Unlock Your Life - Expert ideas to make the most of your life

What Are You Treading On?

On a walk in the neighborhood recently I noticed the similarities amongst the front walkways. The mix consisted of clay colored bricks, concrete, and stone. 

What is the most forgiving to the earth I wondered?

Bricks, although they are made from naturally occurring clay, are formed and dried in kilns that usually use natural gas (or wood fire kilns) which contribute to air pollution. One neighbor had a nice brick pathway that looked a bit more rugged or perhaps mismatched which led me to believe that they were compiled from recycled bricks. If this is an idea you would like to consider, make sure the bricks are hard bricks designed for outdoor use vs. soft bricks that will absorb water and crack or flake when its cold outside.

One clay type option that is not seen here in the North East much is terra-cotta or adobe walkways. Since these are also made of natural clay but dried in the sun, they are an eco friendly option but due to the fact that they are very porous, I think they will be most successful in dryer climates.

I read about these waste bricks products called Scenic Scape Brick Nuggets that are old bricks converted into 4 different size nuggets that folks use for pathways as well. These, recycled broken concrete, or recycled glass are nice options if you don’t really need to do a lot of shoveling as the “nuggets” could get tossed around.

Concrete walkways are common around here. A mix of quarried gravel and other stone materials are used to create the concrete. Mining and crushing the materials requires a fair amount of fossil fuels and in many cases chemical additives are added in to enhance the bonding capabilities. Thus, concrete and other fabricated landscape materials less eco friendly.

I think finding stones native to your area is probably the most eco friendly option since they come from Mother Nature, don’t require any manufacturing to break them down, or energy to clean or shape them.

What are you walking on?

Tread Lighter on your walkway,

-Phyllis, Green Expert

 

A weed already???

Winter has been long and dreary this year, and our spring has not really arrived with any consistency yet, so it was with some disgust that I noticed yesterday that the first thing to “grow” in my yard was a weed. Really?

 

I have previously posted about the woeful state of my yard and gardens—they have bested me in the past, and I am always determined to manage them with the arrival of spring, but the concept of lingering snow piles and growing weeds is as incongruous as acne and wrinkles—don’t even get me started on that!

 

I have heard that spraying weeds with a full dose of vinegar works wonders as a natural remedy. I am going to get on that as soon as I am sure that no more snow is coming—should be just around June 1 at this rate.

 

This is my first spring with a full-time job, and I am extremely concerned that if I couldn’t keep up with the yard when I was mostly home, this year it will absolutely consume everything.

 

The arrival of this weed did little to quell those fears. Luckily, if I purchase a large bottle of vinegar now, I can use some for dying our Easter eggs, too.

 

This weed has thrown down the gauntlet, and I accept. Game on!

 

 

 

Shoes

My mom loves them...but thats another story.

We didn't grow up with the habit of taking shoes off when entering a home but some how my sister has instilled that rule in her household. She has many other clever ideas but that one is on my mind today.

I read recently that removing shoes before entering a home is the public health equivalent of hand washing.

 

The truth is, the dirt we track in makes our homes more than simply "dirty". We track in a cocktail of toxins from lawn pesticides (from your neighbors yard, of course not yours) and other outdoor pollutants (traces of animal waste, residues from the lead in car exhaust, etc.). Imagine the amount of pesticides and other toxins on shoes that are being dragged into the home and then being exposed to your family (especially children that are crawling, eating, playing on the floor).

 

By removing shoes not only can we improve the indoor air quality, we will spend less time cleaning it and less money paying for more cleaning products. In addition, it can lower noise pollution in your home by keeping it a bit quieter. Those rocks that get stuck in shoes can leave marks in wood floors, but not if you don't have your shoes on!

 

Even if you don't have a mud room, put a basket near the door(s) so folks can leave their shoes there. Some households even put out some socks to encourage visitors to be comfortable without shoes.

