This is a Test…How Blue (or Green) Are You?

If you are having a great day, then don’t try this test. If you want to take another step into the green zone…actually the aqua blue zone, then take this test.

How much water does your household use up on average? You will be so surprised. www.h2oconserve.org has an amazing little calculated quiz with questions that are rather difficult (I had to get out my calculator on a few of them) and it's educational. Educational in that you get to find out what this means: Do the people in your household let it mellow? The answer will have you saying “yuk!"

Did you know that we flush away 3.5 to 6 gallons of water with every toilet stop?

I found out that our household was not as green as I liked to perceive. We are a pathetic shade of metallic lime….

I dare you to try it. Have a clear cool glass of aqua while you are typing out your water sins…a good visual…a healthy reminder of how important our water is.

- e.

Mi Casa es Su Casa at CasaSugar.com!

CasaSugar.com is part of the ever-so-trendy Sugar Family Network and Celery Street was lucky to be featured in a great review of our website and a handful of our eco-friendly products for home!

Offering design ideas (many of them green!) and inspiration, CasaSugar is the "place to indulge all of your home-related hankerings, from decorating trends and gardening tips to strategies for getting organized." Check out CasaSugar's favorites and see the review for yourself!

A few of CasaSugar favorites included our wine glass made from recycled glass, trug tubs made from recycled tires, and our fantastic recycled plastic rugs!

It's Cold Outside for some of us...

For those of us living out our January in the colder portion of this US of A, I have some suggestions. These suggestions are not just about warming you up physically, but, warm you up to being more eco-friendly and thinking “green”!

Did you know that if you set your thermostat one degree lower for heat this winter, you could save $100.00 per year on your utility bill?! If everybody in every house in this country did the same thing, we could save more than $10 billion per year in energy costs. That is enough to provide a year’s worth of gasoline, electricity, and natural gas to every person in Iowa! Not bad, considering our shrinking pocket books and our shrinking planet.

So, now comes the part about staying warm and cozy. Check out Celery Street’s eco-friendly blankets. Our Global Mamas beautiful soft patchwork batik quilt is handcrafted from the leftover 100% cotton fabric scraps used in clothing production. The colorful collection of patchwork squares is backed by recycled 100% cotton flour sacks. Each quilt has a tag telling the Global Mamas story about women in Africa attaining economic independence producing this and other products. These blankets are so soft and such a conversation piece. I just love mine!

If half of the polyester fabric made in the United States each year were produced with recycled materials, it would be enough to cover the entire state of New York. That fact reminds me of the visual impact of the 1,293,300 square foot AIDS memorial quilt that covered the front lawn of the White House. Compare that to the size of the State of New York and realize what a small difference we can all make by reusing fabrics or buying recycled fabrics.



Wrap up and stay warm…and green!

- e.

*The above facts are from one of my favorite resources: the green book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen, AIDS quilt picture courtesy of Flickr.com.

Reorganize, reuse, and regive in 2009!

Does one of your new year’s resolutions have something to do with organizing? For some of us, that may mean “I REALLY need to organize my life” or... “I need to organize the kid’s toys” or...“I need to organize my collection of cooking utensils." Whatever your project is, why not make it interesting and green?!

If your life needs a major overhaul, there are professionals available for hire. These people actually get paid to come into your house, take stock in your life, your stuff, and teach you how to be a neat nick! Check your yellow pages for organization professionals.

So while you are rummaging through all those personal belongings, think of those organizations that need donations - abuse shelters, children’s homes, senior centers. Did you know that all those old magazines can live a second life in a nursing home? Those toys get loved all over again at a children’s home or by the children in the shelters. Green people have great hearts!

Below are some eco friendly product ideas from Celery Street to help you get your life organized in 2009!

Above: Our fun, bright, organizational baskets (trug tubs!) to divide and conquer the things you keep!

How about cooking utensils storage...or a silly doggie writing journals to list all those places you're going to donate and recycle your old stuff?

Happy 2009 and we hope to see you soon at Celery Street!

- e