New Organic Coupons

SAVE $2.00 on Seventh Generation™ Natural Laundry Detergent (Expires: 2014-05-29)

SAVE $1.00 on Seventh Generation™ Natural Dish Liquid (Expires: 2014-05-29)

Coupons at RedPlum go fast so make sure to print today!

Also $2.00 off coupon available at Seventh Generation's™ Website 

New $2 Off Sambazon Juice or Smoothie Coupon  (Coupon Available At Coupons.com)

$2/2 Wild Harvest natural or organic salts and spices (any variety). Coupon

Save $1/1 with this Organic Girl Salad Coupon expires 5/5/14

$.75/1 Cascadian Farm Coupon (Like on facebook)

Mambo Sprouts has a ton of new printable coupons

Our Car-Free Life

Huffy Cranbrook Our First Bike

We gave up driving our car 603 days ago, and we love our new life. It is hard for most people to understand that we actually love not being in a car. It started on September 1st, 2012;  I was getting out of the car at a local home improvement store, and piles of fast food wrappers came tumbling out the door with me. We had realized that we needed a healthier lifestyle before this, but it didn't hit home until that moment. We decided no more fast food. And as luck would have it another idea came: what about biking everywhere close to home? So we went to Walmart and bought bikes. They weren't fancy- just basic single speed bikes with fenders and fat seats. The next day we drove them to work. We have purchased several accessories since  that has made cycling everywhere within our town easier. We purchased front and rear racks, pannier bags,  baskets, horns, European wheel locks, and a bike repair manual. We now are completely car free, we cycle to work, the grocery store, library, and anywhere else we need to be on a daily basis. We love being able to park near the door everywhere. We never have to look for parking spots. We don't worry if we are going to run out of gas in a traffic jam. We love the convenience of never worrying about expensive mechanical problems. We just don't have the worries_ we are happier people. So if you are considering a car free life_GO FOR IT!
Some things to note:
Get fenders or purchase a bike with them they are a worth every penny.
Single speeds might be harder for people in hilly communities, but they are easy to work on yourself.
Look for good racks, we like Wald but have since updated to Public racks.
We purchased wheel locks and use them in combination with a cable (we live in a relatively safe area)

Grocery Shopping By Bike

Front and rear racks

 Have you been considering using your car less and your bike more? Well, we have made that change in our life and we love it. Last year we decided to cut down how much we use our car. Every time we used our car we made poor choices (fast food, general waste). We were neglecting our health, our family time, and always seemed to be in a rush. So, we slowed down. We did not make the choice based on financial reasons; but have seen extra money in our bank accounts at the end of the month.  This post is for the beginner to help out and show what we have learned.

Wald 520 Amazon

GET THE RIGHT GEAR:
Wald makes a rear basket/rack {the 520} that will carry at least two large bags of groceries, and  you can strap a few more to the rack. We have this setup on my moms vintage 1968 Western Flyer bicycle. She likes the weight in the back, so it doesn't interfere with her steering.  This setup is ideal if you will heed our advice and shop frequently as apposed to loading up and forgetting you don't have a trunk.  This is not for the person who wants to take off the basket and only use it occasionally. (This basket is bolted to your bike in several locations to make it secure.)

Linus panniers

Rack and panniers:
Similar to the Wald 520, only not as permanent. There are several great racks on the market; but when shopping for groceries - you need one that can hold the weight; groceries are heavy.
Panniers come in different sizes and materials. We have two kinds, one made by Linus, and one set we purchased on eBay. The Linus set is great for light weight loads but I'm sure they could hold a lot more than we toss in them. Our eBay set is from a Chinese store and we paid around $20.00. Our Chinese panniers have zippers, pockets, reflective tape and hold the weight without flopping about. The Linus set however, can roll up into a neat little bundle.

TIPS:
DO NOT FORGET TO BRING A LOCK, AND USE IT
Shop more frequently. Think Daily or Weekly not Monthly
Plan your trips. If out at night bring lights and reflective gear.
Try to purchase whole foods and purchase less processed foods.
Buy a quality rack we like the Wald 215 they have two colors and a wood version.
Enjoy you new Slow Life and take the time to smell the roses.

Our Dutch Bicycles

Sew Your Own Pet Clothes Upcycle

I found a few patterns while I was shopping at my local fabric store. I inquired at a few big stores like Joann and Hancock to see if they were there too, and they are. The patterns run for about $17.00 US, which is pretty steep, but if you shop at a pattern sale you could score them for a dollar or two, so keep your peepers open. Patterns 2695 and 2755 are from Simplicity, and are for upcycled pet clothes you can search for them online by typing Go Green Simplicity. 

