tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80290404838507354312024-03-13T12:44:21.943-07:00Zero Waste WarUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-16269823831803926572014-08-27T08:08:00.002-07:002014-08-27T19:23:19.733-07:00Activity 7: Join a local CSA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Taking advantage of living in sunny California, I joined a CSA. A CSA stands for: Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs make it possible to purchase local, organic, seasonal fruits food directly from the farmer.</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have the advantage of living near several different CSA's. Most of them consist of a mixture of fruits and vegetables. However the CSA I joined is geared for kids and only sells fruit; a large variety of delicious fruit. We also get to try fruits that we have never eaten before. For example, the grapes in the picture above are not your ordinary green grapes. When you bite into the grape, it tastes exactly like you are drinking apple cider. My boys and I loved them and are looking forward to what surprises we will find in next week's box.</span></b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-77725920753904547952014-07-30T06:41:00.000-07:002014-07-30T06:41:23.384-07:00Activity 6: A day at the Community Park in Benicia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After being out of town for a week on a cruise to Alaska, having my entire house under construction, starting to prepare for the new school year in my new classroom and with the first day of school tomorrow for the boys, our schedule has been hectic. <br />
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It was a perfect day to escape the first day of school jitters and play hard. We met some close friends for a picnic and kept the afternoon free of waste. It was hot today, which meant preparation of extra reusable water bottles were necessary, a cooler with a lot of ice and a zero waste lunch.<br />
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After a long day in the sun, the boys are trying to settle down and prepare for their first day of school. We are not ready to say good bye to summer, however we are excited about making friends in our new school.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-8752550982312242142014-07-11T09:39:00.001-07:002014-07-11T09:41:14.726-07:00Activity 5: Bus Tour around San Francisco<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Living near San Francisco, what better way to see the city but to be a tourist. I went on a bus tour last summer and enjoyed it immensely. The weather was great, wasn't a cloud in the sky, low wind and the tour guide was extremely informative. I had high hopes that this trip would be the same for my children to enjoy.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The journey started wonderfully. The morning was beautiful, the sun was shinning and we were full of excitement. The fog quickly rolled in, along with the wind, 20 minutes into our bus ride. Our tour guide was obsessed with checking the traffic report, rather than telling us about the buildings we were passing. He also told one joke over and over, which was funny the first time, but got old quick (Did you know that Lombard Street isn't the crookedest street in American? Wall Street is!). After the fifth time we started to tune him out. Unfortunately we didn't learn anything and from the picture below, the weather was taking a toll on us and the kids were ready for our adventure to end. The city was still beautiful and had some great views. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the bus tour, we went to our favorite organic restaurant and ate our hearts out. They serve all food on washable plates/utensils/cups, no straws and have compostable paper boxes for left over food. Our zero waste dinner made up for the cold bus tour.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I still would recommend a bus tour for any visiting tourists as long as they follow these two rules:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1) Don't go in July unless you have your winter coat, hat and gloves. It is the coldest month of the year.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2) Pick a guided headphone tour instead of a person guided tour. You can bring your headphones so you don't waste plastic on their headphones. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Has anyone else had an outing gone awry this summer?</b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-72773568332903100692014-07-07T10:52:00.000-07:002014-07-07T10:53:08.862-07:00Activity 4: San Francisco Giants Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Going z</b></span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ero waste at a baseball game took some preparation, however it was not difficult. My motto for zero waste has become research and preparation. In this case, I was glad that I did my research and found out that we were not allowed to bring in our stainless steel water bottles. We normally bring our water bottles wherever we go. By checking the stadiums rules regarding bringing food and drinks, we knew to leave our water bottles at home.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The stadium only allows unopened plastic bottles. We really did not want to bring in and drink from the plastic bottles. Our alternative was to purchase drinks in paper cups and keep the cups to put in our compost at home. We decided to eat dinner at home before the 7pm game. Better food and we can control the waste.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>We enjoyed to game even though the Giants lost. And we had a bonus: we were there for the Giants' July 4th firework display.