Certified plutonium-free!

When you buy eggs at the grocery store, do you make sure you choose the "cage-free" eggs?  Or when you're buying vegetables, do you select the ones labelled "organic" (instead of the presumably inorganic ones?)?  All things being equal, people will most often choose a product that has such a label over a similar product that doesn't have the label.  The presumption, of course, is that the "certified organic" fruit or the "cage-free" eggs, "grass fed" beef, "non-GMO" vegetables, etc. are either healthier for you, better for the environment, more humane to animals, or all of the above.

My co-worker Meg turned me on to this after our book club at work read a particularly disturbing account about where our food comes from.  During our discussion, she gave us all a brief overview of the various labels that were on the food products we all buy and what they mean, and more importantly what they don't mean.  That was a couple of years ago, and since then I read a similar story online from a writer who was in a grocery store and was agonizing over whether to buy the "hormone-free" chicken or just regular chicken.  Someone near her in the store saw her conundrum and let her know that the USDA doesn't allow any hormones to be added to any chicken, so saying chicken is "hormone-free" is the same as saying it is "plutonium-free".  A funny story, but also a little worrisome.

In general, I think if people are given a choice, they will choose foods that are healthier for them, better for the environment, and more humanely produced, but with all the different labels being thrown around, it is hard to know what they really mean and who, if anyone, is verifying them.  Fortunately, the good people at Consumer Reports are once again here to cut through the marketing and get to the facts with their eco-labels database.  This database of popular food labels provides information about who is responsible for the label and how reliable the label is.  For example, did you know that "fresh poultry" is certified by the USDA as never being below 24 F.  Last time I checked, that was frozen.

Anyway, I encourage you to check the database out for yourself and get educated about where your food comes from.  Of course, if you really want to know where your food comes from, you can produce it yourself!

Sustainable Family Challenge: Don't eat out for a week

I am beginning to realize that the most important key to living a Sustainable Family lifestyle is changing habits and rethinking how you operate within the confines of what has become our uber-capitalist society.  That includes recognizing the difference between “want” and “need”.  Can you believe that only 10 years ago, most of us had to call our spouses before we left work to tell them that we were on our way because we had no way to contact them in transit?  Now we “need” to ask Siri what is on our calendar for today!
 

All this came to a head for me about a week ago, when I realized that one of our new kittens had chewed almost completely through my only iPod charger, rendering it useless.  Oh, the humanity!  How was I to check text messages, or game scores, or Words with Friends^®?  I realized it is time to start getting myself in check and practice what I preach.  What better way to do it than to come up with some little challenges to change my habits from consumerable (is that a word?) to sustainable?  I encourage you to join me in this quest!

Here’s the challenge:  For one whole week, don’t eat anything that doesn’t come from your (or better yet, a friend’s) refrigerator or pantry.  Go ahead and buy whatever groceries you think you need for the week, and then just say no to restaurants, cafeterias, vending machines, and any other “instant gratification” food source you currently use.  If this sounds easy to you, think about how many cups of coffee or lunches you bought last week.

I’m going to start after I buy my usual pizza lunch on Thursday and see how long I can stick to my principles.  I guess I’ll have to try to sneak a soft pretzel and a beer into the UConn game on Sunday.  If you decide to try it too, please leave comments here on the blog and let me know how you did and what, if anything, was your downfall.

Firewood warms you three times!

If you cut your own firewood like I do, you probably already have what you need drying for next year.  If you don't have all you need yet, get on it because the sap is already running!  There is no better feeling than getting all the wood you need for the next year neatly piled for 9 months worth of "seasoning".

Our Sustainable Family switched to burning firewood a few years ago for several reasons.  Since we have 5 acres of property, most of which is wooded, we have a free and available source of fuel.  In addition, wood is a sustainable and renewable resource unlike fuel oil, which is limited by the dwindling numbers of dinosaurs currently roaming the earth and subsequently dying. 

