Better Than Recycling: Freecycle

I have to tell you that when someone reaches out to me for a recycling question, it absolutely makes my day. It means that I have a reputation for recycling and therefore I might have all the answers. And if I don't have all the answers, I will almost certainly look them up because I want to maintain this reputation.

I have a new friend and her name is Jessica. Jessica married one of Matt's friends, Aaron. She actually graduated high school with Matt but I didn't get the pleasure of meeting her until she was dating Aaron. I remember seeing her at an OSU football game and I was really impressed with her for wearing orange because I knew she was an OU graduate. My first impression of her was that she was a real sport. Here's a picture that includes Jessica from the Tacky Christmas Sweater Party I threw. I really felt like I needed to point on that it was a tacky sweater party because she traditionally dresses quite nice and her sweater is the only one you can see in this picture.

Jessica is actually one of the nicest people I know. She is one of those people that is so nice that it sort of makes you feel like you're a horrible person because how can so much genuine kindness be packed into one little person?? That being said, I am trying to become good friends with Jessica because she is definitely a friend I would be lucky to have. 

She sent me a text message shortly after Christmas and asked me a few questions about recycling because she had some DVD cases that she wanted to recycle and they only took #1 & #2 plastics where she lives. Fortunately, my town takes all the way through #7 plastics. I told her about an app called iRecycle that tells you where you can recycle all kinds of things where you live. I told her that when she came over for the party she could bring the DVD cases to me and I would just stick them in our recycling. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we have curbside recycling. It is the coolest thing. It is my life's mission to get curbside recycling everywhere in Oklahoma. EVERYWHERE! 

Anyway, she brings them over and they are in excellent condition. She had taken all of the movie labels out and stacked them in a nice bag. I looked at them and thought "Man, it would be a shame to recycle perfectly good items like these.... I have an idea..."

There is website where you can ask for or give away any kind of item, but the only stipulation is that it is free. I believe my former roommate Abbey introduced me to this site and it is also highlighted in the book No Impact Man.  It's very much like a Craigslist for free stuff, but it has much less clutter and navigation because it's all free. 

This is the home page.

Then you type in your city (or your nearest large city). I typed in Oklahoma City. Here is a list of examples that people offer or want. There's all kinds of random stuff on there. Sometimes people ask for strange enormous things like working cars and I always wonder if that works out for them. A  lot of times people post stuff like requests for gardening materials or children's clothes. There are frequent offers for old tube TVs.

 One time someone asked for wine corks. I assume this was for some Pinterest project. I responded to her and told her that we were not short of wine corks around here. I use them for decorations for myself, but I am also certain there are plenty more where they came from so I offered them up. I responded to the post which linked to her email and included my generic email address to make communication easier. She lived in South OKC and I told her that since corks are light it would be easier just to mail them to her if she didn't mind giving me her address. I put them in a box that I had re-purposed from an Amazon shipment (because I mean, we have to take the recycling full circle, right?) and for a few bucks off they went. After she received them she sent me a really sweet email about the blessing I had been to her. She told me that she and her husband had fallen on some hard times and it meant so much that I was willing to go out of my way for her because the gas money to pick them up would have been hard to come by. She never told me what she was doing with the corks but I like to assume it was for some project that she was going to use them to sell in a craft fair and make some money that her family really needed. I like happy endings. 

So instead of recycling Jessica's DVD cases, I thought I would post them on Freecycle just to see what happened. Remember, the order is Reduce>Reuse> Recycle... so if you can reuse something that's actually much better than using the energy and materials to recycle them. 

Here's my post. 

I left a post-it note on my desk to remind me to check that generic email address I have this website linked to. After a few days I started to think I was going to have to recycle them after all. Then I got an email from a very nice elderly gentleman asking if I still had them. I sure do!

He told me that he was retired and could pick them up anytime. I didn't want to give someone I didn't know my personal address so I told him to meet me at the Walgreens close to our house. A nice public place. I also had Matt and his friend follow me there on their way to a poker tournament to make sure that I didn't get kidnapped or anything. 

It turned out that he was exactly who he said he was. He had his adorable little wife with him who had to have been 107 years old. I said hello, put the cases in their trunk, and was on my way. He emailed me a couple days later and thanked me since we didn't get to talk at Walgreens. He said that he had several CDs that didn't have cases that he wanted to protect. Hey, cool by me! I am glad that he didn't spend his money buying cases that I could give him, and I am also glad that these perfectly good items found a new home. 

You really could post just about anything on there. I am hanging on to my egg cartons for my parent's neighbor who has her own chickens and had posted on Facebook in the past that she needed some. I am hoping that she'll give my parents some free eggs out of the deal. To her credit the last time my parents dropped the cartons off I think she did give them some. Aww... community....

I also have a box of candle holders with lids. When they're done burning I just wipe out the excess wax and after I have several I'll post them of Freecycle in case someone makes their own candles or something. Who knows? 

Poor Matt. These little projects have to make him crazy. I tried to put things away in boxes in closets so he doesn't see them. One time he found my jar collection. I hang on to jars so I can give away my home made salsa and pickled okra. I will never forget him walking into the kitchen with the box in his hand. "What are these??????" "They're my jars. Put them back." 

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What is it, exactly, that you do?

