Saturday, October 31, 2009

Long Live the Halloween Candy


OK, the annual Trick-or-Treat tradition is scheduled to take place in a few hours in my house and I'm already thinking about what to do with all that candy. The first choice is obvious - EAT IT - and we definitely do a fair amount of that in our house. But what about when we all have stomachaches? What should you do with all that leftover candy?? Here are a few thoughts on other uses for the candy.
1) Save the candy for decorating gingerbread houses in December.
2) Cut the candy bars into small chunks and substitute for chocolate chips when you make cookies.
3) Stash some in the glove compartment for emergencies (like when you're trying to bribe your kids at some critical moment - maybe not ideal parenting strategy, but it does work!)
4) Find a dentist who participates in the Halloween Candy Buy Back Program. There aren't any near me, but these dentists buy your candy and then ship it to our overseas troops.
5) Send it to a college student in need of a care package.
6) Melt the chocolate and caramel pieces for ice cream toppings.
7) Make a sign by gluing the candy (in the wrappers) to a poster board. I remember a Thank you sign for a coach one year, that made use of all the good candybar names like Butterfinger, 100 Grand, etc. Get creative!
8) Craft project anyone? I'm thinking Lifesaver necklace, but I'm sure there are lots of other options for some of the less messy candy.
Any other ideas for reusing Halloween candy??? Please share in the Comments section. If you read this in email or in a Reader you'll need to click through to the blog. Feel free to choose the Anonymous option if you don't have a Google account to register your comment.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Cruising Alaska

With all the hustle and bustle of summer, I never managed to post about my family's cruise to Alaska. It is a trip I would highly recommend for families. There are lots of options to choose from - large ship with lots of activities for all-ages, small ships that can get you more up close and personal with nature, or the Alaska State Ferry which provides a more rustic, but lower budget option. You can rent a cabin on the ferry, but the truly adventurous pitch tents on deck. I know it sounds cold, but the weather was surprisingly warm while we were there. It actually hit
77 degrees while we were in Juneau which was definitely a surprise for the people from our northernmost capital. One side note about the city - it is only reachable by air or boat. Amazingly (unless you look at the geography), there are no roads that go to the city!

We opted for the large ship because it coincided with a business trip for my husband. My one hesitancy was the environmental factor. Was it really responsible to take a huge gas-guzzling ship into the pristine beauty of Alaska? While I won't go so far as to say that large cruise ships are good for the environment, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how hard the cruise industry works to mitigate their effect. Our ship had an Environmental Officer on-board and strict policies to minimize waste. Cans and bottles were recycled; used cooking oil was converted into biodiesel fuel; food waste was processed, dried, and incinerated. The oily bilge water that the boat produces is separated and cleaned with a 3 step process on the ship. All in all, I was impressed with how far they went to lower their impact. Of course, if they don't protect the environment, there won't be any reason for people to take their cruise ships up there to admire it.

The cruise through Glacier Bay was definitely a highlight of the trip The glacier pictured above and left is over a mile high! Many of the shore excursions were interesting as well- gold-panning (we all found some!) in Skagway, seeing the totem pole carvers at work in Saxman Village, the train trip through the Yukon, and river-rafting under the Mendenhall Glacier. One of the things that did surprise me along the way was hearing about all the different ways people have stressed the ecosystem of Alaska along the way - gold-mining, logging, fishing, and oil drilling. It is a rich and beautiful place, but its natural resources have also been exploited in countless different ways.


The only downside to the trip was the lack of visibility and poor air quality caused by some massive fires that were raging in British Columbia at the time. Hence, the gray haze to all the pictures. We also didn't see much wildlife from the ship. A few whales and an otter, but the only animal I could get to pose was this seagull! Here are a few more pictures:

Mendenhall Glacier
The barren landscape of the Yukon and a green glacier-fed lake



A melting glacier

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Rock Hounding Kids

Smooth. Shiny. Rough. Jagged. Big. Small.

Rocks come in all different shapes and sizes and never fail to entertain kids. How many of you have rock collections in your house, garage, car, or kids' backpack? For that matter, have you ever found rocks in your washer or dryer? I have.

This summer we found a new way to enjoy rocks at a place called The Scratch Patch in Seattle. This small 2-room home-style environment invites kids (and their grown-ups) to come sit amongst their polished gems. I think I had just as much fun as the 3 boys I took searching through the rocks looking for those special ones that spoke to me. Seated on my lily-pad cushion, I sifted through quartz, amethyst, and moonstones while the boys worked to identify each of their special stones with the laminated guides.

