Disposable Diapers Help Save the Planet

Yeah, I know what you’re saying. How can disposable diapers save the earth? Well, me and Mrs. toopoortobegreen spent a lot of money on these things over the years, and it wasn’t because we love to waste money. Sure they have their issues, but nothing beats a disposable for convenience and sheer capacity.
Take my youngest for example. She can load up a Huggies till it’s pert near dragging on the ground without asking for a change. It’s amazing how they can keep a kid comfortable even when they are carrying 5 pounds of urine-soaked plastic on their ass.
Speaking of loads, Wikipedia says that kids are changed, on average, about 10 times a day. Really? When you have ten bucks till payday, and you have two diapers left, you can make those things hold 3, 5gallons or more. Sure you gotta change the poopie ones ASAP or your cleaning the floor, walls, couch, dog as well, but when it comes to number 1, disposables are, um, number 1.
There is a limit, as any father watching the kids during football season knows. Eventually, even the best disposables will fall apart. We in the kid biz call this a “blow out”. THEN there’s a problem. The plastic pellets spill out all over, and they are damn near impossible to clean up. The answer is the vacuum cleaner, but then there is that whole “why does the vacuum smell like pee” thing you have to deny.
Now you are asking yourself, “So where does saving the environment fit into all of this?” One word: Earthies

I can’t find the video for Earthies, but here are chewable pampers:

Quick Link Wednesday

Some quick links I found on my lunch hour:

There was a solar eclipse yesterday.
I thought these pics of camouflage were pretty cool.
A running robot. Kinda freaky. It's only a matter of time before Skynet goes online.
The ultimate in recycling. A Soylent Pencil
We Chose the Moon is a cool interactive site about the Apollo moon landings.
Do you know how to play petals around the rose? Don't reveal the secret if you figure it out.
More soon...

Too Poor to be Organic

I did a bit of grocery shopping the other day, and was amazed at what people are willing to spend on organic food products. I decided to do a price comparison of the food that makes up about 99% of my kids’ daily intake to calories: Macaroni and cheese.

Vs The first step when making this tasty and filling product, as any college student knows, is to clean out the crusty, disgusting saucepan sitting in your sink.

Next boil the water and dump in the pasta. First we have the classic Kraft Mac and cheese at .92 cents a box. The other is Annie’s organic white cheddar at….$2.39!!! Holy Crap! I could get two tacos and a chili cheese burrito for that!

Once the pasta is cooked, (about 10 minutes. Two minutes if you are a college student) mix in the milk. Your basic, run-of-the-mill, hormone-laden, store brand milk of doom is $2.19, or 3 and a half cents for a ¼ cup of milk. The organic stuff in the pretty labeled carton is $7.98 a gallon! That’s about 12 and a half cents.

Add ¼ cup of butter. Evil Corporate death butter runs $2.98 a pound, or 37 cents for what we need. The butter made from milk that came from cows that live in a spa in Cancun and were asked politely to lactate costs…..$7.49!! That’s about 94 cents for what we need.

Mix thoroughly and serve. Now for the judging, by three kids ages 9,5, and 2.

Round 1, the taste test:

9 year old on Kraft M&C: “Yummy”

5 year old on Kraft M&C: “Om NOM NOM NOM!”

2 year old on Kraft M&C: “ima princess. I want more”

9 year old on organic M&C “EWWW! Why does it look like that!”

5 year old on organic M&C: “This tastes like poop”

2 year old on organic M&C: “WAAAAAAAH”

Round two: Nutrition:

Organic: No chemicals, dyes, pesticides, hormones, etc, entered our kids. Neither did any organic M&C.

Kraft: does not prevent scurvy, but keeps the kids alive.

Round three: Cost:

Kraft M&C: $0.92

Milk: $0.04 (rounded up)

Butter: $0.37

Total: $1.33, or about $0.44 per serving

Organic: $2.39

Milk: $0.13 (rounded up)

Butter: $0.94

Total: $3.46, or about $1.15 per serving!

Wow, nearly three times the cost of Kraft

Here’s a quick summary:

Taking a totally non-scientific guess by saying that the average kids eats this crap 5 times a week, the annual costs to a family with 3 kids amounts to $345.80 a year, while the organic would be $897.00 a year. Keep in mind that if you could afford the organic stuff, your kids won’t eat it anyway.

Don't flick your butts, dude.

Back in college, I had a patchouli stinking hippie aquaintance of mine that was way into the environment. He always let us know about the terrible things we were doing to the earth. A quick list of the things we were subjected to:

• Cut up your six pack rings so animals don't get caught in them
• Don't eat tuna because they kill dolphins in the process
• Don't eat at taco bell because they use South American beef, which destroys the rainforest
• Only buy CD's in paper packaging

It's not that these things were not good ideas, it was the way he said them. He said them in a condescending/ real Debbie Downer kind of way.
But the thing that bugged me the most was that he threw his cigarette butts wherever the hell he wanted. This hypocrisy was justified, in his mind, because he smoked Camels, and Camels he said, "had a biodegradable filter made of cotton."

