It Ain’t Easy Being Green

I jumped on the “green” living bandwagon a bit late, I suppose. By all accounts, old hippie that I am, I should have been “green” long ago. In ways I am and always have been. In my home, I’ve preferred glass containers of all types to plastic, I’ve recycled carpet squares to anything from coasters to mats at the door, I’ve always preferred natural surfaces (tile for floors, concrete for counter tops) to the man-made carpets, and formicaish counter tops. Quilts have been made from a multitude of fabrics, from cottons to wools, just depending on what’s around. And I’ve preferred my cloth grocery bags over the store’s requisite plastic for years. (I had a million uses for the brown paper bags that have disappeared from use)

Now, it seems theres more to think about when it comes to being “green”. It means more than getting the lights turned off in an empty room. Now, I have to think about where my purchases are coming from and where they’re going to. That’s a tough one. The compost bed is great for organics, but not great for quite a few other items. I have to think about what my carbon foot-print might be. Heck even the vacuum cleaner guys are talking about carbon emissions (Dyson).

So, in my efforts to be more earth friendly in my world. I’ve come up with a few guidelines. Maybe they’ll help you in your quest to be “green”

• Going “green” doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. More often simple is the best.
• Make a personal choice to spend more time outdoors. Enjoy fresh air and sun when you can. Heck, even open the windows if you can’t be outside.
• Learn to see the world in a different way, learn to live sustainably.
• Don’t worry about the costs of going “green”, consider what you’re saving, both money wise and life wise.
• Ask yourself the question, “What do I have in my home/office/life that I can use/reuse”. Make a list to remind yourself that you don’t need to “buy” a like item.
• Being eco-friendly (read: “green”) happens in stages. One decision, one choice and one step at a time. Take baby steps.
• Consider your personal environment, part of the bigger picture. Solving your “green” issues becomes easier, when you consider that.

What are your tips for living “green”?

Common Sense Makes Cents

Number 4 in the Remarkable Bloggers© series.

Finding this week’s Remarkable Blogger was no easy task. There are so many great blogs out there, with so many great stories behind them. Ultimately, we selected a frugal living type blog, but with a twist.

Sense to Save is written by Kacie, a young woman in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. (A sometimes expensive place to live) She and her husband went from a two-income household to a household that has one main income source and a few trickles of side income, last September. That set Kacie on a mission- saving money and still living comfortably was her goal.

 

Ultimately, we don’t want to have credit card debt or live paycheck to paycheck. We want our dollars to go as far as they can, and that’s why I started my blog — to share ideas for how to save money.

I like Dave Ramsey’s ideas and have read some of his books and listen to his radio program when I can. As far as bloggers I admire, they include Crystal Paine at Moneysavingmom.com and the first personal finance blogger I found, Trent Hamm at Thesimpledollar.com.

When I read Sense To Save, cover to cover, I discovered some interesting ways to save money myself. (And I thought I had found it all) Most of these methods are easy to follow and involve only a little extra time and attention in your normal day.

I don’t know exactly how much money we’ve saved by not spending, but I’m sure it’s in the thousands already. For our grocery bill alone, we went from spending $400-450/month on food to about $200-250 or less per month. I’ve gotten over $500 worth of toiletries for less than $20, and by becoming more conscious of our budget, we’re just making the choice to not spend our money on frivolous things, and to try to find the best deals we can.

The most important message behind Kacie’s blog is that you can live frugally without living like a pauper. And according to Kacie,” Living frugally has many more benefits besides saving money. You become more self-sufficient, less wasteful, healthier, and more content with your life.” And those words, my friends are worth a million bucks in and of themselves.

Thanks Kacie! You truly are a Remarkable Blogger© !

Do you know a Remarkable Blogger©? Are you a Remarkable Blogger©? Use our contact form and let us know who you’d nominate for our next feature.

TrafficJam Is Here

Looks Like BlogRush FINALLY Pays Off

I got an email this morning, no doubt you did as well if you’re a Blogrush user. Seems Traffic Jam is online in public beta.  Traffic Jam, is a Blog Aggregator, but its more than that. There are no social requirements, nothing to click, no lauds to pay. It uses the Headline Syndications from Blog Rush to post.

TrafficJam.com uses data from the BlogRush Network. BlogRush is a content syndication widget that’s currently used by thousands of blogs (and more everyday) from all over the Web.
TrafficJam.com uses technology to analyze the click-through rates of millions of blog post titles across the BlogRush Network, along with other factors such as time spent on a particular blog entry’s page, and attempts to estimate the ‘popularity’ and ‘quality’ of certain posts based on similar data from other blog posts of the same topic.

TrafficJam is designed to give everyone a chance at being seen, provided they are using the BlogRush Syndication. Small blogs, with limited readership and those without large ad budgets now get an equal chance of being discovered. The blogosphere is leveled out, just a little bit. And that’s a good thing.

Well, the suspense was killing me. I had to check. And, sure enough, there was Bird On A Wire, happily perched in the #2 spot for my niche. So folks, it looks like the months we’ve spent wondering, if Blogrush was ever going to payoff in terms of traffic are coming to an end.

Now, if you don’t have a BlogRush widget, click here and you’ll be taken to the sign up. Apply for a membership (its free), you’ll be reviewed and when you’re accepted, usually in a short time, you can add your own widget.  Then visit TrafficJam regularly, see how your own blog is doing and find some new reads. It is gonna be a good year! Thanks BlogRush for finally coming through!

Here’s To You,

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