Green Living

A crazed shopping spree proves to be a good example of how even the sanest person can fall prey to good advertising and how life is much easier if we just turn it off.

Mar 13, 2005 - April Kelley

Often we are caught in the trap of working hard to earn money just so we can have enough to spend on something that makes our lives healthier and less stressful. We are getting stressed out in an effort to relieve stress! There are other ways to get those little extras in life and still spend your time doing things you enjoy. You don't have to be a wage slave just to have more than food, clothing and shelter.

Feb 3, 2005 - April Kelley

Passionate conviction about preserving and repairing the environment is wonderful and necessary to accomplish change. But taking the passion too far and preaching your beliefs can work against your purpose.

Nov 12, 2004 - April Kelley

A description of the Green Home and why it is important to consider going Green when you build. Lists several of the hazardous materials in a conventional home when deciding to build, remodel or rennovate.

Sep 24, 2004 - April Kelley

Whether your family is growing or downsizing, one of the biggest steps personally, financially and ecologically is purchasing a new home. I’m in the growing stage, as is my sister. We’ve recently been discussing the best way to go when getting a new home. My dream includes solar power, composting toilets, point of use water heaters and passively heated homes with stylish layouts and ecologically harvested wood. I had a whole list of “Green Features” that I enthusiastically enumerated for my sister. But darn her and her common sense! She brought up a good point…there is no perfect ecological home.

Aug 5, 2004 - April Kelley

With all the reno shows on today it seems everything from our hairstyle to our toenails to our bathroom needs to be redone, remodelled, smoothed, straightened and streamlined. But according to the magazines, newspaper sectionals and home and garden shows, in order to get less we must buy more, more, more. We must homogenize, sterilize and de-funkify ourselves. From freckles to curtains made from Saris, any deviation from the usual is no longer considered creative and desirable but rather a flaw that must be masked or removed. Furthermore, we apparently now need highly paid professionals to tell us how to put up shelves, pick shades of paint and throw out junk. Finally, I decided to de-clutter without the expensive shelving, high priced consultant or the loss of my unique curtains. Read on to see what a couple of trash bags and a human determined to de-clutter can do.

Jul 13, 2004 - April Kelley

When I first moved to Tucson Arizona, I laughed at the fact that they called the Rillito River a river – it was nothing but a dry bed! It was just a big, dusty gorge in the ground. My laughter quickly faded when I heard tales from people who had lived all their lives in the Sonoran desert tell how that river flowed freely when they were young. Even more frightening was that these storytellers were not crusty dusty old-timers. They were my age – young professionals in their late twenties and early thirties. That meant that this river had dried up in MY lifetime. I soon learned that where the Colorado River once met the ocean was now nothing more than a muddy smear across the desert – the river no longer ran to the sea. Sure, sure, I’d heard about drought and the environmentalists had been up in arms about water conservation for years. But this was REAL. It hit me hard.

Jun 2, 2004 - April Kelley

I remember when I was very young, I begged and begged my mother to purchase the Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleanser. I thought that if the bubbles had eyes and mouths and talked on television, then surely they would do so in real life. Finally my mother bought the bubbles and I made her promise to tell me when she used it. A few days later, she called me into the bathroom so I could watch her clean it. She did not understand why I was so fascinated by the bubbles – it never occurred to her that I actually thought the bubbles would be alive like the television commercial. When the bubbles were sprayed out onto the tub, I got my face as close as I could, but there was nothing there. “Where are they?” I asked. “What do you mean honey?” My mother wondered. “Where are the bubbles?” “They are right there, see them working on the dirt?” “Where are their little eyes and mouths? Where are the real bubbles?” I began to cry. My mother had to explain to me that commercials were pretend and bubbles weren’t alive, they were only chemicals and I wasn’t allowed to touch them because they would burn me. I was devastated. I had been lied to. I never wanted to see another commercial again. In the long run that probably did me more good that harm, but the message still rings true today – most of the cleaning solutions we buy, we buy because we’ve been duped into thinking we need it via advertising. It isn’t real, it doesn’t work like it says it does and it can burn us.

Apr 13, 2004 - April Kelley

Frugality is great - but only if it doesn't drive you nuts! This month I promised myself to relax and enjoy life, to take more time with everything and not stress myself out about being late or saying NO when I really don't have time to do things. I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on the best way to be frugal - saving yourself from going nuts!