We used to burn about 750 gallons of oil per year to heat the house and fulfill our hot water needs.  Now, we only burn about one tank (250 gallons) per year for domestic hot water (showers, hand washing, etc.), which currently saves us about $2,000 per year.  [Yes, you read that right.]  The entire cost of the wood stove plus all the triple-wall stainless steel chimney pipe, cap, through-the-wall kit and everything else came to about $3,000.  I saved money by installing it all myself, but even with installation costs factored in, you can get your money back in three years instead of two.  And, even if you don't have 5 acres of hardwoods to harvest, you can have split seasoned firewood delivered right to your house for about $200 per cord.  We burn about three cords a year for our approximately 1,600 sq. ft. house, so use that as a guide.  Even buying all of your wood, you'll probably make your money back in five years instead of two or three.

Sounds great right... but what is the catch?  The catch is, just like with anything else, the more you are willing to do, the more money you will save.  In my case, the wood we burn warms me three times throughout the year... first when I drop it and pile it, again when I split and stack it, and then finally when we burn it!  The biggest bonus for us is that our house is significantly warmer in the winter now than when we relied on oil.  We used to keep the thermostats consistently in the 64-67 F range all winter and layer on the sweaters.  With the woodstove, the temperature is consistently around 70 F and with a little practice we can now get the fire to last pretty much all night.

Using firewood as your main heat source in the winter is definitely more work than getting fuel oil delivered, and it is not for everyone, especially if you live in an urban or tightly populated area.  But if you can do it there is a plus side... for some of us it may be the only significant exercise we get all year!

Beating the blues... with greens!

The other day, my son asked me if we could grow kale now because he liked it so much last spring and summer.  I told him we couldn't because the ground is too frozen but that we would plant some more as soon as the ground thawed.

Then I read an article in Urban Farm magazine about container gardening and I started thinking maybe we can start growing kale now.  Our front windows get great southern sun exposure and my thought is that I can mount a couple window boxes in front of the windows inside the house and have a little green vegetable garden to break up the winter blues.  The consensus seems to be that things like leafy greens (like kale and leaf lettuce) and most herbs can produce with only about 6-7 hours of sunlight a day.  At this time of the year here in New England, we are up to almost 10 hours a day so that part is at least feasible.  Now all I need is some dirt, seeds, and water and hopefully we'll be eating fresh greens sometime in the next few weeks.

I'll keep you all updated on the progress, but in the meantime if you have tried this or something similar, let me know how it worked for you and any tricks and tips you can share.  If you have never tried it, maybe you want to see if you can do it too (and keep us all updated)!

Now we're cooking!

Through trial and error we have decided that a solar oven in winter (see previous post "For all your apocalyptic cooking needs") is not the most efficient way for the Sustainable Family to cook "off the grid"... especially when our cast iron wood stove is cranking pretty much non-stop.

My wife is nothing if not determined, so she decided to put the wood stove to some dual use and try cooking on top of it using some of our cast iron pans.  First she put a big deep frying pan on top with one of our cast iron pizza pans over it to see if she could get the temperature high enough to cook. 

In no time, it was up to 350 F!

Now for something easy to be the sacrificial first attempt.  Since we decided to have chili for dinner, the logical choice was cornbread.  So, the batter went into a baking pan and then into the "oven".  (Lesson one: put the baking pan on a metal trivet or else the bottom will burn.) 

Twenty or so minutes later, we were treated to the most moist cornbread we ever had!

Absolutely amazing!  Needless to say, my determined wife was now even more determined to cook other things on the woodstove.  So, this morning's breakfast was off the grid as well...

Mmmm... perfect eggs, toast, and pancakes!  If you have a woodstove, I highly recommend trying this... and let us know how it works for you.

Bring some history to your garden

It's the time of year when many of us are inundated by seed catalogs.  Whether it's Michigan Bulb, or Gurney's, or Burpee, these catalogs offer us an opportunity to take a break from the winter cold and daydream about our vegetable gardens... the snap of the green beans, bees on squash blossoms, the taste of that first tomato.  Have you ever noticed that when you are picturing your garden in your mind, you conveniently leave out the weeds?

