Weekend Wrap Up

Well this weekend wrapped up No Impact Week here in Greensboro.

To commemorate the week I finished by reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan.

A good book indeed and it gave more in-depth information than could obviously be included in the movie.

I do have to say, and I in no way receive any sort of compensation for doing so, that the book is well done and the real jewel of the book is the list of resources in the back.  You can get website information about how to volunteer with a local environmental group or how to find a clothing swap in your area.  There are also numerous book suggestions (many of which have gone on my list to pick up at my local library).

To further apply our no impact philosophy, and to do something useful with a plastic item, my son Andrew and I made a watering can from a large white vinegar bottle.

To make it was super simple.  He drilled (yes he got a little power tool exposure) one hole in the cap and then several holes in the bottom of the bottle.

To make it work

• Fill a bucket with water (preferably with water from your rain barrel).
• Push the bottle down in the water so that it can fill up (keep your thumb off the top hole)
• Put your thumb over the hole on the cap and lift from bucket

The water is trapped and you can just remove your thumb from the hole once you are at the flower bed.

I was really impressed with how easy this was and that it worked.

Once the recycling project was finished we were on to another project...chocolate making.

I am so very lucky to have a friend like Sharon, Bit of the Good Stuff.  She sent me this fantastic raw chocolate making kit.

I put my fear aside and got out the kitchen scale.

I put WAY to much thought into how hard this was going to be...because in the end it was SO easy.

It took all of about 10 minutes (and then another 90 while I waited for it to set up in the fridge).

My result...well take a look for yourself:

They are in a four leaf clover pattern for St. Patrick's Day

I put a goji berry on each one and waited.  I didn't want to get too fancy or stray from the original recipe as I wanted to make sure I got it just right.

My kids will tell you they love them, but are mad that I didn't let them eat more than one a piece.

They are indeed delicious and I highly recommend raw chocolate making to anyone who can do a little measuring.

Other than that that was about it for my weekend...OH well there was a little matter of Georges St Pierre retaining his welterweight title (in a fantastic fight against Nick Diaz).  

Yeah for GSP!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are ready to kick off a fantastic Monday.

Remember today is the last day to enter my Plastic Free by Beth Terry giveaway (check it out here).

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Plastics

Am I the only one or do you also think of The Graduate when you hear people talk about plastics?

This past Saturday I went to one of our local libraries and heard Beth Terry, author of Plastic Free, and Danielle Richardet, It Starts With Me, speak.

Beth spoke about how she has moved to creating almost no plastic trash (except for some of the unavoidables like prescription refill bottles) after reading the article "Our Oceans Are Turning to Plastic...Are We?"

She showed us the ugly, British trash exported to China:



But she also showed us the good, products that can make for more eco-friendly living:

Glass Dharma glass straws

Chico reusable bags that come with a pouch (so you can always keep one on you)

RePEat bamboo utensil set that you can keep in your purse

Danielle also read the same article on water pollution and became driven to bring down her plastic consumption.

She not only uses reusable bags at the store but she brings jars everywhere with her.  She has them for her bulk bin items at her local co-op but also for leftovers at restaurants.

I have never thought about bringing my own container to a restaurant.  But it is rather wasteful to bring home the one time use container when I could plan ahead and bring something with me.

Did you know you can bring your own jars to fill at the bulk bin section of grocery stores (places such as Whole Foods, local co-ops, and natural food stores)?  

After the talk I was overwhelmed with information.  Beth's advice was to just do what you can and don't try to tackle everything at once...because after all every little bit helps.

That was good advice.

Now I mentioned that Beth wrote a book, Plastic Free:

I would like to give you all an opportunity to win a signed copy of this book.

The giveaway will run through Monday March 18th and I will announce the winner on Tuesday the 19th.

To enter fill in the Rafflecopter below (I promise the winner's book will be shipped plastic free)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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