Strocel.com | One Green Thing

One Green Thing: Home Improvement

Amber on May 2, 2013 Leave a Comment

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so today I’m tackling my One Green Thing for May. This month it’s all about home improvement. But first, I’ll talk about my cycling adventures last month.

While I really, really, really loved the Ivanna Urbanista from Opus Bikes, the truth is that my cycling experiences were a mixed bag. I found that I didn’t use the bike as much as I had hoped, which is particularly galling because I only had it for two weeks. I knew my time was limited, and even still I was only able to get out on two wheels a few times. The first time was for a coffee date and some errands, and I totally overdid it. It drove home that cycling isn’t exactly super-easy, especially if you have anything to haul with you. I also went cycling with my eight-year-old Hannah, and while that was fun, it was also fairly stressful even on our not-so-busy suburban streets. I honestly can’t see cycling with my kids for anything other than recreational purposes. I am still seriously considering a bicycle, but I doubt I’ll become a serious cyclist anytime soon.

Me, 10 years ago, cutting baseboards

This month I’m heading in an entirely different direction, by setting my sights on some home improvement. After our misadventures in real estate in April, in which we put forward an offer on a house in our neighbourhood that wasn’t accepted, Jon and I have decided that we really need to focus on fixing all the things that need to be fixed in our current house. Maybe in the process we’ll create a home that meets our every need. Or maybe we’ll just be ready to sell if another house comes up. Either way, 10 years after buying this place it’s time to do some more renovating.

My goal for May is to learn about green home renovations. We’ve had one quote on some work from a company that advertises itself as doing sustainable home improvement. We’ve got another company coming by this weekend to size up what needs to be done. I want to do some background reading of my own, so that by the time we’re actually signing on the dotted line on any work, I know a little bit more about how I can minimize the environmental footprint, and maybe even make my home a little greener in the process. I think I’ll start by re-listening to my podcast with green building expert Anna Hackman.

This feels like something of a full-circle moment for me. Strocel.com started 10 years ago this month, as a blog about home buying and home improvement. Now I’m re-entering that world, but with an eye towards sustainability. If you have any tips to share around green home improvement, I’d love to hear them. Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: Enviro-Mama, Home Improvement, One Green Thing

One Green Thing: Loaner Bicycle

Amber on April 4, 2013 7 Comments

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so today I’m tackling my One Green Thing for April. This month it’s all about getting out on two wheels. But first, I’ll talk about my seed-starting exploits last month.

I’m happy to say that my seed-starting went well. So far I’ve planted spinach, kale, potatoes, and my first batch of carrots outside. I have some little spinach seedlings happily growing. I also put out compost, and started licorice mint, bergamot, yarrow, butterfly bush, pumpkins, watermelon, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, tomatillo, parsley, basil, onions, peppers, tomatoes and cantaloupe inside. My seedlings are doing well. I’m ready to pot on the pumpkins and tomatoes – in fact, I should do that today. I also managed to get some pruning done this month, and I’m feeling very proud of my gardening efforts on the whole.

For April, I’m heading in a totally different direction. I was contacted by a PR company, and got the chance to request a loaner bicycle. If all goes to plan, I should receive it in mid-April. I’m really excited about the opportunity. I’ve long wanted a bicycle of my own, since I haven’t had one since I left home at 18. However, I’m constantly going back-and-forth, unsure if I would actually use the bike enough to justify the cost. I’m viewing the loaner as a great trial run, to let me see just how cycling could fit into my greener lifestyle.

I think this would be a good time for me to buy a bike, actually. My daughter Hannah is getting to be a pretty good little cyclist, and for her birthday my mother, my grandmother and I pitched in to buy her a 12-speed. She’s fast on it, and I could see taking her for shorter-distance rides. Also, I’m now staring down the barrel of my son starting kindergarten in five months. Once I’m not carting him around as much, cycling for short errands will be more manageable for me. I’m hoping that the loaner bike will just confirm my belief that it’s time to get out on two wheels.

I’ll report back next month and let you know if the loaner bike worked out, and how it went for me. Right now, though, I need to go shopping for a helmet and maybe some snazzy cycling shorts. While I do that, I’d love to hear your own cycling tips and experiences. Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: Cycling, Enviro-Mama, One Green Thing

One Green Thing: Starting Seeds

Amber on March 7, 2013 11 Comments

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so today I’m tackling my One Green Thing for March. This month it’s all about gardening – I’m hoping it goes better than my pledge to do more gardening research back in January. But first, I’ll talk about my adventures in DIY deodorant last month.

