This weeks Sunday Planet Saver is.......

Green grass & no gas!

I'm tipping my hat to my sweetie, Ben for this weeks Planet Saver.

Here's why......

1.  The Grass is Greener: 
Ben loves to buy new tools, or toys as he lovingly refers to them.  This week he purchased this new toy, a push lawn mower.  Less maintenance for him, less pollutants for the planet.  Plus there's the added benefit of no gasoline to purchase so this one will pay for itself!

 

New soil with compost

2. Going and Growing Organic:
Since late winter this year Ben has been bringing home lovely 4 way soil with compost for our garden beds!  Now he's an organic gardener too!

3.  Fresh Air Fabulous:

He put his carpentry skills to work building and installing a beautiful screen door for our kitchen entrance.  Now we've got Eco air conditioning!

It's not Halloween, but still gotta wear a mask

4. Smart Soil:

Ben added vermiculite to the soil for our dahlias.  Yep, that's good for the planet because it conditions the soil and holds moisture.  That means less watering used for flowers.  And even though you need to wear a respirator when mixing it into the soil to keep from breathing the dust particles, it is actually a naturally occurring mineral.

5. Righteous Recycling:
Here you can see Ben working on a cedar round he's been hanging onto for several years.  And he is recycling it into a new bed to hold a dahlia planting.  

 

First a slice down the center with the chain saw.

Next he pulled out the axe and chops out the center pieces.  They won't go to waste though because Ben is chopping those for kindling for our woodstove.

Once the inner stump was removed, it formed a cute flower bed.  The lines of this bed mirror the lines of the rocky outcropping behind it. The big cedar rounds came from a neighbor who had to take the tree out when building his home due to the heart rot in the tree. And because it's only the good cedar used for the flower bed it's naturally rot resistant!

So there are my  top 5 reasons that this weeks Planet Saver is my wonderful partner and buddy.  Way to go Ben!

 

Friday Finds

We're back with Friday Finds where I'm sharing fun, interesting and informative things I've found this week on the web.

Thread Banger has some of the best how to videos that I've found on the web!   Here's a great one for making a dress from Tshirts.  It's even got pockets!

Here's another re purpose T project for turning your old Ts into new halter tops.  Come on sunshine!:



Bicyclists, how about an upcycle wallet from one of your old innertubes?  Instructables will show you how!

Need a heavy duty bag.  Why not try upcycling some old jeans for this denim tote from Crafting a Green World

A quick n easy upcycle for plastic bags:  Make a fused plastic drink coaster from Cut Out And Keep

Oh I like this one!  Make some cushy spa slippers by upcycling an old pair of flip flops (We called those thongs when I growing up)  and an old bath towel  Crafty Nest will take you through each step!

Photo: Kayte Terry

This is one for you if your more mechanical.  You can make quite a beautiful lamp from a cd spindle.  (I'll have to see if I can convince Ben to help me with this project.


How about turning those colorful magazines that you've got stashed for a future project into useful and pretty boxes.  Abstract Octopus takes you through a step by step tutorial to make your own!

Are you a bibliophile?  Why not repurpose an interesting hardback book into a handbag.  Curbly shows you how:


Wow!  I'm absolutely fascinated by this.  Did you know could build a solar heater with aluminum cans and a few other items?  Me either, but I found this while surfing this week. If 10 year old, Rashel Cortez can do it, then it can't be too difficult!  Check this out.  Could be the answer for an outbuilding, green house or shed.  I'm thinking if my studio were heated with something like this I may even venture up there in the winter months.


Well that's all I've got for you today.  Enjoy these crafty and useful ways to get a second use from everyday items.  Drop me a line if you have some sites you'd like to share in a future Friday Finds post.  I'm looking for your DIY tutorials for green projects and upcycle crafts.  Just click on my photo below for email.

Thanks!

Hooray for Mother Earth! It's her day, celebrate your way!

Today is a global celebration 40 years running of our lovely planet earth.  Home to diverse species of plant and animal.Don't be limited by the April 22nd date.  We can all celebrate Earth Day through our everyday actions to live with less impact.