Admission is $2, but I challenge you to spend the time picking amongst the stones and not walk out of there with a bagful ($8 for a medium bag, including the cost of admission).
Don't have a Scratch Patch in your area? Don't worry, there are still lots of ways to enjoy rocks. Go for a walk on the beach or in the woods. Get a rock tumbler and polish your own (I have heard that can be noisy, so maybe it can be a garage toy). Pick up a few special rocks and a rock guide at your local children's or science museum. Try one of those geode kits that lets you crack your own geodes. My kids are still hoping to find their own geodes one day, but apparently these rocks are most likely to be found in the volcanic ash beds and we have yet to plan a geode-searching expedition. Happy Rock Hounding!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Where to Find Green Businesses

I get this question quite often so I wanted to share a resource I've discovered - the National Green Pages. Whether you are looking for an Internet source for a more environmentally-friendly version of a product you currently use or curious to learn about new local businesses, you may find something on this site. I like the fact that vendors must go through a screening process before they can join.

You can search by state or by business category. I found 125 businesses in my state offering everything from chocolate to construction services. Here's a quick link to toy vendors in case you're already thinking of the holidays.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Halloween Goes Green

When I look back on my childhood, I can remember several of my costumes - giraffe, robot,

Halloween iconImage via Wikipedia

clown, gypsy, and Smurf. I also remember what they were made of--cardboard boxes and tubes (giraffe and robot), an old bedspread (clown), my mom's old jewelry and scarves (gypsy) and my own clothes (Smurf). The one thing I don't ever remember having is a store-bought costume.

I will confess that I have bought many costumes from the store for my own children, but this year we're going a little more environmentally friendly and using mostly items we already have to assemble the costumes. My older son is going as a rock star complements of his Dad's old rock T-shirt collection and leftover talents for making very cool ripped jeans. My younger son is going as Harry Potter which happens to be a costume his older brother wore a few years ago. Don't get me wrong - they still gaze longingly at the costume catalogs delivered to our house. That reminds me - I need to go to Green Dimes and add those to my list of "Don't deliver to me anymore" catalogs.

In the end, though, we've made some compromises and they're happy. Stephen wants a stuffed Hedwig to sit on his shoulder which I'm going to order and Ryan wants spiked hair to go with his costume - easy enough! I've saved the $59.99 that the favored costumes seem to cost and we haven't wasted many resources in getting the costumes together.

That's my contribution to the greening of the traditional orange-and-black Halloween, but costumes is just one area where you can go green. What about you??

Some other areas to consider - treats, decorations, and parties. For some great tips on celebrating green, check out Green Halloween. You can also plan ahead for next year by growing your own pumpkins and squash for decorations.

Monday, October 19, 2009

How Do I Recycle Batteries?

I never used to worry about this before I had kids, but I've noticed that babies seem to come

Various batteries: two 9-volt, two Image via Wikipedia

into the world with batteries. First comes the bouncy seats, then the annoyingly loud push toys. Before you know it you're into remote control cars. But what do you do with all those used up batteries?

I have been throwing mine in the garbage, but was sure that wasn't the best answer. It turns out it is the only answer for dry-cell batteries (9-volt, D, C, AA, and AAA). Recycling these isn't an option unless you live in California, but that doesn't mean there aren't other choices you can make as a consumer. This might be a good thing to consider since Americans purchase 3 billion dry-cell batteries each year!

Rechargeable batteries are the best option. My family does have a few sets of these, but we tend not to use them - probably because they're buried in the back of a cupboard behind the AA batteries that we're usually looking for. Now I'm going to dig them out and start using them again. Rechargeable batteries last a long time (and will save you money and energy), but they do eventually wear out. The good news is that they can be recycled.

For more info, check out the Battery Recycling and Disposable Guide for Households from Environmental Health and Safety Online.

Friday, October 16, 2009

But Where Will Santa Live?

More news today on the global climate change front and this time it gets right to the heart of

This image shows the Arctic as observed by the...Image via Wikipedia

many children's dreams- Santa's home. New research released today by the Catlin Arctic Survey and World Wildlife Foundation shows the arctic sea ice is melting faster than predicted and that it The North Pole is expected to be ice-free during the summers within 10 years.


While I'm confident that Santa can float his workshop further south to one of the eight countries that meet up in the Arctic region (Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States), the implications definitely go beyond there.

