I'm not buying it!

Welcome to the I'm Not Buying It challenge with Greenhab!

Our family has done a bit of "compacting" (not buying anything new) off and on over the past 3 years. My first compacting experience was with Mamas on the Compact which, from what I can tell, is now defunct. I've also joined our local compacting group on Yahoo, although there's not much action there either. After much thought, we've decided to try a 6 month compact, beginning January 1st, and host it right here at Greenhab. I hope you'll join in!

If you're not familiar with the compacting term or theory, it's basically a pledge to not buy anything new for a set period of time. Compacting will save you money first and foremost. It will help you to detox from your consumer tendencies - even if you're not a big shopper to begin with. It will shed light on need vs. want. It will help you to lighten your environmental impact. And it will give you more time to spend with friends and family.

Compacting began in San Francisco in 2006 when a group of friends challenged each other to not buy anything new for a period of 12 months. According to the main Yahoo group~

The Compact has several aims (more or less prioritized below): 

• To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of disposable consumer culture and to support local businesses, farms, etc. -- a step that, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact. 
• To reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er). 
• To simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)

We've agreed to follow two principles (see exceptions etc. on our blog).

#1 Don't buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
#2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.


The thing I love about compacting is that you can make your own rules. If you want to make exceptions for gifts or kids clothes or eating out, then do it. If you want to go hard-core and have no exceptions at all, then you can do that too. You can take the challenge for a year, or a month, or do it for one week each month. It's all up to you! You decide what you want to get out of it (saving money, reducing your consumer tendencies, being kinder to the environment), then set your own rules.

Our personal goal is simple: Buy nothing new for a period of 6 months.

Exceptions:

• Socks & underwear - We're pretty well stocked on these anyway, so it shouldn't be an issue.
• Eating out - We don't eat out a lot anyway, but Mr. Greenhab feels that it should be okay for us to dine out once in awhile, especially considering the money we'll be saving by not shopping. I think it would be nice to limit this to locally owned and operated restaurants...we'll see who wins out on this.

I'm a bit worried how we'll handle gifts. We don't have an abundance of birthdays or holidays coming up, but the kids do get invited to many of their classmates' parties and other things come up from time to time. I think our gift chain will look something like this:

1. Buy used (ebay, thrift)
2. Handmade by me
3. Handmade by someone else (Etsy, etc.)
4. Purchase from a local, non-chain store
5. Purchase fair trade

Would you like to commit to not buying it? If so, think about what you want your pledge to be, then post about it in the comments section below. If you have a blog, feel free to write about I'm Not Buying It and leave a link to your post.

Together we can share our tips, troubles and triumphs, save money and the environment.



Would you like to add this button to your blog? Just copy and paste the code below, but substitute < > everywhere you see [ ]. That will turn it from code into a nifty little picture!

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Goals for 2011

Some goals from the Greenhab family for the new year~

1. Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.

We've slipped on this quite a bit over the past year or so, shopping more than we should and replacing things that could probably last longer or be repaired.

2. Buy nothing new from January - June, 2011.

More on this later, but we've made the decision to join back up with The Compact.

3. Balance the Greenhab budget.
See #1 and #2 above. Too much spending and not enough "do without" = an unbalanced, unsustainable budget. This has got to be fixed.

4. Re-unsubscribe from junk mailings.
A few years ago I managed to get us unsubscribed from all the junk mail we were receiving, but I've noticed it starting to trickle back in over the past 6 months.

5. Declutter my inbox.
I don't know about you, but I get a lot of junk email. Stores, restaurants, newsletters, coupon sites, mailing lists galore. I don't want junk mail in my mail box, so why continue receiving it in my inbox? I hope to save time hitting the delete button in 2011 by spending a little time hitting the unsubscribe button.

6. Declutter my home.
We have a lot of stuff. That's about all I can say.

7. Grow more in my garden.
We're learning how to garden in the mountains. Last year was better than the year before. Hopefully this year will be more fruitful...no pun intended.

