Posted by admin on 29 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: green home
Click the button above for a great e-book on spring cleaning anytime of the year. I love the straight-forward nature of the author’s writing, simple and clear. Also, we share values around reducing STUFF and cleaning with non-toxic products. Enjoy the e-book for only $7.
Posted by anja on 26 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: activism, news, politics
This post is a great reminder about how our policies and actions in this country affect others thousands of miles away. The comments are worth reading as well, as many comment about how innocent people are affected by drug violence.
Posted by anja on 22 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Visit Simple Mom this weekend for some sage advice, and a lovely eco-friendly giveaway. The give away includes soy candles (non-polluting, not made from petroleum), some reusable produce bags, and a subscription for Pear Budget. Pretty sweet!
Posted by sarah on 14 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: food/health
How totally cool is this? As we’ve been working on becoming ‘urban homesteaders‘, I’ve wondered what could be done on a larger scale. I mean, it’s one thing to raise chickens on our 120 x 60ft lot, but it’s entirely another to attempt that same trick in my sister’s 600 square foot Chicago digs. I have to say though, I’m with Jerry Kaufman (and not just because he’s one of ours) Why does it have to be 30 stories? I’d be delighted to see a 2 or 3 story farm. Start Small. Work out the kinks. THEN dream big!
Posted by dave on 02 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized, green home
After sixteen years of sleeping on the same mattress set, we’ve splurged. W’s economic incentive rebate and most of our solar system rebate has been dutifully spread around. Beginning with a mattress that we hope will prove to be an
heirloom, we completed our new sleep platform. A 5″ thick hand made compressed wool mattress by Shepherd’s Dream has been dropped onto a set of latex foam strips, each glued to the slats of a wooden bed base. We are also enjoying the wool topper we bought to go with. They are shown together to the right. After 16 years of pillow top, we wanted more than a reed mat. We decided to opt for a queen sized IKEA Sultan Lovene which comes in two slat bases resting side by side. A single one is shown below to the left. Each base 
has it’s own independent adjustable section of slats located under the area where most of each person’s weight will be distributed.
This was no quick decision. We researched. We dialogued. We inquired. We sampled. We planned. And once we were granted the federal funds, we ordered. Shepherd’s Dream uses wool collected from sheep who are treated a certain way, by people who don’t believe in the use of hormones, etc., etc. The folks that make the mattresses charge enough to pay themselves a living wage (and they live in California). The sample was just large enough to lie down shoulders to hips, but it was the clincher. You’ll have to visit someone like us if you want to try it in full size, or go stay at a bed and breakfast in Canada. You won’t find their line in any show rooms because they don’t want to deal with retailers who may pressure them to do business in ways that they aren’t willing to compromise. Direct sales only. Smart in a know your limits sort of way, isn’t it? True to the testimonies, it really feels like a fine product.
IKEA’s bed base was a bit of a gamble on our part. We spent as much on keeping our bed frame and finding a way to support the mattress with it as we would have for a bed frame from Shepherd’s Dream. I like what we’ve found to go with our bed frame. But if we had it to do over again we would have ordered the Shepherd’s Dream box insert shown above to the right. The Sultan Lovene allows us the additional option to tip-up the head of the bed while reading, but we really haven’t used it yet. It also provides an area of adjustable firmness for each person, as well as independent support for each person, but the latex foam provided independent support anyway. It will allow the mattress to breath similar to the Shepherd’s Dream slat base. We tried the mattress set directly on the IKEA bed base and we could feel the slats. We were glad that we had ordered the latex foam strips which have been glued down over each slat. The latex strips are shown below to the left. Ours are not visible when the bed is made, but a few can be seen when it is not. The main challenge was that 
our bed frame has no midbeam, so wooden slats alone wouldn’t work. Initially, I thought I would want to install one of my own. But the prospect of watching our head board and foot board gradually come unglued during our slumber drove my search for another option. Our bed frame is designed for a box spring. The set of Bedbridge Trusses 
that I ordered provide support for the wooden slat bed bases by spanning from one side rail to the other, and come with adjustable posts supporting them at their midpoints. This is a major compromise on going with all wood support, and was not a green nor an inexpensive choice. Because I’m no engineer, I ordered another set offered by the same company that comes with a single truss, and a pair of Bedbridge Beams. That gives us four trusses with center posts and a pair of beams that have no posts. I’ve spaced them evenly, using the beams at the head and foot of the bed bases, and the trusses under the weight bearing portions of the bed bases. A new bed frame or the bed box that Shepherd’s Dream offers would have been greener options, but I was convinced I had a better idea. These are the sturdiest products I could find to go with the IKEA product, and I’m confident that they will support the bed bases for as long as they last.
About IKEA’s Customer Support. While ordering, the lack of a confirmation page led me to believe that my first attempt to order hadn’t gone through. I ordered a second time, and the confirmation page showed that second order, but not the first. That’s right, I ordered two sets of bed bases. When they arrived, I was confused, and immediately navigated to their customer support page. Although I did have to wait a couple of days for a response, they credited our account, and I have been told to dispose of the extra set of bed bases. What could beat that?
