A little late for Earth Day, I'm linking to this wonderful video that has entertained and motivated me many times since I first saw it when I was five years old. I can't say that it was this singing Earth who first inspired me to care about the environment. My parents set a pretty good … Continue reading The Singing Earth
Environment
Do you have the right to know if your food is Genetically Modified?
If you live in the United States, right now you do NOT have any way of knowing whether the food you buy contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These are plants or animals whose DNA has been manipulated in a way that does not occur naturally, usually combining genes from two or more species. More than … Continue reading Do you have the right to know if your food is Genetically Modified?
How the Dishwasher Changed Our Lives
A little over a year ago, we got a new dishwasher and became (for the first time in my life) a household that uses a dishwasher routinely. Read my previous article for lots of information on how dishwashers actually use less water and energy than washing dishes by hand, and read the comments for important … Continue reading How the Dishwasher Changed Our Lives
Holy Recycling!
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday, and it's also Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. If you don't belong to a religion that observes Ash Wednesday--or even if you do--you may never have thought about where churches get the ashes that are used to draw a cross on each person's forehead to remind us that our physical … Continue reading Holy Recycling!
The Beauty of a Bus Pass
[UPDATE: Port Authority Transit now offers annual, monthly, and weekly passes or cash debit on the ConnectCard, which you can refill online. It's even more convenient than the paper passes were! Also, we no longer have zones; all trips are the same price.] In my purse is a 2"x3" piece of paper that is worth … Continue reading The Beauty of a Bus Pass
Composting in the Office
I've been composting some of my household garbage most of my life. At work, though, I had been putting compostable items in the wastebasket because there isn't a compost bin in my office building. Then one day in early November, I was setting my office wastebasket outside the door for the cleaning people to empty. … Continue reading Composting in the Office
A Doorstop from Reused Materials, Delivered By Airplane!
Today is the organizing tips edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, but I have no new organizing tips to impart. Check out my articles on Organizing Girl Scout Troop Information and Things Not To Do: Home Organizing Edition. Meanwhile, here's an idea for a homemade gift kids can use to surprise their faraway relatives! In early December, … Continue reading A Doorstop from Reused Materials, Delivered By Airplane!
Greening the Employee Holiday Meal
I wish this were a story of a big project I did that made a big difference, but this one is only about a personal choice that made a small difference. It's still better than nothing! And you can't always change what big organizations do, but you can change what you do--so maybe you could … Continue reading Greening the Employee Holiday Meal
Adventure in the Forest Across the Street
A few weeks ago, I explained how we appreciate the little forests within our city. During our Thanksgiving trip, Nicholas (almost seven years old) and I found a much larger forest to explore--in a place where we never knew there was a forest. Cousin Mike hosts Thanksgiving in his home near Albany, New York. I've … Continue reading Adventure in the Forest Across the Street
I didn’t know that was a forest!
When my son was two to five years old, he attended a preschool/childcare center on the ground floor of a nine-story apartment tower a few blocks from my office. We commuted together by public transit and then walked from the bus stop across the parking lot that separated the building from the street. I find … Continue reading I didn’t know that was a forest!
Scrap Paper Saves Money and the Environment
More than 20 years ago, inspired by Earth Day 1990 and by one of my high school teachers handing out a huge amount of paper printed only on one side that was useless after a single day's activity, I designated a bin on my desk for scrap paper: full sheets of paper with one blank … Continue reading Scrap Paper Saves Money and the Environment
Earth-friendly Nosebleed Care
My six-year-old son, who is slowly learning to be more independent during the night, recently told me in the morning that he had had a nosebleed in the middle of the night. I changed his pillowcase--our linen closet is in the master bedroom, so he couldn't have done that without waking us--but he had taken … Continue reading Earth-friendly Nosebleed Care
Walking to School
Happy Walk to School Day! My son and I walked to his school this morning, and his father will walk him home this afternoon. He's in first grade. Sometime during his years at this K-8 school, he'll begin walking by himself, but for now I am enjoying the walk and the time with him. We … Continue reading Walking to School
Thrifty All-natural Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Face Wash
A lot of skin care products contain scary ingredients and are pretty expensive. Totally organic facial cleansers are really expensive and sometimes go bad before you can use the whole package--and a surprising number of them ignore organic-ness in packaging and put the stuff in a vinyl tube that slowly saturates it with carcinogens and … Continue reading Thrifty All-natural Anti-bacterial Moisturizing Face Wash
How a kid can cook burgers indoors on a hot day
Last month, my brother commented on my article about the Grildebeest that a George Foreman grill is a handy way to cook things with minimal supervision and better energy efficiency than a stove. I hadn't considered buying one of those grills before. (We have a small kitchen, so we try to avoid owning a lot … Continue reading How a kid can cook burgers indoors on a hot day
Great lunch kit for school!
Nicholas will be starting first grade in three weeks, so we've got some shopping and organizing to do, but one thing we don't need to do is buy a new lunchbox! The one he used for full-day kindergarten is still in great shape for this year and likely for several years to come. [UPDATE: He … Continue reading Great lunch kit for school!
A Family Vacation by Public Transit
We took our six-year-old son to visit New York City; Montclair, New Jersey; and Philadelphia, leaving our car at home in Pittsburgh and traveling by train or bus the whole way. It was great! We felt it was more relaxing than driving, more pleasant than going by airplane, and generally pretty easy to do. I'm … Continue reading A Family Vacation by Public Transit
Glass Jars Galore!
Glass jars are much better for food storage than plastic containers! We save the jars from peanut butter, salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc., and use them over and over again.
Fruit Labels, Jar Labels, Six-Packs, Environment, and Health
You know those annoying little stickers that are on most fruits you can buy individually in supermarkets? The ones that are so thin and so well-glued that they're often impossible to remove without gouging a hole in your fruit? Yeah, I always knew they were evil. In addition to being annoying on edible-skinned fruits, if … Continue reading Fruit Labels, Jar Labels, Six-Packs, Environment, and Health
FREE Earth-friendly Snack Plates!
Simply wash and reuse those plastic trays from frozen meals. If you are so environmentally aware and/or thrifty that you never buy frozen meals, I bet you know somebody who does and could ask that person to save some of the plates for you. Personally, although I try to plan home-cooked meals that we can … Continue reading FREE Earth-friendly Snack Plates!
The Earthling's Handbook 