8 Steps to Reducing Household Trash

As an experiment, I saved all my plastic trash for one week and posted it Condo Blues and later on Fake Plastic Fish: Show Us Your (Plastic) Trash.

These were the items I threw away in the trash. There were other items in my tally that I recycled or found a reuse for.

Katidids commented:

"I can't get over how little trash you have! We have a huge bag a day! Part of it is cleaning stuff out. I free cycle & goodwill a lot but 20ys 4kids who were pack rats... {snip}
Boy, you REALLY opened my eyes..I would hate to show all our trash...every time I start to feel like we are doing the right thing...pop that balloon, no no I mean dog poop bag"

I felt bad because I hoped I didn't come off as a Greenzilla about trash and recycling. I certainly didn’t get this zero waste, low waste way overnight. To be honest, there are times when the garbage can has more in it than I like or the recycling bin overflows. Like today, please don’t look at the recycling bin in my garage. (But if you do, feel free to drop the way too full bag off at the nearest city recycling dumpster. Oh, and since you’re out, could you pick up a gallon of skim milk on your way back? Thanks.)

Here the 8 steps I took and how I reduced my garbage outpout and household waste.

1. Take Stock – Go thorough you trash can and look at what type of items you are currently throwing away.

• Can you replace it with a nondisposable item? It may cost more up front but it will save you money in the long run.
• Can you recycle it? If not through your city maybe through another organization? For example I found out that our local Battery Plus store will take alkaline batteries for recycling. Check with your local trash collection company or Earth 911 for more information, you might be surprised at what you find. I was.
• Can you fix it? Either by you or someone else - a repair person or the manufacturer perhaps?
• Can you donate it to charity or a thrift shop (you might be able to take it off of your taxes!) or put it on Freecycle?
• Can you find a creative reuse for it? This doesn’t always involve super duper craft or DIY skills. For example I cut up worn out towels I can’t donate to use in place of paper towels and refill empty spray cleaner bottles with solution. Check out the Reuse section on Condo Blues for more ideas!

2. Date it. By writing the date I open items I can tell how long they last in our house before they spoil (if applicable), know best low waste size to buy for our family, and how long it should last.
3. Make a plan and choose one. Choose one area of trash to cut down on and make it family affair. Maybe it’s single serving foods or zippered plastic baggies. I reduced my baggie waste by using the small army of plastic containers to store items like open packages of lunch meat or cheese in the refrigerator instead of a baggie. I still use baggies for freezer items, but a lot less than before. Once you have changed the habit, move on as family to another one on your list.
4. Buy the large/bulk sizes and decant if applicable. I buy large family size bottles of soap/shampoo/cleaners etc. and use it refill small dispensers throughout The Condo. I don’t know why but we seem to use less of something when it comes out of a small bottle than the large family size bottle. It lasts longer,there are less containers in the recycling bin, and it often saves money because we're buying in bulk.
5. Check the packaging. Try to buy items in low waste, recyclable or reusable packaging if possible. Your options and mileage may vary.
6. Cook from scratch more. Find ways to make quick meals with lower waste food.

• Can you do stir fry, use the crock pot, grill, bread maker, and start things in the microwave and then finish them in the oven?
• Can you make something ahead of time and freeze it for later?
• Can you eat leftovers for lunch instead of a prepared frozen meal?
• Can you enlist your indentured servants (most people call them children) to help you make dinner by boiling pasta, washing or chopping vegetables, etc.?

7. Stop buying so much stuff. I’m not saying stop shopping altogether, we’re a consumer based economy after all. Look at what’s happening now that no one is buying anything – it’s all trickling down to business closings, layoffs, and hiring freezes. Instead, take a look at your shopping habits – could they use some tweaking?

• If you find that food spoils before you eat it all, should you cut back on the amount you buy or make a few more smaller food shopping trips instead of one big shopping trip each month?
• Do you yard sale or thrift shop for sport but end up with a ton of extra stuff you don’t use? (Guilty. Now I take photos of things I like for inspiration.)
• Do you end up buying extra stuff just because it’s on sale but not sure what you’re going to do with it? (Guilty again. I made a deal with myself not to buy anything unless I had a specific project or use in mind. I pass on a lot of good deals, but it doesn’t do me or my trash can any good if it sits around the Condo unused.)

8. Change wasteful habits. A few ideas:

• Do you measure items like laundry detergent or just dump it in? If you dump it chances are you are using more than you need, go though it more quickly, and generate more waste.
• Do you use too much of something for an average size job? (Sometimes I do. I really like the smell of my shampoo and sometimes use too much.)

