The Weight of the Dumpster

Okay, I know this one will not go over to well but we were doing our spring clean up the yard and house thing, when my Mother convinced me to get a dumpster. As we had old furniture that had already been loving "antiques" of others and then repaired and used by us till they couldn't be repaired anymore without some major (by major I mean almost all) new parts and a lot of prayer that they would stay together, that I finally admitted that after being at least the second, third or even fourth family to use them, it was time to let these pieces go. The chairs had to be sat on in just the right way or else, the table and desk couldn't be bumped for fear of the legs re breaking or falling over. Wheels were missing you get the picture. I hate to throw out anything that still can be used but seeing that all this furniture not only needed to be repaired, but some really couldn't (exactly how do you re-weld steel together without special know how to make sure it holds and not burning the house down?). So after much to do I agree but warned that We're keeping the compost pile (she thought I was kidding about having one, must be doing okay there). So she then says, that a friend of hers has started a landscaping company and would be over to help get the garden back under control.
I know you're thinking how hard could the garden be, well we've been working on them since we moved in and only got one section mulched last year, no plants. To understand this you need to know that the first time I saw this house I refused to go inside because you couldn't see the house and the yard made you wonder if it was safe to go into because you might get lost as it was so overgrown. It came to my waist and we had one grapevine that grew the entire perimeter of the backyard and was working on the front from the opposite side. Now since it was .40 acre it was a lot of vine for no grapes. We had over twenty-two full grown trees and no one had thought about where they planted them as one was a holly that wasn't even a foot away from the house but as tall as it in front of the master bedroom windows. So you couldn't open them but carpenter ants loved the help getting inside. The grapevine actually about ten feet in width in the original location. So to put it mildly in the 50 years the couple lived here before us they planted but they did not maintain. I understand wanting to let nature take it's course but we still haven't gotten into the last 30 feet of the yard yet due to overgrowth.
Okay a little over done on the picture but I will let it go by saying that isn't even half of the problems we had up to this point there. I'll tell them later. So my mother sent over her helpers and I now have mulched garden around 80% of the front and side of the house Great! (not really), since I admit this is all something I'm learning as I go along they told me I had to dig out the clay, okay makes sense, but six inches down 2ft width 60 ft in length just for the side, front gardens are 4ft width 25ft each side. Anyone get the picture yet? Yes that was about 11 tons of clay that had to go some where. Only I didn't know how much it weighed till after the dumpster was taken. Did I mention our weight limit was 4 tons and we had to pay by the ton after that? So guess what I got to tell my husband right before he went to work? Honey, I need an extra $400 to pay for listening to the landscapers instead of making those raised gardens I wanted. I know they said this was the right way and that raised gardens would have cost more then the dumpster, but not that much more.
So rule to remember go with plan we feel is right not the experts unless they have so much experience and credentials that we bow in their presence.

Earth Day

I just wanted to post a quick reminder. Sunday April 22, is Earth Day. You still have time to make a difference on Capital Hill. It's a little late to visit the Hill and your representative, unless like me you live close and are luckier then me and know yours personally, hey if you do great. Or how about emailing your message to your Representatives and Senators(for the House click here to find and email yours, for the Senate click here to find and email yours). Maybe if on our own we contact them as well as in groups they will start to realize that it is important to us and not just once a year on Earth Day, or in groups but in individual lives also. We have to live here all the time and have to live with the consequences for the rest of ours and our children's lives. Let's stop making this a special day or week thing and put it right up there with should my child wear a jacket to keep warm today. Or next thing we know it may be should my child wear a mask to school today, along with full sunscreen, and anything else we can think of to make them safe. I know the email may take a while to be read but then they might think about it after the day has past for the year.

For the group part you can still sign Earth Day 2007 climate change petition to remind Congress that The Sky Belongs to All of Us. I know that I usually just focus on what I personally can do to change the way resources are used, reused, discarded, and recycled. But remembering that Earth Day has been around now for 37 years, shows that if we let up pressure, it will be sent to the back of the governments list of things to do once we let up pressure. Changes have been made but if you look to why it was because of it having to be made through pressure of the people or the check book.

I wanted to make sure that I did what I could this year as I always seem to get busy doing my spring cleaning and improving personally that I really never get to the next step of promoting to others, then those close, about it. I maybe almost late this year, but I prefer to think of it as just really early for next year. You never know what you can accomplish in that time so I'm going to see what I can do. I always take the renewal of spring as a time to renew and improve my families and I lives, so this year I'm just going to stretch a little more to include the Earth itself.

Found New Cleaning Supplies

Was shopping over at Target and found Method cleaning supplies. I was impressed because not only are they environmentally friendly but they don't break the bank either. Most Eco-friendly cleaning supplies I have tried in the past were more expensive (not that they weren't worth it), so when times get tight then I would go back to the old ones if I ran out. These were surprisingly right on par. The grapefruit multi-cleaner spray was only $2.99. I also got the mop, I'll let you know about that later I haven't used it yet. I have used the cleaner on my walls so far and it was even getting off pencil marks. No offensive smells attacked me, my hands didn't feel like Brillo pads, and I wasn't warning the children not to touch before it was wiped down with water and dried. So I'm glad that I found this one and I wanted to tell others about it. I did notice that the price was cheaper at Target then online at their website. So if they sell it near you (you can check on the website www.methodhome.com) I would advise getting it at the store.
This is a short one as I'm still investigating the "Boston Reformed Fuel Car" that I read about in the 1973 Yearbook of Living History of The World. It was a car designed in 1972 to use regular gasoline but cut emissions drastically and improve gas mileage. I can only seem to find articles that allude to it but not information about the actual car. So we'll see.

