Green Mamas Tribe! - Page 5

[talia rose]

we have (and sell) global sun ovens. they seem to really have it down in terms of details and efficiency. we cook more than half our food in it all summer and even sometimes in winter if it's sunny. today i cooked yams, and gluten free corn dogs. we often cook potatoes, bananna bread, dahl, chicken, veggie dishes, leftovers, soup, you name it really. it is a fantastic thing!

let's both manifest much more rain. colorado and cali both had their share of lightening fires last year. i live on the river and it is so low right now, when it should be at it's fullest....

[ColoradoMama]

That is really cool about the solar ovens. I'm definitely going to look into them further!

Originally Posted by talia rose

let's both manifest much more rain. colorado and cali both had their share of lightening fires last year. i live on the river and it is so low right now, when it should be at it's fullest....

Absolutely! Bring on the rain for both areas!

[happyhats]

Any of the you green mamas own a soda maker or know anyone that does? I'm aware that it's much healthier to not drink soda at all, but both the hubs and I enjoy it and will probably continue to do so. However, I'm trying to make changes to our grocery buying habits, etc to be more green in the kitchen. I was reading an article about these soda makers and they really intrigue me, but i don't want to drop that kind of cash if I they aren't truly enjoyable products.
Meanwhile we have done much better at consuming less electicity and we're making even more of our own cleaners so it's another small step in the right direction. We have also cut our tp usage in half and have almost cut out all reliance on disposable diapers and wipes now that I've gotten a more suitable cd stash.

[Carlyn]

Originally Posted by happyhats

Any of the you green mamas own a soda maker or know anyone that does? I'm aware that it's much healthier to not drink soda at all, but both the hubs and I enjoy it and will probably continue to do so. However, I'm trying to make changes to our grocery buying habits, etc to be more green in the kitchen. I was reading an article about these soda makers and they really intrigue me, but i don't want to drop that kind of cash if I they aren't truly enjoyable products.
Meanwhile we have done much better at consuming less electicity and we're making even more of our own cleaners so it's another small step in the right direction. We have also cut our tp usage in half and have almost cut out all reliance on disposable diapers and wipes now that I've gotten a more suitable cd stash.

My husband makes homemade gingerale and rootbeer easily. He buys a tiny bottle of rootbeer extract, which lasts a long time (and even longer for us, as he's the only one who drinks it, and only very occasionally - more often it is for a special occasion when we are with friends). He makes a 2 L bottle at a time.

Rootbeer uses a wee bit of yeast, some sugar or honey, water, and a bit of the rootbeer extract. You mix it around, then let it sit in a warm place for a few days. Voila, rootbeer!

For homemade gingerale, he grates fresh ginger instead of using the rootbeer extract. If you look online, there are lots of ideas for how to make it. If you want his exact recipe, I can ask him about it later and post it for you.

[Amys1st]

Can I join your group? :

I have been "green" for about 20 years or so. I am also extremely frugal, we live a very simple life and a natural life. So all these things sort of mesh together into me.

My green thing started way back in the late 80s when I joined the ecology club/earth club at school. It was Earth Day 1990, which would be the 20th annivery at the time of Earth Day that I learned a lot more. Be fore that it was more about recycling cans etc than anything else.

As far as green, a lot cross over into the frugal living but we waste not a whole lot compared to most people. We find uses for food and make up some really creative. We cook from scratch 99% of what we eat. We eat out occasionally mainly to the local owned places so they stay in business.
My 6 yr old has requested we start an indoor worm composter after she had fun watching all the worms outside, so thats next on the agenda. Right now, I compost outside.

We did cloth diaper (dd2 just out of diapers), cloth napkin, cloth rags, line dry, hang dry, use reuable bags for everything, do use ziplocs- but we wash and reuse over and over. Collect rainwater, I want to rig my gray washing water to go outside to the garden. I am trying to convince DH to set up panels on the roof. That is down the line. We also do a lot of giving and taking from freecycle and do a lot of shopping on craigslist ebay etc.

I could go on and on but I think I found a group to work with!

[ColoradoMama]

I'm so excited! I ordered an umbrella clothes dryer yesterday, and I am so excited for it to get here. I went to a Holistic Moms Network playgroup today, so I could actually talk about it to other people who would be excited for me! : I've done a lot of drying outside during the summer here because our house had this old deck on it that I could hang things on (classy - I know) plus I've had those small fold up hanger things, but the kids always break those! I have demolished the old, rotten deck, so there's no place to hang the clothes outside. Now I'm going to have a proper place to hang the stuff to dry! It is so incredibly, unbelievably, outrageously dry here (can you tell I hate the climate?!) that the clothes dry so quickly outdoors.

[happyhats]

I'm thinking of getting a couple of those solar lanterns to use during the summer and fall for extra lighting. I thought I could set them outside in my back area (not really a yard, as I'm an apartment dweller), and bring them in at night. I know I probably wouldn't use them for all my lighting needs, but it would be a help. Do you think the upfront costs would pay off fairly quickly, however? I'm pretty low income right now. I'm hoping I won't be for long, but until we're pretty financially secure it would be lower on my list, at least after reusable batteries and a few more cds for my dd.

I'm also putting some empty juice bottles filled with water into my toilet tanks to help lower consumption there. I am hoping to get some low flow shower heads, and I almost always share a bath with dd so that cuts down on water substancially. Any other tricks you can think of for an apartment dwelling mama?

[ColoradoMama]

happyhats - have you thought about vermicomposting?

I'm so happy - my umbrella clothes dryer got here today! Woo hoo! Of course, we have several inches of snow on the ground. Perhaps I can use it next week?