</b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-56268419449457031882014-06-28T15:21:00.000-07:002014-06-28T16:28:20.038-07:00Activity 3: Geocaching<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding a geocache</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We were new to geocaching a few years ago. It is free, zero waste, adventurous and requires family bonding time. For those that are not familiar, geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunt all over the world. To start was simple; I downloaded the geocaching app on my phone and searched caches by our house. We then used my phone as a compass/map to find the hidden treasure. Ok, so the treasure is usually a piece of paper that you write your name and the date, but it is exciting to be the one to find the hidden cache.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Has anyone else geocached? Did you enjoy it? Find it to easy/difficult? If you are interested in more information, click this <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/" target="_blank">link</a>.</b></span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-62077591007506291172014-06-22T13:38:00.000-07:002014-06-22T13:42:53.398-07:00Activity 2: Starry Nights Concert in the Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">For our second Zero Waste activity, we decided to stay in our town, Brentwood. Every Friday evening from June until the end of August, Brentwood offers a free concert in the park. This Friday was the Oldies but Goodies, the best of the 50's and 60's. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the type of activity that easily, without too much preparation, can become a zero waste activity. The park allows food and drinks, so we grabbed our ThinkSport water bottles, snacks in zero waste containers, blankets and headed out the door. The park provides recycling bins for those that brought disposable paper, glass and plastic. There was even an entire section in the parking garage for electric cars. After living in several states, this was a first for us. Has anyone else seen this type of parking in their parking garages? Below is a picture.</span></b></div>
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My crew enjoying themselves in the park.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-48002278389502329252014-06-19T09:29:00.000-07:002014-06-19T09:29:20.367-07:00Pay the Farmer Now or Pay the Doctor Later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>"Pay the farmer now or pay the doctor later"</i></div>
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That is the motto my friends and family hear me say all the time when I am asked why I would want to buy only organic food. The question I am asked the most is; how can you afford to buy only organic and free range food? Here is how my family of 6, with an average income, can afford to eat almost completely organic food.<br />
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1) Cooking from scratch and eliminating processed foods from our diet has dramatically decreased our need to go visit the doctor. This saves us on co-payments for the doctor and medication. No one in my family is dependent on medication for illnesses due to poor diet such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes etc.<br />
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2) By shopping in bulk, the perimeter of the store, and avoiding processed foods, our grocery bill has not gone up and in fact I have noticed a decrease in our food spending. While cooking all of my own foods may take more preparation and planning than buying a frozen dinner, it is healthier, more cost effective and I know exactly what ingredients my family is eating.<br />
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3) Making my own laundry detergent and home cleaning products. While this saves us money, it also is better for our health and the environment. Making detergent is also quick to make, my 12 year old can make it in 5 minutes. If you are interested in making your own, I would be happy to share which products we use to make our laundry detergent.<br />
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4) Living a zero waste lifestyle we are very conscious of buying second hand items whenever possible. This is a huge money saver which allows us to manipulate more money into our food budget if needed.<br />
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5) "Couponing" has helped our family get the products we need at acceptable prices and often times even <i>free</i>. I started couponing a few years ago and it has dramatically changed the way we shop and helped us save hundreds of dollars on shopping expenses. While most food coupons are for processed foods, there are still some great coupons out there for the organic section at my local supermarket. Couponing doesn't only help us save money when it comes to buying groceries, either. It also helps us save on other expenses as well, for example: shampoo and conditioner, shaving cream and razors, feminine products, toothbrushes, and more. The best part is that with our advanced technology we can still cut back on waste by uploading the coupon to our smart phone and scanning our phone at the register, rather than printing out so many coupons and wasting paper.<br />
