Wellness #41 - Going Green- Part 2

http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ This is the first task I need to do. All of a sudden I'm getting more junk mail than ever. I try to make sure I "opt out" on all the offers I get in the mail, but maybe I need to call the 800 number again. It needs to be done for each person who lives in the home.
My house was built in 1983, and we are starting to have some weatherstripping problems around the doors and windows again, so that is probably an activity I will try and get done, especially before winter gets here. It's not as obvious during the summer when I "air condition the outdoors", but in the winter it it because cold air seeps into the house and freezes my toesies.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html I've always thought about making my own cleansers, but never had all the stuff in the recipe, and never remembered to add them to my grocery list. This would take more committment, but I might try some of these recipes. The stores sell the natural, non-toxic stuff now. My daughter uses it because of her little kids.

http://www.obviously.com/recycle/ This list seems irrelevant for me since the company that picks up our recycle stuff gives us a list of what they pickup and what they don't. They don't pick up any glass. Cereal boxes, cardboard boxes, plastic, food cans, soda cans, aluminum, etc. I'm glad they pick up for us so we don't have to transport our stuff. There are several recycle bins in the area, however. One right across the street from where I work. This was a great link http://www.obviously.com/recycle/guides/shortest.html for people who need to know what recycles and what doesn't.

A person could spend all day on this site. http://www.diylife.com/ I like this site. It has a lot of great ideas and do it yourself projects. Great way to save money.

Wellness #41: Part 1 Going Green

I looked at all three energy calculator sites, and found the Yahoo! Green to be the quickest and least daunting. http://green.yahoo.com/calculator The National Wildlife Federation wanted me to take a "Good Neighbor Pledge" and send them money. Sorry, not gonna happen. I can still be a good neighbor. The Green Team site had lots of questions, and really more information than I was interested in. I recycle at home our paper, plastic, cans and aluminum. Our homeowners association pays to have them come and pick it up. If not for that it would be harder for me to recycle. I'm not even sure where I would take the stuff. ?? On the Yahoo! Green site my score was 8.2 CO2/yr. Home: 4.9 / Road: 2.7 / and Air: 0.6. On the years I fly to Guam, however, my score for air goes up to 8.4. How else am I suppose to get to Guam? Take a slow boat?? That still uses fuel.
I noticed in the USA Today dated Friday, Oct. 3 that car rental places are offering possible carbon offset credits of $2 - $6 per rental. (Avis, Budget, and Thrifty, to name a few)
http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com/ For those looking for a grand adventure this other site was named in the newspaper article. http://www.wholetravel.com/beta

Very interesting about the pesticides on fruits and vegetables. I try and buy organic when I can, especially apples. I didn't realize that peaches and nectarines were the worse! And who would've thought about celery being contaminated? http://www.foodnews.org/methodology.php
There used to be a farmer's market close by, but now it's moved, and I haven't been to it.
http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M19290 It sounds great, even though it got mixed reviews. Maybe I'll check it out. The grocery stores in the area carry a lot of organic foods now. It makes it easier then going to the farmer's market, however I think we should try and support local growers. My husband had a garden a few years back that was great. We didn't use any pesticides and had a bumper crop of green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, and corn. It was a lot of work for him, and perhaps when we retire we will give it another go. We do still grow herbs.