Monday, February 6, 2012

Day 100: Renovate Green

It has been a while since I did my 100th day and still have not got around to posting it. It has been busy around here to say the least. To sum up quickly I spent days 5 last week helping my friend, Celeste, demo and start rebuilding her master bathroom. We got this amazing opportunity to do this for Renovation Realities on the DIY Channel. It was a lot of work but it was great fun and I learned so much! It was such an interesting thing to do both from a construction standpoint and a seeing behind the sceens of tv standpoint. While we renovated we tried to keep it green as much as possible. We recycled, got biodegradable plastic liners and tried to reuse as much stuff as we possibly could. It was a wonderful opportunity to help a friend and have such a unique experience and it was the perfect thing for my 100th Good Human Act. I will let everyone know when it will air, I think they said it will be in June.

I have loved doing a Good Human Act every day. It has made me so aware of the planet, people and situations around me. I will not blog daily about my deeds anymore but will continue to try and do something helpful every chance I get. I will definitely blog when I get some great ideas or about new things that I try still. Thank you to everyone who helped me with ideas or projects or comments and support. I love you all, you all help me to be a better human!

Our Renovation Reality

Friday, January 27, 2012

Day 99: Buy Products that Give Back

I discovered a product today called Project 7 that I bought for my Good Human Act . Project 7 is a company that sells "products for good." For every purchase of a Project 7 product, some good is done in seven areas of need – Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless, Quench the Thirsty, Teach them Well and Save the Earth. It has a great website that tells you how they are helping in each of the areas and where you can find their products, why they are doing it and it even has a volunteering group called 7 Day that is a "NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO ENGAGE AND INSPIRE PEOPLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THE GOAL iS TO SHOW HOW EASY IT IS TO VOLUNTEER AND TO IMPACT THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE LIVE."  http://www.project7.com/


Day 98: Brush & Flush -Water Conservation

 My boys are big enough to brush their teeth on their own, but they needed a little reminding on how to use as little water as possible when making those teeth sparkle. We started the "buddy brush", where you have to brush until everyone is ready to rinse, then everyone rinses quickly, then the water is turned off until another rinse is needed. We also talked about the "buddy flush", where if you have to pee, especially before bed- when they all go at the same time, you wait to flush until everyone else has peed and only flush once. When we woke up today the boys already remembered about the buddy flush and my oldest asked anyone if they needed to pee before he flushed.

Here is a little bit of info on water conservation from not running the water when your brush your teeth from a website called 50 ways to Help the Planet:

BRUSH WITHOUT RUNNING
You've heard this one before, but maybe you still do it. You'll conserve up to five gallons per day if you stop. Daily savings in the U.S. alone could add up to 1.5 billion gallons--more water than folks use in the Big Apple.


brush

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Day 97: Make Reusing & Recycling Fun for Kids

We recently bought a children's book called Michael RecycleIn the book there is a little boy that is superhero and his power is going to cities and teaching them how to recycle and make their towns more beautiful, clean and green. It is a really cute book, and there are actually a few of them by the same author, Ellie Bethel. My kids love the story and we have been saving cardboard boxes and other keepable trash to build ourselves a Micheal Recycle city. Yesterday we finally gathered enough supplies, and had some free time, to start our recycled town. The kids loved making houses and thinking of creative ideas that the trash could be. It will be an ongoing project in our front room for a while. Every day we will add a little more recycled trash, maybe paint it a bit, who knows what else we will think of to add to it. And every day while we work/play with it the kids are learning that recycling can be fun, as well as good for the planet!
The beginning of our Recycled Town                                                                             Michael Recycle Book. 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 96: Rethink Bottled Water

My son's school water bottle broke today and he needed a new one, so we got another reusable plastic one! It is so nice to have one that can be easily rinsed out and taken with us at all times. It also eliminates waste for the planet and saves some money too! Our kids love the fun colors of their bottles and love having their own special cups. I also signed a pledge called Take Back the Tap that encourages people to stop using and buying water bottles and to instead use tap water (and a filter, if desired) in a reusable bottle.

