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Thursday, April 22, 2010

happy earth day!

yay for saving the planet! so, what are you doing to "go green"?

as for me, the trunk of my pri-YES is stuffed with reusable grocery bags, we drink filtered tap water instead of buying bottled water, paper plates are no longer used in the wan house, you know - all the usual stuff. we've been trying to clear out stuff we don't need anymore - what are my fellow toddler parents (who aren't planning on having any more babies) doing with the little ones' cribs and toys and stuff? i suppose we could just donate it all, although our local goodwill refuses to accept toys anymore, and that's what we have the most of. lame, huh? i didn't think charities typically did the "pick and choose" as to what to take. whatever.

i'm dabbling in upcycling (i learned that term just this week, from the nest) and you saw the first attempt when i converted one of the hub's old dress shirts into a dress for the bean. i'm trying to make the most out of what's just lying around, and it's fun to learn new, creative ways to recycle and reuse stuff that we already have.

so, in honor of earth day, i'm doing a super fun giveaway! my friends over at CSN stores have provided me with a $60 e-gift card that you can use at any one of their 200+ online shops. they have all sorts of neat-o stuff, from cool modern furniture to cookware to shoes to baby gear, and everything in between. i've been browsing the sites over the last few days, which the hub probably won't appreciate much as i've found all sorts of stuff that i absolutely have. to. have. heh.

all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what you're doing to help save the planet. i'm always looking for new ideas to be eco-friendly, and maybe as you read through the other comments, you'll pick up a tip or two, too. see? it's a win-win situation! i'm here for you.

you've got till - hmmmm, let's see - sunday at noon PST to enter. i'll pick a winner using random.org to make it fair, because i refuse to put myself in the position of judging your tips and tricks. i'm sure they'll all be fab, and i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

because today, i just want to give the whole world a big ass hug. awwwwww.

EDIT: please be sure i have a way to get in contact with you in case you win! for those of you who have already commented, just be sure to tune in monday, just in case.

65 comments:

  1. Cool giveaway! I drink water on the go exclusively in a SIGG bottle. No more bottled water for me!

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  2. I know you love fabulous gift presentation, but I've been using reusable grocery bags as gift bags for friends.

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  3. Very nice giveaway!

    I'm not printing out things anymore that I used to print out - like notes for class, budgets for work, etc. Everything is getting converted into a pdf and burned onto a DVD for storage. Not only do I save paper, but I don't have to buy another bookcase to store all this stuff.

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  4. We drink filtered water and recycle our cans & beer bottles (lots of them. heh.). I also use reusable grocery bags.

    Gee...I need to up my earth-saving game.

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  5. the usual stuff-- reusable bags, no paper plates or cups, use a Sigg with filtered water, trying to print less. I use cloth wipes instead of disposable for the baby when home but daycare wont use them. I attempted touse cloth diapers but she leaked through them so badly that K refuses to let me try another brand. so... we're trying.

    I like Jennifer's idea of putting everything into pdf. I think I am going to start doing that.

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  6. I use a lunch bag and tupperware to bring my lunch rather than plastic bags. I also use my own coffee mug for tea rather than the disposables.

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  7. Some of our things: cloth napkins, reusable grocery bags, line drying clothes, buy wind energy credits for our electricity use, husband rides his bike to work everyday.

    This summer we're getting a CSA share for the first time. I'm really excited about it.

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  8. Neat giveaway!

    I too love my big re-usable grocery bags - they carry so much more without ripping.

    We recycle a lot - the county makes it really easy with a huge free mixed recycle bin that I can toss all kinds of stuff into - cardboard, newspaper, glass, plastic... We drink filtered water too, though we were never much into bottled.

    I also love my acrylic tumbler for those times when I just have to stop by Tully's for an iced tea or mocha on the way to work - http://www.shopvesseldrinkware.com/category_s/75.htm

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  9. I use re-usable shopping bags, recycle everything I can, fill a reusable water bottle from the tap, walk to & from work (and everywhere else feasible) instead of driving, use tupperware/re-usable containers instead of plastic bags for food prep, storage & packing lunches, and use a DivaCup instead of disposable feminine products.

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  10. Well, I'm use a Diva Cup. I haven't bought a pad or tampon in six years . It's awesome.
    http://www.divacup.com/

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  11. Taking our old printer and out of order cell phones to an e recycling event. :-)

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  12. Woo Earth! I use reusable grocery bags, resusable bottle for water and I take public transportation! :-)

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  13. We use glass food storage containers instead of plastic (they last much longer and are much more eco-friendly) and in place of plastic bags. We also recycle everything - even tiny scraps of paper, plastic and cardboard and small components of products that can be recycled.

