PAPER OR PLASTIC? HOW ABOUT A SKEEDA?
Posted by Karen on Mar 12 2008
Ya’ll know I’ve been trying to go green. Trying to reduce my carbon footprint. Trying to save the earth one natural cleaner at a time.
Whatever you want to call it, it all boils down to the same mantra……reduce, reuse, recycle!
You all know I just adore my reusable Whole Foods bags (as does the cat). I don’t limit their use to Whole Foods. I’ve been known to take them to Wal*mart and Kroger so I don’t have to use their plastic bags. I have even used them to schlep stuff to rehearsal. They are strong and sturdy and fold (relatively) flat. But I realize these are not available everywhere. I also realize they may not be the most fashionable things to haul around.
And we all know, if we’re going to save the planet, we need to look good while we’re doing it!
Enter Skeeda Bags….
This one just screams, “I love my planet and I look good!”
Cute enough for you?? I know it is, but in case stripes aren’t your thing, how about polka dots?
Too stinkin’ cute. It’d be hard for me to choose between those. But then, to make the situation more difficult, what about this?
I can’t stand how cute these are. And just look at the amount these things hold. I see 2 liter bottles of pop, full sized cereal boxes, bread, pasta, etc etc. The amount of groceries in each of these beauties would probably take 3 or 4 plastic bags!
So, do you want one? Do you need one? Will you promise to use one?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions–especially the last one–then I have a contest for you! The good people at Skeeda have offered me two of these to give away. How cool is that??
Here are the rules….
For Bloggers:
1. I want you to post on your blog 5 things you currently do to help the environment. I’m hoping you do so many things it’ll be hard to narrow it down to just 5! If you feel compelled, list off everything you do!
2. Also in that post, tell me 2 things you’re planning on implementing or in the process of implementing. Don’t humor me by saying “I’m going to carry a Skeeda bag to the store.” That’s funny, but I will roll my eyes!
3. Go to Skeeda and pick which bag is your favorite and include that in your post.
4. Include a link to Pediascribe and a link to Skeeda.
5. Let me know you posted your lists.
For Non-Bloggers:
1. Same basic rules as for the bloggers (#1, #2, and #3 above), but since you don’t have a blog outlet you should! you can leave your two lists and favorite fabric in the comment section.
For Everyone:
1. I’m going to run this contest from right now, until 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, March 22nd. Take your time, there are no bonus points for having your lists up early. Remember, go for well written posts/comments that also help educate.
2. Two winners will be chosen. Everyone has a chance to win, but it won’t be altogether random. I’m kicking random.org out of this one because I want to see creative lists. If you’re using a specific product or doing something specific, include links. Use your posts to not only try to win, but also to help educate others.
3. The two winners will be notified by email, and on Pediascribe, on Monday, March 24th.
4. You will be able to choose whichever bag you want off of the Skeeda website! I will not even begin to decide what color is your favorite. But, just in case anyone is interested in buying me one, pick any of the striped ones!
5. Skeeda will mail your bag directly to you. Skeeda only ships to the US and Canada. Apologies to my international readers.
By all means, enter the contest, but if you just cannot wait to own your own Skeeda, check out the coupon code listed here.
on 12 Mar 2008 at 3:27 pm 1 KT said …
Well, I can’t even enter. So I won’t. But not b/c I don’t want to. It is b/c I CAN’T . I guess a mom has a blog contest, all of her children are automatically disqualified. So there. But I had to comment anyways. Especially since I love being the first person to comment. Mwah ha ha ha ha! (That was my evil villain laugh!)
on 12 Mar 2008 at 4:28 pm 2 janel said …
These are really cute and would make a bit more stylish statement than my 2 “My Organic Market” bags that I frequently forget to bring to the store.