Here is the link to the Take Back the Tap pledge from Food & Water Watch:
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2619

Here is some information on why bottled water is not the best choice from the Mother Nature Network:

1) Bottled water isn't a good value
Take, for instance, Pepsi's Aquafina or Coca-Cola's Dasani bottled water. Both are sold in 20 ounce sizes and can be purchased from vending machines alongside soft drinks — and at the same price. Assuming you can find a $1 machine, that works out to 5 cents an ounce. These two brands are essentially filtered tap water, bottled close to their distribution point. Most municipal water costs less than 1 cent per gallon.
Now consider another widely sold liquid: gasoline. It has to be pumped out of the ground in the form of crude oil, shipped to a refinery (often halfway across the world), and shipped again to your local filling station.
In the U.S., the average price per gallon is hovering around $3. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which puts the current price of gasoline at a fraction over 2 cents an ounce.
And that's why there's no shortage of companies that want to get into the business. In terms of price versus production cost, bottled water puts Big Oil to shame.
2) No healthier than tap water
In theory, bottled water in the United States falls under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration. In practice, about 70 percent of bottled water never crosses state lines for sale, making it exempt from FDA oversight.
On the other hand, water systems in the developed world are well-regulated. In the U.S., for instance, municipal water falls under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency, and is regularly inspected for bacteria and toxic chemicals. Want to know how your community scores? Check out the Environmental Working Group's National Tap Water Database.
While public safety groups correctly point out that many municipal water systems are aging and there remain hundreds of chemical contaminants for which no standards have been established, there's very little empirical evidence that suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent.
3) Bottled water means garbage
Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. According toFood and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.
That assumes empty bottles actually make it to a garbage can. Plastic waste is now at such a volume that vast eddies of current-bound plastic trash now spin endlessly in the world's major oceans. This represents a great risk to marine life, killing birdsand fish which mistake our garbage for food.
Thanks to its slow decay rate, the vast majority of all plastics ever produced still exist — somewhere.
4) Bottled water means less attention to public systems
Many people drink bottled water because they don't like the taste of their local tap water, or because they question its safety.
This is like running around with a slow leak in your tire, topping it off every few days rather than taking it to be patched. Only the very affluent can afford to switch their water consumption to bottled sources. Once distanced from public systems, these consumers have little incentive to support bond issues and other methods of upgrading municipal water treatment.
There's plenty of need. In California, for example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated the requirement of $17.5 billion in improvements to the state's drinking water infrastructure as recently as 2005. In the same year, the state lost 222 million gallons of drinkable water to leaky pipes.
5) The corporatization of water
In the documentary film Thirst, authors Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman demonstrated the rapid worldwide privatization of municipal water supplies, and the effect these purchases are having on local economies.
Water is being called the "Blue Gold" of the 21st century. Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity's most precious resource.
Multinational corporations are stepping in to purchase groundwater and distribution rights wherever they can, and the bottled water industry is an important component in their drive to commoditize what many feel is a basic human right: the access to safe and affordable water.
What can you do?
There's a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don't like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparkling fresh at a fraction of bottled water's cost.
Consider taking Food and Water Watch's No Bottled Water Pledge. Conserve water wherever possible, and stay on top of local water issues. Want to know more? Start with the Sierra Club's fact sheet on bottled water.
Bottoms up!


Monday, January 23, 2012

Day 95: Buy Reusable RePac Bags

I just bought this great deal on living social for Reusable Re-Pac bags, they have a bunch of sizes and are made in the US!

Here is a little more about them:
These products were developed by a nurse and her sewing savvy mom! Making lunch for myself and my husband every day made us go through plastic bags fast! But the nurse in me was not willing to use cotton bags as they can grow mold and become an expensive short term solution. So we started making our own! When developing our products, we wanted to make sure they were long lasting, eco-friendly, and most importantly, safe for food! As cotton can harbor food particles and grow mold we chose to use durable and water resistant fabrics inside and out. 

