Green Living Stores

Solar Panels are the new wave of creating your own Green energy. I went to Google and typed in Solar Panels to research how I could eventually provide my own energy to free myself from the increasing financial burden of purchasing energy from the grid. I located www.aqua-luna.com and www.hardysolar.com (serves the San Diego, California area) as a starting point. From Hardy Solar I determined that for under $20,000 I could create a solar power system that tied into the grid and hopefully as the laws change the power company will purchase my excess energy to be purchased back later when I am unable to generate power for my needs. This sets me to thinking about how I can accomplish the task of creating my electricity through solar power to become one step closer to becoming totally green. My personal goal is to reformat my personal decisions, so that I can produce income and provide my family of all the wonderful benefits of Living Green.

Cradle to College – A diaper bag that morphs with as your child grows adding to its ability to be used for other purposes but is also a part of your child’s organic baby clothing collection.What do you do with that diaper bag that carries everything you need to take your precious bundle out and about once the need is outgrown? Yes, you store it somewhere or give it away to another precious bundle. Let us think outside the box and think about substituting a Backpack that can be converted to other uses as your child grows. You now have a diaper bag that becomes a bag for your personal use or a suitcase to carry your big boy or girl clothing and toys as they travel to visit grandma. Baby starts school and out comes their old friend to carry their school work that again can be unloaded to replace a suitcase as they travel. If the bag survives the daily wear and tear it can now go college with your graduate and when they marry and start your next generation this Backpack starts all over again carrying baby’s personal needs.

Green Living Stores is looking for businesses who want to advertise their Green Living Eco Friendly products and services. Email your advertisement with link addresses and pictures that you want placed in a blog entry. After checking to see if you meet our criteria we will write a special blog that highlights what you are offering. The first advertisers will receive this service free of cost.

Green Shoes – Why buy shoes that have been created from renewable plant and recycled material resources? Have you ever sat down and thought of the environmental cost of creating shoes from animal and man-made material resources? Let us look at the animal source of creating shoes. Even in times past the process to take the hide of a dead cow and convert it to leather was considered damaging to the environment, because of the processes that was used to breakdown the fibers into a usable fabric. Now let us look at the man-made materials; the energy alone that it takes to create the artificial fabrics is greater than simple Hemp materials. Take that one step further when it is time to move the shoe to the waste pile you have a fabricated item that takes the same time as plastic to break down, therefore becoming an environmental hazard. At least with using recycled materials you have moved the materials that are not biodegradable to another use before they become waste and can be recycled again when the shoe is no longer wearable. Last, but not least shoes (especially the low cost varieties) are created in sweat shop environments that go against the rules of Fair Trade. Altogether the modern shoe is not a Green Living resource, but organic clothing is healthy to wear including hemp and recycled materials for children, men and women. At last a shoe that is healthy for your feet and environment.

Cleaning Green - Give floors, windows a greener Clean.

Commercial products can help achieve proper cleaning, but you can replace the chemicals they contain by replacing with some simple green products you may have already in your home.

Living Room: Dusting: Use a damp cloth to pick up dust. A dry cloth only stirs up the allergens.

Furniture Polish: Mix Olive Oil and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio and polish with a soft cloth. (I think any oil and lemon juice would be good substitutes.)

Windows: Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar per 1 quart of water in a spray bottle. For extra dirty windows use a mixture of ½ teaspoon of liquid soap, 3 tablespoons vinegar and 2 cups of water, and shake well. Use newspaper instead of paper towels to wipe window. This will create a streak-free glass.

Floors and Carpet: Linoleum: Use ¼ cup washing soda (also known as sodium carbonate) with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap, ¼ cup vinegar and 2 gallons hot water. Put the washing soda in the bucket first and add the liquid ingredients; that way the soda won’t splash out. Do not use the formula on waxed floors.

Disinfect Floors: Add 2 gallons of hot water to ½ cup of boras. Put the borax in bucket first, and then add water slowly to avoid splashing.

Wood Floors: Add 1 cup vinegar per pail of hot water.

Carpets and Rugs: Sprinkling baking soda (look in store isles with floor and salt to purchase) over the surface of the carpet can help eliminate odors. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes before vacuuming.

Copied from the Dallas Morning News, May 23, 2008: (McClatchy-Tribune News Service: Source Consumers Union.)

