produce bags

Those of you who know me know that I am a little environmentally friendly. I almost never get plastic bags at stores. I always have my reusable ones in the car or hanging on the garage door. If you know me well enough to come through my garage they have probably beaten you up at some point.
Anyway, I hate that I have to use plastic bags to get my produce. So I was super excited when Delia did her rainbow series and made these. These 3 are my version. Love them. They gray is huge and we use it for beach toys, it was Ed's old t-shirt. They green is mine and super light. The small one is one of Anya's old t-shirts that was gymboree and super cute and stained beyond repair, so I made into the cutest produce bag ever!!

Warning: they are not good for green beans, or cherries. That is all I have found so far.

DIY

Lately in my quest to become greener, I have been making my own cleaners and laundry detergent. I have to say they are super economical also. Here are the recipies, I have had a few family and friends ask...

Laundry detergent
If you can make pasta you can make this.
1/2c. washing soda ( made by arm&hammer, in laundry isle >3.00 a box)
1/2c. borax ( in green box, laundry isle >3.00 a box)
1/2 bar Fels Naptha soap grated ( in laundry isle 1.00-1.99)

Heat 1 gal of water on stove, add ingredients and melt together. After all melted dump into a 5 gal bucket, allow to cool. It will turn into a gel. This takes a few hours or overnight. Mix with 2 gal. hot water. Mix well. Store in 3 gal container. Shake before using in washer, it'll seperate a little. This lasts my family about 6 wks. (6-8 loads a week) It ends up being about .01 per load. Has no smell, and I use vinegar as a fabric softner in a downy ball.
* We have SUPER sensitive skin and we react less to this than to ANY other detergent I have tried.

All Purpose cleaner
Fill a large container(1 gal) with water add 2c. white vinegar. Add 2 T. of peppermint castile soap and 5-10 drops of Tea Tree Oil. I use this on everything. Windows, floors, bathroom, etc. I love it. It smells a little vinegary but it is not bad and cleans great. It is also good for detailing your car. (At least that is what Ed says) If you use on window make sure your cloth is very dry.

My visiting teacher Alice will be teaching me to make soap soon too. I'll let you know how that goes. They will be Christmas presents!

Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22nd. Since I have discovered my "Green" side I have decided to post some things that I have learned that I find very interesting and I hope that you may too.
For Earth day we are going to a park to clean up trash and neaten up a park that we hike at quite often. What is your family doing?

I love Wegmans( a grocery store in NJ, PN,and NY). If it were not for Wegmans I don't think I would be as Organic as we are. It would be very expensive otherwise. I have found that at certain grocery stores things are cheaper and most grocery stores have a decent supply of organic items. I love Costco for milk, soy milk and bread, Trader Joes for everything else and Wegman's for all my fresh stuff and baby supplies.
If you can't go totally organic stick to the top 12 list
meat
milk
coffee(you should also make sure it is fair trade)
peaches
apples
sweet bell peppers
celery
strawberries
lettuce
grapes
potatoes
tomatoes
For more detailed info go to the www.thedailygreen.com and search the dirty dozen

Now I must confess we do not eat organic meat, we are trying to get there but it is super expensive. We also do not use organic coffee, we don't drink it, but we do make sure our chocolate is fair trade.

Now onto beauty products

Avoid these products if possible:
Diethanolamine(DEA)
Momoethanolamine(MEA)
FD&C color pigments
Imidazolidinyl urea and DMDM hydantoin
Petrochemicals
Parabens
Polyethylene glycol
Propylene glycol
Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate


This will keep you skin and body much healthier.

Do small steps, bring your own reusable bags. Most grocery stores sell bags for about .99 or bring a canvas or cloth bag that you have from home. A backpack always works if you're only picking up a few things.

Hang dry some of your clothes. Not only will you reduce your electric or gas bill you will also diminish the amount of Carbon output your house has.

Switch your light bulbs to the energy saving ones. They last up to 7 years and will decrease your electric bill and they have less carbon output.

Put your electronics on a power strip to avoid your house drawing the electricity even when they are off.

Please do not think I am so crazy lady who has it all together. I am that woman who drives her full size SUV to whole foods! But do a little it helps a lot! I hope you liked this post. If not sorry and Happy Earth Day!

Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh

Apparently so are white and blue.

Many of you know that I am a little crunchy! I have been buying organic eggs for a while now. We go through eggs like crazy 1-2 doz. a week. I was spending 8.00 in eggs a week. Ed came home one day and said that there was a guy at work who has 30 chickens at his house and he is selling the eggs. ( Chickens lay 1 egg per day per chicken) I asked him to ask if they were natural chickens and free range and how much he wanted per doz. Ed came home and said that he wants 1.00 a doz. I almost died. Fresh, local, natural eggs for 1.00. I love living in the country and saving 6.00 a week.

Leah the late bloomer

My Mother practically died when I told her I wanted to borrow her canning stuff. I canned tomatoes this summer, only 4 quarts. I am now canning applesauce. I love homemade applesauce and Ed was convinced he didn't like it, so a challenge was issued. I made zucchini bread and then proceed to make applesauce out of 9 lbs. of apples, Empire and Fuji to be exact. May I add it does not even contain sugar, a little cinnamon yes but no sugar. Ed tried it and liked it so much he decided to join in.

I must say I am quite proud of the finished product. And it is delicious.

I talked to my Mom on the phone today and asked if I could borrow her sewing machine until Christmas. I am making most of my presents this year.Again she almost died. I could hear her picking herself up off the floor, almost as good as the time I called home and told her I got my bellybutton pierced when I was 15.(It was a joke) I always thought I was the black sheep of the family, not a domestic bone in my body, but I guess I was just Leah the late bloomer. I may have found a new hobby. It goes great with our new eating style. Organic and natural. I never thought I would turn into this.