The Conscious Shopper: Green Phone Booth

Showing posts with label Green Phone Booth. Show all posts

CSA: Community Supported...Artists?

>> Wednesday, June 16, 2010

My post today at the Green Phone Booth veers a little away from green living to talk about one way to help musicians make an album without a major record label:

Recently I came across one more way for musicians to bypass the major record label through this appeal from one of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine:

Friends, the good news is this:

In 2010, there is no middleman.

It's just us and you.

So, for the first time in our career, we are simply going to appeal directly to you, the people who care about Over the Rhine's music, and ask if you will partner directly with us in making this new record....

Whatever funds we are able to raise will go directly to our label, Great Speckled Dog, to help take care of this new music we will make. It will be used to help cover actual recording costs, and give the songs the best send-off into the world that we can afford.

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Does it remind you of a CSA too?

Grocery Bills, Budgets, and Flawed Food Systems

>> Thursday, June 10, 2010

In case you missed it, here was my post yesterday at the Green Phone Booth:

Last week, we talked a lot about the cost of groceries - first with my post about how I came to peace with my high grocery bill and then with Robbie's post about keeping her grocery bill inline with her budget.

Even before Robbie wrote her post, I had been thinking about the flipside to the issue. I realize that I'm very lucky to be able to splurge on what some consider food luxuries, and although there are many people who could afford to make cutbacks in other areas and shift their savings to their food budgets, there are also plenty of people (especially in these tough economic times) who are already living as frugally as they can and simply have no money to spare.

So what about them? Do we point our fingers at them and scold them for their poor choices?

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How I Came to Peace with My Grocery Bill

>> Wednesday, June 2, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today accepting my high grocery budget:

For a long time, those conversations made me feel ridiculous. I've been looking for ways to add more money to my grocery budget. I pay twice as much as most people for toothpaste, and I never get it for free. I'm trying to drive to fewer grocery stores, not more. I rarely ever find coupons for the products I want.

I've often wondered how I can compete with the message of the coupon shoppers: "If you shop the way I do, your grocery bill will go down by $150 a month" when if you shop the way I do, your grocery bill will go up by $150 a month.

But lately, I've been looking at it like this:

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Biking...with Kids

>> Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today dreaming about family bikes:

As Envirambo wrote about yesterday, it's Bike to Work Week. I haven't been on a bike in years, but still I dream about being able to bike around town instead of driving, hauling my three kids and our groceries in our bicycle "minivan." Does such a thing really exist? As a matter of fact, yes. Bike designers around the world have taken away that age old excuse "but I've got kids!"

With three kids under six, I've had my eye on the ingenius Madsen - the only bike I've seen that can fit more than two kids. In fact, the Madsen can carry four kids, or two adults, or two kids and lots of groceries.

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Packaging Versus Price: How Do You Decide?

>> Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today debating about packaging versus price:

Admittedly, there are times when avoiding plastic costs more. For example, I could run down to my local Walmart and pick up an insulated PVC lunchbag for my kindergartner for about $10. Or I could buy a stainless steel PlanetBox for $60. That's a big price difference, but when I feel like I'm investing in something that's going to last a long time, I'm generally willing to pay more.

But what about when the plastic-free item costs more but isn't necessarily better?

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Dear Mother, All Flowers Remind Me of You

>> Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today with a post for Mother's Day:

Thanks, Mom, for teaching me to know and love green. Thank you for taking us camping. Thank you for letting us run wild. Thank you even for the blueberries. Because if I love blossoms and meadows and walking enough to spend countless hours every day trying to get others to love them too, I owe it all to you.

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Which Is More Important: Personal or Political Action?

>> Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today with this month's APLS Carnival:

Recently, I was reading an interview on Grist with Annie Leonard of Story of Stuff fame, and there were two things she said that I found very interesting:

Q. What would you encourage people to do on an individual level

A. People ask me that a lot, and I like to see where they are so I ask them, "What can you think of to do?" They say, "I can recycle. I can ride my bike more. I can buy organic. I can buy this instead of this." Really individual actions as opposed to, "I can work with my neighbors to shut down this toxic factory." We have a consumer part of ourselves and a citizen part of ourselves. And throughout this country's history, the citizen parts of ourselves have accomplished enormously wonderful things to make this country a better place. But in recent decades, I feel like the consumer part of ourselves is spoken to and validated and nurtured so much that we've over-identified with it and the citizen part of ourself has atrophied. We just need to start reinvigorating that citizen muscle. So the number one thing to do is to hook up with others who share your values and start making some real change.

