Thirty-Two - Draft Dodger + Saving on Heat & Energy during the Winter

light reflecting off of the plastic

The plastic is officially up on the windows it's snowy outside and winter is officially here! We also put the heat on for the first time last week and decide that maybe plastic on the windows won't be enough. We want to find a way to keep the thermostat set to as low as possible, without sacrificing comfort, to save energy, money, and of course, help out Mother Earth. One solution was the make a Draft Dodger. It was my second attempt at the sewing machine, and it was, well, kind of a disaster. After breaking a needle, I can now say I have completed the project and it is functional (though not very pretty). There are many options for draft dodgers. Renest has some links for ones that are premade -- you just fill them with rice or beans. There is also a make-your-own version that was done with old socks. I cut apart an old t-shirt, sewing it together (kind of in a tube-like shape) and stuffed more old t-shirts in it. Finally, there is the fancy DIY Martha Stewart kind--way too complicated for me, but maybe you have a better relationship with your sewing machine.

t-shirt bits

Here are some other tips for keeping you warm over the winter:

old black t-shirt = new draft dodger!

1. Get a rug for bare floors -- luckily we are in the upper level so ours are heated by the downstairs neighbor -- thank you!
2. Drink something warm - I'm drinking tea right now!
3. Reverse your ceiling fan - since warm air rises, push it back down where you are at. Guthrie and I do not have a fan so we can't do this one.
4. Snuggle! Guthrie and I are looking into another cat to help in that department :)
5. Hot water bottle -- since Guthrie and I do not have a thermostat with a timer (if you have one -- use it!), we turn off our heat at night. Though I am sadly out of shape when it comes to toughing out MN weathers, I am unsure how much our many blankets will keep us warm on those really REALLY cold nights. If it's extra chilly, try this camping trick -- heat up some water and put it in a water bottle. Stick the water bottle in a large sock and put it in your bed with you. Keeps you toasty!
6. Finally, consider heating up just the space you need. Close vents if you can and turn off certain radiators. Sadly, we can't control the heat room by room, but are thinking about investing in a space heater so that we can keep the main heat off if we are only planning on being in one room. I'll let you know if we try it and how it goes.

Peace!

The No-Impact Project - Starting January 3rd

Guthrie and I are signing up to participate in the next round of the No Impact Project. It is the "one week carbon cleanse". It models what NYC writer Colin Beavan did with his family for a year -- slowly look at different aspects of their lives (waste, water, electricity, transportation, etc) and made systematic changes to lower their impact. His book No Impact Man has been turned into a movie with the same name. On his website, he invites you to do the same for one week. The great thing is that it starts on specific dates so that you can connect with others in your area who are doing the same. They make it real easy with a how-to manual on what to do on each day plus interesting facts. Obviously, you do what you can; making any change is a positive one. What Colin found out was that during the course of the year, he lost weight, had more energy, reconnected with his wife, spent more time with his family, and was genuinely happier. Guthrie and I will participate in this to learn some new things that we can incorporate into our lives. 

Join with us -- maybe we can meet up for a candlelit dinner of local food! :)

Peace! 

Thirty-One - Green Gifting

Since getting older, buying gifts for my family members has been getting harder. As adults, if we really want something, we buy for ourselves. We don't put it on our Christmas or birthday list and hope for the best. Instead of buying something we kind of want and wrapping it all up, I asked my family if we would rather pool our money for something more meaningful. My sister suggested we instead pay for an experience -- a Twins game for all of us. (yea!)

The topic of this blog is green gifting. It can mean anything from the example above to donating to a friends' favorite charity on their behalf. This is a particularly good idea for one's birthday. Try hosting a party, but ask for a donating for a charity. It is so easy to set these up online and Facebook makes it easy too. I see it happening more and more, and like how it takes the focus away from "stuff" and places it either on a charity or providing a family with some quality time together. Christmas is my favorite holiday; I love the spirit of giving. I think we need to seize these opportunities to give not just things, but to give our time and resources to people--something that truly matters. 

Cards -- remember the earlier post -- try using ecards (Pingg makes it easy to upload your own picture and are professional learning) or cards made from recycled paper. 

Happy holidays! Peace!

