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Upcycled Décor

Posted by Keen Guest Blogger on March 1st, 2012

Today we have a great guest post by the folks over at Erie Construction.  Here are some fun upcycling ideas!

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Looking to decorate on a dime? Or perhaps you’d like to help out the Earth by being a little more green? Good news! You can do both of these things easily with upcycled home décor. Using materials you already have, some creativity, and a bit of elbow grease, you can make beautiful items to decorate your home with. Take a look at some of these quick and easy projects using upcycled and repurposed items from around the home.

Using Jewelry

Once you lose an earring, you might as well throw the other away right? Wrong! You can use lonely jewelry and older jewelry that you don’t wear anymore for upcycling projects. Give these pieces a second chance by re-crafting it into something you can appreciate. Try recycling big pieces like broaches and watches into glamorous refrigerator magnets or Christmas ornaments. Smaller pieces can be adhered to photo frames, coasters, or anything else that could benefit from a little bit of shine.... read more

Creative Ways to Eat Leafy Greens

Posted by Kelly on February 27th, 2012

Guest blogger Kelly has some great ideas for eating leafy greens to help make your meals keener and greener!  Thanks, Kelly!  Perhaps these would be a good idea for Meatless Monday!

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People today are seen crazy about greens. Once you begin with your leafy green habit, you will never stop. The green is considered to be the most nutrient rich group found in vegetables with a number of benefits. The green leafy stuffs like chard, kale and collards have lots of absorbable calcium which is an important element for vegans. Besides, you will find the green leafy things rich in Vitamin, A, B C, along with Vitamin K. They are loaded with chlorophyll antioxidants which play a key role in fighting cancers.

These all provide you enough reasons to consume green in your daily food. But how to consume them is a big question, which is answered here in this article. Here you will find a number of creative ways of eating leafy green. The below is the list of top five creative ways of consuming leafy greens:... read more

Pepper Guide

Posted by krissy on February 23rd, 2012

Earlier this week I posted about beginning to prepare your garden for the spring.  One thing you can do - even if temperatures are still freezing and there's still snow on the ground! - is to start deciding what to plant and order your seeds.

Right now, I've got peppers on the brain.  Last year we grew jalapenos, and it was awesome.  We canned salsa galore, threw the peppers into all sorts of yummy food we were making, and we even did pickled peppers.  This year, I'd like to grow even MORE peppers!  But, sometimes it's kind of confusing.  Which peppers would best suit our needs?  Spicy?  Sweet?  There are so many kinds!... read more

Green Your Kitchen & Save Money!

Posted by krissy on February 20th, 2012

seventh generation paper towelsI love any way that I can make my home more eco-friendly and save money.  Luckily, when it comes to “greening” your kitchen, you’ll find that it’s also cheaper to make the transition.... read more

  1. Avoid using single-use food containers.Instead of putting leftovers in Saran-Wrap, foil, or Ziplocs, keep lots of reusable alternatives around the house.  Instead of Ziplocs and sandwich bags, I’m a fan of The Lucky Butterfly’s handmade cloth sandwich and snack bags.  For other food storage containers, opt for glass (like Pyrex), ceramic, or stainless steel.
     
  2. Make your own cleaners. You’ll save a ton of money, you can keep chemical use to a minimum, and you can reuse cleaning containers over and over again.  The Joy of Green Cleaning by Leslie Reichert is an excellent book with recipes on how to keep your kitchen sparkling using safe, eco-friendly ingredients.

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Waste

Posted by krissy on February 17th, 2012

We all know the adage:  reduce, reuse, recycle.  I try to put "reduce" first whenever I can, and whatever I'm still stuck with, we'll reuse or upcycle, and then ultimately recycle.  

Here are ten super duper easy tips to help you reduce waste:... read more

  1. Remember your reusable shopping bags. We’ve all got tons of reusable shopping bags, but how frequently do we actually remember to bring them to the store?  I’ve gotten much better about remembering them lately and I do this by covering my bases.  I keep a few bags in my car, a few in my purse (ChicoBags fit everywhere!), a couple in the basket underneath our stroller, and some by both our front and back doors.   Don’t forget reusable produce bags – I like the produce sacks by Earthwise.  They’re mesh and take up little space.
     
