The Dining Room (ok, so really, the table in the kitchen): Many of the changes we've made in the kitchen have a direct impact on the dining room. We've learned a lot of recipes this past year that use seasonal produce (turnips and parsnips can be delicious!) and have tried to use less meat (lots of reasons for this, especially given the ecological impact of North American horticulture). Further, we've tried to stop thinking of the grocery store as a place to buy "finished" meals and more as the raw products for what we ourselves cook. As a result, Katy bakes a lot of our bread now and we make a big batch of granola for breakfast every few months. A couple other little changes to our dining was to purchase a hutch (a used antique) for storage and stop all use of paper products, collecting fun napkins and rings.
The Office (aka that desk in the living room): From the office, we've made a few significant changes. First, we changed to a green bank (a credit union with local accountability for their financial decisions) and have begun to divest all our (albeit not huge) investments and savings from the unaccountable mutual funds (invested in Exxon, Shell, Halliburton, and Wal-Mart we discovered) into Socially Responsible Investments.
The office fell under our new zero-tree commitment so we were delighted to find 100% PCR office paper and a company just down the street that refills our ink cartridges (it's a lot cheaper too!). We've also tried to go paperless when possible and canceled all kinds of mail that we either didn't need or could get via email (for bills). Suzanne recommended the site: Catalog Choice which was really helpful in reducing our catalog mailings.
We've started using rechargeable batteries only (after using up all the alkaline ones we've got and disposing of them with a responsible recycler) around the house.
The Cat's Room: We've wrestled a bit with the process of making life greener for our cats. They've totally resisted any changes to the litter box routine, so sadly we're stuck using the nasty clay stuff. Others might be luckier with their cats, so we do recommend you try something safer. We have had a bit more luck getting their food "upgraded" and are making our own cat toys for fun!
The Living Room: In the living room (as aforementioned) we've begun reading a lot more books. In order to keep our paper-pledge, we try and buy used, or books made of recycled paper.
Further, we've found crafting to be a nice use of our time (when homework is done...) and a great way to make Christmas more meaningful and sustainable. We learned about recycling candles, green scrapbooking. Other holidays have benefitted too, including Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The Bedroom Closet: Most recently, we've changed the closet too and started to think more carefully about where our clothes come from.
The Garage: So we'd love to ditch our car for an EV, but until that's an option Jeremy rides his bike and the bus to school and during the rainy season, we try and keep the car tuned up so that it gets the best gas mileage for Katy's albeit quick commute. For longer journeys, we're looking into staying local for more vacations, but when we can't we've explored carbon credits as a short-term option.
The Laundry Room: We don't have a lot of options here, being that we're in an apartment building, but we did make several changes to our laundry options. First, we've been using a drying rack (which is a bit harder to use in the Winter, admittedly) to save money and electricity. Additionally, we use only biodegradeable detergents and softeners. And... that whole hot-water wash cycle for whites? It's totally unnecessary, so we wash everything on the "bright-colors" setting to save energy using cold water!
The Classroom: As a student, Jeremy has changed the way he works as a student. He scans articles for research instead of copying, prints his assignments double-sided on recycled paper (for which one professor docked his grade!), and uses the un-stapler to leave them recyclable. He also resourced all his school supplies from a local company that sells recycled and sustainable products.
The Landfill: We've carefully tried to reduce our waste as much as possible. This has involved more carefully understanding what our municipal service recycles, and finding places to recycle other items, including batteries.
The Neighborhood: We've become quite aware of how many resources we've got just for the two of us that took energy to produce and materials: kitchen appliances, equipment, games, DVDs, you know the drill. With that said, we've tried to make our home available for guests, and our "stuff" open to share with friends and neighbors.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Continuing the round-up: the kitchen
The Kitchen: In the kitchen, we've made a lot of changes. We've been through a few different philosophies as to where our food comes from and have settled on the following, in this order:
Along with our weekly visits to the farmer's market here in Vancouver, we've started an urban garden, which has been some of the most fun we've had this year! The food we've grown ourselves accomplishes all of the above, and gives us a chance to rehabilitate a little patch of Vancouver's urban real-estate that was once abandoned and littered, and get our own hands in the dirt on a regular basis. For those things we couldn't grow in the garden, like apples and berries - we grabbed some friends and explored local farms where we could pick our own! Finally, we also started a back-porch herb garden for spicing up meals... and dry our left-over herbs for later (and friends).
We bought a used chest freezer, for energy-efficient food storage and tried our hand at saving local food for winter via: freezing, canning (more here), preserving and drying.
Of almost equal importance has been learning how to store our food, as the lack of preservatives shortens the shelf-life as does our increased use of produce. Green bags have been handy in this department.
On the waste end, we dramatically lowered our use of plastic baggies in food storage by 1) reusing bags (we've got a little shelf on top of the fridge where we store them) 2) using re-usable containers 3) using recycled plastic bags for trash, and 4) using bio-bags for compost. Further, we're meticulous about recycling all the packaging that our food comes in, and shopping at grocery stores that let us buy in bulk for the basics. And we've got a nice collection of cloth bags for any shopping we do. Also, we've got a compost bin at the garden which we use for all our food waste.
