One Small Change

Earth Day 2011 Giveaway!!

2011-04-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

All the winners have been contacted by email. If you see your name below and didn't receive an email, please check your spam box for an email from Hip Mountain Mama. Thanks!!

Our Earth Day Giveaway is going on now!!! To enter please leave us a comment here with your email address (your email address will solely be used to contact you if you win). Share this giveaway to be entered more times...each time you share this giveaway leave us an additional comment letting us know where you shared it. There will be 1 winner per item below. Winners will be announced on Earth Day April 22nd. Only open to US residents. Good luck!

Prizes Include:

Lusa Organics

Congrats to Jessica!

The ECO-nomical Baby Guide: Down to Earth Guide For Parents to Save Money and the Planet

Congrats to Laura

Pocket Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants

Congrats To Amber

$50.00 GC to Hip Mountain Mama

Congrats to Apvegmama

Ecosystem Journal

Congrats to Anonymous (mommy.twogirls)

My Father's Hands Wooden Toys

Congrats to Olivia B

Baby Get Green Apron

Congrats Kaila

A Sad Goodbye to One Small Change

2011-04-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

My personal One Small Change in March was to simplify. I gave away clothes, dishes, toys, and cleared a lot of clutter from my home. But there was still a part of me that felt cluttered. I felt like I was being pulled in many different directions and was constantly saying how busy I was. Then it hit me...I was creating my own busyness.

I started One Small Change over a year ago as my way to inspire and support others on their journey to living a more sustainable lifestyle. This project has always been very dear to my heart and it gives me so much joy to be a part of something so important. Along the way I have seen hundreds of changes occur in people's lives and I am honored to have a small part in this.

One step I am taking today to simplify my life, is to let One Small Change go. I am voluntarily creating less busy in my life and opening up more time to play outside, sit in the sunshine, and hang with my friends and family. I will continue to blog over at Hip Mountain Mama and hopefully still inspire a few to make eco friendly changes in their lives.

Perhaps there is someone out there who wants to create their own One Small Change Project...and if you do, please let me know as I would love to be a part of it. My family will continue to make small changes in our own lives and look forward to hearing about your continued changes!

Thank you so much for all your support and for taking this journey with us! And congrats on all of your amazing changes!

We will be announcing a wonderful Earth Day Giveaway on this blog in a couple of weeks, so stick around to check it out. The giveaway will be awesome and will be open to anyone and everyone who is dedicated to creating a better world.

~Peace

April 2011 Change

2011-04-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

April is here folks! Happy Earth Month!! Please leave us a comment here and let us know what your eco friendly change will be this month.

April Change Ideas

2011-03-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

April is a very exciting month! The weather is warming up, plants start coming up, and we celebrate Earth Day (or around here we celebrate Earth Month!). What a better month to jump on board to our One Small Change Project! Or if you are already a part of our community, what better time to spread the word to your friends and family about making eco friendly changes!

Here are some ideas for April Changes: (if you have more ideas to add, please do so in the comments)

*Plant or plan a garden (if you don't have a back yard think about doing some Urban Gardening)
*Attend an Earth Day event in your area to support and learn about ways to lessen your carbon footprint
*Walk or ride your bike at least once during the month that you would normally drive
*Tell 5 friends about this project and encourage them to start making small changes
*If you have kids encourage them to get outside
*Bring 1 new houseplant into your home
*If it is camping season where you live, make an effort to reduce your camping waste
*Look into starting a compost pile

These are just a few small ideas that anyone can make in April. Stop by in a few days to let us know what your idea for April is!

Earth Hour is Tonight!!

2011-03-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Alright folks! If you haven't made a change this month yet or if you want to be a part of something amazing, here is your chance!

Tonight, Saturday March 26th, and 8:30 (your time) join millions of people around the globe in turning off your lights for 1 hour!

Come on folks...you can do it...just 1 hour! Want to take it a step further? Try lights out all weekend!
Enjoy!

March Winners...Everyone Wins~

2011-03-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the 2 winners of our March Giveaway of 1 Organic Sleepy Wrap and 1 Organic Boba Carrier. It is so awesome to learn that this company is operating in such an eco friendly way! They are a true inspiration to other small businesses!! Now for the winners..

Congrats to Julie who says..."My family is making lots of changes this spring! we have decided to visit our local botanical gardens more frequently and my kids are loving it! we went this past weekend and got some amazing pictures of my kids enjoying nature! I'm also going to start loading up my 3 little ones in the wagon and a baby carrier to walk to the bus stop to pick up big brother instead of the driving down 2 streets and driving back! II think the little ones will enjoy it more, its better for the environment, and better for my waist line too! lol! i hope i win... i could use a new sleepy wrap for the walks to the bus stop! :)"

AND

Congrats to Dawn who says..." We do a lot of great things, but like anyone we can always do better. Our project for March has been to get our garden seedlings started. We're also cutting back on our meat consumption in hopes of eventually phasing it out all together. I have Lupus and protein is a definite source of flare for me. I was nearly vegetarian until getting pregnant last year. For some reason m baby-body was craving meat! Now that my son is here we would like to set a better example for him and help him be as healthy as possible. "

AND

...everyone is a winner because Hip Mountain Mama has decided to offer everyone who participated this month 15% off their order in their shop all weekend long! (use code "OSC" for discount) We are just so thrilled with all the incredible changes everyone is making that we thought everyone should win something! If you are looking for a small change for April maybe you could pick up some eco friendly goodies at a great price!

Thanks and congrats to everyone for all your hard work and dedication in making our world a better place!!

March Giveaway: Organic Boba Carrier & Sleepy Wrap

2011-03-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

This months prize donor is Sleepy Wrap (NAP Inc.), Boulder based company and creator of the Organic Sleepy Wrap and Organic Boba Carrier. Whether you are a baby carrier or not, these make great gifts for friends, grand kids, grandmothers, or just a surprise to someone who could use it. Please read below to learn about ways this company is making a green impact! (Details on the giveaway at the end)
What they are doing:

~They introduced their Organic Boba Carrier made locally in Boulder, Colorado with both GOTS and OE100 certified organic cotton

~They introduced their Organic Sleepy Wrap made with Organic Exchange 100 certified organic cotton

~NAP, Inc. Management team’s commitment to using bicycles for at least 50% of their local transportation needs. They are lucky to live in Boulder which boasts nearly 100 miles of linked bike paths within city limits.

~All packaging supplies are now being recycled or donated for re-use

~They are now using virtual business cards! No more wasted paper. Send a text message “NAP” to phone number 50500

~NAP, Inc. invested into a new green server in April ’09 with Rackspace. It offers carbon neutral hosting and energy conservation. Data center emissions and power consumption can have a significant environmental impact so they opted for a carbon neutral low-voltage server and a processor with an energy efficient drive and memory. Although their website hosting costs increased almost 3-fold it is worth it for us to know that they are running a carbon-neutral website.

~NAP, inc. supports and donates to local Eco-Cycle and their efforts to build Zero Waste communities

~They use only CFL & LED lighting in all office and warehouse space

~They sponsor the Holistic Moms Network (www.holisticmoms.org)

In the future, NAP, Inc. plans to:
~Offset employee commute emissions through carbon credits

~Offset company facility emissions through carbon credits

~Work with their loyal customers and incorporate more GoGreen ideas – feel free to email them with your green thoughts at info@sleepywrap.com!

The giveaway:

~~Nap, Inc. has generously donated 1~~ ~~Organic Cotton Boba Carrier~~ ~~and 1~~ ~~Organic Sleepy Wrap~~

Anyone who participated in One Small Change this March is eligible to enter. Even if you haven't started your March change yet, or even if it isn't going so well...if you had good intentions for an eco friendly change this month, you can enter!

~~How to enter:~~
~~Leave us a comment here and let us know what your change for March is...that's it! Please leave me with an email address so I can contact you! Winner will be announced this Friday March 25th~~

Good Luck!

Bag It

2011-03-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Did you know Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every 5 minutes? We need a serious new attitude towards these disposable items! Watch this trailer below called 'Bag It' and get inspired to make a difference in your own life!

Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Brad's Thoughts on Driving to Save Energy

2011-03-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Driving to work tonight, I thought about the difference between driving for myself, versus driving for the community. I mean, I have a few thing to fix on the '95 Toyota pickup I bought last month, but on a business trip last week I got 29.9 mpg, the tank full before that was 23 or a little better. I know from experience that with this vehicle, my best mileage is at 65-70, where the Lincoln Town Car I drove before (until it fell apart on the road) topped out at 45 mph - at 22 mpg.

I don't accelerate harshly, unless there is actual hazard or danger (much like my approach to yelling at livestock or kids).

1) I lived a couple winters in Minneapolis. They advised there not to let the engine idle to warm up - after a few seconds, put it in gear, and drive, being very gentle on the accelerator until the engine warms, and let the engine work at above-idle speeds to warm up. They contended it was less stressful on the engine and transmission (since you are being gentle on the transmission as well).

2) An uncle told me most accidents in intersections happen the first three seconds after the light changes. So I don't enter then - and I don't try to 'beat' the yellow light.

- this has a community effect. People entering late in the yellow cycle may not be through the intersection when others get the green light - so 1, or 2 - or 40 cars wait an extra 3 to 5 seconds, because of one driver out to 'beat' the lights.

3) Another uncle was in the Army, and while showing my Father and me around Fort Hood, TX, someone came up behind - closely. Uncle Robert claimed that if a tailgater is going to hit you, you are safer going at a slower speed - so gently slowing down does a couple of things. First, it makes any ensuing accident lower energy, and hopefully more survivable. Second, it makes it easier for the tailgater to pass. I know the last thing I want behind me is someone anxiously breaking the law (tailgating), and getting angrier and more frustrated - and more daring - all the time. Let the wiseacre behind go look for the speed trap.

- I am not sure there is an energy component to this one. I do know that speeding up is usually the wrong thing to do - it encourages the odd wiseacre to 'push' you harder, to see how much you can be pushed. On a family vacation one such driver passed and harassed Dad several times over several miles.

- I am *not* advocating a sudden slow down - nothing abrupt, merely an easing back one mph every minute or so.

- I have had people pull too close - and when I stayed at my speed or started slowing, gradually - back off. If they back off to a safe distance I speed back up to my chosen speed or the speed limit, whatever. But some people maintain that longer distance back. And that does save energy. There is a *lot* of acceleration in following a vehicle at a close distance, a *lot* of small accelerations. And that means their mileage improved by leaving that larger distance.

4) While commuting to work in St. Louis some years back, on four-lanes-each-way Interstate, I chose to not be an aggressive driver. I decided to always leave enough room in front of me for two cars to pull in. There were a couple of reasons - it gave me more time to react to the drivers ahead of and beside me, and reduced the risk that someone wanting to change lanes might attempt something desperate.

- Leaving more room in front of me doesn't do me a lot of good - or harm - time wise, but it does reduce some of my need for reactive acceleration - thus is a slight benefit, mileage wise.

- But that slight benefit, mileage wise, gets passed back to the cars behind me. I am reasonably convinced that if everyone maintained the legal safe following distance ahead of them, both while driving in their lane and also when changing lanes - there could be no stop-and-go traffic jams. If I recall correctly, safe distance, legally, is 200 ft between vehicles when the posted limit is 45 mph or higher, 100 ft for lower posted speed - regardless of the speed being traveled at the moment.

- Recall the comment about about the acceleration needed for following closely. Not every vehicle, nor driver, will accelerate identically to the driver ahead. So everyone behind a driver that falls behind the driver ahead falls behind a bit further; none of them can make up more speed or time than the vehicle ahead of them. The 'flinch' - any time a driver slows - gets passed back to every successive close-following vehicle. Vehicles with longer following distances - can ignore lots of small changes without affecting the cars behind him.

- So I contend that leaving that larger gap in front of me - not slowing down, just leaving that gap - benefits time wise and fuel wise, the cars behind me.

- My own experience, and observation of tailgaters, is that that longer following distance? It decreases the stress on the driver.

That is my suggestion for a 'small change' that might benefit the community. And maybe decrease by one the number of energy and time wasteful accidents.

~Brad

You can read more on Brad's thoughts at his blog Brad's Take where he writes about ideas on draft horses, Peak Oil, conservation, and low tech living.

Mid Month March Check in

2011-03-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Yes...it's that time again! How is your March change going so far? Let us know here or stop by our facebook page and let us know there...or do both :)

Would You Miss Plastic Bags

2011-03-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

As I was driving my daughter to her awesome Nature School spewing toxins into the air from my car, I was pondering if driving her the 20 minutes there and back each day is counter productive. But this is a totally different topic that I plan to address in the coming weeks. As I was driving having these very deep thoughts on nature, and cars, and toxins, I started to notice something very disturbing. It was a windy day and my deep thoughts were interrupted by plastic grocery bags flying all around. Stuck in trees, on the road, and generally just flying around. It really struck me as a most unnatural and disgusting sight. My thoughts instantly shifted to, how can we stop this from happening? How can we stop people's obsession with plastic bags? I don't rely on plastic bags and I like to believe that a lot of other people don't either...but I don't think this is the case. There are still people who use plastic bags when they get groceries and there are still people, gasp, who throw plastic bags in the trash instead of reusing them. How can we stop this habit?

What if the plastic bag makers, just stopped making plastic bags? Would we really miss them? What do you use plastic grocery bags for and what alternatives could we be using?

I don't really have a solution here, just throwing out my thoughts and wondering if you have any ideas. There has been a movement towards bringing your own bags to stores, and I think there are thousands of people who are now bringing their own bags as opposed to just a few short years ago...but when I go to the store I only see about 5% of people using their own bags. So, how can we get the other folks on board?

All comments welcome!

Suzy's Change: De Cluttering

2011-03-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

I gained a lot of inspiration from a video by my friend Shannon, at Free Spirit Knits. In the video she talked about de cluttering your home and how wonderful it can be. I am huge on giving clothes away that we don't wear anymore, but I had never gone any deeper than that nor had I ever thought about the benefits of de cluttering.

We have been in our home for almost 6 years and the things have piled up...when you have a space, you tend to fill it don't you? A couple of years ago my parents were moving into a smaller home and had some furniture to give away. I gladly took as much of it as I could to fill my home...my home is filled with furniture, decorations, kids toys, and so many other things. A lot of the things in my home give me joy, make me smile, and serve a purpose....but I would be willing to bet that I could get rid of 50% off the stuff in my home and not even miss it.

Now, how does de cluttering tie into One Small Change? How does it fit the eco friendly aspect of this challenge? Well, the most obvious (for me) eco friendly part of giving things away is that other people can benefit from what I give away without having to purchase new. If I have 2 coats and someone has 0 coats, wouldn't it make sense for each of us to have 1 coat. The person with 0 coats can now have a coat without having to purchase a brand new coat.

Another thought I have on the matter is that freeing up space in my home allows me more time to focus on projects such as One Small Change. You may have to think a bit deeper on this one, but if I am not constantly picking things up or organizing things or spending time looking for lost items, I have more free time, right? If my home is filled with the basic minimums and a few joyful items, I should know where everything is, I should feel more at peace, and I should have more time on my hands. With more peace in my heart and time on my hands I have more time to gather around the table with friends to talk about gardening, more time to create eco friendly changes at my daughter's school, more time to bake and cook from scratch, etc, etc, etc.

Now, for my last, thought on de cluttering...I feel like de cluttering is going to help me fulfill a very large dream I have had for a very long time! This dream I created several years ago, and am still slowly plugging away at the logistics, is to move to a smaller home with a lot of land. My dream is to live a more sustainable life by using the land around me for most of what I need. To use less energy in a smaller home and to be surrounded by nature's beauty. This dream is very much in the making, but it is also something that will not come in to fruition for a few years...but one of the steps to getting where we want to get is to realize that we can live with less. If we move to a smaller home, we may need some practice on living with less furniture, toys, dishes, etc. before we get there. So, yes it may be a stretch..but I do believe that taking this step now, is actually getting us 1 step closer to living our sustainable dream!

I started my change last weekend by clearing out my daughter's closets. I filled 3 bags worth of clothes and am happy with the start. My next step is to walk through the house and select at least 10 items that aren't serving me any purpose to give away.

I hope your change is going well this month so far! If you would like to share your change on our blog, please email me suzy@hipmountainmama.com. We would love to hear from you!!

Thank You Sponsors!

