Saturday, June 30, 2012

Use recycled facial tissue (Change 138)

The idea of hankies went by the wayside a long time ago.  I caught a really bad cold a few months ago, and ended up using copious amounts of Kleenex.  I never got back in the habit of using hankies.  So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Scotties is now producing a 100% recycled fibre facial tissue.  It is EcoLogo certified (http://www.ecologo.org/en/), and actually manufactured in Canada.  Like most things environmentally-friendly, it is a higher cost that the regular brands.  But is makes me feel good, and makes my nose feel good too.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Shop more often at Farmer's Market (Change 137)

Well, Spring is here, and with it, all the assorted goodies of the season.  Fresh asparagus, rhubarb, spinach and lettuce are a few of the items in season.  With going back to work this spring, I missed out on sowing my spinach and lettuce for April, although I'm hopeful that the small lettuce plants I bought will thrive through the hot summer weather.  Our rhubarb is HUGE this year - I may have to start pawning the bounty off on my unsuspecting neighbours.  :)

Truthfully, our veggie garden is going to be smaller this year for a few reasons.  One, I just don't have the time right now to tend a large garden.  Two, we are in the process of landscaping our backyard, so some of my former veggie beds are under huge piles of dirt.  And three, I've decided to start using our local farmer's market.

Last year, I had investigated getting a CSA share.  With five of us to feed, I thought it might be economically worthwhile. However, the more I researched it, the more I realized that my picky eaters would not be happy with the variety offered by the CSA, and I'd probably end up composting quite a bit of the produce.

The farmer's market allows me to benefit from local, organic produce at reasonable prices, supporting local farmers' and agriculture, while providing me with the ability to pick and choose what I want to buy.  I think it will be a win-win situation - I'll keep you posted.