Anyway, if you're looking to change it up a little this year, and manage your garden in a more sustainable way, consider using heirloom vegetable seeds.  Vegetables considered "heirloom varieties" are generally those that are 100 years old or more and were widely planted before the advent of large-scale commercial farming.  As larger and larger commercial farming operations spread across the US after World War II, hybrid vegetable varieties developed for production and simultaneous ripening, often at the expense of taste, dominated the gardening landscape.  Over the past decade however, an effort has been underway to reintroduce heirloom vegetables into home gardens to preserve and proliferate some of these historic varieties. 

There are many advantages to planting heirloom vegetables.  Most are naturally well adapted to variable environmental conditions and disease resistance due to natural selection over hundreds or even thousands of years, rather than man-made genetic modification.  In addition, these historical vegetable varieties provide an opportunity for the Sustainable Family to learn about historical agriculture and the need to sustain viable seed strains for future generations.

You can find many companies across the country that specialize in the preservation and sale of heirloom vegetable seeds.  My personal preference is Comstock, Ferre & Co. located right here in Connecticut.  You can order heirloom seeds right from their website, or request a catalog and picture yourself in a new and exciting garden this summer... oh, and don't forget the weeds.

A taste of summer in the winter.

During the summer months, there is a glut of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, crafts, and just about everything else at local farmers' markets. Our family makes it a point to visit any and all of the farmers' markets in our area as frequently as possible each summer, if not for the great food available then for the overall atmosphere. Fortunately, that same atmosphere is still available in the winter here in Connecticut, and in most every other New England state, in the form of winter farmers' markets!

 

There are many winter farmers' markets operating this year from one end of the state to the other. Some operate as indoor markets but a few of them actually maintain an outdoor presence despite the cold weather (or in the case of this year... the unseasonably warm weather). The Connecticut Department of Agriculture website maintains a list of winter farmers' market locations that include Hartford, Litchfield, New Haven, North Guilford, Stonington, Coventry, Storrs, Hampton, and Westport. Similar lists are maintained by agencies that license farmers' markets in other states. The dates and times of operation for these markets varies in some cases, from once a week to once a month, so check the website link to see when the market in your area will be open. And if you are worried that a winter farmers' market might be a little lean on actual locally-grown food, here are some things you can expect:

 

Lettuces, arugula, bok choi, kale, collards, cabbage, chard, apples, cider, cranberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, radishes, mushrooms, fresh herbs, hops, lavender, wheat grass, beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, winter squash, chicken, beef, pork, cheeses, eggs, honey, maple syrup, and lots of other great stuff!

 

So when (or if) the snow (eventually) hits the ground here in Connecticut and you start to feel the mid-winter blues, make it a point to visit one of the state's many winter farmers' markets. You might find it is just the little taste of summer you need to carry you through until spring.

 

You can catch more flies with vinegar...

If you are like us, you might have a container in your kitchen to store your compostable scraps temporarily until your lazy husband takes them out to the compost pile. Or maybe you just like your fruit and veggies to be "well-ripened". Either way, you probably have had a fruit fly or two (or a hundred?) annoyingly buzzing around your kitchen from time to time. Even in the winter, these annoying pests can find solace in a warm cozy home, especially if you have houseplants anywhere near the kitchen. This past summer seemed to be a particularly bad one for fruit flies in our house, so I was determined to find a no-cost solution to rid us of this pestilence!

Remember the old adage, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"? Well in this case, exactly the opposite is true. This easy and effective solution to fruit flies not only worked like a charm for us, but also by several other of our friends and family who have tried it since. Here's how to do it: 

 

Get yourself a small cup-like vessel of some sort. We used a very small bowl we had, but a teacup will work fine. Fill the bowl or cup with apple cider vinegar to within about an inch or two of the brim. I haven't tried other types of vinegar, but I would guess they would work the same way. For some reason, I assume apple cider is the "sweetest" of the vinegars we have in our house, so that's what I went with. Add two or three drops of dish soap to the bowl. This eliminates the surface tension on the liquid so when the flies land on the vinegar, they fall in. Place the bowl near wherever you are having the problem and watch the magic happen! 

