My status on going greener & a new e-tip

September 11, 2008, 11:48 am

Ever since I started posting my environmental tips last week, I’ve been trying really hard to abide by them. As for an update, I can say happily that the kid’s (and DH’s) lunches have been a little greener so far. I’ve gone to using plastic containers (I bought some Ziploc brand ones that work well) to pack their sandwhiches in and then I usually put a snack right in there with the sandwich. So, although I did buy a bunch of individual serving size things before school started and I will use them up, when I can, I’ll start buying more large bags to cut down on the packaging waste.

I’ve also got a system set up now for grocery shopping & honestly, being prepared is what I need. Because if I review the sales ads, make up my list & then go shopping, I’ll remember the reusable bags. Otherwise, when I do a spur of the moment trip, besides spending more money, I usually forget my bags, too.

Now, how about a new tip? This one is about your car & gas. Until recently, I’ve totally been a violator here. Topping off your tank when you fill up with gas - Don’t do it. I never understood this. I mean, if I’m careful, how can it hurt, right? Why not just top it off to get that extra little bit into my tank?

Well, gosh, check this out, straight from the EPA. Below I’ve summarized their reasons (in bold) & then added my commentary.

Topping off the gas tank can result in your paying for gasoline that is fed back into the station’s tanks because your gas tank is full. Although I don’t *think* we live in an area that uses vapor recovery on the gas lines (I remember years ago seeing them, but lately they’re not on our pumps), I had no idea that some gas could get fed back into the line.

Gasoline vapors are harmful to breathe. Well, that’s a given, I guess.

You need extra room in your gas tank to allow the gasoline to expand. I had no idea this was the case. I actually had my check engine light come on for a few months & the final diagnosis was that something was wrong with my vapor recovery system or exhaust something or other. Anyway, initially one shop told me it was my gas cap (isn’t that, like, a standard thing with bad auto shops? “Oh, your check engine light is on? We’ll diagnose that for $85,” and then the answer is always, “It’s your gas cap.” So after getting a new gas cap, it was still on & finally we took it to another shop & they found a crack in a hose somewhere underneath the car. I wonder if me topping off the gas caused this.

Topping off your gas tank may foul the station’s vapor recovery system. Again, I had no idea that it could cause ill effects like this!

So the bottom line is, when the gas pump clicks off, just let it be. Because even if you don’t think you’re causing any troubles, the vapors could be wreaking havoc on the air around you.

Finally, don’t forget about the layout challenge I posted about below! Get your entries in to win!

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Checkout these awesome layouts!

September 6, 2008, 9:34 am

Sorry that I didn’t post a tip yesterday - I’ll continue with some tips next week. Probably not daily, but as often as they pop into my head, I’ll post about them! Today I wanted to share with you some layouts that my readers have posted with my Green: The New Black kit (tomorrow is the big day! It’ll be at SBE tomorrow!) Click on any of the images to be directed to a larger image in the gallery:

I think they all turned out fabulous, don’t you?! Kudos to Jeannie (first 2), Debbie, Aly & Terri for such fab layouts! I’m amazed that most of them turned out to be related to some of my environmental posts! It’s great that not only can I make a kit being inspired by the environment, but that you guys can then go & create layouts with the same inspiration. I think the kit definitely lends itself to that, but as you can see in Terri’s layout, there are so many other uses for it, too!

Stay tuned tomorrow when the kit is released, because if you have it already or pick it up this week, I’ll give you the chance to win a $10 coupon to my store at SBE. I’ll give you all the details about that tomorrow!

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Paper or Plastic?

September 4, 2008, 11:10 am

Paper or Plastic? That is the age old question of grocery shoppers everywhere. So which do you choose? You know what really bugs me about this question? When I go to the grocery store & they ask me if I want paper or plastic, if I say paper, they automatically bag the paper bag IN a plastic bag. Uh, what? If I wanted plastic I’d say plastic. I don’t get it. Years ago this question came about because people were concerned about plastic bags. So there was a drive back to paper bags. But nowadays, it’s like they ask it out of convenience instead of environmental concern. I personally can’t stand those grocery store plastic bags. We get them everywhere. The drugstore, Target, the grocery store. I have a little caddy in my house that stores them & I do reuse them when I can, but they are so unbelievably frail that it’s hard to reuse them sometimes. And, reusing them usually is for trash bags or doggie poo bags, so they end up in the landfill anyway. I do try to get paper bags at the grocery store because we use them to recycle our newspapers. So it’s always helpful to have some on hand. Plus, I figure we get enough plastic bags from the other stores that we never need any plastic bags.