I never really gave a crap enough to actually call him out on this. It was only years later that I found out that they are made from plastic.

I had a pack of Camel filters sitting on a table next to an open bottle of nail polish remover. The bottle got spilled on my smokes, and the filters dissolved into a disgusting goo. Cotton filters wouldn't do that.
Camel Filters are made of plastic! Take THAT you stinkin' hippie!

I think he lives here now.

Recycling, unless you are making money from it, not worth it

Thank God i live in a town that doesn't recycle. Luckily, we can barely keep our water treatment plant running, so recycling is a distant goal of the community. I can see collecting cans and getting money back, but doing it to save the environment doesn't help.

This video drops some F-bombs, so put your earphones on.


In fact, I think that we should put all non-hazardous waste in landfills. If in, say 200 years we have no oil left, we can harvest these landfills and get resources from them.

Off the subject, check out this big assed cow.

Also, check out this game where you try to fit the 50 states together like a puzzle. Try beating my average error of 38 miles.

I wonder if the happy squid tastes good

How to make your own solar panel

I saw this video on youtube. It looks interesting.

The people have a site called www.greenpowerscience.com, and it has all kinds to ideas, projects, and sources for the DIY'er in you.

Problem is, these cells are like $2.00 each on ebay, and they sell them in lots of like 100 or so. Plus, you have to solder them together. It doesn't look too hard, but it does look damn tedious.
It would be kinda cool to get one pumping out enough voltage to charge a car battery though.

If anyone out there has done this, let me know.
Here's a video of the process.

The Right to Dry Laundry Outside

A friend (thanks Amy) showed me this article that shows the growing issue with neigborhoods making strict rules about appearance. People are getting fined for using a clothesline!
Holy Crap! How could you live like this? It makes me think of my days in the Army.

Seven Free (or dang cheap) ways to Go Green

Hey I'm not all bad. I am not going to just trash the green movement entirely. Here are the top seven things that you can do that will save you money, while helping save energy and reducing your--cringe--Carbon Footprint (I hate that phrase).

17. Turn down your water heater. Yep, it can save a bundle on your gas bill just by turning it down a few degrees. In fact for every 10 degrees you can save 3-5% in energy costs.

6. Use a clothes line. Got some rope handy? then string it across your yard and hang up those wet tighty whities for the world to see. Not running the dryer can save you up to $200 a year

5. Use your programmable thermostat. You know it's sitting there. Suck it up and figure out how the damn thing works. With proper programming, you could save $180 a year. Look here for more tips.

*

4. Shut off the basement fridge. You got like, what, a bag of pizza rolls and some freezer burnt fish from last year's fishing trip in there? Shut it down! It can save you $7-$17 a month, depending on size. That's like $80-200 a year.

3. Walk. I know that many people live too far away from the store to do this, but if you are like me, it's a 2 mile commute to the store and back. These quick trips can add up, and with kids, and evening trip for diapers is a weekly event. You can save $100 a year just in gas alone by a combination of parking the car, and better planning when you do take the car.

2. Grow yer own. Vegetables I mean. I have a small garden whith peppers, cukes, lettuce, and maters. I also have another herb garden with chives, basil, etc. My neighbor keeps onions and garlic and potatoes which we swap our veggies for. NEVER buy lettuce. It grows like MAD!. I bucks worth of seeds will keep you in the greens every day for months.

1. Don't water your lawn. Yes your lawn looks nice. Mine is a sea of clover and dandelions. I don't care that your lawn is nice. Get over it. Stop the lawn service and stop watering it. You could save $300 or more a year.

Cash for Klunkers

I that the cash for klunkers program is working well. Here are the specifics:

• Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date CHECK!
  
• Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify CHECK!
  
• Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in CHECK!
  
• Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements) DENIED! I GET 23MPG!

Yep. back in 1999 when I bought my compact POS, it was the only car I could afford. Now everyone that could afford those big ol gas guzzlers gets big bucks back. Mine has 120K miles on it and is held together with duct tape, dirt, and rust. I suppose I could get another 20K miles out of the car and trade it in for a HUMMER. I could live in it then.

Welcome

First off, I wanted to say that I am totally in favor of going green. It is in the best interest of everyone to pollute less, use less, and help more. I just haven't seen anyone really putting any kind of reality to the green movement in this country

Take this guy , for example.

That’s great. You put up a windmill in your back yard, and it only cost you $21K to do it. Your great grandkids may see some profit. Congratulations.

If you're like me, you already are a bit irritated with these kinds of stories, especially when you are flat broke with three kids to feed. I am trying to pay mortgage and keep my car running. The 20K that I need to a windmill is wrapped up in my student loan at the moment.

I hope to post regularly with smart-assed comments, articles from various people doing green work, and posting ideas and articles that show regular people spending little or no money on projects that save them money.

So if you like my blog, click on the links around here, and donate to my Paypal.

That's all for now