The melting of the ice can trigger all kinds of changes to the Earth including flooding that could effect one-fourth of the planet's population and the release of large quantities of greenhouse gases. There is twice as much carbon stored in the Arctic ice as there is in the atmosphere today. Atmospheric levels of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, have been rising faster over the last two years and some believe this is caused by the Arctic ice melt.


This last one is particularly interesting to me because I wrote about it a year ago in my fictional children's novel, Earth Rescue. In my book, the Arctic ice melts and the millions of dead plants buried under the ice release such high levels of methane gas that eventually no one is allowed outside. I always intended to keep my book as fiction, but it looks like we're going to need some big changes to reverse this process.

So, what can we do? As always, educate yourself. The web has phenomenal resources. Also, you should be aware of the global climate conference coming up in Copenhagen in December where 191 countries will be trying to hammer out the final details on a global agreement for climate change. Call your Senators to ask them to vote YES on climate legislation.

In regards to Santa, though, I'm not too worried. My kids have it on good authority that he lives in Finland (they have a letter from him to prove it) so they're confident he can just move a little farther south into Finland until his ice freezes up again. Let's hope it would only be a temporary move.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

World Rainforest Week

The rain beating down outside must be designed to make me remember that it is

Rainforest living up to its nameImage by pfly via Flickr

World Rainforest Week. I knew rainforests were important to Earth and that they're disappearing, but I didn't know many details so I did a little research on the Rainforest Action Network website. Here's are some fun facts - and some disturbing ones.

First, the fun facts. Tropical rainforests:
  • Cover 6% of the Earth's surface, but have 50% of our planets' plant and animal species.
  • Get 160 - 400 inches of rain a year!
  • Have 4 layers: emergent trees, canopy, understory, and the forest floor. The canopy can be so dense that it can take 10 minutes for a drop of rain to hit the forest floor.
  • Provide a home to all kinds of animals - jaguars, monkeys, snakes, poison arrow frogs, and millions of different species of insects
  • Produce oxygen, regulate our planet's climate, and clean the atmosphere.

Now, for the issue:

  • Rainforests contain many of our Earth's resources including timber, oil, and gold. To get these resources, they are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to the size of one football field each second. That's 2000 trees each minute.
  • They can never grow back once they are destroyed because they are complex ecosystems that take millions of years to evolve.
What can you do? Here are a few ideas:
  1. Educate yourself and your kids. I found some great resources at Caltech and The Rainforest Action Network that could either be used at home or in schools.
  2. Reduce, reuse, recycle. The paper we use, the coffee we drink, the plastics we consume all come from the trees and oil of the forests. Remember, we are the consumers that are driving the rainforest destruction.
  3. Read a book with your kids. Two to try: Rain, Rain, Rain Forest by Brenda Z. Guiberson or Tigers at Twilight (Magic Treehouse #19) by Mary Pope Osborne.
  4. Don't buy pets that are imported from the rainforest. This may include parrots, iguanas, or other animals. Just be sure you know where they are coming from before you add a new pet to your family.

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Look Back To 1989 Part II

Sorry if this is a repeat for email subscribers, but I just realized this post was hidden in last month's section so I'm reposting for today.

A few weeks ago, I posted the first 28 suggestions from a 1989 book titled 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth just to see how far we've come in 20 years. Many of them were slam-dunks (e.g. don't use leaded gas), but a few made me think. Now we're on to the section of the list titled "It Takes Some Effort." Thankfully, many of them really don't take much effort in 2009. I guess that counts as progress.

29. Reuse Old News - This is much easier today than 20 years ago with 8,550 curbside recycling programs in our country and over 50% of all paper products being recycled. Next step: when you need paper goods, look for the recycled content on the label.

30. Recycle Glass - Again, curbside recycling makes this easy, but as the costs of recycling glass increases and the need decreases, this may get more challenging in the future. See my earlier blog, The Future of Glass Recycling.

31. Don't Can Your Aluminum - Same as above.

32. Precycle - I was impressed this was even a word in 1989. I know I hadn't heard of it till more recently. The key here is to reduce waste before you buy. This is a work-in-progress for me. What about you?

33. Use Cloth Diapers - Thankfully, I'm past this stage, but the great diaper debate rages on. I confess I used disposables. The last I heard, neither disposable or cloth was a good choice (because of all the chemicals required to clean the cloth diapers and fuel used to deliver them to homes). I don't have any babies to try them on, but I've heard gDiapers is a newer alternative available today that aims for an Earth-friendly and convenient diaper.

