Go to the grocery store to pick up 2 items so you don't take a bag with you because you know you can just carry those 2 items in your hands. Then you end up getting 7 items and you don't want to buy a plastic bag so you still carry all 7 items in your hands (plus your wallet and your keys). And you have to balance the items against your chest and also with your chin?

Yah...me neither. ::whistles and walks away::

I'm in now way perfect when it comes to being environmentally friendly. I mean who is really?  I was thinking today about the little things that I do that are good for the environment and the things that I do are bad. Things that I just do and have never really questioned until I started to think about it today.

The Good

I have never used any kind of chemical on our lawn. This is probably why it is not grass but rather weeds...weeds that I am pretty sure are plotting to kill me.

I don't wear or buy makeup.

I don't buy a lot of 'stuff'. No consumerism for me.

The Bad

I double bag it. I put our kitchen waste into a kitchen garbage bag. When it is full I put it into a big garbage bag in the garbage can in the garage.

      

When I am cleaning out the fridge if something is vomitus I throw it out instead of having to handle it any way to compost it or scrape it out and recycle it. Gagging on the smell is the last thing I want.

   

I shave in the shower with the water running.

The Chin Scratchers

What does everyone do with their water? Like water from boiling veggies and pasta? Water that was in a glass that they were drinking and they don't want it anymore?

Do you bring your compostable materials home from work?

If you are joining me from the Green Blog Hop then Welcome!!! Hope you stick around for awhile.

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How far would you go?

Have you met our apple tree?

It ain't easy being green

B's 1st birthday is next week. WTH has the time gone? Can I hit the pause button please??? For his birthday we are keeping it to immediate family only (and his BFF Miss K) but we have big families so we are looking at over 30 people. I had good intentions of making my own paper with seeds in it for the invitations. I bought everything I needed to make it but could not find seeds. Who knew that I would be a few weeks late of them being available. I was going to make the paper anyways...I even shredded all the paper...but I got a big fat case of the lazies. Just too many other things to do and I didn't want to spend the few spare minutes I have at night making frickin paper. Now I know why my friends told me I was crazy when I told them of my plans.

So I did an email invitation (hello environmentally friendly). Invitation problem SOLVED.

Now the loot bag. I wanted to do seedlings but I am having a pickle of a time finding them. So what the hell am I going to do now? Eco-friendly is required......and the kids are mostly 1 and 3. I had better come up with someone really fast.

Cheese and rice....cake...I need to think about cake. Who knew it would be so hard to find an organic baker.

So any ideas for loot bag? 1 year olds like cucumbers from the garden RIGHT? Because I have about eleventy billion of those.

I went out to check on our garden last Sunday and was like a little kid when I saw what was growing. So many cucumbers!!! And the one's that were ready to be picked were HUGE. I am talking the size of my arm kind of huge. I went out again last night and got a pepper and some tomatoes. There are a million more cukes growing AND A WATERMELON!!!  I flailed my arms and ran in circles when I saw that.

I would take a picture of the garden in all its awesomeness but it is embarrassing. The cucumbers have run wild and are covering about 90% of the garden. The beans have climbed their poles, then back down then up again and are so heavy that the poles lay on the ground. The tomato cages are on upside down because I bought them way too late after planting the plants.

But at least I am getting some veggies out of it right?! Not bad for our first attempt at a garden. I already have plans for expansion next year. Will Joe finally get his pumpkin? Stay tuned.

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Let's talk about Downfall. Seriously? What is the fucking point? For those of you who have never watched it the contestants have to answer questions and as time goes on prizes on a conveyor belt fall off and drop several storys to the ground below. Now there is a disclaimer saying that the prizes on the conveyor are not real. But COME ON I have watched a front loader washer and dryer go over. It was real. Right now there is a John Deere riding lawn mower on the belt. Sure maybe it doesn't have an engine in it or something like that...but still it is not made out of cardboard so it is "real". Resources when into making it and they are being totally wasted. You can see video's of the stuff going over here. You tell me if you think they are real or not.

How is it possible that a show like this is are actually on TV when we are so much more aware of our impact on the environment and how wasteful we are with our current resources? "Real" or not those prizes on the conveyor took energy and other resources to make...and for what?

MONTHS ago I said that I was going to look at all the bath and cosmetic products we use and find out EXACTLY what is in them. I seriously give up. It is hella depressing. I don't know if you have ever done this sort of exercise but I recommend if you are going to do it that you get a bottle of JD ready.