Feb 10, 2004 - April Kelley

The final installment of the energy and money saving article series. This article talks about the seond biggest and the trickiest of all the energy users - household appliances. You'll be surprised where you can save.

Jan 8, 2004 - April Kelley

This is the second installment of the article about saving on utility bills. We move to the biggest consumer of energy - heating and cooling the home. Here are a few tips to keep you frugally cozy this winter.

Jan 8, 2004 - April Kelley

Once again it is the dark and chilly time of year – the time when we gag, gasp and pass out when confronted with utility bills. When it comes to energy consumption, we pay in every way possible. So conserving energy will not only help the environment but save our bank accounts from extinction as well. But many tips folks give you for conserving energy aren’t all that cost effective or realistic in the short term. Sure, we’d love to reinsulated our homes, buy new water heaters, replace all our major appliances with newer, more efficient models and protect the environment, saving money in our later years. It would be grand to build or rebuild in a super-energy efficient eco-friendly way or even go off-grid. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do that. But my problem is a bit more urgent. After all, if I had the money to reinsulate, remodel or rebuild my home and replace all my appliances, I wouldn’t be worried about what the utility bill is costing me. So how can a cash-strapped non-construction worker reduce those energy costs? Read on to find out.

Jan 8, 2004 - April Kelley

Ack! This is the time we start to realize that there are neighbors, friends and co-workers we haven't bought gifts for - then promptly panic and overspend. With all the messages to buy, buy, buy out there, it is easy to start thinking that we actually have to purchase gifts for everyone we ever knew on a first name basis. But this isn't the case. The holiday season isn't about flailing around trying to buy everyone a little something, but about showing our heartfelt appreciation to those who are close to us, whom we really love and those who have touched us deeply in the last year. This article will bring back the voice of reason and frugality when it comes to purchasing gifts for co-workers. So read on for some inexpensive and meaningful gift ideas and a different perspective on whom you should purchase gifts for.

Dec 11, 2003 - April Kelley

As the holiday season approaches, it's time to start thinking about gifts and decorations. Every year we try to spend less and it seems to get more difficult each time. Often it's not the one big gift that gets us - we usually can find a sale for that, or we've saved up for it. It's the nickle and diming for this and that which puts us over the top of our budget. This article gives some ideas for attractive, useful stocking stuffers all under $12. Have a great holiday season and enjoy the free stuff - like snowmen, bonfires with friends, cups of cider with family and a moment of peace in the madness.

Dec 4, 2003 - April Kelley

This is the final installment to the recycling article. I hope this article can be a useful future reference to all of you and can help guide you to recycle at least a few more things in your household each month. The next few articles will revolve around the winter holidays - no matter which holiday you celebrate it can be hectic for all of us. Tune in for some ways to reduce the stress, increase the time and save the budget while having a spankin' good time this holiday season.

Nov 27, 2003 - April Kelley

The list of things you can recycle either by physically breaking down the materials or by donating them to charity continues. This column focuses on everything from greeting cards to cars. I hope you find some useful suggestions here and that it becomes clearer just how much we throw out as a society and that recycling and reusing is worth every last bit of extra time and effort. Not only does it give us a chance to help those in need even when we don't have tons of time and money to donate, but it makes us appreciate just how much we really have.

Nov 20, 2003 - April Kelley

This is the second installment in a four part article about how to recycle unusual items - or at least items that you don't usually think to recycle. This section has lots of options that help charitable organizations or causes and a few options that might even help you make a buck or two.

Nov 13, 2003 - April Kelley

We all know how to crush cans and put them in the blue or green recycling box along with plastic and how to separate regular paper from newspaper. But then there are the odd other household items that we need to toss out. If you hate the thought of throwing things away when they could have life left in them, or worse, cause a health hazard, then this article will help you figure out what to do with those unusual but recyclable items. There are quite a few of them, so this article will run in 4 parts. The first part consist of mostly what to do with your batteries, but keep checking back for what to do with household items ranging from old washing machines and cars to formal gowns and smoke detectors.

Nov 6, 2003 - April Kelley

This article is on one of my favorite things - wine. It is a pleasure to enjoy such a wonderful human invention and this particular invention is far more enjoyable if it is properly cared for. But the hobby of enjoying wine can get expensive. If you're just starting out, or you just don't have the budget to go for a full-on wine cellar, then this article will lend a hand, reviewing different types of wine storage and offering just about the cheapest, most effective alternative you can get to a wine cellar.

Oct 7, 2003 - April Kelley