Last but not least, we only run the dishwasher on the energy-safe mode and use biodegradeable dish-soap.
- fair and sustainable (producers aren't exploited by distributors)
- local and seasonal (sourced from our geographic area, which usually also means fresh and tasty!) especially for Thanksgiving!
- organic (farmed without pesticides and thus friendlier to the soil)
- free-range/grass-fed/cage-free in the case of meat (which we eat less than a serving a week of now)
Along with our weekly visits to the farmer's market here in Vancouver, we've started an urban garden, which has been some of the most fun we've had this year! The food we've grown ourselves accomplishes all of the above, and gives us a chance to rehabilitate a little patch of Vancouver's urban real-estate that was once abandoned and littered, and get our own hands in the dirt on a regular basis. For those things we couldn't grow in the garden, like apples and berries - we grabbed some friends and explored local farms where we could pick our own! Finally, we also started a back-porch herb garden for spicing up meals... and dry our left-over herbs for later (and friends).
We bought a used chest freezer, for energy-efficient food storage and tried our hand at saving local food for winter via: freezing, canning (more here), preserving and drying.
Of almost equal importance has been learning how to store our food, as the lack of preservatives shortens the shelf-life as does our increased use of produce. Green bags have been handy in this department.
On the waste end, we dramatically lowered our use of plastic baggies in food storage by 1) reusing bags (we've got a little shelf on top of the fridge where we store them) 2) using re-usable containers 3) using recycled plastic bags for trash, and 4) using bio-bags for compost. Further, we're meticulous about recycling all the packaging that our food comes in, and shopping at grocery stores that let us buy in bulk for the basics. And we've got a nice collection of cloth bags for any shopping we do. Also, we've got a compost bin at the garden which we use for all our food waste.
Last but not least, we only run the dishwasher on the energy-safe mode and use biodegradeable dish-soap.
First the footprint...
So we went through our house, room by room and tried to find things that could be changed. Honestly, we didn't necessarily try and itemize those items by impact, as our hope was to focus on the sum total, and not just find the sweet spots that could make the quickest and biggest change. We were looking for long-term, deep green changes!
First, the ceilings: We changed out all our bulbs for CFL's. I suspect this dropped our electric bill, and we found them for about $1 ea on sale so it wasn't a big change. Sadly, this did mean some waste, as we threw out (or gave away) the incandesent light bulbs that were replaced, but we hoped the immediate energy savings would offset this.
Next the walls: We got smart switches for our appliances (i.e. computer, tv, etc.) It bears mentioning that aside from this little change, Jeremy turned off his hobby web server and sold it off, we gave our old PC away, sold our TV, and bought a more power efficient iMac. So now, we're got a lot more free time (stay tuned for an article about not having a TV) to read together, relax, and it has been shocking to both of us as to how much of a difference it makes to no longer be exposed to constant TV marketing.
And on to the bathroom...: Jeremy wrote a research paper on the ethics of water consumption and we were both so shocked by what he found that this was one of our first changes. We changed out to all biodegradeable cleaning products, changed out faucets, and changed to TP made from recycled paper. Since that post, we've discovered a brand of TP sold by Shopper's Drug Mart here in Vancouver. It is made from 100% post-consumer paper waste and is pretty inexpensive. It's certified by the Eco-Logo program and thus seems to be reputable (a little research indicates that it's made by "The Atlantic group"). We've also tried to change the way we use water in general so as to leave the faucet off unless there's a very good reason. Water is plentiful here in Vancouver, but the habit seems a good one to develop, as there are plenty of folks downstream from us that are in the midst of brutal droughts this year.
Next up... we'll continue with the kitchen.
First, the ceilings: We changed out all our bulbs for CFL's. I suspect this dropped our electric bill, and we found them for about $1 ea on sale so it wasn't a big change. Sadly, this did mean some waste, as we threw out (or gave away) the incandesent light bulbs that were replaced, but we hoped the immediate energy savings would offset this.
Next the walls: We got smart switches for our appliances (i.e. computer, tv, etc.) It bears mentioning that aside from this little change, Jeremy turned off his hobby web server and sold it off, we gave our old PC away, sold our TV, and bought a more power efficient iMac. So now, we're got a lot more free time (stay tuned for an article about not having a TV) to read together, relax, and it has been shocking to both of us as to how much of a difference it makes to no longer be exposed to constant TV marketing.
And on to the bathroom...: Jeremy wrote a research paper on the ethics of water consumption and we were both so shocked by what he found that this was one of our first changes. We changed out to all biodegradeable cleaning products, changed out faucets, and changed to TP made from recycled paper. Since that post, we've discovered a brand of TP sold by Shopper's Drug Mart here in Vancouver. It is made from 100% post-consumer paper waste and is pretty inexpensive. It's certified by the Eco-Logo program and thus seems to be reputable (a little research indicates that it's made by "The Atlantic group"). We've also tried to change the way we use water in general so as to leave the faucet off unless there's a very good reason. Water is plentiful here in Vancouver, but the habit seems a good one to develop, as there are plenty of folks downstream from us that are in the midst of brutal droughts this year.
