The Story of Stuff

For those of you who have been around a little longer than others, your first thought when you hear the word 'stuff' is George Carlin. And truth be told, you are not too far off base. I got to see George Carlin in concert over 20 years ago when he had cleaned up his act. And I was glad we saw him then. Yes there was swearing, but it was kept to a minimum. And guess what, his 'stuff' was still funny.

Take a look at George Carlin's take on Stuff. There is some mild profanity. So if you still want to take a gander, tell the kiddies to go elsewhere.

Carlin's Stuff

Yes, he makes it seem oh so funny. But there is a down side to stuff. And I for one am ready to rid my life of my 'stuff' that I am not using. I have blogged about Free Cycle before and love it. Do I use it all the time? No. But it is there for me to use if necessary. One of the main objectives to Free cycle is to keep things out of our landfills. And I for one on that bandwagon. I love this new word I am discovering and how it can apply to my life. When I am dead and gone, what will people say about me? To me, at least, it is very important. I want people to say, even if they think I am whack about it, that I did everything I could to help Mother Earth be a bit healthier. Even though those greedy capitalists think I should have a new computer every six months.

I want to make life simpler, not have to sit and look at 'stuff' I have and that doesn't get used. Save for seasonal holiday 'stuff' I want to rid my life of 'stuff' that is sitting here, in my home taking up space. And it's not that I want to get rid of it to bring in new 'stuff', it's just that I don't want it around any longer.

I look at my parent's for example and their 'stuff' has 'stuff'. That can't be good. And I remember a long time ago that someone once told me that if you have not used something in a years time, then you obviously don't need it. And I will give that person that, but there are some exceptions to that rule. Emergency items, like a generator, especially if you live in Hurricane Central, and items that would lend assistance in an emergency. For each region of our country it would be something different. But we all know what our emergency necessities are and I will leave it at that.

The kind of stuff I am referring to is the stuff (and I sat in my TV room as I bring up this point) is the stuff me purchase and then let fall by the wayside, in a manner of speaking. I have a pretty set number of CD's I listen to. Let's use the number 25 as an example. I have a CD carrying case in my vehicle and I rotate those same tried and true CD's. I cannot remember the last time I purchased a new CD and I am all right with that. For why should I by more stuff, just to say I have more stuff? Do you think the person I am conversing with is really, truly impressed that I got the latest CD. DVD , computer, kitchen gadget...? No, they are not. They are most more than likely annoyed at the fact that I feel thee undesirable need to shove it in their face every chance I get, so why bother.

So, in looking at my entertainment set (And reading my borrowed Ishmael book) I knew right then, that I wanted to make it a top priority to rid my home, and moreso, my life of 'stuff', also known as clutter.

To see the dynamics of what stuff is doing to us and our planet, please take a look at this short video. It is about 20 minutes or so, but well worth the watch. I've only had in my bookmarks for about a year. And whilst deleting websites I knew I did not or would not visit, I thought it appropriate to finally take a see what this woman, Annie Leonard had to say about stuff. She makes the viewing worth your while. It is semi-animated, but she does not talk to you like you are a child. And for the most part, these were things I knew about but needed a gentle reminder and a less gentle nudging to get off my backside and make a difference.

I am not looking to change, the world. All right, yes I am, but I can only do so much and I am fine with that. But there is a saying that keeps coming back in many references I speak about lately and it goes like this, "How does and ant eat an elephant?...One bite at a time."

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Save Our Landfills

I am concerned about our Mother...Mother Earth that is. And I am doing everything in my power to see to it that she stays healthy. If she were to come to me on my death bed ask what I did for her, I have a list. So I feel confident that I am doing all I possibly can to keep her at her best.

And one way of doing that is by keeping unwanted items out of the landfills. I have found a way to help us all out. Join Free Cycle. Think of it as an on line sort of garage sale, minus the money exchange. You are there to offer items you no longer want, or are replacing. For instance:

Offer: Working, automatic drip coffee maker with a bit of the protective layer coming off on the warmer
Offer: Women's clothes, size 8-10
or
Wanted: Box of pencils
Wanted: Cloth napkins

You see where I am coming from. What you no longer want is what someone else is in need of. Trust me, I have already gotten rid of 2 five gallon painter style buckets so someone could make their own tomato planters. And my husband just cleaned out his closet for he has lost 25 pounds and needed to lighten the load in his closet. So why not help out a fellow man/woman.

I put these items on the Yahoo Group I belong to for my part of town and they were snatched up within 24 hours. So go check them out and see what they have to offer you. If I may make a suggestion. If you do join a Yahoo Group, sign up for the daily digest for if not you 'will' be bombarded with anywhere from 10-3- Emails per day...no joke. And I am guessing bigger cities it could be way worse.

I love this new found way of exchanging items and helping out where we can. Try them and see what you think.

To Clip Or Not To Clip

...that is the question.

Raise your hand if you clip coupons? But ask yourself this, what do coupons let you buy? CRAP. Have you noticed that all coupons are for processed foods? Why can't we have coupons for produce? I could use a little off the nearly $35 dollars a week I spend on produce every single week.

There are some stores, such as Publix gives you BOGO=buy one get one free. But guess what, they are for items I would never eat or buy for that matter. Do not get me wrong, I am not bashing this grocery store. In fact I wish I could afford to shop there, but that is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

But here is just a list of a few of the things I could buy, but won't.

Atkins Advantage Shake-I don't do anything Atkins. Anyone who says rice and potatoes are evil is not right in the head

Attune Granola Bars-We make our own granola

Aunt Jemima Pancakes-We make our own and can you read all the ingredients on the back of the box and know what their purpose is?