2 things we are doing to be more “earth friendly” -
#1 we are planning our first veggie garden this Spring and #2 we are are going to either have a worm garden or a compost pile - haven’t decided which yet but the worm thing sounds like fun. We have also started to switch over to more natural cleaners and recycled paper products.
on 12 Mar 2008 at 5:40 pm 3 Mary T said …
Skeeda Bags … what a basic, yet interesting idea. I saw a laptop bag at Staples while I was there and was contemplating getting it to use for odds and ends (seeing as how I don’t own a laptop). I refrained from purchasing it, though. And that was a good thing, because these Skeeda Bags are too stinkin’ cute! Knowing me I’d use it as a diaper or a toy bag (and knowing my Mom, she’d use hers as her purse). But this is one wonderful invention you’ve stumbled me upon. I will have to work on my list and get back to you … assuming ALL family isn’t disqualified (Sorry, KT!).
on 12 Mar 2008 at 6:13 pm 4 Melissa said …
I’ve put my post up at http://spiritdance.livejournal.com/82800.html
It’ll be interesting to see if I’ve managed to start a meme over on LJ
on 12 Mar 2008 at 6:33 pm 5 Adena said …
Great contest! Here is my link:
http://adenacb.blogspot.com/2008/03/green.html
Say hi to Dr. Mike for me!
–Adena from Boston
on 12 Mar 2008 at 7:02 pm 6 jen said …
Sorry, KT, but I *can* enter…bwahahahahahahaha {my evil villain laugh}!! And I will!
Because these are kickin’ bags! 
on 12 Mar 2008 at 8:53 pm 7 Jessica said …
5 Thing I’m doing:
– I have two huge boxes under my sink full of all shapes and sizes of glass, plastic, and even small cardboard containers. I use them for leftovers, craft projects, bath toys, etc and don’t bother with the “Gladware” throw-away stuff.
– I use peroxide, mild dish soap, vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice to clean everything in my house.
– I make my own cleaning wipes. Find a large container that will fit a roll of paper towels, pull out the middle and pour in 1c of water and a squirt of dish soap. I use them sparingly, but some jobs just need something disposable. (Same recipe for baby wipes, just use baby soap)
– I make my own Swiffer cleaner solution and use an old towel to mop the floor…wash and reuse!
– I play what I like to call “The coasting game” to conserve gas. I see how long I can coast up to a stop sign and then try to match that distance getting up to speed. I also see how far I can coast in rush hour traffic, off an exit, etc.
– I am a share owner in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in central Ohio that uses sustainable agriculture. Do a google search for CSA and you can find ones in your area. You pre-pay for a summer’s worth of veggies and get your share each week. Every farm has a different set-up, some even have working shares where you work so many hours for your food.
– I have power strips set up with my electronics and shut them down when we leave for the day. Actually saves a ton of $$ too! I have a programmable thermostat to save on gas usage and electricity on heating/cool.
OK, that was 7 things!
2 Things in my green future:
– Participating in environmentally friendly activities with my now 2 year old son this summer. Park Clean-Ups, Recycling, book/toy swaps, etc. I figure if I get him started young, he won’t know any different.
– Continue to stock up on grocery bags for reuse. I know this was dorky, but true. I am slowly building up my stock.
– Get my son potty trained and stop ruining the world with diapers! Sorry, couldn’t do the cloth.
CITRUS PLEASE!!!
on 12 Mar 2008 at 11:52 pm 8 lace said …
What a great giveaway! I will be doing a post and will let you know when i do. I just thought I would say how awesome this giveaway is! Be back soon.
on 13 Mar 2008 at 12:43 pm 9 Sam said …
I love the Skeeda bags! I have couple of Trader Joe’s bags that I use but these are even more fashionable and appear to be bigger. The polka dot one is calling my name. OK–5 environmental things we’re doing.
1. We are on year 3 of a compost pile with kitchen scraps and yard clippings. This is a great way to provide FREE nutrients to my garden in the spring but also saves money as our town charges $2.75 a bag to haul away yard waste. I open it up and use rain water instead of the hose to moisten.
