2010 - April Plan- RESULTS

Purge Plan: Kitchen Purge #2 - Glass purge

During the month of April, I purged NOTHING from our glass stash. On May 5th, I have pulled a bunch of spice bottles (glass and plastic) out of the cabinet, combined some, and simply got rid of some that we've had for a bunch of years.

Green Plan: (From Easy Green Living by Renee Loux)

>Get a low-flow toilet, or make your existing toilet low flow:

Already had.

>Don't be a drip - fix leaky faucets and toilets:

Hm. I have one to fix. I'll call today.

Holistic Moms Green Plan: Breast feed. Whelp, I don't need a month to work on this. I have been nursing for 5 1/2 years, and we're still going strong. =)

I haven't done well in the area of PURGE in April. Perhaps I can renew my efforts for May. Hmmmm...

2010 - March Plan - Results

March Plan Results!


Purge Plan - March: Linens (anything cloth!)


3 baby blankets given to a friend for her kitty, who is preggo. =)
A few random things chucked...
Hubby has given me a few of his shirts to use as fabric to make other things

One bag of clothing to be donated to a local community center. It took the month ending for me to get moving with this. 


Green Plan: 


*Use unbleached coffee filters for a dioxin-free cup o' joe


I have used a plastic reusable coffee filter for years. My plan is to sew some reusable filters out of unbleached muslin to eliminate the plastic. But here it is April, and I haven't even bought the material yet. Sighs...it's a process.


*Install a water filter


We have one on the fridge that broke a long while back. We have a pitcher water filter, but the water was tasting bad with the last filter, so we've been drinking tap water..... I put another pitcher filter in, and that's what we're using for now.


Holistic Moms Network Resolution #3: Get a New Bag  

"Want to help save sea turtles and reduce dependence on oil at the same time?  Then commit yourself to using nothing but reusable bags - not just at the supermarket, but at the mall, the convience store, the farmer's market, and everywhere you go and shop!"

I've been using cloth bags for a long time, but I often, almost always in fact, forget to bring them. HMN suggests having cloth bags everywhere...in your car, your purse, etc. I think this is a good idea and will work in that direction.

I did actually put more bags in my car, but I'm not sure it has helped my brain to remember to bring them in the store more often, but I continue to try, and I often will refuse plastic bags even if I've forgotten my cloth bags, so ....

Overall this month was not as productive, purge-wise, as I had expected and hoped, but life just gets in the way sometimes. As always, I can continue to purge linens in April even though my main focus will be else where. I am getting rid of things, and ultimately, that is the goal. So, progress, progress, progress!

Purge Issues!

As many of you already know, I have a plan for this year, to greatly reduce the amount of stuff in my home. It got to the point where I was constantly moving stuff from one surface to another, and it was a constant source of frustration for everyone. Anyhow, I'm in month 2 - kitchen stuff.

For some reason, this month has been much more challenging purge-wise. I think about it every day, and I'm motivated, but it's been much harder to put it into action. Here's one reason why....

This spoon, which came with a rice cooker we no longer own, was chosen to be passed on to some other loving rice spoon type. It has been living happily in our silverware drawer for time uncountable. This morning I took it out. Instantly, little people found it, and reincorporated it into our lives. This has happened with every item I have pulled out and put in the purge-line. Ergh! My son was in tears yesterday because I wouldn't let him drink from a cup we've had in our cabinet since before he was born! Suddenly it became interesting. So not only do I need to remotivate myself every day to climb up into the cabinets, but I need to stash the purge items out of sight of my children. Geez! Challenges come from places we could never predict! =)

2010 - January Plan - Results!

Results for January:

PURGE PLAN RESULTS:

Reading Material Purge:

Magazines purged: 39

I am liking the idea that I have been able to pass some of these magazines on to others to enjoy before they are recycled. I sorta wish people were more into sharing periodical subscriptions...

Newspaper purge: At least one each day

Book purge: 1 book sold on Amazon.com. 12 more listed. In the meantime they will live in the garage! 17 books thrown away (many were old text books.) 4 donated to the library. 2 offered back to MIL, who leant them to us years ago! 1 offered to HMN folks - to be donated to library in 1 week...(1/12-19) 12 to be donated to library or DD's school - will sit in the car meanwhile. Gone from car - donated. One bag of kid's books given to a friend, two more to be given/donated. One in the car, one on its way to the car.

Easy Green Living book-RESULTS:

Clean Kindly:

+Rejected soap nuts liquid for the dishwasher. Replaced it with 7th Generation power which has been great.

+Soap nuts liquid for kitchen clean-up is good. Really like to use castile soap for general household cleaning.

+Bought myself a bar of castile soap scented with Eucolyptus oil. Very nice! Suds a lot (which is not important to me, just a comment) and smells very nice! Aromatherapy while you shower. Unusual for me as I buy unscented stuff due to my skin issues, but this is all-natural, I'll see how my skins deals. So far so good!

+At my daughter's insistence we bought some "all natural" hand soap yesterday. Grapefruit and pomegranate scent. I have been sneezing ever since. I have run into this before with orange scented natural cleaners and have removed them from my life. Must be all citrus scented stuff. Weird. DD loves to pick hand soaps, and doesn't like to be limited to my castile soap concoctions, even when I put it in the foaming hand soap dispenser.... perhaps if I try using scented oils in it?...... She might enjoy making it with me...

Be Wise With Laundry:

+Soap nuts liquid in the laundry has been excellent. I started using Biokleen oxygen bleach this month, with good results.

Holistic Moms Network Green Resolutions: RESULTS:

#1 Ditch the plastic. Replace plastic water bottles with alternatives that are reusable, recyclable, safe

I have already gotten two stainless steel water bottles (Christmas present, thank you dear hubby!) I ordered two stainless steel water bottles for the children. I have thrown away a bin filled with all of our plastic bottles, sippy cups and plastic cups. (See photo in Plastic Purge Phase 1) .....The kids' bottles have arrived, and they started using them right away. They are the perfect size, and they have sport-bottle tops that are safe. My plan is to wash and fill them with fresh water every morning. So far it's worked great. The kids are drinking more water, which is good.

Exercise - RESULTS:

snow shoe/sledding adventure, kid-style: 1

neighborhood walk: 2

yoga: about 9 times

Joined the Y mid-Jan. swim with the kids: 4

hike w/family: 1

Wii sports: A few minutes most days beginning mid-Jan.

Beautify House-RESULTS:

Adding once again. Beautify house. I am officially really embarrassed to have people see our house. And now that DD is having play dates all over the place, I need to get my act together. Progress so far? NONE. Perhaps this will kick in in Feb.

I am very pleased with myself for having done all of this. I hope I can keep the momentum up for Feb! The results are good motivators.