Of course the “green” answer to paper or plastic would be, “neither.” Reusable bags are always better. Lately I see canvas or other reusable bags popping up everywhere. Almost every grocery store has them, I’ve seen them at CVS and Target, too. I purchased a few at Wegman’s a few months ago:

You know what my biggest problem with these bags is, though? I always forget them. I’m trying really hard now to organize my shopping trips better - clip coupons, read the sales flyers and make sure I’ve got everything in order before I shop, because if I don’t, I either a)forget the bags or b)shop on a whim and end up spending more money. So by planning and making sure I remember my bags, it’s actually saving me money.

What if you don’t have reusable bags? Which IS better - paper OR plastic? You’d think paper, right? Well, not necessarily. Paper makes a pretty big environmental (or ecological?) footprint. The amount of trees it takes to create the bags is almost unfathomable. This source says a 15-year old tree makes 700 bags. I have no idea how reliable that is, but here, MSNBC says to make all the paper bags we use each year, it takes 14 million trees. Wow, that’s a lot of trees. Add the actual amount of trees being used to the amount of fuel needed to run the plants to produce the bags, chemicals, etc. and you’re talking some major air pollution. (A whopping 70% more than plastic, according to MSNBC.) OTHO, plastic is not much better. Again, MSNBC says it takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags we use each year. And they amount to 4 times the amount of solid waste as paper. And the plastic never decomposes in a landfill. Biodegradable plastic bags would be nice, but I just checked my stash of plastic bags and not one of them says it’s biodegradable.

The whole thought of solid waste to me is just daunting. The amount of packaging used in everything anymore is sickening to me. I hate it when we get something new & I see all this plastic and cardboard, packing peanuts, plastic ties, large boxes used to shop a small battery…it just makes me so angry that things have to be that packaged. And that’s not even considering food packaging. I already admitted yesterday that I run a disposable kitchen, using rolls and rolls of paper towels, individual servings of crackers and cookies…gosh, I’m just adding to the mounds of trash out there, aren’t I? It’s depressing to think about. Before my last job as an environmental specialist, I worked as a waste disposal coordinator for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste in industry, so I saw the amounts of waste generated each year by industries and it’s amazing to me how much of the general plant trash is packaging waste.

Of course packaging is probably a topic for another blog post completely, as you can see I’ve rambled on about it enough already.

So that I don’t end this blog entry on a really depressing note, and since we’re talking about the grocery store, I wanted to share with you an amazing product find I’ve recently discovered. This is completely NOT environmentally-related, but I love this stuff so much, I had to share. For some reason, I can’t find this in every grocery store, but I did find it at one of the several in our area:

I simply love this stuff I am a sucker for sour things. I love a good, tart lemonade. I LOVE Rita’s tart water ices (green apple, lemon, their old lime & even their new Key Lime). I had this stuff at my brother’s house a few months ago & just had to find it here. If you like the tart stuff, you’ll love this.

Oh, yeah, and another layout share. This is another one from our Pocono trip this summer and another one of my DS, Ty:

I used a template by Jen Caputo, but everything else is by me. The red ribbon wrap, bow and crown are from Cosmic Bowl at SBE. The little flower in the bottom corner is from He Loves Me at SBE and everything else is from my new kit, Green: The New Black, coming to SBE on Sunday!

That’s it for today! Happy Scrapping!

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When you buy a new computer, what do you do with your old one?

September 3, 2008, 11:13 am

Today’s e-tip is about computers. As digital scrappers, we’re pretty reliant on our computers, right? So what do you do with your old one? Me? I’ve donated them to a local charity that rebuilds them to distribute to needy families and schools. Have you thrown yours out? Recycled it somehow? Here’s the scoop on computers. I did a little digging around the EPA’s website for most of this info, just to back up my dusty old knowledge of it. So, some of the specific info here may only be geared towards those of us in the U.S.

Why is it so bad to just dispose of a computer in your trash? Well, besides the fact that it’ll just sit in the landfill, along with lots of other bulky stuff, computers have all sorts of nasty stuff in them that are hazardous to the earth. There’s lead - lots of it, in a CRT (the monitor). There’s cadmium in rechargable batteries used in laptops. Those are both heavy metals which, when put in a landfill, will leach into groundwater. Surely you’ve heard of all the toy recalls because of toys being made with lead paint - well, that lead from our computers getting into the groundwater is just as bad. You’ve got a flat panel montitor, you say? Well, there’s mercury in those - another heavy metal.

