Glass Honey Dispenser

We consume a lot of honey in our house.  I'm not convinced that local honey will cure my allergy symptoms but I am convinced that it's yummy, which is why I put so much of it in my tea.  We buy it in bulk but pouring a little bit into my tea from a 6 pound jar is awkward to say the least so I keep refilling my old plastic bottle.  He's a cute little bear but he's plastic, which makes it easy to squeeze and keeps everything clean, but it's still plastic.  I'd rather not store my food in plastic.  Plus, the flip-top lid broke last month.

I didn't want a mess so those super cute pots with the equally cute dippers were out of the question.  (Yes, I know there is a technique but I didn't want to explain it every time someone needed some honey!)

So I was stumped.  I started asking friends but, like me, they were also still relying on their old friend, the plastic honey bear, too.

Then I found this:

Hello, sleek glass dispenser.  Good-bye, plastic bear.

 

It is actually marketed as a maple syrup dispenser but so far it's working well as a honey server too.  It quick, easy, and clean!  (No explanation required.)  Plus, since I like simple lines, I think it's even cuter than that old honey bear.

Do you have any other ways I can replace some of that lingering plastic in my life?

Peace,

Stacey

E-Recycling (cell phones)

"Old Red" has finally retired.  See her there lost in the bottom of that box of recycling?

Much to my chagrin, I finally had to admit that my cell phone needed to go.  It didn't hold a charge.  The button to lock it would only work some of the time.  The buttons to adjust the ringer volume had given up on me.  (This might not sound like much but those are pretty important for a yoga teacher.  Imagine if your teacher's phone rang during savasana?!?)  Oh, but sometimes the ringer didn't work at all.  The real kicker happened when Mr. Green Stuff called but I couldn't answer it when it rang.  Seriously.  The "connect" button could not connect.  Some how I was able to call him back and here's what happened.
Me:  Hi.  I'm sorry.  My phone wouldn't answer.
MGS: Stacey, (pregnant pause) it's time.
Me:  (sounding defeated) I know.

The next day, I was handed a new smartphone at lunch.  

And now my (not so) faithful old phone is sitting at the bottom of that recycling bin.  Not surprisingly, it's pretty easy to find a place to recycle electronics like cell phones, MP3 players, and old laptops.  The hardest place for me was remembering to drop mine off somewhere.  This one is used to raise money for a local school but there are some many different causes like preventing domestic violence in cities big and small,  animal conservation and protection around the world, to purchase calling cards for U.S. military personnel, and even as a fundraiser for disease prevention organizations.  Plus, most wireless providers make it convenient to recycle (and maybe even refurbish) your old phone right when you buy your new one. 

Wonder how it happens?

So, I'm disappointed that I needed a new phone but at least I know I wore out my old one first.  Where did you take your last cell phone to be recycled?
Peace,
Stacey

A New Raised Garden

I just finished reading an interesting book (The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year) about a family growing 75% of their food.  It was a very interesting book that I actually had no intention of reading.  I can explain.  Mr. Green Stuff sent me to the library (without a list, mind you!) and asked me to bringing home a book about gardening so he could plot out our summer garden.  There were so many that I came home with four.  I thought this one sounded perfect (good thing I brought home three others!) but he dismissed it before he even read the first page.  There weren't enough pictures.  Plus, he wanted a book that explained the planting/growing process in scientific, biological terms.  Personally, I thought one woman's struggle sounded interesting so I read the first couple pages... then I was hooked.  Anyway!  I read this book and then this appeared in our back yard:

Wow!  I know!  Perfect, right?  Well, maybe a perfect coincidence is more accurate!  Mr. Green Stuff has had it planned all winter.  He's actually built a raised bed three out of the past four years... usually on the weekend closest to Earth Day.  It just happened to be a warm enough day over the weekend and he couldn't wait any longer.  He even used some of our left over barn wood flooring as the braces on the outside.

After it was built I "lined" the bottom with our worn-out cloth napkins and dish towels, some used  "disposable" bamboo plates, and the paper bag I'd stored them all in.  They'll eventually breakdown and hopefully keep out some pesky weeds in the meantime.  Then we emptied our compost bin on top of them.

A quick note on "compostable" utensils.  The ones you can see in the picture above have been "composting" for a couple years.  They're clearly not breaking down and are no where close to becoming compost!  Last year, I read that it actually means that it's compostable in an industrial compost facility not my cute little back yard composter.  (Now I know why we had to keep tossing them back in the bin when we'd use some of the finished compost.)  Here's a interesting video about it:

But back to the happy, exciting, feel-good stuff!  

