Happy Earth Day! 

Living green isn’t about being perfect – no one is asking you to trade in your car for a bicycle, or to never use a paper cup again. But -riding your bike to work is great exercise, so if that’s a possibility for you, give it a try! Take the bus or walk – sometimes. Stash a reusable bag in your car, so it’s always there when you stop for groceries. While you’re at it, why not stash a reusable mug at your desk, in your purse or in your backpack?

Because Living Green isn’t just for Earth Day – it’s the changes you make year round that add up to make a difference. Earth Day should get us thinking about what we can do until next year, to make a difference.

Make an Earth Day Resolution

I’m going to start composting! To be honest, there is no good reason I don’t do this already. But rather than focus on what I haven’t been doing, I’m going to start now!

Composting takes the waste from your yard (leaves, grass) and your kitchen (food scraps) and over time, transforms into organic matter, microbes and nutrients that are pretty much wonder food for your garden. 

You can compost so many things:

You can build your own composter, or buy one. 

The other benefit to composting is the decrease in garbage your house will produce! I don’t pay garbage collection fees per bag I put out, but if you do – just think how much money you could save!

What is your Earth Day Resolution?

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There are some wonderful comments on ‘what is healthy‘! They are inspiring to read!

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Coming up on Eat Clean Live Green: the book you’ll definitely want to read if you enjoyed In Defense of Food or Animal Vegetable Miracle – and a chance to win a free copy!

I just made a high impact green change for my house: we’re going green-powered!

My energy provider offers reward dollars that can be applied as either a credit on the bill, or towards green energy (wind power). I’d always taken the credit, thinking it didn’t make much difference overall if I used wind power or not – wouldn’t all of us have to use it to make a difference?

Except for one thing: we need to create a demand. The more people who want wind power, the more companies will supply it. The additional expense isn’t going to make or break my budget, but it does add a +1 to consumers willing to pay for green power. 

Eat Clean Live Green is officially wind powered!

It really is easy going green, because everything you do adds up. None of us need to be perfect green eco-conscious beings, but we can all do something. Do what you can, today.  If we all start with small changes, the result will be an overwhelming change  in awareness and action. So turn out your lights for one hour tonight (8:30 pm MST!) to show your support for the Earth. Turn out your lights for Earth Hour!

In the spirit of Earth Hour – what’s one easy thing you do to be more green?

Is going green a passing fad, or is it here to stay?

Green is pretty much everywhere you look; reusable bags, reusable coffee mugs and reusable water bottles. Countless companies are beginning to offer green products, from Reynolds Wrap (click the link for a coupon!),

Ziploc bags:

Clorox GreenWorks Cleaners:

These companies are making changes because consumers are asking for them. Going green is definitely trendy right now – for both companies and consumers.

Is green here to stay? Or is it just a passing fad?

It’s up to you.

Buy green products. Use green products. Ask for green products to be available in your store.

Don’t let those reusable bags just sit in your garage/laundry room/car – use them!

Continue to create the demand for green products, and going green will not only continue to be trendy, it will be here to stay.

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How do you go green in your daily life? I  always carry a reusable coffee mug with me – as a bonus, most coffee shops give you a discount for doing so!

I admit it, I’m lazy. I like things to be clean, but I hate cleaning. I know there are all sorts of green cleaners you can make yourself, using things like vinegar and baking soda.

However, vinegar and baking soda don’t exactly sit well together (did you ever make a volcano in elementary school?! ) and can’t really be stored as a ready to use cleaner. Plus, cleaning with vinegar leaves a very strong vinegar smell. Not entirely appealing.

Enter Green Works cleaner. I found this All Purpose Cleaner at Superstore, so I’m sure it could be found in any grocery store. At about $4 a bottle, you’re not breaking the bank (and yes, I paid for mine – this wasn’t a sampel!) It’s made by Clorox – so no fooling yourselves, you’re not supporting a local business by using this cleaner.

It is however, made from natural products: coconut, ethanol, water and essential oils. No scary fumes to be breathing in! It’s also never been tested on animals. I admit, the thought had never occurred to me that regular cleaning products may have been, but I am glad this product hasn’t been.

How does it work? I’m very impressed! It’s worked great on countertops, appliances, stainless steel, granite and the stove. It also smells fantastic – clean.

Living Green doesn’t have to be difficult! For about the same price as a conventional product, Green Works All Purpose Cleaner cleans just as well without harsh (and with untested effects!) chemical fumes. It couldn’t be an easier choice to make  – I highly recommend you try it out!

