Eating Greener While Traveling

We just got back from an amazing trip!  We really like to travel… and most of the time it is via airplane.  Knowing how much pollution that causes, we try to live like locals once we arrive especially concerning our food.  We shop at local markets, look for locally grown food, and eat at "home" as much as possible.   

This trip was different than our usual beach jaunts though.  We visited National Parks!  If you don't know, these are places in the U.S. where you’re practically forced to get outside and enjoy nature.  We were lucky enough to make it to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park!  Both were beautiful even though our visit was shrouded in smoke from all the wildfires.

The Grand Tetons - our last day was the only one without wildfire smoke!

Being surrounded by nature’s splendor helps renew my commitment to the “little things.”  When we went to the grocery store, we made it out with only one plastic bag, which we reused to “pack things out” before the week was finished.  After grocery shopping, we were able to cook most of our meals so we wasted less food.  There was even time to make my easy granola!  We had the pleasure of eating out a few times, too. 

I found a local microbrewery where everything is handmade.  They even have their own bakery that uses only 100% organic flour.  The veggie burger (including the bun) was wonderful.  The real star of the show was the OB-1 (Organic Beer Number One) though!  If you can’t get it on tap, then it is only sold in cans!!!  Cans!  There’s our “little thing” of this post.  Cans are better for the environment than bottles because they weigh less to ship to you so it creates less pollution during transportation.  Aluminum is 100% recyclable.  (Glass is, too, but plastic can only be down-cycled. Who wants drink out of plastic anyway?!!?)  Plus, cans cool faster than bottles, which uses less energy.  Oh, the power of cans!  The other cool thing about the beer from the Snake River Brewery is that it doesn’t use those ubiquitous 6-pack rings.  Nope!  It comes packaged with this:

It's even made from 99% post consumer waste!

Yes, it is plastic but it is reusable (please, return them) or when you’re not conveniently located in Jackson, Wyoming, you can recycle it – unlike it’s ringed cousin, err, ancestor.

We also went to a fun little pizza place at Signal Mountain Lodge called Leek’s Pizzeria.    Unbeknownst to us, it turned out to be a Certified Green Restaurant. 

Yes, I took a picture of their green street cred.

The pizza dough is made with organic ingredients.  Most of the drinks and food are locally sourced.  They use renewable energy.  I didn’t see a single-use (disposable) cup in the place!  Even the kid’s cups were reusable.  To make it even more enjoyable, we were able to sit on the back deck and enjoy an evening view of Jackson Lake.  When we were finished, we didn’t worry about asking for to-go packaging.  We knew they wouldn’t use styrofoam.  I expected a cardboard box but what we got was a sheet of aluminum foil.  No excess.  Just the right amount.  And it can be recycled easily and completely.

See eating on vacation doesn't have to cost the planet!

Now it's your turn.  How do you explore our planet while treading lightly on it?

Fountain Paint Pots Trail - my favorite part!

Oh, and don’t forget the cans!  Next time, buy cans!  I’m not asking much, am I?

Peace,

Stacey

If you're still reading (thanks) and know how to rotate the second and the last pictures, please, let me know. They are both saved on my computer with the address horizontally but the pictures keep rotating when I upload them.  Eek!  I figured it out.  I'd still love your comments though. :)

Less Trash = Fewer Emissions

Have you ever thought about how long that trash/recycling/yard waste truck idles in front of your house?  What?  I’m the only crazy one?!  Well, welcome to my world!  Now you’re going to start thinking about it, too.

I’ve been playing this little game for a while.  The premise of my “game” is to see how seldom I can take out my trash.  The fewer times I put out my trash, the less exhaust the garbage truck belches into my front yard.  Simple, right?  I’ve got it down to about once a month.  Most of the time the can is barely halfway full because our town has gigantic trash cans.  Gigantic!  It usually gets put out because something in it starts to smell. 

Our recycling can is equally monstrous but pick up only happens every other week.  More times than not, we put our recycling out… but not this week!  Yeah, point for Team Green Home Stuff!  This week it’s less than halfway full so I think (hope) we can go two more weeks without it overflowing.

