Green changes made in 2010?

I would have no idea where to begin my list! I have made many changes in my lifestyle in recent years, what a lot of people call "going green". These were lifestyle changes made for specific reasons: personal health, economics, and environmental to name a few.

1. I stopped using conditioner on my hair, liquid shower gels, liquid laundry detergent and laundry fabric softener. I wanted to reduce my plastic consumption, as well as the chemicals I was exposed to and that I was exposing the environment to. Plus, it saves me money to buy less!

2. I stopped taking plastic grocery sacks to the store. I collected and made my own reusable totes that I now keep in my vehicle. I worked for months to remember to use them and have achieved success! It probably took me 6 months to get in the habit. The occasional plastic grocery sack that ends up in my home gets reused over and over again until it falls apart and then gets recycled.

3. I use a different version of Luna Pads (that Cat talked about) from Many Moons Alternatives. I even managed to make my own so that I have plenty in supply for those light days!

4. I use a homemade deodorant powder or a mineral stone instead of commercial deodorant. Not every day, because summertime in Tennessee while I am in class is painfully hot! So, right now, it is a weekend, vacation and winter weather option for me.

5. I wear mostly cotton clothing. As items needed to be replaced, I purchased cotton. I gifted away a lot of my non-cotton fibers.

6. I compost. Anything that can be composted, is. I save scraps in a bucket in the freezer until I carry it to the compost heap as it saves on smells and potential bugs!

7. I stopped using paper towels and paper napkins and paper tissues. I have fabric for that!

8. I switched to a 100% recycled toilet paper that is wrapped in paper (no plastic there!)

9. I replaced my incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones. It was a challenge to find the globe style bulbs I wanted for my bathroom fixtures, but I did!

10. I stopped using Brita Filters for my water. I found that the water quality here was fine and that it tasted fine as well. I use aluminum or steel bottles to carry my water.

11. I am more diligent about requesting paper packaging on any item that I have shipped to my home. Companies are wonderfully agreeable in most instances!

12. I canceled all magazines, eliminated junk mail and catalogs that are sent to me.

What have you done?

End of year purge

Now that the end of the year has arrived, it is time for that final household purge. I have boxes of items in my garage that have been tagged for removal, but either they have not been taken, or I never had time for that yard sale! So, they have been posted on Freecycle for a 'come and get it' opportunity.

During 2010, I purged many pounds of items from my house: fabric (some scraps, some yardage), baby bibs, quilts (small ones that I sold, gifted or gave to charity), tablecloths, glassware, dishes, clothing, Barbies, toys, puzzles, games, videos, DVDs, computer games, books, a TV, DVD player, hospital bed, wheelchair, entertainment center, tables, board games, as well as assorted household knick-knacks, in addition to recycling glass, cans, paper, and plastics.

I was just reading Katie's blog "Making this home" and she has wonderful thoughts that mirror my own: "I think we introduce a lot of unnecessaries into our lives. It makes everything more complicated than it needs to be. Our lives are overwhelmed and cluttered. Somehow, we find ourselves decluttering again and again. Criminy! This is a cycle I don’t want to be a part of. Now I am the only person on earth who can control how I live my life. You are the only person who can control yours.

Be true to yourself, not your stuff." (Katie at Making this Home)

At the start of 2010, I had a list of 10 tasks to accomplish in 2010. While I did not make all of them every month, and in fact I stopped blogging about them somewhere around the time school started, I did make progress overall. One of the items on that list was to "reduce my personal belongings"; that was the one that I know I managed to accomplish!

No, I am not going to make another list or resolution for 2011. I would like to keep track of what I purge from my life in 2011 though and how I accomplish that.

I often talk to people about my lifestyle and they ask how I managed to get to the point where I have very little, if any, junk mail. Or they ask how I manage to remember to bring reusable bags with me shopping.

My answer is always the same. One step at a time. It takes days, weeks, months to accomplish a change in behavior and attitude. It does not happen overnight and a lot of people get frustrated with themselves when change does not happen immediately.

So, slow down, take one day at a time and think about one change you want to make.

I am already in a mindset of reducing my personal belongings so this will be a manageable task.

Christmas Break, Day 11

Yes, I know I skipped days 9 and 10, but I was busy!

Day 9 was Christmas Day. Vince and I spent a wonderfully quiet day together. We exchanged our 'under the tree' gifts and had many laughs.

For a little background information:

For our anniversary this year, Vince and I redid the main bathroom. We retiled the floor, painted the walls, replaced the curtains and rearranged the art work. The 'curtains' are actually crocheted runners that my great grandmother made. I washed and bleached them, then stitched them end to end to create a long piece that I looped over the existing curtain rod. The walls use to be a mustardy yellow and are now grey. It looks very clean!



For Christmas, we painted the outside of our house (completed during Fall Break),
upgraded our alarm system,
and purchased a new water heater.




So we agreed to go easy on the actual presents under the tree this year.

Apparently I finally dropped enough hints and Vince purchased an automatic car starter for me!
I know that some of you Northerners may be thinking "What does she need that for?" Well, it does get cold here and it does get hot here, so heating or cooling my vehicle before I get into it is a wonderful idea!

Of course, Vince has to install this for me.



Then I received two rather interesting items: a light fixture identical to the one already installed in my studio and a package of ceiling tiles.