2. I take bags to reuse as often as possible to the grocery store. The bags you can purchase to reuse hold more and are stronger which means less trips from the car into the house to unpack and no broken bags.
3. Clean the house and do laundry with only natural products. I find they do just as good of a job as the stuff I grew up with and you don’t have to wear gloves or worry about the kids or dog touching chemicals.
4. I try to recycle everything possible. I’ve been known to dig out the coke can or mouthwash bottle my husband threw away upstairs b/c he wasn’t near the recycling center in the kitchen. I also stick hard to clean recyclables (peanut butter jars, spaghetti sauce) in the dishwasher on the bottom rack instead of throwing them out or using tons of water to clean them out for recycling.
5. I have a group of mom friends in which we recycle our kids things to each other based on age and gender. For example I just got an exersaucer back from a friend for my 3 month old who will be using it soon. It has been used by 4 families and my daughter will be the 7th child to use it! So many of these infant/baby items are wonderful to have but also have a very short life in most people’s homes. It’s a great way to save money and not add more plastic to the landfills.
6. I had to add one more. We stopped using a lawn service a couple of years ago (we used one that used chemicals and then one that used all organic) and do it ourselves with Gardens Alive products. The kids LOVE to help with this and all of their products are safe.
What I’m going to do:
1. This year I am doing an organic community garden with a friend and we are involving our children in the daily planting, weeding and harvesting. In the past I’ve had a vegetable garden in our yard and we would end up with a bumper crop of several items that we just couldn’t get through. With two families we can share the work load and the crops.
2. I am going to try to walk more to do errands and my kids’ activities. We live less than a mile away from my son’s school, my daughter’s ballet classes, the community pool, the community garden, the cleaners and a grocery store. I am guilty of having a gas guzzling SUV so I will try to get into it less.
3. We also need to redo some of the gutters on our house and garage and when we reroute them I want to connect them to rain barrels to use to water the garden.
on 13 Mar 2008 at 12:47 pm 10 Pinkaholic Mom said …
Those are great bags! I was going to attempt to sew my own bags using a pattern that I saw in a JoAnn’s ad, but I think it would probably be cheaper just to buy these. Anyway, I posted my list. Thanks for such a great contest!
on 13 Mar 2008 at 1:15 pm 11 Sherri said …
From a green lurker here is my post
http://heyfroglady.blogspot.com/
on 13 Mar 2008 at 1:22 pm 12 Sue said …
Mary T is right!!! Would make a great “new” purse for me. I carry everything in it. When we went to lunch one day with Cody I carried his book with us as well as some “little” things to keep him amused.
Let’s see..the only thing I do at this point is to NOT CLEAN THE HOUSE…Then I don’t need cleaning products, eh?
No, really, Simple Green is non-toxic and is my major cleaner. We do have a flower garden and plan on a regular garden this year. I am buying a ton of strawberry plants and will dump the sand from Cody’s sandbox from last year into that as well as straw we got.
Hope to get huge strawberries like the one in your picture of the dessert made the other day. Tried to do the compost thing but we don’t use enough and then “someone” doesn’t take it out!! Not me!! But the bags look great and won’t rip taking them out of the car and lugging to the house. Stripes/polka dots/any with frogs?
