TreeHugger.com - Getting Recession Ready

In light of the current economic forecast, I've been thinking about ways that I can save money.  Not that I don't have a reliable income that is unlikely to change (for the next year or two anyway), but it might not be a bad idea to try and save a bit.  Tree Hugger has a new article out about getting ready for a recession - the Green Way.  The most ridiculous part is that these are mostly common sense suggestions that save lots of money: Ditch prepared foods.  Eat less meat.  Get rid of your car (or at least, use it a lot less).  Get the last drop out of your toothpaste & shampoo.  I think the author took a page from The Tightwad Gazette.  But seriously, all of these are easy to do and are environmentally friendly.  See - I'm not crazy for trying to get what's left of the old bar of soap to stick to the new bar!  Now if only I could talk myself into reusing old coffee grounds.  (Ew!)

Christmas - I'm Excited!

Um, so I'm trying REALLY hard to live up to the handmade pledge I took for Christmas.  I started making stocking stuffers on Sunday night.  All was good except that the glue was not so eco-friendly (in fact, I'm sure it was quite toxic given all the warnings on the package).  But I opened a few windows and vowed to find a more eco-friendly option...  I think Allie's rice cereal after sitting at room temp for a few hours would probably work.  That stuff turns into cement!  I'm just not sure it would smell so hot after a few months.  Ew.  Let me know if you have any better suggestions! 

I'd post a picture of what I was making, but that would ruin the Christmas surprise now, wouldn't it?  Still, I'm excited.  :-)

Action Wednesday! ooh! politics!

There's lots you can do to bring environmental issues to the forefront.  One of my favorite environmental groups, Environmental Defense, has an "action" you can take now to urge the moderators of the presidential debates to ask the hard questions about global warming and alternative energy.  Follow this link, and you can send an email to each of the debate moderators.  Easy peasy! 

P.S.  Above image is stolen from the ED website.  :)

Action Friday. Er, Monday!

Ok, folks.  Our darling President is at it again, trying to destroy everything I believe in, one at a time.  Actually, that's not true.  He's doing it all at once!  So quick!  Save the whales! And the polar bears!  And the bald eagles and all of the endangered species currently protected under the Endangered Species Act.  Cause folks, our dear president is doing his best to weaken the ESA.  Why?  Who knows?! Presumably so people can drill for oil in protected wildlife habitats.  Or maybe he really just hates polar bears and monarch butterflies.  Butthead.  

Anyway, click the link below and send your message to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, telling them not to approve the Bush/Cheney changes.  Do it soon!  Tell them you care! Please!

Defenders of Wildlife Action Center

(Image stolen from TreeHugger.com - a great site if you've got time to procrastinate! Quite Addictive!)

Eco Snobs

Yep, I'm one.  And it is so difficult to bite my tongue sometimes when people do things that are just so easy not to do!  Like yesterday, in Pathmark, some women stopped to grab an extra bag (while all the bags in her cart only had one or two things - I swear she bought 10 items and had 6 bags!) and I really was tempted to tell her that that extra bag will take 5000 years to degrade, and, oh, by the way, took petroleum to produce so thank you, lady, for the high gas prices.  But I was soooo good and bit my tongue.  People in the Bronx tend to have nasty tempers.  It could have been ugly.  

But I did manage to carry home all of my items in my book bag and not take a bag myself, as I had forgotten my reusable bags at home.  Er, go me!  **sigh**

Best Stain Remover EVER - Ecover

I was skeptical, but it totally works.  So well that I bought one for my sister in law too.  Its made from plant based ingredients and is biodegradable.  Its gotten grass stains out of Allie's knees, and spaghetti sauce off of Matt's shirt.  Yay!  It works!  Oh yeah, and the packaging is recyclable.  Mom approved.  :)

Action Tuesday

Since I missed last Friday's "Action Friday", I'm celebrating Action Tuesday instead.  So here it is: go to: www.coalriverwind.org and sign their petition!  Coal River Mountain is one of the last remaining mountain tops in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia.  All the others have been strip mined flat!  Sign the petition to turn the mountain top into a wind farm instead of another casualty of mountaintop removal.  This would create clean energy jobs, and prevent the pollution of streams and rivers that is the consequence of strip mining.  You can read all about it at their website.  Please add your signature to the petition!