I am bowing my head for Madeline Alice Spohr.
April 14th, 2009 2:30PM, Pacific Time
She is fluttering her (purple?) angel wings and smiling down with love.
We will not forget her, Heather & Mike. <3
-courtesy Mrs.Schmitty
Definitely Good For The Kids
From time to time, I try to get involved in something that isn’t entirely self-absorbed. It’s really hard, because I’m a lazy, narcissistic douchebag most of the time.
Today, I’m going to step out of my Lotus Burrito (get it? I’m all wrapped up in ME!) for a few moments and talk about a Blogger Challenge designed to help raise money for public schools.
Deep South Moms has accepted the 2008 Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge.
I am fully supporting this, and I’d like to ask you for your support as well. You can see the widget on my left sidebar, and if you’d like to help, you can grab that widget, too. Just click HERE. Placing that widget on your sidebar, and especially posting about it, will help!
Of course, giving a donation to one of the proposals at the DSM Donors Choose Challenge page would be greatly appreciated. There is no donation too small or too big when we’re talking about supporting the education of our children.
stockxpert.com
To motivate you to give, I’m teaming up with Good For The Kids to offer you a prize. You’ll have a chance to win a $40 Gift Certificate to Good For The Kids for helping out HERE with a donation.
Click through HERE, choose a proposal from that page, and make the donation of your choice. Afterwards, come back here and tell me you donated and you’ll be entered into the pool from which the winner will be drawn.
All who make a donation HERE in the next two weeks and comment here that that they have done so will be entered into the pool of possible winners. You have a chance to enter from now until 11:59PM, CST October 15th, 2008.
On October 16th, one entrant will be randomly drawn and will receive the $40 GFTK Gift Certificate.
If your name is drawn as the winner but you did not actually make a donation, we will draw another winner.
So, come on! Help Deep South Moms and me do something Good For The Kids!
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For more information about the Deep South Moms 2008 Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge, visit here.
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If I can’t get enough sleep, I can at least conserve energy elsewhere…
Since we here at The Carroll Household have been working to be kinder to the world we live in, I’ve talked to you about the walk that inspired this, the challenge I issued, our neighborhood clean-up, our switch to cloth diapers, and the cleaners we use around the house.
There are also several easy things you can do to save energy in your home on a day-to-day basis. Here are some of the things we do…
Adjust the thermostat. In the winter, we try to keep the thermostat between 64-68. It’s actually comfortable, and if you feel chilly, you can always warm up with sweaters, blankets, and warm liquids. Or with, um… fun activities. 
When we’re sleeping (or away from home) we drop the temperature even lower. At night we can just snuggle up with blankets and each other – which is fun! And because these drops last 8 hours or more, we save 5-15% on heating costs a year!
And remember, fireplaces might be sexy, but they are generally big, fat energy wasters, so only use them on occasion.
In the summer, we try to keep the thermostat between 75-78. Dressing appropriately for the season helps - yes, that means shorts, no matter how much you hate shaving or how badly your white, clammy skin blinds others who live with you.
We also use fans to offset cooling costs (by making us more comfortable with higher thermostat settings). Ceiling fans and oscillating room fans use far less energy than your Whole-Home Cooling System, and will help it have work less often. The fans will create a breeze you can feel to make it more comfortable to have the thermostat set at a higher setting. Make sure you only have them on in rooms where there are people (or you’re wasting money).
Window fans can also be used when the weather outside accomodates. If it’s cooler outside than in, use dual fans to pull cool air in one window and push hot air out another. This works especially well in 2 story homes (pull cool air into downstairs windows and suck hot air out upstairs windows). Just make sure to turn your HVAC System off.
A really excellent thing we’ve done is to replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They use about 75% less energy and last 10 times longer! They also produce far less heat, which in turn will save you on cooling costs in the summer.
They do cost more than regular bulbs, but the savings in electricity over time will pay for the bulbs, and then some. They are available all over the place – so shop around and make notes to find the best price before you buy. I purchased mine at Walmart, but you can buy them at Target, Lowes, Home Depot, and even online.
It’s such an easy change to make with such huge energy savings and eco-friendly outcomes that you’d be nuts not to do it.
