So last week I told you about the Walmart/Seventh Generation Sustainability Challenge that I am participating in.  I’m very excited to have this campaign as an incentive to change our lives to be even more sustainable. .. but I was also a little lost.

I mean we already do a lot of things in the Frugal Upstate household to make our lives green & sustainable.

• We garden organically, make compost and can our own organic produce.
• We recycle about 80% of our trash.
• We don’t use much in the way of disposable paper products (yes, TP & tissues, but rarely paper towel, plates, etc)
• We shop used whenever possible and donate our own unwanted used items to the thrift store.
• We don’t use AC (except a unit on a timer in our attic bedroom-trust me, you couldn’t sleep up there otherwise) and keep the heat on timers and way down in the winter.
• I cook from scratch which cuts down on packaging waste & allows me to control the quality of our food.
• I clean using mostly homemade eco friendly products.

So what was I actually going to do for this challenge?

After some thought I decided that these four weeks were the perfect time to take some of the areas we do “pretty well” in and strive to do even better!  Not only that, but I’m going to use Walmart & Seventh Generation’s own sustainability initiatives as my inspiration.

Over the next 4 weeks I vow to save more electricity, recycle even more, control my indoor air quality and reduce our family’s fossil fuel usage!

I’m starting this week with saving more electricity.

One of the areas that Walmart has set some impressive goals and made great strides in is the sustainability of their buildings.  I was especially impressed by the ways they are cutting back on the electricity used at the stores.  Things like using LED’s in their exterior building signs & refrigerated food cases (52 percent more energy efficient operation than fluorescent) and using daylight harvesting via skylights (75 percent reduction of the electric lighting energy used in a supercenter during daylight hours).

So what can I do at home that mimic’s Walmart’s example?

Well I too can reduce the amount of electricity that I use on lighting my home.

1.  Use daylight whenever possible.

Photo by Mike Webkist

I already do this frequently-but I can be much more deliberate about it.  I can also police my kids to make sure they don’t just flip on an overhead light out of habit when there is plenty of daylight in the room.

2.  Turn out lights when not in use

Photo by Christopher Saccaro

This is one of those things that we do. Sometimes. When we remember.  The kids in particular are bad about turning their bedroom lights on in the morning, then heading downstairs without ever flipping them off again.  Sometimes I don’t go upstairs until 2 or 3pm and realize that their lights have been on ALL DAY.  This week I will make sure I do a “light check” upstairs in the morning and afternoon to ensure no lights are left on unnecessarily.

3.  Use Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CF bulbs).

Photo by Erica Marshall

Since saving energy is also saving money, we’ve been interested in using CF bulbs for years.  Slowly over time we’ve replace bulbs as they burned out, but we are far from 100% CF.  I went around the house today and actually counted the number of light bulbs.

Are you ready for this? If you count everything, light fixtures, lamps, appliances, floodlights outside, etc. . . we have 97 lightbulbs at our house.

Eeekkk!

Out of those 27 are already CF bulbs, 41 are various odd sizes or required types that I don’t believe come in CF (18 chandelier bulbs, 6 appliance style bulbs, 7 odd shapes/sizes, 10 Halogen, 2 fluorescent tubes & 3 large porch bulbs), that leaves 29 regular incandescent bulbs.

Wow. At a guess of $3 a pack, that would be $87 to replace them all. Hmm. I’m going to have to get a bit creative on this one!

4.  Use timers.

Photo by Jo3Design

We already have the AC in our bedroom on a timer (no point in air conditioning a room while we aren’t in it), the thermostats for the heat are all programmable, and our Keurig coffeepot has a timer function to keep the water in the reservoir hot.  All of these ensure that the power is only being used when we are most likely to need it.  What else in the house could benefit from being on a timer?

5.  Turn off energy thieves.

Photo by Darren Hester

Many appliances and chargers use energy even when they are turned “off”.  I know that we have a bad habit of leaving cell phone chargers plugged in, and I frequently leave my laptop plugged in and on-even when I’m not using it for hours. . .we also leave the desktop computer on constantly.  I’ll really have to look at this one and see how I can improve!

So what other ideas do you have for me? How else can I save energy in my home?

Join me, along with my fellow  Walmart Moms, Sheena of Sophistishe, Jennae of Green Your Décor, Monica of MommyBrain Reports and Denise of Wholesome Mommy, on our four week journey to live a more sustainable lifestyle in the Seventh Generation/Walmart sustainability challenge.

*Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Seventh Generation has provided me with products.  Walmart has provided me with compensation to blog about attempting a more sustainable household for a month. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.

Photos by Mike Webkist, Eric Marshall, Christopher Saccaro, Jo3Design and Darren Hester under creative commons copyright as listed on their individual pages.

Related posts:

1. The Sustainability Challenge This summer has been a tough one for me. ...
2. Sustainability Summit in China! OK, this really doesn’t have anything to do with...
3. Hectic Much? Just wanted to let you all know that everything...

This summer has been a tough one for me.  Not only have I been pulled in a dozen different directions with all the kids summer activities, but I’ve had a genuine case of the blogger blues.  I’ve just felt overwhelmed and, conversely, apathetic about blogging.

But I haven’t wanted to quit-rather just to take a break.

And I can think of no better reason to get my bloggy groove back on than the Walmart/Seventh Generation Sustainability Challenge!

A little background. Walmart has historically not been known for their sustainability-and that is putting it kindly.  Honestly they used to really, really rot. So much so that the co-founder of Seventh Generation Jeff Hollander had said in the past “that hell would freeze over before Seventh Generation would ever do business with Wal-Mart”

But Walmart has made great strides and is actually becoming one of the leaders in sustainability innovations & implementation.  As a matter of fact-when Fast Company did a “Sustainability Faceoff” between Target & Walmart last April. . . Walmart Won.

On the opposite end of the spectrum–Seventh Generation has been dedicated to helping protect individual households with their naturally safe and effective household products for over 2o years (long before “green” and “sustainable” were big business).  Their name is derived from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”

So Walmart & Seventh Generation have been on opposite sides of the fence for a long, long time.  And yet, back in 2008 Jeff Hollander wrote a post entitled “Strange Bedfellows” explaining why Seventh Generation decided to allow Walmart’s Marketside Stores to stock their products–and finally this month Seventh Generation is being stocked in Walmarts nationwide

I think it really says something about Walmart’s sustainability initiatives that a company that once was such a fierce opponent is now a partner.

So where does Frugal Upstate fall in all this?

To celebrate the new partnership, Walmart and Seventh Generation decided to offer five of the Walmart Moms a four week “Sustainability Challenge”.  We were each shipped a generous supply of Seventh Generation cleaning products (all of which are non toxic and packaged in bottles that are 90% post consumer recycled plastic) and challenged to make at least one change a week to live more sustainably for a period of four weeks.

Now I think that I already do a pretty good job at being sustainable at the Frugal Upstate household.  After all, as I wrote last week in my guest post on the Seventh Generation blog-being frugal quite naturally leads to being green. But I’m sure I can find ways to improve!

Tune in on Monday as I reveal what I chose for my first week’s challenge.

Join me, along with my fellow  Walmart Moms, Sheena of Sophistishe, Jennae of Green Your Décor, Monica of MommyBrain Reports and Denise of Wholesome Mommy, on our four week journey to live a more sustainable lifestyle in the Seventh Generation/Walmart sustainability challenge.

*Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Seventh Generation has provided me with products.  Walmart has provided me with compensation to blog about attempting a more sustainable household for a month. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.

Related posts:

1. Sustainability Challenge: Week 1, Saving Electricity So last week I told you about the Walmart/Seventh...
2. Sustainability Summit in China! OK, this really doesn’t have anything to do with...
3. Free Barbie Event at Walmarts Nationwide! How often do you get to take your children...

Don’t let a gray and rainy summer day get you down-use it as an excuse to celebrate Frugal Living in Action (FLIA). Take down your planters and hanging baskets and set them out in the rain to get watered. Save money and save our planet’s resources!

Related posts:

1. Rainwater is Free “Use what you have” is a key frugal philosophy,...
2. FLIA: Hit the Park Frugal Living in Action (FLIA) … Today for some...
3. FLIA: Accidental Green Tomatoes There was a terrific storm the other night-rain, hail,...

It’s the little frugalities in lfe that we sometimes forget to talk about-like tossing a bunch of breads odds & ends on some racks to dry out so I can make homemade breadcrumbs to store in the freezer.

Using up those odds & ends instead of letting them get moldy then throwing them out…well that’s Frugal Living in Action (FLIA).

Related posts:

1. FLIA: Let it Rain! Don’t let a gray and rainy summer day get...
2. FLIA: Hit the Park Frugal Living in Action (FLIA) … Today for some...
3. FLIA: Accidental Green Tomatoes There was a terrific storm the other night-rain, hail,...