It is with this in mind that the Re-Pac Bags were born! We wanted to create a practical and truely long lasting food safe bag that can not only help you reduce waste but also save you money! We are so confident in the quality of our bags that we offer the life-time warranty! If you have any problems with the materials or constuction of any of our bags just let us know and we will supply you with a new one! We hope that this has been helpful and that you enjoy our products. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Here is the link if you want to buy some it was only $10 for $22 worth of bags:
https://www.livingsocial.com/deals/236144?ref=conf-jp&rpi=44640234

Day 94: Be Honest

I could have got quite a haul from a new store yesterday for free. I went and checked out the new Latitudes gas station/bistro today and needed to grab a few libations for the football playoffs while I was there. When I went to check out the deal that was listed for the beer I was buying did not ring up, so the lady took my word and typed it in for me, as we were chatting she mentioned what a good deal the drinks were for that price and I finally realized I had grabbed a 30 pack instead of an 18er, that is why the wrong price rang up and why she thought it was such a good deal. Now, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for me to just keep mum, it was already scanned, changed to reflect the new price and I had already been carded but instead I apologized for my mistake, ran to the back of the store to return the wrong pack and started the checkout process again with the right amount drinks. Honesty is always the best policy.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Day 93: Have a No Screens Day

Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, we had a No Screens Day for our Good Human Act, and for some fun! That means we had no tv, no wii, no DS, no computers and hardly any phone(had to take an inportanat email or 2). We also started the day off having a no lights day too, we took flashlights to the bathroom and anywhere else dark- they loved using the  flashlights, but we had to change that one when I made dinner, kinda hard to cook with out seeing the food. We tried to keep most of the lights off after dinner though too. It was a really fun day. We spent extra time outside, made an awesome fort and I got my spring cleaning started in my kitchen. It was a wonderful day and saving some energy for our planet made it even better! We are going to try and do this every other Saturday from now on!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 92: Thank a Teacher + Help the School

Today my son, Keston, got sent home a paper selling "Cookie Grams" for Valentine's Day from his school. You pay $2 and a heart shaped cookie gets delivered to whomever you choose on Valentine's Day. The proceeds go to help the middle school kid's fundraiser, for their end of the year learning trip and someone gets a special delivery. Keston and I decided it would be nice to send one to each of his teachers to let them know they are appreciated! And that paired with the fact that we get to help the school raise money as well makes this one "sweet" Good Human Act!

When Keston wasn't looking I filled one out for him too, so he will get a special cookie on Valentine's Day too :)

Keston's "Cookie Grams"

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day 91: Let Someone Go in Front of You in Line

Today for my Good Human Act when we went to the Post Office to mail something out to my mother-in-law we let a lady go ahead of us that was in a rush. My little guys and I had nowhere pressing to be and we were happy to quicken the trip for someone else, especially since I have been there :) I know a few times we have been at the grocery store just grabbing a last minute thing or two and people with full carts have let us go ahead, it is really nice when people are so courteous!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day 90: Call Senator to Say "NO" To The PROTECT IP ACT

For my Good Human Act today I called my local Senator by going to this website http://americancensorship.org/modal/call-form-moz.html and emailed Congress to protest to Protect the IP Act. Today many websites are going dark today to protest SOPA & PIPA too:
Here is a link that has a video about it and a form to email Congress. http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa


The video below discusses the Senate version of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.
PIPA would give the government new powers to block Americans' access websites that corporations don't like. The bill lets corporations and the US government censor entire websites and cut sites off from advertising, payments and donations.
This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
The bill is scheduled for a test vote in the Senate on Jan. 24th: We need to act now to let our lawmakers know just how terrible it is. Will you fill out the form above to ask your lawmakers to oppose the legislation and support a filibuster?


PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Day 89: Make Homemade Natural Laundry Soap

I keep meaning to make laundry soap, ever since I started doing my laundry greener on Good Human Day 31 I have had it as a goal. And I even bought the supplies to make it randomly one day about 2-3 weeks ago, but life gets in the way of good intentions sometimes and I had still not made the soap, well...until today that is! And it was way easier than I expected it to be, which is one of the reasons I kept putting it off. Minus a little extra time I spent grating a type of soap that many sites recommended (Fels Naptha), that after opening I found was just not for me, the process only took like 5 minutes to make a batch that should last me for 60 loads of laundry! 