Reducing the amount of trash and household waste is an on going project. Do what you can in stages. Don’t worry about meeting someone else’s pie in the sky extreme green or low waste expectations. There are many shades of green and I guarantee that even the greenest of people have times when they generate a more waste than normal – including me. (Hello 13 single servings of organic yogurt currently in my refrigerator! Yep, I got coupons for free yogurt and treated myself. When I buy yogurt I usually buy a big tub of low waste plain yogurt and flavor a serving with jelly or honey. Once the single servings are gone I'm going back to the big tub o' yogurt though.)
Often what you can do and how you do it depends upon where you live or your personal situation, say if you a large family instead of my small one. That's OK. Try something and if it cuts down on your household waste and fits your family – great! If not, modify it or try something else. Just try it and no guilt, OK?
Now excuse me while I treat myself to a high waste cup of yogurt.

This post is part of The Green Moms Carnival were our topic is Conserving Resources. Scoot on over to this month's host, Mindful Momma for some great posts!

Dublin Irish Festival Food Miles, or I Ate Haggis and I Liked It

Husband and I are foodies. We love shopping at all of the little ethnic grocery stores in the city for treasures. Ironically, we seem to have a grocery store every nationality in the city, except our own. When the Dublin Irish Festival rolls around we go for the music, but we also go for the UK food!

We started off the day with haggis and chips!

We made our way to our favorite souvenir stand – the UK food guy.

Yes I went there. My inner 8 year old told me to. *heh*

What a great way to spread this jelly on toast and start your day the Irish way. God love the Irish!!!

Not made from real Yorkies. (It’s a chocolate candy bar. )

Jelly Babies! I always think of Tom Baker and Dr. Who when I see Jelly Babies. Always.

Got my yearly Irn Bru fix. Scotland’s other official drink! (Whiskey being the first you know.) Of course we made sure to recycle our empty cans once we were finished!

Aw, who am I kidding? I just wanted an excuse to show off how hot Husband looks in a kilt.

Do you like any food that’s considered a little unusual for where you live?

4 BPA Free Water Bottle Alternatives to Sigg

Last week I logged onto the 3 Green Angels #ecowed back to school Twitter party. The subject of BPA free water bottles came up. So did Sigg’s announcement that the linings of their aluminum reusable water bottles made before August 2008 have a lining that contains bisphenol A (BPA). There were a lot of upset green moms who own Sigg water bottles that evening.

Now it’s getting worse.

So what’s the big deal?

Aluminum bottles and cans must be coated with some sort of epoxy liner in order to be food safe. Some of these liners can contain BPA.

Prior to August 2009 (as in just a few weeks ago) when customers have asked Sigg if the liners in their aluminum water bottles contained BPA, Sigg danced around the issue saying that they couldn’t give specifics because their liner formula is top secret and proprietary. What Sigg would say is that their pre-August 2008 Sigg bottle liners were tested by a third party and did not leach BPA. To make current matters worse, according to The Daily Green , “It's been known for a while now that SIGG goes after any consumer group (EWG, OCA etc.) that infers their "proprietary" liner content contains BPA.“

Hmmm…so I guess that means the liners are OK, right? Wrong.

Once Sigg started producing and marketing water bottles using the new EcoCare BPA free liner in August 2008, their CEO wrote in a letter on the Sigg Website dated August 2009,“Prior to its transition, SIGG utilized a water-based epoxy liner which contained a trace amount of BPA.”

Trace amount doesn’t sound like much. It could be a little, it could be way too much. We don’t know. The old liner formula is proprietary and Sigg said they can’t reveal its contents, remember?

If you are one of those people who bought an expensive Sigg bottle thinking that since Sigg assured you, their customer, that their bottles have a leach free liner and led you to believe that it has a BPA free water bottle; I can see why Sigg customers might be feeling a little deceived right now. Or maybe you’re only feeling a trace amount of deception? Especially when it’s still possible to purchase a new Sigg bottle with the old liner.

Photo courtesy of Sigg

4 BPA Free Water Bottle Alternatives

If you want to avoid this whole mess altogether – what do you do? Are there any BPA free alternatives out there? Yes there are, try these:

1. Water glass. A glass works just as well as a water bottle if you’re hanging out at home or working at a desk in an office. In fact, I have one right now on my desk, as I type.

2. Stainless Steel water bottle. Stainless steel water bottles do not need a liner. Double check the label or tag on the bottle to verify that the bottle is made from stainless steel before you buy it. Personally this is what I use to avoid dealing with aluminum bottles and their liners.

