Are you part of the problem or part of the solution???

The problem with making strong political statements and not practicing what you preach...

Tonight on my way home from my very first sewing class (YAY!) I saw a vehicle with two bumper stickers.. on the left it said "Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?" - this really got me thinking! - and on the right, "LIVE SIMPLY so others may simply live" I'm a big fan of both but found it extremely ironic that the person who made these statements was driving around in an older Chevy Venture van so although they were living simply I guess.. kinda.. by driving a used older car, they were also largely contributing to the problem cough cough gas guzzler/rediculously higher emissions.. unless of course this person was a vegan in which case they might as well be driving a Hummer to equal the amount of emissions of the average meat eater who drives a hybrid car.

In other words....

Living more sustainably and saving major $$$

As a single income family, we already try to cut back on a lot of unnecessary expenses and excess consumption. This is sometimes difficult, especially at Christmas time.

We had an awesome CSA foodshare this summer that was DELIVERED to our house weekly and included fresh eggs. We got a 1/2 share and had enough veggies and fruit that we were giving some of it away to neighbours and family. It was roughly $18/week for 22 weeks. I have yet to find somewhere close that has reasonable winter shares. Unfortunately here there aren't too many options besides big chain grocery stores for the winter. In Peterborough where we used to live during my university days, the Farmers Market ran all year round. Sigh...

I am happy to say that as of the end of January we will be replacing our 1980 100 AMP forced air electric furnace which is hugely inefficient and in the winter runs us electricity bills of $500+/month. EEP. We have gone high efficiency natural gas. I know.. with electric you can purchase green energy but I still think that by switching to gas we will be HUGELY saving both in our pocket and in our consumption.

This year I have tried to cut back on the number of gifts and the number of new bought gifts. I was able to find some nice things thrifting - including a present for myself..a pair of NEW Aeropostale jeans for $12 at Value Village :) With my last minute shopping it has been hard to economize this way and the number of crafted gifts significantly diminished. Many christmas recipients this year will be receiving cookies!!

Positively Green!

Brendan pulled himself to standing this morning! I cannot believe I was just posting about him actually starting to crawl. Many people have said that it is not long from crawling to walking. I guess they were right! One step closer.

The weather has been so nice lately, everything is starting to turn green. We have tried to get outside as much as we possibly can in the good weather before mother nature decides that she has been too nice to us and blasts us with a snow storm or sub-zero temperatures. We have been to the neighbourhood park twice in the past few days. I didn't even know that park existed until the babysitter mentioned it and I decided we had to go. The park is awesome and Brendan absolutely loves the swing. See photo evidence below!

I have also been a good "green" consumer lately. I know, consumer and green.. not two words that go well together. While in Toronto last week visiting a friend, I stopped by the Grassroots Store on Bloor. I ended up leaving with a reuable hemp coffee filter that ended up not fitting my coffee maker UGH! and a few "Moontime" washable pads. These things looked so nice I couldn't resist buying them. I stopped in for lunch at Fresh on Bloor and enjoyed some tasty vegan-fare: sweet potato fries with miso gravy and spring rolls mmmmmmm.

In garden news, seedlings seem to be doing better this time around. My garlic is growing like crazy and the ovation greens mix have popped through the soil. No sign of the parsley, dill or thyme yet. I have also finished drawing out my garden plans for the front and back yards. In all likelihood it will take 5 years before they get to where I want the yard from now. The yard had not been looked after in YEARS. The man who owned the house before us was in his 90's and clearly was unable to keep up with any yard maintenace. Consequently.. we have a lot of tree removal, weeding, grass seeding and fencing to do this summer but each step brings us closer, right?