2011-03-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a few moments to give a shout out to our awesome sponsors! They are helping make it possible for me to spend more time on this project that is very important to me. I really feel like this little grassroots movement Andy and I started over a year ago is having an impact on our Earth and I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about all the changes so many folks have made!! So, thank you to all of you and to all of our amazing sponsors who are donating prizes or just helping us to spread the word!

Sponsors:

~My Father's Hands: Handmade Wood Toys
~Inside Out: E Course
~Merrell-Outdoor clothing and gear
~Kids Loving Nature: Family Nature Blog
~The Waldorf Connection: Waldorf information website
~Natural Suburbia: Crafting and Nature Blog

Prize donating sponsors:
~The Peaceful Peacock: Handmade beverage coozies
~Hip Mountain Mama: Bamboo Utensils
~Demilunes: Waldorf Doll
~Sleepy Wrap: 2 Organic Cotton Baby Carriers
~Lusa Organics: Organic skin care
~Green Baby Guide: The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide Book
~Mother Love: Pocket Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
~Hip Mountain Mama: $50.00 gift certificate
~Strawsome: Glass Straw
~Ecosystem: Eco friendly journal
~My Father's Hands: Handmade wooden toys

Thank you thank you thank you!!
If you wish to support this wonderful project by becomming a sponsor, please email me for details
suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Archives: Eco Friendly Gardening

2011-03-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

With gardening on the brain I wanted to re post an article Andy wrote on 5/19/10 about using repurposed wood to build a raised garden bed. If you plan on building some raised beds this year, please consider using old materials, rather than purchasing new.

Using Repurposed Wood For a Backyard Veggie Garden

I grew up in central Iowa where growing food is a big deal. I was raised in the burbs but I still have family that farms to this day. My parents always had a huge garden. I remember planting rows and rows of corn, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, and many other wonderful veggies.

When we moved into our current house, 5 years ago, I knew I wanted to have a huge garden. But now that I live in Colorado there is a lot more involved in gardening. It is much dryer here and the soil doesn’t even compare to the fertile soils of the midwest. Here it is necessary to build a raised bed to provide enough good soil for your veggies to grow.

The first summer we lived in our house, I built a small 4’x8’ garden. I wanted more but I decided to start slow. The following year I built an additional 8’x8’ garden. This kept me pretty happy for a while and with a membership to a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) we had access to plenty of locally grown organic food, but I still want more.

This weekend the weather was nice and the desire to grow even more food took over. I decided that this time I wanted to build a more sustainable garden. In the past I had walked into a chain lumber store and spent a bunch of money on new lumber. This time it was going to be different.

I visited Uncle Benny’s, a local family owned business that buys sells and trades used building materials. Stepping into the world of Uncle Benny’s was way too much fun for me. They have so many awesome items that are previously used but are still very usable. This business is not only saving all of these building materials from going into the landfill, but they are also offering some screaming deals on great products.

I spotted many projects that I would like to take on but decided to stick to the new garden project for this weekend. I purchased repurposed 2”x6” Redwood decking boards. These boards are beautiful. They were previously used for a deck but all of the screws had been removed. I sanded them down and they are like new. I would have never spent the money on brand new redwood so I am so pleased with how this turned out.

With just a couple hours of effort I was able to turn a small grassy area of our yard into a food producing garden plus I was able to support an awesome family business and keep some building materials out of the landfill. This was a very easy project. I definitely encourage you to grow some of your own food and/or purchase reclaimed materials. These are easy and simple changes you can do to be a little more eco-friendly.

~Andy

*Check out Andy's Nature Blog at Kids Loving Nature where he writes about getting your kids outdoors and tips on how to make it fun for everyone!

Homemade Lotion Recipe

2011-03-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, Winter is coming to an end, but who doesn't need a great lotion year round. Here in Colorado the air is very dry and lotion is a must on a daily basis. Sherrie, fellow One Small Changer, has been so kind as to share her homemade lotion recipe with us.

Winter Skin Lotion

4 tbsp beeswax pastilles*
8 oz olive oil (or other oil, depending on your skin type - grapeseed oil is a lighter option; sweet almond also works well)
4 tsp coconut oil
8 tbsp water
essential oils, if desired

Melt beeswax in a double boiler. A glass measuring cup in an enamel or stainless steel pot works perfectly. Add coconut oil when the beeswax is almost entirely melted. Warm olive oil briefly in microwave or on stove top, just so it's slightly warm and not cold (cold oil will cause the beeswax to re-harden). Add the olive oil to beeswax and coconut oil, and whisk until everything's liquefied.

Remove from heat. Use a stick blender and blend the oils while slowly drizzling in the water. Continue blending for another minute or so. The lotion will be quite hot and runny at this point, but will thicken as it cools. Blend it a bit every now and then as it's cooling. After it's cooled, you can add essential oils, if you like. Scoop into jars or bottles.** This is a perfect lotion for babies and kids with sensitive skin.

Makes approximately 2 cups. Recipe can be doubled, halved, tripled, etc.

Notes:
*This amount of beeswax pastilles makes a thick, butter-consistency lotion; the same volume of grated beeswax would make the finished lotion a little bit thinner. You can control the thickness by adjusting the amount, and should also be able to substitute candelilla wax, if you're looking to make a vegan lotion.

**I prefer a wide mouth jar for the original recipe, since it's a firm lotion and doesn't work well in pump jars.

***Because there are no preservatives in this recipe, I wouldn't recommend storing it for long periods.

~Sherri

Please visit Sherrie at her blog Twenty-Two Pleasant

March 2011 Change

2011-03-01T03:11:00.000-08:00

March is here folks! What do you plan to change for March? Something to do with Spring perhaps?? Leave us a comment and let us know what you plan to change. This month we have 2 giveaways for a Boba Organic Cotton Child Carrier and an organic cotton Sleepy Wrap that will be open to all participants at the end of the month!

Small, But Radical

2011-02-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

First, I heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on This American Life (episode 253: The Middle of Nowhere): despair, despair, despair. Then, I learned (via Apartment Therapy) about Taina’s project to eliminate the use of plastics for one year: more despair!

Why the despair at the news that one woman much like me (so I imagine) has taken on such a huge and marvelous project?

Well, however marvelous the project, it is so very, very big, and, as the work-at-home mother of a wildly energetic two-year-old, most days, I feel so very, very tired. I would love to do as Taina is doing, but to entirely eliminate something so pervasive as plastic from my life? The project is much too huge for me to take on right now.

Nevertheless, I’ve found that committing to small changes — one or two at a time, and regularly — just might be leading me toward a radical transformation of our small Brooklyn household.

Even before joining the One Small Change project, I had started to replace my usual personal care products with nontoxic, no-plastic alternatives — or had given them up altogether! I’m continuing to make changes in this arena, such as by replacing disposable feminine hygiene products with reusable cloth pads. (BTW, any suggestions for nontoxic, no-plastic lip gloss?) And greener cleaning is as yet a mostly unexplored arena — certainly to be explored, though, most likely later this year. But the biggest changes seem to be happening, a few at a time, where I least expected to see them: in our kitchen.

In January, I made the commitment: no more buying apples shipped here from all across the country! After all, New York is a major apple growing state — why buy apples from Washington? The commitment seemed — was — small, but I had an ulterior motive: to get our family to the farmers’ market, where we would have to go to get the local apples. And, once there, we could discover how much more we could get locally, rather than shipped from California or Mexico.

As it turns out, we can get so, so much more than I had imagined: squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, eggs, and even spinach! (Though, mysteriously, not cabbage, which had been pretty much all I had expected to find.) And I’m not stopping there. Can we get local milk? What about cheese? Could I possibly make my own yogurt? Could we eliminate all produce except what we can get at the farmers’ market or, when in season, in our CSA share? Heck, just how close can we get to being complete locavores?

These are not questions I was asking a month ago. And, though I’m in charge of most of the meals for our family, I’m no foodie. But I’m figuring it out, one change at a time. I’m excited. And it all started with just apples!

Rachael is a freelance writer and editor, poet, and creative writing teacher. She blogs about making her way toward work-life balance in a family of artists at The Variegated Life.

February Giveaway: To Go Ware & Waldorf Doll

2011-02-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

Congrats to everyone who has made an eco friendly change this month! Hopefully by now the change is in place and has become a habit in your every day life. We still have a few days left in the month, but it's time to start brainstorming ideas for March! Now for the giveaway!

This month we have 2 prizes to be awarded to 2 winners. Here they are:

1. Waldorf Cuddle Doll handmade by Demilunes. Aux Demilunes is a nature friendly shop, full of handmade items by a young stay-at-home mom. Their family believes that every toy and plaything should be beautiful and earth based, and so this is what they want to sell to the other children. Most toys are original design, with prototypes that have been quality tested by children. Most of the materials used are recycled, upcycled, bought in thrift stores, or found in local shops.

2. To Go Ware Bamboo Utensils: Donated by Hip Mountain Mama...These are great for eating out, taking lunch to work, picnics, pot lucks, or camping. Each set comes with a bamboo spoon, fork, knife, and chopsticks in a carrying case made of recycled plastic bottles.
To Enter:

~~Leave a comment here and let us know what your February change was and if it was a success or not. We will announce the 2 winners on Saturday Feb. 26th~~

~~Good luck!~~

Congratulations to the following winners:

To Go Ware Utensils donated by Hip Mountain Mama:
Rachel

Waldorf Cuddle Doll
The Domestic Diva

Don't Be An Eco Snob

2011-02-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

Increase Environmental Awareness Without Alienating Your Peers

For some environmental advocates, the motto for saving the environment is "go hard or go home. If you want to live a eco-friendly lifestyle, you better become a vegan, recycle every item you use, ride your bike everywhere, and sport an expensive grocery bill of only local, organic produce. Did I mention you have to start doing all of this on the same day? All the requirements for becoming environmentally friendly, deemed necessary by the critics of agribusiness and wasteful consumption, seem unattainable to most. However, many environmental advocates fail to realize that the movement to save Mother Nature and her resources MUST be a gradual one. If we begin to look down and ridicule those who don't follow in our footsteps, we may alienate them forever. Here are some simple ways to encourage environmental activism without deterring others from joining the green movement.

Practice What You Preach: Preach in Moderation

In any movement or effort, it is important to increase awareness among those around you. However, the way you spread the word can make or break the possibility that anyone will heed your advice. If you are the guy donning a recycle t-shirt, patrolling the cafeteria to see if anyone is putting recyclable plastics in the trash can, people will probably think you take yourself a little too seriously. Rather, ask your school newspaper or the human resources department at the office if you can send out a weekly environmental update. In the update or email, you can include ways to be "greener" at your office or school. Congratulate your peers for making an effort to recycle more, choosing environmentally friendly cuisine options at the cafeteria, or even turning off the lights after using the bathroom. Also, include updates on how the institution can take gradual steps towards decreasing the size of its carbon footprint. This example of increasing awareness is less invasive, but it can still change people's behavior!

Encourage Small Steps Toward an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

You may be a vegan or vegetarian, but your friends and family probably think of this as a ridiculous life-style change. It may be impossible to convince your dad to give up those short-ribs forever. However, within your friends and family, you can promote a "less-meaty" lifestyle. Try cooking a meat-free meal once a week for your family. Explain to them that eating one meal without meat can save thousands of miles of gas (required for transportation of meat products). In fact, one meatless meal is like taking 5 million cars off the road for a day! This general information may inspire your friends and family to take further steps to protect the environment. Also, encourage other efforts like recycling, carpooling, and buying from local farmers' markets. However, remember that your people may not be able to do all of this at once. Be slow to incorporate changes. Again, congratulate your family members on trying to change! If they feel like their efforts are futile, they may be quick to lose momentum and dedication towards an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Get Involved in Local Initiatives

If you want to make a change on a larger scale, get in touch with your city-government's green initiatives. It may be fulfilling to volunteer your time towards your city's programs. That way you will stay updated on what needs to be done. This can fuel some ideas for your weekly environmental update at school or work!

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of nursing colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.

Literally Going Green

2011-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

A little fun for your Thursday!

February Mid Month Check In

2011-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

How is your Feb change going so far? Leave us a comment here or stop by our Facebook page and let us know!

Door to Door Organics Giveaway and Coupon Code

2011-02-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

I thought a lot of my readers here would be interested in a wonderful giveaway we are running on our other blog. Stop by here to learn more about Door to Door Organics and enter to win a free box of organic produce. They have also offered a 40% off coupon code! Check it out!

A Greener Valentines Day

2011-02-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

Just wondering if anyone's change this month was to have a greener Valentines Day. Even if it wasn't your 'official' change, did you make an effort to have a more eco friendly day? What did you do? What do you plan to do?

Here are a few thoughts I had.

1. Instead of purchasing flowers, buy a plant
2. Purchase Fair Trade coffee or chocolate for your honey
3. Send E Cards to your loved ones
4. If you choose to send paper cards, select cards made with recycled paper
5. Have a romantic meal at home using organic ingredients
6. If you choose to go out for dinner support your local restaurants

Please add your thoughts in the comments! Happy Valentines Day!!

Phantom Power

2011-02-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had to buy a new coffee maker when the one I had had for about 10 years broke. My new coffee maker has a clock on it. Why on Earth do I need the coffee maker to tell me what time it is? It sits right next to an oven and a microwave that already keep me up on the current time. I suppose I could set a timer and let the coffee maker make coffee for me in the morning but I don't like to plan that far ahead. I'll make the coffee when I'm ready for it.

So this really got me thinking about Phantom Power or idle current. If you don't know, phantom power is the power that our appliances are using while they are turned off. That's right, almost everything you have plugged in is consuming power even when in the off or standby mode. This isn't just things with clocks but also includes your TV, DVD Player, Cell Phone Changers, Ipod Decks, CD Players, computer, printers, blenders, and more.

We tend to think that off means off, but these devices are still sucking energy while not in use. It is hard to tell how much energy this actually adds up to but my power company suggests that 10% of the average household power is phantom power. Does that sound like a lot? Consider that if you could eliminate all the phantom power in your house it would be enough to power your house for more than a month.

So what can you do? Unplug it. Yes, unplug everything that is not in use. In the kitchen make your coffee then unplug the coffee maker, make a smoothie then unplug the blender, recharge your cell phone then unplug the charger. Doing this will help reduce the energy that you consume.

Sure you probably aren't going to crawl back behind your TV each time you turn it off but if you put your TV, DVD, and any other electronic on a power strip you can just hit off on your power strip to turn everything off at the end of the day, then unplug your power strip.

It may take a while to get into the habit of unplugging things, but I challenge you to give it a try. Do it, then keep tabs on your electric bill and see if it seems to make a difference. Once you are in the habit of doing this at your own home, encourage others to do the same...and do as I do and simply unplug things when you are at your friends homes. Do you really need that toaster plugged in all day long while not in use? I think not!

~Andy

Suzy's Change: A Greener Laundry

2011-02-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

I am sure I am not alone in saying that I think laundry sucks. It is always there, never ends, piles up and piles up until you have no choice but to do it because your daughter has not 1 single pair of clean pants. I guess I shouldn't complain though when thinking of how easy we have it with our washing machines and dryers these days. But in a sense, we have it harder because we are expected to wear so many different outfits for so many different activities. I am sure folks 100 years ago didn't have their closets filled with a ridiculous amount of clothes and wear 2-3 outfits per day (work out, going out, soccer, work, lounge, etc.). They probably had 1 outfit that they would wear for a few days in a row, then maybe switch to their other outfit...I don't really know, maybe I am wrong, but I am sure it has gotten a little more out of control lately.

So, basically, it sucks, but we still have to do it. And my mission this month is to do laundry with a more eco friendly focus. Below are my thoughts on making this a greener activity:

1. Hang laundry to dry. Well, honestly I started doing this last April as my one small change, but stopped when the weather turned cold. I am content taking the winter off from hanging my laundry and will start back up in April.

2. Wash in cold water. Washing in cold is just fine with me and I honestly don't see any benefit in washing in warm or hot. Using hot water to wash your clothes is very wasteful in the energy it uses to heat up the water.

3. Use eco friendly dryer balls. If you are going to use your dryer, skip on the chemical filled dryer sheets. I have found these awesome little dryer balls made out of 100% wool that really help to make our clothes soft and lessen the static factor. I have been using the patchouli scented and I really like the subtle patchouli scent my clothes have.

