Adding a new "R" to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Going back to yesterday’s post about going green, which I certainly have a lot to learn I admit, I have added an “R” to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mantra. It somewhat falls under the “Reuse” concept, but is definitively a different use of the word. I think, as consumers, we think of “reuse” as using the same object again i.e. a reusable razor vs. a disposable; but “reuse” can also mean “re-purpose”. Re-purposing means that before you throughout an item that has finished its usefulness look it over to see what other uses it or parts of it may have. (You will, by the way, find this to be a great way to save some money. Here are just a few of the repurposes that we have around our house:

Composting – I do not adhere to the perfect mix, but instead just pile the green (grass), brown (leaves), and organic material (kitchen waste – vegetable scraps, egg shells, fruit rinds). Even our indoor container for compost is repurposed from its former life as a coffee can. The compost becomes lovely black gold for the garden and I reduce the amount and therefore the cost of my garbage.

Decorating – Old sheets have become curtains with a little needlework. Old jeans are becoming a rag rug. Old wood became my shoe stand.

Landscaping – DH and DS this weekend created a wonderful new fire pit and spent not a penny. Rocks were reclaimed from elsewhere in the yard and even the sand came from a leftover sand pit that must have sat under the old owner’s swing set. We have also begun to plan next year’s garden and have decided to use raised beds. I pulled from the backyard and old door frame that had been dumped in the woods. I think it will be perfect for at least a portion of the garden (and my wood’s are cleaner too).

Going green is about using fewer resources AND making those resources that we have go as far as we can. I would love to hear what you have done to Re-purpose items in your house.

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

Going Green - Better for the environment or for someone's pocketbook

I don’t know if it is because I am reading Walden (Henry David Thoreau) to my son at night or if is the Cash for Clunkers or the 10,000 other “Green” messages that we are inundated with, but I am really beginning to be suspicious of this entire marketing message. I am not being kind here I know, but I am beginning to feel it is exactly that “a marketing message”. Please understand, I do believe that we need to be good stewards of the earth and I do believe that we have strayed away from that. I do believe that many of us have our hearts in the right place as we attempt to “green” our lives. But . . .I would be interested to see how much we waste as attempt to do better.

I have been watching decorating shows that rip out entire kitchens or houses because the homeowners want to go green. I have watched congress convince us all to rid ourselves of old vehicles so that we move to cleaner vehicles. I have watched women toss makeup, purses, and clothes to get greener fashions. Where are all these resources going?

I’ve been watching products tout “green” just to entice the consumer: Nothing has been modified, no recipe changed. It is as if two “green” camps have arisen: one, which is really interested in helping our planet, and another, who is trying to reap a benefit from this mindset. The consumer is caught in the middle, trying to decipher which is real.

I think we could take a lesson from our grandparents during the Great Depression, everything that exists has value. Have you ever noticed how people of that generation hoard things? They have button boxes, nails and screws in small containers, extra pieces of wood, etc. etc. Cooking became an art of not just planning one meal, but figuring out how to use the leftovers - - -every last one of them. Isn’t this more green than scrapping everything and starting again? Shouldn’t we bring ourselves back to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle concept? Use less, reuse what you can, recycle what you can’t and then, only then, go buy a new greener item.

My Heritage Birthday Reminder

I thought that you would find this funny. The other day, my husband received this email the other day from My Heritage:

Dear DH,


This is an automatic notification from Our Family Name Web Site on MyHeritage.com
Here are the upcoming events in your family:

Coming up tomorrow

September X 2009


39th birthday of Dawn


Dawn is your wife

It was the last line that made him laugh. . .as if he needed to be reminded that I was his wife. Then he thought of how he would take the email if we were in the middle of a heated divorce. Thanks My Heritage for the good laugh.