This weekend was especially nice because it was the first weekend that I have in recent memory where we didn't really do much. We had a few people over on Friday night, stayed home Saturday instead of going to the game because I wasn't feeling well, and yesterday we caught up on a bunch of random stuff around the house. I even bought a seed planter thing so I could get started with my garden in my garage. I really hope it works out because that is going to save a ton of money on plants. I also had no idea what I was doing. I may have over planted. We will see.
In light of having a little extra time, time to breathe and reflect I thought I would tell you a little more about my work.
People often need some clarification on what it is that I do. It isn't that what I do is really that technical or very difficult to understand. I think what really gets a lot of people is the "why?"
I have become recently aware of the depths of how little people know of what I do due to mostly family having to ask me, even lately. I am used to friends being curious. Usually we will be at an event together and I will have a one on one conversation with a friend or one of Matt's friends (which I have now adopted as my friends). We will be enjoying small talk and they get that all too familiar "I've been meaning to ask you" look which is followed by, "So, what is it, exactly, that you do?" and I never can tell how detailed of an answer they want and I generally guess wrong. Then they usually follow up with something that I find pretty entertaining about what they had imagined I had been doing all this time.

For grins, I looked up some of those "What people think I do" posts everyone was doing for a while. Here is what I found for environmental science.

And then I realized that these are actually quite easy to make for yourself, so I made one to more closely represent what I do. 

I think my friends fall into a couple of camps of what they think I do. I either chill a lot with no job and drink wine. The wine part is true. Or they think I have this crazy obsession with the planet that perhaps lacks much sense. I think this is due to the fact that we live in a state that is sort of famous for being anti-environmental. We can talk more on that later over  glass of wine if you like.  When I was getting my master's degree at OSU my mom told everyone I was in law school. This may have added to the confusion. I like to think I participate in really cool projects that are innovative and resourceful and efficient.  What I really do for the most part is write a lot of papers. But let me better explain. 

First, I got my B.S. in Environmental Science with a focus on environmental policy at Oklahoma State University in 2009 with the intention to study environmental law. It turns out that there aren't any environmental law programs in Oklahoma, only energy law which isn't the same thing. I had no desire to leave the state (or pay out of state tuition) when I graduated, so I decided to go get my M.S. in Environmental Policy and Conflict Management at OSU. My M.S. gave me a stronger foundation in environmental policy and also led me to an interest in sustainability at the higher education level. I wrote my thesis on the position of Sustainability Coordinators at colleges and universities and evaluated the underlying characteristics of why some universities had them while others didn't. That was an adventure. My concepts were good, but my statistical methods were poor, even with my application of SPSS (a statistical software) for Dummies. PS- Shout out to Crystal for helping me survive that endeavor. 

Anyway, I decided to keep going to school after Matt and I got married to get my Ph.D. in environmental policy even though I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it except be an expert at sustainability at colleges and universities. What I was going to apply that to, I wasn't sure yet. 

However, Texas Tech University doesn't have an advanced degree in environmental science. They did have some faculty in the political science department that focused their research on environmental issues, so I could try to fit in there. So now I am in the political science department, but much less interested in politics in any capacity that I am in sustainability at the higher education level. 

For the last 2.5 years I have been taking classes and presenting my work at conferences which is why I read and do research all the time. It is also part of the reason why I travel so much if you keep up with me on Facebook.  That is one of the great benefits of working in higher education. The travel opportunities are great as long as you're willing to write a paper and present your work. My most recent conference has lead me to my dissertation topic so that was a great outcome. 

I also actually work. Like a real job. I am a teaching assistant and fortunately have been working with online classes for a couple of years. I hold office hours, answer LOTS of emails, figure out technical issues, etc. I actually get paid and if you consider all of my tuition waivers I consider it a pretty fair wage, comparable to what many people my age that work full-time make. 

As you know, I just took my comprehensive exams which upon passing places me into the "All But Dissertation" (ABD) status. This means that my full-time job is to work on my dissertation which is essentially like writing a book. I will do this from home and perhaps take on a job teaching or facilitating sustainability projects at a college or university because being ABD typically qualifies an individual to do so.  

What do I want to be when I grow up?

My dream job is to serve as a Sustainability Coordinator at a college. A Sustainability Coordinator is essentially how it sounds, but the position varies from one school to the next. They essentially are a central hub of information regarding sustainability at a school such as recycling, water consumption reduction, energy use reduction, a resource for student groups to see their projects come to fruition, an accounting authority of sustainability measures, etc.  I would also like to teach at a university since I have had so much formal training. I have taught two online classes, and I love giving guest lectures. I also really like research so I would like to produce a couple papers a year while serving in the above capacities. 

I like higher education because colleges are like little cities with a multitude of functions, but also room for creativity. Colleges can serve as living labs for cities and states to ultimately pursue policies which have proven to work at smaller levels. I want to be part of those endeavors. 

As for my day to day, from now until graduation I will do research. Right now I am working on a national survey to measure student's knowledge and approaches to recycling before and after a national recycling competition. It's very interesting if you're into that sort of thing, and luckily I am. 

Now I am going to get back to work.

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Going Green & Saving Some: Fabric Refresher

This edition of "Going Green and Saving Some" focuses on Fabric Refresher 

Mine says "Faux-Breze" because I think I'm cute. I found a recipe on Pinterest (of course). You can find their recipe here. I used an old fabric refresher bottle and went for it. The ingredients are fabric softener, baking soda, and water. Easy things to have on hand (and so you could technically call it free....)

As far as the "green" I think the only thing I really did was save a bottle and purchase fewer products. I looked up the ingredients for the tiny amount of fabric softener I used versus the ingredients of an entire bottle of Febreze.

And then I realized that I am not a chemist and don't really know the environmental impact of one set of ingredients over the other. If I were more motivated I would look them up. That may be for another blog post. 

What's the result? Is it worth a darn? Actually- yes! I like it just as well as name brand stuff, and I like the price much better so it's a keeper. 