4. Use vinegar in my fabric softener dispenser in the washer. Vinegar is a natural way to brighten your clothes and remove odor. It also helps to get all the detergent out of your clothes before drying them.

photo courtesy of Greenie Bean Recycle

5. Natural or hand made laundry detergent. I have been talking about making my own for years now, but have never done it. I am lucky though to have friends who have made it for me and lately I bought some home made from Greenie Bean Recycle. Next I am going to try soap nuts, which seems to be the most eco friendly option...I will let you know how this goes later in the month.

6. Quit changing our clothes so often. I mean really, unless you have sweated a lot, rolled around in the mud, or are just getting back from a camping trip, do you really need to change your clothes every day? I have been working on this for a few months now...wearing clothes until they are actually dirty before putting them in the laundry. I am also teaching my kids to do the same...a work in progress though.

So, these are my green laundry ideas for the month. If you have any extra tips to add, please let me know. If your change this month is to create more eco friendly laundry choices, please let me know how it is going!

My Father's Hands Winner

2011-02-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent sponsor giveaway by My Father's Hands. We love this company and are so glad to introduce you to them!

Congrats to Hallie for winning the $35.00 Gift Card!

Hallie said...
I know a little girl that would spend hours playing with that wee flat bed truck!!! She has a birthday coming up so I would pick that for sure!!!

http://www.ourbrokenroad.blogspot.com/

*If you are interested in sponsorship on One Small Change, we still have a few spots available...email me for details suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Eco Friendly Super Bowl Party

2011-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl is here and whether you like football or not, you will most likely be watching it (if not just for the commercials). Super Bowl Sunday is a great excuse to get together with friends and just have a good time! Want to make your Super Bowl Party a little more eco friendly this year? Well here are 4 easy tips to help you out.

1. Food: When possible purchase organic and local food to serve. Make your own salsa and/or guac using ingredients from your local farmers market or shop. If you are serving meat look for local or organic meat.

2. Silverware: Use your own! Forget about the disposable plastic ware and simply use your own. If you don't have enough for everyone, ask a few friends to bring their own. Cloth napkins are also a must

3. Beer: Do you have a local brewery in your town? Start there! Grab a growler or 6 pack of beer that was brewed right in your own town. If you do not have a local brewery, try and find one that is the closest or look for an organic brand sold at your local liquor store.

4. Cleaning up: Ask your guests to put their waste in the proper places. Recycle or compost as many items as you can.

If we all follow these 4 simple rules, we can sure make a difference in reducing our carbon footprint this Super Bowl season! Enjoy!

Sponsor Giveaway: My Father's Hands

2011-02-03T04:18:00.000-08:00

We have some fresh new sponsors on the blog this month and we are so excited about the continued support we are receiving from the community! Please help me welcome Tamar and Marlon from My Father's Hands Wooden Toys...and don't forget to enter the giveaway (details at the end).

In their words....

We are Tamar and Marlon, parents of two amazing children who like to keep us on our toes and inspire us daily. Mama Tamar ~ plays the cello; daddy Marlon ~ the crafter, plays trombone; we met attending college, got married, and made a loving home.

Raised on a farm in the Uwharrie Mountains of rural North Carolina, Marlon would often steal a moment between chores to create wooden treasures. Embarking on his journey of fatherhood, he found a new purpose for his love of woodworking.

Tamar, our woman of many hats, hails from far across the great blue sea. Her love for Mother Nature’s gifts enthuses her eclectic ways. Tamar is our PR ⁄ Marketing person and packer extraordinaire.

Building a “village” of likeminded folks we aspire to respect planet earth with our choices. Once our children came along, nurturing their imagination and creativity came as a natural extension of those choices. Inevitable the toys and play things we surrounded them with would be eco-friendly and toxin free.

Daddy, make something that goes...! Those were the words our son used as he looked longingly at the stocks of rough wood. What is a father to do but oblige?
So with wheels that were stashed in a long forgotten box and the wood that was left over from a project completed, a toy truck was crafted with love and with care.

When our son first saw the truck I had made for him, his face lit up. Right then we knew we wanted to share this awesome experience with other parents and so My Father’s Hands came to be. Having had the pleasure of making wooden toys for our children, we are now proud to be able to transform nature’s gifts into toys for others. We believe that our handcrafted toys, which encourage imaginations and boundless creativity, are sure to inspire many hours of play.

At MY FATHER’S HANDS we feel a great sense of responsibility to both our customers and the environment therefore we create toys keeping true to the following:

We use only those materials which are toxin free.
Each toy is sanded to a smooth finish with all corners rounded for safety. In addition, all joints are glued and wooden dowels are used thus eliminating the use of nails and screws.
Our primary wood of choice is Southern Yellow Pine which is a regionally renewable resource, harvested and prepared at a local sawmill.
We are committed to replenishing nature’s gifts and therefore we will be planting a tree for each toy purchased.

Each day we thank our lucky stars for the gifts we have been given. Being able to transform rough stocks of lumber into satin-smooth bare wood toys for our children has been an exciting and fulfilling endeavor. Our hope is to be able to share the pleasure of imaginative play and to encourage creativity through eco-friendly, thoughtfully handcrafted wooden toys.

Tamar and Marlon are offering 1 lucky winner a $35.00 gift certificate to their shop! To enter please visit their shop, then come back here and leave a comment. For an additional entry, 'like' their facebook page, then come back here and leave us a second comment. We will announce the winner on Monday Feb. 7th. Good luck!

February 2011 Change

2011-02-01T03:05:00.000-08:00

What is your eco friendly change for February? Leave your thoughts in the comments and if you need ideas, check the comments or browse around our facebook page!

Here's to another great month of earth friendly changes!!

January Winners

2011-01-31T11:49:00.001-08:00

Congrats to Jenna and Alyson for winning a hand made coozie from Julie at The Peaceful Peacock! And thank you to everyone for participating! If you would like a chance to win a Bamboo Utensil Set, start thinking of your Feb change! Check back tomorrow and let us know what your Feb change is!

January Giveaway: The Peaceful Peacock

2011-01-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to be offering you these handmade eco friendly coozies for our very first giveaway of 2011. Julie of The Peaceful Peacock has created 2 custom made coozies specifically for this giveaway and we are thrilled to have partnered with her. She hand makes each of her coozies with creativity, love, and a whole lot of awesomeness. She uses eco friendly materials such as thrift store sweaters and fabric made from recycle plastic bottles. Julie embroidered the words "Be the Change" on the 2 coozies with the green one fitting a bottle or can and the burgundy one made to fit bottles only. Julie custom makes coozies, so if you have something in mind, be sure to contact her to get fitted with your own personalized coozie!

Today we will have 2 lucky winners! To enter, simply leave a comment here and let us know what you January change was. This giveaway is for participants only. We will announce the winner on Monday January 31st. Good luck!

January Wrap Up

2011-01-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

Can you believe January is coming to and end? I hope everyone had a wonderful experience with their change in January and is ready to start thinking of another change! Remember, we are thinking small here! And if you feel like you need another month to perfect your January change, then do so! No one is judging you here, just encouraging! Here are some ideas for easy February changes

~Do you give Valentines Gifts? Make them eco friendly this year.

~Shorten your shower by 2 minutes

~Start planning your Spring Garden

~Get outside for at least a few minutes each day

~Bring a plant into your home

~Focus on always bringing bags to the grocery store...including produce bags

~Green up your laundry

~Stop buying bottled water

Let us know in the comments how your month has gone and if you have an idea for your Feb change yet!

Also...check back tomorrow as we will be posting our January giveaway! The giveaway is for participants only, so if you made a change in January, be sure to not miss this opportunity!

Winter Activities With Kids

2011-01-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

One of the most important things we can do to go green is to actually get out and enjoy nature. I mean why would we protect something that we are not using? More importantly, we need to get our children outside and teach them about their natural surroundings and how things work so harmoniously in nature. "What they will not value, they will not protect and what they will not protect, they will lose" Charles Jordan. I recently went and saw the documentary Play Again and was floored at how much time children these days are spending inside watching tv, on the computer, texting or on the phone. Some kids will go an entire day or several days in a row where their only outside time is walking to and from the car. Children will be in charge one day and we need to start now at teaching them to value and love nature.

So, basically what I am getting at here is get your kids outside! It may seem a strange request as we embark on the coldest months of the year, but I am here to encourage you to get your kids outside even on these cold months. Below is a list of ideas on what to do outside in this weather and how to prepare for going outside.

1. Sledding
2. Snow shoeing
3. Skiing
4. Winter nature walk…be sure to search for animal tracks
5. Building a snow fort or snow man/woman
6. Have the kids help you shovel the snow
7. Have a scavenger hunt for winter nature items
8. Ice skating
9. Just let the kids play

How to prepare

1. Make sure everyone is dressed in layers
2. Mittens, hats, snow pants, winter coat and good snow boots are a must
3. Make sure to stay hydrated..drink lots of water
4. Have children go to the bathroom before getting them bundled up!
5. Don’t forget about the sunscreen on exposed skin
6. Don’t stay out too long on frigid days and when kids get cold, head on in for some organic hot chocolate!

Conserving Water in Your Home

2011-01-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last year my family decided to tackle water usage as a One Small Change. For that entire month and for every month since, we have been more conscious about the length of our showers, how we wash the dishes, and even the flushing of our toilet. Just being conscious of our use has helped make a significant difference. Our water bill has reflected a 1,000 gallon per month decrease from the same month in the previous year. That is a 12,000 gallon savings for the year.

We accomplished this simply by replacing the shower heads to a low flow shower head. We actually received two free shower heads from our power company who was offering them to help customers become more efficient. By spending 10 minutes switching to these free shower heads I was able to make a major reduction in the water we used. I recommend everyone use low flow shower heads as we really haven't noticed a difference in the quality of our showers.

Even though water in covering about 70% of Earth's surface only about 1% of that water is safe enough for human use. The average American is using as much as 100 gallons per day. This is really crazy when you consider that in many parts of the world people are forced to live on a daily ration of water that is about equal to one flush of an American toilet.

It is time that we think about how we are using water and what we can do to help conserve this valuable resource so future generations will have the water they need to survive.

Top Ways to make a difference in your water consumption:

Install Low Flow Shower Heads

Take shorter showers or commit to skipping one shower per week.

Only do full loads of laundry or dishes if using a dishwasher

Replace grass yards with native plants

Place a plastic container with pebbles in your toilet tank to displace water to reduce the amount of water in each flush.

Turn the water off when you brush your teeth

Collect rain water for watering your garden

There are so many more ways to make a difference. Add your ideas in the comments.

~Andy

Suzy's Change: Switch to Glass Straws

2011-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

My daughters and I have been shamelessly using disposable drinking straws for the past several years. We love smoothies and we are hooked on drinking them with straws. I know, I know...bad stuff when we are throwing away 3 plastic straws every day! It is one of those things that filled me with guilt each day, but I kept on doing it. So, to start off the new year, eliminating this waste was going to be my first change.

First I did the math. I was spending $1.99 on a bag of 100 straws. We used 3 straws a day, so that bag was lasting us approximately 1 month...so at this rate we were spending around $25.00 on straws a year. And it was leaving 12 plastic bags and about 1,100 straws in the landfill each year. Wow...it really adds up and we sure were doing our part to feed the problem. The glass straws that we wanted to switch to were $12.95 each, so $38.85 total. It will take us approximately 1.5 years to make our money back on not purchasing plastic straws and 0 waste left in the landfill!

With this in mind, we were switching for sure! The glass straws we found ranged in price from $7.00-$13.00...we opted for the pricier ones so we could get a cool design on them. We all have our own design on our own straw and we absolutely love it! Drinking out of a glass straw is just more fun!
We loved these straws and the idea of using glass in place of plastic so much that we brought them into our shop. If everyone used reusable straws, think of the impact this would have! Our 1,000 straws per year could turn into 100,000+...and we could seriously help to slow down the production of these little guys!

If you would like to share your One Small Change on our blog, email me Suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Plastic vs Stainless Steel or Glass

2011-01-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

I got an email from a fellow One Small Changer asking about the whys on switching from plastic cups to stainless steel. She wanted to stop using plastic as she was concerned about the health effects of drinking out of plastic and having toxins leach into the drinks. But, her concern about switching to stainless steel was that the stainless steel would eventually end up in the landfill.

Here was my response..

"You are so right on, that it is important to know why we are doing things! As for the plastic, I think if you are switching for health reasons, that is a very serious concern and you should definitely switch out your plastic cups! Using stainless steel cups or water bottles is an excellent choice and something that will last. You won't find yourself throwing your stainless steel bottles away...when you are done with them, you will either pass them on to a friend or hang on to them for later use. When I was a kid I had 1 cup that I used...it was a cute little glass cup and it was the only cup I ever used. Today my kids use this very same cup..so as you can see these things will get passed on. Also...if you decide you don't want to giveaway or hang on to these items you can recycle them...Stainless steel can be recycled 100%. That is all stainless steel can be re-melted to made a new stainless steel. The typical amount of recycled stainless steel "scrap" that is used to make new stainless steel is between 65 & 80%."

I am hoping to eventually get a forum started up so we can all ask and answer questions to a larger audience. For now I thought I would get this blog post up and allow folks to comment with their thoughts on this matter. If you have a question and want me to post it on the blog, just shoot me an email suzy@hipmountainmama.com.

January Mid Month Check In

2011-01-14T13:09:00.001-08:00

It's time for a check in! How are your January changes going so far? Have you started yet? Are you still thinking of a change? Did you change your mind? Is it easier or harder than you thought? Good or bad, we want to hear how it is going!

And remember we have a super awesome giveaway at the end of the month from The Peaceful Peacock! So keep on checking back!

An Unintended Small Change by Andy

2011-01-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

I've been happily cruising along for a year now helping make small eco-friendly changes in my family's household. Suzy, my wife, has made most of the decisions of what we are going to do and most months it is something that really doesn't affect me, like hanging laundry. I've changed shower heads, fixed a leaky faucet, and other things to help out, but I really haven't had a change of my own.

This month I've made a small change without even realizing that I was making an Earth friendly change at all and that is the beauty behind the One Small Change Project. Sometimes the changes we can make in our own lives to live more eco-conscious are changes that make sense, make our lives easier, and save us time.

I like to drink multiple cups of coffee each morning. Good or bad, it is something I enjoy. I work from home so I brew it here. I know its organic and fair trade and I'm not using a disposable paper cut each day so I always assumed I was doing a good job keeping my morning habit "green".

But I sometimes get into my work and drink my coffee slow. This allows it to cool down before I can drink it. I was taking time away from work to just refill half cups at a time or even wasting electricity microwaving the cold coffee so I could finish the rest.

Last week I decided to try drinking my coffee in a stainless steel travel mug instead of the same old ceramic mug. The coffee stays warm much longer. I have not had to use the microwave to warm it up and I am even able to turn off and unplug the coffee maker sooner.

It isn't a huge amount of power, but over the course of a year the energy savings adds up. After all, that is the whole idea behind the One Small Change. The smaller and easier the change the better to help us all get started on a journey towards living an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

~Andy Hawbaker, co-owner of Hip Mountain Mama and co-founder of One Small Change

10 Tips to Green Grocery Shopping by Kelli

2011-01-07T04:03:00.000-08:00

1. Choose a local, independent store

Supporting local businesses has many karmic benefits including stimulating your neighborhood's economy and providing employment opportunities for your community. Additionally, independent stores often carry products from family-run companies close by. We benefit from enjoying food that traveled down the street from a local farm to shelf. By frequenting these businesses, we're directly supporting farmers, growers, bakers, and makers. Our business tells our local grocers that we appreciate their livelihood and their mission which enables them to continue making ethical business decisions.

2. Walk, Bus, Carpool

Walking to the grocery store has the lowest impact on the environment. Pushing a handcart the few blocks to our local grocer adds green benefits as well as health benefits. The empty cart serves as a warm up on the way to and exercise on the way home! Secondly, taking the bus or train eliminates the need for fuel (more eco-harm as well as money) and forces us to only purchase what we can carry. Carpooling has the added bonus of allowing us to stock up on more items and share commuting costs.

If driving is the only option, plan ahead, make a list, and buy as much in bulk as necessary to eliminate future trips. I follow the "Buy Two" rule of thumb: When I buy toiletries or cleaning products, I always buy two shampoos, toothpastes, cases of toilet paper, etc. to cancel out every second trip to the store. It also prevents you from making an emergency dash to Target to grab a single bottle of conditioner when you're left with an empty in the shower!

