Whole Living on a Budget
Resources for a more natural, balanced, and sustainable life.Archive for January, 2008
Quote – Alexander Pope
How to Recognize Conventionally Grown, Organic and GM
In the Ideal Bite email I recieved yesterday, they shared that there is a simple way to tell if your produce from the Grocery store is conventional, organic, or genetically modified.
Just look at the sticker on the produce:
-A four-digit number means it’s conventionally grown.
-A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it’s organic.
-A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it’s GM.
Dude, I never knew that. Now I’m going to look when I’m at the grocery store next time.
If you want updates on similar Green info and topics, subscribe to Ideal Bite to get daily emails sent to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Pledge to Watch Out for Wildlife and Get a Free Care Kit
Defenders of Wildlife is giving out free Pledge Kits that include the Watch Out for Wildlife car sticker and glove compartment tip card to the first 1,000 people who sign the pledge within 4-6 weeks.
Sign the pledge here to help out wildlife by vowing to:
-Drive with caution in wildlife areas and tell friends and family to do the same.
-Report wildlife vehicle collisions to wildlife and transportation agencies.
-Participate in state and local planning and voice concern about the negative impacts of roads on wildlife.
Special thanks to Anna for sharing the link.
This Week’s Natural and Organic Deals
One of my New Years Resolutions was to try to become a more socially responsible consumer and buy more natural and organic items. My opinion is that local and small is always best, but there are some good deals to be found at chain stores.
Lately I have been researching this more intently and have found that if you shop strategically, you can save soooo much money and still buy good quality organic and natural products.
Starting today, I’m going to share my finds with you on my blog. Each week, probably on Tuesday, I’ll post about the best sales I have found for some major chain stores in my city. Unfortunately, all of these sales might not be valid where you’re at, but it might give you an idea about how much you can save if you just do a little searching.
This week’s sales end Febuary 2nd. I have the normal price on the items in parenthesis so you know how much you save:
Kroger
14.5 oz Del Monte Organic Dice Tomatoes – 3/$2 (1.55/each)
Naturally Preferred Organic Carrots – $1/lb (1.39/lb)
GE Smart Energy Spiral 20 Watt Light Bulb 2/$8 (6.99)
Meijer
32oz WestSoy Plus Plain Soy Milk 2/$7 (4.59)
5oz Organic Clamshell Salads 2/$5 (3.29)
CVS
Select Kashi cereals 2/$5 (4.29)
SoyJoy Bars – Buy four at a $1/each, get $4 back with their Extra Care Bucks (ECB) program, so they end up being free! (1.29/each)
Natural Valley Granola Bars Bonus Pack – $6.99 for the pack with a $3 ECB rebate (7.38)
Bloom
Organic Green or Red Leaf Lettuce Head $1.49/each (1.99)
Bloom AND Food Lion
33 oz Bubbie’s Pure Kosher Dills – $2.99 close out (5.19)
32 oz Nantucket Nectars – $2.59 close out (4.19)
8oz De Boles Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta – $1.14 close out (2.29)
24oz Bertolli Organic Pasta Sauce – 2/$4 (3.15)
Green Your Life With Your Tax Refund – Part One
It’s tax time again. If you don’t owe Uncle Sam and you can claim credits too, this is a happy time for you. With some extra cash at your disposale, you have an opportunity to ramp up sustainability in your lifestyle. Here are a few of my top picks on how to spend Tax Refunds to Green your life:
Buy a share of Community Supported Agriculture! A new farming season is upon us, and it’s the best time to purchase a food subscription of from a local farm. I’ve mentioned Community Supported Agriculture a few times in this blog, so you probably already know that I’m a big fan.
What is Community Supported Agriculture? It is a way for you and me (the folks who don’t farm) to buy a share of a whole year of produce from a local farmer upfront. When growing season is at it’s peak (usually late April through October), you will get a weekly or monthly basket of fresh farm goods including produce and often even milk, eggs, cheese, meat or flowers, depending on the farm.
Prices vary and from my experience a share can cost anywhere from around $100 for a small weekly vegetable basket to up to $500 or more for organic meats. To find a CSA farm, visit LocalHarvest.
Get a Bike! Remember how fun an afternoon bike ride used to be when you were a kid? It can still be fun…if you take it slow and build your stamina up again.
Bikes are the most efficient form of transportation in exisentence and a safe, low-impact way to exercise. Plus, with the cost of gas prices steadily up to $3/gallon or more, using a bike for small trips here and there will save you some big bucks in the long run.
Buy a Moped! Okay, so the bike thing didn’t turn you on. If you’re too lazy to bike (like I am these days), a moped is a nice alternative.
First of all, it will save you tons of money if you use it for most of the trips you would normally use an automobile for. Most mopeds get around 120 miles to the gallon! That is crazy wonderful for saving gas money and lowering your environmental footprint. Just as nice: in most states you don’t have to buy auto insurance to drive a moped, so no more insurance payments.
The price for a new moped starts around $700. To be even more eco-friendly (and frugal), look for a used one in a local classifieds ad or on Ebay.
Free Publications Mailed to Your Door
The Federal Citizen Information Center has lots of publications on a variety of topics available for free. Visit the Free Publications Page Feature Releases page to learn more about the availiable publications on Healthy Living, Saving on Loans and Credit Card, GreenScaping, Transfats and more. Once you order the publications you want, expect about 3-4 weeks for them to arrive at your door.
Zen Parenting: Walking Meditation With Baby
Either carry baby in your arms or in a sling and began a walk in a clear path through your home or outside in a safe area. Focus on your breath and begin to calm.
Organic and Natural Food Coupons
This last week I have discovered the fun and joy of coupons. Yeah, that sounds lame, but if the high price of organic/natural foods are keeping you away from them (like me), coupons can be a great tool to making them more accessible. Luckily, there are some places online that provide printable coupons in case you’re not a Sunday paper reader. Here are some coupons I have found today for organic and natural food products:
- SAVE 75¢ on any one (1) 8 oz or larger cup of Tribe® Organic Hummus
- $2 off Kashi’s GOLEAN Crunch! cereal – Use it at CVS Pharmacy by Febuary 2 and you can get a box for only $.50 because of CVS’s current sale. I learned about this from an awesome blog called Money Saving Mom which I highly recommend.
- SAVE 75¢ on one Emeril’s™ All Natural Pasta Sauce
- SAVE $1.10 when you buy Nature Valley® cereal (look for it on page 4)
- SAVE up to $7 on Organic Valley Dairy Products
- Free Printable Health, Natural & Organic Grocery Coupons from Mambo Sprouts. If you live in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver/Boulder, Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles, sign up to recieve coupon booklets three times a year.
- $1 off 4 SOYJOY bars
Giving Ourselves
“If we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us, so it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of persons we are. And it is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of humanity is to sacrifice ourselves for something higher—that which we believe in and love deeply.”
Charity Work for the Lazy: Feed the Hungry With a Click of Your Mouse
Awww, friend. You have a good heart but no time or money to really help the down and out? We all have our excuses for not doing some more good in the world, but if you have a computer and internet access, you have no excuse to not direct your browser to the Hunger Site everyday. With one click, you can donate 1.1 cups of food to the hungry…no strings attached. The food is bought by the advertisers on the site. All that is needed is traffic to keep it going. So please visit now, and everyday, and help feed the empty bellies of the world.
In addition, if you visit the site, look to the top and see the other similar projects. With just a few more clicks you can do even more like help provide mammograms to women who can’t afford them and help save the rain forest. Who knew becoming a philanthropist was so frickin simple!