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Eating organic does not need to break the bank. It depends on how you budget your money and what is important to you. For us, eating food without pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and cage free is our priority. If eating healthier and being healthier is important to you, then these changes will become easier over time and you should start noticing a positive difference with your health and not your wallet.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-23606029894239679962014-06-14T19:04:00.001-07:002014-06-14T19:14:24.778-07:00Activity One: Tara's Organic Ice Cream<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What better way to start our activities by seeking out an organic ice cream parlor on a hot summer day? While traveling to a nearby city for the weekend, we made it a priority to stop in Pleasanton, at <i><a href="http://www.tarasorganic.com/" target="_blank">Tara's Organic Ice Cream</a></i> on the way.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first impression was great as we were welcomed in by friendly staff members. You can try any of the ice cream flavors on metal spoons that they clean and re-use, instead of the plastic disposable spoons typically used in other ice cream stores. They have bizarre, but surprisingly tasty flavors that are all hand made with raw organic ingredients. We sampled avocado, cilantro, and jasmine tea. The texture of the ice cream was not like your typical store bought ice cream, but rather it was very creamy and smooth. After debating for several minutes as to what flavors to choose, we decided on coconut, vanilla, mocha, nectarine, dark chocolate and cilantro. They dished it into a homemade waffle cone, which was pleasantly surprising how delicious it was- definitely the best waffle cone I have ever tasted. Their parlor had a compost for all trash considering everything they serve is compostable, even the cups they serve the ice cream in. Lastly, a nice touch was a sign on the napkin dispenser that suggested to be mindful of how many you take in order to conserve. This friendly reminder was a great idea for customers who are not as used to the waste free lifestyle.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, the ice cream and cones were delicious and they go above and beyond to make their shop as eco-friendly as possible. They show how easy it is to avoid plastic completely. We will be sure to return for seconds and hopefully speak to a manager or owner to get some more information on this wonderful business. If you're in the Bay Area, be sure to take a little trip to Tara's Organic Ice Cream and enjoy your sweet treat- you won't regret it! </span></b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-17354508008054175252014-06-13T11:57:00.000-07:002014-06-13T11:57:48.229-07:00Save the Bay<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Save the Bay</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">50 Zero Waste Activities Around San Francisco and East Bay</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After a year of competing in the waste war, being zero waste in our home has become habitual and automatic. We will continue to be zero waste at home, however it is time for a new challenge. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Moving to the East Bay area, we are on the hunt for exciting outings. The kids and I are searching for places that are zero waste friendly and companies that make a conscious effort to be eco-friendly. Another aspect of our zero waste effort is to discover how to make your typical, everyday activities as waste friendly as possible. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Each week, we will document our experience with new zero waste activities as well as provide tips on how to easily and conveniently maintain a zero waste lifestyle whether you are at home or on the go.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tomorrow we will highlight the challenges a local ice cream shop endures in order to maintain a zero waste environment. We are going to take a first hand look at this relatively new business and explore the ways in which they are able to cut down on waste, in an industry where it can be difficult to be green. </span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-44644313987285702542014-05-29T05:58:00.002-07:002014-05-29T06:11:09.728-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>With 4 days left in Virginia and 2 days left of the school year, we have been running around with school activities, packing, moving and trying to catch our breath. Our waste war has been pushed to the back burner; however we are still very conscious of what we buy and throw away. We are visiting my mom in NYC four our annual summer visit on Monday. We will compete during the week and will challenge my mom to join in.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We have been keeping track our Spunky Avocado Challenge. It was easier than I envisioned. It was nice to ignore all the emails I get daily from clothing stores. We made do with what we had and did not feel deprived in any way. Now that we are getting ready to move, I am ending the challenge today so that I can start buying items we need for our new house. Once we are settled in, I will see if the boys are willing to try another month. Below are our monthly totals:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Me: 1 book, 1 pedicure</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Aaron: 0</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trey: 1 pair of shoes (used clothes allowance)</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-50300813992579328162014-04-30T06:31:00.001-07:002014-04-30T06:41:32.733-07:00One Month Challenge Starts Tomorrow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As if asking 3 teenage boys to eliminate trash from their
lives wasn't enough, I have decided it would be fun to commit to Spunky
Avocado’s Facebook challenge of not purchasing anything during the month of May</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. I
have been inspired by reading different blogs about families that do not
purchase any material items over a one year period, 6 months or a month.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why a month? Honestly I am not ready to tackle a 6 month or
year commitment at this time. We are moving 3,000 miles in June. We will need
to purchase bedroom and living room furniture for the new house. After we are settled, and if all goes well in
May, we will then reevaluate and decide if we want to make a longer commitment.