You might be asking me in your head, "Now Shanna, are you going to just say that everything you try to make yourself and be cheap and eco-friendly works?" To which I reply, no, no I am not. Here's a couple of examples of things that didn't work out at all. 

I made my own insecticide. The recipe only called for hydrogen peroxide and water. I used an old glass cleaning bottle, cleaned it out really well and got to work (after I went off and cleaned every mirror and window in this house to use the rest of the bottle). 

As you can see below... that WAS my Kale. I had a great Kale crop this year and these little green bugs that were like caterpillars or something really liked them too. This is what it looked like when we got back from Colorado. Bummer! 

 I also don't think I applied it often enough, but I think I'll try something new next time.


Oh, and you know all of those posts where they say just put the ends of onions in water and they'll grow up again? No way. This is the before. I wont show you the after because after weeks it was just a gross mushy mess. Matt kept getting irritated with my "science" on the window sill. Finally I threw it away.

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Going Green & Saving Some: Laundry Detergent

Welcome to my new series of blog posts which will feature ways that we are saving money and the environment at the same time. I am tired of spending money on products that are easy to make and consumption (especially packaging) makes me a little nuts, so here's some of my efforts to operate efficiently to meet my goals. First up: Laundry Detergent. 

Pinterest has a lot of really good ideas. It also has a lot of really goofy ideas and one day I'll do a whole post of my Pinterest projects that have gone terribly wrong. But one that has gone rather well is making my own liquid laundry detergent. At first I thought the idea sounded like it wouldn't be very successful but my friend Christen told me about how she was making her own and was having great results. 

So I found a recipe on Pinterest that was pretty simple so I decided to give it a whirl. You can find it here. There are only 3 ingredients and I found them all in the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart even though I hate shopping at Wal-Mart. I left out the option to use essential oils to make it smell different ways. I thought it smelled pretty good on its own (sort of a lemon scent) but maybe next time I'll experiment. The cost was about $9 because my mom gave me an old icing bucket from work that had a lid on it. (The author of the recipe includes the cost of the bucket in her total cost). 

$9. For 10 gallons of laundry soap. $9. 

Oh and $8 of those $9 were on borax and washing soda that I only used about 1/8 of the box. Therefore, I only need to buy the $1 Fels-Naptha bar for future batches. So that's more like $17 for 80 gallons of laundry detergent. 

As you can see below, I took an old laundry soap dispenser I had bought. I got tired of buying laundry soap all the time so I finally bought a big one. I want to say it was $12 and it was on sale. 

So let's do some math. If that container of laundry detergent is 1.17 gallons for $12 then 80 gallons would cost $820.52 (before tax). So including future batches that I make I have a savings of $803.52!!!!!!!!  Do you know how many things I could do with $803.52??

How does it work? It works just fine. I haven't noticed any problems at all. 

I made my own little labels that include the ingredients and how much to use per load (about 5/8 c. for a regular sized load in a normal top loading washer). 

I also realized after looking at the labels that I don't think this can be counted as "organic". I didn't want to change the label because wasting the paper and tape didn't seem very "green" to me. 

I have also been recycling other old containers to hold the detergent and giving it to family and friends. This is the one that I gave to Anna. 

You might be saying, okay Shanna, I get how you're saving green, but how exactly are you going green?
I am glad that you asked.

First, I am reusing all of the milk jugs and essentially all containers that have a lid that I can get my hands on. So there goes several new containers that I am not buying. Remember, in terms of protecting the environment, the order is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Also, I am reducing the shipping of products that I buy both for the product to the store, and for myself to the store to home. Even more, if I weren't reusing the bottles I would be recycling them. Now I'm reducing the shipping of the items to be recycled. Although I imagine at the end of their life if the bottles start breaking down I will eventually recycle them.

I am also using this as an opportunity to raise awareness about how easy this is to encourage others. Obviously through my blog, and also by giving batches to my friends. It is free to them because I did all the work and gave it away, so they can determine if it is something that they like and might want to start taking on themselves.

The whole thing at the end of the day was a fun project. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

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The Thing About Nothing

Home. Home Sweet Home. I'm finally here!
What a semester! Whew! So glad it's over. I have never worked so hard throughout (and at the end of) a semester in my life. Grades turned out really well too. Except a B+ from a crazy person. Seriously. I don't like to make excuses for my grades, I hate excuses all together. All I am saying is that perhaps I would have gotten an A++ because I find the subject extremely interesting (Public Budgeting) if my teacher didn't have so much disdain for his students. For example, he would continually respond to my emails by calling me "Sheena" even though my name was all over them. But that's not really a big deal, right? I mean, he could just be senile, right? People get that way when they're 104 years old and still teaching, right? Well what about when he yelled at the girl who was nearly deaf that if she spoke in class again he would ask her to leave. She explained that she was asking her friend to repeat what he (the professor) had said because she was hard of hearing. To which the professor replied, well then your friend can leave too. Cray cray. These were common occurrences in this course. So basically I knew from class 2 what my grade was going to be and I have had time to cope. I sound like it, right?

Any way, all is well that ends (moderately) well and I am ready for an awesome summer. I haven't said much about it, but as of Friday I'll have a second Master's degree. I haven't made a big deal out of it, and I am not walking at graduation, even though I worked just as hard (actually probably harder) for this one that I did for the first one. I guess I figure that I had enormous life events happen just 2 years ago (can you believe it has been 2 years?!?) with graduation and the wedding all within 2 weeks of each other.  It feels a little gluttonous to try to get people excited about something else. But rest assured, this girl is totally celebrating in a very big way when I finally graduate with the PhD (Lord willing).