Next up... we'll continue with the kitchen.
2007: A year in review!
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re aware that this past year, the Kidwell family embarked on a 52 week adventure that reshaped the way we now live life as urban professionals in Vancouver, BC. In this series of articles, we’ll provide you with a big picture summary of what our experience has been like this past year: what we’ve changed, how we’ve been successful, and what has been difficult. We’re going to organize this not chronologically, but topically in order to try and pull together the various ideas that we put into practice and offer your some updates that may not have made their way into blog postings. First, though, it is important to discuss what about the way in which we did these 52 green weeks enabled some success.
This year eventually took on the form of a full-life audit, leaving no stone unturned! To that end, several of our weeks were focused on awareness, trying to discover areas in which our lifestyle was not sustainable or just, and trying to learn about alternatives that we could give a try.
We began by calculating our footprint (2.2 planets, yikes!) and also read up on our "eco-region" (NA-0524), as we began to realize from the start that this was going to be about changing our relationship to the place we inhabit, we'd better start getting to know that place too and not just make abstract changes to our habits (though that's not a bad thing, either)!
We both found our efforts sustained by our commitment to creativity - meaning that any idea by Katy or Jeremy was a possible green week, so we left ourselves a good deal of room to be flexible.
But transforming what started as ideas into real practice and changes in our lifestyle as a family was made most possible by accountability, and that’s where our wonderful readers come in. By committing ourselves to consistent action - once a week, and by making our changes public and open to scrutiny it was much harder to back out of that commitment. We’re so thankful for all the encouraging comments from our friends and family (including several new “blog friends”) and also for your willingness to try out green weeks alongside us. There isn’t enough space to print proper credit to all those folks in Boise, Seattle, Vancouver, and all around the world who contributed ideas and encouragement.
With that said, we’d like to present our round-up in the following stages:
1) Footprint reduction: Actual, on-the-ground changes made to tweak our footprint and change our habits, especially with regards to waste and consumption. We'll sift through all these room-by-room to start.
2) “Deep green” changes: Sometimes it isn’t so much about frantically doing activities, but rather about changing the very ways in which we think about life and our place in the world. This area describes the more fundamental, “deep” changes to our thinking that have driven much of our activity. This grew out of our attempts to raise our awareness about Green issues and allowing them to interact with our Christian faith, mentioned above. We also didn't always find an easy way to blog about these changes either, as they often surfaced in occasional reflections.
3) The best and worst of... where we'll share our favorite parts and the hardest changes from this past year in review.
This year eventually took on the form of a full-life audit, leaving no stone unturned! To that end, several of our weeks were focused on awareness, trying to discover areas in which our lifestyle was not sustainable or just, and trying to learn about alternatives that we could give a try.
We began by calculating our footprint (2.2 planets, yikes!) and also read up on our "eco-region" (NA-0524), as we began to realize from the start that this was going to be about changing our relationship to the place we inhabit, we'd better start getting to know that place too and not just make abstract changes to our habits (though that's not a bad thing, either)!
We both found our efforts sustained by our commitment to creativity - meaning that any idea by Katy or Jeremy was a possible green week, so we left ourselves a good deal of room to be flexible.
But transforming what started as ideas into real practice and changes in our lifestyle as a family was made most possible by accountability, and that’s where our wonderful readers come in. By committing ourselves to consistent action - once a week, and by making our changes public and open to scrutiny it was much harder to back out of that commitment. We’re so thankful for all the encouraging comments from our friends and family (including several new “blog friends”) and also for your willingness to try out green weeks alongside us. There isn’t enough space to print proper credit to all those folks in Boise, Seattle, Vancouver, and all around the world who contributed ideas and encouragement.
With that said, we’d like to present our round-up in the following stages:
1) Footprint reduction: Actual, on-the-ground changes made to tweak our footprint and change our habits, especially with regards to waste and consumption. We'll sift through all these room-by-room to start.
2) “Deep green” changes: Sometimes it isn’t so much about frantically doing activities, but rather about changing the very ways in which we think about life and our place in the world. This area describes the more fundamental, “deep” changes to our thinking that have driven much of our activity. This grew out of our attempts to raise our awareness about Green issues and allowing them to interact with our Christian faith, mentioned above. We also didn't always find an easy way to blog about these changes either, as they often surfaced in occasional reflections.
3) The best and worst of... where we'll share our favorite parts and the hardest changes from this past year in review.
The Organized Garden... 2008!
