Saturday! And it’s going to be a beautiful day for it!

 

Dia de Los Muertos

I do believe in ghosts and angels.

 

NoImpact Day 5

Today was no power day.
I pretty much knew today would be fail, and it was.
*guilty*

 

NoImpact Day 4

Today is local food day.
Over the weekend I did an experiment to see just how much local food I could find in a “regular” grocery store. I had expected a store like Whole Foods would have a great selection, but was surprised to find just two fruits: local apples and some oranges from the next state over.
Finding veggies was harder. I am guessing this is because a lot of the local farms suffered the same fate as my winter garden: drowning. I actually didn’t find any local veggies the day I went.
Next up, I tried to find some protein. Beans? Tofu? Qinoa? Nada. Nothing. Zip. No vegan source of protein produced anywhere remotely nearby.
Regional cage free eggs were on the shelf. There were a few choices for local, humanely produced organic meats. There was no cheese, milk or yogurt, closest I found was from Pennsylvania.

Then there was bread. There is a bakery in store, but the man didn’t know where the flour came from.
Next up: WIne. There were three varieties of regional wine. It was rather expensive.
“Luxury” items like coffee, spices, olive oil (and soy milk) were completely lacking. (which honestly makes sense… these items have traditionally been regional)

My neighborhood farmer’s market is tomorrow, so it will be a nice contrast.

Today’s menu was a moderate success: bolded items were local.

breakfast: fresh-squeezed juice, coffee, a pair of soft-boiled eggs.

lunch: bread with pesto (made from my garden) an apple a slice of cheese.

dinner: pasta with tomato sauce, arugula and parmesan cheese. (pasta from farmer’s market, but it didn’t say where the flour was from)

dessert: total fail. I had choc. chip cookie dough already in the fridge.
wine: not local

 

Day Two!

Today’s Challenge was all about trash. From the PDF:

1. Empty your special trash bag from yesterday. Separate the items into two piles: stuff that you used for more than ten minutes, and stuff you used for less than ten minutes. How does this make you feel? (Now put everything back in the bag and put it aside for the week.)

2. Put together a no-trash travel kit for the week with a reusable drinking receptacle for hot and cold liquids, a handkerchief/old t-shirt, Tupperware®, utensils, and reusable produce bags.

this was a great exercise, most of this stuff was scattered about 3 different rooms. Putting it all into one place, or actually into a couple different kits – one for grocery trips, one for eating out… hopefully there will be less forgetting now that I know where everything is. I also salvaged some fabric and put it aside for produce bags. I’d had some favorited on Etsy, but since I’m not buying anything this week, might as well motivate myself to make them.

3. Stop making trash. Reduce it. Reuse it. Recycle it. Just don’t throw it away. Keep a special bag at home or the office to collect trash you make by
mistake or necessity throughout the week.

notes here: luckily the city takes a varied list of recyclable items. Problem is, they’re sporadic about pickup of bins. non-recyclable items that I can burn go in the pile for firestarters. (smores!! mmm…) compost bin takes care of most of the rest, but this has really forced me to take a hard look at how badly some items (especially beauty products!) are packaged.

4. At the end of the day, take time to reflect on your discoveries and post on our blog. Answer these questions: What did you put in your special trash
bag? Why was it hard or easy not to make trash? Where was it impossible not to make trash?

again with the cat litter thing… looked at those washable self-cleaning systems, but I think they’re awfully expensive for something that may just scare the cats out of the box. Wondering what’s in Crystals litter and if it’s any better in the long run…
I got shaving soap and a brush a while back, and had been stalling getting a non-disposable razor. It’s on my list of “new” things to buy when this week is over. I should have done it sooner.
Also… Q-tips. dammit. towels just don’t work!

 

NoImpactWeek Day One

Today’s challenge in the NoImpact Week project was about consumption. In the downloadable PDF, these steps were listed:

1. Type up a list of all the stuff you “need” to buy this week. Delete the items that you can live without for the week. For the rest of the items, figure out
if you can purchase them second-hand, borrow them, or make them yourself.

1. toilet paper. Triscuit decided to decorate our bathroom with a couple rolls of it. I hated to tell him it wasn’t really my style. He looked so proud!
2. sanding sponges to finish the bedroom drywall.
3. shingles for the roof repair.
4. a new collar for Nibbler. A friend of mine is hand making this for me and I’m happy to support her fledgling business.
5. cat litter, cat food and groceries. (took especial care to buy things sans packaging, except for the yogurt starter, but I’ll re-use that container.)
6. wood and other supplies to help weatherize the rental.
7. kale, collards and cabbages (seedlings) to replace my plants which drowned in last month’s monsoon. hopefully these will catch up and we’ll get some good eatin’ out of them!

2. Put an empty re-usable bag in a private place at home. Throughout the day, fill it up with all of your trash, recyclables, and food waste. If you’re out of the
house, carry your trash home with you. Make sure that nobody else’s trash gets in there but your own. This will help you get ready for Monday’s challenge.

I’m not entirely doing this. Food scraps still go in my compost bin, and I sort of refuse to put the cat litter in a bag I have to carry around… (eww!)