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only rule is to not buy any material items. Here will be
our modifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>1) Buying food will be allowed</span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> 2) Bathroom items are allowed, such as shampoo, toothpaste, medication, sunscreen, etc. We will be mindful of these purchases and only buy if necessary.</span></b><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>3) Repairs or replacement to appliances or vehicles
are allowed<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>4) <!--[endif]-->If an emergency arises we will purchase item at
a second-hand store or website, such as Goodwill, Craigslist or Freecycle.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why are we doing this? One of the reasons is to be more
appreciative and aware of items we already have in our home and to use the clothes,
toys, books, etc. we already have. We
de-cluttered our house a year ago, giving away hundreds of books, board games,
and clothes to Goodwill. Slowly, over the year, our house is becoming cluttered
again. This will stop us from bringing anything new into our house. We are also doing this to lessen our carbon
footprint, since purchasing new items uses valuable environmental resources and energy.
Lastly, to save money. Extra money will allow for more of our family adventures and lasting memories.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-27971950928036940512014-04-21T17:52:00.000-07:002014-04-21T17:54:26.685-07:00Earth Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow is Earth Day. Can you commit to make 1 or maybe even 2 changes in your household to becoming less wasteful? Even small changes make a huge difference. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) Saying no to a straw in your drink at a restaurant </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Making a switch from paper napkins to cloth napkins</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) Reusable water bottle (we LOVE Thinksport)</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) Reusable grocery bags</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) Mesh produce bags</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6) Switching from paper towels to dish rags</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7) Composting</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8) Buying bulk and storing in glass jars</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9) Recycle </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10) Refuse</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11) Cancel junk mail, magazines and catalogs </span></b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-31546437343293624702014-03-31T07:16:00.001-07:002014-03-31T07:19:49.873-07:00Aaron's Win and Ice Skating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaron won waste war this past week. This is only his second win, so I was very proud of his efforts. Aaron chose to go to Panera Bread. I was impressed with some small changes Panera's has made in the past few months. They have eliminated disposable plastic cups for water and serve reusable cups. Panera's also changed their ‘to go’ containers from plastic to paper. This has always been a company that strives to recycle, compost and conserve resources. Trey decided he would write to the company and ask them to stop serving plastic knives for their cream cheese, since they serve stainless steel knives for their other dishes. I love when the boys take their own initiative toward our waste war. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our Christmas in March activity was ice skating. Although we were all terrible at ice skating, we had a fantastic time, stayed completely zero waste and made many fun memories. In April, we are going to Universal Studios in Orlando and Naples, Florida for a week. We are starting to plan now on how to best keep our waste down when we are at the parks. Key to traveling waste free is pre-planning.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-35282323967658354722014-03-17T09:04:00.000-07:002014-03-17T09:22:02.141-07:00March 8-14 and Great Wolf Lodge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Mom: 2- chocolate almond package and plastic around a bottle</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Aaron: 3- cheese stick wrapper, Jamba Juice: cup, top and straw (so jealous), and water bottle (all not shown)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Trey: ? by Tuesday he already had 6 and then he lost count. He is too embarrassed to pack lunch and is using his birthday money to buy lunch. This gives him on average of 2 to 3 pieces of waste per lunch. The 6th grade science teachers used our pictures and family as an example this month, as they are learning about recycling and living with less waste. When some of his peers commented that they saw our pictures, Trey was mortified. None of his peers teased him or said cruel things, however I think at this stage of Trey's life he doesn't want to be considered different. I am allowing him to buy lunch, although it kills me, so that he doesn't revolt against the waste war completely. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Community Waste: milk tab and Aaron's allergy pill </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Noah won this week and we all went to the movies on Saturday. We are now home, enjoying our 17th snow day of the winter. Hopefully, this will be our last storm of the year. I hope everyone else on the east coast is staying safe and warm.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>For our February Christmas Adventure, we went to Great Wolf Lodge. Our priority on this trip was of course to have a great time, but also to keep our waste to a minimum. I had never been before and wasn't sure what to expect. I knew our room came with a small fridge, so we packed enough food for breakfast and lunch. Keeping our trip zero waste was pretty simple, since we spent almost all of our time at the water park, playing miniature golf and playing Magiquest.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I forget my tea at home and the hotel had a Dunkin Donuts on grounds. The first morning, I brought my thermos to Dunkin Donuts and asked them to put tea in my thermos since this one only serves coffee and tea in Styrofoam cups. It is very dangerous to drink out of Styrofoam (and it is horrible for the environment). I was directed to ask a manager, who said no but was willing to sell me the tea bag if I could find my own hot water. I had a coffee pot in my room, so I gladly accepted. After 3 days, I had a wonderful vacation with the boys and felt proud of our zero waste efforts.</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-43956070787368581202014-02-06T16:22:00.002-08:002014-02-06T16:28:01.300-08:00Dave and Busters...not as Zero Waste as planned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 2</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For our January Christmas Adventure, we went to Dave and Busters. I wrongly assumed that this would be a zero waste activity. It pretty much was until it was time to cash in their tickets. I was busy playing a game with Noah when Trey cashed in his tickets for "prizes". Unfortunately, I was not there to supervise and by the time I went to the prize room, Trey had already exchanged his tickets for the bag shown above. We had a talk about overindulging. I'm not sure at age 11 he fully understood. I let him keep the bag, although it pained me to watch him eat so many treats with artificial colors and flavors. Since this was a splurge, I let it go. Noah and Aaron also had a bag of treats, although not quit as much as Trey. Needless to say, I won that week. As my fun activity, we went to a Glass Art Studio. We were there for hours and were able to make some great useful objects with recycled glass. I can not share the pictures yet because one is a gift for someone that reads the blog faithfully. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">* I will update week 3 and 4 this weekend.</span></strong><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-68584225251570707002014-01-19T18:32:00.001-08:002014-01-19T18:39:15.787-08:00Week 1 of the New Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yikes...That's a lot of trash for us!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mom: 5 - running pants packaging, 2 pillow packaging, sock tags (not shown) and salad dressing container</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaron: 6- Laptop packing, rechargeable battery packaging, cream cheese container (not shown), Starbucks cup and straw (not shown), and envelope</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Noah: 5- 2 drinks during school lunch (not shown), cream cheese packaging, rechargeable battery packaging, sock tags (not shown)</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trey: 7- 3 drinks during school lunch (not shown), Gatoraid (not shown), bag of chips (not shown), Starbucks cup and straw (not shown), and cream cheese container </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Community trash: 2- milk rings</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We had a slow start but I'm sure there will be improvement in the future weeks. Since Noah and I tied, our decision is to go to The Cheesecake Factory tomorrow after we enjoy our January Christmas Adventure at Dave and Busters. I hope everyone has a fun, zero waste, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. </b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-80603036245248494832014-01-14T16:23:00.000-08:002014-01-14T16:31:40.348-08:00The Waste War Continues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">After a long </span><span style="color: black;">break, our Waste War resumed this past Saturday. Since November, we have experienced a lot of changes to our living situation. We sold our house, shipped all of our belongings across the country to California and moved into a temporary fully furnished house. While finding a fully furnished home during our transition months was a perfect situation, the kitchen was not set up for a zero waste life style. I could only leave behind what I absolutely needed for six months, since we are flying and limited to one suitcase each. I shipped all of my pantry containers and scoured local Goodwill’s for new ones. I