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Dirt

>> Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My post at the Green Phone Booth this week is actually from Sunday, but in case you missed it:

Have you ever thought about the importance of dirt? The makers of the new film Dirt! The Movie have given it plenty of thought: What is dirt? Why is it important? Who cares about it? And what can you do about it? Check out their trailer for a little preview.

If you live in the Triangle area and would like to see this movie, I'm hosting a movie night at my house with the Raleigh Community Gardens meetup. Join the group if you're interested, and please RSVP. I have a small house.

Take Out With Out Forgetfulness and Shyness

>> Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth again today with some ideas for making to-go kits:

Inspired by the TakeOutWithOut campaign, I've been working on eating out without producing waste. Thus far, there have been two factors holding me back from being a waste-free eating Marathon Runner:

Factor #1: My post-kids memory.

Isn't it a scientifically proven fact that once a woman has kids, she loses half of her brain cells? I can remember to take my grocery bags to the store because I go every week, and it has become a habit. I can't remember to take my own napkin and utensils to a restaurant because I go so infrequently and most of the time spontaneously.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

Waste Free Lunch Ideas

>> Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today with some ideas for packing lunches:

A couple months ago, I asked all of you for help in a few categories that I wanted my family to work on this year, and one of those categories was packing waste-free lunches. We had the "waste free" part down, repurposing various food containers we already had around the house; our problem was the lunch part...What to pack?

I'm happy to say that thanks to all of your suggestions, we've been branching away from our usual (cheese sandwiches with a carrot or celery and a piece of fruit). And both for my sanity and in case anyone else is looking for lunch ideas, I thought I'd gather everyone's suggestions into a nice organized list.

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There's More Than One Path to Green

>> Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today talking about "femivores"...

I hate the label femivore, but overall I found the article very interesting. It definitely describes me.

My first job after college was with a private investigation firm. On paper, it sounds like a cool job, but in reality, it was long commutes, long workdays stuck in an uncomfortable office chair staring at a computer, lots of overtime without overtime pay. Two and a half years later, we moved to Maryland, and my very generous employer offered to let me keep my job working part time from home. Two years after that, they changed their minds, and I found myself in my new (and current) career as a full time stay at home mom.

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I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

>> Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today with a tribute to Dr. Seuss.

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' birthday, and what kind of environmentalist would I be if I didn't mention his classic book, The Lorax? In the words of the great Dr. Seuss:

Way back in the days when the grass was still green
and the pond was still wet
and the clouds were still clean,
and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...
one morning, I came to this glorious place.
And I first saw the trees!
The Truffula Trees!
The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees!
Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

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Photo by connor395

I'm in a Blogging Funk, so I'm taking a few days off

>> Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I had a pretty crappy day yesterday - both online and in real life, I've fallen behind in my chores at home, and I'm having trouble sleeping for some reason. So I've decided to take a few days off from blogging. I'll see you back here on Monday with the next challenge.

A few final thoughts about cloth diapers:

Lina commented on Monday:

Hi - Just a rah-rah for anyone taking on this challenge. We've used Fuzzi Bunz for all 3 of our kids now and have gotten so used to them that we even take them on trips with us (mostly because we tend to only go visit family and friends with washing machines :). I just wanted to echo your cost savings point. We have a 4 year old, a 3 year old (both now out of diapers) and a 6 month old and we haven't bought any diapers, cloth or disposable, since 2005.

I just wanted to give a little shout out to Lina because she was actually my inspiration for giving cloth a try four years ago, and I bet she never knew it. :)

I was planning to write a post this week relating what we've tried, but I don't feel up to it. So if anyone is thinking about using cloth diapers and wants some help wading through all the options, shoot me an email - I'm happy to help.

Finally, I hope you'll check out my post today at the Green Phone Booth: Bagels and Pretzels and Breadsticks Oh My! It includes lots of the yummy snack recipes we've been trying out this month. And don't forget to check out my guest post at It's Frugal Being Green!

See you in a few days!

Save Money with Cloth Diapers

>> Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today, calculating the cost of cloth vs. disposable:

When my youngest was about six month's old, my husband and I decided we were probably maybe most likely not having any more kids so there was no reason to hang on to all of our baby stuff. So as my little guy grew out of each phase of babyhood, I thrifted, Craigslisted, and Freecycled the clothes, shoes, bottles, toys, mobile, bedding, bouncy seat, and exersaucer that had gotten me through three babies, and then I stored the rest in a box in my attic.

