September Updates

Just a quick update on some of the small things we've done in the past month or so to reduce our "foot-print".

1. Dish-washing: We've changed our dish-washing habit to conserve water. We don't have dish-washer so we were using the method of constantly running the water and washing and rinsing the dishes one-by-one and putting them on the drying rack. This method became apparent to me when I bought my first soap dispensing sponge.

It seemed like such a great tool at the time...but I didn't realize that the simplicity of it encouraged me to waste water.

We have now moved to the old fashioned dish-washing method of filling up one tub with water and soap, washing the dishes, putting them in the other tub, and then rinsing them all together. It has helped us save water and also save soap. So win-win..we're saving money too!

2. Power-Strip: Many of the items in the home stay "on" even when we've turned them "off"! Obviously anything with a clock (micro-wave, stereo, etc.) but also things like chargers and tools pull energy even when they are not engaged. This is commonly called "phantom-energy". Learning this, we've installed an inexpensive power-strip to the outlet where we have two stereo's and a computer. When we are not using the computer or stereo we simply turn of that item and then we switch the power-strip to completely disengage them. I would like to get another power-strip for the television because it has a small light that is always on, which is obviously powered from somewhere..and that somewhere is my electric bill!

3. Bread crumbs: What the heck do I mean by Bread Crumbs. Well Mike and I typically do not like to eat the two end pieces of our loaves of bread generally referred to as "end-cuts". I don't know why...I just shy away from these oddly shaped pieces. We were in the habit of throwing them in the garbage after we were onto our new loaf of bread. What a waste of food...So I decided that I would freeze the end-cuts until I had a fair amount and make croutons. I let the pieces thaw on the counter and then cut them into small squares. I mixed olive oil with black pepper, salt and Italian herbs (rosemary, basil, oregano, etc.) in a large bowl. I rolled the cuts of bread in the bowl until they were slightly coated and placed them on a backing sheet baking for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I was afraid they would turn out too hard but after taking them out of the oven I put them in a ziplock bag and they stayed perfectly crunchy for weeks. I'm so happy we aren't throwing away any more food! And win-win...saving money because we aren't buying croutons from the store anymore..which I couldn't find a local variety of anyway!

Now if I could just learn how to make banana bread so I can use all of the too-ripe-to-eat bananas in the freezer.

"What's Wrong With Our Food ..." 11-year-old Birke Baehr

Oregon Trip Trifecta

I was so impressed by the public transportation options in Portland! I was dropped off at the Oregon Zoo in Washington Park and after spending a few hours with the animals (here's a baby elephant), I decided to hop on the Trimet (train) to downtown. There's an option from Washington Park to hike a couple of miles and than hop on an Aerial Tram down to a Trolley and than into downtown.

http://library.oregonmetro.gov/files/trailtramtrolleytrain.pdf

Now, I was thinking of taking on this adventure but the clouds were looking a little dark and after spending several days in the rain decided I would rather be in the midst of downtown if it rained than in the middle of another hike. So I got on the Trimet and after a ten minute ride I was downtown. Since I wasn't exactly sure where I would get off, I decided to eye-ball the stops until they looked promising. When I saw a Nordstrom store, I decided it was probably safe to get off the train! To my surprise...even more exciting than Nordstrom..I found the Monday Farmers Market! And I was just in time..with only 45 minutes until it closed, I ordered some quinua from a local stand and an oatmeal cookie. I sat and enjoyed the sight of people purchasing locally farmed goods in the midst of the booming city.

I walked through the city and noticed that some of the bus-stops had plasma flat-screen televisions telling me when the next bus would arrive. The trains had the same deal!
The buses had bike racks on them and the Trains had special bike designated areas to hang your bike! How cool!

After meandering around the city for several hours, I got back on the train for the airport. I noticed a gentleman seated in front of me working on his computer...minutes later he put his bike helmet on, grabbed his bike that was hanging up behind me and off he went into the universe. By Bike, Trolley, Train, Tram or Bus...Portland is doing it!

Now, Madison has a great bus system..though a little difficult to figure out but I'm excited to see if Madison will ever incorporate some more options for public transportation. It seems that in our society of instant gratification, unless it's fast and easy, nobody want's anything to do with it. I've heard many people say "if I have to get on a bus that will take me further away from my destination, just to get on another bus to get to where I need to be.. it's just not happening". As much as I want to say that I would raise my voice and say "I would", I know that I wouldn't either...well maybe if we had the time..right!?

