Earth Day 2011

I promise I have not forgotten about plus size and Preppy, and will have a selection of fun more casual Preppy clothes in my next post on that topic. But...shifting gears to the eco-side of my blog, tomorrow as nearly all of us know by now is Earth Day. And each year the list of stores, restaurants and companies getting in on Earth Day gets longer and longer. To wit Yahoo has an article listing all the great deals and other events here. Some are totally in the spirit of Earth Day in this blogger's view, such as those which encourage you to bring in a coffee travel mug or an empty container of makeup in exchange for a refill of coffee or a full size cleanser at Origins. But discounts on "everything"? The Refresh Your Nest sweepstakes? I love the stores that are doing these and love that they are trying to raise awareness about Earth Day. The other day I got an email from a large bookstore chain offering discounts on books about how to be more eco-conscious.

But...as I slide into Andy Rooney mode here. But. Maybe our nest is okay the way it is and maybe our TV's and other items are okay. And what about the paper that those eco-conscious books may end up generating? It all boils down to more stuff. It may be fun to pick up the books and circulate them among friends who are interested in reading them so several people are reading a single book. If you are the lucky one who wins that Refresh Your Nest sweepstakes, donate the old stuff, the kitchenware to Goodwill or the Salvation Army or if you are really lucky and have a Unique store in your area, donate to them. See if a salvage lot or shop in your area will take old ceiling fixtures, cabinetry and the like. Or move the cabinets to your basement if you get new ones in your kitchen.

Toiletries and cosmetics are a tricky area for reuse. Sometimes they DO need to be tossed and as you've probably heard by now if anything smells or looks off, it needs to go out. You don't want to harm yourself putting old creams on your body or lipsticks on your face. I never did used to care about old makeup and hung on for dear life. Then my Mom lost her life to lymphoma. Then I started wondering if ingredients metastasize. I'm not a scientist and don't know for sure but am going the better safe than sorry route now. Still though there are ways. If you are comfortable with gently used items or want to find new items, Makeupalley is a great resource. You must register and they have a "token" system that works alot like feedback on Ebay, the more positive tokens, the higher a member is rated. If you aren't as comfortable with this, try using a fragrance you aren't crazy about on you as an air freshener or leave it in your office bathroom. Shower gels can make great liquid hand soaps. I have never tried body lotion as shaving cream but have heard many vouch for it.

I would love to hear any more ideas you, my dear readers, have on reusing items. And happy Earth Day to all!

It's Not Easy Being Green

Kermit was right, and probably didn't even know just HOW right on so many levels.

I've always considered myself an environmentalist. Maybe it comes from having parents who were older and grew up in the 30s when nobody threw anything out because you might have to use your food money to replace it. Maybe it's from being a 70s era kid who grew up seeing those green, white and yellow striped ecology stickers and patches everywhere. Maybe it's a reaction to Reagan and both Bushes. Who knows.

My first rude awakening came in the 90s when I was working on Capitol Hill and attended a Congressional Research Service seminar on the environment. My first handout was entitled "Make Your Environment Dirtier: Recycle More"

WTF? This is a seminar put out by a supposedly nonpartisan organization?

I never had a chance to look into why we were getting this tripe, or complain about the swagger and bias of the CRS staffer who gave the seminar. I wanted to but time is time. Fast forward to a few days later when I'm rinsing out the recyclables. And rinsing, and rinsing. Then finally giving up and letting the jar soak. And wondering if this CRS dude had a point.

A few years later in Grad school economics class I was handed an article about how low flush toilets actually generated more water than the "conventional" kind. Again, I figured what innovation comes from economists? They tend to want the status quo. But I started seeing they were right about alot of these so called "low flush" toilets. I now use the "old" bathroom at work and avoid the other where I have to flush the "low flush" toilet several times.

The latest is the proliferation of books on how to live a green lifestyle and many have great ideas on how to do it, like using natural materials to clean around the house and how to find products that have been tested on people, not animals, but that are safe for the whole family.

But you might want to consider buying a used copy, or if you want to buy new and support your local bookstore, how about buying it and circulating it amongst friends? If you have old, not eco friendly cleaners around the house, use them up then get or make new ones. Instead of organic cotton baby clothes, maybe buying some new with tags off of Ebay. If you have old jewelry that's broken and not resellable, donate the bits and pieces to a crafty friend or take on a new hobby and get some fun new accessories nobody else will have.

We don't need to stop buying stuff and enjoying new stuff completely. How fun would life be? How good would that be for our crummy economy? We can reuse more though, or share what we don't need single items of for ourselves. And rethink what we buy for kids, they really don't need all that stuff.

Really. My eldest got a secondhand play kitchen set for Christmas a few years ago and we finally got rid of it because it had become completely worn out. Instead of getting her alot of little things, I have this in mind for her birthday.

Having fun, and buying less but better...priceless.