Organics Organics Organics Oh My!

Do you know why I love tuesdays? I get my delivery of organic fruits and vegetables by the company Absolute Organics, in Charlotte, NC. They are a local family run business that gives great service. A few days before delivery they email you what you are going to receive, then you have a chance to request not to receive a certain item. Absolute Organics is one way I have been saving money on our change to organic fruits and veggies. If you are in Charlotte or lucky enough to have a local service like this it is a great and less expensive way to feed your family organics foods. They also have organic free trade coffee (YUM!), organic granola and local honey. If you decide to try Absolute Organics, please let them know eG sent you! Have you ever tried a service like this? If you have a service like this is your area please post it in a comment to help others find them.

eGreen Method: Nix the Paper Napkins with Ease ...

You can buy the restaurant type cloth napkins in bulk (about 25 napkins for approx. $20). We have about 30 we rotate. We keep a small decorative basket in our kitchen that is only for the cloth napkins, that makes it easy to keep them clean. What methods have you used to ease the switch to cloth?

eGreen Methods: Reuse Those Egg Cartons

Aside from giving your egg cartons to the farmers at your local farmer's market, here are so ways that you can reuse your egg cartons so that they avoid the "dumpster graveyard":

• Money Container - Use old egg cartons to store your change for garage and yard sales. Egg cartons are good for this because you can separate all the change and it is easy to get to. At a garage sale I recently tried this and it worked very well. I found that getting change was easier and faster because I knew where the change I needed was.
  
• Golf Ball Storage - An egg carton makes a great place to store extra golf balls. It makes it easy to sort by brand and condition and they are stackable so they can be stored neatly.
  
• Travel Helper - I use them for travel, to hold small items like earrings, necklaces, any emergency item on hand...... threads, etc; weave needle thru the inside top cover so as not to lose it in your suitcase. Hold together with lg. rubber band.
  
• Craft Helping Hand - When working with small round items, I often use an egg carton to old the item while I paint one side, or just as a holder while they dry. It keeps those little round things from rolling away.
• Fire Starters - fill the paper egg cartons with dryer lint, then pore melted wax over the lint. You can tear apart the sections and use for fire starters when you are camping, or in your fire place. I use left over candle pieces for the melted wax.
  
• Charcoal Fire Starter - Similar to the idea above for fire starters... Using a cardboard egg carton, fill each section with melted wax so that it's about 1/3 full. Place a piece of charcoal (one brickette) in the wax. Close the carton and place on a shelf until you're ready to use. To use, remove the top of the carton, and place the bottom half in the grill. Light the carton. Wait a few minutes and then add more charcoal. This will eliminate the need for lighter fluid.
• Plant containers or seed starters
• Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill about 3/4 with potting soil and vermiculite. Plant seeds and set in a sunny window.
• Jewelry organizer - Paint or cover with fabric. Store any small pieces of jewelry, rings, earrings, chains, cuff links, etc. For a unique way to store pierced earrings, line the top with foam, cover with fabric, and poke earrings through the foam. Easier than trying to find them in the little cups.
• Desk organizer - Remove the top and place inside a desk drawer to hold small items, like paper clips, rubber bands, push pins, etc. Paint or decorate if you want to place it on a desktop where it will be seen.
• Christmas decoration storage - Line cups with cotton, foam, or tissue paper and store small Christmas tree bulbs and ornaments in each cup.
• Palette - Use the styrofoam kind for water colors or acrylics to hold colors. Detach top of carton and use for mixing colors.
• Craft storage - Is your craft work area a nightmare? Use an egg carton to store all those little pieces you don't want to lose track of while you're working.
• Cheap ice cube trays - Use plastic egg cartons to make extra ice.
• Game / toy storage - Some of those little pieces keep getting lost? Use a carton to store doll shoes, game pieces, dice, etc.

What ways are you reusing your egg cartons?

Courtesy of make-stuff.com

eG hit 1000 followers on Twitter

eG hit 1000 followers on Twitter ... randomly we selected our winner ... *drum roll* ... make sure to tune in next week we will give away another @teavana GC ... *drum roll* ... Congrats @abbyalex you have won a $15 GC to @teavana ... please DM us with your email address, TY ALL for your participation and support!

eGreen Kids: Cardboard Roll Puppets

Instructions to make home made puppets from cardboard toilet paper roll.

Materials Needed:

• Toilet Tissue and/or Paper Towel Rolls
• Craft Sticks
• Glue
• Scissors
• Construction Paper
• Misc. Craft Supplies (felt, moving eyes, yarn, etc.)

