Category Archives: Going Green

Apr 29

Under Wraps

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Just when I thought it was finally Spring there is a frost advisory for tonight. I scrambled around this evening, and got all of the plants covered with plastic. I reused the plastic that covered my hubby’s new recliner, and it came in very handy for the garden. I hope that it will keep the plants safe and warm 🙂

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I just hope that it doesn’t get too cold, we were finally getting some pretty little leaves on all of the trees.

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How is the weather in your neighborhood? Are you sitting pretty in Spring, or is Winter still hanging on?

Apr 23

Project Backyard

This Spring James and I are working on the backyard. We want to make it a fun place for the kiddos and a nice place for us to relax too. I started working on a small flower bed Monday, and yesterday I finally got a few plants planted 😉

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I was worried that I got a little ahead of myself with the plants, but I ended up with just the right amount. I had six larger plants for the flower bed, plenty of pretty flowers for the four hanging baskets, and one pack left over for a large planter.

 

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I just love the picture of Thade, he is telling me where to plant the flowers 😉 The entire car ride home, he kept asking when can I water the plants. I’m glad that he is excited about all of the new gardening responsibilities 😉

 

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I was pretty pleased (and James too) with how the flower bed turned out. A little bit of mulch really made all of the difference, and it made the project look great. Now I just need to get into the habit of keeping the plants watered 😉

Apr 22

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everybody! One of my Resolutions for 2008 was to become more Eco-Friendly, or Eco-Nico as my hubby calls me 😉 I am hoping to do my part to lighten my footprint on the Earth.

Last weekend I counted all of the light bulbs around the house. I wanted to see just how many more I needed to switch to CFLs, it was 23. I already have around 10 switched to CFLs, so 23 more is a big amount of light-bulbs, and a pretty big chunk of change too. I would like to have all of the bulbs switched by Summer, and this week was a great place to start. Walgreens was running a sale on CFLs 2/$6.00! I purchased 2 bulbs and placed them in the kitchen and dining room, two of the busiest rooms in the house. The old bulbs were recycled to my hubby’s workplace 😉

I love to use Natural Light around the house, whenever I can. We live in an older home, and luckily we have some pretty big windows. I gave all of the windows a deep clean yesterday, and now they can let in more of that lovely sunshine 😉 It puts me in a better mood too, must be all that vitamin D!

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Once Dylan started on solids I noticed all of the baby food packaging that we were using. I’ve re-used as much as I could around the house. I’ve used the packages to organize my Nicostuff supplies, keep the junk drawer tidier, and to pack lunches. Those little glass and plastic packages come in very handy.

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Glass is another item that I can’t throw away. Aesthetically it is very pleasing to my eye, and it is another great way to organize your home. I’ve reused a large glass jar to store (ahem) girly supplies in the upstairs bathroom, and a parfait glass for the downstairs bathroom. Vases also make great containers to store kitchen supplies in.

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My next step is to recycle more. Locally it is difficult to find a place that recycles, and already one of the plants in our area has shut down. I was happy to read that this Spring/Summer our local Wal-Mart is going to offer Recycling Drop-off on the first Saturday of every month. They will have bins available to recycle aluminum cans, plastics, glass, and newspaper. It is a great start for our community!

Do you have big plans for Earth Day? How have you made your home more Eco-friendly?

Apr 22

Walk the Walk

The weather was warm and windy, and I thought it would be fun to take the boys on a walk to the Post Office. The walk would be great exercise for me and it would save a little bit in the old gas tank too… The Post Office is just about a half a mile from our house (one way), so I thought this would be a pretty easy walk.

I loaded Dylan into the stroller and Thade was ready to walk too. I packed along all of our letters that needed to be mailed, 2 sippy cups with ice water for the boys, and we were on our way. We decided to take an indirect route to the Post Office as one street is a little busy during the morning hours. That detour added a few extra blocks to the trip. We also stopped a few times to look at the pretty trees in bloom, and to get a drink of water.

We had almost made it to our destination, just three blocks to go when poor Thade tripped and skinned up his knee 🙁 He was miserable, and I ended up carrying him for a block or two…

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We finally made it to the Post Office, stamps purchased, letters mailed, and Thade was in no mood to walk home. This time I decided to take the shorter, but busier way home. Thade was still pretty upset about his knee, and I ended up carrying him for another two blocks, wow this was one workout!

We walked past our favorite donut shop and Thade really wanted to stop in. They are now serving lunch, and you could smell the delicious Onion Rings. I was tempted to stop too, but we kept going, at this point I was still carrying Thade and pushing Dylan in the stroller one handed.

Finally we were just a two blocks from home, and Thade was ready to walk. We made it in the door, I got Thade 2 Spider Man band-aids, and Dylan fed and down for a nap. Thade was so tired, and I thought we could both use some lunch.

I made Cheesy-Bean-and Rice Burritos for me and Thade had de-constructed Nachos 😉 I helped myself to a large glass of Peach Iced Tea and a couple of Chocolate Cookies too.

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It was a fun walk, but it might be a little too far for the kiddos. All in all it was a 45 minute round trip, so it saved in gas money but it took a bit of time. It did get me thinking about other places that we could walk to that would be a fun day out for the kiddos. I’ll just make sure and have a few extra Spider Man band-aids in the diaper bag, just in case 😉

Mar 24

Washing the Washer

Well I’m finally finished (fingers crossed) with washing all of the flu laundry. I had one more cleaning task at hand though, I needed to sterilize the washer. I wanted to try a Green method of cleaning the washer, so I decided to use the White Vinegar that I had purchased for dying the Easter Eggs.

I set the Water Temp on Hot, the load size on Small, and I added in 1/2 cup of White Vinegar to the washer and to the fabric softener cup. I then ran an imaginary load of laundry in the washer 😉 I’m still getting used to the smell of the White Vinegar, I must admit it isn’t one of my favorites, but it got the job done! The washer is sparkling clean, and I know it is healthier too 😉 I’ll definitely use the White Vinegar to clean up around the house more often, I just hope that my nose will cooperate 😉

Do you have any Greener Cleaner tips to share?