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  14. great giveaway, wan! this year, I'm going to try to buy all of my product from the farmer's market to cut down on shipping across the US. I picked up some dishes to keep at my desk at work because I had been using paper goods - yikes! I love my reusable bags as well, and I'm looking forward to suggestions from other comments.
    ps. the bean's new dress is SO cute!

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  15. We use reuseable shopping bags, drink constantly from our Klean Kanteens, compost, recycle (DH actually drives it to work with him and recycles at that community center since our township doesn't recycle) and this year we are planting a garden. We also planted five young trees in our backyard.

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  16. Reuse Water bottles, Rinse out milk jugs use them later in my garden to protect them from the cold. Also Yougurt cups I rinse them out and use them for gardening. Carpool once a week or often as I can. I plan trips and saving gas. Reuse plastic bags for lunches and taking back to the store to be reuse as well. Buying dital books instead of paper backs.

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  17. - Bring your own utensils/chopsticks to restaurants that use disposable wares. The staff will usually just pick up the unused utensils and save them for the next customers. I've spotted some cute utensils packed for travel at my local Asian markets.

    - Bring your own containers to pack leftovers from restaurants. We often have leftovers from meals that we'll eat for lunch the next day.

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  18. I am using a sigg bottle and using reusable shopping bags

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  19. Too much to list - composting, line drying, no more paper products (except TP - that's too much for me), grocery bags, etc. We also try to reuse, recycle or upcycle as much as we can, and limit ourselves to one garbage bag of waste every two weeks (trying to get it down to one per month!)If nothing else, it's a huge money saver, but we also appreciate the benefit for the earth.

    The Crunchy Conscience

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  20. earth day tips:
    1. planting herbs and veggies
    2. having only 1 lamp turned on at a time at night
    3. using water filter instead of bottled water
    4. using pdf files instead of printer
    5. using fans, open windows instead of air conditioner
    6. reusable grocery bags
    7. saving kitchen scraps for composting
    8. saving used, non-soap or non-oily water for watering plants
    9. using 'dry' method to clean cars
    10. using non-toxic cleaning agents like vinegar and baking soda,
    11. using broom instead of water to clean rock/cement surfaces outside the house
    12. donating usable items to charity
    13. short showers, saving water while waiting for warmer temp for plants
    14. planning errands wisely to save on gas
    15. using Kindle (going back to classics that are available for free)
    16. baking/cooking from scratch
    This is too long now.....

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  21. I only drink tap water as opposed to bottled or filtered.

    We also have a small organic garden out back. I'm nto sure that it's more efficient than major vegetable growers, but it makes us feel good.

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  22. We are eliminating the use of paper towels in our kitchen. We've been cleaning out things and getting rid of old items that take up space. I've been using a lunch bag (instead of a grocery bag) and bring real utensils to eat with instead of repeatedly using plastic.

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  23. What a great giveaway!

    We've been making lots of changes lately, also. But, the one I'm most excited about is our garden. Lets hope it actually produces a crop! :)

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  24. Reusable coffee cup, water bottle, and silverware at work.

    No paper towels in our house anymore. We down-cycle t-shirts that aren't fit for wear anymore into cleaning rags.

    Bought a steam mop and have switched to vinegar based cleaners to cut chemical usage down in our home.

    Growing our own herbs & veggies cuts out packaging from buying them at the store.

    We brew our own beer now and can re-use the glass bottles.

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  25. reusable shopping bags
    all natural cleaners (vinegar, baking soda, etc)
    carpooling, using mass transit and walking
    eating local produce
    not eating meat or dairy
    converting files to PDF instead of printing
    swapping books on swaptree instead of buying new

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  26. Awesome giveaway!

    We are transitioning into reusable bags (takes us time because we forget them at home!)

    Also, we're trying to cook using only fresh ingredients. This will eliminate the cans and other plastic packaging that things come in.

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  27. Yay for a giveaway!

    At home, I convert H's old tshirts and undershirts into rags, we use a Brita filter instead of bottled water, make my own cleaning products with vinegar, and of course reusable grocery bags.

    At work since I have one of those jobs unfortunately where we have to print more than I'd like to, I reuse the backs of printed paper (when I cant print double sided of course) when I need to take notes.

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  28. Great giveaway! I much like you have been doing the no plastic bottles, paper cups/plates, reusable bag thing. The next step is to get some reusable sandwich bags!