“What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb [CFL], took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.” -Source: FastCompany.Com
I challenge all of you – if you haven’t already done so – to change at least one of your incandescent bulbs to a CFL. And the more, the better!
Learn more about CFLs, including how to dispose of them properly.
Another thing we’ve gotten really strict about is use of light - if we don’t really need it, we don’t turn it on. When we’re done with it, we turn it off.
We all know that we should turn off the lights when we leave a room, but it’s really easy to get in the bad habit of just walking out. Remind yourself to hit that switch! Another bad habit? Turning on lights you don’t even really need. If it’s daytime and you have windows, open up the curtains/blinds and use the free sunlight!
If you really start making a conscious effort, you can get rid of energy waste and reduce your electric bills this way. And hey, here’s your chance to feel like “real adults!” Practice barking at your kids/roommates/cat/fish, “Turn off the lights or get a job!” (Second only to, “Close the refridgerator – what are you trying to do, cool the whole house with it?!”)
Of course, lights aren’t the only things that waste electricity due to our habitual waste behaviors. How many times have you walked away from a TV or stereo that was on? Do you stand with the refridgerator door open for unneccesary amounts of time? (See above exclamation.) Do you leave doors and windows open when the HVAC System is running? (In this case, you’re trying to heat/cool the whole neighborhood, obviously. *crosses arms, cocks head and raises brow*)
Again, when you start really tuning in to these types of behavior, you’ll be surprised at the energy you waste, and you’ll be able to start changing those bad habits.
And though it seems petty, unplug things you won’t use for awhile. If it has a plug and you leave it in the outlet, it will drain electricity whether it’s “on” or not! It may only be a small amount, but everything adds up over time. Remember, small steps make a big difference in the long run. So unplug your phone charger when it’s not in use. Look around and see if you can spot things you only use on occasion, like maybe a bread maker, juicer or blender. Unplug!
We’ve had some not too fun times with water heaters, so we’re very aware of them now. Watch that hot water! Set your water heater to no higher than 120degrees. Not only will this prevent scalding accidents (a MUST if you have children), but it will save you money. Water used in your dishwasher and clothes washing machine doesn’t need to be any hotter than that to disinfect and clean, but if it is, you’re paying extra for it. So make sure that either you (if you know what you’re doing) or a handyman sets your water heater to no higher than 120.
These are really only a few of the things you can do to save energy at home. There are many more that can be done.
Do you think you’ll adopt any of these good habits?
What do you do that I’ve not mentioned here?
Scrubba Dub Dub!
It’s that time o’ the month again… no, not time to whip out your “WOMEN’S PADS!” Rather, it’s time to talk about the positive changes we’re making in our lives that will benefit us and our planet!
I wanted to mention that we are still loving the BumGenius diapers that I talked about in my last PSBN post. They really are great, and not difficult to keep up with at all. Yay for Cloth Booties!
This month, I want to talk about Household Cleaning Products. Yes, I do actually clean house sometimes. SOMETIMES.
This is not so much a change in our lives, but a bit of a review of what we do, and a revitalization for us. What I mean by that is that for years, we have used Melaleuca EcoSense cleaning products.
Here you see the EcoSense All Purpose Spray (Tough ‘N Tender) and Window Cleaner (Clear Power).
They are free of the yuckies and are environmentally friendly. They work well, but, and this might seem dumb, I dislike the smell of them. But like I said, they work well, and that’s the point of a cleaner. Unfortunately, they are relatively expensive. If you become a member, you get a reduced price on the products – but you have to sign an agreement to spend a certain amount each month (if you don’t order, they’ll charge your card and send you the “auto-order”). We got a bit tired of that, especially after Braden was born and $$ got tight, so we cancelled our membership. Luckily (?) we had over-ordered the things we use to satisfy our monthy requirement, so we had product to use for awhile. (We also used/use their Tub & Tile Cleaner, Bathroom Disinfectant, Heavy Duty Cleaner, and Laundry Cleaning Products.)
But what to do when it runs out?
