Need an excuse to mow the lawn less?

Last year, we sort of fell behind with the whole lawn mowing thing. Big time.

Yet some of me wonders if it's us or if it's our neighbors who like to mow their lawn. A LOT. LOT. LOT. Seriously, for every time we mow our lawn, it seems they've mown theirs twice. Which makes their grass look even shorter and ours look rather shaggy.

I'd really love to send a memo to the block and say "hey, lighten up a bit so we are all equal" but I know that won't happen.


I was annoyed until last fall when I was at a lecture about native Kansas plants/flowers. In the presentation, the guy mentioned that mowing your lawn less has less of an impact on the environment.

A light bulb went off in my head.

We weren't the bad neighbors. We were the hippies who care about the environment and make a conscious choice to mow less, thus being kinder to the planet.

Ok, so the motivation isn't exactly true, but it made me feel GOOD about our "whenever we get to it" approach to lawn mowing.

I'd love to provide you with hard core numbers on this, but really, who do you believe when you google something?

I did, however, find this really cool calculator to help calculate the impact of lawn mowing. I am not 100% sure of the size of our lawn, but I'd really like to find out, because I'm supremely curious about the numbers.

So, in conclusion ..... MOW YOUR LAWN LESS, and do it shame-free. Because, after all, you're helping to lessen your carbon footprint!

Now if I could only find a tactful way to share this enlightened approach with my lawn-mowing-obsessed neighbors....

Trash Talk

Would you believe an average of 100 people a week stop in on our blog? And I suspect that doesn't include those who have it on their RSS feeds. Really? I say something at least 100 people want to read? iiiiiinteresting.

Anyhow, knowing there are people who stop by to see what rant I have gone on, and to find no new posts, well I feel like a slacker. So here we go! ;)

A few months ago, I went to something regarding environmental issues here in Salina. And I was SHOCKED to see the numbers. Are you ready?????

- 24% of the trash in the U.S. is from yard trimmings and food waste. In Salina, it's 23%. SERIOUSLY .... nearly a quarter of the trash going to the landfill is yard clippings or food that we could compost???? wow. I am stunned.

- 61% of Salina's trash includes the following: wood waste, paper products, yard waste and food waste. MORE THAN HALF???? REALLY????? How much could we be recycling?????

Let's pause for a minute to reflect. IF residents of my fair city would 1) recycle paper and 2) compost, we could cut our landfill contributions by MORE than 50 percent??? Woah. That's heavy. And stunning.

I have to be honest: One of the things I miss most from living in Hays was the ease of which I could recycle. You just put your stuff in a blue bag and it was collected every week. Every household paid some nominal fee ($4-$5) and everyone could recycle.

Here in Salina, we have to pay for a bin, then everything has to fit INSIDE of that bin. Ugh. Fortunately, when I asked, they were awesome and gave us another bin for FREE. :) One of my brides here in town has THREE bins, which she tells me is the max you can get without extra fees. I have to say, using three recycling bins would be something I aspire to. But for the time being, I'll settle for the two.

SO ... rambly post (didn't I warn you?). But here's the message: If you ever thought "Oh, it's just the junk mail" or "What I do can't make that much of a difference" ... THINK AGAIN. Look at the above numbers and think again. Even if you do just ONE thing, it would be way better than nothing.

Start by getting an extra trash can. Designate it as your paper bin. Toss the extra junk mail, fliers and handouts from church into there. I honestly think you'll be surprised at how quickly it fills up. And if you haul it to the recycling center, then it won't go into a landfill!!!! If the 100 people who read this blog all start recycling paper ... think of how much paper that is!!!!

Last interesting fact, then I'll close. Recycling does take energy, but requires less energy than starting from scratch. Here are the numbers: "Recycling aluminum can cut energy consumption by 95%; plastics by 70%; steel by 60%; paper by 40%; and glass by 30%."

Be well. And if you recycle, leave a comment! If you don't but can commit to start, even if it's just paper, leave a comment!

The 4th "R"

I know Earth Day was a few weeks ago, but I heard something related to Earth Day that I liked and wanted to share. Well, two things.

1. We all know "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." But I heard someone pose a 4th "R" to the mix. REFUSE. As in refuse to take another plastic bag at the store.

I'll share an amusing story with you.

Once, I was at the grocery store and all of my items didn't fit into my reusable bags. And the bagger started to put it into a plastic bag. "Don't you dare give me another petroleum-based product to take into my house." I shrilled at the poor 15-year-old boy who clearly was trying to make a buck at his first job. Embarrassed, I sort of recovered "I'll just carry that satchel of apples out." .... yeeeeeeah, classy, Karen.

Speaking of fruit/produce, I no longer bag my items .... celery? Just toss it in the cart. Leeks? Same thing. Unless it comes bagged, I don't take another bag with me ... just coz I'm crazy like that.

