Knitting: It's Controversially Boring

Ethan isn’t the only kid whom thinks knitting is boring. The other day, I got to sit in the lobby of the Taekwondo studio because my husband was home to watch James. Once Ethan’s class started, I hauled out my knitting and got to work. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dimpled hand pointing to the sweater.
“What are you doing?” asked a wide-eyed 3-year-old boy in a karate uniform.
“I’m knitting,” I said.
“What’s that?” he said.
“It’s when you take yarn and make stuff with it, like sweaters,” I said. I didn’t think my explanation sufficed, but soon the boy got interested in a teenage couple necking and left me to ask his mom what they were doing.
Later, my ears pricked up to hear one of Ethan’s classmates ask him what I was doing.
“She’s, um, knitting,” Ethan said. “She does it all the time.”
I guess to a 7 year old, 2 ½ hours a week constitutes all the time.





Did you know your old cell phone could help save the lives of people living in rural Africa? It can, thanks to an innovative new program called Hopephones.org, which was started by Josh Nesbit, a student at Stanford University. Hope Phones is a nationwide mobile phone collection campaign that makes use of old cell phones in the U.S. to provide phones for clinics and healthcare workers in the developing world. According to the organization’s Web site, the program has helped a hospital in rural Malawi give 150 patients emergency care. In addition, community health workers saved 1,000 hours of travel time, which they used to visit more patients, the number of people being treated for Tuberculosis doubled, and the hospital saved $3,500 worth of fuel, which was used to purchase medication.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is put your old cell phone to good use by donating it to Hopephones.org. To see more tips, click here.

Control Rosacea With All-Natural Skincare

I’ve gotten an unexpected benefit from using all-natural skincare products—my rosacea is under control. I first got rosacea, which is a skin condition that expresses itself with flushing-type redness, lumps that resemble pimples, and red lines where blood vessels have enlarged, in my early thirties. At first I thought the bumps on my face were adult acne, and doused my face with acne-treatment gels and toners until I read an article in ELLE magazine about rosacea.
The article was discouraging because it said the best way to treat rosacea is to use prescriptions and laser treatments prescribed by a dermatologist. At the time I couldn’t afford to see a dermatologist, so I resigned myself to years of prickly, bumpy flare-ups that happened mostly in the summer because overheating exacerbates the condition.
Then this past year I started making my own facial cleanser and eye cream (recipes in the sidebar under “Tutorials”) because I didn’t want to use any more skincare products with phlalates and parabens in them. I also started using an all-natural moisturizer from Aubrey Organics. As the days started getting hotter, I prepared myself for the bumps to appear around my eyes. But so far, I haven’t had a single flare-up.
My elation is backed by a recent article in Treehugger, which stated that people with rosacea should avoid skincare products with alcohol in them.
So this year I approach the dog days of summer with confidence that my all-natural skincare regimen will keep my rosecea under control. Click here for Thrifty Green Thursday tips.

Reusing Broken Pens and Crayons

Last year, I wrote about how guilty I felt buying pack after pack of Color Wonder markers for my sons, knowing that they’d eventually end up sitting in a landfill for 100 years. But thanks to blogging I found the Pen Guy—a man whom takes dried up pens and makes art work out of them. So I last weekend, I sorted through all my pens and made up a box of the unusable ones to ship to him. You can send your unwanted pens to:

The Pen Guy
2425 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403

But wait, there’s more.
A few weeks ago, I came across a company called Crazy Crayons, based in Pelican Lake, Wis. It takes broken, stubby crayons and melts them into hand-crafted, multi-colored crayons. The company claims that it has stopped more than 43,000 pounds of unwanted crayons from going into landfills with its crayon recycling program. So, while I was at it, I sorted through Ethan and James’ crayon bin and made up a box for this company as well. You can send crayon donations to:

Crayon Recycling Program

721 Village Road, Pelican Lake, Wisconsin 54463

I’m so impressed with these folks’ efforts to keep unwanted stuff out of landfills, I don’t mind paying for shipping. Click here for more Thrifty Green Thursday tips.

Shopping For Fish

These days, you can’t just toss any package of Chilean sea bass or salmon fillets in your grocery cart. By buying the sea bass, for example, you’re supporting an industry that is overfishing that species to devastating proportions. And you need to look carefully at the package of salmon to see if the fish were caught in the wild or “farmed,” because some salmon farms use large-scale, densely stocked netpens that pollute surrounding waters with waste and chemicals. In addition, testing has shown that these salmon have elevated levels of PCB chemicals in them.
Fortunately, the Environmental Defense Fund has taken out the guesswork in shopping for seafood with its comprehensive Web site that lists the pros and cons of eating most fish available in today’s markets. Plus, it has two downloadable pocket guides to buying seafood and sushi that print can carry in your wallet.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is learn which fish is safe for yourself and the environment via this great Web site. Click here for more tips.

