Earth Week - Day 2

We did pretty good today, but some things were different than originally planned. Today we started using the G Diapers that a friend gave me when my son was born. At the end of the week I will give you an adequate review on what I thought of these.

Instead of going to the park, we ended up staying home and trimming the rose bushes and removing dead peonies. While I did that, my daughter would fill up he bucket with water from the rain barrel and water flowers with that.
I also washed & hung three loads on the clothesline. I just love getting into my pajamas and having them smell like fresh air.

We made homemade bubbles too, that will be posted about later. And I made homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup. I followed this recipe, but I had 1 1/2 chicken breasts, chopped and I put everything in the slow cooker and cooked it on low for 5 hours.

Earth Week - Day 1

So, today started off Earth Week and I did everything I had set out to do. My daughter & I completed the 1 Mile walk at the Nature Center, we actually ran half of it, which I think is pretty good for a 3 1/2 year old and we enjoyed the pancake brunch that features real maple syrup that they made there.

I hung a load of laundry on the line (I tend to do a load every day as a basket fill rather than all in one day.)

My daughter & I filled & placed seeds in her Watch Me Grow planter she made at the Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic with her daddy. We got in some quality outdoor play.

I made a veggie lasagna and strawberry & rhubarb crisp for dinner using ingredients from the pantry, garden & freezer. The herbs came straight from the garden and we used frozen rhubarb, zucchini & tomatoes that we grew without chemicals in our garden last summer.

#137 Homemade Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner

So, I thought that in the spirit of Earth Week I would give it a try. I cleaned the bowl of two toilets using the following recipe and then cleaned the bowl of one toilet with my usual Seventh Generation cleaner.

Homemade Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner

1/4 C baking soda

1 C vinegar

Directions: Combine together the baking soda & vinegar (make sure your container is large enough to accommodate the fizzing). Pour into toilet bowl and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Scrub toilet with toilet brush.

The verdict - well, this did as good of a job as the Seventh Generation toilet bowl cleaner and if I didn't have SG kind at home I would try use it because I have vinegar & baking soda on hand for many other cleaning projects. And since I have a large home with many bathrooms, I like having a bottle of SG cleaner in each one. If space was an issue in my home, I might appreciate using the same two products for all my cleaning (& cooking). I think I will stick with my Seventh Generation toilet bowl cleaner, but know that a homemade cleaner works well.

Earth Week Plans

As the start of Earth Week begins today, we will begin our own Earth Week activities & crafts. I plan to have at least one thing that I will do with my family each day that is different from what we normally do daily. We will try a variety of crafts, recipes & cleaning ideas. I am also making it a goal this week to eat from the pantry & freezer, although I do have to make it an exception to go for a couple items since it is my husband's birthday and my daughter & I have a special dessert planned that we will need 1-2 ingredients for.

Sunday: 1mi Walk & Pancake Brunch @ River Bend Nature Center, Plant in Watch & Grow Planter, Cleaning Homemade Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Start hanging clothes on the line, Eat From My Freezer with Homemade Veggie Lasagna (zucchini & tomatoes from my garden) and Recipe Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Monday: Craft Egg Carton Eyes, Trash Pick Up at Park & Play, Recipe Tortilla Soup

Tuesday: Craft Egg Cup Insects, Craft Make & Play with Homemade Bubbles, Walk & play at the park

Wednesday: Walk & Picnic at the Park, Cleaning Wood Floor Wax

Thursday (EARTH DAY): Planting Activity @ Old Navy, Cleaning Microwave Cleaning

Friday: Craft Homemade Stickers, Craft Carton Wallet,

Saturday: Build a Birdfeeder @ Lowe's & hang up in yard, Recipe Homemade Granola Bars

In years past we have had a couple friends over to do some planting on Earth Day, but due to regular weekly activities our Thursday is quite busy and doesn't allow for us to have a playdate at our place, so we have moved our plating playdate out to the following week.

Earth Day Deals & Activities!!!

* Pay only $1 Refills on Ink Cartridges at Wal-Greens on Earth Day. I read about this deal on Sisterly Savings. It's only available on Earth Day. I have gotten refills done here before for my Dell All-in-One and they usually tell you it will take 20 minutes as long as they don't have anyone else in front of you. Coupon is here.

* Check out Free Fun in Austin for details about getting a free full-size bottle Origins cleanser on Earth Day.

* Tomorrow Target is giving them away a reusable shopping bag with each purchase (one per person).

* The email newsletter I received from Home Depot today said they were giving away faucet aerators to the first 250 people at each store on Earth Day.

* If you bring 6 empty plastic water bottles or aluminum cans to the Disney Store, they will give you an Eco-Friendly Disney Baseball Cap.

* If you have a need to buy some Hanes product, then you can score yourself a free t-shirt compliments of Hanes and the National Arbor Day Foundation. And the National Arbor Day Foundation is also going to plant a tree for every offer that gets sent in. Kinda sounds like a win-win-win situation to me. My daughter has been growing and could really use some new underwear, so I might just do this one. Check out the details here. This one you have until May 15th to complete.

* I also previously blogged about entrance fees waived all of next week at National Parks. Actually, this started today and continues through April 25th.

* Pottery Barn Kids will be hosting an Earth Celebration on April 25th @ 11am and 3pm with earth-friendly stories & activities and a surprise to bring home & plant.

* Babies'r'Us has a coupon to use until Earth Day (last day) where you get a free reusable shopping bag and can fill it with clothes & shoes and get 25% off.

* And from the BBC you can get a free download of Planet Earth, Series 1 on iTunes.

* Earthbound Organics is giving away reusable totes through the month, the next chance to win one is on Monday at 8pm PDT.

* On Saturday, April 24th you can bring your kids to a Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic and let them build a bird feeder. Don't forget to pick up some bird seed while you are there.

* Also, if you live in my area & have kids, take them over to the Old Navy outlet. On Earth Day they will be having a free planting activity for kids. They are providing all the supplies.

* Another (if you live in my area activity) is Healthy Kids Day with the Northfield YMCA on Saturday, April 24th from 9a-12p. Many other YMCA's has theirs today, but check the website to find contact info for one near you and call & ask.

* And if you are out & about yet today, stop by Wal-Mart & see if they have any Sun Chips that they were giving away. Sun Chips now come in a compostable bag.

National Park Week: Free Admission

Check out what national parks are in your area or maybe your travel destination. Coming up soon, April 17-25, is National Park Week, and you can get park fees (probably not parking fees) waived at all National Parks.

Be sure to check out all the special events & promotions that are being offered at the parks, beyond the normal activities. You could stumble upon something really fun.

After looking at National Parks in our state & neighboring states, I saw that the Effigy Mounds are only a few hours away and are now on my list of weekend vacations for our family (some time in the future.)

If you can't get to a National Park during that week, there are a couple other days in the future you should be able to get free admission for:

September 25, 2010 (Public Lands Day)

November 11, 2010 (Veterans Day)

Coupons for Method, Cascadian Farms, 8th Continent, more

Go to coupons.com and print off some coupons for organic/natural products (as of 6:30pm CST, 4/5/10):

* $1 off Cascadian Farm

* $1 off 8th continent Soy Milk

* $1 off Purely Decadent (soy or coconut) Frozen Dessert

* $1 off 2 Boulder Canyon Chips

* $1 off GE Energy Smart lighting products

* $1 off Method Laundry Detergent

You should be able to print off 2 of each.