34. Put It To Work...At Work - The recommendation here is to be green not just at home, but at work as well. Since I'm blogging about it, I think I'm covered here. This one is much harder for people who work in other industries - the medical industry comes to mind. I remember the days when medical equipment was reused. Now, spend a day in the hospital and you'll be amazed at all the disposable pieces of equipment that get used once and tossed. Seems there should be a middle ground somewhere.

35. Recycle the Rest - plastic, tin, etc. Again, all this is easier now. Ever need to know how to recycle something in particular? Send me an email and I'll see if I can find some answers.

36. Build a Backyard Wildlife Refuge - Well, let's see... I have a 2-year old pug that barks at anything that flies, crawls, or creeps in our backyard so our yard is more of a terror zone than a refuge. My son's second grade class is planning to do something like this in the spring so I'll try to live vicariously through them instead. Just in case you have a backyard that isn't patrolled by a crazy pug, check out the National Wildlife Federation for tips on attracting wildlife to your yard. You can even become a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

37. Help Protect the Rainforests - I worry about this, but have never done anything to help. I just learned that next week is World Rainforest Week, so you can count on more information to come.
38. The Great Escape - The recommendation here is that you not let the heat (or air-conditioning) inside your house escape through leaks and cracks. I've never had an energy audit, but it would be interesting to see what they find.

39. Plant a Tree - I've already blogged about chopping down a bunch of trees in my yard, so I probably fail on this one in my own yard, but lately I've been thinking more about urban trees and their impact on the rates of inner-city asthma rates. Another future blog post...

40. Prevent Pests Naturally - I rarely use pesticides in my yard, but I think the bigger issue here is the products I buy that come from farmers who do use pesticides. The local farmer's markets, homegrown vegetables, and organic foods from the store all are a step in the right direction.

41. What a Waste! The recommendation here relates to Hazardous Waste. We all know we shouldn't just dump things like paint and oil, but do we go the extra step to find out how to properly dispose of them? A good first step is to check with your local garbage company or transfer station. Nationally, you can always check with the EPA. As for me? Looking at my garage, I think I have a tendency to just let the paint cans lie around in the garage. Future project...

42. Carpool to Work - Today's vanpools, transit systems, and carpool lanes definitely encourage this, but I'm afraid Americans still cling to their favorite single-occupant transport system - their car. For me, I get off easy on this one. I work from home so there is no carbon output!

What has this list left you thinking about? I want to learn more about the rainforests, keep working on precycling, and contemplate getting an energy audit in my home. Up next, the last 8 recommendations from 1989.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Is There Water on the Moon?

I think one the best way to teach kids to protect our Earth is to help them appreciate it. The

S103-E-5037 (21 December 1999)--- Astronauts a...Image via Wikipedia

Moon is a pretty cool feature of our planet so I thought we'd take a moment to learn something new about it along with NASA.

Tomorrow, NASA is going to send three objects (apparently 3 stages of a rocket) crashing into a crater on the moon to look for signs of water. Current projections are for an impact of 4:30 a.m. PDT. To see what they are aiming for, take a look at this picture from the Astronomy Photo of the Day. Thanks to my Dad for the tip - he keeps me up-to-date on all the cool photos posted on the APOD website!

Just in case you happen to be up at that hour, you can check it out on NASA TV (or I'm sure see replays later).

Any guesses as to whether or not it has water? My (totally unscientific) guess is that they will find water.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What's Lurking in Airplane Water

Now that beverages can't be carried through airports, families are left with fewer options for

In the Image via Wikipedia

drinks in the midst of a flight. I can't justify buying bottles of water for everyone at the airport gift shop (too much money, too much waste), so I either bring an empty aluminum bottle for each person to fill in the airport or just order water when the beverage cart comes around (more waste with all those little plastic cups). A new rule issued by the EPA today makes me think that wasn't such a safe choice in the past. I'm hoping the issue will be cleaned up shortly, but I won't be ordering any water on board for a while.

The Aircraft Drinking Water Rule was issued to ensure safe and clean drinking water on airplanes. This all started with a 2004 EPA study revealed all aircraft were out of compliance with national regulations for drinking water. Fifteen percent of aircraft water tested positive for coliform - basically little bacteria swimming in the water. According to the EPA, coliform will not necessarily make you sick by itself, but it does raise concern for what else might be swimming in the water - e.g. E coli. Great... just what I want my kids exposed to on our way to vacation. The new rule provides guidelines for how often the water system must be flushed and disinfected, as well as clear corrective action steps when any violations are found.