What Lies Beneath

On Tuesday I took a walk around a local lake. I enjoyed watching the sunlight glisten on the water and the ducks swimming along the shore. The park looked like a clean, healthy place for these animals to live.
But after watching Frontline’s show, “Poisoned Waters,” that evening, I realized this lake, along with all the streams, rivers and lakes in this country, is anything but clean. In the show, correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the rising hazards to human health and the ecosystem, and why it's so hard to keep our waters clean.

One reason our waters are so polluted are the number of toxins in household cleaning and beauty products, such as parabens, surfactants and chlorine, that get washed down our drains into streams and rivers. Here is what Vicki Blazer, a researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey, had to say about these chemicals:
“Part of the problem of trying to identify specific chemicals, or even groups of chemicals, is just that [the range] is so large, and so many of these things act at very low concentrations. And so even getting the methods to measure them in the water at those low concentrations is something that's just developing, which is why we refer to this as an emerging-contaminants issue. These are contaminants we're just beginning to recognize can have serious effects. ...”
Indeed, scientists are coming to the conclusion that the reason they are finding frogs with six limbs and male fish with eggs in their gonads is due to the chemicals found in these products as well as herbicides and pesticides.
While I can’t stop farmers and corporations from dumping toxins into our rivers, I can stop toxins from running down my house’s drain. For the past year, I’ve made my own all-natural beauty and cleaning products, and think they work just as well as chemical-based ones. You can get the recipes for these products on the right-hand sidebar, under "Tutorials."
And if you’re not inclined to make your own products, more stores offer eco-friendly ones than ever before. Costco, for example, now sells affordable bulk sizes of dish detergent, dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent made with plant-based cleaning agents instead of chemicals.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is watch “Poison Waters," and check out all the great tips on its corresponding web site that tell how you can take care of our planet's most precious resource.
Click here for more tips.

New Uses For Nail Polish

Back when I worked full time, I would scoot over to the Walgreens across the street and buy a bottle of nail polish when I couldn’t stand staring at my computer screen anymore. Perusing the rainbow of shades to find the perfect red, pink or green polish (hey, it was the 90’s) was a great workday pick-me-up.
As you can see from the photo, I needed a lot of nail polish motivation in my career as an editor. But now that I’ve become more environmentally aware, I don’t want to use those bottles of nail polish on myself anymore. It turns out nail polish is full of harmful chemicals such as benzophenone-1 and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), which studies show cause hormone disruption. And most nail polish has formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen.
In fact, nail polish is so bad for the environment, it must be disposed of along with other hazardous waste materials, such as latex paint. Check out Earth911.com, to find a hazardous waste recycling site near you.
But don’t get rid of all your bottles of nail polish. Here are some nifty uses for the stuff:

• Label things with old nail polish such as clothing, sporting gear, containers in the freezer and even plant markers for your garden. Dry nail polish is water proof and long lasting.



• Seal an envelope. If you are using an envelope that has been around for awhile the glue might not be as good as it once was, put a thin line of old nail polish on the inside of the flap before closing. Once dry the envelope will be permanently sealed.



• Waterproof with clear nail polish. A coat of clear polish over prescription bottle labels will keep them from smudging so dosage can be read. It is also great for waterproofing addresses on envelopes in case it rains while your mail is in transit.



• Rust proof the bottom of metal cans, such as shaving cream, before putting them into your shower or medicine cabinet. A coat of recycled nail polish on the bottom of the can will prevent them from leaving rust circles in your bathroom.

So if you’re like me, and have too many bottles of nail polish, save some for some household uses and get rid of the rest responsibly.
Click here for more Thrifty Green Thursday tips.

Homemade Bubble Bath

You may have seen this post, The Toxic Bubble Bath Debate, from the Nature Mom’s blog. In the post, the author describes her frustration at the fact that major corporations, including Johnson & Johnson, put known carcinogens, such as 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, in their baby products. She makes a great point:
“One bath product may only have trace amounts of these harmful chemicals but how many baths do kids take? How many other products that also contain these harmful ingredients do they also use… lotion, shampoo, etc? Companies and regulatory agencies are not required to anticipate a total exposure level so it is no wonder that these products get a ‘safe’ label when they are anything but safe, IMO.”
I agree—we really don’t know how safe these products are when used for long periods of time, which is why I’ve started making some of my own healthcare products. Here is a recipe I use for bubble bath, from Janice Cox’s Natural Beauty At Home:

Mix 2 cups castile soap (I use Dr. Bronner's lavender-scented soap) with 6 cups of water and ¾ cup of light corn syrup. Let the mixture sit at least 4 hours before use.