As a follow-up to the last post, we've uploaded the first draft of our planting schedule, so you can get a feel for what we're very tenatively planning for this year. In fact, if you're trying out square foot gardening... we'd love to have some company - you can try planting some of the same things and weigh in with your comments about how successful your efforts are! The chart below is pretty detailed, so you'll need to click on it to bring it up in a new window. Dark green represents seed sowing or the planting of a seedling (from a nursery), bright green the growing time, and orange is when we hope to harvest. A couple of the plants need to be started indoors, and so for that we've got sky blue for planting and brown for their indoor growing time. As you will notice, the chart is still under construction, so we'll upload changes as we make them and also plan to keep an eye on the actual harvest times as well for next year's planting.
If you're interested, we got all of our seeds from:
- West Coast Seeds and
- The Salt Spring Seed Company
If you're interested, we got all of our seeds from:
- West Coast Seeds and
- The Salt Spring Seed Company
Winter Gardening
Well friends, now that we're both stuck inside with colds, it seemed a good time to share some garden updates! After our adventures last year, we spent quite a bit of time this past winter planning our garden for next year, one of our main resolutions being to try and rotate each of the square feet so as to use the space almost year around. That effort began this past weekend with our installation of cold frames on the garden for early Spring planting. The idea is to place plastic over the garden boxes in order to keep a bit of the cold out, and moisture in, in fact it acts as a mini-greenhouse and enables much earlier planting so that we can start eatin' vegetables in April rather than June! As you might expect we brought our camera along to share the experience:
First, we found a local hardware store, in this case Coe Lumber & Building Supply (at 3485 Broadway West) which we highly recommend for these kinds of projects! It's a locally owned and operated hardware store with very helpful folks and most anything available in bulk. They had several different weights of plastic sheeting, we aimed for the medium grade and had them cut off a 10' long piece for us. We also got some 1/2" PVC pipe, some garden stakes, a roll of duct tape, and grabbed some scissors on our way over to the garden.
If you refer back to our original planter box post: Urban Gardening you might have noticed that we installed 1" pvc in the sides of the original box. This enabled us to make two loops to hold up the sheeting:
Once the pvc was at an adequate height (not too high to annoy our urban neighbors, and not too low) we threw the sheeting over and decided on places to stake it into the ground. Since we want to be able to reuse the sheeting for each garden year, we wrapped duct tape in front of and behind each place where we decided to anchor the sheeting to the ground to prevent tearing:
With that done, we had to be careful to make sure the plastic was distributed evenly, but in the end it was a rather painless process.
And now our garlic and tulip bulbs should be happy along with all the various vegetables we'll be planting this weekend:
First, we found a local hardware store, in this case Coe Lumber & Building Supply (at 3485 Broadway West) which we highly recommend for these kinds of projects! It's a locally owned and operated hardware store with very helpful folks and most anything available in bulk. They had several different weights of plastic sheeting, we aimed for the medium grade and had them cut off a 10' long piece for us. We also got some 1/2" PVC pipe, some garden stakes, a roll of duct tape, and grabbed some scissors on our way over to the garden.
If you refer back to our original planter box post: Urban Gardening you might have noticed that we installed 1" pvc in the sides of the original box. This enabled us to make two loops to hold up the sheeting:
Once the pvc was at an adequate height (not too high to annoy our urban neighbors, and not too low) we threw the sheeting over and decided on places to stake it into the ground. Since we want to be able to reuse the sheeting for each garden year, we wrapped duct tape in front of and behind each place where we decided to anchor the sheeting to the ground to prevent tearing:
With that done, we had to be careful to make sure the plastic was distributed evenly, but in the end it was a rather painless process.
And now our garlic and tulip bulbs should be happy along with all the various vegetables we'll be planting this weekend:
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Lucy Shaw, signs of spring, and thankfulness...
This semester Jeremy and I are taking a class together at Regent on the Christian Imagination. Tonight one of my very favorite authors and poets, Lucy Shaw, will be sharing with us. I can hardly wait and feel so fortunate to be able to have experiences like this throughout our time here in Vancouver... What a gift! Anyway, in tribute to Ms. Shaw and to celebrate the first signs of life in our garden this year I give you a poem and a few pictures of the newly emerging spring...Heart Spring
Often, even before Easter,
last summer's deep
seeds rebelat their long frozen sleep,
split, swellin the dark under
ground, twist, dance,to a new beat,
push through a lace of oldpale roots.
Invited by an unseen heat
they spearhead up, almost
as though, suddenly,their tender shoots
find the loam light as air,
not dense, not sodden coldI saw a crocus once
in first flight
stretching so fastfrom late snow
(a boundary just passed,a singular horizon close below)
the white cap meltedon its purple head.
Such swife greening of
leaf wings and stalk
was clear celebrationof all sweet springs combined,
of sungold,smell of freshness, wind
first-time felt,light lifting, all new things,
all things good and right,and all the old
left behind-Lucy Shaw
The Green Earth: Poems of Creation
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A year in review!
As Jeremy and I have been reflecting on all that we learned over the past year, we thought it might be helpful to have a reference post that allows us to quickly see all the different things we have done this year... It's so fun to look back over each week and remember the various things we were learning and thinking about. I still can't believe the year is over - it went so fast!