on 13 Mar 2008 at 1:53 pm 13 reba said …
5 Things
-cloth diapering and gdiapering (www.gdiapers.com)my daughter; i won’t say we never use disposables but they are few
-low flow shower head and faucet aerators. this reduces water use and the water pressure is fantastic, easiest thing in the world to do and with shorter showers anyway it make a difference
-shop organic for milk (always) produce (mostly) and meat (when i can afford it)
-buy locally roasted fair trade shade grown coffee to use in my beloved senseo coffee maker (thanks karen) which i bought ecopads so i can refill it with no waste(http://www.ecopad.us/welcome.htm)
-i almost always take my own bags to the store (an assortment of fabric totes)and when i forget i have been known to walk out with my purchases in my hands
-keep thermostat at 67 during the day and a little higher at bathtime
-buy recycled products. mostly paper goods, TP, paper towels and printer paper
-switching to cast iron and stainless cookware we are down to one non stick iron skillet and are phasing it out for stainless
-eco friendly cleaning/ laundry products mostly vinegar and baking soda, microfiber cloths rock! vinegar as fabric softner and no dryer sheets
-shop at goodwill, why reinvent the wheel yaknow
-cooking more from scratch to generate less waste
-recycle everything the city will take
-recycle batteries and lightbulbs at the local ikea
-power strips turned off at night
-buy carbon offsets for vacation travel
i know that was more than 5 sorry
In process
-joining a CSA it will be nice to have local produce all season long
-wanting to start a compost pile, need to get this going.
-buying reusable bags to give as mother’s day gifts
Skeeda bags im torn between eggshell and cherry tree, if i have to pick ….eggshell
on 13 Mar 2008 at 1:54 pm 14 reba said …
oh i forgot using glass baby bottles and stainless steel water bottles to eliminate evil leeching plastic
on 13 Mar 2008 at 2:01 pm 15 lace said …
My post is up. That was great. I realized there were quite a bit of things my family is doing. I know we could do more.
Here’s my post:
http://me-lace.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-green-family.html
on 14 Mar 2008 at 1:41 pm 16 Mary T said …
I do believe I’m ready to leave my “green list”. A lot of the things we do are small and not really “world changing”, but it is what we do.
1. Online billing is the way we go. We cancelled most of the paper billing and recieve email reminders and do most things electronically (on secure sites, of course).
2. We keep the heat as close to 70 as we can. If it seems a bit too chilly we put on long sleeves and socks. It doesn’t have to be a sauna and needs to be comfortable near April when the baby comes. By that time the heat can be less - assuming it doesn’t keep snowing, this is Cleveland, after all!
3. I love to open the blinds to let in the natural light. It is more pleasant than the yellow look from the light bulbs. Making sure the electronics are off if we’re not in a room as been a bit of pet peeve of mine lately. After all, the cat does not need the lights on to see in a room!
4. We usually stay home and don’t take the car out much. If we do need to go anywhere I try to bundle several errands in one day. Hoping my nearly 3 year old will cooperate long enough!
5. We shut the water off while brushing our teeth. Even Cody is learning quickly. And when he goes potty (which is happening more often so hopefully soon he’ll be out of diapers) he is learning not to play in the sink while washing his hands. Do the business and get out!
As for things on the agenda …
1. I’ve recently been eying the ‘greenworks’ cleaners I’ve spotted in the store. But, after reading some of the other comments, I’d like to look into the vinegar/lemon/baking soda products to clean. After all, if Cody does get into lemon juice it can be a bit funny rather than reaching for the phone and calling the Poision Control Center.
2. I need to find a recycling center in my county. We have several garbage cans set up and started to recycle when we moved into our apartments, but have not been successful on finding somewhere to take the bags. The garbage trucks come to the apartment on Mondays and the amount of trash I’ve noticed is bothering me a bit. There are a few times when there have been bags of garbage on the ground because there is no more room in the 4-5 dumpsters. It’s incredible, actually, to think people generate that much trash.
As for the bags, the eggshell design is fun. Most likely because I think I’m going to use the coupon code and get the three polka-dot bags. Which is what I was thinking of doing even before there was a coupon code, but that makes things even better!