A little over a month ago, I saw an Ad in a popular parenting magazine for a new line of products from Clorox that are supposed to be “green.” The article made the Clorox Green Works cleaners sound like a good try.
A few weeks later, I spotted them at Walmart and I happily purchased these:
And to cut down on Paper Towel Usage (Less Tree Killing = More Happy Thoughts!), I’m using these:
I used the cleaners that day and that evening to clean things in the kitchen, and I just want to say…
THEY ROCK.
Seriously, I was very happy with the performance of both the All Purpose Spray and the Window Cleaner.
AND – they smell REALLY GOOD. They are made with coconut and lemon essences, and the smell that lingers after you clean is incredibly pleasant.
What’s more, they are not expensive, unlike some other Eco-Friendly Cleaners I’ve seen on the market. At Walmart, they were competitively priced with other name-brand cleaning products. (Generic brands were cheaper.)
I literally, actually feel happy to be cleaning in my kitchen now, and I HATE CLEANING. (Note how low the liquid level is in the All Purpose Cleaner.)
Because I was so happy with the performance of the first two purchases, I also picked up the Green Works Natural Bathroom Cleaner, Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner, and Natural Dilutable Cleaner (floor mopping, etc).
Our house smells like a fruity, adult beverage. I’m thinking I should start wearing a hula skirt when I mop the floors. And make John buy a ukelele.
In addition to the Green Works cleaners, we have started using an Earth-Friendly dish-washer detergent by Seventh Generation. I have heard really great things about that line, but I’ve always hesitated purchasing anything because it’s quite expensive.
(Seriously, do you know how many times I’ve had their baby-wipes in my hands and ended up putting them back because I just couldn’t take the idea of spending three times as much on them? *cries*)
Anyway, the other stuff we’ve been putting in our dish-washer is Earth-Ugly for sure. So we decided to try it.
I have to admit, I was a bit scared. Luckily, it was all for naught – the stuff works wonderfully. If I can ever get over the sticker shock I may try some of the other Seventh Generation products. (PS: You can sign up at their website and get access to coupons.) 
For hand dish-washing, we still use from our surplus supply of EcoSense Lemon Brite. It works excellently, smells nice, and it’s super Eco-Friendly (no phosphates, all biodegradable).
Incidentally, we also use the Melaleuca Shampoo (haven’t run out yet) and used to use the Melaleuca Body Wash. I have to say that the Body Wash is the thing I miss the most about our membership there! At least I still have The Gold Bar – nice, strong citrus scent.
If you have the means, I actually recommend a Melaleuca membership. The products are pretty sweet.
So, that’s our cleaning arsenal – some Melaleuca EcoSense, Clorox Green Works, and Seventh Generation.
I’ve heard that Method Cleaners work well, too, but we haven’t tried any here yet. I have used the hand-soap elsewhere, and I liked it. I was eyeing the Cleaning Wipes the other day, but got a little peeved that I couldn’t find ingredients on the label. Instead, they just say something smartass like, “Why do they work so well? Something tells us we shouldn’t be printing our proprietary formula right on our product label.” Haha. The ingredients are listed on the website, though. Maybe I’ll go back for them.
So, peeps, what ”Green” tips and changes do you have to talk about? Link in!
More info about Project Support Beauty in Nature
Self-Portrait Truthiness – Alternate Title: At Least You Can’t Smell My Breath
Is this Wednesday Wordless? Well. Not really. But at least it will have photos in it…
Back on Monday, March 10th, the always awesome Sweetney showed us her real, first thing in the morning self.
That’s right. Just after waking, no make-up, no hair primpin’ - no nothin’ extra.
Can I just say I LOVE a woman who’s not afraid to be Real?
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve Photoshopped zits out of pictures I posted online. I mean, did you really want to see my whitehead? I doubt it.
But I’m also all about The Real.
If you’ve seen my “Everyday Me” collection (inspired by Madame Meow and clickflashwhirr), then you know I’m all about showing The Real. Cause, yeah. All my original zits are on those photos. I didn’t take any out (or add any, for the record).
And, I’m sure some of you recall when I shared Kevin & Leroy with you:
And then I introduced you to Pattie:
So, really. Not afraid of sharing The Real with any of you, because we can only benefit from accepting one another as who we really are. And if flashing my muffin-top at you will help facilitate that, then so be it.