So, did you miss a post? Trying to remember a link, but aren't sure which week it came from? Hopefully this will help! Enjoy, and as always, thanks for reading!
January
February
March
April
May
July
August
September
October
Week 45 - The joy of handtools
Week 46 - Handmade Christmas
Week 47 - Gobble, gobble!
Week 48 - Canning and preserving, baby steps...
Week 47 - Gobble, gobble!
Week 48 - Canning and preserving, baby steps...
December
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Wonderful Resource: The Story of Stuff
If you haven't already had a chance to watch it, check out "The Story of Stuff", produced by Annie Leonard. She provides a wonderfully accessible presentation on the production and consumption cycles that really captures what we've been learning this past year. You can watch her very entertaining video here. And, once you're done, she's provided a wealth of resources for readers, including a full script with annotations in case you're wondering where she got some of her information! Check it out, we promise you won't be disappointed.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Bright Green in 2008?
So a few folks have asked us, what’s next? We both scratched our heads for a while until we came up with a plan for the next 52 weeks at the local Frog and Firkin pub over Caffrey’s Cream Ale and Ginger Ale. Just in case you were worried, rest assured, the next 52 will be even greener, but we’re going to mix it up a little bit.
As we dialogued with friends and family via this blog about our urban efforts to live more sustainably and justly we often found ourselves having to do some research and reading. Further, as we’ve been living with some of the 52 decisions that we made over the last year, we’ve learned from some of them, dropped others, and found ways to improve. With that said, we’ve decided to try a couple different things over the next year, and we want to give you a heads-up so that we can get even more of your feedback in the process!
We want to take the first four weeks to recap, as it has been a busy year and we’ve often been going so quickly that we haven’t had a chance to provide you updates on everything. So with that said, the rest of January will consist of posts where we sum up all the learning from the last 52.
From there, we’re going to dig even deeper and do some research. We have each identified five areas that we would like to explore in greater detail based on our experiences this past year, and so we are going to read up and report back to you on what we find, like a sort of book club. In fact - here is the tentative line-up for 2008, so you can read and think along with us if you like:
Katy's picks...
Animal, vegetable, minearl...: Exploring ideas about conservation, including native species, biodiversity, and the importance of understanding the history of the place in which you live.
Connections: A closer look at the implications a green lifestyle has on social justice, how do these themes overlap and what can we do to improve life for all of God's creation?
Green spaces: A month of tips, articles and links we have used in creating our garden, as well as some reflections on the process of keeping a green space and the spiritual dimension gardens hold in connecting us with our Creator.
How can we be creatively green? One of Katy's greatest joys in life is finding expression through creating. Unfortunately, many crafts and hobbies use very un-eco friendly products and so this month will be devoted to learning how to maintain a lifestyle that allows room for creativity, without the guilt of participating in pastimes that may be seen as wasteful ecologically speaking...
Grocery lists: How can we green-up our grocery lists? What should we really think about the options: fair-trade, certified organic, shade-grown, bird-friendly, locally grown groceries and which is most important? This month will be an indepth look at how to prioritize food choices from the seemingly endless combinations and options that are poping up in grocery isles everywhere.
Jeremy's picks...
Global warming: The Nobel peace price affirmed that global warming (or climate change) is driving much of the conversation and worry that charges Green culture. Often the dialogue can be unreflective (for activists) or reactive (for the rest). Jeremy will be reading through two books on the subject in an effort to get the facts straight and explore what the realities of climate change can mean for Christian faith, and how that faith should affect how we talk about and react to climate change.
Dream big: Part of the young urban professional culture often consists of dreaming about the future – and what we plan to own in the future. Big houses, big cars, big toys, you name it. We’re as guilty as the next family, so Jeremy has decided to cast his dreams in a different direction: the dream Green home. As we’re both urban apartment dwellers, we’ve been aware that our blog entries aren’t always relevant to some of our readers. For those of you who are already homeowners, you can submit your suggestions and put Jeremy on the case. He’ll be reading up on the latest and greatest all in an effort to dream big (or small, as the case may be) about creating a sustainable dwelling place.
Green politics: With the elections in the US just around the corner, Jeremy’s going to reflect carefully on how being Green should and can affect voting.
Agriculture policy: All this talk about where food comes from can often turn pretty critical, especially towards our policies towards food, and the good people who grow it. In this series, Jeremy will go on the case to find out the knitty-gritty details about growing green, about the possible casualties that occur along the way, and hopefully finding a good place to stand with regards to feeding all our cities.
Ethics: There are a lot of voices in the green conversation, but not as many from the religious community. Far less still are coming from our own faith community, that of evangelical Christianity. Evangelicals make up about 70 million people in the US, but often find themselves voiceless, misled, or confused about going Green and the theological issues involved aren’t always handled with an eye to orthodoxy. With that said, Jeremy will be probing around for leaders in the evangelical community who are writing, speaking, and acting without dropping their faith – looking for some eco-heroes!