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  29. Reuseable bags,being crazy about turning off all lights, family cloth, and of course I drive a Pri-YES as well :)

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  30. Reusable bags, cloth towels instead of paper towels, composting, & eco-friendly cleaning products

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  31. we have made a lot of the similar changes previously mentioned my favorite by far is the herb garden, i love to cook and using fresh herbs adds so much flavor!

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  32. reusable bags, eating less meat, buying local produce, breastfeeding!

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  33. reusable bags, eating less meat, buying local produce, breastfeeding!

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  34. What a cool giveaway! I'm officially delurking! Heh

    We are doing all that we can to help keep our earth green! We recycle (not for profit), try to conserve energy by turning off lights, setting the thermostat higher, etc. I am a big fan of re-usable grocery bags and always have them in my car. We have ditched bottled water as well and use our filtered system on our fridge. Hubs rides his bike to work when the weather allows. Every little bit helps!

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  35. I don't print things out at work unless forced. I use re-usable grocery bags, and a metal water bottle, plus a travel coffee mug. We're carpooling to work so even though one of us has a 50 mi. roundtrip commute, there aren't two cars going the same place for 20 of the miles. And I'm using gift bags Gratitude Gift Bags so wrapping paper isn't filling up the landfill. It's my favorite - they're so cute, come in a ton of sizes and are MM because they're inexpensive and reusable (by the gift receiver obviously).

    (The poster formerly known as HR Goddess).

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  36. Yippee for a fun giveaway!

    We collect all of our pop cans and take them to the recycling center. It's a long drive for us but it's good for the planet and provides us with some extra cash.

    We are also going through the farm and collecting all the scrap iron that has gathered over the years to recycle and sell. Gathering up the heavy iron does double duty as a great workout.

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  37. Re-useable grocery bags as gift bags, no paper plates, use a mug instead of paper cups at work, use the recycle bin, use cardboard boxes for our fire pit, recycle ziplock bags for random stuff (if its clean).
    email: lovefateinc at gmail dot com

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  38. i have a little one which means snacks ALL THE TIME (at home, in the car, etc.) to save our plastic baggies & eliminate waste, i bought these reusable & ADORABLE snack baggies on etsy.

    http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=24612283

    i bet you could make some with your awesome sewing skills. ;)

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  39. Love a good giveaway!

    We don't use paper plates anymore and use wach cloths instead of paper towels.
    We finally planted a small vegetable garden, we are so excited!

    Abby

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  40. Hi, I love your blog! Let's see, we recycle, only have one car, live in a city and walk a lot, line dry our clothes, and use cloth grocery bags...oh, and we bought an 80 year-old house instead of new construction. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  41. I've been trying a lot of new green things lately: recycle almost everything, composting, growing our own herbs/veggies, planting trees in our yard, planting California native flowers in our yard (which require less water), putting a bucket in the shower to collect water while it's warming and use that to water flowers, green cleaning products, reusable drinking containers (for both hot and cold drinks), cloth grocery bags, CFL light bulbs, drinking filtered tap water, and carpooling whenever possible. That's all I can think of right now--but I'm always looking for new ideas too!

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  42. I grow my own herbs and tomatos all summer, drink filtered water instead of bottled, use our new great mixed recycle container at home but still turn in my cans and bottles for $, reuse baggies for work snacks, cloth napkins, insulated starbux mug with drinking fountain water instead of buying bottles at work, whatever the energy saving bulbs are in the front porch and other lights that get left on (DH hates this but I insist), line drying many of my clothes...not sure what else.

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  43. Okay, so you know me, we've never been so much on the recycling...Jenny, you've met my husband! Sorry folks for those of you that don't know me - don't judge!

    Here's the deal...I just started recycling!! We have a bin for it at the new house and I even dug in the trash for some shit that I saw that could go in the recycle bin!! {GASP} and I even washed out an old ziploc and reused it!!

    I am so proud of myself! :)

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  44. Hi, I bring reusable bags to the store and recycle plastic/paper/etc. I also walk to school. Thanks for sharing! trlfan1 at hotmail dot com

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  45. We use filtered water instead of bottled now.

    I turn off the water while brushing my teeth.

    I turn off all lights and tvs when I leave the room.

    Oh and I loooove my reusable bags.
    We don't have a recycling system in our area...so silly!
    coledecker at hotmail dot com

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  46. We have gotten rid of almost all our chemical cleaners (just waiting to use up the remaining ones) and have switched to vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda.

