GREEN???

Well it was bound to happen. That’s right; I fell off the GREEN wagon. Lost my mind I guess you can say.

Here’s what happened.
Strolling back and forth from my car to my doorstep I noticed something I didn’t like. After many recent rains weeds were popping up all over the place. Being the weed-hater that I am it was making my yard (which is rock) look like a small forest. Weeds were growing between the bricks that line the walkway. Weeds were growing along the block curb. Weeds were growing everywhere.
So I thought for a bit, go GREEN. Go pull the weeds (I did pull some). But heck weeds took over a very rocky place beneath the palm tree. I tried to pull the weeds, I really did. But was I supposed to pick out every single rock to get to the weeds?
In the end I caved, didn’t even search the internet for remedies. I went full bore with Round-Up.
As soon as I finished I knew it was wrong, a huge mistake. How could I not even search for other alternatives?
Today, the weeds are still there albeit a little less colorful. I know they’ll be back so I have to ask everyone. What should I use? What really works? Let me know pleeeeaaaase!

Until next week, happy reading

Bob

Garden...

Building the garden is in process!
When done we will have two 4ft X 8ft plots and another kind of awkward looking plot of roughly the same size (this was here when we moved in). Planned for the months of February, March and April are; Peas, Potatoes, bush beans, lima beans, Cantaloupe, Sweet corn, Cucumber, Summer squash, Watermelon, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Okra and Peppers.
 Growing our own food will be fun, engaging and of course a little bit of work. But part of going GREEN is knowing where the food you eat comes from and what better way to know than to grow your own. This project will be long term and I will supply more pictures as we move along but for now here’s one picture of the above ground frames. Next is working the soil and then the plating begins.

We will still visit the local farmers market because you can’t grow everything you need or want. Plus they are a great place to meet new friends and talk about the gardens.
 I also have plans for a compost pile so hopefully that will be added soon. The hardest part about composting for me is the lack of tree leaves in this part of Arizona. You need to have brown (leaves, twigs, paper) mixed in with green (clippings, food waste) in order for the compost to activate correctly. I don’t like the idea of using all paper but it’s what I have. Until next week, happy reading. Bob

Planning...

Hello Everyone

I’ve read many blogs and articles that come right out and say that going GREEN is difficult. Yes, it is challenging but those that use the word “difficult” make it sound like going GREEN is a chore. Changing your life and your families’ life to GREEN shouldn’t be a chore, it should be perceived as an adventure…

This past week has been a stage of planning with very little action. However, I did go out and purchase a set panniers and a rack for bicycle number two (see the picture). These will be used to gather groceries and other tidbits while my wife and I bike around on the weekends. The great thing is that we have three very good fresh organic stores close by which makes this much easier. Sometime this month we should also be getting a little deli and grocery close by (I can’t wait for this).

I also planned our upcoming garden and if it weren’t for the rain that’s planned this weekend I would begin to build the frames. Oh well, next weekend perhaps. What else…oh yeah, I finally met the neighbor next to me and it sounds like she wants to garden as well. This makes my situation much better because now both neighbors and I want a garden. Between the three of us we might just have our own little neighborhood vegetable garden! Of course a garden wouldn’t be complete without a compost pile and I have that planned as well. The neighbors will probably join in on that too.

As I said in the first paragraph going GREEN should be a journey and not a chore. Never in my imagination would I have thought that my wife and I would be willing partners to a possible neighborhood garden.

That’s the fun of going GREEEN.

Until next week, happy reading.

Bob

Laundry...

Hello Everyone

Okay I tried to keep it so that my posts take place every Thursday. Well, I missed it this week, sorry.

During this journey we (my wife & I) do quite a bit of reading on how we can make our lives a bit more GREEN. Over the past few weeks we decided to give it a go; make our own fabric softener and laundry detergent. I was truly amazed how quickly she got on board with the idea. Sure you can save a few dollars by doing this but that wasn’t the goal. The object was to create and use something that would keep harmful chemicals out of the water system. (By the way I was ecstatic that my wife was willing to give this a try). So I let her make the decision on which recipe to follow (there are thousands of them) and we went out to purchase the necessary items. For the most part the many recipes are similar; each just increases or decreases the amount of the ingredients. Laundry soap is bar soap, Borax and washing soda. Fabric softener is baking soda, white vinegar and an essential oil (she chose tangerine). Mix the ingredients as called for and then put them to work.

So far, we have washed a few loads and have been happy with the outcome. The only thing that needs some work is the static cling. It’s not bad but it is present and I’m sure with a little reading we can find a solution. If you would like to follow the recipe we have tried just let me know and I will send it to you. Or, if you have  solution to the static cling, let me know.

Until next week, happy reading.

Bob

Walkability

Hello Everyone

I thought I would bring up something that happened before our big move. We traded away or large SUV vehicle for a smaller economical vehicle. Okay, it was for financial reasons (gas and upkeep $$) but it made sense. Why drive 40+ plus miles a day and purchase fuel at more than $3 a gallon in something so large?! Albeit we did have a second vehicle, one that was already small and economical; now we had two. Today one of those vehicles is used by my son therefore my wife and I have become a one car family. This, my friends leads me to the rest of today’s post and a question I had to answer.

Living here in the heart of Tucson is a car necessary?

The answer is…yes, for most people like our selves. We still need to commute to get certain things accomplished. Yet, we have diminished the use of the automobile in our household! My wife takes public transportation or walks to work. I work a few miles further and opt for the car (for now). Most other things, we either bike or walk to. Living in “town” actually affords us the opportunity to ditch the wheels and get some much-needed outdoor time. I could go on forever about walkability or biking but instead head to you local library or bookstore and checkout the book; Walkable City by Jeff Speck. This is a guy that understands the need to create urban environments that allows people to forget (for the most part) the automobile.

Until next week, happy reading.

Bob

First let me tell you who I am. My name is Robert (I try to use Bob these days) and I am a 44 year old happily married man with two grown children (18 & 27) and a grandson. Oh yeah, let me say that my eldest will be getting married in March. My wife and I have lived in Tucson Arizona for the past eight years while my sons live just a couple of hours to the north. Anyway, I have many hobbies: writing (a book will be finished one day), practicing guitar (notice I didn’t say playing guitar) riding my bike and tossing around a Frisbee. Being indoors is not my thing, I prefer being outside, in the sun, doing something. Wait there’s more. I write another blog (I’ll tell you the name later) and I plan to have a spring garden this upcoming year.

Okay, that’s enough about who I am, on with the interesting stuff!

A few years ago the company I work for took an interest in sustainability and finding ways to reduce waste, recycle more and better the workplace environment. I helped in a few ways by authoring the now defunct “GREEN Newsletter” for the employees’, I purchased soy based utensils and compostable cups for the break room and began to recycle the cardboard boxes we get from our suppliers. I should have taken it further, at work and in my own life but I didn’t. That is until recently…

In 2012 my life changed. My youngest son left for school so the wife and I decided to leave our 2100 square foot home with four acres and move to the University area in Tucson. What a change! 2,100 square feet to less than 1,000 square feet of living space. That adjustment took some doing. We had to get rid of a lot of material things that were once deemed as necessary. In the end we made a few bucks having a yard sale and donated enough stuff to fill a 17 foot U-haul truck. That was in August, it’s now December and I have made some good GREEN changes in how I live.

More next week.