Rather than change the thermostat or use a bulky sweater to add warmth in your home and travels try layering with a comfortable soft hoody.  You can now dress in one-hundred percent organic cotton hoody that has the benefit of fibers that use your natural body heat to keep you warm without adding bulk to your dress choices.  This same light covering can easily be rolled up and packed away in a bag or back pack for easy storage and transportation therefore reducing space and weight requirements as you travel.   The combination of economy and comfort will certainly become a necessary part of being a green consumer as you make clothing choices that keep you healthy and stylish as you reduce your environmental footprint.  Green living in your choice of clothing is a positive choice for your personal lifestyle and good stewardship of your environment.

Supporting Green Production helps insure the expansion and future of the availability of the produces and services that creates an abundant life for each of us.  Natural Organic Clothes has clothing that donates a portion of their proceeds to the Northeast Organic Farming Association.  Frank Charlson has created two tee shirts that help you make your statement.  You can choose between an Organic Farmer Tee Shirt and Blueberry Head Tee Shirt.  Are you looking for just the right item for baby to support Northeast Organic Farming Association then Katy Keen has designed your item.  You can choose between three Body Suits that will more than fit your criteria.  You have the Baby Carrot, Hot Pepper and Sweet Pea Body Suits to choose from.  These five items will make your statement of your desire for a healthy future for you and your loved ones as they contribute to the growth of Organic Production for your future well being. 

Live abundantly by choosing to Live Green.  Choosing between quantity and quality by using good stewardship of your resources will always create personal abundance in your life.  As you purchase your goods and services if you take the time to consider how your choices improve your environment and health you are creating abundance for yourself and your family.  The next obvious benefit is the reduction of waste in your life, which adds to the cycle of abundance.  Taking the time to think (meditate) on what your needs and wants are and how to acquire the resources to meet them is a positive step in living green.  You no longer need to accept what life hands you; you take the time as a part of your daily routine to plan and decide what is best for you.  That in turn provides with mental exercise to improve your mental health.  Living Green is not just existing to robot through your days and life; it a resource to open you up to how to live each day with joy and peace that is the birthright of every soul in creation.  

Why buy Organic Milk; it’s so expensive.   Or is Organic Milk to expensive?  I had been buying regular fat free milk for my family and to cook with in my recipes.  I could not stand drinking it myself, because it was affecting my health.  I was also having a problem with its self life in my refrigerator; it would often go off (not so nice taste) before I was able to use it up.  To add insult to injury; it just did not taste right to a person who was raised on fresh cows milk from the family cow.

I have been making some very effective health decisions in the foods I chose to feed my family and self (of course).  Choosing to buy Organic Milk was one of these changes.  I discovered that organic milk was cost effective and low and behold it had positive effects on my digestion.  Now I am able to buy fat free milk that does not have a flat watery taste and even has a creamy feel on my tongue.  The shelf life is extended, so that the milk is used long before the do not use date.  I do not know what is going on with regular milk, but from now on I am choosing to buy Organic no matter the cost.  I have feeling the savings I realize from buying tummy medicine and going to the doctor more than compensates for that choice, if just feeling better is not the added bonus.

Health Insurance is a Green Issue.  Have you ever sat down and thought of the true cost of Health Insurance?  I have and I am distressed at what it is costing in monetary and human resources. The only people who benefit are the people who can afford the cost to protect their accumulated wealth.  What about the other 95% of the population who need access to health care and cannot afford it?  Think about it.  You or your employer pays hundreds of dollars each month for coverage that takes away from the income that is needed to pay for basic housing, food and clothing.  To afford the expense of carrying insurance there needs to be a high deductible that has to be paid for illness out of the family’s disposable income, so pray that you never become sick.  To add insult to injury the only people who profit from all this expense is the insurance companies.

Is there a better way of looking at how we provide health care?  I think there is.  We need to start thinking of health care as a community cost.  It needs to be an income tax just like social security, but the difference would be that the low income people would have as much access to quality health with out paying one more penny than the wealthy tax payer, but the wealthy tax payer would pay for the working mans health.  The interesting thing is that assets that are wasted in selling, using and creating a profit for the insurance companies would be captured and channeled to the benefit of those who need quality health, but currently cannot afford it.  Right now the way quality health is provided is a total mismanagement of resources and great contributor to the wasting of assets and the lives of those we love.