Going Green won’t continue on The Hatchet, but you’ll be able to find more of Gina’s wonderful tips and writings at My Skinny Garden, her eco-conscious gardening blog.

Haidn

It’s blazing hot outside and if you are like me, your electric bill is at it’s highest around this time.  I have central air with the programmable thermostat and all that, but I still don’t have one of the best things around for cooling the house on the cheap.  Ceiling fans.

A ceiling fan set on low uses about as much energy as a 100 watt light bulb.  Not only that, it can make the room it’s in feel up to 4 degrees cooler!  This is such a no-brainer that I’m having trouble figuring out why I continue to live in a ceiling-fan-free house. 

I’m planning to install one in my bedroom as well as the kitchen, as soon as I can find somebody to do the installing.  I can’t wait to see how much money it saves me.

Do you have newly installed ceiling fans?  Did you realize a savings on your energy bill when you installed them? 

More Wordless Wednesday

I’m notorious for grabbing “interesting looking” food from the grocery to try.  I’d say my success rate for picking good stuff (edible, not gross, non-gag-reflex-inducing) is about 70/30, 70% being failure. 

My theory is that chocolate makes everything better.  And since I’m always looking for a new way to eat chocolate and not feel guilty about it, I just had to try this Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame from Trader Joe’s. 

If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, get some of these ASAP.  They are around $3.50 per box, super tasty and loaded with protein.  My guy says they kind of taste like M&M’s.  He loves them so much that he has now told all his coworkers about them and regularly calls me at work to ask me to stop by Trader Joe’s on my way home to pick up a few boxes for them.  I feel like a drug dealer! 

If you decide to give these a try, please be sure to stop back by and tell us what you think of them.

More Wordless Wednesday

from causecapitalism.com

Now that we’ve all made the commitment to recycle it seems we need to learn a million different kinds of recyclables.  Well, really only 7 but man oh man this gets exhausting!  Who knew there were so many different kinds of plastic?

If you’ve never done this, go get a plastic container out of your fridge and look at the bottom.  You should see a pyramid shape with a number in the center.  The number is a code that tells recyclers what kind of plastic they are dealing with and what can be done with it. 

My community accepts 1,2,3,4,5,7.  Does anybody know what happens with the #6 if I just throw it in the recycle bin? 

Here’s a snapshot of what each simple means but I’d recommend reading the article linked below from The Daily Green.

Here’s a really great article from one of my favorite sites The Daily Green that explains what each recyclable is turned into.  If you read it, be sure to click the Digg button to show your appreciation for the article.  I found it very helpful.

image courtesy of zondron

Last weekend my guy bought this huge thing of blueberries from Costco and after the entire week went by he had hardly made a dent in them.  I don’t care for raw blueberries so I started looking for recipes where I could use them up.  I made more bran muffins and added blueberries this time and while I was looking back at Farmgirl’s recipe I found this awesome recipe for blueberry breakfast bars. 

I was a little intimidated because it was a 3 layer recipe, but it was super easy. 

I used all organic ingredients and these things are just fabulous.  In the picture, they look really sweet and gooey but they are not that rich so they really are a good replacement for your normal breakfast bar.  I also used Earth Balance butter for the first time when I made these and I really like it!  I think I’ll start using that as a butter replacement. 

I recommend trying these ASAP.  Click here to view Farmgirls full recipe on these tasty blueberry bars. 

I still have a few blueberries left.  What’s your favorite way to eat them?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 2 billion disposable razors end up in landfills every year. 

Now, I suppose the absolute greenest thing to do would be to just stop shaving my legs, but, ew!  I’ve probably been shaving since I was around 13.  Let’s just say that I’ve used one disposable razor every week since then.  That means I’ve contributed almost 1500 disposable razors to the landfill by myself.  Shame on me!

Well, my relationship with disposable razors ends today.  I purchased this great Preserve razor from Whole Foods but you can also find them at Target.  This razor has a triple blade so my legs are ultra smooth after using it. 

The Preserve razor handle is made from recycled material and is completely recyclable. 