3. Buy items without packaging

There is seldom a bigger waste than the plastic bags used to weigh produce. Every type of produce gets its own bag and they're rarely sturdy enough to reuse (save for walking your pup). Mesh bags allow the transparency of their plastic counterparts and hold up to frequent use. I often stash a large mesh bag in the seat of my cart for all my loose produce, handing individuals to the cashier to weigh by type.

Filling up those plastic bags can also cause you to buy more than necessary to hit the quota "1/2 lb for $1.99." In reality, I don't need a half pound of mushrooms or an entire bag of potatoes. Using my own bag allows me to buy just what I will use.

Additionally, I will never buy a product that is packaged into servings inside of a larger package. Large containers of oatmeal yield less paper than boxes of individual servings as well as a case of toilet paper that's not internally separated into packages of four.

4. Choose packaging you can reuse or recycle

When comparing two products, I always take the packaging into consideration. Of course, an unpackaged item is a top priority, but recyclable containers are a close second. If an item is wrapped in plastic, but has a cardboard competitor, cardboard it is. Eggs are the most obvious culprit. Outlawing styrofoam in our house not only helped us transition to paper/cardboard egg containers, but to cage-free, no hormone eggs (as they're almost always the ones in recycled containers). Likewise, glass is easier to reuse and recycle than plastic condiment bottles.

5. Buy in bulk

Buying in bulk is a great way to reduce packaging and the need for multiple trips to the grocery store. Rice, grains, spices, cereals, dry foods, and paper products do not perish quickly and allow you to cash in on bulk savings given you have the room to keep a back stock (like a pantry).

Grassroots UPCYCLED Farmers Market tote by greenie bean recycle

6. Use Cloth Bags

Using cloth bags is a no-brainer. Keep a stash at the house and in the car. Stores have become extremely accommodating to cloth baggers and if there is any worry, use the self-checkout lanes. Plastic bags require oil to produce, cost retailers $4 billion annually, and account for 8 billion pounds of waste in our landfills per year (source). Cloth bags are stronger, more durable, and can be used for years. They can be constructed from reclaimed materials in furthering our commitment to reusing.

For a few months, I made myself buy new cloth bags at the grocery store every time I forgot to bring them or left them in the car. The result is that I rarely forgot them at home and we have a stash large enough to bag even our most fruitful shopping extravaganzas.

7. Buy items with the fewest ingredients

It's no secret our food travels hundreds of miles to get to our plates in the United States. What's more, each ingredient initially traveled to be processed into the food we eat before it arrived at the grocery store. With the majority of our food comprised of water, we're paying to ship liquid cross country. When you're perusing the aisles of your local grocer, look for items in their purest state. Buy honey that only contains honey. Buy granola made from oats, nuts, and raisins. It is unlikely that we need any ingredient we can't pronounce and by eliminating them, we're lowering the fuel cost of our food.

Additionally, fresh local food is a smart buy, especially if it is organic, as its not pumped with preservatives to account for days of travel.

8. Buy everything in one place

Our local grocery store is three blocks away, independently run, and carries an amazing variety of fresh, organic, and local products at competitive prices. Unfortunately their Stoneyfield yogurt is $2 more than the Trader Joe's across town and my favorite Organix Tea Tree mint shampoo runs $1+ than the closest Target. While I grimace at such a blatant "loss of money," it's quickly realized that the same $3 would be spent in gas to drive 2 miles west to Target and then 8 miles back east to Trader Joe's. I also want to support our grocery store and show the importance of carrying organic products for conscious consumers.

Shopping List Organizer Yellow by allisajacobs

9. Only buy what you eat

To buy what we'll eat takes getting to know our families, eating habits, and schedules. There have been many times that I'll load up on fresh fruits and veggies to remember we have dinner dates scheduled and plan to be out of town for the weekend. We waste food by not planning ahead. Plan out your meals, consult your family, and write out a shopping list. Smart shopping equals less food for the compost and more money in our wallets.

Cash Money Print Gold on White by OrangeBeautiful

10. Pay with cash

It's said that 80-90% of money spent in the community stays in the community especially when that money is cash. Credit card fees crush small businesses. Our grocery money is used to buy products from local farmers and employ our neighbors who turn around and spend their paychecks at our auto garage, florist, or dog-walking service. It strengthens our economies and real estate markets. It keeps jobs in our communities and provides a future for our neighborhoods and children.

~Kelli

*Kelli is creator, owner, and operator of Greenie Bean Recycle. In Kelli's words:

"Being fascinated with all things “old”, greenie bean recycle began in July 2007 and soon became Kelli’s mark, her political statement, and her attempt to further the beauty of recycling and reusing. Her craft is her activism, an opportunity to educate others about all things political, beautiful, and life affirming.

Aside from being a crafter, Kelli is a Social Justice and Community Development graduate student at Loyola University and is a co-founder of the Urban Folk Circuit. She enjoys exploring every neighborhood of Chicago, cooking without recipes, frequenting local theater, and cuddling with her kittens, Killer Queen and Jubilee. Her obsessions include peppermint mochas, vintage housewares, avocado green, and protest music. Her life goals include learning to can vegetables from her frontyard homestead and running a brick and mortar arts and craft shop."

**if you wish to guest post on One Small Change, please email me suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Welcome Sponsors!

2011-01-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

We are off to a great start with our One Small Change Project this year and I wanted to deeply thank everyone for all your support and for helping us make a difference. Today I wanted to take a moment to thank and acknowledge our faithful sponsors. Our sponsors make it possible for us to put more time and effort into this project and for this we are grateful. Please take a moment to learn about a few of our sponsors today and if you are interested in becoming a sponsor, email me at suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Sustainable Baby Steps Sustainable Baby Steps is an informational website that helps you on your journey to becoming green. Tara offers suggestions, tips, ideas, and easy ways to get started on making changes. Sustainable Baby Steps is a wonderful compliment to our One Small Change Project and I encourage you to check out the website and sign up for the newsletter.

Inside Out Inside Out is an E Course that helps you to live the life that truly makes you happy. It is a creative journey to self discovery that can really help you to realizing and fulfilling your dreams. I have taken this course twice and am taking it again in January. (there is still time to sign up for the Jan course if you are interested in joining me!)

The Waldorf Connection The Waldorf Connection offers support and guidance in teaching your child using the Waldorf philosophy.

Gypsy Rose Stephanie blogs at Gypsy Rose where she writes about family, simple & creative living, organic food & dreams of a someday homestead. She also has an Etsy Shop where she sells her handmade goodness!

Stop by in a few days as I will be introducing even more sponsors! And check out our 2011 Prize section to see more of our wonderful sponsors!

E Cloth Winners

2011-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

I am so thrilled with the response we received this first month of the new year. I am so excited to see all the eco friendly changes going on with families, individuals, children, and schools. Like promised, I am here to giveaway a few packages of E Cloths. I have divided them up into 3 piles, so we will have 3 winners today!

1. Set of 4 General Purpose Cloths and 2 Dusting Cloths
Its_Lily " January will find me giving up store bought laundry detergent and making my own. I've seen rave reviews on the blogs so it's time to try it on my own. Thanks for hosting this fabulous idea again. It was so much fun last year and was really quite easy to make changes."

2. Set of 4 General Purpose Cloths and 2 Dusting Cloths
Raising a Sensitive Child "For January, I'm switching to cloth menstrual pads!"

3. Set of 2 General Purpose Cloths and 1 Glass and Polishing Cloth

Riotus Living "My January change is to not buy any paper towels at all - we JUST ran out in my household and have been using our cloth rags in the kitchen and at meal time and it's been ok for these few days. I'll need to get ahold of some more kitchen towels but if I don't need to buy paper towels in January I might never need them again!!"

Congrats! And congrats to everyone for starting out 2011 with intentions to make a difference. I will be checking in with you all throughout the month and if anyone wants to guest post, shoot me an email suzy@hipmountainmama.com!

January 2011 Change

2010-12-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

We are bubbling over with excitement to start our new One Small Change year!! Let's round up as many folks as we can to start making small earth friendly changes in our lives to better our world! Leave me a comment here and let me know what you plan to change for January (please include your email address if you wish to be eligible for the giveaway...details below on the giveaway).

Now for the giveaway...I have several sets of E Cloths that I would love to give away. These are a great way to stop using nasty cleaners to clean your home..simply use water and the cloths and you are good to go!

How to enter...

Just leave us a comment here by Jan 5th letting us know what your eco friendly change for January will be (please include your email address so we can contact you if you win).

For an extra entry...If you write a blog post about what you plan to change, leave us a separate comment with a link to your blog post

For more extra entries...refer your friends. Make sure your friends let us know in their comments who refereed them, including your email address.

We will announce the winners Thursday Jan 6th.

**At the end of the month we are having another giveaway for participants! Julie from the Peaceful Peacock is giving away 2 of her handmade coozies made with re purposed wool sweaters! These are really cool and you are not going to want to miss out on the opportunity to win one of these!!

2011 Prizes

2010-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

The new year is slowly creeping up on us and we are gearing up for a fantastic year full of eco friendly changes! Something new we are doing for 2011, is offering prizes at the end of each month! We have some amazing new sponsors who have generously donated prizes such as handmade coozies, organic baby carriers, books, bamboo utensils, gift certificates, and more. (If you have a prize you would like to donate, please email me suzy@hipmountainmama.com).

I wanted to kick off January with some prizes at the beginning and end of the month. I have several sets of E Cloths that we will be giving away to selected participants on Jan. 5th. All you need to do is decide on your change by Jan 5th and leave us a comment on our next blog post titled January 2011 Change.

So, for now...start thinking of what your Jan change will be! Feel free to start sharing ideas in the comment section here or on our facebook page! It is always a good idea to share ideas and help others come up with changes!

Wrapping Green: A Challenge

2010-12-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I will wrap gifts this year. I am trying to minimize the amount of waste used when wrapping gifts and here are my thoughts or what I have already done.

~The presents I shipped I used recycled wrapping paper or paper that the kids used for coloring

~Gifts for my family I will use magazines, catalogs, pillow cases, play silks, boxes, and anything I can find around the home.

~Gifts from Santa I will use some of our recycled wrapping paper

~Gifts for teacher I did not wrap at all...just tied a piece of red yarn around them

My challenge for you is to try and reduce your waste with wrapping paper this year. Choose 1 gift and wrap in something reusable or recycled! If you wish to do more, great!

Let me know if you have ideas on other 'green' ways of wrapping!

And check out Sustainable Baby Step's guide to making your own beautiful fabric wrapping paper!

Olympics Looking to go Green

2010-12-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

Olympics Looking to go Green

Not only is The United States Olympic Committee USOC looking to further the athletic accomplishments but they are hoping to make sustainable environmental changes as well. And with the bid for the 2022 games being award in 2015, they must move fast with their efforts. This began with naming Andrew Liveris and Dow Chemical the worldwide partner in the Olympics for the next decade.

During the last Winter Olympic Games (the Vancouver 2010 games), the United States held the most medals, with 9 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze. With dominance in the areas of snowboarding, Nordic combined and skiing, it only makes sense that the United States is looking to capture the 2022 bid. With areas like Denver and Reno-Tahoe looking to host, the USOC is looking to make process with the International Olympic Committee in hopes of bring great changes to this world celebration.

Why are these changes such a big deal? As fantastic and unifying as the Olympics are, it's quite a carbon-rich event. It has been estimated that over 2/3 of the carbon emissions from the event is a result of some of the 1.5+ million attendees traveling (mostly via airplane) to and from the event.

The IOC made great efforts to showcase conservation practice and sustainable energy sources during the Beijing Summer Games, but for the future CEO Andrew Liveris and USOC members are looking to do more by basing off of the services used in Beijing. Exactly what environmentally friendly services did the Olympic facilities feature?

• Solar power - Used to light lawns, courtyards and streets at several venues, including the Olympic Village. A 130 KW photovoltaic system illuminated The National Stadium, where events such as athletics and football were held.

• Water Conservation - Waste water collected from the Qinghe sewage treatment plant was filtered and used for the various heating and cooling needs throughout the Olympics site, yielding a 60% savings in electricity. Rainwater was collected from around the grounds, collecting over 75,000 gallons by using water permeable bricks, pipes and wells installed on roofs, roads and green areas.

• Natural Light - Remember the famous 'Water Cube' where the aquatic events were held? The walls of the National Aquatics Centre provided natural light, and for the interior of the building, specially designed 'beam-pipes' funneled sunlight into corridors, toilets and car parks at venues, including the Olympic Green.

• Recycling - The 2008 Olympic hosts aimed for a 50 per cent recycling of waste including paper, metals and plastics at venues. A modest expectation, considering that a test run carried out during the 11th World Softball Championships held in 2007, achieved a nearly 90 per cent recycling rate.

You can expect these products to appear at the coming events over the next decade and be a part of the USOC recommendations. Since the Olympics in 2008 had great new ways of filtration and insulation for the events, that vision has progressed to include dozens of other products which will help reduce waste and promote conservation.

Co-written by Nerissa Barry and Daniel Fielding

December Mid Month Check in?

2010-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

How is your December change going so far?

Belinda's Change

2010-12-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Joining One Small Change December

I think frequently about how large our families Carbon Footprint is, as we are a family of 6. When my children were younger and less of them, it seemed rather simple to make small changes. We have grown and we continue to do some of the things that we have always done to reduce our negative impact on our precious planet. However, these things seem to go in spurts for us and some just seem to float away as if they were never apart of our daily rhythm. I came across this blog and it has haunted me since, it calls out my name several times a day. It is time that each month our family adds one small change at a time to ensure we are doing our part to lessen our impact on Mother Earth!

For the grand month of December we have decided to start small and delve deeper into using reusable bags. Delve deeper, meaning I have some of the cutest and bestest reusable bags I have found. I have made a few, inherited a few, and adopted a few other bags. Obviously our family is not lacking the tools to turn down the plastic, it must just be sheer laziness, lack of planning or remembering.

Our ultimate goal is to not use store bags at all. We are not focusing on just the Grocery Store, but including all places we would normally use plastic or paper bags to carry our goods home in. Not Target, not the Shoe Store, not the Coffee Shop, not Rite Aid, not the Fabric or Yarn Store! Okay, okay, so you get the point!

I will report back in the beginning of January to share how our first small change is going and share our January small change.

P.S. We are having a few handyman repairs done around our home. I began this post earlier in the day, therefore it was running through my thoughts pretty frequently. I was thinking a lot about what impacts we have tried to lessen and why we let some go. The handyman asked me for a paper towel. "We do not use paper towels", I answered. He looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Oh, I guess I will have to run out to my truck than." As he walked away I felt a bit of a triumph. Heck yes, we do a little bit to lessen our footprint already! Up until this point I was pretty sure the only thing we did was use cloth diapers and that really only lasts of reach kiddos first 2 years on average.

*Belinda is new to the One Small Change Movement and we are so excited that she decided to share her change with us on the blog. To learn more about Belinda, please visit her blog.
If you would like to share you One Small Change experiences with us, please email me at suzy@hipmountainmama.com

10 Toxic Food Ingredients

2010-12-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Anna to our community of change and enjoy her post on 10 toxic food ingredients you will want to avoid.

We all love food, but what happens when our food turns against us? How much do we really know about the substances we eat every day? New research has showed that we may not know nearly as much as we thought about what we eat and that some of our favorite ingredients may be slowly eating us alive. Here are the top 10 toxic food ingredients you want to avoid:

1.Sodium Nitrate: Sodium nitrate is the ingredient used as a preservative in meats that can have severe cardiovascular effects if ingested in large quantities. Sodium Nitrate is thought to cause blood vessel walls to narrow and harden. This damage to blood vessels changes the way the heart pumps blood and can lead to severe heart problems. Monitoring the amount of meat you eat or ensuring that meats are preservative free can help you to avoid the side effects of Sodium Nitrate toxicity. Your heart will thank you later.

2.Hydrogenated Oils: Hydrogenated oils, like margarine and Crisco, are animal or plant oils that have been infused with hydrogen at high pressures. This is done to prolong the shelf life of these items. Ironically, items like margarine were once touted for their health benefits in addition to their resistance to spoilage. Now, most countries recognize that these oils contain high levels of trans fat and can lead to atherosclerosis, diabetes and obesity. Avoiding deep fried foods and checking packaging for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils as ingredients can help you maintain a healthy weight and a healthy heart.