  2. Drink tap water. No need for bottled water – most tap water in the U.S. is safe to drink.   There are lots of reusable water bottle options these days for when you’re on the go!   If your tap water has a funny taste, buy a good filter.  
     
  3. Cook at home and from scratch. We’re all busy and it’s hard to cook from scratch every night, but try picking a two or three days a week where this is something that you do.  Think about all the packaging when you buy premade food.  I love me some chicken tikka masala from Whole Foods Market’s prepared food section, but it still comes in a plastic tray which is also wrapped in plastic.  So wasteful!  

Spring greens with blue cheese

Posted by Kelly on February 6th, 2012

We have a special treat this Monday morning.  To get us in the mood for spring, guest blogger Kelly has shared keen and green recipes that you're sure to enjoy!

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With spring almost upon us, it is time to turn our attention towards those delicious recipes with spring greens. The family of vegetables includes the brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage. They are not only fresh, crispy and tasty but full of rich vitamin C, iron, folic acid and fiber which are all good for the body. Spring time makes for a lovely season when one can indulge in breezy salads or lighter, summery recipes. The spring greens can be varied along with other ingredients which can be heavier but here, they have been given a combination with blue cheese. These recipes are great for a lunchtime snack.... read more

Making your vino green-o!

Posted by krissy on January 31st, 2012

eco-friendly wineEvery autumn, we spend the day at our favorite orchard and winery, Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Massachusetts.   We take a hayride pulled by a tractor that uses their own donut grease as fuel, pick wonderful apples, and taste wine.  We have a fabulous time whenever we go and we stock up on their homemade wine.  Most of their wines ciders are made from fruit that they grow right on the farm, making the wine a localvore’s dream.  

We love the experience of visiting the orchard, but more importantly, I love the idea of drinking locally made wine made of locally grown fruit.  It definitely helps to green the wine-drinking experience.... read more

Let's Rethink Stuff!

Posted by Mary Munroe on January 30th, 2012

I like to think of my self as “green” and care about the environment, but I was really taken aback when my daughter Michelle said that I like stuff and that my generation is really into stuff.   I realize that I do like “stuff” but at the same time I am pretty appalled by it. 

I am from an island called Lussin (Veli Losinj) in current-day Croatia, I was born in 1955 and it still had the World War II effect and we lived pretty simply.  Electricity, but no indoor plumbing.  I knew where the food came from… from the ground, the fish from the sea, and the meat from the animals I saw roaming around… such as the lamb that grazed the olive grove.  When I had a tummy ache my nonna would make me chamomile tea.

So, moving to the US at age 8 things did not seem natural. We lived in Astoria, NY and the cement on the ground was very disturbing, the subway was pretty amazing but dirty, life in NY was not pretty.   It was very disturbing.  I would think why so much garbage, dirt.  Dirt in Lussin  smelled sweet, it actually energized me. In Lussin at that time we did not have garbage pickup, but we didn’t have litter all over like  Astoria did. Why??  How confusing to a little child. We were in America!! Before coming to the US we lived in a refugee camp and all the pain was worth it because we were going to America. What a disappointment to land at JFK and see the dirty snow and be taken to a basement apartment my aunt lived in.... read more

Making Your Bedrooms Eco-Friendly

Posted by Green Goes Simple on January 25th, 2012

Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home
 

How Healthy Is Your Bedroom?
 

By Marisa Belger for Green Goes Simple

The kitchen may be the most popular room in the house, but the bedroom is where you clock the most time. Human beings dedicate one third of their lives to sleeping. With good reason: Sleeping refreshes the body and mind, recharging you for the next day. And while you can’t control many of the factors that interfere with slumber -- noisy neighbors, early-bird toddlers, antsy dogs -- a few simple changes can transform your ordinary bedroom into a snoozing sanctuary.

Emily Anderson, eco-style expert and author of Eco-Chic Home, has developed a 10-step plan to improve your bedroom health.... read more

A New Green Home in Newton, Massachusetts

Posted by krissy on January 23rd, 2012

I recently had the opportunity to view the construction of a sustainable house being built in my neighborhood in Newton, Massachusetts.  The home was designed by LDa Architecture and Interiors, based out of Cambridge, MA.  

... read more