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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Random Wantings..

Gonna be another post dump to clear tabs (apparently, I'm no good with favorites lists). Still trying to figure out what I want to call these type of posts.. Oh well, this works for now.

I find myself really liking this floor lamp for some reason. I think it'd look perfect in one of the corners of my living room.

http://www.csnstores.com/Adesso-4026-26-AE1556.html

Fake bell peppers for some kind of display/bowl in the kitchen


http://www.justdezineit.com/bell-peppers-crate-514.html

Placemats from World Market that I like
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3597481

And it's not so much about this chair but I really like the selection of customization from this furniture store

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/gramercy-upholstered-chair/chairs/accent-chairs/13087

I love the space saving idea of having stackable recycling containers - 12 gallons and $18.75 ea.

http://www.buygreen.com/stackablerecyclingcenter.aspx

And this, is just like, hella cool. IDK if I'd necessarily need this off the bat but I can see it having it's uses - a portable walkway

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product/portable-wooden-walkways.do

aaaaand - that's it for now until I find more crap that piques my interest.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Soy Candles = Greener for your home

I want to remind myself to check out this brand of soy candle maker. I was just reading about how most traditional candles are petroleum based and aren't the greatest thing to burn in your home. Soy candles are purported to be a healthier alternative, that actually burns longer than your traditional wax candles. Beeswax is another good alternative but I think they're more expensive than soy candles tend to be. In any case, I've loved my scentsy but when I try these "soybeads" and if they smell just as good or better, I'll be making the switch (I love scentsy warmers though so I will still go to them for that).

BeanPod Soy Candles
http://www.beanpodcandle.com/beanpod/about/soybeads.aspx


Energy Savers/Greenism


Basically, this is the start of what I hope will be a rather lengthy list of energy-efficient and eco-friendly products for the home.

Toilet Tank Bank

Basically a microbial resistant pouch that you fill with water and hang in your toilet water reservoir to displace water. The claim is that by doing this you save 0.8 gallons of water per flush, which can really add up! For less than $2, I’ll bite.


I’m going to try both of these all natural laundry cleaners to see which one I like best but they both look very interesting and again, are all natural which is a big plus to me.

Nellie’s All Natural Laundry Soda  ($9.95 for 50 loads)


Maggie’s Soap Nuts ($9.99 for 36 loads or $35 for 200) - An ancient 100% all natural laundry agent, these dried fruits of the Chinese Soapberry Tree. When these "nuts" get wet, the produce saponin - a natural cleaner. You just toss a few of these in a little cotton pouch (included) and that's all it takes. The nuts can last you up to 5 regular loads (more if you use cold water) and are completely biodegradable.


Dr. Bronners castile soaps are also purported to be effective and nice smelling at both laundry cleaning and general-purpose cleaning (even bathing and shaving). In fact, Dr. Bronner claims his soap has 18 uses (although a search on the internet churns up many more). It comes in several different scents and sizes – also in bar form (which I’ve read is an ingredient for “homemade” laundry detergent along with washing soda and borax (which I’ll probably start using as a laundry booster and all around general purpose cleaning aide))


Howard Naturals Granite Cleaner (and they make stainless steel cleaner as well) made of vegetable-derived cleaning agents – 6.95 and 7.95. This will come in handy for keeping my new glistening kitchen glistening.


Having previously touched on the subject of rain barrels, this is another water saving way to hydrate your lawn with Rain (read: FREE) water. Just a simple device you fix to the bottom of your gutter drain and then connect a garden hose to. Would be interested to know if the water would flow straight into a barrel for storage, since when it’s already raining it would be useless. (To add: I asked a coworker who has a really green thumb and she says she uses a gutter diverter to connect to her rain barrel and it works fine, just has really low pressure)

I’ve been looking for something much like this to (possibly) help with reducing wrinkles in the dryer. This claims to do both that and reduce drying time (not to mention ironing). 


Conserve Cleaners
This from the Conserve company, basically they took household cleaners and downsized them from big bottles of chemicals to a simple tablet that you add to 32 oz of water in a spray bottle. This cuts packaging down by 85% and it is also an EPA approved product. When you need a new bottle all you do is pop in another tablet to the bottle you already have and add more water. 

http://conservebrand.com/business_cleaners.html

Speaking of reusing, I was just thinking the other day how I waste so much plastic while packing the kids lunches. I want to get something reuseable to replace all those snack and sandwich bags. I found these cute cheerful printed reusable sacks called "lunchskins" (10.99 on amazon). They come in more than a dozen different prints.
http://www.amazon.com/Sandwich-Size-Lunchskins-Green-Apple/dp/B0041TH71G/ref=pd_sbs_k_8

Also, I want to add these to my grocery shopping routine. Mesh produce bags - to cut down on those tearaway plastic bags in the produce section ($10.80 for 5 + free shipping amazon prime)

http://www.amazon.com/flip-tumble-5-Pack-Reusable-Produce/dp/B002UXQ7QQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1307502212&sr=1-5

And more eco-friendly reusable shopping bags - like these japanese made "Baggu"s made of nylon. You can get a 6 pack of these (which purportedly hold a whole cart full of groceries) for $38 and free shipping amazon prime. I like them in Lime but they come in a few other colors.

http://www.amazon.com/BAGGU-Reusable-Shopping-Tote-6-Pack/dp/B00178STKW/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1307502212&sr=1-1

Installing Dimmer switches is a small way to reduce energy consumption in the home – not to mention being a nice way to add a warm atmosphere giving you the option to control the amount of lighting in a room.