This bubble bath doesn’t suds up like the commercial products, but my sons don’t seem to mind. Maybe it’s the soap’s lavender scent that mellows them out.

Click here for more Thrifty Green Thursday Tips.

Miniature Greenhouse

Here's a great way to reuse plastic large juice bottles: cut the bottom off the bottle and place it over plants at night to keep the frost off of them. We're using the bottles to help our newly planted strawberry plants survive in Colorado's fickle spring weather.

Click here for more Thifty Green Thursday tips.

Also, today is World Autism Awareness Day. Click here to learn more about events taking place around the globe to provide awareness about this disorder.

When Organic Produce Is A Must

The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides found on conventionally grown produce is harmful to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. They recommend eating organic produce as much as possible.
But organic produce is expensive, which is why the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment, published the Shopper’s Guide To Pesticides, a list of which produce should always be bought organic, and which conventionally grown produce is safest to buy because it has low pesticide residues. According to the guide, for example, peaches, kale and carrots should always be bought organically, while onions, kiwis, and broccoli are low in pesticide residue. You can download this list, which is small enough to fit in your wallet, here.
Analysts at the Environmental Working Group developed the guide based on data from nearly 87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2007 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can learn more about the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings at its Web site.
My Thrifty Green Thursday tip is reduce your exposure to harmful pesticides by using the Shopper’s Guide To Pesticides. Click here for more tips.

A Sweet Facial Cleanser

Here’s another use for your giant bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap—make a facial cleanser with it. I got this recipe from Janice Cox’s book, Natural Beauty At Home. Mix 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap with ¼ cup honey and ¼ cup distilled water, and pour into a clean container, preferably one with a pump.
Does cleaning your face with honey sound like a sticky mess? The soap and water dilute the honey enough to make a mild lather like any commercial-brand cleanser. But unlike those products, this cleanser doesn’t dry out my skin because honey is very moisturizing.
Click here for more tips.

Go Green--Shop Consignment

I first started shopping consignment stores and sales for my sons’ clothes out of necessity—I had quit my job to stay home with Ethan when he was 1 year old, and I needed to cut costs any way I could. But after shopping sales a few times, I began to appreciate the “green” benefits of buying used clothes as well. Instead of buying children’s clothes at the big box stores, which is all I could afford, I could buy name-brand clothes, like The Gap and Hannah Anderson, at a third of the price. Plus, I started to feel good about giving these clothes a new life, especially since toddlers outgrow their clothes before they wear them out.
Six years later, I’m still shopping consignment stores and sales for my sons’ clothes. Last week, my favorite consignment store—Childish Things in Boulder—had a sale. Like all things Boulder, this store’s goods are overpriced, which is why I wait to go until it has its $1 sale a few times a year. Then I can find some great deals—like this Tommy Hilfiger sweater vest for $1.

While shopping consignment shops is more tedious than hitting the mall, the thrill of getting a great deal makes up for it. This last trip, I hit the jackpot when I found this never-worn ski jacket on the 60% off rack--$35. Maybe this jacket will motivate Terry and I to get Ethan on the Colorado slopes next ski season.

My Thrifty Green Thursday Tip is to give consignment stores, or sales like JBF, a chance. Click here for more tips.