 

Tread Lighter without shoes inside,

-Phyllis, Green Expert

 

Removing That Plastic Smell

I have been hoping it would just go away. You know, that new car type plastic smell. 

Our coffee maker broke a few months back and after trying many options trying to re-rig the old coffee maker or testing out a french press, we decided on another automatic drip as it works best for our household. 

When it arrived, we could smell a plastic smell. We thought maybe it was just the packing it came in but it lingered. We were disappointed and hoped it would "air" out soon so we would be aroma-less. 

However, two months later it is still there. I am surprised and concerned about the plastics used to create this coffee maker as well as the ramifications of drinking from it. 

I don't want to just throw it out and add to the landfills (plus the expense of another option to get that caffeine fix). I am going to try to "renew" it (by ridding of the plastic new smell). I ham going to clean the coffee maker with good ole vinegar!

After filling the water reservoir of the coffee maker with white vinegar (without the filter) I turned it on and let it run. Once the cycle was complete I let the vinegar sit for 20 minutes or so before filling the water reservoir with water and running it again. Then I washed the pot with soap and water to get any residue off the top of the pot (rest is glass so that isn't the culprit).

Tomorrow morning will be the test to see if the house smells like plastic or not when we plug it in and turn it on.

I sat back hoping the dilemma was over when the new air purifier was delivered. I opened it up and what do you know... strong plastic smell. In an air purifier that is suppose to rid of pollen, dust mites and other allergens. Really? Any suggestions? I am frustrated.

Tread Lighter WITHOUT the yucky plastic smell,

-Phyllis, Green Expert

 

A jump in the pool

I did something last night I have never really done…I played pool. Now, when I say “played,” I feel I must qualify a bit. I held a pool cue, chalked it up, and occasionally even hit a ball, but as for actually playing…that’s in the eye of the beholder.

 

I grew up in a house where there were boy jobs and girl jobs—shoveling and mowing versus dishes and vacuuming. There were things my brothers could say: dang, jeez, crap (they eventually wore my mother down with this one!) that I had a much harder time getting away with.

 

My mom just had a dream that I would be lady-like and refined. If she reads this post, even though I am much closer to 40 than even 35!, she’ll call me and say, “Oh dolly, you played pool?” The disappointment will be evident—she has never spent much time being passive aggressive.

 

It was with some trepidation that I agreed to play pool with my husband and some close friends of ours. As a funny side note, my little community has the largest pool hall in the western hemisphere—yes, you read that right.

 

We arrived, and I expected to see seedy men outside smoking before heading in to their cheap beer and murkily-lit pool tables. Boy was I wrong.

 

What I walked in to was a clean, nicely lit, gigantic space full of gorgeous tables covered in felt. A gastro-pub was in one corner, and a pleasant served arrived at our table to take our order.

 

My husband chalked up my cue, handed it to me, and I was off. I’ll say I even had one or two (lucky!) incredible shots. Some balls went in to the pockets; admittedly, it was often the white one, but no one’s judging here!

 

More importantly, I learned a valuable lesson. I didn’t become a sleezy, course-talking pool girl simply by going in. I had fun—I encouraged an additional game beyond what we had originally settled on. It was a great time to spend with our friends, talking and laughing. There was plenty of laughing simply because of my lack of skill! The point was not to “win” but to play—although I’m not entirely sure the men absolutely felt that way—they were pretty serious.

 

As we were leaving, I noticed with some delight that there is a section where under- 21s can play—we’ll definitely do a family night with our son because he will enjoy it, and I will be happy to have a good activity that we can all do together.

 

My mom won’t be happy, but I had a lot of fun. It’s unlikely I’ll be calling pockets any time soon, but it was a great way to spend a couple of hours, and I’ll definitely do it again.

 

Pop, pop, fizz, fizz

Before I met my husband, I never drank carbonated water. I didn’t grow up in a house that drank anything but water, milk, or juice. To be really radical, sometimes my mom made Russian Tea, but I never drank anything that remotely resembled soda, or pop as it’s commonly referred to in the Midwest.