Woo hoo!  We have another garden!  Do you plan to grow any food this year?  Do you feel like you can hardly wait too?

Peace,

Stacey

Maple Syrup: a local discovery

Did you know that maple syrup can come from any maple tree - even the ones outside of Vermont and Canada?!?  Well, apparently the answer is yes, it can.

I recently discovered a local farm that makes maple syrup and since we've been on a pancake kick lately, I planned a little field trip. (I should really learn my husband's whole-grain pancake recipe and share it.  It's that good!)

Here's what I learned.

Any maple tree can make maple syrup.  Even the one in our front yard (!) but it takes a lot of sap to make syrup.  From a hard maple tree it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  It takes 60 gallons from a soft maple... so much for the one in my front yard.

It takes many hours and even up to days (Little House on the Prairie style) to reduce it down that far.  The farm where we went recently got a new "oven," which reduced their boiling time to only about 5 hours.

Maple syrup tastes different depending on where and how the tree is grown.  It's kind of like wine.  I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur of maple syrup (or of anything really!) but this stuff was delicious.  It tastes a little like caramel.  Yum!

And, yes, it's already half gone!

Oh, and it's cooooold when the sap flows!!  Temperatures need to be freezing over night and just above freezing during the day.  Once that fluctuation in temperatures changes so does the sap and the "season" is over.
 
What local treasures are waiting for you just outside your back door?  

Peace,

Stacey

Sprouts!

It's still cold here in the Midwest but we're already dreaming about Spring at our house!  

Every year we plant a garden in our tiny yard but this year we've decided to try something new.  We're attempting to grow our plants from seeds.  Yep, seeds.  All of our plants!  From seeds.  Not just the peas and marigolds like other years but the broccoli, peppers, and tomatoes too.

Who knows if we'll succeed but we're excited right now.

The plan was to use empty toilet paper rolls to grow the seedlings but even after saving them for months, we didn't have many.  I ended up buying one of those peat cell trays and some organic seed starting mix to (hopefully) give our heirloom seeds a boost.

Someone thought it would be exciting to try to grow a monster-sized fruit this summer.  Off we grow!

Have you ever grown your garden from seed?  Feel free to pass along any tips you might have. (Please.)

Peace,

Stacey

Homemade, Repurposed Gift Wrap (FREE!!!)

We've been invited to a lot of birthday parties lately.  (I know! We're very lucky!)  Parties are a great time to have loads of fun, enjoy a tasty treat, and let someone know you care about him/her.  How fun is that?!

I'm definitely not one who thinks a gift is necessary to let someone know he/she is important but it's usually appreciated (especially by the under 10 crowd) so here's how we wrap those gifts.

And, yes, it's usually a book and a donation.

Yep, it's just some good ol' artwork.  What can I say; I like to paint. ;)  It's very gratifying to know you created part of the package too.  If you have kids, this might help free up some of that valuable real estate on the front of your fridge.  Really, it's a win-win.  Repurposed wrapping (FREE!) that gets some clutter (beautiful as it is) out of your house, while boosting the artists self-esteem all at the same time.

What?!  You don't have stacks of artwork just piling up on the front of your refrigerator?!?  My sister likes to use the comics section from her daily newspaper.  Older kids love this because they can read it too!  I've used maps from vacations.  These are fun because they're usually brightly colored and seem to multiply otherwise.

There's also the option of using reusable bags (if the recipient needs/wants them!) or even using part of the gift itself like dishtowels (think: weddings or housewarmings) or blankets (babies) as the wrapping. 

Personally, I usually stick to the artwork, newspaper, or maps because I think it looks pretty and it gets it out of my house. ;)

Yep, same theme but different book.

With all this being said, please, don't give me a gift.  I'd rather share a meal or an adventure.

I know you have some great ideas out there.  Please, share.

Peace,

Stacey

Use What You Have

Quick!  Name something that's really easy to do and green at the same time.  Oh, that's a good one!  You should put that in the comments.  

I was thinking about using something that we already have rather than buying something new - no matter how environmentally-friendly the new thing is.  It's still better to use what you have until it fails to meet your needs.  (And as my dad used to always ask me, "do you need it or just want it?"  My dad should be proud every time he looks at the sink in our new kitchen!)

Mr. Green Stuff and I really wanted to replace our old sink with a different one.  Our original plan was to reclaim an old farm house sink (with the drainboard and all!) but then we remembered how scratched and disgusting the porcelain sink was that came with our house.  After that was scratched off the list, we talked about a trendy under-mount sink.  We weren't looking for trendy and we were concerned with the bowling alley counters being exposed to that much water so that was nixed.  Then we looked at new square stainless steel sinks.  They were all really great looking but then realized they weren't that much different than the one we put in our kitchen when we bought our house.