3. BPA free plastic water bottle. Again, don’t assume that since it’s a new plastic bottle for sale that it doesn’t contain BPA. Check that the label specifically says that the plastic is BPA free or look for a recycling symbol on the bottle. The safer BPA free choices for food and beverages are #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene) and #5 PP (polypropylene.) I also use BPA free plastic water bottles for sports when appropriate, for example when I go cycling.

4. Glass water bottle. You can buy a reusable glass water bottle or do it on the cheap by washing out and reusing a glass juice bottle with a screw on cap. Being a klutz I balked at this idea until I realized how many glass jars and bottles I already use and drink out of regularly (jelly, salsa, juice, beer, wine, etc.) without breakage or incident.

Do you use a reusable aluminum water bottle? What do you think of the Sigg liner controversy? What do you think should Sigg do to win back these dissatisfied customers?

Environmentally Friendly Flip Flop Giveaway - They Feelgoodz!

During the summer I love to go barefoot around the house. I always have a pair of flip flops on standby just in case Blitzkrieg needs to go outside and for overall summer causal wear.

Unfortunately, I blew out a flip flop although not by stepping on a pop top, just by wearing the suckers out. I’ve been hesitant about replacing them because despite all of the door mats and things that are made from old flip flops, I couldn’t find someone to recycle my old pair. I figured I’d replace them with another type of recyclable sandal because I’m pretty hard on summer shoes.

Fortunately Feelgoodz offered to send me a free pair of their flip flops for review. Feelgoodz flip flops are made from natural latex rubber and are biodegradable. In theory, you can throw them in your compost bin after the shoes wear out. If you don’t have composter, you can mail the worn out flip flops back to Feelgoodz and they will recycle them for you.

Feelgoodz sent a pair of flip flops for both Husband and I to review. I have to say, the Feelgoodz flip flops we tried were springy and more comfortable than my previous pair of cheap drug store flip flops (I was on vacation at the time and in need, OK?) And cute! Well, Husband didn’t say his pair was cute. He considers them attractive in a manly way but the bright colors make my pair cute.

The only negatives we found are if you have a latex rubber allergy, these may not be the shoes for you. Also the women’s sizes start at 6 ½. However, Feelgoodz is working on a line for smaller sized feet that is very cool. They let me test a prototype from that line and give them my feedback (which I totally geeked out on.)

I find the Feelgoodz flip flops are more durable than my pair of drugstore flip flops. So that and the fact that company is trying to do good by their suppliers by donating a percentage of their revenues to nonprofit programs in Thailand and do good locally by starting their company in post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans makes them well worth the $19.99 price. You can buy them from Feelgoodz directly or from the retailers listed on their website.

Feelgoodz Flip Flop Giveaway! *Closed*

Feelzgood has generously offered to sponsor a giveaway for one pair of Feelgoodz flip flops of your choice to one Condo Blues reader! To enter, mosey on over to Feelgoodz and take a look at all of their flip flips. Then come back to to Condo Blues and leave a comment as to what style is your favorite

You can earn extra chances to win by doing any of the following after you’ve made your initial comment on my blog:

1. Blog about my contest with a link back to Condo Blues. Please lease the URL of your blog post so I can verify it.


2. Subscribe to the Condo Blues RSS feed.


3. Follow Condo Blues on Twitter AND tweet about the contest. Please leave the URL of your tweet so I can verify it.


4. Put my Condo Blues button on the sidebar of your blog.

You must leave a separate comment for each method you used to enter the contest. If you choose to use every method of entry, you have up to five chances to win!

Please make sure that you leave a separate comment on my blog for each method of entry because I will use a random generator to select the winner. The Feelgoodz Flip Flop Giveaway will run from Augst 24, 2009 – September 9, 2009 12 midnight EST. Good Luck!

Now for the legalese stuff: This contest is open to US residents only. I will not share your email address with any third parties because I hate email spam probably much more than you do. Seriously.

More legalese/disclaimer stuff: Feelgoodz did not pay me to say nice things about their company, their product, or to run this giveaway. All opinions written about the product and the company in this review are my own at the time of this writing. Feelgoodz sent two pairs of flip flops for review because they didn’t have a size to fit my small feet when they first contacted me so they sent a pair that fit Husband. Later Feelgoodz offered to send me the prototype pair of flip flops so I could try them too. I wasn’t trying to shake anyone down for free flip flops because we have lots of stores that sell things in our city and if I need stuff I can buy it there. I just thought you should know.

