What To Do In The Dark

So did you participate in Earth Hour this past Saturday? We did. Actually it was not difficult and it was not out of our way. What made it easier was that our 3 little kiddies were all tugged into bed by 8pm, though it would have been fun if they were able to stay up.

I went about shutting off all the house lights, except for the kids’ night lights in their rooms. However, I didn’t go as far as unplugging our appliances or TV/VCR. I pulled out our solar-&-crank powered flashlights. I left one by the door for my hubby when he got off of work at 8:30 and I took one with me. I decided to do some writing in bed (something in preparation for Father’s Day). It was amazingly calm in the dark and I was able to think so clearly. When my hubby came home we spent the rest of the time catching up with each other and doing our devotions — it was kind of romantic.

While across the world, I was amazed that even major landmarks went dark: the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, Sidney Opera House in Australia. You can check out the flickr photos and YouTube videos from the Earth Hour website. I know there’s lots of skepticism out there about how 1 hour can make really any difference at all, but I think it still makes a stand no matter how minuscule it seems.

Closer to home, electricity consumption dropped by 1.1% overall in our province that Saturday evening; with the highest drop in Pemberton at 4.5%. If you’re interested how your community stacked up, check out BC Hydro’s site.

Back at the home front, since March 28th I’m trying to be even more conscientious about my use of unnecessary electricity. Do I really need to turn on all the lights while doing dishes or brushing my teeth? I should really think about what I need to get out of the fridge before I open the fridge door. How about remembering to open up the blinds and curtains in the morning to allow all that natural light in?

So what did you do last Saturday evening?  Share with us how you spent the hour?

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Birthday Moolah

When my son turned 5 this year, I wanted to do something different when it came to birthday gifts. We really have very generous friends and family and they all really spoil him like crazy with more gifts than he can really process and way more than he really needs (trust me, our house is a toy store in itself!). In the previous years, we’ve asked for donations to various charities in lieu of gifts. That was fine, but I found that it took the fun and joy out of opening presents for him. We are really blessed with so much and there are so many others out there that cannot afford the simplest things. After much thought my husband and I decided this year was the year to start teaching our son a bit about the stewardship of money and about the world around him.

This is what we decided:

• we asked family and invitees to give $5 instead of a gift ($5 because he was turning 5)
• half of all the money given to him for his birthday was set aside for him to spend, save, and/or invest in whatever manner he chooses
• the other half, which my husband and I would match dollar to dollar amount, would be donated to a charity or organization of his choosing

We started telling him of the birthday gift plan a couple of months in advance to prepare him and to get him excited and thinking about the important decisions that need to be made with regards to his birthday money. And though he didn’t understand fully or clearly the entire process, he couldn’t wait to turn 5.

It’s been about a month since his birthday and he still hasn’t decided on what he wants to do with his portion of the birthday money, though we’ve made several trips to Toys-R-Us already. He’s also grasping the concept that things cost money and he can’t just have whatever he sees he likes on the toy shelf (like that $100 Lego set he keeps eyeing). I am amazed at his patience and his ability in not making a rash decision and buy impulsively the first thing he sees.

As for the other portion of the money, we’ve had to help narrow down the donation choices for him. We’ve talked to him about a few different options and it looks like we’re thinking about the Kiva organization (which allows you to loan money to entrepreneurs in developing countries and when the loan is repaid back to you, you can re-loan that money out again to another entrepreneur). Kiva is not like your typical charity, it’s lend-and-payback philosophy allows the giving to continue indefinitely. In this process of deciding how to spend the giving portion of the birthday money, it’s truly fulfilling to see my 5 year old show empathy to those in need as he, and we, become more conscious of the world around us.

