Green Reality

I admit to being a bit of an HGTV junkie. When there is nothing else to watch (and this is true at least 75% of the time), I can always tune in for a mindless hour of home makeover or real estate shows and dream of how I, too, could makeover my kitchen for just $3000 if I had the skills and the free labor.

Now I have another reason to watch as the second season of “Living with Ed” premieres this Sunday night at 10:30pm. I’ll already be watching since (I’m embarrassed to admit) I’m sucked in to season 2 of “Design Star” which airs on Sunday nights, as well. Now I can follow up this quality hour of television (slightly less fun now that Sparkle Josh is gone) with Ed Begley Jr.’s show about living green. Begley Jr. is an earth-friendly fanatic and truly does walk his own talk. This season he’ll be sharing his own ideas for green living and visiting some of his Hollywood pals to see how they’re treading on the planet, as well. I’ll be tuning in…will you?

Dangerous Toys…another good reason to purge your playroom

All of this talk of lead-based paint on toys and magnets that easily pop off and could be swallowed made me complete another sweep through my playroom looking for toys to purge. Luckily, the only poisonous culprit in our toy bin was a Go Diego Go utility belt that my son enjoyed but certainly won’t cry over.

I’ve had several parents ask how to purge toys without causing a fuss. There’s an interesting article on Parenting about Taking Recalled Toys Away from children of different ages. As a purge-a-holic, I have my own sneaky ways. Typically, when I’m in the mood for a clean sweep, I wait until the children are at school. I use this time to rid our house of every fast food toy, birthday party goodie bag giveaway and other random plastic-crap toys that have crept into our house. I also take a good look at what they’re playing with on a regular basis, and what hasn’t been touched in a while. If the untouchables are good, quality toys, I pack them away for a little vacation and only pull them back out for a rainy day or if my children request them (or happen to see it while snooping in my closet). A good 80% of the time, they never notice that a toy is gone.

But when it comes to dangerous toys, I’m pretty much tough love. I explain to them that sometimes we find out that some of their toys are not safe. If a piece is going to break off and hurt them or if it’s made with toxic chemicals, it has to go in the trash. No questions asked. Too bad if there are tears. They need to know that we love them, it’s our job to keep them safe, end of story.

I recently heard a story on NPR about the safety of products coming out of China. This story disclosed that a tea manufacturer was caught drying their tea leaves by driving over them inside a closed warehouse with large trucks. Naturally, all of the exhaust of those trucks was also going into the tea leaves. Interestingly enough, China still uses leaded gasoline. Yum…that sounds like tasty brew! Between the toxic toys and tea, I’m about ready to boycott everything made in China. Would that even be possible?

Family attempts to live with 100 Things

I just came across this blog and I’m blown away by the ambitious challenge this family is undertaking. A family of 5 (with 3 young girls, mind you) is attempting to purge their home of all items with the exception of 100 things. Everything else is being sold, given away or traded. I’m sitting in my office looking around and I think it’s quite possible that I have 100 things just sitting on my desk! I’m eager to keep an eye on this blog and see how this goes for author Dave and his family. This challenge makes going off of shopping for six months sound like a breeze.

Does the camera really add 10 lbs…

…or was that just my summer diet making me look chunky on TV? I got an unexpected call from the “Time Makeover” folks and shot another episode last week. Naturally, I had to have new clothes again (can’t be seen wearing the same thing twice, heaven forbid). And since I’ve put on a few LBS this summer, I had to go for the comfort of an elastic waistband. I found these fun linen full-leg pants and was feeling really hot until my six year old daughter said my outfit was embarrassing and that I looked like an old lady wearing a skirt. Note to self: must start teaching that child some manners!

For all of you who have asked, “Time Makeover” will now debut on November 17th and will air Saturday and Sunday nights at 8pm on the Fine Living Network. I’m currently the “expert” (or “the talent” as I like to call myself around the house) in 3 episodes. Set your Tivo!

A good thing gets even better

I’ve gone on and on about Greendimes–the company that helps you eliminate junk mail AND plants trees to help reduce CO2. Well, they’ve gone and gotten even better. First, you now pay a one time $15 fee and they’ll work to keep your name off of junk mailing lists forever. No more $36 per year. Just pay the $15 once and you’re all set. And, they’re now offering a petition you can sign to lobby Congress and help create a Do-Not-Mail National Registry (similar to the Do-Not-Call registry which stopped telemarketers from calling you just as you’re sitting down at the dinner table). Click here to sign the petition. Even if you don’t want to shell out the $15, go ahead, sign the petition. It’s FREE!