MonkeyGrass Clippings

Earth Day Weekend

Well, I'm just about to head to bed, but I just wanted to pop in with a couple of bits of info. This evening we bagged about 250 loblolly pine seedlings with directions to hand out to all of the children at Sunday school tomorrow in honor of Earth Day. I have to speak at all three services with a "my story" angle, and I'm a bit nervous doing that. However, one of the things I'm going to try to ask and challenge everyone to do is to take whatever they're doing for the earth now, and up the bar. If they're not recycling ( obviously, we should all be doing that !!), fundamentally, don't take more than your share!!

Our Earth Day resolution is to work with trimming our trash down to only 1 bin. That's not going to be easy, but I will love to see if we can do it, and I'd also love to hear your "earth Day Every Day" slogos,, Flease feel free to use the website, or give a call.

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Earth Day Week!

So I appeared on Virginia This Morning again this morning, and of course had a long, long list of things I wanted to cover, but of course, I always end up feeling like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, suddenly in the parking lot, having missed an opportunity to say much of what I intended. Rats, I thought I had some good stuff, so it's going to be posted here instead. Although it will be over several days.

Though Earth Day is a terrific concept, every day really should be Earth Day- we can’t afford to do anything less- for our children, ourselves, or our planet. The bad news is that something has to be done, now, but the good news is that there are lots of things we can do. I always think about it as the gum wrapper effect- I think that lots of people think, “just this one wrapper won’t make a difference”, but if everyone thought that, we’d be knee deep in gum wrappers!

 

We don’t all have to ditch everything we do and spend thousands of dollars to “go green”, but we definitely can make a difference.  Lots of things are simple, but some do take a bit more effort or thought.

 

Focusing on the three “r’s” Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, I’m going to start at recycle, because that’s something we are hopefully ALL already doing.

Pay attention to what can be recycled- if you go to www.cvwma.com (if you're in the Richmond Metro Area- if not, check in with your local recycling program), you can read up on those things that can be recycled- you may be surprised at what you think you can but can’t and what you think you can’t that can.

Close the loop!- the more recycled content products you buy, the more efficient our recycling system becomes.   Paperstone cutting board, Recycline toothbrushes and razors. Now we even have recycled content aluminum foil available, (and aluminum, a really toxic process to create from the beginning , is one of the best things to remember to recycle.) There really are so many products available now, from printer/ copier paper to paper towels, to toilet tissue.

Regardless of exactly what statistics you look at, and what type of tp you use, the facts of the matter are that if the whole world used toilet paper at the rate we do, there would be no trees left on the earth. Period. YIKES!

 

When you look at the statistics of the paper that we use everyday, you really can realize how much of a difference we can make pretty easily.

One million trees would be saved if every U.S. household replaced just one 250-count package of virgin fiber napkins with 100 percent recycled ones.

544,000 trees would be saved by replacing a 70-sheet roll of virgin fiber paper towels.

424,000 trees would be spared by replacing a 500-sheet roll of virgin fiber toilet paper.

170,000 trees would be saved by replacing one 175-count box of virgin fiber facial tissue.

Now, imagine not only not using as many of those things, but cutting at least one completely (or close to it) out. If you use only reusable towels for wiping up, drying hands, washing counters, etc., that will make a huge difference. Even if you still keep the paper towels when you, say, step in a present from your dog and such- you're still using so many fewer that you will definitely save money as you save the planet!

So, it's birthday season again...

Well, it seems to be that time of year when we are suddenly bombarded with invitations to birthday party upon birthday party, and with those come the requisite questions about "What to get?" "What to do with all the junk from the goodie bags?", and now that our son's birthday is almost here (next week in fact), we are directing the same questions to ourselves. While there is definitely a brief entertainment value to the hand clappers, the ball bouncers, bouncy balls, little games, etc. , there are so many issues that I have with those things, I cannot justify using them as party favors.

Between the fact that they are made cheaply, often by children, often with really sketchy materials and paint, and they usually fall apart before we get home. Thus, they end up right in the trash. Of course. That's really not the cycle I want to perpetuate. So, this year we're going simple and doing an all boys climbing party, at a local climbing gym. I found some fantastic candy coated chocolates that look JUST like rocks- I'm bagging them up for each child and giving them a Sigg water bottle. Yes, it's a bit more expensive, but I figure I usually would spend 5 dollars on junk, and I feel so much better about this. I'm making the cake, in the mystifying theme of the characters of The Pirates of the Caribbean climbing a rock wall, and other than pizza, that's pretty much it. Plus, with only 10 children, it's much easier to justify! Also, I used to spend a good chunk of change on the invitations, and this year, I used Pingg, so no cost at all, AND, even better- no paper.

There really are all sorts of ways to make the whole birthday "season" a bit greener- Even if you don't want to do a Sigg bottle as a favor (although, if you do, email me and I will give you a case discount to make it a bit more palatable!), there are plenty of other terrific ideas for favors that are a bit less expensive, like the brand new Crayon Rocks Treasure Bag, or any one of the many new Plan Toys that will very shortly be uploaded to the site!

Another great idea is to buy a smaller gift, and wrap it instead of paper, with one of the fantastic, fun, Envirosax Kids Bags- this is always a huge hit, and really gives the birthday boy or girl two gifts in one!

For decor, I would highly recommend using one of the Hip from Holland Cotton Banners- I've shown the girls' version, but there is a boys' version as well, and they both make terrific party, picnic, or room decorations.

If you can get your little guy or gal to go along with it (even if they want a character themed party!), try using real plates if you're at home, or bagasse plates (for sources, try Richmond based Green Duck, they're awesome, and have loads of different types of cups, plates, forks, etc. that are biodegradable and compostable!) Then, just buy yourself a pack or two of themed napkins, and you have your theme (along with the cake of course!)

Well, time to go figure out when our new birthday Webkinz arrive...(yes, we are green, but not immune to the lure of the fluffy, cute Webkinz!)

Spring news

Well, with the Ivy Market behind us, it's time to focus less on packing and moving heavy boxes of stuff back and forth, and more on the joys of spring- and really cool spring merchandise!

Some of the really fantastic items we've just gotten in are these terrific handmade pillows from Umber Dove in Seattle. They are completely handmade, hand stitched, and hand silkscreened. Totally gorgeous, and really, more like art than just a pillow ! They'll be on the website in the next day or so, and every one is different, so get 'em while they're fresh! I have a feeling they won't last too long!