Extreme example, but just say no. To a tiny bag when the only item you get is a Mother's Day card. Or a box of candy. Or whatever. I don't know about you, but those plastic bags multiply like RABBITS in our cupboard.

Which brings me to item No. 2.

2. Plastic bags in the cabinets. I was reading a magazine a few weeks ago, and read of a clever way to corral them. Take a Kleenex box that is empty, then just shove the little buggers in there. Viola! A repurposed use for the Kleenex box (prior to recycling) and the bags are contained.

We did this, and it worked fairly well. The only trouble is we have more plastic bags than fits into a Kleenex box. I guess this means I should take them to the dropoff at the grocery store.

Ok, that's it for today. I have tons of info about composting and recycling relative to Salina, and I'll share in a day or two ... but in the meantime, do you have any tricks to help recycle or reduce???? Reuse??? Anyone? Share, share, share! :)

Recycled Purse????

Ok, so for everyone who knows me, I'M NOT A PURSE PERSON!!!!!

But I do have one. Ok, 2 of them. And I admit, they come in VERY handy on occasion. But one is large and becomes a dumping ground/catch all for everything. The other is just the right size for my wallet, but it's sometimes a struggle to wrestle the wallet in and out of it.

So, when we were traveling over Christmas, I saw a glimpse of a purse ... wait for it ... MADE OUT OF SEATBELTS. Now, this is genius, I thought. Really. Reusing seatbelts. I like it.


And the more I looked, the more options I saw that there are in the world of seatbelt purses. Who would have thought????!?!?!


Then I saw the bag below, and really wondered if those seatbelts were reused, or if they were made specifically for that bag.


Seriously. Have YOU ever seen a seatbelt like this? Me either.


There's another company who makes them, and they do a diamond weave. I have to admit, I am digging this a bit more from a visual aspect. ;)


I might actually believe this was made from reused seatbelts.

But then I get back to the bottom line/question at hand. I don't really USE a purse that much ... do I really NEED a seatbelt purse?

Regardless, it's an interesting idea/product and I thought I'd share. :)

Traveling

A few weeks ago, I went to Canada to shoot a wedding with my friend, Jamie. It involved 3 planes in 1 day. Bleh.


But I have to say I felt a little like I was in an earlier decade, flying in a plane with winged propellers (my sister and her hubby can laugh and correct me here).


Not sure what this all means, but it certainly *sounds* "green."


I'm always amused what I see people traveling with. This was sticking out of the bag of a grown man.


I have to admit I'm slightly amused by this photo. But I also acknowledge it's practical when in so many public places.


Lastly, I was amused by watching these guys in silhouette. I wish there were better plane fins in the photo ... but a girl can't have it all.

Laundry line = $$$$ savings?

Last year, our July energy consumption was 31.6 KWH/day.

This year, it was 23.1 KWH/day.


Could our laundry line have something to do with it? I don't see why not! Although Erik is quick to point out it's cooler this year than it was last year .... so I concede that point, but to reduce our energy use by about 25% is fantastic!

I was reading in Real Simple magazine that a laundry line can save an average of $10 a month. Now, this is based on a family doing 7 loads of laundry/week. I'd bet we do about half of that .... so our savings is less. I'm guessing it will take us 2.5 years to break even with this laundry line, but I have to admit I'm happy to live in a house with one of these (again).

Laundry Line Update!

Look what's up in our backyard! :)

Erik and a buddy notched out a portion of our tree to allow us to attach one end to the tree. At the other end, we had to make space for a pole.


Erik dug the hole ... I had just given blood, so I couldn't dig. But Erik was a spectacular sport. :)


Then, had to fill it with rocks to allow for draining.


Then, we were supposed to fill it partially with water ....


Then add the concrete mixture.


NOTE: we were using a quick dry one ... I *wish* we'd done it a bit differently. Even thought it's quick dry, I wish we'd mixed it in something else, then poured it into the hole. The laundry line is designed so you can remove the pole entirely from the ground. But since there was water creeping up, it wasn't possible. :(


This is the pole ... we'll always have a few feet sticking out of the ground. Not a big deal, but if we have friends w/ little kids over more frequently, we'll have to figure out a way to cover it so little people don't run into it inadvertently.

# 71 — Tour the Boulevard factory in Kansas City

..... CHECK!


This was a MUCH more enjoyable tour experience than our Harley Tour. The biggest benefit was that tickets are booked in advance. Actually, they are reservations. The tour does not cost anything.

For booking information, please CLICK HERE. A quick side note ... the tours fill up! So be sure to reserve early! We booked about 2 months in advance .... just to give you a feel for how early we had to reserve our spots.