3.Excitotoxins: What are excitotoxins? Excitotoxins are reactive forms of amino acids found in the body and are present in things like Aspartame and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). While the fact that these amino acids normally exist in the body may make you think they are perfectly safe, but the reality is that the forms ingested are highly reactive and can interfere with normal neurological signaling, causing migraines, seizures and other neurological problems if ingested in very high doses. Avoiding foods that contain these taste enhancers will help you to avoid these problems, but beware that they exist in many more foods than you might think. Always check the packaging and know what you're eating.

4.Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG): Monosodium Glutamate is a flavor enhancer which can cause severe headaches and neurological problems in certain individuals. As an excitotoxin, MSG is a derivative of a common human amino acid, but if ingested in large quantities this amino acid can interfere with normal neurochemistry. MSG is particularly found in canned foods and Asian food, but its use in the US has become a subject of controversy. While the FDA lists the ingredient as safe, it may be a good bet to avoid MSG because it does nothing but enhance flavor.

5.Olestra: Olestra has been hailed as a miracle ingredient. It is a fat substitute that allows savory foods like potato chips to retain their delicious flavor without the added fat of their natural predecessors. While the critical acclaim has been pouring in, Olestra has recently come under attack. It has been shown to cause severe gastrointestinal problems, including loose stool and cramping. Perhaps more importantly, it has been shown to deplete carotenoids from the blood. Carotenoids are essential in the prevention of cancer and their depletion has been linked to increased risks of development of certain types of cancer. While the FDA has yet to act in restricting the use of Olestra, it might be a good idea to avoid this ingredient until it is better understood.

6.Caffeine: Humans have been ingesting caffeine for centuries, but only recently have some of caffeine's negative health effects come to light. If you rely on a cup of coffee or tea to provide you with energy and focus, there is an underlying biochemical problem that you are not addressing. Are you getting enough sleep or exercise? Caffeine can become a problem when people develop a tolerance to its energizing effects and require more and more of the liquid that contains it, ingesting more and more calories in the process. And if you try to cut back on your caffeine intake cold turkey, you will experience some potentially severe withdrawal symptoms that can make your life temporarily miserable. Monitoring your caffeine intake closely will help avoid dependency and prevent withdrawal, but beware how much you depend on coffee in the morning to wake up. It may be a sign of another more serious problem.

7.Trans Fat: Trans fats are created when partially hydrogenated oil is used in the preparation of fried foods. The effects of trans fats have been shown to be absolutely devastating, and America appears to finally be taking action to curb the debilitating health effects of excess trans fat intake. Americans love fried food, but the trans fat in our favorite fried treats can lead to high LDL cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease or stroke. Many restaurants are now flaunting their 0 trans fat foods, but always check packaging to be sure you're not eating too much of this potentially deadly additive.

8.BPA: BPA (Bisphenol A) is a chemical building block in polycarbonate plastics. BPA can be found in just about anything that is plastic, but it is particularly common in reusable plastic containers like drinking bottles and baby bottles. The health effects of BPA are controversial. Some evidence shows that intake of small amounts of BPA over time may lead to sexual side effects, like nonviable semen in men and depleted ovary function in women. These studies are not conclusive, and other studies have shown that the doses of BPA humans ingest from plastic drinking bottles and the like are so low that the compound plays no role in physiology. So what should you do? Do your own research and decide how you feel about BPA.

9.Diacetyl : Diacetyl is a compound found most commonly in microwave popcorn. Recent studies have shown that inhalation of this powder like substance can cause severe lung problems. So do we need a gas mask before firing up our popcorn in the microwave? It turns out that manufacturers of microwave popcorn are the ones who are really suffering the tragic health effects of this ingredient, but it's not a bad idea to avoid breathing in the fumes from freshly popped popcorn or other hot butter substitutes.

10.High Fructose Corn Syrup: This sweetener is in more foods than you would ever imagine and has been linked to severe health problems, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. High fructose corn syrup is difficult to avoid, but a careful check of a product's packaging and a general preference for organic foods will help you to avoid this common and dangerously common sweetener.

*Written by Anna Miller

Michele's One Small Change

2010-12-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

So, for my one small change for December, I will be continuing on the path of using non-toxic cleaners in the home. The grapefruit seed extract and lavender cleaner is still going strong in our house and my husband is even using it after doing the dishes or wiping up quick messes. The kids love the smell, too, and again, it's nice to know they can use this spray to help cleanup without being exposed to harmful toxins!

I recently made a basic carpet deodorizer and odor remover with baking soda. Living with five other bodies in the house plus a young border collie and a long-haired cat that are constantly jumping up on the living room couches can definitely add a little funk to the carpet, furniture and the air in our house!

Since the season of Christmas is upon us, I decided to add some herbs to the baking soda to go with the season. Here's my recipe that I mixed up in a small glass Ball jar:

2 cups of baking soda
1 to 2 Tablespoons of ground cloves
I also added a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg just for my own preference!

*Did you know that cinnamon is an astringent, an antifungal, an antiseptic and an antibacterial herb? It is primarily used in men's products such as aftershave as an antiseptic. I learned this little tidbit from a book I recently purchased titled, "Better Basics for the Home-Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living," by Annie Berthold-Bond. It's awesome!

I sprinkled the mix over the carpets and couches and let it sit for a bit--then vacuumed it up. The room smelled fresh, clean and festive!

Baking soda is a mineral made from soda ash and is slightly alkaline so it neutralizes odors in the air. I have been learning more about acid and alkaline bases of minerals and how to use them for household chores. For all-purpose cleaning, Annie Bond recommends having one acidic cleanser and one alkaline cleanser. Acidic cleaners that use vinegar or lemon juice can be used in the sink and bathroom to cut soap scum and dissolve mineral buildup. Alkaline cleansers such as baking soda, washing soda or borax neutralizes odors, removes soils and stains and gets rid of grease. Adding the antibacterial essential oils such as lavender oil or sweet orange oil are great, as well as adding a nice scent to the mix!

Here is one more recipe for a basic formula Antiseptic All-Purpose Cleanser that I found from Annie Bond's book that I would like to try because it looks so easy and effective:

1 tsp. antiseptic essential oil (thyme, sweet orange, lemongrass, rose, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, birch, lavender or tea tree)
1 tsp. washing soda
2 tsp. borax
1/2 tsp. liquid soap or detergent (Dr. Bronner's brand or other renewable-based ingredients)
2 cups of hot water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake to dissolve and blend the minerals. Annie suggest to spray the cleanser on a surface and leave it for 15 minutes or so before wiping up to give the essential oil's antiseptic qualities time to work. Makes 2 cups.

I"ll let you know how this turns out! Happy eco-friendly living to everyone and I wish all a lovely, blessed holiday season!

Michele

*You can learn more about Michele and follow along on her journey to live a more eco friendly life with her family of 6 at Love. Nature. Family. Harmony.

**If you would like to share your One Small Change on the blog, just send me an email, suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Suzy's December Change

2010-12-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

I have a couple in mind for this month! First, keeping with the season in mind, I am going to do my best this year to wrap in recycled or re usable items. I thought the kids would get a kick out of their things wrapped in play silks. Of course, this won't work for everything, so I did purchase some recycled wrapping paper to use on a few items. We will also use gift bags that we have accumulated over the years from other people. The gift bags do eventually fall apart, but we always save them when we get them and they do get a lot of use.

My second change for this month is to shower 1 less day each week. The truth is, I am a shower junkie. I enjoy my daily shower to help me feel awake and ready for the day. I have decided that if I can go 1 day without showering that will be a wonderful small change! If I can keep this up, it will be 52 less days of showering in 2011. Since we have a low flow shower head, we are averaging 2.5 gallons of water per minute. So, if I take a 10 minute shower, that is 25 gallons of water each time. If I take 52 less showers in 2011, I will be saving 1,300 gallons of water! I am all over this challenge!

We would love to hear what your One Small Change is for December...if you would like to share your change with us on the blog, email me and I will post it! Suzy@hipmountainmama.com

December Change

2010-11-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

We are wrapping up our very first year of One Small Change folks! Whether this is your 12th change or 1st change, we thank you for coming along on this journey with us!

Please let us know what you plan to change for December in the comments below. If you blogged about it, leave a link to your blog so we can read about it! We would also love to post your changes on our blog and link back to your blog (if you are up for this, email me suzy@hipmountainmama.com)

Ideas for changes this month:

~Gift wrap using recycled paper, newspaper, kids art work, etc. Do this for 1 or more gifts this year to make a difference
~Chose quality over quantity when gift giving. Spend your money on 1 quality gift that will last for years rather than 5 cheap things that will break within the year and end up in the landfill.
~Do not buy any new holiday decorations this year. If you want more, how about making them out of things you already have.
~When running errands this busy season, make sure you combine errands so you are not making more trips in the car than you need to
~Get outside and have fun! Just because the weather is colder, doesn't mean you can't enjoy nature! Take a winter walk, snow shoe, go skiing...just remember to bundle up! Make it a point this month to get out just 1 more time than you normally would.

November Wrap Up

2010-11-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

How did your November change go? Leave us a comment here and let us know! Any ideas for December changes?

A Greener Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T04:41:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is coming very soon and we are going to take the week off from this blog and enjoy some family time! We will be back next week energized and ready to start thinking of our December change! In the mean time I was wondering what your plans are to make this a 'greener' Thanksgiving?

Some ideas I have come up with are:

~Buy organic-Whether you usually buy 90% of your groceries organic or 0%, why not make an effort to choose 1 item that you wouldn't normally buy organic and find an organic and/or local alternative.
~Reuse-If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year, forget about the disposable dishes. If you don't have enough plates or silverware for all of your guests, simply explain that you are having a 'no waste' Thanksgiving and ask them to bring their own plate setting.
~Compost Your Waste-throw your fruit and veggie scraps in the compost pile
~Cloth Napkins-Set out cloth napkins at dinner. If you don't have enough, simply find some material and cut it into squares...don't worry about the ends fraying, it's only a napkin!

Please share your Green Thanksgiving ideas with us in the comments below!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I am so thankful for all of you continuing with me on this journey to make our planet happy!

The Community of Change Welcomes Michele

2010-11-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

Non Toxic Home Made Cleaner

I am pretty passionate about getting rid of toxins in the home, food, etc. and have slowly been integrating this into our daily lives for the past year or so. We are raising four children, so the importance of raising them with healthy habits is very important to us. I’ve noticed on this journey so far that my quest to create a healthier living environment in our home and in the foods we eat has really opened our family’s thinking. And the kids recognition of healthy eating and healthy living habits have really been the most rewarding part. What’s wonderful too is that my husband has been starting to make some small changes, as well, because he hears the kids talk and sees how passionate they are about healthy living and eating, too. He sees how one small change can start to snowball and it’s really not that hard to change something. He has even switched our laundry detergent to a more gentle cleanser to aid in the journey (which took a while!). He is more traditional in the sense that he uses commercial cleaning products, buys in bulk for convenience, etc. He has really started to slow down with this due to me and the kids focusing more on sustainable living. Not to mention, home-cooked meals, baked goods and preserving homegrown food have been the tastiest and most rewarding efforts over this past summer. What a difference it has made in how we all feel physically as well as mentally and spiritually!

I’ve definitely realized over the past few months that making changes really takes time and patience and if you stick with it, you can really help others open their minds to trying a different method that is healthier for ourselves, as well as for the planet. Thank you for creating your blog and sharing other people’s ideas who are passionate about healthy living, also!

For my home made cleaner I went into Cabin Country (downtown Loveland ) and bought Grapefruit seed extract (by NutriBiotic) and some Lavender Oil. Grapefruit seed extract has many medicinal qualities for your internal health, but it is also a wonderful disinfectant. So, I just read the directions to make an everyday cleaner which is:

30-60 drops of Grapefruit seed extract

Lavender Oil (or any essential oil you like)

32 oz. water

The kitchen smells GREAT and it was actually enjoyable to wipe down the surfaces after cooking, lunch, dinner, etc., because of the Lavender oil. Ahhhhhh. I used it in the kitchen bathroom at the end of the day to freshen things up and wipe down toilet seats (especially after 2 young boys! J) It really feels good to be using something that is completely non-toxic and natural and something I can use more often throughout the day just to freshen things up. Not to mention, it helps keep money in our pocket without having to buy all those expensive cleaning products, which aren’t even healthy for ourselves or the environment!

~Michele

*Michele is the mother of 4 children living at the base of the Rocky Mountains (in my same town :)) She is passionate about making small changes in her life that will have a greater impact on her children and our Earth. She blogs at Living to Love. Loving to Live.

**If you would like to write for One Small Change and share your ideas, experience, recipes, etc. with our readers, please email me at suzy@hipmountainmama.com!

New Structure for 2011

2010-11-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

I can not believe we are approaching the end of our first year with One Small Change! I also can not believe how many changes everyone has made and what an amazing impact this project has had! First of all congratulations! Whether you made 11 changes this year, or 1 change...you still did you part in making a difference!

I wanted to let you all know about a new structure we have in store for 2011. Have you noticed our new 2011 Prize Page? That's right, we will be giving away prizes all year long to participants! We will be hosting giveaways each month for those of you are making changes. We wanted to have a nice incentive to keep on trucking, but also just wanted to offer some wonderful eco friendly prizes. So far, we have prizes such as organic baby carriers, organic body care products, hand made coozies, bamboo utensils, and way more to come (if you have an eco friendly prize you would like to donate, please email me suzy@hipmountainmama.com).

We will keep everything else the same as far as blog posts go, but will be adding in new blog posts with giveaways and instructions on how to enter the giveaways at the end of each month and in the middle of some months.

We also have a new sponsorship program, which you can read about here. If you have an eco friendly business or blog that you would like to promote, consider becoming a sponsor. Our fee is small and we even offer a free option!

Now's the time to start thinking about resolutions and ways you can make a difference. If you haven't already, hop on the One Small Change train and become part of the movement!

~Suzy

November Mid Month Check In

2010-11-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hey One Small Changers! How is your November change going so far this month! November is such a busy month and I congratulate you all for adding in a new change this month! If you haven't chosen a change yet, there is still time! Make it really small this month if you are swamped!

A few ideas:
~When grocery shopping and trying to decide between brands, choose the brand with the least packaging..do this for 1 item this month
~Put away your paper towels for the rest of the month and use cloth to clean up spills
~Take 1 less shower this month
~Is your shirt really dirty or could it be worn again? Instead of filling your laundry basket with clothes that aren't dirty, try wearing things 2-3 times before throwing them in the hamper.
~Is it cold where you live? Try turning down your thermostat just 1 little degree...wear sweaters, socks, and slippers to stay warm
~Unplug unplug unplug! When not using an appliance unplug it!! Hair dryers, toasters, TV's, coffee makers, etc. Start with 1 appliance this month and make it your mission to unplug it after every use.

Please leave us a comment and let us know how you are doing or if you have small, easy change idea for someone who hasn't made their November change yet!

Eco Friendly Baking

2010-11-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

My one small change for November has been to bake more. This means purchasing less processed food with all that packaging and all those nasty ingredients and simply making our own. During these past 10 days I have made chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal carrot cookies, muffins, several loaves of bread, and apple bars. Doesn't seem like much, but it really is. By making these items we eliminated the need to purchase packaged treats and are eating things with fewer ingredients. While in the kitchen I have been thinking of ways to take this mission a step further. Baking alone is an eco friendly activity, but are there ways I could make it more eco friendly? I came up with a list that I wanted to share with you for what I call Eco Friendly Baking. If you have anything to add, please don't hesitate to let me know!

1. Plan to bake several things at the same time. This way you reduce the amount of times you need to heat up your oven and this will save on electricity. For example, this week I baked muffins, then put in some cookies, then put in some bread. If I had baked these items all at separate times, we would have had to heat up the oven all 3 times.

2. Look for ingredients that are organic and packaged in material that is recyclable or that you can reuse. For example, if you are using a lot of peanut butter in your baking, purchase a brand that uses organic peanuts and is packaged in a glass container....better yet, go one step further and look for local brands!

3. Compost unused ingredients...egg shells, apple cores, carrot skins. Composting fruit and veggie scraps is a great way to keep these items out of the land fill while making some beautiful soil. Just remember to not compost meat or dairy.