was very fortunate to find several and at very inexpensive prices. At the end of May, I will donate them back to Goodwill. It took a few weeks to turn our new home into a properly functioning zero waste home. The boys missed the war and are excited that we have started again (although I think they really missed all of our fun outings that the winner choices). </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">I am happy to report that having Christmas experiences, limiting the amount of presents they opened was happily accepted by the boys. We have several trips planned for the future, with our first one to The Great Wolf Lodge. They view this as Christmas that lasts all year. </span></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-51565070188514161812013-12-13T10:23:00.001-08:002013-12-13T10:24:34.942-08:00School Lunches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I went to order some bamboo utensils from UKonserve (</span></strong><a href="http://kidskonserve.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">click here for link</span></strong></a><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), I read some statistics on their website that really shocked me. Each day I sit with my students at lunch time. I am amazed by the amount of food and trash waste that is mindlessly thrown away every day but I had no idea of just how much was being discarded.<br /><br />*Children's lunches create 3.5 billion pounds of garbage each year<br />*18,000 lbs of trash is generated each year from one-average sized elementary school<br />*It takes a 15 year old tree to produce 700 brown paper bags<br />*The average child generates 67 lbs of lunchtime trash each year<br />*Trash is often mistaken for food and eaten by sea life<br />*The US has 6% of the population and produces half of the world's garbage<br />*38 billion plastic water bottles end up in the landfill each year<br />*Plastic water bottles take 700 years before they start to decompose<br /><br />What can we do about this? There are some very simple steps to take that would drastically lower this statistic and save you money.<br /><br />1) Use a reusable lunch bag or box VS.paper bags</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />2) Use cloth napkins VS paper napkins<br />
<br />3) Use a thermos, lunch bot, or some type of reusable container VS. foil or ziploc bags BECAUSE: The Center of Ecoliteracy reported that "One average elementary school student eating homemade lunches is estimated to generate between 45-90 lbs of ziplock bags, foil pouches and other packaging waste each year, roughly equivalent to the body weight of a third to sixth grader".<br />
<br />4) Make food from scratch and/or from the bulk section VS. processed food in prepackaged, single serving bags<br />
<br />5) Reusable utensils VS plastic utensils<br />
<br />6) Use stainless steal water bottle VS juice boxes or disposable plastic water bottle</span><br /></strong><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-56002517760874174072013-12-08T16:27:00.000-08:002013-12-08T16:39:16.595-08:00Week 1 Count Down<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The boys have looked forward to opening a new card every morning. With an unexpected parade and winter weather that moved into our town, we had to delay Day 7 to a later day. Besides that one hitch, we have enjoyed putting our electronics away to spend more time together.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Day 1: "Scavenger Hunt for your favorite candy" </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Day 2: "French Toast and Hot Chocolate for dinner"</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Hot Chocolate we made from scratch. It was unbelievably easy and tasted so much better than the processed version in the packets. </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Day 3: "After dinner we are making chocolate covered pretzels." </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Again, so easy and delicious. Sprinkles and candy we found in the bulk section. I normally try to avoid foods with artificial colors or flavors at all costs, however I do allow them to eat them on special occasions. </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Day 4: "Stop at Goodwill and pick up a new board game."</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The boys picked out 'Encore' which is a singing board game. We had a lot of great laughs since the majority of my family are not the best singers.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Day 5: "Random Act of Kindness Day: Do something nice for someone at school without being asked. We will talk about what we did at dinner "</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I gave my co-worker a small gift.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Aaron gave a friend his a chocolate covered pretzel.