Over at the Project Earth Day website, you can explore key issues related to Earth Day such as Climate change, politics, education, conservation and more. 

Or check out the EPA website where they are encouraging us all to learn, teach and share.  Why not pledge to pick 5 for the environment.

Learn the history.  Here's a link for exploring the very first Earth Day from The Envirolink Network

Here in our little island community there's an Earth Day celebration that will combine work with party as volunteers will help with a spring clean up of the Otto Preserve trail

Personally I'll be celebrating Earth Day with a round of recycling bags.  I think I'm going to make myself a green bag.  It's about time I had one of my own!  Then weather permitting I plan to tend to my worm factory and compost bins.

What is going on in your community?  Are you doing something special today to honor the earth?  Leave me a comment, or click on my photo (below) and send me an email with your Earth Day suggestions and plans.  I'd love to hear how you get down for the planet!

What's growing on Wednesday

Chocolate mint for a tasty sweet tea

It's raining again & you know what they say...  April showers bring May flowers.  Well with our weather lately ranging from 70 degrees one day, to heavy rain the next, we have got flowers and greenery shooting up all around us right now in April.

This week Ben built me another new raised bed and placed it in the corner of our new garden area.  It's about 2' deep 2' across and 4' long.  I'm not sure what I'm going to plant in there yet.  Maybe the leeks since this is one of the deeper beds I have in my veggie patch or possibly peppers since this is a very sunny spot.

Back in the more natural and native part of my yard I noticed the Saalal and Oregon Grape are both showing signs of spring with new growth and even buds on the Saalal.  This is good news for the 6 or 7 hummingbirds I have hanging around my yard.  They really loved sipping from the tiny white blossoms  of our native saalal last year.   

Mushroom in moss

I noticed some new leaves and growth on the huckleberry bushes too.  Huckleberries grow wild here in the Pacific Northwest.  They seem only to grow where an old tree has died.  They favor old stumps and decayed duff piles.  The berries, when ripe,  are quite small like a pea, but still a  tasty treat when added to summer pancakes.  That is if the birds and chipmunks don't get to them first.

Ajuga, aka bugle weed

In the backyard herb and flower bed things are really filling in nicely.  A few days ago I chased a momma and her 2 yearling fawns out of the herb patch where they were happily munching on my day lilies again.  If only they had an appetite for weeds.  But it's fun to see them so close to the house even if they are eating machines.

Big color on  tiny violet

How wonderful to be on year 4 in a garden.  When we moved into this house it did have a lot of established garden area.  I added to that year after year and moved starts of this and that into place.  I'm really enjoying seeing how it all has come together and to see those tiny starts are now fully established plants. This year I'm really beginning to see my plan take shape as different colors and textures of plants are co mingling in the herb and flower beds.

Well, if it stops raining anytime today, I may get out and pull a few weeds.  It always seems easier to pull them up by the roots when the ground is wet.  Other than that I'm ahead of the game with my spring chores.  

unfurling fern

This weekend we plan to plant our dahlia tubers from our recent buying spree at the Whatcom County Dahlia Society's tuber sale.  Ben and I each picked up a mix of sizes and styles of blooms, so we've got our work cut out with planting and labeling them.  It will all be worth it to see them in bloom this summer.  I can hardly wait!

How's your spring garden growing?  Any big plans for new plantings and projects?  Veggies, flowers or both?  Are you going organic this year?  Send me links for your gardening blogs adventures and even mis-steps stories.  I love to hear and see how other gardens are growing too.  Just click on my photo below to email me or leave a comment.

This weeks Sunday Planet Saver is.......

I know I shouldn't blow my own horn, but I'm so pleased with my recycling efforts so what the heck?  Here goes.....................

TOOT!  TOOT!  

This is why I am so proud of myself today, here's my latest collection of FatBottomBags.  Most are available in the store if your interested.  A few are for a special order and a couple are gifts for friends with upcoming birthdays.

This photo contains over 620 recycled plastic bags!

 I think my running tally is now up to somewhere around 6500 plastic bags recycled! And that my friends, is why I'm blowing  my own horn on Sunday Planet Saver. 