So what is it like to sleep on after a month? I like it. With the latex foam and the topper, it feels like a firm mattress with a pillow top. I haven’t played with the slat bed’s firmness, but it is adjustable as long as you don’t completely glue down the latex foam across the entire surface of a certain section of slats. The directions are to leave the covers down during the day which suits me fine. There is enough give in this foundation, yet we don’t seem to feel the other person moving when they turn. I’ve also spent nights spread out across the center while Anja was away traveling, and there isn’t any problem sleeping over the seam between the twin IKEA slat bases. I really like the idea of not needing to throw a mattress into the landfill.
Posted by elena on 22 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
This is a cool website for kids that has some fun activities and games. It’s all about the environment and it’s pretty creative! Check it out- http://www.meetthegreens.org/
Enjoy!
Posted by anja on 18 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Check out this link to some inspiring college students making a difference where they can.
Posted by sarah on 17 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: food/health, green home
What to do… what to do? We have just learned that our food co-op has suspended operations and will not be delivering our monthly groceries. That means, among other things, that we are out of coffee and toilet paper. This is not good news.
We haven’t learned why exactly but we know that the co-op has been struggling. (It’s been evident by the number of things that have been back-ordered over the last six months.) I can’t help but wonder though if much of the struggle has to do with the still limited interest in natural and organic foods.
Last week I attended this conference. In order to offer a mix of small and large group learning experiences, the conference offered 20 different learning tracks. Each learning track had 20-30 participants and provide opportunity for discussion. My learning track was “Beyond Consumerism” and while I won’t hash out all the details I will say that I was shocked that those who were leading the discussion were not particularly well versed in the ways in which consumers can purchase food that either lightens the carbon footprint of the consumer or supports the farmer with a substantial percentage of the sticker price or both.
For example, one leader had spent time in Costa Rica and was discussion coffee exports. Roughly, for a pound of fairly trade coffee, the grower is getting $1.26, for the non-fairly traded pound, the grower gets 70-90 cents. (click here for a visual comparison). And we are paying, in this country, $8-$12/lb for the same coffee. The thing that bothered me the most is it seemed (although was never said explicitly) that buying fairly traded products doesn’t matter and it was even implied that the certification process is not to be trusted.
Is it a perfect system? No. Of course not. But should we completely disregard it? I think that is irresponsible (not to mention cynical and pessimistic.) But clearly, responsible food is not yet in the mainstream and companies that sell and distribute it are struggling and leaving consumers to piece together less than ideal buying solutions. So…
For the time being, it looks like coffee will come from Coffee Bean Direct and TP from theearthshack.com
Are you part of the growing number concerned about food? How do you buy green?
Posted by anja on 04 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Grocery shopping is interesting at our house. Rarely these days do we go to a regular grocery store. I’ve managed to piece together several different sources where we can get quality food at prices that are often lower than the grocery store.
We purchase milk and eggs directly from a farmer about 1 1/2 hours from our house. The farmer delivers our order and several other families orders to our house once per month. The milk is not certified organic, but they do use organic practices. The eggs are from ranging chickens, who get to peck at the ground eating bugs, so their eggs are large, deep yellow and really nutritious. The farm has a little store where they carry food that is healthful for those following the Weston A. Price Foundation guidelines for diet. There’s raw milk cheeses, lacto-fermented foods, sea salt, natural sweetners, and sprouted grain breads to choose from.
Another source of year-round food for us is our natural foods co-op. We buy from Natural Farms, a natural foods distributor out of Madison. This order is also monthly, and we buy many things in bulk, saving on packaging and pricing.
We have hooked in with other folks who occasionally make runs for natural meats–Amish raised chickens, turkeys (in fall), chicken brats–and sometimes eggs, too. I also buy coconut oil from another co-operative group about 2-3 times per year.
In season, the Farmers’ Market is about the most fun way to grocery shop ever. It’s like a festival every Saturday. There are some good ones in the area. Appleton has a lovely market, and the market in Madison is worth the drive. I’d love to see comments from folks with their favorite markets.
Of course, since I work there, The Red Radish is a place where we get food, too.
We finally own a piece of property that gets enough sun to attempt having a garden, so we will hopefully see a bountiful harvest of tomatoes and peppers there this season.
Some of our favorite local farms are:
So, lots of people ask why I do all this. I love the community around food. I love the connection with other people who wish to purchase quality foods for their families, and who are concerned for the impact our food raising has on the earth. I’ve learned a lot from many of these folks, gotten to know them over the years, and it’s a joy to greet them and purchase my food from them. I don’t have that kind of connection to our food if I go to a big box grocery store. While I’m not a purist (I do buy avocadoes, citrus fruits, bananas, etc), I like that much of our food is local.
I welcome comments from folks who have their own great sources of food, so that we can share.
Posted by kirk on 04 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: barnyard
Our backyard barnyard experiment is now underway. We picked up 11 little chicks yesterday afternoon from our local farmer friend. They are all a full 24 hours old and seem to be doing just fine. I’m not too sure what breeds we will be raising, but I do know that we will be having bantam (miniature) birds. They should get to be around 4 pounds max - fluff and all. They are living on our sun porch in a huge box with food, water and a little heat from a pair of lamps. Everyone is very excited by the new additions to our family. For now
they are eating a basic starter feed from the hardware store. Once they get a little bigger, and quite honestly as soon as I finish the coop and run, they will move outside to eat from our yard as well as the supplemental store feed. I’ll keep you posted on their progress.