</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-40555554962734301332013-12-04T13:33:00.002-08:002013-12-04T13:33:25.506-08:0025 Count Down to X-mas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>This time of year we are (like most families) especially busy. Aaron has band practice, parades, banquets and concerts. Trey has wrestling practice and meets. Noah has chorus practice and concerts. Therefore, I spend a lot of time running around like a crazy woman without a lot of quality time with my family. At some point in late November, I took a step back, took some deep breaths and tried to figure out how we could continue with a crazy schedule AND still incorporate family time together. </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>This is why I came up with the idea of our own 25 day count down to Xmas, to run parallel with our 'experience' theme for presents. I broke down the activities as follows: 2/3 of zero waste activities (from making chocolate covered pretzels, playing a board game during dinner and eating dinner by candle light) and 1/3 of random act of kindness days. I found many great ideas online, however most were geared for young children and it was challenging to think of 25 activities teenage boys would enjoy.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>I was a little apprehensive about the idea at first and if they would feel they were too old, however they were very excited to open the first envelope on December 1. It is now the first thing they talk about in the morning and anxiously await to see what is written on the card. The activities help remind my family of what is truly important during this time of year. Not the presents, but our family and spending quality time together.</strong></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-54828911039920134422013-11-20T18:10:00.000-08:002013-11-20T18:41:16.781-08:00Break from War and Christmas on the Horizen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>It seems as though the excitement over a waste war has declined in our house. It has become second nature to ask for no straw at a restaurant using reusable grocery bags at the store, bringing a zero waste lunch to school, however when my boys are at a friend's house, they seems to overindulge and not mention the waste they accumulate. We sat down, had a long talk whether they wanted to continue the waste war. They all agreed they did, but asked if we could continue December 1. They promised they would be cautious over their waste, but did not want to keep track of it until the end of the month. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>With that being said, Christmas is around the corner, and as we all know, produces a lot of waste. In fact, last year about 4 million tons of waste was accumulated in wrapping paper and shopping bags alone. I wondered, how could I continue a waste war at Christmas and still celebrate the holiday. Then I read an idea of experiences vs presents on a blog. At first my idea of experiences, instead of actual presents, was immediately rejected by my 6th grader. After I explained in detail what this would entail, my 6th grader started to warm up to the idea. I'm not sure if my house is like others, but it seems that 2-4 weeks after Christmas, their new toys get thrown in the toy bin, never to be played with again. With each toy comes a lot of plastic packaging and waste. Instead of wasting money, resources and plastic on toys, which we will donate to Goodwill in the spring, family experiences would give us a life time of memories. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Now, before you think this is border-lining on child abuse, like my co-worker does, they will enjoy a few gifts that can actually be opened. I asked them to make a list of experiences and I love how creative they became. This is my 6th graders list: rock climbing, Air and Space Museum, Jumpology, movies, water park, WWE Wrestling Match (not going to happen), NY Giants game (I wish), camping, obstacle courses and laser dodging. </b></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I haven't ironed out all of the details and how many experiences I will choose, but we will be able to enjoy Christmas all year round. </b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-88041881788734201602013-11-02T13:22:00.001-07:002013-11-02T13:34:20.563-07:00Week ending Oct 25 and Nov 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Week of October 19-25</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Week of October 26- November 1</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Maggie- 1, plastic wrap. I had a perfect week until the last day of the week. I went out on a date with my husband and the restaurant brought out our silverware in plastic wrap. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Aaron- 4, dentist bag (2 items inside with plastic) and small plastic cup</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>I predict that this coming week we will have a lot of candy wrappers in our waste count. I won the first week and as our fun activity we went back to Carter Mountain. We remembered that the staff at Carter Mountain are willing to put fresh donuts in containers that people bring from home, which eliminates using their plastic packages. I came prepared and brought my own glass container for donuts (picture below). We also brought our own bag to collect apples. I won the second week as well and have not decided where we will go for our fun activity. It will depend on the weather this week. We are hoping this great weather