TBD: Still looking for topic #5... any suggestions from the blogosphere? I'm open to any suggestions... and will be your personal research assistant for the green topic of your choice!
As we make new changes to our lifestyle and come across creative solutions we’ll continue to share them with you all. Stay tuned also, for a redesigned resources page, as our list of weblinks and books is starting to overflow!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Can you believe that 52 weeks have passed?
We burst forth before the new year with our final batch of entries, and happened to notice a few gaps from earlier in the year that we've filled in. For those at home, here is a quick index of the new:
Week 5 - McCormick Move Over!
Week 32 - Grow a plant
Week 36 - Green scrapbooking
Week 45 - Joy of handtools
Week 49 - Canning: Taking it to the next level
Week 51 - Greener cats
Week 52 - Green clothes
Week 5 - McCormick Move Over!
Week 32 - Grow a plant
Week 36 - Green scrapbooking
Week 45 - Joy of handtools
Week 49 - Canning: Taking it to the next level
Week 51 - Greener cats
Week 52 - Green clothes
Week 52: Green Clothes?
One area where we've been educating ourselves for a good part of the year has been with regards to Greening up our wardrobes. You might be surprised to discover (we were) that there are several different areas involved here, especially with regards to our ways of consumption.We've been reminded repeatedly this past year that consumerism affects the planet in unhelpful ways, and also takes a toll on people spiritually - as we don't think humans were intended by their creator to view the world around themselves and our daily activity in terms of enabling and participating in consumption. People treat one another as commodities in relationships, people treat churches as a commidity that they want to provide them with a particular "product" (cool music, satisfying sermons, etc.), and we also treat our jobs, which may often be unsatisfying in themselves as worthy of our time because they enable our purchasing of fun during the time left over. All this goes to say, our closets are no different than the rest of life in that they reflect an attitude of consumption -
- When clothes get stains, holes, or shoe soles wear out our first inclination is to toss them and just buy another pair!
- Even if we have enough clothing to keep ourselves warm and covered, we participate in the acquisition of endless varieties of patterns and colors of what is basically the same thing
- The clothing that we do buy is selected on the basis of "brand sensitivity" wherein we purchase status at the cost of markups. This may seem innocuous, but it is instructive to realize that many of these brands exist only to manipulate us to buy more of what we don't really either want or need (an instructive example shared by Naomi Klein in her book "No Logo"
is of Nike and Tommy Hillfiger, which doesn't actually make clothes but outsources *all* the manufacturing and focuses their resources exclusively on generating brand image).- The agricultural practice of producing cotton is the most chemically saturated.
- Last but not least, the clothing industry is a trans-national industry with a particularly checkered past regarding worker exploitation.
With all that said, what practical steps can we take to "green up our closets"? Here are a few that we've taken up recently:
- Rather than buying a new pair of shoes when the soles wore out on his dress shoes, Jeremy (thanks to Mark and Marcia in Boise!) got new, and better soles attached. The added benefit - the shoes are already broken in and are more comfortable by the day.
- Several pairs of jeans got holes of varying sizes in the last year and we've spent this weekend patching them up.
- We're had less luck purchasing new clothing when necessary that avoids all the pitfalls we outlined above. Purchasing clothing that isn't marked up at Wall-Mart, Target, Canadian Tire, etc. is hardly any better as you're still participating in the potential exploitation of workers and irresponsible agricultural practice. Two possible options seems to be the best at this point:
1) Buy from local thrift stores, so as to "recycle" and participate in clothing swaps with friends when you're tired of your "look", or...
[check out an insightful look here from the Tyee where they describe a potential pitfall of thrifting]
2) Make your own clothing using sustainable fabrics, which can be quite affordable
3) Purchase clothing that is both "Sweatshop free" and made from organic materials. Low-price, non-branded products you find at Wall-Mart, Target, Canadian Tire, etc. aren't much better as you're still participating in the potential exploitation of workers and irresponsible agricultural practice. Sadly, eco-clothing seems to be a trendy thing in Vancouver, and thus the clothes are significantly marked up beyond our budget. With that said, here are a few online retailers that you can check out for affordable, just, and sustainable options:
- The Organic Pages Directory for Clothing Find Some Hemp Jeans
- Read TreeHugger Articles on Fashion and Clothing
- One of the most reputable clothing companies, Patagonia details the lifecycle of their garmets
- Worldchanging did a roundup of their best 2007 articles on green clothing - there is some great stuff in there!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Week 51: Greener cats?
The next part of greening up the lives of our favorite two buddies has been looking into some more sustainable, responsible (and what with some of the latest news safe) food. Jeremy has interrogated a couple different pet store proprietors, and the bottom line is that no cat food producer (at least that we could find) actually uses certified organic, locally grown ingredients. Many want to label their products with the adjective "natural" but none actually back up their claims with much that is certifiable. You'll find some helpful facts from API on "what's really in pet food" where they detail who owns the various companies, what different certifications mean, and how the companies make their food. They have a quick-reference sheet here as well to take with you to the store.