8. Decrease my electric bill.
We just purchased a wood burning fireplace insert to use instead of our electric baseboard heaters. Our highest heating bill last winter was $650, so something had to be done. We also need to caulk around all of our windows and look into insulation options. (Balancing the budget will unfortunately figure into the improvements we can make.)

9. Worry less about order in my home and more about having fun with my children.
I hate to admit that I spend more time saying "Just a minute, I'm {cleaning, doing dishes, folding laundry}." than I spend saying "Sure, let's play!" This is sure to be a hard one for me because a) I feel like our house is always a disaster and b) I can't relax and have fun when I'm surrounded by complete chaos.

10. Try more new recipes.
Healthy recipes, raw recipes, meatless recipes, seasonal recipes...things I can be confident feeding my family. We made lots of progress in this area in 2010. I started cooking from scratch more, eating less canned and boxed foods, and eating more organics, but I'd like to continue greening our food.

I'm sure that we'll have more to add to this list as the year goes on, but these are the biggies for now.

What are your goals for the new year?




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Shopping for more useless crap...

I have this magnet on my fridge. It's cute and funny, but also a good reminder in my times of consumeristic weakness.

I was listening to NPR a few months ago in the car. They were discussing Hu Jintao's impending visit to France and how President Sarkozy was planning a big fanfare for him. The irony was that Sarkozy has been rather vocal in the past about his feelings on China's poor human rights record. In fact, he threatened to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in China in 2008. Now though (or back in November, when the story aired), Sarkozy back-stepped a bit, acknowledging China's role and importance in the G20, and planning to welcome Jintao and avoid controversy.

Now, I don't necessarily think that is a bad idea. When you're meeting with world leaders for the purpose of international financial stability, it probably works better to collaborate and compromise than to stomp your foot and say "I won't work with you for the greater good because you're a bully!"

But it got me thinking metaphorically from a consumer's point of view: As a humanitarian, I disagree with China's human rights policies. As a consumer, I often find that I don't have a lot of other options. Do I just suck it up because they are a superpower? Because so much of what is sold today is from China?

I found myself visualizing an actual crossroads in front of me and contemplating which path to take.

We've done the China boycott in the past. But just because something is made in the Philippines or Guatemala doesn't mean it's made ethically though. Do I boycott anything that is inexpensively made? I can't afford to buy expensive things - and neither can a lot of people in the US today. Do I succumb to cheap because cheap rules?

No. I quit. Yes, that's it. I quit being a consumer.

I let it percolate for a few weeks, then I proposed it to Mr. Greenhab, who quickly agreed.


We quit. Join us, won't you?

Christmas in Photos

A few random Christmas photos to share. Well, I guess they're not that random...they are all holiday-related. Some I just didn't have time to post about before the "big day".

I stopped at the thrift store a few days before Christmas where they had all of the Christmas stuff 50% off. I got two of these sparkly trees for $3 each!

Marc and I stayed up very late on Christmas Eve to wrap gifts. I did try to make them all pretty and unique, but admit to resorting to some old gift bags around midnight. (They were well loved / previously used bags.)

My mom totally out-did me with the gifts she gave me for Christmas~

This is the bag that Marc gave me my gift in. It's sort of our family Christmas joke now...

This was our gift to ourselves this year. A wood burning insert for our fireplace. Our house runs solely on electric, no gas, and the bills can get up to $650 during the winter months. It's just not environmentally or financially sustainable. Since the fireplace is huge and actually creates more of a draft than any actual heat, we decided that a wood-burning insert would be a good solution and good for resale value as well. Marc assures me it won't look so teeny-tiny once we get the face plate contraption on. If it gets the temperature in our house above 58 degrees I'll be happy.

And this photo just cracks me up. Fletcher got a new hat and gloves in his Christmas stocking. While I was making coffee I saw him sneak up out of the corner of my eye to steal daddy's candy. Evidently we watch too many burglar movies???