 

We collected about 30-40 flies in just a few days. Let me know how it works out for you.

Start shopping for next Christmas!

Well, I finally took the lights off the tree and dragged it out the front door so for us, the holidays are officially over.  But is it too early to start thinking about next year?

Taking the lights down got me thinking again about whether this is the year I'll switch from incandescent mini-bulbs to LEDs.  I guess if I'm going to blog about being a Sustainable Family, then I better really consider it.  When I bought my current lights a few years ago to replace my last set, LEDs were not as readily available and the few that were seemed too expensive to pay for themselves through increased efficiency.  But is that still true?

With a quick scan of online sellers, I found that LED mini lights seem to cost about twice as much as incandescents ($18 vs. $9 for 100 lights).  So now the question is how much energy will you save using the LEDs?  According to ConsumerReports, you’ll probably save enough to justify the purchase.  They tested LEDs and incandescents side-by-side using an independent laboratory.  What they found was that, during 300 hours of use, 50 LED lights use about 1-3 kilowatt hours of energy, while the incandescents used from 12-105 kWh.  On average, the cost to operate 100 mini lights for this amount of time is about $2 for LEDs and $22 for incandescents.  So, at a savings of $20 per 100 lights, you have more than paid the difference in initial cost of the lights… and that’s only for tree lights.  Obviously, if you are one of those people who tries to make the front of your house look like the Las Vegas Strip, your savings will be much greater.

Need more reasons to switch your holiday lights to LEDs?  How about durability?  After 4,000 hours of testing by Consumer Reports, all the LED lights in their test strings were still lit, while each of the incandescent test strings had one or more lights burn out in less than 2,000 hours.  In addition, LED mini lights are generally encased in plastic, which makes them less likely to break when dropped or stepped on as opposed to their glass-encased incandescent counterparts.

Bottom line:  If it's time for new Christmas lights, switch to LEDs.  In addition to the obvious cost savings, they are better for the environment, they are less of a fire risk because they run cooler than traditional incandescents, and they last longer.  And now is a great time to buy them and get even more "post-holiday" savings.    If you’ve already switched to LEDs, I’d love to hear about your experience with them so feel free to leave a comment.

Mmmm... Pizza Fridays!

One thing that we have found to be critical to the health of the Sustainable Family is great friends.  Another equally important thing is cheap meals.  For a few years now, we have had a standing "date" with our friends at our house for "Pizza Fridays".  This tradition has included pizza in many forms, but we have now found a groove with homemade pizza cooked in cast-iron pans.  I will NEVER cook a pizza any other way again.  In my opinion it is the quickest, easiest, and least messy way to cook pizza at home... by far. 

I'll explain how it's done in our house, but understand that there may be a little trial and error necessary before you can perfect it in your kitchen.  The good thing is you can still eat the mistakes.  We use store-bought pizza dough, but there are plenty of great recipes for pizza dough on the web.

If you have an electric oven like we do, set it to about 475 F and let it preheat a bit while you build your pizza.  If you have a gas oven, you will want to wait until the pizza is in the oven to turn it on.  Coat the bottom of your cast-iron pan with a thin layer of olive oil and press the dough into the bottom of the pan.  Add sauce (or just some olive oil for a white pizza) and any spices you want... I generally put garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Add shredded mozzarella, toppings, and even a little Parmesan cheese if you like. 

Place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven, and place a cookie sheet or something similar on the rack above (we have a pizza stone that is always in the oven).  The idea here is that you are trying to heat up the cast-iron pan so it perfectly cooks the bottom of the pizza crust while not cooking the top too fast.  In a gas oven, waiting until the pizza is in to turn the oven on (reportedly) works well, but in my electric oven heating the coil a bit first seems to work best.