But now it is time to celebrate the summer.  I still have many projects for school to work on this summer, but without the pressure of deadlines. I am also teaching a course again this summer online (technology really is amazing).  I resolved a few weeks ago that I as soon as I got home I was going to take a few days off from school and just regroup and try to put the rest of my life back together. And to readjust to being home. Like, pulling clothes out of a drawer rather than a suit case. Yesterday on Facebook I proclaimed that I was going to do NOTHING.  I did a great job. I did my part to clear off some of the DVR.  I read something that I actually wanted to read. I laid out on top of the hot tub and tanned.  I unloaded a whole 2 boxes out of my car. I went to Sprouts and grocery shopped which was more fun than a chore because I was curious. Then my dear friend Anna texts me:
-Are you in town?
-Come with me to the Thunder game tonight! My treat!
-Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!? We can celebrate your being done with class!
-And you have plenty of time to get ready because it doesn't start until 8:30

I think she was getting anxious because I left my phone in the house when I was laying out. Of course I said yes! She got some AWESOME tickets from someone at work who was a very generous soul.  I had a great time catching up with her and watching the game. It was SOO close! And if you were watching the game last night, I totally called that Randolph guy from the Grizzlies missing those free throws.

We sat next to a girl who told us she had just had her last round of intense chemotherapy. She had a wonderful attitude. My heart breaks for her, and my prayer is that it really is the end of the treatments for her, so she can go on and have a long and wonderfully happy and healthy life.

Today I decided to channel my inner hippie.  I went out to the garden because I wanted to make a salad from our home grown goodness. Here's an update on how things are going.

This is plot 1. Check out that head lettuce! It really is making heads of lettuce with leaves that fold upon each other. I don't know what I expected (maybe that the bugs would try to eat them before it got to that point) but it's awesome!

We have very tiny strawberries growing. I ate one the other day. Tasted like a strawberry!

This is Plot 2. We have artichoke on the right growing really well, but still no artichokes. Then Kale in the middle. Then broccoli on the left. 

Now our broccoli looks more like something you put in a vase than something you eat. This is problematic. So I've spent part of the morning watching YouTube videos on how and when to harvest each type of vegetable we have. It turns out we let our broccoli go tooooo far. So I cut off the tops and they'll grow again. I stuck them in the composter so they can be part of future gardening projects. Circle of life folks. Circle of life. 

This is Plot 3. My pride and joy! My experimental plot. You may remember me describing this when we first put the garden in. I used my own compost and we planted everything from seeds (except Matt's tomato plant). I wasn't sure that this was going to succeed because well, I had no idea what the true nutrient content was of my compost like I did with the store bought stuff. I also worried about growing from seeds. But look! It's doing great! We have spinach, lettuce (not sure which variety), squash, zuchinni, and egg plant on the right. We also have some random stuff growing that we forgot to mark when we planted it, so it will have to be a surprise. 

I went through and grabbed as much as I needed of each thing. I forgot to mention the green onions too. I also cut off the roots of the green onions (not the entire bulb, just the entire root plus a tiny portion of the bulb) and replanted them in my experimental plot. Don't tell Matt though because he probably thinks that's a goofy idea. You might think that too. But what if it's a genius idea??

Because I am clever I have decided to make planters out of my "planters" nut cans. I tried this once and it didn't work out, but I think it is because I didn't have holes in the bottom and the water can't percolate out and you don't want your seeds water logged.  So I rummaged through Matt's tool box (don't tell him that either) and jabbed some holes with a screw driver (free therapy!). I used my compost again and planted some dill and Swiss chard (which will have to be transplanted if it takes off). This is upcycling if I have ever seen it, folks! Assuming that this works. 

So I came in with my veggies and sprayed it all down really good with some fruit and vegetable wash which gets all of the bad stuff off. Although, when it comes from the garden and we don't use pesticides or anything (or not as far as Matt tells me) water would probably do just fine. I also use this stuff when I get things from the grocery store. It cost about $3 at whole foods.  And while we're on the topic, I've started to steer away from using those plastic bags for produce.  I have some reusable ones that I use when I remember to bring them in (I have many fewer produce bags than the actual grocery bags). I've decided that while it may seem less sanitary to set the produce itself in the basket and on the conveyor belt at check out, in reality it can't be much different than having a bunch of hands on your food anyway. I just make a practice of thoroughly washing everything when I get home and I save myself having to recycle those bags, and I save the planet in the process. The check out clerks don't seem to mind either. Not that that would bother me. 

Here's a bowl of our salad for tonight! Shown is 100% from our garden. I am going to add some carrots and strawberries that I got at the store, but this looks great! Considering the number of inputs we have made to this garden already, this may be the most expensive salad I will ever eat. However, I'm hoping those costs drastically improve over time and we will have great fresh produce for years to come.

I am going to pair it with Seared Ahi Tuna which I Googled how to make today. It was on sale at Sprouts so I decided to go for it.

Going to continue my relaxation days with more reading, maybe drink some wine, hang out with the boys, and watch some Modern Family.

My version of "nothing" is really "lots of things" but filled with things that I prefer to do. But truth be told, I like to keep busy.

Tomorrow I may even be inspired to leave my house and pick up some items for our Italy trip and a gift for Danielle's birthday. Look forward to many more posts this summer!

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The Garden of Good and Crazy

 

This week has been spring break and boy did I need it. If you saw my post last week and that was a testament from a woman who needed to go home and have some away from school time. I'm going to do a separate post on spring break, so I'll skip to this past weekend.

