Challenge 2010: Living Simply, Living Green

Happy new year everyone! I haven’t posted for a while because the holidays took over and I decided to give in to them and go with the flow. I’m really excited about the new year and with a living simply, living green challenge!

I realized a while ago that I don’t like to make resolutions because of several reasons. First, they are kind of restrictive. A year is a long time and I find that my resolutions evolve as time goes by. Also, it’s hard for me to know how specific to get in my resolution, and then in my plans to pursue them. I would rather have a general resolution to improve myself in as many ways possible and then focus on a couple of things at a time.

So on to the challenge! The purpose of this challenge is to guide and inspire us into improving the quality of our day to day lives and help the planet. The title of the challenge seems very vague at first. Everyone has their own idea of what living simply is, and everyone is at a different stage of trying to make their lives greener. Who’s going to join me for the first challenge....

THE KITCHEN



There is nothing I love more than a warm, cozy ... kitchen! I try to cook dinner every night to stay health and budget friendly and so my challenge for January is make my kitchen feel as comforting and inviting as possible while greening it in as many ways as I can! How much more will you want to make your favourite winter soup and homemade bread when you are drawn to your lovely, earth friendly kitchen!

WEEK 1: PURGE AND CLEAN
For this week’s challenge, go through every corner of your kitchen and purge items that you know you don’t need. Start with a back cupboard that you hardly every open and work your way around. Maybe just do one or two cupboards a day. While doing this, decide if that particular thing is being well used by you, or if donated, could be put to better use by someone else who might need it. Do you really use that microwave egg poacher? Do you really need 7 ladles? After the cupboards, go for the pantry and refrigerator. Check due dates on condiments and if they are expired, save those great glass jars for storing, beans, spices, jams or homemade pickles! This would be a good week to make dinner every night out of the contents of your freezer.

After you have sufficiently purged, it’s time to clean. Switch to eco-friendly cleaners if you haven’t already. I have slowly gone from non eco-friendly, to store bought eco-friendly to just plain vinegar, baking soda and a natural bristle brush. It’s so cheap and great!

Here are some great cleaners made by local companies if you want to buy them at the store:



I use the live for tomorrow automatic dishwasher powder and love it! You only use about a tablespoon and the dishes come out great!



Sapadilla Soap Co. makes plant-based, biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products. The products are available all over B.C.



VIP Soap Products have all kinds of household, laundry and personal care products.

Here are some site with homemade household cleaner recipes, including some great sites with multiple uses for vinegar and hydrogen peroxide:

1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar
Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Green Kitchen DIY Cleaning
How To Clean Your Microwave
Best DIY/Natural Cleaning Solutions

By the way, if the 1 week time limit for purging and cleaning is stressing you out, take 2,3 or 4 weeks! Stress is never good! This should be a positive and uplifting activity, not something that causes you negative feelings. After you are done all that cleaning and purging, reward yourself with some great chocolate or wine!

Top Image Credits:
www.weheartit.com
www.maxifurniture.net