Green Options

How would you like to win a $350 shopping spree on Etsy?  Imagine this, 14 people will win a $350 Etsy shopping spree. Really, I detest a contest where I know I don’t stand a chance of winning. This one has some really good odds. 14 winners? I’m one of them (yeah, that’s my mantra).

All you need to do is go on over to Etsy and vote for your favorite item(s) in the Handmade Kids Challenge. What could be greener than handmade crafts sold by their respective craftsmen online? There is a Handmade Kids Eco Friendly category with some great looking stuff.

I am so wasted on cheap wine tired from all the summer activities that this will be a short post.

Y’all may or may not remember my head lice trauma. If you don’t recall, the journey begins here. Unfortunately it continued here (careful I cuss a lot). I learned a lesson, it’s a horrible lesson.

Not every mother will keep their child home when they have headlice. *sigh*

Today we did the lice wash. Not because we’re infested, but because we don’t want to be. We’re a few weeks out of any infestation, and I’d like to keep it that way. In preparation for back to school I’m washing everyone with Happy Heads, I’ll continue doing so two to three times a month ad infinitum.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
—Albert Einstein

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.
—Henry David Thoreau

We must live simply, so that others may simply live.
—Gandhi

Ah, the simple life. No worries, no responsibilities, it’s the stuff of dreams. But in today’s world, living is far from simple. Simplifying your life often seems like one more impossible task on your long to-do list. Even though common sense tells us that the most environmentally conscious life is a simple one, it’s much easier said than done.

KusiKuy Clothing Company is so much more than its name implies. KusiKuy was founded in 1997 by Tamara Stenn, a Peace Corps Volunteer who was inspired by the idea of fair trade and what it meant for local indigenous populations.

KusiKuy specializes in warm alpaca yarn from Bolivia. All of their yarns are hand spun and made from the fibers of the alpaca which remote, nomadic communities tend. Their company is culturally sensitive and respects the culture and ceremony of the animals that these communities keep.

They sell a wide range of weights of the yarn, which is a strong, durable fiber, perfect for the Bolivian climate and indigenous to the area. It comes in over 25 different natural colors, perfect for accessories and socks. KusiKuy does not sell their yarn to yarn stores, and instead caters to the home crafter and small business crafter. Many socks and hats are created from their yarn.

When you think of “buying in bulk,” you may well envision barrels of mustard and mayonnaise, cereal boxes large enough for your family to live in, and tubes of toothpaste too big to pick up with one hand. And, depending on where (and how) you shop, you may not be far off the mark.

However, buying bulk does not necessarily mean putting a strain on your car’s shocks and struts whenever you go on a shopping spree. Nor does it mean listening to your shelves groan under the weight of gargantuan packages of…well, you name it. Nor does it mean endless meals with sides of ketchup in order to beat the dreaded expiration date.

Just about every natural foods store nowadays has a much more manageable option for buying bulk: bulk bins. If you head on over to the Bulk Section, you will find little plastic or glass dispensers of countless foods, herbs and spices, teas, and sometimes even soaps or other household products. So, for example, you can hit the bulk bins and stock up on oatmeal, dried fruits and nuts for trail mix (make it yourself or get some already made in another bulk bin), and maybe pick up some ground ginger and peppermint for tea.

Bulk bins are fantastic ways to be a conscious consumer for a number of reasons.

Bulk items are universally cheaper than products on the shelves. This frugality factor arises primarily from the fact that purchasing in large volumes costs less; this is why Wal-Mart can sell stuff so cheaply, because it buys LOTS AND LOTS of everything. Since the stores purchase voluminous bags of bulk items (25, 50, and even more pounds each), it pays the manufacturer/distributor less and so can “pass the savings on to you!” Ergo, you fork out less money when you dip into a bulk bin.

According to a recent article in USA Today, Costly College Prerequisite: Decorate Dorm, 17.6 billion dollars is expected to be spent on back to school shopping for students in kindergarten through college this year. That’s $527.08 per family - an 18% rise from last year. Back to school shopping falls right behind holiday shopping for retailer’s most profitable season.

Why?

Sure, there are some necessities that need to be bought when going back to school. My sons both have a page long list of items that they are required to have on the first day of school - pencils, composition notebooks, scissors, a box of tissues, etc. When I was a kid, schools supplied those things, but budgets are ever tightening and now families are required to buy them. I certainly won’t be buying $527.08 worth of necessary supplies, though. I don’t think anyone will be buying $527.08 of necessary supplies, unless their definition of necessary is different from mine.

I was in Target last night, and there was an entire section dedicated to the necessities for a college dorm room. This was separate from the traditional back to school section with school supplies. This section had coordinated dorm bedding, rugs, lamps, wall hangings and desk top accessories. Other items that many college kids consider necessities are computers (okay, I’ll give them that), microwaves, TV’s, DVD players, gaming consoles, mp3 players, hand held gaming systems, and stereos.