3. Just for this week, try not to shop for new items. Will you find something better to do with your time and money? Could you use this time to
spend with friends instead? What is the hardest part of decreased purchasing?

Hrm… Can I leave renovation materials out of this equation? lol

4. Go to our site and blog about your experience, thoughts, and overall consumption habits. If you’re trying something new or unique, tell us about it.

________________

Today was mostly pretty easy since I already rarely shop for new items, simply as a function of having a rather tight budget. There’s stuff we’re going to have to buy, like the supplies for next weekend’s re-roofing project and toilet paper (thanks, Triscuit!) but this isn’t much different from every day life.

The trash thing is a little interesting. I’m realizing there’s just no good way to get around the cat litter issue, and also that while I’ve managed to mostly rid the house of paper towels, cotton balls and the like, that I might be a little attached to q-tips. I wonder what other people do about water in their ears?

Last, but not least, I have realized that perhaps starting this project while also doing Apartment Therapy’s Fall Cure might not have been the smartest idea, lol.

 

yes, I AM laughing maniacally over this

 

OMG!!! Squeeeeeeeeeee

via Apartment Therapy and Booooooom:

Adult Play Forts!!!

These are amazing! now I want a fort!

 

Chickens!

It’s a not-very-well-kept secret that I really REALLY want a few chickens. Husband and I have been having “discussions” about this for a while now, and maybe, just maybe I might be swaying him. (or he’s giving up arguing)

Anyway, one obstacle is the cost of building a good coop. I totally love this one that’s been built out of Ikea furniture!

Seriously. I wonder if I can just build this by myself and if the husband would notice it mysteriously appearing in the yard?

 

are you ready?

Yep, you guessed it, this post is brought to you by the nearly lost city of ATLANTis.
Given that our little neighborhood has been nearly taken out by tornadoes and now flooding, I thought perhaps this would be a good time for a refresher on personal disaster preparedness. Being prepared is a big part of sustainability, but it’s pretty easy to think you’ll get to it someday, isn’t it? I know we’re guilty of that. So for this post, I’m going to focus on disasters that basically affect you, your home, and the immediately surrounding areas. Things like fires, floods, a tornado, or a tree falling on your roof. Please feel free to add suggestions and things I’ve forgotten in the comments! Thanks!

First, your family should have a plan. You know how hotels have fire escape routes on the backs of their doors? Draw one up for your home. Even if you don’t post it on the door, just drawing one up will help you make sure that you really could get out.

If you have kids, it might not be a bad idea to make the drawing cute and put it in their rooms, and also hold a fire drill, just so they know what to do too.
Please don’t forget your pets either. Keep carriers handy, and loaded with a bottle of water, a soft towel, and maybe even some rescue remedy to help keep them calm. Fire departments and vets will usually stock stickers for your door letting rescue personnel how many animals are in the home, in the event a fire or other disaster happens while you are away.

Investing in a portable, fireproof box for your important documents is also a good idea. Keep your insurance policy numbers, copies of important medication prescriptions, bank information, passports, birth certificates and other irreplaceable documents in one, and keep it someplace you could grab it in the 2 minutes you might have to get out. Many boxes will withstand several hours of flames as well as being submerged, so again if you aren’t home, you’ll be able to access those much-needed things later. It’s also a really good idea to borrow a small video camera and walk around your home filming each room, then storing the tape or memory card in the box with your documents.

(creative commons Flickr photo from FindFado)

Ok, so what if it isn’t a fire or flood, but a big storm that knocks power out in your neighborhood for days on end? Well, for that you might need a different list of items, and here’s a starter:

Water, at least three day’s worth plus water purification tablets in case the outage lasts longer. (or, read up on alternate purification methods over here)
Canned and packaged foods that do not need refridgeration. (don’t forget a can opener)

A propane stove (unless you cook with gas and can light it with a match)
If it’s really cold outside, you might consider putting your perishables outside in a cooler in the snow.
Batteries and several flashlights.
Candles, firewood if you have a place to burn it.
Bottles of wine and a corkscrew. (trust me, you’ll appreciate this)
Books, games, craft projects… basically things to keep your family from going stir crazy.
You’ll want to try and stay connected to the world. You can buy hand-crank emergency radios to keep up with storm conditions and emergency news. It’s also a great idea to invest in a solar charger for your cell phone. (a car charger is a close second)
If it’s really cold, those shake-up hand warmers can be a lifesaver. One year when our heat went out, a friend sent me a package of them. I had them in my sleeves, my boots, my underwear… they really helped! Your pets will love you for sticking a couple in their beds too.

Then there’s the list of items it’s a good idea to have in your car in the event a disaster hits while you’re on the road.
Jumper Cables, Fix-A-Flat, bottles of water, a snack or two, blankets, some of those roadside reflectors or even a flare, a basic tool set and the charger for your phone are all good items to keep in a box in the back of the car.

Speaking of on the road, your family should designate a meeting place and create a plan for where you will meet under different circumstances should something happen when you are not all together. You can also assign responsibilities, like person A is responsible for rounding up little or furry ones, person B gets the important boxes, a credit card, the keys, etc…

Ok! So that’s a start, and quite a bit to think about. In writing it, I’ve realized just how many things we’re missing, eep!