So Buddy had his birthday several weeks ago.  And we still haven’t had his party.

Now, I’m not the worst mother ever, I promise.  I baked him cupcakes to take into camp and share with his group, we took him out on the mandatory birthday dinner (without his sister!) at the Hibachi steakhouse (Look mom, it’s a flaming onion volcano! Cool!), and we did his family birthday party where he got all of his gifts from Yankee Bill, Princess, Nana & I.

But the friend party? Well that sort of fell off the radar.

So I finally got off my, um, haunches shall we say, and we threw together plans for a party last week.  To happen tomorrow.

That’s right, I gave myself 7 days. What am I, crazy?

Anyway. . .

Buddy decided he wanted a Lego theme for his party.

This is the image we used for the cards-Buddy & Princess built a Lego Jail. Not quite sure why-it isn't very Birthday. But hey-it kept them occupied for a whole afternoon.

After a bit of Googling I found some great ideas for Lego Parties.  Most notably the idea Meredith at Like Merchant Ships had for making Lego Invites, and the idea from Creative Party & Gift Ideas for making a Lego Gift Bag (actually there are a lot of great ideas there).

I’ve made a Lego Cake before, and asked Buddy if that is what he wanted me to make this time-but actually he wanted me to make a plain white cake and then to put his own Lego creation on top as a decoration.  Fine with me-it will be easier to frost!

The party is going to offer pizza (homemade, cut in squares, with pepperoni to look like legos), cake, then the sprinkler, slip & slide, and water balloons outside for fun. Whee!

So I’m off to bake cakes, make treat bags and get things together-I’ll be taking pictures and giving a full rundown by the end of the week!

Of course if you have any quick and easy fabulous Lego Birthday ideas, let me know.

Related posts:

1. Birthday Week! (In A Birthday Month) This week is a busy week for birthdays in...
2. Planning a Spa Birthday Party on a Budget This year Princess is turning 9. For many years...
3. Birthday’s on a Budget: Roundup! This month is a huge birthday month in the...

I’ve got green tomatoes on the vine.  Although I am anxiously awaiting actual RIPE tomatoes sometimes I just can’t resist filching a couple of green ones to use immediately.

One of the classic uses for Green Tomatoes is “Fried Green Tomatoes”-a staple in the south and truly simple to make.

Photo by Ursula Murray Husted

Fried Green Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Cornmeal
Oil

-Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 – 1/2-inch slices.

-Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

-Dip in cornmeal

-Fry in a couple of TSB of oil (approx 3 minutes per side or till golden).

Variations:

Fry in a couple of cups of oil (instead of TBS) for truly deep fried goodness.

Add spices to the cornmeal-garlic, onion powder etc.

Add parmesean cheese.

Use flour & bread crumbs instead of cornmeal.

Create a thicker fried “crust” by dipping the tomato slices in flour, then a scrambled egg white with a tsp of water added, then the cornmeal.

Bake at 400 instead of frying.  I’d try 20 minutes to start. . .

Want to try something that looks evilly good with your fried green tomatoes? How about this Fried Green Tomato Tart or a Fried Green Tomato BLT?

Photo by Ursula Murray Husted and has some rights reserved under CC Copyright

Related posts:

1. Scalloped Tomatoes Recipe Scalloped Tomatoes were a side dish I had never...
2. How to Use Up Green Tomatoes image by FreeDigitalPhotos.net My tomato plants are up with...
3. Uses for Green Tomatoes image by FreeDigitalPhotos.net It’s the time of year around...

There was a terrific storm the other night-rain, hail, wind. . . the kind of storm where you have to run around the house shutting all the windows because water is splashing inside from all directions.

When the fury was done I headed outside to see the damage. Plenty of small branches down, leaves plastered to the side of the house (I see a power washer in our future. Again.) and debris all over my driveway.

When I headed back to the vegetable garden (aka my pride and joy) every single one of my tomato cages were lying on their sides.  So I pulled them upright and drove large wooden stakes down through the rings to help hold the cages up.  Then I noticed that one nice, large bunch of green tomatoes was broken off.  So here is a new  “Frugal Living In Action” (FLIA) for you to help out with:

These are my “Orange Amana” tomatoes-nice and large as you can see, but not even a blush of pink or orange on them yet.  So what can I do with green tomatoes?

The first two ideas that come to mind for using them up are Fried Green Tomatoes or Green tomato bread.