will last a few more weeks before we see snow. </strong></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-13806200135907825862013-10-20T12:17:00.000-07:002013-10-20T12:22:38.042-07:00Vacation is Over and Zero Waste Toothbrush/Tooth Tabs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong>Due to a trip to California with my husband, and my children being spoiled by their grandma back in Virginia, we paused the war for 2 weeks. Although I was very cautious during my trip of daily waste and processed food intake, the boys went a little crazy. They consumed Doritos, marshmallows, school lunches etc. Because this is such an infrequent occurrence, I tried not to become overwhelmed by their eating habits that week. I am just grateful that my mom spent a week with my boys and took great care of them while I was gone. </strong><br />
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<strong>Now that I am home, it's a different story. We spent the day today making granola bars, bread, dinner for most of the week, pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies. Although it is time consuming, I do enjoy cooking with my sons and spending quality time with them in the kitchen. </strong><br />
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<strong>The picture above is of the 100% compostable toothbrush and plastic free toothpaste we use. The toothbrush works great. It is made of bamboo and when we are finished we can throw it in our compost pile. The toothpaste took a little time to get used to. At first, it tasted a bit salty and it was strange to chew a tablet. Now if I use regular toothpaste it is too strong and burns my mouth. There are no toxic ingredients in the tooth tabs compared to regular toothpaste. I am glad there are companies such as Lush that care about our health and the environment.</strong> <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-70703206438215565842013-10-07T15:59:00.000-07:002013-10-08T05:54:50.515-07:00Trey and I Win! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Weekly Round Up:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maggie: 2 Pictured - *black tea packaging, creamer tab</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaron: 4 Pictured- apple juice, Not pictured- plate, fork, knife (during his band competition)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Noah: 6 Pictured- fork, knife (forgot lunch at home), Not pictured- school tray, 3 sodas (From a school dance, yikes!)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trey: 2 Not pictured- lollipop stick and wrapper</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Community Trash: *3 tea packaging, milk tab and aluminum foil (no one is claiming the aluminum foil so we are calling it community trash) </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>* My boys love to drink tea. Until recently I was not aware of the dangers of drinking non organic tea. After doing research, we ordered 4 different types of Numi Tea. It is a wonderful organic tea, which has no artificial flavoring, natural flavors, pesticides or GMO's. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We are not organizing a fun weekly activity this weekend because I am flying to California on Wednesday and will be gone for a week. My mom will be taking care of them and I am positive they will experience MANY fun activities with her. </b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8029040483850735431.post-39659500898480569162013-09-30T15:39:00.000-07:002013-09-30T15:46:37.102-07:00Enjoying New Foods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Last
night at dinner I was filled with pride when the boys inhaled an Israeli salad
with Tahini/lemon/honey dressing I made for dinner. Six months ago they hardly
ever ate anything related to a salad especially Aaron (17 year old). They
moaned and groaned if I tried to hide tomatoes or onions in any dish, let alone
eating it straight from a bowl. Last night all 3 asked for seconds and Aaron
declared he now loves tomatoes. None of them even minded the onions.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Going
Zero Waste has changed our lives more than feeling great about our footprint on
the environment. They are eating unprocessed foods and enjoying the taste of
real foods. Aaron used to carry an epi pen and 2 inhalers for asthma and took 2
medications for allergies. He has not had a single asthma attack since
eliminating artificial food coloring and flavoring from our diets 6 months ago.
His allergies are minimal and he even told his school nurse he wasn't allergic
to anything anymore (she called me very confused). All of us have more energy
and feel lighter. I will never go back to processed foods even if we could find
them in bulk. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>***Update
on Our Waste Count: This past week I was not consistent in asking the boys for
their daily waste count. They cannot remember how much they had but they think
about 1 or 2 each. I had 3 pieces of waste and will be added to the monthly count.
I will make an effort to ask each day and not let another week pass us by.</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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