So here's what we put in:

Our old sink.  Isn't it lovely?  It may not be the oldest, the coolest, the trendiest, or the fanciest sink around but it makes me happy that we kept it.  And that makes it fancy-cool to me! 
 
What have you been able to reuse lately? 

Peace,

Stacey

Buy "Local" Books Online

O.K., by now you know I don't really like to shop.  (Oh, if my teenaged self could see me now!)  When I have to get something, I try to find it used.  Buying used usually means that it takes a lot more time to find.  That is unless you're looking to buy used books!  Amazon.com has made it so easy.  In fact, it's so easy that there's almost no point in buying one new anymore.  (Almost!)  Here's a simple little tip for greening your used book buying, which is inherently green already.  Find the one that's closest to where you live. Obviously, if there's a used book store in your town, you've already found the one that's the most local.  If you're not so lucky or they are out of what you want, here's an example for buying one of my favorite books on amazon:

In the third column (Seller Information) it lists specifically where the book ships from so all I need to do is figure out which state (in this case Utah, Oregon, Maryland, or Virginia) is closest to where I live and buy that one because the price and condition of each are all similar.  Ebay and Etsy also list where your goods will ship from.  

The shorter the distance the book has to travel/ship, the less gas it will take to get to me, Yeah for a smaller carbon footprint!

That's it.  Easy enough, huh?  Happy shopping! 
Peace,
Stacey

How We Turned A Bowling Alley Lane Into A Kitchen Counter (Day 1)

This was a daunting task.  I knew we could do it but it was one of those things that I was just afraid to begin.  We kind of kept putting it off until neither of us could park in the garage, the cabinets were scheduled to be installed, and, well, we just knew it was time.

We knew the dimension we wanted and we knew one of the bowling alley lanes was in much better condition than the other so the "good" one was picked to be our 9' section.  Each one was 10 feet long so not much was needed off the ends.  The sides were another story because bowling alleys are 42 inches wide.  As a reference, a standard counter is 25 inches deep.  I just assumed we make this job as easy as possible because each one of those skinny little boards is 2.5 inches deep and held to the adjacent ones with screws and/or nails.  I thought "we" would just cut one side off but lucky for me, I'm married to a guy who like things done the right way.  Having a carpenter (with all his knowledge and tools) as a friend is also very handy.

Anyway, the boys cut off equal amounts from each side so the arrows would be centered at the end of my "new" counter!

Another interesting tidbit is that even though there are thousands of screws holding these lanes together, braces are still needed underneath to keep the center from sagging or bowing!  Luckily, I did my research and knew this and the guys were smart enough to shorten and replace the braces that were already in place so we could just reuse what we had.

In order to put the counter on top of the cabinets, the brace could not cover all of the boards in the bowling alley.  We decided to put 10 inch screws into the front not only to secure the last 2 or 3 boards but also to simulate the look of the screws throughout the entire lane-turned-counter.

Before those screws were put in though, I wanted a line routed into the face of the front piece of wood.  This exaggerated what was already there because the edge of counters shows how each board is slightly tongue-and-grooved to the next one.  I thought it would look cool if this was more prominent.

After they brought the giant and heavy bowling alley counter-top inside to scribe it to the wall, it had to go back outside to actually be scribed and then sanded.  (I was not part of this scribing process so if you're using this as a tutorial, let me know and I can find out how they did it.)

Sanding the old sealant off, baffled us.  It wasn't just the potential toxins in the sealant but I also didn't know what to use.  I didn't know if we should rent an industrial floor sander or simply use our palm sander and the belt sander that our friend owns.  We ended up using a combination of a hand sander (I felt very 19th Century) and the palm and belt sanders. 

We started with 80 grit sandpaper and progressed all the way up to 220 grit to make it nice and smooth.  It was very messy and I've never been so happy to wear a face mask!

It was tedious work but achieved the look we wanted.

The next step was to get it back into the house so it could be sealed but sealing is another day and another post.  (Spoiler alert!  It turned out great.  We've been using is since the last week of November.)

Peace,

Stacey

Bringing Home My Recyclables

I have a confession.  I bring home as many recyclable things as I can.  I pick up recycling around town and I bring it home from vacation when I can't find anywhere to recycle it.  And this is why:

When we were in Wyoming over the summer, there was this great public building with bathrooms and big bins for all types of recycling in pristine Jackson.  Chicago has recycling and solar powered compacting trash bins all over the city.  But our last two trips were harder.  Miami was difficult with the seemingly endless stream of plastic cups but Aruba was impossible!  