Here's one for you too!

TOOT! TOOT!

Why for you? Because I couldn't do what I'm doing without you!  It's so exciting to see that together we are closing the loop with recycling.  So thank you to my contributors who have donated their plastic bags to me for recycling.  Thank you to my loyal and wonderful green customers for purchasing the finished bags.  Thank you friends, family and followers for encouraging me on this path.  Together we are making a difference!

My Blog is Carbon Neutral

Speaking of planting trees....  I was catching up on my reading over at  Going Green Crafters and Artists when I found this program for neutralizing the carbon footprint of their blog.  What a great idea!  I want to have a Carbon Neutral blog too! 

Easier said than done, right?  Well not really, Mach's brun (rough translation:  Make it Green) really is making it green by offering to make any blog carbon neutral!  This German program is planting trees in patnership with Arbor Day Foundation at Plumas National Forest in Northern California .  This is in an effort to reforest the area that was devistated by forest fires back in 2007.

So Yay!!!  By making my blog carbon neutral I'm helping make the world a little greener. This spring they will be planting  Douglas-fir, red and white firs, and incense cedars alongside ponderosa pine and sugar pine trees. These new trees will help prevent soot and soil runoff into Plumas’ precious water supplies. And one of those little trees is forever linked to my blog :0)

Here's my new badge to show off my neutral status!

Don't have a blog of your own but want to participate in reforresting?  Don't worry, Arbor Day Foundation has many other ways you can help too!

Happy St Patricks Day!

Erin Go Braugh!  Ireland forever! 

Today's one of those lovely holidays that celebrates one culture while embracing all.  You know what they say, on St Patricks Day, everyone is Irish.

My maternal Grandma used to hold her thumb to her first pinkie joint and say "We've got a smidge of Irish, that's why we're lucky".  I love it!   Years later I learned that my paternal Grandpa was of Irish decent too!  So today I say, Kiss me I'm Irish!

Image from http://www.clipartandcrafts.com

Enjoy your green beers and green gear, and remember to go green everyday!

Sunday Planet Saver

It's easy to get overwhelmed when greening up our lives.  I mean there's so many habits to change and so much to learn about that at times it can seem like a lot of effort.  That's why I'm all about simple steps.  Just like any journey in life, it doesn't happen all at once it starts with a single step.  So for today's planet saver suggestion I'm appealing to your eco-sensibility to BYOM (bring your own mug)

My favorite Coffee Mug!

I don't know about you, but I don't even try to start my day without a fresh cup of coffee.  When I worked in the "real world" I often had 4 or 5 cups of coffee throughout the day just to stay productive. You know how much we love our coffee in the Pacific Northwest, home of Starbucks, Tully's, Seattle's Best and my favorite Fidalgo Bay Coffees!  Up here you can't throw a stone in the city without hitting an espresso stand! Even if you are just drinking 1 or 2 cups a day, or taking tea on your break, those disposable cups, lids and stir stix add up quickly in our landfills and most of those disposables are not recycle-able!

Think about it in these terms:  There are 365 days in each year with 260 weekdays, so if you work 5 days a week, each year you may be sending 260 plastic, paper or foam cups to the landfill along with plastic stir stix and lids.  That is a lot of unnecessary waste!  

Instead, why not bring your own mug (and spoon) to the office.  You can reuse it all day long without worry of the bottom giving out and at the end of the day just a quick rinse and it's ready for use again tomorrow.  Plus, with your own mug, you can express yourself!  I love that!  When I worked in corporate America I always tried to find a fun happy and colorful mug to express myself in the gray cubicle rat-maze where I spent 260 windowless days every year!  It was a little something that I could do to brighten my workspace up.

So tonight when you are getting your backpack, briefcase or purse ready for the week to come, take a second and add your favorite mug from your cupboard. It's a simple step with a huge impact!  It's easy being green when you take it a step at a time!

When we all do our small part, we really can change the big picture!

We have a winner!

