40 Bags in 40 Days

A week ago I had a moment of feeling totally overwhelmed by all the stuff in my house and decided it was time to clear out the excess. I had read about the 40 bags in 40 days project online and decided to give it a shot. The idea is simple - clear out 40 bags of stuff in 40 days. Although the 40 days are typically associated with Lent, I think this is the perfect time to clean out in preparation for the holidays.

I started today when I packed up our Halloween decorations. I weeded out the excess decorations that we did not use this year. I also went through our fall decorations to prepare for Thanksgiving decorating and kept only what I love and use. So I now have 3 bags of holiday goodies to take to our local Goodwill!

I was feeling motivated so I moved on to our utensil drawer in the kitchen and cleaned out another bag of duplicate and unneeded items. Day one and I already have 4 bags to donate!

Anyone up for joining me in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge?

I'm back

After too long of a break, I am coming back to blogging! I have spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of "green" things I want to blog about and how my family really lives greener. What I've come to realize is that most of the time being greener doesn't mean buying the latest eco-friendly trend, but by making do with what you have. Of course sometimes you need to purchase new items as gifts or to replace things that can't be fixed, so I will still share with you some of the latest green trends. However most of the time I am going to focus on ways to follow the wise advice from our grandmothers' time "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

Stay tuned for some exciting green ideas!

Is BP Burning Endangered Sea Turtles?

The Gulf of Mexico is home to the critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle. Sea turtles have been seen swimming through the toxic oil-filled waters of the Gulf and rescue attempts are now being called off. According to Mike Ellis, BP has been keeping rescue teams from getting to the turtles and has even been burning them alive, along with other animals. View biologist Catherine Craig's interview with boat captain Mike Ellis on you tube for more info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kjw3_bMk8o

A Simply Delicious Bouquet

I had some friends over the other night and one brought the most unique green bouquet for me! She had cut celery and zinnias from her garden and arranged them together. The bright green celery made the vibrant zinnias just pop and the celery's fresh scent greeted every time I entered my kitchen. The best part of the beautiful gift is, as the flowers fade I will compost the flowers and eat the celery. My creative friend shows a perfect example of how being green sometimes means just thinking outside the box.