Trashless Tuesday!

We are starting a new tradition at A Happy Green Life – Trashless Tuesday! We want to help bring awareness to the amount of garbage that the average person and family throw away EVERY day! We are hoping that we can encourage people to make conscious decisions to reduce their garbage footprint!
So…what does this mean for you? Well, take the pledge with us to have a garbage FREE day every Tuesday! Of course you can have as many garbage free days as you want – and we hope that it will open our eyes to the type of products we are using and their impact – reducing our garbage footprint everyday!
Start by thinking about the types of products you use on an average day – do you specifically buy products that can be reused or recycled? Can you up-cycle that jar into something magical for your little one? Can you use that milk jug again?
We are excited to learn about the things you learn by trying this! Please share your experiences with us!

Trashless Tuesday #1 – EPIC FAIL!
We tried, and we have to admit this is going to be harder than we thought. Today was a ‘work’ day for us. We took the kiddos and went to a local supplier to pick up some supplies. While out, lunchtime quickly approached – and we made a conscious decision to eat somewhere that we could sit down and eat – so no to-go containers. Everything was going smooth until the kiddo’s waters came in paper cups – which at least we can recycle. And then…they needed straws (they are just too little for a big kid cup) so we can reuse those right? BUT – we had leftovers and they only had Styrofoam containers – uggh…GARBAGE!
After lunch we headed to a friend’s house for a play date. On our way, we stopped for a Starbuck’s coffee. We got ourselves the reusable ‘iced’ cups so that we can reuse them every time we NEED a coffee! SCORE for trashless Tuesday! Now we only have to remember to bring them with us so we don’t have to buy one every time!
After our playdate, it was time to head back to A Happy Green Life headquarters to do some work. Kiddo’s playing outside, all is well, no garbage! But then it is dinner time – and since we had been busy all day – no motivation to cook – and of course, it is kid’s eat free night at Round Table Pizza. So we go out to eat – napkins, straws, and GARBAGE oh no…a pile of disgusting kiddo-face-wipes all over – FAIL!
What we learned: we need to create a Trashless Tuesday/ EVERY DAY to-go kit! We need to be sure to bring a bunch of our cloth wipes at all times – they are perfect for wiping faces, messes and hineys. We also need to bring containers with us to store our leftovers – genius! And reusable cups, with straws would also prevent some unnecessary garbage!
Here’s to next Tuesday and a more successful Trashless Tuesday – who’s up to join us on this adventure?

Meatless Monday

Its Meatless Monday, we got todays delicious dinner from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. I love it, the food is meat free, low cal, and yummy for me and the kids! Today we are having:

Savory Bean Burgers with Yogurt-Mustard Dressing

Makes 12

76 Calories

Burgers:

1/3 cup quick-cooking oats

One 16-ounce can beans, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups well cooked beans

½ bell pepper, minced

2 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup wheat germ

1 to 2 teaspoons salt free all-purpose seasoning (Mrs. Dash or McCormick’s is great)

Light olive oil

Dressing:

3/4 cup low fat yogurt or soy yogurt

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill

1 tablespoon tahini, optional

1. Combine the oatmeal and 2/3 cup boiling water in a cup. Let stand for 5 minutes

2. Mash the beans well in a mincing bowl. Add the oatmeal and the remaining    burger ingredients except the oil, and still until thoroughly mixed

3. Heat just enough oil to coat he bottom of a large nonstick skillet. When sizzling hot, drop the burger mixture onto the skillet in 1/3 cup full and flatten lightly to 3-4inch rounds. Cook on both sides over medium heat until nicely browned.

4.  Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir until completely blended.

We ate this with veggies from garden (onion, lettuce, and our confused tomatoes that are red even though its winter) and pitta bread. For a side we had some yummy vegetarian baked beans and coleslaw.

-Amanda

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We are branching out and finding new ways to spread A Happy Green Life! If you have a twitter account we would love for you to follow us. Just search for @AHappyGreenLife We have some amazing green groups that we are following, join us and help spread the word that we all need to live a more eco friendly life!

Its almost Valentines Day!

We are a pro Valentine’s Day family. We have heard everyone talk about how it is a consumer driven day created by the card companies to make some moolah but we don’t mind. At our house we take any excuse to decorate the house and spread some love around. That said there are a lot of cards (over a billion sent for this holiday alone), boxes of chocolate (the coco industry is one of the number one pesticide users), and other not so green things being purchased and then tossed. We think that this year we should all try to have a ecofriendly Valentine’s day.

Lets start with the cards. Send your loved ones e-cards or look for cards made from recycled paper. We are going to be making our valentines cards out of vintage ones we found in our grandmas storage (we are practicing recycling and reusing!).

When it comes to flowers look for organic locally grown ones. My hubby has made a habit of buying me seeds or potted plants so that I can keep them longer. If you do get a beautiful bouquet remember to add them to your compost when they are ready to be thrown out.

Chocolate. Oh how I love it! This holiday make sure you purchase fair trade chocolate. You will not only be enjoying the world’s most delicious ingredients but you will be helping developing nations establish economic viability and grow individuals out of poverty.

If you are lucky enough to be kid free and are planning on a romantic night of dining look for a restaurant that practices sustainability. There are tons of restaurants that purchase local meat and fish and practice farm to table with their vegetables. Your meal will be prepared ethically and environmentally and your food is going to taste awesome!

If you aren’t into the holiday, or you just don’t know what to do that will be green, try those three simple words. I LOVE YOU! Those three simple words don’t produce any waste and they are better than any gift you can buy.

Wordless Wednesday

Dumping Prohibited