One thing we did discover, that helped a lot, was that many pet food stores (at least the non-chain ones) let you bring back food if your pets don't like it, so you can feel free to experiment with a few of the more natural brands.
For the next step... we've got our eyes on a couple books that have recipes for making your own pet food, at which point you can really choose the right ingredients:
Pet Food Nation: The Smart, Easy, and Healthy Way to Feed Your Pet Now
The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats
A couple other good articles, that you might find helpful:
Organic cat food on idealbite.com
Organic cat toys on idealbite
One thing we did discover, that helped a lot, was that many pet food stores (at least the non-chain ones) let you bring back food if your pets don't like it, so you can feel free to experiment with a few of the more natural brands.
For the next step... we've got our eyes on a couple books that have recipes for making your own pet food, at which point you can really choose the right ingredients:
Pet Food Nation: The Smart, Easy, and Healthy Way to Feed Your Pet Now
The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats
A couple other good articles, that you might find helpful:
Organic cat food on idealbite.com
Organic cat toys on idealbite
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Week 50: Fresh food in the fridge...
If you can say the title for this week's entry ten times fast, then you're definitely going to be interested in the ultimate food storage solution! We just discovered the "revolution in freshness preservation" and have heard from friends who are using these bags to store their veggies that they have achieved unheard of storage times for veggies, especially organic ones which tend to go bad faster (on account of the missing preservatives).You can check out their site: http://www.evertfresh.com/
and you can buy them straight from Debbie Meyers here: https://www.greenbags.com/?cid=398501. We got a pack of each size and our crisper is quite green!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Week 49: Canning, taking it to the next level!
After our success with canning freezer jam, we decided to take it to the next level with some of the real stuff. Katy was a bit concerned with the whole botulism problem, so we did exhaustive research and made sure we knew everything we needed to stay safe! We'd recommend that you start there as well.
The Bernardin company has a nice little guide to get you started: http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALBasics.asp
Pick some recipes for things to can:
You need jars and lids: in several different sizes (you can find these at the grocery store). It is important to know that jars come in two different types - narrow and wide mouth. We went with wide-mouth for everything:
You're also going to need a canner and a rack to place the jars on, and some tongs for the hot jars:
You can find a nice little kit with all the parts in it from Amazon, though we'll highly recommend that you try first to borrow or share all this equipment (ours was on loan from Jeremy's mom Suzanne!):
We found all the sizes and quantities a bit hard to navigate as no one can seem to agree on what system to use for measuring. To that end, Jeremy made up the ultimate conversion chart which is include here for your convenience:
In addition, all your jars, lids, and tops need to be cleaned and sanitized. You can wash them a couple hours before you are set to start canning in the dishwasher and set the high-heat dry on (just this once) to keep them clean until you start.
The Ball canning company has wonderful online guides to canning, but you need to know first that there are two different categories: canning foods with high acid content, and those without. Foods like tomatoes and apples have plenty of acid which combats any bacteria all on its own, so you don't need to be nearly as careful. From Bernardin: "High Acid Foods include fruits, fruit juices, jams, jellies and other fruit spreads, tomatoes with added acid, pickles, relishes, chutneys, sauces, vinegars and condiments. "
For the process, you can check out the ball guide here:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_high_acid_foods/34.php
or the Bernardin guide to the same here:
http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALStepbyStep.asp?ST=5
For low-acid foods, like "vegetables, soups, stews, meats, poultry, seafood and tomato or vegetable mixtures or sauces." you need to be very careful, so anything that isn't extremely clean can accumulate bacteria and, well, that's very bad! We actually decided not to can any low-acid foods this year - we went for the freezer, but if anyone is feeling ambitious, check out these guides and be really careful:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_low_acid_foods/35.php
http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALStepbyStep.asp?ST=6
That should be enough to get you started, just in case when you're all done: you can check out some possible crafts to use up all the left over jars:
http://www.homecrafting.com/collection_elite/projects_enewsletter.html
The Bernardin company has a nice little guide to get you started: http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALBasics.asp
Pick some recipes for things to can:
Another great resource is the web for finding recipes to use in canning. We frequently relied on www.allrecipes.com, but also found www.cooks.com and www.marthastewart.com to be great resources as well.
Next you'll want to get all your equipment cleaned and ready.
You need jars and lids: in several different sizes (you can find these at the grocery store). It is important to know that jars come in two different types - narrow and wide mouth. We went with wide-mouth for everything:
You're also going to need a canner and a rack to place the jars on, and some tongs for the hot jars:
You can find a nice little kit with all the parts in it from Amazon, though we'll highly recommend that you try first to borrow or share all this equipment (ours was on loan from Jeremy's mom Suzanne!):
We found all the sizes and quantities a bit hard to navigate as no one can seem to agree on what system to use for measuring. To that end, Jeremy made up the ultimate conversion chart which is include here for your convenience:
| oz | cups | ml | tbsp | |
| 1oz | 1/8c | 30 | 2 | |
| half pint | 8oz | 1c | 240 | 16 |
| pint | 16oz | 2c | 480 | 32 |
| quart | 32oz | 4c | 960 | 64 |
| half gallon | 64oz | 8c | 1920 | 128 |
| gallon | 128oz | 16c | 3840 | 256 |
In addition, all your jars, lids, and tops need to be cleaned and sanitized. You can wash them a couple hours before you are set to start canning in the dishwasher and set the high-heat dry on (just this once) to keep them clean until you start.