Today is Boxing Day in Canada – I have no idea what the original meaning of the holiday is, but currently, it’s a shopping holiday! Stores usually have great sales, especially on big ticket electronics! I can’t resist a good sale, but hate the crowds, so Grant and I were at the mall before it even opened today

Which meant time to grab a coffee (I planned this well!). The lady in front of me in line used a gift card, and had about $0.20 left – she told the girl behind the counter she just didn’t want it – save it for the next customer’s purchase – me! 

I was thrilled. It wasn’t like  $0.20 was going to make or break if I could get a coffee but it was such a nice gesture. I have been smiling all day!

Later on this morning, after using one of our gift cards – there was just a little bit of money left on the card. We could have held on to it – odds are, we’d shop there again, and might have remembered to use the remaining balance on the card. Instead, we paid it forward, and left the card for the next customer.

I hope it made their day too

What about the giveaway?! I thought paying it forward would be a great way to give away this great reusable stainless steel water bottle.  Hip Green Deals sent me an Earthlust bottle, and I love it. It’s cute, lightweight and the opening is large enough to fit ice cubes. EarthLust bottles are hand made from high quality food-grade stainless steel. They use non-toxic paints and BPA-free caps. 

Carrying around a reusable bottle (especially a cute one like this!) is an easy way to stay healthy (drinking lots of water!) while living green . 

*** The Giveaway ***

One Eat Clean Live Green reader will win a 1L stainless steel Earthlust Ikebana bottle, courtesy of Hip Green Deals!

*** how to enter ***

Leave a comment telling me how you’ve paid it forward, or performed a random act of kindness lately. 

*** extra entries ***

Leave another comment for each of the following that you do:

• Follow @EatCleanLiveGrn on twitter, and tweet about the giveaway
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Subscribe to Eat Clean Live Green

*** details ***

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, and will end Wednesday, December 30 at 10 PM, MST. Winner will be drawn at random, selected from random.org.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more? Dr. Seuss

Merry Christmas!

In my family, Christmas Eve dinner is always at my Grandma’s house. After dinner last night, my Grandma brought out a birthday cake, and we all started singing. I was a little confused – I wasn’t sure if we were singing Happy Birthday to Jesus or not. Sounds like a fun tradition to start up!

(turns out, it was a belated birthday cake for my Grandpa)

Happy belated Birthday Grandpa!

And Happy Birthday, Jesus. 

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. Burton Hillis

I hope you all have a wonderful day, spent with your loved ones.

Make today a Live Green Christmas – recycle your wrapping paper!  

One of my favourite things about blogging is hosting giveaways – it’s so fun! Especially when the product is wonderful

Fill Your Own water bottles are BPA free and made from a high quality stainless steel. The water bottles are Live Green friendly: each bottle with is offset with carbon credits, leaving an overall carbon footprint of zero.

There are three different types of leakproof bottle caps to choose from: a sport cap, a straw and a twist top with carabiner. There are four different bottle sizes: 350, 500, 750 and 1000 mL. All bottles and lids can be interchanged.

Each bottle comes in many different designs; the artwork for which was done entirely by artists local to Fill Your Own, in Vancouver. I received two bottles for review:

• 750ml Hanging Out with sport spout cap
• 1000ml Bamboo Zen with straw cap

One of my biggest challenges in staying/eating healthy is drinking enough water. I’m the kind of person who will only drink water when I have it around. I rarely drink glasses of water at a time, so I need my water bottles around!

I love these bottles. The 1 L bottle is my favourite – it’s skinny enough to fit in my car holder! This does mean it’s very tall, but I’ve gotten used to that. I find with the straw, I drink a lot more water

I use the 750 mL bottle with the sport cap for the gym, and it works great – both bottles are very lightweight! In addition, all Fill Your Own bottles have a wide enough top to fit ice cubes.

*** discount code ***

Fill Your Own is offering Eat Clean Live Green readers 15% off! Bottles can be purchased online, use the code FYO315

*** giveaway ***

Two Eat Clean Live Green readers are going to win a Fill Your Own bottle of their choice!

*** how to enter ***

• Leave a comment telling me which Fill Your Own bottle and cap is your favourite. All designs can be seen here.

*** extra entries ***

Leave another comment for each of the following (up to 4 chances to win!)

• Follow @EatCleanLiveGrn and @FillYourOwn on twitter, and tweet about the giveaway: @EatCleanLiveGrn is giving away @FillYourOwn water bottles!  http://tinyurl.com/yce9ua8
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog
• Subscribe to Eat Clean Live Green

*** details ***

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, and will end Tuesday, November 24 (lots of time to get those extra entries in!) at 10 PM, MST. Winner will be drawn at random, selected from random.org.

