Lower Impact Travel

Travel itself isn't a green activity (planes use a *lot* of jet fuel), but boy I love to experience new places, new food, new cultures... so the next best thing is to make some good choices on the journey. 

Here's how I start most trips:

1) Take Uber Green to the airport. It's just a ride type selection in the app, and costs the same as Uber X. When you select Uber Green, you'll be guaranteefld a hybrid or electric vehicle. Today, we rode in a Tesla!

2) Bring an (empty) reusable water bottle. Many airports now have the water bottle fill stations or at least water fountains. Compare to $3.10 at the Hudson for a 20oz plastic water bottle and you could save a lot over the course of your trip. Compare to the $7 for a bottle at a resort and you're doing even better!

I love this insulated stainless mug because it keeps my water cool all. day. long. You definitely want to stay hydrated when flying.

3) Bring a reusable shopping bag. It can be a larger purse or tote, or I love a lightweight bag like this that folds into its own pocket. You can use the carabiner to clip to your belt, or it's small and light enough to toss into any purse. Chico Bag (Amazon affiliate link). You can use this bag for days when you're out all day and may need to take on/off a sweatshirt, and of course as a shopping bag for your souvenirs, with no need to acquire disposable shopping bags.

Now, go enjoy your vacation!

Happy Early Birthday!

Do you like surprises? Do you like discounts? That sounds to me like a celebration!

Who wouldn't want this delicious giant (hand for scale) snicker doodle for 67% off?

There's an app for that! Too Good To Go knows that restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores have leftover items at the end of the day that they don't want to sell as "day old" or nearing their best by date. For most stores, this means those food items go into the trash.

So why not help those businesses recoup some of those losses, prevent that food waste, and reward us customers for participating with a 50%+ discount? This isn't a foreign concept - apparel stores do sales at the end of a season, right?

The idea: businesses list their leftovers in "surprise bags" at the end of the day. You get a fun surprise and enjoy a steep discount for taking the risk of not knowing exactly what you're going to get (check them out if you have few dietary restrictions and love adventure!). I used to get surprise bags at my favorite olive oil store, and love that this idea is expanding to other food businesses. 

Here's a peek at the app experience (and click the link above to download the app yourself, or visit your smartphone's app store):

 

Here you can see I'm viewing a local cafe whose surprise bag is valued at $12 and being sold for $4 (a 67%) discount. It also shows a pickup window, usually an hour or so before closing the same day, or reserve ahead for the next day. I know this cafe, and am expecting pastries in the bag, although some of the stores describe the contents a bit. For example, a grocery store shares that it will include prepared salads from their deli.

 

You simply click the reserve button, and pre-pay. When you arrive for pick up, you just show the app and click a couple buttons to acknowledge the pickup. 

I was super pleased with the contents of my surprise bag: 4 large pastries, including the snicker doodle at the beginning of this post and...

this gorgeous berry fritter,

and this savory bacon cheese scone,

and this still-super-moist crumble coffee cake.

Hungry yet? Go sign up for a surprise bag. :) I definitely think I got over $12 of value, and was thrilled to eat my $1 scone for lunch yesterday, and $1 coffee cake for breakfast today.

As you purchase from Too Good to Go, you can feel good as they send you confirmation emails that let you know about your positive impact:

Thank you for saving your first Surprise Bag. For each one rescued, you save 5.5lbs of CO2e - the same amount that would be emitted if a lightbulb was left on for 29 days. 

Today there are 16 deals within 5 miles of me (outside Seattle) and 142 deals within 15 miles of me (includes downtown Seattle and Bellevue). I can't wait for more businesses to get on board!

Video Content Here, On Social, and On YouTube

Hi friends! 

If you follow me on social, you may have seen some of my new video content. I will continue to add written posts, but if you enjoy video for your content, I now have some posts for you too. :)

I will be adding them to a sub-page of this blog here, or you can subscribe to my channel on YouTube. 

If you missed any of my prior posts, check out my first few videos!

#4 Solid Hair Products are the Ultimate Concentrates

#3 Overhauling my laundry routine with Dropps pods and wool dryer balls

#2 Saving $323 by shopping online consignment.

#1 Saving $120 on thrifted jeans

 

<3

Kimberly

Tailoring a Tank Top

As always, my friend T is my best thrifting buddy, and when shopping a last month, she spotted this cute tank in perfect colors for me, gorgeous late summer/early autumn, moody rusts, mustards, and blues. This top was $15 at Goodwill, compared to $40 new. 

The one problem is the straps are too long. As a short person with a proportionately short torso, an un-altered tank top is a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen.

So first step is to get out the handy seam ripper. I remove just a few stitches over each strap and a few interior stitches until the strap is fully removed.