More public transportation options in Madison could make things faster and easier for us! However, I won't hold my breath..just yet.

Portland Oregon Trip, Take Two

I find that I'm always more inspired to reduce my impact on the environment when I can immerse myself in nature for a few days. When out in Oregon, I met up with my funn friend Heather who is currently living in Washington State. Last Saturday we drove about 45 minutes West of Portland to visit Tillamook State Forest. We did a day hike up Elk Creek trail and around to Elk Mountain Trail. It's a 3,000 foot climb to the "summit" of Elk Mountain, which I know isn't the biggest of accomplishments, but I'd say climbing it in the rain with running shoes on makes for a bigger challenge. So with that said...after a few "false summits"...I was at the real summit of my first mountain last weekend.

What a beautiful hike, full of mossy trees, Elk scat, large slugs, and beautiful views. And after slipping and scurrying down from the mountain on a trail that after all the rain we had been hiking in started to look like a stream bed we were safe and dry and enjoying the warmth of a local pizza establishment, watching MTV's the real world in Tillamook, OR.

The next day we made it to Rockaway Beach and Haystack Rock as we drove north up the coast. I saw the largest sea stars I've ever seen (they aren't fish so we're not supposed to call them starfish..tell your kids.) I also and learned that puffins nest on the coast of Oregon from April through August...darn it we missed them by only a few weeks!

So next time I visit the coast, (which will hopefully be soon) I want to make sure I see these awesome sea birds! Go Nature!

Portland Oregon, Take One

What a week! I have a lot of things to post so they will be coming up short and quick. I was in Portland Oregon this past weekend and what a beautiful, liberal, green, forward thinking city! I was impressed by so many things that I saw in the city as I meandered through the down-town streets with my backpack on and the smell of several days of camping on my bones. I will post several things this week that I loved about Portland and my 3-day trip to visit my good friend Heather or (as some of us like to call her, H-Bag)

I was about 5 hours into my solo exploration of the downtown area yesterday when I decided I wanted to check out the Old Town/China Town District. It was neat to see the Chinese lanterns on the street and some statues sprinkled here and there along with what looked like some amazing Asian restaurants, but it definitely didn't rival the China Town of San Francisco so I wasn't so impressed.

Lucky for me though I happened by an eco-friendly store called Seven Planet right in the midst of China Town.

http://www.sevenplanet.com/index.php/

As I had some serious time to kill...I'd say another 5 hours before my red-eye flight to Chicago, I went in to take a look. There are a lot of different things going on when you walk through the doors oft his cute little store. There is the tea-shop... I was greeted by a well-dressed gentleman who offered me some complimentary fair-trade tea. I politely turned him down..as I already had consumed 2 large coffees prior to my arrival and we all know too much of some things is just not a good thing, especially when wondering aimlessly through a foreign city without a bathroom in sight, but I digress. Aside from the tea-shop the store sells fresh flowers, jewelry, clothing, house-hold goods, pet-goods, soups/lotions, food and books.

Everything in the store had the same eco-friendly labeling and the jewelry was made mostly by local artists. Most of the artists had used reclaimed materials in their jewelry, such as scrap leather, scrap fabric, pages from old books, rubber from tires and copper from old appliances. I really wanted to purchase some earrings from one of these old copper appliances, but after making my selection remembered my slight skin-sensitivity to copper. And it seems to me that reclaimed appliance copper could potentially be even more of a skin irritant than perhaps it's purist copper cousin. So..instead I bought myself a bracelet made from reclaimed belt leather...I will post a picture later!

I also purchased Mike and I each a Lunchskin to aid us in packing "green" lunches for work!

http://www.lunchskins.com/home.php?cat=



According to the LunchSkin website,
more than 20 million sandwich bags from school lunches go into landfills in the US each day! Yowsa! These fashionable Lunchskins replace those pesky sandwich bags...they can be washed, reused and they have a nice velcro closing to "hopefully" keep things fresh! I'm excited to give these a try and report back on how they're working!

I made my purchases and spoke briefly with the gentleman taking my money. I asked him if he could recommend a locally owned restaurant that was known for using locally grown ingredients. He pointed me to a place down the street called the Davis Street Tavern. The menu was a little pricey for a solo street wanderer on the end of her 3 day vacation like myself but I was lucky enough to walk in during Happy Hour! Horray! I believe my server may have thought I was off the street when I appeared backpack in tow and probably smelling like a wild mountain creature from having camped the past two nights in the rain...but regardless of the serious dreadlock that was forming on the back of my head, I sat in luxury, sipped my wine and sampled some great local fare on the corner of Davis and 5th in the lovely "green" city of Portland. I ordered myself a tasty Caesar Salad before digging into the best Fish Tacos I've ever tried.