First off my apologies for posting this announcement so late in the day.  I've been in touch today through my fabulous new tech toy, my Iphone, but I wasn't able to log in to my blogger account, probably just because I'm still on a learning curve. 

I'm so impressed with all of you wonderful creative and generous entries!  What a generous and thoughtful bunch you are.  In fact with so many wonderful ladies doing great things to improve the world I couldn't choose a favorite.  Instead I had Ben choose a random winner after all. So without further ado, the winner of the Pay It Forward Giveaway is Courtney from Tizzy Dee on Facebook

Not only did Courtney and her husband start a non-profit group to help her communty to increase cultural and economic diversity through hosting quarterly community conversations but she is working toward a goal of helping minoity students at a local university with a home-away from home program.  Hard to believe she still has time to make these adorable Sesame Street inspired hats and other crocheted items she sells at her Etsy Shop

Thank you Courtney and everyone who entered for all you do to make our world a better place!

Just goes to show my motto is true because when we all do our small part, we really are changing the big picture!

Saturday in the garden.

I know many of you are still buried under the snow storm.  Maybe a little more about my organic gardening will tide you over until you can get out and dig in your own dirt.

We've had an extremely warm winter this year.  Great for our heating bill, but not so great for the nearby winter olympics in Vancouver BC.  We're all in more or less the same weather area and the shortage of snow up north has kept us from freezing down here.  Anyhow, I've been watching the signs of spring for a few weeks now.  I held off on making any plantings because the calendar kept telling me "not yet Christi, it's just too soon."

Today I finally told that calendar to shut up!  It was a beautiful sunny day and by jove I was going to get in my garden to plant something!

With my seed stash in hand, I headed down to our little enclosed garden and threw open the gate then I got straight to work.  I pulled open the plastic cover on my boat garden and cleared out a few small weeds, cleaned the dead growth off the herbs, pulled out the brown leaves from the strawberries and planted 2 short rows of lettuce.  1 row is "salad bowl" and the second row is a mix of romaine with red and green leaf lettuce. 

The boat garden revealed - garlic, strawberries, fennel, lettuce and carrots

Next I focused my attention on an empty bed that held multi-colored carrots last year.  It is really important to rotate your garden crops to keep down on disease spread, so this year I planted 2 rows of my home grown organic onion sets and 3 intesively planted rows of peas from some seeds that my mom saved for me from her garden last year.

Now I was on a roll!  I still had 2 open beds ready for planting, so I went back through my seed stash and found a few more candidates for an early spring planting.  These beds grew my lushious tomato crops last year, so this year it would need to be something else. 

I decided 1 pea planting just won't be enough for me, especially since last years peas were devoured by our local deer (before we got the deer fence up).  I found a packet of Gray Dwarf peas in the mix.  These are really good.  You can use them as pea pods or as green peas, so I planted 1/2 of this open bed with the gray's, the other half I added 3 short rows of Olympic spinach, 3 short rows of Gormet Mix radishes and 3 plantings of Brussels sprouts.  Yummy! 

It doesn't look like much now, but in a couple

of months this intesive planting will be in full

production!

Feeling good about my progress, I decided to leave the bed unplanted for just a bit longer.  I threw the plastic cover back over the boat garden and called it a day.  Boy it sure was nice to get out there and get something new in the ground.  I'm glad I left the 1 bed empty, so that the next time I get the urge to plant I've got a whole bed ready for me!

An interview with the girls at Girls Go Green

Today I wanted to tell you about a great group of girls from Seattle who are blogging for a greener world and working to create a positive change in the world!

I "met" Anna of Girls Go Green through blogs and then she requested to have their eco site listed amongst the Friends of FatBottomBags!  If you aren't a follower of Girls Go Green, you'll definately want to be! 

Girls Go Green is 4 girls who go to a tiny girls school in Seattle.  The girls started their blog last year when they were 11 and 12 years old.  Now at 12 and 13 they are blogging about living a green teen lifestyle!

I sent the girls a few questions to learn more about them and their green efforts.  Here's that interview:

     FBB: How did you girls decide to go green?

