Category Archives: Going Green

Planning My Avoidance of Black Friday

That’s right, I loathe Black Friday. It strikes me as just another example of excess consumerism, and a chance for people to start overspending early. That and I spent too many years in retail during college to have any appreciation for large shopping crowds.

My husband on the other hand intends to head out. I hope I can get him to call me before making too many decisions about Christmas gifts. He’s not so good on a budget and we need to be good this year. Really, really good since we’re still recovering from his being out of work for 6 months earlier this year.

I don’t mind keeping an eye on the online deals, although I almost never buy anything. It’s mostly stuff beyond what I’d consider for presents.

This is a year we are cutting way back on Christmas anyhow. My sisters and I have discussed options for simplifying things. My inlaws have announced their intention to simplify this year. They were shocked by my highly enthusiastic reaction.

But I figure it should be more about the holiday anyhow. Let’s face it, most adults these days in this country can buy their own needs and an awful lot of wants. That’s a part of why so many people are having trouble with credit now, but nonetheless so many Christmas gifts merely add to the clutter.

We’re looking a lot at gifts of help or fun times together this year. Might paint at my mom’s house. Might take the kids out for mini golf. Things that are fun, but don’t add to the mess.

New Theme!

I’ve spent some time working on a new WordPress theme for this site. Was getting pretty bored with the old one. I took some time to personalize a free theme, and make it more appropriate to this site.

I like that it gives you the chance to see both recent and popular posts. It should be interesting to see how that works over time. I also tried to make a point of keeping most of the old functionality, such as links to top commentators and the ability to subscribe to comments.

Are You Ready to Vote?

I know, I know, it’s a few weeks yet to the U.S. elections, but I think it’s important to be sure that you are making the time to educate yourself not only on who to vote for President, but for other offices and issues that are relevant to your area.

In California, for example, we have a bunch of propositions on the ballot. Happens every election, and my sisters and I are planning to get together this weekend to go over things. We don’t necessarily have to agree on them all, but it’s a reason to get our research done so that we will all know why we are voting the way we are.

We won’t be discussing Presidential politics. Most of us are in agreement, and at the very least minds are made up.

There are plenty of resources available to those who care to do the research. You can check your local newspapers, read through the tons of mail you may be receiving, or research online.

My favorite part is how easy it is to find both sides of the story. You aren’t just stuck with what the official analysis says. You can find opinions from people who have something to gain or lose as well as people who just have strong opinions they want to share. You can find opinions you think are idiotic and ones that will bring up points you hadn’t considered before.

It’s important to vote, but I think it’s more important yet to take the time to educate yourself before you vote. Otherwise you increase the chances that you will have misunderstood what you were voting on.

Enjoying My Clothesline More and More

The weather has continued here so warm, and my energy level has been picking up some again. Add in the nightly bed wetting phase my son is going through right now, and my clothesline is really getting some use at last.

clothesline

We had been just drying the sheets and mattress protector outside, but I’ve found that if I try I can fit a whole load on there, even with the sheets taking a lot of room, so that’s what we’re doing now.

It’s really not that hard to do, even if the weather out is 90+ degrees still. A little time consuming, but I’ve already warned my husband that I probably want a second line hung soon. It’s southern California, after all, which means the weather is perfect for drying clothes outside much of the time.

I also figure this will help to ensure that smells have a hard time building up. Washing does quite well, but I trust the sun quite a bit.

I had to smile when my daughter asked me when I’d gotten the laundry basket. It’s been sitting unused in the garage since we moved in here, a relic of when my husband and I lived in an apartment and had to carry loads to the laundry room. I don’t bother with one when I can just pick up anything I drop.

Going outside makes the laundry basket make sense again. Don’t want my clean clothes on those dratted wood chips. Bad enough getting splinters in my feet. Don’t need them elsewhere.

My husband has been teasing me that I could just start using the bathtub and the antique wash board we got from my grandma. He knows I have no interest in adding that much labor to the job, although I gather it’s quite the arm workout. Still not going to happen. Fun to not take everything seriously in life.

Making the Most of My Brita On Tap

While I have somewhat mixed feelings about the greenness of having a filter on my kitchen faucet, I must confess that I love my Brita On Tap. I’ve never been the kind to buy bottled water other than for my earthquake kit, so it’s not keeping me from buying that, but I’ve certainly seen some benefits to having it.

We do drink quite a bit of tap water in my family. I fill up a container to keep in the fridge, so there’s always cold water available. The kids love it, although they’ve never commented on any difference between filtered and plain tap water.

Probably the biggest improvement was the day we had the kitchen pipes torn out because the old cast iron pipes for the drain had rusted shut. They also had to cut some of the pipes bringing water into the house and replace them with new.

At that time, the Brita was not attached. The plastic adapter it comes with is a piece of junk, and while we had bought a metal one to replace it, we hadn’t gotten around to actually doing it.

But the day we tasted the water coming through the new pipes, my husband and I knew it was time to put the filter back on, and hope the metal adapter worked better than the plastic one, which had allowed the filter to fall off the faucet every couple days.

Glad to say it works much better. The filter still hasn’t fallen off, months later, and even though the nasty taste that came from the new pipes is now gone, I’m enjoying that filter. We drink a lot of water here, and San Diego region water has never had the best flavor.

My grandparents’ well water in Sacramento, on the other hand… used to make sure to fill up there on trips. But that’s off topic.

My one frustration is that there’s currently no recycling for the Brita filters in the United States. I read someplace or other several months back that some other countries do have that, so I know it’s possible. Hugely frustrating to have something that could be recycled, but isn’t, due strictly to lack of recycling facilities.

Actually, I do have another frustration, but it relates more to how the water comes into my house. During the summer, the cold side often starts out hot. Sometimes steaming hot. You’re not supposed to run hot water through the filter.

We do have this problem solved, though. We keep a couple empty jugs by the sink. If we need cold and the water’s running hot, the jug collects the hot water, which is saved for the garden. Cuts down on the water waste and lets me help some of the plants that have been rather more sensitive to our recent hot weather.

All in all, if your local plain tap water isn’t what you enjoy, this isn’t a bad option. Some may prefer the Brita pitchers, which also work well. But if it keeps you from buying bottled water, a basic filtration system is well worth it.

Oh, and the replacement filters are often much cheaper through Amazon than locally! Check out the price differences, and if you’re buying online try to get things in as few shipments as possible. Increase your odds of free shipping and hopefully cut down on packaging.