Back to School on a Budget: DIY Back-To-School Supplies

We have a very speical guest vlog at The Condo! Kim Danger of Mommysavers.com presents how to save money on back to school supplies with some fun craft projects. She also gives a some good advice on how to stretch your back to school clothes shopping dollars because as you all know, I'm all about living big on a small budget.

Do you have any back to school shopping tips?

Disclaimer: Kim's web show More Mileage for Your Money is sponsored by Uniroyal Tires and includes an opportunity to enter a $100 monthly gas giveaway on their Website. I did not receive any payment, product, or gifts to run this video on Condo Blues. In all honesty, they didn't even talk to me about the Web show's sponsor (small hurrumph. Women buy tires and cars too you know), just the content of the videos.

I thought the video presented some new options on how to save money on back to school supplies and clothes and wanted to present it to you, The Most Fabulous Readers in the World. (Really. I think you guys rock!)

How to Make Nontoxic Blowing Bubble Mix

As The World’s Most Fabulous Aunt (trademark pending) I like to do fun things with my nieces and nephews. Preferably in a way that won’t kill them. Or maim them. Because hoo-boy! Parents can get testy when you return their kid to them with a chunk missing.

Not that I would know anything about that.

When I have kid visitors, I like to have something fun for them to do. One way I keep the older kids from gluing their faces to the hand held video games they bring with them (a little rude, yo) and keep the younger ones from climbing up my walls (taking full advantage of their normally eagle eyed parents being distracted by visiting and chatting with say, me) is to make and blow bubbles! Of course this being The Condo I like to do it green and on the cheap if I can help it. Here’s how.

Make and Blow Green Bubbles!

You will need:

Environmentally friendly dish washing detergent (If you don’t have a green dish washing detergent, you can use what you have but your bubble blowing mix may not be very environmentally friendly)
Water
Cup/jar (Reusing an empty jar from store bought bubble mix works great for this project.)
Bubble wand, bubble blower, or something else to blow bubbles with


Make it:

1. Fill the jar/cup with water.

2. Add a liberal sploosh of dish washing soap to the water. The recommended amount is 3 parts water to 1 part dish soap but as a kid (and now as a kid cleverly disguised a responsible adult) I use a liberal squirt of dish soap and it works just fine.

3. Mix the dish detergent into the water using the bubble wand, your finger, or screw the cap on the reused bubble jar and gently shake it.

4. Dip the bubble wand into the mixture and blow!

Variations:

• Some people add glycerin to their bubble blowing mix. I have never have and mine works great.


• I keep a small stash of bubble wands from wedding favor bubbles around to use for all of our bubble blowing needs.


• If you don’t have bubble wands around, try making a bubble blower from twisting wire or bread twist ties (not as good as wire, but will do in a pinch) into a circle or experiment by using anything with holes in it like a plastic berry basket.


• If it’s too cold or wet to blow bubbles outside (recommended) you can earn Fabulous Aunt Points (I’m thinking about trade marking this too) by allowing the kiddos to blow bubbles in a non carpeted room like a kitchen with an easy to clean floor (and you’re halfway there with the cleanup/mopup – they are dropping soap and water on it the floor!)


• Some pets like to chase bubbles, which is a great way to keep them from being bored and destroying your furniture for sport.


• Other pets don’t like to chase bubbles and think you’re trying to trick them into a bath, which they hate with a passion.

Especially if your name is Blitzkrieg.

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This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

How to Cook Edamame (Soybeans)

“Mom and Dad said their soybeans are ready and we can have some if we want,” Husband said.

“Why in the world would we want soybeans?” I said, thinking of all the things we buy that are made from soybeans like soy foam insulation (hey, I’m still tinkering with sealing air leaks in The Condo) and not thinking about actually cooking and eating the soybeans, like, well, beans. Ironic, because we regularly eat a large variety of beans.

Husband gives me an exasperated look, “Soybeans are edamame Lisa!”

Oh. I didn’t know that.

Did I ever mention that edamame are one of my favorite snacks and something I introduced Husband to early in our relationship?

I feel stupid. Oops.

Needless to say, I made it a point to steal as many soybeans from my in-law’s garden as possible visit my adoring in-laws. Actually the adoring part is true. They are lovely people. And my father in-law buys me power tools for Christmas. That puts them at the top of Santa’s Nice list. No lie.

So now I have a big bunch of fresh edamame – how do I cook them?