Today’s post is a Live Green guest post from one of my favorite blogs, Little House on the Great Flats.

Hiya! I’m Chelle, and sort of nervous about writing my first guest blog post ever!

I’ve been keeping a blog since January, called Little House on the Great Flats, and it originally started as a New Years’ resolution to embrace my inner geeky nature to try to do things in a more sustainable (and slightly old-fashioned) way. The movement is called homesteading and it means something slightly different today than it did back in the 1800s.

If any of you read the Little House on the Prairie books (or watched Far and Away), you might remember hearing about The Homesteading Act of 1862, which gave 160 acres of land to any adult citizen who paid a fee and agreed to live on the land continuously for 5 years, after which they would get a deed to the land. Boy, do I wish I could take advantage of that today! It officially ended in 1976, but really informally ended in 1935, when President Roosevelt withdrew the public domain land to conserve it. It’s probably a good thing, really. They would probably all be McMansions by now!

But back in those hippie-ish days of the 1970s, thousands of young adults decided to go “back to the land” and do without what they considered the unnecessary extravagances and modernities that cluttered up the then-modern life. They bought tens or hundreds of acres of land in cheap areas of the country they could afford, built their own houses, and farmed for themselves and lived a close to subsistence living. They really wanted to live like they did in the 1800s.

Homesteading today has evolved to a slightly more complex understanding – a 21st century version which is all about self-sufficiency and having a respect for yourself and your community, the earth and the people who will come after us. It’s about green living, involving yourself in your community, eating wholesome local food, and making wiser choices to consider the impact that you have.

It doesn’t mean going back to the 1800s. My husband and I both have full time, professional jobs. We’re not living anywhere close to the subsistence level. We reside in a condo. Yup, we have no land of our own to speak of, not even a strip out in front – that’s the HOA’s land. Instead, we community garden, growing hundreds of pounds of veggies this past year, which equals saving $$ AND gives us control over the quality of what we eat. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to make butter, make my own laundry detergent but use it in my energy star Kenmore washer, enjoy longstanding relationships with the farmers who grow my food, preserve food by canning (I have entirely too much jam in my pantry right now!), and support local businesses by trying to stay away from chain stores where possible. We’re definitely not perfect by any means, but we feel good about the footprint we’re leaving behind.

I realize we’re a little…unique would probably be the nice way to put it – but it’s something we both enjoy and feel strongly about. And I would encourage any one to do something the slow, old-fashioned way sometime soon – to enjoy the way it makes you feel, to appreciate the world as it once was and hopefully will continue to be in the future.

Recipe for petroleum-free eco-fresh powdered laundry detergent:

• 1 cup grated laundry bar soap
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup Borax

Mix together and that’s it. This will make enough for 22-44 loads, is fine for HE washers, and cleans as well for me as Tide does.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks Chelle! Small changes can make a huge footprint difference!

Today is Tree Hugger Tuesday! And it includes a giveaway! 

Today’s giveaway is green and clean! (there’s a clean and green one coming up this week too! )

Let’s talk about green cleaning!

We carefully watch ingredients labels on our foods, but what about the ingredients in the products we use to clean our dishes, kitchens, bathrooms or clothes? 

Many common manufactured cleaners contain alcohol, ammonia, bleach, formaldehyde and lye — substances that can cause nausea, vomiting, and inflammation and burning of the eyes and throat. Environmentalists have linked these ingredients with asthma, cancer and damage to the neurological system, liver and kidney. (source)

I know I’ve definitely inhaled some pretty awful cleaning fumes, and certainly not felt so hot afterwards.

What about once the cleaning products leave our homes?

After bubbly cleaning liquids disappear down our drains, they are treated along with sewage and other waste water at municipal treatment plants, then discharged into nearby waterways. Most ingredients in chemical cleaners break down into harmless substances during treatment or soon afterward. Others, however, do not, threatening water quality or fish and other wildlife. In a May 2002 study of contaminants in stream water samples across the country, the U.S. Geological Survey found persistent detergent metabolites in 69% of streams tested. Sixty-six percent contained disinfectants. Another environmental concern with cleaning products is that many use chemicals that are petroleum-based, contributing to the depletion of this non-renewable resource. (source)

There is a silver lining to these problems… they have easy solutions!