After several failed attempts to locate anywhere I could take plastic, glass, or paper for recycling, I finally made room in my backpack and come home with this:

We try to travel light by each taking a single travel backpack, so I wasn't able to bring home much of my nemesis, plastic, but I did manage to bring back and recycle all the paper we (somehow) accumulated.

You might be wondering why this is a confession.  It's not a secret that I recycle.  But bringing it home on an airplane?!  I know.  I know!  I have a problem.  I can't even bear to figure out if it's a net energy loss since I'm flying it home.  (My guess is that, yes, it is.  I told you I have a problem!)  It's just so disheartening watching the trash can fill.

Seriously, I can't stop.  I'd already put this in our car before we discovered that beach in the first picture.

Let me explain.  Not my own habits but the reason the beach looks like that.  Arubans are not going around throwing plastic on their beaches.  (Well, probably some are.)  No, that beach looks like that from people like us.  Trash that doesn't make it into a landfill, more often than not, ends up in the water somewhere.  And things that end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans end up on a beach or in an animal - including humans!  This book gives a wonderful explanation about the whole waste/water/gyre cycle.  I'm glad I read it before seeing this beach.

At least then I knew not to tut-tut the friendly people of Aruba.  That didn't do much for my growing "obsession" with picking up after others though...

Peace,

Stacey

Barn Wood Shelves

My reclaimed barn wood shelves went up in the kitchen last weekend!

And I couldn't be happier.  (Well, maybe if the painting was finished but let's not get greedy here!)

I found a listing on craigslist for reclaimed wood from local barns.  (Yes, craigslist again!)  Our vision was to use something exactly like that for the "new" kitchen shelves... that was until one of my friends asked me about the wood she had just purchased.  She was concerned about lead paint and unlike our floors, her's came with a enough of that antique red paint to raise a red (pun intended) flag!  

But I digress... I found something local AND reclaimed!  What a score!  I just asked for pieces where all the paint had faded or chipped off... mostly.

Who needs a truck when a Prius can haul 7' boards?

We were still concerned about the lead issue so we decided not to sand this wood.  We'd learned from installing our reclaimed floors that after about 5 coats of water-based polyurethane, most of the bumps, scratches, and splinters are smooth. That's what we ("we" meaning Mr. Green Stuff) did here.  After many, many coats, we ("we" includes me here because I held the boards!) cut the barn siding to the proper length to transform them into our shelves.

I searched for months trying to find some used shelving brackets that would be strong enough and fit properly. I failed.  I finally found these super, cute ones from a manufacturer in Texas.

And even though someone had his doubts about the sturdiness of my purchases and someone else hem-hawed around because of the old paint, as you can see, they're up now!  And we're both happy!

Let's just hope there is no more drama involving these shelves!

Peace,

Stacey

The "New" Vapor-Shield-Free Gas Nozzle

What's wrong with this picture?

Can you smell the gas just by looking at it?

Where's the vapor shield?  Aren't two (poison) recovery systems better than one?  Or is all about the money?  Thanks, EPA.

What do you think?

Peace,

Stacey

Insight from the Inflight Magazine

As a yoga teacher, I already "knew" the beautiful benefits of meditation but a recent article in AirTran's inflight magazine really resounded with me.  

It's titled "Nothing Really Matters" and it's worth the read if you have a couple minutes.  There's no new age-y vibe in it.  It's straightforward.  Seriously, here's an interesting bit from it:

"But unplugging is hard to do. A recent study by researchers at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business found that most people consider Facebook, Twitter and email harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol. In the study, 205 adults wore devices that recorded a total of 7,827 reports about their daily desires. The desire for media and work proved the most difficult to resist."


It's a really short article that gets right to the point:

"You can achieve a lot—regeneration, calm, emotional balance—by doing nothing."

Now I know how to handle those agitated, sleepless times on my next flight.

Peace,

Stacey

Happy New Year!

Are you making any green resolutions this year?  Let me in on them!  Maybe we can work on something together!

Here's to doing more for this beautiful planet in 2013!

If you're into the whole New Year's resolution-making thing and still looking for one, here's a great little list from Mother Jones.  

I love the reuse of food scraps ones!  Buying veggie stock is no fun. I don't usually make resolutions in January but I'm hereby resolving to make vegetable stock out of food scraps (pre-compost) at least once this year.  But how?  Hmm... 

Peace,

Stacey