Instructions:
Very Simple! Decorate the cardboard toilet paper rolls to make different people or animals! You can even cut them to different heights. Use the misc. craft supplies to make hair, clothes, mouths, etc. Be creative! Glue the craft sticks inside the bottom edge of the cardboard roll for handle.

Courtesy of about.com

Plastic Bag Tote: Reusing Your Plastic Grocery Bags

Instructions for cutting the bags and making a ball of "yarn", click here

Materials Needed: numerous white, blue and yellow plastic grocery bags, M hook

Finished Size: 15 inches high x 16 inches wide not including the straps

Note: Do not use hook that you don't want to break or be stained. I have noticed that my hook has numerous stains of dye on it from the bags, also this is hard on the hook so you don't want to use your good Brittany hooks while crocheting with plastic bags :-)

Directions:
white bags

ch 28

• Round 1 - hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in each remaining ch, working around the backside of the ch hdc in each st, join with a sl st to 1st hdc (54 total)
• Round 2-5 - ch 1, hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc at the end of round 5 change to yellow bags, do not cut white bags
• Round 6-7 ch 1, with yellow bags, hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc, cut yellow bags, at end of round 7 pick up the dropped white bags
• Round 8-10 - ch 1, with white, hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc, at end of round 10 change to blue bags, do not cut white bags
• Round 11- 13 - ch 1, with blue bags, hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc, cut blue bags, at end of round 13, pick up the dropped white bags
• Round 14-20 - ch 1, with white, dc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc, at end of round 20 change to yellow bags, do not cut white bags
• Round 21 - ch 1, with yellow, hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc, cut yellow bags, at end of round 21 change to white bags
• Round 22- ch 1, with white hdc in next 7 sts, ch 24, sk 8 sts, hdc in the next 19 sts, ch 24, sk 8 sts, hdc in next 12, join with a sl st to 1st hdc
• Round 23 - ch 1, sc in next 6sts, work 28 sc around the next ch 24 sp on last round, sc in next 19 sts, work 28 scs around the next ch 24 sp on last round, sc in next 13 sps, join with a sl st in beg sc (94 total)
• Round 24 - ch 1, sc in each st around (94 total)

Courtesy of about.com

Vegan Purse Delight

Melie Bianco was definite eye candy when I discovered their purses through Twitter (@meliebianco). Their products are completely stylish, affordable and vegan; what more can a green girl ask for! Check out their product line at http://www.shopmelie.com. They have lots of variety of styles and colors; new arrivals for the season. I love when style and eco-friendly going hand in hand.

Lost 30 pounds since Going Green ...

It is amazing when you choose a life of taking better care of God's creation you end up getting wonderful benefits:

• Weight loss
• More time with your family
• Saving money

Since this journey started we went to vegetarian (I went vegan), walked instead of driving to close places (my daughter loves the walking), buying organic and non-processed foods, eating more raw vegetables and fruits. I have slowly dropped weight and without "dieting". For years I had heard you don't diet you change your lifestyle, well that wasn't as crazy as I thought it was. I was constantly looking for a quick fix. Turns out that turning towards God and changing our lifestyle for the effort of caring for His creation is giving me the result I have been looking for my whole life. Hrmm go figure! (giggles) I will keep you all posted on my progress, I have more to drop, but this lifestyle has sure put me on the track. YAY! What benefits have you seen as a result of going green?

Breakfast Perfection: Pure Chocolate Brownie Bar Review

This morning after our green juice I broke out a Pure Chocolate Brownie Bar (Organic, Raw, Vegan). This is the first one I have tried since my box arrived from Amazon.com (where you can buy them in bulk YAY!). My 6 year old daughter drooled as I bite into it (she is a chocolate maniac). She squealed "I want some I want some." I broke off a piece for her and my boyfriend who also showed interest. She yelped "YUMM" as she chopped down on it. I have to agree with my precocious little one, my boyfriend followed expressing it was delicious and healthy tasting; which is the two things our family craves these days. It is a boutique of fruit, nutty and sinful chocolate goodness. The exquisite taste is light but still satisfies your belly. With my green juice it was a perfect amount of food and I left the table feeling energized and ready to start my day. I send out a WTG to Veronica for her bar perfection. I look forward to trying the other flavors (CranberryOrange, CherryCashew, ChocChip Trail Mix, AppleCinnamon, WildBlueberry, and Chocolate Brownie). Have you tried the line of Pure Bars yet?