4. When purchasing your ingredients, always use reusable bags!

5. When cleaning up, use cloths and sponges instead of paper towels

6. Forgo the cooking spray, that contains chemicals, and use some olive oil to grease pans. I just add a bit of oil, then spread it around with a cloth.

7. When making muffins or cupcakes, forget about using the paper cupcake holders. Just spread around some olive oil in the pan and they will pop right out when done baking.

8. If you are in the market for some new baking items, look for brands that use natural materials such as bamboo or recycled materials. Remember to focus on quality over quantity and purchase high quality items made with high quality eco friendly material.

This is what I have come up with so far, but I am sure the list will grow. If you have an idea, please leave us a comment!

I wanted to leave you with a recipe that we enjoyed this week!

Oatmeal and Carrot Cookies from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

2 tbls wheat germ

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup natural granulated sugar

1 cup applesauce

2 tbls safflower oil

1/4 cup firmly packed finely grated carrot (could also use apple)

1 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Combine flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl and stir together. Add the apple sauce and oil and stir together until combined. Stir in carrots and raisins. Drop the batter onto lightly oiled baking sheet in slightly rounded tablespoons about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

My modifications:
I used ground flax seeds in place of the wheat germ.
I used olive oil in place of safflower oil
I used chocolate chips instead of raisins (because, let's face it...everything tastes better with chocolate chips!)
I did not use walnuts.

Apple Bars

2010-11-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

In my attempt to keep more store bought food out of our home and the packaging out of the landfill, I have been exploring some new recipes. One recipe that I found to be very delicious and a great way to use up some of these apples that are plentiful this time of year, is Apple Bars. I found this recipe in the very first cook book I ever owned, Betty Crocker's New Cookbook. I modified it to fit our needs and it is a big hit around here.

1 Cup brown sugar
1/4 cup veggie oil (we used olive oil)
1/4 cup milk (we used rice milk)
1 large egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup chopped peeled apples

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of pan. Mix brown sugar, oil, milk, and egg in large bowl. Stir in flours, baking soda, and cinnamon. Then stir in apples. Spread in the pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

My One Small Change: Food

2010-11-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Something that has been nagging at me lately is the fact that I have not spent much time in the kitchen over the past month. October was really busy and November will be even busier, but I still feel a bit disappointed that I have not been carving out time to get in the kitchen. And, as a result, there has been a lot of processed food that has snuck back into the pantry. With a daughter who now brings her lunch to school each day I am looking for convenient foods like granola bars, fruit snacks, and crackers. I think I made bread once or twice last month, but would love to start making this a twice a week activity again.

So....my November change is to get my butt back in the kitchen! To make granola bars, bread, muffins, cookies, etc. Since it is a busy month, I am not going to stress myself out by planning on what I will make and when I will do it...I am just going to find some time each week to get in there and make what I can. I am so excited to start enjoying delicious home made food again and start reaping the benefits!

What I hope to gain from this change:

1. Less packaging will be thrown away or recycled by purchasing less packaged food
2. We will be putting less fillers and additives in our bodies by eating more home made food made with ingredients that we choose to put in it.
3. We will save money
4. We will all feel better
5. A sense of accomplishment!

Here are a few links to other One Small Change participants:

The Variegated Life
The 4 Bushel Farm
Seaside Siblings
Kathryn's Brain

*If you have a change that you would like to share with us, please leave a comment letting us know. If you want to share it on the blog, send me and email and I will post it for you (suzy@hipmountainmama.com)

November Change

2010-11-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

November is here! What will your One Small Change be this month?

Introducing Sustainable Baby Steps: And an Awesome Giveaway!

2010-10-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Tara of The Organic Sister has been a virtual friend of mine for a while. She is someone I am always drawing inspiration from and always enjoy her blog. Tara and I are also on a Visionary Moms Team together so I have gotten to know her better over these past few months through phone conversations and online forums. Tara is a hard working, dedicated, creative, inspirational, and all around amazing Mama! Her newest endeavor is her website Sustainable Baby Steps.

Tara is celebrating the official launch of Sustainable Baby Steps with a BIG giveaway on her blog! Visit Sustainable Baby Steps: Great Big Giveaway! to enter for your chance to win one of many fantastic, sustainable prizes!

Tara was kind enough to answer a few questions for us...please enjoy this interview!

Suzy: Can you tell us a little bit about what Sustainable Baby Steps is?

Tara: Sustainable Baby Steps is a website dedicated to answering the question "How do I go green?" It's about spreading awareness through knowledge and inspiration, keeping things simple and understandable and not overwhelming people with a doomsday mentality or the feeling that it's all Too Big or Too Much to handle.

Suzy: Where did the inspiration to start this website come from?

Tara: Sustainable Baby Steps started out as a weekly blog post on my blog a few years ago. It was a combination of my extensive research into the issues around environmental degradation and my passion for spreading the word about sustainability. I love the topic and wanted to share it! But I quickly came to see the subject as bigger than a blog feature and I really had the vision to take it further. I wanted to make "going green" feel manageable, fun and affordable, so I took my time over the last year really clarifying my ideas and format for the site and working toward building it. And I'm nowhere near complete! The topics behind sustainability are vast and Sustainable Baby Steps will be my labor of love and my contribution to the green living movement for some time to come.

Suzy: How did you first become interested in living a sustainable lifestyle?

Tara: It wasn't a major or obvious part of my childhood (although simple living was), but the principles of conservation, and care of our natural resources has always made sense to me. I remember digging through the compost pile and feeling passionate about stopping littering. Being kind to the Earth was never a question of why. As I started my own household, I naturally became more and more intrigued in providing a healthy environment for my family and the question of "How do I do this?" surfaced. What started as an interest and investigation into organic foods quickly led to an understanding on sustainable farming, environmental degradation, our consumer impact and on and on.

Suzy: What advice can you give my readers who are trying to make changes to live a bit more "green"?

Tara: There are so many places you can start, but a few jump out as being the most beneficial: addressing the issue of where our food comes from, whether it's sustainably grown or raised and the impact it has on the environment is probably one of the biggest issues we face today; the next would be the damage we do to our bodies and our ecosystems with things like pesticides, cleaners and other chemical or synthetic products. Educate yourself on the issues, and then start with one area that you can change: throw out the toilet bowl cleaner and replace it with baking soda, find one local farmer or CSA or replace your plastic tupperware with glass or stainless steel containers.

Suzy: One Small Change is all about making small changes each month to lessen your carbon foot print. How can Sustainable Baby Steps help people who are involved in the One Small Change Project?

Tara: Sustainable Baby Steps is jam-packed with ideas on conservation and lifestyle changes. You can check out the sections on Going Green At Home, or Eco-friendly Holidays for plenty of inspiration and information on the things that matter most.

Be sure to subscribe to the free Going Green! newsletter for monthly updates from the site, relevant environmental articles, interviews and special offers from some great sustainable companies.

And stay tuned as the articles and content on Sustainable Baby Steps continues to grow!

Suzy: Thanks,Tara, for taking the time to talk to us about Sustainable Baby Steps!

Tara: Thank you Suzy for being a part of this movement and allowing me to spread the word! It's awesome to work with so many other families and individuals interested in making a difference.

October Change Update

2010-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

How is your October change going so far?

The Garbage Garage

2010-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

"You'll begin your adventure through the Garbage Garage by entering the Mountain of Trash, a tunnel-like hallway where you'll be surrounded by trash" I was intrigued when I read this on the Garbage Garage's brochure. I had heard about the Garbage Garage, which is located at our county's landfill, but had never thought to actually go there.

Then I couldn't stop thinking about the Garbage Garage. I was so curious about it and kept thinking about how neat it would be to teach my kids about trash. We try to reuse and recycle around here and have really been focusing on reducing lately, but did my kids really understand why we do all this? Probably not. I mean I could tell them why, but I am not sure they really tune in when I talk about things like trash and landfills.

This is a great visual of how much waste would be created in just 2 weeks from a sack lunch when using paper bags, juice boxes, etc. vs very little to none when using a lunch box, cloth napkin, reusable silverware, etc.

So, we took a trip to the Garbage Garage...that is literally made out of mostly reclaimed items. The garage is filled with trash, information, games, videos and displays to really get you thinking. And what a great way to show your kids and get the conversation started on trying to reduce our carbon footprint.

I didn't realize it takes 300-500 years for a disposable diaper to break down!!

If you are in the Larimer County area I would highly recommend visiting the Garbage Garage! And if you are not in the area, check to see if your county has an educational center at the landfill. I learned things, the kids learned things, and best of all, we are more aware and ready to make changes regarding our waste!

Magnolia is mad at how many useful items get thrown away each day!

*This post was taken from the Hip Mountain Mama Blog. This was originally posted on March, 10, 2010

Freezing Kale

2010-10-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

*A post taken from my Hip Mountain Mama Blog on June 25th 2009

June 25, 2009

I am fairly new to growing veggies. This is our third year to grow a garden, but the first year to attempt kale and spinach. To our excitement, they have really been thriving. I am positive our compost has a lot to do with how well our garden is growing this year (and all the rain we have had). I have been happily plucking spinach and kale from the garden every morning, before I even get dressed, to put in our breakfast smoothies.

I started to realize that I needed to be plucking more or else it is going to go bad or the bugs will eat it. So, I went out and harvested a ton of the greens for freezing. We now have a ton of kale and spinach in the freezer to use this winter and are awaiting the next round of kale to come up in the garden.

I used to be very intimidated by freezing produce...like it was going to be this big huge task that I would never be able to complete. Well, I was wrong. I went to my friend google and asked how to freeze greens. Google showed me many websites that calmed my fears and showed me step by step how easy it is to freeze greens.

In a nut shell, you harvest, you wash, you blanch (2 min in boiling water), you soak in ice water, you drain, you freeze....easy peasy!

Through my google search I found a few different methods for freezing my kale and below is the method I went with.

Have fun!

~~HMM

Harvest your Kale wash it in the sink with water

Blanch your kale, by submerging in boiling water for 2 minutes

After the 2 minutes is up, transfer the kale from the boiling water into a bowl of ice water for about 2 minutes (save the boiling water for the next batch)

Then you can either lay it out to dry, or put it in a salad spinner. I just dried it a bit in a towel then put it in the zip lock freezer bag. You can use a vacuum sealer if you have one, or do what I did. Zip the bag closed all the way except for one little opening big enough for a straw. Stick the straw in and suck all the air out, then zip it shut all the way.

Then label your bags and stick them in the freezer! All done!

Nature Bracelets

2010-10-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things I encourage people most who are involved with this project, is to get out and enjoy nature. As humans we are supposed to spend most of our time outdoors using our shelters for warmth, sleep, healing, rituals, or gatherings. I believe this because as I look back on history, this is the way it was. Being outside in nature wakes up our inner spirit, makes us feel alive, and can be very healing to any mental or physical ailment. It is also a great reminder of why we are protecting our Earth and treating her with love and respect.

If you have children, you will notice that if they are playing outside, rarely do they need something to play with. My kids are always exploring the landscape looking for rocks, bugs, and other natural items to play with.

That being said, it can be fun to direct kids in a way to help with their imaginative play. One activity that we learned over the summer from my daughters Nature and Science School was to make nature bracelets. All you do is put a piece of masking tape around their wrists sticky side facing out and send them outside. They will use the tape to stick on pieces of nature that they collect along the way...seeds, leaves, dirt, anything they can find! When they are done they will love their new nature bracelet and find wonder in all the interesting things they have found! An alternative to the bracelet is to put the tape around their ankles and have them walk around in a dense area. When they walk about they will find all sort of things stuck to their tape.

Enjoy..and remember to spend some time outdoors today!

Tiny Changes This Season

2010-10-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have had some emails this week from people concerned that they are just too busy this season to make any changes. I completely understand about being so busy that you don't think you can fit 1 more thing into your life. Here are a few thoughts on this issue.

First of all, there are so many tiny changes that can be made that will not impact your life on a day to day basis. Like, how about washing your clothes in cold water instead of warm or hot? Just a flip of a switch and you are done. Or while you are food shopping skip the conventional dairy products and buy only organic. This will only impact your grocery bill by a few dollars and it will impact your health by leaps and bounds. Another easy change that comes to mind is putting a plastic bottle filled with water in the back of your toilet. This takes minutes to do and will have a large impact in reducing your water use. These are all easy, low stress changes that can be made in a matter of minutes.

Another thought I have on going green during this season is to starting thinking holiday! At the end of this month we will be celebrating a very wasteful and unhealthy (but fun) holiday, Halloween. How about giving out organic candy this year, or forgetting about it all together. If you have a party this year, try decorating with what you already have in your home or make your own decorations. If you and your kids are dressing up, look in your closets or ask friends to borrow costumes before hitting the store. (Last year Andy and I used our own clothing and a few accessories from the kids to dress up like hippies from the 70's, as you can see in the photo above.)
Next month we will talk more about going green for the Thanksgiving holiday so stay tuned.

Yes, we are all busy as we live in a society that accepts and praises busyness. If you can slow down a bit, this will be the best change you can give yourself. If it is not possible to put on the breaks this month, then try to take just a few moments to think about One Small Change you can do to make a difference.

If you have ideas for busy folks for a low stress easy change, please leave a comment with your ideas! Offering an idea to someone else is one awesome small change that you can do right now!

My One Small Change:Spread the Word

2010-10-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

So after much thought on what my One Small Change would be for October, it came to me. Honestly this project has lost some steam over the past few months. We originally had over 400 members and we are now down to just a few...so what happened? Well, life happened and I totally understand that. For example, this month, I just wanted to ignore the project...I have so much going on and this just seemed like one more thing on my list. But...that is not the point of this project...the point is that we can all make 1 small change each month. Even if that 1 change is picking 1 tiny thing and sticking with it. Even if that 1 tiny thing is to use cloth napkins once a week, or picking 1 grocery item and switching it to organic, or telling 1 friend about this project.

So, for October, I am making it my One Small Change to spread the word about this project. If you haven't decided on your change yet, then make this your change also. Even if you tell 1 friend, you have made a difference. Let's post it on our facebook, twitter, and blogs. Talk to our friends, co workers, and spouses about it. If everyone involved in this project can get 1 person to join us, we can continue to make an even greater difference!

And a big congratulations for those of you who have stuck with this and are making changes that will benefit our earth and every living being on earth each and every month! You rock!

October Change

2010-10-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

What are you planning for your One Small Eco Change this month?

Earth Friendly Goodie Bag

2010-09-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

**This post is taken from a post I did on my Hip Mountain Mama Blog April 21, 2010.

Goodie Bags have become the standard at kid's birthday parties. I am not sure where this tradition originated from, but it has become some what expected that your party guests go home with some kind of goodie.

Last year we decided to forgo the goodie bags all together and we made a music CD for all our guests. This year we decided to have the kids decorate their own organic cotton lunch bag to take home with them.

As the kids arrived, we had them sit down with some fabric markers, stencils, and a blank canvas. They enjoyed drawing suns, peace signs, their names, stars, and more on their very own lunch bag.

The kids were all excited to put their own creations onto a bag that they will be able to use to take their lunch to school, a snack to the park, or to fill with treasures. I felt good about sending the kids home with something they will use and can be proud of.

If you are planning a child's birthday party and want to send the kids home with a goodie, consider one of the following ideas:

*A music CD filled with fun kids songs

*A reusable bag (lunch bag, shopping bag, snack bag) either decorated by the kids or left as is, filled with a few pieces of organic candy, a book, a few pieces of modelling beeswax or nothing :)

*Have a play silk dying party and send the kids home with their silk as a goodie

*A little flower pot and some seeds

*Have the kids hand roll beeswax candles and send them home with the candle

*Homemade play dough either made by the kids or made ahead of time

If you have an idea...please let us know!

Green Organizing Solutions–Cloth Tote Tutorial: By Abbie Park

2010-09-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled to post here on the One Small Change blog! This month of September, my family and I are working to integrate some greener organizing solutions into our home. We want to move away from the particle board filled with toxic adhesives and plastic containers that leach chemicals and really remember the organizing tools that truly come from nature. Those would be wood, metal, wicker, cloth, and glass.

I am very excited to share a cloth tote bag tutorial to make a bag like the ones we use to carry library books, “wrap gifts”, and store seasonal wear.