And I’d like to thank everyone for opening my eyes to all the wonderful things that can be done. There are some good things that people are doing that are worth a try!
on 14 Mar 2008 at 2:05 pm 17 jen said …
And I’m up!
http://laughingatchaos.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/it-can-be-easy-being-green/
on 15 Mar 2008 at 2:53 pm 18 Sarah said …
Here’s my post! My attempt at being a green mama!
http://sarah-crazymama.blogspot.com/
on 16 Mar 2008 at 12:34 am 19 Cindi Hoppes said …
Hi, Where to start?! Our family recycles everything we are able to. I actually drive my sons and husband crazy because I am such a fanatic about it. I also donate our cans to the Animal Shelter and they collect the money for them! We keep the house thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer. There is less vehicle driving and more walking/bike riding. I do more loads of laundry in cold water. The dishwasher has to be completely full before I will start it. We have planted around our home to help with cooling in the summer time. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks for a wonderful contest. I like the “frost” bag and the “eggshell” one. Thanks,Cindi
on 16 Mar 2008 at 8:49 pm 20 Doreen said …
Here’s my post on my bloggy: http://doreens-scrap-wonderland.blogspot.com/2008/03/skeeda-bags.html. I would love to win one of the Citrus bags! I’m learning about going green more each day and I’ve been spending hours online researching it lately. I’m looking forward to growing in my knowledge of going green!~
on 17 Mar 2008 at 11:51 am 21 Julie Debons said …
Boy oh boy do I like those bags, especially the eggshell one (yes, that’s my choice)! They would be soooo much nicer than the lime green atrocities that I’m currently carrying around…
5 ecologically minded things I do NOW:
-I’m a composter. I do this from my apartment balcony, which I must admit is sometimes appreciated more by my neighbor’s cats than by my neighbors themselves.
-I make a lot (perhaps half) of my own personal hygiene and beauty products (to cut down on chemical use as well as excess packaging).
-I walk to the station to take the train to work two days a week. I’m done kidding myself that this is enough exercise to actually help me lose weight, so let’s go with the earth friendly angle!
-I’ve had bricks (sometimes an old wine bottle) in all of my toilets since I was 15 and read something about water displacement and conservation.
-I make sure to always be pregnant (on nb 2 now!) in winter so as to avoid costly heating bills (is it hot in here or is it just me???).
What’s on my ‘Be nicer to our planet’ list:
-make the switch to more efficient light bulbs…am I the only one who can’t figure out the right ones to get?
-I’ve convinced Mom to recycle (she rocks!), but Dad and Brother have so far proven impervious to my charm (as well as threats, taunts, etc.) . I figure that if I can convince them it would be almost better than all of those lightbulbs I haven’t changed yet.
Even if I don’t win, thanks for doing this. I think it’s awesome that you’re trying to inspire change. One by one, that’s my motto!
Take care,
Julie
on 17 Mar 2008 at 12:00 pm 22 Emma W said …
I’ve been trying to find some larger bags for grocery shopping. My husband had some nice ones he got from a conference but I loaded them up too much and they broke…. these Skeeda bags look like the right size.
5 things I do for the environment:
1. I belong to a CSA- and an organic one! This helps in many ways
- organic and sustainable farming
- buying local - my produce doesn’t have jetlag - its picked and at my door same day!
- unpackaged produce
- less trips to the grocery store because the fresh stuff comes to my neighborhood.
- Once you try REALLY fresh produce. Grocery store stuff stinks… Everything lasts for weeks because it hasn’t been sitting around.
2. I do reuse grocery bags when I don’t have enough reusable ones. I use them for dirty items, lunch, donate them to the daycare for garbage bags, or bring them back to the store. Or I use them to package my CSA produce in the fridge.
3. I don’t buy bottled drinks. No soda cans, no bottled water. I pack my own when I go out. I drink from a cup at work and refill at the cooler. Same for the kids. We use sippy cups rather than juice boxes.
4. reusable containers for lunch- I pack my own lunch and lunch for the kids in reusable lidded containers . No bags to throw away and not styrofoam from the lunchroom.
5. I have switch to almost all “green” cleaners. All our cleaning supplies are now non-toxic. I even switched my “Swiffer” for non-disposable floor cleaning pads.
Things I still need to implement:
1. Laundry detergent to go green. I’m still strugging with cost on this one.
2. Composting- we really don’t have a yard so no room to compost. We may move within the next year and I would love to have room to compost.