     GGG:  The school had scratch paper bins around the school for paper that had been used but was still usable, but nobody really used them. We sorted the paper in the scratch paper bins and in the recycling into scratch paper and recycling. We decided to start a green club at our school and that a blog would be nice to have. The school year was almost over so the club never happened, but the blog certainly did!

     FBB: What is your goal for your blog?
         
     GGG: To encourage other girls to make an effort at being green.

     FBB:  How have Girls Go Green influenced their peers to make better choices for the future of the earth?

     GGG: We have encouraged out classmates to use scratch paper and compost.

     FBB: Do you find most of the kids your age are thinking about how we are affecting the planet with our decisions?

     GGG: There are some, but not really.

     FBB: What's your best green tip for other young people who want to make a difference in the world?

     GGG: Make an effort to do little green things. It's the little things that count!

     FBB: Do you think adults are receptive to your green message?

     GGG:  We think that they care more that we're kids actually doing something, not really about what what we are doing. They don't really believe that we are going to actually accomplish anything.


I'm so impressed with these girls and all of their green efforts! I hope all you readers will join me in following their blog and encouraging them to keep working to create positive changes!

Break over and back to work

It was lovely to take a break from bags for a couple weeks.  That's the thing when you work for yourself, seems like you never take time off.  I know that's true for me.  But this year I decided it was important to give myself a break, a Christmas vacation of sorts.  It was nice, but now that we're into the second week of the new year I knew it was time to refocus on my crafting for a greener planet.

So if you are a new reader and don't know about my FatBottomBags,  they are all made from recycled plastic shopping bags that I collect from friends and family. My goal is to save as many of those rotten plastic bags from going into the waste stream as possible.  I cut them all up and sort them by color and then crochet them into one of a kind purses, backpacks and totebags.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours sorting and cutting 500 newly contributed plastic bags.  Then I went on to start on some new bags and purses for the store.  I worked on a new purse all evening and finished it off this morning. So here's what I've been up to:

This is one of my totes.  They're a great size for reusable shopping bags

This cute little purse is the latest Bee bag I've made.

Ok, so now it's on to some more domestic chores like finish the laundry and grocery shopping! 

BTW, don't forget to enter to win your own Mini-bag by FatBottomBags

Have a great GREEN day!

Bee Green Greenwashing

So yesterday in my post Welcome to 2010 an Earth Odyssey I talked about simple ways to green up your life and our future.  One of those suggestions was to be aware of packaging when making purchases and that brings me to todays topic, Greenwashing.   Greenwashing is a term used to describe companies and products who are jumping on the ecomovement by trying to claim to be green, but on closer inspection are simply trying to fool us all.

This Christmas I received this wonderful and thoughtful gift from my mother.  She chose this for me because she knows how much I love houseplants and being green.  I love it, however it is a great example of a green wash.

I love to Bee Green!

So this company is selling an idea of being green, but check out the next photo and you'll see that they aren't actually green at all.  My cute little plant pot came wrapped in 1 layer of cardboard (not so bad, I'll reuse the box for sorting colored bag strips and when it's worn out I can recycle it) and 2 layers of *gasp* styrofoam.  Yuck!  Styrofoam has NO place in a green product.  I can't recycle it, I can't burn it, it doesn't compost.  It's NOT GREEN! 

 

But this company obviously doesn't really believe in being green

If this company was actually green they would have used cardboard made from recyled content for their packaging.  For a comparable price to styrofoam they could have used EcoCradle natural and compostable packaging material or another natural material.

I hope that by sharing this example, you too will become more aware of the packaging used in your purchases, and be aware that there are many unscrupulous companies out there who are trying to take advantage of environmentally minded people and Greenwash their products and services.  Another example of the age old adage "buyer beware!"

Welcome 2010 an Earth odyssey

Here we are starting a new year and a new decade, and there's no better time to go green.  Here's a 7 simple steps you can take to make the coming 10 years and beyond better

1.  Change from high energy incandesent bulbs to compact florescent lighting.  An ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.  It's estimated by the EPA that each CFL bulb can keep 400 Lbs of greenhouse gasses from being released.  Just be sure you know how to dispose of them properly!  Here's what to do if you break a CFL

2.  Turn down your thermostat just a couple of degrees can save a significant amount of power.  Earth911.com estimates a 5% savings on your power bill for each degree you turn down the thermostat. 