 

Then I met my European husband, and all that changed. He was moderately horrified by “flat” water, and I found myself purchasing more and more bottles of soda water. It got to be expensive, if it wasn’t drunk in one sitting, it went flat and was useless, and it was a lot of bottles to wrangle until it was time to recycle.

 

At the end of 2008, I lost my primary writing job. In an effort to try to save money while I figured out what I was going to do to make up for it, I began looking online at sites that talked about ways to save money. One of the tips was to get a sodastream—a machine to carbonate your own water. Because it was the end of the year, I was able to order one for $100 with no shipping costs. It came with two one-liter bottles and one big CO2 cartridge claiming to make up to 60 liters of water. It seemed like a worthwhile purchase that we might get a lot of use out of and that would save us money.

 

That was over two years ago, and I still love this machine. It’s sleek, so it’s easy to store, and best of all, since we ordered ours, they are now available at all kinds of big-box home stores, so you don’t even have to mail the empty cartridges back anymore.

 

This water has some serious fizz because you can choose how much CO2 to put in, and you can get soda flavors to add to it that are pretty decent. There are also fruit juice packages to add that are nice from time to time. Mostly, however, I just like the water.

 

It has been great to not have to deal with the purchasing and recycling of all those bottles. We have saved a lot of money and we are doing something good for the environment—both things I like.

 

If you are someone who craves carbonation, this is definitely a small investment worth making. It’s particularly perfect for the warm days of spring and the long, hot days of summer that are surely just around the corner. Just a tip: Mix carbonated water with lemonade concentrate—it’s out of this world!

 

What Has the Most Impact on Your Energy Bill?

Which one of these has the most impact on your energy bill?

A)   The green things you do around your home such as adding more insulation or driving a hybrid ?

B)   The actual type of house you live in?

C)  Where you live?

I read this question and thought I had the answer nailed on the head. What’s your guess?

A recent study done in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that family’s in homes near transit in compact neighborhoods actually save more energy than an energy-efficient family living in the suburbs.

Who would have thought that the old but true “location, location, location” slogan would work for lowering carbon footprints too?

The EPA says location is vital because buildings and transportation together account for about 70 percent of energy use in the United States and are responsible for about 62 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, researchers say that a family living in a typical “detached” house in the suburbs can cut their energy bill by 33 percent by greening their buildings and cars annually. However, if they move to a similar house with better access to transit, but no green features or efficient cars, they can cut their energy use by an average of 39 percent annually. If the family also improves the energy efficiency of their home by 20 percent and gets a hybrid car their total energy savings jump to 54 percent.

The researchers got similar results for townhouses, “multi-family” homes (i.e. apartments or condos) too.

This shows that driving less is just such a big component to lowering costs and energy usage. So if you are in the market for a new house, consider one where you have access to public transportation (or can walk or bike) to get to work, school, and where you have to go.

Tread Lighter when house hunting,

-Phyllis, Green Expert 

 

 

Creative Ideas For A Party

We are planning a party at our house for this weekend and I was on the look out for some new green party ideas. At the library I stumbled upon a book called Simply Green by Danny Seo.

There are many clever ideas in this book including many uses or reuses of materials one has around the home including: 

Book menus
Rock place card holders
Broken Terra cotta pot pieces to differentiate which cheese is which 
Cork trivet
Celebratory lanterns made from brown paper bags
Beverage cooler made from a birdbath by simply adding ice and drinks!
Soy wax treasure candles
Baby tree thank you gifts... with tips on planting the tree
Mossy table setting in a candy dishes, vases or trophies
Cute ideas for baby shower invites from old clothes
Chopstick coasters
Tea tin vases
Blueprint table runner or place mats

I love his idea of repurposing old porcelain plates however, I am uncertain of the toxicity of the porcelain paint used to create the crafty, chic silhouettes on the old plates. It also holds true for the super cute coasters he makes.