How to Cook Fresh Edamame (Soybeans)

You will need
Colander
Pot and lid
Water
1 Teaspoon of salt
A stove

1. Remove the ends and center “string” from the bean pods (optional.)
2. Wash any dirt off of the beans in colander under running water.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to a pot of water and bring it to a rolling boil.
Tip: If you put a lid on the pot of water it will come to a boil more quickly and save energy!
Remove the lid from the pot of boiling water (if needed.)
3. Add the edamame pods to the boiling salt water.
4. Boil the edamame pods for 5 minutes. The beans should still be firm; if they are mushy it is a sign that you overcooked the beans (blech.)
5. Drain the beans and let the edamame cool.
6. Once the beans are cool, pop those beans out of the pods, dip them in a little bit of salt (optional), and get to eating!

Note: Don’t eat the edamame pods. They taste nasty! (Guess how I know.) The pods will make an excellent addition to a compost pile if you compost.

EcoSMART Organic Insect Repellent Giveaway Winner

The algorithms of the random number generator have spoken. The winner of the EcoSMART Organic Insect Repellent Giveaway is …

Erika Jean!

Her comment:

"I'd like the "Safe Personal Care Value Bundle" because its 4 bottles of bug spray and since I’m always loosing stuff - I’d be more likely to find ONE of them when I need it!"

Congratulations! Happy dance! Smiles, rainbows, and puppies all around!

Stay tuned folks. I have some giveaways lined up for the not too distant future of some very good products that I truly believe in because if I don’t like it, I’m going to put my stamp of approval on it and give it away to you!

Craftsman Hammerhead Auto-Hammer Review

Craftsman gave me their NEXTEC Hammerhead Cordless Auto-Hammer to review. It is a battery operated nailer that doesn’t need a hose or compressor, unlike a large pneumatic nail gun. It’s also a much lighter weight than a pneumatic nail gun – something that this short woman appreciates. It quickly and powerfully drives a variety of nail sizes.

My test: I took the Auto-Hammer to a family reunion to a give it a thorough test run in case the party got a little slow and to get numerous opinions on it. Needless to say, if you want to get cozy with some of your husband’s older male relatives that you really don’t know very well and are a little old fashioned about women doing DIY projects, bring a new power tool to test at a family gathering. Just a helpful hint from me to you.

We had a bunch of different size nails and nailed some scrap boards together. We compared the performance of the Hammerhead Auto-Hammer to a traditional claw hammer.

The results: The Auto-Hammer did what it said – it hammers nails. Some of the older men in my posse, test group, as well as myself liked that the Hammerhead did it with minimal effort on the user’s part. I’m short, and sometimes I don’t have the extra oomph needed to start a nail without bending it while I’m trying to drive it into a wall. Not so, with the Hammerhead. A squeeze a the trigger and a little downward pressure is all it took to drive a large nail into a couple of two by fours. Even my nephew Mr. J(age7) and his girly girl sister Miss H(age 6) both used it to easily nail thick boards together without incident (they were surrounded by adults and all safety precautions were taken.) I asked Mr.J7 what he thought of the Hammerhead Auto-Hammer and he said, “Cool. You could build a doghouse real quick with that.” Miss H6 agreed and with that picked up her stuffed unicorn with the fuzzy purple mane and scampered off to play.

Where the Auto-Hammer really impressed my audience was at removing nails. Sure, the Auto-Hammer kit comes with a small (and very cute) pry bar, if you need to pull a nail out a wall BUT if you’re in a situation where you can flip the boards over you use the Auto-Hammer to drive the nails out of the backside of a board it did it much more easily than trying to remove them with the claw part of a conventional hammer. This isn’t the intended purpose of the Auto-Hammer (please use caution doing so) but every single man in my party was duly impressed and wanted to give that a try. Most said that application alone would make them consider buying the Auto-Hammer despite the $100 price tag.

Pros

1. The magnet in the head holds nails up to 7/16-in wide. Great for those times when you wish you had three hands to hold the nail, steady the wood, and whack the nail on the head.


2. The magnet in the head makes for very little chance of smacking your fingers with the hammerhead or dropping a nail before hammering it.


3. Great for those tight areas where you can’t fully swing a claw hammer or don’t have the strength to fully drive a nail into a thick pieces of wood.


4. Great for those jobs that are in between using a claw hammer and a pneumatic nail gun.


5. Easy to use. I really hate to use the cliché “so easy a kid can use it” but I think my test demonstrated that with adult supervision, a young person can safely and successfully use this tool the first time out.


6. Best when using larger nails than smaller size nails. Small nails tended to bend, much like when using a claw hammer but easily remedied if you hold the nail to the board with a pair of needle nose pliers, something I also do when using a conventional claw hammer.


7. Much easier to use to start hammering a nail into hardwoods than with a conventional hammer!

Cons

1. The nail sleeve that covers up the impact mechanism and retracts during use can leave divot marks on the wood if you aren’t careful.