If you've never used a seam ripper, and you have any plans to try sewing, mending, or reuse old items for the fabric, it's an absolute game changer. It will help you remove inevitable bad stitches as you are learning, and will help you deconstruct items without losing fabric due to cutting off seams.

 (Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Once you've carefully removed the strap, cut off the length you need to shorten it by. I needed to remove 2" from each. Then insert your shortened strap back into the hole it came out of. 

Now, for small spaghetti straps like these, we could hand-sew them to reattach them, but I used my sewing machine as a quick option. You want to pass over the strap at least twice to lock it in place and re-close the hole we opened.

If you did a decent job of color-matching or coordinating your thread, it will be hardly noticeable. 

Now, wear your altered tank top with confidence. In the summer, I'll pair this with ankle jeans and sandals. In the fall, I'll add a blazer or cardigan and pumps. 

All in all, I'm out about 10 minutes of labor to make sure I have a top that is custom fit for me!

Making the Most of Summer Strawberries

Nothing says early summer like some ripe juicy strawberries. 

To make the most of your strawberries, first, change the way you are cutting the tops off. If you are still cutting straight across the top, you are losing quite a bit of that juicy goodness. 

Switch to a strawberry huller like this:

(Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

A huller is super easy to use. Simply push the button to expand the claw, insert into the top of the strawberry, release the button to close the claw, and twist to remove the leaves and a small amount of white pulp.

Next, you can use the stems too! The leaves have been studied for nutritional value, and are not only edible by humans, but also contain vitamins, antioxidents, and digestive benefits. 

So how should you use them? 

Blend: use the whole strawberry when you make a smoothie, or incorporate the greens into a pesto.

Infuse: add the tops to simple syrup or vinegar for extra flavor.

Soak: use the fresh tops in infused water, or dried tops as tea.

This 16oz glass of water has 5 strawberry tops, leaving a light refreshing strawberry taste after about 10 minutes.

Cheers to the summer fruit season!

Fallen Trees Get a Second Life

Silocone, metal, wood... most of us have a favorite for cooking utensils. Wooden utensils can make a great addition to your set. They're durable and won't absorb heat like metal. 

They can also be beautiful works of art. A few of my family went to the Vashon farmers market this weekend, and stumbled across this awesome crafter, John Moore of Treen Ware, who turns out beautiful pieces like these turners and spatulas. 

Each piece is engraved with his signature and the type of wood identified. 

He makes spatulas, turners, ladles, spoons, and more. Look at this gorgeous wood pattern.

While wood is a durable, heat-resistant, and renewable material, you still don't need to use virgin lumber for pieces like this. John only uses "second chance" wood, that is, trees that have fallen naturally or need to be removed for other reasons. 

Like what you see? You can find John at the contact info below, or at the Vashon farmer's market. 

You can find similar pieces and other wood-working using fallen trees by searching: "second chance", "reclaimed", or "salvaged" wood.

While these utensils do cost a bit more than at  standard department store, you are also paying for the craftmanship.

You can also look into these businesses as an option to take away fallen trees. Seattlewoodturners.org is an example organization who will take your wood (no cost to you, and a donation receipt!) for use by their members. Compared to landscapers, waste removal, and other services, this can potentially save you hundreds $$$ while providing free raw materials to craftspeople.

Digest: 20 Tips to Stretch Your Food

To say I love food is an understatement. Taste is my favorite of the senses, cooking is a creative outlet for me, and eating a treasured hobby. 

Therefore, my fridge is always full, and there are always leftover meals or ingredients to get creative with. It should come as no surprise that over the years, we've gathered all of the following posts and tips to make the most of your food: 

Use Up Raw Ingredients

Preserve your end-of-season tomatoes by making sauce. 

Clean out your fridge after a holiday feast and make something completely brand new.  

Portion that tomato paste for future recipes.

Produce subscriptions connect you to "ugly" produce at a discount.  

Make your own spice mixes on demand. 

 

Reinvent Cooked Foods

Leftover mashed potatoes turn into a gourmet breakfast. 

Reinvent your Thanksgiving turkey and veggies with this cheesy pot pie.  

Use Scrap Parts

Most vegetable greens can make for a good pesto.

Reuse pickle brine for more pickles!

Don't throw out the oils from your jarred marinated veggies. 

Use whole foods (fennel fronds and lemons with rind!) for a flavor-packed entree.

Who knew bean juice was so versatile? 

Turn cobs and shells into a delicious broth for soups, risottos, and more.

Eggs shells make a good supplement for your plants. 

Keep your marshmallows fresh with a heel of bread.  

 Peel those (broccoli) stems for use in soups, stir fry, and more. 

Gardening

Regrow lettuce from it's core. 

Potatoes and tomatoes are easy to start in a home garden. 

 

Motivation

Get inspired by watching top chefs get creative with scraps.  

 Documentaries can help expand your thinking about other ways to reduce waste or reuse scraps.