picked up The Green Crafter: 52 Eco Friendly Projects for Every Week of the Year at the library. It features projects like a sock monkey, a sun pinata, sand toys, a kite, etc.

Frankly, and I think this is because I look at so many crafts, I wasn't too impressed. While I like the idea of making things from what could be considered trash, I prefer that they no longer resemble what they were originally. I mean to cut up a milk carton with a yogurt cup in back can be a fun project, but I don't want that sitting around as a permanent fixture in my house. I'm just being honest.

There were some good projects like the sewing and the jewelry items shown, so it wasn't all bad. I just don't think I would buy the book, personally.

Eco Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle

As far as craft books go, this is a good one, especially since it's green crafts. They use everything from the plastic from six packs to milk jugs and bottles. Sometimes these books can get cheesy but this isn't one of them. These are things I can see people who take decor seriously actually using in their homes.

The crafts are pretty easy but fun. I'll probably try some of these myself. I'll definitely post pics when I do.

This, Not That: Part Deux

As I mentioned in a recent post about "Greening up your dishwasher", using dishwashers are actually better than washing dishes by hand.


Along the same lines, car washes are better than doing it by hand. Earth911 explains it best:

When we home wash, the run-off water goes untreated into storm drains, and eventually ends up in rivers, streams and wetlands. The dirty water may contain soap, detergent, residue from exhaust frames, gasoline or motor oil. Car washing
soap often contains phosphates and other nutrients, which spur the growth of algae. Excess algae not only block sunlight and prevent photosynthesis, but they use up oxygen.

Commercial car washes are required to drain wastewater into sewer systems, where the water is treated. For this reason, commercial car washes have less of an environmental impact than home-washing. Also, high pressure nozzles and pumps minimize water usage. The average home wash uses 80-140 gallons of water while the commercial average is 45 gallons.

Read the whole article on eco car washing here.

Some car washes supposedly have ways to recycle and re-use the water. Even better, Treehugger has an article about a waterless wash called No Wet. There are others as well, but I have not used any myself...yet.


Hanging your clothes to dry is obviously better for the environment than using a dryer. Now, I don't currently do this. I'm in the process of getting my house ready to sell, so I don't see the point in putting in a clothesline, but I fully intend to put one at my new house. I know they have folding/retractable ones now that don't have to be a huge eye sore like the old ones were.

I believe we have to be realistic about what we're willing to do. Not everyone is Ed Begley. Maybe it's what we aim for, but that's something you have to work up to. Even if you don't put all your clothes out, some are better than none.

New sites & various recycled crafts

Well, I finally got my copy of Green Christmas from the library. Extremely late, but it turned out okay because I didn't love the books ideas. Some of the tips were too green for my liking. I mean I'm not going to cut out Christmas to go green and I don't think you have to. Mind you the book doesn't say that, but after so many extreme tips, you begin to feel like it's implied.

The most useful tips I got from it were actually web sites I had not heard of, like Crafting A Green World. I have only begun looking over this site, but I've already found some great stuff.


I especially liked the rag pillows and Brown Paper Bag Recipe Cards.

Another site I learned about is closely related to a post I did on cardboard crafts. It's called Fold School, love the name by the way. It has some directions on building what is supposed to be stable cardboard furniture. It's not the biggest selection, but for someone with a lot of cardboard and time on their hands, it could be fun. I'd add some fabric or paint to it if it were me. Let me know if you try it and I'll do the same. As it is right now, all my boxes are going toward packing.

From Crafting A Green World, I found some other great sites on their blogroll. Again, I know it's late but I just had to post about these glittery recycled bulbs I found on Craft Chi. How awesome are they? Not to mention these cool fabric masks. I can tell I'll have to re-visit this site often.



There's also instructions on making this very handy pencil case out of mailing tubes, a bag made from a printed sweater and a jewel case pen holder below.

Green Christmas

I was just looking up some books at the library, my green source of getting media nowadays, and found a book title that might interest you. It's called, Green Christmas : how to have a joyous, eco-friendly holiday season by Jennifer Sander.

It's a new book and so I had to put it on hold myself. Thus, I haven't read it yet, but wanted to mention it, so you can reserve your copy asap. Hope it's a good one.

Is Green the new Black???

I started this blog to share info on going green as I learned it myself. So, by no means do I pretend to know everything about the best ways to be more environmentally conscientious. However, someone will have to explain to me why I keep watching shows where people are "going green" by ripping out their existing cabinets, counter tops and flooring, even if it is to replace them with more sustainable materials.

It seems to me that if the materials are already in use, it would make more sense to continue to use them until they aren't usable any longer. Instead, people are taking perfectly good items, items made of materials that have already been sacrificed, if you will, and throwing them away.

Even if they recycle them, it just seems like a waste. The trees are already dead. To remove these things from your home just to be able to say that you have a "green" home sounds very trendy to me and that scares me.

Frankly, anytime that Hollywood gets involved with a cause, I worry that it won't last. Just think about when everyone was for animal rights and models went around saying they'd rather be naked than wear fur. Fast forward to now when those same models are wearing what? Fur.

I seriously hope that caring about our planet isn't just a trend that will fade much like being patriotic faded too soon after 9/11. It's up to you and I to make sure that doesn't happen people.

Sample Green Products for Free

I'm not sure where I heard about it but I believe it was a blog I know and trust. The site is Free Green Cleaners and you sign up, free of charge, for the possibility of receiving free green products to test and review. According to their site:

You can post your review to your blog, myspace, a product review site, or anywhere you feel is appropriate. We do not set limits on the length or content other than it must relate to the product you received and it must contain at least two links back to us.

I don't know about you, but I signed up and I'm eager to receive a product to test. I, of course, will post my reviews here, for everyone to see. Again, it's free, so give it a try if you want. If not, pass the word on to someone who might be interested.

The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers & Thomas M. Kostigen

The official title, The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time by Elizabeth Rogers & Thomas M. Kostigen. This book reads a little like a reference book. It defines terms, educates you about shocking statistics and includes tons of resources to further your pursuit of knowledge. Amongst this, it features snippets of stars experiences and little tips on going green. These stars include, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks and more.

What I think the book lacked was an extension of the tips provided. They would give little tips here and there but only touching on subjects before jumping to the next. I think the book could have stood to be lengthier, covering the issues more in-depth. So that, not only do I know what the terms mean with the scary stats attached to them, but now I know what to do about it.

'going green' art contest

Apparently the FAA Credit Union is holding an art contest for youth on “What 'Going Green' Means to Me”. Here is the information if you're interested, or you can just go to FAA Credit Union's site.

My point it writing about this is not so much about this specific contest but because I think this is a great idea. It gets kids involved, which is important because you gotta start teaching this stuff while they're young. We definitely need the next generation to grow up knowing how important this issue is. They are our future after all.

It's also a fun way to get people involved. Please let me know of any other contests like this one, or if you have any ideas of your own that you want help implementing. I'm going to give some thought to this and see what I can do. My father in law is a teacher and so maybe I can get his school involved somehow.