Christmas Cheer For A Greener Year

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is sending out Christmas cards.  In the busyness of every day life, and amidst the technology crazy world of blackberries, iPhones and constantly accessible email it's pretty rare to actually receive something in the mail from a loved one.  This is perhaps why I love sending Christmas Cards.  It's almost like bringing back the lost art of writing letters.  I love that little rush of happiness when I see an envelope in the mail that can't be anything but a Christmas card! 

What I don't love about sending out Christmas cards is only one thing...  It's SO much wastage of paper!  Every New Year I can't help but feeling guilty about what to do with the pile of Christmas Cards I receive, and wondering what has happen to the ones I sent out.  I prefer picture cards, which can't always be recycled very easily... or so I thought!  In the past year I've gotten much more committed to really thinking about my actions and how they're affecting me, my overall health and the environment.  So this year, when I started my search for Christmas cards I was so pleased with what I found!!

There are so many options for recycled cards, and they're just as festive (and around the same price) as the store bought or special order cards I've gotten in the past.  Paper Culture is the company that I've decided to go with this year, and I have to say I think our cards are pretty darn cute.  I love the philosophy of this company.  Not only do they use recycled paper for their cards and envelopes, I was also able to choose from loads of templates and different picture cards.  In addition, for the cost of postage they will mail all your cards to your recipients for you.  Of course, for an additional charge, you can have the cards shipped to you and then mail them out yourself.  However, Paper Culture strongly urges against this as it's more costly to you, and it increases the carbon footprint of your cards as they are then being shipped twice.  Once to you, and then once to your recipient.

The icing on the cake for me is that Paper Culture has joined forces with the Arbour Day Foundation, and for every order placed will plant a tree in the US National Forest.  Now, I do wish they had a Canadian site, and a Canadian National Forest, but this is a step in the right direction I feel.

Paper Culture is by no means the only company that offers a great selection on recycled and environmentally friendly card choices.  Here's a list of other great resources and companies that I came across through my research!

My Good Greetings

Gallery Collection

Pear Tree Greetings

Sierra Club

Green Field Paper   - This company also has recycled gift wrap for all those presents under the tree!

Mostly all of these also do cards for every occasion from birthday parties, to wedding invitations, engagement and baby announcements... you name it!!  I wish I had known about these when I was getting married!!

Enjoy your holiday preparations!

Going Green Done Right!!

Talk about recycling!  This is super cool!  One of my favorite bloggers posted about these amazing vintage furniture pieces made from old suitcases.  I am in love!! 

These are from designer Katie Thompson, and she does all sorts of remade furniture with different recycled things... Check out her website!  I have definitely book marked me these for our home!

Seventh Generation For Our Generation

So Jon and I used to be Costco members but when it came time to renew our membership we made the decision that we just did not shop there enough for the two of us, to make it worth renewing the membership.  Although, when we stopped... there was one problem I had that I didn't foresee - which was my lack of Ecos Laundry Detergent that I LOVED from Costco.

It’s plant based, biodegradable, safe for septic systems, great for sensitive skin and is phosphate and petrochemical free.  We love this in our efforts to be "greener".  To Costco's credit they actually do an amazing job of stocking environmentally friendly and organic items.  In addition, Jon has very sensitive skin, especially to laundry detergent.  Tide may as well be kryptonite for him.  I had been stuck with unscented laundry until we discovered Ecos because Jon's skin just can't handle the harsh perfumes.  (Which is probably a good indication that just because I don't have a reaction, they're likely not great for me either.)  But Ecos is scented with natural magnolia and lily - a combination which makes the scent-phobic hubby actually very pleased with it.  I love it both in use and in the clothing after it’s been folded or hung.

So needless to say, I was pretty bummed when I ran out of my last bottle of Ecos and realized I couldn't get anymore at Costco.  I was even more disappointed when I found out that my huge bottle that I got at Costco for $17 was selling at Pete's Froutique for almost triple the cost, but 1/3 of the size.  Clearly I was on the hunt for a substitute.

Then I discovered Seventh Generation's Laundry detergent!  I love love love this company!!  Their mission is essentially that every decision we make, we should take into account how it will affect the following Seven Generations - and if the effects are negative, don't do it and figure out how to get the job done in a more planet friendly way. 

I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize they sell laundry detergent.  We've been using their household cleaning products for a while now and I love them.  At first I was skeptical if they were just as good as the "Lysol" and everything else I was used to... but honestly, I find they're better!  I love that I can walk into my kitchen and smell a clean kitchen... not bleach.  And I love that Jon can walk into the kitchen at all, right after I clean it.  Before the smell of any chemicals left him choked up.  

In our efforts to be greener, Jon and I had decided a while back that once baby comes along we will be cloth diapering.  (Not to mention the colors cloth diapers come in are so freakin' cute!)  I wasn't however so much a fan of the idea of using cloth baby wipes, and was thrilled that Seventh Generation makes chlorine free, phosphate free and scent free wipes.  We will definitely be using these!  