Ceiling, pedestal and tabletop fans are also a good way to cool a room by a few degrees. These save energy mostly from being used only when people are in the room, vs all day long. I like the compact look of this oscillating pedestal fan and it’s well rated


Using power strips is an energy efficient move in that many electronic devices continue to leech power simply by being plugged in, even when switched off. A power strip offers one switch to flip off that prevents things plugged into it from drawing power from the outlet.
Installing a programmable thermostat – this will turn the a/c down and up according to a schedule (like reducing the temp 15% during hours that everyone is normally out of the house). These can (or should be able to) be manually over-ridden (?sp lol) but generally you can set a daily schedule up.
This one by Lux Products has a good rating on amazon (4.5 stars 199 reviews)


I would make the argument for CFL’s but personally I won’t be making a 100% switch over to them. I have small children and CFL’s are made with mercury and require special disposal so.. I’ll be replacing incandescent lightbulbs with CFLs in areas the kids don’t frequent much (and others with halogen incandescents) in the hopes that LED lightbulbs become cheaper as time and technology goes on. 


A good way to conserve water is to replace your older showerheads with low-flow fixtures (new showerheads are mandated to operate at or below 2.5 gallons per minute). I’m moving into a new home so I’m not sure I’ll have this problem with my showerheads being wasteful but I will check the manufacturer and get a low flow head if it will get me a better flow rate.

If you keep an extra fridge around (which, I do - it's kind of a must for anyone who likes to entertain or has a big family) the best place to put it is somewhere indoors vs. outside in the garage. In our new house, there will be space for a fridge in the laundry room but in other homes the basement could work. Being in a temperature controlled environment is better to your fridge and helps it not work so hard to keep its contents cooled.





Thursday, June 2, 2011

Suburban Farmers..

.. is what we would like to consider ourselves.. someday.. I'm still in research mode over tools and tips but I am thinking a lot of gardening and what our set up will be. We now have sod laid down! I can't wait to get some pictures of it. But anyway..


My husband should love this.. He’s been wanting to start up a green house for a while now and we thought loftily that we’d have tons of space for one (or a few). As it were, we only have limited yardage that has to be equal parts garden, play area and relaxation space. The limited space doesn’t need to be a hindrance with a downsized version of the idea, in this


Basically a mini greenhouse (4x4) that is modular for adding on later if desired. This comes with an insect/animal net and clear plastic cover and is over 19 inches deep – room enough for any vegetable to grow. It’s a litter under $400 and shipping is free. I’m sure it will be a very nice investment and something the husband can realistically keep up with.

And for developing seedlings, this double coldframe will probably come in handy (it’s like a mini version of the mini greenhouse). Under $100 and free shipping


This is a mini irrigation system for raised beds. It has 16 mini sprinkler heads and connecting hoses and can irrigate a 4x8 raised bed just fine. Under $40 and free shipping.


Another option for gentle watering is a soaker hose, which basically weeps water. You can lay it down in a garden, cover it with mulch or soil and let it do it’s job. $17


And when it comes to regular raised beds, I think my husband would appreciate the look and quality of real wood beds vs many of the manufactured board ones you see. The price is also nice on these White Cedar beds ($130 for a 4x8 bed, free shipping). 


Maybe two of these and two greenhouses? Should have enough room to fit them all in.

And I highly doubt my husband will like the idea of this, but if we’re going for super crunchy hippy here, they’re making some pretty nice old-school style push lawn mowers these days. This brand even sells an attachable grass clipping bag.






At the very least, if saving on gas and carbon emissions isn’t enough you can still get satisfaction of a good workout. :D

Also, we need to consider all the tools necessary to make gardening easier both time-wise and physically. Ergonomic devices are the way to go, with many gadgets to choose from. This set for instance ($54 for the set)


And this Backsaver Grip ($13)





Then I want to start up our own compost operations, which is recycling at its most basic and functional. For this, we’ll want a large compost container – preferably something we can turn easily (every once in awhile). I think anything dark colored will aid in this by using the attracted heat of the sun to further the decomposition process. I’m looking at something like the EZ Compost Wizard – this one can old 12 cubic feet of compost


And for the kitchen, a small gallon compost crock for collecting food scraps (when full, you add it to your compost heap). 


To make composting simpler to transport about the yard, I like the idea of this foldable wheelbarrow – cause lord knows we need all the extra space we can get. ($32)


That cleanairgardening.com site also has a lot of natural/organic solutions for pest and weed management – worth a look-see once we start running into speed bumps, which I’m positive will come. I’m liking the idea of having some birdhouses and ladybug houses and some of the wasp/bee/fly/mosquito deterrents for when we start hanging out in the backyard more when the weather cools.