 

 

Matt's job has this cool schedule where he works 9 hour days so he gets every other Friday off. We typically plan something or other during this time, may it be a project or a trip, even smaller trips like seeing our parents. Or a home and garden show. His Fridays off are typically Matt and Shanna days. We kicked around the idea of going to Fredericksburg, Texas like we did last year and tour the wineries. Well we got a late start on planning and there weren't many options in the cabin department left. Then we thought about going to Eureka Springs, Arkansas but the idea of traveling all day on Sunday to get home and then all day on Monday to get back to school wasn't that appealing. So we decided to take the money we would have spent on a trip (and the time) and use it towards building our garden because we enjoyed it so much in Midland.

 

I love gardening. I think it's really fun, and a life skill that is important to have. I'm also concerned about climate change and I don't necessarily think the world is going to end (at least I hope not) but it isn't unreasonable to think that food costs could drastically increase due to changing climate (and increasing populations) so it couldn't hurt to save some costs by having a garden. Eventually I want to do a "Grocery vs. Garden" cost post. I am pretty confident that the actual plant cost will be less than I'll spend on vegetables this summer. And in about a hundred years we will probably be able to cover the costs of the garden plots.

 

So Friday we went outside and started thinking about our plan. I had a picture in my  head, but no idea how to execute it. We also wanted to build for the purpose of cost consideration, longevity, and aesthetics. Obtaining all three of these is not easy. So we made our plan and headed to Lowe's. 

 

 

 

 

Too much. That's how much it cost.

So this is the before. This is the side of our yard. We have lots of slopes and strange things that break up our yard. This section also gets the most sun light. This is also the section where we would ever put a pool. I suppose I wont be getting a pool.

Matt designed 3 plots. We bought cedar wood because it is rot resistant. It smells really  nice too (priorities). These suckers are also really heavy. Matt had to do all kinds of wizardry to get these level because our yard is strangely sloped. I am glad I married an engineer because I would have just left 'em. Honestly, I probably would have just dug some holes in the ground and then put some pavers around it, added a little top soil (who am I kidding? I probably would have bought like 10 bags of miracle grow not knowing what I was going).

Then we lined them with landscape fabric to prevent the weeds and grass from growing through. This was my job. It was like wrapping an inverted present. Matt likes to check over my handiwork. Apparently I don't use enough staples.

While Matt cut all of the wood Pistol and I would supervise. Pistol is a master supervisor.

The last person who owned our house had a bunch of pea gravel along one strip behind the house. We have been very curious as to what on earth to do with it because it's hard to walk on and you can't put any furniture on it. We had an estimate done to have them remove it and put in concrete. That wasn't in the budget. So, I had the idea to put some of it at the bottom of our garden plots to allow for drainage in the garden. I learned a thing or two in my plant and soil science class back at OSU. I hope. So we put in a layer at the bottom. Then we covered it with top soil. A lot of top soil.

Then we tilled in 1 bag of compost for two of the plots. It smelled really bad. Like fish or something. Something bad. Oh.... and you might ask: Shanna, why are you wearing sweats?? Wasn't it nice this weekend? Oh, it was extremely nice Friday and Saturday. But Sunday. Sunday was a dreary no good for working in the garden day. Had to finish the job though! Also I'd like you to take note of my pink John Deere working gloves. My dad bought them for me. Perhaps out of shock that I wanted working gloves. Dad, if you're reading this, this project was NOT the first time I have worn them (maybe 1 of 5).


Now let's talk about compost. If you want to read about some of my initial composting you can read about it here. I love composting. I take the discarded vegetables from cooking or juicing and I put them in a little bin under my sink. A lady at the sustainability conference that I went to in L.A. back in October gave me a whole box of the composting bags that line the bin instead of the 2 or 3 they gave to passers by. Then I take the bag out to the composter and Matt also puts yard waste out there. We left our last composter at the other house because I believe there was "no way in hell" we were moving a bin of dirt to Oklahoma. I mailed the new homeowners a pamphlet on how it worked and why it was an asset. I hope they kept it. Any way, the new composter is cooler because it turns with a lever and our last one didn't. I had to hand turn it with a rake standing on top of a bench and it was really a mess at the last house. Also, there's actually humidity in Oklahoma and water is essential for the organic breakdown process to work. All I did in Midland was essentially petrify a bunch of bread and vegetables. I would water it weekly, but it wasn't really working. But I was diverting material from the landfill!

Okay, so here's what it looks like in the composter. This is about 7 months of materials. On the left you can see one of my green composting bags and eventually it will just turn into part of the mix (about a dozen already have!). See how dark it is? That means it's nutrient rich and prime for adding to the garden because it will help my plants grow.

This is what it looks like from a better view. It's behind our garage so I can just walk back there and dump my stuff in. It's literally easier than taking out the trash and it makes me feel like a good little environmentalist. And it's science and I think that's fun.

Here's a bucket full of compost from the composter ready to be added to the garden. I was extremely excited about this because I wasn't sure this project was going to work. I was sort of afraid I was just going to have a barrel of rotting vegetables, and not in a good way. This really didn't smell bad. Is essentially smelled like dirt. It smelled significantly better than the stuff we bought at Lowe's.  I got two bucket fulls for my garden. It wasn't a ton, but it freed up some room in the composter so I could add more things over time, which I was starting to need. This is prime free stuff, folks!