PS. I like the frost bag, but they are all cute.
on 17 Mar 2008 at 3:20 pm 23 Holly said …
I hope I win the Olive Skeeda bag because then I can put all my re-usable canvas grocery bags I have received from sales people with their conmpany logo on them into my new fashionable Skeeda bag! All plastic and paper bags are recycled in mutliple manners.
5 things green
1. CLEANING-Make our own laundry detergent and re-use the plastic container each time where we store the laundry detergent. Does not work on stains my almost 2 year old gets on clothing. In this case we use the new Essentials Green product which is concentrated, less plastic used to make the jug and then we recycle the jug. Use Vinegar as all purpose cleaner.
2. TRASH-In order to work part time and stay home part time with my son, we got rid of our trash service to save money thus forcing us to try to recycle, compost, burn, re-use or re-sell through garage sales/give to Goodwill. We pay per bag of trash now ($1.66 per bag) and are only generating two to three bags of trash a month.
3. REDUCE-Limit paper product use in the house hold. No paper towels. Anytime a hand towel gets stained, it goes to the rag pile and we keep washing and re-using until they fall apart and burn the remainder to not make more trash.
4. FOOD-Eat organic, buy bulk products at the store and re-use the bag, shop at local farmers market in the summer and charity money goes to family owned CSA.
5. RE-USE-Compost kitchen scraps and yard waste.
2 implementations
1. At my next period will be using a device which replaces the tampon called a diva Cup and a washable panty liner. Furthering our committment to limited use of paper products above.
2. Want to try lawn care mentioned above.
on 18 Mar 2008 at 5:29 pm 24 DICK said …
Send me either bag…
1) We recycle our papers at the school bin where they get $$$ for school.
2) Smash all aluminum cans and take them to the recycling plant.
3) Save all copper and steel from remodeling the house and take that to the scrap yard.
4) Save all plastic, glass and tin cans for the city recycling project. (we do not wash out as that takes water) That is what the recycling company told us.
5) All hazardous materials are saved andtaken to the hazardous waste collection point.
Future plans are to change all light bulbs to fluoresent bulbs.
Consolidate shopping trips for save gas and oil.
on 19 Mar 2008 at 12:51 am 25 Lynn said …
Thanks for the contest. Lot’s of great posts. Here’s a few little things I’m doing.
Green today
1. I made my own baby wipes. Ok, confession. I originally didn’t make my own baby wipes to be green, I did it because my pediatrician recommended warm water and washcloths instead of wipes while my son had diaper rash. But once I saw how easy it was, I kept using them. I cut up an old flannel receiving blanket into wipe-sized rectangles, put them in a wipes warmer, poured water over them. No chemicals, nothing in the landfill.
2. I don’t use plastic bags in my son’s lunch anymore. I bought a lunchbox from www.laptoplunches.com. He loves it! And it comes with a cute set of real silverware, no more plastic spoons for yogurt, etc.
3. We don’t buy bottled water or any drinks on the go. We fill up Sigg water bottles http://www.mysigg.com/ with ice and water at home.
4. I configured my laptop monitor to power off after 1 minute of inactivy. The laptop screen uses quite a bit of power. I can’t power down the CPU, because I’m typically downloading files, etc. This conserves energy while downloading the latest pediacast podcast, for
example (Karen rolling eyes now).
5. Here’s any easy one. Lots of businesses are now
giving the option to “turn off paper”. They do it to save money, but it also helps the environment. I get electronic bank statements, paycheck stubs, even my cable bill comes via email now. Most of my bill payments are electronic transactions. I rarely write checks. When I buy gas at the pump, I don’t get a receipt. Anytime I have the option of not using paper, I don’t use it.
