Archive for January, 2008
Just Call Me the Bag Lady
Do you know that we Americans use around 84 billion plastic bags annually? (I know I’ve probably got a cool million or so stuffed in the kitchen drawers and pantry.) What’s worse is what happens when the bags end up in the landfill: they don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits and contaminating soil and waterways. (more…)
10 comments January 16, 2008
One Real Family’s Real Simple Christmas
Our good friends Jerry and Beth McDonald announced in early November that they were going to simplify Christmas this year, and spend the money they saved to take the family on a ski trip to Colorado. Just like Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie ”Christmas with the Kranks,” Jerry and Beth explained that they were skipping the Christmas tree, skipping Christmas cards — and even skipping presents. “It will be an experiment worth noting,” Jerry wrote, and we wondered if they would be able to resist the pull of the mall. On December 26, I couldn’t stand the suspense any more. “How was the minimalist Christmas?” I asked in an e-mail. “Did you resist the temptation to buy gifts? How did your kids respond? Do tell!” Here’s an excerpt from Jerry’s response:
“The minimalist Christmas was (more…)
1 comment January 6, 2008
A New Bamboo Floor
2008 begins with a terrific improvement here at the Urban Homestead - a new bamboo floor in the office!
Our journey started when I read Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s compelling book, “Apartment Therapy: The Eight Step Home Cure.” Along with some great ideas for simplifying one’s home environment and paring down one’s possessions, the author suggests indentifying the room in our house that bugs us the most; he then gently guides readers on how to “cure” the space. In my case, the room with the most problems happened to be the space where I spend at least 50% of my time — my home office. For starters, the floor was covered with the grungiest, worn, dog-hair and lint-laden, impossible-to-clean shag carpeting. Think I’m exaggerating? Take a gander at THIS:
When our professional carpet cleaner said (more…)
4 comments January 2, 2008