Here is the recipe I used from a site called DIY Natural:
*I used Ivory soap and added a few drops of my natural Citrus Bliss and Purify doTERRA essential oils for their fragrance and natural purifying properties to our batch.* 

Natural Laundry Soap Recipe:

Each batch yields approximately 32 ounces (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tsp used per load).
Finely grate a bar soap with a citrus zester or use a larger grater then run the blade in your food processor that turns it into "powder."  It won't be quite as fine as real powdered soap, but very close.  Then add one cup of Borax and one cup of washing soda and thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes you can also put the borax and washing soda into the food processor after you "powder" the soap and blend it that way much quicker.  It only take TWO TEASPOONS to do a large load. The hardest part is thinking that two teaspoons will do the job, but it does! 

And here is a small bit of info on why store bought detergents are not the greatest from a site called Natural Healthezine:

The mineral salts in water will react with soap to produce an insoluble precipitate that will not rinse away. It is more commonly known as soap scum and you can see it as a bath tub ring or a ring inside of your washing machine. This precipitate will settle into fabrics making them stiff and more likely to attract dirt. The water softener added to the detergent prevents the mineral salts (mostly magnesium and calcium) from bonding with the soap and forming that film.
Detergents with brighteners do not get your clothes any cleaner than detergents without. By converting ultraviolet light wavelengths to visible blue light, these chemicals simply trick the eye into thinking that the clothes are whiter. Since brighteners only work if left on the fabrics, clothes washed in these detergents will come out of the machine with a chemical residue left on them.
The fragrances found in commercially prepared laundry detergents are solely to make your clothes smell better. These are all chemically derived.
In commercially prepared detergents all of these ingredients are chemicals that are slow to degrade, if at all, and are known to cause allergies and skin and eye irritations in sensitive individuals. Some are toxic to the environment. Therefore, folks with a green conscience are turning to making their own cleaning products, especially those that come into contact with the body, like laundry detergent.



The 3 ingredients and the finished Laundry Soap


Monday, January 16, 2012

Day 88: Use Rechargeable Batteries

My kids love playing Wii, honestly so do I (Just Dance 3 is addictive and always fun) but those remotes just have a way of sucking the life out of batteries. I have never seen a device that can drain a battery so quickly! When we went to Costco today I saw a rechargeable battery pack with batteries and instantly decided that is what we need, my husband however assured me we had a battery charger and batteries we bought a long time ago and have hardly ever used, so when I got home I looked around and sure enough we have a charger!! I was only able to find a few batteries that go with it so I will be headed back tomorrow to stock up, but the batteries are getting charged as I type and hopefully I won't be needing to but stock in AA's anymore!

Here is a little information on why it is beneficial to use rechargeable batteries from a website called Stop Waste: (The site has a lot more information about when to use them and when not to, different kinds of recyclable batteries and how to recycle old batteries http://stopwaste.org/docs/rechargeable_batteries.pdf)

Rechargeable batteries save money and resources and often are the best choice for many uses. But they are 
best when matched to the right applications and there are some instances when they are not recommended.   
Why Rechargeable Batteries Are Good To Use 
• Save Money - While rechargeable batteries cost more initially, they can be reused hundreds of times 
and last for years, if used properly.
• Protect the Environment - Batteries contain corrosive materials and heavy metals. Their manufacture, 
transportation and disposal can impair human health and the environment. In California, batteries are 
banned from landfills and must be either recycled or handled as hazardous waste. Using rechargeable 
batteries greatly reduces the number of overall batteries required and disposed of.
• Conserve Resources, Prevent Waste - Because rechargeable batteries can be used over and over, far 
fewer need to be manufactured and transported than when using single-use disposable batteries. 
When to Use Rechargeable Batteries 
Rechargeable batteries are a good choice for most frequently-used devices such as wireless mice/keyboards, 
telephone headsets, radios, pagers, cameras, calculators, walkie-talkies, remote controls, regular flashlights, 
toys, dispensers and faucets with automatic sensors, and much more.  


