Okay,
So I am going to try to participate in Crunchy Chicken’s “Freeze Yer Buns” pledge.

The challenge?

Pledge to Freeze Yer Buns
To sign up for the challenge, add a comment to this post on Crunchy Chicken and pledge what temperatures you will keep your thermostat. (Also comment on my post here!) 

Why? 

To try and lower our normal heated temperature in the colder months to conserve energy, and lower the amount of CO2 we put out into the atmosphere.  She is a tough one and pledges 62 in the day and 55 at night.  
I am not sure I can do that cold. 
Well, I could but my skinny kids and cold-blooded hubby probably can’t.  We shall see how low we can go!

Maybe I should start knitting again….

Blog Action Day 2010- H2O


Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Water…
What does the word make you think about? 
  • Rain on your windowpane?
  • Hot baths?
  • The ocean’s caress?
  • The coolness of the lake?

Right now for me right now I’ll have to go with water bill.  We have had a record breaking year
that started with record rainfall and now is into record drought.   To me that means either a dried up yard or a +$85 water bill (so I chose the first.)  I lost a lot of new plants I planted TWO YEARS AGO!  That is how dry it is. 

I’ve been talking with others about the effects of global warming and the climate changes we’ve seen in our lives and contemplating the ones that are to come.  They say that global warming is already changing weather patterns and will make everything more severe.  Personally I feel the dust bowl type patterns will be returning (already are it seems) and that we had better plan for it by better building practices and by teaching ourselves and our kids how to conserve water.  When I was young in school we were taught water, electric, gas conservation every year.  I don’t see people caring here or even trying.  Myself included a lot of the times.  It’s all dependent on habits.  Making them, keeping them, then it becomes second nature.

Why should we worry about water?

  • Nearly 1 billion people don’t have safe water to drink.
  • A child dies every 15 seconds from a lack of clean water.
  • 1 in 4 children who die before age 5 worldwide, die of a water related disease.
  • Children often walk miles every day to collect dirty water to drink.
  • It takes 100 gallons of water to produce one egg
  • It takes 256 gallons of water to produce one cotton t-shirt
  • It takes 2500 gallons of water to make 2 pounds of steak!
  • That dirty water you and I make goes somewhere- it is recycled back into our own drinking water and not EVERYTHING gets cleaned out.  Remember water is global so it’s a global problem. 

What can we do to conserve water?

  • Become (and remain) AWARE of your water usage
  • Don’t leave the faucet running when you brush teeth, wash dishes, wash your face…(by turning the tap off while brushing your teeth you will save 3 GALLONS of water a day! And another three for not shaving with the water running! )
  • Use a low-flow toilet or fill a plastic drinking bottle with pebbles and put in your toilet tank.  (This will save you 5-10 gallons a day!)
  • If handwashing dishes don’t let water run.  Fill one sink with clean water and one with rinse water.  (Saves 200-500 GALLONS a month!)
  • Compost instead of using the garbage disposal.  
  • Wash your car on your lawn.
  • Always use bio-degradable/phosphate-free soaps (there are good ones like Dr. Bronner’s, Dollar General has a good automatic dish detergent that is phosphate free and cheap!)
  • Don’t water lawns unless necessary- also plant wisely with native plants and drought-resistant varieties
  • Take showers instead of baths (wah!)
  • Buy used goods and recycle old clothes
  • Shop wisely and don’t waste food or water
  • Get actively involved in water conservation groups and educate others!

Happy Blog Action Day 2010!

    Tub Scrub & Laundry Detergent

    Rub-a-Dub Tub Scrub 
    (or “Because I have 3 men in my tub scrub”?)

    1. In a mixing bowl pour about equal amounts of baking soda and Borax.  (What I do is take 2 jars, fill one almost full of Borax and the other almost full of baking soda.  Then I pour them both into a bowl.)
    2. Pour in some True Lemon powder (you can use True Orange or Lime also, or citric acid if you can get it) just enough to scent the mix, about 2-4 Tablespoons more or less.
    3. Mix and put back in your jars! 