What ideas or recipes do you have for using up green tomatoes?

Related posts:

1. Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes I’ve got green tomatoes on the vine.  Although I...
2. Uses for Green Tomatoes image by FreeDigitalPhotos.net It’s the time of year around...
3. Best Of-Uses for Green Tomatoes In honor of the Tomato Fest at Everyday Food...

Photo by Transguyjay

Libraries are such fantastic places to be.  I love the hush that envelopes you when you enter a library, the smell of old paper, and even the way that the bindings of all the books create an almost mosaic effect on their shelves.

Libraries are, simply put, wonderful.

Of course the fact that my reading style could be described as “voracious” could have something to do with my feelings.

I love that as a frugal living expert I have the opportunity to tout the wonder of the library as a frugal tool to all and sundry.  So, what are the 27  reasons that your library is a fantastic frugal place to be?

1.  Libraries have books & magazines, and they let you read them for free.

Ok, this may seem obvious, but if you love to read as much as I do, anyplace that lets you read books for free is on the top of your frugal favorites list!  Honestly, I take out about 5 books a week, minimum. At,oh, let’s say $7 a book for paperbacks (I’m guessing here folks) that’s a savings of over $140 a week.

2. Ditto on borrowing videos & DVDs for free.

Sure, you might have to wait a bit to see the latest releases-but the selection of movies that most libraries have these days is incredible.  Why bother paying for a rental at your local video village, or from the Redbox, when you can grab one for free at the library?

3.  Ditto yet again on borrowing books on tape/audio books for free.

When I take a long car trip I love to have a book on tape to listen to. Hearing a story just keeps me awake and alert while the miles slip by.  Books on tape are great to listen to while doing boring chores or while taking a walk.  Kids also love listening to books on tape-especially when they like hearing stories that are a couple of levels too advanced for them to read by themselves.  A standard novel would cost you over $20 to buy on tape new, so borrowing from the library can save you quite a bit!

4. If your library doesn’t have what you want to read/watch/hear available you can most likely get it through “Iinterlibrary Loan”-again, for FREE.

Even if you have the smallest library on the planet, with the wonders of inter library loan you have an almost limitless selection of books, videos, music and audio books.  Each state sets things up differently, but here in NY I can just jump online (or ask the lovely ladies at the library itself), browse the card catalogs of all the libraries in 4 counties, request an item and then it magically shows up at my local library at no cost to me when it’s available.  They even call to let me know it’s in.  And if I can’t find a book that I really want to see, then I can tell the librarians and they can do a request for an “out of system” loan from anywhere in the state.

5.  Libraries have internet access.

Almost every library these days has at least a few computer terminals dedicated to internet access for patrons.  You may only be able to get online for 20 minutes at a time (depending on how busy the library is and the policies they have in place) but for someone who doesn’t have internet access using the library is a very frugal alternative.  Also if you are on the road it’s nice to know you can pop into a local branch library and use the internet to check your mail.

6.  Libraries have free Wifi

Ok, so not every library has free Wifi these days, but more and more do.  As a blogger, internet junkie and laptop owner knowing that I can always get my fix for free is a big plus.

7.  Libraries have summer reading clubs

Reading programs are a great way to encourage your kids to read in the summer. By reading a certain number of books and tracking the details children can win awards or prizes.  My library this summer is even running an adult reading program.  Heck-I’ll keep track of what I read for the summer if it will win me some free library swag!

8.  Libraries have free kids programs

Most local libraries run some sort of children’s programing-both during the school year and in the summer.  My local branch has story hours, crafts for both kids & teens, free computer classes, summer reading clubs, “PAWS” (a program where children read to dogs-which mine LOVED), and various types of entertainment weekly in the summer (try a ventriloquist, live animals and a puppet theatre!)

9.  Libraries offer free meeting space.

This might not hold true for every library out there-but all the ones in my area offer free meeting space (as the schedule allows) to local groups.  I attend my weekly TOPS (take off pounds sensibly) meeting there, the historical society meets there, and I’ve personally scheduled meeting space for the theatre.

10.  Libraries are~frequently~air conditioned.

Ok-in the heat of the summer I will admit to going & hanging out at the library just to enjoy the blessed cool.

11.  Libraries host book sales.

When the library has too many donations for their shelf space (which happens frequently for the paperbacks) they usually hold book sales.  Our library always has 3 or 4 shelves right in the front full of books they are selling for $1 each.  Then in the fall they do a more extensive book sale. I’ve heard many homeschoolers say this is a great way to pick up reference books on the cheap.