 

 And of course, I've heard from other cloth diapering mommas that when you're travelling, or on vacation to not try to be a hero and just skip the cloth and use a disposable.  Good advice I think for sure, but scary when you hear that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched an investigation because babies were getting chemical burns from plastic disposable diapers like Pampers Dry Max.

Which is why I was thrilled to find out Seventh Generation makes an environmentally friendly, chemical free diaper.  Definitely worth checking out for my mama friends who don't necessarily want to go to cloth, but feel a little guilty throwing away all those plastic diapers, and want to do it a little more environmentally friendly.

All in all, I love this company.  Jon and I are by no means as green or planet friendly as we should be.  But we are making small strides every day, and are more and more conscious of our decisions and how they affect our planet.  It's definitely much easier when there are companies out there like this that are taking the guess work out and just make it simple.

Move Over Potatoe Chips... Kale Chips Please!!

Okay... I'm not sure how it's happened, but now we're two for two for me finding new recipes for veggies I did not originally care for!  SUCH an awesome feeling!!  This time it hasn't been such a long hatred... but last week we got Kale in our weekly food box.  I've read SOO many  great things about Kale.  My naturopath and acupuncturist have both told me to eat as much of it as possible... it's loaded with folic acid, and is a great super food for women.  But last week Jon cooked the Kale the same way that we had eaten the swiss chard, and while I loved the chard... the Kale was just so leafy for me.  It felt really... bushy.  I don't know, I'm big on texture.  Anyways, we got it again in the box so I scoured the internet for recipes and found a DELICIOUS side dish or even afternoon snack.

Kale Chips!!  Here's the recipe and some pics.  :)  Enjoy!

Ingredients 
Kale - as much as you want
few drops of lemon juice 
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt  (Highly recommend the sea salt, don't sub table salt... the sea salt crusts in the most wonderful way and tastes like the ocean... Wow, I really am a maritimer... hehe)

Directions 
Break stems off of Kale - place in large bowl
Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. - Kale should still look dry. 
Toss a bit.
Rub each Kale leaf individually to spread oil and lemon juice and lay on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle with a few granules of sea salt on each leaf
Bake at 250 F, for 30 min.
Flip (Carefully, they'll be crispy and flaky) 
Bake for additional 10 minutes.  

I just had a full plate and my mouth is watering typing this out.  Perfect healthy option to a salty craving!!  YUM!

 Just before going into the oven. 

Dinner... and the reason my plate has so much less kale is that I already had 4 pieces while I was cooking the chicken.  Haha!  :)  Enjoy!

Organic Healthy Food... Cheap, Easy AND Convenient??

This is the beautiful box of organic veggies and foods that showed up at our house Saturday morning!  Words cannot even begin to describe how happy I was when I opened this box!  Jon and I just signed up for the "weekly food box" with Home Grown Organic Foods.

We've been trying to eat healthier, and really take a close look at labels, and what's really in our food.  Even things that we thought were healthy, like soy milk... is actually SO over processed when you really look at it.  With all of this, I was really begining to wonder if I can't even help Jon and I eat healthy... how the heck do people manage to teach their kids the healthy things to eat??  Friends have mentioned Home Grown to us a few times, and to be honest... I really have no idea why it took us so long to sign up.  There are 4 sizes to choose from... single, double, family and clan.  This is the single and it was $30!!  Home delivery and all included!  I never in a million years thought that eating right would be easy AND convenient.

Home Grown is a cooperative that purchases from local growers in NS so that way we are supporting local growers, and know that our food doesn't have any pesticides, hormones or other yucky things.

To support our new initiave to eat healthy, we've also started taking some pretty essential supplements... one thing we've both started doing is 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed a day.  So I decided to add this all natural Goats Milk yogurt to throw my flaxseed in... and it's been delicious!!

Yummy almond butter!!  Much less in fat than peanut butter... and helps me get my protein!  

Jon was over the moon to see these fresh mushrooms! 

This is Swiss Chard.  I have to admit, when I first saw this in the box I didn't have a sweet clue how I was going to cook it.  Jon made us supper last night, and he cut up some of this Swiss Chard, steamed it with 2 chopped cloves of garlic, a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil... and once it was done put a couple handfulls of feta cheese in, put the lid back on the pot so the cheese got soft and spread on the Chard.  It was DELICIOUS!!  I made some to go on the side of our meal tonite too cause I was still craving it!

I'm also planning on making this  during the week.  I will likely sub out the sausage for baked chicken breast...  But it sounds delicious!

I've met with naturopaths a few times... never really found one that I fully connected with.  But I'm actually booked in to see one who was highly recommened by a friend, at Balance Naturopath Health Center.   And the one thing that I've always gotten consistently is a scolding for skipping breakfast.  I know everyone says it's the most important meal of the day... But who has the time for healthy nutritious breakfast in the morning when rushing off to work??  So I decided to add this to my order as well.  The plan is to have my granola with a few table spoons of yogurt, and an additional 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds.  So far it's been going really well... although, it has also been the weekend.  Haha!  My plan is to tonite, mix up a tupperware of the granola and yogurt and some fruit to last me through the week.   I really think, like all of the other choices that we've made, it'll be alot easier than we thought it would be.