So instead of keeping up with this Eco-Challenge I am throwing in the towel and I am just going to slowly move our products over the environmentally friendly alternatives.

I consider myself to be a pretty kick ass composter. It is getting to the point where we will shovel a path to get to it in the winter.  I was sweeping up dog hair tonight and didn't even think twice about putting it into the garbage. I KNOW I can compost it but it is just one of those things that I never actually put into the compost bin. I guess the only other thing that I don't compost is kleenex.

Again, I have no clue why I don't...perhaps I need to start working on it so that I do compost everything we can.

Do you have a separate compost bin in your bathrooms to collect things like kleenex? Or do you separate it all out when you go to dump out the garbage?

OMG do not whatever you do google 'dog fur'. WTF? There are some seriously sick people out there.

Do not wait until 2 months AFTER you have planted your garden to put the tomato cages in. If you do it will result in the clusterfuck that you just experienced. Your hands will smell like tomato plant and you will have little green tomatoes strewn about the garden. Also you will have to resort to putting your cages in upside down (although you will convince yourself that they are supposed to be upside down like that) just to get the branches to fit through.

I am sure your neighbours are laughing at you.

Well I have finally jumped into this century and created a Twitter account. If you are on Twitter you can follow us at @JnJGoGreen.

Look forward to seeing you over there!

In honour of the Queen coming to town tomorrow I thought I would blog about this kick ass clothing company that is out of the UK. Rapanui is a unique company...I say that because they openly tell you how their clothing is made. If you visit that section of their website you aren't going to see what the horrible things you normally hear about with the clothing industry. To them it is not just about making clothing that look good and is good quality. It is also about making sure their consumers know where their clothing is coming from. I have talked about this time and time again with regards to food but I think clothing is sometimes overlooked from this perspective.

What are you wearing right now? Do you know where and how it was made? Probably not. I am sure you could guess and I am sure it is not something that you would be proud of. I am also guilty of this. I am wearing a Oneil t-shirt, Roxy flip flops and a skirt from Old Navy. Can I say for sure that I know the supply chain process for any of these companies? Nope. So as I browsed around the Rapanui website I started to think about the clothing industry and just how hard it is to find environmentally friendly options. We need more companies like this. We need more entrepreneurs like Rob and Mart Drake-Knight who want to start ethical companies, use sustainable raw materials, fair-trade labour and renewable energy when making their products.

Check out the Rapanui website and see the awesome stuff they are making.  My wish list includes:

The Marine Conservation Society Organic T-Shirt

Ahhhhhhhh SHARKS. Joey would be petrified.

Mardi Organic Hoody

Bamboo T-Shirt

OMG I just realized you can check the traceability of each individual product. Now that is awesome.

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Are you wearing your red and white folks??? I was thinking last night about what Canadian clothing I have and it is depressing. I don't think I have anything. B has a load though...so that makes up for it RIGHT?

Canada is an awesome place isn't it?  We are so lucky to live here. From an environmental perspective we may be behind some of the European countries but I still find Canadians to be very environmentally friendly. Perhaps because we have such an amazingly beautiful country that we are more aware of our resources and preserving them. I know most of us live in the burbs but think about our greenspaces, the lakes, rives and creeks, glaciers, forests, tundra, praries and mountains that make up this place we call home. Let's do what we can to keep Canada beautiful!

I hope everyone has a fantastic day today! 

If you are stopping in from the Canada Day Blog Party then WELCOME! I hope you pull up your camping chair, pop a cold one and stay awhile.

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Random Act of Kindness

Shades of Green

I decided to get a Shark Steam Mop a few weekends ago. I wanted to not be using any cleaners on our floor because B is a crawling (and partly walking) machine. Plus it just seemed easier than having to get the mop and bucket out. I love how it works on our hardwood floors...no streaks or anything. But the tile floor? So frustrating. I doesn't seem to do jack.shit. I still have to get on my hands and knees and scrub the grout and the food that has been smashed into the tile. I have got to be doing something wrong right? How can applying hot steam to a piece of kiwi on the floor not at least loosen part of it? Did I buy a sucky model (Shark Deluxe Mop)?

I am thisclose to taking it back and getting another kind. Who knew there would be a million different kinds of Shark Steam Mops to begin with? That will learn me.

So....any advice? Who has a steam mop out there?

Update - I am convinced it is now haunted. 
Updated Again - I have moved on. 

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