    We do all the usual stuff -- recycling, canvas shopping bags (that's the law where we live, so it's not like we're green superheroes for that) -- but we've also made a concerted effort to just buy less STUFF. Stuff takes up space in landfills.

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  47. Yay for giveaways!

    Cloth diapers. Nuff said.

    Oh, and if you need a needy family to donate any of the bean's old clothes/toys/randoms, my little Anak is not picky. At all. ;-)

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  48. We recycle, use reusable bags for 95% of our shopping, drink tap water, mainly buy organic food, take public transportation on a daily basis, drive a car maybe twice a month (and only have one car), ok that is all I can think of for now!

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  49. I have a fat chance in hell of winning this, don't I? and just when I got back into reading your blog!

    I use my grocery bags for everything - target, mall shopping, etc. trader joe's has some decent-looking ones that don't make me feel like such a goober. I also bought reusable vegetable bags, too. email me if you want the link, I found them on amazon. and the sigg bottle/coffee cup is in there, too.

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  50. Fun giveaway!!
    I do the reusable grocery bags, recycle just about everything (paper, plastic, aluminum). Drink my water from my SIGG bottle, and as a teacher, I cut back on worksheets! So much wasted paper ( plus, they're usually boring anyways!)

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  51. I use a kick-ass Sbux mug at work instead of paper cups.

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  52. Reusable bags, turning the heat down at night and air-con down during the day (whatever season), reusable lunch bags, turning power strips off when we're gone during the day (even if stuff's not on, it leaches power), trying to make sure I run all my errands at the same time in a way that makes sense that I'm not running around the Cities, Wm bikes to work a lot, I use earth-friendly cleaning products, we live in a small place (less carbon footprint)... that's all I can come up with for right now. :)

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  53. I've been walking tthe kids to school and to pick them up, even in the colder weather. In fact I've been walking alot more in general.

    dftrew(At)gmail(dot)Com

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  54. It's insane how many people blog when there a giveaway, no? I don't care to enter but I just had to say - YEY for Earth Day!

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  55. You are a comment queen!

    I use reusable bags, my sigg, and we recycle everything!

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  56. Recycle, use reusable bags, avoid buying things with lots of packaging (such as bottled water), shorter showers, CFL bulbs/turn lights off, take the train to work. Lots of good ideas on here!

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  57. No bottled water (use a filter at home and just got a Water Bobble (not a typo!) for filtered on the run. Re-usuable bags (I try to remember at ALL stores, not just grocery store). Composting. Veggie garden and fruit trees. Recycle EVERYTHING. Shorter showers. Re-usable containers for lunches. I keep a set of non-disposable dishes at work (used to use a paper bowl for my oatmeal everyday). Switching over to less harsh (chemically) cleaning methods. Buying more and more at the farmer's market, rather than the chains. We also have a couple of friends who have older boys and they pass on clothes to my son (luckily, since they're boys he looks up to and not siblings, he actually looks forward to getting hand-me-downs!). Whatever survives my son gets passed down to another family.

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  58. No more paper plates, drinking filtered tap water instead of bottled, recycling everything we can, not printing as much, using the blank side of paper for the girls to draw on, using more eco-friendly household cleaners! We're thinking of using cloth napkins instead of paper. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  59. we was all of our clothes in cold water. thanks for the giveaway!

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  60. I always forget to bring the reusable bags, but I have a huge purse, so I decline paper or plastic and just toss everything in there.

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  61. I use empty baby food containers (plastic and glass) as snack containers/formula carriers/junk separators in my purse. Easy way to make sure I always have supplies for the kiddos and the perfect size for the purse.

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  62. I do lots of things to help the planet. Mostly the regular things like re-usable grocery bags, florescent bulbs, etc. and I also try not to drive too much and recycle anything I can! :)

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  63. I started a compost pile! I've also started recycling and reusing items a lot more!

    northssclub at yahoo dot com

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  64. I hope I made it to the deadline. As for our family attempt to save Earth, it's a whole family affair. Hubby drives his car to the transit & rides his bike from the bus stop to work, saves $ on gas too. I've been using the bunch of reusable grocery bags from different stores, not only saving the Earth but fashionable too. The kids are learning to separate the recyclables from trash. We use lunch bags instead of paperbags.We use cold water when washing clothes. And those plastic party cups we wash & reuse. I'm not particularly proud of the last one-it makes me feel kind of icky cuz it's suppose to be disposable. It does get disposed when it gets a hole.

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