By deciding to hand-make a tote bag, you not only save money, but the door to infinite design possibilities opens up wide. For this tutorial, colorful, soft cotton fabric in a quilt square pattern creates a simple fall motif. Don’t forget to use embroidery, other applique techniques, stencil designs, and iron-ons to really personalize your organizing system.

These totes are super cheap. This fully-lined tote bag is made of up-cycled, unbleached, mid-weight cotton fabric that was previously an old curtain. And it cost $1.50 at my local thrift store! Though I used retail bought fabric for the motif, the colorful patterned fabric from yard-sale-found dress shirts and blouses is more economical.

Fall Applique Tote Bag
Materials

•(2) 23″ x 10″ pieces of unbleached cotton fabric – medium weight (I recycled the fabric from a curtain)
•(2) 14″ x 4″ pieces of unbleached cotton fabric – medium weight (these will be the handles)
•(7) 3 1/2″ X 2″ pieces of coordinating patterned fabrics (or enough to complete a 10″ x 3 1/2″ panel when pieced together)
•fabric scissors
•sewing machine
•iron and board
•thread
How To

1. Wash and tumble dry all fabric.
2. Cut all fabric pieces to size.
3. Align 2 small patterned squares right sides together and seam the 3 1/2″ edge using 1/2″ seam allowance, repeat with remaining pieces to create patterned rectangle applique 10″ long by 3 1/2″ wide
4. Trim seam allowances to 1/4″ and press all seams to lay in the same direction
5. Fold top and bottom (the 10″ long sides) of patterned rectangle applique 1/4″ to the fabric wrong side and press
6. Pin patterned rectangle applique to outside face of tote fabric. Align the top of the applique piece 7 1/2″ from one short edge of the tote fabric (10″ side) matching raw edges
7. Edge stitch the pressed edges of the applique to the tote fabric
8. Fold handle fabric pieces in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Open and fold raw edges toward creased center and press. Fold in half lengthwise again and press.
9. Edge stitch pressed edges together along the length of the bag handle (the 14″ side)
10. Fold outside tote bag fabric in half right sides together, matching raw edges. Pin and stitch the side seams using a 1/2″ seaming allowance (sew the 11 1/2″ sides.) Repeat with the inside tote fabric. Clip corners and turn outside tote fabric right-side out.

11. Align tote bag handle raw edges (the 1″ side) spaced evenly along the right side of the 10″ top of the bag outside fabric and pin. (Make sure the handle fabric isn’t twisted and handles should lay toward the fold of the bottom of the tote on the outside of the bag. Baste raw edges.

12. Place outside tote bag fabric with handles, inside the tote bag lining fabric so that right sides are together. Align side seams, make sure the handles are in between the tote bag layers, and pin.
13. Seam raw edges (use a 1/2″ seam allowance) around the top of the bag, leaving a 3″ unseamed opening through which to turn the bag, back stitching at the beginning and end. (Reinforce the seam over the bag handles by back stitching.)
14. Turn the bag through the opening, smooth bag liner to the inside, and press.
15. Edge stitch the top of the tote bag 1/8″ from the edge to close the 3″ opening.
16. Fill your new tote with something fabulously precious!

Some other ways to use your new tote bag (and get inspired to make more,) are…

•Use mini totes to hold those party favors (no more silly plastic baggies)
•Wrap your holiday gifts in a colorful cloth tote
•Insulate your tote to carry your warm Thanksgiving apple pie to grandmother’s house
•Kids love toting things around in these diminutive bags
•Add a zipper to your tote and store seasonal wear like swim suits, sunglasses, and sun hats, or mittens, hats, and mufflers
•Add a draw string and lose the handles and lining to hit the bulk bins at your local food co-op
•Hang one near your front door and tuck into it, mail to be sent, checks to be passed along, and that t-shirt you need to return
•Keep your favorite purse free from dust in your closet by slipping it into an unbleached muslin bag
•Organize your car with a few resident tote bags that keep items like your bungee cords in check

Tote bags are a green organizing solution that is economical, eco-friendly, and simple to create. Check back on my blog, Organizing-Life.com, for a honey-comb applique design tote-bag tutorial!

**Post by Abbie Park of Organizing-Life

To Go Ware...Make the Change

2010-09-20T12:45:00.001-07:00

To Go Ware...what a perfect name for this perfect product! I first came across To Go Ware from a friend who told me about these bamboo utensils she was using at restaurants, pot lucks, and camping trips in lieu of plastic utensils. I checked out these utensils for myself and I was hooked!

I now, also, carry a set of bamboo utensils in a neat carrying case in my purse. If I ever happen to be somewhere that I need a fork, spoon, or knife, I've got it! As a family, we each have our own utensil kit that we take on camping trips. Everyone is responsible for their own set and it gets used all weekend.

We also regularly use To Go Ware's Tiffins and Side Kicks. The Tiffins and Side Kicks are stainless steel containers that work great for taking your lunch to work, snacks on a hike, camping, or a picnic.

We brought these items with us while vending at a sustainable living fair this past weekend and it was so fun to see everyones excitement. It made me realize how many people are willing to make the small change when it comes to food containers and the elimination of plastic utensils. The more people who start using these sort of items, the more it will become mainstream and normal. If we can achieve a shift in this area, it will be a major victory for environmentalists!

So, if you have not made the switch yet to reusable food containers, now is the time to start! If you already do this, then now is the time to start spreading the word! Blog about it, talk about it, give it as gifts. If you can influence just 1 person to make the switch then you have made one awesome small change!

Where Does Your Meat Come From

2010-09-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Since on the subject of eating natural meat, I wanted to share this video that was shown to me recently. Everyone should see this....there is some graphic footage, but seriously something we should all see so we really know what is going on.

**Note, this video is encouraging vegetarianism, which is great for some, but if this is not a choice for you, please become aware of where your meat is coming from and choose more natural choices.

Find out more at Meat.org.

My One Small Change: Let's Eat Natural Meat

2010-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am trying something new here. Instead of posting my One Small Change to my blog, I thought I would share it here. If you are interested in writing about your change and having me post it on the One Small Change Blog, just email me (suzy@hipmountainmama.com). I thought it would be fun for people to come here and read about people's changes. We love having guest bloggers and think it really brings the community aspect of this project to the forefront!

For September I decided to only purchase free-range, all natural, and local when possible meat. In the past I would purchase local meat about half the time, then, out of convenience would purchase meat from the grocery store the other half. It really is silly because I am so fortunate to have a meat store about a mile from my home that carries local, natural, and properly raised meat. So, why haven't I been shopping their exclusively? Well, there's the cost and the fact that they are only open on certain days at certain times, then there is the thought of making that one extra stop while running errands.

No more excuses! Last week I went to the meat store and bought enough to last me the entire month. We only eat meat about twice a week so it wasn't that much meat and I feel great about having it in the freezer. It is also helping me be more organized about my meals. During the summer months I tend to get lazy about meals and meal planning...so getting myself organized feels really good and we hope to have some yummy and healthy meals this month!

So, why is it important to eat this kind of meat? These days we all need to be very careful about what we are eating. There are so many nasty chemicals that are put into our food and so many people are getting sick, there is a ridiculous amount of recalls, and it is really reeking havoc on our bodies. Most of the meat you will find in the grocery stores is from animals that lived a horrible life in a confined space, fed food that they are not supposed to eat, and given medicine that transfers into the meat that you are eating. Animals are meant to live out in the open to graze and eat natural foods. Shoving animals in a cage and pumping them full of nasty chemicals is animal abuse and should be stopped. We can help by not purchasing this kind of meat...only until we start spending our money on properly raised meats will we start seeing a shift. For more information you can check out the Rocky Plains Benefits Page.

If you are in the Northern Colorado area, check out Rocky Plains. Not only do they have local meat, but they also carry eggs, some dairy products, and some local condiments.

Welcome Sponsor: Family of Movers

2010-09-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to introduce you to our newest One Small Change Sponsor, Family of Movers.

"We are The Hollomans, otherwise known as the Family of Movers. We are converting a school bus into our home so we can teach our children what it means to live simple, without stuff and off the grid in some instances by having utilizing solar energy panels all while serving our God by building homes across the nation. We have moved 15 times in the last 7 years mostly due to Brian's carpentry work but now we feel led to travel the country in our bus. We homeschool our kids and I am a full time student at Liberty University in their Accounting program. When I'm not studying, schooling the kids, ect., I make Ebelegy lotion and shampoo, an all organic company designed to soothe eczema, psoriais and dry skin. "
Check out their inspiring blog here http://www.familyofmovers.com/
And Etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/ebelegy

September Change

2010-08-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

It was great to hear everyone's August wrap up...great job everyone...now onto September...

September is a month of change....change of the seasons, trees, weather, activities...everything seems to just change in September...and I love this!

Whether you have been with us from the beginning, are just joining in, or have taken a break and are ready to participate again...let's all dedicate to making 1 great change this month. Big or small, it doesn't matter...just choose 1 change and stick with it!

I can't wait to hear what you plan to change...! Leave a comment here and let us know!

August Wrap Up

2010-08-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it is almost September?? We started this project 8 months ago and we are still so tickled at how many amazing changes have been made!

I would love to hear how your August change went or is going. Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know...if you blogged about it, please leave a link to your blog post!

Also...if you have any ideas for September changes, you can leave these suggestions in the comments as well!

Congratulations on finishing up another month of One Small Change!

The Majestic Plastic Bag

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

This short Mockumentary is a great reminder of the problem with plastic bags. Hopefully more and more people will make the small change to remove plastic bags from our lives.

Enjoy!

August Mid Month Check in

2010-08-15T17:52:00.001-07:00

How is your August change going so far?

Little Acorn Learning Giveaway Winner!

2010-08-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for entering our Little Acorn Learning Giveaway! If you didn't win, I would consider checking out one of her guides.

Now for the winner!

Congrats to Jamie of Two Chicks and a Hen!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Little Acorn Learning Giveaway

2010-08-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce that one of our amazing sponsors, Little Acorn Learning, is doing another giveaway!

Little Acorn Learning monthly nature guides helps you to celebrate the seasons with your little ones. They are ideal for childcare providers, homeschoolers, co-ops, parents, daycare centers, schools and teachers.

I personally use these guides with my children and love them! We used to follow the guides for help with daily rhythm and support...now we use them for ideas on nature crafts, recipes, and outdoor activities.

Whether you are using the guides throughout your day or just using them from time to time, these guides are a must have for anyone who enjoys celebrating nature, the seasons, animals, and the basic cycle of life with their children.

Today Eileen is giving away a free autumn menu and a 5 day September Child Care guide. There is a lot that goes on with the changing of the season in September and I know you will love this guide!

To enter, please visit Little Acorn Learning, then come back here and leave a comment. To be entered another time, please join their facebook page, then come back here and leave another comment. The winner will be announced on Tuesday August 10th.

good luck!

Going Green By Using The Library

2010-08-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

The original idea for starting the One Small Change challenge was to bring out easy ideas that we could all do to make small changes that lead to reduced environmental impacts. These don't have to be huge changes like buying a $40,000 hybrid car. We love many of the ideas we have seen on blogs across the web.

Today's post will discuss using the local library to reduce waste. Our family is in love with the public library. We take the kids for story time and let them pick out books and movies. I have not only been reading books like crazy over the last few months, but I have also been exploring the CD collection (our library has a great bluegrass section), and we have been borrowing movies too.

Today's guest post is by Jess of Openly Balanced. In her own words, "Openly Balanced is a blog dedicated to finding equilibrium; in our lives, our communities, and on our planet. Because they’re all connected and you can’t have one without the others. It is about sustainable living, and what that means to each of us."
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Hi, my name is Jess.

I’m a book-aholic. And so is my husband. As children, both of us dreamed geekily of having a room in our grownup house dedicated to books – custom floor to ceiling shelves with rolling ladders and all. I used to think that there was no such thing as too many books. Then I grew up and headed off to college. My books stayed with my mom. A few years later, a forest fire burned down her house, and took all of my books with it. I’m not going to lie; I mourned. But as I moved around the country – from college in Colorado to Long Beach, CA to Washington DC, and finally to Washington state – it dawned on me that I had to move every single book I bought. Every time.

I realized it might be better if I didn’t buy every book I wanted to read. (Believe it or not, you don’t have to own everything.) It was time for me to rediscover the local library.
The Planet Loves Libraries

Environmentally speaking, the publishing industry is pretty toxic. In addition to the environmental impact of tree harvesting, it takes a tremendous amount of water and energy to produce books. The costly supply chain continues when books are transported to retail stores or shipped directly to consumers who order online, not to mention the fact that companies regularly pulp thousands of unsold books.
There is much debate about whether the growing green consumer market is actually a good thing for the planet. The release of the e-readers was initially heralded by some eco-geeks as an environmental victory, but the conversation fizzled when no consensus could be reached. How does reduced publishing industry impact over time measure up to the lifecycle costs of one more electronic gadget made of plastic and heavy metals? Hard to say, and very much dependent on how people use and dispose of their e-readers.
Certainly, eco-friendly options are a good thing. But what the planet really needs is for us to consume less. Much less. Which makes the library the best option of all. A virtually endless supply of books, of course. But they also have CDs, DVDs, and MP3 audio book downloads. Tons of stuff that you don’t have to buy. No additional trees, plastics, transportation costs, or packaging. Using your library to consume media is really good for the planet.
Frugal People Love Libraries

Using a library is also really cheap. And by really cheap, I mean free. I don’t know about you, but every time I walk into a bookstore, I spend at least $100. If I weren’t so good at avoiding the DVD and music sections, the damage would be much worse than that. I always spend it on something I need right away, even if I’m already in the middle of reading three different books. I can’t help but succumb to the lure of the bookstore.

For people like me, libraries are amazing. I can go in and pick up every book that looks remotely interesting and walk out without paying a cent. (Ok, some libraries have limits, but they’re much bigger limits than the one my wallet confronts at the bookstore cash register.) Piles of books. And they let me renew them! Libraries are particularly wonderful if you have children, who tend to go through books much more quickly than adults do. Certainly there are classics that your children may want to read again and again. But do you really want to buy enough books to satiate your little bookworm? Can you afford to?

Libraries can also save you a fortune on DVDs. I have friends who will buy a movie just because they think they might like it – don’t be one of those people! There’s probably a good chance that you won’t like a movie enough to watch it again. If it’s not a movie you know you’re going to wake up at 3 AM with a burning desire to watch, or one you are going to watch all the time, think about checking it out from the library instead.

The Community Loves Libraries

Sadly, in some communities this isn’t true. But the community should love libraries, because a good library is so much more than a building full of books. Besides providing easy access to resources for the frugal and environmentally conscious, libraries can be a hub for community interaction. I spent many long summer days and after school hours at the library, so I know firsthand how valuable a good library is.

Many libraries offer youth reading programs, which are especially valuable during the summer and over winter break. In communities with struggling schools (and even those where the schools are fine) libraries provide an additional educational safety net for children. A good librarian can help your child learn to love reading by finding the perfect book for your kid. And librarians, while they may occasionally resemble their frumpy stereotype and shush you (especially if you’re loud like I am), are actually professionals uniquely trained to help you find what you’re looking for.

Some libraries also open their doors for community classes, most of which are either very affordable or completely free. My local library plays host to various guest speakers, several book clubs, a young adult reading group, movie screening and discussion groups, and children’s story hours. Libraries can be a great way to connect with other members of your community in fun and interesting ways.

All said and done, I’m a big geeky library lover. But didn’t you hear? Being a geek is cool! So embrace your inner treehugger, your inner frugalista, and your inner geek and get yourself to the nearest library.

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Thank you Jess. If you are interested in contributing to The One Small Change Blog, send me an email at andy@hipmountainmama.com.

Andy

August Change

2010-08-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

What are you planning to change for August? Please leave a comment and let us know...if you blog about it leave a link to your blog post!

Interview with Green Living Expert Sara Snow

2010-07-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

About 6 months ago, I stumbled upon the book "Fresh Living" by Sara Snow. I quickly read through the entertaining and informative book and have since kept it close by as a great reference for green living.

Sara is a pioneer in the green living movement. She is getting the word out on green living through her TV shows and book and she comes from many years of experience! I asked Sara if she would share a bit of her herself with us here and I was honored that she was excited to do so.

Suzy: Sara, I am so happy to have you here today. I read your book, Fresh Living, last year and found it very inspiring. Can you tell us a little bit about how you grew up and how this has influenced the way you live today?

