Moving Made Green?

 Wow! Check out this Eco-friendly option for packing and moving - without all that leftover cardboard!

Fortunately, this kind of company exists. Unfortunately, it's only in Orange County and LA! But I think this is fantastic! Especially those compostable "peanuts." I really hope this idea spreads and becomes something that is available to everyone! Check out their website, and let them know if you'd like to see them in your area!

Kill A Watt

I recently read about the Kill A Watt EZ Power Meter. In our Ameren Gas and Electric bill they always include a pamphlet about how to reduce energy costs. In one of the recent pamphlets it mentioned Ameren had donated these Kill A Watts to local libraries. To use it, plug it in to a 120-volt outlet then plug in an appliance you'd like to test. It will tell you how much it costs to run the appliance for a year, month, or day. It's amazing! Super informative and is definitely going to change my electricity habits. Here's what I found:

The Power Meter's default price is 10.7 cents per kWh, which is the price I used to test all the devices. All the prices are per month.

Laptop on and charging: $3.52/month
Laptop sleeping and charging: $2.77/month
Laptop off and charging: $1.95/month
Laptop off, not charging: $1.00/month

Cell phone charging: $.38

Fan set on level 1: $3.31
Fan set on level 2: $3.54
Fan set on level 3: $4.04

Lamp w/non energy saving bulb: $4.65
Lamp off and plugged in: $1.30
Lamp w/energy saving bulb: $1.07!!

Lamp w/non energy saving bulb: $5.39
Lamp w/ energy saving bulb: $2.00!!

Stereo (w/digital clock) not playing: $6.75
Stereo playing: $7.16

Microwave (w/digital clock) not running: $6.47

Air conditioner (yikes!) set at 72˚: $95.02!!
Air conditioner off: around $70.00, was gradually going down (but yikes!)

Power strip with TV, VCR, and router: $4.85 (seems like it should be more)

This was an eye opener! I was especially surprised by how big a difference there was once I changed the incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones (they use 2/3 less energy, produce less heat, and last 10x longer!). And the AC was a big surprise too! We've always tried to be smart about it though, turning it off at night and when we leave the house. But now we're going to have to unplug it too I think. At About.com it says the most energy efficient temperature to set your AC at is 78˚! That's 6˚ higher than what we usually have it on.

I think the bottom line of this experiment was to realize that devices can still draw energy even when they're turned off (known as "phantom loads"), like the stereo I always leave plugged in! According to the instructional booklet that came with the Kill A Watt "in the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off." I'm going to try to unplug things when they're not in use, especially my laptop; it has a battery for a reason!

A"mung" Friends

I recently took to sprouting some mung beans the other week. I rinsed the beans and placed them in an old olive jar and covered the lid with some cheesecloth. I rinsed them about every 8 to 12 hours. They started sprouting very quickly, and in about 2 days they were ready to refrigerate and eat! Check this site out for all things sprouts! http://sproutpeople.org/

Wheatgrass!

 Wheatgrass is my new favorite shot - and I definitely need a chaser with it. It's like slurping an entire lawn that's been covered in Splenda, but I'm really psyched about how healthy it is! Here's a post from Alicia Silverstone's website about it's benefits: 

http://www.thekindlife.com/post/ask-a-superhero-whats-up-with-wheatgrass

And I do feel better after I have it. Could be just a placebo effect, but whatever works!

Cloth Napkins

Ever sine we decided to stop buying paper towels and napkins, I've been on the lookout for some good quality cloth napkins that weren't more than $10 each (you're only wiping your mouth with 'em anyway!). Well, I finally realized I had the perfect kitchen towels for the job, I just had to cut them up and sew the edges. One towel equaled four napkins, so we have plenty now! They could also be used for handkerchiefs.

Green Juice

This morning I had my first ever green juice! It was not as bad as I expected, though certainly an acquired taste. I added a variety of veggies (all organic!) like spinach, kale, cucumber, and celery. I also added an apple, lemon, and a tiny piece of ginger. I filled a champagne glass with the cocktail to make it seem classier and I've been sipping it all morning.

The juicer we have is an Omega. I have no prior experience with juicers, but this one seems to do the trick. I recently checked out Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr from the library. Along with supporting a vegan diet she recommends eating mostly raw and swears by green juice. Apparently she drinks it morning, noon, and night. The book is actually one I'd consider buying since it's a great reference for anything to do with good nutrition.

Also, last night just by coincidence we watched a movie called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. We didn't know it before, but it was all about one man's journey of drinking nothing but juice for 60 days. Let me tell ya, he looked great in the end! Lost about 80 lbs in 2 months! He traveled across the US with a juicer in the trunk, talking to people about the challenge, and changing some minds on the way. Would definitely recommend it.

In a week or so we're going to attempt the 21 day challenge that is included in Kris Carr's book. It includes drinking a lot of green juice, cutting out gluten, and of course eliminating processed foods! Check back to see how it goes!

Homemade Almond Milk

I've been making almond milk for a while now, but I think I'm going to try to make it more often so I don't have to buy it at the store. That will be one less thing we have to recycle, plus the only ingredients in the homemade version are, you guessed it, almonds and water.

Almond Milk Recipe

1 cup raw almonds
4 cups water

Place almonds in a bowl and cover with water. Soak them overnight. The next day drain the almonds. Then you can choose to peel the almonds or leave the skins on. It's rather time consuming to peel all those almonds, but I do think the finished product looks more tempting. If you don't want to peel though, you'll definitely want to strain the liquid from the pulp once it's blended.

Place the almonds in the blender and add 2 cups of the water. Liquify! Then add the remaining 2 cups of water. Blend, strain, and enjoy! You can do this with other nuts and seeds too, like cashews and pepitas.

The Dryer is Dead

Yesterday, quite unexpectedly, our clothes dryer died. I think the over-sized comforter I put in there was just too much for it to handle. I had kind of been dreading the day when either the washer or dryer would go since we purchased both for $75 from the previous renters and they weren't exactly new when they had them installed.

At first I frantically jumped on Craigslist to find a new one. There are plenty out there, although most people are selling a washer and dryer together. There were some reasonable prices, but the hassle of the whole thing seemed such a burden; in little more than a year we will more than likely be moving out and lugging a washer and dryer to a new place seems too much trouble. And what if there's already a washer/dryer at our new place?

So for the time being we are excited to try air drying! I remember as a kid always having to hang clothes on the line for my mom. It was an annoying chore back then, but now it seems like such a novelty! Unfortunately until yesterday we did not have a clothesline. However, we did have one relic of a pole behind our garage cemented into the ground. It had hooks on it so all I had to do was buy some clothesline and a couple screw eyes. I screwed them into two adjacent trees and ran the line from the pole to the trees. Perfect!