Now, after Sweetney shared with us, she DOUBLE DOG DARED the rest of us to do the same. And then so did Her Bad Mother, Oh The Joys, IzzyMom, Mrs. Flinger, Motherbumper, Mamalogues, Breed ‘Em And Weep and the lovely Canadian 2008 Bloggies Winner (you go, girl!) who I have a huge hard-on for (yes, I can have those. and my penis is bigger than yours): Redneck Mommy.
And when THOSE women dare you to do something – you don’t F-Around. And when they DoubleDogDare you… you run like a mofo and complete the task ASAP.
So, I present to you the Ugly Truth that is Me Upon Waking:
“Do I really have to get up now?”
“Okay, I’m trying.”
“But I can’t look at you after last night.”
Now YOU should do it. Really. GO.
DO IT.
His Butt is Toxic, and Yet, Eco-Friendly!
We did a handful of things differently this month to be kind to Mother Earth, but this month’s big “Green” effort was really exciting for us: we decided to take the Cloth Diapering Plunge!
Braden’s gone “Clean And Green.” 
Disposable are NASTY.
One child produces large amounts of them, daily – It is estimated that children using disposables create almost 6,000 during their diaper-wearing years. And those will sit in a landfill for an estimated 250-500 years. That is DISGUSTING. And have you seen the icky, jelly crap inside them? I’ve had them bust open on us (not often, but it happens) and it’s really pukish when I think about how that Yuckification in there was always up against my kiddo’s little, soft hiney. I’m sure it contributed to his rashiness.
Ever since last month’s PSBN post and all the excellent advice from you guys, I dove in and did some hard-core research online about cloth diapers. This site is a great resourse (but you can find lots out there). I didn’t really want to spend the big bucks, but I knew I HAD to find something that John and I would stick with. Let’s be realistic here: If you can’t hack it, you’ll give up on it. We didn’t want to give up on it! I tried really hard to want to use the cheapest option: prefolds. But. Just. No. (Forgive me, I know so many of you have done/do this, but it just isn’t for us.)
All the “fitted” diapers seemed so great, but buying new sizes constantly would really get expensive! Yeah, Braden is on the last leg of his “Diaper Journey” but we wanted to invest in something that we can use again with additional kiddos we have (imagine that, we want this to be an Earth Saving AND Money Saving venture!)…
Enter the 3.0 Bum Genius One Size Cloth Diaper.
*big sigh*
Yes. They are expensive. You look at the price of a single diaper and you go OHHOLYCRAPANDCRACKERSTHAT’SWHATIPAYFORAWHOLEBOXOFDISPOSABLESEEEEEK!
BUT.
Work out how much you spend on them for your child’s entire “Diaper Journey,” and you’ll see that you’re just hemorrhaging the cash slowly instead of all at once, and the disposables will end up costing you WAY more in the long run than even the expensive cloth diapers, yo!
UPDATED:
Maybe this will help you see why you’re NOT spending more when you use even the “expensive” cloth diapers:
If your kid wears disposables until age 2 (and most wear them longer, FYI) that will produce an estimated 5800-6000 diapers. This is going to cost you approximately $1000 – $1600 (depending on brand). Yup. And I didn’t even include the price of wipes or butt rash cream – that’s extra, my friends! And if the kiddo goes past age 2, you can just keep adding to that price. For about $400 you can purchase 24 (more than enough at any age!) of the “expensive” Bum Genius 3.0 One Size (the newest one available) and you can use them on an endless number of children.
So, this means:
Have 3 kids? Disposables until 2: $3000 – $4800 (depending on brand). BG One Size: $400 (plus laundry costs).
And don’t forget to add wipes, creams, and anything past age 2 to that disposables price.
Do you still think it costs too much?
So I did a little of my own math. I figured out how much we’d spend from now until Braden turns 2 on the disposables we were currently using (Walmart brand, so they are cheap). And I decided that if I can spend that much or less, it would be economically logical as well as YAY for Mother Earth.
