Wendy’s Sharings

Jeff read an article in the Denver Post about the floating garbage plastic island in the Pacific Ocean.  Our weekly visit to the stores using our Grocery Game lists was coming up in a few days.  Jeff was tired of all of the bags that came home from each of the trips and they just didn’t sit well in the back of the car.

We started with one canvas bag from Walmart for $0.99 when we purchased some computer items. 

Over the weekend, Jeff gathered almost all of our plastic bags throughout the house and put them in the car for our weekly shopping trip.  We knew that King Soopers had a bin at the front of their store to collect plastic bags for recycling.  While there we purchased 5 of their canvas totes for $0.99.  It carried all of our groceries!  It’s amazing how much each of those bags can hold.  King Soopers also carries canvas bags for your refrigerator / freezer items.  At the King Soopers we go to, they have these bags located up by the checkout lines.

I need to stop by Target and purchase a few things for Kat.  While there I found several canvas bags that Target sells for $1.49 each with some that zip up into a little packet or into a folded one that snaps into a little packet.  I purchased a few of the snap type bags as they were bigger and would be great for large box items.  The Targets that we go to usually have these bags by their $1.00 / $2.00 section by the front doors.

The first time after reading the article in the Post, when we went shopping at Safeway, we didn’t see their canvas bags.  On our next trip, we found them in the produce section at $0.99 a piece.  Safeway also provides a $0.05 credit for each “recycle” bag that you use on your shopping trip.  Just make sure that you let them know.

All in all, we currently have 10 bags from Safeway, 10 from King Soopers, 5 of the larger bags from Target, and 1 from Walmart.  This allows us to keep bags in each vehicle for any shopping trip.  We have large soft side coolers from Sams to keep things cool while we shop as well.

I know that I usually walk out of stores with multiple plastic bags that would rip and fall apart.  Now we are carrying out at least half the number of bags in canvas bags that can be used over and over again, without fear of ripping or falling apart.  Those few times that we still get plastic bags, i.e. for the newspaper that is delivered daily, we’ll still collect and drop off at King Soopers.

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So where do the plastic bags go that aren’t recycled?  They go into landfills or are out floating in the ocean in a large plastic island.  Read an account of someone out in the Pacific Ocean on a boat about what they saw.  The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is floating in the Pacific Ocean, is twice the size of Texas, is 80% plastic, and weighs over 3.5 million tons.  The Worldwatch Institute estimates there 100 Billion plastic bags thrown away bye Americans each year using 430,000 gallons of crude oil to produce. 

San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic bags use in large grocery stores. 

In Alaska, 30 remote villages ban the use of plastic bags.

Beijing’s ban of petroleum-based plastic bags takes effect June 1st, 2 months before the Summer Olympic Games to be held there. 

Bangledash bans plastic bags.

In parts of South Africa, Ireland, and Taiwan impose taxes or fees to use plastic bags.

In New York, the City Council was looking to vote on a measure that would require large stores to recycle plastic bags.  It’s estimated that if each New York City’s 8 million residents used one less plastic bag per year, 109 tons of waste would be removed from the landfills.

Los Angeles County Commissioners had the opportunity to ban plastic bags, but instead choose to take the less restrictive of the 5 options, to have a volunteer program where the stores are to coax customers into using other options besides plastic.

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As of April 22, 2008, Earth Day, if you shop at Whole Foods markets, you won’t have the option of plastic any longer.  Whole Foods, to support their theme of supporting the environment and communities, will be only offering recycled paper or will encouraging consumers to bring their own or buy a reusable canvas bag or a bag made out of 80% recycled plastic bottles to put their groceries in.

According to A.C. Gallo, vice president and COO of Whole Foods Markets, estimates that 100 million new plastic grocery bags will be kept out of the landfills in just a little over the 8 months. 

The stores will be looking for alternatives to the plastic bags that are found in the produce, bakery, seafood, and bulk departments.

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I was driving around the other day and found a billboard that advertised www.WirelssAmberAlerts.org   By signing up your cell phone on this site, when there is an Amber Alert for one of the up to 5 zip codes that you enter in during set up, you will receive a text message on your cell phone when an alert is issued.  You will only receive Amber Alerts for those areas you’ve signed up for and your cell phone number will not be used for any other purposes. 