I actually have two things to report on my quest for a good, green deodorant. The first is that, after so many of you said good things about the crystal, I realized I had actually never tried it. I’d heard very mixed reviews, so I’d discounted it out-of-hand, but that doesn’t really seem fair. I bought a crystal (bonus – they’re cheap!) and used it for two weeks. I found that it worked well. Who knew? I would have stopped there, actually, if I hadn’t committed to making my own deodorant. As I’ve already shared, I made my first batch of DIY deodorant last week. I have to say that I really like it. In fact, I prefer it to the crystal, mostly because I like the way it smells. One week in, it’s still working really well. I’ve tried applying it using both the tube and my fingers, and both have pros and cons. If I were to go with fingers I would likely omit the beeswax, while I would add a little more next time for the tube, because firmness is a good thing in that situation.

one green thing starting seeds gardening Moving on to this month, I’m happy to say that spring is in the air here in Vancouver. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, and I got outside and did some pruning. I planted my first seeds outside, as well – spinach. I also (finally) placed my seed order with Vancouver-area institution West Coast Seeds. In addition to lettuce, corn, carrot, cauliflower and other seeds, I ordered some seed-starting trays, a slug and snail trap, a wildflower blend that attracts beneficial insects, and diatomaceous earth. I don’t want to keep losing my crops to pests, so I’m trying to get serious about getting my little plants off to a good start in the first place, and doing what I can to discourage creepy-crawlies that want to make a snack of my wee little lettuce shoots.

This is the latest I’ve gotten seeds started, but I’m thinking that it may work out better. I have a tendency to be an over-eager gardener, jumping the gun on transplanting my seedlings. I think some part of my brain believes that I can hurry summer – and the harvest – along if I start things early. However, I’ve seen that the result is many of my seedlings just don’t do that well, languishing in the cool, rainy days of April. I’m hoping that holding off a few weeks will net better results.

At the end of the month I’ll let you know how it went. In the meantime, tell me about your gardening planning. I’d love to hear! Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: Enviro-Mama, Gardening, One Green Thing

Adventures in Homemade Deodorant

Amber on February 28, 2013 10 Comments

My One Green Thing for February is trying homemade deodorant. Never one to do today what I can put off ’til tomorrow, I just mixed up my first batch last night. While I experiment with it, I thought I’d share the process with you.

I did my research a few weeks ago, and found two recipes that looked promising: this one and this one. Because I like to complicate things, I combined them and improvised a little bit to create my own recipe. Here’s what I used:

4 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp beeswax
4 Tbsp arrowroot flour
2 Tbsp baking soda
10 drops tea tree oil
10 drops grapefruit seed extract
10 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil
1 old, clean deodorant tube

First, I put the coconut oil and beeswax in a small saucepan over low heat to melt. While that did its thing, I combined the arrowroot and baking soda in a glass bowl.

Once the oils were melted and combined, I mixed the whole thing together and added the oils and grapefruit seed extract. Then I mixed it together as well as I could, because lumpy deodorant does not seem like a good thing. Finally, I poured as much as I could into the deodorant tube, which is sitting in my fridge hardening right now. The rest went into a glass jar, that I put upstairs in my room. The theory is that the beeswax should make it hard at room temperature, but we’ll have to see.

The whole process took about 10 minutes or so, and the cost of the materials was pretty small. I bought my stick of beeswax at the farmers’ market for $2. I already had the tea tree oil, arrowroot, coconut oil, and baking soda on hand. I bought the grapefruit seed extract and essential oils, and they weren’t cheap, but I used a really small amount. I would say that my DIY deodorant is quite a lot cheaper than the real thing. Now, the only question is: will it work? I’ll report back next week and let you know.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama, Making Things Tagged With: DIY, Enviro-Mama, One Green Thing

One Green Thing: DIY Deodorant

Amber on February 7, 2013 18 Comments

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so today I’m tackling my One Green Thing for February. This month I’ll be taking on a DIY project. But first, I’ll talk about my pledge to do some gardening research last month.

So, how did my efforts to read up on gardening and come up with a good plan for my 2013 garden go? In short, they didn’t. Oh, I went to the library. I took out a bunch of books. I put those books on my desk, filled with good intentions. And then the books sat there. And sat there. And sat there. I didn’t even crack a single one before I got the email from the library letting me know that they were due shortly. At that point, I realized there was no way I was getting through them, and I declared defeat. Sometimes, you just have to concede your failure and move on.

Image Credit – Tiffany Terry on Flickr

This month, however, I am once again buoyed by optimism. And buoyed by that optimism, I have decided to try making my own deodorant.

I try to avoid using traditional antiperspirants, because I’m concerned about the ingredients they contain. In particular, I am worried about phthalates and other chemicals in artificial fragrance, and about parabens. I would prefer not to use a product that’s strongly-scented and that contains a number of chemicals with long names that I can’t pronounce.

For a few years I’ve been on the hunt for a good natural alternative to commercial antiperspirants, and I’ve mostly come up empty. I’ll find something that works, but usually after a few weeks its effectiveness seems to diminish, and I find myself back at square one. It recently occurred to me that I wash my face with honey, and I wash my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. So why not try one of the many recipes floating around the internet for homemade deodorant? If it doesn’t work, it’s still cheaper than most natural options, and I’m no worse off than I am now. If it does work, I’m saving money, and ensuring that I know exactly what I’m slathering on my underarms.

