I have 4 tips to make your kitchen greener, and you'll be happy to know they all respect the other green category – money.
1) Eat greener. The lower you eat on the food chain, the better it is for the environment. It simply takes more land / energy / water to grow a pound of beef than it does to grow a pound of broccoli or eggplant.
2) Recycle those table scraps, so you can turn them into compost. Get a small container with a lid, maybe even an old diaper pail, and keep all that old plant matter left over from preparing and eating a meal. No animal products. Just veggie scraps. Phase two happens out in the yard when you turn the table scraps into plant food by making compost.
3) Use non-toxic cleaning products. Your food sat on that counter, for God's sake. AND, vinegar and water and baking soda are much cheaper than the harsh chemical alternatives.
4) Avoid single use plastic whenever possible. Store your leftovers in re-useable containers that last for many years and save some dough. Plastic bags cost a lot over time.
After spending years in the political closet (one of the dangers of a politically mixed marriage) I have emerged with a flourish, and a job as Press Person for a Michigan candidate for the United States House of Representatives. I have been working for Bob Alexander, a Democrat running in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, against Mike Rogers, a four-term Republican incumbent. Bob is the kind of Democrat my parents are – a Joan Baez, “if you want peace, work for justice” kind of guy who spent years circulating petitions and working crowds “cold” to promote the value of a living wage for working people, and eventually persuaded the Michigan legislature to raise the minimum wage by 29 percent. He was not holding office at the time, mind you; it was just the right thing to do.
My husband Dave always seems to be ahead of the cool gadget curve,
making sure we're the first kids on our block to have the latest and
greatest tech toys. We've had our Wii for years, stood in line the
first week for the iPhone (him not me), sold our regular laptop to
upgrade to the MacBook Air (worth every penny) and are still jamming
away a year later on Rock Band when most people have never even played
the game. I couldn't imagine what he was going to pull out of his
Christmas stocking this year. Thanks to the generosity of his boss, it
was a Kindle. For those of you who shop on Amazon – which would be almost everyone
with an Internet connection on the planet – the Kindle is not exactly
new, but it sure is hard to get your hands on, which is a bit of a
surprise considering how expensive it is.
I’ve
never actually studied flower arranging... I’ve kind of learned it as
I’ve gone along, over the course of about 25 years... For me it’s what
painting is for many other people...a way of relaxing, a way of
listening to programs on the radio or to music without fidgeting, a way
of showing affection to people I care about.., a way of centering
myself...especially for me if it involves certain fragrances.... roses,
stock, freesia, lily of the valley, peaches, nectarines, honeysuckle.