Do your part and help save a child - the first 3 hours are the most crucial!

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A great way to bond with your kids and to learn more about our National Parks and Monuments, is to have the kids become Junior Rangers.  While we were in South Dakota, the Rangers at Jewel Cave introduced Kat to the Junior Ranger Program. 

With the Junior Ranger Program, the kids need to either take a tour or watch a video at the National Park/Monument.  From there, they need to answer questions about what they have learned.  As Kat is just 6, there were many times where I needed to rephrase the question to the way she thinks.  But I learned some things as well. 

Part of getting a Junior Ranger Badge at Jewel Cave was stating that you would:

• Wear the badges proudly.
• Help the Rangers.
• Help keep the parks clean.
• and more.

Kat is wearing her 3 badges proudly and was excited to show them off at school.  Now we are exploring how we can visit the different National Parks and Monuments within Colorado to learn more about the great state we live in and what it has to offer.  The only thing - the National Park service needs to find a way for the Junior Rangers to wear all of their badges like the scouts do.

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Do you want to visit something that most people don’t see during the winter months?  Visit Mt. Rushmore in the off season!  What a pleasant time with unique pictures of Mt. Rushmore.  As some people from England said while there at the same time, “Everyone gets pictures of Mt. Rushmore during the summer, but few have their pictures taken while snow is falling and is on the Presidents.”  So true!

If you visit South Dakota’s Black Hills during off season, be prepared for many of the touristy places to be closed, like Cosmos, Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, some of the caves and more.  But, if these places were open, then you wouldn’t be able to fit everything in enjoyably in a Mini Trip.

During off season, you can find discounted rates at hotels.  One hotel in Rapid City, which is attached to WaTiki Water Park (great place for kids, young and old that enjoy water slides), you can find suites anywhere from $80 on up, depending on the day.  On the door, it stated that the room could be as high as $550 per night.  I can sure afford off season so much easier! 

Personal tours of the caves, Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, is awesome.  Each cave is so unique and when you have a personal tour or a small group tour, you can see more and ask more questions.  There are a lot of great opportunities to take pictures as well.  The only problem, I get too caught up in looking at the uniqueness and the beauty that I forget to take as many pictures as I could. 

Crazy Horse Monument was helping one of the local TV stations (KOTA) gather food for the food banks, similar to how 9 News in Denver collects food.  With a donation of 3 cans of food per person, you can enter Crazy Horse for free but make sure you give them another donation of money or buy items in their gift store as Crazy Horse receives no government assistance.  Make sure you tell Jay “hi”.  He has been the ticket taker inside both times that I’ve been there.  He doesn’t forget a face and has a lot of great information to share about the monument and upcoming activities there. 

If you go to South Dakota, make sure that you have cold weather window washer fluid in the reservior, the red stuff that is good to 30 degrees below zero.  If you forget, Menards in Rapid City carries it.

Again, a great opportunity to talk to people.  At the water park we didn’t talk much as Jeff was busy on the water slides, and Kat and I floated around the lazy river but we met people at the 3 National Parks we went too as well as Crazy Horse, the elevator, at the gas stations, and the resteraunts.  Take the time to slow down.

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Are there times you just want to get away from everything for a “mini” vacation?  Once in awhile you need to get away and enjoy some family time without spending a fortune.

Most families don’t think about going to a destination that is cold to get away but when you visit locations “off season” you’ll find fewer crowds and better prices.  One destination that our family enjoys is Estes Park during off season.

During off season, you’ll find hotels and some of the businesses closed.  You’ll also find the hours that those businesses are open reduced but the trade offs are wonderful!

You’ll get to enjoy smaller crowds.  It is so nice to be able to walk slowly downtown and peak into the windows without being bustled around.  Not that Estes Park is a “rough place” during peak season, I just really enjoy the slower pace when I need to get away.  A slower pace allows me to refresh my mood and outlook.

The other nice thing is that most of the people that are in the area are also there for the relaxed pace.  On these trips we have a tendency to talk more to people.  We enjoy finding out where they are from.  You’ll never know when you run into someone that knows someone you know.  I know that when we visit Estes Park we find many other people that are visiting from Nebraska or have ties to Nebraska.  With Estes Park supporting two Nebraska stores, it shouldn’t be too surprising.