Random Acts of Green Kindness Giveaway

Do a Random Act of Green Kindness, tell us about it and be entered to WIN a $15 iTunes GC. Submit a comment on this page or our facebook page. Make sure to tell us your twitter and/or facebook name in your comment. We post the winner Friday May 14th, 2010 at 11pm EST. Rules below to win a $15 iTunes Gift Card:

• All entries must be submitted by Friday April 16th, 2010 at 10pm EST.
• Retweet or Tweet the following: Random Act of Green Kindness: @Experiencegreen is having a Giveaway - win a $15 iTunes GC, RULES: http://bit.ly/c4iHhW #green #giveaway #eco
  
• Comment on this page or on our facebook page what random acts of green kindness you have done recently.
• You must be a follower on the experiencegreen twitter page.
• You will get an additional entry if you are a fan on our facebook page too.
• We will pick only one winner on Friday, it will be announced on Twitter, Facebook, and our blog.

Depending on how this goes more meatless monday giveaways will be coming so start planning future weeks to go veg!

eGreen Scripture: We are Aliens

The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. Lev. 25:23-24

If you lease an apartment, lease a car, get a hotel room, rent a car, how do you treat it? By the time you are at the end of your use of it are they charging you damage fees? cleaning fees? replacement fees? How much should God charge us for the damage we have done? He calls us from the beginning to be environmental stewards. What the the ways you are being better guests in God's house?

Green Moving? Cheaper, Greener, Only Way to Move!

Moving is a recent green dilemma I had the last few week, this is one reason I have been missing in action on the blog. From the point of putting the contract in on the house, it was green strategy time. Conveniences win when we don't plan ahead, so be green and plan ahead. Aside from reusing the non-eco-friendly stuff, here are some ways I found to green up my move:

Donate It: The weeks leading up to the move we really dug through everything to sort out the things we didn't really need anymore; gave it all the Goodwill or friends. Other options for your unused stuff:

• Women's Shelter
• Goodwill or Salvation Army ... Find your local branch here
• Freecycling (online way to give stuff you don’t want to people who do)
• People from your community, church or friends could use some our items
• Have a yard sale

Pack It: If you are like me you don't have many boxes and packing materials laying around to reuse. Here are options to stay green while packing:

• Ask your moving company if they have used boxes and packing materials for you to reuse
• If you buy boxes, make sure they are made from recycled materials
• Purchase some reusable plastic containers, I got these for my fragiles for extra protection, so now I have some awesome containers I can reuse items I am storing
• Places like Sam's Club and Costco have boxes and packing materials in the front that are being recycled that you can take for your own use
• I grew up in the restaurant business, I have to say they get the best boxes ever (especially tomato boxes); ask a restaurant is you can have their boxes they are tossing anyways
• I found all of these around the house that I had to take with me anyways, might as well put them to good use:
  
• Towels
• Blankets or sheets
  
• Rags
• Clothes
  
• Reusable shopping bags
• Paper shopping bags
• Yoga or exercise mats
• Old egg cartons; I have these saved for my daughter's craft projects, but I have to say they made some great packing materials to secure certain items
• Use old newspapers instead of foam peanuts or bubble wrap (unless you have materials to reuse of course); newspapers protect even your fragile items divinely
• If you use bubble wrap, check out this article for ways to continue to reuse it: 9 Reuses for Bubble Wrap

Clean It: Whether you’re cleaning out the old place or cleaning up your new one, use green cleaners: Not only are they better for your health and the health of the planet, they‘re less expensive than conventional chemical-laden cleaners–and they work just as well or better.

All in all, like all methods of being green have saved me money, forced me to plan ahead, gave me plenty of opportunity to be creative ... all things I love! What ways have you found to be green in a move or even with shipping items?

eG Recipe: Oh-My Vegan French Toast (vegan)

One thing I have to say about going vegan is I missed french toast, but this recipe of mine has made it tolerable (giggles). This recipe is so yummy you may not even need the maple syrup.

Whole wheat bread (thick slices)
2-3 ripe Bananas
3/4 cup of Almond or Soy milk (vanilla flavored or add vanilla extract)
2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
2 teaspoon of Nutmeg
Vegan butter
Maple syrup

Put the bananas, almond milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a blender. Mix them till they are pureed. Pour into a shallow dish (e.g. pie plate). Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Dip both sides of each piece of bread as they fit in the saucepan. Brown both sides of the saturated bread. Serve with maple syrup.

© Copyright 2010 All recipes on this site are creations by Cheale of Experience Green.