Buy Nothing New Meets Birthdays

Ben turned 13 this past weekend. There was concern about how we would handle birthdays this year.

Mark was quite pleased with his hunting and gathering prowess...he managed to get both gifts on Ben's wish list second hand. One was the Ranger's Apprentice Book 10...it just came out recently so we were a little concerned...but obviously some people buy them, read them and sell them back. Amazon.com used books.

The second gift was a play station move controller ( think Wii). Mark had already gotten one controller ( used) so had been watching for a second one.

What about the kids attending? We went "gift free" a number of years ago. The boys were getting gifts they didn't use and a few other families had already started the trend...so we followed along and there was no turning back. This has worked out fine...our focus is on good food, an awesome cake and something special for entertainment. This year was laser tag ( past years have been canoe trip on the Wisconsin River, a rendezvous,and a treasure hunt at Devil's Lake)

Nate's birthday is in July... We'll see how that goes :D

Salamander Survey Year 4

We have been citizen scientists for the past four years. Every spring we join volunteers all over Wisconsin by helping to check for salamanders.

Salamanders mate in shallow ponds...so in early spring you can trap them with fish traps...or so we are told. We have tried for the past four years..but so far no luck. This year was our "worst" year...usually we at least catch frogs or minnows or interesting bugs. This year we caught 2 leeches, 3 water beetles, and fairy shrimp ( this is the first year we have caught fairy shrimp) Others have caught salamanders..even in Dane County...so we aren't giving up yet.
Want to find out more about the Salamander Survey?

Irons and Friends

Our iron died about a month ago. At first, I thought no big deal...we hardly ever use the iron. But after going to work in wrinkled clothes a few days I realized I used it more that I thought.

A quick trip to St Vinnys'...no luck.

I borrowed an iron from a friend who "hardly ever uses it" but this was not a long term solution.

Luckily for me, I have awesome co-workers!
Sarah, who thought to ask " Did you find an iron yet?" and
Kyle, who said " I didn't know you need an iron, I have two and don't use either one. You can have one of mine."

So I hadn't even posted to Facebook or Freecycle and already have a new ( used) iron! (Kyle said he got if from St Vinny's!)

Kyle and his #2 iron...before they parted ways.

Ever heard of soap nuts?

I had not...we found out about them at the Isthmus Green Day.

What are they?
Dried fruit from the Soapberry tree that contain saponin ( a natural cleaner).

What's so great about them?
-petroleum free
-no toxic chemicals ( in fact no added anything)
-light weight ( use less energy to ship)

How do you use them?
Put 2-4 nuts in a small reuseable linen bag and throw the whole bag in the washer. The nuts can be re-used up to 5 times. We have a front load washer so we will just but the nuts right in the soap drawer ( no bag needed)

Where do you get them?
We got ours from Reuseable Future

Do they work?
We'll let you know

PS: People are asking how we are doing on the Buy No New Challenge.
We did purchase 1 new thing. Shin guards for Nate for soccer. We feel strongly that we don't want to take changes with our kids' safety...so felt OK about this purchase.

Two small changes

Taking a break from practicing democracy...at home we are focusing on reducing our energy use. One thing we are taking at look at is how we cook.

Here are two ways we are using less energy when we cook:

1. Using a pressure cooker. Not just to cook beans...but also rice and root veggies. Not sure why it took me so long to realize that it takes less time to boil potatoes in the pressure cooker. They are easy to use and save you time.

2. Bake in smaller size pans. This cuts down on baking time. We bake quick breads and cakes in smaller pans. Another save energy and time.

I love when being sustainable saves me time too :)

What I leanred from calling for Kloppenburg

1. It really helped to call with other people. I need the support of friends. Calls went twice as fast, we could compare notes and encourage each other.

2. It helped to have a goal. 100 seemed too high...but once we put it on paper...we had something to work towards...and we wanted to succeed.

3. Snacks help....we would set mini goals for ourselves. Five calls and a snack, any negative comments means you get an extra snack. :)

It took less than two hours to call 100 people with three of us calling.

Does it make a difference? ( this is the question I am most likely to get asked)

Yes, if someone tells you they intend to vote for Kloppenburg, research shows they are much more likely to do so.

Name recognition matters a lot...when people get to the polls they vote for the names they remember ( so the more times they hear someone's name the better)

Finally Prosser's campaign is investing in calls....it is important that people who have not decided know that their vote is important...and hear from both sides.

This is what democracy looks like. Thanks Erica and Mark!!

Green Teen

Julie's son speaking ,

Everyone has heard how it is to be an adult undertaking the challenge, (buy no new for one year), but now for the first time, I shall comment on how it is to be a teen and not buy for one year.

So far I have held up pretty well to the challenge, (I haven't violated once), the one problem that we faced was that our computer broke just a little way in, but we got a refurbished computer, so it is all good now. The new computer is actually a great computer, if you are looking to buy a computer but don't want to go new then go to Dell Outlet, the prices are good and the shipping is free.

Nate ( also known as Axel)