You know what's in that box? The treasured baby possessions that I just couldn't bear to part with?
the outfit all three of my boys were christened in
the Moby wrap I got for my last baby that sparked a Moby wrap fad among my friends
two sizes of Fuzzibunz diapers and Thirsties wraps
As strange as it may sound, I couldn't let go of my cloth diapers.

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How to Store Produce without Packaging

>> Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today with some tips for storing produce without packaging:

Last Monday, Freakonomics had a post called How About Them (Wrapped) Apples? suggesting that packaging on foods is a good thing because "in addition to protecting food from its microbial surroundings, packaging significantly prolongs shelf life, which in turn improves the chances of the food actually being eaten." Later in the article, the author suggests that Americans waste half of all the food they buy.

The same day, Arduous took up the argument with the assertion, "If the waste trade-off is either the plastic bag for a bag of pre-washed lettuce, or an entire head of lettuce that rotted before you got to eating it, I would probably say to go with the bag of lettuce."

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Do you have any tips for storing produce?

Love Love Kiss Kiss Blah Blah Blah

>> Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today with some recipes for a DIY eco-friendly facial:

My husband is not only the man of my dreams but was in fact my very first real boyfriend. Which means that until we met, I spent many a Valentine's Day nursing a pint of Ben and Jerry's all by my lonesome. Back then it seemed like Valentine's Day was specifically designed to remind me how much I sucked. Not to mention all that pink and red and hearts and plush toys. Gag me!

Eating an entire box of chocolates while wallowing in self pity may have made me feel better momentarily, but it probably wasn't the healthiest option. So for any Valentine's hating readers out there, here's another suggestion: Host a home spa.

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____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays.

Like what you see? Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook! You can also find me over at The Green Phone Booth.

Book Review: Cheap

>> Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today with a review of the new book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.

Like many young couples, my husband and I furnished our first home at Ikea and Target, but a year ago, I decided I wanted to start upgrading to "grown-up furniture," starting with our bookcases. I dreamed of solidly crafted bookcases that would last the rest of our lives. So when we moved to Raleigh, we sold our cheap Ikea bookcases, gave away enough books to be able to downsize to two bookcases, and then I went shopping.

Cue reality. Even though I am definitely a grown-up, I cannot afford grown-up furniture. Two hardwood bookcases from grown-up stores like Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn cost upwards of $800. Ouch!

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Blah Blah Bottled Water

>> Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth again today with some reasons to give up bottled water:
While ranting to my mom about my personal peeve with the overpackaging of otherwise green products, I mentioned that I had written a letter to Seventh Generation asking why their paper towels are wrapped in plastic although their toilet paper is wrapped in paper. My mom replied, "I don't even know where to find Seventh Generation paper towels."

I thought my mom hit on a major point. Many, many Americans are in the same boat as my parents, who live in a small town in Kentucky. They want to be more environmentally conscious, but the only place to shop is Walmart, and their town doesn't even collect recycling.

Luckily, there are still things they can do, and one of the simplest green steps they can take is to break up with bottled water.

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____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the latest challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays.

Like what you see? Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook! You can also find me over at The Green Phone Booth.

Why I Started Eating Meat Again after 12 Years as a Vegetarian

>> Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today talking about why I decided to add a very little bit of meat back into my diet:

This post has been in the works for about six months now, but I've been dreading sitting down to write it because of the possible backlash. I know how passionate vegetarians can be - I was one for 12 years. Some of this post also touches a little bit on my religious beliefs, which I generally like to keep personal and private. So please as you read this, keep an open mind, and be kind in your comments even if you disagree.

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Life without Plastic Bags

>> Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I'm over at The Green Phone Booth today describing how we've survived without plastic bags:

Three years ago, I decided to switch to cloth grocery bags. I didn't know anyone else who used cloth bags and I suspected that the bagboy at my grocery store would throw a fit and refuse to bag my groceries, but I knew it was the right thing to do. And that I could easily bag my own groceries.

I dived right in, collecting a huge stash of bags for my bi-weekly trips to the grocery store, and besides a few rolled eyes from the cashiers, it's been a seamless transition.

Except for one thing...remembering to take my bags.

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