Cheers to you Portland, I give you, your "green" store and your "local" fish tacos a thumbs up.

Hug a Polar Bear

The Nissan Leaf is here! It's 100% electric and according to the commercial I saw last night, if you buy one you'll get to hug a polar bear. (okay maybe not)


http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index?dcp=ppn.39666654.&dcc=0.216878497#/leaf-electric-car/

It appears that you need a garage so you can install the charging dock/fueling station at your home.

I don't have a garage.
But once I have a garage....watch out..because I'm going to be hugging some polar bears.

Since it will likely take a few years for us to see exactly how this car will operate on the road and if there are many performance deficiencies, I think I can wait until I have the garage. I only hope that people do buy this car so Nissan continues to make them and other car companies compete..which would only result in the best electric cars possible on the market.

Don't forget the General Motor's EV1 of the 90's that sank horrifically. I recommend this documentary if you haven't seen it. http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

To Live Simply

It seems to me that in some ways being environmentally conscious and economically conscious go hand in hand. Being frugal is an act of sustainability. As a frugal being one gets by on less and thus makes a smaller impact.

Growing up, I was often embarrassed when going into a second-hand store or garage sale with my mom. I could never quiet understand why it seemed everyone else I knew shopped primarily at the mall and my family did not. I would get angry and ask "why can't I just have this or that". I think it's natural to get caught in this race of course as it is how our society operates...bigger is better. I know that growing up we got by on less for economic reasons but by today's standards we would have been perceived as a very "green" family. I have wonderful memories from childhood and I know that the principles that I stand firm on are grounded on what I learned and experienced early on. We went to the farmers market, we used canvas bags, we shopped at second-hand stores, we had a garden, we lived in small houses, we didn't travel far for vacation, we camped, we turned off lights, and we had a clothing line. I grew up eating vegetables from our garden, fish from Wisconsin lakes and venison from local deer. Do I think I had a perfect childhood..well No. (does anybody?) Do I think I had a happy childhood...Yes, very. I have a lot to learn about being sustainable and environmentally conscious, but I feel fortunate to have had such a good start.

We were not the "Joneses".
To not "keep up with the Joneses" could be perceived as social and cultural failure. Unfortunately for so long, "keeping up with the Joneses" has lead to a lot of waste. Too many cars.... gas guzzling cars. I curse the Hummer driver...unless you are in a war zone what is the point of your big inefficient vehicle. And there are big houses that require too much gas to heat and electricity. Clothing that lasts one season and is then tossed aside, not to mention the amount of food prepared and then thrown away.

Now I'm not saying that I don't respect and sometimes envy the people who live in their dream homes and drive their dream cars. They have worked very hard to be successful and everyone deserves to do what they wish and be happy. When I walk by beautiful houses in my neighborhood, I do marvel at their greatness. And mostly I think, how wonderful it is for the people who live there. It may be that someone finally purchased their dream home and I for one am not opposed to people achieving their dreams. Plus, I need to remember that there are people who live luxurious wasteful lifestyles but who donate thousands of dollars to charities, adopt and foster children or make other amazing contributions to society. To these people we should all be very grateful, however I am opposed to people who forget that there are other people who live on this planet or who say "why should I care what happens to the planet in 100 years, I'll be long gone".

Luckily for us, a lot of manufacturers have jumped on the GREEN bandwagon. Since it is unlikely that society is going to stop trying to "keep up" we now have options to help reduce our impact on the environment. There are wonderful cars on the market now that are gas-efficient and they're not just hybrids. There are Energy-Star appliances that use less energy and front-load washing machines that use less water. Plus, there are so many sustainable materials for building and decorating homes now!

Here's a nice website that links to sustainable Home Furnishings
http://www.sustainabilitystore.com/index_home_furnishings.html

I too need to remind myself that when I have the urge to splurge I should be looking at local and responsible goods and since being GREEN is "in", there are a lot of clothing stores that have moved to more sustainable materials.

I know that Patagonia has long been an environmental champion.
http://www.patagonia.com/us/environmentalism?netid=2

And I've had my eye on FAIR INDIGO, a socially responsible fair trade clothing store.
http://www.fairindigo.com/about/

I'll leave you with a quote that I love, often attributed to Ghandi
"Live simply so that others may simply live"

Let us try to tread lightly my friends.