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

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Give the gift of organic produce!

Looking for a last minute green gift? Why not give the gift of an organic produce delivery? In talking to people who want to green their food routine, one of the biggest issues that always comes up is the price of organic produce.

Buying organic fruits and veggies from a local supermarket - especially in a small town like mine - can indeed get expensive. That's not to say that the food is over priced or not worth the cost - it definitely is worth it. But whether or not it's affordable to everyone is another question.

Services that specialize in organic and local(ish) produce can often deliver them right to your door for less than what you'd pay at a store. You also know that you're getting produce that is in-season.

After a hiatus from Door-to-Door Organics (which is a great company!) over the summer and fall months, we just signed up with Mile High Organics after finding a great Mamapedia deal last week ($19 for $30 worth of produce). If you're not in Colorado, just Google "organic delivery service" and the name of your city or state to find a provider in your -- or your loved one's -- area.

You don't need to send enough produce to keep them fed all month, even a nice bi-weekly delivery of fresh organic fruit makes a nice gift and is a great way to get someone on the road to organic eating.

Green the Season: Making Memories

Since having kids I've noticed that we go above and beyond to celebrate the heck out of Christmas. We go to every school event, class play, party, cookie exchange, white elephant, Santa appearance, tree lighting, Christmas caroling...well, you get the point.

I'm not sure exactly why we waited until we had kids to do this because I love it! I love being filled with Christmas spirit until it's pouring out of my ears. I love spending time with family, making memories, and creating traditions.

Daisy Scout cookie exchange

This year we've spent the least amount of money on Christmas gifts, but the most time on Christmas activities. I have to tell you it's much more fun and fulfilling than when Christmas was all about stress and shopping and finding the perfect gifts and spending the right amount of money on everyone.

Last weekend was our Third Annual 5280palooza. Each year the Denver Chamber of Commerce organizes Mile High Holidays where the hotels downtown offer rooms for $52.80 (5280 being one mile high). When else can you get a hotel suite downtown for 5 people for $52? So we pack up the family and meet up with friends to explore the city, eat good food, and see all of the lights in the big city.

This year Mimi took all of us on a Polar Express-like train ride with Santa which was amazing!

The kids wore their pj's, had hot cocoa and cookies, visited with both Santa and Mrs. Claus during the one-hour ride, got candy canes from Santa's helpers, ornaments from Santa - it's even snowed for us! It was a perfect night and, let me tell you, this was the REAL Santa. There was no question about it!

We lingered a bit after the ride, taking photos and enjoying each others company. As we headed to our car, Santa and Mrs. Claus came out to the parking lot to leave, so we snapped a photo with them both. The kids thought it was amazing that they were driving a car instead of a sleigh and we had to come up with a quick "The North Pole is so far away that they probably have to stay here in a hotel tonight instead of going home."

This week we'll be potato stamping our brown gift wrapping paper, making a gingerbread house, meeting with some old friends for dinner, making reindeer food, hanging stockings and baking cookies for Santa. I love this age(s) and, although I know things will change as our kids get older, I suspect that we've begun a new tradition of making traditions that will carry on for years to come.

Giveaway Monday ~ Riverhouse by Saralee Lawrence

My apologies for being such a blog slacker last week. Between Mr. Greenhab being in and out of the hospital, Christmas programs and a mini staycation that almost didn't happen, I was running in circles like a chicken with no head. I will try to make up for it this week!

Today I'm giving away a copy of Saralee Lawrence's book River House: A Memoir which is a great read for Christmas break.