I recently ran across a website called DreamBank with sort of the same concept. It’s a more refined structure than our little birthday moolah thing. You post a dream gift (a specific item or goal) and than people/family/friends can contribute money towards it, in lieu of an assortment of gifts that you may not need or want, via PayPal. Environmentally it helps cut down on the accumulation of unnecessary stuff. In addition, DreamBank will donate 10% of its revenues to selected charities. The only drawback is the fees involved: a cost of $2.25 per contribution and a 2.5% fee of your total dream fund when you cash out. I have yet to try out DreamBank  and I don’t know the ins-and-outs of it, but the concept is intriguing.

What do you think about this concept of people contributing to one item/goal in lieu of presents? Are there other organizations or websites out there like DreamBank that you know of?

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Freecycle It!

Ok, I know I’ve blogged a tiny bit on Freecycle before but I’m dedicating this post entirely to this incredible network that is, as their motto states, “changing the world one gift at a time”. If you haven’t joined, you should. If you have joined, you should really use it.

A bit of history: it was started in 2003 by Derek Beal, out in Arizona, with a member’s list of perhaps 30-40 people. Now, it’s gone international: 85 countries, and over 6 million members.

So what is it exactly? It’s a non-profit group dedicated to keeping one-person’s-junk-and-another-person’s-treasure out of landfills. It’s the basic 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle with a no-strings-attached twist. By freely giving your unwanted/unneeded stuff to someone else who needs it or wants it, as quoted on Freecycle’s site, “members of Freecyle Network instill a sense of generosity of spirit as they strengthen local community ties and promote environmental sustainability and reuse.”

There’s over 4,000 groups worldwide, so you’ll need to find one that’s in your community. (Note: since the groups are set up through Yahoo! Groups, you’ll need to first have a Yahoo! account/ID.) Once you’ve found one, you’ll need to join that group to be able to obtain access to all the posts and to be able to post.

There are 2 parts to this network: the giving and the receiving. You’ll be surprised at all the stuff that’s offered and all the stuff that’s needed. I’ve seen pianos, sofas, baby clothes, computer parts, TVs. So if there’s stuff you no longer need or if there’s stuff that you need but don’t want to buy, consider using the Freecycle Network.

Since I’ve joined, (I’ve been trying hard to declutter this year — a bit of a New Year’s resolution) I’ve found new homes for a microwave cart that was collecting dust in the garage, some unused pots & pans that were taking up precious kitchen space, a lighted Christmas Village set that we barely used; and I’m in the process of giving my dated Today’s Parent and House & Home magazines a 2nd life. It really does feel great knowing that I’m part of this great network giving in the spirit of generosity back to the community that I live in.

Are there others out there that use this network? Let us know of your experiences.

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Blue Bin Etiquette

Happy New Year! We hope you have managed to escape all our snow relatively unscathed!

With the arrival of the New Year also means the arrival of a new curbside garbage pick up schedule. There’s a permanent location on our fridge for the schedule. I periodically refer to it after a holiday or when I need to find out what can and cannot be thrown out and recycled. To tell you the truth, I am a little ignorant when it comes to putting stuff into the blue bin. I put things that I think should be recycled but don’t necessarily know if they are actually suppose to be there. My husband puts out the bin and I keep my fingers crossed that all the items are actually emptied out of it. I did a bit of research and have found out that there are actually quite a few resources out there to help you find out if you can recycle items or where you can recycle them. Did you know that you can bring your old cell phones to thINK Food who takes old cell phones as a fundraiser for local foodbanks?  The Recycling Council of BC offers a great resource for all things recyclable. They offer great tips, education, and services for recycling. There is even a materials exchange where you can buy and sell items that can be reused.

According to MetroVancouver.org, “currently, residents and business recycle just over half of the 3.5 million tonnes of garbage, or solid waste, created in the region each year”. So my goal this year is to work towards zero waste. The Zero Waste Challenge is part of the regions’ Solid Waste Management Plan. The 5R’s of the Zero Waste Challenge are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover and Residuals.  I have adopted some of the principles and hope to incorporate the rest of them.