All in all... It's been really easy to start eating healthier... and while it does seem like a big adjustment before you start doing it the one thing Jon and kept talking about is that we want to make these changes before kids come along because life itself seems hard when you have a newborn... I can't imagine making a change like this while also adjusting to parenthood.  And it's really important to both of us to make sure we teach our kids healthy eating habits that our parents didn't have to worry about when we were little tykes.  There are so many chemicals and over processed foods out there that just weren't on the market 20 years ago.  It only makes sense to start making these habits now.  

There are a few things that I'm still learning to do.  Like today when I went to go pick up my favorite box of crackers, glanced at the label and noticed that almost none of the ingredients were easily pronounced, or even the names of food.  I hate to admit, I did stand there for a second and try to decide if it was worth it... but I'm proud to say that I put them back, and chose a natural cracker with actual foods as the ingredients.

Thanks for reading!!  I'll be sure to update some of the new recipes we try!

The Humane Alternative

I will absolutely never forget the first time I saw a cat being declawed.  I was 16 years old, volunteering in the local Vet Hospital in Freehold.  The "surgery" is nothing short of the most barbaric act I have ever seen.  For those of you who have not had the ability to see the procedure... It starts by cutting incisions in each of the cat's toes from the claw down about 1cm.  Then surgical scissors are used to cut the claw at the base.  Up to this point, it all seems relatively fine and humane.  Next, a small mallet is used to selectively smash any of the bones that are left in the toes of the cat and they are pulled away peice by peice to avoid any possiblity of regrowth.  And just to make sure the job is done, inscisions are made all through the muscle of the cat's front paw to make sure the claws never regrow.

Ofcourse, the cat is fully sedated for the process, and feels no pain during.  However, there's nothing quite as sad as seeing a cat wake up from this surgery only to find that his paws are not only sore, but also bandaged beyond belief.

What's the most sad to me is that alot of people don't realize that there are a lot of other ways to deal with cat claw issues!!!  First of all, our kitty LOVES his scratching post!  I highly recommend, if you're considering getting a cat... Buy your scratching post first!!  He has NEVER touched a single peice of our furniture or tried to take a swat at us.  He's absolutely amazing with his claws.  Now I know, we were lucky... and there are situations that dealing with a cat's claws are necessary.  For instance, if a cat ever swatted at a child...

I bring you... SOFT PAWS!!!  :)  They're SUCH a wonderful invention!!  They are soft rubber caps that glue on to the cat claw.  Sprout has them on him, and he doesn't even notice them!!  I was able to put them on and it only took about 10 minutes per paw.  You may be asking why I put the Soft Paws on him if he's so great with his paws.  Well, for a number of reasons... 1) He's just a kitten, and we want him to get used to us handling him, and checking him out for different things, and things like trimming nails, giving baths etc... (Yes, we even gave him a bath no hiccups... I told you, we got lucky!!)  2)  I'm pretty certain that when babies come along Sprout might be the jealous type, and we want to start training him now to not rely on his claws to take out his frustration.  And 3)  As he is just a kitten, and when he wants to jump off of us he will sometimes put his claws out for traction to leap off.  Since putting the Soft Paws on him he has learned how to use the muscles in his pads more, and not rely on digging in.

Soft Paws Website

Check them Out!!  You can get the soft paws in all different colors or clear.  Jon wanted red paws for Sprout, so that's what we got for our little guy.  You can get them at almost any Pet Stores, and Vets across the country have them.  They cost $25 - $30 for 4 applications.  (1 Application lasts about 6 weeks) 

Here are some pics!

 

This is a picture from the website.  Looks like painted nails on Short Haired Cats!!  

 

Sprout with his pretty red nails!!  

Sprout doesn't look too impressed in this picture... That was mainly because of the repeated pictures his mom was trying to take of his nails...  :)  It's harder to see since he's a DMH.  (Domestic Medium Haired)

So please consider alternatives to declawing.  Soft Paws and scratching posts are only two options.  If you chat with your vet, I am sure that they will have many other options for you to try.

More Knitting

Ever since my last knitting project which I loved, I've been playing with more natural yarns which I have been LOVING. I think I'm officially a yarn snob! I don't think I'll be able to use acrylic yarn again. These yellow pants are a bamboo/ cotton blend (80%/20%) And I LOVED knitting with them. I got it from LK Yarns in the Hydrostone market in halifax. Absolutely wonderful yarn selections at reasonable prices. I had alot left over of this yellow bamboo yarn so I also made a sweater which I need to take pictures of. Well... there's still more yarn left so I'm also going to make a lemon hat and booties. Talk about a lemony baby!! Hehe. While at LK I also picked up some baby blue bamboo/wool blend yarn that I'm planning on making a bring home baby outfit. I'm not sure what I'll do with the blue bring home baby. It may end up getting saved, or end up being gifted for a baby shower. Who knows... I've just been having so much fun knitting baby things!! They're soo cute and such quick knits!! :o) Enjoy!

And then the hat

So the knitting bug continues... I should have placed a quarter next to the hat for size comparison. This hat is definitely a newborn only hat. It's really sweet, and tiny. Just like newborns. Hehe! :)