Once Upon a Mattress

Recycling bottles and cans is a no-brainer, but what to do with a mattress that’s outlived its usefulness? Fortunately, there are better options than sending it to the landfill. Before tossing the mattress, first reconsider. Can the mattress be cleaned or repaired? Will a topper meet your needs for less

A Farmer’s Market Tradition

Thanks to Finley’s cousin, Morgan Braswell, for sharing her Farmer’s Market tradition! Grocery shopping is a necessity, but unfortunately grocery stores are a sea of single-use plastics. While reusable produce and grocery bags help combat some of the problem, they don’t tackle the pesky plastic packaging around fruits or address

Walk a mile in these shoes

Chances are, you have sneakers in your closet. And chances are, before long you’ll need to replace those sneakers especially if you’re a runner. But what to do with your former shoes? Happily, there are many options to keep you from sending them to the landfill. If your shoes are

Switch It Up – Clean Energy

Have you looked at your utility bills recently?  Chances are your energy provider is offering new green power options.  Instead of using polluting fossil fuels, you can switch over to clean electricity sourced from wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass or solar.  This upgrade typically costs an extra $5-10 a month and

A Party for the Planet

Everyone loves a party…but a party that loves the environment is even better. After years of big-party throwing, here are some of my favorite green ideas for the host or hostess with the mostess. SCRAP THE COOLER WITH SINGLE SERVE BEVERAGES   Anyone who has cleaned up after a party knows

Take a Spin

Remember as a child going to the big city and swishing around in a revolving door?  Now we trudge off to our office buildings and choose the traditional door instead. We’ve lost that gleeful, private moment of suspension between inside and out.  And… the old-fashioned door that we chose uses

Not All Fuels Are Created Equal

We can’t all choose the perfect car, but no matter what we drive, we can improve our emissions with the fuel we choose to put in the tank.  Each gallon of unleaded gas creates about 20 pounds of C02. Gas blended with just 10% ethanol (a bio fuel made from

Whole Lotta Printin’ Going On

Everywhere we look there is printed material. The average 9-to-5er generates almost 10,000 sheets of paper a year, according to the EPA. That’s a lotta trees and a lotta ink! Thankfully there is a whole lot we can do to limit the impact of our printing. First, let’s start with

Welcome to our Plastic Film Recycling System

Learning to recycle plastic film has been a game changer for us yet with the exception of plastic grocery bags, plastic film products are rarely recycled even by the most environmentally friendly.  You’d be amazed at just how easy it is to do and just how much plastic film goes

The Flight of the Hummingbird

In addition to planting 18 trees for Finley’s 18 years, the Green Belt Movement sent us home with 18 hummingbirds—all made by a local artist by reusing discarded cans and glass.  The parable of the hummingbird that inspired this gift had its beginnings in an ancient Quechan fable from Ecuador,