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Freebies To Go

I admit that I am a bit of a pack rat and over the years I have accumulated a lot of “stuff”. With our growing family and shrinking storage space in our home, I am really wanting to spring clean and pare down. There are old clothes that are collecting dust in our closets, unneeded toys, unused appliances, outgrown kids clothes, extra pieces of small furniture lying around, and the list goes on and on.  And most of the stuff is not worth the hassle of trying to get some money for it.  So, besides placing the unneeded goods on the curb with an attached “FREE” sign, there are several other ways it can have another life:

• Big Brothers Renew Crew and the Canadian Diabetes Association’s Clothesline will typically accept clothes, small household wares, toys, and even furniture. If you arrange it with them, they will provide pick up service at your door.
• if you have an old clunker, you can donate it for charity through the Used Vehicle Donation Program put together by the Canadian Diabetes Association and Car Heaven. You might even be able to get $1000 off of a GM car.
• besides placing ads in the free stuff section of craigslist and kijiji, you can also sign up with the Freecycle Network which is dedicated to helping those who want to donate free things connect with those who are looking for free things.
• then there’s CharityVillage which has a list of organizations across Canada that you can donate your goods to or organizations that accept your recyclable stuff. These things can range from art supplies to computers & electronics.

Hope this is useful in helping you unclutter your closets and reclaim back some space.

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It’s In The Bag

If you go shopping anywhere (especially for groceries), the “in” thing now is using reusable shopping bags. I’ve got a handful myself, and have them stowed conveniently in the car so that I remember to bring them along with me to carry my purchases. However despite that, I still end up adding to my plastic bag collection every so often, especially after clothes shopping. Having a reusable bag tucked in my purse would probably solve that problem though.

I can proudly say that my collection of plastic bags is not growing at an exponential rate as it did before, but I still have my fair share. I do give my bags several lives before getting rid of them: garbage pail liners, dirty clothes carrier, lunch bags. But a stop at Save-On Foods a few months ago, opened my eyes to the fact that they can be recycled. So now for those plastic bags that are deemed not reusable, I will gather them up and every few months I plan to drop them off at the local Save-On for recycling. Apparently, there are other stores that also offer this service: London Drugs, Safeway, Walmart to name a few.

I ran across a website called myplasticbags.ca. Though it’s a site sponsored by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, (yes, it seems like a conflict of interest) I found very useful information about recycling plastic bags:

• how to prepare your bags for recycling (bags need to be empty and clean): empty your plastic bags by turning them inside out and then stuff the empty bags all into one bag
• municipalities that collect plastic bags curbside for recyling, for example: Delta, Langley, Coquitlam
• store locator in your area that will take back your plastic bags for recycling

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Throwing In The Towel

With a household of 3 young kids, meal times are a bit on the messy side. We could easily go through a couple of napkins or paper towels per child each meal. I could not imagine our contribution to the tons and tons of disposable paper products tossed into the garbage which end up in landfills, all the nasty pollutants released into the air and water during the manufacturing process, and the cutting down of our precious forests, all for the sake of keeping my kids’ hands and mouths clean.

So the past few months, we have committed to using reusable cloths during meal times. It took a bit of getting used to since for years we had grown accustomed to automatically grabbing a tissue paper or napkin without a thought whatsoever. Now, the kids are used to the idea and ask for a cloth every time in lieu of a napkin.

Though there are some fun napkins and hankerchiefs out there that you can purchase for this purpose (from local companies like Hankettes and Hank&Cheef), we opted to use the kids’ former baby washcloths. They are stored in a little container and placed on the kitchen counter for quick and easy access. Yes, it means a tiny bit more laundry a week, but I figure it is a more eco-friendly option for us.

Have we banned disposable napkins, tissues and paper towels from our house? No, not yet. They are still handy for those super messes where major staining might be an issue or for those picnics outdoors. But I know that we’ve greatly reduced how much we use those tossables because I can’t remember the last time I had to buy a box of Kleenex or a roll of Bounty.

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