The other nice thing about off season is you can stay in really nice hotels for a lot less than it costs to stay there normally.  What a great way to stay in a multi star hotel or a great B&B without breaking the bank.  A lot of rooms in Estes Park have fireplaces which help to take off the chill from the colder days of off season.

Where do you enjoy going off season in the winter?

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Resolutions don’t have to just be made at the beginning of the year.  You can make a resolution any time - what matters is if you follow through on your resolution.

Here are some resolutions that will help you reduce your energy use and as such, should help reduce your expenses:

• Use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.  That is all we have at our hours or other low watt bulbs.  Our next step will to replace our electronics with low usage items as they need to be replaced.
• For best fuel efficiency, make sure your car is tuned and running in top condition.
• Run the dishwasher, washer and dryer when they are full.  If you can, line dry your clothes.  Also, look for appliances that have energy star ratings.  We have the front load washer and dryers and the savings we have seen has been amazing.  Some water providers offer rebates when you purchase water saving devices so check for extra savings with them.
• Turn off that TV or radio or … when you leave the room.  For those items that don’t have clocks, unplug them when not in use.  Even items that are off can use a little bit of electricity.
• Do you like the convenience of bottled water.  We do at our house.  We are going to work on trying to find ways to use our own water bottles filled with filtered water from our tap.  I don’t know if we can get rid of all the bottles of water, but we can reduce the number used.
• Recycle packaging on items that you purchase.  Many trash service providers offer recycling and if they don’t, check with your town to see if they have a recycling station close.  My father-in-law used to burn newspapers until he found a recycling location in the town close to his Nebraska farm.
• Shop local farmers market or for produce grown locally.  Local produce travels less distance thus using less to get to you.
• Look for recycled or organic products.  Recycled is not just paper or packaging anymore.  Look for bamboo jeans or recycled aluminum jewelry.  Katharina received a cute purse for Christmas made out of old jeans.  One of the ladies at our church takes old jeans and makes them into beautiful quilts which she donates.

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We’ve been told that stress can lead to higher levels of cortisol.  Cortisol has been blamed for that around the middle bulge.  Stress has been blamed for numerous health issues.  So ways to help beat stress or at least stress less:

• Set your clocks or watches ahead.  I have my car clocks set five minutes fast as that is where I normally am running tight on schedule.  Kat fully understands that and automatically subtracts five minutes in the car so she can get to “real” time.
• Go with the flow.  Even though the best laid plans are on the schedule, there are times when things change.  Jeff has a picture of a monkey on his desk.  When we start feeling a little stressed when plans are a changing, Kat just mentions the monkey and the stress goes away.
• Invite children into the kitchen.  When children learn their way around the kitchen then they are not looking to the parents for every snack or drink.  It also helps to teach them how to choose healthy snacks.
• Spend time talking about concerns.  Sometimes spending 5 minutes to talk about a worry or concern is much better than trying to ignore it and letting the stress build up.
• Give kudoos.  Even small kudoos encourages positive behavior to continue which helps the stress level go down.
• Take that time out.  It’s not just for kids.  Sometimes as adults we need to step away for a little bit of time to just put everything back into perspective.

Do you have other tips to share that you use to reduce stress?

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Smile and the world smiles with you! 

Smile, they’ll wonder what you are up to!

Smile, you’ll exercise more muscles!

These are just a few of the sayings that are out there for smiles.  We all know that a smile is contagious and can make a bad day better.  I’m blessed with a young child that just loves to smile - she usually wakes up with one which is a great way to start the day for us in the family.  Why this discussion about smiles?

McGill University in Montreal conducted a study with call center employees (those that either take a large number of calls or need to make a large number of calls).  Prior to starting work, they asked a group of workers to play a very easy game for five minutes.  During this game, they needed to find the one smiling face in 16 pictures.  The other 15 pictures were frowning faces.  At the end of their stressful day, McGill University tested the stress hormone cortisol is the employees.  Those that played the game produced 17% less cortisol than those employees that did not play the game. 

The lead of the study, Mark Baldwin, believes that by having these employees remove the negative early in the day, the frowns, it allows them to disengage from stress as they dismiss the frowns in the game. 

That is something that we all could use more of - smiles!  We also could use less stress as stress and cortisol have been linked to many health concerns.  So hopefully, this game will be out for the general masses to use soon!

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