There was a fairly nice display inside.


Oh, and I must add that we were able to take photos and whatnot during the tour! What a treat after the Harley place ... they had 2010 motorcycles on the line, so we weren't even able to go into that part of the factory ... but we were able to see the rest, but NOT take photos. Secrets, secrets ....




Some of their beer is fermented in vats.


Of course, Erik had to give them some love ... ;)


It was full of bright, shiny stuff!





Next, to their newer building:







Check out how big these bad boys are .... oh, and on a side note ... they designed it to be as "green" and environmentally friendly as possible. :) So they made it with plenty of windows so lights don't need to be used during the day. Clever, eh?


Apparently they also planted grass on the roof of the building. Nice, eh? But they didn't show us that part ...


Check out this .... it's the floor. It's an awesome looking wood!


Their bar area ... you can have parties there. Cool stuff! If we'd have gotten married in KC, we would have MOST DEFINITELY had our wedding reception at this place!


Their place where they bottle ... interesting, eh?




Back to the pub area for a sampling before we headed out. :)




Overall, TOTALLY worth it. If you ever are in KC, or know you'll be there, TOTALLY go!!!!!! :)

Absentee blogger returns!

Check out what my awesome husband got me for my birthday!!!!! Yes, it's a RETRACTABLE clothesline from Target. :)

HERE and HERE.

One end will attach to something in our yard (currently, we think it's the tree trunk). Anyone who wants to come and help me dig the hole for the end that retracts, DO let me know! ;) Oh, and yes, we had the dig safe people come out, so we won't run into anything we shouldn't.

Let me also add I'm excited b/c there will be 170 stinkin' feet worth of hanging space. I picked up some clothespins at Target for about $1.50 last week. But I only got 150, so I might need to score a few more ....

Rain Barrel upgrade!

Before:


After:


So what did I do? Erik and I added a screen to the top of the rain barrel.

We took a 48-inch bungee cord and wrapped it around screen on the barrel.


Let me tell you, it is ABSOLUTELY a 2-person job. It took both Erik and I to wrestle it onto the barrrel.

We opted to do it because there was an awful lot of gunk in the barrel. We cleaned it out, and it was good as new. But, then it was empty (we watered the garden with all of the 50-55 gallons).

So, last night it rained about an inch and a half, and now it's full again! :)

Rain Barrel update!

I'm excited to have my rain barrel up and running!!!!!!!

We tested it this week and it is able to drain to our garden! :) i've done a bit of testing with the soaker hoses, but they need a little TLC before they're 100% ready to go, so the jury's still out on that one.

Twice, I've drained almost 1/3 of the barrel, and twice it's rained less than 1/4 of an inch. Guess what the result was? It filled the barrel to the point of OVERFLOWING!!!!! Seriously amazing! I have no idea about the actual amount of square footage that drains to the barrel, but it's about 1/3 of our roof.

I have another barrel and I'm excited to get it up and running!

On the slightly down side, I have yet to make a screen to keep gunk out of the barrel. And I'm having some issues w/ light through it, so I have some algae ... it doesn't look the prettiest, but it works and is saving water as I water my baby garden plants! :)

# 100 — Visit "baby Paul" at college

... CHECK!!!!!!!!


Last weekend while I was in Chicago for Lori and Derek's Engagement session, I made plans to visit my youngest brother in Urbana/Champagne, Illinois.

We started with a tour of the campus, especially the lab where Paul works.


This is plasma ... I thought it was made up in Ghostbusters, but evidently, it's a real thing and Paul had photos to share. :-)

We then went around the rest of the campus. Isn't it beautiful?!?!!??!!!!


More fall beauty!


Check out the stunning leaves! I can't get OVER the awesome color. :-)


So glad to get another item knocked off of my 101 in 1001 list. :-)

On my trip to Chicago, I took a less conventional method of travel. When I was hanging at Joyce and Billy's wedding, one of Joyce's co-workers was talking about the Megabus. While I never found a ticket for $1, I *did* get tickets for under $50 one-way. Yup, that's a round trip to Chicago for less than $100! Unbelievable! And the best part was ... NO AIRPORT SECURITY!!!!!!


It was a long trip ... 10 hours up ... but pretty good. I rode on the top of the double-decker bus and was able to watch and be sure no one ran off with my luggage. :-)

And tickets to/from UIlli were less than $20 one-way.

I *did* get stircrazy on the trip ... and if the bus has been on the road for awhile, the toilet might be full and then you have to wait for one of the stops .. but stops are reasonable.

And a great part about using the bus ... it uses less fuel than a plane would, so I was actually hugging trees! :-)

I also have to give a big shout out to my awesome mother-in-law for letting us crash in KC, and for also meeting Erik half way to drop me off. Thanks, BA!