Barber Foods Stuffed Chicken Breast-Ack! Meat pumped full of hormones and antibiotics...no way.

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks- I thought fruit came from plants, not from inside boxes! Did I miss something?

Campbell's Select Harvest Soups-We make our own soups.

Chatam Village Croutons-Deep Fried, and yet these things are touted as healthy. For sure if it comes from bread it has to be good. Anyone every hear of oven fried?

Del Monte Tomatoes-These I would actually buy. We use so many canned tomatoes, that I need to take stock in some company.

Entenmann's Little Bites-Sugar ladened treat. We make our own sweets, and no one goes into a diabetic coma afterwards either.

General Mills Fiber One Cereal-I know they are trying, but I guarantee, that there is still some sort of processed sugar in that box of supposed goodness.

This is only one page of the BOGO. suffice it to say it would not be worth my while to even purchase these items, since it has been my sole purpose to rid my home of processed foods. Am I good as gold? Not yet, we still have some lingering item to get rid of, but I could not see just throwing out food for the sake of cleaning my cupboards. One step at a time.

I am curious whether or not I should write my grocery store, like people write their congressmen, telling them why don't you have produce with the BOGO, or how about some organic products, and there is the non-dairy milks we could use a little help with. But I do not think my one little letter will make a huge impact, but then again...who knows!

Update on Vinegar in the Laundry

Edit In: Someone had asked if my laundry smelled like vinegar. No it does no, and here is why. the vinegar is there to neutralize the odors form your dirty laundry, so all is well. What I do is add a drop or two...no more. Of an essential oil. Someone said that they use lavender. I have used peppermint, cinnamon, whatever I have goes in. And still my laundry does not smell like a candy cane Hope this helps!

I just did all my laundry for the day. And I measured the vinegar that I put in my opening that is made for fabric softener. I use about 3/4 a cup of white vinegar. Do not use anything but white vinegar.

I do use my own homemade laundry detergent and been using it for about 2 years now. Do I get the dingies a bit sooner? Yes, but to help out our Mother Earth, for me it is worth it. Did I mention that I gave up bleach as well? Yep, I most certainly did and don't miss that either.

Any questions you folks have, do not hesitate to ask away.

Ropa Solar

Yep, that is about the extent of my Spanish. the translation is solar clothes. Yep, my father-in-law was wonderful enough to but us a clothesline. And the first thing out of my mother-in-laws mouth was, "Where are you putting it?" She asked my husband. He knows her, so his snappy answer was, "We put it in our living room, you want to come and see it?"

She was worries if the neighbors would see it! Helloooooo, are those neighbors going to pay my electric bill? I think not. Now, you have to remember, I H-A-T-E-D hanging up clothes when I was a kid, and for many reasons. 1) We were a family of six. 2) My mother never enforced that we could wear clothes more than once (explain why you need to throw a set of clothes in the dirty basket when all you did was sit and play video games). 3) She never helped us, we were on our own. 4)We had to hang clothes in the heat of the day and in Florida. Nothing worse than having sweat roll down into places it should not be. Need I say more?

I have hung out two loads of clothes out today with my daughter. Now I don't have enough clothespins yet, so I am taking coat hangers and using them to hang up the shirts. I still hang them on the clothesline, but just on coathangers. That frees up more of my pins until I purchase more. My daughter caught on pretty darned quickly on how to hand clothes and why they are hung in certain ways. The more air that can flow through the clothes...the better.

She just ran out and pulled the damp clothes off the line, because there is a huge thunderstorm coming our way, and if you have any experience with clothes on the line and rain, you will know they get very stiff. So we did not get to have them dry 100% on the line, so we threw them in the dryer for a few minutes. We are still saving bundles on our bill and doing great things for Mother Earth.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Red: Hey fellow bloggers, my title is catchier than your guys...Nani Nani Boo Boo.

Fellow Bloggers: *Grumbles amongst themselves* Yeah she is right...you can't trump Kermit...she's got us.

I love the Muppets and moreso Kermit. He was the one who got it all started. Kudos to Jim Henson. But the only connection is the fact that he is green and I want to be green, and I am not talking about my skin or my hair color (that is already out there on the color wheel), I am talking about doing anything and everything possible to help our planet, and trust me, she needs help.

I have been reading other bloggers and what they are doing to help Mother Earth and then compare it to what I do and I am not doing as bad as I thought. the one thing I am slacking on is my composting, which my daughter and I are working on this week. We saw a show on Planet Green and there was a couple in an apartment and they were able to compost in a big plastic bin, and we have just had come available here at the house. So our new journey begins.

I have recently started reading a new blog and she described something I have not experienced. She said that when she takes her reusable/canvas grocery bags...she gets looks. I get people saying that they think it is cool, and they still grab the plastic bags...old habits I guess, but they applaud my efforts. And one of the baggers that I know from our local grocery store. He was joking of course when he told me this, but he said he asks people if they would like to kill a tree or choke a fish. And if you think about it...it is true. I know, I am standing on a soapbox, but as I grow older, I feel more passionate about the world around me and how I will leave it to my children and my children's children.

If you have never seen the book(s) Tightwad Gazette, may I make a suggestion and check it out at your local library and if you find it at a garage sale or flea market...snatch it up, you will never regret it. It is not so much a green book, but in saving money, you are being green. My friend has this book and I read it for a while but trust me, it is well worth the buy. The numbers are outdated, but the premise is sound. Better in my pocket then theirs.