3 Things for Earth Day

I have always been a bit of an Earth Day skeptic. Being environmentally focused for 24 hours and then rushing back into our modern, fast-paced, disposal lives seems as fake as those 'green products' that keep popping up and are anything but.

Earth Day does, though, give us an actual date on the calendar to renew our commitment to saving this planet's amazing beauty and diversity for our children and for their children and it does help us to get focused.

Each year we try to commit to 3 new practices (last year we switched to compact fluorescent bulbs, gave up paper towels, paper and plastic bags -and take out containers- when shopping and started composting kitchen scraps more consistently).

This year our 3 new commitments are : 1. Reduce our garbage to 1 bag a week (with a family and two businesses we are continually challenged with this) 2. Send one letter each month to a politician -local, state or federal- concerning an environmental issue (this will also challenge us to be aware of these issues) and 3. grow more of our own fruits and vegetables and can them for colder seasons (I have never done anything even remotely like canning - no idea why this is even called canning when we use glass - we do use glass, right?), so this will be my biggest challenge yet. Hopefully I can do this without putting anyone in the hospital, or at least anyone I like in the hospital.

To celebrate Earth Day I am offering free shipping on any jewelry order in both my shops- Uncorked and Polarity through Friday midnight. Just write Earth Day in the comments to seller section of your order and I will refund your shipping!

1. Artwork by KD - Flower Ring
2. Pouch - Recycled Brooch
3. 2ReVert - Earrings
4. Infusion - Toddler Slippers
5. zJayne - Recycled Wristlet
6. Knitstorm - Tea Cup Cozy

NOT a Loser Part II

Ok- so the last time I was in an Etsy 'contest' it was called the Handmade Kids Contest and I entered my totally amazing (if I do say so myself and I am apparently the only one saying it) See Jane Run magnet board which was bumped from the competition by Etsy admin when the contest went from 35 entries to 30 and I am still kind of sore about it.

So- when I got an email today from an Etsy intern saying my Mother Knows Best locket is in their Mother's Day Contest I started to sweat. I mean I do NOT expect to win this thing, but I am hoping to stay out of the bottom 5 again, if you know what I mean. So, if you do not have a sister, cousin, best friend (or well even if you do and you do not really like them that much) in this contest- how about voting for my Mother Knows Best Locket to keep me from total Etsy hari-kari this time- so here's the LINK what do you say? UPDATE - Thank you to everyone who voted for my locket - I had a very respectable showing and no need for hari-kari...this time.

You are NOT a Loser ... (I am pretty sure)

OK- so I have some serious blog goodies to be given away on four blogs right now- that's right you are not seeing in quadruple - I said FOUR!

I know this is going to take you a few minutes to enter all of these, but these little lockets used to be cars (or car parts actually) and I think it would be worth a few minutes to win a car (uhm... part), right?!

Plus entering all four of these has got to increase your chances of winning, by what, at least a gazillion percent, right? I mean, if you enter all four of these and you don't win anything, well, I mean that still wouldn't exactly make you a loser ... but I would start to worry about you a little bit....

1. Noelle over at Xenotees in giving away my Kendra Zvonik Locket
2. Jen at IndixFix is giving away my Jess Gonacha Locket
3. Tia at CleverGirlGoesBlog is giving away my Unconventional Ida Locket
4. The amazing Helene at Helene's Dreams is giving away my Dilka Bear Locket


You gotta be in it, to win it, people!

Seed to Table

Instead of growing more and more of our own food, my hubby and I seem to be growing less and less. Partly because so much of it ends up in the bellies of the rabbits and groundhogs that get past any fencing we devise and partly because although our heads and hearts are green, our thumbs have not caught up. But this year we are determined to improve our output and get more home grown goodies to our own table.

We are hoping to get at least some of the the seeds into the ground this weekend. I am also planting a large cutting garden of zinnias. Having flowers to bring in each night with the veggies will make the effort more worthwhile for me.

When we can't grow our own it is often worth it to buy organic especially if the foods you eat most often are ones that tend to be the most heavily treated. More pesticides are found on apples than any other fruit (36!) - if you can't find organic- rinse them well, peel them and look for little produce stickers that saw New Zealand (they use about half as many pesticides as the United States).

You should also choose organic grapes, because grapes ripen quickly and tend to mold, growers hit them with multiple applications of various chemicals. The worst are Chilean grapes which are treated with as many as 17 chemicals (90% of the grapes eaten in the U.S. this time of year are Chilean). The key is always a very thorough rinse in cool or warm water.

You should even rinse your cantaloupes before cutting since your knife can drag exterior residues through the fruit as you cut it and cantaloupes often contain five of the longest-lasting chemicals including one banned in 1974 that still persists in soils and is taken up by the fruit. When you can - choose local and 100% organic.

Here's a few "organically" grown Etsy beauties:

1. Xenotees - Good Luck Fork T-Shirt
2. afiori - 4 Mini Pictures Il Giardino Segreto
3. SpoonerZ - Fork Top Family Necklace
4. Kootsac - Reusable Food Bags
5. BCStoneDesign - Mushroom Planter
6. CustomEyes - Vintage Egg Beater
7. BovineBubbles - Assorted Jams and Jellies