2. Not powerful enough to replace a pneumatic nail gun in order to use for heavy professional construction work (think building a people sized house) but it’s not intended to do so. It’s great for smaller projects, like say, the dog house my nephew suggested or hanging peg board on one of the walls of my garage, etc.


3. The battery is a little hard to push into the charger. It requires a good shove to fully seat the battery onto the prongs in the charger in order to fully charge the battery. If the battery isn’t fully seated it won’t charge properly and you’ll be very disappointed with the results (obviously.)

Overall I like the Craftsmen Hammerhead Cordless Auto-Hammer. I think Craftsman got this one right because it is a power tool that appeals to both women and men for a variety of reasons. It’s a nice addition to my toolbox and if the men in my group had their way, I’d give up the Auto-Hammer and it would be a nice addition to their toolboxes. Not likely. I’m keeping the one I tested. However, I’m not ruling out buying one for those men on my gift list who suggested that I store it in their garages instead of my own.

Wine Box Wall Treatment

While I was in Chicago, met up with some of the other members of the Green Moms Carnival and went out to eat at an Italian restaurant. After we were seated at our table, I looked at the focal wall in the restaurant – it was covered in the fronts of wine boxes – genius!

I think this wall treatment would work in a dining room or bar area in a home as a focal wall.

Fortunately I was eating with a bunch of fellow bloggers and good friends who thought nothing of me whipping out my camera and taking a few photos of this creative reuse wall treatment in public.

My dinner companions. Left to right ; Micaela of Mindful Momma, Maryanne of Not Quite Crunchy Parent, Karen of The Best of Mother Earth, Jennifer of The Smart Mama, Beth of Fake Plastic Fish, Me! Lisa of Condo Blues, Lynn of Organic Mania

Public photo snapping in inopportune times is quickly becoming a blogger occupational hazard – especially when I want to document a great recycled art project like this.

What do you think?

This post is part of Trash to Treasure Tuesday.

I Partied with a Giant Potato at BlogHer 09

Of course there was a conference and seriousness and learning going on at BlogHer. However, this is not that post.

It is the did-you-just-party-all-the-time or-was-there-a-conference-going-on post?


Thursday Party Patrol
After hotel check in, it was off to the Social Lux party for some pampering. I needed to get rid of the migraine that started the day before and I was so happy they had chair massages. The masseuse gave me a little extra attention and by the end of my session, my migraine’s gone. Thank you Social Lux!

Photo courtesy of Make and Takes

The Chevrolet carpool party. I was invited to one private party – for GM Chevrolet carpoolers. It was a casual get together in an Irish pub. They asked me to record an interview about my experience. I try to be insightful, because I’m a car girl, yet witty. They bring up the Cash for Clunkers program and ask what other clunker I could trade in if I could. I answer, “Old boyfriends.” They loved that.

After that I went to The People’s Party. I work the room to be polite and because I think that’s what you are supposed to do – isn’t that what these little shindigs are for? Even as The World’s Most Fabulous Aunt (trademark pending) it was a little difficult given that many of the sponsors were baby-centric. When asked if I was familiar with Gerber I say, “My dog loves your baby food.” (I put his meds in baby food. Ironically he doesn’t like the organic variety.)

The Gerber lady looks at me like I’m nuts.

This will not be the only time I get this look during BlogHer.

I do another video interview this time with Kristen Chase of Cool Mom Picks and Motherhood Uncensored. She interviewed me and Christina of A Mommy Story for Alice.com. I’m not sure if they are going to use our interview because when they asked me if I knew about Alice I truthfully said no. (Alice is a web store that allows you to buy cleaning and health and beauty supplies on line with free shipping. They have many environmentally friendly products for sale too.) Then when they asked me what my favorite cleaning product is I said the first thing that popping into my head - vinegar. I think I surprised them - not a good way. I think they were hoping for the name of a product they might actually sell. Oops.

Room 704 party. I hung out with fellow Green Moms Carnival bloggers: Micaela of Mindful Momma, Maryanne of Not Quite Crunchy Parent, Beth of Fake Plastic Fish, and Diane of Big Green Purse, Sommer of Green and Clean Mom, and Jennifer of The Smart Mama. My lost in mommyland feelings dissipate. I relax. I found my tribe.

We spend a wild evening together. How? By hanging out in a bar and testing our purses for lead content!

OK, actually we were really scrounging around for things Jennifer could test with her XRF lead analyzer gun so she could show us how it worked. We also tested the, ahem, silicone facial massager from the Room 704 gift bag. It’s lead free. We tweeted this information to the universe because we thought the world might want to know its naughty bits were safe.

