A Holiday Sewing Project Benefiting Mother Earth

The Green Grocery Bag Challenge: A Holiday Sewing Project Benefiting Mother Earth

Fact 1: US consumers generate 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bag waste during the holiday season alone.

Fact 2: The US goes through 100 billion single-use plastic grocery bags every year.

Fact 3: This year, you can make a difference!

How? The challenge is this: Wrap your holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags.

That’s it! By doing this simple thing this holiday season you will cut down on the amount of wrapping paper entering the waste stream, while also getting multi-use bags into circulation. Not to mention the fact that your gift recipients get a bonus gift that they can use all year long! It’s win/win for earth and your loved ones!

I love this....gonna do it! Who is in????

All this info courtesy of Sew Mamma Sew....check their link to the left.

How Green Is Your Orange Juice

Karen Lee, or EcoKaren published this on her blog
and has kindly made the information available to all of us.
"This might not be news to some of you but it was an eye opener for me. At least the numbers anyway. I mean, I knew my orange juice didn’t just appear in the grocery stores like magic and that it needed to be grown and transported but I didn’t think about the details of how it creates such a huge carbon footprint.

So here is the low down on orange juice.

Did you know…..?

To produce a 64 oz carton of Tropicana orange juice emits 3.75 lb of greenhouse gases?

* 60% Agriculture and Manufacturing ( 58% Fertilizer production and application, 30% Natural Gas, 8% Electricity, and 2% Transportation)
* 22% Distribution
* 15% Packaging
* 3% Use and Disposal

According to TIME and NY Times, PepsiCo who owns Tropicana enlisted Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the environmental auditing firm, Carbon Trust to help assess the carbon footprint of each gallon of Tropicana orange juice.

The study found that the biggest contributor to the carbon footprint isn’t the gas guzzling trucks that deliver these delicious refreshing drinks all over United States but the agricultural and manufacturing practices – fertilizer production and application being the biggest.

Ha! Should have known that.

So what do you do?

Drink organic orange juice! Since there won’t be any fertilizers or pesticides used in growing organic oranges, the carbon footprint would be so much less!

In all fairness though, PepsiCo is trying to be greener since this report. Pepsi is working with Yara International and Outlook Resources, PepsiCo will test low-carbon fertilizers at one of its producer farms in Bradenton, Fla. If successful, the greener fertilizers could lower the carbon footprint of PepsiCo’s citrus growers by as much as 50% and reduce the total carbon footprint of Tropicana orange juice by up to 20%. (TIME)
But until then, I’ll be buying organic orange juice…Or squeeze my own OJ at home. They taste better anyway.
Now…only if I can find organic oranges."

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Does Washing Really Clean Your Produce???

Now, after the post about orange juice, let's take a minute to listen to this. I cannot believe how many folks out there refuse to believe that chemical pesticides and fertilizers can make their way into your produce. Think of it like this....if you cannot eat or drink the stuff you put on the food you grow....then maybe it shouldn't be applied. Gross? Not really....most commercially grown produce is what's gross!


Does Washing Produce Eliminate Pesticides? -- powered by eHow.com

Bamboo....did you know?

I have talked about bamboo before, but I am putting out a little more information.


Ok...here we go...... DID YOU KNOW?

Bamboo is better for you:

• Fabric made from bamboo is incredibly soft That's just the way it is, naturally. Wearing a bamboo T-shirt for example, is like wearing cashmere, but for next to the skin. 

• Bamboo fabric is smooth and luxuriously comfortableAt a microscopic level, bamboo fibre has a round surface.  Because of this, it’s very smooth and sits perfectly next to the skin.  Petrol based synthetic fibres can sometimes irritate the skin and they also start to smell really quickly

• ‘Bamboo Dry’ – absorbs and evaporates sweat in a split second.  It doesn’t stick to the skin.  Its extraordinary natural breathability keeps you comfortable and dry for longer.