Thirty - Phonebooks

Something long overdue -- opting out of receiving a phonebook. I know my brother-in-law wanted to know how to do this, so this one goes out to you! Does anyone with the internet use those things? Though, given my height, it might be helpful to have one on hand once in a while ;) I think it's time to stop getting them. Here's how you can too:

Visit YellowPagesGoesGreen.org and complete the OPT-OUT form for both White and Yellow Pages. You type in your zip code and they will give you the list of the companies sending you those annoying books. Most have easy websites to opt out of. Took me five minutes to opt out of four -- yea! Done and done!

Addendum: Twenty-Nine - Local Beer

Another thing I wanted to add about Summit Brewery is that they contract brew and bottle Finnegans Irish Amber Ale beer which is a local, non-profit company. All profits go to the Finnegan's Community Fund which gives grants to local organizations serving the needs of the homeless and working poor. Good stuff.

Twenty-Nine - Local Beer

Keepin' it local can be hard when you are a fan of tasty, discussion-promoting brew. There are so many great microbreweries churning out thoughtful brews that the locavore mentality Laura and I have adopted is often hard to maintain. We know that beers are high maintenance products that often travel long distances (especially if you live in the midwest) to get to your hand. In the west, particularly Oregon, Colorado and California and in the east, particularly Delaware, Vermont and Maine, produce bountiful amounts of beer that get shipped all over the USA especially to areas like Atlanta, Georgia where beer consumption is high but local production is low (Georgia brew production and distribution info here).

Here's the deal: Laura and I need to either make our own brew and/or be content with the beer produced locally. By local we mean that all stages of the beer making and distribution processes are done in one of the Midwest states. However, the ability to drink within state and even in the metro area is becoming less of a problem with the increasing amounts of breweries popping up in the Twin Cities (Surly, based in Brooklyn Center, is a good example, which is hip to the square and actually offers great brew, even recently being name best brewery in America according to Beer Advocate.) Additionally, there has been an influx of breweries throughout the state putting out growlers over the last couple of years, and, thanks to a new microbrew-friendly Minneapolis ordinance Minneapolis brew esthete's have been allowed to sell these 64 ounce jugs of the fun stuff. Another great thing happening in the Twin Cities is the comeuppance of craft brew stores like Four Firkins and Wine Thief & Ale Jail that not only sell great brews elsewhere in the nation but local brews as well.

Source: http://bit.ly/9DzdcP

Even if Laura and I only drink locally we will still produce a lot of waste--recyclable, however--through the purchase and usage of bottles. It's too expensive, time consuming and limiting to only drink while dining out. The other issue is where the ingredients (hops, barley, wheat, malts) to make the brews (whether by myself or by local breweries) come from. The 100 Days Without Oil blog poses this question and lists most, if not all, of the local breweries and vineyards in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this would require one to either call up the brewpubs and breweries to find out the source of their ingredients. Plus, given the continental climate in Minnesota, many ingredients are shipped in from elsewhere. Although, during a Summit brewery tour in August, Laura and I found out that Summit's beer-producing practices are sustainable in many respects. Some of the grains used are purchased locally and when spent are sent to local chicken feedlots. This is something that you can't find out about online, rather only when talking to Summit workers can this information be found out. Local ingredients is something that has yet to be used by many local brewpubs and breweries but will soon enough be the case as many, even beer esthete's, attempt to completely localize their beer making and drinking experience.

So, what, exactly, have we committed to do? We have committed ourselves to only drink beer from the Midwest when purchasing at stores and will drink brews from anywhere only by tap when out and about. I have also committed to start brewing my own beer before year's end, hopefully replacing most of the beer that I purchase from stores. There are some local, wine making and home brew making stores that I could avail myself of. Here's a short list:

Northern Brewer
Midwest Homebrewing Supplies
Brew & Grow
Barkingside Co.

Also, here are some links to Minnesota beer and wine info, home brewing associations and organizations and a brew beer or wine-on-the-premises joint:

MNBeer
MN Craft Brewer's Guild
MNBrewers
Vine Park Brewing Co. (DIY) 

Also, here is a short list of local breweries and brewpubs in the Minnesota:

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery (soon to open another location in South Mpls)
Flat Earth Brewing Co.
Great Waters Brewing Co.
Surly Brewing Co.
Brau Brothers Brewing Co.
Lake Superior Brewing Co.
Lift Bridge Beer Co.
Barley John's Brew Pub
Fitger's Brewhouse
Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant

I don't know if I will be making my own wine anytime soon but there will be a post about that and local winemakers in the future.

Here's to a tasty drink!