And because it’s funny.


BlogHer Day 1
I made connections with bloggers and sponsors and volunteered my little feet off.

Highlight - I met Carsen Kressley!

Moth. To. A. Flame.

I get a DM from Husband. He’s happy for me. He says a diva needs her gays. The only question is – who’s the diva?

I Party With a Giant Potato
We listened to Beth sing karaoke at the Friday night BlogHer cocktail party.

Mrs. Potato Head was there. She can really let it rip on the dance floor!

However, her party girl exploits concerned me. You see, Mrs. Potato Head was dancing just a little too close to the Sobe Lizard. I wonder should we be concerned for the Potato Head marriage?

Mr. Mullet Head Karoke Dude (Appalling! Don’t they have drag queens in Chicago? Every decent karaoke show I go to is run by a drag queen not a mullet head!) cut me from the song list due to time (your loss. I was going to sing 99 Red Balloons – in German.) I decided to conduct an experiment - how many Green Moms you can stuff into a photo booth?

Diane of Diane of Big Green Purse, Lisa of Condo Blues – Me!, Micaela of Mindful Momma, Maryanne of Not Quite Crunchy Parent, Me!, Linda C. Anderson, Beth of Fake Plastic Fish)

The answer: six.

BlogHer Day 2
I’m asked to do video interview for Tropicana The Juice. They grabbed me as I was shuffling toward the coffee urn during breakfast and asked me to give some staycation tips. Perfect because I did a post on that. Not so perfect – I had to do the interview pre-coffee. I can barely dress myself in the morning pre-coffee let alone talk in complete sentences! Somehow I managed to communicate in something other than my normal decaffeinated grunts, clicks, and whistles – an achievement.

This was followed by more sessions, more networking, and more volunteering my little feet off.

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night!
After eating a bunch of food I normally don’t eat in large quantities for the last three days (think fried) my stomach was going wuga, wuga, wuga. I needed a real dinner. I went out to eat with some of the Green Moms Carnival to a real sit down type restaurant. Somewhat. My stomach was still doing the Samba so all I could choke down was half of a salad. But at least it wasn’t fried!
After dinner Micaela and I headed over to the CheeseburgHer party where I attempted to make a jaunty fedora out a paper bag.

Creative reuse – check.

Hey, I wasn’t the only one – it’s tradition!

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday morning came early.

Way too early.

One person I hoped I meet at BlogHer was Jenny, The Bloggess. I didn’t get a chance to actually meet her until I was in the lobby getting ready to leave. I walked quietly up to her because I don’t want to startle her (because I do that to people) not that she would scare easily, she is prone to yelling “Wolverines!” in public. Something I don’t dare do in Buckeye country. My city’s full of superfans. Little old ladies on life support will wake from their comas and cut you with a broken beer bottle if dare utter the name of their biggest sports rival.

This is why I admire Jenny. She can "Wolverine!" any where she likes.

We talk about how “hobo” is a funny word. She tells me she met and molested Tim Gunn. I think she’s joking. She’s not. I tentatively give her my card. She looks at it and says magic words, “I read your blog.”

I’m stunned. Well, hit me in the face with a brick.

A reclaimed brick.

Because it’s green.

And lead free!



If you liked this post you may be interested in:

Why I Went to BlogHer '09

Subscribing to Condo Blues

Smelly Washer Winnah!

The mystical and magical random number generator selected bettycd the winner of my Smelly Washer Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and above all – Congratulations Betty!

For those of you who didn't win and still want to try Smelly Washer, you can buy it from their Website. Smelly Washer is offering Condo Blues readers a 10% discount off of the price of a bottle of Smelly Washer if you the promotional code: condoblues.

And if it's contests you're after....

It's not too late to enter my EcoSMART Organic Insect Repellent Giveaway I am giving away an EcoSMART Organic Insect Repellent bundle. The contest runs from July 27 – August 9, 2009.

10 Ways for College Students to Go Green on the Cheap

I learned a lot of my own green and thrifty ways during college, mostly due to thrift because I was responsible for paying my way through college. I quickly learned that by changing habits and reusing things I could save money in order to pay for the more expensive items in my budget: rent, books, tuition, and food, while still reducing waste.

That’s why I try to present options for green living and money saving tips. I’ve been doing the green and simple living thing long before it was fashionable and before many environmentally friendly items were available or affordable for the average working adult, let alone the average starving college student.

Here’s a list of 10 tips for college students who want to go green and save money doing it.

