Saturday, November 29, 2008

No-Wrap Pact Update!


Looking for new and ingenious ways to wrap up those holiday presents? Try the art of Japanese fabric folding, or FUROSHIKI. This origami-like method for wrapping up objects is the perfect one-two punch: use up random bits of fabric around your house while wrapping gifts for free - while recycling! It's a one-two-three punch!
Check out the following sites for directions:
http://www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol09/?pg=78
http://furoshiki.com/home.php

Any takers?
Be thrifty,
Alex

Friday, November 21, 2008

Even the New York Times gets it!

This is a great article on exactly what I'm trying to do with this blog - read the NYT's take on the current situation!
Can you save money, time, your health and the environment? Sure!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/garden/20math.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1

Monday, November 17, 2008

Aloe - are you there?

So here is the coolest eco-cheap-o beauty tip I've ever heard - Aloe Gel for your hair!
Why didn't I think of this earlier?
Instead of buying toxic, gooey, petroleum based hair gel, get out that old bottle of aloe gel for your hair sculpting needs.
Try a nickel sized squirt on your palm, rub your hand together and style away like normal.
Enjoy!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Great resources for fresh, cheap, local food

Here I am on this rainy Saturday morning, wishing I had the fortitude to walk down to the farmer's market at Grand Army Plaza - the closest farmer's market to me in Brooklyn.
Why would I risk pneumonia on a day like this for some food? Because it's awesome! The local farmers are dedicated (they stand in this deluge all day!), they have gorgeous produce, and the prices are better because it's local. Everyone wins!

Want to find a farmer's market? Or a CSA? Or a health food store that sells bulk in your area?
One of the best resources is:
http://www.localharvest.org/

Just enter your zip code and you're set!
Enjoy, stay warm,
Alex

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The No-Wrap Pact!

Did you know that Americans send 2 billion cards, buy nearly 35 million real trees, and produce 25 million tons of garbage during the holiday season?

The best way I can think of to cut down on the waste, still have fun and save some money is to get creative and pledge not to buy any new wrapping paper this holiday season!

- Use old paper bags from the grocery store
- Tape on several sheets of comic book pages
- Cut up magazines and paste them together in a themed collage
- Use fabric tied with an old bow or butcher string
- Create a scavenger hunt map for the kids - hide their presents in different locations in the house, and draw maps or poems that contain clues to the hiding place. (Ex: "You can find your next gift where Daddy usually stands when drinking his morning coffee" or "Look in the cabinet where the old linens are kept to find the next clue!")

Any more ideas out there, lovely readers?
Pass it on!
Alex

Buying Organics on the Cheap

Here is a great little article I read on Care2.com - a nice checklist of things to consider when trying to buy the healthiest food on a budget: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/organic-on-a-shoestring-budget.html

What tips can my readers share?

I can think of a few to add:

1. Buy in bulk - buying spices in bulk cuts WAY down on their cost (a new bottle or organic Oregano goes for $4+, while buying the same amount in bulk cost me about $1 from an otherwise expensive health food store)

2. Steal! Just kidding...

3. Check out the list of foods at www.ewg.org - they have tested individual fruits and vegetables and offer a handy shopping list to help you prioritize. Organic raisins? ABSOLUTELY. Organic bananas? Not as important.

Happy eating! Alex

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Save $$ on your cell phone! Do Not Call Registry

Ok, here we go again.
This might not save too much energy, but it will save your sanity and some money!

REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.

.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:
888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

A new wardrobe for free? And wine? Sign me up!

Here's my new plan - to swap until I drop!
Not only is my kid wearing new (old) winter clothes that we get free/cheap from other moms in the 'hood who we give our old (new to them) clothes to - but now I want the same sweet deal for myself!

Here's the plan: CLOTHING SWAP!

You're on a budget and you're sick of everything in your wardrobe.
No problem!
Invite 6-12 friends over. Each friend brings a non-messy snack or bottle of white wine AND at least 10 items of clean clothing that are in great shape that they don't wear anymore. All sizes welcome, they'll find a home.
Give everyone a separate area to put their pile, supply a few full-length mirrors (don't buy - borrow!) and decent lighting. The only rules are:
1. that you should cover the windows so peeping neighbors don't get a free show
2. everyone should move around and rummage, trying things on

By the time you're through a couple bottles of wine everyone should have at least a few new items to take home and enjoy!
How's that for being fiscally fashionable?!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Free wrapping paper & a new movement: The NO WRAP PACT!



