Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Reviews on Mar 16th, 2012
Tripledge Green Wiper Blades; Price: $7.99 to $12.99. Pros: Long-lasting (I’ve had mine for more than a year); inexpensive; completely recyclable. Cons: You need to mail them back in your own packaging if you want to recycle them. (Making me wonder how many are actually being recycled.) I don’t really think about wiper blades all [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Environment, Food, Going Green, Health, Illness, parenting, Preventative medicine, Safety, Toxins on Feb 15th, 2012
By now, you’ve probably heard about Bisphenol-A or BPA, a chemical that’s used to manufacture non-rigid polycarbonate plastics such as take-home food containers as well as epoxy resins, found inside cans and the lids of glass bottles. It can also be found in cash register receipts. This week, The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, energy, Environment, Going Green, Organic on Feb 10th, 2012
Seems like a silly question, but I’ll bet a lot of people who say they are green might have trouble explaining what the term actually means. My definition of green — at least as it relates to a product or service — takes into account many characteristics. If it’s a product, I believe it should [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Recycle, Reduce, Research, Reuse, Sustainable on Feb 8th, 2012
One of the things I am most proud of is our household ban on plastic. We don’t use plastic if we can help it. I take reusable bags on shopping trips to the supermarket and the mall, and we recycle any plastic that does come into our home. Every bread bag, every piece of [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse on Jan 20th, 2012
We are big tech people. I can’t count how many servers, workstations, gaming consoles, and pieces of consumer electronics that we’ve purchased since we’ve been married. I’ve been recycling the big stuff — computers, laptops, monitors, and televisions — for a while now, but it’s been more difficult to figure out what to do with [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Eating Healthy, Food, Going Green, Health, Organic, Siblings, Toxins on Dec 8th, 2011
A recent Consumer Reports story took a look at the safety of apple and grape juices, and the results were less-than-comforting. The organization tested a variety of juices including some organic options and found both arsenic and lead — neurotoxins that can cause a multitude of problems such as bladder, lung, and skin cancer as [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Environment, Food, Going Green, Health, Organic on Nov 21st, 2011
I’ve been buying the Thanksgiving turkey for a few years now. I fight the crowds at Whole Foods, spend a crazy amount (last year I paid $75 for a 20-pound bird), and hand it off to my mother for cooking. And every year at least one or two people tell me I am insane to [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Environment, Food, Going Green, Health, Research, Safety on Nov 16th, 2011
I recently participated in a food-related Twitter party. During our discussion about Thanksgiving turkey and whether or not stuffing is safe to eat, the host asked about cookware: what were people cooking their turkeys in? I immediately tweeted that I used to cook in a non-stick Teflon pan, but about two years ago I banned [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Siblings on Nov 7th, 2011
Recently, a few of my friends have mentioned the need for a “holiday clear out.” You know, going through toys, games, and clothing and getting rid of stuff to make room for all the new stuff the family will get during the holiday season. We don’t have that problem because I am constantly clearing and [...]
Posted in Going Green, parenting, Sustainable on Nov 1st, 2011
I have a problem, and I’m not sure what to do. Here are the details: Big Girl’s birthday was last month. When we started planning it she said she wanted to donate her gifts, but she didn’t know which charity would be the recipient this year. Then, one day she was leafing through my Parents [...]