 

This was just 1 bucket full. Now, we have 3 plots. Matt agreed that I could use the third plot as my "experiment" plot. I want to use it to learn. So this is the plot where my compost will be used. I also want to plant seeds in here because it's a little harder to grow plants from seeds than the pre-germinated ones you get at the store. I also want to yield an actual garden, so 2 of the plots are going to come from the more tried and true (by us) methods. But who knows? Maybe this plot will be the best? At the end of the day, I'll at least learn things first hand from this plot. What works, what doesn't.

 

 

 This is what the final product looks like. It looks sort of simple for how much work we put into it. We did every piece ourselves, including cutting all of the wood down. It also has potential for some decoration in the future. Sometime after I forget how much work this took. We have lots of lettuces planted, strawberries, onions, kale, and artichoke. When it gets a little warmer we will plant cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and surely several other things. If you come see us this summer we'll cook you dinner with lots of home grown goodness.

If I could get Matt to let me put a chicken in the back yard we would really be in business!

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The Everlasting Apple

How old would you say this apple is? It looks pretty normal. It feels pretty normal when you pick it up. No discoloration. Looks pretty good. No reason not to eat it, right?

Well this apple has been sitting in my office refrigerator since before Christmas break. So 3+ months. Gross.

Matt and I signed up for Netflix and intended to cancel it after the free 3-month trial. Of course that hasn't happened yet because there's just so much interesting stuff on there. I am a total documentary junkie. I especially like documentaries on food and farming. I've also been reading some books on farming. If you have any interest, I really liked the book "Farm City." It's about a woman who lives in the ghetto of Oakland, California and she created her own little farm using an open plot of land next to her apartment. The book is really entertaining and funny, and it also makes you realize how much effort goes into producing food. It makes it painfully clear that what we pay at the grocery store is grossly under priced if we actually think about the inputs of producing quality food. 

So the reason why I think it's gross that this apple is perfectly fine after 3+ months is what the heck type of stuff is put into or on this during its growth to make it last this long?? Our food is supposed to decay. What is all of the processed food doing to our digestive system if it doesn't naturally break down? What are we so willingly putting into our bodies? This is produce for crying out loud! This should be the ideal food to put in our bodies. If this isn't breaking down, what can be said for all of the boxed meals that we put into bodies? What about cheaply made convenience foods?

 Yesterday morning I watched the documentary "Killer at Large."  It specifically discusses the obesity rates of children and how much sugar and processed food goes into the meals provided by the school systems. What makes matters worse is that the system of payments to the school by the USDA is essentially built around providing nutrient deficient foods to meet calorie requirements. A tator-tot is considered a vegetable. Yes, you read that right. Now, I'm not a parent and so I try to be careful about the things I say I am going to do in terms of parenting until I've walked in those shoes, because something tells me that choices made based on convenience and time are a whole new ball game when you have someone who demands so much of your time. I am especially convinced that this is true because when I am super busy with work, I just eat what ever I can find because there's no time to prepare. Fortunately, I typically stock my work fridge with healthy options so I am forced to eat those items instead of something that may taste better. Essentially, when you're short on time you eat what is available to you.  I can imagine that this is why many of moms spend a lot of time in drive-thrus. 

The more that I read and watch, the more I am convinced that I just need a little farm of my own and should just produce my own food. There are two limitations that come to mind with this. First, I'm a little short on the funds to just go out and buy a farm. Second, I am extremely short on time to facilitate such an endeavor. The concept is awesome, but even with extreme interest, I don't even have time to be writing this blog. Maybe when I am done with this school business, I may have some more time but some how I doubt it. So what is a girl to do? Just put the fate of my health in someone else's hands? Those that are driven by profit rather than health and quality?? In the mean time Matt and I have joined the Oklahoma Food Co-op. Through the co-op we are able to buy foods such as meats and breads (there's 1000s of options) that are all grown or produced in Oklahoma. This reduces the transportation (and thus emissions) of our food which helps our carbon footprint. Matt argues that the per unit emissions may be higher because we are shipping much fewer items than those shipped to grocery stores, so that's up for debate. I guess I could do a study comparing local vs. mass purchased food one day. That day is not today. We also get the benefit of supporting local producers and promoting the local economy. I am also convinced that the items that we purchase are fewer in additives and preservatives and they list the ingredients which tend to be things that I can pronounce which is a plus. I was watching a documentary called "Farmageddon" and someone said that if you can't pronounce the ingredient, you shouldn't eat it. The downside to the co-op is that some items are more expensive, such as a pound of ground beef. It is really difficult to sell a concept when the cost is higher. This is really about prioritizing.  I also try to think about it from the standpoint of the cost of a meal. Eating out typically costs Matt and I around $30. I am convinced that the quality of food served at most sit down restaurants in only a slight step above fast food. I don't really trust anything that tastes exactly the same no matter where in the country you eat it. For example, if I gave you a recipe for my mom's chicken and dumplings, undoubtedly what you make and what I make will taste a little different, even if we follow the same instructions. You may use more water or add more broth. You may use a different brand of flour and your chicken would probably come from a different producer. If I go to Chili's and order the buffalo chicken salad, it's going to taste the same every.single.time. I think this is concerning because for it to taste exactly the same, their food must be pretty prepackaged and all coming from the same place and shipped out and distributed accordingly. Okay, so say that meal at Chili's for the both of us costs around $30. Well I could buy items from the co-op and undoubtedly make a similar meal for less than $30 and probably have left overs so that covers lunch the next day. I also get to stay home and eat and visit with my husband. I could also have a glass of wine with my dinner with a per glass cost of about $3 instead of $7-9. And I get the added health benefits. SO, I'm saving money and my body. I do have to take the time to prepare the meal and have to actually do the dishes myself, but is that really too high of a cost?? Like I said, this is more about priorities. 