3.  Be aware of packaging when making purchases.  So your standing in the grocery store trying to decide between 1 brand and another, do you consider packaging in your decision? Will you choose glass or aluminum over plastic?  Will you choose a refill?  Will you purchase in bulk to save on packaging?  It's a small thing that can make a big difference.  Here's an inovative and very friendly solution by the creative folks at  Ecovative Design

4.  Start a compost bin!  Your garden will grow greener and healthier and you'll save a lot of waste from hitting the landfills.  There are many designs for composters, here's how I made my "Easiest Compost Ever"

5.  Buy local and organic foods whenever possible.  You'll save jobs, help your local community, get fresher and healthier food and help to reduce the emissions that come from shipping over long distances.  Have you heard of the 100 mile diet?  They have a great getting started guide for eating local

6.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!  Simple yes, and makes a big impact.

7.  Plant a tree or have them planted by Arbor Day Foundation Just 6 pine trees at Twenty-Five year old absorb up to 1 ton of CO2.

Recycling magazines into Christmas gift bows

Easy recyled bows and they're festive and pretty too!

I've been wanting to try this project that I found on How About Orange to craft your own gift bows using magazine pages.  I made several using her method of staple and glue, but they came out a bit bulky due to the staple in each layer.  With a little experimentation I found a method that worked for me.

Here's what you'll need for this recycle craft project:
     * Paper cutter or sharp scissors
     * Hole punch
     * Brass plated fastners - You can find these at the office supply store, or even some grocery stores.  I found mine in the school supply section at Albertsons
     * Colorful magazine pages

This is a fastner.  The point is 2 pieces that open up to secure your paper

So the first thing you'll do is choose a colorful page from your magazine.  Garden magazines are good for full pages of color photos, or I found that the ads in other magazines were good sources for color I wanted to use.  For this bow I'll show you with a beer ad.  Don't worry, when the bow is done you'll be suprised it came from this:

Now, trim off the torn edge and set aside for recycling.  Then align your page with the edge of the cutter and cut off a strip.  Repeat until you have 4 strips cut.

Next, rotate your paper so that you are cutting from the short side.  Cut one strip.  This short strip will be the center of your bow.

Now, rotate your paper back to the long side and cut off 4 additional strips.

You should now have 4 long strips, 4 slightly shorter strips and 1 very short strip.  Starting with the shortest strip, form it into a tube where the 2 ends overlap by about 1/2".  Punch a hole in the center where the overlap is like so:

Push the fastner through from the inside of your tube and then pull the 2 ends of the fastner apart just enough to keep the tube from falling off.  Don't tighten it all the way yet because you'll  still be working with it.

Now grab your first shorter strip and fold it in 1/2 to mark the center.

Open your strip back up and you'll see the fold line marking the center.  Now take 1 end and fold it over twisting it to form this:

Make sure your ends overlap here by about 1/2" and punch a hole in the center like this:

Now place the fastner (still attached to your tube) through the hole.

Repeat with all 4 shorter strips rotating each section as you add it to the fastner.

Then do the same with the 4 longer strips and add them to your bow.  When you've added your last strip adjust the fastner to secure.

You can't really see the beer ad anymore, all you have is a beautiful

recycled bow to finish off your holiday packages!

That's all there is to it!  When you're ready to add this to your Christmas gifts, simply add 2 sided tape and attach.  I thought these came out so great I made a whole stack of them to use on my gifts

Pretty in Pink, Purple, Yellow and Green

They're festive in Blue and Turquoise.

But of course my favorite are the GREEN!

Have fun with this project and try experimenting with other papers too.  I think some of my junk mail could make pretty bows, but I already shredded it up and put it in my worm bin.  Next time, I'll be saving some out for this project.  Another good one for Christmas would be those Netflix red envelopes.  No limits, let your imagination run wild!