Green As You Can Be

I had such a great time at our Earth Day Celebration back in April.  Hope you enjoy the video.

Jax

I am always on the look-out for green markets in our area. I had heard about the Varda Market thru our local Chamber of Commerce.  I drove out last Sunday to check it out. This market is just starting out for this year and I know it will grow. Robert, the market manager, has great plans. His motto is “if you grow it or make it” you’re welcome. Set up is free. You can call him at: 828.389.6396 or email: vardamarket@gmail.com. I know I’m setting up this weekend. Lane’s End Homestead Organic Produce will be there this weekend as well as mu favorite herb lady, Susan.  The market is open noon to 4pm each Sunday. It’s located at 590 Tusquittee Rd.

Come on out and support our local artists and local growers.

Jax

I have been having a personal debate as to leaving my computer on all day or shutting it down unless I’m using it. My first concern was the amount of time I waste on it. I LOVE playing games. I can spend hours just playing Spider. My other vice is reading blogs. I can travel all over the world sitting in my study. People are leading wonderful lives..everywhere. But my number one concern is the amount of energy I waste every day.

“The average computer left on all day uses nearly 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, producing more than a ton of carbon emissions. So turn off your computer anytime you’re not on it, and eliminate the screen saver function, which uses more energy than the sleep mode.”

I found the above quote this morning while traveling around green sites.  Now my mind has been made up. It’s off during the day. I’ll only use it in the AM to check for emails, surf a little and check out my friends on Facebook. I’ll keep it off until evening when I can go out into cyberspace and see how the rest of the world is doing. Now if I could just break my TV habit.

I’ll let you know how this goes !!!

Jax

Sorry about not adding to my “green” space. I have been occupied with getting my husband well. He is the builder of my green things, the force behind the great ideas I have.  His bypass surgery went well and he is on the mend. As sad as this seems, his one goal before the surgery was to have my craft studio finished, just in case.  How sad/sweet is that?  He finished it and left me a sweet note to find later. Both I treasure.

My studio is a room built in the middle of a large metal workshop. We used everything we could find to build this space. The total cost was $150. We had windows we found under our house, I had a stained glass window just sitting around. There was leftover paint, loads of cabinets and even some lumber that came with the house.  All we had to buy was some 2×4′s, some floor paint and some insulation. I still need to make curtains for the windows (free fabric I got from a samples company moving out of the area) and the moving in process will take forever. I can see I will need more space. I own too much stuff.

Right now it looks empty….just give me a little time. I’ll fill it up. I’ll post more pictures, too.

Coming soon will be some great videos we shot in April. We visit an organic farm, a family that lives off of their land (less than an acre), a community garden and Earth Day at Brasstown. I’ll let you know when the posting dates are as soon as I can.

Remember to be “as green as you can be”

Jax

Remember that everyday should be earth day, not just a day in April.  If you can just do one thing to help, do it. Need ideas?????

1. Don’t litter

2. Recycle

3. Take reusable bags when you shop

4. Change your light bulbs to energy saving ones

5. Turn off lights

6. Unplug appliances when not in use

These are the fastest and easiest ways to start. One little step at a time still makes a big difference.

Jax

Happy Easter

Hope and Joy to all who visit this site.

Jax

Saving energy is always a good idea but I am guilty as the next person of forgetting little things. My biggest energy  savings mistake is leaving my computer on all day. I confess. I run around turning off lights, not leaving water run and a bunch of other things and yet my computer stays on all day. So……I will try all this week to keep it off except in the morning and again in the evening. All my business can wait. I don’t need to check Facebook every 10 minutes, the news will be the same, I don’t need to look for another recipe I won’t use, I can break this bad habit.

As you can see from the condition of my desk that I should use some of the time cleaning.

Jax

Of all the green things I do, the one thing I can’t seem to kick is my paper towel habit. I try. I’ve cut back a lot. I drain bacon on them (I remember my mom using newspaper to drain her bacon) I wipe up stuff I wouldn’t want to use a rag for.

When I was young and there weren’t paper towels, at least in our world, I remember my grandma had two draw string bags. One was for clean rags and one was for used ones. She would wait until the used one was full before she would wash them. I remember tearing up old sheets , towels and what ever could not be re-purposed into other things, for rags.

I’ve been more diligent about my use of rags. I dust with old wash cloths, I use old socks for staining my kitty litter screens, I use dish towels in the kitchen. When my husband immigrated from Denmark he brought all the kitchen towels he and his mom had. I’m talking stacks. I’ve just ingored them until this week. Why not use them for what they were purposed to do??? So my goal for the next month is to wean myself off of paper towels. Are you up to the challenge, too???

Jax

I have been a crafter for more years than I would like to admit.  I was a “green” crafter before I knew what it was. I save everything. (really) Everything I see, I see a craft project. I drive friends and family nuts.  But I love turning other-wise garbage into something useful.

Today I went on line looking for green crafters and found out I am not alone. I may be a lot older than the average “green” crafter but that’s OK. I found a FREE, online  craft magazine  http://www.creativetimesmagazine.com . It has many good articles. Still haven’t checked out all of it but enough to see it’s something I don’t mind getting emailed to me. I like the idea of free downloads, too.

This is one of my favorite re-purposed crafts. I found some old pallets and turned them into neat pumpkins. I made the leaves from some pine left over from another project.

Jax

It’s surprising how your outlook can change in seconds. I am ever diligent in the lights off, don’t let the water run, keep the wood stove burning, etc. Well…..last Friday my husband had a massive heart attack and stroke and things have changed. I’ve had company, I’ve been driving a 3 hours (one way) to see him, even resorting to fast food. I cringe as I do some of these things. I follow my daughter around turning out lights. I pull recyclable materials out of the trash that friends toss away without thought.Maybe focusing on being green is helping me cope with what has happened.

I have learned to let the water run while I help my husband brush his teeth. (he lost the use of his left hand) I leave a light on so the trip to the bathroom will be safer for him.  Right now I’ll just have to be “As green as I can be” . As he improves, so will I.   I just want him well.

Jax