"Lawrence grew up on a ranch in the high desert of Oregon, where her strong, unflappable mother is content, but where her father, a surfer in a place of little water and epic winters, suffers like a caged bird. Lawrence develops a passion for rivers, and at a young age, she becomes an accomplished, seemingly fearless, world-traveling river guide and advocate pleased with her roughing-it, transient life. Until she finds herself on the flooded, hence monstrous, Tambopata River on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Suddenly, it seems imperative that she build her own log house on her family’s land, just as her parents did. Surely this will make her father happy. Instead, he’s instructively adversarial, and her strenuous and dangerous work on the ranch caring for 40 horses and constructing her house in the bitter cold is as harrowing and demanding as any wilderness sojourn. Handy with tools and rafts, a good neighbor, and a mighty fine horsewoman, Lawrence is also adept with language, writing with arresting lucidity and a driving need to understand her father, her legacy, the land, community, work, and herself. A true adventure story of rare dimension."

~ Donna Seaman, Booklist

Not only was I jealous of Lawrence's world travels and footloose lifestyle, I found myself even more envious when she came home to build a house on her family farm. She did this, quite literally, by hand, mixing and pouring the concrete, oiling and fitting each log, one-by-one. Lawrence helped neighbors in need and received the same help in return. She corroborated with them on local water rights issues and worked side-by-side with them laying pipe through their land. She is a true homesteader, but I suspect she would call it "life" rather than homesteading.

Throughout the book Lawrence comes to love and understand the land and lifestyle as her mother does, while realizing that her father's love is the sea.

I laughed and cried and wanted more at the end. This is a great book to curl up on the couch with over winter break, so leave a comment below for your chance to win. (I'll stick in a little extra surprise with it too!) For extra chances, share this with your friends on Facebook or Twitter and let me know that you did.

Giveaway will close on Friday the 24th. Be sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you!

Giveaway Monday ~ Celestial Tea makes a great stocking stuffer!

This giveaway is now closed ~ Thank you!

Celestial Seasonings is one of my favorite local companies - not only because I've been drinking their tea since I was a child, but also because of their commitment to social responsibility. Celestial is...

• Keeping their founding fathers' promise to provide superior products while staying true to their beliefs.
• Committed to using only the highest quality ingredients sourced in the most sustainable and farmer-friendly ways.
• Committed to designing beautiful packaging that helps conserve the beautiful natural world around us.

The folks at Celestial believe that the goodness of their teas should be reflected in the goodness of their actions towards others and the planet. As such, they've donated time, money and tea to support worthwhile causes from Green Scouts to protecting tropical rain forests.

This week I'll be giving away three boxes (each) of Celestial Seasonings tea to three lucky winners! Just leave a comment below. Be sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you though. Share this on Twitter or Facebook for an extra chance to win.

These make great stocking stuffers or teacher gifts.



PS~ Be sure to check out the tutorials I put up over at the Green Phone Booth today for these cute rosettes that you can make into rings and brooches (and just about anything else!).

Winner of the Essential Journeys Giveaway!

Happy Saturday everyone! The winner of the Essential Journeys Lube for the Lips, Lotion for the Body and Soap by the Slice is Kelly!

kelly said...
gotta go with peace dove!

Kellie, please contact me within the next week to claim your prize. Email me at greenhab (dot) goods (at) gmail (dot) com.

Congrats & Enjoy!

Monochrome wrapping

Last month I ordered a huge roll of brown kraft paper thinking I could use it to wrap not only Christmas gifts, but all gifts throughout the year. I'm so sick of buying gift bags for every birthday party the kids go to -- and there are a lot of them. Such a waste. Kraft paper gives us the opportunity to decorate the gifts according to recipient and have a little fun while we're at it. I envision coloring, stickers, potato stamping and more.

Over the summer I helped my mom clean out an old storage unit and came home with, literally, a truck load full of stuff (think garage sale Martha Stewart's house) including rolls and rolls of ribbon, which would go nicely on Christmas gifts. I fully intended to use said ribbon and kraft paper this holiday season...buuuuuuuut then I saw this blog post over on Design Mom with these photos~

~ from Summer Watkins of Style Me Pretty and fell immediately in love (with the packages and the blog).