Sara: I grew up pretty differently from most people. I was born at home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When I was about two we moved to a sustainable, eco home that we built out in the woods, about 20 minutes outside of Ann Arbor. We didn't have a furnace; instead we heated with passive solar heat and a wood stove. We grew a good deal of the food that we ate. We composted, made our food from scratch, and tried to live in harmony with the natural world around us.
My dad was an early pioneer of the natural and organics food movement. He co-founded Eden Foods (now an extremely large international distributor of organic and natural foods), American Soy Products (through which he helped introduce soymilk to the American public), and Blue Horizon Organic.
So I grew up with this intense focus on natural living and organic eating. It has, in every sense, made me who I am today.

Suzy: What inspired you to start your TV show and start spreading the word about green living?

Sara: I had been working in television as a producer and a TV news anchor and reporter for quite a few years when I decided that if I was going to go on TV everyday I wanted to talk about something that was important to me and, increasingly, to other people as well. So I created the concept for what became the first green-lifestyle TV series to air in the United States. That show was called "Living Fresh" for Discovery Home, and I followed that up with "Get Fresh with Sara Snow" for Discovery Health. Last year I co-hosted "Big Green Lies" for the Fine Living Channel and also released my first book, "Sara Snow's Fresh Living".
It has been the perfect blending of my personal past and upbringing and my professional experience in television. And I feel every day like I'm doing what I was born to help: helping to bring a message of simple, attainable natural living to people everywhere.

Suzy: I have been craving the slower and simpler lifestyle and am in the process of making some changes for my family to achieve this. Why do you think it is important for people to slow down and simplify in this day in age?

Sara: Because we're all, simply put, moving too quickly. Life didn't use to be like this. We didn't used to be "plugged in" every minute of the day. We took walks, we sang to the birds, we ran barefoot and sat in silence. All of this is so important for our brains, our muscles, our digestion, and our spirits.
I will always remember one particular day during college. I was stressed and over-worked and worried and I called my mom to cry to her a bit. And she told me that I needed to find a park bench and to sit and watch the squirrels for a while. That's it. Just watch the squirrels.
It's still what I do today when I'm overly stressed. I call a time-out and I just sit and watch the birds or the squirrels.
A fantastic practice to get into is a short meditation session in the morning or evening every single day. The simple act of emptying your mind and breathing deep, cleansing breaths can be so incredibly healing.

Suzy: Most of my readers are busy moms who find it overwhelming to make changes in their lives. Can you give us a few ideas on easy changes we can make that will have a positive impact on our environment?

Sara: There are so many simple things that we can all do everyday and it is never more important than when you're a mom. This is for two reasons - first because the foods you buy and products you use have a direct impact on the health of your children. And, second, because, you are teaching impressionable minds.
Here are a few examples of simple things you can do: recycling, cleaning with natural products, using less disposables (less ziplock bags, paper towels, and other single use items), using goods made from recycled plastic, recycled paper and recycled glass, buying more organic foods, shopping local farmers markets and food co-ops, composting, practicing green lawn care, and growing a garden. In fact, this last one might be one of the best things you can do with your children. Help them to understand that a tomato comes from a vine, not from a can on a grocery store shelf. And let them share in the wonderment of how nature provides the things we most need to survive.

Suzy: Thank you so much Sara for taking the time out of your busy life to share with us today!

Sara: It has been my pleasure, Suzy. I wish you great success in your efforts to simplify!

To learn more about Sara, please visit her website here.

This interview was conducted by Suzy for her Inspiring Mama Series on the Hip Mountain Mama Blog in February 2010. To read the original interview, and other interviews with inspirational women please visit the Hip Mountain Mama Blog.

The Story of Cosmetics

2010-07-22T17:15:00.001-07:00

You'll want to watch this!

A Few Tips on Compost

2010-07-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

I love composting. It's a dirty job, but the outcome is truly gardeners gold. We started composting 4 years ago. It was something I never knew much about but once I started looking into it I realized it was a no brainer. Composting not only eliminates the amount of trash we send to the landfill but it also provides an amazing source of nutrients for our garden.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the 23 percent of U.S. municipal waste comes from yard and food waste. That yard and food waste is perfect fuel for composting. Between composting, reusing, and recycling we never send a full garbage can to the curb.

We do traditional outdoor composting and the first year I started with a Rubbermaid tub that I drilled holes in. The second year I used an old garbage can that my bother-in-law passed to me that he had cut holes in for a makeshift compost bin. Last summer I bought a regular compost bin with the handy doors at the bottom for scooping out the finished compost. You can use about anything or nothing at all, just do it in a pile in the yard. We use a stainless steel indoor collection pail. It sits right on our counter where it is easy and convenient to toss in a apple core, banana peel, or other vegetable and fruit scrapes. The most important part about your indoor collection pail is that it needs a lid. The food will begin decomposing immediately and you won't want that smell or the fruit flies in your kitchen.

What you need...

Heat- Heat is necessary to get the compost to decompose faster. The ideal temperature is between 120 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The compost pile will naturally create heat but keeping your bin in a partially sunny spot will help keep it hot enough.

Air- To keep the process working and to keep the pile from smelling you will need to keep turning the pile. A shovel or pitchfork works great for this.

Moisture- The vegetable material that you add to the pile will automatically create moisture but you will need to keep an eye on it to see if you need to add some water. The compost should always be damp like a sponge. Not too wet or to dry but definitely damp.

What to Add- The trick to good composting is maintaining the right balance of Carbons (Browns) and Nitrogens (greens). If you have too many greens the pile will stink and attract rodents. If you have too many browns the decomposition will slow down. In general a brown to green balance of 25 to 1 is suggested.

Carbons (browns): wood ashes, shredded cardboard and newspapers, straw, sawdust, peanut shells, cornstalks, leaves, pine needles, wood chips

Nitrogens (greens): fruit and vegetable scrapes, coffee grounds, garden and grass clippings, seaweed, manure, hay, alfalfa

What Not to Add: Meat products, fats like peanut butter or oils, dairy products, colored paper like magazines, and chemicals (grass clippings sprayed with chemicals).

We end up with a lot of coffee grounds and vegetable scraps, so I have to add cardboard and newspaper occasionally to keep the right mixture.

There is nothing better that taking waste and turning it into such a wonderful fertilizer. Composting is also something that kids can help with. It is a great lesson for them and my kids love helping out.

I'd love to hear and comments or suggestions about how your composting is going.

Andy

**If you are interested in writting a post for One Small Change, please contact us at info@hipmountainmama.com We are interested in hearing how your changes are going!

Following My Own Advice

2010-07-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted about some Eco Friendly Camping Tips. As a family we have been camping for several years and each time we go we fine tune it just a little bit more. This past weekend we camped for 2 nights in the beautiful Summit County Mountains and tried to follow our own Eco Friendly Camping advice.

It wasn't until we were packing up to leave on Sunday that we realized we had a really small amount of trash that we were taking out. We weren't consciously trying to eliminate our waste on this trip, but by following our own earth friendly ideas, we did it. Since I didn't take a photo of our trash I will give you an idea of how much trash we accumulated....we used a plastic bag from a bag of ice we purchased to hold our trash and we filled it up half way.

How did we do this? We used our To Go Ware Utensils, stainless steel water bottles for drinking water, plastic plates and bowls, hand knitted wash cloths to clean up dirty faces, and we cooked our meals. The only waste we had was from packaging of certain foods, bottle tops, and a few other random items (including trash that was left at the site before we got there).

So, there you have it! You have a choice to create tons of waste that will sit in the landfill by using disposable items while enjoying the great outdoors...or, you can replace even just one disposable item with a reusable one to set you on the right path to respecting our Earth!

Why Not Go No Poo?

2010-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Deciding on changes always varies in severity depending on how I am feeling that month. Back in May I was ready to try something drastic...however doesn't seem that drastic anymore. Here is a post I did in the early stages of using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair. It has now been 2 months and I am still loving it!

My One Small Change for the month of May was to stop using shampoo and conditioner. In place of these I have been using baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I love it and strongly recommend you try it! I was hesitant at first, but now I love it even more than any shampoo I have ever used.

I did a lot of research and found that everyone does it just a little different. I took what I learned and came up with a way that works for me. I use the baking soda and water mix in place of the shampoo, then use the apple cider vinegar and water mixture in place of a conditioner.

Please watch the video below for details on how it works:

July Mid Month Check In

2010-07-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

How is your July Change going? Leave us a comment and let us know...if you wrote a blog post about it, please leave a link to your blog post!

Happy July!

P.S. I was having so much trouble with the Intense Debate Comment system, that I decide to remove this feature and go back to good ole' blogger comments. This means I won't be able to communicate as easily with you...if you have a question, please email me directly at suzy@hipmountainmama.com. It also means that all the previous comments have disappeared...so moving forward I would love it if you commented often so I can keep up with what everyone is doing! Thanks!

Winners and a Reminder

2010-07-12T08:13:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about this project. We are so passionate about this and hope to keep things going for a long time! Hopefully, because of you, we will have new members join this effort in making small positive changes.

Before I announce the winners, I wanted to remind you of an easy way to win a shopping spree in our shop Hip Mountain Mama. If you are going green this summer, let us know about it for a chance to win. If you are participating in One Small Change, then you are making changes and you probably already have a blog post written about it....use this post to enter the contest! If you have a friend who is living a green lifestyle, let them know about the contest. The more people who enter, the larger the prize, so let's spread the word! For details on how to enter go here....everyone who enters will win something!!

Now for the winners!

Rosemamie
Earth Mama

Congrats!!

A Giveaway For Your Hard Work

2010-07-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Our One Small Change Grassroots project is still going strong after 6 months. Many of us have made 6 changes and are working on our 7th. 7 small changes that have become our new way of living and have had such a wonderful impact on the earth and all the living creatures who live here. For others, you are just beginning on this journey and maybe you are working on your first, second, or third change! Wherever you are on this challenge is a great place to be and I wanted to congratulate everyone on all their hard work! Together we are making a major difference!

I am still motivated and excited to spread the word even further....and I need your help. We will be giving away some adorable reusable snack and sandwich bags to a few random winners. In order to enter the drawing, leave us comments here letting us know how you helped to spread the word. Invite friends to join our facebook page, mention this project on twitter, do a blog post encouraging others to join, make a video, or simply email your friends. For each way you help spread the word, leave a new comment. We will randomly select a few winners to win some SnackTaxis.

We will announce the winners on Monday the 12th, so check back!

Going Green For $200.00?

2010-07-06T07:03:00.001-07:00

I wanted to let you all know about a fantastic contest going on over at Hip Mountain Mama! If you would like the chance to win up to a $200.00 shopping spree on some awesome eco friendly products, all you need to do is tell us how you are going green this summer. Are you starting to recycle, bringing reusable items on picnics, or eating local produce? Maybe you are riding your bike to work, planting a tree in your backyard or hanging your laundry to dry. Whatever it is that you are doing that is lessening your carbon footprint, we want to know about it. For details on how to enter this contest, please go here. Entries are being accepted until July 14. Good luck!!

July Change

2010-06-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Are you making one small change for July? If so leave a comment here and let us know what it is...if you blogged about it, leave a link to your blog. To read about what changes people are making, feel free to browse the comments!

Congratulations everyone on all your efforts towards living a greener life and protecting our precious Earth!!

Bike to Work Day

2010-06-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

June is Bike to Work Month in Colorado. Many cities hold their own Bike to Work Day at different times of the year. Denver and surrounding areas held their annual Bike to Work Day on Wednesday June 23, 2010. The Denver Regional Council of Governments estimates that 20,000 Coloradoans left their cars behind and pedaled to work saving an estimated 294,000 vehicle miles in that one day.

What a great idea to promote bicycling as a way to commute. We all know that every positive change begins with one small change and there has never been a better time than now to think about how our driving habits have led to an enormous disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the negative effect the emissions have on our planet.

It is summer time and the weather is nice. This is the perfect time of year to try and replace at least a few car trips with an environmentally friendly bike ride. If we are going to have a positive impact on our planet and our dependency on oil we need to start with this small change. It would be a major change in lifestyle to give up our cars, but try replacing just one car trip per week with a bike ride, bus ride, or other form of green transportation.

Where are you going to ride your bike to this week?

~Andy

Eco Friendly Camping Tips

2010-06-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

My family has been enjoying camping since my kids were babies and we have been somewhat fine tuning it. Camping with kids is not the easiest task, but it is a fun adventure and we have found many ways to make it a bit easier and a lot more fun! We have also been working on a greener version of camping and I would love to share with you some ideas on "eco camping".

1 Bring Reusable Plates, Bowls, Cups, Utensils: If you have sturdy plastic plates, bowls, etc. in your home already, then use these. If you don't, then a small investment in some stainless steel, bamboo, or plastic items is the way to go. Each family member only needs 1 plate, 1 set of utensils, 1 bowl, and 1 cup to be cleaned after each use and used again. We used our To Go Ware Bamboo utensils at our last camping trip and we all loved it!

2. Use a Natural Biodegradable Camp Soap: We use Dr. Bronners for washing dishes and hands! You can find specialty camp soaps at your local camp store. Do not use soap in rivers or lakes.

3. Use a Natural Sunblocker and Bug Spray: We love using Mama Rose's Naturals Sunblocker and Insect Repellent!

4. Pack it Out: Even if you bring reusable items, you will still end up with trash. Make sure to bring a trash bag so you can bring your trash out of the camp site with you.

5. Campfires: We love evening camp fires while camping! Make sure to only burn wood fallen from trees....do not cut down branches from a living tree. Build campfires in designated fire rings only and never burn plastic or other toxic materials.

6. Campsite: use existing campsites to prevent impacting new areas and pitch tents in cleared spots.

7. Have fun: Enjoying nature and teaching our kids how important it is to respect nature is a great way to have fun while camping. Allow your kids to explore nature and play with what is available rather than bringing too many toys from home (although a few balls, hula hoops, and jump ropes can be fun for kids). Going with other families can be a great way to make the experience more special and fun and can help kids to appreciate their natural surroundings.

We do our best to take care of our Earth and it is important to get out and enjoy ourselves in her beauty. If you follow a few simple guidelines while camping, it can be eco friendly and fun!

~Suzy
suzy@hipmountainmama.com

June Mid Month Check In

2010-06-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

How is your June change going so far?

The Community of Change Welcomes Michelle

2010-06-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I were discussing her guest blogging for One Small Change and when she mentioned what she had in mind I was very excited. I am a part of a Nature Rocks Flock here in Colorado and really support and encourage their efforts. In fact, as I write this, the kids are getting ready for today's adventure meeting our flock at a local park.

A Super Green Summer – One Outdoor Adventure at a Time

Like many parents, I am keenly aware that school is letting out very soon.

And, frankly, I'm thrilled at the prospect of a break from making sack lunches and fighting the daily "hurry, up you are going to miss the bus" and "you can't wear that" battles. (Oh, and, of course, I'm thrilled about more time with my kid, too!)

But, I'm also aware that I'm entering a new juggling act....how to work without the regular routine of school...how to help my children have a fun and fulfilling summer...how to balance the constant begging for playdates (because, after all, it has been a year of being around kids all the time) and how to make the most of this outdoor season.

So, suffice it to say, I'm really excited to put this relatively new online resource to use this summer. Nature Rocks is a national program that aims to inspire and empower families to play and explore in nature. The website has all kinds of tools like a "Find Nature" activity which enables you to search for a variety of natural spots by zipcode; a "Find Activities" feature which helps to figure out an activity appropriate for you (by age of children, duration of time available and location) -- and even a "Connect" feature which helps you connect with others.
For our little family, figuring out how to "be" in nature is second nature. Still, sometimes it is nice to have a little help thinking about what nature-rich activity to do -- and how to make it even more engaging for little ones.

No matter where you live, you'll find something in your area. Go to Nature Rocks and check it out.

And, if you are looking for some related summer reading, why not check out Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods -- the inspiration for Nature Rocks.

Bio:I'm a Maine-r. Or, at least I like to think I am. True locals will argue differently simply because I wasn't born in Maine -- I'm "from away" they say. Whatever. It is crystal clear to me that I was born to live in Maine . Here's the catch. I fell in love with someone who really is "from away". So, I spend big chunks of time in a place very far from where I call home. But, I'm trying to bloom where planted, as they say. I'm trying to foster a simple (or at least a little simpler than some), relatively green, reasonably wholesome and creative life for my family whether we're here or there.