Strawberry-Banana Oatmeal

Here's what I had for breakfast today:

Eden organic oat flakes (from Raisin Rack)
Tap water
Strawberries (from Doran's at the Westerville Farmer's Market)
Organic banana chips (from Trader Joe's)
Silk soy milk (from Raisin Rack or Kroger)
Almond slivers (from Raisin Rack's bulk bins)
Honey from a local farmer (mine came from a friend of a co-worker)



Microwave the oatmeal with water. (Cooking on the stove uses more energy.) Sprinkle with all of the other ingredients to heart's content. Eat outside on deck in 74 degree weather. Lick the bowl. Compost the strawberry tops. Unplug the microwave to avoid vampires sucking up extra energy. Voila!

This meal took 3 minutes to prepare, 10 minutes to eat, and 1 minute to clean up. Though it wasn't grown in my backyard, each ingredient has at least a hint of eco-friendliness, whether it be less packaging, organically grown or locally grown. Green heaven.

Feeling Washed Out?

Try Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Complexion Soap.

I've been using this for about 2 months. Beside the fact that there's minimal packaging, it works well as a face wash. I got this bar at Raisin Rack.


If you're not sure about the smell of tomato plants in the morning, check out Burt's Bees other face soaps.

All Dried Up?

All dried up? Your clothes sure are. The important question is how.

Traditional clothes dryers use a lot of electricity. Next time you have to air out your dirty laundry, try hanging your clothes on a drying rack. For some really nice racks, check out this Treehugger article.



For the clothes you want to be extra soft, try these dryer balls. They eliminate the need for fabric softeners or dryer sheets.

Eco Chic Craftacular was greentastic!

Upcycle. Biodiesel. E-Waste. Greenwashing. Greenovate. Craftacular.

Eco-friendly word hybridization is getting out of hand! Despite that, the craft hybridization phenomenon is all the rage.

At the Eco Chic Craftacular this weekend, crafters brought all types of "hybrids" to sell. Ragged pairs of pants, silk ties, belts and old sheets were upcycled into nifty bags. Old teapots were turned into terrariums and broken watches turned into necklaces.

Here are a few of my "hybrids."

Wine corks made into trivets, secondhand onesies turned into whimsical baby gifts, cat toys made with fabric scraps and organic cat nip, gift tags made from old greeting cards, and desk organizers made from obsolete floppy disks.

What other crafty hybrids have you seen lately?

Bike Like

As one of my eco-friendly resolutions for 2009, I bought a bike last weekend. This is my first bike in 20 years, but after a minute of OhMyGodImGoingToCrash panic, I am loving it.



Though there are some bikes on the market that are made from sustainable materials, they are way out of a librarian's price range. So I opted for a used bike.

I ended up at Once Ridden Bikes on Indianola. They fix up all of their bikes before selling them and they offer maintenance to walk-ins, which is good for a newbie like me. They were busy when I went in, but friendly. I was allowed to take the bikes out for test runs and they showed me how to take the front wheel off so that I could fit the bike in my car.

Here are some other places to search:

• Third Hand Bike Co-Op
  
• Play It Again Sports
• Craigslist
• local garage sales

This may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The Paper Monster

It's the epic battle between Treehuggers and Paper Monsters.

Join the Treehuggers' cause by eliminating paper waste.

• Take 5 minutes to sign up for CatalogChoice.org. This will get your name off of most print mailing lists, including product catalogs. I did this about 3 years ago and never looked back!
  
• Opt out of credit card offers using OptOutPrescreen.com. No more temptation to get 0% financing and no more chances for your mailbox thieves to steal your identity. Note: You do have to enter your social security number for this, but it's ok. Check out this article from the FTC for more information. (Again, I did this about 3 years ago and am soooo happy that Capital One no longer greets me when I get home!)
  
• Remove your name from direct mailing campaigns.
  

Help the Treehuggers win the war. Your mailbox will thank you.

Plastic is Fantastic?

In a matter of a week, the same plastic cup crossed my path twice.

According to the manufacturers, NatureWorks, this cup is made from:

"Biopolymer that offers more disposal options and is more environmentally friendly to manufacture than traditional petroleum-based plastics. Derived from 100% annually renewable resources such as plants, our product, Ingeo™ natural plastic, made from NatureWorks’ biopolymer, is the world’s first polymer showing a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."

Though I still think that most restaurants, such as Serendipity, could move away from plastic cups when customers are dining in, this seemed like a viable option for Ohio History Day, an event that was catered on the Columbus State campus.

Anyone know where to order these, or how pricey they are compared to the red and blue cups that overpopulate college campuses?

Don't Litter?

When you have three cats, you can't help but litter! The problem with traditional cat litter, however, is that it is strip mined and not biodegradable.

Here are a few alternative brands that are made from environmentally friendly products or bi-products:

• Swheat Scoop, made from naturally processed, secondary (non-food grade) wheat
• Feline Pine, made from pine shavings reclaimed from lumber production
• World's Best Cat Litter, made from whole-kernel corn

These cat litters are significantly more expensive than regular clay brands, but they have more than just environmental benefits:

• They are not nearly as heavy as clay cat litter, which makes the task of going to the pet store in the middle of a snow storm a little more appealing.
• They are dust-free, which means cleaner air and no layer of gray dust on all of your furniture.
  
• They last longer (sometimes one to two weeks longer than clay litters), which means you don't have to clean out the litter box as often!
• They are healthier for your cats.
• Some can be flushed down the toilet, which means fewer trips to the garage or dumpster.
  

Now, to be fair, I haven't completely eliminated clay litters from my house, because I have one very picky cat who is quite vocal about which cat litters she will use. So I set out a litter box with clay litter in the space that she prefers, and use the alternative litters in areas where the other two cats feel most comfortable.

Note: When switching cat litters, be sure to mix the old litter with the new litter for a few weeks, until your cat gets used to the way the new litter smells and feels.