Green tomorrow
1. Use less gas. My next car will be more fuel efficient.
2. Use those low-energy light bulbs. But not until my current ones burn out.
Favorite Skeeda
The bags are all cute but my favorite is the “eggshell”, the blue with brown pattern.
on 20 Mar 2008 at 3:12 pm 26 Christina said …
Those Skeeda bags are so adorable! Here are some of the “green” things that I do already:
1. My baby is “diaper-free” (sort of). This is a way I found to deal with the “Are disposable or cloth diapers better for the environment?” issue. I read The Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh. There is also a website: www.diaperfreebaby.org My baby has been using the toilet for her bowel movements since she was five days old and discovered that she can also pee in the toilet when she was 2 months old. I often use the toilet the same time she does so that we don’t use any more flushes (something my husband and I had to do when we lived in Africa for a year and had water supply issues). We still use diapers but hopefully she will be totally out of them long before the average North American child. (Bonus: this also is a great way to prevent diaper rash!)
2. I buy organic. I use a delivery service SPUD (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery), an environmentally aware company which delivers organic produce (and other products) in Western Canada. Their website is www.spud.ca. This allows me to support farms that I can’t support by going to the local grocery store. My last order had purple potatoes which made very fun mashed potatoes! (Looked something like play dough).
3. Exercise with purpose. Hey, I need it anyway and it saves on fuel. I walk to get my groceries. I have to make many more trips to the store rather than loading it up in the car once a week, but it helps me get in the habit of daily exercise.
4. I like to cook from scratch rather than use premade or more convenient food. I find it cuts down on the packaging that I throw away (plus the food is healthier). The main problem was I loved the convenience of premade food. So I have learned how to freeze foods (in reusable containers) and use my slow cooker.
5. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and so I have joined a yahoo group called Freecycle. Check them out at www.freecycle.org. It is a great way to reuse. I have given away items just lying around my house that I no longer needed and have gotten most of my baby items plus a printer for free through freecycle.
Two ways I hope to go green in the future:
1. I plan to save odds and ends around the house that can go into a craft box for my daughter. Then when she is feeling crafty she will be encouraged to learn about reusing and be challenged to be creative.
2. Some day I hope to plant my own vegetable garden and then I will compost.
I love the frost and the eggshell but I think the frost bag is my fav.
on 20 Mar 2008 at 4:32 pm 27 Theresa N said …
What we are doing:
1. drive a hybrid car
2. recycle
3. use Energy Star appliances
4.use energy saving light bulbs
5. Water saving shower head
We are in the process of planting a vegetable garden
My fav is the PEONY pattern.
Thank you!!
on 20 Mar 2008 at 10:34 pm 28 Becca said …
My favorite is the Citrus print, but I love them all!
I didn’t realize how much stuff we do until I started listing them for you. 1) We have recently started taking our own empty containers with us when we go out to eat. That way we don’t have to bring our leftovers home in those nasty foam containers. 2) We’ve subscribed to the newspapers we read online so we don’t get paper copies. 3) Whenever possible, my husband and I shower together to conserve water. 4) We’re growing a vegetable garden in the back yard so we can teach our daughter about where food comes from. 5) We use low energy lightbulbs and appliances, and we don’t leave stuff like the microwave plugged in.
We intend to use cloth diapers for our next baby, and we are trying to do better about buy organic food. That last one is hard because they’re so much pricier, so we’ve just come up with priorities (milk and dairy products) and we continue to expand from there as we can afford to.
on 21 Mar 2008 at 2:53 am 29 Awesome Mom said …
http://awesomemom.blogspot.com/2008/03/fun-contest.html
Here ya go! I had forgotten about this until I was catching up on Pediacast.
on 21 Mar 2008 at 9:51 pm 30 Lynn T said …
I just got a new computer, and have attempted to create a blog….my contest entry is posted here:
http://web.mac.com/lynn.towill/Site/Blog/Entries/2008/3/21_Earth_Friendly_Actions.html
Whew!
on 22 Mar 2008 at 8:35 am 31 Lynn Towill said …
Tried to post my comment last night but it didn’t seem to go through. I am JUST learning how to set up a blog, so bear with me!