This morning my kid and I were up in the earliest of early hours - the delirium must have opened my chakras or cleared any creative blocks because I came up with a great way to wrap my niece's birthday present!

Free wrapping paper is so much better than buying a roll of printed-in-china, non-recycled, expensive, trash destined decoration, right? Plus, it's totally recycled!

First I got a few magazines that were headed for the "free box" (I put out magazines on my stoop for passers-by to take with them - and I usually get them free from someone else's stoop in the first place!) and started flipping through. Any page with pink graphics or girly motifs were torn out - my niece is 6 tomorrow, and WAY into pinkness.

With a hefty pile of pink pages in front of me, I culled any corners that contained logos, annoying anti-girl-power imagery or non-cute pictures, and kept the rest. Then I just started taping all the bits and pieces together on the gift box (also recycled from a shipment, of course) and voila!


This got me thinking - why not create a movement for the upcoming holidays? The NO WRAP PACT! Everyone agrees not to buy any new wrapping materials and only wrap presents in hand-made paper crafts like the above, or pretty fabric scraps, old paper bags that your kid has covered with drawings and glitter...get creative! Why not just drape every present under a different holiday throw or old, soft baby blanket! The whole family can sit around and do a knee-slapping drum roll before each present is unveiled - instead of all that wasted, pretty-sad paper being balled up into garbage bags the day after christmas.

It's a movement! I just decided! Pass it on - 
Love Alex, the New Home Eco-Nomics Expert

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Good thinking - no more paper towels!


I can't remember where I got this idea, but it probably has something to do with the little piles of quilting fabric and sewing projects that are bundled in the corner of my basement. 

I admit it, I'm a fabric collector. When I see used jeans or piles of free, second-hand clothes on the streets of Brooklyn I think - free quilt material! 

But I realized that I was using too many paper towels - yes, we are all sinners. Sure I use the non-bleached, recycled kind, but still! I need to stop using them for the floor spills and the greasy spills...I use a sponge, and yes I use kitchen towels for drying my hands, dishes and produce. But those little disposable paper towels are irresistible! And lousy for the environment...and expensive! Ok, they're not THAT expensive, but if I can save $2 a week over the course of a year - why not!

So, here's my idea - a cute little collection of rolled up old hand towels, cut up pieces of absorbent fabric and retired, yet sterilized, cloth diapers. Easy to grab, easy to use and if they get stained and gross-er, no biggie! Just wash, dry and re-roll.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Pack it up, pack it in - let me begin!

It happens several times a week - I'm standing in the kitchen trying to wrap up leftovers, lunch for the baby boy's day at the park, or a snack for my subway ride into Manhattan. I'm confused. What is the cheapest, safest, most responsible way to wrap up food?

Self-seal plastic bags are amazing for their ease and versatility - but they aren't sustainable. Even if you rinse them out and use them several times (which some doctors claim is unsafe either because of possible bacteria contamination or the plastic degrades over time and rubs off onto your food) they have to be thrown out eventually. It's initially cheaper to buy a box of Ziplock bags, but it's cheaper over time to buy a few sturdy glass containers of various size that come with plastic lids.

Reusing plastic bread bags is a step in the right direction - at least I'm not creating more garbage like when I bought that box of Ziplock. Right? But the plastic cross-contamination question keeps popping up - am I bathing my food in petroleum when I store hot, liquid or fatty foods in plastic re-used containers?

Foil works for some things, but isn't good for creating an air-tight seal - plus there are questions about the safety of wrapping aluminum around your food. Is there an increased Alzheimer's risk from over-exposure to this metal? Yet, it's recyclable. Argh.

Sometimes I use one of the many glass jars that I have painstakingly cleaned, removed labels from and stacked precariously in a top shelf away from the 2-year-old hands. But glass breaks (sometimes in the same Whole Foods store 3 times in one week, under the glaring eyes of resentful employees) and you can't really stuff a sandwich in an old salsa jar.

So what do I do? A combination of everything, trying to be as mindful as possible with each individual portion, trying to save pennies and the earth simultaneously.

Rather than have fatty foods (like tofu, cheese, etc) rest next to plastic bags (which some science says absorbs the nasty chemicals from plastic better) you can wrap them in parchment paper first and then rest it inside plastic which can be washed and re-used later.

Parchment paper is made of trees, granted, but you can get unbleached, dioxin-free paper at health food stores.

Or store everything in little glass mustard jars and be super organized in your fridge, remembering where everything is located, using the oldest foods first and NEVER dropping the fragile little suckers at the playground or on the F train.



What do you do? Any tips to share?