     To use:  Wet bathtub or sink.  Sprinkle tub scrub in tub.  Watch the fun!  It bubbles when it gets wet!
    Scrub and watch the sparkles!  This smells yummy too.

    Liquid Laundry Detergent
    1 cup Washing Soda (you can get this at most grocery stores now)
    1/2 cup Borax
    7-10 drops of tea tree oil (disinfectant and antibacterial)
    *You can add other essential oil drops if you want a scent but I don’t
    1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
    4 quarts hot water (first) then added about 8 more quarts
    Mix it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) Let sit for about 20 minutes to cool off, then put in containers.  I use old detergent bottles and glass bottles.
    Very inexpensive and effective!

    Naturally Clean

    I like to post on this, but usually do it from my cooking blog so I thought you could indulge me…

    Great Recipes for Keeping it Clean and Green:

    Rub-a-Dub Tub Scrub 
    (or “Because I have 3 men in my tub scrub”?)

    1. In a mixing bowl pour about equal amounts of baking soda and Borax.  (What I do is take 2 jars, fill one almost full of Borax and the other almost full of baking soda.  Then I pour them both into a bowl.)
    2. Pour in some True Lemon powder (you can use True Orange or Lime also, or citric acid if you can get it) just enough to scent the mix, about 2-4 Tablespoons more or less.
    3. Mix and put back in your jars!

    To use:  Wet bathtub or sink.  Sprinkle tub scrub in tub.  Watch the fun!  It bubbles when it gets wet!
    Scrub and watch the sparkles!  This smells yummy too.


    Laundry Detergent

    1 cup Washing Soda (you can get this at most grocery stores now)
    1/2 cup Borax
    7-10 drops of tea tree oil (disinfectant and antibacterial)
    *You can add other essential oil drops if you want a scent but I don’t
    1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
    4 quarts hot water (first) then added about 8 more quarts

    Mix it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) Let sit for about 20 minutes to cool off, then put in containers.  I use old detergent bottles and glass bottles.
    Very inexpensive and effective!
    Natural Deodorant
    1/4 cup corn starch
    1/4 cup baking soda
    *If you have sensitive skin (like me) use more cornstarch and less soda to still equal 1/2 c total.
    10 drops essential oil (I like tea tree or bergamot)
    Mix it all together(takes about 2 seconds)
    You can use it just like that- dust it on as a powder
    OR if you want to put it in a stick form you add
    2-3 tbs coconut oil (I use more and a little water because it’s been dry here and seems to crumble if I don’t.) you find it in the baking aisle by the shortening (also good as a skin cream and lip balm)
    Once you have it all mixed up you pack it into an old, empty stick deoderant container.  You will have to add and pack and keep this up until you get to the top.  I like to use a small baby spoon to help pack it down tightly.
    Let “cure” about 24 hours for it to hold together properly when you apply it.
    This really works well, especially with the tea tree oil/bergamot mixture.  Haven’t tried the powder form. Makes about 2 sticks in a normal ladies’ sized container.

    Chickens!

    Meet the newest additions to our family!

    The kids each got to name one… so here is

    (Yet to be named)

    Dinner

    and
     
     Pillow

    Trying to decide whether to save these first beauties until they ripen 
    or make fried green tomatoes tonight…
     
    We found the chickies (whom I’m naming the Fates right now in honor of our Percy Jackson kick) in Beebe at the Flea Market there.    They are young and won’t start laying eggs for another two to three months.   The market is amazing.  I had never been and it was like going into another country.  They had about a mile of things- a sale barn for big animals (horses, cows, sheep, goats.)  Then rows and rows of people selling whatever you wanted- movies, handmade toys, tools, saddles, cages for animals,  food, vegetables, camping gear, junk, clothes… Then another row or two of just animals.  We saw chickens of all kinds, guinea hens, geese, ducks, the biggest turkey in the world, baby goats, bunnies, a tiny baby deer that could barely stand, a little bitty racoon, puppies (all for free) and kittens (free too.)    The boys had a blast begging me for another puppy (“But he’s FREE, mommy!”)  and stuffing themselves with yummy Mexican horchata and popsicles.   
    If you are interested in keeping pet chickens for eggs etc. check out this site