That sounds good, but I don't imagine that every airplane will be in compliance from Day One so what should we do in the meantime? The EPA is recommending that people with suppressed immune systems avoid airplane water, but I'm thinking it may be best for all of us to avoid it unless we want to end up sick. Don't forget - this also effects coffee, tea or anything else made with the water. Ice cubes aren't specifically covered under this rule because they are regulated by the FDA, but a quick Internet search shows that coliform can be a problem there as well - and not just on airplanes.

Maybe it's canned juice for the kids (and wine for the grown-ups) for a while!
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Monday, October 5, 2009

Fall Days

For the five years that my children attended Montessori school, I did the same field trip every year to The Farm - our local pumpkin patch. After five years, I thought I would be relieved to leave that trip behind, but now that it's passed, I find myself still taking the kids to the pumpkin patch. For me, it's a great trip to the more rural part of our local area and a fun way to usher in the new season.

Have you visited your local pumpkin patch this year? If you need help finding one in your area, check out Pumpkin Patches and More for state by state listings. At the patches near me, you can take a hayride, get lost in the corn mazes, witness pumpkin launching contests (last year's record in our area was over 1800 feet!) and, of course, pick a pumpkin! This year our trip was complements of a friend who was having a birthday party at the pumpkin patch. What a great place for a birthday party! It makes me wish we had some Fall birthdays in our family.

We did take a look at the Pumpkin Pricing Guide while we were there to measure up the pumpkins from my parents' garden. I think they have at least $18 pumpkins. Not bad for first time growers. Maybe next year, my kids will have to set up a Pumpkin Stand. It could be the Fall replacement for the traditional lemonade stand!


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Saturday, October 3, 2009

A Bountiful Summer

Summer is over and fall is here, but I'm still trying to hold on to the lingering days. I stocked up on everbearing strawberries at our last Farmer's Market of the year. I didn't even know there was a such thing as "everbearing" strawberries, but they are yummy. Most of these went into the freezer along with my raspberries and blueberries from earlier in the summer. These, plus the peaches and pears that a friend brought over from Yakima, should keep me in fruity smoothies for months. Yeah!

My parent's garden still had lots of tomatoes so they went into a tasty tomato dill soup. All these fresh foods may make me into a cook yet - of course, there was the incident with the blender, but maybe I've learned my lesson this time. I didn't know mixing hot foods in a blender was so different than cold foods. My advice to anyone else trying this is: don't overfill the blender and make sure you hold the lid tight. Just cooked pureed tomatoes can really burn the skin. I'll let your imagination fill in the rest of the details!
With the end of summer it was finally time to pick the pumpkins that my kids have been ogling in their grandparents' garden for months.. The kids decided long ago which pumpkin belonged to which child, but they do grow unpredictably, so the youngest child ended up with the biggest pumpkin. Here is Sydney in the garden back when the pumpkins were still green.

The next picture shows Stephen pointing to her pumpkin (which eventually made it to our house since Sydney wasn't close enough to claim it for herself). All in all, we had a fun time, picking and weighing the pumpkins. The biggest came in at 24 pounds! All in all it's been a great summer! Now, it's on to Fall.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Kashless Decluttering

I know Spring is supposed to be the season for spring cleaning, but for me Fall seems more appropriate. The kids are back in school and I actually have time to tackle things like mountains of magazines and piles of outgrown sports equipment. The age-old question is what to do with all of it. No, the garage in the picture isn't mine, but it is fun to post pictures of other people's garages!

Before the Great Garage CleanoutImage by crumj via Flickr



One of my readers passed along some info on a new site called Kashless that could help with the whole process. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like the new Craigslist with a Facebook/Twitter twist. Actually, since everything is free, it might be closer to Freecycle. Either way, all these sites offer a way to declutter your house and save useful items from ending up in a landfill. Recycling at its best!


I signed up on the site and their claim that it takes less than 30 seconds was true. Searching for an item is simple and the service is already available in nearly 100 cities. Personally, I like the Facebook angle to the site because it gives you a chance to easily pass on items you are no longer using to your own network of friends who may have similar needs. I'm thinking maybe I should investigate all those too-small ski boots in the garage before snow season starts.

To try out shopping on Kashless, I did a quick search for pianos since that was my recent Craigslist purchase and found lots to choose from. Of course, with pianos, the moving is the hard part. I did recently buy one for $400 on Craigslist and my kids love it! I think my husband and brother-in-law have almost recovered from the move. Note to readers: moving a piano is not recommended. That's why there are professional piano movers! Live and learn...

What do you have in your closets or garage that could find a new use in someone else's house? One more bonus to Kashless - they give tax receipts.