How cool is this?!?!

"Eventually we'll realize that if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves."

— Jonas Salk , American physician and microbiologist, 1914-95

Biodegradable peanuts!  No, not the ones you eat and not the ones in the comic strip.  The ones you pack boxes with.  Packing peanuts!

My husband received a package today and called me over to the sink after he had opened it.  He handed me a packing peanut from the box and asked me to hold it under the hot water he had running in the sink.  I held it there for just a second as it instantly dissolved in my hand.  The box included a card stating that the material used to make them is "starch based, non-toxic, static free, reusable and compostable..." 

How cool is this?!?!

If you want to know more details about this environmentally friendly choice, take a look at this YouTube video.

'Off to College' Furniture Excursion!

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."

— Mahatma Gandhi

My daughter's move from underclassman dorm room to apartment life this past weekend afforded me the opportunity to check out a local thrift store that I've heard tell of.
The apartment Rebecca and her friends chose was unfurnished and thrift store shopping seemed like the environmentally (3R's), fiscally (tight budgets) and mentally (no worries about new furniture being used by college students) responsible way to handle this challenge.
So.... off the the Habitat ReStore we went!

Habitat ReStores are thrift stores set up to collect and re-sell all sorts of appliances and home furnishings from lighting to dishwashers, coffee tables to kitchen sinks (really).  At the one we visited, the staff checks the quality and operational ability of donated items and then prices them to sell.
The best part was that, at the same time we were skipping to the car with Rebecca's new kitchen table and chairs, we were feeling the contentment of knowing that our money was going to Habitat for Humanity - an organization making noticeable differences right here in our own city.
Look and see if there's a ReStore in your area - it's a fun outing and you just might pick up a $5 coffee table...we did!