He does suggests some fun ideas for theme based gift swapping. For example, exchanging baby clothes at a baby shower, or a desirable, functional and stylish gift for a housewarming party, and jewelry for a bachelorette party.

There are super crafty ideas in this book too such as reupholstering chairs with old sweaters and creating tree stump stools. These are unfortunately, beyond my creativity level.  

This is a resourceful guide that inspires. Plus, it has a few recipes sprinkled in between.

I am now working on sourcing the supplies to make the oyster shell tea lights and the pebble potpourri to put in our bathroom. These are going to add just the right atmosphere to our party.

Tread Lighter renewing and reusing at your next party,

-Phyllis, Green Expert 

 

 

Turn Your Lights Out This Saturday Night @ 8.30

If you ask my family about one of the most memorable days of last year I think they would refer to the night we turned off the lights and had a festive evening with candles and friends. The catalyst was last year’s Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is a one hour of no lights international event organized by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to take a stand against climate change.

This year it will take place this Saturday, March 26 at 8.30PM (your local time).

When Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour. The event became contagious and now more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participate including some global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Coliseum, and many more. These have become dark symbols that further raise awareness of our global sustainability issues.

For us, the hour flew by. We were all enjoying the spirit, conversation and felt empowered so we kept the lights off and made a night of it. Being together allowed for great discussions and new ideas on ways we could make changes in our daily lives. Some swore off plastic bags, while others committed to getting their family to turn off lights when not in use. One gentleman said he wanted to get his office to encourage car-pooling and public transportation. Another person suggested getting their house of worship to use beeswax and soy candles instead of chemically rich traditional candles. The opportunities are endless and this hour is a good catalyst for change.

So join in and go beyond that hour. Look for ways you can be kinder to our planet.

Tread lighter during Earth Hour,

-Phyllis, Green Expert 

 

A spot of tea and crumpets

 

Last week, my husband was in England visiting his family. My son and I stayed home to tend to hearth and dog. My husband had an excellent trip, and my son and I had a pretty nice week, too. Although somewhere along the way, I began to pine for a good English tea. I had to make due with what I could concoct from home. What came together was actually a pretty nice reminder of England, AND I didn’t have to get on an airplane to have it.

 

Whole Wheat Crumpets            

1 c warm milk

1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast

1 tsp honey

1 ½ c warm water

1 ½ c whole-wheat flour

1 ½ c all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Vegetable oil for cooking

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, yeast and honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until the mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Whisk in the warm water, both flours, salt and baking powder until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

*3. To prepare the crumpets, set a griddle over medium-low heat and oil it. To make flat, pancake-like crumpets, spoon the batter onto the griddle and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on one side and 1 to 2 minutes on the other. To make the crumpets using English-muffin rings or cookie cutters, oil them liberally and place on the skillet. Spoon in batter ¼ -inch high. Let the crumpets cook until dry around the edges and bubbles have formed over the surface, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the rings and wipe clean. Turn crumpets over and cook until lightly browned, another 2 to 3 minutes. Re-oil the griddle and each ring before making another batch. 

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

*I had the griddle on closer to medium-high (350). I tried both cookie cutters and dollops of batter, and I found I couldn’t get them only ¼ inch high because the dough is like a very soupy bread dough. They were quite a bit thicker to begin with, and they needed much more cooking time—closer to 10-12 minutes by the time they were all done. Also, it made a LOT of crumpets, but they stayed good for about 24 more hours.  To reheat, I microwaved them for about 45 seconds in a little warming pocket for tortillas. After 24 hours, they start to get really rubbery.

I served these with butter and jam, dried fruit, toasted mixed nuts, some artisnal cheeses, a little fried ham, hardboiled eggs, and tea in my grandma’s tea set. All in all, it was an easy and pretty little repast for the two of us, and I didn’t feel quite so left out of the spring break trip to England.

Try them—if you are not a yeast user, this is a great first recipe because you don’t have to knead the dough.