So what can you do? Well, you could donate old computers to charities. I totally forget how I found the one near me - I think it was listed in the newspaper or something, but you could try calling your local government & asking if they have any places that accept donations of old computers (or e-waste, it’s sometimes called). Now, I haven’t checked out this site much very recently, but here is a link to a site that offers info on finding a place to donate your computer (or cell phones, printers, any electronics). It’s called Earth 911.

How about recycling? Instead of donating, there are places that actually recycle computers & electronics. The EPA has a helpful little page here that can help you find a recycler in your area. As an example, I’ll use my own EPA Region III. I’m in PA and when I follow the links, I get to this page. It tells me county by county how to recycle my e-waste. And, it even lists Electronic Discards Collection Events. How cool is that? I can find out exactly when they’re having an electronic discards drive & bring my stuff right to them.

Is there anything else I can do? Yeah, you could try to buy green. There’s that word again - “green.” Look for products that claim to have fewer toxic parts - less mercury, less lead. Maybe ones that use less packaging or use recycled materials in the make-up of the computer. This is kind of hard for us as consumers because we really rely on the computer companies to be honest with us & to tell you the truth, when picking out a computer, there is so much to look for, trying to find “green” computers may be difficult. You can always start with ones that are energy efficient. There’s the “Energy Star” rating to look for. That tells you that it’s energy efficient. That’s a good start.

Finally, EPA has this little partnership thing going called Plug-In to eCycling.

EPA has partnered up with lots of retailers and manufacturers to help out us consumers and enable us to e-cycle. You may have seen this - I know I have with my HP printer ink. When I buy new ink, there’s always info there on how to return the old ink cartridges so they can recycle them. (I don’t do that, though…I donate all my used ink cartridges to my kids’ school who then sends them all back to HP and they actually get money for it - even better, right?)

So there you have it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. That’s enough info to last you a lifetime, huh? Recycle, e-cycle, freecycle…seems “cycle” is the hot word this week. On that note, let me first say that I’ve emailed a few people who have contacted me about yesterday’s entry and given out a few free kits to those that promised layouts. So have a look in the galleries this week for some layouts with the new kit, Green: The New Black coming to SBE on Sunday. Here is a layout I did with the kit:

(Credits include other items, too. Everything is by me & in addition to the new “Green” kit coming to SBE, I’ve used the following: Flair from Jelly Buttons by me at SBB, Dotted ribbon from Just4Girls by me at SBE. And I modified a “Smarties” template by Teresa Ferguson.)

Oh, and a little “it’s a small world” update on my Freecycle post. After I posted a few times on my local Freecycle Yahoo Group, I got an email from one of the mods. She was a childhood friend of mine & lived down the street from me all my life. How’s that for weird? So Freecycle does more than help you recycle, it helps you touch base with old friends, LOL!

That’s it for today! Happy e-cycling!

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How about some green tips for back to school?

September 2, 2008, 2:09 pm

So who’s started back to school already? Care to share anything “green” you’ve been doing? I have to admit, this is a tough one for me. I run a really disposable kitchen. There are so many things we can do with our kids to encourage being environmentally sound, but school & lunches - I’m so bad at this. I buy individual sized snacks. I use plastic bags to pack a sandwich. I send the kids to school with a juice box. All those things are being harmful to the environment. Yes, I know reusable containers are the way to go, but I just don’t do it.

So, this is my vow - I’m going to try to be more “green” when it comes to my kids lunches. Here is my tip for the day:

Bento lunches - these are so cool. Bento is a single-portion take out meal or home-packed meal common in Japan. There are lots of sites out there that sell Bento containers & one I’ve been really looking at lately is LaptopLunches.com. The idea is that you have everything all together in one main container & there are no plastic bags. This is what one of the laptop lunch sets looks like:

There are some other really cool looking Bento boxes & stuff, but I don’t even want to go there. 1. I’m afraid my kids will get too caught up in the cuteness & then not eat. 2. I don’t plan on making anything but a basic, standard lunch, so any rice press or things like that just won’t get used. My biggest problem with these Bento sets is that I’m not sure I trust my kids enough yet with them. My 9yo would LOVE this, though. She’s all about organization & I *think* now that she’s starting 4th grade that she should be responsible enough to bring one of these home every day instead of accidentally throwing it out in the trash. My 6yo, however, would probably throw it out. He’s just starting 1st grade, so he has to learn how to have lunch at school, too. Maybe what I’ll do is try to make up some of my own Bento boxes with my own containers & see if that works for us. I do actually have an old container of mine that my Mom bought me a while ago. It’s partitioned & just the size of a square sandwich container, but it’s thicker because it has multiple compartments. Anyway, so I’m rambling now.