http://web.mac.com/lynn.towill/Site/Blog/Blog.html
Thanks for letting me know! I found your comment in my spam. Weird! I un-spammed it!
on 22 Mar 2008 at 2:52 pm 32 Teri said …
Only hours to go so I better get this done! I WANT those Skeeda bags. Citrus is my fav but I love all the polka dots. Anyway…
What we currently do:
- First we’ve dumped disposable menstrual products and use Lunapads. Thanks Karen
- We are big on the “reuse” section of reduce, reuse, recycle. I use plastic coffee containers to hold scrapbooking flowers; plastic ice cream containers to soak our Lunapads; plastic creamer containers to make vases with my Awana kids; I save most glass containers for food storage rather than buying more plastic containers. I also use the back side of any paper I can for use in our printer.
- Since I clean houses as a part time job, I’ve really tried to make an impact with my cleaning supplies. I LOVE vinegar for about anything. I found a site www.eartheasy.com that I love for naturual solutions for cleaning supplies. And vinegar and baking soda for cleaning out pipes is the bomb! (Well not a real bomb but you get the idea)
- I’m freakish about recycling everything I can. Whether I do it in our recylce bin, take it to the store, taking ink cartridges in for a reduction in new cartridges. Whatever - I try to recycle.
- We have switched most light bulbs over to the energy efficient ones
- I do as much as possible online so there is no paper with which to mess
I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can think of right now.
What we’re going to do:
- Get reusable bags to use at ALL stores
- Change “washing” detergent to a more natural type with borax and washing soda (another Eartheasy thing)
- Finish changing light bulbs out as they blow
- Mini compost
Okay I’m done. Putting all this in writing is good. It makes me feel more accountable and shows me from where I’ve come and where I want to be.
Thanks, Karen!
on 22 Mar 2008 at 2:53 pm 33 Janet said …
1. Well I try to recycle as much as I can…especially at work. I can fill up the bags of recycling SO fast.
2. At home we use the ugly Fred Meyer reusable bags everywhere, but I always feel silly walking into Safeway with them lol.
I am also in the process of getting a recycling can for my duplex complex and the one next to us. We don’t have one so I have to send it to my aunt’s house for her can. My neighbors love the idea I just have to get it ok’d with the owner.
3. I tend to walk everywhere instead of having someone drive, its easier and I get my exercise. Plus I tend to grab the trash when I’m walking, especially when walking to work. I hate looking at it!
4. When we do get the plastic bags from stores I reuse them, maybe as trash bags, or we give them back to the store, we rarely throw them away.
5. Paper. The biggest thing to waste. I don’t throw out used paper until there is no more room to write. I keep a stack of “used” paper in my room and when I need to write something down I use that. Why waste?
I love that I can even use these bags to carry MY things around, I tend to use the plastic bags but they don’t hold up. So I will double use them at the store and around, I will look cute while shopping
I hate using Styrofoam, and then I heard about this recycled Styrofoam and I was like cool I’m glad thats done. But then I found out that they only recycle them once and then put it back in the landfill so its pretty useless.
So I say that if you are going to use it for packing then keep reusing it, give them to the Plastic Loose Fill Council (PLFC) (they can recycle them) http://www.loosefillpackaging.com, or get some Soybean packing peanuts. They are biodegradable packing peanuts that are 95 percent starch and 5 percent synthetic polymer. You can even eat some!
I love the frost one! Its so dang cute! Thank you so much for putting these on!!
on 22 Mar 2008 at 4:34 pm 34 Deb - Mom of 3 Girls said …
Getting in at the last minute (again!) with my entry!
http://www.momof3girls.net/?p=1209
on 24 Mar 2008 at 2:08 pm 35 Jaime said …
Despite the contest being over, I went and bought TWO of the eggshell ones. They are just too cute. Here is the confession… one is going to be used as a “daycare bag” for my two year old. I have to send so much with her and the print is just too cute. The other will be for me.
Thanks Karen.