Go Green!

Great Article at How Stuff Works

The article by Katie Lambert "Ten Things You Can DO to Help Save the Earth" is a quick list of things everyone can do without making big changes. Since everyone (including me and my family) seems to have trouble making the big changes need in one step I think these 10 things are a great way to start. They are actually mostly what I started with when I became concerned about mine and my family consumption of energy and resources. I actually just finished the last one on the list adding an electric programmable thermostat so that when were sleeping I adjust the temperature to use less energy till about 1/2hr before we're due to get up.

I actually got one that has 4 temperature setting for M-F and 4 for the weekend so that it will adjust to our different schedules without me reprogramming or overriding every weekend and weekday change. It was fairly inexpensive I got it for less then $30 at the local big discounter (you the know the one with the smiley). The scariest part was rewiring the thermostat but the directions are easy and the wires color coded and it included labels just in case. So I actually had it awhile before attempting. Now I wish I'd done it sooner. The house is actually more comfortable since it adjusts for us, since I know how we like it during the day. Especially as we had a cold front return. It is good I had it on because with the old one I had to manually turn it on as my littlest liked to turn the heat up when she was cold and since she hates to wear clothes that happens a lot.
I hope that if you haven't read the article you will take the time to see not only what you can change to make a difference, but what you already do. So that you can pat yourself on the back, I think it's important to be proud of the little changes we've made, or even the big. Pride in our choices and in our way of being responsible for our own consumption can hopefully spread to others, kinda like the smile you get when you least expect it. It just makes you want to smile, so maybe if we have pride in what we're doing and why, maybe the good feelings from that can out weigh the negativity we feel and see in others and spread to them.

Good luck and remember that even a drop can over fill the teacup, maybe you'll be that drop.

Article cited is:
Katie Lambert. "Ten Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth". March 27, 2007 http://people.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm (April 10, 2007)

"Earth 2100"

We watched an interesting program on demand last night. It was called "Earth 2100" by the Discovery Channel. I liked it mostly because it was more about what would happen and less about what's causing it. I think that by now most people know what is causing global warming, it's just hard to take the blame since we seem to be the relief pitchers in the game. I know that we didn't start this or even really know a great way to fix it, but I do know that if we don't figure it out and start doing it, the earth will do it for us. One of the greatest emphasis of the program was that extreme weather is here to stay, and it's only going to get worse. I know that one of the reasons we wanted to move was to try and stay in a weather environment that we are accustomed to. We figured that by moving north we would be better able to handle the increase in heat and less "crazy" weather. We live in Maryland and one thing that has always been said here is that if you don't like the weather wait a minuet (meaning that it changes a lot, you never know what system is going to win since we seem to sit in the middle of quite a few different fronts), but it snowed yesterday and laid a light dusting the day before Easter and that was definitely a surprise. We were wearing shorts at the beginning of the week and I had gotten spring clothes for the children to wear at Easter dinner, now they're wearing jeans and shirts (it has also helped the flu flare back up, since 3 out of 4 only got it mildly, now 3 out of 4 has it. I've taken to looking for alternative cures to help). So even if it's hard to accept that it is everyone's responsibility and I would say right to work on this problem, it truly is something that we need to get our government to work on and not just during election time either! If even half of what the program was talking about happens that means that we lose coastal areas, where about 30 million(or more) live, the rainforest everyone wants to protect will become a dessert because the oceans will be to warm for the rains to make it, they will dump it back in the ocean and the Amazon would dry out and the area would become a dessert. That definitely will not help get the CO2 out of the atmosphere. I'm not sure what is the "right" answer, or if there is one, but I know that my family and I are going to be working on it. The one thing this country has always proven true is that supply and demand works to change the market place so we are changing our demands. Hopefully there are or will be enough people to do this so that the supplies available become better for all of us and the environment.

I don't know about you but I want to be the relief pitcher that wins the game, not let it go, and say it wasn't my fault. Because yes it might not be my fault for how bad it was when I was born or to young to do much, but it is my fault if left to keep going and not try to find an answer or answers to change it. I'm willing to take that responsibility on and teach my children to think of it as natural to do, I hope that you are too.

Have a great holiday if your celebrating and if not have a great day!

Going Green as an Exercise Program

I've decided that I should market going green as an exercise program for those looking for a way to keep or get fit. We have been taking out the old gardens that came with our home and taking the clay that was underneath out so that we can plant more "productive" gardens. By that I mean that I either can use them to bring fresh flowers into the house or grow some food. That way not only am I improving the curb appeal but getting "free"(if you don't count the labor and seed cost) food and flowers. Since I love flowers around the house it's also a great way to trim the budget to put towards some of the big improvements we want to tackle. So by summer I should have my usual cooking herbs grown in my kitchen garden, some berries on the side and flowers out front. I figure the berries won't mature until next year, but we can wait. Also we are drawing up plans to make a garden in the back to grow green beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, some corn (for the children) and pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving. We grew a pumpkin last year just because one of our pumpkins from the year before had fallen into the garden, the kids loved it though. They were so proud of it the took turns taking it to school to show off what they had done. Right now were waiting on the compost from the local landfill to mix in with the dirt that's left. After we till that in we plan on getting mulch from the landfill to cover to slow the weeds and give the gardens a more finished look. The landfill is great for finding compost and mulch, both are free, you just have to transport it! So not only are we saving money but, we're helping by taking things that would have put into the landfill and never seen from again, that still had great benefits to them. So check your local landfill and see what they offer to local residents. I've heard that some even offer paint primer by mixing old paint together and adding some chemicals, since color is not a problem and the paint would have wound up in the ground I think that's great.