1. You can make many green cleaning products yourself (a future Tree Hugger Tuesday post!)
2. There are excellent eco-friendly alternatives available to buy

One of these eco-friendly alternative companies, Buy Soap Nuts sent me samples of their Coconut Scrub Pad, and Soap Nuts for review.

The scrub pad is made entirely of coconut fibres – I used it to wash dishes with, and it worked excellent! I’ve been using it for a few weeks now, and it hasn’t degraded at all.

You’re probably wondering, what is a soap nut?

Soap nuts are small berry like fruits that grow in warm, tropical and sultry climates. They are native to India, Nepal and some other South Asian countries and consist of a small yellowish brown fruit covered by a hard outer covering. It is the former that is mostly used in the various products that are now available in the market. The main ingredient in soap nuts is saponins which make them an excellent cleaning utility that can be used to clean almost everything ranging from clothes to dishes and regular household cleaning.  (source).

Saponins from soap nuts are used especially in cleaning agents. Soap nuts are a dried fruit containing saponin in their shells. When the shells are wet, they will foam and release a pleasant smell. They act as a fabric softener and will keep color in your clothes better than any chemical agent.  Using soap nuts as a household cleaner is especially beneficial if you or a family member suffers from soap allergies or dermatitis or if there is a baby in the household. Simply put 6 to 10 soap nuts in a small, washer-friendly bag and throw it in to be washed with your clothes. (source)

I was really surprised how easy the soap nuts were to use! For laundry, all you have to do is place 4-6 soap nuts in a bag. Toss the bag into the washing machine, instead of using conventional laundry soap. The bag can be reused for 6 loads!

The soap nuts worked great – every load of laundry I’ve done the past few weeks have come out smelling fresh, feeling soft and sparkling clean. Well, if the cotton could sparkle, it would!

You can also boil the soap nuts with water to make a soapy liquid, for other cleaning.  I’ve been very impressed with how easily sticky-sugary substances come clean in the kitchen! The soap nut liquid is sort of an ugly brown, which I shouldn’t have been surprise considering the soap nut fruit is brown! Regardless, the colour doesn’t impact the function!

The only thing I haven’t converted to using soap nuts for is in the dishwasher. I tried it once, and it didn’t really work. To be fair, the bag says the dishes should be well rinsed, and mine definitely weren’t

But for laundry, and general household cleaning, I am a soap-nut convert! I will absolutely be buying more once my current sample runs out. And I won’t be breaking the bank to do so: a 500g bag of soap nuts costs $22, and is enough for 150-200 loads of laundry! That definitely works out to be cheaper than a conventional brand.

Want to try Soap Nuts yourself? Buy Soap Nuts is giving one Eat Clean Live Green reader a Coconut Scrub Pad and a 500g bag of soap nuts!

To enter, leave a comment telling me how you would use either the scrub pad or the soap nuts!

Want an extra entry? Leave another comment for each of the following:

• Follow me on Twitter and tweet this phrase (or similar!): Want to win green cleaning products? @EatCleanLiveGrn is giving away soap nuts! Visit www.eatcleanlivegreen.com to enter
• Subscribe to Eat Clean Live Green
• Link back to this giveaway on your blog

Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, and ends tomorrow (Wednesday Oct 7) at 10 pm MST. I will announce the winner Thursday morning

Winner will be drawn as a random entry, determined by random.org

It’s Tree Hugger Tuesday! Today’s topic is: local food

Did you know the average ingredient in your food has travelled 1500 miles to get there?

Did you know that even local, non-organic food is better for it’s effect on air quality and pollution than eating long-distance organic?

In addition to cutting the carbon footprint of your foods, eating local supports your economy. Your money goes directly back to the farmers!

In addition, local food tastes so much better! In many cases it was picked only a day or two beforehand.

The easiest way to eat local? Shop at a Farmer’s Market! Even if they’re only seasonal around you, there are probably a few weeks left.

Even if your Farmer’s Market is closing soon, you can store many root vegetables throughout the Winter!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been buying a bag of potatoes a week at the Farmer’s Market… and what we don’t eat that week, I’m storing for later on in the Fall/Winter!

And it’s easy Just place the potatoes in a cardboard box. (Don’t pack them in too tightly!) Store in a cool area. Check every few weeks to make sure no potatoes are spoiling (if one in a box goes, they all will. Peer pressure!)

Don’t store potatoes in plastic bags, or they won’t have enough air to breathe, and they’ll spoil.

You can store lots of vegetables for a long time:

• onions
• carrots
• parsnips
• winter squash

What’s your favorite local food? Here in Alberta, I love corn on the cob at this time of the year!