I think the basic idea here is to try for a litterless lunch. See what you can do to make your kids have no waste after they’re finished with their lunch. (I draw the line at washable napkins, though. I just can’t send my kids to school with a cloth napkin & expect it to come home.)

And now for another sneak peek of my kit coming to SBE on Sunday:

And since going green with back to school lunches is a difficult thing for me, what I want from you are some tips. What can I do to make a litterless lunch for my kids? Give me some of your tips so I can try to make my kids’ lunches green!

Now for a chance to get my kit before it’s released. But, there are strings attached. Can you create a layout with this by Friday? If so, comment here & I’ll pick a few to get the kit in advance with the stipulation that you create a layout and post it to some galleries by Friday, Sept. 5th. Just agree to post to at least one of these galleries & I’ll pick some winners: SBE, DST or MSA. The winners will create their layout, post it & then email me with the link. So who’s up for the challenge?!

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Green: The new black!

September 1, 2008, 6:58 pm

Have you ever heard either of these expressions? “Going Green” or “The New Black?” Well, I’ve got a new kit coming out called “Green: The New Black” and it’ll be up at SBE on Sunday, September 7th. Going Green means becoming environmentally friendly. Before I became a SAHM, I was an environmental specialist for a company that helped industries be compliant with environmental regulations. Part of that was advising them about ways that “being green” could help them not only be compliant, but also save them money. Lately it seems that “green” is “the new black.” See, black is something that’s always in style, right? So going green? It’s now the thing to do - it’s what’s in style, it’s the new black.

So, to kick off my kit coming out next week, I wanted to start blogging about some tips to help us all become more green. First off, let me show you a little sneak peek of the kit:

All this week I’m going to give some environmental tips, I’ll ask you for some & I’ll even be handing out this kit to some lucky commentors! So keep an eye on my blog, be sure to comment & you may get this kit for free before it even goes on sale!

My environmental tip for today is this: Freecycle.org

What is it? The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,590 groups with 5,720,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Their mission statement: Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

Say what? Well, Freecycle is a place where you can give or get used stuff. Have some furniture that you don’t need anymore? Offer it up on your local Freecycle group and someone may be interested in it. I only just signed up on my local group yesterday, posted 2 items & already they are gone from my house. It helped me de-clutter and it helped someone else get a free rocker/glider and ottoman and a treadmill. That treadmill has been taking up space in my house for years & I never use it. I tried to sell it at a garage sale & it never sold. So now Phyllis has it & can use it because she has trouble walking outside, but wanted to keep active.

What can you do? You can go to www.freecycle.org and enter your town in the search box. Then, join the local group & start giving away stuff! (Or start looking for stuff you might need!)

How does this help the environment? Well, to quote their website & as I said above, “It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.” That treadmill of mine? I’d have thrown it out if someone didn’t come take it from me. Sure, I could have just “curbed it” - put it out on the curb with a note that said, “Free” but we don’t get a lot of drive-by traffic in our neighborhood, so it would have probably ended up in the trash. So I did my part to keep that monster piece of equipment out of the landfill & instead it’s in someone else’s home.

So have you ever used Freecycle? Post here & let me know if you’ve ever heard of it or used it & what you think!

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Hey, look at me! I’m at SBE!

June 15, 2008, 5:57 am

Yep, that’s right, I now have some exclusive products at Scrapbook-Elements! You can check out my store at SBE HERE. I’ve still got items up at SBB and ShopJMT, but now I moved some of my items to SBE (just a few) and will start stocking my store there with new products. And, to celebrate, check out this deal:

My newest kit is called, “He Loves Me {He Loves Me Not}“ and for 1 week only, you can get the full kit PLUS 4 quick pages (they are 2 double page spreads). AND, for Sunday & Monday only, get the whole kit & kaboodle for 20% off! The regular price of the kit will be $5.99, so for the next 2 days, get it all for just $4.79. That’s quite a deal for quite a debut, huh?

And, while you’re at it, be sure to check out what I’ve added to my store at SBE, because it’s all 20% off through Monday only. Here’s a little sampler by way of a photobucket slideshow (I love these, LOL!):

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A sight I’m not sure I’ll ever see again.