Perhaps no one knows better than I do what it means to take individual responsibility for my environmental impact.  For those of you familiar with my blog, you know that for the past three months, I have been trying to live 100% environmentally sustainably within urban Pittsburgh.  A formidable task, indeed.

In Robin Shreeve’s provocative article, “Whose Responsibility is Sustainable Consumerism?”, she champions the youngest generation’s recognition that the responsibility for our actions lies with us individually, not mainly with corporations.  Three months ago, I would have toasted to her conclusion.  (Of course, I then believed we don’t need corporations whatsoever and we could live without them and be sustainable.)  Today, however, my reaction to Robin’s article is different.  I’m inclined to deeply disagree.

During the sustainable living experiment called the Sust Enable Film Project (which concludes by midnight today), I would argue that I succeeded in living sustainably less than a dozen days of the 3-month project.  Does this fact disappoint me?  At first, it did.  But I will tell you why my experiment failed.

There are systems in the United States–for getting food, for getting rid of our trash, for flushing away our body wastes–that collectively (and historically), we have all agreed to adopt and abide by.  They seem(ed) like the best solutions for problems we all face, and as a society (through the government) wereinforce these systems.  This was clear to me every time I flushed a public toilet, and another huge chunk was subtracted from my sustainable water use for the day.  This became even clearer when I learned that many sustainable living methods–such as dumpster diving, squatting, and building a composting toilet–are outright illegal in many towns.

Doing something illegal (like dumpster diving) if it seems right to you… that’s one thing.  Civil disobedience: often harmless, functional, and a true expression of freedom.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  But going hungry because the society-subverting alternatives are more difficult, demanding or have greater consequences than the unsustainable, mainstream options?

A new study titled Green AMPlified is aimed to “uncover how the growing ‘Green’ movement is impacting the way consumers perceive, evaluate and talk about companies and brands,” according to Anastasia Toomey of the AMP Agency which conducted the study of 18-49 year olds in April of this year.

The results of the study are very interesting, and at least one of the findings I find both interesting and frustrating. According to the survey, the majority of American consumers feel that corporations hold more of a responsibility to create environmental changes than individuals do.

According to the findings:

close to all American consumers (90%) believe that acting in an environmentally responsible way is important, but feel corporations hold most of the responsibility to implement change over their own personal efforts and are increasingly implementing eco-friendly evaluation into their product purchasing decisions.

and

over half (53%) of consumers factor a company’s social and environmental activities into their purchasing decisions and while overall, consumer’s personal actions to protect the environment show minimal sacrifice in terms of changing one’s lifestyle, consumers are ready to reward those companies that prove their commitment to the cause

One of the easiest ways to lessen your carbon foot print is to switch to cloth grocery bags. Considering the BYOB approach (Bring Your Own Bag) isn’t as difficult as it sounds. The truth of the matter is, any tote bag that you have laying around will work well and when it comes to being truly eco-friendly, using something you already have, or making a bag from existing materials is always the best way to go.

However, some smart eco-friendly designers have created bags that will make your transition super easy. As a busy mom who’s already lugging a big diaper bag and two kids around, I’m happy to purchase new bags if I know that I’m actually going to use them. Like most folks, the idea of switching to cloth bags isn’t the problem; it’s remembering to bring them with you. The beauty of the new cloth grocery bags on the market is that they actually fit more than the ones you might have hidden in your closet. So, if you’re definitely looking for the convenience factor, consider my top 5 bag choices.

At Cool Mom Picks, I’ve had the pleasure of testing out some amazing cloth grocery bags, many of which are created by small companies who are truly dedicated to green-minded living. But, like most people, I’ve got my personal favorites.

OK, so the penguins in top hats are a little cheesy, but I’m always pleased to find organic cotton PRINTS. There’s a wealth of solids out there, but few prints. And since it was over 100 degrees for more days than EVER last month in Austin, I’ll take cool thoughts where I can get them. (In case you like the penguins, though, it’s a 54 inch wide organic cotton jersey knit.)

Penguins aren’t all that Wildrose Farm Organics has to offer, though. They have a range of fabrics available in either blanket form or by the yard, since their primary business is making clothing and rugs from organic and sustainable textiles.

In honor of the impending wedding season, The Nature Conservancy offers tips to make your special day one Mother Nature will celebrate.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something… green? It’s really not as out of the ordinary as it sounds—last year, Brides.com estimated that approximately 33% of future brides and grooms in the U.S. are planning an eco-friendly wedding.

Today, The Nature Conservancy is issuing tips for planning a greener wedding or commitment ceremony, with ideas from invitations through

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