From the package: 100%recycled plastics in handle with at least 65% recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups.

You can also mail back the handles postage paid by printing out the label at their website. 

My triple razor cost around $7.00 which is about the same price as other reusable razors.  They also make recyclable ones in packs of 4 if you just cant bring yourself to buy the reusable one.  I also love the ergonomically shaped handle which means I’ll cut myself way less. 

What do you shave with?

Homesteading is a way of life that refers to people who are “getting back to the land” and choosing to live a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.  For most people homesteading means buying a big piece of land out in the country to grow their own food and farm but there is a new movement that makes homesteading possible even for us city folk.

Urban Homesteading follows the same homesteading principles minus the big piece of land in the country.  City dwellers are ripping up their entire small urban yards to plant food in every nook and cranney and even dabbling in animal husbandry keeping a few chickens for eggs and goats for milk. 

I learned about Urban Homesteading when I stumbled on what quickly became one of my favorite blogs Path To Freedom.  The Dervaes’ are a family of 4 who live in a California bungalow which they’ve turned to their own Urban Homestead.  They grow nearly all their own food and they even have goats for milk which they frequently take for walks.  The Dervaes family is committed to sustainability, running their vehicle on bio fuels, cooking many meals in their solar oven and even powering their blender using bicycle power.  Imagine getting on your bike for a ride when you make your morning fruit  ssmoothie? They are also committed to educating people like me (and you) about how to live a sustainable life and host many local events where they connect with their community. 

Urban Homesteading will likely continue to increase in popularity as the green movement surges on.  After following a few Urban Homesteading blogs for a while I’ve even decided to remove a big hunk of my backyard to replace it with a much larger garden space than I currently have. 

I can’t wait for the day where the vast lawns have been replaced with prolific organic gardens!

After researching bikes for a couple of weeks, I decided to go with a Hybrid.  This is a cross between a Road Bike and a Mountain Bike.  The nice thing about the Hybrids is that you sit a little more upright on the bike and the tires are a little wider making for a smoother ride.  From what I understand, the biggest compromise with this bike (as well as mountain bikes in general) is speed.  Since I’m not planning to do any bike racing, I could care less about going fast. 

I test drove a few bikes and decided on the Schwinn Sierra GS.  I loved the ride and it was very cute which is important!  I think the last bike I owned was purple.  That was about 30 years ago.  I’m not exaggurating! 

A word about supporting local business:

It can be difficult to pass up the big box stores on purchases like bicycles.  My good friend bought a Schwinn bike she adores from Target for almost 1/2 what I paid for mine and when I started out down the buy-a-bike road, that was my plan.  It was purely financial.  However, after visiting Barnard’s in Oak Park, IL there was no question I’d be spending a little more money to get a better bike, take advantage of their expert service and most importantly support local business.  Barnard’s has been in business since 1911.  The sales guy took his time to educate me on the differences of the bikes they sell and after he described the challanges of buying bikes from big box stores, I was convinced.  If you buy a bike from a big box store, you’re on your own to assemble and service it.  But, at Barnard’s, the pros assemble it, then give you a free tune up at 90 days, 1 year, and 2 years - FREE!  SOLD!

A word about customer service:

When I went to buy my bike on Saturday, Barnard’s was unexpectedly closed.  And since I’m the most impatient person on the planet, I promptly went over to another cycle store in the area to try to find a bike.  I walked in and strolled around for about 5 minutes and nobody said a single word to me.  It was as if I wasnt there.  What offended me was that, when a bicycle police guy came in the door, they were all over him with their great customer service.  What am I, chopped liver?  I left having never spoken to a sales person.  I was very tempted to name the store in this post to illustrate what bad customer service can do, but I’m sparing them this time.  Shame on you, snooty bike shop!  You lost a sale, buddy!

I took my new ride out for a few minutes last night but there seems to be a problem with the seat slipping so I’ll need to take it back to the shop tonight. But, other than that, I’m in love already!  I think this thing is going to change my life. 

What kind of bike do you have?  Do you ride often?  What kind of riding do you do?