Now don't get me wrong. I don't always eat right. Not even close. I love love to go out to eat with Matt or with friends, or to spend time with family we usually go eat some meal that isn't good for us. It's part of our culture, and a part that I enjoy. I just worry about the long term consequences of the concepts our society is built around. Who says that we are entitled to have everything that we eat taste good? Who says that everything we eat should be minimally time consuming? Isn't nourishing ourselves one of the most fundamental things we do as living creatures? Should our input time really be soooo low? Meanwhile I work 12+ hour days in front of a screen to produce papers that may or may not mean something one day. And at what cost? What if I come up with some really great novel concept that changes the way the world views the environment? But then I die at 50 because I was a slave to my work instead of taking care of myself and my family. These are the difficult decisions that we make every day and I'm not sure we are getting it right, myself included. 

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It's Green to Me- The Laptop

I am starting a new section of posts called "Its Green to Me" which will feature different eco-friendly practices that I attempt in my day to day life in an effort to practice what I preach. I do all kinds of random things that move from practical to a little compulsive so I might as well take some pictures and describe the events.

So welcome to the first edition.

When I graduated from OSU with my undergraduate degree (2009), my parents agreed to buying a new lap top for me to start up graduate school. I wanted to get something that wouldn't become obsolete in fifteen minutes like electronics tend to do. I also wanted to get something that was reasonable because it was after all, a gift. First thing, I messaged my friend Josh who keeps me on the up and up with computer information. He told me what was the most appropriate amount of memory, speed, processor, and other words that don't really mean that much to me. I did my research, read online reviews, and even found a computer with an 8-hour battery life which was especially helpful because I haul my computer around a lot and a charger was an issue I did not want to have to worry about.

A week before graduation after talking to my dad, he bought me the optimal computer for my next steps in school. It had a really big screen and nice display so I could even do some photo editing. Remember that 8 hour battery? Well it's an external battery and made my computer weigh something like 153 lbs. Overall, it was a good computer. I sailed through my graduate degree and never had problems. I don't know what it is about three years and computers, but they seem to start realizing that you could have forgotten how much the computer cost by now, so it's time to buy a new one. Do you know what a BSOD is? I don't either, but I know it stands for Blue Screen Of Death and so I'm assuming it's bad. I started to get a few of those. And it started getting really. Really. Slow. Oh, and the battery wouldn't hold a charge anymore, so I had to carry my charger everywhere. It was a race against time to the next outlet so it didn't just shut down while walking to class.
A few months ago I bought an external hard drive out of fear that I would lose everything that was on that machine. That included thousands of pictures, weeks of music, and all of my notes and articles from Tech which I will desperately need for my comprehensive exams next year. So even if my computer goes kaput, I'd still have my files.

Do you see what I just said there? It was okay if my computer just spontaneously combusted because I had my files. I can just buy a new one. The cost would be annoying, but if I moved around some priorities, I could afford another one. It might even be nice to have a new operating system and whatever gadgetry is out there 4 years later in the computer world. WHAT THE HECK KIND OF UNGRATEFUL PERSON IS WILLING TO ACCEPT JUST BUYING ANOTHER COMPUTER?!?!

Why am I getting so worked up? It's because it's the mentality that we as a culture have become comfortable with. I started out with a quality computer. I take good care of it. I have a nice little case that I tote it around it for protection (thanks, Anna). I try not to just power it off, actually shutting it down. It's a good machine. If I just buy another one, what happens to the old one? It becomes e-waste. I might do a post about e-waste in the future. But for now, let me tell you that it is a real problem. Where do you think all of those old tube TVs went now that we all are apparently entitled to flat screens? Most likely a land fill where it is leaching all kinds of nastiness. Now I'm getting excited again, so I will almost definitely be doing a post on e-waste. Remember, when something is thrown away, there isn't really an "away" it's just "away from me".

I personally feel convicted to be responsible for my purchases, so what is a girl to do? I don't know a ton about computers.... so I'm going to have to get creative. Here is what I did.

First, as a Tech student, we get software for free or on the cheap. So I took all of my important files, and backed them up one more time just to be safe. Over 4 years, I've also accumulated a bunch of crud on my computer that I am happy to say good bye to. Then I went down to the library and purchased the Windows 7 operating system for... $10. 10. Ten. Little Dollars. I came back and loaded it up, wiping away everything from the past 4 years. It's beautiful. It works quickly. It has new features that make my research easier! And I was even able to install it myself! Victory!

What about the battery? It's making me a little nuts. I went to Amazon and found a replacement battery for the low low price of $20.55. I also have Amazon prime (worth every penny) and so I got it shipped for free with 2-day shipping. My Discover card also had a Cashback balance, so I used it towards the battery. So I paid zero dollars for the battery. AND the battery is smaller, significantly reducing the weight of the computer.

What about the e-waste of the old battery? I am glad you asked. I went to the Best Buy website and there are TONS of things you can recycle in store. I looked under computers, and there it is! So I'll be taking my battery to them. Hopefully they'll spring some life back into it and it can be reused.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/null/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025&searchresults=1&searchresults=recycle

I just looked on the BestBuy website. The new version of my old computer would run me about $700. So... I spent $10 of actual cash. That is a 98.57% savings.  I didn't have $700 just lying around, but since I would have had to find it I think I'll put that money into a savings account to add to trip funds for Matt and I this year.

So not only did I go green and reduce my consumption, but I saved a lot of it! A huge goal of mine in my career is to show administrators the economic value of sustainable practices which produces a win/win situation.