The Ball canning company has wonderful online guides to canning, but you need to know first that there are two different categories: canning foods with high acid content, and those without. Foods like tomatoes and apples have plenty of acid which combats any bacteria all on its own, so you don't need to be nearly as careful. From Bernardin: "High Acid Foods include fruits, fruit juices, jams, jellies and other fruit spreads, tomatoes with added acid, pickles, relishes, chutneys, sauces, vinegars and condiments. "
For the process, you can check out the ball guide here:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_high_acid_foods/34.php
or the Bernardin guide to the same here:
http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALStepbyStep.asp?ST=5
For low-acid foods, like "vegetables, soups, stews, meats, poultry, seafood and tomato or vegetable mixtures or sauces." you need to be very careful, so anything that isn't extremely clean can accumulate bacteria and, well, that's very bad! We actually decided not to can any low-acid foods this year - we went for the freezer, but if anyone is feeling ambitious, check out these guides and be really careful:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_low_acid_foods/35.php
http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALStepbyStep.asp?ST=6
That should be enough to get you started, just in case when you're all done: you can check out some possible crafts to use up all the left over jars:
http://www.homecrafting.com/collection_elite/projects_enewsletter.html
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Week 48: Canning and Preserving, baby steps
We've already shared that part of our fun this past summer was to spend some lovely evenings picking berries with friends. However, after we picked all those berries we suddenly realized we needed to figure out a way to store them as there was no way we would be able to eat them all fresh. As such, we embarked on a new adventure... To learn the art of canning and preserving!
First, as we already mentioned - you'll want to find a good berry patch and pick yourself a good quantity of berries, probably 10lbs to start, or more if you'd like a lot of jam.
We started off easy making freezer jam, and we'd recommend this for anyone who is just starting out with preserving. First, find yourself some good sturdy containers that you can reuse after you've eaten all the jam. We found the Ziplock brand Twist-n-lock ones stack nicely and are sturdy enough to withstand re-use.
Next wash, hill and crush your strawberries to prepare them for the jam.
You will need:
4 cups (1000 ml) crushed strawberries, about 2 quarts (2 L)
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) granulated sugar
1 pouch (45 g) Freezer Jam Pectin
Several 250ml (1/2c) jars (5-6)
Canning funnel (keeps things clean)
Instructions
- In mixing bowl, stir together sugar and Freezer Jam Pectin until well mixed.
- Add crushed fruit to pectin-sugar mixture; stir 3 minutes.
- Ladle jam into mason jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Wipe jar rims removing any stickiness. Apply lids tightly. Let stand, about 30 minutes, until thickened.
- Freeze up to 1 year; refrigerate up to 3 weeks or serve.
Makes about 5 x 250 ml jars.
We found this recipe here: http://www.homecanning.com/can/AlRecipes.asp?R=659
...and that's it! The nice thing, is that you don't have to worry about boiling the jars or any of the other precautions that are more necessary when canning. However, if you're ready for more... stay tuned for our canning adventures as they continue!
First, as we already mentioned - you'll want to find a good berry patch and pick yourself a good quantity of berries, probably 10lbs to start, or more if you'd like a lot of jam.
We started off easy making freezer jam, and we'd recommend this for anyone who is just starting out with preserving. First, find yourself some good sturdy containers that you can reuse after you've eaten all the jam. We found the Ziplock brand Twist-n-lock ones stack nicely and are sturdy enough to withstand re-use.
Next wash, hill and crush your strawberries to prepare them for the jam.
You will need:
4 cups (1000 ml) crushed strawberries, about 2 quarts (2 L)
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) granulated sugar
1 pouch (45 g) Freezer Jam Pectin
Several 250ml (1/2c) jars (5-6)
Canning funnel (keeps things clean)
Instructions
- In mixing bowl, stir together sugar and Freezer Jam Pectin until well mixed.
- Add crushed fruit to pectin-sugar mixture; stir 3 minutes.
- Ladle jam into mason jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Wipe jar rims removing any stickiness. Apply lids tightly. Let stand, about 30 minutes, until thickened.
- Freeze up to 1 year; refrigerate up to 3 weeks or serve.
Makes about 5 x 250 ml jars.
We found this recipe here: http://www.homecanning.com/can/AlRecipes.asp?R=659
...and that's it! The nice thing, is that you don't have to worry about boiling the jars or any of the other precautions that are more necessary when canning. However, if you're ready for more... stay tuned for our canning adventures as they continue!
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