• ‘Bamboo Thermo-control’ – bamboo fabric is highly breathable in hot weather and also keeps you significantly warmer in the cold.  Keeping you more comfortable in all temperatures -  ‘Air conditioned clothing’

• Bamboo clothing is anti static, so it sits very well next to your skin, not clinging to it.  It's also UV protective (it cuts out 98% of harmful UV rays) and anti fungal, so it's just better, whether it's on you in the Alps or stuffed at the bottom of your bag for days on end.

And it gets better.....better for the environment:

• Bamboo is 100% naturally grown, without assistance from man. Bamboo is 100% sustainable

• Bamboo thrives naturally without using any pesticides or fertilizers

• Bamboo fibre is 100% biodegradable

• As the fastest growing plant in the world, bamboo grows to its maximum height in about 3 months and reaches maturity in 3-4 years.  It spreads rapidly across large areas.  Because of this, bamboo is known to improve soil quality in degraded and eroded areas of land.

• As a grass, bamboo is cut, not uprooted, also helping soil stability.  Bamboo also can grow on hill slopes where nothing else is viable.

• The yield (i.e. the amount of product) you get from an acre of bamboo is 10 times greater than the yeld you get from cotton.  In an age where land use is under enormous pressure this is huge.That an acre of bamboo supplies about 10 times more fibre than an acre of cotton?  Without using any pesticides at all.  Or fertilizers.

• The water requirement for bamboo is minute, mainly just from what falls.  As opposed to cotton, whose water requirement per shirt's-worth is huge.

• If clothing made from bamboo becomes popular, it means more bamboo plantations, which means more photosynthesis and less greenhouse gas.  “The greatest challenge facing mankind” would get just a little easier.

In contrast.....

• Synthetic performance fabrics are made from petrochemicals, a non-renewable fossil fuel. They go to make clothes which get smelly really quickly. 

Clothing made from bamboo is nature's answer to our needs for everyday fabric, in an environmentally sustainable form.  It's just our luck that it's so much better as well!

My family wears bamboo clothing,  we use bamboo sheets and towels, I use bamboo batting and fabric in my quilts and bags that I make for Etsy.  If you visit my shop, you will  see that I also use organic cotton, hemp and linen.

What's On The Counter Today?

Kaffir lillies and late roses

Stone Soup Cookbook

I have been subscribing to Jules Clancy's Blog...Stone Soup.  She subscribes to minimalist cooking at home.  That means 5 ingredients in 10 minutes.  The idea appeals to me because of the simple and healthy meals I can put on the table. 

The philosophy of how this kind of cooking can help us is (of course) simple:

1. less time in the kitchen
10 minutes cooking leaves more time for the activities and people you love.
2. less time shopping
With only 5 ingredients in each recipe, you’ll find your shopping lists are shorter and more manageable. You won’t need to spend as much time out hunting and gathering.
3. eating more fresh, healthy food
Everyone knows that home cooked food tends to be better for you. With the focus on fresh ingredients, my 5 ingredients recipes make it easy.
4. more pleasure & enjoyment
Cooking can be a great way to relax and unwind. Spending 10 minutes using one of my minimalist recipes will help you gain more pleasure and enjoyment from dinner time.
5. save money
If dinner only takes 10 minutes to prepare, you’ll be more likely to cook for yourself than take the expensive dial-a-dinner option.
6. less stress
Long ingredient lists and complicated methods can lead to much stress and kitchen confusion. Minimalist home cooking keeps things as simple and stress-free as possible.
7. more kitchen confidence
If you’re new to cooking, starting with minimalist recipes will help you get some great simple dishes under your belt and give you the confidence to tackle anything.

Visit her site and take a look at what she serves up.  You can download a 97 page cookbook just to try. Here is the link for the Stone Soup Cookbook...

I recommend you save this  to a file and not print it.  Don't forget, it is 97 pages.  Enjoy.