If you have some neat situations where sustainability practices have saved you money, let me know! I would even let you guest blog, or at least feature you!

Until next time!

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Family Addition

I just came up with the title for this blog, and now I'll be singing Hank William's Jr. "Family Tradition" for the rest of the day. I even thought about remaking the song with words about our new addition, but honestly, I should be studying and I am already procrastinating by writing this blog post in the first place.

Butttttttttttttt I wanted to tell you about the new member to our family (before we're actually a family), sounds scandalous! Matt and I have known basically since we got together (3 years!) that one day we were going to get a shitzu puppy and name him pistol. His parents have a shitzu named Pete, get it? Pistol and Pete? Yeah, we're clever. Well I never anticipated this day coming so soon. Maybe in a year... At the very least, after the honeymoon, because really, we kind of a have a lot going on and we need to be good puppy parents.

Well Matt's Mom works with a woman whose cousin breeds shitzu puppies. Originally there was a bargian puppy for sale (think Marley & Me) because it was older and the lady needed to sell it. It really was a good deal. They had all of their shots, were at a remarkably low price, and there's benefits to having a slightly older dog. I was completely against this because Matt and I had agreed, when we were both of rational mind (not being taunted by precious puppy face) that we would wait until after the wedding. Matt's mom first told Matt about it, and I said no. Then she told me about it, I still said no. So then she went back to Matt about it (if she were my kid I would spank her for going from one parent to the other!). Matt's dad even told Matt to get the dog anyway! Well then the boy dog was already taken. I was most certainly NOT NOT NOT getting a girl dog. Nuh uh. Girl dogs do gross stuff and I just can't deal with that. I'm not the animal lover that Matt is.

I thought long and hard about it. Matt's down there all by himself (he has some great friends though) and I know he loved watching his parents dog while they were on vacation. A good wife would put her husbands desires before her own. FINE. Fine I say! He can have the dog! I hope I was more eloquent when I sent his mom the email. I told her to go ahead and put our name on the dog (the boy dog suddenly had become available again).

Well the real selling point came when we found out that a new litter had been born and they would be ready by christmas. http://www.christyspreciouspups.com/ All Boys!

My heart melted. Matt's mom said they would buy us a puppy, puppy. Not a 4 month old. A baby. A little guy so young that would have me be his momma.

I think I looked at the pictures 100 times. I guess those really aren't their names, they just use those names to know who you're talking about when you order them. Matt flew in last weekend and somehow we decided to drive the 2.5+ hours to Talahina to see these puppies for ourselves and pick which lucky pup would get a new set of parents.

Now I don't mind stealing cool blog ideas, but I like to give credit where credit is due. Kathryn and her husband Mark did a video blog on their way to vacation, so I took this idea from them. Enjoy!

<<<---- Sexy.....

After playing with them for an hour, I took a little video of the little guy. His brother is in the back. We wanted to take them all home with us!

Oh he's just so cute. He laid in my lap for so long. I think he was using me for my body heat, but that's fine. He just wanted to cuddle. Will you be my momma? And I said yes.

I could have came up with OSU-Themed names for ALL of them if we could afford to take them home! Perhaps I would later regret that decision... remember, not a big animal lover. This will be my child!

After an hour we had made our decision, it was hard though! Then we were headed back to Tulsa to meet with his parents and have lunch and work out a few wedding details.

Whe do the frames freeze at the most inopportune time????

Matt picks him up on the 23rd. Can't wait to play with him again soon! We already bought him stocking stuffers and he has a stocking with his name on it. He is going to a good home and he will be a sweet blessing to our family. Can't wait to take pictures of him! yay!

Have a good week. Seriously pray for me and my upcoming GRE!

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My Serenity, The Hippie

On Saturday I was determined to take Serenity (My best friend, Danielle's daughter) out and about with me and just spend a day with her. I was extremely tired from the night before (Danielle and I went "boot scootin" and had so much fun!) but got myself together, dressed serenity, and took off. This is her first trip to the Farmer's Market, which I am happy to say kept her completely entertained. She just looked around at everyone, I'm sure wondering where on Earth she was. I was really happy that she was in such a good mood. Especially since it was kind of hot. There was a little canopy thing I could attach to the stroller to block the sun. I was about 100% certain that no matter how I kept trying to put it on, I was doing it wrong and I didn't want to be the idiot with the upside down stroller attachment. We just didn't stay long.

Then I took her to Whole Foods which she absolutely loved. I think she already knows what "She's so pretty!" means because she was doing everything she could to get attention. She smiled at everyone. Put her hand out to them. It was the cutest thing! She also played the "How many times can I throw my toy on the floor and Aunt Shanna will keep picking it up with out getting mad at me" game. She obviously won.

She just sat there and protected my (I mean, our) recycle bag. We just had too much fun! I personally, am a little apprehensive about having children. I'll just be honest. However, if I could have a guarantee that my children would be just as sweet and mild tempered as miss Serenity, then I might be willing to reconsider. Being "mommy" for a few hours was really fun. Even though, I knew the whole time that she's my niece (blood related doesn't matter!) But, everyone talked to me like I was her mom. It's amazing what people will say to you when you have a baby with you. I don't know if I could handle that all the time. However, people were a little more friendly, which if that were always the case, I might pack a baby around all the time. Well... maybe not. Babies/car seats/diaper bags and what not are a work out!

All in all I had a great day. I think her mom enjoyed getting a couple hours of extra sleep. I know that I loved getting to spend time with her! I hope she always sees me as "Aunt Shanna" and knows that I will spoil her to death. Maybe she'll babysit my kids one day....

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