In an effort to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup in our house, one of my goals this year is to cook from scratch more often. The most eaten things around here are snacks and bread....we go through these almost as soon as they enter the house! So there is also a financial incentive to make these things in bulk ourselves. So far we have made granola bars, granola, pizza, honey oat bread and light wheat bread. Everything has turned out wonderful so far! Our dinners are almost always from scratch, and I love www.allrecipes.com for the reviews and selection of recipes. I'd love to hear what you're making from scratch!
Showing posts with label Waste Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waste Free. Show all posts
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Stainless Steel Filterable Water Bottle: EcoUsable
We have all seen the studies: Bottled Water is no better than Tap Water. Not to mention that bottle water costs dollars when tap costs fractions of a penny! For this frugal mom, that fact alone would have me bringing my own! But when I saw the pictures of the Great Plastic Garbage Patch in the Pacific, the impacts of plastic really hit home.
I love my reusable water bottles, but often when I'm on the go, refilling leaves me with less than desirable tasting water. I know, I know, bottled water is not much different from normal tap water, but my taste buds care! I couldn't bear the eco-guilt of buying a water bottle, so I generally went unhydrated instead. Enter the Ech2o; the perfect solution for a busy mom on the go(or any person for that matter!)
EcoUsable has created the first stainless steel water bottle with a filter built in. A durable water bottle that will last for years, and can be completely recycled when you can't use it anymore! The filter is effective for about 500 fills, 1yr or 100 gallons. The most amazing part: It is effective in filtering ANY kind of water except salt water. You could dip this in a nearby river and the filter removes up to 99.9 percent of sediment, dissolved solids, chemicals, and biological pathogens.
I love my reusable water bottles, but often when I'm on the go, refilling leaves me with less than desirable tasting water. I know, I know, bottled water is not much different from normal tap water, but my taste buds care! I couldn't bear the eco-guilt of buying a water bottle, so I generally went unhydrated instead. Enter the Ech2o; the perfect solution for a busy mom on the go(or any person for that matter!)
EcoUsable has created the first stainless steel water bottle with a filter built in. A durable water bottle that will last for years, and can be completely recycled when you can't use it anymore! The filter is effective for about 500 fills, 1yr or 100 gallons. The most amazing part: It is effective in filtering ANY kind of water except salt water. You could dip this in a nearby river and the filter removes up to 99.9 percent of sediment, dissolved solids, chemicals, and biological pathogens.
I love our ech2o water bottle, and you will as well. Also great for Back to School; teachers or students! Would make a great gift for any new college student, active outdoorsman or overseas traveller. For all my readers I am offering FREE shipping at www.MamaGoesGreen.com with code: eBfreeship!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Waste Free Lunches
My guilty green conscience pricked up whenever I threw away plastic baggies and juice boxes from our bagged lunches. All that non-recyclable garbage, generated in one sitting! I knew there had to be a better way to serve my kids lunch on the go that didn't involve mostly pre-packaged items. But I also knew I couldn't afford hours of my time spent every day on such a task. Simple and Waste-free....could there be a solution? I'm happy to report that there are MANY solutions, and I'd like to share some that have worked for us.
Equipment: Avoiding plastic baggies, aluminum foil and prepackaged items were my primary concern. So the first step was to replace them. My kids love sandwiches and wraps, so we do lots of variations on these. The Wrap-N-Mat is a perfect solution to eliminating plastic baggies, and works well for other snacks as well. We also use our Laptop Lunch boxes with mini sandwiches & wraps. Our newest favorite lunch aid is the LunchBots. I love that there is no plastic at all in these, they are 100% stainless steel. This makes them very durable, and stylish enough for my husband to take to work without feeling like a school child!
What to Eat: Sandwiches are the easiest thing for me to pack. Along with this, I generally mix up some sort of almond/nut mix with popcorn & raisins. Carrot sticks, celery sticks & other veggies work well to pack for on the go lunches. Cut up fruit is easy and you can do it in bulk for the week. If you are using a Laptop Lunch, applesauce or yogurt can be made or bought in bulk and packaged without the waste. For more ideas visit:
It's all about habit. At first it will be an extra thing to think about that can be quite annoying. But after a week of consistent packing, you get more creative, and fall into a groove of things. The best part for us....our wallet is fatter! Stopping for a quick snack because I am caught unawares happens much less frequently. And DON'T FORGET YOUR WATER BOTTLES!! We refill ours whenever we see a water fountain so we don't get in a situation where we need a plastic water bottle. Having a lunch tote hanging by the back door is super convenient for me, I just throw our stuff in and grab it with my purse on the way out the door.