Homemade Cat Litter

Have you ever thought about making your own cat litter? Well, if the answer was YES... I have stumbled across a few ideas. First off; we have a darling family of fur-babies, four to be exact. One of our lovelies Mr. Chin developed a urinary tract infection when he was two. When we got the terrible news from his vet we decided some things needed to change around our house. One of the things we changed was our cat litter. Our veterinarian is a huge fan of eco cat-litters. So we purchased a few bags of Yesterdays-News and a box of Swheat. These products were well loved by our babies, but they are very expensive. So after about a year of using Yesterdays-News we decided to try making our own litter. The first thing we tried was just shredded newspaper.....BUT THIS IS VERY MESSY... so we opted to try the wet method. This method is as followed....


NEWSPAPER LITTER
(1) Shred or chop several newspapers "for extra try going to nursing homes, hospitals or contacting your local paper for extras to recycle". 

(2) Put the shredded papers in a bucket or empty pool. Pour water over the shreds until it is workable. If your local paper does not use soy based ink add a small amount of dish detergent to the water mix.

(3) Mix the paper-water mix until you get a pulpie mix. {think homemade recycled paper}

(4) Squeeze the pulp making sure to remove as much water as you can. If you needed soap, squeeze the water out and then rinse the pulp once again. 

(5) OPTIONAL once you squeezed the water add some baking soda to the pulp this will help with odors and we all know every cat won't use a stinky box. {bobs redmill or arm and hammer}

(6) Place the pulp to dry in the sun on a screen or in a box spread out so that it can dry thoroughly. The texture is up to you fine or chunky. Simply just break it into smaller clumps. I recommend the box method if you are going for a fine litter. 

Option 2

Wheat litter:
When  you first buy Swheat or other name brand wheat litter, you are fooled into thinking this litter is special. Well, it's not. All this litter is, well, WHEAT. And you can make it at home for a fraction of a fraction of the cost at home. 

(1) Purchase bulk wheat berries at a grocer that sells bulk wheat, or hit up a grange/pet store and buy animal grade wheat. {any wheat berries will work}

(2) Grind in a blender,food processor or grain grinder until it is a coarse consistency. 

This method also works with corn and oats very effectively. However, for some reason unknown to me the wheat clumps better.

If you know why? Put a comment in the message box.

But if these ideas don't appeal to you, you can still make some snazzy "Tidy Cats" reusable bags.

Nasoya Coupons {expired}

1. Enroll in Tofu U and pledge to cook tofu at home (Link Below). Their Tofulosophy shows you why it's important!
2. Feast your eyes on the recipes, or see what the Dish Whiz serves up based on your own ingredients.
3. Discover what to do with tofu (from buying to cooking) through the quick video tips, ranging from beginner to advanced.

   Take the pledge. Get rewarded.

   You will need to pledge to cook tofu once a week for one month.

   Why should you take the pledge?

   It's all about Nasoya Tofulosophy: a new outlook on tofu, empowering you to embrace the healthy protein in your kitchen. Discover the history of tofu. Uncover the environmental benefits. Learn the health benefits. Become a tofu extraordinaire with video tips and start cooking simple and tasty tofu recipes in no time!
   To get you started, they give you a $1 Nasoya coupon that you can download instantly. And then, they will email you a new coupon each week for one month! Then write down 4 'Tofu U' recipes and send in the UPC's from 4 participating Nasoya products along with the form and you can get a Mens or Women's t-shirt or gym shorts for free.
   
   
   Link For The Form { HERE } Expired
   Join Tofu U { HERE } Expired

Make A Bee Condo

I recently stumbled across the Global Bee Project a website that promotes bee guardianship . Well I thought it was cool enough to write about. I have a garden and I don't know what I would do without the little bees pollinating everything for me . I have noticed that I don't have the bees that I did a few years ago "may-bee" it it the lack of marigolds (my sister is allergic) however it has bugged me since my squash numbers have went down ,so I built my self a bee condo above and placed it along my neighbors fence. I am also going to make a bee nest out of either bamboo or dried blackberry stems . Bee condo's don't attract colonies just solitary bee's like masons the bees which are not aggressive and don't sting. These bee's like to dwell in holes that are 3-10 inches deep and 3/32" and 3/8" in diameter . Place you bee condo facing east they like morning sun. Don't spend money buying one when they are so easy to make all you need is some non-chemically treated wood ,a drill ,and some nails .