The Crunch

Great way to start the new year on the right foot…a simple detox!

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/guide-mind-body-detox.html?emcampaign=PLG-NL-06012010-PopStories1

Let us know how it goes.

It’s a busy time of year for one and all.  Back to school, shorter days and the holiday rush (big excuse for why I haven’t been blogging) have many of us wondering where the day went.  Most of my day(s) have been spent trying to find new ways to improve upon Crunchy Granola Home and hunting down the next perfect eco-friendly must-have.  However, I have found time in smidgens and snipets to have some fun, eco-style.  First was the Green Festival in DC.  What a blast- well once we finally made it there (long story involving broken down public trans.)  We sampled and chatted and came away with some great ideas for cleaning, cooking and getting a free solar power home analysis! (Visit www.standardsolar.com to see if you qualify).  The best part of the festival for me was watching kids make small cities and sculptures out of trash.  So creative and these kids were having a blast (while learning a very valuable lesson, of course). 

Building made of trash!

How cool is this?

From there, we headed down to the Solar Decathalon on the Mall.  Ever been?  Colleges from all over compete for the best design for a totally solar powered home.  They were all beautiful and innovative, but this one was my fav.

My favorite Solar House

Looks like a ski chalet, doesn’t it?  Which brings me to my next “to do,” plan a vacation!

Article by Brian Clark Howard at “The Daily Green” about ten weird uses for vodka.  Repel bugs, cure poison ivy and clean your house… with vodka, that’s right, the spirit from your cupboard.  Perfect holiday weekend reading!

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/vodka-uses-460424

What I mean to say is that we have jumped on the band wagon by adding eco-friendly water bottles to the Crunchy line… we have always (almost) used them ourselves. 

We had avoided selling said bottles thus far, because everybody else does, and frankly we didn’t want to waste energy competing.  But then, last week in Atlanta (on buying trip), I was reminded of how many water bottles we use daily.  Wanna guess?  25MM, yes, 25 million a day that end up in our landfills.  So I re-thought my selling the water bottle embargo… plus we stumbled upon a really great concept.

“Waterweek.”  Five 16-ounce bottles in a re-usable tray.  You fill your bottles with your filtered tap water at the beginning of the week and voila, water for the week, or “waterweek.”  Perfect.  This not only saves our landfills, but it saves you a few bucks in the long run (roughly $500, we’re told).

So check out “Waterweek” under Fresh Discoveries and let us know what you think.

Did I mention that they are BPA free, as well?

www.crunchygranolahome.com/freshdiscoveries

"Waterweek"

Earth Day- April 22^nd 2009

What will you do to celebrate Earth Day this year?  I have a few ideas of changes for the environmental good that I would like to institute in my life, on that day, and my list keeps growing…

I am trying to narrow it down to a few practical, reasonable yet meaningful items.  Here are some thoughts:

1. Make buying local a practice not just when things look yummy at the Farmer’s Market.

1. Start returning wire hangers to dry cleaner (and continue to limit trips to said dry cleaner.)

1. Ask cashiers not to print my receipts for purchases made (if you pay with credit or debit, it’s very easy to keep track of expenses.)

1. Plant a tree (or two) and start my seedlings in bio-degradable containers for my vegetable garden- can’t get more buy local than that (see #1).

1. Donate old cell phones to benefit a domestic violence shelter- www.shelteralliance.com, ensures that your donation is handled in a “zero-landfill manner.”

1. Finally schedule that appointment to have my ducts cleaned and sealed so that I can use less heat and air conditioning the rest of the year.

1. Stop leaving my reusable totes in the trunk of my car almost EVERY time I walk into a store (although the exercise from the back and forth to the car is helpful).

1. Eat less meat.  This is for Earth Day and Me Day- good for the planet, good for my health.

What about you?  We here at Crunchy would love to hear what you would like to change in your life in honor of Earth Day.  Drop us a line, we’ll publish the most innovative responses.  Keep it clean!  Love your Mother (Earth).

Heather

Sales@CrunchyGranolaHome.com

Does your town have single stream recycling?  Ours started last week, and I have to tell you, it’s wonderful.  All of my magazines, bottles, jars, junk mail and cardboard, all in the same town-provided receptacle.  No sorting, no fuss.  There is absolutely no excuse for not participating and doing your part for our planet.  Now, there are some folks that prefer the old school method of recycling and even believe that the processing costs and possible contamination of materials through single-streaming may outweigh the benefits.  Rest assured.  Single streaming actually cuts down on the number of specialized collection trucks needed and these multi-purpose trucks are less expensive to purchase.  Fewer trucks = less energy expended.  Less expensive= more money for other environmental programs.  To date, there are still items that you cannot just throw into your one source bin willy-nilly.  For a quick refresher, I have listed them below.

NOOOOOOO:

1.  Plastic bags

2.  Plastic lids or caps

3.  Shredded paper

4.  Garbage (like your sandwich wrapper)

5.  Liquids (like motor oil)

6. Non-recyclable glass (donate that Pyrex instead)

7.  Frozen food containers (they have a coating which makes them non-recyclable)

8.  And obviously, dispose of your CFL’s and batteries wisely (not in these bins!)

Happy recycling!

Good articles from the Green America website.  Have a look and let us know what you think.

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/7fixes.cfm

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/recentdevelopments.cfm

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/televisions.cfm