June 14, 2008, 8:48 am

The dog does not leave the cat alone. They have NEVER been this close without fighting. The cat was lying down & the dog just jumped right up there with him. I snapped this photo & then within a few seconds, the cat decided Sabrina was too close for comfort & left. I’m glad I got this & can only HOPE that this will be more common an occurrence as the dog gets older.

(Frame credits - my Mangled Frames at SBB.)

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Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

May 26, 2008, 2:07 pm

I did some baking today. Well, first, I did tons of yardwork, both today & yesterday, so I decided to treat myself to a little relaxation by baking. And, since my dear friend, Sarah of Bellissima Cakes sent me a wonderful goodie package of cake stuff, I had to try it out. Here’s how they turned out:

Now, let me mention that these are not completely from scratch. But I did doctor up a box of cake mix and made the frosting by myself! So here’s the recipe, adapted from “Chocolate from the Cake mix Doctor” by Anne Byrn.

Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

1 package devil’s food cake mix from a box

1 cup water

1 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayo)

1-4oz package of egg substitute (you could use 2 eggs instead)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Place cake mix, water, mayo, eggs and vanilla in mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for 2 minute. Scrap down sides as necessary & beat on medium for 2 minutes. Scoop large dollops into 24 cupcake liners. You should use most of the mix, if not all. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until they spring back when touched or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost (see recipe below).

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3-4 tablespoons milk

Mix butter, vanilla and 1 cup sugar in mixing bowl and blend until incorporated. Add the remaining sugar alternately with 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending on low speed. Increase mixer to medium and beat until light & fluffy. Use this to frost cupcakes.

I also wanted to mention that I used Sarah’s amazing homemade pure vanilla. It is incredible - she needs to package this stuff up and sell it. It’s 100% Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. I never realized the difference a good vanilla could make, especially in a vanilla buttercream frosting! And, for my cupcakes, I used a cake decorating baggie thing (I’m no baker, that’s for sure - can’t you tell? I don’t even know the names of the tools I used. Pastry bag - that’s what it is, right?) Anyway, I did some fancy decorating, because I was playing around with all the cool stuff that Sarah sent me, but you could easily just frost the cupcakes with a knife. I also dyed some of the frosting purple to add accents - I used Wilton cake coloring pastes for that. They are super cool & so concentrated, you only need a tiny bit to color the frosting!

I can’t wait to try more stuff. Ty’s birthday is coming up & I think I might try to make & decorate a cake just for him! Wish me luck!

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Well, well, well, Lyme Disease it is :(

May 16, 2008, 9:45 pm

I saw my doctor on Thursday & sure enough, my Lyme tests came up positive. They ran 2 different tests - one that tests for the antibodies in my blood (they’re there) and another that identified a few strands of the bacterias in my blood. A bunch came up “reactive.” I go between being really worried & thinking it’s not a big deal. Since it was the allergy doctor I was seeing when we found out, he’s the one who’s treating me. But, I’m going to get a 2nd (and 3rd) opinion by seeing my regular doctor and a doctor friend of the family, too, next week. The allergy doctor put me on strong antibiotics for the next 4 weeks (and after reading all about Lyme & treatments, I actually asked him if he could up the dosage so we can be sure to knock this thing out - he agreed). But, I want to now switch the care to my regular doctor just so I can be sure I’m getting the best care I can. The biggest thing that worries me is that I’ve read so much about how steroids are contraindicated with Lyme Disease. Meaning you absolutely shouldn’t take steriods when you have Lyme because the steroids can weaken the immune system, allowing the bacteria to basically have it’s way with you. And I was on some major doses for several weeks to help with the hives. So those little Lyme bacteria may be running wild in my blood. I’ve also heard that antihistamines can also weaken your immune system, so since my allergies really aren’t bothering me now, I may go off the antihistamines completely. I haven’t told my allergy doctor that yet, but I think after I see the other 2 doctors, I may tell him that after I kick this Lyme Disease, I can see him to talk about what allergy treatment I may need. The allergy doctor seems to think my bad cough & even the hives aren’t related to the Lyme’s, but I’m sure they are. I have a feeling that my body reacted to the bacteria of Lyme’s by making hives. And the cough could go along with the immune system being suppressed. Who knows - me & my google diagnosis - what do I know?

So we’ll see what develops over the next few weeks. All I know is that I’ve been dead tired today but can’t be sure it’s the Lyme’s (or the fact that I’m a mom of 3 - all of which were home today) and I’ve also had headaches & this cough. Is it related? Isn’t it? I don’t know, but I want to be aggressive with the treatment up front so I can kick this as best I can.

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