And guess what? I spent exactly that much on 9 Bum Genius One Size diapers/inserts (will fit from newborn up to a 37 pounder),
2 Hemp Babies inserts (extra absorbency for nights)
and a Mini-Shower (if you cloth diaper, you want this, seriously – thanks for the tip, Heather!) to spray out The Dook.
Which means that in the $ department, IF Braden would be Potty Trained by 2 (which I think is a nice, hopeful assumption) then we break even. If it takes him longer, we save! Hurrah!
Now, if you consider the fact that we can use these with the next child(ren), that’s where we REALLY save $$. We’ll need to purchase extras to handle the excessive Poopification during the beginning of life, but we’ll still save boatloads over using disposables. And we’ll never contribute another 500 Year JellyPissShitSack Diaper to the landfills!
*Does an insanely happy dance of JOY!*
“But Lotus, you are totally spending more in laundry!” Yes, yes, I am, My Kind, Loving Reader. But check it: We’re cutting water usage elsewhere to help with that a bit.
Here’s how:
We took Sandy’s really great tip, and we bought a bucket to collect the cold water that we used to waste at the beginning of the shower. (You know, when you’re waiting for it to warm up?)
Now we use that water for other things like refilling our aquariums and putting into Braden’s humidifier when he’s got a cold. It can also be used to water plants and the garden, mop floors, clean appliances, etc. How cool!
Next:
“If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.”
Yup. We’ve severely reduced the number of flushes in our home.
I’ll spare you the photo evidence on this one. And that’s really unlike me, you know, to pass up the chance to flash something excretory at you. (If that’s not a word, it is now.)
Things we’ve already done in the past that help: no water running while teeth brushing or hand washing, use hand sanitizier in place of washing if your hands aren’t grimy, but just need disinfecting, and restrict the length of showers and the size of baths.
A few “technical” notes about using Bum Genius One Size:
Care Instructions (click it) You will want to follow these to make sure the diaper never leaks. The material is really great – the fleece lining truly wicks the moisture away and into the absorbent liner inside.
It’s freakin’ amazing. But you have to treat it nice so it keeps performing! We already used Purex Free and Clear for laundry, and that’s approved. You should read all the care instructions before you buy – if you’re not willing to follow them, you should probably go with something else.
They’ll “Grow With Kiddo.” They come with newborn size diaper doubler and regular insert, and have cool snaps to change the size as your lil’ one grows. I am so excited to use them exclusively on our next baby.
There will be a learning curve when changing from disposables, but it really hasn’t been bad! You have to get used to how to insert the liners without bunching them, but you’ll get into the groove of it after some practice.
We got the Hemp Babies inserts for nighttime because Braden needs extra absorbency overnight.
I did my research and they were highly recommended. They did not disappoint. We just add one in at night on top of the regular insert. He has only leaked out at night once so far, which is excellent!
And, did you notice… They are freakin’ adorable!
It has been a really exciting month for us with this change! And we have lots of other things up our sleeves – some that we’ve already started doing, and some that we are planning for the future. But this is it for this month’s installment. Stay tuned for next month, my pretties! We have so much more in store. 
Next post is scheduled for Monday, April 14, 2008.
Now link up with your monthly posts, and visit other participants! I can’t wait to read what you’ve got for us.
More info about Project Support Beauty in Nature
Project Support Beauty in Nature
The response to my last post was great. So many of you spoke up and agreed that befowling the earth with filth is poor behavior!
Just a sample of thoughts:
“Arghhh, rubbish drives me mad.”
-Veronica
“It makes me mad too when I see how people just think it is ok to throw trash on the ground.”
-Jennifer
“Litter is pretty disgusting – people are a bunch of pigs.”
-Beck
“This is the stuff that gets under my skin because it is only getting worse…”
-Kim
And I can only imagine that several more of you agreed, but just didn’t comment. Did anyone get inspired to do a cleanup project of their own?
I am going to document our own little trash pickup/recycling project of later this week and report back to you guys with pictures and words. I’d like to issue you all a challenge to do something similar. Are you up to it? Put on your thinking cap. Have you seen something similar in your neighborhood that disgusts you?
