More reasons to filter water

Yahoo published a list with just another reason of why you should filter your tap water. The list contains the cities with the best and worst tap water. I was shocked and pleased to see my city is in the top three listed. To view the entire article and a link to the list of cities, click here.

Directly from Yahoo's article, "Experts still agree that drinking tap is preferable to drinking bottled water. Bottled water is much more expensive than tap, it takes a huge toll on the planet, and it's not necessarily any safer than tap. "Bottled water is not regulated in the same way as tap water," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG. "With bottled water, consumers often do not know what they are getting, and 25 to 40 percent of bottled water on the market is simply tap poured into a bottle."

Knowing what's in your water is the key. Once you know which contaminants are present, you can find the best filter to get rid of them. EWG put together a thorough buying guide to help you find an affordable water filter that works for you. You can read the guidelines or search for products based on contaminants you want to get rid of."

Here is also a direct link to the National Drinking Water Database that provides details of what is in the tap water of your city.

2009 Resolution continued

I am not a fan of coffee but I do enjoy drinking chai tea. I know it can be costly to purchase these drinks from large coffee chains so I have found one that I can make at home that is made by Oregon Chai. I found the chai concentrate at Super Target in the tea section. Oregon Chai offers several varieties of the chai that are organic, vegan and sugar free. It tastes great when you just add milk and heat or even if you prepare it as a cold treat.

Even though I will make the tea at home, I still enjoy going to the local Starbucks with a friend to just sit and relax. This is where I started to think, just like all the water bottles I was using, about all the cups that Starbucks goes through in a day. Not just paper cups but lids, paper sleeves, plastic cups, plastic lids, etc. When I started to think about the amount that one Starbucks goes through, let alone ALL of their stores...wow. This goes for any beverage or food chain that is giving you something in a disposable container.

I decided to purchase a reusable tumbler while I was there. It doesn't take much effort to wash it out and then I put it back in my car in case I stop for an impromptu drink. I found out that Starbucks also has a program called Shared Planet where they are helping to reduce their carbon footprint and you can sign up as a participant and reuse your mug or tumbler each time you get a drink at Starbucks. For each drink you purchase and use your own tumbler for Starbucks will give you a $0.10 discount.

Starbucks is currently researching to create a cup that is 100% recyclable but until that happens I will be sure to take my reusable tumbler with me.

2009 Resolution

It is almost that time of year where everyone starts to make resolutions for the new year. I have already started on a few more this year and have some others I would like to try for the next.

One of my resolutions this year came from watching the Biggest Loser. I realized that even though I did recycle all of those plastic water bottles I was using, I still went through a lot of bottles. At the beginning of 2009, I went out and purchased a Brita pitcher and began to filter my tap water and was using a reusable bottle to take with me to work each day. Prior to doing this, I would go through at least three bottles of water while at work each day. I usually also carry a bottle with me everywhere I go, so I have purchased different reusable BPA-free bottles to fit in my lunchbox and different bags so that I will always have one with me.

To help others get started using reusable water bottles Brita also began a Filter for Good campaign where you are able to join the campaign and receive coupons towards purchases of Brita products. Sign up today to help reduce bottled water waste.

Finally!!!!

In an attempt to eat foods that were not grown with pesticides, that are natural and have real flavor I wanted to try to grow some of my own vegetables this year. I think I originally received my first tomato plant as a gift back in March. The information that came along with it said I would have tomatoes in 45 days. Here we are a "few" months later and I FINALLY have some tomatoes from my own backyard. :) I will admit that I started to think it just wasn't meant to be. The Texas heat seems to be a little bit much. I guess the cooler weather in October and November is just what my little plant needed and just enough time for the bugs to take a hike.

I still plan on figuring out composting soon so that I can have some rich soil to plant a real garden this next year. For the time being I am just pleased I finally have something that I can eat. :) I actually still have about five more tomatoes and a few bell peppers in the works as well. Hopefully, the weather will still stay decent long enough for them to become ripe.

Making the switch to Renewable Energy

I was excited to change my electric company recently to Green Mountain Energy. This electric company uses renewable energy which is an energy generated from natural sources like the sun, wind or rain. In this case, Green Mountain uses wind from local wind farms. This form of energy helps to offset our carbon footprint and produces no greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide or methane. For my first month the carbon footprint reduced is equivalent to 130 miles NOT driven. Not too bad when all I did was make a phone call to switch. :)

Eating Organic

One of the main things that I keep reading about lately is eating organic. What qualifies a product as organic? I went to the National Organic Program's (NOP) website to see if there was anything to clarify what is considered organic. Depending on the product there are different guidelines that must be met for a product to be considered organic. For the details on how a product earns the label USDA Organic, click here.

This was one of the reasons why I started going to the farmer's markets to look for produce that was grown without the use of pesticides. There is definitely a difference in price (higher!) as well when you are trying to eat organic products. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised this weekend when I finally joined Costco. I couldn't believe all the organic products that were available in bulk. Being able to buy more for the same price as what I was getting at the grocery store is great, but I still can't believe the variety of organic foods that were there.

I have noticed that while I am trying to eat more organic foods I have been eating less meat. I love a good veggie burger and found a great recipe on Everyday Food. I am going to try to find some different variations but the Veggie Burger with Tahini Mayonnaise was a great start.

Disney!!!

I had the opportunity to go to Disney World for a week and was excited to see recycling bins at every park! The bins are near every trash can and you are able to recycle all bottles and cans.

There was also a line of recycled paper products available from their "Choose to Reuse" campaign; all with the cute Mickey logo pictured above. A variety of t-shirts made from organic cotton were also available.

It is great to think about all the trash that Disney is having recycled instead of adding it to our landfills. Thank you!