Friday, April 22, 2011

Earth Day


Good morning... It seems a lot of you are popping over here from the Chicago Tribune article today. Welcome! We hope you find lots of inspiration and good advice within these pages.

We enjoyed being interviewed for this feature and sharing some of the simple, everyday changes that can help reduce our output. Many of those ideas are shared here on the blog.

In honor of Earth Day, (and since so many of you are local) I'd like to ask what are your favorite green tips? I'd love to hear from you all about what you do, where you go and who you know to help take care of the planet. Here's your chance to promote some good green local businesses, blogs and web sites that inspire you and pass along any personal practices you'd like to share.

Looking forward to reading the comments, and thanks for stopping by!

10 comments:

Natalie said...

We love the Chicago Green City Market http://www.greencitymarket.org/index.asp

Such a wonderful thing to have year round! Love this blog by the way.

PinkCatJo said...

I hoped back to the Tribune to read the article - very interesting.

We have a worm bin and put all our leftover fruit and veg and peelings in the bin. Then out comes lots of worm 'wee' which is a great natural fertiliser for our garden. x

Amanda Greco Holmes said...

Thanks Natalie! Farmer's markets are such a great addition to any community. I have yet to check out the big one in the city, but hope to get out that way soon.

Hey PinkCat,
I'm thinking we might upgrade to worm composter. For the amount of compost we put out, the hot method (at least the way we have been doing it) can take a little while to get going. Who knew there were so many things you can do with scraps!

Emily on the Prairie said...

Hello!
I saw the Tribune article and it sounds like we live almost the exact same way -- although we only have one toddler so far! It was great to see the piece and let people know that "regular folks" can do things like use cloth diapers and compost -- it's just not that crazy, we promise. :)

Amanda Greco Holmes said...

Hi Emily,

Yes, we were a little worried that the article might make us out to be a bit crazy, but what we were really hoping to share (and what I think people can take away from it) is that these steps are simple and sensible. I look forward to checking out your site. Thanks for sharing!

Kelly said...

Just saw your response to an earlier comment, and I don't think the article makes you out to be crazy, but then again we live the same way, so maybe we are crazy too? Which is fine with me!
My favorite green (and frugal!) thing is cloth diapers. I also love vinegar and baking soda for most of my cleaning, and homemade beauty products, like facial scrubs from ingredients in my pantry.

camiljr said...

Green cleaning is a must. Here's a great guide: http://swancc.org/pdfs/Education/ecoCleaningGuide.pdf.

Megan Courtney said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Megan Courtney said...

Amanda that was so cool! I hope we can spend some time together this summer. I'm working at spring valley again and might have a job with the school district. I can't wait to see you and the kids.

Emily on the Prairie said...

I didn't think the article was crazy-sounding at all, though I understand your worry ahead of time. However, I wish they hadn't used "extreme" in the headline. The whole point is this stuff isn't extreme, right?! What I don't think people "get" is that reusing things and being efficient and chemical-free in the home isn't really radical, it's the way things were done for centuries. It's our current disposable culture, the one where we throw stuff away and buy new all the time, that's bizarre. O.K., getting of my soapbox to go eat Easter chocolate. :)