Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! 

Here in Mandyland, we've been trying our darnest to incorporate a more "green" lifestyle.  While we're far from forest green - still a bit minty, maybe sage - today's a good day to make Green Resolutions and see how you can try to clean our planet this year.  To help you out, here are a few links with a few great ideas:

Learn to make Tee Shirt Shopping Bags at Wild Onion.  And if sewing's not for you, here's a video tutorial on how to make them with duct tape and a stapler.

After you make those shopping bags, you'll have a bunch of sleeves.  What to do, what to do?  How about scented dryer pillows to use instead of your standard dryer sheets?

Have a few birthdays coming up?  Use my own tutorial to make super easy drawstring bags.  Or wrap your gifts in newspaper, old maps or even receiving blankets.  My friend Dolly recently wrapped gifts for Joseph's birthday party in pieces of brown paper bags, tied with twine.  The best touch?  Adding beads that spelled out "Joseph" to the twine as a gift tag. Adorable.

If you eat chips, think about switching to Sun Chips who introduced a new compostable bag.  If you can't get enough of your Doritos, how about turning those empty bags into a book cover or purse.  (A project that I started but can't figure out how to finish.)

All this craftiness giving you  a headache?  Head outside.  Plant a tomato.  Nothing is tastier than a plump, juicy tomato fresh off the vine.   Unless it's sweet peas that stain your fingers green or crunchy carrots that taste like candy or crisp radishes that sprout overnight or....sorry.  Got a little carried away there.  Just...start with a tomato.  You'll be surprised where it will lead you.  Trust me on this one.

Take a bike ride.  The year before I got pregnant with Elizabeth, Chad and I bought bikes, drew a three mile circle around our house and biked wherever we needed to go.  As soon as Elizabeth is old enough, we're going to do it again.  It was fun, green and great exercise.

For more fantastic (and simple!) ideas, check out one of my new fave blogs, Late Enough.  I have to confess that her post was the inspiration for mine.  What?  Inspired not plagerized.  Geez.

Now.  I'm getting off the computer and going outside - in the rain - and dig in some dirt.