Some of you clearly have:
“I was just thinking the same thing yesterday while watching a group of people flick their cigarette butts all over the ground….”
-Sandy (Momisodes)
“I think I will have to do the same thing b/c on our walk, just through our neighborhood, I saw a lot of junk on the ground.”
- Secret Agent Mama
“…I still cringe when I see the amount of garbage thrown into some parts of the streets and sidewalks….”
-Lilacspecs
“I carry a trash bag while hiking so I can pick up other people’s garbage.”
-Amy
“My kids and I go once a month, trash bags in hand and collect the litter along the roadside in our area. It never ceases to sicken and amaze me that people are this damn lazy and spoiled to toss their trash where ever they choose.”
-Redneck Mommy
And how about you? Have you seen something similar where you are? What can you do about it?
*What will you do about it?*
So many of you are awesome bloggers, and I would LOVE to see your answer to this challenge in my comments section, and then your follow-up post about your own project of kindness and love, on your site. Is two weeks enough time for everyone to come up with something, complete the task, and then document it on their website?
Or maybe you live a very green lifestyle, and you’d love to share your advice and opinions with others, in the hopes that something you do hasn’t yet occurred to someone else, and they will adopt a change for the better when they read your post. Educating others is a great way to help – and with your own website you can do just that!
This is a call to action -let’s name it Project Support Beauty in Nature.
If you like, please grab any of these buttons and put them on your sidebar, linking to this page, to call attention to this project. Who knows how many people we can get on Mother Earth’s side?
“People overlook the power of one. They think since they can’t fix the whole problem, their piddly little contribution won’t make a difference, so they don’t act. They are correct – if most people have that attitude.”
-SuzanneSays
Let’s make a difference.
Let’s stand together, and grow the number of us that are changing the world for the better, one step at a time.
Support Beauty in Nature!
Seeing Clearly.
A few days ago I was feeling rather icky. You know what I mean. My heart was sticky with the tar of depression, my head was cloudier than a room full of Milton Berles, and my muscles were aching like I had just run a marathon with Sally Struthers strapped to my back.
So, I did the thing that generally makes me feel happier, no matter what else is going on: I kicked the dog put on my jacket, grabbed my camera, and went for a walk. Movement in Sunshine.
It was about 3:30 and very brisk. Clouds were milling around in the sky, crowding the sun as it begain to trail its path to oblivion for the night… As I strolled along, my muscles stretched and yawned. They woke up a little, and endorphins lifted the corners of my mouth, and my mind.
Usually during such a stroll, and basically as a general rule in life, I am intensely drawn towards visions of Beauty in Nature. I always capitalize when I refer to the concept in this way. It is as if it is its own entity, starkly standing out from the muddle that is everything else. My soul seeks out this type of beauty. My heart beats faster, my breathing slows, and my eyes seem to focus more sharply when I bear witness to Beauty in Nature. I feel… well, alive.
During this stroll, it started off that way, and I got a nice shot of the sun caressing these naked, shivering trees one last time before she turned and went to bed.
But then, I was continually drawn to something else.
This revolts me.
It makes my heart beat faster. I am angry.
It makes my breathing slow… as I grit my teeth. I am trying not to lose my cool.
It makes my eyes focus more sharply, as my brows furrow deeply.
What do I really see?
I see a people who are too spoiled and pampered, careless, thoughtless and oblivious to true beauty, to be kind. I see a disgusting swarm of cretins sauntering across the earth, leaving their filth behind them to rot and lay peril to the beauty that battles to live on amidst the muck.
I see a people who don’t deserve so much of what is here for them, obviously just in their periphery, because they certainly can’t be seeing it clearly. There’s no way you could do THIS if you’re seeing the Beauty in Nature clearly. Could you?
What can I do? My heart beats faster.
Just me? How can I stop this? I ponder. My breathing slows.
Even in small numbers, we can make a difference. Later this week, John, Braden and I will walk along the same way I did last Friday, but we will be armed with garbage bags. We’re going to pick up every piece of this dreck that we come across.
My eyes have focused more sharply.
UPDATED: The response to this post was so wonderful, that I posted this follow-up to it.
We’ve started a movement:
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