12.  Libraries have office equipment you can use inexpensively.

Sometimes you just need to photocopy something, or send a fax, or print something out.  Although many folks have equipment to do these tasks at home-not everyone does.  And if  you do these tasks very infrequently it is probably much more cost effective to pay your library $.10 a copy or $1 a page to fax something rather then shell out the money for a printer/fax/copier that needs to be stored, maintained and have ink & paper purchased for.

So what other ways can you think of that make your library a frugal place to be?  Leave your ideas in the comments and I’ll add the ideas into this post!

Related posts:

1. Butterfly in the sky. . .. . . . . . I can go twice as...
2. Summer Book Clubs This is not my library-I got the pic from...
3. Summer Reading Book Clubs and More. This is not my library-I got the pic from...

Several months ago I got the opportunity (as one of the Walmart Moms) to go up to Montreal, Canada and watch the new Walmart/P&G Family Time Movie “The Jensen Project” being filmed.

It was such a fun experience! I will be writing about the entire trip in more detail this week-but I wanted to share this quick video that they filmed about *US* the mom’s visiting the set.

Want to know what the movie is about? Well check out the trailer below. Oh, and just so you know, I was there to see them filming the family running out of the building scene, as well as part of the one where the girl kicks the bad guy. . .

The Jensen Project will be aired this coming Friday, July 16th, on NBC at 8/7c. Pop your family some popcorn, settle down on the couch and enjoy a frugal family movie night!

Thanks again to Walmart for sending me on such a fantastic trip!

Related posts:

1. Big Doings at Frugal Upstate **This post has been edited to add an additional...
2. Menu Plan 3/22 Well this week is a short week for me...
3. Dr. Who OK, this is not related to frugality, but I’m...

I’m a tad bit late (insert sarcasm here) posting this weeks menu plan. . . but honestly, I did make it on Monday and have been following it pretty well.  I just didn’t get online to post it!

Monday: Potato/Ham patties, Roasted Potato Skins, Homemade Bread & Garden Salad.

I am still trying to work my way through the second ham I bought at Aldi’s several weeks back for $1.79 a lb.  I ground up about 2 cups of ham, then baked 6 small potatoes, scooping the centers out, which I mashed & combined with the ham (note to self-next time add a bit of flour & egg so they stay together better!).  The skins were roasted on a cookie sheet with a little bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, and a tiny bit of shredded cheddar.  Mmmm.

Tuesday: Asian Crockpot Wings, Rice & Sauteed Snow Peas

Finally-I am using up the last of the chicken wings in the freezer (can I hear a hallejulia?).  Although Princess, Yankee Bill and I really liked the Cola Wings, Buddy has decided that he really isn’t fond of them. . . so I decided to try a different preparation.  The wings were good, but not great. . . I probably need to use one of the recipes that have more ingredients-like Hosin & Plum sauce to get that true Asian flavor.    The rice is leftover from last week, and the snow peas are from the garden.  I did toss some spring onion from the garden in the sautee as well.

Wednesday: Soup and Sandwiches

Sometimes you just need a quick and easy meal-and there is nothing wrong with having sandwiches for dinner. Especially when the weather is hot.

Thursday:  Tuscan Linguine, with Garden Salad

This Tuscan Linguine is not your typical pasta meal-it has tuna in oil as it’s protein source and not a tomato in sight.  I discovered it last year when I started trying to work a little more fish into my diet without going broke.  I am always striving to eat a seafood and a vegetarian meal each week in a bid for better family health. . .

Friday: Homemade Calzones

The kids will get to help build their own calzones this week-so it’s not only meal prep-it’s family fun as well!  Of course I’ll be using the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe.

Saturday: Potato Pancakes with Applesauce & Sour Cream, Cucumber & Tomato Salad

This meal is by Buddy’s request.  I asked him “what meal haven’t we had in a while that you like” and he immediately requested this family favorite that we normally eat in the winter on “Christmas Tree Decorating Night”. I had a hard time paring it with something-but I figure after the fried food a bit of crisp vegetable with a grease cutting vinegar dressing might be just the ticket.

Sunday: Going to a BBQ

Heck, it’s the 4th of July!

Related posts:

1. Menu Plan 6/21 In this weeks menu plan I continue to try...
2. Menu plan Well I’ve been camping with the family this week-I...
3. Menu Plan 8-26 So, I’m back from Vegas. Yankee Bill had a...