Reusing Containers

The other day I crammed a Costco trip in between a doctor appointment and taking James to preschool. In order to save time, we ate lunch at Costco, too. Anymore, I feel guilty about eating lunch out because of all the unnecessary packaging that comes along with the food. The trip to Costco was no exception. I ordered a Chicken Cesar salad for myself and got James a slice of pizza.
But unlike most of the flimsy plastic containers salad comes in at fast food restaurants, this container was study. Plus, the bottom of the container was made with #5 plastic, which can be recycled. The lid wasn’t recyclable, but it was very sturdy and snapped well onto the bottom. I realized that I could reuse this container for leftovers, and eventually recycle part of it.
Instead of throwing the container in the trash, I put it in my shopping bag. I felt a little silly when the person whom checks shopper’s purchases at the door peered in my bag and saw the container. But feeling was short lived when I thought of all the multiple uses I would get out of the container.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is get as many uses out of containers as you can. Click here for more tips.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I buy organic food as much as I can. While the price of organic meat has made me start making more vegetarian meals, I do budget for organic roasting chickens because you can get more than one meal out of them. When our family of four sits down to a roasted chicken for dinner, there’s meat left over that I can use for a chicken stir fry or enchiladas the next day.
But the best way to use a whole chicken is to make stock out of it. Making your own chicken stock is a little time consuming, but worth it because store-bought chicken broth often has unnecessary sugar and sodium. When we make chicken stock, my husband cuts the breast meat off the chicken to sauté or grill for dinner. Then we put the rest of the chicken in a pot with cut up a cut-up onion, a few carrots and stalks of celery. Plus we add thyme, a bay leaf and whole peppercorns for seasoning. Cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Let the stock simmer for an hour and then cool. Remove the cooked chicken, dice the meat and save it for a future meal. Strain the stock into a bowl and let cool overnight the refrigerator. The next day, the fat has congealed to the top of the bowl, making it easy to remove. Once the chicken stock is defatted, I pour one cup each into Dixie cups. I usually get about 12 cups of stock, which I store in the freezer.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday Tip is to make the most of your Coleman organic roasting chicken by making chicken stock from it. Click here for more tips.

Cheapo Eye Cream

I’m at the age where the wrinkles around my eyes are more than noticeable. In fact, when I took my recent blog photo, I used the softening effect on my photo editing software to mask those pesky lines.
A year ago, I would have bought this $80 eye cream from Bliss to combat the signs of aging. Then I read more about the toxic ingredients found in these expensive creams. For example, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, the Bliss eye cream I mentioned has ingredients linked to cancer and developmental/reproductive toxicity.
While there are plenty of expensive all-natural eye creams out there, I decided to save money by making my own from ingredients found at Whole Foods. I got the recipe from Janice Cox’s book, Natural Beauty At Home. Heat 2 tablespoons of grated cocoa butter with 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a double boiler on the stove until they are completely melted. Pour the mixture into a clean container and allow it to cool completely.

The resulting cream has the consistency of Crisco, so only a little is needed for each eye. After two week’s use of this cream, are my wrinkles eradicated? No. But the skin around my eyes feels soft and hydrated.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is to save money by making this all-natural eye cream. Click here for more tips.

A Not-So-Simple Cleaning Solution

While I’ve had some successes at making eoc-friendly cleaning products, such as an all-purpose surface cleaner, I’ve also had some failures, like making my own dishwasher detergent.
According to the book, Green Clean, you can make dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent with equal parts washing soda and borax. It sounded simple enough to make, plus I loved the idea of getting two household products from the same ingredients.
I couldn’t find borax or washing soda in any stores, so I ordered some online and gave the recipe a go. Turns out borax and washing soda clean clothes fine, but not dishes. After a few cycles, we started getting a white film on our dishes. We tried adding white vinegar to the dishwasher as a rinse aid, but that didn’t get rid of the film. After a couple of weeks, we went back to commercially made eco-friendly dishwasher detergent.
I’m not sure I’m going to keep making my own laundry detergent, either. As you know, I wash a lot of clothes, and am rapidly going through my two boxes of washing soda. While I eventually found borax at our local Ace Hardware, I can’t find washing soda anywhere but online. When you add $20 shipping costs to the cost of a case of washing soda, it just doesn’t seem worth the money.
My Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is make your own laundry detergent if you’re able to buy washing soda locally. Click here for more tips.

Why Can't I Get A Break?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, dryers consume 800 kilowatt-hours annually per household, costing almost $70 per year to operate. In fact, if every American air dried his or her laundry for three months each year, the electricity saved could power 1.5 million U.S. households for a year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
That’s why I hang my clothes out to dry as much as possible throughout the year. I still, however, have to wash a lot of clothes, which my washing machine isn’t too happy about. Here’s what she has to say about it.

Cathy: You know I can’t live without you, don’t you?
Washing Machine: If you cared so much, why can’t you treat me better? I hardly ever get a day off, while that good-for-nothing dryer snoozes all spring and summer!
Cathy: I know you work hard—I wish I could keep my kids from getting dirty every day, but that’s really asking too much. And hand washing all these clothes is not an option. Hey, at least I’m using eco-friendly soap now. Doesn’t that make you feel better?
Washing Machine: You know what would make me feel better?
Cathy: What?
Washing Machine: If you’d keep that mangy cat away from me! I’m covered in her fur!
Cathy: I can’t help it that her favorite roost is the water heater, which is right next to you. But I promise to wipe you down more. Anything else?
Washing Machine: Yeah, while you’re at it, will you move the litter box to the other side of the basement?

This Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is inspired by Bernthis.com’s hilarious conversation with her car. Click here for some real tips.

The Truth About Floor Care

I’ve got a confession to make. James isn’t the only one suckered by floor-care products commercials. In fact, he probably inherited this trait from me.
I have a graveyard of cheap, gimmicky mops that I only used for about a month because none of them lived up to the commercials. Instead of a few easy swipes to a sparkling floor, I’d have to spray a lot of the toxic chemicals that come with the cheap mop and scrub really hard, which isn’t very satisfying.
So now that I’ve given up on my fantasy that cleaning floors isn’t work, I’ve decided to take an all-natural approach to floor care. In place of chemicals, I make up a solution of 1 cup white vinegar to 2 gallons of water and mop up the floor with old, cut-up t-shirts. I have a small kitchen and family room, so I find kneeling to wipe up the floor to be the quickest method. Then I toss the rags in the washing machine to be used again.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is week is save those old t-shirts for your floor care needs. Click here for more tips.

Greenbacks For A Greener World

In our market-driven economy, money speaks louder than words. What better way, then, to make your views heard than to try to buy from companies that adhere to your environmental and social standards?
The Better World Shopping Guide, by Ellis Jones, makes it easier to do that. I won a copy from the Green Mom Finds web site and really like it. The book grades the companies that manufacture items you typically shop for, such as gasoline and dairy products, based on their environmental and social standards. The companies are listed in a chart format, making it quick to compare companies while you shop. Plus, the book is only 6 inches by 4 inches, so it fits easily in my purse.
The book came in handy the other week when I was at Costco. I saw a 96-ounce bottle of Method hand soap for $7. It would cost less to buy than make my own; plus I liked the idea of buying it in bulk so there’s less packaging to recycle. The guide gave Method an A, so I felt good about buying it.
My Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is to tuck a copy of The Better World Shopping Guide in your purse along with your rolled-up cloth shopping bag. Click here for more tips.

Home-Made All-Purpose Cleaner

Commercially made all-purpose cleaners do a good job wiping away dirt and germs from your counters and appliances, but they leave behind chemical cleaning agents like alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which do not easily break down in sewage treatment after they are washed down the drain. Studies have shown these chemicals to be endocrine disrupters.
Since these products are as harmful to the environment as the grime they are meant to get rid of, I’ve started making my own all-purpose cleaner from all-natural ingredients. Here’s a recipe I like taken from the book, Green Clean.


1 tsp borax
1 tblsp castile soap
1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
2 cups hot water
5 to 10 drops of essential oil

Mix all the ingredients and pour into a 16-ounce spray bottle.

I’ve made a couple of batches of this cleaner and really like it. You have to use a little more elbow grease to rub away spills, but nonetheless it cuts grease and leaves my counters clean. I think this cleaner is cheaper than buying a “green” cleaner at the store because some of the ingredients, such as castile soap, borax and vinegar, can be bought in bulk and then used in multiple cleaning recipes.
So my Thrifty Green Thurday tip of the week is to make your own all-purpose cleaner. Click here for more tips.

Make Your Own Liquid Soap

I have a lot of liquid hand soap in my house because it's so easy for my boys to use. But I've been concerned about the harsh chemicals in these soaps, such as phlalates and parabens. I'd like to buy all-natural liquid hand soap, such as Burt Bee's, but $7 a bottle adds up when you want one in every bathroom.
So that's why I decided to try making my own liquid hand soap from a recipe I found in The Complete Soapmaker. All natural bar soaps are cheaper than liquid soaps. For example, a bar of Burt Bee's shower soap is $5. Plus the process seemed easy enough--gently heat all-natural grated bar soap with water until the soap dissolves in the water.
To make about 8 oz. of liquid hand soap, you will need 1 ounce of grated all-natural soap; 4 ounces of water, and additives if desired. I added about 3 ounces of aloe vera gel to mine.



Heat all the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency. It helps to break up the soap with wisk. Once all the ingredients are blended, check the consistency of the soap by taking a small cupful, such as a shot glass's worth, and cooling it in a ice bath. If the soap is too runny, add more soap; if it's too thick, add more water.
I found this part to be the trickiest because you don't know the liquid soap's true consistency until it is completely cool. When I first cooled the liquid, it seemed runny, so I added more soap. But after sitting around for a few hours, the soap thickened up more than I expected. Thankfully, it still pumps out of the bottle fine.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is make save money and the environment by making your own liquid hand soap from all-natural bar soap. Click here for more tips.