Vince and I have discussed plans to create a more functional space for me but it is always delayed because of more pressing matters.


Before the end of next year, we do plan to have the deck painted, the garage repainted to match the house, the utility room finished (which includes the installation of the new water heater), the master bedroom ceiling repaired and the pantry finished.

Then Vince is supposed to work on the restoration of his 1957 Chevy.

My in-laws arrived yesterday so we spent the day in preparation for their arrival.

We had dinner and then opened our presents to and from my in-laws! Mom actually bought me a full set of stainless steel cookware! Not what I was expecting. I am thrilled! They are washed and ready for tonight's meal.

Christmas Break, Day 8

“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,

Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming!

IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

(Seuss, page 44-46)

Christmas Break, Day 7

After a day spent at home yesterday, I was ready for an outing today. I started off with a home cooked breakfast with Vince when he arrived home from work.

Then I was off to the bank. I had checks to deposit! They are usually few and far between thanks to direct deposit, but we had 4 of them this time. Must be the end of year check issuing situation! No complaints here though.

After the bank, I went to McDonald's to hand off some Freecycle items to Valerie. There were even a few extras in there that I knew she and her girls would enjoy.

Miller's Big Star had a few of the items on my shopping list, but not all. I had to check at Fred's and Piggly Wiggly and still left with NO Thomas' English Muffins for Vince. I did manage to pick up everything else.

I was off to lunch at Southern Oaks with my friends there. We had a great time over lunch of Turkey, dressing and green beans. Michelle even gave me a fancy dish of Ice cream to eat!

Home is always a welcome place to come back to, especially when it is clean! I finished a baby gift for a friend:




Then Vince and I put up the Christmas tree. I laughed over many of the ornaments on the tree, especially the ones that Robert made as a child.






















I know that I tell the same stories each year as we decorate the tree, but my wonderful Vince puts up with me!












There are some ornaments that have strong childhood memories attached to them, like the red bells and the owl.



I remember putting these on the tree as a child and my mother making a big deal over her 'red bells'. Yes, they are pretty and they are very special to me now. As a child, they were just another ornament. How times change.





I hope you all are having a great holiday season, however you celebrate.

Christmas Break, Day 6

First order of business today was to disconnect my land-line. I called AT&T and spoke to Miss Cooper. She was very pleasant and very helpful. When all was said and done, I received a lower rate on my monthly charges for the land-line, and the internet services. My bill is half what it was before and lower than if I had canceled the land-line and just had the internet service. So, while we are not going to use the land-line any longer, it was cheaper to leave it connected!

I am happy with that!

Since the end of the calendar year is upon me, I went in search of a project on DonorsChoose.org that I could donate to. I remember the thrill of receiving the email from DonorsChoose that informed me that a project of mine had been funded. I wanted to give that thrill to another teacher this year.

If you check out my Giving Page, you will see a number of projects from Tennessee that have just a few days left to be funded before they expire. Some of the projects only require a small amount.

Bing has joined up with DonorsChoose again to help fund projects. If you go HERE you will be able to request a $$5.00 code from Bing that can help fund a project. One per email address!!
I used my $30 in codes and a little of my own money to fund a project in Knoxville TN!
( I think my own heart skipped a beat when I funded the project-just knowing how the teacher will feel!).

With my in-laws arriving tomorrow, house cleaning was accomplished. I dusted, washed, wiped, sorted, picked up items, took out compost, took out recycling, took out freecycling and vacuumed (although that was after Vince woke up!)

I also made a set of cotton produce bags! These were 4 simple fat quarters this morning. A friend had brought them back from Hawaii for me and while I loved them, I had no idea what to do with them. So, here they are in their new life! There are two large ones, each is a fat quarter folded in half. There are 4 smaller bags, those are fat eighths folded in half. (Or half of a fat quarter folded in half!!) I used cotton twine that I had left over from another project to make the draw string ties. The tare weight on the big bags is 1 ounce, while the smaller ones vary from 0.5 of an ounce to 0.6 of an ounce. The heavier ones are the black batik bags. I like them and now can use these for my produce instead of my small tote bags that don't close nicely! As a bonus, they all fold up and fit inside one of the smaller bags.


The final crafty activity for tonight was putting the bells on the evergreen wreath that I purchased earlier this week at Duncan's Christmas Tree Farm.



Until tomorrow, have a good night!

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. Groucho Marx

Christmas Break, Day 5

Today was a Gleaner's House day. It has been several months since I worked there, and I was missing the place. I had three items that I was bringing in to donate, which is good, since I did bring home a few items!

One was a one cup coffee maker...I broke the last one and really did not want to buy a new one. I am not sure if it works, but we will see in the morning! I also brought home a large box of paper and damaged books for a Jackson High School Senior who is saving papers for their Project Graduation fund raising.


I also brought home this item to test and make sure it all works.All is well with this LeapPad! Back to Gleaner's it goes next week.

We had a great lunch at Jack's, full of fun and laughter.




Then it was off to visit with Mom for a while, stopping at Ada's country store on the way back for a few herbs.



I spent part of my evening so far finishing these puzzles! It was wonderful to declare them done, but a bit sad to see a few pieces missing. Nevertheless, here they are!

Now, they are back in their individual bags, ready for the next owner!