Making Your Dreams A Reality

One of the great things about having more time on my hands is that I can explore my creative side. I can dream and turn those dreams into reality. Last night, I dreamed about creating a wreath. So this morning, I pulled one of the metal wire frames that the homeowner’s of our last home had left in the old house (13 years ago – yes, we save the strangest things), some flower shears, and some string. Florist metal may have been a better choice, but I didn’t have any and I have learned not to put off my ideas just for lack of supplies. The idea will practically haunt me until, I accomplish the task. I wasn’t 100% sure about how I wanted to accomplish the wreath. I knew that I wanted to use hydrangea which grows in the yard. I add a purple flower that is growing out front which I’m not positive what it is and I added some seed pods from Oriental poppies. This is what I created:


Isn’t it lovely. And better than that, my DH and son installed the pineapple doorbells that I have been waiting for.

Welcome! Welcome to my home.

Internet Safety

This weekend we were in a campground outside of Binghamton, NY. I have tried to be more careful about what I post when both for the safety of my family and our home. We are so quick to let our children know when they post information that is too personal or too identifying and yet we as adults do it all the time. Before we left, DD made some post on FB declaring our trip and I commented back, “Why don’t you just give them the keys to our home?” Thus, I thought the best of posting our trip on Blogger. While you have all become “friends”, I’m sure there are still a few lurkers too. So we should all be reminded of our safety.

Having said that, I did spend a wonderful weekend with my family camping at a campground. It is about a four hour ride to Binghamton, NY and we were very lucky not to hit any major traffic. While this weekend was actually my birthday, we went to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. He was actually kind enough to include my birthday celebration too - - -even if he did age me an extra year in the decorations. One of the best part of the weekend, was watching my husband and DD kerioki to Ring of Fire. Everyone said that DH would not sing, but he surprised us all and I think made DD’s day – not that she would ever admit it. (Hopefully, I will have pictures to share soon – my other brother-in-law took them.)

We did come home Sunday instead of Monday, which was actually a good choice. That way we hit no traffic, had a day to relax and get things done around the house, and the shorter time with my MIL gave less option for something to go wrong. What did you do this wonderful holiday weekend?

What to do when a porcupine raises his quills?

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days. We have been traveling, I will tell you more in the next couple of days, but I wanted to show what we came by along our route:








Mind you we have seen porcupines in the zoo, but never up close and personal. As you can see, when DH tried to take his picture out his window, Mr. Porcupine became a little camera shy and raised his quills. This was the only picture we took before we decided to move along. Of course, when I look at this, I thought how useful quills could be on humans. When someone was annoyed or out of sorts, we would know to avoid them just by quill position. Just think of all the fights and uncomfortable conversations you could avoid.


Porcupines, by the way, are rodents. He is a mammal and dines on plants (herbivore). Porcupines cannot shoot there quills and regrow quills as they loose them. One of Mr. Porcupine's relatives actually can grow quills up to a foot long. He does not have quills on his under belly. When a baby porcupine is born the quills are soft but harden within an hour or so.

Visiting Maine

Do you have the list of 1,000 places to go before you die? I have checked one off this week. It isn’t far and now that we moved it is even closer. Years ago, when we were nearby I actually made my husband cross the border just to say that I’d been in Maine. I literally felt giddy when we crossed the border. You would have thought I was a child going to see Santa. This week, I actually got to go to Maine. It still was not for a very long time, only about 24 hours, but I really enjoyed it.

We took time to lighthouse hop along the Southern Portland coast. One of the greatest parts of traveling as a homeschooler is the questions that arise. When we stopped at the beach near the “Two Lights” Lighthouse, we were amazed to see a rock beach that looked like fossilized trees. When we walked through the edge where the stone was broken and shattered, it sounded like you were walking through glass. The stone was amazing and of course when we came home we had to find out more.

We also enjoyed a tour of the oldest lighthouse in Maine and then a window shopping trip at the wharf in Portland. We had a wonderful trip, but I cannot say that I can in good conscience check Maine off my places to go. In fact DH says that he may have to go back next month for another meeting and I must admit that I will eagerly plan another trip.