[mlh]

Originally Posted by ColoradoMama

I'm so excited! I ordered an umbrella clothes dryer yesterday, and I am so excited for it to get here. I went to a Holistic Moms Network playgroup today, so I could actually talk about it to other people who would be excited for me! .

ColoradoMama...did you go to the Denver HMN meeting? I am a member, but haven't made it to a meeting yet (I'm up North a bit).

I have also been wanting one of those umbrella dryers. I have a friend who uses one and loves it! I'm guessing if you are in denver you are getting tons of snow, we have been getting rain/snow all day today!

[ColoradoMama]

Originally Posted by mlh

ColoradoMama...did you go to the Denver HMN meeting? I am a member, but haven't made it to a meeting yet (I'm up North a bit).

I have also been wanting one of those umbrella dryers. I have a friend who uses one and loves it! I'm guessing if you are in denver you are getting tons of snow, we have been getting rain/snow all day today!

Yes I am in Denver, and yes I went to the HMN meeting. I've been a member for nearly a year. I haven't been to very many meetings yet because I have been really sick with this pregnancy - they're usually pretty interesting though! I hope you can make one soon.

[KBinSATX]

Jumping in kind of late but here's my intro :
My name is Karin. I am 37 and originally from Europe (where being green seems to be a whole lot easier than here in Texas.)
I grew up on a little farm in Bavaria and we've always composted, collected rainwater, recycled, brought our own shopping baskets, etc.
It was a little weird when I first moved here 17 years ago -before everybody had reusable shopping bags- because the stores always seemed to think I was a potential shoplifter bringing in bags, etc. LOL
Anyway. Now I live on a little farm again. I just love it. Animals, nature, etc.
We have horses, goats, chickens, etc.
I have 2 kids both born at home on the farm (midwives), cloth daipered, etc.
We use a lot of cloth (diapers, pads, wipes, etc.)
Over time I have really grown to appreciate native plants and that's sort of my passion right now. Especially with us having horses it has made me really aware how little native grassland is left and has been replaced with monoculture (coastal bermuda grass).

What I am working on... Too much time on the computer. I need to turn that thing off more often...

[jrabbit]

Have I mentioned that we have chickens now?! I'm so excited! We're getting 1.78 eggs per day so far, which is really great. At that rate, we'll have enough eggs for our family - and maybe an extra 6 here and there to give to the neighbors for being gracious about it all. We live in a really urban area, but so far, so good! We do not have roosters ... so no crowing, but hens squawk an awful lot when they're laying an egg.

It's raining so much today & yesterday - wish we had a rain collection barrel. <sigh>

We've been teaching by example to our 20 yr old nanny - she's quietly watching and observing and is very fascinated by vinegar as a cleaning product and by breastfeeding, etc. Natural parenting & living does make an impact.

--janis

[whooopsy]

hello :

i would like to join your group too :

i am a 37-year young single mum from germany, living in germany currently with my little daughter of age 3. my ex-boyfriend (and dd's father) lives in L.A./usa and we tend to reunite our family end of this year. my daughter and i will come for a visit of 1 month this summer to see if we are still in love and then move to L.A. end of this year.

anyway, i try to live my life as green as possible. since we live in a big city it is not always 100% possible. i still breastfeed (is this green?) and only used cloth diapers for dd. we only eat organic food, use organic cosmetics and i only buy organic or secondhand clothes for both of us. i try to safe energy in the household and to minimize garbage. i love to walk barefoot, so does my dd. people tend to ask us whether we dont have the money for shoes

i like the waldorf / anthroposophical theory and my dd has only toys made of natural materials. she joins a natural / forest preschool right now and she loves to spend her time outside allday. i teach her to respect any living species on this earth. i also treat ourselfe homeopathically only in case of illness.

my learning process has become really strong when my dd was born. unfortunately she got all vaccinations - i wish i had the knowledge that i have now back then. i am now much more critical about vaccins.

my personal dream would be to live on an organic farm with lots of animals, surrounded by great nature but that wont be possible either in L.A., unfortunately.

[DaughterOfKali]

subbing

[koofie]

Originally Posted by whooopsy

hello :
my personal dream would be to live on an organic farm with lots of animals, surrounded by great nature

Me too! :

[Buddhamom]

happyhats, have you considered the crank lanterns? We have a few of them we use when we camp and lose electricity (we live in the middle of no where) and they put off quite a bit of light. WHen they get low you just crank the handle and they are re energized.

I was wondering if anyone else uses their own bags for veggies? I saw a package of 3 small mesh bags at the 1.00 store one day when I happen to be there with someone else so I bought three packages and I use them for all my veggies instead of those plastic things. Up to that point I had been putting it all loose in my cart and that was a pain. These are great and they are reusable too :

[ColoradoMama]

So, I bought an outdoor clothes line, and after that - we've had the wettest spring probably in the history of Colorado! Apparently, all I had to do to get it to rain in Colorado is to get a clothes line. Oh well, it WILL dry out, and I'll be able to use it regularly.

[capsgirl08]

Just subbing. Would love to learn more.

[MyTwoAs]

I'd love to join the group, as well. I started on my "going green" journey when my son was born in 2001 and have continued to make eco-friendly changes in our lives.

[Amys1st]

I just passed on my cloth diapers! I was at our town pool yesterday when a mama I know was walking by with her baby. The baby had a pink fuzzi bunz on. I asked what size she was and I have 18 of them! So she came and picked them up. She wanted to pay me, but I refuse to take payment for these since I used them for so so many months. She promised when done to pass them on as well.

So our town has a refund available up to $80 a year for rain barrels and now they are starting a refund for purchasing composters as well. I asked the village manager/my neighbor is I could get a refund for my compost pile. Not happening. I just put a pile on the ground, turn it and wow compost that is awesome. :