I know this isn’t a big deal.  I’m not saving any fish by simply not putting my trash out to the curb every week.  Assuming that it takes about a minute to pick up my trash (we have those fancy trucks where the driver doesn’t even have to get out of the truck), I’ve only saved a bit more than half an hour of idling in an entire year. But this is a blog about the little things that I do.  I know little things (positive and negative) add up quicker than I usually think.  If all my neighbors joined my game, each year my block alone could save about 5 hours of idling.  I think most people don’t think about it because "it’s Trash Day, so out go the cans," even when there is hardly anything inside them.

Plus, it’s not like this is hard.  Actually, it’s the polar opposite.  It requires NO action… well, no action other than reducing our waste by buying in bulk and buying only the things we actually need, blah, blah, blah.  But really, you don’t have to do anything!!  You just leave your trash can behind your house, in your garage, or wherever it is you store it when it’s not at the curb.

Simple?  Yes.  Little?  Yes.  Important?  I like to think so.

I read something a long time ago that essentially said being green often goes along with being cheap.  Think about it.  Turn off your light; save money.  Drive less; save money.  Buy quality products rather than single-use products; save money.  You get the point, but green doesn’t usually equate to being lazy.  Here’s your chance (finally!) to be lazy and green! 

Are you willing to give it a try?  Don’t put your trash out for the truck this week.  If your partner gets mad at you, direct them here. ;)

Peace,

Stacey

How I Became A Bowling Ball Today

I love craigslist because here's what I got to do today!

Yep, that's me on top of a bowling alley out in a field!

I guess you'd like the back story.  We've decided to remodel our crumbling kitchen.  Yikes!  I know.  I'd rather not need to because it's impossible to ignore all the materials that go into a project like this... and come out from the last remodel that happened in 1994.  We know that because it is printed on the bottom of our counter top.  Our old counter top that is.  Take a look at that beautiful bowling alley lane up there.  You're looking at our next kitchen counter.  One day in the not so distant future that will be in my new "old" kitchen!  I know!  Awesome, right?

I had this crazy idea to have reclaimed gymnasium floors in our kitchen, which led me to the idea of having bowling alley floors.  Well, did you know that bowling alley lanes are more than 2 inches thick?  It makes sense but I had no idea.  Clearly, that would be way more work than I could do.  Then I thought, "hmmm... what about counters?"  And the idea started to grow.

This week, I found some old bowling alley lanes for sale on craigslist and with a lot of help from an amazing, adventurous, and uber-green friend, two 10 feet sections are sitting in my garage right now!  Yes, she's that cool!  And now I know that her husband is equally as cool because he's really the one who did all the work.  He hooked up the trailer to his monster truck, packed the cab with people, and drove us around for 7 hours. Oh, yeah, and loaded and unloaded these babies!  He's the only one smart enough to wear gloves.

Who knew bowling alley lanes were so heavy??

Yep, all that for bowling alleys... that I don't even know how to turn into counters.  I'm pretty sure I've never "built" anything before.  Ever!  Nothing like starting big, I guess.

I love that new life is being given to these old lanes.  The guy I bought them from said the bowling alley has been closed since 1992.  I'm surprised how great they look after 20 years of being ignored. 

Oh, and before you ask, I know almost as little about bowling as I do about counter tops.  The bowling alley in my hometown was hit by an airplane when I was a kid.  Regardless, I'm pretty sure I'm going to start learning a lot more about bowling or at least bowling alleys!

Now does anyone know how I can get my hands on any old high school gym floors?  I'd love to hear some ideas for flooring or any other reclaimed products in your home.

Peace,

Stacey

Minimalizing My Wardrobe

I’m not a minimalist.  The idea sounds very freeing to me but I’m nowhere near it… yet.  I own more than 200 things (waaaay more than 200 things!) but I’ve realized that I don’t like stuff no matter what my name implies.  I’d rather accumulate memories from fun experiences than “souvenirs” that I’ve picked up along the way.  Over the past few years, we’ve taken out at least 3 times as much stuff as we’ve brought into our house.  Progress through baby steps! 