As it so happens I had none of the supplies in those photos (drat!) but I did have a few creamy colored textiles to use instead. Here's what I ended up with for my first batch of gifts. These are being sent - hopefully today if I ever get out of the house - to family back east. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for the packages staying here.

Okay, without further adieu...

They look so plain now that I see the photos next to Summer's. Hopefully the recipients will appreciate them though. They were fun to make and different from what I normally do.

I heart Ethiopia

If you have a heart for Ethiopia, China or orphans in general, check out these window decals from Four Plus More. Julie, the author of this blog, is an adoptive parent. She and her husband both work for World Orphans and do some amazing work. I purchased a few of the decals to use as stocking stuffers.

PSA: Free shipping this week from Mr. Ellie Pooh

"Pooh Happens" cards, photo courtesy Mr. Ellie Pooh

This time of year all of our inboxes are probably filled up with "Free Shipping" offers, but this is one you might want to take advantage of and scratch some gifts off your list. I blogged about Mr. Ellie Pooh two years ago. They're the folks in Sri Lanka who are making paper from elephant poop.

Not only does this weird but cool product help the environment by saving trees, it also helps to save the elephants by making them useful in other ways. You see, right now in Sri Lanka there is a big human/elephant conflict going on. There's not enough food for everyone, so when the elephants come looking for food, they're shot.

Mr. Ellie Pooh trains villagers to turn the elephant dung into paper and other cool paper products. This gives them a skill and an income, and makes the elephants an asset.

I purchased this story book "I am Mr. Ellie Pooh, the World's Only Living Paper Mill" a few years ago for Fletcher.

"This elephant dung paper book tells the story of Mr. Ellie Pooh and the plight of the Sri Lankan elephant. It basically gives the "kids" version of how we can interact with nature to "Save the Elephants". There is hope, there may be a solution, and they are holding it in their hands......Mr. Ellie Pooh's elephant dung paper.

The book is 8"x8" and printed on our colored heavy duty cardstock. The perfect book for any childrens library. Perfect for the homeschooler or show and tell. The kids will go wild."

This week only, use code "2010freeshipping" to get free shipping on any products. You must choose "USPS" at checkout, not UPS.

{I was not compensated in any way for writing this post. I'm just a fan of Mr. Ellie Pooh and they work they're doing to make the world a better place.}

Countdown to Christmas - Our Advent Calendar

Being the cheapskate thrifty girl I am, I picked up this mirrored advent calendar / box contraption on clearance at Target after Christmas two years ago. Last year it functioned solely as decoration, but this year we decided to put it to use.

We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas here, neither very religiously, which is probably an oxymoron, but I'm sure you know what I mean. We like to make the holidays about family, tradition, doing good for others and being appreciative of what we have.

Rather than putting candy or cheap trinkets in each day of the advent calendar, we decided to write down fun tasks and ways to celebrate the season. Because the first day of our calendar (December 1st, that is) coincided with the first day of Hanukkah this year, our first few tasks were to read the story of Hanukkah, pick out some Hanukkah books at the library, and learn how to play the dreidel game.

Our other tasks include~

• Spend the night with Tutu (grandma)
• Make cookies for your teachers
• Scope out and cut down our Christmas tree
• Decorate our tree
• Make salt dough ornaments
• String popcorn for the birds
• Watch Christmas movies
• Spend the night in a hotel downtown with mom and dad (this is our annual tradition - we go to see the lights downtown and do all sorts of fun things)
• Learn to make paper snowflakes
• Make pine cone bird feeders
• Make Christmas cards for teachers
• Write letters to Santa
• Make a gingerbread house
• Drive to see Christmas lights
• Go on the Polar Express with Mimi (I'm *so* excited about this!)

I did mix in a few "Clean for 15 minutes" notes, but I paired them with a piece of gelt. Chocolate makes cleaning worthwhile.

What sorts of activities do you do for advent, or during the holidays in general?