1. Buy and sell used books. I still take college classes from time to time for professional development. I always buy my books used. I have better luck getting them used if I buy them online. I do a search for my books as soon as I am registered for class, that way I can buy my book and have it shipped to me in time for class. My biggest piece of advice is to sell your books at the end of the quarter/semester either online or to the local bookstore. Really. Unless you are in law or med school, you won’t use those old text books, especially when you can look up current information on the Internet. The old marketing books I saved and thought I was going to use as reference quickly became outdated doorstops a short time after I took the class. I should have sold them back when I had the chance.

2. If you have an all you can eat cafeteria make sure you eat all you take. Chances are your school cafeteria isn’t going to compost that food you left on your plate. Eat it. Don’t throw food away. If your school cafeteria doesn’t compost food waste, consider working with them, your university’s landscaping office and start one! It’s a great idea for service project for an on campus group and can be a resume builder for you.

3. Unplug electronics when you’re finished with them and turn off the lights as you leave a room. These little things really do add up. I didn’t think this was a big deal either until I did the 20% Energy Reduction Challenge Project. Once I started keep track of my electric usage I quickly found that if I made it a habit like putting my TV on a power strip and turning it off after I was finished made a big difference in my electric use and lowered my bill.

4. Use a book bag/backpack for small purchases instead of using a disposable plastic bag. Consider carrying a reusable bag for bigger purchases in your backpack. It can be a nifty fold up bag like a Chico bag (I have one and I love it) or just reuse a plastic grocery bag you already have.

5. Use last year’s/quarter’s/semester’s school supplies. Backpacks/book bags are pretty sturdy and can be used from one year to the next. If it’s ripped – see if someone can fix it for you if you can’t. I like to buy the big notebooks so I get two classes/quarters worth of notes from them. Yes, taking notes on a laptop would be even greener, but I don’t type that fast and the information seems to stick in my head better if I write it out long hand (your mileage may vary.) There are more environmentally friendly paper/pens/folders/notebooks, etc for sale now and if you can afford them, you may consider purchasing them. I can do that now when I take classes for professional development for my job or for fun (yes, I’m that crazy. I like to learn things for fun.) But in my starving student days, since it was all on my own dime, I leaned towards reusable but not as environmentally friendly as they could be school supplies – and I sometimes still do. (Hi Recession!)

6. Upgrade/repair electronics like computers, laptops, etc. first before buying new. Ask the store/service person if they can recycle the ewaste (spent video cards, laptop batteries, cell phones, etc) from the repair/upgrade for you. If they can’t, they may know someone who can.

7. Drink lower waste drinks. Try a glass of tap water, make a pitcher of drinks from powder/concentrate, or buy soda in 2 liter bottles instead of a six pack of cans or bottles. You can always put these items in a reusable water bottle so you have your favorite beverage in on the go low waste form while on campus. Many may say to ditch the soda altogether but let’s be realistic, some folks get their daily caffeine buzz from soda, not coffee or tea, especially during finals. If that’s the case, be a little more sensitive as to how many bottles/cans you are buying and recycle the empties, OK?

8. Recycle paper, glass, metal cans, plastic, ewaste, etc. through local programs. Don’t have a campus recycling program? Consider working with your college or university and starting one! It’s good for the environment, an excellent service project if you belong to a campus club or student organization, and an excellent resume builder.

9. Ditch the disposables. Try using rechargeable batteries, cleaning sponges/micro fiber cloths/rags instead of paper towels, bring your own travel mug to get coffee/tea at the campus coffee shop (some shops may even give you a discount!), etc.

10. Donate clothing, furniture, etc. when you move out of your dorm/house/apartment at the end of year instead of leaving it behind or tossing it in a dumpster. Some charities will pickup contributions if they are sizable. In that case, get together with friends and donate your items as a group. Your school may have a program that allows students to donate items before they move out, like Ohio State University. If you don’t have something like this at your school – start one! Again, it’s a wonderful idea for a service project and resume builder.

I admit some of these items involve spending some money such as buying a reusable coffee mug, rechargeable batteries, or water bottle. You might consider asking for these items as holiday or birthday gifts (that’s when and how I got my filtered water pitcher, which I still use long after college.) You may be able to get some of these items through campus freebies. I still have a stack of cleaning rags that were once upon a time free college t-shirts.

These are some of the ways I tried to green my college experience and save money during college. What are your tips?


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This is Condo Blues’ submission for the August Green Moms Carnival where our topic is Back to School/Green Schools. The Carnival will be held at OrganicMania. Please check it out after Monday, August 10th!