According to wastefreelunches.org: "It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school." More and more schools are switching to waste free lunches, a great step in the right direction. I hope to feature one of these schools in the future. Please share your successes or problems with packing a waste free lunch!
Equipment: Avoiding plastic baggies, aluminum foil and prepackaged items were my primary concern. So the first step was to replace them. My kids love sandwiches and wraps, so we do lots of variations on these. The Wrap-N-Mat is a perfect solution to eliminating plastic baggies, and works well for other snacks as well. We also use our Laptop Lunch boxes with mini sandwiches & wraps. Our newest favorite lunch aid is the LunchBots. I love that there is no plastic at all in these, they are 100% stainless steel. This makes them very durable, and stylish enough for my husband to take to work without feeling like a school child!
What to Eat: Sandwiches are the easiest thing for me to pack. Along with this, I generally mix up some sort of almond/nut mix with popcorn & raisins. Carrot sticks, celery sticks & other veggies work well to pack for on the go lunches. Cut up fruit is easy and you can do it in bulk for the week. If you are using a Laptop Lunch, applesauce or yogurt can be made or bought in bulk and packaged without the waste. For more ideas visit:
- www.wastefreelunches.org
- www.flickr.com/groups/laptop_lunches/pool
It's all about habit. At first it will be an extra thing to think about that can be quite annoying. But after a week of consistent packing, you get more creative, and fall into a groove of things. The best part for us....our wallet is fatter! Stopping for a quick snack because I am caught unawares happens much less frequently. And DON'T FORGET YOUR WATER BOTTLES!! We refill ours whenever we see a water fountain so we don't get in a situation where we need a plastic water bottle. Having a lunch tote hanging by the back door is super convenient for me, I just throw our stuff in and grab it with my purse on the way out the door.
According to wastefreelunches.org: "It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school." More and more schools are switching to waste free lunches, a great step in the right direction. I hope to feature one of these schools in the future. Please share your successes or problems with packing a waste free lunch!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
SKOY is here!
Hello, my name is Sara and I am a dish rag addict. I fully admit that I have an obsession with avoiding paper towels. Maybe some of you can relate. It started as a frugal thing, I hated the extra dollars they added to my grocery bill, but then I realized how much waste they created. But lets be honest....a traditional rag doesn't always get the job done quite as neatly as the paper towels did. Not to mention how icky they get after just one use....getting a whiff of a stinky dishrag is the worst! We got a chance to try out SKOY, and I am officially in love! I had to order some immediately to offer on MamaGoesGreen!
I've been using my SKOY for about a month now, and as other moms must imagine, I have had PLENTY of opportunities to test out the durability and effectiveness. Dried up egg, jelly, peanut butter, and various unidentifiable messes are all tackled efficiently with the SKOY cloth. And just a quick rinse and ring, and the SKOY will be ready for its next use. I've had one in use for a month, and it has held up to the dishwasher every night, and just now needs to be replaced. At this price, these will save you money from the start!
I've been using my SKOY for about a month now, and as other moms must imagine, I have had PLENTY of opportunities to test out the durability and effectiveness. Dried up egg, jelly, peanut butter, and various unidentifiable messes are all tackled efficiently with the SKOY cloth. And just a quick rinse and ring, and the SKOY will be ready for its next use. I've had one in use for a month, and it has held up to the dishwasher every night, and just now needs to be replaced. At this price, these will save you money from the start!
SKOY is eco-friendly because they are 100% biodegradable, and made from a unique blend of cotton and wood-pulp cellulose. They are manufactured in Germany, in a facility that makes every effort to be as eco-friendly as possible. Independent tests have shown this to completely break down in compost within 5 weeks. All of the colors and inks are made using water based materials.
In celebration of EARTH DAY 2009, we will be featuring 1-2 products that we love per week, and doing giveaways for each of them! SKOY starts off the festivities, with a total of 3 winners! Here is how to enter:
1. Leave me a comment about how you are trying to cut down your waste
2. Twitter @Mamagoesgreen about this giveaway
3. Visit http://www.mamagoesgreen.com/ and tell me what you'd love to see the next giveaway about
4. Subscribe to this blog
5. Become a Facebook fan
3 winners will be chosen on April 10th, 12pm EST. Be sure to leave your email address so you can be reached. Have fun!
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