The pans we use are Lodge brand cast-iron pizza pans.  You may be able to find these in a local store, but we couldn't so we ended up ordering them online.  You don't need to buy the pizza pans specifically though, any flat bottom cast-iron skillet you have will work, your pizza will just be limited to the size of your pan.

Try it and let me know how it works for you.  Or, if you're really up for a challenge, try it on your grill!

For all your apocalyptic cooking needs...

My wife and my neighbor have been on a real "let's get ready for the apocalypse" kick lately, so when our Urban Farm magazine arrived with an article touting the virtues of the solar oven, my wife pounced right on it.  Using the sun to cook a meal sure sounds like a neat idea and I hadn't heard of it before other than the old adage about frying an egg on the pavement in the summer. 

Solar ovens come in all shapes and sizes from the do-it-yourself version to the $300 prefabricated model (personally, I'll pass on that one).  Under the right conditions, or apparently even less than ideal conditions, you can cook actual real food at 325 F or even higher, basically for the entire time the sun is out.

In literally 15 minutes, she had transformed a couple of cardboard boxes, some black spray paint, aluminum foil, and clear glass from a picture frame into something that looked as if it had the intent to cook something. 

Now the big test... insert a thermometer, point it toward the sun, and wait.  Upon further review, the weeks surrounding the winter solstice may not be the best time to try solar cooking.  The temperature only got up to about 90 F inside the box, but that is pretty impressive considering the outside temperature was right around 50 F.  My wife has already identified some inherent design flaws in her solar oven v.1.0 though, and I'm sure this is not the last we will see of this apocalyptic appliance.  I expect my neighbor to try something similar soon, only probably on a more commercial scale.  Stay tuned!

New Year's Resolutions for the Sustainable Family

I was going to post something today about estimating cord wood, or something else similarly utilitarian, but today my friend Meg Harvey sent me something that I just had to post instead.  What she sent was a list of 10 Practical New Year's Resolutions for Parents, which she ascribes originally to Bright Horizons Family Solutions.  Personally, I think most of these would work equally well in all of our relationships, both internal and external.  I thought they were the perfect way to start the first year of Sustainable Family!

1. Say yes more: to spending time and doing things together.
2. Say no more: to I want, I need, everyone has it, and everyone does it.
3. Worry less: about all the large and small highly sensationalized harm that exists out there. The overwhelming odds are with you.
4. Listen more; talk at less: Ask what do you think? What are you feeling? Tell me about it. What would you do?
5. Negotiate less; explain more: Kids deserve to know the thinking behind our decisions and expectations, but should not be equal partners at the bargaining table. We are the parents.
6. Read a little more: to your child, with your child, and in front of your child - books, magazines, newspapers, notes.
7. Write a little more: notes of love, recognition, encouragement, responsibility, and daily appreciation of life.
8. Expect a little more: good behavior, responsibility, manners, kindness, and all of the goodness that lies within our children.
9. Expect a little less: constant scheduling and enrichment filled days. Slow down, you move too fast. Children need a lot of slow to grow.
10. Connect more: to family, friends, the community, those less fortunate, and the natural world.

Thanks Meg!

Welcome to Sustainable Family!

Welcome to the first installment of a new blog for readers who are interested in living their lives in a more simple and sustainable way.

So, what is a Sustainable Family?  Well, I'm not sure an official definition currently exists, but it's the best descriptive title I could come up with for a way of life that our family is trying to live for our health and well-being, and the health of our community, and the planet. 

Basically, this blog is for people who are interested in any or all of the following...

downsizing your life and repurposing your “stuff”

finding local food and even growing some of your own

doing-it-yourself to save money
bartering and unconditional giving

protecting, utilizing, and enjoying nature

getting active and involved in your community

and anything else that promotes plain and simple living!

My wife, son, and I are not experts in any of these areas, but we have become pretty passionate about living a more plain, simple, and sustainable life.  If you are an expert, or if you think something I write is unclear, incomplete, or just plain wrong, your comments are always welcome.  Or if there is something you’re particularly interested in and would like to have me write about it, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.