The fact that I’m trying this project during the winter does give me something of an advantage, and perhaps makes the test a little bit unfair. But the truth is that the natural deodorants don’t work for me at this time of year, so I don’t think the seasonal impact will be too high.

At the end of the month I’ll let you know how it went. In the meantime, if you’ve ever tried making your own deodorant, I’d love to hear from you. Any tips, ideas or suggestions are very welcome! Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: DIY, Enviro-Mama, One Green Thing

One Green Thing: Gardening Research

Amber on January 3, 2013 5 Comments

I’m going to be re-visiting Enviro-Mama Thursday here on Strocel.com. I won’t necessarily write on a green topic every week. However, I will still be doing my One Green Thing each month. Today I’m planning a trip to the library. It’s my One Green Thing for January. But first, I’ll talk about my quest to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging last month.

As it turns out, this Christmas featured some of the lowest levels of packaging coming into my home of any year I can remember. I meant to collect styrofoam for recycling, for instance, but we ended up with only one thin four by four inch square piece. After my son stepped on it and it fell apart, it ended up in the trash. Otherwise, most of my gifts came in cardboard, with some small amounts of non-recyclable plastic. As always, I kept the gift bags and boxes I received for reuse. However, there just really wasn’t a whole lot for me to do. I suppose that’s a good thing, really.

As you may recall, in November I focused on winterizing my garden. It was part of my ongoing quest to improve my garden’s performance. The next step is for me to plan my garden for next year. I’ve received my seed catalogue, and I’m planning my order. Along with seeds I’ll be buying some seed starting trays, a slug trap and some other things. I’d also like to buy some gardening books. However, I’m not sure which ones to get. These are the books that have caught my eye so far:

Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
The Polytunnel Handbook by Andy McKee and Mark Gatter
Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett Markham
Backyard Bounty by Linda Gilkeson
The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman
Year-Around Harvest: Winter Gardening on the Coast by Linda Gilkeson

At between $17 and $30 a pop, these books could add up fast. I’m not averse to buying two, or maybe even three, but I’d like to check them out first. Luckily, my husband came up with an easy solution – head to the library. There, I can check out a number of books. If they don’t have all these titles, they should at least have some of them, as well as others. If I find a manual I can’t live without, then I can consider forking over the cash. In the process, I can also do a little bit of background research to help me plan my seed order. Will it pay off in a better harvest? I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.

I’d also like to hear from you. Are there any gardening books you can’t live without? Have you read any of the titles I’m considering? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations! Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: Enviro-Mama, Gardening, One Green Thing

One Green Thing: Dealing With Packaging

Amber on December 6, 2012 6 Comments

It’s Enviro-Mama Thursday here on Strocel.com, and today I’m thinking about what to do with all that toy packaging. It’s my One Green Thing for December. If you want to know more about my One Green Thing for November, which was winterizing my garden, you can read my progress report from last week.

One of the things that I consider when I’m choosing Christmas gifts is the amount of packaging that the gift comes with. When you buy a tiny little toy that comes in a massive box, you wind up with a whole lot of trash on your hands. All the resources and energy that are used to manufacture and ship all that packaging literally end up in the trash. It’s wasteful and it isn’t good for the planet. That’s one reason that many “green” products come with minimal packaging, or none at all. It’s a way of reducing the environmental impact of the stuff you buy.

In spite of my best intentions, however, a whole lot of packaging comes into my home over the holidays. I can’t really complain about it – the packaging is a sign that my family is well-loved, and we’re receiving a lot of gifts. It’s also a sign that we have more than we could ever need. Still, I don’t like the idea that our celebrations are generating a whole lot of extra waste for the landfill. That’s why this December I’m targeting packaging.

Here’s how I plan on tackling the Christmas packaging:

As always, I’ll be keeping and reusing the gift bags and tissue paper that come into the house. By doing this I’ve been able to avoid buying new gift wrap for years now, and my presents still look pretty and colourful.
I’ve just discovered that there’s a local business that recycles styrofoam. They don’t accept it in my community’s curbside recycling program yet, but it’s good to know that there’s something I can do with it if I’m left with some after the holiday is over.
I will recycle all of the recyclable packaging that comes into my home, as always. I’ve got my eye on you, cardboard boxes!
As I said, I will try to opt for gifts with little or no packaging when I can. This will just ensure that I’m not bringing extra packaging into my home myself.

These changes aren’t really dramatic, but sometimes little changes make the most difference, because they’re the ones we can stick with most easily.

How do you handle all the packaging that comes into your home over the holidays? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks! Also, if you’d like to get in on the act and take on One Green Thing of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to grab the button from this post if you’re blogging about it, and spread the enviro-love.

Filed Under: Enviro-Mama Tagged With: Christmas, Enviro-Mama, One Green Thing