Seriously, we do not need 18 wooden spoons.  We’re now down to four.

 Plus, did you know there are plenty of charities that are more than happy to pick up your donations right from your front porch?!?  It’s true!  These guys are great and what a great group of people to help along the way.

Just a little donation.

 Wait!  This was supposed to be about my wardrobe!  I have donated so much of my wardrobe that I can’t even guess how much but I know that I currently own way less than half of what I had when we moved into our house 7 years ago because now EVERYTHING fits into my closet with plenty of room to spare.  I used to have four different places for clothes!  I’ve implemented the one-thing-comes-in-one-thing-goes out model.  That was the easy part – kind of.  

This summer, I’ve added a new dimension.  I’m only buying things in shades of blue or black.  I’ve always gravitated to these colors but then I’d second guess myself and say, “oh, but I don’t have anything pink/orange/purple paisley and buy something that I’d never wear because it wasn’t blue-ish.”  My idea is that if everything is either blue/blue-green or black that most everything should be able to be mixed and matched.  This goes for work clothes too.  Black yoga pants.  Now that’s a stretch.

I can see at least 5 things in there that I could give away today and not notice.

Look even my hangers are blue.  I’ve donated so many hangers that I’ve been able to eliminate all hangers from our house that are not blue, green, or white.  It’s the little things.  They really do add up to big things.  Plus, when something looks good, it makes me feel better too.  Probably most importantly though, it's easy to connect the dots between owning less stuff and being nicer to the planet. 

What about you?  Would you be happier with fewer colors in your wardrobe?

Peace,

Stacey

My Easy Granola Recipe

I should preface this recipe with: I'm not the "chef" in my family.  That would be Mr. Green Stuff.  I am quickly catching up though!  I need things a little less complex (read: easier!) than he does.  Now that I've put that out there, I think you're going to like this.  (My friends keep asking for the recipe at least.)  I tweeked this granola for a few months and now I've got it.  In fact, that jar on the left was full just a few hours ago!

Here's the recipe:

7 cups thick cut oats
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oat flour
1 cup toasted quinoa
2 cups total of pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds (any ratio)

Pinch of salt

¼ cup water
1¼ cups honey
½ cup vegetable oil
        

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.

Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl, add to dry ingredients, and combine well.

Spread in shallow pans.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Turn off oven.

Stir granola.

Return granola to oven until oven is completely cool.  (4 hours or overnight)
Store granola in glass jars.

If you don't know how to toast quinoa, thank you!  I had to ask, too.  (And, yes, Mr. Green Stuff knew.)  I rinse my quinoa, squeeze out as much water as I can, then put it in a large skillet on medium heat.  I stir almost constantly with a wooden spoon so nothing sticks to my pan.  You'll know it's toasted when they start to dance around and give off a nutty aroma.  The color will also change to a golden brown.

I used to add 2 tablespoons of vanilla but I forgot once and we liked it better.  If you like your granola sweeter, you might want to add it to the liquids.

Anyway, there you have it.  Nice and easy.  Added bonus: the protein boost from the quinoa!

I like to eat it with seasonal fruit and homemade yogurt.  Let me know when you try it.  How do you top yours?

Peace,

Stacey  

Linking up with Foodie Friends Friday.

  

Welcome to Green Home Stuff

Well, here we go.  My first blog post.

I couldn't start my "green" blog with a picture of dead corn so here's a cute turtle we met on the bike trail.

This must be monumental because it just started to rain!  In a year with a record setting drought, that's saying something.  Right?  (I hope... but if not, I'll take the rain.) 

This is what the corn has looked like for a month!

Plus, you're here.  That says more than anything!

I guess I should start with why I'm here.  I'm just trying to share the little things that I do.  You know, those little things like helping the environment, eating healthier, feeling happier, traveling purposefully, de-cluttering mindfully, making new friends... you know, the LITTLE things! ;)

A little hike that ended with a view of North America's largest river.

Clearly, I'm a rookie here so please bear with me.  (Thanks.)

What about you?  What are your favorite little things?

Peace,

Stacey