Sunday, January 15, 2012

Day 87: Give Food to Homeless

Today, on our way home from a friend's house there was a man standing on the corner with a sign that said Hungry, anything helps. We had a bunch of snacks in our car so I quickly organized them, found a bag to put them in and gave the guy the food for our Good Human Act. A friend of mine suggested, a while ago, to keep a few food items in the car for occasions like today and that would have been a great thing to have. I am going to put a bag with some food in my middle console today so I will have that available for next time.

Day 86: Exercise Green

Exercise is good any way you do it, but exercising green is even better. Yesterday I ran outside with a friend. We got some fresh air, got our butts kicked by a giant hill and din't use any electricity or power to get a great workout. The gym is great but sometimes it is nice to exercise green!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Day 85: Say "No Thanks" to Unneeded Receipts

My act is short today, when asked if I needed a receipt printed, when we stopped to pick some pizza up for dinner (it's Friday pizza/movie night!), I simply said "no thanks". I will continue to do this everywhere I go unless I actually need the receipt, which for me, is not very often. This saves a bit of paper, but over time might really add up.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Day 84: Sign a Petition to Stop LGBT Discrimintaion

A wonderful lady we know, named Pam, posted a petition link on facebook to be signed to prevent LGBT (lesbian, gaybisexual, and transgender) discrimination in schools. I signed immediately! No one deserves to be bullied!

Here is more information about the Petition:

PETITION: STOP LGBT DISCRIMINATION IN OUR SCHOOLS

Discrimination based on sexual orientation must come to an end, especially in our schools.

That’s why Rep. Jared Polis introduced H.R. 998, the "Student Non-Discrimination Act" to ensure that we end discrimination based on sexual orientation in schools for good.

The safety of American children should be a bipartisan priority, but from the looks of it, right-wing special interests are already fundraising to block this basic anti-discrimination measure.

In fact, the arch-conservative publication The Weekly Standardsent out a bigoted email calling gay Americans "sexual deviants."

Help us fight back. Sign our petition right now calling for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation in our schools.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Day 83: Hand Deliver Misaddressed Mail

Yesterday we got 5 pieces of mail that didn't belong to us. Usually I would just drop it back in the outgoing mail slot, but I decided, since the addresses were near ours, that I could save the mailman a little work and just hand deliver the mail to the proper owner for my Good Human Act today. Easy breezy!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Day 82: Neighborhood Litter Patrol

I know I have cleaned a road before and cleaned up trash in my neighborhood before, but after 2 days of large cardboard and lots of styrofoam being in the road of our neighborhood I broke down and cleaned it up today. I kept hoping someone else would do it so I could get an original Good Human Act for today, but I couldn't drive past it another day and pretend to not see it, or not stop to clean it up. So, on the way to run errands with my family today I made my hubby stop the car and let me pick it up. Since we were going to the grocery and they have a huge dumpster we were able to drop the trash off without any extra stops, which made it really convenient and the road looks so much nicer again!

Road Cleanup.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Day 81: Be a Patient & Courteous Driver

It was my carpool day this morning and we were running a bit late, so I was a bit impatient. It always seems like when you are running late that is when traffic is the slowest and other drivers are the most obnoxious, and it is really frustrating. So today, as I picked up the kids who ride with us I decided to mellow out. I took a few breaths and pretended like we had all the time in the world. I didn't get in a huff when the light turned red just as it was my turn to go or get bothered when there was a traffic build up, that was going to put us even father behind, at the freeway entrance (due to an accident). Instead of letting all the traffic problems compound my agitation I decided to let it all go and actually had a pleasant and quick drive to school. I even let a few people in my lane when I normally might have sped up to block them. I kept up my driving goal of patience and courtesy when I was called by my son's school and had to go back and pick him up for not feeling well. Though I was bummed he was sick and wanted to get to him quickly I drove smart and cheerfully and the extra drive didn't bother me today. I think if more people just relaxed on the road instead of being impatient there might be less accidents and a happier atmosphere on the road. I will try to always be a patient and courteous driver, not just today for my Good Human Act.